PS. I Love You

Hello there,

I hope you are all safe from the horrible weather we experienced this week! I must admit I have been at home poorly for the latter part of the week, so escaped having to go to work in the worst of it.

I'm back today with news of our next theme over at my own challenge blog 'FANTASY STAMPERS'.  In preparation for Valentine's Day coming up soon, I've chose the theme of

'PS. I LOVE YOU'

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

I used a 6x6" scalloped card blank and covered it with paper from my stash - I also made an extra little mat and added a pretty heart die-cut border too.

The image is from my every trusty LOTV collection and is called 'Love Balloon' which is coloured with a combination of Promarkers and pencils. I also added a little Glossy Accents to the red balloon for extra definition.

The flowers are Heartfelt Creations and are all hand stamped and cut out to make the pretty blooms (one of my favourite things to do).

Extra embellishments include a piece of lush red organza ribbon which I added a little silver heart charm to and some self adhesive pearls to match the centre of the flowers. The sentiment is also stamped using a little mini 'Alphabet' stamp set I have.

I hope you will come and join us with your gorgeous romantic creations.

Hugz, Jan xx

Let's Pretend

Good morning,

Well, after seven weeks we appear to have our internet fully functional again - to say it has been driving me mad is an understatement! After a visit from a very obnoxious BT broadband engineer with a god complex he decided it was the extension line to the upstairs that was causing the fault. Said connection has now been removed and all seems well again - only time will tell, I suppose!

On a crafty note, it's time for our next challenge over at Cardz for Guyz and this week Kim has chosen the theme of

'LET'S PRETEND'

So we would love to see your projects showcasing a 'pretend' or faux technique, such as making something look like wood, or using faux stitching (that sort of thing) OR you can play 'dress ups' like the children when they 'pretend'.

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

I decided to go for the faux metal look with my aluminium tape - a definite favourite of mine. I cut nine squares of scrap cardstock 4cm x 4 cm and covered each one with metal tape. I ran them all through an alphabet embossing folder, then added some alcohol ink to distress them and make them look a little rusty (I hope!).

These little faux metal tiles were then adhered to some kraft cardstock, then layered onto turquoise cardstock before adding to my card blank.

The topper consists of two die-cut layers (the top one has been inked to give a soft turquoise tone to match), then I added the lettering (using my good old Clarity Letterbox stamps). A piece of brown velvet ribbon secures the topper to the centre of the card.

I hope you will come and play this time with your 'pretend' techniques.

Hugz, Jan xx

Anything Goes

Hello there,

First, I would just like to say a big 'Welcome' to my new followers - it's great to have you on board my journey, I hope you find some inspiration amongst my projects.

I'm back today with a new challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz, and this week Julie has chosen the theme of

'ANYTHING GOES'

Now, this leaves the spectrum wide open - so thinking hats on and let's see what you can come up with, but remember it has to be for the guys in our lives.

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

I made a little gift bag and chose a 'Bon Voyage' theme - perfect for a little 'going away' gift. This is made from one piece of A4 cardstock and has a series of folds to make the little bag. I decorated it with papers from my stash, including some die-cut book paper, lots of ink and some of my 'Timeless Journey' stamps designed by Sam Poole for Creative Expressions. It looked a little unfinished and I would usually add copious amounts of flowers or butterflies to fill the gap, but in this case I chose buttons for a more male themed look!

Here's a little look at the reverse of the bag too, with a space to write your greeting ...

I hope you can join us this week and can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with.

Happy crafting, 

Hugz, Jan xx

Same but Different

Happy Monday,

Well, I hope everyone managed to escape the snow - we only had the tiniest of flurries which didn't settle, thank goodness.

I'm back today with a little something different for 'My Besties UK' - we have had a bit of a shake up and changed the way our challenges will work. There will only be one challenge per month now, which will launch on the first Monday of the month (so I will be back with more news about that on the 2nd February), but we are also posting a 'Same but Different' post on the third Monday of each month.

So, here's how it works - all the design team are working with the 'same' image, but by the nature of different styles, we have all done something 'different' with it. And what's more, you could be in with a chance of winning the image just by leaving the design team a comment on the main blog HERE, so why not pop over and take a peek.

Here's what I decided to do with this gorgeous image which Sherri drew to celebrate the birth of her grand-daughter at the end of last year - the image is 'Blakely Ann' and can be purchased from Sherri's on-line store HERE.

I made an 8x8" birth announcement plaque, using a name chosen at random. Papers are from my stash and the image is coloured with my Promarkers and coloured pencils. The flowers are from 'Honeydoo' and are stamped onto scraps of the backing paper, cut out and layered up. Hope you like her.

Hugz, Jan xx

Fairy Nice!

Hello there,

Well, that's another week done and my First Aid training is now complete - so don't worry I can save you!! Lol.

I'm back today with news of our next challenge over at my challenge blog 'FANTASY STAMPERS'. We had a great response to our last challenge and many of you joined us to help celebrate our first birthday, so a big thank you from me. The new theme for the next two weeks will be a favourite of mine ...

'FAIRY NICE'

So, only decision left was which stamp to use (and of course LOTV won!). Here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

It's a little wall hanging for my youngest daughter using LOTV 'Fairy Birthday' image, which is coloured with my Promarkers and a little added glitter on the wings. All other embellishments are from my stash (and there are plenty of them, no news there then!)

We are also looking for some new design team members too, so if you are interested or know anyone who is, you can find all the details HERE.

I hope you can come and join us,

Hugz, Jan xx

Happy Birthday

Good morning to you all,

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. It was nice to spend some time at home yesterday, as I had the afternoon off in lieu of some First Aid training that I did last Friday. So what better way to enjoy it than in my craft room, although the torrential rain pounding down on my conservatory roof was deafening!!

Well, I don't know about you, but January is a time for celebration again here - not only was my own challenge blog one year old last week, but my best crafty friend is also celebrating the first birthday of her male themed challenge blog -

 'Cardz 4 Guyz' 

So, well done Caz - who would have thought it after all our deliberations and frustrations getting them both up and running. Here's to another great year in 2015 with lots more great themes and entries.

So, as it's also my Dad's birthday today - what better reason for making a card! Here's what I made for him, which is also my DT inspiration for the new 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' challenge which starts today ...

As most of you know, I am addicted to all things LOTV, so out came my papers and stamps once again.  This one is an 8x8" scalloped card blank, covered with papers from the 'Father Knows Best' paper pad. The focal image is LOTV 'Cheers Bear' and is stamped in Vintage Sepia ink and coloured with my trusty Promarkers. A also added a stamped greeting, some co-ordinating checked ribbon, some die-cut stars (which I ran though my dotty embossing folder), a couple of brads and some dinky little lettering which I stamped on some scraps of card to spell the word 'Dad'.

I hope you can come and celebrate with us over at the blog - we would love to see you there.

Hugz, Jan xx

Vintage!

Good morning friends and followers,

I'm back today with our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week it was my turn to choose the theme, so we would love to see your projects showcasing

'VINTAGE'

I think this is a great theme for a male card and here's what I created for my DT inspiration ...

It measures 6x6" in size and uses kraft card and a piece of design paper from my stash. The main image is from Creative Expressions and is stamped with Vintage Sepia ink onto watercolour paper. I have torn the edges to give a distressed look and layered it onto another piece of kraft card. The greeting is also from CE and stamped with the same ink - perfect for this challenge! A couple of buttons, a piece of ribbon and a little hand doodled border to finish off.

I hope you can come along and join us this week - I look forward to seeing your interpretations of my theme.

Hugz, Jan xx

Happy Birthday Fantasy Stampers

Happy New Year everyone,

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year and enjoyed all the festivities. We had a lovely family Christmas here and a very quiet New Year and now the new Spring term is looming at school.

I am excited to be back today with news of my own challenge blog at FANTASY STAMPERS, which is celebrating it's first Birthday today. Yes, exactly one year ago I was sat here worrying about whether I had made the right decision, and what if no-one entered. Well, you all proved my worries to be unfounded and we have had a great year with lots of fabulous entries along the way. So here's to another fantastic year in 2015.

We are starting the year off with a brand new challenge and of course the theme had to be

'HAPPY BIRTHDAY'

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

This one is 6x6" in size and uses lush design papers from LOTV and one of my favourite 'Fizzy Moon' stamps - Thanks a Bunch, which is coloured with my Promarkers (and the flowers are stamped again on a piece of scrap background paper and pieced). The little stamped sentiment is also LOTV and all other embellishments are from my stash.

I hope you will come and join us as we celebrate our first birthday - would love to see you there.

Hugz, Jan xx