DCM weekly dare - inside & out

At Daring Cardmakers this week

it's my turn to dare you all

I dare you to take the design of your card to the inside as well as the outside.

Add a little finishing touch to match the theme on the outside, or Surprise the receiver with a flap, foldout, decorated journal block to write on,or one of those pop-out delights.... It really adds so much to a card when there is attention to detail on the inside as well as the outside. I know some of you are finished your Christmas cards already so this week it's Any theme, Christmas or not But make the inside count too :)

My freind Jo, had a little baby girl this week

**** Jamali ****

and I made this card to celebrate her birth

I carried the Vintage Imagery through to the inside, along with a touch of gold.

Bits used are - Basic Grey PP from SAW, Collections Ephemera Photographs & German Scrap from TSQ Collections Rusty Word, key charm, brads, string,Distress Ink, and my sewing machine.

So have you DARED to DARE yet?

Come on I DARE YOU!

DCM weekly dare - candy stripes

This week at

Daring Cardmakers

It was ourSaffa who set the dare!

I love the stripey candy sticks that are around at this time of year so inspired by this I challenge you all to create a card featuring stripes of some kind, the occasion is up to you but you must use some form of stripes on your card. Maybe stamps, or paper, or ribbon...

So maybe I took Saffa's dare a little bit too literally

But my kids love it :)

and all want me to give it to them for Christmas, lol!

Make sure you pop on over to the main dare blog

to see what the other DT have come up with for this

SWEET DARE ;o)

So have you dared to DARE yet?

Come on I dare you!

EDIT 8th Dec 8:49am

thankyou all for your lovely comments,

I just wanted to add, that the Candy Cane isn't an original idea of mine

I've seen it used before like this, only I used a real candy cane :)

DCM weekly dare - Song without words

This week at

Daring Cardmakers
Lythan chose to dare this cool dare

Song without words
I would like you to create a card inspired by a song or a carol - it could be for Christmas or not! (you may have got all your Christmas cards done by now...) BUT there is a twist. the words of the song are NOT to be seen on the front of the card. You could leave it to us to guess! Have fun!

I chose one of my fav Christmas Carols for my card, using some lovely papers that my sweet friend Kim sent me **waves Kim**, she sent me the most lovely collage papers, so I had fun using some of them, along with this image from a vintage 'Golden Book' (I found this image on 'google images') and had to use it.....

So have you guessed my favourite carol yet......

ofcourse you have, it's

We Three Kings

So have you Dared to DARE yet?....Come on I dare you!

Make sure you have a lookie at the DCM blog for more inspiration, the girls have made some SCRUMMY cards :)

This week at DCM

Bea from Ribbon Oasis is sponsoring a challenge to use her fabbylicious range of Christmassy ribbons on our cards. So Lucky Us - we all received an envelope full of ribbons to play with and below you'll find the cards we've made (so far!) So this week we'd love you to join in and make Christmas cards using lots and lots of fabby, yummy ribbon - now that shouldn't be too hard, after all we all love ribbon, don't we? Don't forget that you can replenish and expand your ribbon supply easily by visiting the Ribbon Oasis website - you'll find so much of the gorgeous twirly stuff there you'll be spoilt for choice - we guarantee it!
Now then, just in case you need a bit more enticement to join in our dare:
Wrap it in Ribbon for Christmashere's a little sweetener:

Bea is giving a ribbonful prize to one lucky darer this week.

There is still time to join in on the dare, so come on

I DARE YOU!!!!!

Happy Birthday DCM xxx

The group of friends who got together to form the
Daring Cardmakers
back in October 2006 has developed and grown into a huge circle of crafting and blogging friends who come together from all over the world to share their inspiration and their talents so enthusiastically, and are always so supportive of each other's cardmaking. In honour of all of you who've helped make this blog so successful, and such a friendly place to "play" we've decided to revisit our very first dare for this our first anniversary, but with a twist. The subject is, as in our original dare "friends", but this time the title is
CIRCLE of FRIENDS
and we'd like you to incorporate at least one circle into your card.It would make it a very special occasion if for this dare you'd make a card just for the DCM rather than doubling up with other challenges.Please join in and celebrate our first anniversary with us,without all of you - our wonderful extended "Team of Darers" and of course all those who've joined us as Guest Designers over the last year it wouldn't be half as much fun.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARING CARDMAKERS ALL

I decided to make a Gothic Arch Card to Celebrate our DCM birthday!
and this little vintage image from a collage sheet I received in my TSQ dt pack was just perfect for the circle of friends theme!
****************************************************************
Well not only has October been a busy month in our home with reno's happening, Annual leave, School Holidays, A new puppy, day trips, Visitors, etc....
But we Celebrated 2 Birthdays, mine early in October and Jacobs was on Tues.
anyway, I wanted to share with you all the beautiful Handmade cards I have received...
and to say thankyou to you sweet girls, I love them all!!!!

Made By Kathy
Made by Rhi & Lythan
Made By Beth
Made By Robin & Sandie
Made by Jenny & my niece MJ xxx
Aren't they all GORGEOUS!!!!!

DCM weekly dare - Where the Wild things Are

This week at DCM

it's our Kathy's to set you a really Beastly dare!

The theme is ANIMAL and you can use anything that's animal inspired - not those diddy little ones like bugs, birds and butterflies (though you can include them in your design of course) but what I'd really like to see is bigger, wilder, more fabulous or fantastic creatures So you could maybe use animal die cuts, animal prints on paper or fabric, or maybe animal words or phrases "grrrrr get down tiger"!!!! You could invent your own wild and wonderful beasties, or go back in time for dinosaurs, or into the world of mythology for all sorts of incredible creatures. How about a card in the shape of a tiger, elephant or monkey? Now, there's a challenge for you....

I'd love you to all go really wild over this one and have loads of beastly fun

So here is my 'imaginary' Animal design

I haven't got any stamps of animals, oh I've got birdies and butterflies and those scrummy things...But Kathy said no to those things

so I had to make my own animal...

I used some of my stamp collection to create my 'inky horse'

Can you see, I used a key stamp three times, a flourish stamp for the tail, a swirl stamp for the middle, and a crown stamp on top of his 'key head'

So the details are, Hero Arts Key Stamp, Catslife Press Bird & Crown stamps, Autumn Leaves Flourish stamp, Collections words from TSQ, rub-on from American crafts, Maria George Crystals, a scrap of PP, cardstock and Versa Fine Black inkpad, oh yes and my sewing machine.
So have you dared to DARE yet? Come on I dare you!!!

Check out what the other girls in the DT have come up with this week, they are WILD!!!

DCM weekly dare - Postcard

This week at Daring Cardmakers

it was our Jane's turn to set the dare

It's Jane here ! It's my turn to dare again .........and I'm still on the postal theme ......yep thats right - I want you to design a post card which can actually be sent- and whats more I want you to actually post it! Aren't I mean ? Honestly, its not as bad as it sounds- just a bit more thinking 'outside the square'.....excuse the pun :0).

So have you Dared to DARE?...Come on I dare you!
don't forget to check out what the other DT girls have come up with,
they are so scrummy!!!!!

And here is mine :O)

now for something different this week, I want to send mine to one of the you!

so the first person to leave a comment can have this little postcard

:O)

DCM weekly dare - Charity begins at home

This week at DCM it was my turn to set the dare

and here it is!

Let's go Charity shoppingor Op shopping (as we call it in Australia)
I DARE you to visit your local Charity Shop & make someone else's
TRASH your STASH!
.........and make a GORGEOUS card from what you find.

You'll be amazed at the special little treasures you'll find

if you only take the time to look with CREATIVE EYES

So this is what I bought
A very old dictionary :O),8mts of lace,a string of shell beads, & these little party food forks!
and this is what I made!
I managed to use all of the treasures I bought.
I added a vintage image from a sheet of Collage images made by Stamp-it out of my DT supplies from The Stamping Queen, Prima flower,Fancy Pants Rub-on,Stampin Up Stamp,lace butterfies,string,& sewing machine,
I folded and sanded the image to give it a bit more of a Vintage and Loved look!

So Have you Dared to DARE yet?...Come on I dare you

DCM weekly dare - In A Word

It was our Rhi's turn to dare us this week at

Daring Cardmakers
She is daring you & me to use a Word as the main focal point to your card. It can be a name, a greeting or just a word that inspires you. You can use other text but only one word as a main embellishment. So dig out your dictionaries, die cutters, alphabet stamps, rubons or download a funky font and show us what you can do! The design team have come up with some fabulous creations to inpsire you.
Loved this dare Rhi!

so I decided to make a 'TAG CARD'

most of my bits for this piece come from

The Stamping Queen

so what did I use - 'lost aussie' stamp, Transparency butterfly, Collections chipboard keyhole, Collections Word 'believe',other bits from my stash are some tags, some pp,ribbon, chain

& a SCRUMMY vintage Key, and yes my sewing machine...

So have you Dared to DARE yet? come on I Dare YOU!

DCM weekly dare

This week at Daring Cardmakers

the dare for you and me was to make a Christmas card

with the recipe of three things

you had to have some Purple, torn edge & a hole

Pop on over and check out what the other DT girls have created, they are beautiful!

and ofcourse we can't wait to see what you create as well :O)

My Scrappin buddy Casey bought me back this lovely pressie from a recent trip away, I've used it as the main feature of this card. It's a 'home made' chipboard piece she purchased while on the trip, stamped into Opals. I just love it, Thanks again Casey :O)

Purple - there are flecks of purple in my feature piece Casey gave me and in the Artchix Studio Faux Postage Stamps I got these in one of my DT packs from The Stamping Queen
torn edge - well you have to look hard, I've torn the edge of my iddy biddy little tag hanging from the bow. Hole - there is a hole in the little stitcker 'hinge' I added to the left hand side.
So have you Dared to Dare yet?...Come on I DARE YOU!!!!

DCM weekly dare - Trio of Welsh Barbers ?????

To be able to understand the title of this weeks dare it's most important to be WELSH!!!!!

but for a wonderful discription of what her dare mean pop on over to

Daring Cardmakers

and Lythan will tell you what you need to do.... I'm an Aussie what do I know!!!

all jokes aside then...

this is my card Now a few weeks ago,

I had the most delightful package arrive from SAM

it was full of the most wonderful goodies.. I'm sooooo spoilt..

and these cutie-pie mini die cut coasters were in there, so I've use 3 of them (that leaves me enough to make a cute little mini album..big smiles) So thankyou Sam, you helped me heaps with this weeks dare!!! ;O)

Now the journaling..

Why was he born so beautiful, Why was he born at all, because he had no say in it, No say in it at all.... Happy Birthday.. You Beautiful Thing!

Every single Birthday celebration in my family, as soon as you finish singing the 'happy birthday' song... my dad sings this... Oh I used to be soooooo embarrassed as a kid, LOL!

now when I hear the 'happy birthday' song, I hear my dad sing this in my head!

bit's used are - GinX mini coasters from SAM :O)

Cardstock, some more of my tortured old book, some string, a jewellery clip, jumpring, and a vintage carnival token that says "for amusement only" heeeheeee...

So have you dared to DARE...Come on I dare you!!!

DCM weekly dare - buttons

this week at Daring Cardmakers
it is Keryn's turn to dare us, I know you've all got buttons stashed away somewhere, whether they've been purchased at a cardmaking store or you thriftily snipped them off DH's old shirt. I'd like you to find those buttons and use them somewhere on a card. They can be real buttons, craft shop buttons, die cut buttons, faux buttons or another type of button, surprise us all.
We're very happy to have not only the usual NZ, Aussie and UK contingent this week, but also cards from Germany - from our latest,

very talented Guest Designer, Rein,

and from Sylvie who's kindly stayed on for another week and adds a French flavour to the blog.

Well Blogger has decided to play nice... after many attempts to post, I've finally been able to post my card here for this weeks dare..

I've had these delicious papers for a little while now,

the Lovely Mel Goodsell sent them to me,

and they have been calling out to be used on a card, and here tis...Thankyou again Mel, they are truly scrummy papers :O)

I also used my Sassafras Lass flower stamps & Heidi Swapp 'cherish' stamp and Heidi swap bling, some vintage buttons, my sewing machine & computer generated journaling.

Anyway, hopefully whatever the problem with blogger has been it is fixed now...

DCM little extra - spots & stripes

Daring Cardmakers

for this weeks little extra at DCM

We'd like you to make a card featuring dots and dashes, spots and stripes - that's it, a nice easy and fun little theme for you to play with - just make sure you get both spots AND stripes on your card. We'd love to see your dotty, spotty, stripey creations
so here is my card, I used my new Petaloo flowers available from Scrap A While , Autumn Leaves Flourish, Bella Chipboard corner, scrummy printed paper, a tag I dyed with Walnut ink, Imaginisce fancy brad, stripey ribbon, key charm, maria george crystals, and my sewing machine

So have you Dared to DARE?...come on I dare you!!!

DCM weekly dare - Photo Finish

This weeks Dare at

Daring Cardmakers

is set by Tracie (Bondgirl) and is titled Photo Finish....
This week I want you to make a card for any occasion but it must include a photograph somewhere! The photo subject can be people, items, locations, flowers, absolutely anything so get snapping. Dont forget to check copyright if you are using someone elses photographs in your art work
We're very happy to have the wonderfully talented Sylvie (crazystamps) joining us for a couple of weeks as our Guest Designer. If you're not already a fan of her work, please take a few minutes to check out her blog - you won't be sorry!

Alrighty then.. here's my card, I've gotta say I smiled most of the time making this little number..lol! The lads really are Very Funny in their special party hats!!!

So I used - Basic Grey PP, Stampin Up spotty stamp from 'delight in life' set, & month stamp from 'its a date' set, Image from Tuscan Rose CD, Rub-ons from American Crafts Mini Marks, button, crystals, 7 Gypsies circle stickers (cut down from tabs) computer generated journaling, Bazzill Cardstock and my machine....

Now I know I've been tagged by some Beautiful Bloggin Chicky Babes :O)

and I'm getting to them.. sorry girls..but I promise sometime this week!

So Have you Dared to DARE?...Come on I dare you!!!!

Hi honey I'm home......

It's our Kathy's turn to dare us all at

Daring Cardmakers

this week, and here it is......
OK, Absolutely anything goes this week as long as it's on the theme of TIME."It's About Time" So you can use clocks, calendars, quotes, sayings, pictures, nursery rhymes, or altered art-type stuff, whatever takes your fancy - just take some time out to play and have some fun; remember, time flies when you're having fun!

So here is my card,

It wont be long to Fathers Day here in Australia, so just getting in quick ;o)

some of the bits I've used are - Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey PP, 7 Gypsies alpha card, Bella chipboard corners & label holder, heidi swapp clock face, some brads, a little arrow, ticket from Ink-stains (hi girls.. miss ya!), EK success alpha stamps, and ofcouse my sewing machine!

Hope you've all had a FABBY weekend, I've not long returned from our church camp (it's sunday night here...) had a brilliant weekend, but am ready for a shower and a bit of an early night...

I've had such a lovely time with my family and my church family!

DCM weekly dare - all checked out!

This week over at the Daring Cardmakers Blog

Its our turn Jane's turn to dare us all

Okay -are you ready ? For my dare you can choose any theme for the card BUT it must incorporate 'Checks', whether it be gingham paper or ribbon or squares, any thing really as long as it incorporates some kind of shape with 4 equal sides....... so go on- I dare you to think outside the square/step out of the box ..............easy as, eh ?!!

Totally Cool Dare Jane, love it!!!!

so here is my card...Actually it's an ATC

so it measures a wee... 21/5 x 31/2" when shut.

So Bits I used are - Tim Holtz Printed Paper, Stamp-it 'creativity' stamp, Lost Aussie 'art doll stamp', Cats life press 'grunge date' stamp, Stamp-it 'limited edition' stamp, I used Acme label maker for the 'inspirational' word (there's a link in my side bar for that), some ribbon and two tiny little solid brass rings I got from a fishing store, and ofcourse my sewing machine!

Oh and the check on this little number is actually pieced by me :O)

So Have you Dared to DARE yet?.... come on I dare you!!!

DCM weekly dare - Pockets

a tissue, a tissue, we all fall out....

this week at Daring Cardmakers

it's our Lynne's turn to dare us all...

It's my turn - (Lynne) - to set the dare this week.OoooOOoooOOooooOOOoo!!!!!!!!My first Dare. I’m so nervous, I can’t believe that it’s my turn already.I’ve gone for something nice and easy - had to break myself in gently.POCKETS I’d like to see lots and lots of pockets. Pockets full of posies, Brass in Pocket (love the Pretenders).Pockets on clothes, Pockets from clothes, Library Pocket, Pockets of this and Pockets of that. Get the idea? Pockets and Pockets of Pockets.

Loved this dare Lynne, thanks for the fun :O)
My Pocket holds a Chipboard decoration, that can be hung up in your home, or just kept with the card. And my pocket is a COFFEE FILTER PAPER size 4

so other bits I've used are - Basic Grey Printed Paper, Stamp-It Stamp #siset003lk available from SCRAP A WHILE, Autumn Leaves flourish stamp, paper flowers, Tapemeasure twill, Maria George crystals, Tuscan Rose Image, Tim Holtz Distress ink - Walnut stain, computer generated words printed onto more coffee filter paper, and ofcourse my sewing machine.

So have you Dared to DARE yet?... COME ON I DARE YOU!!!

DCM weekly dare - A visit to the Habberdashery dept.

This week at Daring Cardmakers
it's my turn to dare you all
"Your card can be any theme you like, just as long as it's got something you'd find in a Haberdashery Department on it
Alright then, grab that old sewing basket of yours or raid your sewing machine drawer, have a look at what creative bits are hidding away there....maybe it's buttons, a zip, hook & eye's, ribbons, braids, Dressmaking patterns, tape measures,Pins & Needles, lace, safety pins or embroidery thread....
so many wonderful little treasures just waiting to be added to your next card :O)
I'm going to add one more rule...
Yes you may stitch on your card, but that can't be your only haberdashery item...."

Donna is our Gorgeous Guest Designer for a couple of weeks, Welcome Donna! :O)
so happy to have you join in the fun
So here is my card, I've given into my 'lust for rust' on this card, and used a rusty old 'overalls' buckle and some ribbon for my 'Habby' items.

other bits I've used are - Stamp-it stamp #siset0031k available from Scrap A While, hmmmm can't remember what that paper is... does anyone know...oh I hate that... anyway the green strip is the back of the flower paper, American Crafts MiniMarks rub-on, Maria George crystals (I'll soon own shares in the company at this rate, they are a bit of a fav at the mo), Versa Magic Midnight black inkpad, & My ever trusty sewing machine :O)

Well I know I've been a bit absent from the blogs lately, and it was a much needed rest, I actually think I burnt myself out, and needed to slow down for the sake of everyone who lives with me lol! and myself ofcourse....

I know I've been tagged a couple of times, and I'll get to them shortly (thanks girls)

My kids go back to school Tuesday, it's been such a joy having them home from school, we've been doing lots of craft together, not much papercraft, mostly beading and oooooohhhh I've got something a little different ;o) I'll show sometime over the weekend when they are finished...

anyhoo... have yourself a 'FABBY'

(oooh I do love this word my UK blog friends use) weekend :O)

and I'll catch you around Cyberworld....

DCM weekly dare - text message

This week at Daring Cardmakers

the Design Team have come up with this idea for you to play with,

we hope you'll enjoy it. TEXT...
definition... the main body of matter in a book or manuscript. the actual wording of anything written or printed, short passage of scripture, etc
We'd like you to somehow incorporate text into your cards this week - not just one word.. but a portion of TEXT... like a poem, or newspaper print, Caligraphy, Even rip up an old text book and use some of the paper from it, there are masses of possibilities here, so let your imaginations run riot and let us see you texting to your heart's content!

Ahhhh....this is one of my fav mediums - Text...

I love incorporating text into my art..

so here is my card, I've inked up those scrummy new stamps I got from

Scrap A While last weekend for this card, oh I do love these stamps...

Lovely bits I've used are - Stamp-it Rachel Greig stamps, Bella chipboard frame & corner, Bella Blossom, Basic Grey PP, Tim Holtz PP, Photocopied vintage Newsprint, Minimarks Rub-ons, Versa Magic Jumbo Java Inkpad, Metal word & brads, computer generated words, string & my sewing machine.

on to some other things....

Well it's school hols here at my home we have one more week to fit a lot of fun into our days, so I'm enjoying the company of my three beautiful children, so If I'm not hanging out too much in Cyber Space,(Forums and Blogs) it's cause I'm enjoying spending time with them...

also

I've been making an Etsy shop, oh it's really fun

there is a little link in my side bar if you want to check it out let me know if you have an etsy shop in the comments and I'll come and check yours out sometime :O)

I really think it's a great place to sell your ART & to be inspired by others.

that's it did you make it to the end of this post,

before falling asleep...lol!

Have a FANTABULOUS week Blog buddies :O)

DCM weekly dare - Beady Eyed...

This week at Daring Cardmakers
it's our Saffa's turn to dare us all...
Its quite a simple challenge really. All I ask is that you make use of beads on your cards. They can be seed beads, big chunky beads or little sequins, whatever takes your fancy. We can't wait to see your designs....I hope you don't go all beady eyed by the end of the week!!
We have another new Guest Designer joining us for the next couple of weeks> We're thrilled to announce that the immensely talented
Sheila (manicstamper) has agreed to join in with our dares. Sheila is an inspirational stamper and regularly teaches and demonstrates cardmaking techniques - she's even appeared on TV -
so it's a real honour to have her on the team.
So the above card is my take on this weeks Dare
I used some scrummy Decoupage paper for this one, the Japanese lady and writting are from the sheet of paper, and I also used some Basic Grey PP, the bead is the gorgeous little hummingbird bead on the tassel, organza butterfly, Also used is my Stampin Up Delight in life stamp, and Fancy Pants Rub-on.

Alrighty then, I've been away from my computer for a couple of days,
I've been to Taree to teach a workshop at
Scrap A While
But I arrived the night before for the Midnight scrap
So I'll catch up this week with everyones blogs,
thankyou for all the lovely emails & comments on my blog
I've received while away

So I wanted to make the ladies who attended the workshop an ATC each
and here it is, thought you might like a little lookie
Now Kathy asked me to show what I bought while I was there

and Mel is always asking me to show some either some stash or my scrappin place...

So here are the goodies I bought... some oooooohhhhhh so scrummy Li'l Davis paper, chipboard borders, letters and some delightful little arrows.....I haven't quite finished the LO I've made with these goodies yet, will post it soon....
AND.....

Have a lookie at these STAMPS will ya!!!!!!!

ooooooohhhhh I can't wait to get them all inky!!!!

Well I'll be back soon with some picy's from the class...

I had such a fun time I felt like I was a grown up again...

Big Thankyou to Lauren from Scrap A While

and to all of the other Gorgeous girls who made it soooo much fun!!!