Tea, Cake and Crafting

How kind is this?

2012-03-03T12:55:00.005-08:00

Crafters and Blogland amaze me sometimes. Just as I go through a ropey patch a lovely crafter appears and does something amazingly kind. The lovely Lorraine over at Mrs B's blog has given me, and 4 other crafters the Liebster award. It's given to bloggers who have less than 200 followers; someone who has inspired you.

It's just the kindest thing! Thank you so much Lorraine. I have to pass it on to 5 other bloggers with a following of less than 200. I'm going to be on that as soon as possible! Big hugs to all in need, Jayne xx

That wailing you heard would've been me!!

2012-03-02T11:42:00.003-08:00

Did you, by any chance, hear a hideous screeching noise today? Well, I've been pretty blooming miserable for the last couple of weeks so I decided to cheer myself up by listening to some music whilst I crafted. What more could a girl want than to listen to Florence and Machine, eat hummus and make a purple card - all at the same time. I thrashed about the house, singing (wailing) into my microphone (breadstick) busting some pretty miraculous moves for a woman of my age (not sure the window cleaner enjoyed the sight). Absolutely the best day I've had for ages. To top it off my daughter got star of the week at school. Way to go!

Enough rambling! This is what I created in and amongst all the wailing and munching.

This is another Krista Smith lovely; Pink Punkette. How fab is she? I love, love, love purple. I don't know why I haven't used it in ages? The papers are Papermania and Chocolate Baroque 'Love Letters' a much neglected download I got ages ago.The leaves are the foliage die form Spellbinders. And look, I made one of those ribbon flowers that I've been wanting to try for ages. It needs work but it was fun - I'm sure crafting Goddess Sue Wilson has a tut on her blog. The purple jute (?) and flowers are from WOC. I've used the Tim Holtz Weathered Clock die again because I like it!!

I've spent the last two weeks on the verge of giving up crafting altogether but making this card and singing into my breadstick has made me much cheerier. I'm going to enter this into the Kaboodledoodles challenge because it was their idea to make a purple card, and at the fabby Party Time Tuesday's where it's 'Anything Goes'.

I'm off to sing again - breadsticks at the ready ladies - altogether now ....... ' You hooooo got the love, you got the love . ........'

And it's NCIS tonight - woohoo! Big hugs, have a soopa doopa weekend, Jayne xx

Peaches and Cream over at Lili's Little Fairies!

2012-02-29T22:55:00.001-08:00

I'll start with a confession - the card I've posted is the fourth card I made for this challenge. Yep, I am a total whack job!!!! I'm having one of those phases; you know, where nothing you make looks even vaguely presentable. Big sigh! I'm sure you'll all do a much better job - it's a lovely challenge this week. Not only that, but we are sponsored by Which Craft UK so have some great pop up cards (card example below) up for grabs (check out Elise's gorgeous creation using one of their cards).

I was, in the end, saved by the lovely Carol over at Dreamees who sent me a box of goodies which improved my mood greatly! I was so giddy when I saw the die cut fence that I started work right away! The corner, flourish and fence are all from Dreamees. The beautiful flowers are from WOC. The papers are freebies from yonks ago - possibly made by Craftwork Cards. (Sorry, I had real trouble finding peach papers in my stash but have now ordered some Pion Designs peachy papers!).

I used copics to colour this little cutie: YR01, YR00, YR000, G20, YG63, YG61, E29, E25, E23, E50, Promarkers, blush, vanilla, dusky pink and vanilla.

Very much hope that you get chance to play along this week. Check out all the beautiful creations from my teamies this week - ridiculously stunning, huh?

Big hugs, have a great week, Jayne xx

Anything but a square over at Saturated Canary!

2012-02-27T10:00:00.002-08:00

I didn't think I'd get to join in this week - how grumpy was I? But, my little cherub is now much better and the pox is definitely on its way out. Yeah!!! You really wouldn't want me as your nurse - I am rubbish!

I finally got around to making another Finnish Star yesterday. I was going to do some photos for a tutorial but my daughter was 'helping' me and there was no way I could take photos and keep little hands from destroying the star, lol. Maybe next time. The good news is that I made this one from memory so they're not that hard, are they! How utterly divine is this paper. Why am I so tight? I am bought one piece and now I've got everything crossed that the craft shop hasn't sold out. It's from the My Mind's Eye, Lost and Found collection, Blush "Better" Blossom Paper. Gosh it's so lovely. It took me ages to pluck up the courage to cut into it!! Hehe.

The image is the gorgeous Canary Love, from Saturated Canary. How much do I love these digis? From memory I used the following copics: C7, C5, C3, C1, C0, R39, R37, R35, R32, R81, R83, R85, promarkers blush, vanilla, ivory, dusky pink.

The flowers are from WOC as is the ribbon and the gorgeous hatpins are from Creative Expressions.

I am going to try to enter this into the Saturated Canary blog challenge but you know how crazy bad I am with the whole linky thing!! Have a great evening, hugs, Jayne xx

A Miss With Attitude!

2012-02-25T11:56:00.000-08:00

This is definitely my favourite Saturated Canary. This is an odd colour combo but it's growing on me and Miss Gothica looks great in any colour!

I made this a couple of weeks ago before my daughter got ill and before my mojo went walkabout!! I'll try and remember what I used:

Apothecary Emporium papers - Echo Park Paper (why did I not buy two pads???)
Tim Holtz Sizzix Weathered Clock die
WOC flowers
Creative Expressions Hat Pins
Copics - C7, C5, C3, C1, C0, E43, E41, E40, Pro marker, Ivory, Blush, Dusky Pink (I'm saving up for Copic skin colours!!!)

I really want to make another Finnish Star to go with the Canary Love Saturated Canary image but I don't know if I have the energy! Maybe I'll try some colouring and try the star tomorrow?

Huge thanks to everyone for your kind messages regarding my little one and the pox! Thanks to the ladies of the Joanna Sheen forum there has been much less scratching today and no tears. Here's hoping for some sleep tonight. Big hugs, Jayne x

Beautiful Freesias!

2012-02-24T11:54:00.001-08:00

These are a couple of quick cards that I made last week (before chicken pox-gate!!) Both were made using the Jane Shasky, Heart of the Garden, CD ROM from Joanna Sheen.

Not a huge fan of orange, so I was totally out of my comfort zone, but I LOVE freesias and couldn't resist making a card with the image. I've used the foliage dies and Fleur de Lis Accents from Spellbinders and the X-cut Flower doily border punch. The flowers are from WOC.
This next card I made with a very heavy heart and a fountain of tears! My lovely friend Steve passed away and I needed to make a card for his wife. I really didn't know where to start and must have paced around the house a hundred times. In the end I went for more of an uplifting image and hope it was the right thing to do.

It's been a rough couple of days; I hope that my daughter is soon over the worst of the chicken pox. Gosh, it's just so painful to watch your little one in so much misery.

I'm going to watch Rizzoli and Isles before the scratching starts again! Big hugs, have a great weekend and thank you so much for stopping by. Jayne xxx

Lili's Little Fairies Challenge / Yup, it's definitely the pox!!!

2012-02-22T23:58:00.000-08:00

Apologies for the quick post - my daughter came home from school with chicken pox yesterday. Ahhh, the untold joys of motherhood!

My second apology is for the lack of an LLF challenge last week. Mummy Fairy has been poorly so everything has been on hold. The lovely Dawny P is arranging all things LLF until Mummy Fairy is well again. Get well soon Jacqui, we all miss you!!

Ok, so this week the theme is Afternoon Tea. There are lots of LOTV stamps with tea, cake and buns on them so I'm hoping lots of you will play along this week. A theme revolving around cake - what's not to love?!

I love this Teddy Bears Picnic stamp! I didn't have much time this week and am just relieved I managed to get a card done at all. The card ingredients are as follows:

Papermania capsule collection - Burleigh Blue by Jesse Edwards

Whimsy Stamps - Banner Pennant Die

Spellbinders - Labels 18

Sentiment - Portobello Road - Passport/Postage

WOC Flowers

Copics- B01 B000 B0000 E53 E33 E31 G20 R85 R81

Martha Stewart Punch - Swirling Lace border punch

Hope that you get a chance to join in the fun this week. I'm looking forward to seeing lots of tea and cake on your creations!! Big hugs, Jayne xx

Land ahoy!!

2012-02-19T12:37:00.000-08:00

Gosh, what a week! It may take me a couple of weeks to get over this half term!! I made this card a while ago - I've had no time to carft this week and I'm behind with my LOTV DT cards so I'm gonna have to get my skates on this week!!

I really love these magnolia pirate stamps; just how cute are they? I've coloured pirate Edwin and the barrel and anchor with copics and then masked the image. I then used Bev Rochester fabulous cloud template and tumbled glass distress ink to create the sky. The ink dusters from Inkylicious are great for this technique. I used the ink dusters again to apply scattered straw distress ink for the sand.

I stamped the woodware map stamp onto Kraft card and distressed it with walnut stain and a touch of black soot distress ink and then coated it with clear rock candy crackle glaze from Ranger - it gives it a nice distress finish. The little bottle is also from Ranger.

To create the seal in the bottom left of the card I heated gold embossing powder in a foil dish and then poured it onto my non-stick craft mat. Before it set I stamped into it with the compass stamp from Creative Expressions (Travel set).

The scrummy papers are from the NitWit collection Land Ho. I know I use these all the time but they are just delish! The wood effect card I've used to make the box comes from a Cute Companions CD - Summer Stories I think.

Have a lovely evening, hugs, Jayne xx

I'm entering the card into the following challenges:
Kaboodledoodles challenge where boys are boys
Creative Inspirations Wednesdays Challenge blog 'blue, brown and cream' challenge

Lili's Little Fairies Challenge - Anything Goes!

2012-02-15T22:52:00.001-08:00

Gosh, it's that time of the week already! How time flies. This week it's Anything Goes and I hope that we can persuade you to try something a bit different! The sponsors this week are those lovelies at Wild Orchid Crafts. My mojo has seriously gone walkabout (I'm blaming this never ending bug) so I was a bit stuck this week. I remembered seeing this tutorial at Wiccababe on a walk through blogland so I thought I might as well give it a whirl. Apparently it's a Finnish Star!

I wasn't sure whether you'd all think it was a bit bonkers but I kinda like it - it's a bit quirky. You make two four pointed stars and join them together - I was fine until I got to the joining bit and then I was practically wrestling with the blooming thing!! The scrummy paper is Kissing Booth from Basic Grey and a real steal at 35p from my local craft shop! The leaves are from the Martha Stewart punch and the flowers are from WOC. I've just bought some lilac gardenias from WOC and think I'm in love. LOL! I made a card just so I could use one - how tragic am i?

I love this image; it's one of my favourites.

I've done next to no crafting this week as it's half term. We took my daughter to Hobbycraft today to meet Mister Maker from Cbeebies. We were in a really long queue and had to wait an hour and a half which is like a lifetime for a 4 year old! Mister Maker was absolutely lovely though - worth the wait. I have a lovely photo of my daughter with him - I'll try and add it tomorrow. She was sooo thrilled!! Isn't it great when you get it right!

Rizzoli and Isles tonight - yeah! Looking forward to seeing all your fabulous creations, big hugs Jayne xx.

PS Thank you for all your lovely comments; they really make my day! xx

I'm entering the 'card' into the Wild Orchid Crafts 'Love Is' challenge - the candy looks scrummy!!!!Also into Joanna Sheen's Challenge 'Love is in the Air'.

Kaboodledoodles 'hearts and flowers' challenge

2012-02-12T05:20:00.000-08:00

I haven't felt like crafting lately but when I saw the cute sketch over at Kaboodledoodle I felt like I ought to give it a go. The theme this week is hearts and flowers - what's not to like? And I got to use my new Saturated Canary Miss Pricilla Pie; just how cute are the names!!

The papers are from the All Dressed Up stack from DCWV; busy papers scare me but layered up I think these look ok. I really love this digi stamp! I've just received my Pink Punkette download so I'm super excited. The next time I colour, though, I'm not going to let the dog sit on my knee. It gets complicated!!! I've coloured the image with copics and the gorgeous flowers are from WOC. I'm glad I saw the sketch; it motivated me to craft when all else failed! Now I have to go and make a start on my LOTV DT card for Thursday - I wonder where my mojo went?

I'm entering the card in the kaboodledoodle challenge.

Hugs, Jayne xx

Snow Queens and Saturated Canaries!!

2012-02-10T01:30:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'll start with the most important thing - my daughter's fabulous snow queen! She made it on Sunday with the little snow we got. My husband failed to realise that the Snow Queen, with it's splendid tiara, was made in homage to the Snow Queen made by Max and Ruby in a particularly classic episode of the show! We've only seen it a thousand times!

I finally got around to colouring Whispy Fairy from the Saturated Canary range. Just how flipping fabulous are Krista Smith's designs? This is the first thing I've enjoyed making in weeks, although I found that colouring whilst the dog sat on my knee was not ideal! lol!

The scalloped hearts are the spellbinder nesties and the other is from the Cheery Lynn set of doily heart dies. The silver heart is from my stash. The beautiful pink and red flowers are from WOC. I'd love to tell you what the DPs are but my precious petal scribbled all over the remaining half of the paper in thick black felt tip pen and my husband put it in the bin. How steaming mad was I?!!

I've just realised that my poor fairy has a white ear!! I'm off to go and colour that in. I'm going to enter into the following challenges IF I can remember how to do the linky thing.

TGIF! NCIS tonight :) Jayne xx

Saturated Canary 'Red, Pink, and White' Challenge
Joanna Sheen 'Love is in the Air' Challenge
Crafter's Companion 'Anything Goes' Challenge
Party Time Tuesday - Valentine's Challenge
My Mums Craft Shop 'Love is in the air' challenge

Lili's Little Fairies - Valentine's Sketch

2012-02-08T22:44:00.000-08:00

This week the lovely Jacque gave us a sketch as the challenge theme. If you haven't already seen the totally scrumptious cards made by the DT this week then you have to go check them out - Jacque's card this week is awesome!! How talented is that DT - Elise, June, Chris - all the ladies - it's crafty heaven! I'm trying to soak up all the craftyness I can!!! This is my offering this week - it was done in the midst of my hideous virus - sorry!!

The DPs are from the Wild Rose 'Wedding Bells' stack. I'm liking pink and grey at the moment - good job as there are tons of papers in that stack!! It's the first time I've used this image - it's such a cutie. I've coloured with copics and splashed glitter wherever the mood took me! The large heart is the Cheery Lynn Heart Doily Die. I have to say that this set of dies is making me super grumpy. There are a couple that just won't cut the whole way through. It's always on the exact same part of the die and no matter how I turn it or how many shims I use it's always the same. Frankly, grrrrrr.

The smaller hearts are the scalloped nestie hearts. The little charm is from my stash - think it came from The Works. I found this sketch quite a tricky one to embellish - I might have another go at a card and throw a few more embellies at it!

I'm really looking forward to seeing how you get on with this sketch - good luck. Big fairy hugs, Jayne xx

Magnolia with Ladybird

2012-02-03T03:52:00.000-08:00

How cute is this Magnolia? I think she's lovely and she was a bargain so that makes her even lovelier to me!!! I love these First Edition Love Letters papers; I don't usually go for pinks and browns but they're great together! The flowers and ribbon are WOC - I've now run out of pink ribbon and have ordered the wrong colour so I'm just gonna have to order some more. Thing is you have to order more than just ribbon to make it worth the p&p - right? The heart die is the Cheery Lynn heart doily die - I'm getting my moneys worth out of that one. LOL! I've coloured (not very well either but cut me some slack I'm poorly!) with copics.

This bug is not clearing up and the doc said that it's making people poorly for WEEKS! My poor head is throbbing and the twentysomething NEETs from across the road are belting a football about. I have no words.

I sure hope this bug clears soon as I have two new sets of spellbinders to play with! I bought the foliage set and labels 23 from Maddylisa Crafts. I couldn't find the foliage set anywhere so I e-mailed Anne at Maddylisa and she mailed back within hours to say she had them back in stock. Great service and free p&p - I'm super impressed.

Have a great weekend! TGI Friday - NCIS tonight. Woohoo. Hugs, Jayne xx

Lili's Little Fairies Challenge - Spring Colours

2012-02-02T00:48:00.000-08:00

It's that Jane Shasky CD again! I love these DPs - such beautiful colours.I am feeling so horrendous that it's going to be a very short and sweet post! This is the first time I've inked this stamp - it's a real cutie. Stamp and sentiment from LOTV. Flowers and ribbon, go on, have a guess! Yep, WOC again. The corner is also from WOC; it was silver until I attacked it with picket fence crackle paint!

Please join us over at Lili's Little Fairies this week. We are very sorry that last weeks winners weren't posted - hopefully they'll be posted this week. Hope Mummy Fairy is returning soon!!

I hope that by the time you read this I will have seen the Quack and know what this earache and sore throat is about. I'm not one for crying but this has got me floored. On top of this, my little one is home poorly sick too! Fingers crossed we'll feel better in the morning. Hugs, Jayne xx

Super fast post!

2012-01-29T09:48:00.000-08:00

This is a super fast post as I have a poorly sick little girl to look after at the moment!

I bought this Magnolia a few weeks ago as it was in a sale at my local craft shop and I couldn't resist! I've used the Me to You Spring Chic DPs again! I really ought to get another pack. The sentiment is LOTV - where would we be without them? The flowers are Wild Orchid Crafts as is the ribbon. I've just received another box of yummy flowers from WOC - I think my husband thinks I have some kind of compulsive flower buying disorder!! I coloured it with copics but struggled with the hair. If I get some peace tonight I might try to get on with some colouring.

Hope that you all have a lovely evening and a great week - fingers crossed that we have a snow free week!! Hugs, Jayne x

Lili's Little Fairies Challenge - A Card for a Boy!

2012-01-25T22:37:00.000-08:00

Any excuse to get that Whimsy Stamp banner die out again! How blooming cute is that die? The stamp is the Astronaut from Lili of the Valley - don't you just love the little rabbit peeping out of the rocket? I've coloured the image with copics. The gorgeous papers are from the Polkadoodles Paper Boutique Volume 3 - there are lots of scrummy backing papers on this CD. The sentiment is also LOTV.

We are sponsored this week by the lovely people over at NitWit Collections (now this is a prize I really wouldn't mind winning!!).

So hop on over to Lili's Little Fairies and have a look at all the scrumptious cards made by the DT this week and get entering! Good luck!

Big fairy hugs, have a great day, Jayne xx

My first Saturated Canary!!!!

2012-01-24T12:31:00.000-08:00

Is it just me, or, is Saturated Canary quite an odd name? I like it, but I can't think where it might come from. Am I missing something vital? I suppose the only thing that counts is that every digi stamp on the website is absolutely scrummy! I allowed myself to buy only 2 - how long was I trying to make up my mind! LOL!! I'll be visiting the shop again as soon as I have more pennies. Hehehe.

This is my very first attempt at colouring Gothica (gotta love the name), so stand back a bit, squint and it looks ok! I won't say how long it took me to colour it but I'm going to practise some more.

The DPs are the Apothecary Emporium from Echo Park Paper. I wish they did them in red and purple too. I swished a bit of black soot distress ink at them for good measure.The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and I think the ribbon is from The Range (I love a bargain!). The clock die is the Sizzix Tim Holtz Weathered Clock die and I'm using it all the time. It makes a nice change from a doily!!

I'm going to enter the card into the Saturated Canary Challenge Blog if I can muster up enough courage lol.

Finally, this next masterpiece was created by my daughter - a family portrait. I cut the people pieces out but she decorated and stuck everything herself. I think it's a great job for a girl of 4.

Hope that you're all having a great week. Thank you for stopping by and leaving your lovely comments; it makes my week. Hugs, Jayne xx

The Stampman 'Red' Challenge link here.

Saturated Canary Challenge Blog link here.

Every cloud has a silver lining!

2012-01-20T11:55:00.000-08:00

I decided to make a card with the free papers from the latest issue of Creative Cardmaking (Issue 37). The papers are from the totally scrumptious Promises NitWit Collection. All purples and aquas; what's not to love lol!

I wanted to send the card in for the 'Your Cardmaking' competition. You have to make a card using the free papers and the first prize is £50 to spend in your local craft shop! I won this month and am off to spend the lolly this Sunday :) Anyway to cut my rambling short I now can't enter because the lovely editor has asked me to become part of the Creative Cardmaking team and contribute regular articles! To a normal person this is probably no big deal but to me it's like becoming part of the human race again. It's a long story; suffice it to say that having to give up work 4 years ago broke my heart. Now it feels like perhaps the Universe had a great plan for me after all!

I'll show all the pictures and go watch NCIS! Rizzoli and Isles are back next week :)

The pictures were taken in a hurry because I needed to post it! Do I still need to apologise for the photography or does it go without saying?

I love these page book cards - Edna what have you done! They're addictive! The image on the front of the card is by LOTV as is the sentiment inside the 'book'. The flowers and ribbon are from Wild Orchid Crafts.
The hearts are the scalloped hearts from Spellbinders.

Ok, enough pictures! The heart on the front of the box is a NitWit topper from the magazine. It's a great magazine; the papers are good quality not printed on shiny magazine paper as in some mags. You know, like the ones you can't use because the tear and crinkle.

I'm going to enter this into the 'Anything Goes' challenge over at the Wild Orchid Crafts Challenge Blog

I have rambled for England and given you all a 'death by photo' experience. We probably all need a cuppa and a biscuit now. Big hugs, Jayne xx

LLF Challenge - Lavender and Lace

2012-01-18T22:42:00.000-08:00

The DT have made some beautiful cards this week. Mine, however, just isn't working for me! If I'd not felt so yucky I would have done another, but, hey, don't sweat the small stuff as they say!!

So, I'm going to concentrate on the bits I do like. The backing paper is from the wonderful Polkadoodles sweet stuff CD. I've distressed the edges with picket fence crackle paint. The lace is lovely and is from my local Samuel Taylor's craft shop. The crown hat pins are scrumptious and are from Wild Orchid Crafts as are the flowers. The beautiful image is the girl with boa from LOTV.

I hope that you can play along with us at Lili's Little Fairies. It's a lovely challenge this week so I hope you get to join in - you can't do a worse job than me this week!!!

Thank you all for joining us last week - what a great turn out; all the entries were beautiful. Big crafty hugs, Jayne xx

Something bright and cheery!

2012-01-17T06:03:00.000-08:00

How beautiful is this image? Doesn't it just put some joy into your soul? I decided I needed to work with something bright and cheery this morning and this image from the Jane Shasky 'From the heart of the Garden' (Joanna Sheen) really fitted the bill!

The ribbon is part of the Joanna Sheen blog hop prize I won a while back - it certainly fits the bill for bright and cheery!!! The flowers are Wild Orchid Crafts and the sentiment is LOTV. The border punch is my much used X Cut flower doily punch.

I know it's a super quick card but I need an 'all occasion' batch to sell so I'm back to CD crafting to speed up the process.

Hope that all is good with you, big crafty hugs, Jayne xx

Kaboodledoodles' 'firework/celebration' challenge

2012-01-13T10:35:00.000-08:00

Super quick post today! This is for the challenge over at Kaboodledoodles (link here ). The firework paper is from a Me to You Christmas paper pack.The stamp is LOTV and is the first time it's been inked! It's super cute. The flowers, lace and ribbon are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I have been a super naughty girl and ordered the whole Strawberry Kisses set from Crafter's Companion. It's the second day of my diet - I have to take my mind off food somehow!

I'm off to go and sit on the naughty step but I'll be off it at 9pm for the start of the new season of NCIS! How excited am I? The last season of Law and Order: Criminal Intent starts Sunday and Harry's Law starts again on Monday! Yippeeeeeee! I'm one happy couch potato.

Hungry hugs, Jayne xx

Favourite LOTV stamp and grateful thanks.

2012-01-11T22:43:00.000-08:00

This week over at Lili's Little Fairies the challenge is 'Favourite LOTV stamp'. I think that this may be my all time favourite stamp of any make - I just love this girl's attitude. This is going to be my daughter in about 4 years time!!! Thankfully, I was organised enough to make this card before this blasted pain started!

How gorgeous are these Papermania Portobello Road papers? Now, Fairy Elise laughed when I said this, but, these papers made me think of the Sex Pistols which encouraged me to go for the distressed look! It's the Union Jack thing, Vivienne Westwood, Malcolm McLaren - you see where I was going don't you? Hmmm.

The Union Jack ribbon is also Papermania - gorgeous isn't it? The bunting is a Whimsy Stamps 'banner' die. The bakers twine and flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. I distressed pretty much everything with antique linen and walnut stain distress ink. The image is coloured with copics.

It's been a rough old week and I wanted to say a big thank you to my blogging buddies for sending get well wishes. Extra special thanks to Edna and Hazel who are also not feeling great but took the time to send hugs. I'm so grateful, your warm wishes are a boost to morale and keeping me going at the moment.

Don't forget to join us over at Lili's Little Fairies - there's great candy from the Ribbon Girl to be won!

Hope that you all have a great week, big fairy hugs, Jayne xx

Jayne Netley Mayhew Floral Card.

2012-01-10T01:21:00.000-08:00

I bought this CD when it was on offer at Joanna Sheen and, as I'm not feeling too great at the moment, thought I would make life a bit easier and do some CD crafting. It's a lovely image and the card was quick and simple and nothing too taxing on the brain!

The beautiful edge punch is the X Cut flower doily border punch and I'm using it to death!! The flowers and seam binding are from Wild Orchid Crafts. The sentiment is, of course, LOTV.

Hopefully, at some point soon, I'll be on top of the pain and up to doing something a bit more adventurous! I tried some colouring yesterday which turned out to be a BIG mistake! Really, how much of a pig's ear can you make of a LOTV image!!!!

Big hugs, Jayne x

Any excuse to get the gems out!!!!

2012-01-06T12:33:00.000-08:00

This is one of those cards that just kept going wrong and so the finished article is nothing like I had envisaged! Not sure that it was a 'happy accident' - more a case of 'I started so I'll finish'. It ties in with the Joanna Sheen challenge 'Celebrations', Crafter's Companion 'Love is in the Air' (link here ) and Kaboodle Doodles 'Let's Celebrate' (link here ) so I'll be trying to remember how do all the linky things!

I'm super sorry for the wonky photo - I can't even say that I'd partaken of large quantities of falling down water. I was stone cold sober - just pants with the camera! The beautiful stamp and sentiment are from LOTV. The hearts are the Cheery Lynn Designs Heart to Heart Lace Doily dies (again) and the scalloped heart nestabilities. The papers are from Wild Rose Studios 'Wedding Bells' pack. I haven't bought any Wild Rose paper packs before but this pack is all muted silvers and golds and really delicate. The flowers and ribbon are from WOC. I've coloured the image with copics - I'm awaiting another delivery from Cult Pens (shhh, don't tell my man!)

I'm going to attempt to enter these into the challenges and then I'm off for a cuppa. When, oh when, is NCIS coming back to FX? Fridays aren't the same without it! Big hugs, Jayne xx

Hmmm, the linking did NOT go well! Managed to post the wrong card on the CC challenge and post the same card twice on the JS challenge!! Note to self: do not try anything computery whilst husband is at Sainsbury's!

Super quick post . . .

2012-01-06T05:57:00.000-08:00

It's been a great week for nice news for me. Jane Shasky contacted me earlier in the week to ask if she could put a picture of one of my cards on her blog (link here ). I was really thrilled and said yes super quick! Jane's fabulous art work is featured on the Joanna Sheen 'From the heart of the garden' CD. It's a great CD to add to your collection - a real 'all rounder.' Beautiful toppers and the backing papers are scrumptious (because, let's face it, we all NEED more beautiful papers!).

The second piece of cheery news is that I've won the Stampman 'Techniques' challenge. It's the first time I've entered and the card was a real challenge and was way out of my comfort zone. Sometimes I need a bit of encouragement to stray from cute girlie cards but I'm glad I did!

I have a card to post but my fingers are turning blue with cold so I'm off to get a cuppa and perhaps a biscuit or two and will be back this evening to post a bejewelled wedding card. Big hugs, Jayne x

New Beginnings . . .

2012-01-04T22:49:00.000-08:00

Over at the new Lili's Little Fairies Challenge Blog this week's challenge is the aptly named New Beginnings. I've never been on a Design Team before so it's a new beginning for me! Jacqui's put a lot of hard work into putting the blog together and I'm sure it's going to be loads of fun - if you get the chance hop over and join us!

The stamp and sentiment are both LOTV. The flowers and corner are Wild Orchid Crafts. The papers are more of the Tatty Teddy Springtime collection - I can't stop using these papers and am considering buying another pad! The beautiful heart is one of the Cheery Lynn Designs Heart to Heart Lace Doily die (I found it after a long search - phew!)

Hope you get a chance to join in the challenge. Happy crafting, hugs Jayne xx

Don't Forget Thursday . . . .

2012-01-03T12:59:00.000-08:00

Nearly time for Lili's Little Fairies first Challenge Blog! It kicks off on Thursday and it would be great if you could join us - I'm a tad nervous! More details here.

In the meantime it's back to my favourite Tilda. I haven't had chance to do much crafting with the school holidays; I've spent most of the day making play doh ice cream with my daughter. This is one of the very few cards I've managed to finish - couldn't resist using these scrummy papers.

The papers are Tatty Teddy spring collection and are just beautiful.The flowers and ribbon are from Wild Orchid Crafts - my husband nearly passed out when I told him I needed to buy more flowers. Boys just don't get it, do they? The butterfly is a Magnolia Doohickey and the heart is a new purchase from Joanna Sheen's very wobbly shelves, Cheery Lynn Designs Heart to Heart Lace Doily die. I seem to have temporarily mislaid my new dies and am probably going to spend the rest of the evening looking for them :(

I'm off to go hunting hearts of the die cutting variety. Wish me luck! Have a great evening, hugs, Jayne xx

First Stampotique card!

2011-12-31T13:50:00.000-08:00

I've wanted a Stampotique stamp for at least 18 months but never got around to buying one so when I saw this on sale in a craft shop yesterday I snapped it up! I'm posting this card, not because it's a good card but, because I felt total joy making it! I really love these images and I'm gonna be buying a load more.

The clock die behind the image is a Tim Holtz sizzix die - I bought it in the sale so that's okay then!!! The papers, I think, are Echo Park. The crackle stamp around the image is one from Creative Expressions.

I like making cute cards but this card just makes me smile! I've decided to stretch myself a bit more in the new year, do the cards that I love, whether or not they sell!!

I'm not great with the whole new year thing but a few months ago I came across a Tim Holtz stamp with the following quote "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass but learning to dance in the rain". I wish, very much, that someone had told me this years ago. So, this year, I'm going to put my wellies on and dance in some puddles! Here's to stormy weather! Big hugs, Jayne xx

Something different!

2011-12-28T12:38:00.000-08:00

I happened across the Stamp Man Challenge Blog and saw that the challenge this week was to try a new technique( details here.) I recently bought some grunge paper and fragments and thought this was a great opportunity to try something a bit different.

I stamped the photograph image onto cream card and affixed it to the fragments with glossy accents. I distressed the other side of the fragments with alcohol ink (latte, espresso and ginger). I also stamped the film reel image onto acetate and distressed it with alcohol ink. I love these stamps - the first time I've used them and I'm sure I'll use them lots! They are the Lost and Found set from Tim Holtz.

The cogs and sprockets are also from Ranger. I die cut a couple of flowers (from the Tattered Floral dies from Sizzix) out of Patterned paper and also out of grunge paper and glued the two together. The screw brad is from Creative Expressions.

The paper is from the Prima Printery pad and is just scrumalicious! It's all been distressed with tea dye and walnut stain distress ink.

I had a great time making this card; it was such a nice change from making 'pretty' cards. I wish I could make really great 'distressed' cards - more practice needed I think. Still, I had a great time and that's the main thing!

So glad I 'happened across' the Stamp Man Challenge Blog! Hugs, Jayne xx

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T07:21:00.000-08:00

What a week! I've felt pretty ghastly all week and it looked like being a pretty rubbish Christmas but thankfully I feel much better today. I'm having a breather before doing battle with the last of the Christmas jobs. I made this card last night because I couldn't leave these yummy papers untouched a minute longer!

The papers are from the Melissa Frances Kitschy Kitchen collection which was part of my Craftime prize. They are such beautiful papers; I think they'll get plenty of outings! The image is LOTV Rosie with a cake and is sooo cute! The flowers, corner and ribbon are all from Wild Orchid Crafts. The little tag behind the image is from the Tim Holtz tiny tabs and tags (a bargain from the Sir Stampalot sale!).

I am shattered and yet there is still so much to do. I did manage to get the cards and instructions written up for the magazine article so, craft wise, the only thing left that I have to do is the card for the first Lili's Little Fairies Challenge Blog. It kicks off on the 5th of January and I hope that you can join us. Until then there is still lots of blog candy to be won so hop over and get your name on the list!

Nearly forgot to say - CULT PENS ROCK! A couple of my very much used copics stopped working yesterday :( So I placed an order with Cult Pens and the order came today! Now that's what I call service! Also on the honour role of great service this year are Joanna Sheen, Foil Play, LOTV and Wild Orchid Crafts.

I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas and a happy, peaceful and healthy new year. Thank you so much for popping over to my blog and leaving your lovely comments; it feels like I've made lots of new friends. Have a great evening, holiday hugs, Jayne xx

Woo hoo! Check out my new DT banner!!!

2011-12-16T02:33:00.000-08:00

I've been on the point of combustion for two weeks but at last I can spill the beans! I am a member of the new design team over at Lili's Little Fairies! I'm not quite sure how that happened and, to be perfectly honest, I'm still quite stunned! I did think that maybe Mummy Fairy Jacqui had made a mistake but then she sent me the banner so it seems not! I now believe in miracles!! What better way to start than to post a card of Lili's little fairies.

I made this in a super hurry yesterday! In the space of a week I became a DT member and got my first magazine commission (from Creative Cardmaking) so I'm in a flat spin at the moment. The beautiful stamp was one sent as part of my Cardmaking and Papercraft prize. All the stamps are beautiful and I'm itching to get them all inked up! The papers are from the Polkadoodles Pretty Sweet CD (really, this is a great CD for backing papers!).
There's LOTS of blog candy on offer over at Lili's Little Fairies so call in and get your name on the list!

It's been a really odd couple of months; I feel like lady luck has been sat on my shoulder (this really is not the norm!) I want to say thank you to Jacqui for giving me this amazing opportunity and hope that you can all call in at the challenge blog and take part in the challenges. For once, I'm really looking forward to the new year.

Big fairy hugs, Jayne xx

LOTV last challenge card.

2011-12-13T10:04:00.000-08:00

The theme this week over at LOTV is pink, silver and white and I've combined this with the easel card theme over at Wild Orchid Crafts Challenge week 38 (details here). I've also entered it into the first Joanna Sheen Challenge blog details here.. This card is for a very dear friend who I met whilst at Uni many moons ago!

The stamp is part of my LOTV winnings and is just scrumptious! It's been coloured with copics and then doused in glitter (of course!). The flowers are from WOC. The papers are from a beautiful pad from Die Cuts With a View and the edges have been distressed with Ranger's silver paint dabber. The banner is from Whimsy stamps - I've wanted to use it again for weeks! The ribbon and charm were from my stash. I've put some Thornton's chocolates in the box and have a voucher to add. Hope she likes it.

I am exhausted today but still have so much Christmas stuff to get done - I'm still making Christmas cards. Must, must start earlier next year! Hope you have a great evening, hugs, Jayne xx

Another Tilda . . .

2011-12-12T11:32:00.000-08:00

I have left my Tilda's un-inked for far too long! It's another outing for the Polkadoodles Pretty Sweet CD papers. I'm just loving these at the moment. I've distressed the edges of the papers with Ranger's Picket Fence crackle paint. I'd never done this before but love the effect. Hmm, I can see the crackle paint coming out lots in the future! The heart doily is from Joanna Sheen and has been distressed with spun sugar and walnut stain distress ink. The flowers and ribbon are from Wild Orchid Crafts. The charm was from my stash - possibly bought it in the Works. Tilda has been coloured with copics and the edges distressed with spun sugar. I haven't tried pink and brown as a colour combo before but it made a nice change from girlie pinks and lilacs!

I'm going to have a look through all my new Lili of the Valley stamps and do some stamping and colouring whilst watching absolute rubbish on the T.V. Might have a mince pie or two whilst I'm at it.

Have a great evening, hugs, Jayne xx

Back to the beginning . . .

2011-12-11T07:38:00.000-08:00

This is the first Tilda I ever bought and I think she's still my favourite; even with the bow on her hat she has a bit of a tomboy feel. I've teamed her up with my new Bo Bunny Gabrielle Collection papers. How scrummy are these? However, it might have been worth thinking about matching embellishments because halfway through making the card I realized I had practically nothing to go with it!

I got there in the end! The flowers and corner are from Wild Orchid Crafts. Some of the flowers were white and I coloured with a tea green promarker. The corner was silver but I stained it with latte alcohol ink. The gorgeous ribbon in teal green was from Sam Poole who I think has free P&P until Christmas. The butterfly is my new die :) - a magnolia doohickey. I'm going to have to put it on about a thousand cards so I feel as though I got my money's worth!!!!! A few gems and a bit of antique linen distress ink on everything and I was done. It was nice to spend a while colouring - I sure do need more practice.
Hugs, Jayne xx

Christmas came early . . . . .

2011-12-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the lovely ladies at LOTV Christmas has most definitely come early for me! In October I found out that I'd won £650 worth of crafting goodies in the Cardmaking and Papercraft Cardmaker of the Year Competition. Today I received the first installment of the prize - a big envelope stuffed full of LOTV goodies. I've not had time to play with any of it yet but I did take a quick piccie.

I can't wait to get inking those stamps! A special 'thank you' to Anne who selected the prizes; she did a great job at choosing a really nice mix of stamps and cute squares.
As predicted I've not had much time to craft in the last couple of days - shopping, wrapping presents and today it was my daughter's school play! Not exactly life in the fast lane! I did manage to print off a few pages of the Polkadoodles 'Pretty Sweet' CD though. If you haven't yet succumbed, I would say that it was worth buying for the scrummy backing papers alone. I made a super quick card!

My only moan about the CD is that I wish that some of the images were small enough to fit inside a standard nestie shape! I'm going to have to faff about re-sizing the images with MCS - this is not so good when you are computer illiterate! Apart from that, it looks to be a really beautiful mix of images and papers.
I'm off to watch Law and Order (when is NCIS coming back?) and do some colouring!
Big hugs, Jayne xx

Lilacs from Jane Shasky

2011-12-07T12:14:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to making some birthday cards today. Thank goodness for the Jane Shasky CD from Joanna Sheen - it's packed with beautiful images that make really lovely cards. I think this image is my favourite on the CD; the backing paper is just stunning.

I really love these soft colours and I like how it's fitted into the Grand nestabilities Labels One. The seam binding and flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts ( I got to use all my favourite flowers :) The sentiment is from Lili of the Valley. The leaf punch is from Martha Stewart and I think must be my most used punch.

I've made a few cards using this CD today; it's just beautiful and a real must for any collection.

My Polkadoodles Pretty Sweet and Pretty Tuff Cds came today (at long last) from Create and Craft so I hope to get to play with these tomorrow.

I am nowhere near sorted for Christmas so I may have to abandon crafting for a few days to get buying and wrapping presents.

Thank you for visiting my blog I really do appreciate it! Have a great evening, hugs, Jayne x

Anything but a Christmas Card

2011-12-06T12:28:00.000-08:00

The LOTV challenge this week is 'Anything but a Christmas Card'. My daughter has been invited to a 4th birthday party at the end of December and so I decided to try out this book card (with thanks to Edna at Anotherdayanothercard.blogspot.com for pointing me in the right direction for the instructions). Find the link here

The image is LOTV; I've used it loads! It's been coloured in with copics and distressed with dusty concord. The papers are from Nitwits - I think this is the Halloween Hooligans FQB. The sentiment is a Hobby Art stamp as is the little spider inside the book. I've used the Tim Holtz Vintage Market alphabet dies for the lettering. The cut bat and cat are also from the Halloween Hooligans FQB and I've re-sized them in MCS.

I stitched (me with a needle! Didn't manage to sew a button onto my coat though!) a cobweb in the corner of the book with some sparkly black thread.

For a first attempt, I'm quite happy with it and more importantly I hope that Oliver loves it. I still need to make a box but I'll leave that for another day. I must confess that assembling the pages turned out to be quite stressful and quite a bit of swearing went on! I'm sure that my next attempt will be more successful!
I'm off to watch Harry's Law with a nice cuppa and a chocolate or two. It would be foolish to start my diet before Christmas wouldn't it?
Have a great evening, hugs, Jayne x

Crafter's Companion 'New Beginnings' Challenge

2011-12-05T12:26:00.000-08:00

Today, I was supposed to be making birthday cards but my heart wasn't in it so I made this instead!

The image is a Crafter's Companion S.W.A.L.K stamp. It's been coloured with copics and then had copious amounts of glitter slathered on top! I have distressed the edges with spun sugar Distress ink. The frame around the image is the large circle motif from the Fleur de Lis Motifs spellbinders (needs must - I don't have a large enough scalloped circle die to fit this image!). The doily heart (from Joanna Sheen) has also been distressed with spun sugar Distress ink. The corner is also from the Fleur de Lis spellbinders dies. The papers are from a Nitwit FQB (I think this one is called possibilities and it is scrummy). The seam binding ribbon and flowers are from WOC.

Apologies for the photography; I really can't seem to get a good picture of an easel card.

I'm going to enter this into the Crafter's Companion 'New Beginnings' challenge - I'm still giddily awaiting my prize from winning last months challenge. Can't wait!
I hope my crafting mojo returns soon - it's hard work without it!

Have a great evening, hugs, Jayne x

Crazy Week!

2011-12-04T08:29:00.000-08:00

I've got absolutely nothing done all week! It's been one thing after another and now I only have a few days to make several cards for my niece and her mum! Oh well, maybe some pressure will help the awol crafting mojo return. This card is for my nieces mum; I've made so many cards for them over the years it's getting tricky coming up with something new.

The image is a Sam Poole stamp from Creative Expressions (Travel set). I've distressed the edges with Victorian Velvet distress ink. The papers are Papermania (using up my stash!). The black seam binding is also from Sam Poole's shop. The yummy flowers are from WOC - I love the black and pink together. The inside of the card has been done to match the outside I just forgot to take a picture!
It's been a funny old week. I won the Crafter's Companion challenge blog (randomly selected) and then I won some ribbon on the Joanna Sheen blog hop and then I got some ridiculously fabulous news that I can't share just yet but has made me super giddy!
Just a short post today - I've been at a birthday party full of 4/5 year olds and I have a throbbing headache! Here's hoping the crafting mojo returns this week.
Have a great evening, hugs, Jayne x

Red, aqua and a caterpillar!

2011-11-30T07:52:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd try something a bit different to try to muster up some enthusiasm and I think it might have worked! These colours are a bit outside my comfort zone but I quite like them together.

The image is the LOTV image I used on the advent calendar (D Day tomorrow!). The card is from a Kanban kit that I thought was destined for ebay. I hated the toppers that came with it but once I discarded them I decided I quite liked the backing papers! The flowers are WOC, again. It was a really good excuse to use the aqua and white flowers that I think are my favourite. Okay, I have a lot of favourites. lol. The card blank was made from a Go Kreate frilly frame XXL die with a spellbinder circular aperture cut out of the middle. All in all I'm happy that at least I don't hate the card!
More importantly, my four year old daughter made this fabulous caterpillar with her new plasticine.

How fab is that? I promised I would put it in my blog for the world to see. I didn't tell her that probably only me and her dad read my blog!!!
Ah well, off to have a cuppa and catch up with the news. Have a great rest of your day, hugs, Jayne x

A pink card . . . . . for a change!

2011-11-29T11:50:00.000-08:00

Apologies for a super quick post - it's not been the best of weeks and I think I may have over done the Christmas cardmaking! I now can't face cardmaking of any variety. This was a card made for my Mother-in-Law for her birthday a few weeks ago. The stamp was an impulse buy (!); one of a set of about five sheets of stamps from QVC. I don't think it's even marked with the brand name. I don't think I've even used any of the others but this bouquet has proved jolly useful for all sorts of occasions. I think the papers are papermania and a Forever Friends Easter pack. I really love the Martha Stewart lattice border punch; pretty but not over fussy. The image is coloured with copics and the seam binding and flowers are WOC again (I am such a shocker for buying embellishments).
Hopefully in the next few days I'll recover some crafting mojo and get back to work - I hope so as not even wanting to craft is not a good sign . .

Have a lovely evening, hugs, Jayne xx

An Advent Calendar for Someone Special

2011-11-22T12:23:00.000-08:00

In the summer I made an advent calendar for the Cardmaker of the Year competition in Cardmaking and Papercraft. It took me forever to make but as soon as my daughter saw it she said she wanted one in pink for Christmas! Oddly enough I was in no hurry to make another. It must have been fate though as the LOTV challenge this week was to make a Christmas Card for Someone Special and the WOC challenge was to make something for a Child's Christmas.Find the Challenge here. That was the kick up the bum I needed to get going.

The image is another super cute LOTV stamp. It was chosen because it could be my daughter skating with our dog and I thought she would love it! I apologise for the super pinkness of it but it's everything she loves - pink, glittery, flowery with a dog! The papers are from the Adorables Christmas CD and the first S.w.a.l.k CD. The ribbon and flowers are from WOC. The bauble and snowflake are spellbinders (still not found my Marianne Creatables snowflake die. Sob!).

I really hope she likes it. I have a horrible feeling that she'll take one look at it and ask for the Disney Princess Calendar in the corner shop for 99p!!!!

All that's left for me to do is to put a chocolate in each drawer and hide it until December the first. Fingers crossed she likes it.

Have a great evening, hugs Jayne xx

Super fast Christmas card!

2011-11-19T10:41:00.000-08:00

I was intending to spend yesterday making Christmas cards but all did not go to plan.

I spent nearly an hour searching the house for my lost mobile phone which remained resolutely lost. Then I decided to make a huge batch of chilli. I spent ages preparing it then I put it on the hob and went to hang some clothes out. Returned minutes later to find the chilli totally burnt to the bottom of the pan - the whole lot ruined! I then put the pan on the kitchen work surface and burnt a brown ring into that. In clearing up I got chilli all down myself. In a hurry to get my dirty jumper off I forgot to unbutton it and a button flew off. The day really didn't improve!!

So in the end I had half an hour to salvage something of the day and make a card. Hurray for the Jane Shasky CD (the new one from Joanna Sheen). It is absolutely gorgeous and is now my fave Sheenie CD. The card isn't rocket science but I can make lots of them quickly so my cards to family and friends are sorted.

I really love the image and the colours and is a nice easy one to replicate. At least the day wasn't a total disaster. I'm busy trying to make my daughter an advent calendar - hopefully I'll have it ready to photograph in a few days.

Hugs, Jayne x

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. . . .

2011-11-15T12:22:00.000-08:00

I think we've ascertained that I really love this S.w.a.l.k image lol! I'm going to put it away tomorrow. Promise. I'm always buying magazines with 'free' papers in them and then never use the papers. This months Creative Cardmaking, though, has some beautiful papers in soft colours so I've started to make use of them. I love this soft turquoise and green and I have lots of WOC flowers to match so it was a done deal.

There was just enough matching papers to make this easel set of drawers. The iced lime ribbon is from Wild Orchid and beautifully matched the green accents in the papers. The charm was from a pack of 6 from the works which was a bargain at £1!! I really love making these little drawers - I made an advent calendar with 24 drawers for a competition and now my daughter wants one in pink for Christmas. Best start that soon.

I really need to hunt out some images for more traditional cards to cover my bases but I'm loving these S.w.a.l.k images so much I need a nudge in the right direction!

I've eaten too much rhubarb and custard cake and need to go and veg on the sofa with a cup of tea! Diet starts tomorrow. Really it must.

Have to do some h*******k tomorrow :( That'll take my mind off food!

Hugs, Jayne xx

Walking in a Winter Wonderland . . .

2011-11-14T12:49:00.000-08:00

I've tried to crack on with the Christmas cards today so here are a couple of quick cards. Again I apologise for the photography; I must try to take photos in daylight or it's a disaster! The first is the same S.w.a.l.k image as yesterday. I do really like this image and it will be perfect for my daughter to give to one of her school friends.

The whimsy stamp banner die has had another outing - I couldn't resist! I'm not a huge fan of green but this soft green is beautiful. The second card is made from a Tatty Teddy kit I bought ages ago. Pink and green again! I must try something else tomorrow or all the cards will the same.

The sentiment is from LOTV and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

My husband picked up two crafty parcels for me from the post office this evening containing goodies from Sir Stampalot (well, they were having a sale) and WOC (lots of yummy flowers). I also, accidentally of course, ordered the Jane Shasky CD from Joanna Sheen. Those wobbly shelves are a real hazard!!!! So, I am off to investigate the parcels and also try to find Christmas backing paper that is neither pink nor green. I may be sometime . . . .

Hugs, Jayne x

Pretty in Pink!

2011-11-13T12:18:00.000-08:00

Finally work on the Christmas cards has begun. This of course means that I, the dining room, my daughter and the dog are now covered in glitter! This Crafter's Companion S.w.a.l.k image is just too cute for words. It practically screams out 'colour me in pink and throw a mountain of glitter over me!' It would have been rude not to.

The image has been coloured with copics and then distressed around the edges with spun sugar distress ink (this is such a pretty ink). Obviously then copious amounts of glitter was applied to the image and then around the matt for good measure. The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and again have been glittered. The papers I think are from a papermania pad (I think it had some penguins in it somewhere - something and Percy perhaps!?). I love this girly shade of pink - pity they don't do a whole pad of just these two designs. The snowflake is from a spellbinders set. I had to buy them as the craft goblin has stolen my Marianne creatables snowflakes! The bauble is also a spellbinders nestie and is just the right size for the sentiment. I hardly ever use the smaller nesties so am chuffed whenever I find a use for them!

I'm going to try to enter this into the Crafter's Companion Let it Snow challenge - this computer business is quite stressful. If all goes well I think I may celebrate with a cup of tea and a slice of M&S rhubarb and custard swiss roll. The diet starts when I've finished the roll!!!!

Hope you have a great week. Hugs, Jayne x

Ahoy there . . . .

2011-11-12T12:01:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favourite stamps from Lili of the Valley. I just love the dog in the headscarf! It reminds me of when my daughter dressed our dog up in a bib and blanket! Hopefully I'm going to enter this into the LOTV Creature Comforts challenge and the Wild Orchid Crafts challenge no. 36 brown and blue (I say hopefully as I'm still struggling with the whole linking technology thing!)

The card base was cut using the Grand Nestie scalloped circles. The paper is from the Nitwit Land Ho collection. I have three sets of pirate stamps (!) and I use these papers a lot - who knew how difficult it would be to source fab pirate backing papers? I distressed the edge of the white card and the decorative paper with old paper distress ink. The image is coloured with copics and a few spectrum noir pens (still getting used to the speccies). The sea has been glazed with crystal lacquer. The raffia ribbon is from Wild Orchid Crafts and is great to use on 'man cards' (better than girly ribbon!).

This is the first outing for my new pendant die and I have a feeling that in future lots of my cards will feature bunting lol. I bought it on ebay but I think it is a Whimsy Stamp die. The little bottle is from a Tim Holtz collection of bottles. Only problem is, it's a set of about 9 bottles and I only want to use the smallest four! I have no idea where to buy little bottles - I'd prefer to use plastic - if you have any ideas please let me know.

I am half way through making another Christmas card - at this rate I'll never be ready for Christmas. Maybe I could make pirate themed Christmas cards. Now there's a thought. lol.

Hugs, Jayne x

Not exactly a Christmas Card . . . .

2011-11-11T03:53:00.000-08:00

I'm struggling to get into the Christmas spirit. I don't think listening to Bob Dylan whilst Christmas crafting was conducive to festive joy!! May have to rethink my crafty music. I have at last made one Christmas card - it's a bit wonky in places ( I have a throbbing headache) but luckily it hasn't made it's way onto the computer so I'm posting the card I made whilst I was supposed to be Christmas crafting yesterday.

The paper is from the Printery pad from Prima. I think this is my favourite pack of papers ever. It's absolutely gorgeous and will go with anything vintage. I can't believe I only bought one pad. I distressed it with tea dye and walnut stain inks and scuffed the edges with scissors. The image is a Sam Poole Creative Expressions stamp.I distressed the edges with tea dye.

The flowers are cut using the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Bigz Dies. I cut them first from grunge paper and then from the patterned paper and glued the two together. In the centre there is a screw effect brad from Creative Expressions. The little tickets are super cute and I think they're from Maya Road. To finish in the bottom left of the card there are some cogs, again from Sir Tim's collection (sorry that they don't show up too well on the card).

I'm going back to try to move forward with my Christmas cards but I'm feeling super rough (a cold on it's way methinks). So I may veg on the sofa with the dog and a packet of digestives.

Hugs, Jayne x

Saved by a Flower Fairy!

2011-11-09T12:20:00.000-08:00

My daughter's schoolfriend, Lois, is five tomorrow so I needed to make a quick girly card. I didn't have time to do lots of colouring so I hit my CD stash. I've barely used my Crafter's Companion Flower Fairy CD but after looking through it today I'm not sure why that is. It's really beautiful and has some great backing papers and after much faffing I decided to use Zinnia (my favourite). In purple (surely not!)

The photography is truly dire - my fault I left it till this evening to do the piccies and couldn't get decent light anywhere. Huge apologies - still you can get the idea . . .

I've used the spellbinders grand scalloped nestie to make the base card. I've gone mad with the gems (again) but this is partly because my local craft shop (Samuel Taylor's) was doing a promo of 6 packs of gems for £5. Super bargain! So I didn't feel too guilty using them with gay abandon. The image is decoupaged (okay, it doesn't really show on the photo but it is. Honest). I've used lots of glitter too. Maybe the next photo is better . . .

Okay, so not really!

Hopefully Lois will like the card, more importantly I hope she has a fabulous birthday.

I'm going back to colouring Christmas images tonight so that, hopefully, I'll get some Christmas cards made tomorrow. I live in hope.

Hugs, Jayne x

Lili of the Valley 'Bright and Sparkly' theme challenge.

2011-11-07T13:28:00.000-08:00

What girl could resist a challenge entitled 'Bright and Sparkly'? If it calls for glitter and gems I'm there! I love this image of the bride and groom - not too cute and not old fashioned; just perfect.

Well they did say sparkly! The image is coloured with a combination of copics and spectrum noirs. It was my first go with the spectrum noirs and I quite liked them but more practice needed I think. The flowers, seam binding ribbon and silver corner embellishment are all from Wild Orchid Craft. The papers were a freebie from Creative Cardmaking magazine. I really love them but I'm not sure whose they are. They have something of the Nitwit about them so I might hit the website to see if I can match them to a collection.

I really have to get back to making Christmas cards (I'm just not sure I can face it!!). Hopefully I will wake tomorrow full of the joys of the season.

Hugs, Jayne x

Funky Fairy!

2011-11-07T11:55:00.000-08:00

My beautiful niece is seventeen in a couple of weeks time and I have to make three cards for her! She's not really a pretty floral card kinda gal so it's been tough. This is the first card I've made for her. The image is a Debbi Moore image from the Kerri Jo collection of stamps. This is a great range of stamps - especially for tweens and teens. I just love this fairy's attitude!

The papers are Papermania again - see I'm trying to keep my promise and use some of my stash. I love the colours with this one; any excuse to use purple! This was my first chance to use the black lace which is just gorgeous. The lace and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts but I think the black seam binding was from Sam Poole's on-line shop (an excellent shop with lots of Creative Expression goodies). The corner is a die from the Fleur De Lis Accents Spellbinders Shapeabilities. It's a really useful little corner and I'm using it lots.

Ahh, it's that time again when I have to do battle with the computer and attempt to post this. I'm sure one day I'll get the hang of this. No doubt blogger will then change the system!!!

Happy crafting,

Jayne x

If this works it will be a minor miracle!

2011-11-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

I wish, really wish, I was more technically capable. I am a disaster with all things electronic and computery and so I will be amazed if this post actually ends up on my blog. Still, I will continue in good faith!

This image is my all time favourite Lili of the Valley stamp. It could be me many moons ago and it could also be my daughter now! The papers are , I think, Papermania. I am on a mission to start using my gigantic paper stash and this card was made as part of this mission. I promised myself that I wouldn't buy any more packs of beautiful papers until I had used a sigificant amount of my stash. I'm really rubbish at keeping promises!!!

I went a bit mad with the embellies on this one. I'm loving hatpins at the moments and a girl has to have flowers on a card, right?

So now I'm going to cross my fingers really tight and try to post this. I'm not holding my breath . . . .