TQ cards and old stash

Over on the wonderful card making forum on Moneysavingexpert.com, Rainmac posted a sketch from here as our first challenge of 2010. I really enjoy sketches as challenges, I don't have to go out and buy new things and it helps me to use up what i have! Which fits in well with a challenge that Kate from Liberty Cottage came up with. Initially aimed at scrapbookers, her 'old school stash scrap' was broadened to include the cardmakers too

I decided on the basic idea really quickly as a layout for my thank you cards, tho' initially I was going to use a scallop circle I changed my mind and used my new Nellie Snellen die. I have previously only stamped/embossed twice so I am not really that good yet but used a cat image (a freebie from cardmaking and papercraft magazine this month). Coloured with promarkers (I also need more practice with these and need to study some u-tube tutorials me thinks!) these were all the newer crafty bits. 'Old skool' was the dark reddish brown card (from one of those mystery parcels again!) and the circle shaped paper (from one of those huge 12x12 stacks by Papermania that seemed a good idea at the time!) I have a wee collection of buttons too so I sorted some out

then made my own embellishments by tieing some gold ribbon (recycled from Christmas Crackers!) to them with some creamish crochet type thread. These are very simple as I have several thank you cards to make so I actually went into a bit of a conveyor belt and made all these. Once I had the idea they were fairly easy to mass produce, although I still have a lot more to make!

Kate I guess I have to come up with another idea for the Feb 1st 'old skool stash' blog hop so will try and use up some other old/unloved stash for then.

I would also like to enter this into

one stop craft challenge 'something beginning with B' and I am using B for Button!

cute card Thursday 'all new' challenge as I have used my new die, my new stamp and I am new to embossing and stamping!