Penny Black Frolic Card - A Guest Designer Post for Critter Crazy

 

Hi everyone,

Over at the Critter Crazy Challenge Blog, I was offered a Guest Designer Role for the month of MAY after being Becca's (Owner) Eagle Eyes Pick w/Guest DT invite from the March Challenge - so I was very honoured to be asked.  The theme is always 'Anything Goes with a featured Critter - real or fantasy', so why not play along yourself and have some fun. 

The Challenges always start on the 1st of each month and HERE is a link to May's Challenge #110.

And this is what I made:

As you probably already know, I LOVE featuring critters on my card - they just make me happy - so I pulled out one of my most-favourite Penny Black Cat Stamps called Frolic which dates back to 2009.  You just can't help but smile at that happy cat, can you?!!    

I stamped the image onto Ranger Watercolour Cardstock using Versafine Onyx Black Ink and coloured it using Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and a Zig Blender Pen.  I went over some of the black lines using an Anko 0.05 Black Pigment Pen for any that needed darkening up after my colouring.

Here is a close-up:

The sentiment is by Mama Elephant - Mini Messages - which was first released in 2015 but is still available.  This is a fabulous set with a variety of small sentiments and a few small images for lots of different occasions including Christmas so definitely worth picking up.  I don't always want to add a separate sentiment panel to my main image and I thought the sentiment I chose meant I could use the card for a variety of occasions.  I used my Stamp Positioning Tool for perfect placement.

I diecut the main panel using my Big Shot and Lifestyle Nesting Rounded Squares Dies.

The designer papers are by Cocoa Vanilla - Happy Day - which were released in 2023.  I love the bright cheery colours in this paper.  The cardstock is by Kaisercraft - Wildberry and Blueberry.

I added a matching American Crafts 9.5mm or 3/8" inch wide Organza Ribbon.

I punched some tiny hearts from Wildberry Cardstock using my EK Success Arrows Border Punch - they are the leftover punchies that look like tiny hearts.  I glued them on using Art Glitter Glue.

Finishing touches were Uniquely Creative Clear Sparkle Brush to all the hearts and flowers so it looks very sparkly in real life

Once I had completed my card front, I glued it to a White Card Base using Tombow Mono Multi Glue.  Finished size is 140mm x 140mm or 5-1/2" x 5-1/2".

Thanks Becca for asking me to be a Guest Designer - I really appreciate it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black Frolic 3972K Wood Mount, Mama Elephant Mini Messsages

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer Paper:  Cocoa Vanilla Happy Days A5 Stack - Item # CV-HD011

Accessories:  Big Shot, American Crafts Organza Ribbon 9.5mm-3/8" wide, Anko Black .05 Pigment Pen, Stamp Positioning Tool, Tombow Mono Multi Glue, Art Glitter Glue, Fabric Glue, Uniquely Creative Clear Sparkle Brush, Cardstock - Ranger Watercolour + Kaisercraft Wildberry and Blueberry, White Card Base 140mm x 140mm

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Rounded Squares L-CC-002 (retired)

Punches:  EK Success Arrows Border

Penny Black Fetching Slippers Masculine Retirement Card

Hi everyone,

* I just found out that my card was Top 3 at Crafty Catz Challenge Blog*

** Woo hoo 😀 **

**My card was also picked by Becca over at Critter Crazy Challenges and offered a Guest Designer Role for May - Yippee!**

Last December, we adopted a beautiful 7 years 8 months old Groodle (Golden Retriever - Poodle cross) from a Council pound in a country town several hours away from where we live.  He had been surrendered by his family to the pound which is so incredibly sad and had been there for many months.  We saw his ad on a Pet Rescue website and I just had such a good feeling about him.  I get alot of strong senses about many things and have always been that way since I was little.  I guess they call it a sixth sense (?) but it is more than that - and interestingly, my late Father and his Mother (my Grandmother) were exactly the same.  My Father and I even used to sometimes have the same dream on the same night which used to be quite unnerving to say the least!  I even have senses about someone's imminent passing even when they aren't sick.  Anyway, I am digressing.......  

So we rang up the Council to find out more about the dog and they told us he was good with children and adults and other dogs and not aggressive in any way nor had separation anxiety.  So we made the trip up to see him and oh, he is just the LOVELIEST dog and we couldn't wait to bring him home with us.  Tucker is very gentle and has the sweetest nature - doesn't pull on the lead when you walk him - loves being brushed - honestly, we hit the jackpot.  He just wants to be cuddled and loved.  I also love that he doesn't shed because of the Poodle in him.   Here is a photo of Tucker rocking his bow tie:

Honestly, he is just like a teddy bear!  And who could resist that adorable face?!  We took him to the dog groomer for the first time yesterday and he was brilliant.  The lady who groomed him said he was so friendly and relaxed the entire time and made friends with her friend's dog that was already there and they sat on the mat together like they were besties.  

Now that we are retired, it means we have the time to put into having a dog plus it is good company for my husband when he is pottering around in the garden or garage - or when any of us is outside.  We just adore him and so happy that he now has a fur-ever home.  We are his 3rd family and I really can't imagine how sad he must have been when he was given up not just once, but twice 😢

So, I HAD to make a card to celebrate my husband's retirement with a dog on it - it just seemed so fitting for the occasion!

This is also my card for the following Challenges - click on the underlined link to take you to each challenge:

• Crafty Catz - #708 - Anything Goes
• Critter Crazy - #108 - Anything Goes with a featured critter (real or fantasy)
• Ellibelle's Corner - I Spy with my Little Eye - Something You Love - I chose dogs
• Splitcoaststampers - Ways to Use It WT1055 - Make it Masculine - this is from a while ago and there are no time limits to play their challenges
• Crafty Animals - #103 - Anything Goes - Must include an animal but birds, bugs, bees and insects are all OK

The main image is an old stamp from Penny Black - Fetching Slippers - and was stamped onto Ranger Watercolour Cardstock using Versafine Onyx Black Ink.  I tried to colour the dog to look similar to Tucker and to also make the fur look curly.  I used a mix of Watercolour Pencils and Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers + a Zig Blender Pen.  Check out those cute bunny slippers!  They sure put a smile on my husband's face!  Here is a close-up:

I still had my Basic Grey Max and Whiskers Designer Papers on my desk from a birthday card I made the other day for my BIL - see HERE - so I thought I would use them again.  I do love these papers - Basic Grey had such unique designs and I really miss them.

I went over the black lines on the main image using an Anko 0.05 Black Pigment Pen to darken up the lines after my colouring.  I diecut the image using a Quickutz Nesting Card Templates Die and my Big Shot - then layered it onto some Blue Designer Paper and then onto Dark Brown Cardstock from my stash.

I added the 1/4" wide Grosgrain Ribbon in two separate elements and glued the knot on using Helmar's Fabric Glue.  I find that attaching the ribbon elements separately saves some ribbon because I don't have to wrap it around my card and the knot sits flatter and just looks neater and better IMHO.

To do the sentiment, I stamped the banner which is from a very old WPlus9 Basic Banner and Die Set (2013) - and fussy-cut around it using my Uniquely Creative Fussy Cutting Scissors, which meant I could then diecut the banner from the Blue Designer Paper so I had a layer underneath it.  It just looked better that way instead of just having just the banner on white cardstock.  I went around the edges with my Anko Black Pigment Brush Pen to hide any imperfections in my fussy-cutting.  The sentiment is by Penny Black - a Bear of all Trades - and went perfectly with the image I thought.  I stamped it using Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip Ink which is a very dark brown and looked better than using black ink.  Yep, retirement is all about "taking it easy".   I diecut the banner again from white cardstock and glued that underneath so I could have a little bit of dimension for the sentiment panel.

The centre panel was popped up on scraps of white cardstock as is the main image panel.

The buttons on the RHS are also by Basic Grey from their Granola Collection released in 2008.  I sewed matching threads through each button then glued them on using Helmar's 450 Quick Dry Adhesive.

The hearts either side of the sentiment were diecut from a Reddish-Orange sheet of Designer Paper using an Impression Obsession - Heart of Hearts Die.  This is a well-used but retired die that has seen alot of love over the years because it diecuts many different sizes and styles of hearts - just perfect for anytime you need a heart:

Once I had finished my card front, I glued it to a Kaisercraft White Card Base using Tombow Mono Multi Glue.

As finishing touches, I added Uniquely Creative Clear Sparkle Pen to the dog collar plus the hearts.

Finished size is 6" x 4-1/8" or 153mm x 105mm.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black Fetching Slippers 2085F + Bear of all Trades 30-108, WPlus9 Basic Banners (2013 - retired)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip (retired)

Designer Papers:  Basic Grey Max and Whiskers 6" x 6" (2009-retired)

Accessories:  Big Shot, 1/4" - 6.5mm wide Grosgrain Ribbon, Buttons - Basic Grey - Granola (2008-retired), Matching Sewing Thread, Needle, Kaisercraft Trimmer, Tombow Mono Multi Glue, Helmar's 450 Quick Dry Adhesive + Fabric Glue, Anko Black Pigment Pen - Brush + 0.05, Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers + Blender Pen, Watercolour Pencils, #2 Round Paintbrush, Uniquely Creative Clear Sparkle Pen, Uniquely Creative Fussy Cutting Scissors, Cardstock - Ranger Watercolor + Scraps of White Cardstock + Dark Brown

Dies:  WPlus9 Basic Banner WP9D-059#-32557 (retired), Quickutz Nesting Card Templates DC0431 (retired), Impression Obsession Heart of Hearts DIE052-I (retired)

Penny Black Love Tail Valentine's Day Card

 

Hi everyone,

Today I am sharing a Valentine's Day Card that I made for my daughter:

This is also my card for the following Challenges:

• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - February - Anything Goes or Romance

• Splitcoaststampers - Free for All Friday F4A833 - Valentine

• Critter Crazy Challenge #107 - Anything Goes - with a Featured Critter (real or fantasy)

• We Love Stamping - February - Hearts or Anything Goes

The main image is by Penny Black - Love Tail - which is from 2006.  I still love this image as much as the day I bought it!  I stamped it using Versafine Onyx Black Ink onto Ranger Watercolour Cardstock, then coloured it using Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers using a Zig Blender Pen for all my blending instead of water.  I only recently found out that Zig makes this Blender Pen and this was my first try out with using it.  I absolutely LOVE it and it is so easy to use.

I went around the image with a Lyra Sky Blue Watercolour Pencil.  First, I scribbled the pencil onto some scrap watercolour cardstock and added some water, then picked the colour up with my #4 Round Paintbrush and smooshed it around so it is very light but takes away the stark white of the watercolour cardstock.  I went over the image with an Anko 0.05 Black Pigment Pen to darken up the black lines.  Here is a close-up:

I diecut the image using a QuicKutz Nesting Card Templates Die and my Big Shot, then diecut the next size up from Colormates Dark Racy Raspberry Cardstock.

All the designer papers are by Simple Stories - Love and Adore - which first came out in 2016 so are 10 years old.

The sentiment is by Lawn Fawn - Love Letters - and was stamped using Versafine Onyx Black Ink.  I diecut the panel using a Lifestyle Nesting Circles Die, then diecut the scalloped circle using a Spellbinders Petite Scalloped Small Circles Die.

The main image panel is popped up on scraps of white cardstock and the sentiment is popped up on the top and RHS with 1mm Self-Adhesive Doublesided Foam Pads.  The bottom LHS of the sentiment panel is glued flush to the main image panel.

I punched some tiny hearts from Dark Racy Raspberry Cardstock using my EK Success Arrows Border Punch.  The leftover punchies look like tiny hearts and are perfect for adding a little something extra to your card.  I glued three around the sentiment and two on the main image panel using Art Glitter Glue fitted with a fine nozzle.

I thought about adding a ribbon or some rhinestones but didn't really have the right colour to match so just left the card as-is; I guess I am just keeping it simple.

Once I had finished my card front, I glued it to a White Kaisercraft Card Base using Tombow Mono Multi Glue.

As a final touch, I added some Uniquely Creative Clear Sparkle Brush to the hearts and flowers as well as the tiny hearts.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black Love Tail 3608J Wood-Mount (2006), Lawn Fawn Love Letters LF1292

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer Papers:  Simple Stories Love and Adore 6" x 6" #7614 (2016)

Accessories:  Big Shot, Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers + Blender Pen #999, #4 Round Paintbrush, Lyra Sky Blue Watercolour Pencil, Uniquely Creative Clear Sparkle Brush, 1mm Self-Adhesive Doublesided Foam Pads, Tombow Mono Multi Glue, Art Glitter Glue, Stamping Platform, Anko 0.05 Black Pigment Pen, Cardstock - Black + Scraps of White + Colormates Dark Racy Raspberry, Kaisercraft White Card Base

Dies:  All retired - QuicKutz Nesting Card Templates DC0431, Lifestyle Nesting Circles, Spellbinders Petite Scalloped Small Circles Nestabilities S4-117

Punches:  EK Success Arrows Border (retired)

Penny Black Where's Dinner Masculine Card

 

Hi blogging friends,

My Craft Room has been a whirlwind of activity lately making cards for the Splitcoaststampers Dirty Dozen Design Team AND for family birthdays - but I am loving being more creative and spending LOTS of time in my Craft Room now that my husband and I are officially retired.  Woo hoo!  We both have lots of hobbies so it is great to be able to just have more time to read, relax and create and not have the constraints of doing that around a work schedule.  My husband's friends were already retired so it means they can catch up more often.

So onto the Birthday Card that I made for my brother-in-law:

This is also my card for the following Challenges - click on the underlined link to take you to the Challenge:

• Crafty Catz Challenge #706 - Anything Goes
• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - February - Anything Goes or Romance
• Critter Crazy Challenge #107 - Anything Goes with a Featured Critter Real or Fantasy

Of course, if you have been around my blog for a while, you will already know that I adore Penny Black Stamps, so I couldn't wait to ink up this super-cute (but puzzled) dog.  I have had this stamp forever and it is a wood-block one and was designed in the year 2000.  I find that the Margaret Sherry critter stamps just don't seem to date and I still love them as much as when I first bought them.

I stamped the image onto Ranger Watercolour Cardstock using Versafine Onyx Black Ink, and coloured him using a mix of Watercolour Pencils and Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and my #2 Round Paintbrush. The sentiment is from a Penny Black Set - Make a Wish.

The image panel was diecut using my Big Shot and Lifestyle Nesting Rounded Squares Dies.  Note that I popped up the panel a little on scraps of white cardstock.

All the designer papers are old - Basic Grey - Max and Whiskers - which are from 2009.  I love Basic Grey Designer Papers and really miss them as they were really different to other brands.

The Mustard Cardstock and Dark Brown Cardstock on the card base were trimmed to 1/16" and 1/8" respectively using my WRMK Perfect Layers Guides.

The dry embossed panel across the middle was done using a Crafts Too Bone and Paw Print Embossing Folder.  I have had this folder for a long time so is no doubt retired.

I added some Uniquely Creative Clear Sparkle Pen to the candle flame and the glow around it.

The top RHS embellishments are 3 x Dark Brown Candi Dots with diecut stars glued on top.  Just having the Dark Brown Candi Dots seemed to disappear into the busy background - so I came up with the idea of adding the stars which were diecut from papers from the Max and Whiskers pad.  The stars are by Memory Box - Hearts and Stars.  The Candi Dots were popped up on 2mm Self-Adhesive Foam Pads.

I left the rest of the card unfussy - although I thought about adding a dark brown ribbon across the centre, however, I was in a rush and glued the main image down so it was too late.  I guess it looks OK without it (?).  I just love ribbons and find it hard to NOT put them on my cards!

Once I had finished my card front, I glued it to White Card Base using Tombow Mono Multi Glue.

Finished size is:  5-7/8" x 5-7/8" or 138mm x 138mm.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black Where's Dinner 1705J Wood-Mount, Sentiment - Penny Black Make a Wish 30-052 Clear Set

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer Paper:  Basic Grey Max and Whiskers 6" x 6" (2009) - retired

Accessories:  Big Shot, Crafts Too Bone and Paw Print Embossing Folder (retired), Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, Lyra + Derwent Watercolour Pencils, #2 Round Paintbrush, Uniquely Creative Clear Sparkle Brush, Dark Brown Candi Dots - Choc-a-Mocha, We R Memory Keepers Perfect Layers Guides, Tombow Mono Multi Glue, Art Glitter Glue, 2mm Self-Adhesive Foam Pads, Cardstock - Mustard + Dark Brown + Scraps of White, Ranger Watercolor Cardstock

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Rounded Squares L-CC-002 (retired), Memory Box Hearts and Stars 98755 (2014) - retired

Penny Black Garden Friends Easter Card + Easter Egg Holder

 

Hi everyone 

My Craft Room has been a real hive of activity lately and I am loving being able to have more time to create.

I made this card for my daughter for Easter:

This is also my card for the following Challenges (click on the underlined link to take you to the Challenge):

• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - PBSC April - Anything Goes with Optional Easter

• Shopping our Stash - SOS545 - Hippity Hop - Make an Easter Card or a Card featuring a Rabbit or Chick 

• Critter Crazy Challenges #97 - Anything Goes Featured Critter Theme

The main image is by Penny Black - Garden Friends - and was stamped with Versafine Onyx Black Ink onto Ranger Watercolour Cardstock.  I coloured the image with Watercolour Pencils then went over the black lines with a Black Copic Multi-liner to darken the lines up.

I diecut the panel using my Big Shot and Nesting Card Templates - and then things went awry!  You see the square designer paper on the base?  I measured my designer paper wrongly and cut it into a square instead of a rectangle as I was going to put the chicks onto a rectangular card.  Oh well, I thought - I will just cut another piece of that designer paper - but I had none of that particular one left in the 6" x 6" pad - and I really, REALLY wanted to use that one.  So, pivot I thought and don't waste the square of designer paper - use it instead and I did - but then couldn't figure out a good layout for my card.  I know in the end, it is a simple layout but it just frustrated me no end and I couldn't figure out whether I wanted the blue cardstock or pink - or should I go yellow?  I just kept changing my mind and couldn't settle on what I wanted so I left it on my desk until the next day.

The next day, I finally decided to go with the Blue Cardstock and then struggled with the layout again as I tried this and that and nothing seemed to look right.  It was just one of those frustrating cards that just seems to be hard work!  Eventually I settled on what other designer papers to add to my card so I had my main panel finished.  Here is a close-up of those cute little chicks:

And then couldn't make up my mind whether I should put the finished panel on a plain white card base or not.  In the end, I thought adding some dry embossing to the white card base looked better than plain so used my Crafter's Companion EF6 Embossalicious Embossing Folder and I like how it complemented the original square of the designer paper as well as the tiny flowers on the stamped image.  Of course, my frustrations continued as the embossing folder slipped the first time when I put it through my Big Shot so it embossed all crooked and I had to get another card base and redo it.  

I rounded the corners of the Kaisercraft White Card Base using my We R Memory Keepers 1/2" Corner Chomper.  All the blue cardstock layers were trimmed to 1/8" using my Perfect Layers Guides.

And then the ribbon - ohhhh, that ribbon gave me so much grief.  I struggled with what colour and type - and then eventually settled on the organza ribbon because it was so hard to match the blue colour with a solid blue coloured ribbon from my stash - I could not find the right shade.  This particular organza ribbon seemed to have a mind of its own and I gave up tying a bow because it wouldn't sit flat and looked totally weird.  Well, just knot it instead I told myself but do you think it would sit flat as well?  Nope!  It did NOT want to play nicely!  And ultimately, I used a tiny glue dot to hold the RHS of the ribbon down because it insisted on sticking up at 90 degrees.  

The sentiment is the same sentiment set I have used on my last couple of cards and I decided to cut out the sentiment and pop it up on dimensionals.  Even trying to figure out where to put the sentiment was driving me bonkers!  I added some Tiny Pink Cardstock Hearts around the main image panel by using my EK Success Arrows Border Punch (the leftover punchies look like tiny hearts).  I glued them on using a Uniquely Creative Fine Glue Pen.

Of course, I had to add glitter to the hearts and flowers using Kindyglitz Crystalina Glitter Glue.  I needed some sparkle to bring a bit of life to the card.

Ultimately, this card took 1000 times longer to make than it should have, however, I am happy with the end result.  And I like the layout and will definitely store this layout in my Card Sketches Folder as it is great for smaller, more vertical images.  

Sticking to my New Year's Resolution to try new crafty things, I decided to make an Easter Egg Holder which was certainly a challenge - but that's why I am trying new things that take me out of my comfort-zone.  Here is what I came up with:

Last year, I was doing an order with Scrapbook.Com (in the USA in case you don't know) and they always have free things you can add to your cart - and they had these really cute Nesting Bunnies which they call "Nested Peeps".  So when I received them, I was actually surprised how big the largest die was:

They retail for US$35 (although they are on special at the moment) so it really was an amazing free gift.  Scrapbook.com are the only US Company that I buy from because their postage to Australia is very reasonable - but I don't buy from them all that often because when you factor in the exchange rate between Australia and the USA, it does start to add up. 

I had this idea in my head when I was trying to get to sleep the other night that I might be able to diecut the bunny twice and have some cardstock at the bottom between the back and front to allow for the size of the egg.  Here is a side view so you know what I mean:

I then came up with the idea to diecut the bunny's tummy with one of my Spellbinders Nested Eggs Dies to accommodate the Easter Egg - holding it in place.  It took quite a bit of fiddling around and I did a prototype first to see if it would work - and then I realised that I would have to diecut the back of the bunny as well or the Easter Egg wouldn't stay in place:

I used some older papers by Echo Park - Happy Easter 12" x 12" - first released in 2015.  I diecut the Orange Cardstock using the Spellbinders Nested Eggs Nestabilities and then diecut the centre where the Easter Egg fitted it.

I used the same paper range to diecut the bunny to put on the inside just to pretty it up instead of just having the white cardstock.  You can just see the paper from the side view photo but it is actually green in real life.

I tied some Orange Ribbon around the bunny's neck to hold it all together and added Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying.

I was really happy with how it turned out and it was great to see it all come together as I envisioned it after struggling with the card so much!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black Garden Friends 30-021 Clear Set, Impression Obsession Sentiments 1 WP16 (retired)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer Paper:  American Crafts Hello Spring #320548 (from 2016 - retired)

Accessories:  Big Shot, Dimensionals, Watercolour Pencils, #4 Round Paintbrush, Kindyglitz Crystalina Glitter Glue, WRMK Perfect Layers Guides, Ranger Watercolour Cardstock, Black Copic Multi-liner, American Crafts Organza Ribbon 3/8" or 9mm wide, Fray Stop, Crafter's Companion Die'Sire Embossalicious EF6 Embossing Folder, Tombow Mono Multi Glue, Uniquely Creative Fine Glue Pen, Mini Glue Dot, Cardstock - Scrap of Pink + Blue, Kaisercraft White Card Base

Dies:  Lifestyle Crafts Quickutz Nesting Card Templates DC0431

Punches:  WRMK 1/2" Corner Chomper, EK Success Arrows Border

Easter Egg Holder Recipe:

Designer Paper:  Echo Park Happy Easter 12" x 12" (from 2015 - retired)

Accessories:  Big Shot, Orange Ribbon 3/8" or 9mm wide (stash), Fray Stop, Cardstock - White + Orange

Dies:  Scrapbook.com Nesting Peeps sbc-shapes-19, Spellbinder Nested Eggs Nestabilities S4-264

Penny Back So Loved Wedding Anniversary Card

 

Hi everyone 😃

My husband and I just celebrated our 36th Wedding Anniversary.  It hardly seems that we have been married that long - yet we have - and I am so lucky to be married to such a great guy.  We went out for our evening meal to our local RSL and had a lovely, quiet day at home otherwise.  I received 2 gorgeous bunches of pink roses and a beautiful card.  Our daughter made us the most-amazing mini scrapbook album with photos of us from the last 10 years.   We aren't ones for big celebrations and prefer to keep things low-key.  I am definitely not one for dressing up and going to a fancy restaurant because (a) I like simple foods like Roast of the Day, and (b) it's too expensive, and (c) they have white tablecloths and I am so incredibly clumsy.  I am also clumsy when I cook and are known as Messy Chef - a play on Masterchef - hee hee 😆

And now for story time:  around 24 years ago, my boss gave me an $80 voucher for Christmas to a local and very fancy restaurant.  We booked for 6.00 pm and we were the only ones there till about 7.30 pm.  And then people started arriving really, REALLY dressed up - so much so that I felt more than a little underdressed - but I wasn't wearing jeans and was actually dressed up so I thought!  I guess we were naive and honestly didn't realise that it was a fancy restaurant till we got there (pre-internet days for us) and saw the decor and then the menu and went, uh oh.  The glasses of House Wine turned out to be $25 each as we mistook the menu for meaning $25 for a bottle of House Wine because it said:  "House Wine $25" - and then realised our mistake - so that was $50 of the voucher used already!  We got the cheapest food on the menu and were still over $100 out-of-pocket.  It was just as well that we were both working at the time and it was pre-kids!  And to be honest, I really had no idea what I was eating as the description was completely lost on me - food I was completely unfamiliar with.  I am not taking anything away from the Chef of course - it's just not my scene - and having pub fare like a Garlic Bread Entree and a banging Roast of the Day makes me very happy and you are in and out within an hour.  Suits me just fine 😃

Anyway, onto the card I made for my husband:

This is also my card for the following Challenges (click on the underlined links to take you to the Challenges):

• Crafty Catz Challenge - #691 - Anything Goes with No Optional Twist

• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - PBSC April - Anything Goes with Optional Easter

• Crazy Critter Challenges - Challenge #97 - Anything Goes with a Featured Critter

The main image is by Penny Black from their So Loved Set.  I stamped the cat with Versafine Onyx Black Ink onto Bellbird Paperarts 210gsm Hot Pressed Watercolour Paper and coloured it using various brands of Watercolour Pencils and a #4 Round Paintbrush.  I went over the black lines using an Anko Black 0.3 Pen to darken up the lines on the image.

I re-stamped the image onto a piece of the designer paper lining up the 'One True Love' from the paper to be the centre of the heart cushion then fussy-cut it out.  I re-stamped the image again onto Watercolour Paper and fussy-cut the paws that are holding the cushion.  I went around the edges with an Anko Black Brush Pen to hide any imperfections with my cutting.  I glued the cushion and paws on using Tombow Mono Multi Glue and it looks really cool in real life because you can see a bit of dimension.  I side-loaded a flat paintbrush with Folk Art Burgundy Acrylic Paint and went around the edge of the cushion to make it look a bit more rounded.  

Here is a close-up:

The sentiment is by Impression Obsession - Sentiments 1 - which I have had forever and is retired.  I used my Stamping Platform to ensure perfect placement and to stamp it a couple of times to darken it up.  

I used my EK Success Arrows Border Punch to punch out some Burgundy Cardstock Hearts (the leftover punchies look like tiny hearts) and glued them on using Tombow Mono Aqua Glue then added some Uniquely Creative Clear Sparkle Brush to them for a bit sparkle.

The main image was diecut using a Lifestyle Nesting Circle Die.  I diecut some Dark Teal Cardstock using a My Favorite Things Pierced Stax Circle Die then diecut Burgundy Cardstock using a Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Circle Die.

All the designer papers are by Bo Bunny - Love Letters - which are really old and are from around 2012.  I wish that I had bought more of this collection as I just adore the colour palette and have used it alot over the years.  

The bottom panel was punched using a Fiskars Scallop Border Punch.  The Dark Teal and Burgundy Cardstock layers were trimmed to 1/16" using my We R Memory Keepers Perfect Layers Guides.  I attached the Cream Ribbon in two separate elements then popped the panel up a little on scraps of white cardstock.

The Black Cardstock on the card base was trimmed to 1/8" and the Dark Teal + Burgundy Cardstock to 1/16" using my WRMK Perfect Layers Guides.

Once I had finished my card front, I glued it to a White Card Base.

And now here is a pic of the card inside:

The sentiment is by Avery Elle - Lots of Love - which was released in 2012 so long-retired.  I stamped it using Versafine Onyx Black Ink and then promptly smeared it......grrrrr!  So I re-stamped it onto a separate piece of white cardstock and heat-set it using my heat-gun before I had a chance to smear it - then diecut it using a Lifestyle Nesting Oval.  I layered that onto a Dark Teal Cardstock diecut oval.  

I punched two hearts from Burgundy Cardstock using an Anko Heart Punch.  I bought this punch in a set of 4 different punches from KMart.  These punches punch beautifully and I am really impressed with them.  I added some sparkle with my Uniquely Creative Clear Sparkle Brush.

I added the strips of designer paper just to tie everything together.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jocelyn

Card Recipe - Front:

Stamps:  Penny Black So Loved 30-457 clear set, Impression Obsession Sentiments 1 WP16 clear set (retired)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Back

Designer Paper:  Bo Bunny Love Letters #13517517 6" x 6" Pad (retired)

Accessories:  Big Shot, Perfect Layers Tools, Kaisercraft Trimmer, Stamping Platform, Bellbird Paperarts 210gsm Cotton Blend Watercolour Paper, Watercolour Pencils, #4 Round + Flat Paintbrush, Folk Art Burgundy Acrylic Paint, Anko Black Pen 0.3 + Brush, Uniquely Creative Clear Sparkle Brush, WRMK Perfect Layers Guides, Cream Ribbon 1/2" or 12.5mm wide, Cardstock - Burgundy + Dark Teal + Black + Scraps of White, Square White Card Base

Dies:  My Favorite Things Pierced Stax Die-namics, Lifestyle Nesting Circles, Spellbinder Classic Scalloped Circles Small S4-125

Punches:  EK Success Arrows Border, Fiskars Scallop Border

Card Recipe - Inside:

Stamps:  Avery Elle Lots of Love clear set (retired)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer Paper:  Bo Bunny Love Letters #13517517 6" x 6" Pad (retired)

Accessories:  Big Shot, WRMK Perfect Layers Guides, Heat-Gun Uniquely Creative Clear Sparkle Brush, Cardstock - White, Dark Teal, Burgundy, Black

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Ovals

Punches:  Anko Heart Punch #68775858

Penny Black Frolic Birthday Card!

 

Hi everyone 😃 

Today I am sharing a Birthday Card that I made for my niece:

This is also my card for the following Challenge:

Retro Rubber Challenge #251 - Anything Goes - RRCB251.  This Challenge requires you to use stamps that are over a year old and you must state how old - or roughly how old - your stamp is.  I was using this cat stamp back in 2014 so it is at least 11 years old.  The sentiment I was also using back in 2016 so is at least 9 years old.  Click on the underlined link to take you to the Challenge. 

I used the same layout as my previous card because it was easy and I really liked it.  I think this layout will be another one of my "go-to" card sketches which is especially useful when my mojo has disappeared.

The main image is by Penny Black - Frolic.  As I already stated,  I have had this wood-mounted stamp for a really long time and is one of my favourites.  You just can't help but smile at that adorable cat!  I stamped it using Versafine Onyx Black Ink onto Ranger Watercolour Cardstock and coloured it using Watercolour Pencils + Kuretake Clean Color Real Brush Markers and a #4 round paintbrush.

I went over the black lines using a Black Copic Multiliner to darken them up after my colouring.  The sentiment is by Impression Obsession Sentiments 1 which is retired.  I have used this sentiment set many times over the years because you can just add a small sentiment to an image panel when there really isn't room to add a larger one.  I diecut the main image using my Big Shot and Spellbinders Labels 1 Nestabilities.

Here is a close-up:

All the designer papers are by Cocoa Vanilla - Happiness.  The paper on the base is from their 6" x 8" pad and the Daisy paper down the centre is a 12" x 12" sheet.  The papers are a few years old and retired.

The ribbon is from my stash and was glued on using Helmar's Fabric Glue.  I added Fray Stop to the cut edges to stop them from fraying.  The Pink Enamel Dots are by Stampin' Up from their set 'It's my Party' and are retired.  

I used an EK Success Arrows Border Punch to punch tiny hearts from a scrap of pink designer paper (the leftover punchies look like tiny hearts) and glued them around the sentiment and main image using Tombow Mono Aqua Glue.   

Finishing touches were Kindyglitz Crystalina Glitter Glue to the butterflies + the tiny hearts - and Nuvo White Blizzard Glitter Drops to the flower centres.

Once I had finished the card front, I glued it to a white card base.

Here is a picture of the card inside:

The Happy Birthday is from a retired Stampin' Up set called Sweet Icecream.  I stamped it using Versafine Onyx Black then added lots of the punched tiny hearts around it plus Kindyglitz Crystalina Glitter Glue to the hearts for some sparkle.

On a personal note, my partner has been on Long Service Leave since November 2024.  It has been great to have him around more and he has been enjoying catching up on jobs around the house that he has been wanting to do for quite some years.  This has also given me more crafting time because he is doing things like going up to the shops and other running around that I normally do which is a great time-sucker.  

I have also been on a mission for over a year to sort through and set up my craft room better so I have been able to concentrate on that and are 95% there.  I used KMart, Target and Amazon storage solutions for most my storage so done it on a small budget.  I am finding that I am more creative because now everything has a place and it is so much easier to put things away and it's easier to find things.  I was lucky enough to find a 2nd-hand 4 x 4 Ikea Kallax Shelf Unit on Facebook Marketplace in the next suburb for the bargain price of $20.  It just needed a bit of a clean and it has been fantastic for rejigging my storage.  I put in some over the wardrobe storage baskets that I got from Target and it has been brilliant because I can see what I have.  If I can't see what I have because it's behind the wardrobe door, I forget it's there so I don't use it.  And so far, my room is working really well for me and I am alot happier.  

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe - Card Front:

Stamps:  Penny Black Frolic 3972K wood-mount, Impression Obsession Sentiments 1 WP16 clear set (retired)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer Paper:  Cocoa Vanilla Happiness 6" x 8" and 12" x 12" (retired)

Accessories:  Big Shot, Stampin' Up It's My Party Enamel Dots (ret), Watercolour Pencils, Kuretake Clear Color Real Brush Markers, #4 round Paintbrush, Black Copic Multiliner, Stamping Platform, Kindyglitz Crystalina Glitter Glue, Nuvo Glitter Drops - White Blizzard 758N, Ribbon - 6mm or 1/4" wide, Fray Stop, Helmar's Fabric Glue, Kaisercraft Trimmer, Cardstock - Dark Teal + Navy Blue, Ranger Watercolour Cardstock, White Card Base

Dies:  Spellbinders Labels 1 Small S4-308 and S4-161

Punches:  EK Success Arrows Border

Card Recipe - Card Inside:

Stamps:  Stampin' Up Sweet Icecream (retired)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer Paper:  Cocoa Vanilla Happiness 12" x 12" (retired), Scrap of Pink

Accessories:  Cardstock - Dark Teal + Navy Blue + White, Kindyglitz Crystalina Glitter Glue

Punches:  EK Success Arrows Border