Metal Magic

Good morning,

Well it's day two of my half term and I didn't even make it into my craft room yesterday - so many other things to do! Lol

I'm back today with news of our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week Kim has chosen the theme of

'METAL'

So, here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

Out with the old metal tape again - I love this stuff and it's so easy to use. I covered a piece of white cardstock with my metal tape and then ran it through my Calibur using a Clarity cogs stencil - to create an embossed effect. I then painted over it with white gesso and wiped most of it off with a clean baby wipe, then added some black archival ink by smearing the inkpad over the top of the raised areas (the plan was to give the metal a grungy look!)

I decided to keep it fairly simple to show off the metal effect, so just added a stamped sentiment which is embossed with black embossing powder and then cut with my dies.

I hope you can join us this time.

Hugz, Jan xx

Something Spooky

Hello there,

Well, I made it to the end of the first half term and now have a week off to look forward to. I plan on getting my christmas stash out and making a start on all things Christmas in an attempt to get ahead. I will let you know how I get on.

Today we have a new theme over at my own challenge blog, FANTASY STAMPERS. For the next two weeks we would love to see your projects showcasing

'SOMETHING SPOOKY'

Here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

I love working with my distress inks and decided to make a tag for this one. I began with a piece of white card and inked it with Seedless Preserve and Dusty Concord distress inks, taking care to mask out the moon area first.  I added a few hills in the background using torn paper and then stamped the tree with archival black ink (remembering to remove the moon mask first!)

I also stamped the witch and cauldron, together with a few pebbles at the bottom and some leaves around the left edge. I didn't have any stamps of bats, so I drew a couple in with my micron pen! I added Black Soot distress ink to the edges once finished and then mounted onto a piece of black cardstock.  I also cut a smaller piece of the inked card and stamped my 'Happy Halloween' sentiment and added to it to the bottom of the tag. 

I hope you can come and join in with our challenge this time - see you there.

Hugz, Jan xx

It's Spooky Time!

Hi there everyone,

I'm back again today with a new challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week we would love to see your 'SPOOKY' projects ready for Halloween.

Here's what I made for my DT inspiration (which I must admit is CASED from a project on Pinterest), but I just loved the idea of it ...

It measures 6x6" with an orange embossed layer matted on black cardstock. The front panel is hand drawn onto kraft card and matted on black cardstock.  I added some little googly eyes from my stash and the lettering is stamped using my Clarity Letterbox set.

I hope you will join us this week in preparation for Halloween.

Hugz, Jan xx

Pencil Colouring

Good morning,

I hope everyone had a good weekend - I made a little trip to Doncaster yesterday to the craft fair at the Dome, and must confess I did add a few things to my stash! Naughty girl!

On a crafty note, it's time for our next challenge over at My Besties UK and this time Carol has included an optional theme of 'PENCIL COLOURING'. Now this one made me think - I don't have a decent set of colouring pencils, only watercolour ones! But I must admit I really enjoyed this one and I am reasonably pleased with the outcome. Here's what I made for my DT inspiration using Sherri's gorgeous image 'Fancy Pants 74' which you can buy from the store HERE.

Design papers are from my stash and I made the flowers and little die-cut gate from leftover scraps.

Hope you can come and join us this time.

Hugz, Jan xx

Easel Cards

Hi there,

Are you ready for another challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz - our male-themed challenge blog? Well this week Helen has chosen a new theme and we would love to see your 'EASEL' projects this time. Here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

I used the traditional 'easel' shape, but included a twist by adding a transparent topper! The main card measures 6x6" and is folded in the traditional way. I then used one of my Spellbinder dies to cut away the topper shape. Next I cut a blue frame using the same shaped die and added a piece of acetate behind it, before securing the Wellington Bear topper. A little band of blue and my sentiment forms the stopper on the bottom. A few die-cut stars and some adhesive pearls to finish off. Ta da!

Hope you can join us this week with your own makes.

Hugz, Jan xx

Time Flies! at Fantasy Stampers

Good morning,

Well, I think I'm just about over my 'man flu' now, just have a very irritating cough left but feeling much better. Thank you to those of you who sent well wishes - I think they worked :)

Today sees the start of a brand new theme over at my challenge blog 'FANTASY STAMPERS'. For the next two weeks we would love to see your projects showcasing the theme

'TIME FLIES'

Now this is open to your own interpretation, but I have gone with the more obvious option for my DT inspiration. Here's what I made ...

This one is not what I planned at all, but was very short on time this week. I decided to used my every trusty collection of 'time' stamps which I have had for ever! 

I used a couple of design papers from my stash, then added the stamped panel. Each clock on the vertical panel was stamped and masked individually to create the panel, beginning with the little pocket watch with wings. I stamped this one again on the lighter colour paper and paper-pieced it over the original stamp, then used a little glossy accents on the face to highlight it as the focal image in the collage. 

I used a couple of cog stamps to create corners on the lighter piece and added a couple of stamped butterflies and a 'Time Flies' sentiment.

I hope you can join us over at the challenge, remembering that we are a stamping challenge (so no digital images please).

Hugz, Jan xx

R for Round/Rectangle

Happy Friday,

I'm back again with a brand new challenge over at the Alphabet Challenge and this week we are up to the letter 'R'.  My crafty teamie Caz has chosen the theme 'R for Round or Rectangle' - so here goes with my DT inspiration ...

As I am hopeless at making decisions, I decided to use both on my card! Lol. The black rectangle was passed through an embossing folder and I cut out a round section to add the main image. The heart stamp was a freebie on one of my many Craft Stamper magazines and is stamped with Cranberry ink and layered on a red circle (another R!)  I also added some smaller die-cut circles and a stamped sentiment too. Hope you like!

Hugz, Jan xx

Time to Retire

Hello there,

I'm back today with our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz - my how time is whizzing by! This week it's my turn to choose the theme and I think there was a little wishful thinking going on when I chose it. For the next seven days we would love to see your projects showcasing the theme

'TIME TO RETIRE'

Here's what I made for my DT inspiration using some of my brand new Creative Expressions stamps ...

I absolutely love this set of stamps and couldn't wait to get all inky. It's a hand made background using Peacock Feathers and Tea Dye distress inks, then I stamped over the top with the script stamp using Sepia ink. Next I passed it through my script embossing folder and inked around the edges for a little extra definition.

The topper is the main feature of the stamp set and is also stamped with sepia ink and I added a little colour using my coloured pencils. The sentiment was created on my pc and printed on a spare piece of inky background.

Hope you can join us this week - I look forward to seeing your creations.
Hugz, Jan xx

Buttons and Besties

Morning everyone,

Wow! That weekend seem to speed by, maybe it's because I popped into work on Friday.

Are you ready for another challenge over at My Besties UK? As always we are now running an 'Anything Goes' challenge, but our leader Carol likes to challenge the design team and there are extra rewards on offer if you can follow our theme. For the next two weeks we would love it if you could use 'BUTTONS' on your beautiful creations.

Here's what I made for my DT inspiration using Sherri's gorgeous 'Garden Bestie' which you can buy from her Etsy store HERE ...

Papers are from my stash and the image is coloured with my Promarkers.  Flowers are hand made from some paper scraps and I used the pretty pink buttons as flower centres.

I hope you will come play along with us this time

Hugz, Jan xx

It's still about the Girls!

Hello there,

First I would just like to say hello and welcome to my new followers - there seem to have been a few recently. I hope you will keep popping back to say hello.

I have a new make to show you today for our 'Midway Motivation' post at my own challenge blog 'FANTASY STAMPERS' - which currently has the challenge 'Here Come the Girls'.

We have had some fabulous entries so far, but if you haven't had chance to join us yet there is still plenty of time - the challenge doesn't close until 10th October.

I wanted to show something different to my original 'cutie' style card that I made for the challenge and this one uses lots of paper scraps from my stash. Here's what I came up with ...

Now I did CASE this design and tweak it a little for my own design, but couldn't resist the girly pinks.  The back piece is run through an alphabet embossing folder then inked with Walnut Stain distress ink.

I added a doily, some paper ribbons, a few die-cut stars, a piece of pink twine and lots of gems.  

I realised afterwards that the only stamping was the sentiment - which is from Stampin Up 'Sassy Salutations' (but it is stamped so I think it passes for the challenge!) Lol.

I hope you will come and play along with us with your own 'girly' creations.

Hugz, Jan xx