Double Trouble with a Birthday Pig

Hello everyone. Yesterday (and the day before) we had some really gloomy weather and I decided to "hide" in my craft room for a little bit and I made a card for the Double Trouble challenge. Along with their regular challenge, their "twisted sister" asked for pigs and I thought why not dust of one of my cute pig stamps and make a card? I've had this stamp for a few years now but only used once before.

For Double Trouble's main challenge they are asking for (at least) 3 layers, 2 colors from their wheel (I chose Magenta and Teal) and one image. Plus Use something old instead of new.

The little Pig is a stamp by Penny Black, Piggy Love 2549K. This stamp is no longer available but occasionally will show up on eBay or Etsy. That's how I found mine a few years ago :) I used Versafine Onyx for stamping and Faber Castell Polychromos pencils for coloring. It's been fussy cut to add to the sketch. On the background I used an inky paper I found in my box of extra backgrounds where I had used a coordinating ink. I decided to add some stamping to this background using a My Favorite Things Birthday background stamp. The tiny "Happy Birthday" is from a mini greetings set also from My Favorite Things (both no longer available as the company went out of business). 

I found the stars in my box of die cut pieces (this particular star die is an oldie from Whimsy Stamps). They were a great matching color too so decided to add them. Two enamel dots finish off the card. Oh, and the card front behind the image panel was embossed using a cuttlebug folder which I've had for a very long time. I think I did really well using old things :)

This post includes some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for your support!

I don't usually follow sketch challenges much anymore as I prefer simple designs and not too many layers but this one seemed simple enough. Linked below.

Challenges I'd like to share with:

• Can You Handle the Pressure - Embossing Folders
• Cardz 4 Galz - Embossing 
• Craft Rocket Challenges - No Designer Paper
• Crafty Animals - Animals
• Crafty Gals Corner - AG Opt. Hearts
• Cut It Up - Birthday and at least one die cut
• Double Trouble Challenge -3,2,1 Recipe with something old and a pig
• Heart's Quest Celebration of Love - Birthdays etc.
• Krafty Chicks - Birthday
•  Little Red Wagon - Animals
• Paper Rock Scissors - Paper and/or scissors (I used both)
• Paper Shelter - Embossing
• Pattie's Creations - AG
• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - PB stamps
• Simon Says Stamp - Cute
• Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Make your own background 
• The Paper Funday - AG
• Try a Sketch On Tuesday - sketch

Thanks so much for visiting!

Flowers and Penguins

Hello everyone, I came across a new challenge blog called "The Little Things" (linked below)   and as I want to continue making (at least) one ATC each month I decided to follow their theme of Penguins and then combine that with the Tag-Along &ATC challenge (also linked below) where the theme is Spring Flowers. 

We usually think of winter when we think of penguins and definitely not flowers, but I wanted to make this work. Then I got curious and googled if penguins only live where it's cold and to my surprise I learned that there is a species of penguins - the Galapagos Penguins - that live in a more tropical climate on the Galapagos Island. So my little ATC isn't as far fetched as I thought it would appear 😀 And I could be the only one who didn't know before that some penguins do live in warmer climates 😊

I used stamps from Tracy Evans for this ATC - Malva TE8, Winter Delights (TE23), Myriad of Designs TE44 and Miniatures released by Aall and Create. If you're in the US then you can easily get Tracy Evans stamp at Simon Says or Topflight stamps. In UK of course directly from Tracy's shop. 

I made the background by dabbing a brush with Mowed Lawn Distress ink onto a slightly wet background, then I used a mini tiles stencil and the word stamp to add interest to the background. Stamping was done with Versafine Onyx for the black and Versafine Clair Grass Green for the words on the background.

Flowers were colored using Faber Castell Polychromos pencils. To complete my card I simply ran the Mowed Lawn ink pad along the edges of the card.

 

This post includes some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for your support!

I plan to share this ATC with these challenges:

• ATC Around the World -  Squares (the stenciled tiles are little squares)
• Beautiful Blossoms - Flowers
• Moving along with the Times - Birds or Bees
• Paper Rock Scissors - Papers and/or Scissors (my ATC is Bristol Vellum paper)
• Simon Says Stamp - Make it cute (I think these penguins are so cute)
• Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Make your own background
• Tag-Along (and ATC's) - Spring Flowers or AG (Malva are late spring flowers)
• The Little Things  - ATC and other small papercrafts
• Triple B - Birds, Blooms or Butterflies

Thanks so much for visiting. 

Springtime at the Four Seasons Challenge

Hello everyone. March has arrived and springtime is just around the corner. At the Four Seasons challenge we're already in full spring mode starting today and have a wonderful new mood board to inspire your creativity for all things spring and Easter. As always, it is not required to use the mood board as "Anything Spring Goes". 

Below is the mood board. Isn't it wonderful?

The cute little bunny was my main inspiration and I decided to ink up a stamp set by Colorado Craft Company. 

The set is called "Happy Easter". Stamped with Versafine Onyx ink on Bristol Vellum and then colored with Derwent Inktense pencils then fussy cut. There is a matching die available for this set too. My "hill" diecuts were done with an old die from Whimsy Stamps and no longer available. This die set by Lawn Fawn would be a great option and I really like the different hills version. 

On the background I used a stencil by Penny Black Hypnotic with Tumbled Glas Distress ink. Sentiment is part of the same stamp set and I added die cut butterflies with some gems to finish it off. There is also some glitter on the Easter eggs and bunny's bow.

This post includes some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for your support!

I plan to share my card here:

• 613 Avenue Create - AG
• A Perfect Time To Craft - AG
• Classic Design Challenge - AG
• Crafts Galore Encore - AG
• Crafty Animals - Animals
• Critter Crazy Challenges - Critters
• DL.Art Linky Challenge - AG
• Inkspirational - Stencils
• Just Us Girls - Stencils
• Simon Says Stamp - AG
• Stamping Sensations - Spring
• Try It On Tuesday - 3, 2, 1 (3 bunnies, 2 butterflies, 1 sentiment)
• We Love Stamping - AG

Thanks so much for visiting. Hope to see you at the challenge blog :)

Flowers for You with a Ribbon or a Bow

Hello everyone, today is the start of a new theme at Allsorts challenge and Sarah is hosting. Her optional theme is "Ribbon and/or Bow" and then we also have the Anything Goes option if you'd rather go that route. We have a prize of an A5 stamp set, stencil and ribbons, and also a £10 digital download from Polkadoodles. Hope you'll join us. As always, the challenge runs for two weeks.

I recently mentioned that I purchased a mixed lot of stamps inside a box (only those at the very top were visible), curious but unsure of what else I'd receive, and this gorgeous stamp was part of that stamp lot. The German saying "buying the cat in the bag" come to mind, I don't think it's one used in English, but it means buying something without knowing what you're getting😀Sometimes we have to take risks, right??

This is an older wood mounted stamp by Penny Black 4164K the Rose. I used Versafine Onyx ink for stamping and Derwent Inktense pencils for coloring. For some background stamping I chose a stamp by Tracy Evans and Antique Linen Distress ink. The strip of paper on the right side is from my box of scraps. I added white silk ribbon next to the patterned paper and then tied some striped twine around the card. The mini tag die is an oldie from Whimsy Stamps and sentiment "for you" is from the Penny Black sentiment "Blooming Sentiments". Glitter was added to the roses for some sparkle.

This post includes some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for your support!

I plan to share with these challenges:

• Crafty Catz - AG
• Crafty Gals Corner - AG
• Creative Fingers - AG
• Creative Moments - Feminine
• Double D - Signs of Love
• Little Red Wagon - Leftovers (the paper strip and tag die cut are made from leftover pieces)
• Simon Says Stamp - AG
• Sweet Stampin - A Special Woman
• Woodblock Wednesday Challenge - Use any woodblock stamps

Excited that I finally managed to join in the Woodblock challenge again (it's been a while!!), as I do have so many woodblock stamps which I love and always want to join in but then it's usually closed by the time I get my act together. If you want to give your woodbock stamps some love then do check out this challenge. It starts on the last Wednesday of each month and is open for one week.