Welcome to Susan's Crafty Chaos

Back home, but still a bit immobile

2011-12-18T10:52:00.002Z

Hello everyone, and thank you so very much for all your well-wishes. I'm now back home, hurrah, but my leg is in a full cast and I have to keep my foot higher than my hips, so I'm mostly immobile on the sofa. I've broken my shin and my ankle, and I have a blood clot. For my leg I just have to keep it elevated and rest it, and for the clot I'm on blood thinner. Getting to and sitting at the pc is difficult, but not impossible, so I will be checking in, just not as often as normal. And I have hundreds of emails to go through, so if you're waiting to hear from me, please be patient, because everything seems to exhaust me at the moment. PLEASE don't think that I don't appreciate every single message, because I do, very much. You've all made this time a little brighter for me, so thank you very much :D

Susan's off sick :(

2011-11-25T22:50:00.002Z

Hi
I'm James, Susan's husband. Unfortunately Susan has been admitted to hospital with a broken leg and DVT so won't be about for a while.

James

Sort of out of commission

2011-11-21T16:53:00.001Z

Sorry folks, I hurt my leg last week and have been hopping ever since. I went to the doctor this morning and I have an infection, but I should get some crutches tomorrow. It's uncomfortable both getting to and being at the pc at the moment, so I may not reply to any messages as quickly as would normally be the case. I'm still around, just not very mobile.

It's coming to an end :(

2011-11-17T13:58:00.004Z

It's been an absolute joy to be on the StampInsanity DT, but all good things must come to an end, and beth has decided to close the challenge blog, although the store will stay open for a while longer, so you have time to buy up any stamps that you've had your eye on.
Beth, you've been a truly WONDERFUL team leader, and I thank you so much for the chance to work with you. I've made my last DT card using Lilith from the Devil Dolls set at StampInsanity because she's always been my favourite and it seemd only fitting, and I computer-generated the sentiment because it reflects my feelings perfectly.
So, what's the final challenge? CASE one of the DT cards (it doesn't even have to be one from this challenge - look back through and you'll see some stunners which will hopefully inspire you. I was inspired by THIS CARD by Kapree. Thanks for the wonderful inspiration Kapree, I loved your card!
Here's my version, using papers from the Symphony of Grey set at Crafty Chaos Designs.

These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Sketch Saturday - sketch 181
Shopping Our Stash - never been inked or neutral colour scheme. I've used this image lots, but I hope the monochrome greys count as a neutral colour scheme. And I do have FAR too many stamps that I've never used, so I'm hoping this challenge will give me the impetus I need to use them.
Paper Sundaes - use a digi
My Time to Craft - take two (I've used two papers, two different colours of gems on the frame, and two pieces of lace placed back to back so that I didn't have a straight edge on one side)
Divas by Design - monochrome
Cutie Sundays - monochrome
Ooh La La Creations - Bingo Tic Tac Toe (I used lace sparkle and metal)

Dystopian films!

2011-11-15T09:43:00.003Z

It's time for another challenge at Beyond the Burtonesque Dolls and this fortnight we'd like you to be inspired by a film that portrays a dystopia. Has your mind gone blank? There are lists of such films HERE and HERE, so you have loads to choose from.

I chose to use Artificial Intelligence: AI as my inspiration, and used a Bugaboo digi to represent David and his teddy bear, waiting patiently for their Mom to come back and love them. The original digi has two normal arms, I just swapped one for a robot arm. The papers are from the Broken Dreams set at Crafty Chaos Designs. And the sketch came from Willow Sketches, only I got the weeks muddled up.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Dream Valley Challenges - stitching
Cutie Sunday - monochrome
Heartsong Inspirations - gold or glitter
Simply Create - love you bear-y much
Timbroscrapmania - monochrome
The ABC Challenge - D is for Dazzle

Thank you kindly!

2011-11-13T15:17:00.003Z

It's time for a new challenge at the Corrosive blog, and for this fortnight we'd like to see your grateful creations. Thanksgiving or Thank You, your choice. I've used a Tickled Pink stamp that I've had for a while but never used, which is just ridiculous, because I love it. The papers are from Flash of Inspiration by Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Pretty Patterns - sketch #35
Tickled Pink Challenges - vintage
Craft Your Passion - brown
Digi Stamps 4 Joy - giving thanks
The Sisterhood of Crafters - giving thanks
Digital Tuesday - anything goes
Aud Sentiments - thank you or Thanksgiving
Paper Sundaes - use a digital image
Sentimental Sundays - thankful

Fallen ATC

2011-11-12T23:10:00.005Z

Here's an ATC I made using "Stripey Girl" by Dilly Beans Stamps. (I added the wings behind her to make her an angel)
These are the challenges I made it for:

Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge - angels
CR84FN - black, pale pink, neutral
Digital Tuesday - anything goes

CAKE!!! It's the whole reason for birthdays, right? :P

2011-11-09T16:33:00.004Z

If you're looking for my Ruby's Rainbow post, please scroll down.

Here's a birthday card I made using Wednesday image by Simply Betty Stamps, Just Here For The Cake sentiment by Graphicat Stamps, and papers from a new set at Crafty Chaos Designs that aren't in the shop yet, but will be soon.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:

Graphicat Sketches - November sketch
Quirky Crafts - attitude (I LOVE this theme, I already have an idea for another card that will fit)
Birthday Sundaes - birthday card
Dream Valley Challenges - anything goes
CR84FN Challenges - black, pale pink and neutral

Things with Wings at Ruby's Rainbow

2011-11-09T10:30:00.005Z

We have a new theme for you at the Ruby's Rainbow Challenge blog, and this fortnight we'd like to see your creations that feature "things with wings"
My card uses an image by KelleyKids and papers from Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Deconstructed Sketches - sketch 26
One Stitch At A Time - use a digi
Quirky Crafts - attitude
Totally Stampalicious - anything goes
Crazy Challenges - things with wings
Crazy Amigos Challenges - swirls
Digital Tuesday - anything goes
Terrifically Thrilling Thursday - monochromatic plus ribbon, with an optional pop of colour
2 Sisters Challenge Blog - ribbon
Flutterby Wednesday - friendship
Tuesday Throwdown - your favourite colour combo. I am LOVING greys at the minute; I just looked back, and I've done seven different projects in the last month that are all or mostly in shades of grey

You love us!

2011-11-05T20:33:00.003Z

I've made this postcard today using four different images by Dilly Beans Stamps. The sentiment, and the general theme, is from You Love Us by the Manic Street Preachers.
These are the challenges I made it for:
Gloomy Art - sketch
Little Red Wagon - purple and/or monsters
Scrappy Frogs - something that flies (two of the images have wings)
Magical Monday Challenges - stripes and circles
Incy Wincy Designs - dots and stripes
City Crafter - postcard
Scrapbook Sisters Card Challenge - anything goes
Raise The Bar - no embellishments
Forever Night Freaky Friday - evil dark and creepy (I really don't think this one is evil, I think it's cute, but I guess since it has ghouls zombies and monsters it counts)
Southern Girls - can you hear the music?
Crafts and Me - let the music move you
Crafty Emma's Store Challenge - inspired by a film or a song
Bizzy Bec's Store Challenge - circles

Watching over you

2011-11-04T20:28:00.004Z

Here's an ATC I made today using the Gross Anatatomy Profile Head from Smeared Ink.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Smudgy Antics - dark and gruesome
Forever Night Freaky Friday - evil dark and creepy
ATC Challenges - vintage or anything goes
Crafting When We Can - anything but a card
The Pink Elephant - distressing
Cooking It Up with Katie - anything but a card
The Three Muses - vintage
Aud sentiments - make us laugh (I was undure whether to enter this here; it makes me laugh, but my sense of humour may be a bit of an acquired taste :P)
Paper Crafting Journey - use a digi
Crafty Catz Challenge - anything goes

What uncommon nonsense!

2011-11-04T11:20:00.003Z

Here's an Alice-themed ATC I did using images from Simply Betty (girl), Squiggle Stamps (flower clock plant) and The Octopode Factory (teapot).
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge - Alice in Wonderland
Simon Says Stamp - buttons
Dream Valley Challenges - anything goes
Pollycraft Challenges - anything goes
Craft Your Pasion - Bingo (I used buttons, free space, sentiment)
Charisma Cardz - cute projects

Shine like stars

2011-11-03T09:39:00.005Z

This week at StampInsanity we'd like to see your projects using icy blues. I've used Lilith from the Devil Dolls set because, frankly, I can't get enough of her. The sentiment comes from Shine Like Stars by Primal Scream, such a beautiful song and I have it running though my head :)
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Fetch A Sketch - sketch 10
Crafts and Me - let the music move you
Creative Inspirations - lashings of sparkle
Divas by Design - use metal
Kaboodle Doodles - sassy girls
Little Darlings - not square
Riley & Co - use stamps that are more than a year old (Lilith was released in Sept 2010)
Papertake Weekly - anything goes with optional extra of sparkle and bling
Dream Valley Challenges - anything goes
Pollycraft Challenges - anything goes

Waiting for you

2011-11-01T17:42:00.004Z

Here's a set of ATCs I made that look ridiculously simple and yet have taken me days, lol, you know when just nothing you try looks right? I've changed the colours, the layout, the flowers, the bows, in fact everything except the skulls in the centre and the text at the top has been changed and changed again and again :P
These are the challenges I was working with:
Unscripted Sketches - sketch 130
Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge - set of three ATCs
Forever Night Freaky Friday - flowers
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
Charisma Cardz - anything goes

Scary kids!

2011-11-01T10:14:00.004Z

It's time for a new challenge at Beyond the Burtonesque Dolls, and this fortnight we'd like to focus on Scary Kids, or scary kids' films.
I've chosen Children of the Corn and used a Tiddly Inks image to represent those terrifying kids running through the corn and killing all the adults. The image is MUCH sweeter in his original form, and he's holding a flower not a scythe, but with just a teeny bit of modification I've made him suitably scary, I hope.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Card Positioning Systems - sketch 242
C.R.A.F.T. Challenges - Savannah colour scheme (red, orange green yellow)
Terrifically Thrilling Thursday - I've used a digi, free space and fall colours
Craft Your Days Away - Autumn/Fall
Charisma Cardz - anything goes
Digi Doodles Shop's Best - anything goes
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
The Paper Shelter - anything goes
Tiddly Inks - anything goes

Heinously Haunted Houses

2011-10-31T08:27:00.004Z

The Macabre Monday challenge at HDH this week is Heinously Haunted Houses.
We want you to create a dark, Gothic, or Halloween-based art piece that features a haunted house as the focus. It IS the Haunted Design House blog after all :) The more decrepit, deteriorating or disturbing... the better!
I created this 4x4 using elements by CJ's Dreams, Creations by Rain, Heartbeat Creations and Tootypup.

These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Order of the Opus Gluei - something wicked this way comes
Come and Get It Challenges - anything goes
Crafting When We Can - Halloween and/or anything but a card
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
Crafty Sentiments - no designer paper
Rainbow Lady - spooks and witches
Paperplay Challenges - Halloween or witches
Do You Stack Up - Halloween
The Stamp Man Challenges - night-time
Crafts 4 Eternity - magical or mystical
Crafty Catz - spooky Halloween
4x4 Friday - Halloween
Fashionista Friday at If The Shoe Fits - Halloween or Fall
Making Halloween Cards - haunted houses and/or stripes
Gloomy Art - Halloween
Just Some Lines - Halloween
Simon Says Stamp and Show - houses
The Secret Crafter - spooky or whimsical

With A Flourish!

2011-10-30T15:42:00.004Z

It's time for a new challenge at Corrosive, and this fortnight we want to see projects with flourishes somewhere on them. It doesn't matter what type, how many or where they are, just make sure we can see at least one flourish somewhere on your creation and you're good to go :)
My creation this week uses an image by Karen's Doodles, who are one of our sponsors for the month, and papers by Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Deconstructed Sketches - sketch 25
Creative Inspirations - black orange purple
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
Scrappy Frogs - something that flies
Come And Get It Challenges - Halloween
Shopping Our Stash - Halloween
Do You Stack Up - Halloween
Kaboodle Doodles - Halloween

12 Bats a Flying!

2011-10-30T10:55:00.004Z

Well ok, there are more than 12 bats in this piece, but I've used a clock and the Roman numerals for 12 to make sure I qualify :) The female image is by Simply Betty, the Happy Halloween image is by Stampin' Up, the bat paper is by Crafty Chaos Design and I created the clock myself. The text is from The Fall Of The House Of Usher.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:

Sweet Stop Sketches - sketch 132 or 77. It doesn't look like I've followed the sketch, but that's because I turned it on its side, like this
Simply Betty Stamps 12 Days of Halloween - Day 12, twelve bats a-flying
Pollycraft Challenges - spooky goings on
Scrapbook Sisters - anything goes
My Mum's Craft Shop - spooky
Crafting For All Seasons - Halloween
Gloomy Art - Halloween
Charisma Cardz - anything goes
Paperplay Challenges - Halloween or witches
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Halloween

A non-Halloween card!

2011-10-29T09:42:00.004+01:00

Here's what I did using the wonderful Dominatrix digi by Smeared Ink. Here's a close-up so you can see the sparkly gold glitter.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Smudgy Antics - leather and lace
Triplicate Trials Tuesday - sketch, plus hot pink, black and gold, plus modern chic theme.
Crazy Challenges - scary ladies
Order of the Opus Gluei - something wicked this way comes (I guess it depends on your definition of "wicked" ;)
There's Magic in the Air with Paper Cupcakes - pink and black
Lollipop Crafts - at least three embellishments
Creative Belli Challenge - 1 2 3 4 recipe (1 image, 2 circles, 3 brads and 4 of te larger gems)
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
Fussy and Fancy - black, border punch, bling
Totally Papercrafts - glitter
Crafty Purple Frog - sparkle
Crafty Sentiments - no designer paper

Day 9!

2011-10-27T18:58:00.001+01:00

Here's my creation for Day 9 of the 12 Days of Halloween, using Witchy Wednesday by Simply Betty Stamps and papers from the Regal Rampage set at Crafty Chaos Designs. I've also included a new sentiment from the set called Natural Hair Colours, in which you get the choice of eight different hair colours. I've included Blue, Green. Pink, Purple, Turquoise, Violet, Teal and Magenta, and the colour name letters are all "hollow" so that you can colour them in to match whatever outrageous colour you've given your image.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Sweet Sketch wednesday - sketch 125
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 9, nine ghosts a-booing (or nine ghosts looking shocked at Wednesday's bare-faced lie about her natural hair colour :P)
Scrappy Frogs - something that flies
The Crafty Pad - Halloween
Going Grey with Scrap Creations - going digi
Scrabook Sisters Card Challenge - anything goes
Divas by Design - spooky or Halloween
Crafting For All Seasons - Halloween
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Halloween
Stampavie and More - Halloween
Cardmad Fairy's Digi Day Challenge - spots and stripes
Southern Girls Challenge - stripes and spots
Totally Papercrafts - lots of layers
Fashionista Friday at If The Shoe Fits - Halloween
Making Halloween Cards - stripes and/or haunted houses
Allsorts Challenges - Halloween
Just Some Lines - Halloween

Two (or four) of the 12 Days

2011-10-27T08:54:00.003+01:00

Here are two pieces I made for the 12 Days of Halloween at Simply Betty.
This first one is an ATC using a freebie Betty gave away on the Simply Betty Stamps PCP group, and papers from the Poison Punch set at Crafty Chaos Designs.

These are the challenges I'd like to enter with this one:
Crazy Challenges - scary lady plus sketch
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 10, Ten ghouls a-groaning. I hadn't realised before, but ghouls are essentially what we think of as zombies. George A. Romero - Night of the Living Dead - called the creatures in the film ghouls, although they became the prototype for our modern zombies. So, in this piece, I have 1 zombie ghoul and I've included the number ten in the sentiment. It also makes me smile that I could enter this one into days 7 (seven pumpkins) and 4 (four skulls) as well, although I have already entered both of those.
ATC Challenges - anything goes or vintage (I'll try to do a vintage one next)
Gingerloft Challenges - Halloween or Fall
The Crafty Pad - Halloween
My Time Made Easy Pretty Palettes - Pretty Palette 32, black, orange, purple, green
Creative Stamp Friends - Halloween
Going Grey with Scrap Creations - going digi
StempelSonne - Halloween
TimbroScrapMania - Halloween
Delightful Sketches - purple orange green black
Aud Sentiments - make us laugh
Paper-Crafting Journey - use a digi

And this second creation uses five Steampunk images, all from Simply Betty Stamps and a graveyard scene I created around them.

These are the challenges I'd like to enter with this one:
Simply Betty 12 Days 0f Halloween - Day 5, five scary spooks
Take A Word - black and white
Hooked On Crafts - something spooky
Crafty Boots - Halloween
Art With No Boundaries - Halloween
Pollycraft Challenges - spooky goings on
Magical Monday Challenges - Halloween
Simon Says Stamp and Show - just one colour
Simply Create - shades of black
The Stamp Man - Night Time
Gingersnap Creations Challenges - 124, black and grey
Crafty Sentiments - no designer paper
Little Miss Muffet - clouds

Blame it on the "BOO"gie!

2011-10-26T10:22:00.003+01:00

I had fun creating this piece for the new challenge at Ruby's Rainbow, which is "metal". The digi was a freebie by Nana Vic, given out at CDAC.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Forever Night Freaky Friday - sketch
Pan Pastel UK - glitter and glitz
Lollipop Crafts - at least three embellishments
Paper Minutes - skeletons
Glitter Geeks - recipe challenge. I've used Turquoise and Grey, Ribbon, Sentiment, Charm, Swirls, Gems and Glitter
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 4, four skeletons
Shopping Our Stash - Halloween or Fall-inspired
Stampin' For The Weekend - spooky
Crafts and Me - blue

Goblin wishes!

2011-10-25T11:35:00.005+01:00

I found this image at DeviantArt, created by RenoNevada. All I've done is cut out some of the goblins (because I wanted there to be 6 on this card) and change the colour from black and white to this muted grey-green tone. The backing paper is from Crafty Chaos Designs, from the Song of Sycorax set. This was originally going to be my card for the new challenge at Beyond The Burtonesque Dolls, but we've decided to make that one a fortnightly challenge, so you still have a week to enter our Guillermod del Toro challenge, and if you're really on the ball, you may have an inkling of what our next challenge will be. Although, lol, it's pretty tangential, I wouldn't count on getting the theme right from my card :P
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 6, six goblins gobbling
Card Patterns - sketch 138
Simon Says Stamp and Show - just one colour
Hiding In My Craft Room - make a #10 size card, 9 1/4" X 4"
Our Creative Corner - faces
Shopping Our Stash - Halloween
Kaboodle Doodles - Halloween
Gingerloft Challenges - Halloween
For Fun Challenges - Halloween without using black orange or purple

Halloween ATC

2011-10-24T21:58:00.007+01:00

Here's what I did today, using Voodoo Doll #1 by Dilly Beans.
These are the challenges I made it for:
Wicked Wednesday ATC - Halloween
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 8, eight monsters shrieking. Just one monster on mine obviously, but I created the background by repeating the number 8.
For Fun Challenges - Halloween without black orange and purple
Allsorts Challenge - Halloween
Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Halloween
Die Cut Dreams - use at least one metal charm

Pumpkinhead

2011-10-24T10:19:00.005+01:00

Yay, it's time for another Macabre Monday challenge at the Haunted Design House! This week it's all about pumpkins, and/or the film Pumpkinhead. I've used the chant from the film as my focal point, and included a freebie pumpkin from Birds Cards, and I created the spiderweb pattern and the graveyard scene at the bottom.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Paper Minutes - sketch
Sentimental Sunday - Halloween
Simon Says Stamp - be inspired by a nursery rhyme or fairy tale. Hmmm, I'm not really sure if this counts. The children in the film all chant the above poem like a nursery rhyme, but it was obviously written for the film and isn't a real one.
Just Some Lines - Halloween
Allsorts - Halloween
One Stop Crafts - no designer paper
Sweet Stampin - Halloween
2 Sisters Challenge - pumpkin patch

Lots of orange, and some black and purple

2011-10-23T13:05:00.007+01:00

I've got two projects to show you today.
First up is this piece, using stamps by Smeared Ink and Stampin' Up, and nothing else. No colouring, no papers, no embellishemnts. I love this so much that I think I may make some coasters out of it :)

These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Pink Ink Sketches - sketch #8
Smudgy Antics - Skull tims
Art with No Boundaries - Halloween
Hooked On Crafts - something spooky
Three Muses - circles and squares
Riley & Company - orange and black
Divas by Design - something spooky
Paperplay - use black
Dare to Be Sassy Thursday - spooky scary and creepy
Raise the Bar - orange and black
One Stop Crafts - no designer paper
Picture Perfect Creations - Fall or Halloween
Inky Impressions - Halloween
Order of the Opus Gluei - Halloween

And my second piece uses a stamp by Simply Betty and papers by Crafty Chaos Designs.

These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Sweet Sketch Wednesday - sketch 124
Crafty Boots - Halloween
Totally Stampalicious - purple, orange and black
My Time To Craft - punches or dies
Stampavie and More - Halloween
Freshly Brewed Designs - pumpkins
Jelly Park Friends - use an image that is wearing a costume
Fussy and Fancy - black, border punch and bling
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 7, seven pumpkins glowing
My Sheri Crafts - pumpkins
Papertake Weekly - spooky hues
Crop Stop - Halloween
Stempelsonnen Challenges - Halloween
Gingerloft Challenges - Halloween or Fall
Paper Sundaes - black and sparkle from a recipe list

What part of "crazy cat lady" is meant to be an insult?

2011-10-21T18:03:00.004+01:00

Here's what I've done today. The girl and the cat are both by Simply Betty Stamps, and the paper and sentiment are both from Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 3, three black cats
Deconstructed Sketches - sketch 24
The Crafty Pad - monochrome
Stamptacular Sunday - anything goes
Crafty Cardmakers - cute with a dark twist
Take A Word - childhood
Papertake Weekly - spooky hues
Some Odd Girl - colour your image in black and white
Paperplay Challenges - use black
Simply Create - shades of black

Hand over the sweets!

2011-10-20T16:47:00.004+01:00

Yay, it's time for a new challenge at StampInsanity, and this week you could win the entire Devil Dolls digi set! I LOVE this set, and I've used two of the Devil Dolls to create my project this week. So, what do you have to do to be in with a chance of winning? Think Trick or Treat, or Tricked-Out Treats, or send Beth some chocolate. (I'm not entirely sure that that last part is official, but I'm pretty sure it will work :P)
I made an ATC, scored it down the middle attached some mesh ribbon underneath and turned it into a treat-holder for Halloween.You can't tell from the photos, but when you hold it at the top, the sweets hang underneath in a black netted ribbon.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 2, two trick or treaters
Cutie Sunday - Halloween
Irish Teddy - Halloween in orange, black and purple
Fresh Brewed Designs - orange black purple
Stamp with Sarah Kay - Halloween
Fun with ATCs - Halloween
Repeat Impressions DCC1012 Designer’s Choice Challenge - Halloween or Fall
The Pixie Cottage - sweet as candy
My Mum's Craft Shop - food and drink
Crafting For All Seasons - Halloween and/or purple, lime green, orange and black
Wicked Wednesday Weekly ATC Challenge - Halloween
Papertake Weekly - Halloween colours
Totally Stampalicious - purple orange and black
Stamp with Fun - create a gift
Pollycraft - girls, girls, girls
The Crazy Challenge - Halloween
Creative Stamp Friends - Halloween
Picture Perfect Creations - Fall or Halloween
Crafty Boots Challenge - Autumn and/or Halloween
My Craft Spot - 3D Halloween
Crafts 4 Eternity - purple and orange
The Stamp Man - circles
Alphabet Challenges - S is for Soon Be Halloween
One Stop Crafts - Halloween
Drunken Stampers - Halloween
Challenge Up Your Life - Halloween
Craft Your Days Away - Halloween colours

Don't turn out the light!

2011-10-19T20:41:00.003+01:00

I made a bookmark today, using Draco the Ghost Gent from Simply Betty. Here are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 1, an owl in a rotten oak tree
Stamptacular Sunday - anything goes
Quirky Crafts - something spooky
The Crafty Pad - monochromatic
Hooked On Crafts - something spooky
Simon Says Stamp and Show - stripes
Art Impressions - make a tag or a bookmark
Simply Create - shades of black
Forever Night - black and creepy
Desert Island Crafters - I used items 2, 6, 7, 8, 9(only half of this one), and 10. They are: Simply Betty image, not square, stripes, shades of grey, bats and spiders (this is the half one, I meant to put some bat confetti on the back side, but forgot before I took the photo. The font is Batfont though :P) and the undead.
My Time to Craft - punches or dies (I used a tiny postage stamp punch to create the holes to thread the ribbon and lace through. Big mistake, as the lace kept getting caught on all the teeny scallops around the edge. You live and learn :P)

Guillermo del Toro 4x4

2011-10-18T18:05:00.003+01:00

Yay, it's time for our third challenge at Beyond the Burtonesque Dolls, and this week we'd like you to create something inspired by the works of Guillermo del Toro. I've used a still from Pan's Labyrinth, which has the scariest freakiest man-monster imaginable and made a simple 4x4, then framed it. And you should really check out what the other DT members have done, there are some wonderful inspiration pieces over there.

Here are the challenges I'd like to enter:
4x4 Friday - boo
Forever Night - black and creepy
Creative Sketches - crumb cake, soft suede. cajun craze, black
Gingersnap Creations Chestnut Challenge - horror stories
Hooked on Crafts - something spooky
Bling It On - no patterned papers
Allways Something Creative - brown, orange, distressing
ABC Challenge - B for Boo
Lothian Crafts Online - anything goes

Two projects to share today

2011-10-17T09:04:00.007+01:00

Well, it's Monday, and that of course means that it's time for a new Macabre Monday challenge at the Haunted Design House blog, but today I also have another challenge to tell you about, at Paper Creations Ink. I'm hoping to cross-contaminate and get you all to visit both sites by combining my posts.
First up, we have my Macabre Monday offering. Our challenge this week is "Lurid and Looming Landscapes" abd we want to see some kind of landscape featured in your creation. Something dark and desolate and deathly. Or some misty and macabre moorland. Or a putrifying, peestilence-ridden panorama. You get the idea :)

I've used elements from so many different people in my creation today, but credit should go to creations by rain, medi, tootypup, blazter, and The Urban Fairy.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter with this piece:
Scrappy Frogs - something that flies
I Did It Creations - animals
Quirky Crafts - spooky
My Time Made Easy - white, black, bright blue
Shopping Our Stash - spooky
The Paper Shelter - animals
Bling It On - no patterned papers
Collage Obsession - alter egos (I like to think that the black and white horses are both representations of the same animal)

And my second creation for today is to highlight Paper Creations Ink, where I'm a GDT and the challenge is Halloween. We're sponsored by Delicious Doodles, and I've used Spooky Haunted House and Grim Reaper in my piece, as well as paper from the Symphony of Grey set at Crafty Chaos Designs.

These are the challenges I'd like to enter with this piece:
Sparkles Forum Challenges - Halloween
Dream Valley Challenges - Halloween
Here Come The Boys - Halloween
Delicious Doodles - Halloween but NO orange
Card Makin' Mamas - Halloween
Phindy's Place - Halloween
The Poodle's Parlour - spooky Halloween
Making Halloween Cards - haunted house
Simply Create - shades of black
Forever Night - black and creepy
Simon Says Stamp - Halloween or goth
The Pixie Cottage - sketch + dark and spooky
Creative Card Crew - spooky fun
Clear It Out Challenges - Halloween
Everybody Art - Halloween
Scrap Creations Challenges - Halloween
Gingerloft Challenges - Halloween or Fall
One Stop Crafts - Halloween
Drunken Stampers - Halloween
Challenge Up Your Life - Halloween
Pattie's Creations - Halloween
Alphabet Challenges - S for Soon Be Halloween
The Queen's Royal Digi Challenge - Halloween

Things that fly at Corrosive

2011-10-16T12:16:00.009+01:00

Yay, it's time for another fun challenge at the Corrosive blog! This week we want to see things that fly. Witches on broomsticks, birds, bats, fairies, butterflies, helicopters, whatever you've got, if it can take to the skies, you're in :)
I've made an ATC using a cute owl from one of our sponsors, Doodle Pantry, and paper-pieced his wings and tummy with papers from the Poison Punch set at Crafty Chaos Designs, and the backing paper is from the Poison Candy set. (And you can now download your purchases immediately after purchase, Woohoo!)
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Crafty Sentiments - sketch
Everybody Art - Halloween
Cupcake Craft Challenges - Halloween
Stamps & Fun = Creativity - Halloween
Victorine Originals - Halloween
Art with No Boundaries - October or Halloween
Top Tip Tuesday - use designer paper
Papertake Weekly - use 3 different shapes (rectangle, square, semi-oval)
Just Us Girls - orange green purple black
Craft Your Days Away - Halloween colours
Stampin' B's Design Team - birds
Dare To Be Sassy Thursdays - use black orange purple and green
Cupcake Inspirations - I was inspired by the colours in the photo, the spiderwebs and the creatures (although I've used a different creature)
Cutie Sundays - Halloween
Doodle Pantry Digital Challenge - use a DP image

The (bird) tables have turned!

2011-10-15T18:10:00.004+01:00

I seem to be constantly trying to catch up recently, so here's a piece I finished today for a few challenges. The papers are from the Elizabeth Forgets set at Crafty Chaos Designs, the image is from the Heebie Jeebie set at Smeared Ink, and the bird silhouettes are brushes by flordelys_stock.
Please note that I used the sketch from the Tuesday Trio Challenge, but forgot about the other requirements so I'm not entering there, just giving credit for the sketch.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
1. Smudgy Antics - black birds
2. Smeared & Smudged GDT Challenge - use a colour palette of reds, greens and neutrals
3. Crafty Cardmakers - anything goes
4. Paper and Such Online - be inspired the Country Autumn colour palette at Design Seeds
5. Take A Word - blackbird
6. Crafty Boots - zoo or animal-themed
7. Charisma Cards - stitches
8. Glitter Geeks - Two's company. I have 2 papers, 2 birds, 2 types of creature, 2 different patterns (spots and stripes) and two long strips of paper
9. Digi Days Challenge - spots and stripes
10. Stampin' B's Design Team - birds

One new and one re-do

2011-10-14T16:45:00.005+01:00

I've done a couple of paper projects and boy have they reminded me why I love digi work :P I had to print both several times, once because I cut something I shouldn't have (second card), once because I stuck the ribbon on wonkily (first card), once because a cat sat on them and creased things (both), once because the printer had a bit of scrap card inside it that messed up the printing (both). And then I had to take lots of photos and try to find one of each that isn't absolutely dreadful :P
So, enough of my whinging, lol, here they are. I've used two images from the CDAC Progressive Freebie Challenge - the first is Dragonlets and Me by Delicious Doodles (you may have seen the digital version of this, posted before I understood the rules) and the second, although it doesn't look like I've used an image, uses the beautiful Mandala image by Daisy Doodles, in two different sizes, to create the background. The text on the second one is from The Moon by Shelley.
Challenges for each are below the images.

I used the sketch from Fetch-a-Sketch for this one, but I already entered the digital version of my card over there and this one only has minor differences.
CDAC Progressive Freebie Challenge - Halloween or mystical (dragons are mystical)
Sentimental Sundays - anything goes
Ribbon Carousel - sparkle and bling. As well as the gems, which you can see, the dragon wings have a slight coating of glitter, which you can't. And the gems are actually a pale lilac colour and very sparkly.
Scrapbook Sisters Card Challenge - anything goes
Digital Tuesday - Fall Colours
Crafty Purple Frog - thank you
C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - 1 ribbon, 2 shapes (oval and square) and glitter (on the spiny parts of the dragon wings)
Easy Craft Projects - Autumn or Thank You
Stampin' For the Weekend - Fall colours
Bling It On - no patterned papers

Please note that this was designed digitally and then the whole thing was printed straight onto cardstock, So although it looks like it has layers, it doesn't.

CDAC Progressive Freebie Challenge - Halloween or mystical (I hope the poem makes it mystical)
Skrappekammeret - sketch
Die Cut Dreams - use a poem (please note that you need a digi image for this challenge, and I made my background with a mandala image)
Crafts and Me - orange
Crazy Amigos - one layer card with no embellishments
Crafty Cardmakers - anything goes
Creative Inspiration - single layer card
Glitter Geeks - Two's Company (I've done the whole thing in only two colours and I've also used two sizes of the same stamp)
Wags n Whiskers - Fall colours
Lothian Crafts Online - anything goes

Shop is up with instant downloads!

2011-10-13T08:54:00.003+01:00

ETA Everything went smoothly and it's all back up and running and now you can download your products immediatelt after payment!
We're switching things around in the shop today, and (hopefully) sorting out instant downloads, so there may be a few hours when either the site is down, OR the site still appears online but I won't get any emails. Please bear with us during any downtime, it won't be for long!

Cute and Cuddly at Ruby's Rainbow!

2011-10-12T11:27:00.004+01:00

It's time for another new challenge at Ruby's Rainbow, and this fortnight we want to see your Cute and Cuddly projects. Now, regular visitors here may be aware that I sometimes have a slightly skewed vision of what counts as cute, but I think everyone has to agree that this little monster deinitely is, right? There's just no doubt about it, he's absolutelt adorable! He's from the Monster Mash set at Squiggle Stamps.
Here are the challenges I'd like to enter:

Some Odd Girl - sketch
Sparkles Forum Challenges - Halloween
Everybody Art - Halloween
Cupcake Craft Challenges - Halloween
Stamps & Fun = Creativity - Halloween
KB Cutie Monday - food or beverages (I'm hoping the lollipops count)
Fussy and Fancy Challenges - Halloween
C.R.A.F.T. Challenges - bright colours
The Play Date Cafe - Slime Green, Frightful Fuschia,
Putrid Purple, Black as Night (see pic on the right)
Sweet Stampin' - stitching
Drunken Stampers - Halloween
Challenge Up Your Life - Halloween

It's real, it's real!

2011-10-11T21:36:00.005+01:00

Ok, I messed up in the post below, as I entered a challenge that doesn't accept digital creations. :( So I've spent the evening making an ATC. The papers are by Crafty Chaos Designs, and the image is by Designed 2 Delight, and it's one of the freebies available at the Progressive Challenge at CDAC.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Sweet Sunday Sketches - sketch 138
CDAC Progressive Challenge 4 - Halloween or mystical using one of the free images
Sparkles Forum Challenge - Halloween
Quirky Crafts - spooky or Halloween
Cutie Sunday - Halloween
Cupcake Craft Challenges - Halloween
Stamps & Fun = Creativity - Halloween
Hooked on Crafts - anything but a card
Victorine Originals - Halloween
Crafting For All Seasons - Fall flowers or pumpkins

Thank you, with dragons!

2011-10-11T16:28:00.004+01:00

I've just joined in the CDAC Progressive Freebie Challenge, and this is one of this month's beautiful freebies, Dragonlets and Me by Delicious Doodles.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Fetch-A-Sketch - sketch
One Stitch At A Time - anything goes
CDAC Progressive Challenge - Halloween or mystical using one of the freebie images (I'm hoping the dragons make it count as mystical)
Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge - no designer paper
Squiggle Stamps - Thanks
Do You Stack Up - brown
Crafts and Me - use a digi
Little Red Wagon - thanks
Flutterby Wednesday - use a fairy butterfly or angel
Lollipop Crafts - critters
Incy Wincy Designs - being thankful
Picture Perfect Creations - wisteria, crumb cake, espresso
Totally Stampalicious - Thanksgiving or Thank you card

Terry Gilliam!

2011-10-11T09:42:00.004+01:00

For our second challenge at Beyond the Burtonesque Dolls, we'd like you to be inspired by Terry Gilliam. There are so many of his wonderful creations to be inspired by, you'll be spoiled for choice. I immediately thought of The Fisher King, which I haven't seen for several years, but which I did watch many many times. I just love that film! So, my creation portrays the Red Dragon that chases Parry, and a quote that Parry says to Jack, and of course, some golden orbs, because it made me giggle (If you've seen the film, you'll know why, and if you haven't, go watch it :P) My dragon is by Outlaw by Design (I recoloured it and added the flames), and the paper is from Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Card Positioning Systems - sketch 239
Quirky Crafts - black gold and glitter
Sentimental Sundays - anything goes
Pile It On - just because
Simon Says Stamp and Show - things with wings
Crafty Boots - zoo or animal themed
My Mum's Craft Shop - all creatures great and small
Crafty Emma's Store Challenge - seeing red (literally and figuratively in my case)
Totally Papercrafts - animals

Gods and Monsters!

2011-10-10T09:58:00.004+01:00

This week's Macabre Monday challenge at the Haunted Design House blog is "Gods and Monsters" You are to create a dark, Gothic, or Halloween-based art piece
that uses, includes or is inspired by a God and/or a Monster. I did a little bit of research and decided to portray Echidna. She was a figure in Greek mythology and became known as the Mother of Monsters, because nearly all the famous monsters in Greek mythology are her offspring. After she and her partner, Typhon, attacked Zeus in Olympia, Zeus sealed Typhon underneathe Mount Etna but allowed Echidna and her offspring to remain free, as a challenge to future heroes. Neat, huh?
Echidna herself was half-woman, half-serpent, but many of her children were either part-lion or part-dog, hence the heraldry-type image in the corner. Her choldren include Ladon, Cerberus, the Nemean Lion, the Gorgon, the Chimera, the Sphynx, the Hydra and Orthros.
I've used Medusa's Daughter by Delicious Doodles as my image and the backing paper is from the Poison Punch set at Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
The Pixie Cottage - sketch 90
One Stitch At A Time - anything goes
Paper Sundaes - your favourite colour combo. Mine is purple and green, I love them together.
Crafts and Me - use a digi
Mami Doodles - Mother Nature. Echidna is definitely a mother and with all the various creatures in her family, plus the fact that she was the offspring of Gaia (the Earth spirit) I think she counts.
Delicious Doodles - tales of the unexpected. I'm hoping that thinking of a serpent-monster as a mother-figure is unexpected enough.
Lothian Crafts Online - anything goes
Just Tracy's Crafts - anything goes

Kitties, kitties everywhere, and one of them's bright green!

2011-10-08T18:43:00.005+01:00

Here's a fun card I was inspired to make today by the wonderful freebie set that Ike is giving out HERE. The papers are from the Shades of Halloween set at Crafty Chaos Designs.
Here are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Smeared & Smudged Very Sketchy - October card sketch
Victorine Originals - Halloween
Crafty Boots - zoo or animal-themed
Come and Get It Challenges - Halloween
Tuesday Throwdown - Halloween
Crazy Amigos - animals
Clear It Out Tuesday - Halloween (the image is brand new but I've had the papers since last year)
Lollipop Crafts - Halloween
Stamp with Fun - Halloween
Fussy and Fancy - Fall or Halloween
Totally Papercrafts - animals
Making Halloween Cards - stripes and/or a haunted house
Meljen's Designs - Halloween
C.R.A.F.T. Challenges - bright colours
Little Miss Muffett - animals or monsters
Crafts and Me - use a digi
Repeat Impressions DCC928 Designer’s Choice Challenge - animals
Little Darlings Challenge - Fall or Halloween
2 Sisters Challenge - Halloween
Drunken Stampers - Halloween
Challenge Up Your Life - Halloween
Lothian Crafts Online - anything goes
The Queen's Royal Digi Challenge - Halloween
Creative Craft World - Halloween

Killer Pumpkin Apocalypse!

2011-10-07T21:21:00.004+01:00

Here's a silly pumpkin card I made today. The scientist guy is from Smeared Ink and the pumpkin is a freebie from Birds Cards.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Repeat Impressions - Sketch O511
Sentimental Sundays - sewing or stitching
Pile It On - make it fun (well, it makes me laugh :P)
Gingerloft - orange
Scrappy Frogs - fruit
Freshly Brewed Designs - pumpkins
Crafts and Me - use a digi
Crafting 4 All Seasons - fall flowers or pumpkins
Craft Your Passion - anything goes with ribbon
Crafty Cardmakers - anything goes
Paper Creations Inks - black and/or orange
Smudgy Antics - pivk a pumpkin or two
The Stamp Man - circles

From the Xander Zone Blog Hop and Auction

2011-10-06T09:58:00.011+01:00

Welcome to the Xander Zone!! You are in for quite a trip through todays Blog Hop and Auction. Our dear friend Betty Roberts, owner of Simply Betty Stamps has just found out this week that her 17 year old son Christian has Stage 1 Throat Cancer. He will be having surgery next week and many months of Therapy to follow. (To read more from Betty on what’s going on please go HERE)

Betty’s DT and the Crafty Sprouts DT along with a few friends have come together today for the From the Xander Zone Blog Hop and Auction! If you are stumbling into this hop please head to Crafty Sprouts to catch the beginning of the hop!

If you hopped here from Pam then you are right on track!

As you hop along today you will see cards created with Xander, the first in a new series to be released called “From the Xander Zone”. He is available with a donation to Betty’s family. Christian will be undergoing Surgery next week to remove his tonsils and then the thrice weekly Therapy will begin on the tumor. His therapy could last for many months.

There is also a contest running through October 16^th and Christian will pick a random winner who will receive the whole collection! The details on the contest are at the SBS blog.

As you hop today you will also see many cards and projects up for Auction. In order to make a bid on an item leave a comment on that person’s blog with your offer AND your name and email address. Please remember that it might not be you who gets the winning bid, so check back if you really want it!

At the end of the Hop (Tuesday night October 11^th at 9pm EST the auction will come to a close. Winners will be sent a paypal invoice and the Winners will be announced on the Simply Betty Stamps blog. Please note that we are asking for timely payment, with 48 hours of the announcement on Tuesday morning or the runner up will be chosen. This is for the simple fact that Betty’s family needs this money as quickly as possible for all of these unexpected and out-of-pocket needs.

I've made a card featuring two of the Xander Zone characters, Xander and Cece. Cece is originally holding a lollipop but I covered that with a sign saying "Christian roolz" The papers are from the Secret Forest set at Crafty Chaos Designs.And up for auction today to help raise money for Betty and her family, I'm auctioning off my ENTIRE SHOP CONTENTS!!!!!!! This includes every single item that's in the shop today (6th October) but not anything that isn't actually released yet, sorry. The auction for this is open to international bidders, as no physical items will need to be shipped. You'll get 69 PAPER SETS, plus a few digital stamps and several packs of sentiments to download. Worth a buck or two? I sure hope so! All the money will go straight to Betty and I'll send you a link to download your products as soon as I've heard that you've paid. Please make any bids in USD, to avoid me having to try and convert different currencies to work out which is the highest bid. If two people make the same highest bid, the winner will be the one who posted first. If you'd like to make a bid for this, please leave a comment with your name, email and bid amount. The auction will end Tuesday October 11th at 9pm EST, I'll get in touch with the winning bidder, then Betty will send you a Paypal invoice and as soon as I know that's been paid, I'll make your downloads available. There is NO minimum bid, so, whatever the amount, the highest bid will win the entire shop contents. You can have a look at what's in store, to see what you're bidding for, HERE, or by clicking the badge in my sidebar.

From here please hop over to the last stop on the hop, which is Simply Betty Stamps.

If you get lost along the way, here’s the hop order!

Crafty Sprouts

Cyndi

Kristi

Suzi

Zeni

Wendy

Rebecca

Vicki

Alison

Raven

Lea

Lelia

Sandra

Aeryn

Nicole

Elsa

Cheri

Carley

Linda

Pam

Susan (you're here:P)

Simply Betty Stamps

These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Pollycraft - sketch
Crafts and Me - use a digi
Penny's Challenges - anything goes
Cooking It Up with Katie - Fabulous, Fun and at least one other F word (friendship, in this case)
Divas by Design - buttons
Digital Tuesday - celebrate something (Christian's attitude, and the fact that he'll beat this nasty disease)
Papertake Weekly - anything goes
Make It Monday - linky party
The Crafty Pad - one for the boys
One Stitch At A Time - use a digi
Catch the Bug with Bugaboo Stamps - anything goes
One Stop Crafts - one for the boys
Drunken Stampers - get well or thinking of you
Craft Your Days Away - tag it (you can barely see the hole, beacause I stuck a button over it, but the circle sentiment is on a tag)
Crafts 4 Eternity - anything goes
The Poodle's Parlour - birthdays or buttons or brads
Southern Girls - create a project for boys or men
CRAFT Challenges - bright colours
Pile It On - do it with fun (I hope the fun image counts, even though the card is for a serious reason)
Lothian Crafts Online - anything goes
The ABC Challenge - A is for Anything Goes
Creatalicious - anything goes
Desert Island Craftsers - I've used 1, no white, 5, circles and 9, a tag
Creative Friday - circles

And don't forget to leave a bid if you'd like to help Betty out and get my store contents into the bargain!

Burton and Beyond!

2011-10-04T09:28:00.003+01:00

Whee, I've been dying to tell you all about this, but have had to keep quiet. I'm on the Design Team for a new challenge blog, set to take over where The Burtonesque Dolls left off. Beyond the Burtonesque Dolls goes live with its very first challenge today. If you love the work of Tim Burton, and enjoyed the challenges over at The Burtonesque Dolls then you'll like it here. All the forthcoming challenges will have a 'Burtonesque' feel to them, although they may have no direct link to the works of Tim Burton. The whole idea of this blog is to widen the challenges, maybe introduce you to films, books and directors that you've not heard of before. It's all about fun, maybe a little quirky and twisted fun, but still fun.
Our first challenge is to create something that commemorates a favourite Halloween book, film, or memory. Easy-peasy and open to lots of interpretation, so we'd LOVE to see all sorts of creations by you.

I had a REALLY tough time narrowing down my inspiration, but in the end I decided to create a piece inspired by The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. The background text is all taken from the original story, and I hope that the tree, the skulls, and the scheming female standing over the grave capture the feel of the story. The images are Spiderella by Simply Betty, and Bah, Humbug Tree by Delicious Doodles, and I created the rest of it in PSP.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Deconstructing Jen - sketch 21
One Stitch At A Time - use a digi
Paper Creations Ink - black and/or orange
Craft Your Passion - anything goes with ribbon
Irish Teddy's - trees
Pixie Dust Studios - be inspired by a book or film (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving)

Inner Workings at HDH!

2011-10-03T09:24:00.004+01:00

It's time for another Macabre Monday challenge at the Haunted Design House, and now that Halloween is in sight, you can practically taste the excitement in the air in the Minions' Dungeon :D Which is way better than the makodorous stench that usually emanates from that dank hole :P
This week the challenge is Inner Workings, and it's up to you how to interpret that. You can use the inner workings of a clock or machine, or feature some guts and organs, or decorate the inside of your project. I've used a brand new stamp for me, Open Torso from the Gross Anatomy set at Smeared Ink. They have a great range of stamps that look like illustrations from vintage text books, and this is one of them.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Paper Minutes - sketch
Desert Island Crafts - Itinerary 17. I used 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 (no white, torn edge, dry embossing, circle and beads)

Cards and More - red, beige, brown
Meljen's Designs - use a square and a circle
Forever Night Freaky Friday - anything goes
The Play Date Cafe - be inspired by the colours to the right.
Critter Sketch Challenge - anything goes
Totally Stampalicious - embossing

Trick or Tweet!

2011-10-02T15:55:00.003+01:00

It's time for a new challenge over at the Corrosive Challenges blog, and this fortnight the theme is "Purple Passion". We want to see your creations that use purple with just one other colour, and this month's sponsors are Doodle Pantry and Karen's Doodles, so play along for your chance to win some goodies and be the GDT on the blog for a month. I created an ATC, I've used an image called Trick or Tweet by Karen's Doodles, and I went for purple and green, because that's one of my favourite colour combinations. I created the paper specifically for this piece, but I like it so much that's it's probably going to appear in my shop at some point soon, although I think I'll do it in different colours.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
KB Cutie Monday - Halloween
The Secret Crafter - Halloween
Stampin' For the Weekend - what a cutie
Making Halloween Cards - stripes and/or haunted houses
Moving Along with the Times - Halloween
Deconstructing Jen - sketch 21
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
Little Darlings Challenges - Fall or Halloween
Stamps & Fun = Creativity - anything goes
Come and Get It Challenges - Halloween

Nearly too late!

2011-09-30T22:26:00.006+01:00

But thankfully I remembered in time. This month's Oh, The Horror challenge at Smeared and Smudged is to creat an art piece inspired by the film May. I watched it last week but then forgot about creating anything until tonight. So, this is my creation, using one of the digis from the Stitchy Situation set at Smeared Ink.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Smeared & Smudged Oh, the Horror! - be inspired by May
TechnoStamper Monday Lunchtime Sketches - sketch 193
The Crafty Pad - stitching
Inky Impressions - punches or dies
Scrappekammeret - stitches
Paper Sundaes - anything goes
Shelley's Images Terrifically Thrilling Thursday - Bingo/Tic-Tac-Toe I used a digi, free space and gold scissors AND no patterned paper, free space, and punches
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
Critter Challenges - anything goes
Forever Night Freaky Friday - anything goes

Freebies at Simply Betty and Smeared Ink!

2011-09-30T14:49:00.007+01:00

I have a couple of projects to show you today, and I also want to tell you about two REALLY EASY ways to get FREE DIGISfrom two great companies!

This first piece uses Goth Fairy Honey and It's About Time digis from Smeared Ink. And all you have to do to get a free image is enter any of the monthly challenges over at the Smeared and Smudged Ning Group. I haven't really left you much time to enter this month's challenges, but there will be a different freebie image available next month too. You don't have to be a winner, you just have to enter! How cool is that? The backing paper is from the new Poison Punch set at Crafty Chaos Designs and everything else was either created by me or hiding in my stash.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Smudgy Antics - Zetti I'm not entirely sure that this is "obviously" Zetti-esque, but I really had fun creating and combining everything.
Crafty Boots Challenges - things with wings
Totally Stampalicious - it's got wings
Whoopsie Daisy - make your own embellishments. I made the heart kiss thing, the flower, and the shopping list.
Paper and Such Online - use at least three from the list. My chosen items are deigner paper, ribbon and 1 flower
Clear It Out Tuesday - alter something. I'm not really sure that this will count, but I altered the Goth Fairy stamp by giving her a dalmation head and then added a crown on top too.
Flutterby Wednesdays - use an angel, fairy or butterfly
Cute Card Thursday - animal crackers (does a dog-headed fairy count?)
Speedy the Cat's Friends' Challenges - things with wings
Digi Stamps 4 Joy - anything goes
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
Critter Sketch Challenge - anything goes
Stamps & Fun = Creativity - anything goes
Crafty Catz - things with wings
Crafts 4 Eternity - anything goes
Fussy and Fancy - use a new technique (merging the dog head on to the fairy body was a bit tricky, but I'm pleased with the way it ended up)
Simply Create - use something older than 6 months. The digi clock, the pair of specs and the glittery skull brad are all over 6months old)

My second creation for today uses two Simply Betty images, both of which I got for free for simply JOINING Simply Betty's PCP group! And once we reach 500 members over there, there will be a super-cute-and-sassy witch available free to all members! So come on, join up, and be the first to see previews, join in the fun chat and pick up the limited-time freebies that Betty releases over there! This creation uses paper from the Poison Candy set at Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the challenges I had in mind while creating this one:
Tuesday Morning Sketches - sketch #113
The Scrapbooking Queen - Halloween
Paper Creations Ink - buttons or bows
My Partner in Crafting Crime - sweets and treats
KB Cute Monday - Halloween
Ooh La La Creations - punches or dies (my little bats)
Paper Playtime - Halloween
Top Tip Tuesday - use 2 or more ribbons, lace or twine
Crazy 4 Challenges - Halloween
Stampin B's Design Team - Halloween
Moving Along With The Times - Halloween
My Mum's Craft Shop - dress up
Little Darlings Challenges - Fall or Halloween
Art Impressions - Halloween
Sweet Stampin - anything goes
Penny's Challenges - anything goes

New chucklins!

2011-09-29T16:38:00.011+01:00

For those of you who don't know, we keep a few backyard chickens and decided to try and incubate some fertile eggs ourselves. So now we have 13 cheeping, chirrupping fluffballs! :D

See my feathered legs?

Just having a quick nap!

One for the boys!

2011-09-28T10:18:00.004+01:00

It's time for another new challenge at Ruby's Rainbow, and this fortnight we'd like to see your projects for the boys and/or men in your life. My creation uses Skelekinz Boys You Rock My World by Bugaboo and papers I created for this piece.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Sweet Sunday Sketches - sketch 136
My Time Made Easy - pretty palette 28, yellow, teal, grey
365 Cards - Triple It (use three techniques on your sentiment. I cut the shape (digitally), stamped the sentiment and grunged the whole thing)
Dream Valley Creations - buttons
Paper Creations Ink - buttons or bows (I'm not entirely sure if digital works are allowed for this one, just let me know if not)
Crazy Challenges - use 3 colours (teal, yellow, grey)
My Time to Craft - music
Tuesday Throwdown - thinking of you
Delicious Doodles - cute as a button
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes

You're making a scene!

2011-09-26T10:31:00.003+01:00

A Halloween scene, that is! Yes, it's time for another fun Macabre Monday challengeat the Haunted Design House, and this week we want you to create a Halloween scene. Not just a gruesome image on it's lonesome, we want to see something that has a background for your main image. And you know who has amazing background stamps, perfect for creating all sorts of wonderful scenes? Make It Crafty, that's who, and they're also sponsoring us this week so the DT have all been working with luscious MIC digis.
I had such fun putting my scene together, and I've used a whole bunch of stamps from different companies. The house and the pumpkin carriage are both by Make It Crafty, the female is by Simply Betty, the bats are by StampInsanity and the gate is by Strange Skin. The moon and bg I did myself, and the trees are PS brushes from my stash.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Divas by Design - sketch
Cutie Sunday - no text
One Stitch At A Time - use your favourites (digi stamps, skulls and spiderwebs)
Sparkles Forum Challenges - something that sparkles (skulls and spider)
My Time to Craft - L is for . . . Lots of stamps
Anything Goes - anything goes
Crafts and Me - stripes (just a few, on my ribbon lace bit down the side)
Phindy's Place Challenges - use opposites on the colour wheel (I've gone for blue violet and yellow-orange)
Squiggle Stamps - autumnal colours
Crazy 4 Challenges - Halloween
Whoopsi Daisy - make your own embellishments (the skulls were created by me)
The Queen's Royal Digi Challenge - Halloween
Paper Playtime - Halloween

I've got a bone to pick with you!

2011-09-24T21:15:00.003+01:00

Here's what I've done today, using two digis from Smeared Ink. The main image is Carina from the Goth Fairies set, and for the backing paper I created a column with their Bat Skeleton digi, then repeated it across the base and flipped every other column upside down. And those fabulous skull embellishments? Are available from Creepy Glowbugg Concoctions.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Smudgy Antics - I've got a bone to pick with you
Mami Doodles - sketch
Raise the Bar - things with wings
Sew Many Challenges - ovals
Sassy Studio Designs - square cards
Lil Red Wagon - repeat a stamped image (that's how I made the bp)
Flutterby Wednesday - use an angel, fairy or butterfly
Crafty Boots - things with wings
Speedy the Cat's Friends' Challenges - things with wings

Kooky to the kore!

2011-09-23T18:47:00.006+01:00

Here's what I've done today, using a FAB new image by Simply Betty Stamps, and it's called Addams Portrait, which I was lucky enough to win.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:

Smeared & Smudged Very Sketchy - September LO sketch
Digital Tuesday Challenges - people images
Digi Stamps 4 Joy - anything goes
Anything Goes - anything goes
Deep Ocean Challenges - lace
The Crafty Pad - Diamonds are a girl's best friend (I used the same idea on my last entry, but I liked the look of the gems around the edge so much that I did it again for this one :P)
Stamptacular Sunday - use a sentiment
Jelly Park Friends - be inspired by a colour pallette found at Design Seeds. THANK YOU so much for introducing me to this site, I love the colou palettes they have and have bookmarked the site for future reference. I used the Petaled Dark pallette, which you can see to the right.
And the main challenge that got me working on this is the DT call for the Beyond The Burtonesque Dolls, who are going to be opening a brand new challenge blog soon, inspired by not only Tim Burton, but also other fun, creepy-cute, quirky films and artists. Hurrah! So I chose The Addams Family, because frankly I love this stamp and wanted to use it. If you'd like to have a go, go the The Burtonesque Dolls blog to see the details. :P

Photo au Mojo at StampInsanity

2011-09-22T16:19:00.007+01:00

It's time for a new StampInsanity challenge, and this week we'd like you to make something inspired by either (or both) of these photos.

And don't forget to tell us how you were inspired if it's not immediately obvious :)

I've used Angelika from the Devil Dolls set at StampInsanity, I just can't get enough of this whole set. And I created the bp to re-create the theme and colours of the first photo.

These are the challenges I'd like to enter:

Crafty Catz - sketch
Crafty Boots - things with wings
Kaboodle Doodles - lots of layers
Crafty Creations - fabulous fairies
The Squirrel and the Fox - anything goes
My Sheri Crafts - sewing or stitching
Timbroscrapmania - angels or devils
Color Q Challenges - red, orange, green, purple, white. It seems I forgot about the red, I hope that's ok.

Belated birthday wishes . . .

2011-09-21T19:46:00.004+01:00

Teri, I am SO sorry that I forgot your birthday, I hope you had a wonderful day and are stil recovering from all the hi-jinx and shenanigans! :D Here's what I made for you, using a decoupage sheet from the Crafty Purple Frog and a paper from Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the challenges I'd lie to enter:
The Pixie Cottage - sketch #88
Shopping Our Stash - no colouring allowed (the decoupage sheet is already coloured)
Birthday Sundaes - belated birthday card
The Crafty Pad - sparkly gems
Cute Card Thursday - anything goes
Moving Along With The Times - sparkle

Apalling apothecary

2011-09-19T10:52:00.003+01:00

It's Monday, woohooo, which means it's time for another Macabre Monday challenge at the Haunted Design House! This week the challenge is "Apalling Apothecary" You are of course free to interpret this in any way you choose, as long as it's suitably dark. Think potions, spells, old glass bottles, poison, ingredients, anything that the phrase "Apalling Apothecary" brings to mind for you.
I've taken a slightly different direction than normal for me and created a digital scene, of a witch coming to check that all is well in her stash. No sentiment, no papers, no embellishemnts, just dozens of digi bits placed togther to create this:

These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Quirky Crafts - anything but a card (a 4x4 in my case)
Scrappy Frogs - vintage
Shopping Our Stash - vintage, distressed or shabby chic
4x4 Friday - skeletons or skulls

How much stuff . . .

2011-09-18T20:34:00.004+01:00

. . . can I possibly get on one creation? Well, apparently lots and lots. Usually I have trouble when I deliberately set out to make something "busy" but I actually love this one :D The image is Little Mermaid by Barbara Jensen, and the paper is one I made for this piece.

These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Smeared and Smudged Very Sketchy - Sept card sketch
Smeared and Smudged Rock n Rolla Challenge - be inspired by the cideo to Warpaint by Warpaint
Picture Perfect Creations - white, purple, teal
Craft Your Passion - F is for Fussy and Fancy
Crafty Emma's Store Challenges - more than four different types of embellishment (ribbon down the side, clear gems on the ribbon, purple bow, dangling crystals across the top and glitter on the purple edges)
Totally Gorjuss - anything goes
One Stop Craft Challenges - girly
Delightful Sketches - girly girl
Cute Card Thursday - anything goes
Moving Along With The Times - sparkle

Boo to you!

2011-09-18T15:38:00.004+01:00

It's time for another challenge at Corrosive, and this time we want you to use punches and/or dies. Or, if you work digitally like me, cut out shapes from digi paper and make them look like punches and die cuts. One of our sonsors this month is Dude Time Doodles, and this little guy is actually a freebie on their blog for this week only., so pop over and pick him up if you like him. They also have a challenge running where you could be their GDT for a month if you create something using this image and enter their challenge. Why not do both challenges at once?
The backing paper is from an as-yet-unreleased set called Poison Candy, which will be available soon at the Crafty Chaos Designs shop.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Sketch and Stash - I used the S&S sketch #59, and both the paper and the image are brand new.
Crazy for Challenges - pumpkins
Dude Time Doodles - use the freebie image provided
Papertake Weekly - things with wings
Mami Doodles - all creatures great and small
Sew Many Challenges - Halloween
Cute Card Thursday - anything goes
Little Miss Muffett - things with wings
Stamptacular Sunday - just sayin' (include a sentiment)
One Stitch At A Time - punches

Splat!

2011-09-17T21:39:00.003+01:00

Here's what I've done today, for the current challenge at Smudgy Antics, plus a few others. I saw the challenge theme (Paint) last Monday, and thought, hmmmm, I've got a week, I could get out some real paints and not do a digital piece for a change. And then suddenly it was today and there are only a matter of hours left until the challenge ends! MEEP! So, it had to be digital, but I've tried to make it look very very "paint-y" and used lots of different textures and brushes. The image is Octopode from the Heebie Jeebie set at Smeared Ink.
These are the challenges I had in mind while creating:
Smudgy Antics - paint
The Pixie Cottage - sketch #87
Color Q - turquoise, celery, grey, poppy
Fairy Fun Fridays - masculine
Cute Card Thursdays - anything goes
Cards For Men - anything but square
My Time To Craft - kaleidoscope of colour
Totally Stampalicious - anything goes

Creepy Birthday, Happy Glowbugg!!!!!

2011-09-16T18:17:00.007+01:00

Creepy Glowbugg is celebrating her birthday today and she's such a fabulously macabre Minion that I'm sure she'll be doing it in her very own creep-tastic style! I created this piece to make her smile, using an image from DezinaWorld and bg by Itkupilli.
Glo, I hope you have a wonderful day, filled to overflowing with things that will make other people shudder! You RAWK!

I'd also like to enter the following challenges:
Shopping Our Stash - vintage, distressed or shabby chic
Art With No Boundaries - anything goes
One Stitch At A Time - anything goes
Anything Goes - vintage/shabby chic
Top Tip Tuesday - birthdays
Simon Says Stamp - be inspired by a song or film title. I went with "It's My Party (and I'll Cry If I Want To)"
Crafting For All Seasons - birthdays
Crafty Emma's Store Challenge - magical or spooky. This definitely counts as "creepy" but "spooky" I'm not so sure about. What do you think?
Crazy Challenges - birthday
Creatalicious - anything goes

For the girls

2011-09-14T10:21:00.005+01:00

It's time for a new challenge over at the Ruby's Rainbow blog and for this fortnight, we want to see something specifically for the girls. My piece uses the fabulous Kassandra from the Devil Dolls set at StampInsanity.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Card Positioning Systems - sketch 235
Cr84Fn - bright pink, black, grey (see image below)
One Stitch At A Time - anything goes
Totally Stampalicious - anything goes
Delightful Challenges - bling
Sweet Stampin' - for a teenager
Crafty Emma's Store - magical or spooky
Stamp Something - anything goes or say Goodbye
Stampin' for the Weekend - pink
Card Makin' Mamas - use something digital
Squiggle Stamps - spooky fun
Crafty Boots - anything goes

Get me - it's a real stamp!

2011-09-13T09:47:00.003+01:00

It's time for another challenge at the Creative Card Crew blog and this week we're sponsored by the lovely people at Simon Says Stamp. Babies seem to be popping up all over the place at the moment, one lady on our team has a brand new granchild and four others are waiting for their own happy day, so the theme for this fortnight is "babies" My sentiment is a freebie from BrossArtAddiction, which I altered digitally. And the stamp is an actual bona-fide rubber stamp. I had to scan it in and do LOTS of cleaning up in PSP, where I also made the colour match the rest of the card.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Moving Along with the Times - sketch
Sparkles Forum Challenges - white plus one other colour
Pollycraft Challenges - baby love
Do You Stack Up - texture
Pixie Dust Studio - baby card
Raise the Bar - all white bg
Crafty Ann's Challenges - out of your comfort zone White bg and rubber stamps are both things I avoid like the plague
The Stamp Man - white plus one other colour
Totally Gorjuss - man/boy project
Crafty Calendar - bears

Do you get YOUR five a day?

2011-09-12T10:23:00.003+01:00

It's Monday, which OF COURSE means that it's time for a new Macabre Monday challenge over at the Haunted Design House. Have you been champing at your metal restraints waiting for the new challenge? Well, this week we're taking inspiration from the seven deadly sins. You can pick any one or use several to create your piece. I couldn't find a digi stamp of Maleficent, so I ended up using a desktop from Disney, which you can find HERE.
Challenges entered:
Deconstructed Sketches - sketch 18
Papertake Weekly - anything goes
One Stitch At A Time - anything goes
My Mum's Craft Shop - lots of layers

Goodbye to Summer!

2011-09-10T20:08:00.004+01:00

Here's what I did today, using Owlette by Tiddly Inks as my image and papers from the Rich Autumn Glory set at Crafty Chaos Designs. The quote is by George Eliot and reads Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.
Here are the challenges I'd like to enter:
The Pink Elephant - sketch
Picture Perfect Creations - pumpkin pie, lucky limeade, rose red and island indigo
Tiddly Inks Challenges - goodbye Summer, hello Fall
Stamp Something - anything goes
Card Makin' Mamas - use something digital
Sukkersott Challenges - use a digital stamp
Craft Us Crazy - Autumn colours
Digi Stamps 4 Joy - colours of fall
Everybody Art - Autumn
Stamp With Fun - Autumn
Lexi's Creations - Autumn
Happileigh Scrappin' - Autumn
Pile It On - B is for burgundy, bird and brocade (on her dress)
Challenge Up Your Life - paper piecing
Bee Crafty - borders or frames
Desert Island Crafters - I used #6 flowers, #7 nature inspired, #8 sentiment, #9 add a little green
Just Tracy's Crafts - things with wings

Sassy Masquerade!

2011-09-09T12:04:00.006+01:00

Sassy Studio Designs had a fabulous party last week, when they gave away a whole bunch of fabb images and sentiments, and I'm displaying what I've made with just two of them today.

I'd like to enter this one into the following challenges:
Paper Sundaes - sketch
Cupcake Inspiration - I used the colours and the randomly-sized circles
Quirky Crafts - flourishes and embossing
Sassy Studio Designs - masquerade ball. Use one of the new images and include feathers, bling, and/or sequins
Delightful Sketches - bling
The Crafty Purple Frog - birthdays
Little Red Wagon - die cuts
Craft Your Days Away - make your own flowers (not the metal and glass ones, but the one at the top with feathers for petals and a gem in the centre)

With the second card, I'd like to enter these challenges:
The Pink Elephant - sketch
Sassy Studio Designs - masquerade ball
Dare To Be Sassy Thursdays - buttons, bows, brads and bling
Pile It On - B is for buttons, bows, brads and bling
I Did It Creations - girly girls
Skrappekameret - monochrome
Aud Sentiments - for a girl
Try It On Tuesday - monochrome card
Crafts and Me - buttons and bows
Fresh Brewed Designs - use something new (image)
Sukkersott Challenges - use a digital stamp
Card Makin' Mamas - use something digital
Pattie's Creations - girly things
Allsorts - blues and greens

Purple and black with StampInsanity!

2011-09-08T16:33:00.004+01:00

We have a new challenge for you over at the StampInsanity blog today, and we'd like to see all your purple and black creations. So I'm hoping to see LOTS of gorgeously gothic creations from all of you!
I've kept my piece very simple today, using my favourite stamp of all time, Lilith from the Devil Dolls set at StampInsanity.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Pile It On - B is for black, border punch, bow, bats and "bite me"
Sparkles Forum Challenges - punch it
Cooking It Up with Katie - purple + bow + sentiment
Crafty Creations - anything but square
The Pink Elephant - sketch
Magical Monday Challenges - anything goes (my mythical creature is a vampire)
Stamp Something - digital
And, just for a bit of silliness, when I showed this card to hubby he pulled a shocked face and then brought me this tomato, claiming I'd managed to shock it as well :P

A present for Edward

2011-09-05T20:14:00.004+01:00

Here's what I've been working on today, which will hopefully make you think of the film Edward Scissorhands. The image is by Smeared Ink from the Mad Science digi set, the quote is from the beginning of the film and everything else was created by me in PSP.
Here are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Smudgy Antics - metal
The Burtonesque Dolls - re-create a scene from a Burton film
Crafty Catz - monochromatic
Stamp Something - use a digi
Pile It On - B is for . . . Burton
Meljen's Designs - no patterned paper

PMS - Psychotic Miss Silver

2011-09-05T11:03:00.004+01:00

We have a fun challenge for you at the Haunted Design House blog this week.

HDH105
"P.M.S. Psychotic Miss Silver"
You are to create a dark, Gothic, or Halloween-based art piece
that uses or includes a angry/crazy/psychotic woman and silver.
We've all been there. Some weeks are better than others. Make her crazy. Make her angry. Make her silver. Well, not literally, but use silver somewhere on this project.

My piece uses the WONDERFUL Voodoo Woman by Teri's Delicious Doodles. Everything else was done by me in PSP. These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Stamp Something - use something digital
Delicious Doodles - fresh new start. The image is brand new to me.
Forever Night Freaky Friday Challenge - devilish intentions
Deconstructed Sketches - sketch 17
The Play Date Cafe - black and white with a splash of red. Hmmm, I made all my white bits silver, so maybe this won't count.
Shopping Our Stash - sassy, snarky or LOL, and the stash I used is the backing paper, which was one of the very first digi papers I bought, although it came in red and white instead of black and silver so I altered it.
One Stitch At A Time - use a digi
Charisma Cards - anything goes
Cards for Men - G is for Getting Even!

Funny or Punny at Corrosive!

2011-09-04T10:57:00.004+01:00

It's the first Sunday of a new month, and that of course means that it's time for a new sponsor at Corrosive Challenges, and we'd like to see your funny creations, or projects that feature a pun. This month we have two sponsors, Paper MakeUp Stamps and Dude Time Doodles. I used two corset images from Paper MakeUp to create this bit o' silliness. The main bp was created for this project, and I paper-pieced both corsets using papers from the Pretty In Pink set at Crafty Chaos Designs. :D
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Picture Perfect Creations - turquoise, white, melon, indigo
The Pink Elephant - paper piecing
Craft Your Passion - sketch
My Mum's Craft Shop - 123 (1 sentiment, 2 different colours of gems, and 3 images)
Crafts and Me - add a charm
Do You Stack Up - friendly critters
Some Odd Girl - paper piecing
Aud Sentiments - for a female
Raise the Bar - paper piecing
Stamp Something - use something digital
Deep Ocean Challenges - hearts
Tuesday Throwdown - use a pun
Creative Craft Challenges - charms

Don't be sad, be AWESOME!

2011-09-02T18:47:00.003+01:00

I made another frame-y card with a digi by Dilly Beans Stamps and papers by Crafty Chaos Designs. If you'd like a chance to win some of these digis, hop on over to the Haunted Design House blog, because Dilly Beans are sponsoring this week's Macabre Monday challenge!
Here are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Sketch Saturday - sketch 170
Deep Ocean Challenges - hearts (in the main imags and all over the bp)
Shopping Our Stash - snarky sarcastic or funny
My Mum's Craft Shop - 1 image, 2 types of embellishment (ribbons and gems) and 3 patterned papers
Little Miss Muffet Challenges - purple, blue, green
Anything Goes Challenges - inspired by TV or films. Now I have to admit that I've never seen the show, but I saw this quote and loved it so much that I created the whole card around it. The sentiment is from "How I Met Your Mother"
Clearly Inspired - patterned paper
Stamp Something - digi day

Ruby's Rainbow Recipe

2011-08-31T10:09:00.006+01:00

We have a fun new challenge for you over at Ruby's Rainbow this week - we want to see your creations that use 3 Design papers, 2 Buttons/Brads & 1 flower. My creation uses two Tiddly Inks images, Lilli Lolita and the Open Book freebie, plus papers from the Dirty Jeans & Lipstick set at Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Mojo Monday - sketch 206
Tiddly Inks Tuesday - reading fun
Paper Cutz Challenge - stars
Crafty Sentiments - ribbons and bows
Delightful Sketches - use digital paper
Alphabet Challenge - O is for Only 3 embellishments
Fairy Fun Fridays - inspired by a book (or by books in general, in my case)
My Mum's Craft Shop - 1 flower, 2 buttons, 3 patterned papers
Little Darlings - pleats or ruffles

I was (re-)framed!

2011-08-31T09:04:00.005+01:00

As many of you will know, the Macabre Monday challenge this week is "I Was Framed!" and we're sposnored by Dilly Beans Stamps. And I LUUUURRRRVVVVVVEEEEEE these images so much that I can't leave them alone, so I made another project. This one uses Framed Girl and Spider, and the sentiment is by Graphicat Designs (this one really made me LOL when I saw it :D)
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Sweet Stop Sketches - sketch 123
CR84FN - light blue, turquoise, neutral
Stamps & Fun = Creativity - spots and stripes
Shopping Our Stash - snarky, sarcastic or LOL
Totally Gorjuss - as you like it
Forever Night Freaky Friday - too cute to spook
Craft Us Crazy - anything goes

Who's fabulous? I am!

2011-08-30T09:49:00.004+01:00

We have a super easy challenge for this fortnight at the Creative Card Crew - anything goes! Yup, anything at all, and we're sponsored by the super-fabulous Kenny K, so get creating and enter your creation to be in with a chance of winning! I've used an image from their new line of Steampunk Burlesque, and I love this chick! The backing paper is from the Jezebel's Remains set at Crafty Chaos Designs, and the sentiment is from Graphicat Creations.

These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Sketch Saturday - sketch 170
The Crafty Pad - distressing and tearing
Pile It On - girls just wanna have fun
Scrappy Frogs - bling
Stamptacular Sunday - DIVAtacular
Speedy the Cat's Friends - lace
Totally Gorjuss - as you like it
Our Creative Corner - grey and black with a pop of red
Crafty Catz - metal and lace
Delightful Sketches - digital paper
Crafts and Me - lace

I was framed!

2011-08-29T11:18:00.003+01:00

Today's Macabre Monday challenge at the Haunted Design House blog is "I was framed!" and we want you to use, or create, or alter, or include a frame of some sort in your creation. And we're sponsored by the FANTABULOUS Dilly Beans Stamps! I love, love, LOVE Megan's images, so you'll be seeing a couple of creations from me this week :D This first one uses Hanging Heart Girl and I've used part of a poem by Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt.
So get out your frames or framed images and come play along with us (and if you don't have any framed images, check out the Dilly Beans blog, because Megan has a whole slew of images that come with their own frames, and right now, if you buy 3, you get another one free!
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Card Patterns - sketch 130
Irish Teddy's Challenge - flourishes
Cheerful Stamp Pad - portraits
My Time to Craft - girls
Aud Sentiments - any sentiment
Crafty Emma's Store - pink, brown, aqua
Stamps R Us - anything goes
Make It Monday - share whatever you've created

Happy Halloween!

2011-08-28T12:09:00.004+01:00

The challenge at Corrosive Challenges blog this week is Come to the Dark Side, so we'd love to see all your Halloween creations, or use a witch, zombie, vampire bat, you know the kind of thing. This is the last week to get your entry in for a chance to win some stunning digis from Simply Betty Stamps. Lol, I'm LOVING the fact that Halloween is already creeping into blogland :D I've used Spiderella by http://simplybettystamps.com/ and made a Halloween card (how could I resist?) The paper is from the Symphony of Grey set at Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Simply Betty Challenges - use any sketch
Creative Sketches - sketch + Halloween or Fall theme
Magical Monday - create a scene
Designer's Choice Challenge - create a scene using only black, white and one other colour of choice
Case Study Challenges - show your own style (Wow, did I have trouble deciding what to do for this one, creepy cute, funny, gruesome, lol, but I ended up going for a straight gothic feel with long dresses and gems)
Our Creative Corner - black and grey with a pop of red
Delightful Skeches - use digital paper
One Stop Crafts - anything but square
Scrappy Frogs - bling
Aly's Sunday Challenge - Halloween
One Stitch At A Time - Halloween or Autumn/Fall

Distressed bookmark

2011-08-27T22:29:00.005+01:00

Here's what I did today, both images are by Tiddly Inks, and the sentiment and arrow are computer-generated. I remembered not to do any borders, to minimise the evidence of wonkiness, woohoo! And then I distressed the edges as well, with colour AND scissors. Get me, I almost sound like a real crafter, don't I? :P The image shows the front and back of the piece.
And these are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Tiddly Inks - make a back to school bookmark
Color Throwdown - saffron yellow, plum and crumb cake
Ribbon Carousel - back to school
Creative Craft Challenges - anything but a card
Incy Wincy Designs - anything but a card
Take Time For You - anything but a card
Lothian Crafts Online - anything goes
Kaboodle Doodles - ribbon

Gothic newborn!

2011-08-26T18:59:00.003+01:00

The current challenge over at the Smudgy Antics blog is "Gothic Newborn". I'm just playing for fun and giggles (and because I couldn't resist the theme) as I already have this week's prize. The image stamp and the fancy corners are both by Smeared Ink, available in the Mad Science and Glam Vamps sets. I've also followed the current sketch over at Deconstructing Sketches, but I think that might be it for challenges for this one, lol, for some strange reason, no other challenge blog has a "human baby as parasitic invasion" theme. :P

Halloween fun and games!

2011-08-25T21:13:00.006+01:00

Simply Betty Challenges are having a Halloween card-making challenge in which the DT will pick the cutest, the funniest and the most original entries to win. My "cute" cards are not really up to scratch, so I decided to make a couple that I hope will be suitable for the funny or original categories.

My first card uses Valentine Emo Christian from Simply Betty and papers from the Eye of Newt set at Crafty Chaos Designs. I'd like to enter this one into the following other challenges:
Simon Says Stamp - sketch
Fab n Funky - monochromatic
Creative Inspiration - use text somewhere other than your sentiment
Top Tip Tuesday - masculine
Cards for Men - anything goes
Sketchy Colours - shades of blue
Hooked on Crafts - things with wings
Do You Stack Up - man or boy

And my second card uses the cute little kitty from the Witchy Wednesday stamp at Simply Betty. I'd like to enter this one into the following other challenges:
Triplicate Trials Tuesday - sketch + red, eggplant, taupe + fun and games theme
Making Halloween Cards - black cats and or banners
Pile It On - sweet treats
Craft Your Passion - sarcastic or funny sentiments
Ooh La La Creations - no patterned paper
Crafty Creations - animals
Totally Gorjuss - cute and cuddly animals
Crafty Emma's Store - banners/bunting

Back to school with StampInsanity!

2011-08-25T19:11:00.004+01:00

We have a very timely challenge for you this week at StampInsanity - make something with a Back To School theme. I've used two StampInsanity images; Zeke from the Zeke and Maddie set, and one of the freebie Maddie images. And there's a fabbo sale going on right now at the StampInsanity store, use the coupon code AUG2011
Here are the challenges I would like to enter:
Come and Get It Challenges - sketch
Crazy Challenges - back to school
Kreative Stempelfreunde - school
Happi Challenge - use an image of a girl
Alphabet Challenges - only 3 embellishments
The Poodles Parlour - anything goes
Stempel Sonne - back to school
Penny's Challenges - back to school
For Fun Challenges - back to school
Fairytale Challenges - back to school
2 Sisters Craft Challenge - back to school
Creative Inspiration - back to school
Paperplay Challenges - back to school
Sassy Studio Designs - back to school

Who won the Dilly Beans images?

2011-08-22T10:53:00.003+01:00

Remember a few weeks ago when I posted a card using a stamp by Dilly Beans and anounced there would be a giveaway? Well, Megan at Dilly Beans has put the names in a hat and drawn a winner, Debra Barrett :D Debra, if you email Megan at sillydillystampclub@yahoo.com with your choice of 10 free images, she'll get them right out to you :) And for everyone else who loves the images but didn't win this time, never fear, because Megan will be sponsoring us at the Haunted Design House next week, so stay tuned for more creepy cute images displayed by the DT and another chance to win :D
Here's another creation I made with a Dilly Beans image, this one is called Cupcake, Skull and Crow.

These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
One Stop Crafts - bold and bright
Craft Your Days Away - cupcakes
The Emerald Fairies - birthdays
Crafts 4 Eternity - flags or tickets or tags
Card Makin' Mamas - pink
Pixie Dust Studio - card for a teen or tween
The Pixie Cottage - birthdays
Divas by Design - birthdays
Crafting For All Seasons - tags
My Time To Craft - G is for green and girly in this case
A Spoon Full Of Sugar - birthdays
Anything Goes Challenges - birthdays
Pile It On - sweet treats
Birthday Sundaes - pink green and white
Hooked On Crafts - things with wings

Carnival of Curiosities!

2011-08-22T09:55:00.004+01:00

Are you ready for this week's Macabre Monday challenge at the Haunted Design House? Of course you are! This week's theme is "Carnival of Curiosities" and we want to see something relating to circuses or carnivals, but of course with your own uniquely creepy and gruesome twists. The other minions have made some really superb samples this week, you should really go check them out. I admit, I had a bit of trouble with this one. It's a fabulous theme, with loads of scope for interpretation, and I knew straight away that I wanted to do a Freak Show piece using Cyclops from the Heebie Jeebie set at Smeared Ink. And then my mind went blank. Seriously blank. So this piece has been kept relatively simple, hopefully there's enough on there to catch your eye :)
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Challenge Up Your Life - no patterned paper
Allsorts - frames
The Crafty Purple Frog - red hot
Rainbow Lady - be inspired by a song of your choice. Now, all the time I was creating this I was singing away to myself "Welcome to the freak show, we've got fun and games" and it wasn't until I Googled to see who it was by to give credit here that I realised the song is actually "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns n Roses :P
Aud Sentiments - anything goes
Shopping Our Stash - your weakest link. Mine is digi stamps again, but this time I have at least used one that has been in my stash uncoloured, so I feel good about that :)
Pollycraft - autumn colours
Ooh La La Creations - no designer papers
Take A Word - old-fashioned

Pink is the new black, and wonky is the new straight :P

2011-08-21T17:38:00.007+01:00

Here's something I finished today, and, yet again, I've managed to make it wonky. If I'd remembered how bad I am at sticking things on straight, I wouldn't have done the stitching around the edges, but of course I didn't remember and now it's all stuck together and the stitching provides a perfect marker to accentuate the fact that it's not straight :P Both the stamps are by Tiddly Inks; the sentiment is from the Steampunk Sentiments Mega set, and the heart is from Love Hurts. I used a couple of 3D epoxy stickers, some ribbon from my stash and a Tim Holtz small swivel clasp.

These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Challenge Up Your Life - no patterned paper
4 Crafty Chicks - metal
Really Reasonable Ribbon - clean and simple
Tiddly Inks Tuesday - inchie art. My window sticker things are slightly over an inch wide, but not by much, they're just under 3cm square.
Craft Your Passion - anything but a card
The Pink Elephant - stitching
Lothian Crafts - anything goes
Fab n Funky - stitching
Sarah Hurley Challenges - stitching

Getting girly with Corrosive!

2011-08-21T12:28:00.002+01:00

Hello everyone! It's Sunday again, and that of course means that it's time for another fun challenge at the Corrosive blog, and this week we'd like to see your girly creations. We're being sponsored by Simply Betty Stamps this month, so don't forget to play along for your chance at winning some fab stamps :D
My piece uses Steampunk Romance Gwendolyn from Simply Betty Stamps, and Cobblestone Path and Old Oak Tree by Make It Crafty.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
The Secret Crafter - create a scene
Make It Colourful - give your image something to stand on
Sew Many Challenges - summertime
Aud sentiments - anything goes
Little Miss Muffet - use more than two images
The Pixie Cottage - sketch
Color Throwdown - espresso, rose, banana, kiwi
My Mum's Craft Shop - summertime
Allsorts - frames
Irish Teddy - buttons
Shopping Our Stash - your weakest link. Mine is digi stamps, I have so so many. lots of them have never been used and I STILL can't resist buying new ones nearly every week :P

Grungy birthday card

2011-08-19T19:55:00.003+01:00

We have an easy-peasy Anything Goes challenge at StampInsanity this week, so why not pop along and enter whatever you're creating? I made this today, and, lol, it's not really polite to toot your own horn, but I really love this one :D The image and sentiment are both by StampInsanity, and the papers are from the Symphony of Grey set at Crafty Chaos Designs.
Here are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Cupcake Craft Challenges - sketch
Birthday Sundaes - at least 3 brads
Pollycraft Challenges - distressing
Incy Wincy Designs - 3 embellishments, 2 papers and 1 image
Stamps & Fun = Creativity - monochrome
Victorine Originals - happy birthday
One Stitch At A Time - anything goes
Dream Valley Challenges - distressing
My Time To Craft - G is for . . . grey and grungy, in my case
A Spoon Full Of Sugar - happy birthday
Anything Goes Challenge - birthdays or celebrations
Aud Sentiments - any sentiment
Pixie Dust Studio - card for a teen
Stampin' B's DT - distressing
The Pixie Cottage - birthday (and/or sketch)
Divas By Design - birthdays
Catch The Bug - distressing/shabby chic
Simply Create - distressing
Speedy the Cat's Friends' Challenge - distressing
Crazy 4 Challenges - monochrome colouring
Alphabet Challenges - O is for Only 3 embellishments
Forever Night Freaky Friday - mystical women

Creep Crawlies and Dead Divas!

2011-08-18T10:45:00.005+01:00

Here's an ATC I created for a few current challenges. The digi is a small part of one of Mody from the Heebie Jeebie set at Smeared Ink, and everything else was done by me in Paintshop. These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Smudgy Antics - dead divas
Forever Night Challenges - mini art with a creepy or crawly theme. Hopefully I've managed to get both.
Picture Perfect Creations - krumb cake, bravo burgundy, blushing bride, old olive
Frosted Designs - animal (hope my hideous spider-fly creation counts)
Pattie's Creations - animals or insects
Allsorts - anything but a card
The Pink Elephant - stitching
Clearly I Stamp - things with wings
Tuesday Throwdown - non-stamped sentiment (mine is computer-generated)
Fun with ATCs - be inspired bt the song Mother Earth by Within Temptation. I've gone for the long-haired girl, the whole gothic nature feel, and most especially by the following lyrics:
But you'll never know
The next move she'll make
You can try
But it is useless to ask why
Cannot control her
She goes her own way
Once you will know my dear
You don't have to fear
A new beginning always starts at the end
Until the end of time
She goes her own way
Die Cut Dreams - use a digi and the colours, pink, green and coffee
Craft Your Passion - anything but a card
Try It On Tuesday - anything goes

I'm on a new DT!

2011-08-17T10:03:00.004+01:00

I was accepted on to the DT at Ruby's Rainbow Challenges blog, and I'm thrilled! My first challenge with the tea is Stitching, so we'd love to see you join in with any project, as long as it has some kind of stitching on it :D
My creation is very simple, the paper is from the Never Again set at Crafty Chaos Designs and the sentiment stamp is from the Inspirational set by Raindrop Echo Designs.
Here are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Clean and Simple Sunday - sketch 19
Pile It On - blue, blue, blue
The Pink Elephant - stitching
Cute Card Thursday - cleand and simple
Craft Us Crazy - anything goes
Paper and Such - sentiment as the focal point
Deep Ocean Challenges - light blue
Fab n Funky Challenges - a stitch in time
Crafts and Me - blues or blue-greens

The Earth laughs in flowers

2011-08-16T10:28:00.003+01:00

The challenge this week at the Creative Card Crew blog is "handmade flowers". Anything goes, as long as it has some flowers on it that you've created yourself. We're sponsored this week by Robyn's Fetish, and I've created my whole card using papers from her set called Summer Dreams. The only part of it to not come from the paper set is the sentiment, which is by Raindrop Echo Designs and can be purchased HERE.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Sweet Sketch Wednesday - sketch
Creative Inspirations - buttons and stitching
The Pink Elephant - stitching
Scrappekammeret - summer picture inspiration
Stamps & Fun = Creativity - monochrome
The Pixie Cottage - say it with flowers
Crafty Sentiments - punches and die cuts
Sarah Hurley Creations - stitching
Paper Creations Ink - flowers

Queen of the Damned!

2011-08-15T10:42:00.003+01:00

Woohoo, it's Monday again and that means it's time for a new Macabre Monday challenge at the Haunted Design House blog :D This week's challenge is called Queen of the Damned and we want you are to create a dark, Gothic, or Halloween-based art piece that uses royalty, crowns, and/or thrones as the focus.
I've used Poison Ivy by Barbara Jensen, available at the Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps store.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Truly Scrumptious - lace
Deconstructed Sketches - sketch 14
Creative Sketches - black red grey
Meljen's Designs - use black
Southern Girls - black and white with a pop of colour
Top Tip Tuesday - straight edges
One Stitch At A Time - anything goes
Sparkles Forum Challenges - one for the guys
Come And Get It Challenges - black white red
Simon Says Stamp And Show - bling
Lothian Crafts Online - anything goes
Moving Along With The Times - fantasy (hmmm, definitely not the traditional interpretation of "fantasy" but if you ask any male about his fantasy I guarantee it won't involve fairies :P
Crafter's Companion Monthly Challenges - glitter and glitz

Sketch time at Corrosive!

2011-08-14T12:57:00.006+01:00

This week at Corrosive Challenges we have a sketch for you to follow, and don't forget that this month's sponsor is Simply Betty Stamps, so for your chance to win some of her wonderful images and be our Guest Designer for a month, pop over to the blog and get creating :)
My card uses three separate Simply Betty images (Franken-Scott, Punkin Judy and Skeleton Peter) and the paper comes from the Eye of Newt set at Crafty Chaos Designs.

These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Simply Betty Challenges - Halloween
Hooked on Crafts - sweet treats
Craft Your Passion - under the sea OR your favourite season. (I'm hoping that since Christmas counts as a season, then Halloween will too)
Top Tip Tuesday - straight edges
Freshly Brewed Designs - less than 3 embellishments. I've definitely used less than three embellishments, but I'm not sure if all the patterned paper disqualifies it. Just count this as a for-fun entry, ok?
Totally Papercrafts - food and drink
Making Halloween Cards - humour and/or purple
Irish Teddy's Challenge - Halloween
One Stitch At A Time - anything goes

Meep!

2011-08-13T23:44:00.006+01:00

I thought I had most of tomorrow to play along with the new challenges at Smudgy Antics and it was only when I went to look at the other entries that I realised it ends sooner than I'd realised. Thankfully, the theme is Splat, so I quite happily splattered paint around with some digital brushes and made a quick ATC. The image is from the Love Lil Grumpies set at Smeared Ink, and the background paper is from the Kiss Of A Witch set at Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Mojo Monday - sketch 203
Smudgy Antics - splat
Creative Stamp Friends - handmade background (the background behind te image is random paint splatters created by me)
One Stitch At A Time - use a digi
There's Magic In The Air - any type of animal (I'm hoping furry monsters count)
Shopping Our Stash - dogs or digi stamps or denim (digi stamps for me, and my old stash are those beads. They're a nasty matte pale pink originally but I had a go at recolouring them and giving them a gloss finish tonight and I'm pleased with the result)
Bling It On - ABC (my ingredients are ATC, Beads, and Chain)

StampInsanity blog hop!

2011-08-13T15:38:00.007+01:00

Please note: I scheduled this to go up on Saturday, and that all went well. Except today I realised that I seem to have forgottten to actually enter any of the challebges listed, D'oh!, so I'm entering the ones that are still open today (Sunday). Sorry for the confusion!

We're having a fun blog hop, and of course there are prizes to be won! If you've come here from Sugar's blog then you're on the right track and it's time to head back to the beginning to leave a comment on the HOP POST to be in with a chance of winning some StampInsanity grooviness! :D If you've come here from somewhere else, why not head over to the StampInsanity blog to see all the details and get the full hop list? The lovely Kelli designed a sketch for us and we had to add flowers as well. I gave Lilith a mermaid tail again because I have to admit, I love her as a mermaid! Yuo can find the original version at the StampInsanity store, along with her luscious set-mates, the Devil Dolls. The papers are by Crafty Chaos Designs, from the Memories of Atlantis set.
Here are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Gingerloft Challenges - sparkle
Order of the Opus Gluei - no words (this is sooo hard for me :P)
One Stitch At A Time - use a digi
Paper Playtime - water
Craft Your Passion - under the sea
Crazy Challenges - embossing
Deep Ocean Challenges - the sea
Moving Along With The Times - fantasy
Digital Tuesday - I love the sea
Crafty Catz - embossing
If The Shoe Fits - green
Crazy 4 Challenges - monochrome
By The Cute & Girly - the sea
Always Something Creative - water

Do you want a chance at some fabulous freebies?

2011-08-12T17:37:00.008+01:00

Of course you do! Who doesn't, right? Well, after I posted my last card using a Dilly Beans image, so many of you posted comments about how much you loved the image and hadn't heard of the company before that Megan (the lovely lady behind Dilly Beans) came up with a wonderful idea. Between now and Aug 20th, for every Dilly Beans stamp you buy, IF YOU MENTION THAT YOU CAME FROM MY BLOG your name will be entered into the draw and at the end of the time, Megan will draw a random name to get TEN FREE STAMP IMAGES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND, there's also a sale going on right now as well! It just gets better and better, doesn't it? :D This creation uses #207 Friday with Skull image, a sentiment from Crafty Chaos Designs and a paper I created specifically for this project.
This is a close-up to show some of the details for specific challenges.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Tuesday Morning Sketches - sketch #106
Cutie Sunday - flower power
Sparkles Forum Challenges - one for the girls
One Stitch At A Time - use a digi
Sentimental Sundays - flowers
I Did It Creations - children
Gingerloft Challenges - sparkle
Dream Valley Creations - distressing
Paper Creations Ink - stitching
Creative Stamp Friends - make your own background. I created the backing paper myself, and I inked the image bg and scattered flowers over it as well.
KB Cute Monday - use a digi
Incy Wincy Designs - somethhing old (sentiment) and something new (image)
Cupcake Craft Challenge - stitching
Crazy Amigos - free theme
Paper Minutes - turquoise, lime, deep pink
Your Next Stamp - border punches or dies
Cupcake Inspirations - I was inspired by the colours, the flowers, the cake decorations that look like beads, and the busy patterns.
Craft Us Crazy - anything goes
Sassy Studio Designs - distressing
Paperplay Challenges - create your own designer paper
Crafty Sentiments - punches and die-cuts
Speedy the Cat's Friends' Challenge - make a card any shape or size other than the standard 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" (mine is 5" by 5.3". It started as a 5.5" square, but I cropped it)
Catch the Bug - anything goes
The Craft Garden - bright and bold
My Grafico - anything goes
Crafter's Companion - glitter aand glitz
Desert Island Crafters - I used these itinerary items - 1. colour your image, 2. stitching, 9. give it life, and 10. three diferent colours only (fuschia, lime, turquoise)
Crafty Calendar - hot colours
Alota Rubber Stamps - tic-tac-toe (I used distressing, stitching a ribbon)
The Stamp Man - summer colours
Stampin' For The Weekend - spots or dots
Fussy and Fancy - use a lot (more than three of one type of embellishment) Um, I went a bit overboard with this one, so I have more than three gems, beads, frames and two different types of flower.
Crafty Ann's Challenges - scallops or fancy borders
Wags & Whiskers - sparkle
Mami Doodles - flowers
Digis with Attitude! - anything goes

Lace and pearls

2011-08-11T18:03:00.004+01:00

We have another fun challenge at StampInsanity this week; we'd like you to use lace and pearls on your creations. Now usually when I think of lace and pearls I nearly always go for either vintage or gothic, so this time I decided to go for something deliberately different. I've used the lovely Kassandra from the Devills set at StampInsanity, the sentiment is from Graphicat Designs, and papers from the Princess and the Pea set at Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Graphicat Sketches - August sketch
Making Halloween Cards - purple and/or humour
Sparkles Forum Challenge - one for the girls
Truly Scrumptious - lace it up
Sir Stampalot - whatever you fancy

Spotlight on me! :P

2011-08-10T09:31:00.004+01:00

Simply Betty Stamps blog have started a fun new feature called Spotlight On You Wednesday, where they feature creations from one lucky follower. And I was chosen to be the first! *Squeal* PLEASE pop along to the Simply Betty Stamps blog and let me know what you think of my showcased creations. Here's my latest creation featuring an SBS image; this one is Freddy Kruger Boy from the Punky Teens Halloween line at Simply Betty Stamps. The papers are from a new set that I hoped to have finished for today but haven't quite, so they'll be in the Crafty Chaos Designs shop hopefully very soon. Oh, and the sentiment's from there as well.

These are the challenges I had in mind whilst creating:
Paper Sundaes - sketch
365 Cards - Day 162 use an odd number of items on your card. (1 image layer, 3 strips of paper, two pumpkin embellishments and 1 sentiment makes a grand total of 7)
Stamptacular Sunday - photo inspiration
Dream Valley Creations - distressing
Incy Wincy Designs - something old (the image is from one of last year's Halloween releases) and something new (the papers were created this week)
Do You Stack Up - black with a pop of colour. Mine ended up being more grey than black, hope that's ok)
Moving Along With The Times - don't be square (my new favourite card size is 5x4 inches so that's what I've used here)

Happy skellie birthday!

2011-08-09T21:13:00.006+01:00

Here's what I made today, lol, I kind of love this :D I recently discovered a new digi stamp artist, Dilly Beans, and I LOVE her creepy cute stamps. This one is called Dunce Cap Skellies and it really makes me smile :D The backing paper is by Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Deconstructed Sketches - sketch 13
Card Makin' Mamas - birthdays
Prairie Fairy Fridays - be inspired by the photo to the right
Birthday Sundaes - any kind of birthday card
Stamp Something - use a digi
Lollipop Crafts - monochromatic
KB Cutie Monday - use a digi
Ribbon Carousel Challenges - get edgy (I have fancy edges and an "edgy" image)
Emerald Fairies - lace

Kreepy Kids!

2011-08-08T10:30:00.006+01:00

It's Monday, woohoo, which means that it's time for a new Macabre Monday challenge over at the Haunted Design House blog! This week it's all about Kreepy Kids. Kids are creepy enough already, but we think you can expand on this theme ;) Bewitching babies, terrifying toddlers, monstrous middle-schoolers, or taxidermied teenagers WE DARE YOU to creep us out!
My girl image is from The Octopode Factory, the tree is from Make It Crafty and the papers are by Crafty Chaos Designs. And the sentiment is the last line from the Rock-A-Bye Baby nursery rhyme.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Paper Sundaes - sketch
Sassy Studio Designs - have a sentiment on the front
Stamp Something - use something digi
Forever Night Freaky Friday - good or evil. Lol. evil every time for me :P
Lollipop Crafts - monochromatic
Incy Wincy Designs - something old and something new. The papers are from one of my newest sets, and the Octopode image is the very first one I bought from Lily.
TOFF Challenge - girls girls girls

The last day of Grumpie, I mean Smudgefest!

2011-08-07T20:38:00.004+01:00

The final day of Smudgefest is here! And the lovely people at Smeared Ink gave us a freebie to use on our projects for today. Did you think that might mean I couldn't use a Grumpie as well? Oh, ye of little faith, Grumpies can be used anywhere, anywhen, anyhow. This looks MUCH more washed-out that it does in real life, my printer, scanner and camera are all conspiring against me. The images are Calypso the rat, available free for today only, and one of the Grumpies from the Love Li'l Grumpies set, both from Smeared Ink.
These are the challenges I had in mind whilst creating:
What If Wednesday - sketch J2711
Colour Throwdown - krumb cake, pool party, old olive, white
Smudgefest Day 7 - use the freebie provided
Top Tip Tuesday - blue green brown
Little Miss Muffet - let your image expand outside the die cut mat

Earth Tones

2011-08-07T12:12:00.004+01:00

We have a fun new colour challenge for you over at the Corrosive blog this week; we'd like to see your earth-toned creations. Our sponsor for August is Simply Betty Stamps, and I've used one of their fabulous Steampunk images to create my piece. The papers are from the Dusty Journals set at Crafty Chaos Designs.
Tuesday Morning Sketches - sketch 105
Incy Wincy Designs - monochrome colours
Creative Stamp Friends - monochrome
The Emeral Fairies - lace
Stamp Something - use something digi
My Mums Craft Shop - monochrome
The ABC Challenge - A is for Auburn hair

Last but one!

2011-08-06T19:03:00.003+01:00

Smudgefest Day 6 is here! And yes, I managed to create another Grumpie project :D This little guy is once again from the Love Grumpies set at Smeared Ink, and the papers and sentiment are ad hoc creations specifically for this piece. There is actually some text under the hair-ridden wax strip (I promise, it's actually sellotape and chopped-up eyelash yarn :P) but you can't read it. It's part of the lyrics from "I'd Die For You" by Bon Jovi, which I'm now going to have running through my head every time I look at this.
Here are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Smudgefest Day 6 - Sketchy Saturday (follow the sketch)
Alphabet Challenge - N is for Navy plus one other colour
The Crafty Pad - something clear (sellotape, used to represent a waxing strip)
Take a Word - song (I'd Die For You by Bon Jovi)
Crafts and Me - anything goes
For Fun Challenges - anything goes
Craft Your Passion - anything goes
Frosted Designs - colour in your image
Make It Colourful - colour with pink

Day 5!

2011-08-05T19:13:00.003+01:00

Yup, I made another Grumpie project! Today's Smudgefest challenge is to use a "medium that flows".
Hmmm, I thought, I could make some cool drips with nail polish . . .I dripped it on acetate, thinking I could let it dry, peel it off and attach it to my creation. Nope, it bonded. Hubby told me to try it on polythene instead. It still bonded. I tried it on glass. It STILL bonded! Grrrrrrr! So now I have lots of things with drippy nail polish on that are absolutely no use to me.
I painted a chipboard frame with acrylics and decided to use a heart stencil, paint the nail polish on top and then add some extra drippy bits coming out of the bottom. The polish didn't stay inside the stencil, so now I had a frame with a big splodgy mess of nail polish in one corner! >*< So I painted all across the top with polish and splodged more at the sides and let it drip down. It's not great, but it's in time and you can tell I used something that flows. I coloured up the Lovers Grumpies digitally and made a nice splotchy background for them, then pasted the You Got Me Babe sentiment from the same Love Lil Grumpies set underneath. All the Grumpies stamps can be found at Smeared Ink. And I have to add that the polish is actually a similar shade to the Grumpies, but in the photos it's either blindingly glossy silver or this darker purple shade. Ho hum :P
Here are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Smudgefest Day 5 - use a medium that flows.
Paper Creations Ink - stitching
Delightful Sketches - stitching
Cute Card Thursday - no designer paper
Craft Us Crazy - anything goes
The Sisterhood of Crafters - make a 3D gift
Creative Belli Challenges - non-paper material. I hope chipboard counts. My old stash is the frame, and the acrylic I used to paint it, both of which are about a year old.
Lil Red Wagon - put a critter on it
Papertake Weekly - anything goes with the optional extra of using metal (my heart)
The Crafty Purple Frog - anything but a card
Stamp Something Challenges - use a digi
The Stamp Man Challenges - stitching
Patties Creations - stitching