Blue elephant

   This week at Creative Corner our challenge is 'anything goes'. I have made my third 'just in case' birthday card again using a Rachelle Anne Miller stamp. This one is called 'Sorry I forgot'.
   I began by matting dark beige paper from Papermania onto white cardstock. I then matted two pieces of blue striped and spotted paper from another Papermania pad onto beige core'dination cardstock and attached them vertically to the card. A thin strip of blue spotted paper was also matted onto beige cardstock and this was fixed horizontally to the card.
   I coloured the image using Promarkers and again matted it onto beige core'dinations cardstock. This was then fixed to the centre of the card using foam pads. Finally I added a ribbon.

   I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
   Little Claire's Designs - spots and stripes
   Whoopsi Daisy - lots of layers
   Allsorts - happy birthday
   Digi Sketch - use a stamp or/and sketch
   Scrapbook Stamp Society - anything goes + optional use colours beige and blue
   Crafting From the Heart - anything goes
   Fantastic Tuesday - anything goes
   Animal Friends - happy birthday
   Party Time Tuesday - anything goes

Wise owls

   This is the second of my 'just in case' birthday cards for the young members of my family. All the papers used on it are printed from Peerless Designs Woodland Treasures CD ROM and have been matted onto dark brown core'dinations cardstock. I began with the lightest design, the top layer being the darkest.
   The image is another one from Rachelle Anne Miller's set of stamps from Crafter's Companion. This one is called 'Wise Words'. It is coloured using Promarkers and then matted and layered onto green and then dark brown core'dinations cardstock before being attached to the card with foam pads. I added liquid pearls to the two little caterpillars and marked the faces with a black Promarker. I then made a tag from the same two colours of cardstock and attached a peel off sentiment to it. Finally the card was finished with some ribbon.

   I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
   Papertake Weekly - sketch
   Dream Valley - things with wings
   Creative Inspirations - tag it!
   Whoopsi Daisy - lots of layers
   Inky Impressions - anything goes
   Allsorts - happy birthday
   CD Sunday - tots to teens
   Sweet Pea Stampers - things with wings
   Craft Room - things with wings
   Party Time Tuesday - anything goes

Monkey business

   I have several young great nieces, nephews and grand children for whom I need to make cards. I have decided to make some cards in readiness in case I do not have time around the birthdays of these children. This is the first 'just in case' card.
   I matted and layered paper printed from Crafter's Companion birthday Popcorn the Bear CD ROM and core'dination cardstock onto white card. I attached two pieces of ribbon to a rounded cornered square piece of core'dination cardstock and then matted it onto a darker colour of core'dination cardstock. I fixed a happy birthday sentiment to it and after attaching it the card added a bow.
   The image 'Cheeky monkey' from Crafter's Companion Rachelle Anne Miller's collection of stamps was coloured using Promarkers. I then matted and layered this onto two different coloured core'dination cardstock and attached it to the card with foam pads.

   I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
   Send A Smile 4 Kids - anything for a child
   Creative Inspirations - birthdays
   I Love Promarkers - anything goes
   Allsorts - happy birthday
   Stamping Sensations - anything goes
   CD Sunday - tots to teens
   Papertake Weekly - ohhh, so cute
   Loves Rubber Stamps - fun with your name (Monkey, Adhesives, Ribbon, Yellow)
   Animal Friends - happy birthday

Wedding

   One of my nieces is getting married and I wanted to make a card a little bit different and perhaps more personal.
   The image, over the threshold, from Lili of the valley was coloured using Promarkers. Glitter was added to the flowers and flounces of the underskirt and the edges dusted very lightly with distress ink.
   To make the frame I cut out white card and attached wadding to it. I then covered this with a remnant from my own wedding dress. ( Crafters always hoard things and a bride has to have something old!) This was then attached to the base card. I made some quilled roses and leaves and attached these inside the lower corners of the frame. Finally I added some sequin hearts and a peel off congratulations.

   I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
   Penny Black and More - anything goes
   I Love Promarkers - anything goes
   Stamping Sensations - anything goes
   Digi Sketch - anything goes
   Brown Sugar - anything goes
   Creative Fingers - anything goes
   Crafting From the Heart - anything goes
   Our Creative Corner - love those leftovers (material and wadding)
   Fantasy Stampers - wedding bells
   Lacy Sunshine - anything goes
   Sweet Stamps - anything goes
   Pink Gem - use felt or fabric
   Creatalicious - frame it
   Crafting at the Weekend - anything goes
   The East Wind - bride of May
   Alphabet -H is for handmade embellishments

Skate Boarder

   This is a birthday card I have made for one of my grandsons. I matted brick designer paper and brown mirri card onto white card. The Kenny K stamped image 'Cool Boarder' is coloured using Promarkers and while still in the curved rectangle Spellbinders die I dusted the background with distress ink so that it left a white boarder around the image. I cut out brown mirri card using the same die and attached both die cuts to the card so that the mirri card was at an angle under the image. I repeated the process again using the smallest die in the set and reversing the positions so that the mirri card was uppermost. I then used peel offs to create the '7 Today' greeting. Finally I finished the card with three card candi.

   I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
   Creative Inspirations - birthdays
   Eureka Stamps - birthdays
   KennyK'sKraftyKrew - anything goes / twist male
   Send A Smile 4 Kids - anything goes for a child
   Crafty Catz - just for sport
   Glitter n Sparkle - cards for men or male colours
   Nutcrafters - numbers
   Fantastic Tuesday - one for the guys
   Scribble and Scrap - anything goes
   Fantasy Stampers - numbered birthday
   Passion For Promarkers - use your die cuts

Floral birthday

   I have quite a lot of birthdays in the near future for which to make cards. This is one of them.
   I wrapped ribbon round two opposite corners of designer paper from Kaizercraft Christmas collection and then matted and layered it with core'dinations cardstock onto white card. The image called 'flower square' is from Ike's ART Digital Designs and the flowers, which reminded me of the primulae which have self seeded themselves in our garden, and the leaves were coloured using Promarkers and Stickles used in the centres. I wanted to create a stained glass window effect so I used iridescent Lumin Arte Twinkling H2Os for the background. The photo does not show the effect that well. I then matted it onto core'dinations cardstock before attaching to the card.
   I added additional colour to flowers from Wild Orchid using Promarkers  and attached these to the card along with a bow. Finally I added a Happy Birthday sentiment.

   I would like to enter this into the following challenges:
   Inky Impressions - flower power
   Ike's World - photo/colour inspiration
   Dragonfly Dreams - how does your garden grow!
   Open Minded Crafting - use some ribbon
   Crafty Creations - recipe: flowers and ribbon
   One Stitch at a Time - keep it simple
   Paper Pretties - flowers
   Crafty Little Fairies - in the garden
   Simon Says Stamp Monday - botanical
   A Little Bit Crafty - flower power
   Stampin With the Dragon - flowers
   Digi Sketch - anything goes

Rock around the clock

   What little girl does not make believe at some point that they are a famous rock star?  My grand daughters have certainly done so.
   I matted and layered paper from an old Papermania pad and turquoise mirri card onto white card. I then matted another strip of paper from the same collection onto mirri card and attached this across the bottom of the card.
   The digi image called 'Penny the rock chick' is from Di's Digis and was coloured using Promarkers. I cut it out using a Spellbinders label eight die and matted it onto turquoise mirri card which had been cut out using a decorative labels eight die. After attaching it to the card I added gems to the corners and smaller ones to the sides. I also added a little bow to the top of the frame.

   I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
   Send a Smile 4 Kids - anything goes for a child
   Crafting With Dragonflies - celebration
   Passion for Promarkers - no sentiment
   QKR Stampede - punch or dies
   Addicted to Stamps - inspired by a song (Rock around the clock)
   Papertake Weekly - pretty pastels
   Digi Designs - use those markers
   The Paper Shelter - girly girl
   Creative Inspirations - anything goes
   Crafting Musketeers - anything but square
   The Squirrel and the Fox - let's hear it for the girls

Watching boats

   I recently bought Faye Whittaker's paper pad and this is one of the cards I made using one of the pages from the pad.
   I wanted a light weight card since it had to be posted and therefore used designer papers from two old Papermania pads that I had in my stash, rather than card for the matting and layering. To embellish the card I added a bow and card candi, the latter tying in with the dots/spots on one of the papers.

   I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
   ABC - L is for lots of layers
   Incy Wincy Designs - birthdays
   Papertake Weekly - pretty pastels
   Crafting From the Heart - anything goes
   The Pink Elephant - picture inspiration (the anchor reminded me of the sea)
   Through the Purple Haze - anything goes

Swans

  This week the theme for the Creative Corner Challenge is circles.

   I embossed green core’dinations cardstock using a Die’sire Spring Morning embossalicious folder and then sanded it and matted it onto white card.

   The digi stamp ‘mom and cygnets’ from Digistamps4joy was coloured using Promarkers and the background coloured with distress inks. I cut it out using a circle Spellbinders die and matted and layered it onto two circular pieces of mirri card. One of the cygnets was then decoupaged.

    Three small circles with the image of one of the cygnets were matted onto blue mirri card and attached randomly on the card. I added sentiments to two of them.

   I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

   Digistamps4joy – anything goes

   Dream Valley – anything goes

   Imagination Crafts – things with wings

   Incy Wincy Designs – birthdays

   Crafting From the Heart – anything goes

   Animal Friends – happy birthday

   Lacy Sunshine – anything goes

   CAS-ual Fridays – 3 of something (small circles, cygnets)

   Creative Inspirations – anything goes

Christmas camels

   My second Christmas card for the year! So much for my resolution of making my Christmas cards early.
   I folded a piece of card which was two units wide and three units long in half and then cut one half into three equal portions, giving me three square sections. The two outer portions I scored and folded diagonally and the middle portion scored and folded horizontally to form a tri-easel card.
   I matted and layered paper Noel printed from Debbie Moore's Songs for Christmas CD ROM and brown core'dination cardstock onto white card to form the base.
   Middle easel: I dusted white card with distress inks and matted this onto dark brown core'dinations cardstock. I then cut the nativity scene out from brown mirri card using a Cottage Cutz die. Glitter was added for the stars before mounting it onto the centre easel.
   Outside easels: I used the digi image 'King1 - Time to go' from Digistamps4joy. The image on the right was created by flipping the original image and then placing a smaller image behind it. Both images were coloured using Promakers and a gold gel pen. The background was coloured using distress inks and glitter was again added for stars. They were matted onto dark brown core'dinations cardstock before attaching to the easel base.
   All three easel stops were made from layers of core'dination cardstock and gold lettering spelling Noel.

   I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
   Digistamps4joy monthly - Christmas
   Digistamps4joy - anything goes
   Crafting at the Weekend - anything goes
   CAS-ual Fridays - 3 thirds
   Lacy Sunshine - anything goes
   Crafting From the Heart - anything goes
   Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra - anything Christmas
   Addicted to Stamps - inspired by a song (We three kings)
   Winter Wonderland - winter animals
   Digi Sketch - anything goes
   Allsorts - fancy folds
   QKR Stampede - anything goes
   CraftyHazelnut's Christmas - let it shine (glitter & mirri card)
   Dream Valley - anything goes

Hello Kitty

   I was delighted at being asked to be this weeks Guest Designer on the Love to Create Challenge blog where the theme is Friendship.

   I matted and layered designer paper from the English Paper Company onto black mirri card and white card. A strip of grey pearlescent sentiment paper from Cupcake Crafting was matted onto black mirri card and attached to the bottom of the card.

   I coloured the 'Hello Kitty' digi stamp from Stitchy Bear using Promarkers and shaded the background using distress ink. This was matted onto black card which had been cut out using a Spellbinders floral oval die and sprayed with pink iridescent glitter from Crafter's Companion. This was attached to the card using foam pads.

   Finally the verse was matted onto black mirri card and attached to the card along with pink bows made from narrow satin ribbon. 

   I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

   Open Minded Crafting -use some ribbon

   Crafting When We Can - die cut

   Pink Gem - favourite colour combo (pink and grey/black)

   Glitter n Sparkle - female cards

   Papertake Weekly - anything goes

   Crafty Sentiments Designs - anything goes

   Digi Designs - use those markers

   Dream Valley - anything goes

   One Stitch at a Time - use a digi

Cricket any one?

   This is another male card to add to my dwindling stock. The Lili of the Valley image, 'cricket', was coloured using Derwent coloursoft pencils and the background was created using masking and distress inks to give an 'aged' look to the card.

   I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
   Open Minded Crafting - sports and activities
   Addicted to Stamps and More - clean and simple
   Pile It On - child's play
   Nutcrafters - bingo (no layer, boy image, monocolour)
   Lisa B. Designs - those magnificent men
   Fantasy Stampers - distress
   Bunny Zoe's Crafts - distress

Wild rose

   I love wild roses and I have been lucky enough to have one seed itself in my front garden. It needs to be trimmed back fairly often or my car is going to acquire quite a few unwanted scratches!! It produces large red rosehips which stay on the plant all winter. This image is from Joanna Sheen's wild flowers collection  of favourite flowers stamps and is coloured using Promarkers.
   I still have a lot of tissue paper left from that which was used to wrap the flowers in that I received some time ago, so I used a little more of the pink and stuck it to white card. I cut and embossed green centura pearl card using a Die'sire Decadence die from Crafter's Companion behind the cut out centre of which I attached my image. This was then attached to the tissue paper.
   I added a bow and I could not resist adding a stamped bee which I shaped before fixing it to the card with glue gel.

   I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
   Without Words - pink and/or purple with green
   ABC - K is for keep it simple
   Crafty Sentiments Designs - anything goes
   Ribbon Girl - flowers
   Loves Rubber Stamps - anything goes
   Love to Create - say it with flowers
   A Little Bit Crafty - flower power
   Creative Fingers - anything goes/embossing
   Addicted to Stamps and More - clean and simple
   Creative Moments - anything goes/bingo (flower, die cut, bow)

Butterfly Wishes

   I love butterflies and the lilac is just coming into flower so I wanted to make a card with a butterfly just balancing on lilac, although I'm not sure anyone would see butterflies this colour - at least not round here.
   I matted lilac core'dinations cardstock onto white card.
   Left hand panel: lilac flowers were stamped from Joanna Sheen's garden flowers collection and coloured using Promarkers. After dusting the edges with distress ink I matted the image onto dark purple core'dinations cardstock. A little glitter was applied to the flowers. The butterfly was stamped from Jayne Netley Mayhew colllection, coloured using Promarkers, cut out and attached using glue gel.
   Right hand panel: three butterflies from the same set as above were stamped and coloured using Promarkers. Again the panel was matted onto dark purple core'dinations cardstock. I then added a peel off sentiment.

   I wish to enter this card into the following challenges:
   Creative Inspirations - spring flowers
   Cute Card Thursday - here comes summer
   Inky Impressions - anything goes
   Allsorts - butterflies
   Crafty Cardmakers and more - it's a bugs life
   Addicted to Stamps - things with wings
   Imagination Crafts - things with wings
   Loves Rubber Stamps - photo inspired (the colours)
   Creative Moments - anything goes/spring

For mum

   The East Wind have a new free image, 'mum', this month for those who subscribe to their newsletter. I decided to try colouring it using pencils instead of using my usual Promarkers. The balloons are coloured using Dewent coloursoft pencils and blended with a clear pencil to create a translucent effect. In other areas colours were blended using a lighter colour pencil. The flowers and eyes were coloured using Dewent inktense pencils to give a brighter colour. I cut the image out using a Spellbinders labels eight die and while still in the die dusted the edges with distress ink. I then matted it onto pink centura pearl card which had been cut out using a decorative labels eight die. It was then attached to pink core'dinations cardstock which had been matted and layered onto silver mirri card and white card.
   I finished the card with three flowers and a bow.

   I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
   The East Wind - die cuts or punches
   Paper Pretties - mother's day/spring
   The Squirrel and the Fox - mother's day
   QKR Stampede - mother's day  
   Inky Impressions - anything goes
   Stamping Sensations - anything goes
   Crafty Sentiments Designs - anything goes
   Catch the Bug - anything goes

Wren

    This is a card for someone who loves birds. I have often seen little wrens looking for insects in the garden hedges near where I live.
    I embossed grey blue centura pearl card using the Die'sire embossalicious folder 'birthday text' and then attached brown ribbon vertically and horizontally. This was then matted and layered onto brown core'dinations cardstock and white card. A bow was then glued to where the two strips of ribbon crossed.
   The digi image, 'wren', from Ike's Art was coloured using Promarkers and distress ink was then dusted round the edges. It was then matted onto brown mirri card cut using a Spellbinders classic scalloped rectangle die before fixing it to the card.

   I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
   Ike's World - things with wings  
   Through the Purple Haze - sketch
   Imagination Crafts - things with wings
   Crafty Ribbons - anything goes with ribbon
   Addicted to Stamps - things with wings
   Whoopsi Daisy - hand coloured image
   Crafty Little Fairies - in the garden
 

Forget-me-nots

  

   The challenge at Creative Corner this week is for mum. I thought what better flower to use than the forget-me-not especially as my garden is covered with them at the moment.

    I used a Floral Fantasy stamp from Sheena Douglas, stamping it in opposite corners of the white card and coloured the image using Promarkers. I attached green ribbon diagonally across this before matting and layering it onto blue mirri card and white card.

    I cut blue centura pearl card using a Spellbinders labels six die and coloured the edge using a Promarker pen, before edging with green peel off. I then stamped my sentiment on it and attached it to the card. Three larger flowers were stamped, coloured, cut out, shaped and glued to the die cut. Finally I attached a bow and gems to the ribbon.

   I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

   Paper Pretties – mother’s day/spring

   Crafty Little Fairies – in the garden

   Whoopsi Daisy – hand coloured image

   Inky Impressions – anything goes

   Stampotique Designers – flowers

   Digi Sketch – spring time

   Crafty Ribbons – anything goes with ribbon

   Crafty Sentiments Designs – anything goes

   Glitter and Sparkle – add some ribbon

   A Little bit Crafty – flower power

   Pile It On – rubber stamping

   Scrapbook Stamp Society – anything goes + optional use of a sentiment

   Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – anything goes

   Crafting From the Heart – anything goes

   Fantastic Tuesday – floral

   Vintage Stamping – anything goes

   Scribble and Scrap – anything goes

   Sweet Stampin’ – no designer paper

   Lacy Sunshine – favourite colour combo (blue, yellow & green)

   Challenges 4 Everybody – anything goes

   The Pink Elephant – favourite pastel colour combo (blue, yellow & green)

   Creative Moments – anything goes/spring

   QKR Stampede - mother's day

   Crafting at the Weekend – anything goes