Pile It On Sweet Sprinkles Award

OMG, I've just found out I've won another award for the Happy New Year card I made.

Dalis from the Pile It On challenge blog had left me a message congratulating me on winning a Sweet Sprinkles award.

I am really chuffed as again this was another card that had been chosen as opposed to a random number generator thing.

I can't even begin to tell you how much confidence this has given me and I am so pleased that I have tried to do something different and my hard work has paid off.

Thankyou

This is the season for the need to have lots of Thank You cards and I have cracked open a new pack of Anita's vinyl butterflies. They are very detailed and have a glitter covered film at the back so you can see it through the wings of the butterfly.

The papers are more freebies and scraps (tick a box there) and I have used a new unmounted rubber stamp set from Hero Arts and added glitter to it with the use of a Zig 2 way glue pen.

I have also added some Prima flowers, bling and a baby button from Docrafts.

This card fulfils the following challenges

• 365 Cards Day 271 - Giving Thanks
• Crazy 4 Challenges #18 - Polka Dots
• One Stop Craft Challenge #61 - Something Beginning with B (butterfly, blossoms, bling & button)
• The Crafty Pad #52 - Buttons
• Practical Scrappers - Buttons
• Pile it On #30 - Crystal Clear (bling)
• Sophisticats #16 - Fancy Borders (punched edge)
• Incy Wincy Designs #24 - Bling It Up
• Everybody Art #72 - Fave Colour Combo (Pink & Black)
• Creative Inspirations #41 - Thank You
• Stamp Simply #120 - Use New Things (new stamp & vinyls)
• Stamp Something - New Somethings (New stamp & Vinyls)
• Our Creative Corner - Clean & Simple (colour choice)
• Get Creative With Ann GCA #72 - Use Something New (Stamp & Vinyl)
• Helen's Crafting Friends Forum Challenge

Hello

Hello and welcome to a very bright card. I don't normally 'do' green but I am really starting to like using it, even brighter lime greens like this one. Very strange indeed for me.

I've got loads of papers and scraps freebies from magazines and I would like to try and use more in my cards this year. My little craft room is heaving with stuff so other than tools like dies and embossing folders I want try and limit how many papers I buy this year as I really do have an awful lot. I'm sure I'm not going to be the only crafter that says that though.... LOL

Card was made primarily with the Day 307 challenge from 365 Cards where you were to use 5 items 5 times. There are 5 individual papers, 5 chipboard letters, 5 brads, 5 Prima blossoms and 5 bling rhinestones. I used a black inkpad to distress the edge of the squares, the yellow mat and the edge of the card.

I used a Fiskars punch to create a 'ribbon' from paper and then layered a strip of green paper on top before fixing the flower/brad/bling combo in place.

Anyhoo, this card satisfies the following challenges:-

• 365 Cards Day 307 - Five for Friday (use 5 items, 5 times)
• Colour Create #35 - Lemon & Lime plus optional Spring or Summer Flowers
• Crazy 4 Challenges #18 - Polka Dots
• One Stop Craft Challenge #61 - Something beginning with B (blossoms, bling and bright)
• Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #48 - Colour Combo of Black, yellow plus another colour of your choice (green)
• Pile It On #30 - Crystal Clear (bling)
• Sophisticats #16 - Fancy Borders or Punched Edges
• Creative Card Crew #42 - Distressing
• Helen's Crafting Friends Forum Challenge

365 Cards Day 133 & 5 other Challenges !

I've again not had any chance to make cards this week as it has been waaaay too busy again in the Cruxton household. I have had the most mega migraine for most of the day but am feeling a whole lot better after lots of sleep and a couple of rounds of painkillers. One home made lamb curry for tea and I came over all crafty and rustled up this card.

This card incorporates 6 challenges, details as follows :-

• 365 Cards Day 133 - Inspired by bubbles
• The Sweetest Thing SSSC #25 for the layout
• Pile It On - 3 different embellishments (ribbon, flowers, bling, glitter glue, stickers, card sentiment)
• Creative Belli Challenge #69 - Texture (velvet ribbon)
• Creative Inspirations #16 - Gems (bling in flower centre)
• Raspberry Ribbons - Circles (paper & bubbles)

The paper is from a large Rob & Bob pack that I got off QVC a long time ago. It is one of my favourites and as soon as I saw the challenge details on 365 Cards today I knew I wanted to use this paper. The stamped image and the ribbon/flower have been re-used from a RAK card that I got from one of my forum buddies about 2 years ago. I had been keeping the card as it was too nice to throw away and I am glad I have been able to re-use some of the elements.

The card sentiment is from Craftworks Cards and the stick on lettering is from MAMBI.

Oh my gosh a Card !!!

Stop the world I want to get off !!! The last couple of weeks have been so hectic at times I haven't known what day of the week it is. The card is for my brother in law to be. I had 3 male cards already made but Paul didn't like any of them so I had to make a card quick. I made this card on Monday, scanned it in and posted it and today is the first day I have been on my computer to be able to blog it.

The card uses the sketch layout for Day 120 over at 365 Cards (I've now got 42 of their challenges to catch up with and I was doing so well :( ....... ) and challenge #4 at Pile it On to use at least 4 buttons. Charisma Cardz also has a challenge for buttons this week so I have added this one over there too :) The challeng this week at Daring Cardmakers is Blue and Green so I have entered it for this also.

The base card is a textured cardstock from The Papermill. The patterned papers and decoupage are from a Daisy & Dandelion pack from Papermania. I bought a couple of these from the Glitterpot and this is the first time I have used any of them. There are 6 layers in some places and it is very raised. Definitely a large letter stamp on this card I can tell you!

The sentiment is from my stash, matted onto brown card and raised on 3d foam. The buttons are from Papermania and I have poked brads through the holes, a technique favoured my one of my crafty friends Lisa and looks really effective.

Thank you for the good wishes for Paul's Uncle Roy. He has recovered from the heart attack but is still in hospital at the moment. They think he may have developed type 2 diabetes and he has had to be injected with insulin twice a day. He has to see a specialist diabetic nurse on Monday who will be able to give us more information. In the meantime Grandad is in a bit of a state and has needed a lot of TLC, as well as practical help with food shopping, bills and money as Roy did all the finances. It's been a bit hectic but one way or another we'll get through !

365 Cards Day 106, TPE, Double Dutch, Pile It On, Stamp Simply, OCC & Crafty Creations

Paul's sister Jill is getting married on August to her fiance Steve, they have been together for about 3 years and both have children from previous relationships. They are tying the knot in Freeport in the Bahamas, having their honeymoon and then on the 30th August they will be having a blessing at a posh hotel. We have just received our formal invitation so I have made a formal acceptance.

The style of their invitation is very simple, just 2 lilac hearts entwined with the words 'Two Become One'. I decided to make my card along the same theme but of course just a tad more embellished as any handmade card should be :)

I have incorporated the following 7 challenges into this card :-

• 365 Cards Day 106 - Super Sketchy Sunday for the layout
• The Pink Elephant #19 - Wedding theme
• Pile It On #2 - Use at least 2 different ribbons
• Stamp Simply #91 - Use a semi- circle
• Double Dutch #20 - Monochrome card - any colour just different shades
• Our Creative Corner - Use a Border Punch
• Crafty Creations # 19 - Use the colour purple

I used an A4 sheet of card for the base in a darker shade of purple. The slightly patterned paper on top is form the HOTP Amethyst Cardmakers pack, the glitter paper embossed with the Heart Blocks Cuttlebug folder is a wrapping paper from Paperchase. I have used the largest of my Nestability dies to cut the shape. The darker paper edge with my Martha Stewart doily punch is a textured one from my stash from the Papermill, the upper layer of shimmer paper is from the HOTP pad and textured with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Folder. The self adhesive spotty ribbon is from Docrafts.

The die cut hearts are Sizzlits dies. The solid heart has been embossed with the Cuttlebug Textile folder and is on 1mm foam pads. The holey heart is raised on 5mm and has a small ribbon tied through into a bow.

The sentiment is Docrafts peeloff which were originally silver. I have coloured them purple with a permanent marker.

Use It, Sketches by Tamara, Pile It On & Paper Blooms

My MIL phoned earlier to ask if I could make her a card which she needs by tomorrow, no pressure then! I immediately got to thinking of the design and what challenges I could fulfil at the same time :)

I have combined the following 5 challenges into this card :-

• Sketches By Tamara - Sketch #99 for the layout (rotated)
• Use It #14 - Use Pink, add scallops and a tag (check)
• Pile It On #2 - Use at least 2 ribbons (3 plus a ribbon bow)
• Paper Blooms #11 - Use at least 3 flowers (3 used)
• Stampin' For The Weekend - Use a Digi Image

The base of the card is an A4 sheet of a magenta pink metallic card which of course has not scanned in very well! The papers and image are from Pink Petticoat. The colour is 'princess pink' but it seems a bit lilac to me, I think maybe the magenta is so strong it throws it off a bit ? I've never printed off PP papers before, only the images. We have an Epson photo printer which has 6 separate inks and they cost a fortune so it's put me off printing the papers to be honest. I am pleasantly surprised how well they have printed and would certainly do it again as I think if you only print waht you need then it won't cost too much. We have a laser printer for black printing and that has proven to be a good investment.

Anyway the image is coloured with Marvy Le Plume pens and I printed off the parcels individually so I could layer them with 3d foam. The 1st layer is the main image, the 2nd is all three parcels, 3rd layer is the top two parcels and then the 4th layer is the top parcel. I added ribbons to the bottom parcels and glitter glue. I then used a small silver bow to add to the top parcel.

The scallop border was cut from an embossed packaging using scissors and a Fiskars template. The pink spotty ribbon is self adhesive from Docrafts. The flowers are Primas with a posh Papermania gem brad holding it together. I have used a small jump ring to attach the diddy tag to the ribbon and used rub-ons to add the age of the recipient. The lettering is a textured adhesive felt alphabet that I bought from Poundland. The circular sentiment was printed off using a seal generator from a website.

365 Cards Day 105, 2 Sketches 4 You & Pile It On

Woohoo, it's the weekend :) Had a small lie in this morning and Paul has gone to his friends to do website stuff so I getto do some crafting Yay!

Paul's going to Manchester on Monday for a couple of days so I will be able to do lots and lots of crafting whilst also preparing to go camping at Silverstone from Thursday. I've got most of the supplies but will need to finalise menu's for each day and see what food we need to take. We're going with 2 of our bestest friends to watch the last Formula 1 race meeting at Silvestone race track. It is the 1st time any of us will have been and I we are really excited. It's a good thing we had to pay for our tickets a year ago though or there is no way we could have afforded to go.

Anyhoo, this card incorporates the following challenges:-

• 365 Cards Day 105 - Make a card inspired by the song Rainbow Connection
• 2 Sketches 4 You - Kazan Sketch #28 for the layout
• Pile It On - Use a non stamped sentiment

The rainbow papers for this card came from a Papercrafts Inspirations magazine freebie which featured wellies, umbrellas and rainbows, all very British themes! The papers are available as a download from their website here. They do some smashing designs and little extra motifs to match, it's just a shame that they are printed on magazine paper so the quality is a bit naff. Some magazines like Crafts Beautiful include them as a separate sheet and that is a far better compromise as those are much better. The purple trellis paper came from a Simply Cards and Papercrafts pack. I matted this onto an oval which was cut with Fiskars decorative edge scissors. The rainbows on the mat were originally a circle which I cut in half and layered on 3d foam. The clouds on the sentiment panel I have embellished with white fluffy stuff from Woodware and used my heat cut to puff it up. I love how dimensional this has made the cute fluffy clouds.

I absolutely love rainbows and really enjoyed making this card. Whilst making it, it reminded me that when I was driving back from our crafty session in Warrington I saw the most beautiful rainbow I've ever seen. I was on a really wide flat road and looking down the motorway was the most colourful and PERFECT rainbow spanning all across the road, it was just so beautiful. Obviously not a photograph moment as you can't pull over and stop on a motorway. It was one of those moments when you wish you could take a photo of what you see with your eyes at an exact moment. You very rarely see a perfect rainbow with such brilliance of colour and it was a moment to remember. They fill me with happiness, joy and hope and the belief that things can only get better.

365 Cards Day 102, CCEE, CPS & Pile It On

I've had so much fun with this card today. I printed the Sweet & Sassy Digistamp image off yesterday already with a plan in mind to use it for the CPS sketch this week, and also complete one of the older 365 challenges. Pam totally threw us a curveball by challenging us to combine any 3 past 365 challenges, 1 each from March, April & May.

Now whilst I thoroughly advocate combining challenges I have never combined any of the 365 ones with each other, purely because to me, I want to achieve having made at least 365 cards by the end of this project. So this card is for day 102's challenge and I have made another for day 30, coming up next :)

So the 4 challenges within this card are:-

365 Cards Day 102 - Combine any 3 challenges, one from each Month

• March Day 30 - Ladybird inspired card
• April Day 61 - incorporate a leaf on your card
• May Day 80 - incorporate plaid on your card

CCEE Stampers - Incorporate a flower on your card

CPS Sketch 119 - for the layout

Pile It On - Non-Stamped sentiment plus at least 1 other challenge

The papers are K & Co. I have 2 huge stacks and have used so very little of them. It is the 1st time I have used any of these poppy papers and I'm glad I did. The colours are so rich and I though they would work well with the ladybird (why do they call it ladybird in the UK? the US term ladybug definitely fits the description better)

The image is coloured with Marvy Le Plume pens except the flesh colour is a Promarker that the wonderful Lisa gave me at a crafty session. I NEED to get a job so I can buy some of these lovely pens. I can tell why people love them so much. No streaks and the colour is perfect. I WANT SOME NOW!!!! Thanks very much Lisa the Promarker Queen and Happy Birthday for today :)

The 3 ladybirds are fabric dimensional stickers from craft packs at Home Bargains. They are slightly padded and feel lovely. The obligatory matting and layering throughout is courtesy of my scraps folder. I sorted a big chunk of my odd bits of card into a concertina folder by colours and have used so much more than ever before because I can now find what I want. It was a long laborious job but it's amazing how much more productive it has made me and I've not had to cut into full sheets of card ever since.

365 Cards Day 99 & Pile it On

At 365 Cards today it is Super Sketchy Sunday as usual but today Jeannie who is a regular on the blog is offering a fabby prize for reaching 10,000 hits on her blog. The only condition is that you include a dragonfly on your card.

Today is the 1st challenge on Pile It On and you are to include a sentiment on your card, but it is NOT to be stamped.

The dream paper is HOTP, the mettallic flower circles are cut from wrapping paper and the glitter paper is wrapping paper too. The sentiment is a Papermania rub on which was applied to a HOTP label. A little bit of bling has been added courtesy of Paperchase.

The pi'ece de resistance however is my beaded dragonfly made by little old me with assorted beads, a bit of wire and some wings that were stamped from the bottom part of a butterflies wings from a set by Clare Curd & Papermania. I stamped each one individually and offset them. It is the first time I have made one and I love how it turned out.

Thanks very much Jeannie for the chance to win some new goodies and also for inspiring me to try a new technique.

It's Day 100 at 365 Cards tomorrow, can't believe it has gone so quickly. I haven't been able to keep up with all the challenges but the 26 that I have missed I am slowly working my way through and fully intend to complete them all.