Let's Craft and Create

CHALLENGE #39 - LESS IS MORE

2012-02-22T01:40:00.002+13:00

So many beautiful flower creations, a huge thank you to all those who took part in our 'Flower Power' challenge. Elisa, you are the winner of the gorgeous Mariposa rub-ons, please email Mandy your address and we will pop those in the post to you.

Our next challenge is 'Less is More', a clean and simple approach, and once again the Design Team have come up trumps with some fabulous creations for your inspiration. To find out more about each design click on each name above the project.

Marlou

Vicky

Eileen

Mandy

Diane

To share your creations with us either leave a link to your design using Mr Linky below or email a photo to Mandy or Eileen and we will add it here. The challenge ends at midnight Tuesday 6th March NZ time.

One lucky person will be in with the chance of receiving these gorgeous papers for taking part.

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2012-02-15T05:17:00.004+13:00

There's still another week to enter our Flower Power challenge, the entries so far have been absolutely gorgeous!

Here are a few more projects from the design team.

Vicky's cupcake card is delicious enough to eat. You can find out how she made it HERE.

Mandy was inspired by all the 'onesie' baby cards appearing on the internet to create her own.

Eileen used Inkadinkado's wonderful For the Birds stamp set for her lovely CAS card.

Keep sharing all those flower themed creations with us, challenge details are HERE.

CHALLENGE #38 - FLOWER POWER

2012-02-08T01:43:00.008+13:00

Wow, such fabulous creations for our Valentine challenge. A big thank you to all who took part.

The lucky winner of the Craft Concepts embossing folder is Sammi, congratulations! Please email Mandy your address and we will pop it in the post to you.

For challenge #38 we'd love to see flowers on your design. Once again the Design Team have some wonderful creations to inspire you.

To be in with a chance of winning these gorgeous Mariposa rub-ons leave a link to your design below or send a photo to either Mandy or Eileen by midnight Tuesday 21st February NZ time.

Natasha

2012-02-05T08:51:00.003+13:00

There's still time to enter our Valentine themed challenge click here or scroll down for more information.

In the mean time here are a couple more Design Team projects to wet your appetite...

Vicky created this adorable Heart Brooch using a zip...such a clever idea !

While Mandy gathered together lots of delicious lace and buttons to create this birthday hanging heart.

CHALLENGE #37 - VALENTINE

2012-01-25T02:00:00.009+13:00

Firstly, a big thank you to all who took part in our 'Butterlies' challenge, we thoroughly enjoyed seeing all your fabulous creations.

The lucky winner of the green ribbon kit from The Ribbon Girl is Irene, congratulations! Please email Mandy your address and we will pop that in the post to you.

For our next theme we'd love to see your Valentine inspired projects. We like to keep the interpretation of our themes open, so please don't feel you have to make a valentine card. Your project can include anything that has been inspired by valentines day, for example, hearts, the colours red and pink, romantic lace etc.

We look forward to seeing your wonderful creations and hope the design team projects inspire your creativity. If you'd like to find out more about our creations click on our names and you will be taken to our personal blogs.

Eileen

Mandy

Marlou

Diane

Vicky

Our little give away for this challenge is this lovely Craft Concepts embossing folder.

Donna from Connecticut sent us these lovely cards she has made.
You can visit her blog by clicking here.

You have until midnight Tuesday 7th February NZ time to share your designs with us using Mr Linky below, or by sending Mandy or Eileen a photo.

2012-01-23T08:55:00.003+13:00

I'm also sharing a sympathy card with butterflies that I recently have made.

I used the embossing folder Flutterby by Crafts Concepts and added the ezcut butterfly die, spellbinders label, pearl rhinestones and a little kindyglitz.

There is still a couple of days to get your entries into our latest butterfly challenge. Please scroll down or click here to go to challenge.

2012-01-22T10:52:00.001+13:00

Just popping by to share my latest Butterfly card.

It was this gorgeous card by Steph - Stamping and Sharing that encouraged me to dust off my embossing folders!

You still have a few days left to take part in our challenge. Please scroll down or click here to see all the details.

2012-01-16T08:49:00.001+13:00

As our butterfly theme continues, I've been busy with my new sewing machine that Santa delivered!

My latest butterfly card was made using a selection of different butterfly dies together with a gorgeous Melissa Frances shabby keyhole.

To take part in our butterfly challenge please scroll down or click here for details.

Marlou ♥

CHALLENGE #36 -BUTTERFLIES

2012-01-11T04:23:00.000+13:00

Wow what a fantastic response we had to our 'Anything Goes' challenge. A huge thank you to everyone that took part. We were amazed by all your fantastic creations.

The little giveaway of Melissa Frances Super Mini Tags and Envelopes, Tiny Tag Die Cuts and Bronze Charms goes to Kirsten as chosen by random org number generator. Congratulations Kirsten! Please email Mandy your address and we will pop those in the post to you.

For our first challenge of 2012 we'd love to see Butterflies on your designs. Although it's winter in the UK, it's summer in NZ, perfect for butterflies!

Just before sharing our projects we'd like to welcome our new team member Vicky. It's great to have you on board Vicky!

To find out more about our projects please click on our names to be taken to our personal blogs.

Vicky

Eileen

Mandy

Marlou

Diane

Mary and Andrea, the lovely Ribbon Girl ladies are sponsoring our Butterflies challenge and you could win this gorgeous Ribbon Girl Green Mini Kit !

You have until midnight Tuesday 24th January NZ time to share your designs with us using Mr Linky below, or by sending Mandy or Eileen a photo. We look forward to seeing your fabulous creations.

JUST A REMINDER....

2012-01-05T10:24:00.001+13:00

Our 'Anything Goes' Challenge will run for one more week. We are all really amazed with the amount of entries for this challenge, and have thoroughly enjoyed visiting your blogs.

In the mean time here are a couple more creations Marlou and Mandy have been making during the holidays....

...and a link to Eileen and Diane's new Recipe Blog. Some very yummy creations going on over there! 'Our Shared Recipe Blog'

See you next week for another exciting challenge!

CHALLENGE #35 - ANYTHING GOES

2011-12-21T00:00:00.000+13:00

A big thank you to all those who joined us for our Round and Round Challenge, your creations were stunning!

Congratulations to Emma, you have been chosen by Random Number Generator to receive the sweet Papertrey Flower Fushion #1 Stamp Set. Please email Mandy your address and we will pop it in the post to you.

As we are fast approaching Christmas and it's a very busy time of year, we have set an 'Anything Goes Challenge' for Challenge #35. We will run this for three weeks rather than our usual two to give you chance to enter.

Here are the Design Team Projects which we hope will inspire you. By clicking on our names you will be taken to our blogs where you can read more about our projects.

Diane

Eileen

Mandy

Marlou

You have until midnight Tuesday 10th January NZ time to share your designs with us using Mr Linky below, or by sending Mandy or Eileen a photo

We have these lovely Melissa Frances Super Mini Tags and Envelopes (1.5"), Tiny Tag Die Cuts and Bronze Charms as our little giveaway for this challenge.

Now for some very exciting news... Vicky Sheridan will be joining us on the Design Team in January. Many of you will have visited Vicky's blog and seen her wonderful creations. We are so lucky to have her on board. A very huge Let's Craft and Create welcome Vicky!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

CHALLENGE #34 - ROUND & ROUND

2011-12-07T01:54:00.000+13:00

We had some fabulous Trim the Tree entries. A big thank you to all who took part. The winner of our little festive giveaway is No.3, Pinky. Congratulations! Could you please email Mandy your address and we'll pop it in the post to you.

For challenge #34 - Round and Round, we'd love to see circles on your projects.

Here's what the Design Team came up with, don't forget to click on our names to find out more about our designs.

Marlou

Diane

Mandy

Eileen

Our little treat to give away is this very sweet Papertrey Ink Flower Fushion #1 Stamp Set.

You have until midnight Tuesday 20th December NZ time to share your creations with us using Mr Linky below. Or if you don't have a blog send a photo to Eileen or Mandy and we will share it here.

Have fun with the challenge, we look forward to visiting to see all your wonderful projects.

MORE TRIMMINGS FOR THE TREE...

2011-11-30T06:48:00.001+13:00

I just couldn't help myself....

More mittens, this time made with felt. I am really loving making these at the moment.

The template is from Adela at Creations by AR. She also has a couple of new templates which have been released today. To be in with a chance of winning her gorgeous Crafter's Apron Set come and join in with our blog hop here.

You still have a week to join in with our Trim the Tree challenge, please scroll down or click here for all the information.

CHALLENGE #33 - TRIM THE TREE

2011-11-23T01:42:00.000+13:00

We absolutely loved all your projects for our 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle' challenge. A big thank you to everyone who took part.

Irene, you have been chosen by the Random Org Number Generator to receive the very sweet Hero Arts Tea for Two stamp set. Could you please email Mandy your address and we'll pop that in the post to you. Congratulations!

Christmas is fast approaching, therefore our theme for Challenge #33 is 'Trim the Tree'. We'd love to see your Christmas creations which include our Trim the Tree theme.

For a closer look and more information about our creations, follow the links to our personal blogs by clicking on our names.

We hope you enjoy this festive challenge and we can't wait to visit and see all your wonderful projects.

Eileen

Marlou

Diane

Mandy

The challenge runs until midnight Tuesday 6th December NZ time and as we're in a festive mood, we have some lovely Christmas goodies to giveaway.

To share your projects with us please use Mr Linky below or email either Mandy or Eileen attaching a photo of your design so we can share it everyone here on the blog.

CHALLENGE #32 - REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

2011-11-09T01:38:00.001+13:00

A big Let's Craft and Create thank you to Rejka, Monique and Babette for joining in with our 'Anniversary Challenge'. Seeing as you were the only ones to take part, we've decided to send you all some Love Letters Papers.

Ladies could you please email Mandy your addresses and we'll pop them in the post to you.

Our next challenge is to use something recycled. For example, some pretty ribbon from a chocolate box, buttons from clothing or even packaging.....have a good rummage and see what you can find!

We hope you have as much fun with this challenge as we did, you can see our projects below. If you click on our names you will be taken to our blogs where you can read a little more about them.

Mandy

(Clothing Price Tags)

(Made into Christmas Tags)

Eileen

Diane

You have until midnight Tuesday 22nd November NZ time to share your fabulous creations with us, either by using Mr Linky below or sending an email with a photo to Mandy or Eileen.

By taking part you will be in with the chance of winning this very sweet Hero Arts Sparkle Clear Stamp Set.

LINKS

2011-11-03T21:07:00.005+13:00

Good morning everyone.

I have added two more places for you to visit on our Links page.

Marlou, has a wonderful etsy shop known as Gracie's Corner, she sells beautiful home made jewellery, cards and embellishments for your creations. She'd love you to stop by.

Do you enjoy sketches? If so, Eileen has been very creative and has her first sketch challenge up and running on her blog. You can find it here.

As I mentioned above I have added them to our Links page so you can find them easily.

Enjoy your the rest of your day and don't forget to scroll down to take part in our 'Anniversary' challenge!

CHALLENGE #31 - ANNIVERSARY

2011-10-26T00:07:00.000+13:00

Wow, another two weeks have flown by....

A big thank you to all who took part in our 'One for the Kids' challenge, your creations were fabulous!

The winner of the K&Co stitched flowers is No.10 Pamela. Congratulations! Please email Mandy your address and we will pop those in the post to you.

'Anniversary' is the theme for Challenge #31, this can be any anniversary of your choice...we look forward to seeing your projects.

Now onto the fabbie creations from the Design Team, don't forget to click on our names to find out more about each design and take a closer look.

Diane

Mandy

Eileen

Marlou

You have until midnight Tuesday 8th November NZ time to share your wonderful projects with us and be in with the chance to win this very sweet collection of 6 X 6 Love Letters papers from First Edition Paper.

Please leave a link to your project using Mr Linky below. If you don't have a blog and you'd still like to enter, send a photo via email to Mandy or Eileen and we will share it here. Have fun!

CHALLENGE #30 - ONE FOR THE KIDS

2011-10-12T05:40:00.001+13:00

A big thank you to those of you who took part in our 'Fun with Felt' challenge. The winner of our little giveaway is No.1 Pinky, congratulations! Please email Eileen your address and we will pop your little gift in the post to you.

Challenge #30 is 'One for the Kids', a card or project with the little guys and gals in our life in mind!

Here's what our fabulous design team came up with...

To find out more about our designs click on the names above each one to visit our blogs.

We look forward to seeing all your 'One for the Kids' creations. You have until midnight Tuesday 25th October to add a link to your project using Mr Linky below, or email a photo to either Eileen or Mandy so we can share it here.

Our giveaway for this challenge are these gorgeous stitched flower accents from K&Co.

2011-09-30T04:51:00.002+13:00

Now that Sharon has received her surprise gift for taking part in our Blast from the Past challenge we can reveal what it was.

Have a wonderful time using all the little bits and bobs Sharon, and a huge thank you for taking part in our challenges.

Please scroll down or click here for our current Fun with Felt challenge.

CHALLENGE #29 - FUN WITH FELT

2011-09-28T01:00:00.000+13:00

A big thank you to those of you who took part in our How Charming challenge. The winner of our little giveaway is No.7 Niki, congratulations! Please email Mandy your address and we will pop your buttons and pearls in the post to you.

For challenge #29, we'd love to see felt on your project.

As you can see the DT have been having a lot of Fun with Felt! To find out more about our designs click on the names above each picture.

We look forward to seeing all your 'Fun with Felt' creations. You have until midnight Tuesday 11th October to add a link to your project using Mr Linky below, or email a photo to either Eileen or Mandy so we can share it here.

Our giveaway for this challenge are felt die cuts, rain dots and bicycle die cuts which have been kindly sent to us by Sharon.

CHALLENGE #28 - HOW CHARMING

2011-09-14T00:01:00.000+12:00

What a great birthday we had. A big thank you to all who took part in our celebrations by creating a stunning project...we thoroughly enjoyed visiting your blogs.

The lucky person to receive our surprise gift is No.29, Sharon Congratulations! Once Sharon has received it in the post we will reveal what it was!

Challenge #28 is 'How Charming'. We'd love to see a charm somewhere on your project.

Here are the gorgeous creations from the Design Team, we hope they inspire you.

To find out more about our designs click on the names above each one to visit our blogs.

We look forward to seeing all your 'How Charming' creations. You have until midnight Tuesday 27th September to add a link to your project using Mr Linky below, or email a photo to either Eileen or Mandy so we can share it here.

We have a lovely selection of buttons and pearls to giveaway for this challenge.

CHALLENGE #27 - BLAST FROM THE PAST

2011-08-30T10:42:00.026+12:00

Happy Birtday to us !

It will be a year on 1st September since we started Let's Craft and Create. So, we thought it would be nice to revisit some of our previous challenges.

To help us celebrate we'd love it if you picked your favourite challenge from the list on the right. There are 26 different ones and you could even combine a few!

Before sharing the wonderful DT creations, the winner of our little giveaway for Challenge #26 is No.5 Natasha, congratulations! Please email Mandy your address and we will get Marlou's lovely gifts in the post to you.

Diane
(anything but a card)

Mandy
(go digi, say it with flowers, a stitch in time)

Eileen

(anything but a card, say it with flowers)

Marlou

(anything but a card)

To find out more about our designs please visit our blogs by clicking on the names above.

As with all birthdays, it's nice to have surprises....so our little gift to one lucky person taking part will be a Surprise Package!

We hope you enjoy joining in with our latest challenge. You have until midnight Tuesday 13th September to link your design using Mr Linky below or send a photo via email.

CHALLENGE #26 - TEDDY BEAR'S PICNIC

2011-08-17T00:00:00.007+12:00

Wow, what a great response to our last challenge! We thoroughly enjoyed checking out all your digi creations.

The person chosen to receive our little giveaway is Lis-M, congratulations!! Please email Mandy your details and we will pop it in the post to you.

As announced last week, we have two fabulous additions to our team, Marlou and Diane. Both ladies have been guest designers in the past and it's so lovely to have them on board with us permanently. Welcome to the team girls!

Now onto our new challenge...Teddy Bear's Picnic. Although it's winter in NZ and there is a lovely white blanket of snow covering most of the country, in the UK it's summer! We're thinking days out and picnics...and what better way to share a picnic than with your favourite Teddy! We'd love to see your Teddy or picnic (or both) inspired projects.

Here's what we came up with...

Marlou

Diane

Mandy

Eileen

To find out more about our projects visit our personal blogs by clicking on the names above each picture.

Natasha sent us this fab picture of the card she made using Tatty Teddy images, such a cute card Natasha!

We look forward to seeing your wonderful creations. You have until midnight Tuesday 30th August NZ time to share them with us, either using Mister Linky below or by emailing a photo to us.

Marlou has made this gorgeous wee cushion and three of her fabulous gracie pins for our giveaway.

TWO BECOME FOUR....

2011-08-09T19:38:00.002+12:00

We would like to introduce you to two new members of our design team.

Marlou

Scrapping with Love

Diane
Time to Create

Both ladies have been Guest Designers for us in the past, and we're so delighted to have them both on board permanently. A big Let's Craft and Create welcome to Marlou and Diane, we are really looking forward to working with you both and sharing your fabulous creations with everyone.

CHALLENGE #25 - GO DIGI

2011-08-03T00:00:00.005+12:00

Hi everyone, it was lovely to see your gorgeous Fairy Tale creations, a big thank you to all who joined in with our challenge.

Ingrid, you have been chosen to receive the gorgeous Tilda Bird Brads, congratulations! Please email Mandy your details and we will pop those in the post to you.

For our next challenge we'd like you to go Digi and use a digital download on your project.

Eileen

On Saturday it is my youngest daughter's 11th birthday so I have made her this birthday card. I also made invitations to match the card for her special day.

The digi image is Birthday Mouse Cup which you can find here.

I used kindy glitz, gold glitter glue, little mulberry rose, pink pearl rhinestones for the cute little mouse cheeks, ribbon from Ribbon Girl and a heart pin with beads.

Mandy

With so many gorgeous digital images and papers available, it was difficult to know where to start. But after seeing fabulous creations from the Papers, Fashions Etc Design Team I couldn't resist the Oh Baby range of images, bingo cards and sentiments.

Pink Silk Ribbon, Dotty Button and Jute Twine from The Ribbon Girl together with K&Co Bailey Papers and a lovely heart doily from Marlou finish off my baby girl card.

One thing I really like about digital images is you can make them any size you want....

I've used the same images as my card, but in miniature, on a matching tag!

The little giveaway for this challenge are these lovely baby inspired embellishments and white lace.

Our Go Digi challenge runs until midnight Tuesday 16th August NZ time. We look forward to seeing your fabulous creations.

CHALLENGE #24 - FAIRY TALES

2011-07-19T04:38:00.008+12:00

Hi everyone, first of all we'd like to thank the lovely ladies who took part in our Eat Cake challenge. Your designs were DELICIOUS!

The lucky person to receive our little gift of Tilda Bird Images is No.1 Suzie Q, congratulations. Please email Mandy your address and we will get those out to you.

This fortnight's challenge is Fairy Tales. We'd love to see fairies, wings or anything mythical or magical on your projects.

Mandy

I have used another of Beatriz Jennings' lovely downloads. The fairy image comes from her Fairies Collage Collection and the backing paper is from her Chic Background Collection. Once again I have painted the edges of my Kraft card with acrylic paint, then topped it off with gorgeous Guipure lace from The Ribbon Girl. I cut the butterfly using a Papertrey Die and sandwiched more Guipure lace between it tying it together with jute button twine also from The Ribbon Girl. The sentiment is from Papertrey's Dress Form Stamp Set.

Eileen

I'm not very organised for this challenge and haven't had much time to think about my card. My little girl bichon had puppies a couple of days ago and with the kids home with school holidays at the moment it has been a very busy time. You can go to my personal blog to see the babies here.

I have made my card using a printed Flower Fairy Butterfly Image background.

I added a few little embellishments including pearl rhinestones, ribbon, kindy glitz and a little butterfly charm.

Our Fairy Tale challenge runs until midnight Tuesday 2nd August NZ time. We look forward to seeing your wonderful creations!

Our little giveaway are these gorgeous Tilda Bird Brads. Don't forget if you don't have a blog send us an email with a photo of your project attached and we will share it with everyone here.

Raewyn

Here is Raewyn's entry in this fairy tale challenge.

2011-07-15T10:10:00.001+12:00

My cupcake tag has been made using one of Beatriz Jennings wonderful digi downloads called Sweet Cakes.....

and has been topped off with Melissa Frances papers, The Ribbon Girl dotty ribbon, cluney lace, pins and cake charm together with gorgeous tulips from Marlou.

Please scroll down to see more information about our Eat Cake challenge or click here.

CHALLENGE #23 EAT CAKE

2011-07-06T00:01:00.000+12:00

Such a fabulous selection of tags, a big thank you to everyone who joined in with challenge #22. Marlou, you are the lucky one to be chosen to receive the flower and bird stickers by Panduro Hobby. Congratulations! We will pop them in the post to you.

Eat Cake is our theme for challenge #23, and although we don't want you to literally Eat Cake, you are more than welcome to do so if it helps get the inspirational juices flowing!

Eileen

I decided to try and make a cupcake card. You can click here to get the template for this. I used papers by Grace Taylor's Vintage Collection and decorated with pearl rhinestones and lace. I cut the heart from a cork sheet and used an EZ Cut butterfly die, little teapot charm and blue ribbon to embellish my cupcake.

Mandy

I used Adela's gorgeous Piece O' Cake template to make a gift box together with Beatriz Jennings Digi Papers, Ribbon Girl Seam Binding and Dotty Ribbon, Maya Road Chipboard Frame, Wild Orchid Paper Roses, Papetrey Ink Kraft Cardstock and one of my decorative pins.

You can find this template and more by Adela on our 'Links' page, together with the link to Beatriz's Etsy Shop.

If you have anything you'd like to share, please email us and we will add it to our links page. We are always on the look out for new ideas, templates and tutorials to share with our readers.

Our little giveaway for this challenge are these Tilda Bird Images by Panduro Hobby.

You have until midnight Tuesday 19th July to share your creations with us. We look forward to seeing them! Don't forget if you don't have a blog, pop a photo on an email and we will add it here.

2011-06-29T08:26:00.003+12:00

As our Tag It challenge continues I'd like to share another little one I made. This, together with the little gift from challenge #21, is on it's way to darling Ho!

Every little scrap of Kraft cardstock I have is put to good use! These little tags are so quick and fun to make and tied around a glassine bag make perfect packaging.

This is also a nice way of using up any scraps of designer paper after making larger projects.

The twine is sandwiched between two pieces of cardstock, which means it can be tied around a gift easily and re-used once the gift is opened.

Click here or scroll down to enter our Tag Challenge.

CHALLENGE #22 - TAG IT !

2011-06-22T00:02:00.016+12:00

We thoroughly enjoyed seeing your Four Season creations. A big thank you to all who shared their projects with us. The winner of our little giveaway is No 13. darling ho. Congratulations! Please email Mandy your address and we will pop it in the post to you.

For challenge #22 we'd love to see Tags in any shape or form. Tags are a great way of using up scraps of cardstock, ribbons and papers.

Mandy

For my tag I used gorgeous Melissa Frances 5th Avenue Papers along with Silk Ribbon, Pom Pom Trim, Bronze Key Charm and button from The Ribbon Girl, a Tim Holtz Ticket, Making Memories Garment Pin, one of my handmade Decorative Pins, and a die cut heart painted with white Acrylic Paint.

Eileen

For this tag I have used a printed paper and embellished it with a little metal butterfly. The lace and seam binding bow always look great on tags. I have also embellished with little paper roses.

The tag below has a sepia printed image of fishing boats. I have kept it quite plain but I always have trouble when it comes to masculine projects.

I have emellished with a little tag and pearl rhinestones. The ends of the tag I have added seam binding just to give it a nice little finish.

Our little giveaway for this challenge are these gorgeous Flower and Bird stickers from Panduro Hobby.

Gorgeous tags sent to us via email:

Raewyn

I started putting together a kiddies tag, with the idea that it could be used on something like loot bags, or a child's present when you don't want a full card. But then I decided it would be perfect to laminate and use to label my daughters daycare bag, seeing there are several children with the same or similiar bags! So here's how my final version ended up (minus the laminate!)... I'll see how she likes it when she wakes up tomorrow!

Dee

This is a cupcake tag that I have made for this challenge.

Dee

I have used pink metallic card for the base, Cheery Lynn French flair dies, a tinkerbell stamped in black, coloured in with water colour pencils, glitter on her wings, punched out flowers and butterflies in metallic card – on dimensionals.

You have until midnight Tuesday 5th July to share your creations with us. We look forward to seeing them! Don't forget if you don't have a blog, pop a photo on an email and we will add it here.

CHALLENGE #21 - THE FOUR SEASONS

2011-06-07T23:55:00.000+12:00

What season is it in your part of the world? We'd love you to use it as your inspiration for challenge #21....or any of the four seasons that inspire you to create!

But first, a big thank you once again to all who took part in our last challenge. Your Dies to Die for creations were fab! The winner of the Domestic Goddess Creative Scraps is No.3 Denise, Congratulations!. Please email Mandy your address and we will pop it in the post to you.

Eileen

In New Zealand, where I'm from, it is winter and even though we've been having lovely days they are certainly getting cooler.

For my winter project I've used this cute snowman image and added kindy glitz for a sparkly look to the 3 little snowmen and the snowflakes.

I used the cuttlebug cut and emboss die Ice Crystal Snowflake, Spellbinders beaded ovals and decorated with rhinestones.

Mandy

Here in the UK it's spring, and it's so lovely to see all the flowers bursting into bloom and hear the birds singing away in the trees. However, I wasn't so pleased to hear the cockerel that woke us around 4.30am each morning of our camping trip!!

For my spring creation I've used gorgeous Beatriz Jennings downloads from her Esty Shop, together with Baby Blue Faux Silk Ribbon and Fine Cotton Lace from The Ribbon Girl, a gorgeous wee birds nest made for me by the very talented Marlou and two of my decorative pins.

Our little give away are gorgeous padded angel wings in four different colours together with three very dainty pink crochet flowers.

Our Four Seasons Challenge runs until midnight Tuesday 21st June NZ time. We look forward to seeing all your fabulous creations!

Don't forget if you haven't got a blog send us a photo via email and we will share your creation with everyone.

CHALLENGE #20 - DIES TO DIE FOR

2011-05-25T00:01:00.006+12:00

It was Sew Lovely to see all your designs for Challenge #19!! A huge thank you to all who shared their creations with us.

The lucky person chosen to receive the roses, spray and pins is No.3 Kylie. Congratulations! Please email Mandy your address and we will get those in the post to you.

Dies have become big business in the world of crafting. With an abundance of dies to choose from, which are your favourites? We'd love you to tell us and showcase them on a project.....and of course take part in our Dies to Die For challenge!

Mandy

My all time favourite die set has to be Love Lives Here by Papertrey Ink. There are five dies in this set and they compliment each other beautifully. I use them in my cuttlebug with designer papers, felt, cork paper and chipboard. The butterfly looks fab layered with felt and designer papers. The possibilities are endless with this set.

Eileen

My favourite dies are butterflies. I love the Marianne Creatable Butterfly die and also the cuttlebug die and emboss butterflies. I made this butterfly card, notebook and bookmark. I embellished with little rhinestones, roses and ribbon.

The papers are from My Mine's Eye.

Our giveaway for challenge #20 is Domestic Goddess Creative Scraps by Crafty Secrets. Printed on double sided cardstock the sheet is packed with over 36 images in a retro kitchen style. These are great fun to use on cards, tags, layouts and altered projects.

MONIQUE

Monique from Belgium has entered this card into our challenge, she likes using Marianne Creatable dies.

Our Dies to Die For challenge runs until midnight Tuesday 7th June NZ time. We look forward to seeing all your wonderful creations.

Please add a link to your project using Mr Linky or if you don't have a blog, email us with a photo attached and we will share it with everyone here!

2011-05-17T08:48:00.000+12:00

Loving all the Sew Lovely creations so far.

It's not very often I get a needle and thread out these days, however, I did take up two pairs of my daughter's work trousers at the weekend! lol

...but rather than share those with you I'll share a card I made today using a gorgeous image from Crafty Secrets Creative Scraps Sew Nice range.

Scroll down or click here for our Sew Lovely Challenge.

CHALLENGE #19 - SEW LOVELY

2011-05-11T00:02:00.002+12:00

Wow...we reached over 30 entries for our 'Say it with Flowers' challenge. A huge thank you to all who shared their projects with us.

The lucky person chosen to receive the gorgeous gift from our sponsor Marlou is Ira. Congratulations! Please email Mandy your address and we will get them in the post to you.

For challenge #19 we'd love to see your projects which involve sewing in some shape or form. This could be stitching on your card, a handmade stitched project, an image or die cuts to do with sewing. These are just a few ideas, remember we like to keep our challenges as open to interpretation as possible.

Eileen

In the school holidays recently, I made sock monkeys with my daughters. I did the sewing and they stuffed them. I crocheted little flowers to match and sewed on buttons. They really enjoyed making them.

You can find a tutorial on how to make them here.

My second project is a card. I used a printed image and decorated it with the spellbinders ovals. I added little paper roses, rhinestones, lace, ribbon and a little charm.

Mandy

At the end of this month a colleague at work will be getting married and she loves butterflies! Jamey sent me some gorgeous butterflies cut using a Marianne Die, just perfect for my design.

I used Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink to help blend it into my background paper.

The gorgeous felt used for my Papertrey Love Lives here butterflies comes from the Ribbon Girl's Summer Day Felt Collection. These have been stitched together then added to a cork paper heart.

The gorgeous 32mm ivory silk ribbon and diamante heart pin are also from The Ribbon Girl and the paper rose and pearl spray are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I finished off my design with a tea dyed tag and sentiment from Papertrey's Borders and Corners Mini Stamp Set.

We've been so lucky to have three wonderful Guest Designers over the last few weeks. If you would like to join us as a Guest Designer for one of our challenges please add 'GD' after your name when you leave a link to your project using Mr Linky. We'd love to have you on board!

Our Sew Lovely challenge runs until midnight Tuesday 24th May NZ time. We look forward to seeing all your wonderful creations.

Don't forget, if you don't have a blog, email a photo to us and we will add it here for everyone to enjoy.

Our little giveaway for this challenge is a selection of gorgeous paper roses with pearl spray together with one of Mandy's decorative pin matchbooks.

CHALLENGE #18 - SAY IT WITH FLOWERS

2011-04-26T23:53:00.002+12:00

A big thank you to all the lovely ladies who took part in our Mad About the Boy challenge. Such a fabulous selection of cards.

The winner chosen to receive the little gift of ribbons is No.3 Lilian, congratulations! Please email Mandy your address and we will get those in the post to you.

We have two fab surprises for Challenge #18. Firstly, we have the wonderfully talented Diane joining us as our Guest Designer.

Secondly, we have Marlou back with us, but this time as our sponsor! Scroll down to see her wonderful Gracie Pins which will be sent to one lucky winner taking part in this challenge... but before you do that, here are our Say It With Flowers creations...

Diane

Firstly I would like to say a big thank you to Mandy & Eileen for inviting me to be a guest designer for this challenge.

Using a template from Adela Rossol I have made a baby girls card incorporating Cuttlebug folders, ribbon, flowers, a gemstone brad and tulle. I have changed it slightly to make it stand up by itself.

For the second project I have made a sock cupcake.

To make these you shape socks into a cupcake.

Make a cupcake holder and then present how you please.

I have presented this one in a clear cupcake favour basket box and added some ribbon with flowers on it.

To see more of Diane's gorgeous creations visit her blog Time to Create.

Mandy

I really have to thank Marlou for inspiring me to use beads I've had kicking around in my craft room for ages. Having received some of her beautiful Gracie Pins as a gift, it made me look at my beads in a totally new way!

Using my all time favourite K&Co Bailey papers and matching cardstock I made three little Matchbooks which I decorated with Seam Binding, Tea Dyed Tags and Butterfly Flower Pins.

Inside these Matchbooks are......

more decorative pins! I thought these little Matchbooks would make perfect little gifts for crafty friends.

Eileen

For my flowerpot card I made the flowers from buttons. I used a Marianne Die for the leaves and decorated with little pearl rhinestones. I embellished with lace and ribbon. For the flowerpot I used paper from My Mind's Eye.

For this card I used Sarah Kay and coloured her in using coloured pencils.

I love the Sarah Kay range. I used a Royal lace Doily and my spellbinders dies. I decorated with lace and rhinestones. The background paper is from Rosie's.

Now....onto our gorgeous giveaway. How fab are these Gracie Pins! One large set and one teensy set, all beautifully handmade by Marlou! Also included are 12 spool die cuts, these are so cute and make fab embellishments for cards etc.

You can find more of Marlou's Gracie Pins and other crafting supplies on Etsy at Gracie's Place. Thank you for sponsoring our challenge Marlou!

Our Say it with Flowers challenge runs until midnight Tuesday 10th May NZ time. We look forward to seeing all your wonderful creations.

Don't forget, if you don't have a blog email a photo to us and we will add it here for everyone to enjoy.

CHALLENGE #17 - MAD ABOUT THE BOY

2011-04-13T00:06:00.001+12:00

Another fab response to our last challenge, a big thank you to all those who took part. Your Easter creations were eggs cellent !

We would also like to send a huge thank you to Marlou for being our Guest Designer.

The winner of our little giveaway for our Easter Challenge is No.2, Donna as chosen by Random Org Number Generator. Congratulations Donna! Please email Mandy your address and we'll get them in the post to you.

For our latest challenge, we'd like you to think masculine.....it's time to think about all the big guys or little guys in our lives.

Eileen

My first card is for my son's teenage friend who is having a birthday this weekend. He wants to be a farmer when he leaves school, so I thought this card would be appropriate. To make the background I used my computer to make a picture watermark. I printed a farm image for the centre. I used little tractor brads along with ribbon and buttons.

Next I've made this simple birthday card using printed papers from Scrapbook Paradise in Dunedin. I used spellbinder circles and the wording is computer generated. The Martha Stewart zigzag border punch always gives a great look.

Mandy

For my project I used very yummy Portobello Road Lost and Found papers, stamps and layered stickers from My Minds Eye.

Stars were cut using Stampin Up's star punch and the buttons are from a friend's loft clearout!

I didn't want to waste any of this delicious paper so used scraps from making the card to make a matching tag!

We look forward to seeing your wonderful creations, below is a picture of our little gift for one lucky person who takes part in this challenge. A mixture of East of India and Stampin Up ribbons, together with strands of pearl beads.

Our Mad About the Boy challenge will run until midnight, Tuesday 26th April New Zealand time. Please leave a link to your design using Mr Linky or email us with a photo attached.

CHALLENGE #16 - EASTER

2011-03-30T00:47:00.000+13:00

First of all we'd like to thank everyone who joined in with our Mum's The Word challenge. Your designs were absolutely stunning! The winner of the K&Co Bailey papers is No.7, Vicky, congratulations! Please email Mandy your address and we'll get them in the post to you.

We are pleased to announce we have a fabulous Guest Designer joining us for Challenge #16. A big hello and welcome to Marlou as she joins us for Easter inspired projects....

Hi everyone and here are my Easter themed projects….

The little card is 4”x4". I used lilac pearl card as my card base then added white pearl card embossed with hearts. I made the felt flower with cuttlebug flower dies adding a pearl stone and a heart pin.

I double nested labels 4 die with oval {my first attempt at this}, before running through the wizard. Then raised the label part on sticky pads, the sentiment is from Papertrey mini messages. I tied sheer spotty ribbon and added more pearls for detail.

The felt posies were so easy to make, I made 7 in total. All you need is a flower die {mine is cuttlebug}, fold in half and then in quarter. Stitch a few stitches up the side and stick a cocktail stick through. I cut the top off the cocktail stick and adhered a pearl stone with glue. Then I hand cut a leaf from felt and glued one side to the flower head, so simple!!!

Thanks Mandy and Eileen for having me as a Guest Designer :) xx

You can see more of Marlou's wonderful creations on her blog, Scrapping with Love.

Mandy

For my Easter Project I've used Lauren Meader's Anyway You Slice Template and my all time favourite K&Co Bailey Papers!

I love the versatility of this template and it's a great size at 4 3/4" tall and 3 1/2" deep.

Perfect for holding lots of Chocolate Bunnies !!

This very cute image is a download from The Graphics Fairy, Karen has a lot of fab vintage images.

I've used Blosom felt from Sarah at Paper and String for my flower along with buttons from The Ribbon Girl. Lace and Seam Binding are also from The Ribbon Girl. I've dyed cream seam binding with Stampin Up's Cameo Coral stamp pad and added a little Antique Linen Distress Ink on top. I love the subtle tones you get dying the binding this way.

The large tag was cut using Papertrey Ink's Tag Sale #1 Die and then tea dyed...another of my favourite past times at the moment! Always have a bowl of tea on the go!! I did the same with the teeny tiny tag before adding stamp detail. The tiny heart is cut using Papetrey's Heart Collection Dies and is attached along with the tag with a Making Memories Garment Pin.

Eileen

I have decorated this little box and tag for Easter. The lace I used I have had for a long time and I'm not sure where I actually got it from. The ribbon is from The Ribbon Girl which Mandy kindly sent to me along with some other bits and bobs which I can't wait to use. The gift tag has lovely string, also from The Ribbon Girl. I embellised the little box with some cute little flowers, buttons on the bows and used a stamp for the easter messages. I then filled it with little caramello eggs which will make a nice gift.

Our Easter challenge will run until midnight, Tuesday 12th April New Zealand time. Please leave a link to your design using Mr Linky or email either of us with a photo attached.

We look forward to seeing your wonderful creations, and below is a picture of our little gift for one lucky person who takes part in this challenge. Die cut shapes in felt and cork paper, decorative pins and tea dyed tags.

A CHANCE TO WIN SOME FAB CREATIONS BY A.R. TEMPLATES....

2011-03-22T06:29:00.003+13:00

Would you like a chance to win a fab new template created by the very talented Adela? If so, come and visit my blog tomorrow and take part in the AR Design Team Blog Hop. All you need to do is visit each Designer on my list and leave a comment and you will be in with the chance to win! The hop starts at 6:00am PST, that's 2pm here in the UK and a winner will be chosen randomly by each Designer and anounced on Friday.

Below is a little sneak preview of the new designs....

We look forward to seeing you.....and good luck, I can assure you the new templates are absolutely fab!!

p.s. Don't forget to scroll down to take part in our Mum's the Word Challenge!

CHALLENGE #15 - MUM'S THE WORD

2011-03-16T01:48:00.003+13:00

It was wonderful to see all the fab St Patrick Day inspired projects, a big thank you to all who joined in our challenge.

Congratulations to Donna, you were chosen by Random Org as the winner of our little gift. Please email Mandy your address and we'll pop the goodies in the post to you.

Challenge #15 is Mum's the Word. It's Mother's day in the UK on Sunday 3rd April, so we thought this would be a great opportunity to start thinking about cards and presents! We'd love to see your creations with the theme of Mums or a special lady in your lives.

Eileen

Here is my latest card using the teapot template which I got from Adela.
I used papers from a selection called My Mind's Eye which I got from Warehouse Stationery.

I have made a little cone hanging basket and filled it with Cadbury's chocolates The paper used is from Rosies. The flower and leaves are made using the Marianne Creatable Dies.

For mother's day I made this little apron card. Again I used the Rosie's papers and an image of tatty ted baking muffins. The little paper roses always look good to finish it off. You can click here to get the template for the apron.

Mandy

A gift of Marks & Spencer's Lavender Shower Gel and Soap was inspiration for my matching card.

I used Papertrey Ink's Large Heart Die to cut chipboard, inked it up with ColorBox Wisteria Chalk Ink, added some Silver Pearl Embossing Powder and Dazzling Diamonds Glitter. Then dressed it up with some scrummy Seam Binding, Decorative Pins, Button Twine and a Tea Dyed Tag complete with sentiment from Papetrey's Love Lives Here stamp set. I also added Tea Dyed white lace.

The Ribbon Girl: White Lace, Decorative Pins, Button Twine, Seam Binding, Buttons. Papertrey Ink: Heart Prints Die Collection, Love Lives Here Stamp Set, Kraft Cardstock. Graphics Fairy: Vintage Postcard Download. Stampin Up: Dazzling Diamonds Glitter

We have a few ideas up our sleeves for future challenges, but we'd also love to hear what challenges you would like to see here. So, please feel free to leave a comment for us and we'll take it on board.

It was lovely to have Vicky join us as a Guest Designer and it's something we'd like to do more often. If you would like to join us as a Guest Designer could you pop that in the comments box too.

Our Mum's the Word challenge will run until midnight, Tuesday 29th March New Zealand time. Please leave a link to your design using Mr Linky or email either of us with a photo attached.

We look forward to seeing your wonderful creations, and below is a picture of our little gift for one lucky person who takes part in this challenge. A gorgeous K&Co Bailey 6" x 6" Paper Pad.

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2011-03-11T03:34:00.004+13:00

Don't forget our St Patrick's Day Challenge runs until midnight Tuesday 15th March NZ time.

Here's a perfect little box for this challenge, I do love green !

If you fancy making one of these very cute Nugget boxes you can find information about it here on Adela's Blog. It's such great fun to make and I love the fact it opens at the ends which means you don't need to disturb the embellishments to get to the goodies inside!

Stampin Up: Old Olive Cardstock. The Ribbon Girl: 16mm Moss Green Taffeta Ribbon, Heart Pin, Teardrop Pin, Natural Jute Button Twine, Button. K&Co: Bailey Papers. Papertrey Ink: Love Lives Here Stamp Set. Other: Tea Dyed Tag

Please scroll down for our St Patrick's Day Challenge information.

CHALLENGE #14 - ST PATRICK'S DAY

2011-03-02T01:32:00.001+13:00

A big thank you to all those who took part in our Anything But a Card challenge. It was lovely to see so many different ideas.

Congratulations to Marlou, you have been chosen to receive our little gift of lace and filagree pins. Enjoy! Please email Mandy your address and we will pop them in the post to you.

With St Patrick's Day just around the corner, we thought it would be fun to use it as inspiration for Challenge #14. Again, we like to keep our challenges as open to interpretation as possible, so be as creative with this theme as you would like to be.

Mandy

Green is my favourite colour and I love all shades of it. I used a gorgeous Flower Cube box template created by the very talented Adela.

My felt flowers were made using Papertrey Ink's large Scallop Border Die, after gathering together with thread, I embellished them with tiny seed beads in different shades of green.

Just perfect for giving small gifts such as jewellery!

Creations by AR: Flower Cube Template. Papertrey Ink: Kraft Cardstock, Large Scallop Border Die, Everyday Blessings Papers, Friendship Jar Stamp Set. The Ribbon Girl: Natural Lace, Jute Button Twine.

Eileen

I have used bright colours for my St Patrick's Day Card. Tilda is coloured in using water coloured pencils by Mondeluz. I have used the spellbinders hearts to make the clover and Marianne Creatable Dies for the swirls.

I coloured in the little boy on his bike with the water coloured pencils, then used the colourful paper from the Rosie's range. The card was embossed with the sizzix dots embossing folder.

Our giveaway for Challenge #14 is pictured below and includes flowers, doilies, tea dyed tags and a selection of buttons including 3 wooden teapots.

Please leave a link to your project using Mr Linky or send us an email with a picture attached. This challenge will close midnight Tuesday 15th March New Zealand time. We look forward to seeing all your fabulous creations!

CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKE, NEW ZEALAND

2011-02-25T12:38:00.005+13:00

On Tuesday 22nd February at 12.51 pm Christchurch, New Zealand was hit with a 6.3 Earthquake that has flattened the city and caused a tremendous loss of life. The death toll has risen over 100 with over 200 still missing. The power is back on to most of the city but alot of people have lost their homes, posessions and loved ones. Our heart goes out to those people affected.

The whole world has offered support with many countries already in Christchurch helping with the search, rescue and recovery.

Victim Support are a group affiliated with the New Zealand police force and are trained in dealing everyday with helping and supporting people in need.

We're sure they would appreciate some cards that they could write in and take to victims of this devastating quake.

If you would like to make and send a card we think the following may be useful.

Sympathy, Get Well Soon and Thinking of You or just plain without any greeting would be much appreciated we are sure.

Please send your homemade card (blank inside with envelope if possible) to:

Victim Support

PO Box 2109

Christchurch

New Zealand

CHALLENGE #13 - ANYTHING BUT A CARD

2011-02-16T06:38:00.003+13:00

Hi everyone. Firstly, a huge thank you to all who took part in our Heart Felt challenge. We thoroughly enjoyed looking at your projects. The winner of our BasicGrey Paper Pad as chosen by random org number generator is No.1, Diane. Congratulations Diane. Please email Mandy your address and we'll get that in the post to you.

Ok...so challenge #13 is as the title suggests, absolutely anything so long as it's not a card! Let your imaginations run wild!

....and now for some exciting news! We have the lovely Vicky joining us as our Guest Designer for this challenge. Vicky's creations are stunning and so inspirational. I'll let her tell you more about her project below...

Vicky

I’ve ‘upcycled’ a plastic container into a birthday gift box. I’m going to fill it with a card making kit, just some simple card making supplies for a newbie card maker.

To take a peek inside, and see more of Vicky's fabulous creations visit her blog here.

Eileen

In my daughters class the children are all asked to donate a box of tissues for the year. This week I have decided to cover a tissue box. I used this cute paper and decorated it with ribbon and the flowers are made using the Marianne Creatable flower die.

Mandy

I had gift boxes on my mind this week too! I found this lovely Kraft box at Paperchase and knew it was perfect for altering. As you can see I am still enjoying my Pink Petticoat Papers and Papertrey Ink Butterfly dies!

Pink Petticoat: Vintage Rose Papers. Papertrey Ink: Love Lives Here Stamp Set, Love Lives Here Butterfly Die, Large Butterfly Die. The Ribbon Girl: Seam Binding, Button, Natural Twine, White Lace

I have a couple more non-card items to share with you. The first is a bookmark which I have packaged using a pretzel bag.... perfect size for these little projects!

A matching gift tag...

which together with a glassine bag make cute packaging!

Papertrey Ink: Love Lives Here Dies, Heart Print Collection Dies, Tag Sale #1 Die. The Ribbon Girl: Natural Jute Ivory Button Twine, Natural Lace. Graphics Fairy: Postcard Image. Craftie Charlie: K & Co Bailey Papers.

Our giveaway for this challenge is a metre of lovely natural lace and 5 Pink/Silver Filigree Fancy Pins.

Please leave a link to your project using Mr Linky or send us an email with a picture attached. This challenge will close midnight Tuesday 1st March New Zealand time. We look forward to seeing all your wonderful creations!

A big thank you to Vicky for joining us as our Guest Designer, don't forget to check out more of her fabulous creations here.

2011-02-08T11:10:00.004+13:00

IT'S A GIRL...

Our Heart Felt challenge runs until midnight Tuesday 15th February NZ time, we have had some gorgeous entries so far and it's been great fun visiting your blogs.

Once again I have included a little felt heart on my latest card. I love how easily the felt cuts with dies in the cuttlebug.

I bought my felt in a little bundle from Paper and String, 45 4"x 4" squares, a great way to try all the different colours and just perfect for little projects!

WEDDING DAY....

Another wedding card. This time I have used the Spellbinders plain and scalloped hearts.
I embossed the top heart with the cuttlebug candy cane folder and for the bottom heart I used the craft concepts garden swirl folder.
The background is embossed using the Sizzix dots folder. I also used the Spellbinders ribbon tag and printed the bride and grooms names and wedding date on it.
I have embellished with little ribbon bow ties and black and pearl rhinestones.

Please scroll down or click here for information on our latest challenge and a big thank you to those who have already taken part.

CHALLENGE #12 - HEART FELT

2011-02-02T06:31:00.003+13:00

A big thank you to all who joined in with our Stitching challenge. We thoroughly enjoyed looking at your fabulous creations.

I am pleased to announce that No.3, Sharette is our challenge #11 winner, congratulations Sharette!! Please email Mandy your address and we will pop the scrummy seam binding and tags in the post to you.

Challenge #12 is Heart Felt. With Valentine's Day just round the corner we thought it would be fun to include hearts in our projects with an option of adding felt. Once again, we are keeping our theme as open to interpretation as possible.

Mandy

Papertrey Ink: Love Lives Here Dies, Bookmark Die. Crafty Charlie: Basic Grey Nook and Pantry Papers. The Ribbon Girl: Lace, Natural Jute Button Twine, Seam Binding.

I am still very much in love with my Papertrey Love Lives Here dies and stamp set....and couldn't resist using the very cute little house again, this time adding it to a bookmark. You may not be able to tell from the picture, but the teeny tiny heart on the tag is made from felt, as is the one in the middle of the house.

Eileen

Using Rosie's papers I made an origami heart which looks really great. You can see the tutorial here on how to make one.
I used the Spellbinders scalloped square. For the little hearts in the corners I have used white felt.
I embellished with ribbon and little pearl rhinestones.

Our giveaway for this challenge is this gorgeous 6 x 6 Curio Paper Pad from BasicGrey!

Please leave a link to your project using Mr Linky or send us an email with a picture attached. This challenge will close midnight Tuesday 15th February New Zealand time. We look forward to seeing all your fab creations!

STITCHING CONTINUED....

2011-01-28T10:23:00.001+13:00

Lucy has some fabulous stitched cards on her blog and also a great video where she shows how she stitched them.

Check them out here.

CHALLENGE #11 - A STITCH IN TIME

2011-01-19T06:56:00.002+13:00

Just before we introduce our next theme, a big thank you once again to all those who took part in our last challenge. Your designs were absolutely fab!

The winner of our gift for Challenge #10 is No.8, Mandy, as chosen by Random Org Number Generator. Congratulations Mandy! Please email other Mandy your address and we'll pop it in the post to you.

As our theme title for Challenge #11 suggests, it's all about stitching! We'd love to see some stitching on your projects. This can be done with a sewing machine, by hand or drawn, anything stitch related basically, we like to keep our themes as open as possible. We look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Eileen

On this card the I've used the Crafts Too butterfly embossing folder. I have lightly chalked to make it look like stitching on the card. I also used the cuttlebug swiss dots and embellished with pearl rhinestones and little butterflies by Value Craft.

For this theme I have stitched around the outside with my sewing machine. Used the Spellbinders flower dies. I like using black on white as it looks smart. I used coloured card tags cut to shape for the background which I bought from The Warehouse.

Mandy

I love to add texture to designs with random stitching, just as I've done on my tag below. You can't really see in the picture, but I've also rubbed some Star Dust Stickles where I've stitched to give it a nice glitter effect!

I dyed white seam binding to match and crinkled it, really love using this binding on projects.

Papertrey Ink: Love Lives Here Stamp Set, Tag Sale #1 Die. Hero Arts: Friends Definition Cling Background Stamp. The Ribbon Girl: Lace, Natural Jute Button Twine, Seam Binding. Craftie Charlie: East of India Hearts and Leaves Ribbon

Edited to add new Stitched Designs currently on my blog.

Our little gift for this challenge is gorgeous seam binding and tags cut using Papertrey Ink's Tag Sale #1 die.

Please leave a link to your project using Mr Linky or send us an email with a picture attached. This challenge will close midnight Tuesday 1st February New Zealand time. We look forward to seeing your designs.

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CHALLENGE #10 - JUST A NOTE

2011-01-05T01:42:00.006+13:00

Happy New Year !!

It was wonderful to see all your fabulous 'New Beginnings' projects, thank you to all who took part. The winner of the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Journaling Tickets is No.2, Hazel, chosen by Random Org Number Generator. Congratulations Hazel! Please email Mandy your address and we'll pop them in the post to you.

Challenge #10 is Just a Note...

Thank You Notes, Notelets, Notebooks and Musical Notes are a few examples...basically anything related to notes! We look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Mandy

These are such a cute sized card measuring 9cm x 12.5cm (approx 3" x 5"). After die cutting the butterflies I added Star Dust Stickles. By using different papers and buttons each one of these little cards is an original in it's own right!

Papertrey Ink: Butterfly Die, On my Couch Stamp Set, Selection of Buttons. Stampin Up: Buttons.

The Ribbon Girl: Natural Jute Button Twine

On my card and matching tag I added musical notes using Tim Holtz Symphony Tissue Tape. I've taken up rather a lot of space on this post so if you pop over to my blog you can read more about this project there!

Papertrey Ink: Signature Greetings Stamp Set, Just the Ticket Stamp Set. Basic Grey: Nook and Pantry Papers. Tim Holtz: Idea-ology Journaling Tickets, Symphony Tissue Tape. The Ribbon Girl: Natural Jute Button Twine, Natural Lace

Eileen

This card and matching note pad and pillow box would make an awesome thank you for that special person. I used Rosie's L'll papers. The cuttlebug die and emboss butterfly with pearl rhinestones. I put white lace on each one.
The words are computer generated Ziggy Zoe.

Dee sent in her card for this challenge. She used the cuttlebug houndstooth embossing folder and made a teabag fold butterfly. You can click here to go to the tutorial on how to make one.

We have some homemade goodies to give away for this challenge, 6 crocheted flowers, 4 butterfly embellishments and 2 heart toppers together with some little doilies which seem to be very popular amongst card makers at the moment.

Please leave a link to your project using Mr Linky or send us an email with a picture attached. This challenge will close midnight Tuesday 18th January New Zealand time. We look forward to seeing your designs.

CHALLENGE #9 - NEW BEGINNINGS

2010-12-22T00:21:00.000+13:00

A big thank you to all who shared their wonderful Christmas Designs with us. We thoroughly enjoyed looking at your projects. The winner of our little gift for challenge #8 is No.10, Tracey Clark, as chosen by Random Org Number Generator. Congratulations Tracey! Please email Mandy your address and we'll pop it in the post to you.

It wont be long before we're thinking about the New Year and our New Year's resolutions. But what else will be new in 2011? Do you know of any babies that are due, someone moving to a new home, a wedding or do you want to wish loved ones a Happy New Year? This is your opportunity to think about New Beginnings and why we thought it would be an ideal theme for Challenge #9!

Below are our creations for this challenge, we hope they inspire you and we look forward to seeing all your fab creations.

Eileen

Mandy

Basic Grey: Nook and Pantry Papers. Making Memories: mini shimmer alpha. The Ribbon Girl: Natural Jute Button Twine, Natural Lace. The Pound Shop: Doyleys.

For this challenge we are giving away these fabbie Tim Holtz Idea-ology Journaling Tickets. These look great on both scrapbook pages and cards.

Please leave a link to your project using Mr Linky or send us an email with a picture attached. This challenge will close midnight Tuesday 4th January New Zealand time.

CHRISTMAS CARDS

2010-12-17T09:10:00.004+13:00

I have been busy making christmas cards for family and friends. Please go to my personal blog where you can see a more detailed description on what I used to make them - click here.

We would love to see more of your christmas projects coming in over the next few days. Please scroll down or click here to read all about our latest challenge.

CHRISTMAS TAGS...

2010-12-10T12:22:00.001+13:00

These are some of the tags I will be attaching to the gifts I wrap for family and friends this Christmas. Once the wrapping is complete I will personalise each one by writing the name on the cute little wooden stocking.

And here's my first present wrapped for the teacher I work with at school.

How will you be wrapping your gifts this year? We'd love you to share your ideas with us. Please scroll down or click here to read all about our latest challenge.

CHALLENGE #8 - IT'S CHRISTMAS !

2010-12-08T00:00:00.004+13:00

Yes it's official....Christmas is nearly here! So, for challenge #8 we'd love to see your Christmas projects.

But before we share our creations with you, the winner of our little gift for challenge #7 is No.9, Pankti, as chosen by Random Org Number Generator. Congratulations! Please email Mandy your address and we'll pop it in the post to you.

Now onto our creations...

Mandy

Don't you just love it when crafters share their ideas and projects. These snowmen were great fun to make. Laurie Furnell is the very talented creator of these fab chocolate wrappers, you can find her post here with all the information. The hats and scarves are made from fleece fabric, Kerry has done a great video tutorial on how to make them. Check it out here. Now I just need to make several more!!

Eileen

For these christmas cards I have used Kanban Embossed Baubles - Monotone Paper Craft Toppers. I've added a few silver rhinestones to decorate.

I will be making more cards over the next few days so will share them with you when they are done.

For this challenge our little gift comprises of an A4 Natural Cork Sheet, 6 large coasters, 6 large lolly sticks (great for altering) and a selection of clips.

We look forward to seeing all your fab Christmas creations. Please leave a link to your project using Mr Linky or send us an email with a picture attached. This challenge will close midnight Tuesday 21st December New Zealand time.

As our "ANYTHING GOES CHALLENGE" continues...

2010-11-29T05:32:00.002+13:00

I thought I would share my latest makes with you. I've used Gerda's very cute images from StampFairy.com together with Papertrey Ink's Tag Sale 2 Die to create some Christmas tags.

The beauty of using digi stamps is you can make them exactly the size you want!

This challenge doesn't close until midnight Tuesday 7th December (NZ time) so there's still plenty of time to share your projects with us. Please scroll down or click here for challenge information. Happy Crafting !

CHALLENGE #7 - ANYTHING GOES

2010-11-24T00:00:00.004+13:00

A big thank you to all you lovely ladies that took part in our One for the Boys challenge, your creations were fabulous. The lucky person chosen to receive our little gift for this challenge is No.1, Linda. Congratulations! Please email Mandy your details and we will pop it in the post to you.

We have an open theme for challenge #7. You can make anything you like! We just ask that they are new projects and are posted on your blogs between today the 24th November and Tuesday 7th December (midnight NZ time).

Eileen

I love using the cuttlebug butterfly cut and emboss die. I have used designer paper from Rosie's Serenity, ribbon, rhinestones and the craft concepts scrollwork embossing folder. I also used little paper roses.
You can click here to see some other cards I have made.

Mandy

I've added texture to my cards with machine stitching, lace and button twine together with layers of gorgeous Material Girl papers from Cosmo Cricket. I cut flowers from felt and kraft cardstock adding detail with a button and decorative pins. The butterfly was made using layers of kraft cardstock topped with paper to add dimension. I was on a bit of a roll with these cards, you can see another one on my blog here.

Papertrey Ink: Kraft Cardstock, It's Official Stamp Set, Butterfly Die. Craftie Charlie: Cosmo Cricket Material Girl Papers, Buttons. The Ribbon Girl: Natural Jute Button Twine. Wild Orchid: Natural Lace, Decorative Pins. Paper and String: Felt

Our little gift for this challenge includes a small selection of Stampin Up Felt Flowers (now retired), Maya Road Sheer Flowers and some Glassine Packets (88mm x 131mm).

We look forward to seeing all your wonderful creations. Please leave a link to your project using Mr Linky or send us an email with a picture attached. This challenge will close midnight Tuesday 7th December New Zealand time.

Georgina sent us a picture of this gorgeous butterfly birthday card she made using a card from Impress and Anita outlines, the paper is from her stash.

IT'S A WEE BOY THING

2010-11-19T11:47:00.004+13:00

Hi to all.......

Today is a lovely sunny hot day here in my part of the world. I have spent the morning at my youngest daughter's school at Discovery Time, taking craft making . The children made cards and bookmarks. The kids just love it.

Now I'm back home and into making some cards for friends and family who have just had babies.

There's still time to take part in our One for the Boys challenge. Please scroll down or click here for all the challenge information, we would really love to see your creations

IT'S A BOY THING...

2010-11-16T09:23:00.001+13:00

Hi everyone...after a chilly start things brightened up and it turned out to be a really nice day in my neck of the woods!

Just perfect for a ride, which brings me on to my latest 'boy' card. This very cute stamp is from Papertrey's Enjoy the Ride set, and has a matching die which is great!

There is still plenty of time to join in with our One for the Boys challenge as it doesn't end until midnight Tuesday 23rd November New Zealand time.

Please scroll down or click here for all the challenge information, we would really love to see all your creations.

CHALLENGE #6 - ONE FOR THE BOYS

2010-11-10T06:14:00.002+13:00

Firstly a big thank you to all those who took part in our Let's Party Challenge. Your creations were absolutely stunning!

Before we move on to our next challenge, the lucky person to receive our little gift of Maya Road Envelopes, Bakers Twine and Button Jute Twine is No.5, Terrie. Please email Mandy your details and we'll get them in the post to you. Congratulations!

Ok, onto our next challenge which is One for the Boys. We would love to see your male orientated creations, once again these can be for any occasion, including new baby boy, male birthday etc.

Hopefully, our samples will help to inspire you...

Mandy

I made patchwork using papers from Making Memories Just Chillin (boys) papers and cut it out using one of the Spellbinder Label 1 dies. To give my card a more grunge look I inked the edges using Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink and stamped an ink splodge with Stampin Ups Close to Cocoa.

Papertrey Ink: Kraft Cardstock, Birthday Bash Sentiments Stamp Set. Making Memories: Just Chillin Stamp Set, Just Chillin (boy) Papers. Stampin Up: Star Punch, Close to Cocoa Ink Pad. The Ribbon Girl: Natural Jute Button Twine

Eileen

Here are a couple of birthday cards. One for the man who loves fishing which I've put on a real fishing fly to decorate. I've used my cuttlebug bubbles embossing folder.

The other I made for a boys birthday. I used the cuttlebug happy birthday embossing folder and to decorate this I used buttons and cotton.

For this challenge we are offering you the chance to receive a selection from Cosmo Cricket's fabulous Joy Ride collection. Eight 6"x6" papers and some Travel adhesive chipboard shapes.

We look forward to seeing your One for the Boys creations. Please leave a link to your project using Mr Linky or send us an email with a picture attached. This challenge will close midnight Tuesday 23rd November New Zealand time.

Don't forget to keep popping back as we hope to have more projects to share with you before the end of the challenge.

PARTY PARTY PARTY...

2010-11-02T10:15:00.005+13:00

Hands up if you watched Sesame Street as a child....do you remember these guys?

Cookie Monster, Elmo and Oscar, perfect friends to have at any party! I've added them to treat bags, but they would look great on party invites, birthday cards, etc...such a fab party theme.

To see how to make these cute fellas check out Dawn's video here.

Don't forget you still have until midnight Tuesday 9th November (NZ time) to enter our Let's Party Challenge. Scroll down or click here for details. We'd love to see all your party creations!

Papertrey Ink: Ticket Die. Stampin Up: Chocolate Chip, Black, Real Red, Ballet Blue, Green Galore, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White Cardstock, Various Papers. Making Memories: Mini Shimmer Alpha.