Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - M

Here we are with the penultimate letter on The Craft Barn's year-long Alpha/Dictionary Challenge, which this time is M.  I quickly made this page as time is short of course!  I was going to go for Man because I have several manly stamps but then decided to go for Motor as I know I hadn't used any motor car stamps for this challenge!

I would like to wish everyone who visits me a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - Y

Nearly at the end of The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge and yay I am up to date!  Our letter this time is Y and I chose to use Young for my word as I have an appropriate stamp in my Crafty Individuals collection that is just right and I haven't yet used it for this challenge - had to check back over all my pages just in case!  I also noticed afterwards that I had used yellow backing paper but this was entirely unintentional!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - I and V

I am finally up to date with The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge.  Our new letter is I and the word I chose is Ice.  The backing paper I used has an icy look to it and if you click on the image you can see it is shimmery and shiny and I added Pine Needles Distress Ink as I always feel this is a wintry colour! The image I have used is an old favourite stamp that makes me think of a frosty icy day!

For my V page I decided to pick Violin as I remembered I had an appropriate stamp in my fairly large stamp collection that I don't often get to use!  Also the 2 flowers are violet in colour so I added those, and I then remembered that I do actually have a stamp of Violet flowers but it was too late by then!   I am now up to date and hopefully will stay that way until the end of the challenge!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - U and H

I missed the last challenge from The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge so still need to catch up on that one (V). Our baby grandson has been with us for 3 months now and has gone home for a few days so I can get a few bits done.  I have finally caught up with H from a few weeks ago and have also managed to get the new challenge U done today!  For H I went for Humming Bird as I have a lovely Crafty Individuals stamp just right for the challenge!  And for U I went with what is probably an obvious one, Umbrella.  I love this little stamp by Tim Holtz but unfortunately it has succumbed to breaking down and crumbling like so many of my acrylic stamps have done over the years (I do look after them properly as advised by manufacturers).  I need to have a hunt around online and see if I can get myself another set of these although I am loathe to buy any more acrylic stamps really.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - E

We have been given our new letter today for The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge and as I have a free afternoon from looking after our grandson I got on with it straight away!  The letter is E and I went for Elegant.  I was able to use one of the first stamps I bought many years ago - it got a lot of use back then when I took part in swaps etc but I've not used it for some time, some backing paper from a pad I also bought ages ago and couldn't find much use for, and a couple of rub ons that just about still work!  As always I added another couple of E words.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - X

We have X as our letter on The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge this time.  I still have no crafting time at all so had to get this done quickly.  As I had used Christmas a few week ago I didn't really want to do Xmas but there wasn't much else to choose from in my dictionary so I went for X as meaning 10 in Roman numerals!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - O and Z

I am playing catch up on The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge due to the fact that our 5 month old grandson has been living with us for the last month and I have zero opportunity to craft!  Luckily my daughter came to the rescue this morning and I managed to make my pages for Z plus a pearl and today's new letter, O.  I still have H to make but will get to that eventually!

I chose Owl for my O word, yes it's an easy one but I didn't have much time to think about anything more complicated so out came my Crafty Individuals owl stamp for another airing!

For Z I was initially going to go for Zebra but have mislaid my zebra stamp so in the end went for Zoological so I could use a variety of animal stamps that I have had for years!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - Christmas

I am running out of days yet again!  Our current letter on The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge is C and I chose quite an obvious one - Christmas!  Not sure if anyone else has gone for this word as I haven't checked the other entrants yet.  I found some old K & Co. backing paper and some Christmassy stamps for this and added a couple of extra words.

Gruffies & Guests Ch#31 - Summer

I have just posted the halfway reminder for Gruffies & Guests' current challenge, Summer.  I used a House Mouse image with a strawberry as strawberries definitely mean summer to me!  Our team mate Vickie set the challenge and is providing a prize of 3 Paper Studio Embossing Folders, so pop on over to the blog and take part for a chance to win!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - Numbers

Our new letter on The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge is N and I have managed to get this done a bit quicker than last time!  Apologies for not managing to get round to blogs for the last challenge, time really is a problem for me these days.  I will try and do better this time!  I went for Numbers for my chosen word and used several stamps for this, mostly Paper Artsy ones.  And as usual I popped another few N words on too!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - Wings

I'm again running out of days so managed to get the current The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge page done today with a few days to spare!  Our letter this time is W and I did go for an obvious choice of Wings but wanted to use this Paper Artsy stamp which doesn't come out very often!  Also managed to use some more backing paper and a couple of butterfly stickers from my huge stash!

Gruffies & Guests Ch# 30 - Add a Number

I recently posted the halfway reminder for Gruffies & Guests Ch#30 - Add a Number.  I made a cute 1st birthday card using one of my very first House Mouse wooden stamps to join my collection many years ago and coloured it in with Promarkers and Copics.  Shaz set the theme this time and has kindly provided a fab prize so pop on over and take part for a chance to win!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - K

Phew, up to date again!  The current theme on The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge is K.  I managed to get T made and blogged a couple of days ago although I was too late to add it to the Challenge Blog.  Today I have made my K page and decided to go with the word Knowledgeable as when looking through my collection for a suitable stamp to use, I thought that this Crafty Individuals lady does indeed look very knowledgeable!  As always I added another couple of K words too.

Elizabeth - if you are visiting this, in answer to your question a couple of weeks ago - BP means backing paper!  Sorry I should have written it out in full instead of being lazy and using the initials! :)

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - T

I am very behind with The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge for various reasons, and have just managed to complete the previous letter which is T.  I would usually have gone for Trees but I had just made an A for Arboreal for the challenge before so went with T for Thought instead as I found I had an appropriate Crafty Individuals stamp to use!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - A

I'm running out of time for this fortnight's letter for The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge so just managed to make time to get this one done today!  I flicked through all the A's in my dictionary and eventually decided to go for Arboreal as I have lots of tree stamps!  I found a suitable BP in my extensive stash and as I have several sheets of this was glad to find a use for one! and used some Crafty Individual stamps plus a few other appropriate A words!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - J + Dragonfly

I get hardly any spare time to craft these days but do make sure I keep up with this fortnightly challenge on The Craft Barn.  This time our letter to work with is J and we have to incorporate a dragonfly on our work too.  I cheated slightly with this one as time is of the essence!  I found some pretty Crafty Individuals bp that has dragonflies printed on it and chose to use the word Jovial as I remembered I had this cute little girl stamp who does indeed look very jovial in my opinion!  Plus it gave me a chance to use it again!  I embellished with a few pretty dragonflies as I am desperately trying to use up old stash and not buy any new!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - S + Shell

Our new letter for the next two weeks on The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge is S with the added extra of Shell.  I was going to use Seaside as my chosen word for my collage page but that wasn't in my dictionary!  So I went with Summer instead plus several other 'S' words too!  I had fun with this one as I have quite a few 'seasidey' themed stamps and embellishments from my scrapbooking stash!

Gruffies & Guests Ch#28- Tag It

I have just posted the halfway reminder for Gruffies & Guests Challenge which is Tag It.  We have to either make a tag or have one on our work somewhere.  For my DT work I made a card using an ATC I had previously made with one of my cute House Mouse stamps and added a tag with the greeting on.  There is a lovely prize of a hand made mini book which our team mate Vicky has provided as she chose the theme this time, so pop on over and take part for a chance to win it!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - D + Pink!

I am running late again and it is almost the end of the current Alpha/Dictionary challenge on The Craft Barn which this time was the letter D plus to use Pink.  I used some pink BP so that covered that part of the challenge and I decided to go for the word Dainty so that I could use an old favourite Crafty Individuals stamp which is one of my original ones as it is a wood mounted one!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - G

Where have the last 2 weeks gone!  I've only just got round to making the current letter for The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge which is G.  I went for Gentleman for my chosen word as I had a couple of stamps I don't often get to use and also found several word stickers beginning with G that I could use and even a little symbol of golf clubs if you look carefully at the top!  As usual I enjoyed using up bits and pieces that I have had in my stash for ages and won't ever replace as I buy very little these days.

Gruffies & Guests Ch#27 - Flowers

I have just posted the halfway reminder on Gruffies & Guests and this time it was my turn to pick the theme, so as Spring is just about upon us I chose Flowers.

There is a prize of a cute stamp and some butterfly embellishments, so pop on over to the blog and take part for a chance to win them.  I used an image from one of the House Mouse CD's to make my flowery card!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - R

Our letter this time round on The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge is R.  I remembered that I have a Robin stamp in my stash, designed by a good friend Linda Dore, and so went for a slightly wintery theme and some sparkle so I could use him!

Clean and Simple?

The new two weekly challenge on The Craft Barn just caught my eye as it is Clean and Simple and that it has to include a sentiment and a flower.  I have just made this card for a friend and as my crafting time is very limited these days I didn't have time to add lots of embellishments and bits and bobs, so hopefully this will fit the criteria!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - L

Our letter for the next two weeks on The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge is L.  I looked through my stamps and found this cute Lady one by Crafty Individuals that I haven't had an opportunity to use for a while so went with this.  I then added Ladybirds, Leaves and Love for good measure, again using up oddments of stash that has been stashed away for quite some years now!  It turned out a bit more colourful than I intended but I don't have a great deal of crafting time these days so it will have to do!

Gruffies & Guests Ch#26 - A Splash of Orange for Henry

I have just posted the halfway reminder post for Gruffies & Guests' 26th challenge - A Splash of Orange for Henry.  This has been set by our team mate Genny in memory of her son Henry who sadly passed away two years ago.  Genny is kindly offering a fab prize of a £10 Joanna Sheen voucher so pop on over to the blog and take part.

For my DT work I used some old DCWV papers that have been in my stash for many a year and some cute House Mouse stickers!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - F

Our new letter this fortnight on The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge is F plus we must add a heart somewhere too.  I decided to go for the word Friend as I knew that I had a stamp I wanted to use!  Again I looked through my extensive collection of old stash and found some embellishments that would go with the theme.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - Q

Our new letter for the next challenge on The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge is Q.  I went for Q for Queen, probably an obvious choice but I do have a lovely stamp that is just right for this one!  Again I have used up as many bits of old stash as I could.

Alice in Wonderland

A quick birthday card I made for my daughter who loves anything Alice, with some lovely stickers I bought.  I am entering this card in The Craft Barn's Hats challenge as the image on the top right has got a hat on if you look closely!  The BP I have had for many years and is by K & Co.

Journal52 - Song Lyrics

For our third challenge on Journal52, we had two choices, either a song or lyrics from a favourite David Bowie song, or song or lyrics from anyone else.  I chose to do the second option as I have always loved the song A Winter's tale by Queen, so tried to create a scene appropriate for this.

Journal52 - Yes and No

I combined the 2 prompts we were given for Journal52's second challenge - What are you saying Yes to and/or What are you saying no to - and made this page which I wish I could say I will be able to follow in my life but I very much doubt I will!  I enjoyed making the page though!

Gruffies & Guests Ch# 25 - Bingo

I have just posted the halfway reminder for Gruffies & Guests' 25th challenge - Bingo.  All you have to do is pick a row in any direction and use the items within it.  This month Kym, who set the theme, is providing a lovely Surprise prize, so pop on over to the blog and take part.

For my DT work, as my crafting time is very minimal at the moment, I made a quick tag which I can then use as a topper on a card when I need one!  I used the middle row down.

I am also entering this for the House Mouse and Friends Challenge Blog - Anything Goes.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - B

The new challenge on The Craft Barn for this year is an Alpha/Dictionary one.  I enjoyed this the last time we did it and I made ATC's last time.  This time I have decided to push on with my quest to use up old stash, so am using a 6" x 6" loose leaf book, BP papers, an alphabet and stickers etc for this one, plus of course parts of a dictionary! No beer mats this year!  I chose to go with B for Butterflies this time.

I am also entering this for the Butterfly Challenge - Butterflies plus Inking

Calendar Challenge Complete 2015

Here are my year's worth of beer mats for The Craft Barn's Calendar Challenge.  I will be making them into a book with my Bind It All when I get round to it!  A very enjoyable challenge!

J52 - Word of the Year

I have decided to try and take part in J52 again this year, even though I haven't quite finished last year's themes, but I do intend to get them done eventually!   Our theme for this week is to choose a word for the year, and the word I have chosen is Relax because I don't do enough of it and I need to!