Alpha Challenge - I and X

We have reached the last 2 letters of the alphabet on The Craft Barn's Alpha Challenge, which has been running all year.  I am very proud of myself to have kept up for the whole year, a rarity for me!  My last 2 ATCs are Insect and Xmas - which I was very pleased to have found was in the dictionary because otherwise I had no idea what I would use for X!

I will pop photos up of the completed set in the book I have made after Christmas.  Too much going on at the moment to sort it all out!

Christmas Candles

I haven't stamped any candles for a while and came across two blank ones in my cupboard so thought I would decorate them for pressies.  My first problem was my Stazon ink pad - it was completely bone dry!  Admittedly I haven't used it for a while, but it was stored upside down, and this is the first ink pad over many years that has COMPLETELY dried out!  Luckily I had a spare one!  My second problem was several of my Marvy Le Plumes, also fairly old, were leaking so I had to make a few impressions that weren't smudged!

Eventually I completed two candles!!  And am entering them for Ruby's Rainbow's Christmas Challenge!

Exciting News - DT Call!!

My dear friend Shaz is starting a new challenge blog on 4th January, called Gruffies and Guests - where you will be able to use all your lovely House Mouse, Happy Hoppers and Gruffies images!  She asked me if I would like to be on the DT and although I thought I had retired from all the challenge blogs I was on, House Mouses are one of my favourites so I came out of retirement and said yes!

If you would like to enter the DT call, pop over to Gruffies and Guests where you will find all the information you need.  The call is open from today until 14th December, so good luck!

Alpha Challenge - S

We are almost out of letters now on The Craft Barn's Alpha Challenge.  This time we have the letter S.  I was going to do Seaside for my ATC but it wasn't in my little pocket dictionary that I am using!  So I went for Summer instead and still used the seaside stamps I was going to anyway!

Beary Christmas

I've finally made a start on my Christmas Cards and I need them to be quick and easy this year without too much being piled on them!  So I have used a digi image by Pink Gem Designs and some bp from a huge pad I've had for years and kept it fairly simple.  I am entering this for:
 Sparkles Christmas Challenge 'Have a Beary Christmas' .
Sparkles Monthly Challenge 'Animals'

Alpha Challenge - Q

I knew exactly which stamp I would be using when we got to Q on The Craft Barn's Alpha Challenge! As it didn't involve much work because the stamp took up pretty much the whole of my ATC I did a bit of paper piecing on it!

November

I don't seem to blog much lately, so to keep things ticking over here are my November calendar pages.  I have just about managed to keep up with this project throughout the year, even though I am usually late finishing each month!  I tried to get a foggy drizzly feel for these ones with a brighter blue for the day squares as we do occasionally get a bit of blue sky, like today!

Alpha Challenge - N

At last I've managed to get my next ATC made for The Craft Barn's Alpha Challenge - I've not had access to my craft room for a couple of weeks!  Our letter this time is N and I went for Numbers for my word.

Alpha Challenge - L

Our next letter on The Craft Barn's Alpha Challenge is L with the added twist of having to have a window on our work.  I chose to do L for Look for my ATC and made what I hope looks more like a window than doors - they are shutters covering it!  I will be blogging the book I have made for all these ATCs but thought I would wait until the challenge is completed and then take photos of all the pages!

Alpha Challenge - J

Our next letter on The Craft Barn's Alpha Challenge is J.  I decided to go for Jolly for my word as I thought it would go with Tim Holtz's lovely vintage Santa!  I don't know if anyone else went for this word choice, I haven't checked the others yet!  I've now made a book to keep all my ATC's in for this challenge, it's nearly full!  I will miss this challenge when it ends!

Alpha Challenge - G

Our new letter from The Craft Barn for the Alpha Challenge this time is G.  I decided to do Girl for my ATC as I always have to bear in mind what stamps I have got that I can use!  This is a Crafty Individuals stamp from my collection.

Ruby's Rainbow Challenges #63 - Team Spirit

The new theme on Ruby's Rainbow Challenges for the next two weeks is Team Spirit.  For my DT work I've made a card using a cute Cuddly Buddly image.

Sparkles Monthly Challenge #48 - Fairies and/or Butterflies

Time for a new theme on Sparkles Monthly Challenges and this time it is Fairies and/or Butterflies.  I made a journal page for this one using a variety of stamps from my vast collection!

Alpha Challenge - Z

Our letter this time on The Craft Barn's Alpha Challenge is Z.  I am guessing quite a few may go for Zebra as I have, but as I had the stamps I went for it too!

Ruby's Rainbow Challenge #62 - It's A Male Thing

Where do these fortnights go!  Time for a new theme on Ruby's Rainbow Challenges and this time it is 'It's A Male Thing'.  I needed a couple of birthday cards for my great nephew's so used some Penny Black Stickeroos for these quick and simple cards.

Sparkles Christmas Challenge #32 - Non Traditional Colours

The new theme for the month on Sparkles Christmas Challenges is Non Traditional Colours.  For my DT card, I used an image from an old Christmas Card which was too good to throw away!  I love my new Christmas tree die so it was a good chance to use it!

We are sponsored for this challenge by Lili of the Valley and the lucky winner chosen at random will get a £10 voucher to spend online.

Alpha Challenge - O

Our next letter on The Craft Barn's Alpha Challenge is O.  I struggled to think of something I could do for this that I had a stamp for, and so went for Owl in the end.  I wish now I had stamped my letter O over the yellow bit which is meant to be a moon - but I wasn't going to make it all over again so it will have to do! My pile of ATC's is growing, I must make my book to put them in!

Ruby's Rainbow Challenge #61 - Food and/or Drink

The new theme on Ruby's Rainbow Challenges for the next two weeks is Food and/or Drink.  For my DT work I made a birthday card using a Penny Black Hedgie stamp coloured in with Copics.

Sparkles Monthly Challenge #47 - Up Up and Away

The new theme on Sparkles Monthly Challenges this time is Up Up and Away- anything to do with balloons.  We are sponsored for this challenge by Crafty Ribbons, with a fab prize of a £10 voucher to spend in their store.

For my DT work I made a card using a Penny Black Stickeroo which I find so easy and convenient to use these days for a quick card!

Alpha Challenge - D

Our next letter on The Craft Barn's Alpha Challenge is D.  For my ATC I chose D for Dog and used my Crafty Individuals stamp for this.  It almost filled the ATC so I didn't have room for much else!

Ruby's Rainbow Challenge #60 - Vintage

It was my turn to choose the theme on Ruby's Rainbow Challenges this time, and I decided on one of my favourites, Vintage.  I made this DT card recycling an image from an old birthday card which was too pretty to throw away!

Sparkles Christmas Challenge #31 - Charms/Brads

The new theme on Sparkles Christmas Challenges for August is to use Charms and/or Brads.  We are sponsored this time by Pink Gems Designs and we on the DT were all allocated a digi to use for our work.  I coloured mine in with Promarkers and added a bit of sparkle to finish.

Alpha Challenge - T

We are up to Week 15 on The Craft Barn's Alpha Challenge, and this time our letter is T.  I went for T for Tree for my ATC, using Wild Honey Distress Ink for the background and a variety of my stamps.

Ruby's Rainbow Challenge #39 - Layer It Up + DT Call

Our new theme on Ruby's Rainbow Challenges for the next 2 weeks is Layer It Up - to either do decoupage or matting and layering.  For my DT work I used one of my favourite Sugar Nellie stamps, Maggie.

We are looking for 3 new DT members to join our happy team, so pop on over to the blog if you are interested in applying.

Alpha Challenge - Y

Our new letter on The Craft Barn's Alpha Challenge is Y and we also have to use Yellow.  I decided to make my ATC yellow using Mustard Seed Distress Ink and chose Young as my dictionary word.

Sparkles Monthly Challenge #46 - Autumn Colours

The new theme on Sparkles Monthly Challenges for the next month is Autumn Colours.  We are sponsored by Di's Digis for this challenge with a lovely $10 prize to be won.

For my DT work I have made a LO using a photo of my youngest granddaughter a few years ago and used autumnal colours for my BP and embellishments.

Ruby's Rainbow Challenge #50 - Recipe

We have a Recipe for this challenge on Ruby's Rainbow Challenges and it is to make our own BP, emboss and use ribbon.  For my DT work I made a card stamping the backgrounds with delicate flowery stamps.  I heat embossed the greeting and coloured it in with a Promarker and finished off with a piece of ribbon and some punched butterflies.

Sparkles Christmas Challenge #30 - Christmas Trees

The new theme for the month on Sparkles Christmas Challenges was chosen by me this time, and it is Christmas Trees.  I thought I would use some Crafty Individual stamps I bought ages ago and not got round to using so created a little scene and added some sparkle to it.

We are sponsored this time by Di's Digis with a $10 voucher for the lucky winner.

Ruby's Rainbow Challenges #57 - Things With Wings

The new theme on Ruby's Rainbow Challenges for the next 2 weeks is Things With Wings.  I made a birthday card for my DT work, using some K & Co. paper I have had for ages, and one of my very useful Penny Black Stickeroos that I love to use these days!

Alpha Challenge - B

We are halfway through the Alpha Challenge now from The Craft Barn, and our letter this time is B.  I went for B for Bloom for my ATC.  I need to make a book to keep all these in, the pile is growing!

Sparkles Monthly Challenges #45 - Steampunk or Vintage

Time for a new challenge for the next month on Sparkles Monthly Challenges, and the theme is Steampunk or Vintage.  We are sponsored this time by Crafty Ribbons

with this lovely prize for the lucky winner!

For my DT work I have made a page for my art journal and I went for the Vintage option as I don't really have anything steampunky in spite of my love of inky and messy things!

Alpha Challenge - U

This is the 12th challenge on The Craft Barn's Alpha Challenge and this time we were given the letter U.  I used this Tim Holtz image the other day so knew it would be right for this challenge too!

Ruby's Rainbow Challenge #56 - Inchies

The new challenge on Ruby's Rainbow Challenges for the next 2 weeks is Inchies (1" square).  I love making these as I think I prefer working on smaller areas than large ones!  These are made on mountboard using Distress Inks, Tim Holtz Doodads and various stamps from my stash.

Sparkles Christmas Challenge #29 - Buttons and Bows

Time for a new challenge on Sparkles Christmas Challenges and for this month, the theme is Buttons and Bows.  We are sponsored this time by Fantastic Ribbons with a lovely £10 prize for the lucky winner.

For my DT work I made a card using a stamp I've had for ages which I stamped and glittered.  The snowflakes are punched with a Martha Stewart punch.

Alpha Challenge - F

Our new letter on The Craft Barn's Alpha Challenge is F but it has to be between FE and FR in the dictionary.  I went for Flight for my ATC and was able to use a Tim Holtz stamp that I have had for ages tucked away and never used!

Ruby's Rainbow Challenge #55 - Baby

The new challenge on Ruby's Rainbow Challenges for the next two weeks is Baby.  For my DT work I have made a LO for my daughter's baby album (she is 26 and I'm working on it now!).   The bit on the left is a door hanger I had to make for a previous DT a few years ago and it came in handy for this page!

Happy Birthday

I needed to make a batch of birthday cards recently, and as the Alphabet Challenge Blog's current challenge is Happy I can enter this for it!  It's quite a simple card, made using an image from an old birthday card I received, and although I love inky and messy I also quite like clean and simple too!

Sparkles Monthly Challenge #44 - Monochromatic

The new challenge on Sparkles Monthly Challenges for the next month is Monochromatic.  We are sponsored this month by a new sponsor for us, Crafty Ribbons, with a lovely prize of a £10 voucher to be spent with them.

Crafty Ribbons is a ribbon emporium, we are passionate about ribbons and want to share our fantastic ribbons with others. Our range of Christmas ribbons is second to none.
Remember when we only used ribbons to add a bow to our hair, or tie up a birthday parcel?  Ribbons are now a "must-have" for all types of craft.  Whether your project requires satin, sheer, silk, grosgrain, gingham or polka dot ribbon we have them all!  Lots and lots of different colours in a range of widths.
Need a little bit of ribbon inspiration - then have a look at our projects on our blog,or visit our Inspiration blog,or maybe join in with us at our Challenge blog.  Go on, have a look... It's worth it !
Tony & Ali

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 I made a card this time for my DT work, and as green is one of my favourite colours I used it for this.  I cut a butterfly from a left over piece of paper and used other scraps for the background,  added a bit of stamping and punched a couple of flowers.  As I have added glitter to the butterfly and gems on the flowers, I am entering this for my old blog, the Alphabet Challenge Blog whose theme this time I chose before I left and is Glitter and Gems.

Ruby's Rainbow Challenge #54 - Squares

The new theme on Ruby's Rainbow Challenges for the next 2 weeks is Squares.  For my DT work for this one I have made my art journal calendar pages for May and used squares for my days.

Alpha Challenge - K

We are up to week 10 on The Craft Barn's Alpha Challenge and our letter this time is K.  I went for K for Key as I expect quite a few might, but I used an image of a typewriter to represent 'keys' and also a little stamped image of a ticket saying Admit One which is supposed to represent a key opening something to admit someone!