Hello 2018 - long time no blog!!

Hello again Blogland!!

No resolutions are being set at Parkhurst Towers this year as I never ever stick to any of them but I thought tonight was as good a time as any to revive ye olde blogge and get back to sharing some of my crafty makes.

I have no idea how prolific or not I might be, but I am looking forward to taking part in some of the crafty challenges that I use to take participate in. 

To kick things off I am taking part in one of my favourite blog challenges and that is the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.  December's challenge was Winter or Christmas and I made this card for Mr P for Christmas.

The stamps both sentiment and image are from T for transparent set 'Christmas Hugs' which were new for Christmas 2017.  The image was stamped twice and coloured with Promarkers and then one image was fussy cut out and mounted with pinflair gel over the base image for some dimension.

The heart dies are by Cheery Lynn and the background paper is by Craft Creations.

Well that was pretty painless - it seems that blogging is like riding a bike and you don't forget how to do it!!  Fingers crossed I can now regularly remember to photograph crafty makes and come here to upload them

Uplifting Occasion

One of my all time favourite Penny Black stamps is Uplifting Occasion and it was one of my earliest Penny Black purchases and helped put me on my slippery slope of Penny Black addiction!!

I made this card for a cat-mad friend's birthday.  The image was coloured with Promarkers and glittered with Black Stickles.

The sentiment is by Stampin' Up and the sentiment mats are SU punches.

I am entering this card into the Penny Black and More and the Penny Black Saturday Challenge - both challenges for January are 'Anything Goes'

Happy Birthday Mum xxx

Today it is my lovely Mum's birthday and even though I had an imaged stamped and coloured, I had been procrastinating over what to do with it.  Anyway finally last night whilst watching the Olympic opening ceremony some inspiration struck.

I haven't made a shaped easel card in ages so using my large Go Kreate circle and scalloped circle dies I made a circle easel card.  The image was coloured with Promarkers and the roses are painted with a Wink of Stella brush marker - sadly the camera doesn't pick up just how sparkly they are.

The flowers are punched with two different Stampin' Up punches and shaped with a ball tool and foam mat.  The flourish is a Cheery Lynn die and the gems are from Majorcrafts.

I am entering the card into this month's Penny Black Saturday Challenge which is to use your favourite technique - I don't really have one fave technique but this card incorporates a lot of the techniques that I use all the time - punched flowers, colouring with promarkers and diecutting .

I'm off to see Mum later armed with a bottle of something fizzy, birthday cake and nibbles to help her celebrate!!

Beat the Christmas Rush - July Edition

Apologies for being a day late but I am finally here with this month's offering for Beat the Christmas Rush.

BTCR is all about getting ahead for Christmas by making a few cards each month so that you won't have to make them in a mad rush come November.

I have gone for a simple one layer card this month so that I can enter it into the one layer challenge over at Penny Black Saturday Challenge, I am also entering it into the challenge at Penny Black and More - Anything Goes with a Stamp.

Once more I delved into the bag of shame and pulled out a T for transparent set 'Holly Scroll' - a bargain I got in a sale but hadn't got inky yet.

Though a simple design, they were not quick cards to make as the stamp was pretty detailed and needed careful colouring with Promarkers.

The sentiment was from the same stamp set and I went round the edge of the design with a pastel blue promarker to help the image pop from the page.  The gemstones are from Majorcrafts.

If you would like to join in and share the Christmas cards that you have made then please add your blog link to the linky below.

One Layer Cards - Penny Black Saturday Challenge

The challenge this month over at Penny Black Saturday Challenge is One Layer cards.  I needed to make some quick thank you cards for Mr P after his birthday so came up with these, I made quite a few as you can never have too many thank you cards.

I stamped directly onto the card using a stamp from T for transparent set 'Sunny Days' and the sentiment is from a set called 'Critter Time'.

I coloured the image with Promarkers and used Stickles on the butterflies and the grass for a little sparkle.

Jazzy Cats

Apologies if you are looking for May's Beat the Christmas Rush - I haven't quite finished my cards yet so the post will arrive either on Sunday or Monday.

Here's a card I made earlier for the masculine challenge over at Penny Black Saturday Challenge, I'm also entering it into the Anything Goes challenge at Penny Black and More

I made it with a fairly new set of T for transparent stamps by Penny Black called Jazzy Cats, for a friend's son.

The music score die is by Amy Design NL and the sentiment is an All Occasions Die.  The pawprint paper is from Craft Creations.

My friend shares her birthday with her son so I made her a card from the same set.

The music note dies are Spellbinder D-lites.

Easter cards - part 2

Some more Easter cards using Penny Black stamps from T for transparent set "Garden Friends"

The patterned paper is a magazine freebie and the sentiments are from Pink Petticoat

I'm entering the cards into the Penny Black and More challenge - Feature a Creature and Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Easter

Easter cards - part 1

My blog has been a little bit neglected just lately and in the meantime my 'to be blogged' book is filling up with entries.  So I am going to make a valiant effort to get back to some more regular entries.

Today I have some Easter cards which are perfect for this month's challenge on Penny Black Saturday Challenge which is Easter.  They are also great for the challenge on Penny Black and More which is Feature a Creature.

I used Penny Black stamp 'Seeing Your Face'

For the first three I used freebie papers from a craft magazine (sorry I have no idea of what range they are from).  The sentiment is by Stamps Away and the little flowers are a Stampin Up punch.

The other cards I used a large stamped sentiment from Woodware and again flower punches from Stampin Up.

Hello Sweet Friend

The challenge this month at Penny Black Saturday Challenge is Friendship.

Ages ago I stamped and embossed with black embossing powder these lovely poppies (PB Poppy Parade).  I also stamped some extra images to cut up for decoupage.  I finally got round to colouring them with Promarkers and turning them into a couple of cards.

 The card blank was stamped in Black Versafine ink all the way round the edges with the same poppy stamp to make the background more interesting.

The sentiment is from Stampin' Up set 'Six-sided Sampler' on a mat made with Stampin' Up punches.  The red pearls are from The Hobby House.

A close up of the decoupage

Happy Birthday to Moo

Belated Happy 21st Birthday to my nephew Harry, it was yesterday but I couldn't show his card till later until I had given it to him.

The theme this month at Penny Black Saturday Challenge is Trees or Nature.  I used this lovely farm animal stamp from Penny Black called 'From the Folks'

 The sentiment is also by Penny Black and the 21 is AC Thickers.  I cut the image out with a Stampin Up Thinlet die and coloured with Promarkers.

Blossoms and Bows Part 2

And another card for this month's challenge at Penny Black Saturday Challenge which is Spring Blooms and Penny Black and More which is Blossoms and Bows.

Using the same cat stamp as yesterday from T for Transparent set Critter Time -

 The cat was coloured using Promarkers and the sentiment stamp is by Wild Rose Studio on Stampin Up punched mats.  The gemstones are from Major crafts and the bow from my thrifted stash (probably removed from a shop bought card!!).  The patterned paper is a magazine freebie and the circle stitched dies are by Memory Box.

Blossoms and Bows Part 1

This month's challenge at Penny Black and More is Blossoms and Bows, this also fits nicely with the challenge at Penny Black Saturday Challenge which is Spring Blooms.

This is the first card that I made for the two challenges -

 The cat is from T for transparent set - Critter Time and was coloured in with Promarkers, the sentiment is Wild Rose Studio on Stampin Up punched mats.  The blossoms are Prima with glitter sticker centres (Anita's I think??).  The patterned paper is a magazine freebie.

Valentines Card Part 3

And here is the final card that I made for Mr P this year.

Again another Penny Black stamp, I have had this one for a while now but haven't used it recently so it was time to get it inky again.

 

The backing paper is a magazine freebie and the image was coloured in with Promarkers.  The sentiment is by Crafty Impressions.

I am entering this card into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge for February which is hearts.

Valentines Day part 2

I've just realised that I haven't blogged the other cards that I made Mr P for Valentines.

I bought this stamp ages ago in a sale and only used it for the first time for my Dad's birthday earlier this month but whilst making that I thought it would make a nice Valentines card too.

 The backing papers are magazine freebies and the speech bubble is a Joy crafts die, both the image and sentiment stamp are Penny Black.  I used the new Stampin Up heart border punch for the border and the bling is from my stash - it might be from Poundland.

I'm entering the card into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge  which this month is hearts.

Happy New Year Cards

The January challenge over at Penny Black Saturday Challenge is New

These are the little Happy New Cards that I made earlier this month to give to those people that I didn't have a chance to make a Christmas card for.

 I stamped directly onto the card and coloured in the cute little mouse using Promarkers.  I then added Glossy Accents to the bubble on his nose to make it shiny.

The sentiment is by Hobby Art.

Have a Bbbrrilliant Christmas

This month's challenge at Penny Black Saturday Challenge is All Wrapped Up.

I made these cards for my fundraiser earlier this month, using this cute snowman stamp from Penny Black T for transparent set 'Jolly Friends'. 

The sentiment is from the Little Doo Lally Pip collection by Lindsay Mason (Crafty Impressions).

 The papers are mainly free magazine ones apart from the two pink ones which are from Craft Creations.

 The snowflakes are mainly diecut with a Cuttlebug die or a Woodware punch using glitter cardstock

 I coloured the images with Promarkers and added some glossy accents to the mistletoe berries to make them nice and shiny.

I am also entering these cards into Sue's Beat the Christmas Rush and Penny Black and More at Allsorts 'Anything Goes' challenge.  They were certainly popular at the fundraiser as I sold them all!!

Petal Party Cards

The challenge this month at Penny Black Saturday Challenge  is Floral Fantasy.

I have had this lovely T for transparent set 'Petal Party' for ages and not used it so this challenge was the ideal opportunity to get the stamps inky and have a little play.  I used my current favourite Stampin Up colour combo of Daffodil Delight and Smoky Slate (thank you Fiona!!)

I hand cut all the flowers and the leaves (which were stamped with Certainly Celery).

The sentiments are from a Penny Black 'T for transparent' set Eloquence.

I don't know why I have taken so long to use these stamps, they are so lovely - expect to see them a lot more on cards!!

I'm also entering these cards into the August challenge on the Penny Black and More At Allsorts blog which is Anything Goes.