May Your Day Sparkle

Hello again,

As we have three Saturdays in April, I have dropped in at Fantasy Stampers today with a little extra motivation for the current challenge - Monochrome.

Here's what I made using just inks and stamps ...

I used three shades of distress ink in Tumbled Glass, Broken China and Faded Denim to create the background, then added lots of stamps from another magazine freebie set (I told you I bought far too many magazines for the free stamps!!) 

We are always on the look out for Guest Designers for the midway motivation on every other Saturday, so if you are interested in joining us just give me a shout - you can find my contact details at the top right of my blog under the 'Contact Me' tab.

Hope your weekend is going well.

Hugz, Jan xx

E for Embossing Folders

Hi there,

Well, I still woke up at 6.30 am today, despite it being my day off - but I am looking forward to my four day weekend and lots of crafting (I am way behind, as usual)!

I have a new project today for the next theme at the Alphabet Challenge and we are up to the letter 'E' - my teamie, Silvi has chosen

'E for EMBOSSING FOLDERS'

Here's what I made using a new Stampin' Up embossing folder ...

This is a cool technique where you actually stamp onto the flat areas of the embossing folder before you emboss, allowing the stamp to 'peep' through the embossing.

The owl stamp is part of a freebie set that I got on a magazine purchase and I think they are just perfect form my 'Woodland Texture' embossing folder. So I stamped in sepia ink straight onto the embossing folder, then carefully placed my piece of card inside and embossed through my Calibur.

I inked the edges and the raised tree trunk areas first with Tea Dye distress ink, then added some Gathered Twigs for a little depth - you can see where it has caught parts of the trunks and brought them to life. I also added a little colour to the owls with my Derwent coloured pencils.

The cute little sentiment is from the same freebie set and I had to add a few adhesive pearls to finish off!

Hope you will come and join us over at the challenge.

Hugz, Jan xx

A Button or Two

Good morning,

I'm back today with a new challenge over at Cardz 4 Galz with the theme

'A BUTTON OR TWO'

Now I love my buttons and I bet like many of you, I have a stash of them which I will probably never use up in this lifetime, so got a little carried away and used fourteen of them on my project! Here's what I made ...

I used a scrap of left over design paper from Hot of the Press and raided my precious button stash to find a few that matched the colours in the paper. 

I made the little heart from another scapling that I rescued from my 'Pink Box' (yes, I do have colour co-ordinated boxes for all my scraps - I blame it on my OCD)!

The stamped sentiment is from another freebie set (I've decided that I buy way too many magazines, just for the freebie stamp sets!) Lol.

Hope you can join us this time.

Hugz, Jan xx

Wood in Design

Good Morning,

I have my next Design Team project for you today, for the new challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week Joan has chosen the theme of

'WOOD IN DESIGN'

So, here's what I made using a fab piece of 'distressed wood effect' design paper from Raspberry Road ...

I decided to cut into the paper, instead of just placing it at a whole square - then inked the edges with some Frayed Burlap distress ink before adding it to my layered card base.

The central piece is made from a die-cut shape which I ran through my wood grain embossing folder, then highlighted the embossed areas with the same distress ink.

I added a little wooden frame which is coloured with a brown Promarker, then placed the little die-cut heart (which is cut from the centre of the first embossed layer) in the middle.

Some decorative brads and a stamped sentiment finish off the card.

Hugz, Jan xx

Using Books to craft ...

Hello there,

I'm back today with a brand new challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week was my turn to choose the theme, so here goes with ...

'BOOKS or BOOK PAPER'

Now, when I first saw crafters tearing up books to use in crafting I was horror-struck! Those of you that know me well will know that reading is one of my favourite pastimes (as well as crafting, of course) and I have far too many to count at home - everywhere you turn there is a bookcase, or a stack of books that don't fit in any of the bookcases! And they have to be real books too - I even turned down a Kindle e-reader as a gift in favour of my beloved books.

But, I had to keep up with the times, so paid a visit to one of our local charity shops and bought an old book for 50p - that way I could use it to craft and my money was doing some good, right?! And I have to admit, I love stamping on the book pages now - the stamps take on a whole different look. So all that said, here's what I came up with for my DT inspiration ...

I have used one of my new 'Bird Crazy' stamps from Tim Holtz (which are a reasonably new purchase and I have been dying to use them - they are so quirky!) I stamped him straight onto the book paper with black archival ink and then used distress inks in 'Shabby Shutters' and 'Mermaid Lagoon' to colour him and add some splodges of ink behind him. 

I have created layers using some kraft card and some co-ordinating colours of card, together with a piece of corrugated card to create the design. I also added some eyelets to the main image so I could thread a piece of twine through them for extra interest. 

The sentiment was printed on my pc and then chopped into pieces - it makes me giggle and I think it suits his expression perfectly. A couple of buttons to finish off and balance out the design.

Hope you can come and join us - I would love to hear your own thoughts on tearing up those books!

Hugz, Jan xx

D for Dots

Happy Friday,

Well, I made it through my second week back at school, albeit an unbelievably hectic one!

We are planning to try and go out for some lunch on Sunday - the first time since we lost mum, not sure how it will go, but we are all agreed that mum wouldn't want us all moping around the house. So Harvester here we come!

I have another DT project for you today, for the next theme over at the Alphabet Challenge. We are upto the letter 'D' and Helen has chosen the theme

'D for DOTS'

So I am running a little late today, but here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

I used two different 'dotty' papers from my stash and some brown polka dot ribbon too, for my 'Dots'. I didn't feel like colouring today, so challenged myself to create something without an image on.

Most of the card uses up scraps that were left over from other projects - half a doily, some die-cut flowers and I added a couple of candi dots just for fun. The stamped sentiment is from my Stampin' Up 'Sassy Salutations' set.

I have a new Design Team member joining the Alphabet family today, so if you have a minute, why not pop over to the main challenge blog HERE and say hello.

Hugz, Jan xx

Use an Embossing Folder

Hello there,

We have a brand new challenge over at Cardz 4 Galz today, and this week my teamie Babs has chosen the theme of

'USE AN EMBOSSING FOLDER'

So, we all have loads of these, right? The question is which one do I use? So, I went through all my choices and still ended up with one of my favourites. Here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

I had to pass my piece of card through the folder twice to complete the design, but hid the join behind the piece of plum velvet ribbon. I have highlighted the edges of the embossing with some Picked Raspberry distress ink, so it blends nicely with the background piece. I cut the bottom of the pink with a Doohickey border die to add some interest. The flower is from my stash and I added lots of little pink crystals to highlight some of the embossed flowers. A stamped sentiment from Claritystamps to finish off.

Hope you can join us over the next two weeks with your own embossed creations.

Hugz, Jan xx

Life Begins After Coffee

Good morning,

I'm back this morning with my next DT project for the new challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz today. This week Jane has chosen the theme of

'FOOD AND DRINK'

Now I looked through all my stash, and struggled to find both 'food' and 'drink' together, so I just went with the 'drink'. Now there are lots of 'drinks' to choose from, but I am a coffee girl and my day always begins with a nice flavoured coffee, usually hazelnut. So, here's what I came up with for some inspiration ...

I used one of the stamps from the Tim Holtz 'Fresh Brewed Blueprint' set and coloured it with my Promarkers. The sentiment is printed on my pc and I added a couple of eyelets to two corners for a little extra embellishment. I used my scissors to distress the edge and added some 'Frayed Burlap' distress ink. I used some scraps of leftover design paper to make a background, which is also edged with 'Frayed Burlap' distress ink.

Hugz, Jan xx

A New Baby

Good morning,

Well, that's the first week back at school over, just another seven until the next break!  I actually felt nervous on Monday, after being off for a month - but everyone was pleased to see me and I coped pretty well.

Now, just before anyone gets any ideas - the title of my post doesn't relate to me! Lol. We have a brand new challenge starting today over at Fantasy Stampers and the new theme for the next two weeks is

'A NEW BABY'

Phew! Don't think I could cope with that right now (unless it was a new grandchild, of course!) Well, one can hope. Here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

I used a 6 x 6" scalloped cream card base and layered it with kraft card and some blue paper from my stash. The centre strip is a piece of torn vellum and I added a piece of blue ribbon too.

The image is LOTV 'Balloon Basket' which is coloured with my Promarkers (and the balloon is paper pieced from a scrap of the background paper). I added a little stamped sentiment and a few blue adhesive pearls to finish off.

Hope you can come and play along - why not pop over to the challenge where you can see some more fab inspiration from my design team.

Hugz, Jan xx

Black and White

Hello there,

Well, it was time to return to school yesterday (after a four week break with the Easter holiday) after losing mum. I'm not sure exactly where the month of March went, and don't feel rested from the break at all - but I am hoping that getting back into a routine will bring some normality back to our lives.

I have a new make today for the next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week Amy has chosen the theme

'BLACK AND WHITE'

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

I used design paper from a Prima paper pad called 'Cartographer' - it has loads of lovely maps and travel themed papers in beautiful neutral tones.

The stamp is from the 'Travel' set from Creative Expressions and is stamped in black archival ink. 

Lots of layers and a stamped sentiment, together with some black ribbon and a few white candi dots to finish off.

Hope you can come and join us with your own 'Black and White' male-themed projects.

Hugz, Jan xx

C is for Cats

Good morning,

I hope no-one has fallen for any April Fool jokes this morning - I must say I'm glad I'm not at school, the children always manage to get me!! Lol.

Over at the Alphabet Challenge today, we are ready for the next letter and Pat has chosen the theme

* C for CATS *

Here's what I made using a cute little digital image ...

I coloured the cute little cat with my Promarkers and added a quirky sentiment on my PC. The design paper is from my 'Blank Canvas' paper pad by First Edition - I love the yummy pastel shades in this one and chose the peppermint one to go with my little grey cat. How could you be annoyed with that little face for pinching the flower?! Embellishments include a piece of co-ordinating satin ribbon, a hand made paper bow and a couple of adhesive pearls.

Hope you will come and join us with your own projects.

Hugz, Jan xx