Love is in the air with Scribbles Designs

It only seems like yesterday that we were celebrating Christmas but now the shops are stocking up on romance in readiness for Valentine's Day. But I wonder how many people celebrating Valentine's Day are aware of the story of St Valentine and the irony of the modern celebration.

St Valentine was a priest in Roman times when Emperor Claudius was in power. Claudius persecuted the Christian community and had also issued an edict banning young people from marrying. Valentine continued to secretly marry couples who had come to faith. As a result he was arrested, tortured and imprisoned. As you would expect from the Romans their treatment of him was harsh and eventually in the year 269 AD, Valentine was sentenced to a three part execution of a beating, stoning, and finally decapitation all because of his stand for Christian marriage.

Those of us who are Christians and still hold to the values of Christian marriage can see the irony in today's Valentine's Day. I would hazard a guess that a good percentage of those sending cards this year would not be seeing a Christian wedding in thier future and some may even be actively opposing Christian traditions and values. As with Christmas and Easter, St Valentine has become detached from his Chritian roots.

Now I am not judging people because of beliefs or lack of them, it is just another sign of the way the world is shifting. But wouldn't it be good if the sentiments behind Valentine's Day were not confined to just one day of the year and that love became a more lasting bond between people not just a brief interlude before changing partners again. Maybe that's because I am an old romantic at heart! So if you are keeping Valentine's Day this year I hope you have a happy one.

I guess I had better get to the reason for this sermon! This is my second post as a GD for Scribbles Designs and the image I chose to use this time fits well with February 14th.



Materials used: Scribbles Designs - Heart Strings
X-Press It card
Copic pens
silver mirri card
Clarity Stamps Letterbox Set
A5 white card blank
silver and white gel pens
black archival ink

The image has been printed onto X-Press It card twice and coloured with copics, the background dots are coloured with a silver pen and the detail on the middle heart coloured with a white pen. The hearts on the second image have been fussy cut and stuck on top of the base image with gel glue. The image has been trimmed and matted onto silver mirri card then attached to the card blank.

The sentiment is stamped directly on to the card blank with black archival ink using the Letterbox set.

This was a quick card to do and the design would also work well for paper piecing and for a variety of different occassions.

The blog hop with challenge is still going on at Scribbles Designs so why not head on over for some inspiration from my fellow team members and have a go yourself. All the details can be found at the Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog.

Thanks for visiting and sticking with the preliminary rambling. Take care.

Pippa

Path of Positivity: The Road Ahead (midway post)

We are half way through the challenge at Path of Positivity, our first of the New Year with a new set up. It is still anything goes but now the theme is optional. Further information on the requirements for the different prizes can be found further on in this post.

The road ahead affords so many different interpretations and approaches but this time I want to focus not so much on what the road ahead can offer us but more what we can offer others on their road. So often our plans for our lives are concentrated on our desires and wants rather than on those of other people, and yet so often the highlights of our lives are what we did for others. While it is right that we should think about our lives and the plans for them we should also devote the same time, if not more, to considering what we can do to benefit others. Sometimes it may be as simple as a hug for someone hurting, or it may mean helping out with time or with money. We never know what our acts of kindness may mean to the person receiving them. If you are interested in life stories there are plenty of examples on line. One that caught my eye in particular mirrors many experiences of people who work with the Samaritans, https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-stories/34-kindness-saves-a-high-school.

The strange thing about being generous to others is that is tends to result in benefits for ourselves, not that I am advocating that we only do good things for others in order to get rewards for ourselves. There are several verses in the Bible that highlight this just one being Proverbs 11:24  'One person gives freely, yet gains even more;
    another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.' Another is Luke 6:38 and I have used it on my sample for today.

Materials used:Scribbles Designs - Coffee Press 
X-Press It card
Copic pens
black card
white A5 card blank

I arranged the image and the Bible verse on a word document before printing it out on X-Press It card and colouring it with Copics.

The coloured image has been trimmed back and matted onto black card then attached to front of the card blank.
I have tried to make it look as if the coffee is spilling out over the lip of the coffee press to illustrate the point of the Bible verse.

As promised here are the details of the prizes on offer this time.

SPONSOR & PRIZE INFORMATION:

• $10 worth of digital stamps from Scribbles Designs, one of our guest sponsors this month, for the post or project that deems most inspiring of the bunch. To be eligible for this prize, you must follow the optional theme (details above).


• A $15 gift certificate from Ike's Art, one of our guest sponsors this month, for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants.  To be eligible for this prize, entry must be positive, inspirational, motivational or encouraging in some nature.


• One digital image from Creative Bug Digital SnapShots for each person chosen as a DT Delight.

In order to have a chance to win the prize for the Most Inspirational Creation, be sure to explore this idea of the Road Ahead. You could create Journalling Cards for yourself and tell us what some of your personal goals are for the new year. Perhaps, there is someone that you can encourage to move forward and start (or continue) to work on any number of goals. Receiving an encouraging card or even one that gives them a swift kick in the butt might be just what they need. Whatever direction the road ahead takes you, we'd love to part of that journey.  If you do follow the optional theme, be sure to add FT after your name so that we include you in the draw for the prize forMost Inspirational.  We also ask that you please leave a comment letting us know how your creation relates to the concept of the road ahead if it isn't readily clear within the design itself or clearly written somewhere else in your post. While you may easily see how the concept of the road ahead relates to your creation, it may not be as apparent to me or the DT members. That is why we ask that you clarify it somewhere, whether here or in your blogpost. You can simply write a sentence at the bottom of your post next to the link up for this challenge, if it would be easier. We just need to know how your project ties into the theme. Letting us know, clears up any ambiguity that may exist.

Remember, in order to be considered eligible for this month's prizes, ALL creations must be positive, inspirational, motivational or encouraging in some nature. You don't need to follow the optional theme if you simply want to have a chance at the Random Draw prize of a $15 gift certificate from Ike's Art, one of our sponsors this month. You only need to follow the theme if you want a chance to win this month's sponsored prize of a  a $10.00 gift certificate provided by Scribbles Designs.

You have until February 5th to get an entry in so still time to come and play along.

Thanks for dropping in. Take care.

Pippa

The one that got away!

Ok so this post started life as the final day of Bugaboo's birthday bash but I ran out of time and was not able to finish in time for the deadline. But as I have finished now it seemed a shame not to post it although I have not followed the challenge requirements for it.


Materials used: 
Bugaboo Stamps - Ava Mermaid
X-Press It card
Copic pens
designer papers - two designs
A5 card blank - white

Ava Mermaid is printed on X-Press It card and coloured with Copics. After being trimmed she is matted and layered on the designer papers and attached to the front of the card blank. 

It would not take much to make my card fit the recipe for the challenge, it just needs a couple of bows which could go in Ava's hair and 4 pearls which could go just about anywhere!

If you are a fan of Bugaboo Stamps then you should know that there is a fund raiser going on to raise funds to move the shop sight to a different host as there have been technical issues with it's current site. If this is something you feel you would like to help with please visit Bugaboo Stamps shop where there is a link to the fund raiser, it also has some more information about Bugaboo Stamps and why they need to raise the money.

Thanks for visiting. Take care.

Pippa

Bugaboo Birthday Bash Day 2

Today's challenge is a sketch.

Here is my take on it. I think I may have created a new sea creature, a jellypus, part jelly fish and part octopus.



Materials used: 
Bugaboo Stamps - Mini Set AKV Under the Sea
dark and mid blue card
stripey designer paper
X-Press It card
Copic pens
white A5 card blank
gold peel off sentiment sticker
circle die
red cotton
glossy accents

I chose to use the jelly fish image, printed twice on X-Press It card, coloured with copic pens and fussy cut.

The octopus legs are crocheted with red cotton cord and attached to the back of one of the images. The second image is stuck over the top. The front is covered with glossy accents.

The card base is made using the coloured card and then a circle cut out of it. The designer paper is stuck inside the card behind the aperture.

The octopus is hung in the aperture using a strong filament thread.
Thank you for dropping in. Take care.

Pippa

I would like to enter my card into:
Bugaboo's Birthday Celebrations Day 2 - Sketch Challenge

Bugaboo's Birthday Bash Day 5

Today's challenge is Make It Funny.


Here is my take on the challenge.



Materials used:Bugaboo Stamps: Mini Set - AKV Under the Sea
X-Press It card
Copic pens
blue card
white A5 card blank
chalks

I arranged the fish and the sentiment onto X-Press It card and coloured it with Copic pens using chalk for the sea and sand.

The image has been trimmed and matted onto blue card before being attached to the card blank.
Thanks for dropping in. Take care.

Pippa

I would like to enter my card into:
Bugaboo's Birthday Celebrations Day 5: Make It Funny

Bugaboo's Birthday Bash Day 6

Today's challenge is Oldie But Goodie Make A Card For A Kiddo.


Here is my take on it with a hidden surprise!



Materials used:Bugaboo Stamps - Sunbonnet Fish 2X-Press It cardwhite, mid blue, dark blue and yellow card
15cm white card blank
Copic pens
foam pads
X Cut jigsaw die

The image  and a second hat has been printed on X-Press It card and coloured with Copics before being cut with the jigsaw die.

The card base and jigsaw holder has been made up with the blank card base and the coloured card using the second hat and a computer printed greeting on the front with the jigsaw inside.

Thank you for visiting. Take care.

Pippa

I would like to enter my card into:
Bugaboo's Birthday Celebration Day 6 - Make a Card For A Child

Bugaboo Birthday Bash Day 3

Today's challenge is a Beachy Colour Challenge.



This is my take on it.



Materials used:
Bugaboo Stamps - Mini Set AKV Under the Sea
Imagine That Digi Stamp - Under the Sea (for the seaweed)
Décosse's Dynamite Doodles - A Taste of Summer Patterned Papers
black and metallic green card
A5 card blank
X-Press It card
Copics
black peel-off greeting

The seahorse image has been printed on X-Press It card and coloured with Copics. I have tried to pick out as many of the colours in the swatch as possible.

The seaweed image is printed on printer card and fussy cut. The wavy designer paper is printed on printer card.

The seahorse image has been fussy cut and attached to the seaweed and then they were both attached to the wavy designer paper. The topper is then matted onto black card and glued to the front of an A5 card blank covered with metallic green card.

Finally a black peel-off greeting is stuck at the bottom of the card.

Thank you for visiting today. Take care.

Pippa

I would like to enter my card into:
Bugaboo's Birthday Celebration Day 3 - Beachy Colours

 

 

Bugaboo Birthday Bash Day 4

Today's challenge is Bingo


I have chosen to do the middle column: waves, Bugaboo Image and Sentiment.



Materials used:
Bugaboo Stamps - Seahorse
under water photo from the internet
gilding flakes
tag punch
blue paper string
silver peel-off letters
cropodile
googly eyes
black marker
A5 card blank
printer card

I printed two images (one reversed) onto printer card then used the gilding flakes to add colour before cutting them out. Where the flakes had covered up the original line art I drew it back in with a black marker. I stuck googly eyes on both images.

I punched out enough tags for my greeting from the scraps left after cutting the seahorses out. I punched a hole in the top of all the tags and used the peel-off letters to spell out my greeting. I then threaded the tags onto lengths of blue paper string.

I used a photo from the internet printed onto printer paper as my background covering the card blank with it before arranging the seahorses and their greeting on the front.

It's been sometime since I last got out the gilding flakes. I have had them for years but never been very successful with them. Having said that I think they did work well on the seahorses and gave them a bit of sparkle contrasting with the plain background.

Thanks for popping by. Take care.

Pippa

I would like to enter my card into:
Bugaboo's Birthday Celebrations Day 4 - Bingo

 

 

Bugaboo Birthday Bash Day 1

This week Bugaboo Stamps are celebrating their seventh birthday with seven days of challenges all based on a main theme of Under the Sea. Having enjoyed the Christmas Chaos week last year I could not miss the opportunity to have some more fun. However my week has been somewhat busy so not all the posts will be in the right order and there will be more than one on some days as time is now running short!

The first challenge is a Photo Inspiration.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXrOPIyDvpf-gahuO8nASZ2bQb5QdOMEMJXqPrDBp5XF9r0NBoBXEOpE-gcLby3sS-ptyYM9cBGC2PUtHWeH5BXbVC3Ag-xdgQ8QYY81gh1jk3n7y6QEphtFbtHeMFmdz0IxMwC4QF4O4/s400/1-14-17BB+-+Day+1+Photo+Challenge.png

 

Here is my take on it:



Materials used:
Bugaboo Stamps - Mini Set AKV Under the Sea
Bugaboo Stamps - Dollar Birthday Cake
X-Press It card
Copic pens
dark blue and yellow card
A5 card blank

I made up the cake by using the birthday cake as the background and adding the various sea creatures to the layers before printing it on X-Press It card and colouring it with copics. It has then been matted and layered onto yellow and dark blue card. (It looks black in the photo because I am struggling a bit trying to get to grips with new software. My usual photo editing programme refused to transfer to my new laptop and is no longer produced.)


Thanks for dropping in. Take care.

Pippa

I would like to enter my card into:
Bugaboo's Seventh Annual Birthday Celebration Day 1 - Photo Challenge

Scribbles Designs 4th Birthday Bonanza Challenge & Blog Hop

I was thrilled a few weeks ago to be invited to join the team at Scribbles Designs as a guest designer. To add to the fun my first post is part of a blog hop to celebrate Scribbles Designs 4th Birthday.

Scribbles Designs is celebrating its 4th birthday this month and we're kicking off our celebration with a combined Challenge AND Blog Hop!

If you are arriving here from Nick's blog, then you are right on track!If you are just starting, you can find a full list of all the stops at the bottom of this post.So blow up some birthday balloons and hang some streamers, it is time for the Birthday Bonanza to begin!!!

Throughout the hop you will see projects created by all the Scribbles Designs Team Members AND our two current Guest Scribblers. Comment at each stop along the hop for your chance to win one of the images used in that particular Scribbler's project.
You'll have until Sunday, January 22, 2017, at 11:59 p.m., to submit your comments.

Also, as this is our regular monthly challenge be sure to add your birthday cards to the

Challenge #49-Birthday Bonanza link up on the Scribbles Designs Challenge blog.

Along with all of our regular prizes, we have some extra special ones in honour

of our birthday this month. Be sure to click HERE for all the info and details you need!

For my stop along the hop, I am excited to share a project I created using the following images...

#204 Brrr-thday Chef

#B11 Birthday Wishes Border

Don't forget, one lucky person leaving a comment on my blog
will have the opportunity to win Birthday Wishes Border for free!!!

Check out what I made:

The two images have been sized and positioned to make the topper then printed out on X-Press It card and coloured in with Copic pens.

The coloured image has been trimmed and a black pen taken around the edges, then matted and layered on orange and blue card before being attached to a 15cm square card blank.

Next stop on our birthday train is Suze's blog. Click HERE to head on over!

If you miss any of the stops along the way, here is the complete list. You are definitely going to want to check out what my fellow team members have in store for you:

Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog

Diane Louise

Nick

GDT Pippa

Suze

Sherry

AJ

GDT Bernie

Pat

Lisa

Love to Craft Midway Reminder

It does seem a little strange posting my sample in the middle of the month having just got used to posting for the start of the month but at least I remembered to do it!



Materials used:Art By Mi Ran: With Love Lucy
X-Press It card
Copic pens
blue, orange and black card
white A5 card blank
greeting peel off sticker

The image is printed on X-Press It card and coloured in with Copic pens before trimming and matting and layering on matching coloured card.

The greeting sticker is attached to the balloon.

I like to keep my cards using Mi Ran's images fairly clean and simple to allow the image to take centre stage.

Can you believe it, we are already half way through January, it only seemed like yesterday that it was Christmas! I find it hard to believe that it is now almost four months since we moved house. Nearly all the boxes have been sorted and homes found for everything. My craftroom is in need of some more tidying and sorting but I think it is going to have to wait until half term now.

Don't forget to have a look at the Love to Craft challenge, you still have a couple of weeks left to enter and it is always anything goes. So whatever your craft is from card making to cross stitch, painting to paper folding, woodwork to welding, this is the challenge for you to show off your talents.

Thanks for dropping in. Take care.

Pippa

A new look to the Path of Positivity Challenge

A new year brings in changes to our challenge at Path of Positivity. Here is Lisa, the challenge organizer, to explain it in her own words:

Path of Positivity Challenge: Anything Goes with the Optional Theme: The Road Ahead

A brand new year stands before us with 365 days of possibilities. What will you do with this time you have been gifted? Will you plan your life and set manageable goals or will you take it one day at a time and simply wing it? It is also a great time to encourage those around you to think about their future and push them to forge new directions of their own. It is a new year filled with so many new possibilities and the road ahead is wide open. Which direction will your new discoveries take you?

In order to have a chance to win the prize for the Most Inspirational Creation, be sure to explore this idea of the Road Ahead. You could create Journalling Cards for yourself and tell us what some of your personal goals are for the new year. Perhaps, there is someone that you can encourage to move forward and start (or continue) to work on any number of goals. Receiving an encouraging card or even one that gives them a swift kick in the butt might be just what they need. Whatever direction the road ahead takes you, we'd love to part of that journey.  If you do follow the optional theme, be sure to add FT after your name so that we include you in the draw for the prize for Most Inspirational.  We also ask that you please leave a comment letting us know how your creation relates to the concept of the road ahead if it isn't readily clear within the design itself or clearly written somewhere else in your post. While you may easily see how the concept of the road ahead relates to your creation, it may not be as apparent to me or the DT members. That is why we ask that you clarify it somewhere, whether here or in your blogpost. You can simply write a sentence at the bottom of your post next to the link up for this challenge, if it would be easier. We just need to know how your project ties into the theme. Letting us know, clears up any ambiguity that may exist.

Remember, in order to be considered eligible for this month's prizes, ALL creations must be positive, inspirational, motivational or encouraging in some nature. You don't need to follow the optional theme if you simply want to have a chance at the Random Draw prize of a $15 gift certificate from Ike's Art, one of our sponsors this month. You only need to follow the theme if you want a chance to win this month's sponsored prize of a  a $10.00 gift certificate provided by Scribbles Designs.

********************************************************************
I am not a great one for New Year Resolutions which, lets face it, more often than not only last for a few days or weeks if it's a good year and then lead to the inevitable feelings of failure and guilt when they fizzle out. So I just try to do something new, something uplifting and something to help others at some stage during the year - that I can usually manage!

However each new year does open up endless possibilities. None of us know what lies ahead, it may be good times, bad times, challenging times, inspiring times or a mixture of them all. Whatever life throws at us we have the choice as to how we respond, how we learn from our experiences and how we can use that knowledge to help others.

The image on my card, while on a canal rather than a road, reflects that thought of not knowing what our journey holds.  The narrowboat has just come from around the bend into what looks like calm water but we do not know what it has come from or what it faces around the next bend. In some ways that adds to the excitement of life. I hope that where ever your life journey takes you this year that you will be able to ride the storms and enjoy the calm. Happy new year to you.



Materials used:Ike's Art - Narrowboat
acrylic greetings stamp
black archival ink pad
blue and yellow Core'dinations card
black card
white card
X-Press It card
Copic pens

The narrowboat image has been printed out on X-Press It and coloured with Copics then trimmed around the edges.

The greeting is stamped onto ordinary white card. I used white card to make up a DL easel card. the image and the inside are layered and matted on the coloured card. The greeting has also been matted and layered to match and attached with foam pads to act as the stopper.



I hope that you will join us at Path of Positivity. Now that the theme is optional it may not be so daunting to some of you as it was before. There are some really good prizes on offer too!

SPONSOR & PRIZE INFORMATION:

• $10 worth of digital stamps from Scribbles Designs, one of our guest sponsors this month, for the post or project that deems most inspiring of the bunch. To be eligible for this prize, you must follow the optional theme (details above).


• A $15 gift certificate from Ike's Art, one of our guest sponsors this month, for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants.  To be eligible for this prize, entry must be positive, inspirational, motivational or encouraging in some nature.


• One digital image from Creative Bug Digital SnapShots for each person chosen as a DT Delight.

Thanks for stopping by. Take care.

Pippa

January challenge at Dragons Lair Designs

As always the first Friday of the month sees the start of a new challenge at Dragons Lair Designs. This month the theme is New Beginnings. I have made a couple of really quick wall plaques with some wise words for the start of a new year.


Materials used:Dragons Lair Designs: Simply Lovable Digital ElementsDragons Lair Designs: Simply Lovable Digital Papersmount board
white printer card
I printed out the elements and papers that I wanted to use. Using the size of the two sayings as a base I cut out two pieces of mountboard and covered them with the papers I wanted to use.

The top plaque used up the left over bits of paper from the one underneath.

The heart embellishment is made from one of the elements printed twice and fussy cut before arranging as a pair.

The central topper is attached with foam pads to give some dimension.
The Dragons Lair challenge runs until the end of the  month so you have plenty of time to get an entry in, so why not head on over and join in the fun. You will find inspiration from my team mates over there as well and I am sure they would appreciate a visit to their personal blogs. There’s a prize of a voucher to spend in the Dragons Lair Designs store for a winner who’ll be chosen by a random number generator.

You do not have to use a Dragons Lair Design to enter but it would be lovely if you did. There are lots of goodies to discover at the store to get you going. Here are some useful links for you.

• Dragons Lair Designs Store– A fantastic range of digital downloads


• Dragons Lair Designs Inspiration Blog– Bookmark us and come back regularly for inspiration


• Dragons Lair Designs Challenge Blog– Challenges starting the 1st Friday of every month with different themes, please come along and take part


• Dragons Lair Designs Fan Group– Even more inspiration, challenges, freebies and fun activities


• Dragons Lair Designs Facebook Page– Please do pop over and “Like” our page


• Dragons Lair Designs Etsy Store – Another location to get hold of our range of digital downloads


• Janette Padley’s Creations on craftsUprint– Yet another location to get hold of our digital downloads


• Dragons Lair Designs Crafts Group– selling buttons and bits and bobs

We’d love to have you join us in our Fan Group and post up some pictures of any creations you make using any DLD items.

Happy new year to you and I pray 2017 will be a good  one for you. Thanks for stopping a while. Take care.

Pippa