What are you Thankful for?

Happy Tuesday,

First I would just like to say a warm welcome to my new followers - so glad you wanted to join me on my crafty journey (it wouldn't be the same without you all).

I will be at school as this post goes live, but I know we will be taking a break at 11am with all the children in school to have our 2 minute silence in remembrance of those fallen in the wars. We did a lesson on Remembrance Day last week in preparation and created some artwork for our local church - it never ceases to amaze me how interested a class of 7/8 year olds can be in something they can barely comprehend. I was so proud of them.

Righty then, onto crafty things and over at Cardz 4 Guyz we have a brand new challenge today and the theme was chosen by one of our new team members, Andrea. For the next week we would love to see your male themed projects showing thanks, so

'THANKSGIVING/THANKFUL'

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

I decided to stay with the CAS look this week and chose kraft card for the base. The added splash of autumnal colour was made using a piece of cream cardstock and treating it to a liberal coating of distress inks in Scattered Straw, Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade and Tea Dye. I then stamped over the top in Vintage Photo using a text stamp to create the background. After dusting with a little talc I stamped the leaves with Perfect Medium ink and embossed with fine detail gold powder.

The sentiment was created on my pc and I added a single piece of twine and a lovely wooden leaf embellishment, which is also coloured with Tea Dye and Vintage Photo distress ink to co-ordinate.

I know we don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in the UK, but I do have lots of crafty friends over the pond and as it's coming up to that time of year, I would love to send 'Thanksgiving' wishes their way.

Hugz, Jan xx

Red Alert!

Hello there,

I hope everyone has some nice crafty plans for the weekend - it's starting to get cold here, so heating is on now.

It's time for our next challenge over at my challenge blog 'FANTASY STAMPERS' and for the next to weeks our theme is

'RED ALERT!'

Now I was thinking about Remembrance Day when I chose the theme, but my own DT card turned out to be a Christmas one - here's what I made ...

I used one of my new square embossing folders for the background which has poinsettias on (difficult to see on my photo, I know!) 

The main stamped image is part of a freebie set from a recent magazine purchase and I stamped it onto some book paper and then coloured it with my Promarkers. 

Some simple matting and layering with red cardstock and a stamped sentiment to finish off.

I hope you will come and play along with us this time.

Hugz, Jan xx

Toys for Boys

Hello there,

I'm back today with our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week Jane chose the theme of 'Technology/Toys for Boys'. Now this one got me thinking - I don't have anything that fits this theme, so off I went onto clipart and found the phone image and took it from there. Here's how it ended up ...

I used my Stampin Up 'Gorgeous Grunge' stamps with Black Soot and Peacock Feathers distress inks. I masked the phone out first, then just got to stamping with the different stamps. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out! I matted and layered on co-ordinating cardstock, then black before adding it to my card. A simple 'Happy Birthday' sentiment finished it off.

Hope you will join us this week with your own interpretation of our theme.

Hugz, Jan xx

So Christmas Begins ...

Hello again,

Well, that's my half term over - back to school today for the run up to Christmas. And on a Crafty note I have my very first Christmas post today - over at My Besties UK we have a 'Christmas' theme for the next couple of weeks, so out came my Christmas box and this is what I made for my DT inspiration using Sherri's gorgeous artwork - if you would like to use this image you can find it in Sherri's online store HERE ...

I used Christmas papers from my stash and coloured the image with my Promarkers to match.  I printed the whole thing out and included a greeting. Added embellies include some co-ordinating ribbon and a couple of die-cut snowflakes. 

Hope you can join us over at the challenge blog.

Hugz, Jan xx

Metal Magic

Good morning,

Well it's day two of my half term and I didn't even make it into my craft room yesterday - so many other things to do! Lol

I'm back today with news of our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week Kim has chosen the theme of

'METAL'

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

Out with the old metal tape again - I love this stuff and it's so easy to use. I covered a piece of white cardstock with my metal tape and then ran it through my Calibur using a Clarity cogs stencil - to create an embossed effect. I then painted over it with white gesso and wiped most of it off with a clean baby wipe, then added some black archival ink by smearing the inkpad over the top of the raised areas (the plan was to give the metal a grungy look!)

I decided to keep it fairly simple to show off the metal effect, so just added a stamped sentiment which is embossed with black embossing powder and then cut with my dies.

I hope you can join us this time.

Hugz, Jan xx

Something Spooky

Hello there,

Well, I made it to the end of the first half term and now have a week off to look forward to. I plan on getting my christmas stash out and making a start on all things Christmas in an attempt to get ahead. I will let you know how I get on.

Today we have a new theme over at my own challenge blog, FANTASY STAMPERS. For the next two weeks we would love to see your projects showcasing

'SOMETHING SPOOKY'

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

I love working with my distress inks and decided to make a tag for this one. I began with a piece of white card and inked it with Seedless Preserve and Dusty Concord distress inks, taking care to mask out the moon area first.  I added a few hills in the background using torn paper and then stamped the tree with archival black ink (remembering to remove the moon mask first!)

I also stamped the witch and cauldron, together with a few pebbles at the bottom and some leaves around the left edge. I didn't have any stamps of bats, so I drew a couple in with my micron pen! I added Black Soot distress ink to the edges once finished and then mounted onto a piece of black cardstock.  I also cut a smaller piece of the inked card and stamped my 'Happy Halloween' sentiment and added to it to the bottom of the tag. 

I hope you can come and join in with our challenge this time - see you there.

Hugz, Jan xx

It's Spooky Time!

Hi there everyone,

I'm back again today with a new challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week we would love to see your 'SPOOKY' projects ready for Halloween.

Here's what I made for my DT inspiration (which I must admit is CASED from a project on Pinterest), but I just loved the idea of it ...

It measures 6x6" with an orange embossed layer matted on black cardstock. The front panel is hand drawn onto kraft card and matted on black cardstock.  I added some little googly eyes from my stash and the lettering is stamped using my Clarity Letterbox set.

I hope you will join us this week in preparation for Halloween.

Hugz, Jan xx