Crafty Catz challenge #568 -optional twist 'Trick or Treat'

Good morning, a creepy Halloween make from me today!

Over at  Crafty Catz this week 's challenge is sponsored by 

BECCYS PLACE 

http://beccysplace.com/

http://beccysplace.blogspot.com/

Prize $10 Aud gift certificate 

http://beccysplace.com/

 Our lovely Nick is hosting this week and her optional theme is

 Trick or Treat (pick trick=interactive card or treat=something yummy or trick or treat =Halloween

I had so much fun with this card! I've used the free image and paper that Beccy is generously giving away this month -Available here.

What a fantastic scary witch, so enjoyed colouring her!

 I changed the colour of the free paper to purple 

I drew and coloured a door for her to hide behind cut the doors so they would open and added some little lock shaped brads  (had these for ages- so pleased to use them at last.)

I popped the witch behind the doors and adhered to front of card along with some die cut webs and bats. Stamped the spiders and 'creepy' and 'spooky' words. I added the little sign which is handwritten- in blood of course!

 Thanks for stopping by- hope to see you over at Crafty Catz this week!

Chris

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Challenge entries:

audsentiments #285

CRAFT #614

craftygalscorner #224

paperfunday#34

TIOT Halloween time

twooldbatshalloweenchallenge October

beccysplace October Challenge

Rue x Two

 Good afternoon, it's not 4.30pm yet and the light is going already- that tells me it won't be long before the clocks go back and it's dark by this time- which means Christmas isn't too far away. I'm woefully behind on my Christmas cards this year, haven't had much inclination to make anything apart from DT committments so I'm trying to shake myself out of it and get cracking on the Christmas stuff. I made a fairly quick card using two Lavinia stamps and distress ink. I die cut a circle from a square of copy paper , used the square to mask my white cardstock panel and inked up through the hole in the middle, removed the paper frame and stamped Rue using black Versafine Clair ink. I then covered the inky circle with my circle of copy paper and stamped around the edge with the little star stampin various shades of blue and silver. I made sure thiink was all dry (been caught out before!) then stamped and heat embossed the white stars. I used a white gel pen to add highlights to the fairy and vine and stamped the 'joy' sentiment. The second card is one of a batch I made last year and never got around to sharing- same stamps, a die cut branch and a little bling.

I survived the weekend with my granddaughters, they were both really good even though little Charlotte was a bit under the weather. We had a lovely walk to the park, read books, played games (lots of!) and had some lovely cuddles snuggled up on the sofa watching Peppa Pig (oh yay!...4 granddaughters on - I know every word of every episode we watched!)

Shame the cat wasn't as well behaved - 2 traumatised little girls saw it eat a mouse out on the front lawn. I explained that it was nature and that's what cats do sometimes, but as Charlotte said 'Nanny, the mousie doesn't like it!' I'm sure she was right!! At least the mouse was dead by the time they noticed the cat had it. 

Give me a dog any day!

Thanks for visiting

Chris

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Challenge entries:

thefairyandtheunicorn October Ch.

CCAYR October- S for stars

Lets craft and create #176

HLS October Christmas Challenge

MLCCB #39

hollyandivy #103

mytimetocraftchristmas. #20

Add a button at Sweet Stampin' Challenge

 Good morning, the new challenge at Sweet Stampin' begins today, a lovely easy theme this fortnight- Add a Button. 

I used a sweet digi from Hetty Clare, coloured with Copic markers. The papers are from Polkadoodles cut with stitched dies and layered onto kraft card, I found the little wooden button in a pot of bits and bobs lurking on my desk. I added som faux stitching and stamped sentiment to finish.

I'm spending the rest of the weekend over at my son's house- babysitting my two youngest granddaughters while he takes my DIL away for a weekend of spoiling as a birthday treat. I'm looking forward to spending the time with the little ones....but not to the very early start tomorrow morning- 2 year old Charlotte is a very early riser!!! At least it's only one night....

Thanks for visiting and enjoy your weekend whatever you're up to.

Chris

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Challenge entries:

allsorts #645

aperfecttimetocraft #10

morgansartworld #10

colourcrazy #40

MAWTT #135 Wording, patterned paper, button

Crafty Catz Challenge #567 Optional twist- Girly

 I'm hosting the challenge at Crafty Catz this week, our sponsor is the fabulous

PAPER SHELTER

The prize is

3 digital images.

http://www.thepapershelter.coms 

so I picked the theme of 'girly' for the DT to use- definitely spoilt for choice with so many sweet images to choose from.

The image I've used is Giselle (thank you Paper Shelter), this pretty image comes with papers and a precoloured version as well the uncoloured version I used, I really fancied colouring this one!

I used my copic markers for colouring then die cut the image with a sticthed circle die leaving her feet  over the edge, I used a stencil and distress ink for the background . 

The papers I used are Life of The Party (MME) the  numbers sentiment letters are die cut individually - twice once from the pinkish card and once from grey card to add a shadow.

Please hop over and take a look at the lovely creations from the rest of the team- remember the theme is optional if you want to play along.

Thanks for visiting

have a happy weekend

Chris

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Challenge entries

craftycreations #426

thepapershelter #486

watercooler #326

digichoosday #40

lilpatchofcraftyfriends#167

classicdesign #10

Cheerful Sketches Guest Design

 I was delighted to be invited to Guest Design for Cheerful Sketches this month, thanks ladies it's an honour.

Here is this month's sketch

The sponsor for this challenge is Crafty Sentiments, I was given this cute digi to use, coloured it with Copics and paper-pieced the top of the umbrella. I printed the owl a second time coloured and cut out just his body and the wing holding the umbrella and attached it to the main image with silicone glue for a little dimension, added glossy accents to the rain drops. Papers are scraps from stash, and a stamped sentiment.

Thanks for visiting

Chris

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challenge entries:

craftysentiments 5th Oct Challenge

Crafty Calendar October Challenge - Halloween

 Our October challenge at Crafty Calendar has the fun theme of Halloween, our sponsor for this is 

Oddball Art

So many creepy cute images to choose from! I ended up using two, Haunted House  and Ghoulish Garden and merging them, I think they're made for each other! All that was left to do was colour it and add the stamped sentiments.

please check out the fabulous creations from the rest of the team over at

Crafty Calendar Challenge Blog

Thanks for visiting today

have a great weekend

Chris

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Challenge entries

twooldbatshalloweenchallenge  October

Crafts galore encore #92

digichoosday #39

worldwideopendesignteam #9

digidoodlestudios #43

justusgirls #604

Crafty Catz #566 Anything Goes, optional twist Shades of Autumn

 Good morning, the weeks and months are flying by- October has arrived, the days are getting shorter...and colder. We were so lucky in this part of the UK, September was a lovely month of mainly dry weather and beautiful warm sunny days, a great end to the summer.

My card today iis for this week's challenge at Crafty Catz, Ginny is hosting and has chosen the lovely theme - Shades of Autumn,  as always this theme is entirely optional.

Our fabulous sponsor this week is 

JMC DESIGNS

I love colouring these fun images! The one I have chosen today is Beckie Buttons, I've used my Copics as usual.

Not sure what this card fold is called, the background DP is embossed using a Tattered Lace ef, lightly sponged with Distress ink. The leaves and flowers were die cut from white cardstock using TH dies and coloured with Distress inks.

There are some gorgeous colourful creations from my lovely teamies to feast your eyes on over at Crafty Catz, and of course we'd love to have you join us this week- remember anything goes at Crafty Catz.

Thanks for stopping by

Chris

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Challenge entries

asyoulikeitchallenge -Autumn or winter-

 Definitely Autumn for me, I love the colours and winter is too cold!

cardz4galz #156

creativeknockouts #421

craftinghappiness #115

mmmchallenge #158

thefourseasons October Challenge

sparklesforum #144

Christmas in September at Sweet Stampin' Challenges

 Good morning, this fortnight our challenge theme  at Sweet Stampin'  is

 Christmas in September.

A friend of mine is busily making items to sell at a craft fair and was looking for ideas so I suggested decorating candles, something I've been meaning to try for ages but have never got around to.

It was really easy to do, a lot of fun and I didn't even burn myself! I won't go into details of 'how to' as there are plenty of tutorials online but this is the finished result. I used an old, but beloved wood backed Penny Black stamp- it comes out year after year so I've def. had my money's worth from it! I wrapped the finished candle in selophane and added some ribbon and twine a tiny tag with a stamped sentiment.

Not long to go before this month is over and October means Christmas will be looming very close- so now is a good time to get started on those Christmas makes, there's loads of fabulous inspiration from Team Wendy over at Sweet Stampin' so hop over and take a look, we'd love to see your Christmas ideas and creations too so we'll be delighted to have you play along- anything Christmas but remember to include some stamping.

Thanks for visiting 

have a lovely weekend

x

Challenge entries:

mytimetocraftchristmas #19

Winter Wonderland -Anything but a card

hollyandivy #101

CCAYR - R reindeer, ribbon

daisychain #56

Rudolph Days September Challenge

Crafty Catz Challenge # 564 -Optional twist 'Anything but square'

 Good morning, hope you have all enjoyed a good week, the weather has been lovely here, lots of  late summer sunshine, just what we need to set us up for the colder and darker days ahead. Not much crafting done here- I've spent as much time as I can outside, a lot of reading and a little gardening- my husband is a keen gardener and does most of the work which suits me down to the ground! Marvin likes to help with a bit of pruning and dead heading...unfortunately he doesn't wait until the flowers are dead and he's an indiscriminate but enthusiastic pruner! Anyway, back to the card- one I made earlier- for this week's challenge at Crafty Catz, sponsored by 

Sherry West Art

FACEBOOK PERSONAL PAGE

https://m.facebook.com/sharongwen.west.1

FACEBOOK ARTIST PAGE

and 

Crafty Ribbons

Website: www.craftyribbons.com

Visit our blog http://blog.craftyribbons.com

Inspiration Blog http://craftyribbonsinspiration.blogspot.co.uk/

Challenge Blog http://craftyribbonschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

prize

Our theme for this week is 'Anything But Square', as always this theme is optional.

I used Torn Edge Octagon dies to cut a card base and frame, stamped the cute Frog and Friend image onto the card base, coloured with Copics then masked him off to stencil the  background sky and grass, I added some stamped bulrushes. The frame was stencilled and stamped to match.

As always there's plenty more to see over at the Challenge blog, so please hop over and take a look at what the team have been up to this week.

Thanks for visiting

Chris

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Challenge entries:

kraftychicks #578

craftysentiments 21 Sept Challenge

digichoosday.#38

lilredwagon #620

thesisterhoodofcrafters stencils

watercooler #325

Just one life

 It's been a glorious day today, I've been very lazy and spent most of it in the garden, finished reading one book and read half of another, my idea of bliss! They are both library books with other people waiting for them so it would have been selfish not to! :)) I doubt if we'll get many more perfect days like this one before the autumn really sets in so I made the most of it.

 This is a card I made yesterday, just because I could. The cute image is from My Besties, a prize from a recent win and I felt like a bit of colouring therapy.  I've used Copics mainly but added a touch of sparkle here and there with gel pens, sadly not showing on the photo. The gorgeous papers are from Stamperia. The cogs die cut behind the image and clock was inked with distress inks and sprayed with a mica mist and it has a beautiful shimmer IRL. The Stamps are Tim Holtz. I added a couple of metal cogs and some pearl dots to finish.

Thanks for visiting

enjoy the rest of the weekend

Chris

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Challenge entries:

thefairyandtheunicorn - September Challenge

colourcrazy #37

polkadoodle #38

classicdesign #9

crafterscafe #274 (blues/browns)

creativecraftinguncles. #21

mybestiesaussiechallenge #9

bestieschallenge- September Ch.

Simply Gorgeous!

 Good morning, Friday has arrived once more so it's time for a new challenge at

 Crafty Catz,

This week we're sponsored by the fabulous 

DR DIGI'S HOUSE OF STAMPS

Prize 2 images from the shop

It's my week to host which means I get to choose the theme for the DT to use-

2 or more Design Papers

As always this theme is optional for anyone who chooses to play along- anything goes at Craft Catz.

The image I have used, kindly given by the sponsor, is 

Mascara Mandy...

here she is getting all glammed up for an evening out!

I've used my Copics to colour, papers from stash and stamped sentiment. The lipstick and nail polish are die cut from white card, coloured with Copics and paper pieced with tiny scraps of DP.

As always, there's plenty of inspiration to be found over at Crafty Catz where the DT have been busy creating with some fun sponsor images, so please hop over and take a look- we'd love to have you play along with us this week.

Thanks for visiting- and have a great weekend.

Chris

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Challenge entries:

aperfecttimetocraft #9

Crafts galore encore #91

pearlysparkles #66

sweetstampers #60

incywincy dots/stripes /checks

colourcrazy #36

Thinking of you...

 Good morning, this week at Allsorts Challenges the team are dedicating the challenge to lovely Kath. It would have been her week to host and in typical, well organised Kath fashion she had picked the theme ages ago. Her chosen theme is Favourite Stamps and the Allsorts team have added an extra option of paper- pieced flowers as Kath was the queen of paper-piecing.  Here's the card I made to join in and remember a wonderful friend. I have used my all time favourite flower stamp, Ruffled Bloom an old wood backed stamp from Stampendous. I stamped onto the square of white cardstock twice, slightly off the edge, masking one image to stamp the other- then realised that I didn't need to mask it off as I was going to paper-piece over the top of it- doh! I stamped  the leaves, coloured them with Copic markers  and masked them to add the stamped background script and sentiment. I flicked a few splats onto the background then paper-pieced the flowers, adding a few seed beads to the centres. I finished with some twine and little flower beads. 

Please do hop over and look at the challenge, there's some beautiful inspiration, some lovely prizes and it would be great if you can join in by creating something beautiful in honour of Kath.

Thanks for stopping by

Chris

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Challenge entries

Allsorts #641

creativefingers #214

craftycreations #425

watercooler #324

aplacetostart #9

Colours of Autumn

It's time for a new Challenge over at Sweet Stampin', the theme for this fortnight is

 'Colours of Autumn'.

I made a couple of tags using Distress inks, stencils and some Lavinia stamps. I love these colours.

 I'm having a peaceful hour, Marvin is enjoying his bone in the garden - after a battle of wills, he would prefer to chew it on the carpet...but I won!

Here are a few of his holiday photos as promised. There was a wonderful walk just across the road from the cottage- through the park and an orchard and fields and woods- you can see how much he enjoyed it!

At the end of the walk as we came back to the village there was this beautiful surprise- a lovely display of wild flowers beside a little stream.

He had a wonderful time on the beach-

he ran straight into the sea... a big wave went over his head and bowled him right over- he just shook himself and went back for more

Thanks for visiting- don't forget to check out our challenge at Sweet Stampin' and have a great weekend.

Chris

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Challenge entries:

alphabetchallenge L for Leaves

simplycreatetoo #174

craftygalscorner #223

ellibelle Flora /fauna

paperfunday #33

creativecraftcottage #144

thefourseasons September (Fall)

Crafty Catz Challenge #563 Optional twist - Masculine Birthday

Good afternoon, I'm a little late with this post today, just got back from holiday and lots to do!

We had a lovely time and Marvin was a superstar and thoroughly enjoyed his first holiday... will share some photos later when I have more time.

This week's challenge at Crafty Catz is sponsored by the fabulous

 Morgan's Artworld

Billie is hosting and has picked the optional theme of Masculine Birthday 

The image I used is Sports 16, I printed the image twice, once onto a panel of white card and once onto a scrap of grey dp with a very subtle pattern. I sponged Distress Inks onto the white panel and  stencilled  a grassy border and some 'ripples'  to give a kind of water effect, then stamped the edges with a TH script stamp. I stamped the sentiment and added a strip of green dp and some twine.  I cut the image on the  dp into a tag shape, inked the edges and a little stencilling with green distress ink, and adhered it onto the main panel, lining up the image so the fishing rod matched up (well almost!)

Well that's it from me today, need to go shopping for groceries as our cupboards and fridge are a bit Mother Hubbard.

Don't forget to hop over to Crafty Catz to see what my lovely teamies have created this week and remember the theme is optional if you want to play along.

Thanks for stopping by

Chris

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Challenge entries:

audsentiments #283

thepapershelter #482

themaleroom #154

morgansartworld #9

 

A Challenge for Kath

 Good morning,

I'm here today to tell you about an upcoming challenge at Allsorts in honour of lovely Kath who sadly passed away last month. She is much missed by her teamies, and I'm sure many, many others who like myself, were honoured to count her as a friend. Kath was such a talented crafter and produced many beautiful cards,  a brilliant team member, so organised herself and always willing to help out when needed, and a loyal and supportive friend. I have been lucky enough to enjoy her  friendship and wonderful sense of humour since we were DT members on Ladybug Crafts Inc many years ago , and ever since then I have looked forward to reading her comments -always kind and generous and often humorous- she did have the most amazing sense of humour, her lovely newsy emails would always have me laughing out loud.  I miss her very much and my thoughts often go to her beloved family who I know will be devastated by their loss. 

 Please look out for the Challenge, which will take place on Saturday 11th September, it would be great if you can find the time to create something beautiful to join the Allsorts team in  honouring this wonderful lady. All the details will be on the Allsorts Challenge Blog.

I'll leave you with a small selection of Kath's beautiful creations to admire -

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

Chris

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Crafty Calendar September Challenge - Anything Goes

 Hello, well here are we are at the beginning of another month- this year is disappearing fast. The weather is already feeling quite autumnal, must say its been a bit of a disappointing summer here, not nearly as much sunshine as I would have liked!!! Many of the days have been a bit like the one on my card- wet and grey!

This month at Crafty Calendar we are lucky to have two  fabulous sponsors this month Sheepski Designs  and Crafty Ribbons. I have used the beautiful Shopping in Yorkshire image- so lovely to colour. This card started life as a slimline design. I printed the image onto white card, masked it off and added the stencilled background panel with the raindrops- all good so far, coloured the image with Copics and paper pieced the umbrella- still good- inked up my stamp for the sentiment...and dropped it!!! Of course it landed on the card 🤦‍♀️- fortunately near the top of the panel so I cut it smaller and mounted it onto a wider dark blue mat. Found 2 buttons in my stash to match the brolly.

As always there's plenty of inspiration over at the Challenge Blog, some fabulous makes from the rest of the DT, so please hop over to take a look. We'd love to have you play along this month, it's easy to join in, the theme is Anything Goes- so don't be shy!!

Thanks for stopping by, have a good week.

Chris

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Challenge entries:

aperfecttimetocraft. #9

classicdesign #9

cccdigicreations #129

leannsworld101 #42

Snow bunnies

 Hello, I have another stamped card to share, again using some Lavinia stamps. I masked the edges of  a square of white cardstock &  created the background scene by sponging with distress inks , stamped the bunnies (ok they're hares!) trees and sentiment. Lots of tiny dots with a white gel pen for falling snow....job done! I need to get cracking with the Christmas cards now that September has arrived

We're meeting some friends for a meal out this evening, just at our local club...but it's so nice to be able to do it again- I love NOT cooking!

Thanks for visiting

Chris

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Challenge entries:

hollyandivy #100

craftyanimals #54

creativecraftcottage #143

pammiesinkypinkies #2135

allsorts #639 (2nd entry)

Dancing fairies

 Hello, it's Bank Holiday Monday and a chilly dreary day here- not raining but cloudy and grey, not at all tempting to be in the garden and we rarely go out anywhere at holiday weekends because of crowds and traffic- so craft room it is!

I made this card a couple of weeks ago-along with a few others.  I was playing around with stamps, inks and stencils hoping inspiration would strike! I rarely make one layer cards so was quite pleased with how this turned out. Distress inks, a Lavinia stamp and stencil and a stamped sentiment.

I hope you are enjoying your day- whatever you are up to!

Chris

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Challenge entries:

welove2create #9

allsorts #639

fairyandtheunicorn August Challenge

lilredwagon #616

Happy times

 Well, hello... I'm back again with another sketch- inspired card, 2 cards in 2 days- a definite improvement.

The sketch I used was this one, from Creative Sketchy Girls- unfortunately the challenge has finished... but hey ho it's a great sketch!

My image is another of Mo's cuties- again I've had it for a long time, shamefully it's the first time I've coloured it! More papers from scrap stash, this time layered onto a stencilled cloudy background. A ribbon and bow and a tiny LOTV  stamped tag added with a brad... I'm quite pleased to be using some older stash. 

A little update on Marvin... He's now 7 months old and getting quite a big boy! He doesn't really look like a puppy any more, but obviously he still is. Sometimes he is as good as gold, but can be a bit of a juvenile delinquent when the mood takes him!- he still has his klepto tendencies- anything belonging to me is fair game in his eyes! He loves to chew and tear although his adult gnashers are all through now- gleaming white, big and strong- fortunately he's stopped trying them out on people !!! Many of his toys have had major surgery- missing ears, tails and limbs are the norm.... some are sadly deceased. He doesn't chew furniture though and he hasn't eaten any walls, doors or skirting boards as a couple of our Danes were wont to do at his age, so there's hope for him yet. He's really friendly, full of fun and has boundless energy, loves to play fetch and romp with other dogs, it gives me great pleasure watching him run joyously across a field or through the woods. I'm looking forward to taking him on holiday with us next month and watching him play on the beach- he loves the water...any water!  

Thanks for visiting today, enjoy your weekend whatever you have planned- although it looks as if we're in for a bit of a wet one in the UK ...

Chris

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Challenge entries:

polkadoodle #34

asyoulikeitchallenge -

my favourite primary colour is blue, such a clean fresh colour, beautiful in all its shades -and who doesn't enjoy looking at blue skies on a summer day!

craftygals #222

craftysentiments.# 17 Aug. Challenge

Passion for Markers #605

digidoodlestudios #41 Favourite season- Summer!

Cutiepie #162

aperfecttimetocraft #8