Challenge #11 - Favourites of 2009

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are recovering! Many thanks for your entries for our previous sketch challenge, such beautiful works! Its been a busy hectic time for everyone so I thank you for taking the time to join us! Also a big thank you to Debbie Dolphin for being our special guest and to Donna's Den of Crafts for the £10 voucher!

As we had a very quiet week as did most of blogland I'd like to award the Top 3 to ALL entrants because I know how hectic it was and as a thank you for taking time out to join us so that is...

Vicky, Cheryl, Kazabing, Caro, Beverley, Susan & Sue! Well Done ladies x

Donna's also shown me a new toy so I'm using it for the first time now :D

The winner of Donna's Den voucher is....CHERYL!

Please email me so I can arrange your voucher x

There were 7 items in your list. Here they are in random order:
cheryl
sue
vicky
susan
beverley
kazabing
caro
Timestamp: 2009-12-30 00:24:17 UTC

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CHALLENGE 11 - FAVOURITES OF 2009

This challenge is to think about what you've used this year, what has been your favourite products and/or techniques and more importantly why so please create something using products or techniques new to you this year. You can use one favourite or several the choice is yours but please do tell us which it is and why you think its the bees knees :)

Now if you're anything like me you may not have bought the item this year, it may have been in stash for a while until rediscovered and its become a new best friend!

Please post links to your entries in the comments box below by Monday 11th January 2010 at 12pm GMT.

We are sponsored again by Joanna Sheen who has such a huge assortment of craft items to suit all tastes in her online shop. Her newest items are more colours of memento inkpads, essential if santa brought you promarkers or copics! Meltdust powders and papers which is a fabulous new product for embossing computer printed images, I soooooo want some of these! There are lots of new CD's, the new promarker starter sets and the sought after Martha Stewart punches, go check them out!

Our ladies have been busy bees over christmas but have squeezed in some time to produce some creations for you for this challenge so thank you ladies for your time and wonderful creations x

Jack

This simple card uses a new stamp I've got which came in a set from Kodomo called Birds. I love these stamps they are so detailed (and cheap, Lol). I have stamped it with Brilliance Black, mounted it on silver and then layered it onto a piece of white card I ran through my faithful Cuttlebug with the Birds and Swirls folder. All is then mounted on a white card blank. The sentiment is a peel-off stuck onto a piece of silver card. As that cute little lemur says - simples!

Joy

I used a pale cream coloured card which had a wavy side which is narrower on the front than the back, I added a silver Oval shape which had a similar wavy edge using double sided tape, and having used two of the circular flower stamps which I had bought from Studio24 and coloured them using watercolour pencils I stuck them onto the card using foam pads, finally I added some yellow stars on the inside of the card.

Judie

Well, this challenge was a good one, use your fav thing of 2009, mine without a doubt is my rippy ruler - I have used this so so much - so i have used two different baking papers which have been ripped with my faithful friend, A tilda image used, and some birthday ribbon, i have added some beads to give it a bit of bling as this is my sons girlfriends 18th birthday card. Thanks for looking everyone. Enjoy yourself xx

Julie

I decided to make this challenge using the promarkers I got for Christmas this year, I have also used the gorgeous brads and jewels I received from secret Santa!! The main technique of the card is matting and layering which is my favourite and the image is stamped and coloured using the promarkers (need a bit of practice !!) I added the brads and jewels for extra effect.

Lisa

I've had lots of favourites this year - as I only started stamping earlier on in the year a lot of things have been 'new favourites' for me too, so it took me a while to decide what I'd use for this card! I've been quite hooked on Digistamp Boutique images so I chose one of their new ones, coloured with my favourite promarkers. The papers are Doodlebug, with DCWV cardstock. I've used some Green Tara flowers with a little button centre, and added a little butterfly sticker (mounted onto acetate and cut out) in the opposite corner. The fancy frame is made with Nellie Snellen circle dies, which have been a bit of an obsession for me for the last couple of months!

Mandy

The favourite products I have used for this card are Clare Curd papers from Papermania and the Cuttlebug Butterflies dies. I have wanted those forever and have used them loads. The dotty texture used here is my favourite and looks great when used with sanded cardstock to distress it. Of course bling in any guise is a must too :). The central panel on this card was made by scoring a grid pattern and sewing a small bead at each intersection. It took ages to do but the results were amazing and worth the effort for a special card.

Vix

My favourite things for 2009 and also new to me were copics (May) and promarkers (August) and digital stamps (about the same time) and also the large bead caps used as flower centres, K&Co papers, beads and charms.
Image is Summer Fairy by The Greetings Farm coloured with copics and promarkers. I love the pastel green shades. Papers are K&Co sweet stack and My Minds Eye. The swirly stamp I've had for at least 3 years but its only got a run out this year and I used cut n dry foam to colour round the image with heritage shimmer inks, again I've had these years but only come out to play this year. The mulberry flowers and the beady strand I've also had at least 5 years or more but have had a new lease of life thanks to Tab Robinsons beautiful use of them on her blog. Sticky gems are my personal favourite and I use them on most cards! The big flowers I got from port sunlight show in October :)

Now may I have the pleasure of introducing our special guest designer for this challenge which is Vicky from Kip's Cards!

Vicky is a regular player on our challenges and keeps catching my eye not only for her beautifully creative work but also the photography surrounding the creation too, that is as much of a pleasure to look at as the card itself! Hop over to her blog and see more of her stunning creations, you wont be disappointed! Vicky also posts up tutorials from time to time so well worth checking back to see whats new! Thank You Vicky for being our special guest!

SPECIAL GUEST DESIGNER - VICKY - KIP'S CARDS

I started card making about three year's ago... I learned all my technique's from watching Create and Craft, I am a addict stamper and love all the programmes that involved stamping,and this challenge is about our favourite product's for this year and that for me is Copic Pen's... They have given me so many more option's...and make matching my project's so much easier... They take some practice, but since finding blogland, I have learned so much more...

Challenge 10 - A sketch

Gosh thank you for all your fabulous entries for our previous challenge, what a wonderful array of colours and stamps and many many thanks to Jo Capper-Sandon for being our special guest designer, do pop over to her blog as its always packed with fantastic creations & great ideas.

Also thank you once again to the delightful Joanna Sheen for sponsoring us again!

A bit later than expected as I've had FLU! OMG I havent had a flu in years just bad colds so I've been behind on visiting everyones blogs and posting winners. All done now so without further ado here's the winners....
We had 70 entries to our Alternative Xmas challenge and the voucher winner is...

18 - CraftyC (Claire)

Well Done Claire, please email me your details to have the voucher sent to you x

Winners of the Top 3 blinkies chosen by the team go to.....

Chelsea - Crafting Life's Pieces

Dawn - Craft Addiction

Cheryl - Ch3rrie's Creations

Well Done ladies, such a varied choice this time too! Please grab yourself a Top 3 blinkie from the sidebar, lovely work x

Just a quick note about entry comments. I've had to change the settings to blog owner approval because of spam being posted on the last challenge twice and I can't approve comments until I'm on my lappy usually after the kids go to bed (late!) at night! So don't worry if it doesnt appear straight away, just check the next day as it should be there then.

We're sponsored for this challenge by Donna's Den of Crafts and have a £10 gift voucher to spend in her online shop. Donna's Den stocks a range of items including brand names like Smirk, DCWV, Dovecraft and My Craft Studio, with lots of little treasures and goodies to be found. Pop over to have a look!

Donna also runs a challenge blog exclusively for Mens/Boys cards. We all have to do them sometime and she has a fabulous design team with tons of inspiration. Cards for Men challenge blog is here.

CHALLENGE 10 SKETCH

Onto Challenge 10 which is a delightful sketch by our DT member Jenny. Remember sketches are open to interpretation so I'd also like to see some spins on it! If you've never done a sketch before then there is a tutorial here. Debbie our special guest had never done one either and has aced it so have a go with nothing to fear :)

I hope you have a lot of fun with this sketch as we have and thank you to our Design Team for all the hard work, time and effort they put into making this blog and to our special guests who willingly share their time and skills with us. Have a very Merry Christmas everyone and we'll be back on Dec 28th (Also my birthday yay!) with our next challenge.

Here's what our Design Team have created for this challenge. Thanks very much ladies and have a lovely Christmas x


Judie

I have used different coloured pink squares, attached some acetate for the middle square and two different sized circles, i have added the letters to spell girl around the card. I have used my distress ruler to add a bit of depth to the card. Enjoy everyone

Julie

I started with a blank square card, cut the mirror card to size and stuck onto the card added the strips of messages. I then used some snow effect 3D card which I have had for a while the 3d effect does not show very well. Not having a circle cutter I cheated a little and drew around a roll of double sided tape to cut out the larger of the two circles, I then mounted the circle picture that I had chosen. I finished off with the sentiment and some gems.

Lisa

Mandy

I used the sketch as a layout inspiration for an A5 card. The base was made from an A4 sheet chocolate coloured cardstock with papers from Basic Grey Cupcake pack.
The matted layers were cut using Nestabilities dies. The stamped image is from Lili of the Valley and is the perfect image for my car game mad hubbie's birthday card. I have coloured the image with Promarkers and Sakura pens
The gift parcel in the top corner is a cardstock sticker from the paperpack. The sentiment in the bottom corner is a Letraset rub on and I have added Stickles glue to add some highlights to the patterned paper.

Rose

I used Prickley Pear Rubber stamps for my images and Melissa Frances paper. I glittered up the image the Poinsetta image after I colored it with Prismacolor Markers. I sprayed the entire card lightly with Gold Glimmer Mist.

Vix

For this sketch I've used an image by The Greetings Farm called Summer Fairy. I coloured with promarkers and much use of the blender for lighter shades and a copic spica glitter pen on the wings then used heritage shimmer ink in light and mid blue around the image and edges then very gently with a black brilliance blending in towards the centre. This was mounted on silver paper and like Julie I don't own nesties etc so used a CD as a stencil instead :) The image itself holds a flower so I've added a flora doodles one with a large bead cap, a spacer and a crystal gem brad through the centre to add more dimension with 2 small chains and a glass heart bead and made with love charm. (Tip: If you struggle to get the brad through the bead caps give it a nip with a cropodile or very gently twist the brad till it goes through)

The 4 squares backing paper is a printout from designer extreme vol 3 and I added a square of blue card beneath the circle that matches the base card and stamped around the corners with a star stamp from Tracey Coates' butterfly beauties sheet. The sentiment is from Tracey's Starburst Fairies.


Now may I have the pleasure of introducing our special guest for this challenge, Debbie Dolphin! Debbie has a project in the current issue of craft stamper magazine which is also a great idea for those last minute gifts. She is lucky enough to work at The Stampman and has produced some beautiful designs using their stamps, hop over to her blog and check them out!

SPECIAL GUEST DESIGNER - DEBBIE DOLPHIN

My name is Debbie Dolphin. I am married with two kids, a boy of 13 and a girl 10. I have from a very early age been interested in crafts, being the daughter of a Brownie Leader! I just love things that are handmade. It was probably about 10 years ago now that I walked into The Stampman in Skipton where I saw a man demonstrating with Gold powder and a heatgun and was just gobsmacked with the results and have been hooked ever since. I just couldn't keep away from the place and have worked for them for the last 7 years. I love it though unfortunately I tend to spend my wages there most weeks. No wonder they offered me a job!! hee hee

Recently I have featured in the latest copy of Craft Stamper which has been something I have always wanted to do.

Challenge 9 - Alternative Christmas

Thank you so much for you entries into our previous challenge (8) Clear as Day, there were so many beautiful entries using a huge variety of techniques and it was an absolute pleasure visiting you all. Judie, Julie and myself have chosen our Top 3 this week (one each!) and we'll be back with that and the winner of the fabulous Tracey Coates stamp plate later on! Did any of you catch Jill & Tracey on C&C this saturday, I know Lilac anglia did as I heard her email read out! If you like Tracey's stamps pop over to her blog as she's looking for suggestions on new designs!

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WINNERS OF PREVIOUS CHALLENGE (8)

I've counted 26 entries including 2 email, they are listed in the comments box below the previous challenge. The winner of their choice of one of Tracey Coates' fabulous stamp plates is......

Number 25 - Crafty Kitten! Well done sweets, please email me!



Our Top 3 this challenge was a joint effort between Judie, Julie and myself and we chose one each so here are our choices!



Judies Choice - Sophie

Julies Choice - Gloria

Vixs Choice - Janine Q

Well Done ladies and lil cherub! Janine will have to get herself a blog now as she is an email entry and what a corker it is too!! Julie kept going back to Glorias and saying yep, definately THAT one and Judie had no idea that Sophie is Julies daughter (shows how much attention she pays in class eh lol lol!)

Grab yourself a well earned blinkie from the sidebar!

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Onto Challenge 9 which is sponsored once again by Joanna Sheen. Joanna was also on C&C over the weekend, her shows are so inspirational too and lovely products. New in her shop this month are the Promarker gift sets whoop whoop! These are specially selected packs of 12 promarkers in various themes, also containing blender pens, a wallet, fineliner and bleed proof marker pad, fantastic!

There are also some extra extra cute house mouse decoupage sheets new in stock, go take a peep as these are gorgeous!

CHALLENGE 9 - ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS

A what what you say? Alternative Christmas, we would like you to look at your products with new eyes for this challenge and jump right out of the box instead of just thinking outside it :D

You can take this either way, I don't mind what you choose so our challenge is to.....

1. Create a card/layout/project etc using christmas images in NON TRADITIONAL COLOURS so no red, green, gold combos on a christmas image. I know some of you will take to this like a duck to water as Ive already spied some of you doing it. Have a try at lilac themes, blues, pinks anything but red/green/gold

OR

2. Alternative route is to use a NON CHRISTMAS IMAGE using TRADITIONAL COLOURS so maybe look at your sumer tildas and do them in traditional red/green/gold. I know this works very well for the shopping Anyas.

OKies, have fun with this one! Our ladies have been really busy with xmas preps so I'm very pleased they managed to fit the challenge in too, thanks girls x

Jenny

Papers from pink petticoat tis the season, purple mirror card, black mirror card sprayed with crafters companion gold spray & sparkle, mediallion peel off layered on to mirror card and cut out, peel offs from stash.

Joy

I used a square white card and then stuck 3 oblongs of pale mauve paper at the top, left hand side & the bottom.I then used part of a blue card kit which I have bought from craftsuprint, printed and cut out a second black snowflake which I stuck on top of the original one using foam pads, the box with the sentiment is part of the kit and I added the words from my stash. I also added some glitter silver snowflakes to give it some more depth & interest.

Judie

I have chosen to do the christmas card with the non traditional colours - I am out of favour at the mo with images and colouring, so I have chosen to stamp & emboss a border stamp that I have - I mixed the emboss powder with glimmer powder so that it gives it a different kind of shimmer. I have used my ruler that I rip and distress paper with to make the edges on my card a bit different, I lined it up and used a blue metallic pen to make the edges untidy. A good way to make your christmas cards without knowing.

Julie

I started with a C6 deckled edge card, the rest of the card is basic matting and layering with the cute topper. I printed the greeting on the computer with a frame to personalise the card a little more. I added the gems and also a little decoupage to the picture which is not very clear from the picture. Enjoy this challenge good luck x

Lisa

The image is a digi-stamp from Pink Cat Studio, coloured with promarkers and with lots of glamour dust. The papers are My Mind's Eye, with some sparkly blue cardstock from my stash. Computer generated sentiment. The snowflake was cut with the cuttlebug icicle die and then coated with glamour dust. Added some large pearls to the snowflake centres on the image and on the cuttlebug snowflake.

Mandy

Base of card is an A4 sheet folded in half. The patterned paper is from the DCWV Rose Tinted Christmas stack.
Stamped image is Penny Black coloured in with Promarkers, fur trims are Woodware fluffy stuff covered with glitter and heat embossed so it puffs up. Image has been cut out using a Nestabilities die and matted onto metallic card. The whole image is mounted onto 3d foam.
A second strip of card was punched using the Fiskars scallop edge border punch and the bobble trim is from Doodlebug. Added embellishments are Craftime glittered snowflakes and pink gems from Paperchase.

Rose

Toria

Stamps - Magnolia Edwin Sledging and Art Impressions Small Snowy Tree
Copic Markers - E57 Light Walnut, E47 Dark Brown, E37 Sepia, E00 Skin White, E21 Baby Skin Pink, Y11 Pale Yellow, Y08 Acid Yellow, Y17 Golden Yellow, R20 Blush, B22 Phihalo Blue, B93 Light Crockery Blue, B45 Smokey Blue.
Card - Stampin Up Whisper White, Pretty in pink, Bashful Blue
Stampin Up Stampin Pastels
Stickles - Diamond, Stardust, Eucalyptus, Green
Post It Notes or Eclipse Tape
Clear Stardust Pen
Snowflakes and Bow
Hair Spray


I stamped Edwin onto White card as well a piece of eclipse tape to use a a mask on the white card. I then stamped a series of trees as a background. I used the same method as for Edwin and created mask of the trees as well. I create a sky using pastels that I sealed with Hair Spray. I removed the masks from the trees and added snow to the sky and trees using Stickles. i also added green to the Branches. Once dry I removed the mask from Edwin and coloured him in using Copic markers. I added highlights using clear stardust pen. I rounded the corners of the white card and edge using a blue Copic pen. I mounted it on to a piece of pink card also with rounded corners. Which was then mounted on to a card created using a sheet of A4 blue card folded in half. Added some snowflakes and a bow. I rounded the corners of the card and also edge using the same blue card.

Vix

I cannot begin to tell you how special this stamp is! I've written a whole lot about it over on my blog . It is a custom made stamp of my great grandmother, aunt Geraldine, my father and my grandmother (Nan!) that has been stamped onto starburst stains in cathedral pines green, peony scarlet red and winter jasmine gold using them as sprays by changing the dauber caps. I embossed with black sparkle powder making an easel card. The papers are printouts from Bearly mine designer extreme vol III and the poinsettia is from a simple expressions plate coloured with promarkers which I've made 3d.

BTW if you want to win this plate Cath has it up for grabs but be quick as it closes today!

I've added an embossed panel on the base and used metallic rub ons in the corners and added 2 holly brads, I think they're HOTP as Ive had them ages. I curled them up with a pair of pliers to act as the stopper.

Now I'll hand you over to our special guest for this challenge and what a treat she has made! Jo Capper-Sandon might be familiar to Craft Stamper readers as she is featured regularly and has a certain skill with making things out of everyday objects found around the house or outdoors. She is on the design teams or makes samples for....Art Journey Craft Stamper Crafty Individuals Gingersnap Creations Happy Daze Paper Artsy Paperbag Studios Stampotique Originals The Artistic Stamper so we are very honoured to have her here, thanks a million Jo x

SPECIAL GUEST DESIGNER - JO CAPPER-SANDON - JO BLOGS