Lucky 7

Hello everyone,

I'm back to work today after my week off - it seemed to pass by very quickly! It was a tough one in some ways, but also a chance to remember Mum too.

I also had a fabulous evening on Saturday watching Mr Olly Murs at our local arena - he was fantastic, a very enjoyable night.

So, I have my next DT project today for the new challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz, and this week it was my turn to choose the theme. We would love to see your projects showcasing

'NUMBERS'

This could be for any occasion, but here's what I made with a new Tim Holtz stencil ...

I decided on a tag this time - starting with a piece of white card. I used a couple of distress inks in Peacock Feathers and Mustard Seed to give some colour to the background, then used the Peacock Feathers through the Tim Holtz 'Numbers' stencil to give some dimension.

I coloured a smaller piece with the same colours then used a crackle stamp all the way around the edges of the tag and the focal piece. I added a die-cut number '7' in black cardstock and stamped the work 'Lucky' as this has always seemed to be a lucky number for me personally.

A few die-cut cogs to finish off, along with a couple of black adhesive pearls and a piece of black satin ribbon. Then the whole thing is mounted on a layer of black to frame it.

Hope you can join us.

Hugz, Jan xx

Something beginning with T ...

Good morning,

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed my time off last week, although I didn't get any of the things done that I planned (mainly cleaning out my craft room)! I just don't know where to begin - there is so much stuff in there it scares me! I think the only way I could tackle it all is to actually empty the room and start again - but I think I might need more than a week!!

I have another DT piece to show you today for the new challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz (another role that I have sadly neglected over the past couple of months)! This week Amy has chosen the theme

'SOMETHING 

BEGINNING WITH T'

So I decided on 'Travel' and got busy with one of my new Tim Holtz paper pads - here's what I came up with ...

I love how this turned out! I wanted a real distressed look for my theme and got busy distressing all the edges of the papers with my scissors and inking them.

The background is a piece of kraft card which I passed through an embossing folder, inked the edges, then added some gold gilding wax to highlight the embossed areas.

I cut lots of different size pieces of paper and stamped out a little postcard, the map and the sentiment using an old Creative Expressions stamp set. I also added a couple of oddments of die-cuts that I had lying around.

So, why not come and join us with your own 'T' themed male 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

A little Distressed!

Hi there fellow crafters,

Welcome to my new followers - my numbers are rising slowly and I'm thrilled :)  I hope you all had a great weekend and are enjoying the warmer weather.

My card today is made for the challenge over at 'Stampin' for the Weekend' which is 'Distressed'.  Here's what I made ...

I used my favourite 8x8" card blank and covered it with gorgeous Tim Holt paper which has been well and truly distressed around the edges and inked with 'Walnut Stain' distress ink too.  I added another couple of layers which were subjected to the same treatment and then added the stamped image which is from Kanban.  I paper pieced the skirt using scraps of the text paper and added a couple of little brass wing charms to the back of the bodice.  I love the sentiment (which is from Creative Expressions) and this is stamped and embossed.  Extra embellishments include a couple of stamped hinges, an organza ribbon bow, some roses (which have also been distressed with the ink), a couple of Doohickey heart swirl dies and some adhesive pearls.

Thank you for all your kind comments on my past posts - I love reading them all, they mean a lot and I always try to return the favour where I can.

Big hugz, Jan xx

Hanging Hearts

Helloo from a very snowy Yorkshire,

We are thick in snow this morning - it snowed all afternoon and all evening yesterday and we have lots of it! My little doggies love it - Lacey keeps sitting by the back door wanting to go and play; she thinks she is a snow plough - she comes back in with a cute little pile of snow on her nose where she has been sniffing! Lol.

I have been working on some DT projects, but can't show you them just yet (one coming up tomorrow) - so I thought I would post a little project I made for my daughter's bedroom (which as you may have guessed, is decorated in purple!)  Here's what I made ...

I made the wall hanging using two chipboard hearts which I bought at a craft fair last summer.  I covered them with lush purple paper from the Tim Holtz Vintage paper stack and inked around the edges with distress ink.  I then went to town with the embellishments and added a bit of whatever I could find - there is a complete mixture of some stamped elements, some die-cut elements, some Frantage embossing powder, a gorgeous Tim Holtz key and a few other bits and bobs from my stash.  I was really pleased with the outcome, and so was my daughter!  Here's a couple of close-ups ...

I would like to enter this into the 'Stampin' for the Weekend' challenge which is 'Something Girly' - think this works, well it was made for my 'girly'. 

Stay safe if you have to go out in the snow, or why not stay in and craft like me ;)  Hugz, Jan xx

It's all about the Texture

Hi there,

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend - we have had quite a bit of rain here.  I have been playing a continuous game of washing out/washing in all weekend! In between my crafting, of course! Lol.

I have gone all 'Steampunk' today making a special card for a design team call.  The theme is 'Texture' and I have tried to show this in several ways.  Here's what I made ...

The background paper is from the TH 'Lost and Found' paper stack and I distressed the edges with my scissors, before inking them with Walnut Stain distress ink.  I then inked through the clock mask and heat embossed some little cogs and gears down the right hand side with gold detail embossing powder.  I stamped some wings, gears and paint splodges onto the background paper and added some little torn pieces of text from an old book.

The main image is a Kanban stamp - partly coloured with Promarkers and the jacket is paper pieced. The image is backed with brown coredinations cardstock cut using a Spellbinders Labels Seventeen die.  It has been dry embossed with an embossing folder and then sanded back to show the core.

The 'Steampunk' lettering was mainly created on my pc, apart from the letter 'S' which was cut from a piece of card covered in metal tape, embossed and coloured with alcohol inks.  The flower was made in the same way.

Additional embellishments include a heart cut from corrugated card and inked with distress ink together with an additional brass-coloured wirework heart, a little brass clockface (which I added some chain to), some metal washers and a 'Dare to Create' sentiment.  I also treat some parts of the card to a sprinkling of gold Frantage embossing powder.

I think I managed to get some texture in there - hope I didn't overdo it! Lol.  I am off to submit it now and should find out at the beginning of September if I have been successful.  I hope so - wish me luck.

Hugz, Jan xx