Crafty Ann's Challenge Blog is moving

Hello to all you challenge followers out there, one of our favourite challenge blogs is moving house. Here is what Ann has to say:

The first challenge on this blog will be on Friday 27th August and in the meantime, I'm hoping you'll help me to spread the word.
How about the opportunity to win some digis??????? This is all you need to do:
Become a follower to be included in the followers draw
Post about our move on your blog and add our challenge blinkie to your side bar then come and add your link on Inlinkz to be included in the Inlinkz draw
I'll draw 1 winner from the followers and 1 from Inlinkz this saturday the 14th then I'll do the same thing on friday the 20th and finally the day the first challenge goes live on here, friday the 27th. That's 6 prizes on offer and as an added incentive to get in early, it means more opportunities to win if you do!
Each winner will receive 3 digis of their choice.
Our regular challenge will still happen on the Wordpress blog this Friday, the 13th so don't forget to join us there and don't forget to come back here on saturday to see if you're one of the first two winners. :D

I do hope you will join her at her new place and give her some support.

Music and movement - CD Sunday

Good morning everyone and as it's Sunday it's time for another challenge from us over at CD Sunday, now last week you did us proud with more entries than we've had before so I do hope you'll join in again this week.

This week it's music and movement and the image above was one of the first things that came into my head, I love the little girl following the teacher. This image and the backing paper designed to go with it comes from the Joanna Sheen cd, A Card Makers Year. This cd is broken up into months so you will always find an image suitable for the time of year you are working in but like the above image they can be used at any time, if you want to use the image I've used you will find it in September.

We are getting closer to the start of our sponsored challenges and I have to say there are some very generous people out there so you will just have to keep watching and joining in with us, it's just a pity I can't enter! Hope you have fun with our challenge this week and I am looking forward to visiting all your blogs to see your wonderful creations and don't forget you don't need to use a lot from a cd to join in with us but if you use something small like an embellishment please give credit to the cd it comes from, thanks.

Bah! Humbug! Challenge #29 - Paper Tearing

Over on Bah! Humbug! this week the challenge is paper tearing, well I was almost going to pass on this one because I have been hoarding this paper and haven't managed to cut into it never mind tear it! I decided at the last minute that I'd give it a go so here is the result, the panel is one of the new embossing folders from Docrafts which a friend brought into work for me today, she picked them up at the weekend which was very good of her.

I have used some green ink dusted lightly over the panel and around the edge of the paper both of which are layered onto red silk mirri card, I coloured a white ribbon with promarkers and put it across two sides of the card and added a bit of bling but decided it needed something else and so found some flowers and thought this colour picks up the background a bit. I added some gems into the centre of the flower and fastened it onto the card with pinflair gel, the gems were plain but I coloured them with the promarkers too.

It's a girl!

I've been asked to do a new baby card and this is what I've come up with, the image is coloured with promarkers as is the mat and the words so they are all the same colour. I love this MS punch and use it quite a bit, I have used the same backing paper inside with the verse and baby details printed in pink onto white paper and again punched down the sides, just hope she likes it!

CD Sunday - Anything Goes

Good morning all, well it's Sunday so that means that over on CD Sunday we have a brand new challenge for you and this week we have decided that you should have an easy week cos it's anything goes. You can make anything you want and as long as it has something from a cd on it it qualifies, this week I've used an image from My Craft Studio, The Collectors Edition. I know some people don't get on with this range of cd's and to be honest when I first got mine I wasn't overly impresed but not one for buying things to just sit on the shelf I played about and now I have a whole range of them and find them really useful.

I've made the image by finding the table in one of the folders and then bringing in the bear who is drawn to look like she's sitting on something, I know that you can change the colour to anything you want but I just happened to have a sheet of Basic Grey paper with the pink and yellow in it so left it as is. I cut a couple of circles out on my Cricut and put them through the Cuttlebug then I spritzed them lightly with some silkies and to finish off I put some gems around the outer edges, rather that use the same colour I put the brown on one side and pink on the other, the dotty ribbon is from my stash.

I do hope you'll join in with us this week and don't forget we are getting closer to the start of our sponsored challenges so keep checking for more info!

I'm entering this into Sir Stampalot - Bring on the Bling

Just a bit of fun for the Bah! Humbug! challenge

Over on the Bah! Humbug! blog this week the challenge is a winter scene, well I couldn't find any stamps that would fit the bill and didn't want to use a cd so I decided to have a bit of fun and play with the Cricut.

I painted the sky with the silkies and tried to make it uneven so it looked like it was snowfilled (yes I know a vivid imagination is needed here), I then took some glitter card and tore it to create the snow. All of the elements are cut from the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge, I have never used the dolls on this but all the extra elements are very useful. I cut everything from 160gsm paper and coloured it in, the trees, moon and sleigh have been coloured with silkies and the reindeer and present sack with promarkers, I have put a bit of extra glue under the reindeer and sleigh and popped on a bit of extra glitter to give them a bit of something to stand on so they were not just floating. This probably won't go anywhere but I just had a bit of fun making it.

CD Sunday - Meow

Hello all and as it's Sunday it means a new card and challenge from us all at
CD Sunday, this week is an easy one and we have just called it 'MEOW'.

I have used an image from Joanna Sheen's Jane Netley Mayhew Collection, I do like this cd as I can manage to find something for everyone on here, from the pretty like this image which is for a friend of mine to the big cats and other stuff you see on safari which makes great mens cards, (can you tell I'm a fan).

The image is backed matted onto a pale green card which is almost the same green as the colour in the background. Now the DP is from Basic Grey and I think it's so pretty it is part of the Euphoria collection and this one is elation. I have made a fancy band from my MS punches and the flowers were white but I coloured them with promarkers.

Hope you like my effort this week and you'll pop over to see us and join in, we love coming to your blogs and having a look what gems you produce.

Yet another Sweet Pea!

OK, I did a card yesterday for the Sweet Pea Stampers challenge and I mentioned I wasn't going to use pink but somehow that's how it turned out. Today I decided to do another one and this time used blue as the predominant colour. I put some of my blue silkies onto my craft mat and mixed a bit of water, I put this onto some paper and then used another blue and layered this on top. Once both these colours had made the paper wet enough I scrunched it up, dried it slightly and then laid it out and rubbed a little of the darker colour over the top.

I cut the frame behind the image out on the Cricut and layered this onto a piece of glossy card that I used the silkies on again but slightly different and although it doesn't really show in the picture it has a slight criss cross effect. The image is mostly done in silkies but I have also used a few promarkers, to finish the whole thing off I cut a flourish and then made a flower. The flower is made with black paper soaked with diluted silkies and screwed up, it has five layers and these are glued together and finished with a pearl.

I hope you like this one.

Sweet Pea Challenge - Black, White and another

Over on Sweet Pea Stampers this week the challenge is black, white and any other colour. Well I wasn't going to use pink but it somehow just happened, I have used promarkers to colour both the image and the flowers which were punched with a Martha Stewart punch. I have cut the image out this time and popped her onto a black mat then onto a pink mirri mat which doesn't show in the photo, the ribbon is also coloured with one of the promarkers as it was white to start with.

The flowers were stuck on with pinflair glue and then the leaves were pushed in behind them and I used a corner punch just to add a bit of interest to the otherwise plain mats.

DDTIO - Shabby Chic

Over on Frankie's blog Dragon's Dream the TIO challenge is shabby chic, well I'm not so sure of the chic bit but this does look a bit shabby so hopefully it will be ok.
I started with cream card which I lightly coloured with a copic marker in waterlily, I then stamped a crackle background with tattered rose distress ink, it doesn't show in the picture but it's there. I used pumice stone distress ink around the edges and to stamp the two theatre masks, the rest of the stamping is done in another distress ink, rusty nail this time. The lace is coloured with the tattered rose ink and then I remembered I had some pink and brown ribbon so added a bit of that, the flower I made from 160gsm paper coloured with yet more distress ink. I have had the flat back pearls for ages so just thought I should use them too and finally there is just a bit of dazzle dust on the petals of the flower.

CD Sunday Challenge - Looks Like Summer

Over on CD Sunday this week we would like you to use the theme looks like summer as your starting point. As usual you can make anything you like as long there is an element that comes from a cd.

This week I have used the Pamela West cd as there are several images on there that would fit the bill, I love the idea of lying in a hammock with a good book in such beautiful surroundings, I added a border down each side punched with a MS punch and then I stamped out the basket and the dovecot just to add a bit of interest.

Hope you can come over and join us this week, we love coming and looking at your work. Check out the other team members blogs for more inspiration

Wendy
Cynthia
Christine
Doreen
Anne
Tess

Bah! Humbug! - Christmas Stockings

The challenge over on Bah! Humbug! this week is christmas stockings, sorry Ann but my sewing skills although ok are on hold at the moment so I did a card instead. I have had this stamp for years and can't remember where I got it from but it has been in a box unused so this is a perfect time to bring it out. A fairly simple card, I have used a backing paper from Season's Greetings cd and the flourish I cut on the cricut, I stamped the merry christmas with versamark and embossed with red, and that is basically it - oh and the image is coloured with promarkers.

Sweet Pea again

This is a card I made for a forum swap, I know my partner has got the card now so I am safe to show you it. The backing paper is printed from a cd that wasn't on general release, I sprayed it with sparkle and shine but because the nozzle got stuck it is a bit on the heavy handed side. I cut the mats on my Cricut and the bottom one I coloured with my silkies to match the dress of the fairy. The flowers were made from scalloped circles which were soaked with watered down silkies and scrumpled up then glued together, I put a sparkly gem in the centre and dabs of glue on the petals which I then dusted with dazzle dust, finally the sentiment is from Sweet Pea Stamps too, I bought a grab bag which had 6 sentiments in for $1.50, I cut this out with one of my nesties but because I wanted a very small border I cut the same size twice and trimmed on the embossing line of the top one and coloured the underneath one with more silkies.

I quite enjoyed doing this one and will be making more flowers this way as they are just a bit different and so easy to do.

Another Sweet Pea card

I am loving these Sweet Pea images and this time I've combined it with a couple of challenges, over on Rainbow Lady's blog the challenge is Lavender and Lace and on the Alphabet blog the letter this week is L and they have chosen lace.

I have coloured the image in with promarkers and just highlighted around the moon with stickles, the backing paper is from a pad I bought from Joanna Sheen and usually just sits in a drawer as I always forget I've got it. The card is coloured with milled lavender distress ink as is the lacy strip and the flourish. I have yet to decide on my greeting so this has to be added later, I've just finished off with some stones for a bit of bling.

Crafty Ann's challenge - shaped easel card

Well I've only had two weeks to do this but here I am at the last minute with my entry for Crafty Ann's fortnightly challenge.

I cut the heart shaped card out on the Cricut as well as the cake and the banner, to be honest I don't use the machine as much as I should and have set myself a challenge to use it more often. I cut the backing paper from a sheet of Basic Grey paper from the Two Scoops range and this one is called aptly enough Cupid's Arrow. I used a bit of distress ink around the base layer in tattered rose and then thought it would be good to use it on the edge of the banner. The little hearts around the top were bought from ebay a while ago to use on some wedding invitations but we had a change of mind so they will get used on other things. To finish the cake off I added a bit of dazzle dust to the edges of the cake and on the two hearts at the top. Not my usual style of card but it does you good to have a play and try something different.

Bah! Humbug! Challenge # 26 Card for a friend

Over on Bah! Humbug! this week it's a special card for a friend, this card is an 8x8 inch and is printed on to silver inkjet film. It is a nightmare to photograph so it isn't shown off to it's best, I have attached velvet ribbon and a tassel and the greeting is also printed onto the same film, I have layered it onto holographic card just to give it some substance as it is very flimsy.

CD Sunday Challenge # 12 - Kind Thoughts

Over on CD Sunday this week we would like you to incorporate some kind thoughts, for this challenge I have made a Christmas card. The quote comes from a booklet I bought a few years ago and then put it away and I couldn't find it, well it has turned up again so I am going to be using it this year for some of my cards, the booklet is cardmakers christmas card quotes from HOTP. My top backing paper I made using tumbled glass distress ink and stamped with a shooting star in broken china which isn't really showing up in this picture, the two snowflakes are cut from the same paper. The larger backing paper is from the Artylicious cd Seasons Greetings, once I had printed this out it was abit too blue to go with the paper I'd made so I used my colour duster to go over it with the tumbled glass ink.

I do hope you can manage to join in with us this week we love to visit your blogs and see your fabulous creations.

Now for something completely different

I haven't been making many cards recently and this is the reason, my friend is having a baby which is due in September so I started this shawl a couple of months ago to give myself plenty of time. I have really enjoyed doing it and as I haven't had a crochet hook in my hands for over 15 years think I've not done too bad a job on this. The shawl is quite large and is done in 4ply, in fact I like it so much I don't want it to go but it will be well cared for so don't really mind.

I hope now to catch up on things I should have been doing and get a lot more crafting done.

Bah! Humbug! Challenge # 25 Less is more

Over on Bah! Humbug! this week the theme is Less is More, well you can't get much less that an embossed piece of card layered onto a piece of paper. I did brayer some blue silkies onto the inside of the embossing folder before I put the card in but it doesn't really show up in the picture. I embossed the greeting in silver and attached to the card with a dinky bulldog clip I found when I went to the Port Sunlight show earlier in the year.

Just For You - CD Sunday Challenge no 11

It's Sunday again and over on CD Sunday we would like you to join us in creating something with the theme Just For You, it doesn't have to be a card it can be anything as long as you use something from a cd on it.

This week I have used the Artylicious cd Fantasy Floral, now this is a fairly old cd but so very useful. I printed out the backing paper and then used milled lavender to tone it down a bit. The fancy mat was cut on the Cricut and layered with a bit of the left over backing paper, the image is a SweetPea stamp and is coloured with promarkers and lightly sprayed with spray and sparkle in silver.

I have added a lovely glitter flower from Flora Dooles and the little black gems I have had for an age and think I bought them from Joanna Sheen.

I do hope you will come on over and join in with us this week, it would be lovely to see you.