Animal Antics

My goodness, isn't this year flying by! The first of June already, and being a Sunday that means it's time for another challenge at Stamping Sensations. We had a fantastic amount of entries for our anything goes theme last month, and a big thank you to everyone who entered, it was a real treat looking through all your gorgeous projects.

For this month, however, we have narrowed things down a bit, although I think our topic will be equally popular as it is

***** ANIMAL ANTICS *****

We would like to see your depictions of creatures from the animal kingdom.

NB. Please remember that we are a stamping challenge. If you wish your entry to be considered for the prize it must include hand stamped elements. Digital stamps (which are in effect clipart) do not qualify. Sadly there were several entries last month that were ineligible because we could not see any hand stamping on them, so please do make sure that your project includes some hand stamping. You can check out our full challenge rules here 

For our sponsor this month we are delighted to welcome back Crafty Individuals, who are very generously inviting the lucky winner to choose anything from their website up to a value of £35! Besides their fabulous stamps, they also have a gloriously eclectic range of papers, printed images, masks & dies and many other crafting accessories and "must haves", so the winner will truly be spoilt for choice.

I've made two cards for this month. Inspired by the fact that we live next door to a farm, and it is so lovely to be able to watch all the animals out in the fields, I've used some of the gorgeous images from the Crafty Individuals Miniatures Book "Nature's Beauty". and stamps from their "Winter Trees" Elements plate (code CI-209).

My second card is completely different!

Of course, I don't normally do cute, but I couldn't resist the "Max & Whiskers" paper pad by Basic Grey when it came out, as it is just so bright and cheerful. Unfortunately it is now discontinued, so I am hoarding the sheets I have left! Fortunately there are two sheets of each design, so I could use one of the cat backgrounds here! The large cat stamp (Funstamps) has been in my stash for years, and gets an airing every now and then if I have to make a card for a cat lover. I cut and mounted it with Spellbinders Nestabilities dies. The small cats, words, and the cheeky dog in the corner are from a freebie set from Papercraft Inspirations magazine. All the cats were coloured with Promarkers.

Lots of delightful animal antics going on in the DT's samples, so do go and take a look at them on the Challenge Blog. Thanks for looking at mine, and I look forward to seeing yours!

Origami Christmas Tree

Yesterday Jules posted a brilliant tutorial on how to make an origami Christmas tree, which had been taught to her by a lady called Jo Unwin (for whom unfortunately I don't have a link.) I couldn't wait to try it, and here's the card I made with it.

I used one of the big (8" x8") square cards from Craftwork Cards for the base and stamped it with an Elusive Images stamp from the Grungy Brocade set. The patterned papers, including the one I made the tree with, and the sentiment, are all from the Artylicious Season's Greetings CDrom from Graphicus. The three little snowflakes were punched with a freebie punch which came with the December 2010 issue of Papercraft Inspirations magazine. Now, one might suppose that magazine freebies are not usually of the best quality, until one realises that this punch is made by Tonic Studios, and it actually works really well, as you can see by the detail.

I was very pleased with how the tree turned out, thanks to Jules's clear instructions, so if you fancy having a go too, hop over to Jules's blog and try it out.

Tuesday Taggers 9th March

I haven't had much time lately for blogging, or for crafting, come to that. Unfortunately, at the moment real life is having to take priority. However, I have managed (at the last minute!) to make something for this week's Tuesday Taggers, where the theme is St. Patrick's Day. Since I don't have anything specifically to do with St. Patrick, I'm hoping a general Irish theme will be okay.

I decided (inspired by Debbie Dolphin's host of wonderful examples) to make a round easel card, which I cut with my Nestabilities. I have just bought the Celtic knot die by Joy!crafts (available from Crafts U Love ) and it seemed to be perfect for this project, mounted on to some My Mind's Eye paper. The base of the card is stamped with the Hero Arts Delicate Vine Background. The "Good Luck" stamp is one of a set of stamps free with the current (April 2010) issue of Papercraft Inspirations Magazine. The Irish Blessing & butterfly are Elusive Images from Graphicus. I finished the card with some shamrocks made from punched hearts. (Edit: I now realise, of course, that shamrocks have three lobes to the leaf, so these had better be lucky 4-leaf clovers!)

It was a bit of a rushed job (I should just about make the deadline!) but I think it turned out okay in the end.