Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 61 Monochrome Magic

For my first ever hosted challenge since I joined the DT I really didn't have to think too hard about what I wanted to do.  I love monochromatic projects and for that reason I have based my challenge around that theme. You can use any colour you choose, it doesn't have to be black, but I want to see your creations made using only shades of one colour. I will allow highlights of one different colour but it must not be a major player in your project. You can also, of course, use skin tones and hair, but other than that please stick to the one colour.

Any creations entered which do not meet the criteria listed above will not be eligible for our fabulous prizes nor for one of our Top 5 spots. So please ensure your challenge meets the criteria if you don't want to miss out. We are seeing an increasing number of entrants who are either not reading our rules, or properly reading what we are challenging you to do and as we need to be fair to those people who do play by the rules we need to be strict with those who don't.

Please also remember we only accept entries from people who have entered NO MORE THAN FIFTEEN CHALLENGES, so 14 plus this one.

We are sponsored for this challenge by



IndigoBlu are an English rubber stamp company, offering high quality, deep etched, red rubber stamps with unique designs around 'Quintessentially English' themes.
The revolutionary FlitterGlu is an IndigoBlu product - the best Glu for stamping. Works with any stamps and is water soluble. Great for using with Flake or Glitter...
They also offer a variety of unusual embellishments and wooden blanks in their online store to compliment their stamps...
Please visit at www.IndigoBlu.com

and we have a fabulous prize on offer from them.....

It's a two parter and for those of you who watch Create and Craft TV you will know what an absolutely fantastic prize this is as it has sold out each time it has come to air.
Part One
IndigoBlu FlitterGlu Starter Kit



Starter Kit with everything you need to start using FlitterGlu
Contains:
FlitterGlu
Phat Foam
Scoochy sponge
Easy peasy stamp cleaner
Mega-Flake Winter Dawn
Plus - FlitterGlu Hints and Tips Sheet

Part Two

The gorgeous 'Love Is' stamp

We are also sponsored by

Digi Doodle Shop
Who are offering a $10 Gift Certificate for their Store to the challenge winner



Digi Doodle Shop is the results of a mother and daughter’s love for the arts and crafts. It was started a little over 3 years ago with a little more than 100 stamps, and has since then grown to almost 500 stamps. Joy (the mother of this team) designs realistic images, while Judy (aka/daughter) loves the “fun side of life”, and create images with a cartoon flair. Having these two complimenting styles have enabled Digi Doodle Shop to offer a wide variety of stamps.

It is a real honor and pleasure to sponsor this challenge, and we look forward to seeing all the amazing creations. We thank the design team for their incredible creations, and wish all the participants the very best of luck in this challenge.

Thank you so much for having us, and again the very best of luck to all of you.
Sincerely,
Judy and Joy.

For my card I chose to use black and white, but instead of my usual black upon white I thought I would challenge myself as well as you and use white upon black for a change!  This is what I came up with:

The fairy is one of my favourite Lili of the Valley stamps which I stamped onto black card using Archival Brilliance Moonlight White and then embossed using clear embossing powder.  I also used the same ink to colour in the fairy.  The roses and flourishes are made from a Marianne Design Creatables die and the white glitter paper was cut with a Spellbinders border die.  I added some tiny black gems to the border strip as a bit of extra bling.  The following two photos show the card in more detail:

I had great fun making this card and I do hope you all enjoy my challenge as much as I did.  I can't wait to see what you all come up with!  If you need any more inspiration, please check out the rest of the DT's blogs.  The links are on the right hand side of this page and they have come up with some truly stunning projects!

Good luck to everyone.

Love,

Beth. xxx

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 60 Use Beads

The challenge this time at Crafty Cardmakers is hosted by Jack.

"For this challenge I would like to see beads used. You can make a project using just beads or use them as embellishments on something you make. The important thing is that beads are there for all to see."

We are kindly sponsored for this challenge by The Stampman (and Lady of course!) who are offering the winner a £10 voucher for their store, you can spend this online, in the shop or if you're lucky enough to see them at a show! They have a ton of items in store, enough to tickle any crafty taste bud.

and

Di's Digi Downloads 

$10 Gift Voucher
Di says, "I have been drawing since a child and studied graphics at College many years ago, I now work as a Medical photographer part time but my love was always drawing. I started cardmaking about 4yrs ago when I bought my daughter a cardmaking kit which we did together, but I’m afraid I got the bug! My daughter preferred scrapbooking. I then started looking online at other blogs and this then became my passion and I loved sharing my cards with likeminded people.

I love stamping and loved finding images, but sometimes I could not find what I wanted so I started to draw myself.

This then has become my second addiction and I have never looked back, I love thinking of new images, and its just fabulous to see others take them and make them into beautiful works of art. Long may it continue!"

Some fab prizes on offer, so please come along and join in the fun!

I was really struggling to come up with an idea for this challenge as I'm not good with beads.  I find them too small for me to see clearly with my dodgy eyesight, but having seen the other wonderful creations by my fellow DT members was determined to have a play and this is what I came up with:

Now you're probably wondering where the beads are?  If you look closely at the top of the pin I've used as a sceptre you can see five tiny ones!  The stamps are from the Kanban Vivienne range stamped onto Clarity cardstock and coloured in with promarkers and a Sakura gold pen.  The flowers are hand made by cutting rough circles of thin card and scrunching them to within an inch of their lives before shaping and securing the layers with a small brad.  The background paper was printed by me as was the 'Queen for a day' sentiment.  The gold flourishes are from a Marianne Design Creatables die.

If you need any further inspiration, please pay a visit to the rest of the DT's blogs.  The links are over on the right.  They have created some wonderful items and you are sure to find lots of ideas for your own projects.

Thank you for playing along and good luck everyone!

Love,
Beth. xxx

Less is More ~ Week 50 ~ Birds

It's been a while since I joined in with a challenge over at the 'Less is More' blog.  Partly because I'm not very good at the LIM principle although I do love it, and partly through lack of play time.  However, when I saw that their new challenge involves birds I felt I had to have another try, especially as I've finally caved in and bought some Distress Inks!

Here is the card I made:

I masked off a panel and used Peeled Paint and Tattered Rose Distress inks and then stamped a flower border and some wee birds from the Kanban 'Peacock' set of stamps using Adirondack Pitch Black dye based ink.  The sentiment came from the same set of stamps.  I'm not totally happy with the positioning of the panel.  I think it's a little too far to the left, but on the whole I'm pleased with the overall look of the card, and my stamping went well, just for a change!

Enjoy the rest of Monday evening and thank you for looking.

Love,

Beth. xxx

Romantic Lady

Good evening bloggers!  I hope you've had a lovely Saturday and are looking forward to a relaxing Sunday?

A friend of mine at Craft Telly Forum celebrated her birthday yesterday (yes, on Friday 13th!  Eeek!) and as a member of one of the card swaps I have joined, naturally I made a card for her.  I wanted to make something which was not my usual style (whatever that is) and decided to go for something more delicate than my normal creations.  This is what I came up with:

The image was a copyright free one I found on the internet and printed out myself and highlighted the pearls on her dress with a touch of glitter.  Well, you've gotta have a little bling, don't you?  The backing paper was also printed by me.  The doily was originally white so I inked the edges in pink to match the roses in the main image and the pink flowers I got from Wild Orchid Crafts.  Here is the card in close up:

I really enjoyed making this card for such a talented lady as Paula and I'm delighted to say that she loved it.  If you get five minutes, please pop over to her blog, Ephemera's Attic and check out the gorgeous creations she has on display there.

Well, that's me done for Saturday evening.  I'm off for a glass of wine or two before bed.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Love,

Beth. xxx

I have entered this card in Challenge #12 - Anything Goes Using Your New Stash at Fashionable Stamping Challenges and the new stash I used was the paper doily.

Absent Friends

Hello fellow bloggers.  I hope you've had a good week?  Mine has been pretty naff.  Everything that could go wrong at work has done so and even my birthday last Tuesday was a bit of a damp squib as I had to work late.  The highlight was opening all the cards I received from my birthday swap friends over at Craft Telly Forum.  They were all beautiful and made my birthday much more special than it would have otherwise been.

Anyway, enough of my yakking on.  A very dear friend of mine has been going through a rough patch and I haven't been able to get in touch via our usual means.  Several of our mutual friends have decided to get together and post her a whole bunch of hand crafted cards just to let her know that we are thinking of her and this is the card I have made:

I made the background by stamping with Versamark a piece of Clarity card using one of my favourite Marion Emberson stamps which I embossed with gold embossing powder.  I then used Peeled Paint distress ink to colour in the background.  The wooden fan/leaf shape is something I discovered in a box of pot pourri that I have had for a while.  The added bonus of using that is it smells good!  The sentiment is just printed out on my PC.  It's a simple card, but I love the way it turned out.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Love,

Beth. xxx

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 59 No Flowers

The challenge at Crafty Cardmakers this time is hosted by Fiona

You can use flower Backing Paper, flowers in your image or even a flower as an image, but NOT any flower embellishments.

We are sponsored today by ONE STOP CARD CRAFTS who are offering a £10 voucher for their store as a prize.

"At One Stop Card Crafts we have a big range of ever changing discount making and card making craft supplies.

We are always adding to our range of craft supplies which are ideal for making handmade greeting cards, do-it-yourself invitations scrapbook pages, altered items and much more.

Our card making craft supplies include free UK postage, our popular discount scheme and quick service means our customers keep coming back for more.

Our prices are very competitive and this & makes us an ideal place to buy your card making supplies online. Some of our new products include Petaloo flower layers, Ranger Glitter Glue and Martha Stewart Punches. We also host a regular challenge at http://onestopcraftchallenge.blogspot.com/"

Digi Doodle Shop

$10 gift Certificate for the store

For this challenge I chose a fabulous digi stamp called "Let's Do Lunch" from one of our new sponsors Digi Doodle Shop.

I paper pieced the piggies and their trough and the rest of the image was coloured in using Promarkers.  The corner of the card was stamped with a La Blanche foam stamp and embossed in bright gold embossing powder and I popped a few lime green gems to give a little extra highlight.  The sentiment was attached with a plaited length of plain old garden twine which I made into a tassel.  The inside of the card reads "It's your birthday, so you're allowed to pig out!"  It was made with a dieting friend in mind,  I sure hope she's not offended!

It's quite a challenge to create a card without using any floral embellishments, and we would love to see how you all get along, so get creating and give it a whirl!  If you are in need of inspiration check out the rest of the DT ideas.  You can find links to their blogs over on the right hand side of the page.

Love,

Beth. xxx

New DT Members

We had lots of amazing entrants to join our Design Team, and finally we reached a decision. Unfortunately we couldn’t take everyone on, but thank each and every one of you for applying.

Without further ado (insert drum roll here) the following are now official members of our DT ~ Yay!

Please take a moment or two to visit their blogs. They have produced some amazing work and you are bound to become inspired!

Aj

Alan

Anne

Annette

Marie

Mynette

Yvonne

I am sure they will fit in brilliantly with the rest of the team and look forward to working with them.

Don’t forget we will be back next Monday 9th January with our first challenge of 2012 and we look forward to seeing all your lovely entries. Until then everyone at Crafty Cardmakers would like to wish you all a fabulous and creative 2012.

See you all on Monday with your fabulous entries for the new challenge :-)

Love,

Beth. xxx