Black and White, by Amanda

Hi everyone, here's my inspiration project for the June challenge - Black and White. The sponsor this time is Inky Impressions, and I've used their cute "Kitty with Bow" digital stamp. Details of the other things I used can be found on my blog, here.

Happy crafting!

Amanda

Flights of Fancy, by Amanda

Hello, Amanda here, with my project for our theme this month, Flights of Fancy. Our sponsor this time is Dr Digi's House of Stamps, and I've used two of their images (Moon and Cosmo Nut) to create glow in the dark ceiling decorations for my 3 year old boy's room. Sadly the glow in the dark paint isn't bright enough for any of the cameras in our house, so I can only share pictures of the decorations in daylight. When the decorating is done, the ceiling and top half of his walls will be painted like sky, and the light fitting is shaped like the sun. There'll be aeroplanes and birds for during the day, stars and planets for night time, so these moons and astronaut should fit in really well! For more info, please visit my own blog:

Their temporary home on the bed until the decorating is done

Happy crafting!

Amanda

Welcome Little One, by Amanda

Hi everyone, Amanda here with a little last minute inspiration for this month's challenge: "Welcome Little One".  There's still a whole day to get your entry in and be in for a chance to win two images from our March sponsor, The Stamping Boutique :-)

Here's my card.  I've used their "A little girl with a stroller" image.

For details of what I used, please see my blog, here.

Happy crafting

Amanda x

My favourite technique(s), by Amanda

Hi everyone, February is nearly over, but there's still time to join in with our challenge.  I don't really have a single favourite technique (my fave is generally whatever I'm doing right now!), so I've created a project that features several of my favourites.  I've always loved to lose myself in the detail of colouring in, especially with watercolour pencils, I really enjoy single colour projects, and I have a long-standing addiction to easel cards.  Here's my card, I hope you like it.  For details of what I used, please visit my blog, here

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Lots of layers, by Amanda

Happy new year everyone!

This month's theme is Lots of Layers, and our sponsor is Bugaboo Stamps.  Once Christmas is out of the way, I just want it hurry up and be Spring, so I've chosen this beautiful butterfly image to work with for this challenge.  I printed it once onto paper and once onto vellum (for an extra wing), then coloured it with metallic markers and matted with plain and shimmery papers. For more info, please see my blog, here.

Happy crafting!

2014 Favourites

This month's challenge is to share your favourite makes of the year.  2014 has been quite a special crafting year for me for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, it's the first year I've done any significant amount of scrapbooking.  I've always wanted to scrap, and becoming a Mum in 2011 gave me an extra reason to do it, but I hadn't managed more than the odd isolated project.   At the start of the year I set myself a target of creating one layout per month, and I'm happy to say I exceeded that, not least because I think that's the first time I've ever kept to a new year's resolution!  My top 3 favourite layouts for the year are these:

"Bob's Bumpy Bark Rub" (this was my first of the year, and incorporates a bark rubbing):

"Great Minds" (think alike), made for a sketch challenge on the do crafts scrapbook forum:

and "Bob's First Proper Christmas", my first 12x12 double page layout:

The other reason 2014's crafting has been special is that my little boy has very recently become interested in making things :-)  To capitalise on this, I made an activity advent calendar that included some crafting and cooking projects.  Despite the fact I spend all of every day with him, I think we're both really benefitting from this more focussed 'time in'.  This is my favourite of the things that we've made so far - partly because Bob stayed interested from start to finish, and partly because I managed to resist the temptation to neaten it up!

I hope you like my faves.  Thanks for reading and Happy Christmas!

Amanda

Not a card, by Amanda

Hi everyone, Amanda here with my inspiration post for November's "Not a card" challenge.  I've used a lovely elf image from Artbymiran to turn a plain notebook into a Christmas gift planner/diary. You can find the image here.  For more info on the project and what I used, please see my blog here.

I hope you like it!  The result is a bit too much like a card really!

Happy crafting

Amanda

Think Pink by Amanda

Hi everyone, Amanda here with some more inspiration for this month's "Think Pink" challenge.  Our sponsor this month is Aurora Wings, and I chose their beautiful "Marie Antoinette" image for my project.

For details of what I used, please take a look at my blog, here.

There's still time to enter the challenge, I hope you can join us!

Shades of One by Amanda

Hi everyone, we have two sponsors this month for our "shades of one" challenge, and I couldn't choose between them, so I have two cards to share with you this time.  I've used different techniques for each card and, as always, there's more info on my own blog, here.

Here's my Scribble & Scrap card, using an image from their "Vintage Photo Sheet 6":

And here's my Bugaboo Stamps card, using their "Silhouette - Butterfly Flowers" image:

I hope you like them, see you next month!

August Photo Challenge, by Amanda

Hi everyone, Amanda here, finishing up our August challenge with a clean and simple card.  Our sponsors this month are Ooh La La Creations, and I've chosen paper and a topper from their beautiful and delicate "Dancing In The Wind" design from the Carnival of Colour CD.  Here's what I made.

For more info about what I used, please take a look at my blog, here:

If you haven't joined in already, you still have until midnight tonight.  Good luck!

Amanda

Feeling Fruity, by Amanda

Hi, Amanda here with my project for July's Feeling Fruity challenge.  The sponsor this month is Lacy Sunshine, and I've combined their gorgeous Tilly Dinosaur digi with conventional stamping and some bright citrus fruit colours to make a birthday card for a child.  I hope you like it!  For more details, please take a look at my blog, here.

Happy crafting!

Love and Marriage, by Amanda

Happy Friday everyone, Amanda here with a project for June's Love and Marriage theme, and I hope you're enjoying the same perfect wedding weather as I have here!  Our sponsor this month is Bugaboo, and I've made this wedding card using their cheerful "Our Wedding Toast" image:

For details of what I used, please take a look at my blog, here.

Happy crafting!

One for the boys - Another one from Amanda

Hi again, this month's challenge has two sponsors and, although I've already shared a project using a Delicious Doodles image, I thought I'd do a second project featuring something from Kenny K.  The image I've chosen is Dirt Bike Mike, and here's my project.  For more info, please visit my blog.

One for the Boys, by Amanda

Hello!  This month's challenge is "One for the Boys" and for my card I've chosen an image that's perfect for this lovely weather - Harbour Scene, by Delicious Doodles.  I hope you like what I've done with it.  For more info, please see my blog here.

Embossing - Amanda

It's halfway through February already (!) and our sponsor this month is Wow! Embossing Powders.  Heat embossing has been one of my favourite crafting techniques since I first saw it demonstrated as a very new crafter.  I love to experiment with embossing powders and the projects I'm sharing this time show two ways you can have fun with them.   For more information, please visit my blog, here.

Winter Blues by Amanda

Hi everyone, Amanda here with my inspiration card for this month's "Winter Blues" challenge.  Our November sponsor is the lovely Lindsay at LEJ Designs, and I chose her pretty Snowy Haven image for my project.

I've gone for a night-time scene and, although it turns out I'm not Thomas Kinkade after all, I think it's quite a cosy looking cottage.  I hope you like it!  For more info about my card, please visit my blog here.

Anything Goes by Amanda

Happy soggy Sunday everyone!  Amanda here with some inspiration for October's Anything Goes challenge.  This month's sponsor is Stampin Dragon Designs, and I decided to think ahead for my project this month and chose their kissable froggy prince for a fun Valentine card.

Here it is, I hope you like it!  For more info, please visit my blog here.

Altered Art and DT Call - Amanda

Hi all, Amanda here with some inspiration for this month's altered art challenge.  I chose the beautiful Pansy & Butterfly Frame image from our lovely sponsors Delicious Doodles and I've managed to combine three of my favourite pastimes in this project: crafting, gardening, and eating custard :-) 

It's a seed storage pot, but it started life as an empty custard tin.  For more info about the project, please visit my blog here.

Don't forget we are running a DT call alongside the challenge this month.  If you want to be part of our fun team, all you need to do is add DT after your name when you link up your project! Enter the challenge here.

Happy crafting!

A baby is born - by Amanda

Hi everyone, it's my turn to share some baby inspiration today, and I've made a card using the AKV Baby Horse image from this month's lovely sponsor, Bugaboo Stamps.  In fact I've made two cards, a pink one and a blue one, as there are a couple of nice details in the image that you can colour code.

I hope you like them.  For more info about the card, please take a look here.

Summer 's Here - July challenge by Amanda

Summer is definitely here in Bedfordshire - it's roasting!  Not a great time to be carrying boxes of heavy crafting supplies around the house and building shelves then!  I'm moving my crafty stash into another room at the moment, so my inspiration project this month is a little bit work in progress.

This month's sponsor  is LEJ Designs and I chose Lindsay's pretty floral digi Blossom.  I've used it to make a decoration for my new room and I'm hoping it will inspire me for a long time to come. For more about the project, please take a look at my blog post here.