Candy Winner

Just a quick post tonight to announce the winner of my bloghop candy, 'Hugh' stamp.  It was:

Stefeni.  Congratulations, Stefeni, please email cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk with your name and address and I'll get the stamp out to you.

Thankyou to everyone who joined in and thankyou for all your wonderful comments.  The full list of winners is over on Cards for Men.

Cards for Men - Challenge & Blog Hop

Wow, can you believe it's been a year of challenges over at Cards for Men? To celebrate we have lots going on with tons of prizes available. There are two challenges this time, both with a Christmas theme. You can make a card or a present or both, it's up to you. We'll draw a random winner for each category and top 3 as usual. You can get all the details and lots more ideas from the Design Team over at the main post. Here's what I made:

I made a card and a small gift box which I'll probably fill with chocolates.  Do you like the image?  It's called 'He won't notice' and it's the first image I've managed to get my husband to draw for me.  I've only been at him for about a year, lol.  I've coloured it using my Promarkers and the backing papers are from my stash (I think Papermania and DCWV).  If anyone would like a copy of the image for their own personal use, you can email me on freebie@donnasden.co.uk and I'll send it out.


Also, we are having an Anniversary Blog Hop. Woohoo!  You can get the full list of blogs over at Cards for Men. At each stop there'll be a word to collect and a candy draw. I've got this fab Greeting Farm Stamp to give away

This is one of the stamps I have left after closing down my shop a couple of months ago.  I'll list the rest of the Greeting Farm Stamps I have on my Leftover Stuff Blog if you're interested in purchasing any at knock down prices.  To be in with a chance of winning this you just need to leave a comment at the end of this post. A random winner will be drawn on 20 December 2010.
Each stop will have a word which you should collect to make a festive phrase. I have two words for you and they are both 'A'. At the end of the blog hop you should have 11 words, work out the phrase and leave it in the comments back at Cards for Men. The blog hop will run until midnight on 19th December 2010 and a winner will be chosen on 20th December.

Your next stop is Alison. If you lose your way you can go back to Cards for Men to get the full list. Good luck everyone.

Cards for Men Challenge - No. 24

I think I'll just manage to get this published on the right day, even though it's very late.  This is my DT card for the latest challenge over on Cards for Men where the theme is Christmas.

I'm currently very busy with stuff at home and needed a quick make for this challenge.  I already had the decoupage panel made up from a while back so with  a few layers and backgrounds, a card quickly appeared.  There's a lot to be said about making toppers in advance when you have the time and patience.

The image, background and sentiment are all Joanna Sheen's House Mouse and I have some available for sale on my other blog.  The decoupage sheets are detailed and take a while to cut out, but I actually found it quite relaxing, once I'd got the hang of my craft knife.  It very quickly becomes like a pen.   The other thing I found with these products, which are quite new to me, was the quality of the backing papers.  They are a good heavy weight and they ooze quality.

Teddy Calendar

Here's my boy version of the calendars I'm making for the Christmas Fayre in School.  The papers and embellishments are from the Dovecraft masculine range which I think is now discontinued.  The image is a stamp from Personal Impressions and I really loved how it turned out.  This was my first attempt with a limited number of promarkers and I don't think I did too bad.

I got a couple more sets of promarkers the other day and now have some duplicates which I will list on my other blog (£1 each) if anyone's interested.

I've nearly finished my calendars which is great because there's still two weeks to go.  I'm normally last minute for everything, lol.

Cards for Men Challenge - No. 23

Here's my card for the DT over at Cards for Men. Another Christmas card!  I actually coloured this image 5 times and deliberately kept it simple so that I could duplicate it for my general cards.

The image is Robin from Hope Jacare who is the wonderful sponsor of our challenge.  For full details of the challenge, the prize and how to get this image for free hop over to the main blog and check it all out.  You'll also find lots of wonderful inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.

I've coloured the image using prismacolours and blended with sansador.  The snowflakes are cut from a Marrianne D snowflake and the sentiment is a stamp from Dovecraft.

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Polkadoodles - Quick & Easy
Crafty Calendar Challenge - Winter Snowflakes
Crazy for Challenges - Square Cards
City Crafter Challenge - Get your digi on
One Stitch at a Time - Winter Wonderland
The Stampman Challenge - Christmas
Top-Tip Tuesday - Christmas

Cards for Men Challenge - No. 22

Woohoo, another Christmas Card.  If I keep this up, I'll have  enough by Christmas.  I'm sorry for the poor picture, and I'll try to get a daytime one today.

This card is my DT card for the new challenge over at Cards for Men where the theme is 'Anything goes - as long as it's male'.  My hubby said he thought it was a bit girlie but I always had this image in mind as a sexy santa helper to use for my husband's card.  I'll add a sentiment nearer Christmas and hopefully that will make it clearer, lol.

The image is from our fab sponsor, Digital Delights and can be found here.  I've coloured it with Prismacolours and tried a bit of white glaze on the trim of the hat and dress.  Unfortunately it ran over the lines a bit and pulled in some of the red so ended up pink.  I'll probably have a second go at this image and try something like 'snowtex' instead.  Anyway, hop on over to Cards for men, where you'll find all the details of the latest challenge and some inspiration from the rest of the design team.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

The Stampman - Challenge #8 Cards for Men
Stamp Something - Use a digi
Tuesday Throwdown - Anything goes
Tip-Top Tuesday - Anything goes
One Stitch at a Time -  All celebrations

Smirk Calendar

This is my prototype for the calendars I intend to make for the school Christmas Fayre at the end of November.  I cannot claim any credit for the idea as I have seen lots of them made on crafty blogs over the last couple of Christmases.  I have to give a big thank you, though, to Craftygranny not only for the inspiration but also for a big stack of beermats that she very kindly sent me.  She currently has a candy giveaway on her blog and a wonderful digi-stamp for sale to raise funds for the Ear Trust.  Pop over and take a look.

So the papers are from the Smirk 'love and friendship' range as are the stamps.  If you like the stamps, you'll find them over on my Leftovers blog.

The calendar tabs are from Anita's and the ribbons and embellishments are freebies from magazines.  I'm hoping to make a load of them using scraps from my stash.  I'll post more of them as I get some different designs.

A card for Christmas

I made this card recently with a wonderful stamp from Jayne Netley Mayhew.  I thought it would be a good addition to my Christmas card stash (all 2 of them, lol) and I really did love the image.  It's coloured using my Prismacolours.  The backing papers are from Dovecraft's Jolly Happy Christmas and DCWV Christmas Wishes.  The holly is a die from Marianne Designs.

As most of you know, I recently and very sadly closed my online craft shop.  However, not all of my stock sold and I have listed the leftover Jayne Netley Mayhew stamps on my other blog.  If you're interested in purchasing any they are £3.49 each and can be found here.

Also, a quick reminder that our challenge theme on Cards for Men at the moment is 'Happy Birthday' so pop over and have a go.

Cards for Men Challenge - No. 21

Better late than never, is always my motto.  This should have been on yesterday, but I didn't manage to get the post done, so big apologies to the rest of the team.  This is my DT card for the latest challenge over at Cards for Men where the theme this time is 'Happy Birthday'.  The rest of the Design Team have done a stunning job so hop over and take a look.

The image is from our fab sponsor, Fresh Brewed Designs, and can be found here.  I've coloured him using my trusty prismacolours and blended with Sansador.  The rest of the card is from a kit I bought from Kars back in April and have only just dipped into.

My little boy quickly snapped this one up for his friend's birthday last week, so that was a firm seal of approval.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

One Stitch at a Time - Use your Digi Stamps
Craftalicious - Anything goes
Crazy4challenges - Birthday
Create4fun - Use a Digi Stamp

Cards for Men Challenge - No. 20

Today's the day for a new challenge over on Cards for Men.  The theme is Autumn and this is my DT card.  The image is 'Squirrel' from Jayne Netley Mayhew and it was a breeze to colour with my prismas.

I've used Bazzill Basics to make the base card and some  C'oredinations for the mounting and leaves.  The design paper is taken from a Joanna Sheen CD - In Other Words and the leaf punch is from X-Cut.

As you all know, my shop currently has a closing down sale which will run until Thursday.  After that, I'm going to start a sister blog to list my left over stuff that people can buy direct.  I'll post more about it later.

Why not pop over to Cards for Men and have a look at the wonderful cards made by the rest of the Design Team and maybe hop around and leave them some comments.  Everyone likes to get feedback.

Challenge No. 6 - Winner & Top 3

Wow what wonderful entries we had for challenge no. 6.

As usual the winner is picked using Random.org and it is:

So congratulations got to Natasha.  Drop me an email on winner@donnasden.co.uk and I'll sort out your prize.

The top 3 were picked by consensus of opinion as usual and they are:

19 - Nancy

21 - Suzi

29 - Joyce

Congratulations go out to you all.  Please feel free to grab the top 3 badge from our sidebar and add it to your own.

Now that we have all the nice bits over, I have some sad news.  I made the sad decision last week to close my shop, Donna's Den of Crafts.  There were a number of reasons, the main ones being time and money.  the consequence of this is that we will not be having anymore challenges here.  I'm very sad about it all, not least of all because I've really enjoyed working with the girls on the Design Team and visiting everyone's blogs to see your entries.  I know the Design Team are all upset about it too.

On a brighter note, I do have a massive 30% off all my stock so pop over and grab a bargain.

I don't know what else to say.  I'll continue to use the blog for my own work and hope that you'll continue to follow me, but for now, I'm not so active.  Thank you all for your support.

Challenge No. 5 - Winner & Top 3

I'm really sorry this is so late.  I've been on a different planet this week.

The winner as usual was chosen by random.org and it was

Corry.  Congratulations!  Can you please email your details to info@donnasden.co.uk and I'll get it posted out to you as soon as possible.

On to the top 3, in numerical order,

14 - Carrie

27 - Anita M

43 - Christine Craig

Well done ladies.  Please grab our Top 3 badge and add it to your sidebar.  That's it from me tonight as it's late.

Lots of Layers for Challenge 6

Gosh, all those cards last time were wonderful.  Thanks to all of you who entered and for the lovely comments left.  We really do appreciate them.

So the theme for this fortnight is 'Decoupage'.  I'm sure you'll find lots of inspiration from the wonderful cards produced by the DT.  Unfortunately mine isn't ready yet but I will get it on here today.

Patricia

Amy

Jenny

Sylvia

Tracey

Zoe

Fab, aren't they?  The prize this time is a £10 gift voucher for Donna's Den of Crafts (that's me!) to spend however you like.  We stock a wide range of  cardmaking and scrapbooking items from Dovecraft, Joanna Sheen, Crafter's Companion, Spellbinders.....to name but a few.  Our prices are reasonable and p&p is only £1.  Most in-stock orders are dispatched next working day.  Click the logo below to take a look around.

The challenge will close at midnight BST (British Summer Time) on 5th September 2010 and the rules are


1. The card must be new for us although you can combine with other challenges.
2. You need to follow the theme/sketch that is set.
3. You can enter more than one card into the challenge (up to a maximum of 3 entries)


Leave your name and a direct link to your entry (not just to your blog) below.  If the link tool is not there for some reason then leave the details in the comments and I'll add you in when I'm doing the draw.

Cards for Men Challenge - No. 17

Here's my card for the latest challenge over on Cards for Men which hopefully Mr Blogger has scheduled correctly for me as I'm now on holiday.  I made this card for a girl I work with who has just had a lovely baby boy.  The image is a sheet from my stash and I can't recall the name at the moment.  I'll find it and let you all know.  I've used pearlised card from Craft UK together with a heart from Dovecraft Handcrafted Stickers and a chipboard sticker also from Dovecraft.

I'm pleased to say that Donna's Den of Crafts is sponsoring this challenge and the prize is a £10 gift voucher to spend in my shop.

Please pop over to the main post to get loads more inspiration from the design team and for full details of the challenge.

New Chritmas Stock in from Dovecraft

I've got brand new designs from Dovecraft for Christmas in my shop.  They have four ranges which are Christmas Fancy, Jolly Happy Christmas (pictured), Noel and Let it Snow.  Pop over and take a look to see the full range.

I'm off on holiday for a week so you won't see that much from me.  I have a post scheduled for Monday though. :)

Have a nice week.

Challenge 4 Winner, Top 3 and a couple more cupcake cards from me.

I really think we're getting some wonderful entries into our challenges.  Thanks so much to all of you who take the time to visit and join in.  It makes all the difference.

The winner, as usual, has been chosen by Random.org and is

and that's Sarah T.  Congratulations Sarah, drop me an email on info@donnasden.co.uk and I'll sort out your prize.

The top 3, in no particular order are

7 - The Crafty Den

18 - Happy Days

37 - Stephanie Hester

Well done, everyone.  Grab the top 3 badge from the sidebar and add it to your own.

I promised a couple more cards from my decoupage sheet so here they are:

I just think that these cards are great for bumping up your stockpile of general purpose cards.  I hope you like them and if you'd like to see the sheet I used for all three cupcake cards then click here.  Night all.

Challenge 5 will be 'Something Sweet'

It was wonderful to see so many green cards last time.  I know it's going to be hard picking the top 3 today, lol.


So this time our theme is 'Something Sweet' and I'm sure you'll find some wonderful inspiration from our Design Team.

Zoe 

Patricia

Amy

Jenny

Tracey

Donna

So there's our ideas.   I suppose you want to know what you can win, don't you?  It's this wonderful stamp sheet,

Isn't it fabulous?  Here's the rules before you enter.

The challenge will close at midnight BST (British Summer Time) on 22nd August 2010 and the rules are
1. The card must be new for us although you can combine with other challenges.
2. You need to follow the theme/sketch that is set.
3. You can enter more than one card into the challenge (up to a maximum of 3 entries)


Leave your name and a direct link to your entry (not just to your blog) below.  If the link tool is not there for some reason then leave the details in the comments and I'll add you in when I'm doing the draw.

Challenge No. 5 - Something Sweet

The theme on Donna's Den of Crafts this week is 'Something Sweet' and here's my take on it.  I used a die-cut decoupage sheet from Craft UK for the images and sentiments.  If you haven't seen these sheets, take a look here, because at 95p they are wonderful value.  I have two other cards made which I will show tomorrow, all out of the one sheet!  The base card is Bazzill Basics and the backing sheet is from the DCWV Sweet range.

I have a young family and a really busy lifestyle with work, my shop, challenge blogs, etc. so cards like this that are quick and easy to make are ideal.

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

Crazy 4 Challenges - 49 - include a cupcake
My Time To Craft - Let them eat cake
City Crafter - Yum
Crafty Cardmakers - Happy Birthday

Take a look at the main post for all the prize details and rules.  You'll also find some wonderful inspiration from the other members of the Design Team.  See you all later.

Greeting Farm Stamps

I've branched out and got my first few Greeting Farm stamps in stock.  This stamp, Xmas Sweeties, is one of them and hopefully you'll like them very much.





There's a pretty good chance that one of these stamps will find it's way into my stash, so look out for some Christmas cards in the near future.


To see the full range in stock, click here.

New House Mouse Stamps in stock - woohoo

I'm so pleased to tell you that I have these wonderful stamps from House Mouse Designs in stock over at Donna's Den of Crafts.  These unmounted sheets (measuring 4"x8") are very good value at £8.99.  That's £1 off the regular price.

In fact, all my House Mouse products (Stamps, Decoupage & Backing Papers) sell at £8.99 instead of the usual £9.99.  They are all beautiful designs and wonderful quality.  I've already snaffled some myself and will let you see the results in the near future.

Cards for Men Challenge - No. 16

I'm a bit late this week with my card for the Cards for Men challenge and must apologise for the poor quality of the photograph.  I was initially ahead of time with this card, but I got a virus last week which knocked me sideways, and things all slipped back again.

The challenge on Cards for Men is 'Off on an Adventure' and the digistamps we got from the sponsor, Squiggle Stamps, were just the job.  Take a look over at the rest of the DT to see the full range and the fab prize on offer.

I was really pleased with myself for crating this scene as the pieces came together easily.  I started by cutting my own cloud shape then using a sponge dauber and Memento Ink (Bahama Blue) created the sky background.  The sand is cut from a piece of cream glitter card and the image is coloured with Prismas.  The crystals and sentiment finish it off.  I hope you like it as much as I do.

Challenge No. 3 - Winner & Top 3

I'm so sorry that I didn't get this posted last night but tiredness overtook events.  Anyhow, here we are, tired again, but determined to get this posted tonight, lol.  I should point out, that I am not ill, I just haven't had a good night's sleep since we transferred our youngest from his cot to a bed.  Good nights, I'm up 3 times, bad nights feel like 33.

Anyway, enough of me, on with the results.  I used random.org for the winner and here is the result...

Number 31 was Sammibug.  Congratulations!  Send your name and address to blog@donnasden.co.uk and I'll get your prize out to you as soon as possible.

Now onto our top three, in no particular order,

5 - Renata

13 - Leanne Garner

28 - Ula

Congratulations to you all.  Grab the Top 3 badge from the sidebar and add it to your own.  Don't forget to take a look at the current challenge and have a go.                                                                                                                                                                       

We want to see your 'Green' cards for Challenge no. 4

It looks like challenge  3 went well with 45 entries.  We'll be back later with the winner and top three, but for now a big thank you to everyone who joined in.  This time we've got a colour challenge - Green.  It doesn't have to be monochromatic, just visually we need to see green as the main colour.


Up for grabs this time is a £10 voucher to spend over at Donna's Den of Crafts.  I've added a link to the left-hand sidebar for new products so that you can see what we've got in recently.  At Donna's Den of Crafts we sell a wide range of brands and products to suit all tastes and budgets.  Postage is only £1 and as a family-run business we offer service with a smile.  Please pop over and take a look around.  I'm sure you'll find something you like.


Our Design Team have been busy producing these wonderful creations to give you some ideas.

Pat

Donna

Sylvia

Tracey

Jane

Zoe

Jenny

AMY

Aren't they wonderful?  You may have noticed that we have a new name, that's Zoe, who's a guest designer for us for the next four challenges.  Have a look over on her blog to see some wonderful work.  Here are the rules:

The challenge will close at midnight BST (British Summer Time) on  8th August 2010 and the rules are
1. The card must be new for us although you can combine with other challenges.
2. You need to follow the theme/sketch that is set.
3. You can enter more than one card into the challenge (up to a maximum of 3 entries)


Leave your name and a direct link to your entry (not just to your blog) below.  If the link tool is not there for some reason then leave the details in the comments and I'll add you in when I'm doing the draw.

Challenge No. 4 - Green

The theme this time on Donna's Den of Crafts is the colour 'Green'.  Here's my card which I have to say, I am really pleased with.  The main image is a die-cut decoupage from Dovecraft Wild Blossom range.  This was nice and easy to put together and with the addition of some pink crystals, looks really effective.

I saw a tutorial for making the shadow box card on Paul's blog when he entered a recent challenge on my other blog, Cards for Men.  His instructions were so clear that I didn't need to refer back to them as I could remember every bit.  Thanks Paul.

I finished off with a sentiment from Sweet 'n' Sassy Stamps and a couple of mesh butterflies.  I'll probably add an area to the back to write a message.

The prize for the challenge this time is a £10 voucher so hop over to the main post for more details and inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.