PapercraftJunkies Challenge #3

Welcome to a new challenge at PapercraftJunkies, which runs until 14th November. The winners of the previous one will be announced in a few days. Thank you to everyone who took part and we hope you will join in with challenge #3.
There will be two winners for this challenge, one for using a PCJ digi and one for using any other image, there will also be a badge for three runners-up to put on their blogs. The prizes will be a digi of the winners' choice. Don't forget that it doesn't have to be a card you enter, it can be any crafty make as long as it follows the theme.
The theme this time is "Something with Wings" and here is my DT card to give you inspiration.

I started by covering an A5 card blank with a paper I printed from MCS Quintessential Country Garden CD. I printed a second paper and cut it in an oval using an X-Cut die and inked around the edge with Memento Rich Cocoa. The gate is from the MCS Quintessential Country Garden paper pack, which I coloured with Distress Ink Antique Linen.

The butterflies were created using digis from the  PapercraftJunkies shop. I made the larger butterfly with the Butterfly Wing set and added a hand drawn body.  The digis come in a black and white version and also a coloured example. I wanted to choose my colours to match the papers I'd selected so I coloured the wings using Promarkers.

I used the Fairy Wing set to create  the smaller butterfly. I coloured this one with Polychromos. Again, I hand drew the body, coloured it black and then added black Cosmic Shimmer PVA. Both butterflies have been mounted on the card with foam pads to give them dimension.
I finished off with some flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts and some organza ribbon from my stash. Then I dotted Cosmic Shimmer liquid pearls around part of the oval and as butterfly trails.
Dont forget to visit the PapercraftJunkies shop to check out all the fabulous digis Tracey has designed, you will even find some fantastic freebies. Check out the other DT cards on the challenge blog, and make sure you enter the challenge, we look forward to seeing your creations.

DCC & Friends Challenge #4

Welcome to Challenge #4 at DCC & Friends. The lucky winners of our previous challenge will be announced in a few days time, thank you to all who took part.
Our new theme is "Autumn". We have two sponsors this time, so, two overall winners. Firstly we are sponsored by  Creative Expressions, the  fabulous Sue Wilson has donated two A5 stamp sets. Visit her blog at  PartiCraft and secondly PaperCraftJunkies, Where Tracey is offering 4 of her digis of the winner's choice.  There will also be a "Top Three" who will be awarded badges. So, plenty of opportunities to win.
Don't forget that your entry can be any crafty make as long as it follows the Autumn theme. Be sure to collect your Treasure Hunt letter for an added chance to win a crafty prize.  
This is my DT card, I made it for a family member's October birthday. 

I inked the edges of an 8”x8” card with a mixture of Distress Inks Antique Linen and Tea Dye and layered it with a printed backing card from the MCS CD Opulent . The digi image is from the same CD, which I coloured with Promarkers then cut out.

I altered the colour of the rose image in MCS and printed it several times, in a couple of sizes. I then cut them out and decoupaged them.

I die-cut a circle from the pre-coloured digi and punched a smaller circle from inked card. I then mounted that on foam pads and added a gold peel-off sentiment and a printed rosebud.
You have until November 20^th to enter your crafty makes. Come and visit us at DCC & Friends Challenge blog to see more inspirational makes from the other DT members. And don't forget to call in at PapercraftJunkies where new fabulous digis are being added all the time, you will even find some freebies!

DCC and Friends Challenge Reminder

There are still 10 days to go for Challenge #3 at DCC & Friends where the theme is "Character Crazy". We would like to see any crafty creation featuring a character. This challenge is being sponsored by PaperCraftJunkies who are offering a generous prize of six digi images of the winner's choice. If you use a digi image from PCJ you will be entered into a special draw to win a crafty prize from DCC & Friends. There is a good selection of freebies you can use, so make sure you visit.
Here is my midway inspiration for you.

I started by covering an 8"x8" card blank with red textured card from Papermania. I created the backing paper in MCS by cropping and tiling a small section of one of the digis. Then I changed the colour. I embossed a piece of  blue Core'dinations card with some Donna Salazar die-cut cogs and sanded it lightly.

My "characters" are Henry and Uncle Charlie Rustin. They are available as digi images from the PaperCraftJunkies shop. I put the two coloured versions together and took them into MCS where I gave them a makeover by changing the colours.  After cutting them out I inked around them with Barn Door Distress Ink.

The cogs were coloured by blending Tea Dye and Barn Door Distress Inks. I created the cog border by die-cutting halfway through the dies and the sentiment was done in MCS.
Pop along to the DCC challenge blog for some more inspiration and to enter the challenge. Don't forget to collect your Treasure Hunt letter to be in with a chance of a crafty prize.

Exciting News

I have some exciting news to announce: I am now a DT member at Emma's Crafty Challenge! If you like challenges, this is the place to go. We have regular challenges with interesting themes and great sponsors. There is also a Facebook group, for those of you that don't have blogs, where you can upload your entries.
This month we are onto Challenge #7. Come and have a look at the fabulous DT makes for inspiration and to upload your entries. The theme is "Silhouette" and is sponsored by Crafty Individuals, who are giving away a fabulous crafty stash. Your entry doesn't have to be a card, it can be a scrapbook page or a 3D project.
Now onto my DT card. All the artwork I've used for this is from the MCS Simply Silhouette CD.

The dancing couple and the hearts have been printed onto acetate which I cut wider than the card to give a bowed front. I used a sheet of A4 hammered card to create the base card. I added the sentiment before printing the background with the chandelier and bird cage straight onto the card and scoring.

I wrapped a white ribbon around the side of the acetate and tied it in a bow. I then tied on some lace and thin black ribbon to hang on the side as I didn't want to attach anything to the acetate front.
Don't forget to check out the challenge for yourselves, we'd love to see your entries.

Steampunk Corset

14/08/12  Yay! This card won the challenge! I'm so pleased and would like to say a big Thank You to those who chose my card.

This is a card I made for a challenge at That Craft Place. The theme is Steampunk, as chosen by Dawn Heald, and the prize is sponsored by Indigo Blu.

I started by inking the edges of an 8"x8" card blank with Distress Ink Antique Linen. I adjusted the colour of a paper from MCS Quintessential Country Garden and stamped some cogs from a Kanban set over it in Memento Rich Cocoa. I wrapped a ribbon round it and attached it to the card.

I got the corset and boots from The Graphics Fairy website. I lightened the colours from black to brown in MCS and added a bit of colour to the corset with pink Polychromos. I inked the edge of the corset and mounted onto card edged with a Shale Promarker. I decoupaged the boots for depth.

The cogs have been die-cut with a Donna Salazar die. The flowers were die-cut, with a Crealies die, from a paper I'd created in MCS. I mounted them up and inked the edges. I finished off with Cosmic Shimmer pearls.

Sympathy

A close friend of mine died recently and this is the card I made for her family. It's one of the saddest cards I've ever made. Sympathy cards are often awkward to make but I find this image with a verse works well.

All the graphics were done in MCS. The image of the lily is from an MCS No Stamp Required CD. I stylised it before giving it a black border and printing. It has been matted onto silver mirri card and attached with foam tape for dimension.

The verse is from a collection I have on my computer and just seemed to fit perfectly. Again, I gave it a black border, matted it onto silver mirri and raised it on foam tape.

For the insert I reused the lily and added another simple verse from my collection. I left enough room to write a personal message.

I find the straight lines, monochrome colourway and the layout of this card give it a dignified and elegant look.

Vintage Tricycle

I have made this card to enter in the Sketch Challenge #2 at  Emma's Cards.  The sponsor for this challenge  is Christine Grey. Christine designs and sells her own wonderful digis and the winner of this challenge can choose 3 digis from Christine's shop. To visit her shop click here. The sketch for this challenge can be seen below.
I would also like to enter this card in the challenge at Desmet Designs. The theme is "Things with Wheels". The prize for this challenge is 2 lovely digis. Visit the shop here.

I started with a scalloped 8"x8" card blank and coloured it with Distress Inks; Tumbled Glass, Antique Linen and Spun Sugar. I then stamped it randomly with a La Blanche text stamp in Memento Rich Cocoa. I made the backing paper in MCS by using a paper from Debbi Moore's Shabby Chic Compendium and a rose image from MCS Quintessential Country Garden. I reprinted the  roses several times and used them for decoupage and one for the top corner.

I found the free vintage image of the girl on a tricycle on this fantastic website,  under images of children. I made two mats, one pink and one blue, to match the colours in the photo. I coloured white twill with  a Promarker and used Stazon Ink to stamp a flower border with a Kaiser Craft stamp and inserted it in between the mats.

I fashioned a bow from coloured seam binding and attached a vintage tricycle charm. I used  ticket tags from Kanban and the word Journey from Kaiser Craft's Life Sentiments stamp set for the sentiment. I finished off the card with some Candi as per the sketch.

This is the current sketch. The challenge runs until Sunday 15th July, so you still have time to enter, if you haven't already.

Monochrome Anniversary

This is the card I made for my husband for our recent Wedding Anniversary. I had an image and colour scheme in mind so set about going through my CDs until I found what I wanted.

I started with a full length image of a couple on MCS's Simply Silhouettes and cropped it as I only wanted a close-up. While in MCS I typed up the sentiment and then created the black and white background paper with which I covered an 8"x8" card blank. The black hearts paper was from C&C a few years ago, I simply printed it off and ran it through my GC. I used the same shape to die cut the image, sentiment and some black card, for matting.
I coloured some flowers in black and layered with white ones, then topped with Candi. The leaf flourish is from Cheery Lynn and the polka dot ribbon from my stash.
I'd like to enter this card in the Monochrome challenge for That Craft Place at  http://thatcraftplaceblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/monochromatic.html