One Stitch at a Time Challenge 144

Welcome to the last One Stitch at a Time challenge, and Blog Hop! I hope you're enjoying the hop, and being inspired along the way.

You should have arrived here from Jill's blog. If you didn't, you might want to go to the start, or find your place on the list below.

Choccy DT Coordinator
Jill
Josephine *You are here*
Ali
Nataliya
Vicky
Nikki
Susan
Hazel
Trisha
Mandy
CraftyGirl
Tracey
Cg
Karen

There are lots of prizes! First, there's the usual challenge which you can enter. Then, there's a freebie for everyone who completes the hop, and one lucky hopper will win the full set of images used. To complete the hop, you'll need to visit every blog along the way and collect the letters from each blog. Full instructions are on Choccy's blog and the One Stitch at a Time Challenge blog.

The letter for this page is: P

For my project, I've used some of a set of papers from Panda Bear Designs.There's eight in the set, and while they've got a Christmassy theme, several of them are quite a bit more versatile than that. The set's called 'Home for the Holidays' which is a common theme in the US, but always seems like a contradiction to me, as holiday time is when you go away, well, on holiday!

I made a five by seven card because the papers are all rectangular in format, and I didn't want to alter them more than I had to. I've used a gorgeous aqua and gold paper in the background, and an ivory paper with olive green tree and aqua 'sparkles' as the main image. The tree is gorgeous, and I didn't feel the need to add a different focal image. I generated some 'Christmassy' words in Photoshop Elements and printed it on a background similar to the ivory shade, matted everything with gold mirror board, and that's it!

And now you need to head to Ali's blog!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Crafty Boots where the theme is Christmas,
Cupcake Crafts where the theme is Christmas,
Daisy Doodles where anything goes,
Hooked on Craft where the theme is Christmas,
Love to Create where the theme is 'anything goes',
The Crazy Challenge where the theme is 'Christmas Time',
Unstampabelles where the theme is Christmas,
Bearly Mine where anything goes,
Lady Anne's Challenges where anything goes,

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 81

We've got a different sort of challenge this time at Crafty Cardmakers. We want you to make something inspired by Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce.

You can listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO1rMeYnOmM

Or here are the words:

If I could save time in a bottle,

The first thing that I'd like to do,

Is to save every day till Eternity passes away,

Just to spend them with you.

If I could make days last forever,

If words could make wishes come true,

I'd save every day like a treasure and then,

Again, I would spend them with you.

But there never seems to be enough time,

To do the things you want to do once you find them,

I've looked around enough to know that,

You're the one I want to go through time with.

If I had a box just for wishes,

And dreams that'd never come true,

The box would be empty except for the memory of how,

They were answered by you.

But there never seems to be enough time,

To do the things you want to do once you find them.

I've looked around enough to know that,

You're the one I want to go through time with ...

We are sponsored by our lovely teamie Kim Reygate. As Kim said, 'I have been lucky enough to work with some fantastic companies during this last year, both teaching and making samples and most of them are represented in the prize, so I would be more than happy to donate them to Crafty Cardmakers. Represented in the list are Clarity, HobbyArt, Sir Stampalot, Stampcraft and Woodware, some of whome will be sponsoring us in 2013, so watch this space!'

The items in the prize are:
Blue Magic stamp,
2 Embossing Folders,
2 Butterfly Stamps,
2 Colorbox Queues,
Colorbox Moulding Mat,
Magnolia Stamp,
 Petal Stamps.

And, we're also sponsored by:

Milk Coffee

Now, I sometimes take things a bit literally, and this time, I just took some words directly from the song.

If I had a box just for wishes ...

And came up with this:

I used some 12in by 12in card to make a basic box. Then, I added some Papermania Shimmer card. I embossed some Coredinations White Wash card using a time-themed folder from Sizzix, and a butterfly themed one from Personal Inspirations (I think). I sanded the result to bring out the lilac shade. Then, I cut the Spellbinder's butterflies from the shimmer card.

I used the butterfly folder to emboss some panels for the sides of the box.

I finished the box with some silver-trimmed violet ribbon and a computer generated label that I cut with a Spellbinders die.

So, how are you going to be inspired by that beautiful song? I can't wait to see what you come up with.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Flutterby Wednesdays where they're having an open challenge,
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge where anything goes,
Anything but a Card,
Creative Moments where anything goes,
Stampin' with the Dragon where anything goes,
Aud Sentiments where anything goes.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 143

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we want you to show us your folds! We want creations with more than one fold.

Our sponsor is:

Now, I know there are many elaborate ways of folding a card, but I went for one of the simplest - an easel card.

I wanted some very girly paper, and found this one on my hard drive. It's from Bearly Mine, and it was a freebie some time ago. I lightened it a little for the background, then added the Beary Dust image Corey and framed her using a transparent solid panel, with a feathered outline. I took another piece of the background image, and this time, I darkened it several times before shrinking it to a fraction of its original size. I then digitally pieced that into the image for her dress. I coloured her hair, skin and bolero using Promarkers. Finally, I added what seemed to me to be the obvious sentiment for the image!

I used a repeat of the background for the base of the card, and finished with some Spellbinders die cuts in Papermania sparkly paper, and some sticky gems.

I hope you can join us this week.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Digi Galore where it's anything goes,
Mema's Crafts where anything goes,
Emerald Faerie where they want an easel card,
Papertake Weekly where anything goes,
Artistic Impressions where anything goes,
Stampin with the Dragon where anything goes,
Daisy Doodles where anything goes (with a digi),
I Love Promarkers where anything goes,
Crafts and Me where anything goes,
Creative Moments where anything goes.

A Window and a New Toy

Well, I finally took the plunge and got myself a new diecutter. I've had my Wizard for several years, and while it cuts simple dies well, it's limited in size, and as dies have become more and more intricate, it's been struggling. I considered both the Grand Calibur and the Big Shot Pro, and finally decided on the Sizzix machine because I'm hoping it'll keep going for a long time.

It's very big, and I've had to dedicate a corner of the kitchen worktop to it, but I knew it was big before I bought it. It's definitely straightforward to use, and I should be able to use almost any dies in it. I've always pretty much limited myself to wafer thin dies with the Wizard because mine can't reverse, so any 'new' sandwiches are a risk. I'm looking forward to trying out some Sizzix dies to start with.

On the downside, after just a week of use, I broke my cutting plate. I've only used recommended sandwiches, and I must admit, I'm disappointed by that. Replacement plates are not that expensive, but I really hope that turns out to be a bit of bad luck. I've since found that I can cut simple shapes without one of the recommended layers (the solo shim) so I'll only add that when I need to do something more intricate. And then again, I've still got the Wizard, so I can use it for a lot of things. We'll see.

So, what have I been doing with my new toy? Well, I made a Christmas card, of course!

Here's where the BSP definitely comes into its own. I cut the Spellbinders fancy lattice in just four passes through the machine. (It took me 16 or so with the Wizard.)  I cut a standard Spellbinder's rectangle out of white card and trimmed it to make a frame. The paper is from a pad I've had for several years and can't remember whose it is.

And the inside! The image is from a set of Snowman stamps from Crafter's Companion. I stamped it in green ink - can't remember which variety - and coloured with Promarkers. I used the rectangle die to cut the image and then framed it using the Spellbinders Fleur de Lis rectangle. I did a similar cut for the back of the window, and the paper comes from the same pad.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps where the theme is 'Christmas Time',
Fashionable Stamping where the theme is 'To Die For',
Great Impressions where anything goes,
No Matter Which where the theme is Christmas,
Sketchy Colours where the theme is 'red, green and white',
That Craft Place where there's 'no squares allowed'.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 142

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we're having another 'anything goes', so you can show us what you've been up to!

We're sponsored this week by Rick St. Dennis.

This week, I worked with an image from Reece's Scrap Pieces, and when I got the image, we were about to have my sister and her husband arrive for the weekend. So, because all my craft bits had been tidied away (except my trusty laptop), I decided to do a digital card, and this is what I came up with!

But then, our guests left by lunchtime on Sunday to go and visit some friends on the way home, so the card, paper, glue, Wizard and so on got pulled out again, and I adapted the digital design and came up with this:

In both cases, I used the pre-coloured image that came with the set. If you check out the DT blog and some of my team-mates' blogs, you'll see how they chose to colour the digi stamp instead. I added the floral border, using the motif on the bowl, and completed the image with a green border in Photoshop Elements. Then, I did  greeting, adding two single flowers from the main image, and finally, put together a backing paper using the same single flower, although I did make it a lot smaller!

Hope you can join us this week!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Chocolate, Coffee and Cards where they want clean and simple,
Simon Says Stamp where anything goes,
Corrosive Challenges where anything goes,
Glitter and Sparkle where they want flowers (I hope the use of the image flowers in the background and sentiment panels is enough.)
Joanna Sheen where it's anything goes (except Christmas!)

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 80

Our challenge this fortnight, hosted by team-mate Fiona, is a photo inspiration challenge.

Make a card or project inspired by the following photo. You can take inspiration from any part of it really, from the actual image or from the colours.

We are sponsored again by

DI'S DIGI DOWNLOADS

and

CROP STOP

The things that stood out for me when looking at that photo, are the colours, the Christmas theme and the fact that the tree looks so sparkly. So, that's what I combined to come up with my card for this challenge:

Now, when my children were small, a regular part of the run-up to Christmas, was watching 'The Snowman'. The stamp I used comes from a set of stamps from Crafter's Companion, and I coloured the image with Promarkers.

In order to get the sparkle, I got out my Shimmer Paper. I used a sheet of the fairly neutral shade in the background, and cut lots of snowflakes from the blue/green variety, using dies from Marianne, Spellbinders and Cuttlebug. I matted using some Nestibilities, and it's complete. (And since I didn't go too 'dimensional', I'll even be able to post it without a 'large' stamp!)

Hope you can join us this week.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Crazy Amigos where the theme is 'colours of winter',
Ladybug Crafts Ink where the theme is 'snowflakes',
Artistic Inspirations where anything goes,
Bunny Zoe where the theme is 'winter',
Hooked on Craft where the theme is 'Christmas',
Paper Playtime where anything goes,
The Paper Girls where the theme is Christmas,

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 141

This week at One Stitch at a Time, our challenge is to use fabric, ribbon or lace.

Our sponsors are

and

This week, a made another Christmas card - this time using an image from Kaz Crafts called Wish Upon a Star.

I added the wording in Photoshop Elements, and set the image so that the star and wording printed in grey rather than black, while leaving the little girl to print darker. I coloured the girl with Promarkers, then added gold Glamour Dust to the star. I added further sparkle to the star with a Sakura Stardust pen, and used the same pen to add some sparkle to the text.

I cut the image using a Spellbinders die in my Wizard, and matted it using larger ovals from the of the same type.

The background uses some gold-printed vellum which I backed with white card, and I matted everything on red. To finish, I've used some gold ribbon at an angle to mirror the angle of the image oval.

I hope you can join us this week.

And, if you like this or any other image or paper available on the Stitchy Bear site, there's a 50% off sale for 24 hours starting tomorrow at 5am GMT. So, what are you waiting for?


I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Papelitos Challenge where anything goes,

Artistic Inspirations where anything goes,

Paper Playtime where anything goes,

The Paper Girls where the theme is Christmas,

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 140

This week at One Stitch at a Time, our challenge is to use a digi. That's it!

We're sponsored by

and

This week, I decided to add to my stash of Christmas cards using an image from Floppy Latte called Christmas Candles 2.

I coloured the image with Promarkers, and added some sparkle with gold Glamour Dust. I cut the image and mat with a Spellbinders die, and made the poinsettia using a Marianne Creatables die. The paper has been in my Christmas paper stash for at least four years, and the ribbon is of a similar vintage - the last length of a much longer piece!

I hope you can join us this week.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

LEJ where the theme is 'Season's Greetings',
Tuesday Alchemy where anything goes,
The Pink Elephant Monday Challenge where they want us to use punches/dies
Divas by Design where anything goes,
Just Keep on Crafting where anything (Christmas) goes,
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge where anything goes,
Crafty Catz where they want some sparkle,
Papercrafting Journey where anything goes,
Little Claire's where the theme is Christmas.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 79

This fortnight's challenge at Crafty Cardmakers is an easy one. It's been set by my team mate Betty, and she would like to see something created using at least two punches or die cuts.

We have two sponsors this time. First there's Hobby Art

and also

 (see the Challenge Blog for details of both prizes.)

I was lucky enough to work with an image from our sponsor Milk Coffee. Isn't it sweet? I coloured the image using Promarkers, and added some sparkle with Glamour Dust to the snow falling, and to the ground with a Sakura Stardust pen. I cut the image using a Spellbinders Label die in my wizard, and matted it onto card I cut with the equivalent decorative label - a recent purchase which I think is gorgeous!

The white background card was punched using my Tonic Border system and punch, and the corners of that, and the blue background card were rounded using a punch. I added some Quickie Glue to the snowflakes and sprinkled with Glamour Dust there too.

Hope you can join us this time.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Southern Girls where they want a Christmas project,
Papertake Weekly where anything goes (with an option of Christmas),
Sweet Stamps where the theme is Christmas,
Hooked on Craft where the theme is 'Christmas with no red or green',
Stamping with the Dragon where they want 'Christmas with no red or green',
Delightful Challenges where they want snowflakes,
Paperplay where they want snowflakes,
Dream Valley where anything goes,
Joanna Sheen where the theme is 'Cold and Frosty',
One Stop Craft where anything goes.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 139

This week at One Stitch at a Time, the challenge is 'Thanks'!

Our sponsors this week are

and

This week I chose a gorgeous image from Delicious Doodles called Kingfisher in the Rushes.

I added the sentiment in Photoshop Elements before printing, then coloured with Promarkers. The papers all come from the Papermania Capsule collection, and I've matted with card from my collection. the flowers were made from the same card and paper, and I shaded the main flower layers using Distress Ink in Rusty Hinge. I finished with a feather from a bag I bought ages ago and keep forgetting I've got!

I hope you can join us this week.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Anything Goes where anything goes,
LEJ Designs where they want us to use die cuts or punches,

Papertake Weekly where anything goes,

Aud Sentiments where the theme is 'Thanks',
Happy Campers where they want bright colours,
Papercrafting Journey where anything goes,
Sarah Hurley where they want bright colours,
ATCs and Cards with Attitude where they want us to add a sentiment,
Card Making Mamas where they want a thank you card,
Poodles Parlour where they want a thank you card,

A Special Birthday and a Wedding!

Hot on the heels of my last post, here's another with two more cards using images from the Enchanted Dreams CDRom.

First, one for a 50th birthday.

I digitally smudged the name. There's no chance the future recipient, or even anyone who knows her will visit this blog, but I just don't feel comfortable putting other people's names up here. The two papers were both created in Photoshop Elements by tiling small sections of the image.

And a wedding card. Again, I've smudged, this time both the name and the wedding date, and again, the papers were created in Photoshop Elements.

 

Four Christmas Cards

I'm conscious that, as a result of various worries during the summer, I haven't made as many Christmas cards as I usually have by this time of year. Now that these worries have been largely resolved, I'm trying to get stuck into doing some, and I decided to use my Enchanted Dreams CDrom for some inspiration.

There are four fairly wintery images on the CDRom, and this is the first of those. I used the backing paper provided for the image, and used the lady's lacy clothing to create a background which I used to frame the image, and to frame and fill the text. I matted using some Papermania shimmer card. I had intended to place everything straight, but, having placed them as you see as a first stage, I decided I liked the effect!

This time, I added the work 'Winter' to the image in Photoshop elements before printing. I also used the backing paper supplied for the image.

For this one, I again added some wording in Photoshop elements, but I also used some bevel effects on the image. I didn't like the paper supplied for this image, so I made a couple using tiled elements of the image. One's fairly dark blue (the detail doesn't show well in the photograph), and the other picks out the blues/lilacs and pinks of the image.

Again for this image, I didn't like the supplied paper, so I put one together. The only other thing I added was some silver mirror card to provide a contrast.

I haven't embellished these cards at all. I purposely printed the images fairly big for the size of card - there's so much detail in every image and I hate to lose it because it's printed small. I think they work really well with just some matting to draw the eye into the image.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 138

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we're having that easiest of all challenges: Anything Goes!

Our sponsor this week is

and

This week, I worked with an image from Gingerloft, and it's one of three in her set called Vintage Valentine Set. And just to show that they're versatile, I didn't make a valentine card or anything specifically romantic at all!

The image is supplied in black and white, but I decided to soften the effect by changing those shades to brown and cream. Then, still in Photoshop Elements, I added a border to the image in a pale saffron shade before printing. I matted it on dark brown, and then on some textured metallic coated paper and I mirrored the stars in the image using a punch I've had for many years. I mounted all of that onto more of the dark brown card, and finished with a roughly tied bow.

Hope you can join us this week.

I'd like to enter this card intot he following challenges:
Fab 'n' Funky where they want die cuts or punches,
The Paper Shelter where anything goes,
Anything Goes where anything goes,
LEJ Designs where anything goes,
Pause, Dress, Enjoy where they want orange and brown,
Raise the Bar where anything goes,
Card Making Mamas where anything goes,

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 78

This week's challenge at Crafty Cardmakers is hosted by Tracey who says, "As Christmas will be here before we know it, we would like to see a shaped card featuring a reindeer or two. No square or rectangle cards please."

We're sponsored by

and

So, easy, isn't it?

I kept things fairly simple, using a stamp from Whiff of Joy that I won a while ago. I coloured the image with Promarkers, and cut it using one of a set of oval Nestibilities. I cut the card base, and did all the matting using the same set of dies. The paper is from my collection, and the greeting was stamped using a 'no inkpad required' stamp I've had for several years.

I hope you can join us this time.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

ABC Christmas where anything goes,

I Love Promarkers where they want Christmas,

Charizma where the theme is 'don't be square',
Willow Sketchie where the theme is Christmas,

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 137

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we want you to 'Make one for Christmas'.

We're sponsored this week by


This week, I worked with an image from Beary Dust called Dyanna.

Now, it's not a specifically Christmassy image but she does look ready for a night out! I teamed her with a freebie Christmas paper from Jak Heath which she offered last year? It's beautifully subtle, and she offered various different shades. I decided to go a little bit traditional, and go for the green. I combined the Beary Dust image with the background in Photoshop Elements and added a suitable sentiment. Now, that was particularly easy because these Beary Dust images give you the ideal (for me) png options. They're transparent in the background, but solid black or white within the image. So, no messing around, just place, size, and print. (I'm never sure why other digi artists don't offer this option. All transparent is almost as difficult to use as a jpg!)

So, once I'd done that, my work was almost done! Well, actually, I added some colour to Dyanna - giving her dress a hint of green (too subtle a hint to be obvious in the photo ...) and doing her flesh and hair tones. Then, since they were still on the table due to a different project, I used one of my irridescent Twinkling H2Os to give her earrings and eyeshadow a bit of shimmer. I matted onto some pearlescent card from the Papermania Capsule collection, and cut some snowflakes from the same card using a Cuttlebug die in my Wizard.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

ABC Christmas where anything goes,
I Love Promarkers where they want Christmas,
Willow Sketchie where the theme is Christmas,

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 136

This week, at One Stitch at a Time, we're sponsored by

and

And our theme is ... Use a Digi! So, easy, isn't it?

This week, I got to work with an image by Stitchy herself called Ladybug. 

Isn't it a lovely image, with so many uses? Because of the ladybird, I decided to make red a predominant colour for the image, adding some orange, yellow and green. I coloured with Promarkers, then made some flowers using punched shapes and some beads. The paper is from a Serif pad that came with a magazine a while ago, and I finished with some ribbon from the 99p shop.

I hope you can join us this week.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Anything Goes where they want us to make our own embellishments,
Emerald Faeries where anything goes,
Bearly Mine where anything goes,
The Crazy Challenge where they want us to make our own flowers,
I Love Promarkers where anything goes,
Stamp 'n' Doodle where anything goes,
Pink Gem where they want flowers,
Colour Creative where they want a touch of red, and alcohol markers (I've got more than just a touch ...),
One Stop Craft where anything goes,
Poodle's Parlour where anything goes.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 77

This week at Crafty Cardmakers it was my turn to choose the challenge. So, I kept it fairly simple, but there's an extra twist if you want to go with it. I want Autumn-themed cards. So, autumn colours or scenes, or, better still, Autumn festivals (but not Hallowe'en!) There are loads of Autumn festivals - but only one seems to have challenges galore, so here's your chance to celebrate something different! And, if you choose a challenge that's not so well-known, I'd love it if you'd explain a little about it when you post.

We are sponsored by

Milk n' Coffee Digital Stamps
Cute digis for cute creations 
 

I've actually made two cards for this challenge. The first uses an image from our new sponsor. It's called 'Girl Collecting Chestnuts', and it's got a beautifully autumnal feel.

I took an element from the image, and used it to create a border in Photoshop Elements. For me, that's one of the advantages of using digital images - you can make papers and embellishments from the image itself really easily. I coloured with Promarkers, and matted using a Spellbinders die cut, and paper from the Papermania Capsule collection, finishing with some sticky gems.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Crafts and Me where anything goes,
Inky Impressions where they want Autumn colours,
Die Cutting Divas where they want Autumn colours,
Sarah Hurley where the theme is Autumn,
Two Sisters where anything goes,
Challenge Up Your Life where anything goes.

And, as an example of a 'Not a Hallowe'en Festival', I thought I'd do something on Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night. Having decided to do that, I trawled around trying to find some suitable images and failed. So, I was forced back onto my own devices. Now, I don't consider myself at all artistic - I can't draw to save my life. So, it was with some trepidation that I show you what I came up with!

I started with some black card, and onto it I painted some 'fireworks' using irridescent Twinkling H2Os. I roughly edged the card with the same colours, and mounted that onto some silver mirror board that I embossed in my Wizard using a Sizzix folder. Then, in Photoshop Elements, I put together a multi-coloured version of the traditional Bonfire Night rhyme, which was also matted onto silver board.

I must admit, I'm not entirely happy with the result, but I doubt I'll ever be happy with anything I've done 'freehand' like that, so it's here for all to see!

I hope you can join us this week, and I'm really looking forward to learning about some new Autumn festivals!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Whimsy where they want 'sparkly things',
Craftymess where anything goes,

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 135

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we're going musical. We want you to make something that's inspired by a song.

Our sponsors this week are:

and

Now, if you look through my CD collection, I've got more albums by Sarah McLachlan than anyone else. (Yes, I still use CDs. There's something transient about downloading music that I don't like.) And the song I decided to go with is Angel. For this, I chose a lovely image from Ike which is available at the Stitchy Bear shop.

I  coloured the image with Promarkers, and added some Glamour Dust to the wings. I edged the image with Distress Ink applied with an Ink Duster brush which gives a lovely subtle sky effect.

The papers are from the Papermania Capsule collection, and I've matted the image and the papers with card from the same collection in a contrasting shade. Once I'd assembled it, I decided it didn't need a lot else, so I finished with some clear sticky gems.

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

Victorine Originals where they want 'lots of layers' (hope six on the base card is enough.)
House of Gilli where anything goes,
Crafts and Me where anything goes,
Divas by Design where anything goes,
Craftymess where anything goes,
Two Sisters where anything goes,