H for Hats and Handbags

Hello there,

I'm back today with news of the next theme over at the Alphabet Challenge and we are up to the letter 'H'.  Team member Tammy has chosen the theme of

'HATS AND/OR HANDBAGS'

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

I made a little 10.5cm square gift box using white linen cardstock and added a stamped image on the top to match the four little 'Thank You' note cards which sit inside ...

The stamps are from Katy Sue Designs and are called 'Grape Vine' - I have paper pieced the brim of the hats and coloured the rest with my Promarkers. I added a little 'Thank You' sentiment and layered them onto pink cardstock.

I also included four white envelopes in the box, which also have stamped detail on the closure.

I hope you can come and join us this time.

Hugz, Jan xx

Check it Out!

Hi there crafty friends and followers,

I hope you all had a great bank holiday weekend. I must say I am enjoying my time at home this week and this awful May weather means I can stay in my craft room and not feel guilty about not being outside!

I have a new project for you today for the next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz. This week Helen has chosen the theme of

'CHECKS/GINGHAM'

Now this is an easy one to use for the men in our life, but could I find any gingham paper anywhere! Here's what I came up with using some scraps from my stash ...

It a fairly simple one and uses lots of little scraplings from my ever growing stash - I'm right in not throwing anything away, aren't I?!? Lol.

It's quite self explanatory, so I won't bore you with all the details, but do hope you can come and join us with your own projects this week - I shall look forward to seeing you there.

Hugz, Jan xx

Wings and Things

Happy Saturday,

I had a fabulous girly day yesterday with my eldest daughter, who also had the day off school (it felt like we were playing hooky!). We had lunch out, went to the cinema to see 'Pitch Perfect 2' after watching the first film during the morning in our pjs (I know, my guilty pleasure is showing) and then a little retail therapy - a great way to spend the day.

Over at Fantasy Stampers we have a brand new challenge beginning today and I know this is one of my favourites, hope you will think so too. For the next two weeks we would love to see your projects featuring

'WINGS AND THINGS'

Here's my DT inspiration for the challenge ...

This is a piece I made a couple of years ago for myself - it hangs proudly on my lounge wall. It shows a multitude of stamps from my stash all depicting some kind of 'wings' - hope you will forgive me for showing you something from the past, but I do still love it to this day.

I can't wait to see all your own interpretations of the theme.

Hugz, Jan xx

World Wildlife

Good morning,

Well, I survived my trip into the forest last week and we had the most amazing time. The children were awesome and thoroughly enjoyed their first residential - not a single tear was shed at bedtime (from the children or the 'grown ups'!) Lol. I think they were so exhausted, then didn't even have the energy to think about it.

Anyway, back to crafty things and I'm back today with my DT inspiration for the next challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz. This week Kim has chosen the theme of

'WORLD WILDLIFE'

Here's what I came up with ...

I had to cheat a little with a computer generated silhouette image which is printed over the top of an inked panel which I created by masking out the area, adding a moon mask and then dusting with Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold, Rusty Hinge and a touch of Picked Raspberry distress inks. The little stamped image is one of my new purchases from LOTV. The whole thing is mounted on black to frame the design.

Hugz, Jan xx

A bit of Glitz and Glamour

Hi there,

Well, I have scheduled my post today as I am off deep in the woods with my class of 28 7-8 year olds! We set off yesterday morning to take them on their first residential trip (or sleepover as they like to call it!) to Sherwood Forest to learn about the 'Legend of Robin Hood'. To say they were a little excited would be an understatement, but I bet there were a few tears at bedtime last night (even after hot chocolate and a bedtime story). I will let you know how it went when I get back.

As for crafty things, we have a brand new theme over at the Alphabet Challenge and are up to the letter 'G'. Caz has chosen a great theme for this one ...

'GLITZ & GLAMOUR'

So, here's what I came up with for my DT inspiration ...

It's a fairly simple design because I wanted to show off the stamp and the 'glitz'. The backing paper is from my stash and the stamped image was a freebie on a magazine ages ago - she looks so glamorous and stylish, I thought she was perfect for this challenge. I paper pieced her dress and coloured the shawl with a black glitter pen. I also added black glitter around the edge of the image and some gold glitter down the side of the card for an extra bit of glitz.

Why not pop over to the main blog and check out some more inspiration from the design team.

Hugz, Jan xx

Make your Mark

Hello there,

I have my DT project for the new challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz for you this morning. My team mate Julie chose the theme this week of

'MAKE YOUR MARK'

Now I wasn't sure how to interpret this, but as she explains - anything that you have made a mark with! Simples. So, no preprinted images or CD images, just making a mark with your inks, stencils, stitching, embossing- get the idea. So off I went, and here's my finished effort ...

I started with a piece of white cardstock and stamped the Creative Expressions old vintage car with Sepia ink. Then stamped again on a sticky note and cut it out to make a mask. Once I covered the original image, I could get started with my stencil and inks.

The stencil is from Clarity Stamps and I used my ink dusters to brush Crushed Olive, Broken China and Gathered Twigs distress ink through the stencil. I also added some of my favourite Stampin' Up splatters using the same three colour inks - definitely made a mark there then! Lol.

I stamped the car image again onto a piece of scrap card and just cut out a small segment using a circle die. This is coloured with my Promarkers and mounted onto an olive green circle, and then positioned over the original image (just to highlight a small section of it).

I made a little banner to stamp the sentiment on and embellished with three little punched banner pieces cut from scraps of card that had been inked with the same three colours, and three co-ordinating brads to finish off.

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

Hugz, Jan xx 

Girl Power at Fantasy Stampers

Good morning,

I'm not liking the rain - where did all the sunshine go?

I would love you to come and join us over at my challenge blog 'FANTASY STAMPERS' where we have a brand new theme today.  For the next two weeks we would love to see your projects interpreting the theme

'GIRL POWER'

Here's what I decided on for my DT inspiration ...

I decided to take some of my more masculine stamps and turn them girlie. I have used Stampin' Up 'Clockworks' and 'Gorgeous Grunge', which I mostly use for my male themed cards and given them a touch of  'girl power'!

The little panels are stamped using the 'Clockworks' stamp set in Victorian Velvet, Peacock Feathers and Gathered Twigs distress inks. I then punched out the squares and mounted them on blue die-cut cardstock. 

The background is stamped using the 'Gorgeous Grunge' set with the same distress inks. Then I added the pocket watch which is decoupaged. I also added some stamped 'Petite Petal' flowers and some die-cut butterflies to add to the girlie factor.

The 'Happy Birthday' sentiment is also from the Stampin' Up 'Sassy Salutations' set. Needless to say this was made for a friend of mine that is a 'Stampin' Up demonstrator! Lol.

Hugz, Jan xx

A little bit of Gardening!

Hello there,

Well, we had our trip to Ikea yesterday, but didn't buy much - I don't know what's wrong with me! I need to go craft shopping, I never have any trouble spending money then! Lol.

On to today's crafty news - it's time for our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week our leader, Caz has chosen the theme of 'GARDENING'. Here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

Now, I think this is a great theme for a male card, but then realised that I didn't have anything 'garden' related! After searching through my stash I discovered (or re-discovered) a set of tiny 'Art Impressions' stamps that I bought years ago - they are all tiny individual stamps that you create a scene with. Luckily the ones I have relate to gardens!

So, the main panel has a pc generated sentiment - then I went to work with my little stamps and masks. The image consists of just two stamps - the watering can and the little plant pot, which have been masked to create the design and then coloured with my Promarkers. The little bird is stamped in black ink sitting on top of the stack of plant pots.

The whole thing is layered onto paper from my LOTV 'Country Gent' pad and I added three little co-ordinating buttons as embellishment.

Hugz, Jan xx

Teal and Brown

Happy Holiday Monday,

Well, our weekend wash a bit of a wash out due to the rain - I had planned a trip to the garden centre to go get some plants for my new garden, but all it did was rain! We did go to the garden centre but I was a little disappointed - we only came back with a few bits and pieces. Oh well, let's hope tomorrow is a bit more productive - I have a little trip to Ikea planned!

On a crafty note, it's time for our next challenge over at My Besties UK and as always you can enter an 'Anything Goes' project, but as a design team we like to offer a theme too. So for the next two weeks we would love to see your 'TEAL AND BROWN' creations. This is a great colour combo - here's what I made for my DT inpsiration ...

I used a 6x6" white scalloped card blank and layered a piece of pretty teal paper (from my precious 'Gorguss' range) onto a piece of brown cardstock. I also used a Martha Stewart punch to create a teal flower border which has little brown adhesive pearls in the centre of the flowers.

The Bestie image is no. 692 and can be found in Sherri's on-line store HERE. I coloured her with my Promarkers and instead of giving her brown hair and a teal outfit, I did the opposite - I love her blue hair!

A little stamped sentiment and a few brown card candi to finish off.

That's all for today - I will let you know how the Ikea trip went tomorrow.

Hugz, Jan xx

F for Friendship

Happy Friday,

I have a lovely four day weekend to look forward to - now what to do ...

First I have news of the next theme over at the Alphabet Challenge and this week we are up to the letter 'F' and Helen has chosen 'FRIENDS/FRIENDSHIP'. Here's what I made for my DT inspiration using a lovely little LOTV recipe stamp ...

The papers are also from one of my many LOTV paper pads - 'Timeless Victorian' and are inked around the edges with Dusty Concord distress ink. I have used lilac co-ordinations cardstock to layer and added a couple of die-cut pieces to highlight the stamped image.

The little flowers are Stampin' Up 'Pretty Petals' which are stamped onto some leftover lilac paper and embossed, with added lilac pearl centres.

It also has a paper bow which I made out of four oval die-cuts, then added another flower to the centre.

I hope you can come and play along with us and if you have time, why not pop over to the blog and check out what my teamies made too.

Hugz, Jan xx