New Beginnings

Well folks, it's all over barr the shouting! Just kidding, it's been lovely spending time with our extended family, especially for the children, who love the company of their cousins...there are 12 of them and they range from 5yr to 18yr. it's great, as they all get on fantastically, including 2 who have autism and another 2 with special needs...we are truely blessed.

This week at FOR FUN CHALLENGES we have the fab Bugaboo sponsoring us, for our TWO WEEK challenge where we want to see your creations with the theme of...

** NEW **

That can be anything from new babies, to the new year, or a new home to a new pet! One lucky winner will receive 7 images of choice from Jodie at Bugaboo, so get creating, that's a prize I wouldn't want to miss out on the chance of winning!

I made a set of notecards in a folder, with a New Beginnings theme.

The folder template is from my very talented friend Debbie Lauder at CRAFTYSTASH. I used the beautiful butterfly image from Bugaboo and altered the colour in my graphics program to create the set of A6 sized notecards.

The folder was made by printing the butterfly DP onto one side of the card, and the folder template outline  onto the other. After it had been cut out, scored and assembled, the notecards were placed inside.

Finally, I secured it closed using a wire-edged organza ribbon.

Don't forget to go and see what the rest of the DT have created...you'll be glad you did, the array of creations is spectacular!

Many thanks for everyone for joining us at FOR FUN during 2011, we hope to see you plenty more in the coming year.

I'll end my post by wishing you all a wonderful NEW YEAR with all good things to come your way in 2012.

All Christmassed Out...?!?!?!

I am sure some of us have had more than our fill of making Christmas cards, and as this is our last challenge for 2011, we at THE CRAFTY PAD have decided to be kind to you, and our theme is

ANYTHING BUT CHRISTMAS

TCP DT have all used their own choice of Crafty Pad image, please take a moment to visit them and take a look. I have used Molly Cat & Birdhouse to make my card...here it is:

Isn't she cute! I coloured the image with Promarkers and teamed it up with some digital papers, a lilac ribbon, computer-generated sentiment and some punched B&W flowers.

Our sponsor this time is the lovely Joanna Sheen with a £10 voucher for her shop.

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you a very happy and peaceful christmas with your loved ones, and to thank you for taking the time to visit my blog...I really appreciate it.

Anything Goes At Christmas!

Happy Wednesday and welcome to our next challenge over at FOR FUN. With Christmas just around the corner, we are having an

ANYTHING CHRISTMAS

challenge, which will run for 2 WEEKS.

The wonderful MelJen's are very generously sponsoring us once again, with a prize of  4 images of choice for one lucky winner!

We at FOR FUN would like to respectfully remind you that we DO have a few challenge rules, and to make it fair for everyone who joins in with us, you MUST adhere to them or your entry will not be eligible for the prize. Full details of our rules can be found on our CHALLENGE SITE.

Here's my offering this week:

It's a gift pouch filled with choccies!  I made the pouch using a heavyweight Dovecraft DP and coloured the adorable MelJen's image with Promarkers. I then highlighted with Glamour Dust and edged with Dark Green ink.

Here's a closer look at the empty pouch...

 As this is our last post before Christmas, may I take this opportunity to wish all FOR FUN followers a very Happy Holiday, and say a big thank you for your support this year. We will be back on Dec 28th with our final challenge for 2011.

Send Someone a Smile with The Crafty Pad

Good Evening everyone,

it's Sunday, and it's time to

SEND SOMEONE A SMILE

with The Crafty Pad! So, NO Christmas or Birthday cards, but something made 'just because'....to make someone smile. Here's my card:

 I used the adorable Roshell Duck with Brolly, which is, as always, available from The Crafty Pad Designs. she is coloured with Promarkers and has a little gold Stickles here and there. It is cut and layered onto mats created with my labels nesties using Dovecraft DPs and a gorgeous dark brown pearlescent cardstock.

I added a MS border and a wide chocolate satin ribbon, along with a cute sentiment 'Showers of Warm Wishes.'  I finished off with a few card candy dots.

I do hope you will be able to join us, we all need to take 5 and do a little something for ourselves during the hectic build-up to Christmas.

Whoops! I forgot to tell you who we have sponsoring us this week! It's the wonderful Creative Craft World with £5 to spend in-store.

Christmas Sparkle at For Fun

Happy Hump-Day everyone, and welcome to another challenge at FOR FUN. We have the wonderful Di's Digis as our sponsor this week, with a slightly different prize to usual; one lucky winner will receive a $10 voucher.

Our theme this week is:

CHRISTMAS SPARKLE

I have used one of Di's adorable images, he's called Christmas Party Penguin. Here's my card:

I used some Dovecraft DPs I've had for years, some red sparkly ric rac and some red tiny-tinsel to add thge sparkle. I coloured the image with Promarkers and added a little Stickles to the feet and beak, and some Glamour Dust to the pom-pom and fur-trim on his hat.

I do hope you will join us this week...thanks for popping in.



Punch it Out at THE CRAFTY PAD !!

Good Evening everyone,

welcome to my blog, and another great challenge at THE CRAFTY PAD. This week we want to see you use

AT LEAST 3 PUNCHED SHAPES.

The DT have all worked with the same image from THE CRAFTY PAD DESIGNS, Rodney Reindeer & Robin, available as a digi stamp and in a pre-coloured version too. I have used the pre-coloured version for my card this week.

I made this fun little rocker card! The trees are my punched shapes, the holly leaves are handcut using decorative scissors, and the little holly berries are tiny red bells! I added some Glamour Dust to give it sparkle, and set the image inside a lacey circle nestie die cut. The red organza ribbon completes my card.

Our fabby sponsor this week is CRAFTY EMMA'S STORE with £10.00 to spend in the store.

 I was amazed by the diversity of the DT creations, all the same image, all so different! Please take the time to go and see them, and show them some love!

I will enter my card into the following challenges:

• Allsorts #132 - Going Round in Circles.
•  

Crafty Stash Gettin' 'Sketchy!'

Good friends are the best, they forgive you whatever and are always there for you...I am very honoured to have made some such friends via my cardmaking, one of whom has her own website where she sells her wonderful designs. Debbie Lauder owner of CRAFTY STASH is her name, and today I am here to share the card I have made for the competition she has going on, which is a SKETCH challenge at Crafty Stash. Here's the sketch...

...and here's my card!

I made it for someone I know who's going through a difficult time...we all know how that feels right? I hope it helps to lift her spirits, its an adorable image, I couldn't resist using it! My papers are digi freebies, and I've added some punched flowers, an organza ribbon and some hand-drawn 'stitching' in red. I also added the 'Thinking of You' sentiment to the heart teddy is holding on the computer. The colour combo came when I found a paper to match the little 'patch' on the heart...the paper I used on the 'base' is really similar to the patch, and the stripy one was part of the same set...it's not something I would usually put together, but I think it really works!

Don't forget to pop over to CRAFTY STASH and see what treasures you can find, there are loads of freebies hidden amongst them too...and none of us can resist a freebie, especially when they are as great as the ones Debbie creates!

Feeling Festive at FOR FUN

Good Morning all

apologies for the lateness of my card, but we have had some incredibly distressing news to deal with. I won't go into details, as further tests have to be carried out before we know what we are dealing with, but please extend your thoughts and prayers to my little sister, who is so special to me and has always been an inspiration in the way she deals with whatever life throws at her.

Onto this week's challenge at FOR FUN; we have one of our favourite sponsors this week, it's MICHELLE PERKETT (I adore her work!)

As always, when there is a 5th Wednesday in the month, we have a CHRISTMAS theme, which should mean LOTS of entries this week! I kept my creation simple...here it is:

I made a tall slim card this week, with the 'NOEL' created on the computer. I added some glittering Glamour Dust to the snow-caps...

...and two of Michelle's fabulous Christmas images, one either side, which I left uncoloured so you can really see all the detail. Here is PEACE ANGEL...

...And here is Michelle's LATEST creation, the Peppermint Tulle Fairy, isn't she adorable! You can get hold of these in Michelle's ETSY SHOP.

 This is mounted onto red card. The card blank is pale green, and I have covered it with a piece of holly vellum and some gold lattice-ribbon; these are held in place by the clusters of 3 brads in each corner (to represent the holly berries.)

The lucky winner of our challenge this week will receive 5 of the images used by the DT this week.

I look forward to visiting your blog and seeing your fab creations.

Recipe of 3s at THE CRAFTY PAD

Happy Monday everyone,

sorry I'm a day late with this post, but I have had a wonderful weekend with my DH and am still playing catch-up! We went to Cardiff to see Will Young (he was FAB!) AND had an overnight stay in a spa hotel, the first without the little ones for almost 9 years!! I even treated myself to a back, neck and shoulder massage before we came home! Aaaaahhhhhh!!

Anyway, I digress! My post is to share details of the latest challenge over at THE CRAFTY PAD, which is a

Recipe of 3s

3 papers, 3 ribbons, 3 buttons or brads etc...you get it, right!?

Here's my card:

After last weeks traditional colours challenge, I went for something different...lilacs and pinks! I also had fun making a DL card for a change. The 'Santa Ho Ho Ho' image is of course from THE CRAFTY PAD DESIGNS, and is perfect for this challenge! I have 3 panels of DP behind the image, 3 ribbons across the diagonal, and 3s of snowflake brads, snowflake die-cuts, spotty brads and card candy!!

There is a fair sprinkling of Glamour Dust too, although that's tricky to see in these pics.

Our sponsor this week is CRAFTY SENTIMENTS with a prize of 3 digis of choice for the winner!

I hope to be back soon to list some challenges I'd like to enter!

We are THANKFUL at For Fun

This week at FOR FUN CHALLENGES we have a THANK YOU theme. As today is Thanksgiving in the USA we felt it was fitting to create thank yous as our theme this week.

We have the fabulous Paper Shelter as our sponsors, and my card has been created using one of their adorable images.

I embossed a piece of white card with a snowflakes design, and matted/layered it with navy cardstock...I love using dark colours to make everything 'pop' out at you. The main image is attached using foam tape for a 3D effect. I tied some navy funky fibres down the side, added a few tiny blue gems, a couple of die cut snowflakes (Quickutz) and a computer generated sentiment (using 'Almonte Snow' font) to complete. Inside the card the sentiment continues....'Snow' Much!

I know how busy this time of year is for everyone, but I am confident that time spent on a 'thank you' card will be time well spent, as we ALL have something/someone in our lives we are thankful for, and now is a perfect time to let them know :D

I am entering my card into the following challenges:

• Going Grey with Scrap Creations - THANK YOU!
• Ladybug Crafts Ink #47 - Winter Blues.
• The Stamping Boutique #20 - Thanksgiving...(I hope my 'thank you' card qualifies...?)
• Get Hippity with Ippity - Embossing.
• Heart Song Inspirations #25 - Circle OR Thank You (I went with thank you.)
• Kaboodle Doodles #94 - Baby, it's Cold Outside!
• The Corrosive Challenge #137 - Give Thanks.
• Creative Inspirations Paint - Thanks.
• Catch the Bug - Give Thanks.
• One Stop Craft #158 - Blue.
• Stamp, Scrap & Doodle - Embossing.
• Cardmadfairy's Digi Days #21 - Texture (embossing & fibres.)
• Card Makin Mamas #33 - Be Thankful.
• Jellypark Friends - Give Thanks.

Hope to see you over at FOR FUN CHALLENGES!

Festive Cheer at The Crafty Pad

What a glorious morning! The sun is shining, the sky is blue and it's insanely mild for November! Of course, that doesn't stop us from thinking ahead, and it's only just over 4 weeks until Christmas, so with that in mind, our challenge this week at The Crafty Pad is:

FESTIVE CHEER

We want to see you using TRADITIONAL Christmas colours...Red, Green, Gold, Silver.

Our sponsor is the wonderful Joanna Sheen with a £10 spend in her online shop.

The DT have all used one of Debbie's mega-cute festive character with cup images, which you can get your hands on here.

Here's my card: I kept the layout fairly simple, and the embellishments to a minimum too...just a few tiny gems and a shimmery ribbon.

I coloured my image with promarkers and cut it out. I added some Stickles to the froth. My papers are Dovecraft from a few years ago and I found a red/white polka dot one to match the mug in the image.

The sentiment ticket is also from The Crafty Pad Designs, part of a set of 11 Xmas sentiments, which you can find here.

I decorated the inside to match, and added some faux stitches using a white gel pen.

I do hope you will join us again this week, I love visiting your blogs and always manage to pick up some inspiration along the way!

I am entering my card into the following challenges:

• Phindy's Place #82 - Christmas Cards.
• Winter Wonderland - Christmas/use a cute image.
• Wags n Whiskers #67 - Christmas.
• Digi Doodle Shop #83 - Red & Green.
• Forever Friends - Christmas is Coming...something old (DPs) Something new (digital image.)
• Digital Tuesday #137 - Christmas Time.

 

It's RECIPE TIME at For Fun Challenges

Happy Hump-Day to you all! Is it just me, or has there been a distinct change in the weather recently? There's definately a feel of winter where we are, and it puts me in mind of ... dare I mention the 'C' word?!?!

Anyway, nothing to do with Christmas (whoops! Said it!) for the challenge this week at For Fun, we have a RECIPE for you; we want you to use:

1 food item

2 different backing papers

3 buttons, or brads, or eyelets

We have a new sponsor this week, it's Clear Dollar Stamps, and they have provided the images for the DT creations this week. The winner will receive a $10 gift certificate for digital images from their shop.

Here's my card:

I made a thank you card using this adorable 'sweet-stuff gumball' image. I am disappointed with the photo as the colours are much more vibrant than they look here :( I used some Doodlebug papers I've had in my stash forever and coloured the image with matching Promarkers.

I used a very simple layout, matted and layered on co-ordinating bazzill cardstock from my stash. I created the sentiments on the computer and used co-ordinating colours.

Finally I added 3 buttons from my stash to complete. So, there you have it, I stuck closely to the recipe and used 1 food item (gumball image,) 2 backing papers (1 striped, 1 spotty,) and 3 buttons (1 dark pink, 1 light pink & 1 yellow.)

Don't forget to pop over to the challenge blog and check out the work of our awesome DT! We look forward to seeing your creations this week.

I will enter my card into the following challenges:

• Anything Goes Challenge Blog #54 - Real Sweetie.
• The Corrosive Challenge #137 - Give Thanks.
• Paper Sundaes #95 - Digital Images.
• Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturdays - Thank You.
• Card Makin Mamas #33 - Thank You.
• Stampin with the Dragon - Food For Thought.

TSB Blog Hop Winner!

I want to thank EVERYONE who visited my blog and left me a comment, and took part in The Stamping Boutique Blog Hop this weekend...what a blast we had!

 As promised, we have one random winner from EVERY DT blog in the hop, and I am here to say CONGRATULATIONS to...............

 Mary J from Where's My Creativity? 

 Please contact Christy with your choice of image from The Stamping Boutique at: micahzane@yahoo.com

Don't forget, one lucky winner from the hop, who commented on ALL blogs will win the ENTIRE SET of Smoochies! Make sure you check The Stamping Boutique challenge blog to find out who the winner is...you never know...it could be YOU!

Have a great evening everyone!

White on White at THE CRAFTY PAD

Good Morning and welcome to another challenge at The Crafty Pad. This week we are having a

WHITE ON WHITE

challenge for you. The DT have all worked with the adorable 'Snowman Couple' available from The Crafty Pad Designs.

Our sponsor this week is DIGITAL DOWNLOADS with a £10 spend of choice.

Here's my card:

I added just a few highlights of pale pink and blue to the image, and cut out using a nestie. I added a pale blue nestie behind it, layered it, then threaded a bead-string of tiny clear beads through it.

I used my swirls cuttlebug embossing folder for the layers inside and out, and cut half the front off across the diagonal (sure there's a proper name for this style but it evades me!!)

I added some white lace, a die-cut snowflake, a few gems, a craft cardworks sentiment and a couple of my 'posh pins' to complete.

I do hope you will join us, it's a perfect time to get another one of those Christmas cards made and ticked off the list!!

I am entering my card into a few challenges:

• Cardmadfairy #21 - Texture.
• Cuddly Buddly #20 - Double Trouble.
• Fabulous Friday - Embossing.
• Crafting for all Seasons #13 - Texture.
• Crazy Amigo Challenge - Swirls.
• Tip Top Tuesday #59 - Anything Christmas.