International Art and Soul Challenge 32

Our challenge this fortnight is to make something interactive.

Not something I've done much of, but I did buy a die set specifically for making interactive cards, and so this is it!

I started with a beautiful backing paper from Panda Bear Designs which used to be sold via the Stitchy Bear online shop. I can't find any reference to this designer online, but if anyone does know, I'd be very interested to find out. I always loved her designs. This rainbow set is probably the single set of papers I've used more than any other. The flower and butterflies are stamps and dies from Sizzix which I coloured with Promarkers. The sentient uses a die from Creative Expressions.The die set which I used for the interactive pathway is from Apple Blossom.

And that's it! I hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 29

The challenge for this fortnight it so use humour. I'm normally wary of using humour in cards as I'm very aware that one person's humour can be another's embarrassment, so this was a hard challenge for me. Then, as I sat in my usual chair, I saw this:

That little squirrel lives on the standard lamp in our living room. It was given to me by someone I'd worked with throughout the 17 years I was at the special school I left at the summer. And there's a story behind it.

About 15 or so years ago, I was walking to school. It was summer and I was wearing some open sandals and as I went down a footpath I used regularly, I spotted a squirrel further down. I expected it to climb up the fence and be gone into the nearest tree, but instead, this squirrel ran at me. I stopped dead, rather surprised and a little anxious. Fortunately, it got to within a foot of my poor, unprotected feet and decided to run away again. When I got to work, I told a couple of colleagues who both found the incident hilarious. And ever--after, the story of the squirrel and its 'nut-crunching teeth' became a bit of a standard. (I don't think it was my phrase, but it was attributed to me whenever the story was re-told.) Anyway, the woman who gave me the squirrel when I left has a birthday coming up, and I'd already bought a die set in her honour.

And this was the result. The background paper is from a set by Panda Bear that I got while I was on the Stitchy Bear design team. I've added a tree silhouette and the wording using Photoshop Elements. I think the die is from Tonic, and the set included a couple of branches and leaves which I've added, along with some extra leaves on their own. For the inside, I've used the same background, but expanded it to fit across the inside of the card.

And that's it! The humour is very specific to just a few people, but at least I know it was at my expense rather than someone eles's!

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 235

This time, at One Stitch at a Time the challenge is 'daughers/girls'. Our sponsor is

See the challenge blog for details.

For this challenge, I decided to make a gift for my daughter for Easter, instead of making her a card. I worked with some lovely papers from Panda Bear Designs called Renew Paper Pack 1.

It's a sort of Easter basket idea, to which I will add some chocolate treats once I've managed to buy some! I used a piece of 12 by 12 card for the base, and two of the papers from the pack.

I filled the inside with some shredded raffia, and added some hand-made flowers.

 I added a die cut butterfly to each side, and held the whole thing together with some lace.

And, so you can see a little more of the second paper I used.

The paper pack is not a standard size in the UK, but with the wonders of Photoshop Elements, I was able to resize it to the square format I needed for this project. The butterflies were made with Spellbinders dies, and the flowers with dies from Sizzix's Susan's Garden range. I do love those dies, and have put together quite a collection. It's just a pity that the range is being discontinued (although I've made the most of that by increasing my collection while the dies are being cleared!) I added some colour to the petals with Pan Pastel, and the spotty shading to the green petals with Promarkers.

I hope you can join us this time.

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

A Gem of a Challenge where Spring is in the Air,
Suzy Bees where they want us to use a die or punch,
Chocolate, Coffee and Cards where they want us to use a die cut,
Crafting for the Craic where they're Die-ing for Spring of Easter,
Fussy and Fancy where the theme is Springtime Flowers,
QKR where the theme is Spring Flowers,
Simply Create Too where they want no digi or stamped images,
Wags n Whiskers where the theme is Flowers,
Moving Along with the Times where they want anything but a square card,
Penny's where they want Something for the Girls.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 170

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we've got the best of all challenges - anything goes!

Our sponsor this week is

See the challenge blog for details.

This week, I got to choose some paper from Panda Bear Designs, and I decided to go for an underwater theme with her Ocean Blue Paper Pack 2. And to go with that, I chose Stitchy's image Ocean Floor. And this is how I combined them!

I love the colours in that gorgeous paper, so I mirrored them when I coloured Stitchy's mermaid image with Promarkers. And of course, the colours are exactly what's available in my range of Shimmer paper, so I used some green for matting and some of the beautiful gold shade for the ocean floor.

I hope you can join us this week

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

My Heart Pieces where they want a digi stamp,
Crafting By Designs where anything goes,
Crafts and Me where anything goes,
Pollycraft where anything goes,
Sister Act where anything goes,
Stamping for the Weekend where anything goes,
Stamping with the Dragon where anything goes.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 150

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we're having everyone's favourite challenge - Anything Goes!

Our sponsor this week is:

(See challenge blog for more details.)

This week, I got to work with some beautiful paper from Panda Bear Designs. It's a set of six papers called Serenity, and the only shame is that I only had time to use one of them for this project.

I've kept the card very simple - the paper is so lovely that I just wanted to add some inspirational words!

I printed one of the papers to fit a five by seven card, and matted it with some textured blue. The verse is an Apache blessing that I found online. In case you can't make out the words from the photograph, it says,

May the sun bring you new energy each day,
May the moon softly restore you by night,
May the rain wash away your worries,
May the breeze blow new strength into your being.

May you walk gently through the world and know its beauty.

I put the verse onto a blue background in Photoshop Elements and printed, before cutting it with a Spellbinders die in my Big Shot Pro.

I hope you can join us this week.

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

Anything Goes where they want monochrome,
Bearly Mine where anything goes,
Papertake Weekly where anything goes,

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,

One Stitch at a Time, Challenge 133

This week at One Stitch at a Time, our theme is 'Butterflies or Buttons' and we're sponsored by

and this is the prize:

This week, I got to work with some gorgeous papers from Panda Bear Designs and decided to make an exploding box.

I shrank the papers in Photoshop Elements to the size I needed (oh, the wonders of digital papers!), and printed them onto photo quality paper. The butterflies were cut with a Marianne Die, using some Craft Creations Shimmer paper.

Hope you can join us this week.

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

Totally Gorgeous where they want us to use punches and dies,

Party Time Tuesdays where anything goes,

Creative Craft Challenges where anything goes,

Whimsy Stamps where anything goes,

The Paper Shelter where anything goes,

Flutterby Wednesdays where they have an open challenge;

Crafting for All Seasons where they want 'things with wings',

Love to Create where anything goes.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 128

This week at One Stitch at a Time, our challenge is an easy one - use a digi!

This week, I'm working with some papers from Panda Bear Designs called Sweet Melodies and I've teamed them with a beautiful set of dancer silhouettes from Stitch called Rehearsal.

I decided to make a circle flip book, and to give you an idea of it, here's a photo from above.

That gives you an idea of the overall shape, but that's only part of the story.

First Quadrant

Second Quadrant

Third Quadrant

And finally, the fourth quadrant.

I printed the gorgeous papers onto my favourite Ryman Matte coated Ink Jet card. It gives a beautiful velvety finish and the print quality is fabulous. Then, I pulled out my newest toy, a Martha Stewart Large circle cutter. I've had my eye on one for a while, but they never seem to be in stock, so when I spotted one which was in stock and reduced, I pounced! I must admit, it beats cutting round with scissors!

I printed the silhouettes (two of each with one flipped horizontally) onto the same card, backing them with a shade from the background. I then used an offcut of the silhouette prints to suspend the dancers from the 'wall' of each quadrant.

Our sponsors this week are:

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

Craft Your Days Away where anything goes,
The Paper Shelter where anything goes,
Divas by Design where anything goes,
Moving Along with the Times where they want anything but square,
DRS Designs where they want silhouettes,
Simon Says Stamp where there are no rules this week,
Bearly Mine where anything goes.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 117

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we want you to make a card for one of the men in your life. Our sponsor this week is Creative Craft World who're offering the winner three Promarkers.

I chose to make a card for my eldest whose birthday is coming up this summer. He's off living the life of a young professional these days, having left his student days behind. For this week's project, I got to work with some beautiful papers from Panda Bear Designs called Painted Garden Spots and Stripes available from Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps (link in my sidebar) and when I saw them I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

See what I mean? Those stripey papers just begged to be made into shirts! And of course, the advantage of digital papers is that I could shrink the pattern to fit the scale I wanted. the two spotty papers are also part of the set, and there are three other colours I didn't manage to fit into the card!

But of course, the card is for my son so I had to get a bit of a leg pull in there, so I did an insert too ...

Hope you can join us this week!

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

Kaboodle Doodles where they want male-themed cards,
Love to Create where they want something for a guy in our lives,
Digital Tuesday where anything goes (with a digital element.) (All papers and sentiments are digital.)
Papertake Weekly where anything goes,
Digi Doodle Shop's Best where they want a card for a male,
Pixie Dust where they want us to use three or more patterned papers (I used four),
The Stamp Man where they want something for a man,
Simply Create where they want something for a man,
Phindy's Place where they want something masculine,
Di's Digi Designs where they want something male-inspired.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 107

This week at One Stitch at a Time, our theme is 'New'! And we're sponsored by

This week, I got some gorgeous papers from Panda Bear Designs to work with, as well as a lovely image from Stitchy herself!

So, of course, I decided to go for the theme 'new wardrobe'!

The image is coloured with Promarkers to match the gorgeous papers. I printed the image a little smaller than I usually would to show off the background! And then, to finish, I made some flowers using a couple of punches, colouring the card with the same Promarkers as I used in the image.

Hope you can join us this week!

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

Stamps +Fun where they want us to make our own flowers,
Party Time Tuesdays where anything goes,
Squigglefly where anything goes,
Crafty Purple Frog where anything goes,
For Your Inspiration where there's a photo inspiration (I chose the colours),
ATCs and Cards with Attitude where anything goes,
Cardmadfairy where they want die cuts or punches (flowers made from punched shapes)
Mark's Finest Papers where they want square cards,

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 94

Happy New Year!
This week at One Stitch at a Time, we're restarting the Collaboration from Stitchy Digital Stamps but with a difference! The images and papers have been chosen by the DT members, and they'll be packaged together as a free gift for you if you spend $10 in the shop. How's that for a good deal?

My choice for the package was one of Panda Bear Designs Fairy Garden paper packs which I've teamed below with Stitchy's gorgeous silhouette 'Reach'.

 

 I took one of the papers, and combined it with the png of the silhouette in Photoshop Elements, adding the bird and a frame to match. I printed the result onto glossy photo paper. I mounted that onto some holographic silver card, and then onto one of the other papers in the pack. I wrapped some pretty holographic silver thread around the result before putting the whole thing onto a plain white card. I don't know about you, but I'm like a child when it comes to shiny things. Holographic things just seem completely magical to me, and are therefore perfect for a card depicting a fairy!

Hope you can join us this week.

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

Deep Ocean where they want us to surprise them,

Top Tip Tuesday where anything goes,

Crafting for All Seasons where they want fairies,

Charisma Cardz where anything goes,

Digi Doodles Shop where anything goes,

Delicious Doodles where anything goes,

Hiding in my Craftroom where there's a freestyle challenge this time.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 74

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we want you to use a digi! That's it - use something digital. And we're sponsored by

This week, I've been doubly lucky - because, not only did I get to use some lovely die cuts from our sponsor, I also got to play with some gorgeous Christmas papers from Panda Bear Designs - Winter Nights 1.

I wanted to use the three die cut 'scenes' in a single project, so I made a Chrismas book - a mini Christmas story.

 

 I've used six out of the seven papers in the set - and combined them digitally to make the pages, adding the words of some traditional Christmas carols to match the die cuts. The two stars are part of the die cut set, and I coated them in Versamark ink and then brushed on some Perfect Pearl in gold.

I finished the book by stitching the various pages together and then added some gold ribbon and a bow.

Hope you can join us this week.

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

Fussy and Fancy where the theme is 'Christmas in August',
Craft Us Crazy where anything goes in August,
Crafty Purple Frog where 'anything goes but a card',
Crafts and Me where 'anything goes',
Kelley's Kids where 'anything goes',
Papertake Weekly where 'anything goes, with an option of metal',
Craft Your Passion where 'anything goes'.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 68

It's the last Sunday of the month again, and that means we're previewing next month's fabulous free gift at Stitchy Bear Stamps. Spend $10 in the shop during July, and you'll get a fabulous selection of images and papers, and if you check out the various design team members, you'll see what it includes.

We're sponsored this week by

This time, I worked with some lovely papers from Panda Bear Designs. The theme of the challenge (and the collection) is sympathy/weddings. Two very different occasions, but it's amazing how some images and papers will work well for both if given a slightly different treatment.

Typically, I couldn't make up my mind which occasion to choose, so I made one of each.

First, I made a wedding card. The roses just seemed so beautifully romantic! I kept the design simple so as not to swamp the very pretty paper.  I used an image from Sylvie, coloured with Promarkers, and layered it with silver mirror card and some white card coloured to match the paper. The roses were made from the same white card, again coloured or shaded with Promarkers, punched into basic blossom shapes, and assembled.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Art Impressions where they want hand-made flowers,
Rainbow Lady's challenge where they want digis,
Everybody Art Challenge where anything goes,
The Crazy Challenge where they want weddings,
Prairie Fairy Fridays where the theme is wedding.

Sympathy cards are very useful things to have in your collection, but it's a variety I'm often reluctant to make. This pretty paper with its lovely soft pink tones seemed perfect, and I teamed it with an image from Floppy Latte Designs which I've coloured with Promarkers. It's matted onto some lovely apricot-gold embossed card. To me, Sympathy cards shouldn't be too fussy, so I didn't add any further embellishment, but again, the paper is so pretty, I don't think it's really lacking at all. Those are just two of the papers Panda Bear Designs has contributed to the July collection, and don't forget all the other designers!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Dutch Dare where they want 'clean and simple'
Papercrafting Journey where anything goes,
I Love Promarkers where anything goes (with Promarkers),
Ruby's Rainbow where they want flowers,


I hope you can join us this week.

Something a bit Different

I've been asked to make a special card for someone at work - something with several 'scenes' to it. My original idea was to make a concertina card, but then I remembered a video I came across a week or so ago, and thought that might work. But, I don't have all the details for that card yet, and I'd have to describe the format to my colleague before I could start work on it, so I thought I'd have a go using images I've already got to prove it's at least possible!

I used this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9PNYrknPbM&feature=player_embedded for the general instructions.

I did all the image preparation in Photoshop Elements, using images from Stitchy (her Rainbow Magic silhouettes) and Panda Bear Designs (her rainbow papers, or at least, two of them). I've added some of the cookie cutter shapes from PSE, and some brushes which were a freebie from My Grafico (the birds). The banners were also PSE cookie cutter shapes.

The words come from a poem by John Bliven Morin called Faeries and Pixies and are copyright to him. If you want to read the whole thing, you can find it here: http://www.fairiesworld.com/poems/?p=1178.

I used circles around 210mm (A4 card width), and edged the printed quarter circles with peel offs. It's times like this I seriously consider getting myself one of those electronic cutters - to be able to get perfect circles that size would be wonderful!

My next project is going to be to see if I can come up with a standard template for this style of card - it seems to me to be the ideal candidate for a completely digital approach (well, apart from the cutting and assembly). I may fail completely, but I'm going to have a go.

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

Fairy Fun Friday where they want more than one fold,

Sew Many Cards where they want circles (I started with four, and that's just the base card!)

Crafty Purple Frog where they want 'Things of Beauty',

Crafting for All Seasons where anything goes,

Divas by Design where they want 'one for the girls',

Paper Shelter where anything goes,

A Spoonful of Sugar where they want 'things with wings',

Creative Card Crew where anything goes,

Stamps R Us where they want us to use something digital,

Allsorts where they want things with wings.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 55

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we're showing off the monthly collaboration for April - that's the set of files you'll get FREE if you spend $10 in the Stitchy shop. How's that for a bargain? And the theme for the collaboration is Mothers and Babies!

And, we're sponsored by

and

I got to play with Panda Bear's paper pack this week, and chose two of the designs to make a Mother's Day card.

Aren't those papers just gorgeous?! And there are some lovely baby-themed papers as well as some that could be used for all sorts of occasions in the set too.

I decided to show off the papers by not using an image, and instead digitally created a sentiment and cut it with my nesties. I inked around the edge with Versacolor ink in Burgundy and finished it with some white ribbon.

The flowers were all made from punched shapes. I recently bought Susan Tierny Cockburn's book 'Paper Bouquet' and the flowers were inspired by that. (I can't follow many of her designs exactly because of limited punches!) The white flowers are edged with Versacolor ink in either Burgundy or Ash rose, and the burgundy flowers were coloured with Promarkers. Although the flowers feel pretty robust due to the shaping and layers, I sprayed them all with some Crafter's Companion Spray and Shine Irridescent to give them a bit more rigidity so they'll hopefully survive a trip through the post.

The paper is also edged with Burgundy ink, and I finished with some lace.

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:
Craft Your Passion where they want us to show our appreciation. (What else is Mothering Sunday all about?)
Anything Goes Challenge where they want us to make our own embellishments. (I made the flowers.)
Creative Craft Challenges where they want us to use lace,
Simon Says Stamp were they want Mother's Day,
For Fun Challenges where they want flowers and a sentiment,
Creative Card Crew where they don't want any stamps,
Crafty Emma who want us to use die cuts (Eyelet Nestibility used for matting).
Two Sisters who want us to make our own embellishments (the flowers are all made from punched shapes)
Allsorts who want something made for 'a special lady'.