Get ready for the hop!

Just a quick reminder that this Sunday (April 1st) will be Sir Stampalot Challenge's 2nd birthday, and we'll be celebrating with a Blog Hop!

There'll be lots of fantastic prizes, and lots of fun. It would be great if you could help us spread the word and put the logo in your sidebar. Hope you can come and join in on Sunday. See you there!

Challenged to Inspire, Part 2

Happy Mothering Sunday, everyone! It's a beautiful morning here, hope the sun is shining for you too. I've just watched a pair of buzzards fly past the kitchen window, and a pair of exceptionally cute baby bunnies are keeping the grass tidy at the back!

Here is the card I made from the second kit which the Stampalot DT were given for this month's "Take Inspiration" Stampalot Challenge. This kit (details of which are on the Challenge Blog) is entitled "A Krafty Affair". I loved these DPs (by My Mind's Eye), which were chosen by Janice, and they and all the items in the kit are available from Sir Stampalot. The papers are double sided, so I took photos to show each side.

I made an easel card, and turned the diecut hinges into posts to hold the bunting, which I cut with Whimsy dies.

I decided I wanted to use the celebrate sentiment, which was a Craft Stamper freebie (I masked off the border which surrounds it), and then searched through my stamps for something suitably celebratory. The only one which seemed to fit the bill was my one and only House Mouse! (Inherited from my late MIL  - as you know, I don't do cute!) The Happy Birthday is by Papermania. The scalloped borders were cut with Nestabilities, and the one around the Happy Birthday was cut by hand.

 Anyway, that's the second part of this month's Challenge. If you haven't entered yet, there's still plenty of time, and Janice has now revealed the prize, which is as stunning as usual!

And I can also let you in on the exciting news that was hinted at earlier. The 1st of April will be Stampalot Challenge's 2nd birthday! It's been a fantastic two years, and the fact that the DT has remained substantially the same since the beginning says a lot about what a great challenge it is, and I'm honoured to be part of such a fab team. However, much of our success is down to Brenda's inspirational leadership and the tremendous amount of work she puts into it. So thanks, Brenda,  and here's to many more Stampalot Challenges. We're going to be celebrating, so don't forget to look in on April 1st and join in the fun!

Challenged to inspire!

Something a little different for this month's Stampalot Challenge. Brenda sent all the DT members two kits, the brief being to come up with something using the materials in each kit. There were slight variations in the papers and ribbons (although they were all from the same family of items) but each member's kits were substantially the same, so it is fascinating to see how different are the things we made. As an added twist, you will only get to see one project from each of us today, but you will be able to see the second batch of DT work on 18th March, when we will also be sharing a bit of exciting news with you!

Anyway, you obviously want to know what the challenge actually is for you this month! It's simply

                         * Take Inspiration*

We want you to take your inspiration from any of the DT's pieces of work or the kit itself. You can make anything you like and choose where you take your inspiration from........... perhaps some of the kit colours, pearls and swirls, or maybe one of the DT card designs and go with your own colours. All we ask is that you remember to tell us in your post where you took your inspiration from and of course follow the rules at the top of the Challenge Blog.

The first kit we are showing is called "Pearls and Swirls". This is the kit I received. Details of it are on the Challenge Blog. (I inked the edges of the base card before I remembered to take the photo!)

And this is the card I made from it.

I stamped Hero Arts "Old French Writing" stamp over the background paper, and used Memory Box dies to cut the butterfly, and punches for the flowers. The little dots at the top were cut with an ordinary hole punch, and given a bit of dimension by shaping them with an embossing tool.

The prize for this month is........

......... being carefully selected by Janice right now! But you know it will be fabulous, as always!

So go and take a look at the inspiring work by the rest of the team on the Challenge Blog, and don't forget to check back on the 18th of March for Part Two!