Party Time Lucy

Another CC Designs cutie to show off today... this is Party Time Lucy and she's available now at All That Scraps.  You can check out some more inspiration using the new digistamps (most are available as rubber too) at the All That Scraps Blog... my teamies have been very busy too :-)

I've used the Sketch and Stash sketch this time, you know how much I love a good sketch :-)  I've used a doily as the circular element, I inked the edges to tone it in a bit better with the Inque Boutique (Cabana collection) papers.  Paper Play Challenges has Lovely Lace as its challenge, I'm hoping my lacy doily gets me in there.
I used both Prismacolor pencils and Copics to colour the image.  The skin and hair are coloured with Copics and the rest is coloured with Prismacolors, I feel I'm improving with my pencil colouring - which was my "challenge to self" so I'm happy!
There's glossy accents on her hair bobbles and shoes... you gotta have patent shoes when you're off to a party!!  Papertake Weekly has Happy Highlights as its theme so I'm in there.  Crazy 4 Challenges has Layer It On, plenty of layers here (easy peasy, I LOVE my layers!) so I'm entering there too.
I made a pin to go in the floral arrangement (bit of a grand name for a couple of flowers, I admit), I used a crystal bead and pearls from my stash, I coloured one of them with a Copic to get the right shade of pink. 
The flowers are from a spray I got in a discount store, inked up for depth of colour the swirls were cut with a Marianne D die.  The Paper Shelter has Swirls and Pearls and Crafty Cardmakers has "Beads" for their challenge themes, so I'm in there.  Paper Crafting Journey has Floral and Moving Along With The Times has Blooming Marvellous, there's flowers on my paper as well as my "glue-ons", so I'm in there too.  Totally Papercrafts has Pearls and Lace as its theme, as long as my lace doily counts, I'm in there as well!
I finished the front of the card off with a few bits of Card Candi, a sticker sentiment on an offcut of card and heart brads on the corners of the image panel; Allsorts Challenges wants us to use one or more hearts, they're little but they're there, I'm in.
The inside of the card is finished with paper from the front, the edge of the pink card is punched with Martha Stewarts Modern Garland edger punch.  I added a couple more of the Marianne D swirls and added a Card Candi centre to one of the flowers of the paper.  My Time to Craft has use your Favourite Embellishment as its theme; I'm not sure what my favourite embellishment is, but most of the things I love to use are on here, including  nice paper!!
Simon Says Challenge and Bizzy Becs both have Anything Goes challenges so I'm entering there too.
Well that's about it for "Party Time Lucy" and me.  I'm off now to make a GDT card for a challenge next week which has a theme I would normally avoid like the plague, so the challenge is on me, as they say :-)  I'll be back in a day or so; February is very celebration-heavy for me, so lots of cards... on the cards!! Oh, very punny Donna, groan!  Until next time, Happy Crafting, Donna

Cheeky Monkey

Firstly HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY to all my Aussie mates.  We had an absolute scorcher here today (41.5C or 107F), in fact we're in a record breaking heatwave (the definition of a heatwave is five days over 35C) we're on the fourth day over 38C... with the next FIVE days forecast 38+, two of them over 42C!!!  I love my air conditioner :-)
The stamp I have to show you today is another one just released by CC Designs, available now over at All That Scraps.  This is "Monkey Zoo", reference to the good old birthday song: Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you ......you look like a monkey, and you live in a zoo" (or "and you look like one too" if you're feeling particularly mean, lol)

I still haven't quite worked out where to take my photos now (with my previous "space" taken up with new furniture), so again the photos are a little bit dark - apologies :-)  It's certainly not dark where I'm taking them, but the furniture is black and seems to throwing the camera off a bit.

The Gem of a Challenge theme is this great sketch... I love a good sketch! Craft Your Passion  has a Colour Bingo challenge (which I thought was pretty cool!), I've used the first line with the pink purple and green, though there's yellow orange and brown in there too - so you pick!  The image panel is cut with Nestabilities Labels Three, the mats are from American Crafts card in Salmon, inked up with purple Kaisercraft ink.  I coloured my cheeky monkey with Copics, adding some Stickles to his party hat and around the edge of the sentiment (which is computer generated).

Deep Ocean Challenge has Sparkling/Glitter as its theme so I'm entering there, and Papertake Weekly has Happy Highlights (highlight something with glitter or gloss etc) so I'm entering there too.

The papers are a digital download from Gina Jane, I got a slightly different kit to the one I've linked, but both the gorgeous papers are in the linked kit.  Stamptacular Sunday Challenge has Seeing Spots as their challenge, so I'm entering there.

Crazy 4 Challenges  theme is For a Child's Birthday, so my little monkey's there too.

  The inside of the card is finished with papers from the front, and a sentiment from CC Designs Birthday Logo Sentiments set just released, cut with Nestabilities Scalloped Circles, matted on another Scalloped Circle then matted on a Lacey Circle (also from Nestabilities).  The pearls are from my stash, the little cupcakes on the inside are from the Gina Jane kit sized down to scale and popped up on foam dots.

Bizzy Becs, Cupcake Craftroom and Simon Says Challenge all have Anything Goes themes, so I'll be entering there too.  Don't forget to check out the rest of my teamies inspiration over at the All That Scraps Blog, too cute!  I'll be back tomorrow with another review for All That Scraps, until then Happy Crafting, Donna

Dinosaurs Roam the Here Come The Boys blog

Time for a new challenge over at Here Come The Boys.... and the theme is dinosaurs.  Now when I first saw the theme I was going to go down the "it's your birthday, you old dinosaur" route, but then I found these cute as can be digis over at Dustin Pikes Doodle Dragon Studios and went "for a little lad" instead :-)

Obviously I've gone for an easel card, I just like them!  Crazy 4 Challenges has For a Child's Birthday as its theme this time, so I'm entering there.
The image is seriously good value; it's part of a set called Dino Train, with all these images, and it's on sale at the moment at 50c (which is about 30p if you're in the UK).  There are loads more sets and individual images on sale, really worth a looksie (just so you know, I don't have any affilliation with these guys, I just love to share a bargain, lol)
I coloured the image with Copics and drew the tracks in with fineliner, there's no glitter or gloss or bling - and only the image panel is popped up - really the simplest of cards :-)  Charisma Cardz has a Clean and Simple challenge, so I'm entering there.   Crafty Cardmakers has a No Flowers theme - I'm in there too!!
The fabulous dinosaur paper was part of my 2010 Christmas gift from my son Chris, he got it from Starfish Lane, where he buys just about all my gifts, including Christmas 2011 :-) 
The green cardstock has raised dots on it and the orange is from American Crafts.  
The die cut flourish and orange circle and tab (oh, I lied, they're glittery!) were in a set I got in the bargain-bin at BigW, I think it's from Die Cuts With a View. The wording is from a sticker sheet and the button is from my stash.
Cards for Men has Boys and Their Toys as its theme, I'm sure this little train qualifies me to enter there :-) Cupcake Craftroom and Bizzy Becs have Anything Goes... I'm absolutely sure I can enter there, lol.

I'm sorry my photos seem a bit fuzzy, we've bought new furniture for the al fresco area (my hubby's idea, so he's had a win, and it looks really nice so I've had one, lol) and the "spot on the wall" I use to take photos is shaded now... I'll have to adjust :-)  I'll pop a pic of my new-look outdoor area up soon, I'm very pleased with it and finally consider it "finished".
Don't forget to pop over to the Here Come The Boys blog and check out the rest of the DT inspiration, some real cuties there!  Hope you have a go at the challenge too :-)  Until next time, Happy Crafting, Donna

Moovalous Magic at All That Scraps

Here I am again with a new digistamp from CC Designs, this is from the Animal Crackers Collection and it's called "Moovalous", isn't it "moovalous"?!!  It's available now at All That Scraps

The little "happy birthday" stamp is also a new digistamp from All That Scraps, it's one of the Birthday Logo Sentiments. I punched around the edge with my tiny circle punch to give it the "right" edge treatment.
I used the sketch from Sketch Saturday, I've used a rectangle instead of a circle, but otherwise it's pretty much intact.  I punched the bottom edge of the horizontal panel with Fiskars Apron Lace punch, it's pretty hard to see but definitely there!  
I coloured the image with Copics, Make It Colourful has "Colour blades of grass" as its theme, I've "done" grass, so I'm in there.  The Pink Elephant has Favourite Colours as its theme, orange is one of my faves, and green and gold are the colours of Aussie (well at least in sports terms!) so I'm entering there.
The "Party" sentiment is computer generated, I'll have it on my freebies page as soon as I get the chance to Photoshop it, it comes in an outline font so you can colour it up how you like.  The orange and green cardstock are really glittery, again it's hard to see in the photo, but they look great IRL.  Sweet Stampin' has All That Glitters as its theme, so I'm entering there and Some Odd Girl has Bling it up so I'm in there too.
The other papers are from DCWV All Glittered Up mat stack, I've had it for years and keep forgetting about it, I thought the animal print was perfect!  Stampin' for the Weekend wants us to use something that was in our stash last year, so I'm in there.
I had finished the card, with buttons from my stash, then did a bit of clearing up and moved my feathers stash from one jar to another (my hubby refers to it as shifting chairs on the Titanic!) when I realized that these ones matched my colours perfectly... so the card now has feathers!!  Stamptacular Sunday Challenge this time around is "Texture Please, use at least two textures" I have smooth card, bumpy glittery card and soft tickly feathers - I'm in!  Crafty Cardmakers wants us to use No Flowers of Any Kind... not a flower to be seen, I'm in there too.
I finished the inside of the card with papers from the front (as always!) and added a black flat backed pearl to the centre of a button to finish it off.  My photo's really dark, but you get the drift :-)
I think the image has a real summery feel to it, (regardless of all that black!) so I'm entering the Copic Oz challenge (to make a summer card), and Sundays with Chrissy who want us to Beat the Mid Winter Blues!  Cupcake Craftroom and Bizzy Becs both have Anything Goes challenges... definitely in there.
That's it for today, do pop over to the All That Scraps Blog and check out my fellow teamies lovely work.  I'll be back on Sunday with the next Here Come The Boys Challenge, unless I get time tomorrow to get something finished, rofl...time? who gets time?  Until then, whenever it is, Happy Crafting, Donna

Birthday Lucy Gift Bag and Tag

I have another new digistamp by CC Designs to show today... this is Birthday Lucy and you can get yours at All That Scraps.  Instead of a card, I've made a gift bag and little tag set.

I've never made a gift bag before. Craft Your Passion has "In the bag or box" as it's challenge this time (you have to make your own, not decorate a shop-bought one!) and it got me thinking... so I found a template on the net, tweaked it up a bit (to make it a little wider and taller) and voila!   

I used a sheet from the DCWV Mariposa 12" pad for the bag, and cut the butterfly from the leftovers using Martha Stewart's Large Monarch punch, sparkling it up a bit with Diamond Stickles and adding some pearl antenna.
The image panel is cut using Nestabilities Classic Oval die, the mat is cut with Nestabilities Scalloped Oval die from American Crafts cardstock and embossed with Cuttlebugs Swiss Dots folder.  The strip around the bag is from the same cardstock, embossed with the same folder and the edge punched with EK Success Scroll and Hearts slimline punch.  Sugar Creek Hollow has Embossing as its theme, there's not a lot of embossing here... but there is some, so I'm in!
The image is coloured with Copics, as is the cute little tag, the stamp is another new digi from CC Designs, this is from the Birthday Logos sheet.  I cut the mat for it using fancy scissors (which have been sitting in one of my craft boxes for years, nice to crack them out!)   The eyelet is from Fiskars, I got an eyelet setting kit for Christmas and used this opportunity to test it out; one on the tag and four on the bag; with varying degrees of success I might add!     The lace is from my stash, as is the organza ribbon (which is actually recycled from gift wrapping - lucky for me my son Chris "does" great wrapping, and is a constant source of ribbon and paper for me, lol)  Cutie Pie Challenge is Ribbon and Lace, I've got both so I'm in!  Stampin' for the Weekend has Out With the Old (use some of your old stash) as its challenge, so I'm entering there too.

Crafty Cardmakers has No Flowers of Any Kind as its theme - no flowers here :-)  Stamptacular Sunday Challenge has Texture Please, I've got a few different textures so I'm entering there, both Bizzy Becs and Cupcake Craftroom have Anything Goes challenges so I'm in there too.  Crafty Emma's Store has "Vintage Dahling" as its theme, I'm not sure if this is vintage enough but it feels vintagey to me, so I'm entering there too.
That's it for today, do pop over to the All That Scraps Blog and check out some more eye candy using these lovely new digis... and I'll be back tomorrow with another project that uses a super cute image.  Until then, Happy Crafting, Donna

Surprise Lucy or a Surprise for Lucy??

Today I have another new digital stamp from CC Designs to show you, this is Surprise Lucy and she's available at All That Scraps ...NOW!!

I coloured the image with Copics and added Stickles to the streamers. My Mums Craft Shop Challenge is Here Come The Girls...so here comes Lucy! 
The patterned papers are from Kaisercraft (yes, again!) this is the Bubblegum Hills collection, and the gorgeous background paper with it's raised metallic spots is part of my Christmas gift from son Chris -who got it from the fabulous Starfish Lane, along with some other lovely papers that you'll see over the next few months :-)  The Sweet Stampin' challenge is Spots and Dots and Simon Says and Moving Along With The Times both have "Spots and or Stripes", my spotty number is getting me in to these challenges.  Crafty Creations, Crafty Calendar, and Crazy 4 Challenges and  Cupcake Craft Challenges all want us to use something New; along with this brand new image my yummy paper is new, so I'm in!
I used the sketch from Totally Gorjuss, a nice straightforward one which suits me fine :-)
I cut the image panel out with Nestabilities Labels Nine. and as I used the largest one in the set, I freehanded the mat behind it from blue card by American Crafts.  Digital Tuesday has Punch it Out and Papertake Weekly has "Die Cute" (use a die and make it cute, tick tick) so I'm entering there.

I used the photo inspiration over at Cupcake Inspirations; I love the colours and thought it was perfect for this image, so suited to a little girl's card.  Celebrate The Occassion has Child's birthday as its theme so I'm entering there too.  I love the bold colours , it's summer here and I think this card screams summer-colour. The current challenge over at Sundays with Chrissy is Beat the mid winter blues and at Copic Oz it's Summer, so I'm entering there.
The sentiment is a digi from Bizzy Becs.  It comes on a sheet with 20 others (all different) and I use the crop function in Word to isolate the one I want to print.  There's loads of sheets to choose from... and they're on special at the moment, so are extra good value :-)  I coloured it with Copics and cut it out freehand.
I used a nice matt pink button from my stash and bakers twine I won in a candy last year... the first bit of candy I ever won (thanks Tracy, it's still going strong!)
 Crafty Emma's Store challenge is an Anything Goes one, so I'm definitely entering that, All That Scraps Challenge is Anything Goes too... I can't enter - but YOU can :-) 
This card is doing double duty as a gift card holder so I finished the inside (using papers from the front, as usual) with a pocket to hold the gift card (which I haven't bought yet so I had to use one of my loyalty cards as a prop for this photo, lol)  Instead of just slipping the card in to the pocket, I made a simple tag and attached the card to it with removable tape... when I get time I may doll the tag up a bit :-) I mainly wanted to add the eyelet because I got a set of eyelet setters and some eyelets for Christmas and have been dying to try them out... may need a little practice, methinks!
Anyway, that's it for today, don't forget you can check out the rest of the digi teams offerings over at the All That Scraps blog.  I'll have more of the new CC Designs to show next week,  but I'll be back in a day or so with "something".  Hope to see you back here soon' until then, Happy Crafting, Donna

Blowing Kisses to you

My card today features a new digital stamp by CC Designs, available now from All That Scraps.

Christine has been a very busy girl and there are quite a few new images being showcased on the All That Scraps blog, I'll be showing six or seven of them over the next couple of weeks, starting today with "Blowing Hearts" one of the new Swiss Pixies.
I coloured the image with Copics, adding red Stickles to the hearts and some Diamond Stickles to her hairslide.

I've used the sketch from Totally Papercrafts, love a good sketch - but you knew that, right?
The papers are from Kaisercraft's Made With Love collection, I've had the pad for ages and I'm not sure you can still get it.  It's covered with hearts in all sorts of colours and sizes, The Pink Elephant has Hearts as its challenge this time, so I'm entering there.  
Both the yellow background card and the lilac cardstock I used for matting are from American Crafts, I cut the panel behind the image with Nestabilities Fleur De Lis Rectangles that I got for Christmas (thanks darling). Papertake Weekly has Die "Cute" (clever name ladies) for their challenge; I've used a die and this is cute so I'm in.  The Crafty Calendar, Cupcake Craft Challenges and Crafty Creations all have "use something new" for their challenge this time, so I'm entering those challenges too.
The ticket sentiment is a digi from Bizzy Becs, it comes on a sheet of 21, all with different sentiments and they're on special at the moment - BARGAIN!!  I just use the crop function in word to isolate out the ones I want to print and fit them into all the little bits of card that would otherwise be wasted when you print your images.  My Time to Craft has Hugs and Kisses as their challenge theme; how much more appropriate can I get, lol.

The flowers are from my stash, with the lighter pink one punched and embossed with a Nellie Snellen punch.  The foliage punch is Pine Branch by Martha Stewart. Digital Tuesday has Punch it Out for their challenge, so I'm in there too.  The purple flower ribbon "cross" between the four foam dotted paper panels is from my stash (it's not really ribbon but I don't know what to call it!), as are the rhinestones, twine and button.

As usual, the inside of the card uses elements from the front.  I used more of the papers, Martha Stewart's Lace Heart edge punch... another Christmas present (thanks Mum and Dad) and a chunky pink button from my stash.

Both Crafty Emma's Store and Bizzy Becs have Anything Goes challenges, so I'm entering there too.

Well that's it for today, don't forget you can pop over to the All That Scraps blog to have a peep at what my digi teamies have made. I'll be back tomorrow with more cuteness, I'd love to have you come back then and see what I've come up with. Until then, Happy Crafting, Donna xx

Sketch Time at Here Come The Boys

Well, this is my first post for 2012 so HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  Hope your "silly season" was filled with love and laughter and  that 2012 brings all that you wish for.
What better way to start my blogging: I love a good sketch, and that's just what we've got for you to follow at the Here Come The Boys challenge.  

Anyway, I'd better show off the fabulous sketch that we have for you: nice isn't it?!  
I've followed it pretty much literally, pop over to the Here Come The Boys blog and check out my teamies renditions; it's amazing how different the same sketch can look :-)
I used a great La La Land stamp I won in a challenge at Copic Oz - this is Star Boy Luka, he comes in digi and Rubber.... and mine is RUBBER!!  Crafty Calendar has "New News" as it's challenge, this is some of my new stash so I'm entering there. Now I don't use a lot of rubber (love my digis!), but this is really nicely etched so it stamped very cleanly; still it's a bit more "sudden death" than digis, 'specially for the unpractised , lol.

I've coloured Luka with Copics, this is the first time I've done black hair; it is quite tricky but having a reasonable range of greys does make the difference.  Crazy 4 Challenges want us to do "New", including new toys or techniques, so I'm entering there.
The papers are from Kaisercrafts Class of '87 collection, I love the bright colours for boys cards. Charisma Cardz has "Over the Rainbow" as its challenge theme, I've used the colours of the rainbow in my card, so I'm entering there.
The black and silver paper is from Starfish Lane; part of my Christmas gift from my son Chris... he always finds the best stuff!  Simon Says Challenge has "New Something" as it's theme, and new stash counts; so I'm entering there too.  The corrugated blue card is from my stash, as are the silver filigree corner stickers.  I've used silver Card Candi (I got from Crafts4You) with tiny buttons from my stash glued on top.  Digi Stamps 4 Joy has Anything (something old something new) Goes as it's challenge, this has both old and new, so I'm in!

The sentiment is computer generated, as always as soon as I can get a .png version done, you can grab it from my freebies page.
The inside of the card is finished with papers from the front (isn't it always, lol) with more Card Candi and some holographic star stickers that I've had for so long I'm astounded they still stick!

The Pink Elephant ,The Paper Shelter , Papertake Weekly,  Crafty Emma's Store and Bizzy Becs all have Anything Goes challenges running; which is great - after the Christmas and New Year madness I for one need a nice easy challenge - or a nice sketch like this one, lol.  

Do pop over to Here Come The Boys and check out all the inspiration using the sketch, and why not enter the challenge this fortnight, all you need is to make a card for a man or boy... you know we all need some of those in our stash!

That's it for today, I'll be back in a day or so with something new (as "it" isn't even started yet, I've no idea what "it" will be, lol) or something a little bit different that I've never posted before. Until then, Happy Crafting, Donna