World Cardmaking Day...

...that's what the 1st of October is.
To celebrate, the lovely folk over at the "LOTV" Ideas to Inspire blog are having a bit of a do.

They would like to see your favourite card that you have entered for a LOTV challenge or better yet a brand new card for the occasion.
This was a pretty hard choice to make but I decided to go with this - it was my entry for the Challenge 107 Sketch week.

If I get a chance I might try and make a card especially for the event but time is a bit short this week so I wont make any promises.

Why don't you join in - there are lovely goodies up for grabs - go on, hop over there and have a look.........................

Sketch time...

...over at "Less is More".

Week 34 asks that folk use the sketch provided to create a card.
Using smooth white CS for the card blank and a blue & silver colour scheme - I came up with this.
A simple silver sentiment.
The image is by Nellie Snellen and has been coloured with Copics.

Very clean and simple compared to my normal style of 'flowers with everything' LOL - hope you like and thanks for visiting......................

Ovals...

...lots of ovals LOL

Challenge #69 at "Sew Many Challenges" asked for ovals so ovals is what they got.
I used a brayer to lay shades of blue ink onto glossy CS and then cut out scalloped ovals using my Nesties. Everything was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. The background CS has been stamped using a large floral background stamp - not sure what the design/make is.
As you can see, the ovals have been layered in a pyrimage (sp?) style and then given a punched butterfly accent. I'm not sure this will meet the requirements of the challenge as there has to be a stamped or digi 'image' - not sure a background image counts?

Thank you for looking............................

A bit more...

...Autumn.

Week 125 at "Just Magnolia and hAnglar & sTanglar" has a challenge theme of 'Fall or Back to School' - I've gone with Fall/Autumn.
I've had the inked foil CS for a while (a practice piece from a class using alcohol inks) - I embossed it using a Cuttlebug script embossing folder. The base card was cut from an A4 sheet foil embossed CS - the piece trimmed off to make the 6x6 sq was punched along the edge and then used down the spine of the card with some rust organza ribbon tied round it.
Little 'Patch Tilda' is in her Autumn shades again...
...I've limited the leaves this time LOL

I went for colour to give the feel of Autumn more than images/embellies - hope you like..................................

EDT: for some reason the 'link' on the challenge site has closed early - it's only just after 8am and should be open until 8pm...hope they accept my link in my comment - fingers crossed.
EDT2: Thank you Jacque for sorting things out - you are a star.

Autumn or Fall...

...what do you call it?

Whatever you call it, that is the theme for the current card challenge over at "Creative Craft World" and it is also the 'feel' that is wanted for the stage three (cdacpc3) part of the Progressive Challenge over at "CDAC".
I've used the Elf by Gunkitty designs that was a freebie digi image for this part of the Progressive Challenge. I've kept to Autumn shades and used more of the leaves from the Hobby Craft garland.
All the colouring on the image has been done with Copics................................

Aqua, white and...

...glitter.

That's what challenge 113 over at "LOTV" asked for and I am rather fond of aqua.
This is the card that I came up with - a 6x6 smooth white CS card blank with a large matt of white & silver snowflake holographic CS.
The flowers are back...LOL...I haven't used many flowers on my recent cards so it was nice to be able to play with them again. The mimosa and silver roses are from Hobby Craft and the rest of the blooms are from DoCraft/Anita's/Papermania.
The stickles came out to provide the glitter - Ice Stickles in 'crystal ice'.
I love the way the light catches her glittery wings.

All the colouring has been done with Copics and I used the chisel end of a couple of the pens to run around the card and the image matt - this ensures that the colour matches/blends with the shades used on the image.

That's my entry for the LOTV challenge - why not pop over there to see what other folk have come up with.............................

Anything but a card...

...is what the folk at "The Paperlane Challenge" want to see.

I rather like the little 'chef' Molly and I thought she would be perfect to decorate a recipe book.
I had some rather bland PP of cupcakes in pink and white so I covered a small ring-binder with the PP and then using Copics, picked out some of the design in blue.
Molly is coloured in a mix of blue & beige.
In this view you can get a better look at the book.

I've just bought some of the new 2011 Christmas stamps from Molly Bloom. Now all I need is some time to play with them...........................

For a child...

...in this case a Christmas card for a young boy.

Challenge 39 over at "CHNC" requested a Christmas card for a child but left it fairly open as to whether that would be a baby's first Christmas, a yound child or perhaps a teen.

I went for a card using images from The Snowman CD (Crafters Companion) - the only little boys I know absolutely love the story of The Snowman.
All the printing has been done on vellum to give the images a softer look - even the blue paper is vellum which has been stuck to silver miri card.
As you can see from this image the effect is very soft.
The images are set into windows on the front of the card and the sentiment is mounted on 3D foam to raise it up slightly.

The white card blank was sprayed with iridescent spray to give it a slight sparkle (doesn't show in the photos).

This challenge runs until Friday 30 Sept so why don't you hop over there and take a look - or better still, join in..................................

Across the Miles...

...a Christmas card for those far away.

The folk at "Winter Wonderland" set this challenge theme for this week and what could be more appropriate than the 3 Wise Men on their journey to convey Christmas wishes across the miles.
The 'Joy to the World' stamp belongs to a friend and I thought it was a perfect size to use as a window to the image below.
The stamping was embossed with gold embossing powder and then cut out. The inner edge of the 'O' was inked with gold so that there wouldn't be any white edges showing.
The insert continues the Wise Men theme.

I think the stamp might be from Clarity and the PPs were printed from a CD (possibly My Craft Studio but not sure)...I really should pay more attention to what I borrow/share with friends LOL...............................

Five flowers...

...four Christmas trees and LOADS of card candy LOL

The folk at "Polka Doodles" asked for a 'White out' for their week 37 challenge and over at "Die Cut Dreams" the request for their challenge #98 was 'Flower power' (use at least 5 flowers). This is what I came up with...
A 6x6 smooth white CS was used for the base card and then a matt of foil embossed CS of silver snowflakes on a white background.
The Christmas trees were stamped using the stamp that came with the Polka Doodles Christmas Boutique pack - as did the sentiment.
5 Papermania flowers were used in the bottom corner - their centres created using card candy.

This was really difficult to photo. Polka Doodles said that there could be a hint of colour but the silver foil CS was picking-up all the colours around (holographic) even my pink PJs LOL...there is a hint of pink & blue in the flowers to pick-up the shade of the sentiment panel but everything else is white or silver.

At the moment the sun is shining so fingers crossed it stays dry as I have another shopping trip out with Mum - Tesco here we come............................

All time favourite...

...Kenny K image.

Over at "KKKG" the folk want to see what our all time favourite images are for the challenge #61.

This was my very first Kenny K image and although there are lots of super images available, I think she will always be my favourite.
I used olive coloured scalloped edge CS for the base card and turned back the front corner. The flap has been lined with some of the paper that I coloured with Cosmic shimmers and then decorated with some Autumn leaves.
The inside of the card has an embossed gold card matt layered with some more of the Cosmic shimmer paper. The image is mounted on to this using 3D foam.
The image has been coloured with Copics.

Thank you for stopping by to take a look.......................

And Another for the 1000...

..."Less is More" challenge.
A simple black and white card using a digi image provided by the Progressive challenges over at "CDAC" The cards have to have an Autumn/Fall feel to them - I think this little chappie's coat and the B&W colour scheme help to create a feeling of the year moving on and heading towards winter.
The image is by Nicecrane Designs and is part of the cdacpc3 stage of the challenge that is being run. Enter a card using one of the freebie images at each stage of the event and you qualify for more freebies for the next stage. There are also opportunities to gain more digis by submitting multiple entries or getting your entries in quickly.

I am entering this card in both the Less is More and the CDAC Progressive Challenge.......................................

Another one for the 1000...

...over at "Less is More".
Smooth white CS is the basis for this card. A square of gold embossed card attached at the centre as a diamond to matt a topper of a Christmas wreath.
In addition to the matt, some faux stitching in red helps to make everything stand out.

Less is More have achieved more than 600 so far. The deadline for this challenge is 22.00 on Friday 23 Sept so if you want to join in and help achieve the 1000 entries you have plenty of time - go on, give it a go...................................

The 1000 card challenge...

...at "Less is More".

As the site has now achieved over 1000 followers, the challenge set for week 33 is 'Anything Goes' in an attempt to achieve 1000 entries to the challenge.
This is my first entry...consiting of white CS, red glittered ribbon and some red glitter brads.
Longer tails on the bow allow for them to be looped and attached to the card in a way that gives a bit more dimension.

In order to help get to the 1000 I have another card but for it to count it has to be posted separately. See you in the next post.............................

Fall is in the air...

...is the theme for the sketch challenge 24 over at "Just Magnolia and hAnglar & sTanglar"

You wouldn't believe the trouble I've had getting this posted and now I've noticed the ribbon has fallen off...grrrrrrrrr. Pics wouldn't load this morning and I've dashed in from work to find blogger is on a go slow 'ughhhhh'.

Still, this is what I managed to post (by the skin of my teeth) for this week's challenge.
The challenge was to follow a sketch and the overall theme was Autumn/Fall. I've used a brown scalloped CS to create the base card, some PP with an Autumny tone to it and leaves...lots of leaves.
Little Patch Tilda is nestled on a bed of Autumn leaves and has been coloured using Copics in shades of brown.

The leaves are from a Fall garland that I picked up in Hobbycraft.

Phew, I need a cuppa. I'll catch up with you all laters.................

Halloween is on the way...

...Trick or Treat?

"Sew Many Challenges" have set their theme as 'Halloween' for challenge #68 and the folk over at "The Paper Shelter" have gone for an 'Anything Goes' theme for their challenge #32...so this is what I came up with...
Using purple CS to create the base card the sentiment and some decoration are created using the Zig Chalk writer. PPs are by Jenny Pearce and were a freebie in 'Making Cards'.
I've used my Simply Betty Stamp 'Addams Portrait' which has been coloured with Copics.
Here is a closer look at the effect created by the Chalk writer.

It has been quite fun doing something different...I don't normally make much in the way of Halloween stuff...........................

Add a bit of Glitter...

...and Anything goes.

Challenge 38 over at "CHNC" says 'anything goes' but they want to see some glitter on the Christmas cards.

This is quite blingy although it doesn't show too well in the photos.
The base card is a central stepper card. The patterned card to create the base was printed from a friend's CD (it might be a 'My Craft Studio' - not sure) as was the snowman and other decoupage bits.
The stars have been blinged with fine glitter.
You might just be able to make out the glittery effect of the 'spray & sparkle' that was applied to the snowman.
This view shows the stepper construction.
The panel on the back provides the space for the message to be written by the sender.

If you like Christmas and want to get going on your Christmas cards you might want to pay a visit to CHNC to get some inspiration or you might even decide to play along................................

Something New...

...is the challenge theme at "Creative Craft World".

The theme provides plenty of scope as the "New" can be a card for a new home, new job, new baby, new life together (wedding/engagement) or the use of new tools, stash etc.

My "New" is my new set of stamps from Papermania - Candles...
...and I used most of the stamps that come in the set.
The card is an easel card created from a sheet of A4 red CS to which matt gold card and some PP was attached. The colouring has been kept fairly minimal as the focus is supposed to be on the surprise within the card.
By means of a slider mechanism this collection of images 'pop' up...
...giving this overall effect. The photos don't show very well that almost everything has been blinged with gold 'spray & sparkle' (Crafters Companion).
This photo is a bit of an ooops - but I wanted to just show where the sentiment panel is. It is tucked under the easel part of the card.

The challenge runs until Sunday 25 September so why not pop over and take a look - or better yet, why not play along too............................