Crafty Ann's First Ever Blog Hop and Challenge #15

Today is a very special day for the Crafty Ann’s Design Team and all our followers as we are having our very first BLOG HOP!!!

We are celebrating the launch of the FLOWER COLLECTION of pre-coloured images. If you have come to me from seeing Beryl’s gorgeous work you are on the right lines but if not, you need to start at the beginning which is the challenge blog. To be in with a chance of winning these two sheets from the new collection, just leave me a comment.

Don't forget to collect the two words you need from me which are: HELPFUL, THEY.  

When you leave here, your next stop will be Anne who has some wonderful inspiration for you and two more sheets and two more words to collect. When you have visited all the blogs you head back to the Crafty Ann’s Challenge Blog and follow the instructions on there to find out what to do to be in with a chance of winning the final 5 sheets.

Everyone that enters the draw for my two sheets will have their name put in a hat and another member of my family will pull a name out on Thursday 3 June 2010 and the WINNER will be announced at the start of Challenge #16 on the Crafty Ann’s Challenge Blog on Friday 4/6/10.

Good luck to everyone and thanks for visiting my blog.

Before you leave my blog, here is how I made this fortnight's card at Crafty Ann’s Challenge Blog.  I have used Ann’s Octagonal Template for the main card and cut four different colours of Ann’s wood grain backing paper in decreasing sizes and inked the edges with Tim Holtz’s Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink Pad.  The little squirrel image has been designed by Ann and can be bought here.  I have coloured him in with Promarkers and then cut him out with an oval Nestabilities and whilst the image was still inside the die I again inked the edges with Tim Holtz’s Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink Pad.  The flowers are from Ann’s new Flower Collection where the flowers are coloured for you.  I have used various of the different colours to embellish this card inside and out.  The card is finished off with a ticket sentiment from Crafty Ann’s.


This card also fits the following challenges:


Allsorts - Birthday
Sew Many Challenges - Anything goes
Stamp, Scrap and Doodle - Masculine theme
Ooh-la-la Creations - Bright and cheerful
Crafty Cardmakers - Inside out
Papertake Weekly - Say it with flowers
Fan n Funky - Make your own embellishments
Charisma Cardz - 3D
CRAFT - Birthday or celebrations.

Passion for Promarkers Challenge - Tuesday 18/5/10

Over at the Passion for Promarkers Challenge this week the topic is "fantasy/mythology".  As soon as I saw this topic I knew I had to colour in a new digi stamp from Stef aka Glitterbabe of Draco the Dragon.  Isn't he cute?  Obviously he has been coloured in with Promarkers, cut out with a Nestabilities die and the edges distressed.  I have then mounted him on green checked paper, silver card and then onto a spotty paper which I thought matched the spotted areas of Draco's body.  I have finished the card off with a peel-off sentiment, some ribbon I won in some blog candy last year and some more spots in the form of two shades of green card candy.


This card also fits the following challenges:


Stamp, Scrap and Doodle - Masculine theme
Stampin' for the Week-end - Card for a male
Stamp Something - Celebrate something
Allsorts - Birthday
Our Creative Corner - Masculine Birthday
Ooh-la-la Creations - Bright and cheerful
The Creative Cottage - One for the boys
Creative Inspirations - Card for a child
Charisma Cardz - 3D
CRAFT - Birthday or celebration
Meljen's Designs - Seeing spots.

Prairie Fairy Challenge - Friday 14/5/10

Over at the Prairie Fairy Challenge Blog the topic this week is flowers.  I have used a cute little mouse ballerina image and coloured her in with Promarkers , cut out with a Nestabilities die and distressed the edges with a chalk ink pad.  I have used some backing papers I was given, some gorgeous spotty ribbon I've had for ages, Dawn Bibby vellum flowers which I coloured on the underside with Promarkers and finished the card off with some pink pearls.


This cards also fits the following challenges:


Pollycraft - Summer blooms
Crafty Catz - Petals and pearls
Practical Scrappers - Patterned paper
Creative Inspirations - Punches or die-cuts
Spoon Full of Sugar - Cute and girly
Digital Tuesday - Vellum
Papertake Weekly - Say it with flowers
Charisma Cardz - 3D
Meljen's Designs - Seeing spots
Pixie Dust - Add a pearl to your card.

One Stop Craft Challenge - Saturday 15/5/10

Over at the One Stop Challenge this week the topic is "Summer breeze" - oh I do wish the Summer was here!!! I have used a cute Pollycraft stamp I had which has been un-inked and un-loved for a while so she's come out to play.  I coloured her in with Promarkers and then cut out with an oval Nestabilities die and distressed the edges.  The backing papers are some I was given and the flowers/scroll/tie are from a magazine.  The card is finished off with some butterflies cut out of some backing paper I have had for years and years.


This card also fits the following challenges:


Sir Stampalot - butterflies and blossoms
Practical Scrappers - Patterned paper
Pollycraft - Summer blooms.

Commissioned Birthday Card

A customer wanted a special birthday card for her brother and the topic was trains.  For me I dread trains/buses/Tigger and tigers but you have to give what the customer wants don't you?  I used a Victorian image from Joanna Sheen's Victorian Companion Triple CD set.  I also did a snapshot of the image so I could make an insert in Word, add the picture but printed it off twice so I could decoupage it on the insert for something different.  I used some wire edged ribbon I was given with criss-crosses which I thought depicted the crissing and crossing of railway lines.  The backing papers are from my stash and the cards is finished off with the insert, a sentiment off the computer and some card candy.


This card fits the following challenges:


Our Creative Corner - Masculine Birthday
CD Sunday - Days gone by
Crafty Cardmakers - Inside out
Incy Wincy - Blast from the past.

Michelle Perkett Challenge - Tuesday 18/5/10

Over at the Michelle Perkett Challenge this week the topic is "flowers galore".  Well this challenge was perfect for me as I love seeing flowers on cards.  I have used some backing papers from my stash as the mount for the image and chose to colour the image in with Promarkers with pinks and greens to fit in with The Craft Garden Monthly Challenge of "pink and green".  I know the flowery ribbon is very bright but I won it in some blog candy last year and thought it about time it made its way onto a card.  The pink acetate flowers are finished off with some dome sticker centres and a little Nestie scallop circle with a gold peel-off finishes off the card.  A little bright - but certainly cheerful looking on some of the drab days we are having.


This card also fits the following challenges:


Papertake Weekly - Say it with flowers
Creative Inspirations - Fairy
ABC Challenge - U for unused stash
Stamp Something - Celebrate something
Practical Scrappers - Patterned papers
Stamp with Fun - Stripes
Ooh-la-la Creations - Bright and cheery
Pollycraft - Summer blooms
The Craft Garden Monthly - Pink and green
Meljen's Designs - Flowers and blooms - in the garden
Spoon Full of Sugar - Cute and girly.

Karen's Doodles Dutch Challenge - Tuesday 18 May 2010

The challenge over at Karen's Doodles Dutch Challenge this week is "use of little scraps of paper".  I think this challenge must have been made especially for me as my New Year's resolution was to use up the card/paper I'd bought or been given and I have done marvellously well, even if I do say so myself, and have only printed out some backing papers for commissioned cards or Design Team cards.  Again I have gone in the scraps box and used the first piece of paper that I wouldn't have used as I prefer to cover more of the card but it's a scrap so it had to go.  I shall let you into a secret - the green paper I had gutted a piece out weeks ago as I did the punch down the side and decided not to use it and instead of cutting that bit off I kept it and just pinched a piece out of the middle (both pieces of paper have like distressed patterning on them but no matter what I do the camera won't show it up very well).  Thankfully I'd already printed the image out and coloured in with Promarkers and it fitted in to fill the gap.  The card is finished off with some flowers I've had for well over a year, a ticket sentiment from Crafty Ann's Digi Store, some fibres and a flowery ribbon border that I won in some blog candy last year.


This card also fits the following challenges:


Papertake weekly - Say it with flowers
Spoon Full of Sugar - Cute and girly
ABC Challenge - U is for unused stash
Meljen's Designs - Flowers and blooms - in the garden
Stamp Something - Celebrate something
Practical Scrappers - Patterned paper
Ooh-la-la Creations - Bright and cheerful
Pollycraft - Summer blooms
Crafty Calendar Monthly - The great outdoors.

Mo's Digital Challenge - Thursday 13/5/10 and Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge - Tuesday 11/5/10

Over at Mo's Digital Challenge this week the topic is flowers.  Well that's an easy one for me as I love using flowers on my cards but I decided to go one step further and only allow myself flowers on the backing paper.  Yikes ..........  I wasn't sure how to fill one corner as it looked blank.  The Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge this week was for 3 designer papers and 3 buttons, so as I had used three designer backing papers (these are from my stash so I don't know the makes) if I used three buttons I could enter it into their challenge as well.  I have a supply of buttons so out they came and I just tied some pink embroidery thread through the middle, leaving it the six strand width to give it a bit more texture.  The image of course is one of Mo's which I have coloured with Promarkers and distressed the edges.


This card also fits the following challenges:


Cupcake Craft - Buttons
Crafty Angels - One for the girls
Paper Cutz - Stamp or digital stamp of a cat or dog
Stamp Something - Celebrate something
Allsorts - Birthday
Pile it on - Photo inspiration.

Commissioned Card for my Son's Workplace

My son has one of his colleagues leaving very soon so they wanted an A4 card that everyone could sign and guess who they came to????  This time I have used the My Craft Studio Professional Walk in Wonderland and picked some of the gorgeous fairy images.  The front of the card I printed onto gloss photo paper and decoupaged the leaves and the fairies' wings.  I made the sentiment on the computer using various colours on the same CD so it toned in very well.  Inside the card I used one of the background and added a fairy which I flipped on the right hand side.  I'm annoyed with myself I forgot to flip the background as well but hey ho there's no changing it once it's stuck down.  The back of the card has another image which I reduced from 100% opacity to 15% so I could put the verse on top.  The last picture shows the decorated envelope.  I did this for the first card I did for my son's workplace and they liked it so much I have to do it each time.  The card is finished off with card candy, flowers, fibres, I have used my Sakura Clear Stardust pen in lots of areas to highlight and finally another "love in my life" Papermania glitterations in various places.


This card fits the following challenges:


Creative Inspirations - Fairy
Totally Gorjuss - Round and round - I have done round sentiments on the card and envelope and there are also round card candy and round Papermania glitterations on the card
Meljen's Designs - Flowers and blooms
One Stop Craft - Summer breeze.

Sew Many Cards Challenge - Friday 14/5/10

Over at the Sew Many Cards Challenge this week the topic is easel cards.  Whoopeeeeee I say as I love easel cards.  I have used some bunting backing paper that I was given a long time ago and some DCWV paper and off-cuts of mirri card from my stash which I have punched the edges and a star out of with my Carl punch.  I coloured one of the Sew Many Cards images of  Tayla the tiger with his blanket.  This is a commissioned card for a little boy so when I coloured Tayla in with Promarkers I made the blanket blue.  The card is finished off with some card candy, happy birthday peel-off and some ribbon.


This card also fits the following challenges:


Crazy Challenge - Cute and Cuddly
Creative Cottage - Fancy folds
Creative Belli - Punches and something old and forgotten (the backing papers I've had for a long time and the red ribbon I've had maybe 2-3 years and thought I should start using it up!!)
ABC Challenge - U is for unused stash - my backing papers and ribbon
Stampin' for the Week-end - Card for a male
Paper Cutz - Stamp or digital stamp of a cat or dog - I'm hoping a wild cat ie the tiger will be OK
Daring Cardmakers - Use bunting (the backing paper I have used had bunting all over it_
Allsorts - Birthday
Our Creative Corner - Masculine birthday.

Debbie's Birthday Blog Candy

Debbie, over at Passion for Crafts by Debbie, is celebrating her birthday and offering some WONDERFUL blog candy.  If you want to find out more click here.  Happy Birthday Debbie.

ME/CFS International Awareness Day - 12 May 2010

Can you spare a thought tomorrow for all the people around the world that are affected directly (as it is happening to them) or indirectly (as they are having to watch a loved one go through it) with Myalgic Encephalopathy (ME)/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) as it is the ME/CFS International Awareness Day on Wednesday 12 May 2010.  


If you would like to know more about this illness that currently affects 250,000 people here in the UK click here and visit the ME Association.

Mo's Digital Challenge - Thursday 6/5/10 and Creative Card Crew - Tuesday 11/5/10

When I saw the topic for Mo's Digital Challenge of using an image that includes or suggests water I knew I already had an image coloured in that would do the trick.  Why then has it taken me so long to put the card together?  I have coloured the image with Promarkers and stitched around the edge of the Nestabilities die.  The papers are from a Christmas DCWV paper pad but I thought they went well with the water theme.  I have followed this weeks' sketch at The Creative Card Crew for the layout of the card and I have done more faux stitching around the layers of paper.  The card is finished off with some mirri card swirls from a Marianne Designs die, some punched flowers, card candy and a sentiment off the computer.


This card also fits the following challenges:


CRAFT - Weddings or birthdays
Stamp Something - Birthday
Dare U 2 Digi Stamp - Anything goes
Totally Papercrafts - Stitching
Practical Scrappers - Punches.

Sweet Pea Stampers Challenge - Monday 10/5/10

Another week has arrived at the Sweet Pea Stampers Challenge Blog and the topic is pink, green and brown.  I already had this young lady coloured in in pink ready to be made into a card - maybe I knew!!!  I have coloured her in with Promarkers.  I have though highlighted areas with my Sakura Stardust clear pen.  She is layered onto a tag coloured with alcohol inks and then a script text stamped and embossed on top.  The backing papers are from my stash and the circle one I've had since I first started cardmaking so it's good it's found a home on a card.  The lace and flowers I won in blog candy last year along with the glittery/blingy gem brads, the raffia I bought recently in Dawn Bibby's shop and the peel-off, ribbon and card candy are from my stash.


This card also fits the following challenges:


Ginersnap Creations - Read
Crafty Creations - Magical
Paperplay - Stamp/digi and bling
Totally Ggorgeous - Pink and green
Bugaboo Stamps - Flower power
Craft Your Passion - Pink and green
Crafty Angels - One for the girls.