Mum's the Word

Happy Saturday,

Well, I am off to Filey today to check out certain aspects ready for when we take the class on a school visit in a couple of weeks time - hope the weather stays nice!

Over at my challenge blog  'FANTASY STAMPERS' we have a brand new theme starting today in readiness for Mother's Day next month. So for the next two week the theme will be

'MUM'S THE WORD'

Here's what I made for my mum and my DT inspiration for the challenge ...

I can't seem to step away from my LOTV stamps at the moment (well, I do have a ton of them!) They always stamp up perfectly and this one is coloured with my Promarkers - it's called 'Fabulous Flower'.

I used a 8x8" ivory scalloped card blank and layered it with papers from Raspberry Road. The little tiles that spell our 'Mum' are stamped with my Clarity Letterbox stamps - my 'go to' stamps for any lettering. I created the sentiment on the pc and added some pretty polkadot ribbon and three paper flowers from my stash.

I hope you can come and share your own 'Mother's Day' projects with us over at the challenge blog.

Hugz, Jan xx  

Little Boy Blue

Good morning,

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed my half term break, although not quite as much crafting as I hoped!

I'm back today with our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz and this time it was my turn to choose the theme - so here goes with

'LITTLE BOY BLUE'

Now, this is open to your interpretation, but I was thinking of little baby boys when I chose the theme - so here is my DT inspiration for the challenge ...

I used another of my new embossing folders to make the background - it's called 'Basket Weave' and has to be yet another favourite! I inked it with Broken China distress ink to enhance the embossing, then layered it onto co-ordinating cardstock. 

The image is another of my many LOTV stamps and is called 'Special Delivery' - just perfect for the challenge. I coloured it with just four shades of Promarkers and mounted it onto a die-cut 'Eyelet Square' (which I cheekily cut from the background layer - ssh, no-one would ever know!)

A piece of blue polka dot ribbon to finish off and I pinched four of the tiny waste circles from the die-cut to add to the corners as faux brads.

Hope you can come and join us this time.
Hugz, Jan xx

A Little Oriental

Hello again,

I'm back today with news of our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz - a challenge blog designed specifically for the men in our life.

We have a brand new theme and this week Jane chose 'ORIENTAL'. Now this one made me think - I don't have a lot of oriental stuff, it's not a genre I'm particularly keen on, but here's what I came up with for my DT inspiration ...

It's quite clean and simple in design and the bamboo image is from the internet. I began by printing the image and sentiment onto a piece of white cardstock. 

I then cut a circle using one of my nesties and inked it with Scattered Straw, Dried Marigold and Spiced Marmalade distress inks to make it look like a big old sun. I printed the bamboo image again onto a piece of copier paper, then carefully positioned my sun over the image and secured it with a tiny amount of adhesive. I passed it through my printed once more and the image is then printed onto the sun! 

I added the circle back to my original printed card, taking care to line up the image before gluing in place. I finished off with a piece of black twine which is passed through an oriental coin for embellishment.

So, I hope you will join us with your own oriental designs this week.

Hugz, Jan xx

Happy Couple

Good morning,

Well. this is officially the first day of my holiday, so what to do? I did all my chores over the weekend so I could spend time in my craft room - not sure what to make yet though!

Over at My Besties UK we are showcasing our 'Same but Different' designs again today and this month the chosen image is 238 which you can buy from Sherri's online store HERE. This is what I made for my DT inspiration ...

I used a shaped card template for this one and covered it with pretty lilac paper and then glittered around the edge. The image is coloured with my Promarkers and embellished with a spot of glitter pen here and there. All other embellishments are hand made - the flowers are 'Stampin' Up Pretty Petals' and are stamped with Dusty Concord distress ink and then embossed with clear powder. 

I love how these designs are all 'different', so if you have a few minutes why not pop over to the blog and check out how my teamies used the image.

Hugz, Jan xx

Pretty in Pink

Hello again,

Well, I am a happy camper today - we finished school for half term yesterday, so I have a week to myself to spend crafting away to my little hearts content!

We have a brand new challenge beginning today over at my challenge blog 'FANTASY STAMPERS' and the new theme is

'PRETTY IN PINK'

Now, this has to be one of my favourite colours to craft with and never lets me down - I have a ridiculous amount of pink stash, so here's what I created for my DT inspiration ...

I made this for my sister's birthday and it uses an 8x8" cream scalloped card blank which is layered with kraft card and pink papers from my LOTV paper pads. All the edges are inked with Victorian Velvet distress ink and the top panel has been passed through a flower embossing folder. 

The image is once again LOTV and is called 'My Favourite Friends' - it is coloured with a combination of Promarkers and coloured pencils. 

Extra embellishments include pink organza polkadot ribbon and bow, ivory lace and some handmade die-cut flowers which have all be inked and layered up with little pearl centres. A sentiment and some self adhesive pearls finish to finish off.

I hope you will come and join us with your own 'pink' creations this time.

Hugz, Jan xx

Puppy Love

Happy Tuesday everyone,

I have news today of our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week the new theme is one very close to my own heart ...

'PUPPY LOVE'

Those of you who know me will understand this one - my little fur babies our my world and I wouldn't be without them. So, here goes with my DT inspiration ...

This one is another 6 x 6" and incorporates one my new embossing folders that I ordered from the TV last week - they arrived in record time, so I couldn't wait to play with them.  The photo doesn't show the embossing to the full advantage (I am rubbish at taking photos!), but they are lush, no other word for them. See, it doesn't take much to keep me happy - just have to recover the bank balance!! 

The piece of black card was embossed with the 'distressed' folder and then highlighted with a little guilding wax. I stamped the front panel using the little puppy stamp (an old freebie from my Craft Stamper magazine) in black ink and then coloured them with just my grey Promarkers. Their little noses are stamped again and decoupaged (but sadly this doesn't show very well either). 

I die-cut four little labels and stamped the 'Love' lettering, then fastened them to my card using four tiny button brads.  The whole piece was mounted onto green cardstock and voila!

Of course, there are other ways to interpret our theme - I even think 'Donny Osmond' was mentioned in our discussions - hope you will come and join us with your own makes over at the challenge this week.

Hugz, Jan xx

Z for Zentangle

Hi there,

Well, that's another week done for me and another week closer to half term - only one more to go!

It's time for our next letter and theme over at the Alphabet Challenge and this week sees us at the end of the alphabet again with the letter 'Z'. We have a great challenge for you this time, so 'Z' is for 

'ZENTANGLING'

I couldn't wait to get started on this one - zentangling is another of my favourite hobbies and I spend many an hour sat in front of the TV tangling with my micron pens. So, here's what I came up with for my DT inspiration ...

I started with a blank piece of white card and stamped the three black outline flowers - then off I went with my micron pens. All the petals are filled in with different hand drawn zentangle patterns, then I added some stems and leaves to anchor them. I doodled the border around the outside and added some little 'zendangles' around the edge. I passed the whole piece through my printer to add the sentiment. Just to finish off I added a little doodling inside the flower centres using a red pen and just a few little red highlights around the card to link in the spot of colour. Hope you like it.

I hope you can join us with your own zentangled projects - I can't wait to see them.

Hugz, Jan xx

Sit Back and Relax

Hello again,

I'm back today with our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz and this time Helen has chosen the theme of 'SIT BACK AND RELAX'.

I knew exactly which stamp I wanted to use for this one, so here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

Another 6 x 6" design using kraft card which has been passed through my hexagon embossing folder (yes, I do seem to be going through an embossing phase at the moment - explains why I had to order some of the new embossing folders from the TV last night!)

The image is Fizzy Moon 'All About Him' and is stamped on ivory cardstock with Vintage Sepeia ink and then coloured with a combination of Promarkers and coloured pencils. I also paper pieced the book to make it look like he was reading the newspaper. I cut a circle aperture in the kraft card so the image peeps through. 

I highlighted five of the hexagons and added the lettering 'Relax' and also a little banner made from book pages and a few stars to embellish.

I hope you can come and join us this week with your own projects.

Hugz, Jan xx

A touch of Silver

Happy Monday,

Well, I seem to be just about over whatever that was I had last week - someone mentioned 'viral flu - I think I slept more than I was awake! So back to school today, I will probably be tired again when I get home.

Over at My Besties UK we are starting a new challenge today for the month of February and although we run an 'Anything Goes' theme, Carol likes to challenge the DT with an extra choice - so this time we are using 'SILVER'.

Here's what I made for my DT inspiration using Sherri's cute little image 163 which can be found in her on-line store HERE ...

This one measures 6 x 6" and I kept it quite simple because I wanted my 'silver' mirri card to be the main background (it has been passed through an embossing folder for added texture).

I tried something new with my colouring after watching Melanie Heaton on C & C last week - I only used a 6B graphite pencil to do the majority of the colouring and just added a few skin tones and pink touches with a Promarker. I was really pleased with the result and it was so easy!

I added a stamped greeting and a die-cut flower as extra embellishments - hope you like it.

Why not come and join us with your own designs this time.

Hugz, Jan xx