Wednesday magic

First off today I want to say a big big thank you to everyone who has left comments on my blog.  They've given me great pleasure and been a real boost to my confidence.  It's also made me realise just how important it is to leave comments on blogs, guess I've been guilty of looking at blogs, admiring the content and then not taking those extra few minutes to let the owner know how much I've enjoyed reading and looking. So my target for August is make sure I leave comments and spread a bit of love!

I've made two cards today using the current CAS sketch. I think I might have said before that I really enjoy making the same design in different colourways to see the difference it makes. Well that's exactly what I did with these cards. First of all I used caramel & chocolate muted colours, then tried my favourite vibrant pink, purple and blue combination.  Can't make up my mind which I like the best, but as I  love the names of the brown inks I've decided that's the one I'll enter for the challenge.

Supplies:

Card 1:

Stamps:Uniko Studio, Background Builders Chevrons & Round in Circles, Flower Power #2 sentiment

Ink: Memento, Rich Cocoa, Peanut Brittle & Toffee Crunch

Card & paper: From my stash

Embellishment: Gem from my stash

Card 2:

Stamps: As card 1

Ink: Adirondack, Purple Twilight, Raspberry & Sail Boat Blue

Card & paper: From my stash

Embellishment: Gem from my stash 

Thanks for looking.

Jane

Tuesday magic

A lovely sunny and bright start to today, with a pleasant cooling breeze. Hope it lasts!

Today I'm sharing two cards made for the CAS(E) this sketch challenge. It's such a very simple layout, but I confess I've really struggled with this one. The examples by the DT are amazing and I aspire to produce cards like they do, but sadly it doesn't come easy to me - too many years piling on the layers and embellishments.

So this was my first attempt using a pastel colour pallette and my new favourite embossing folder to add texture.

 When I first looked at this sketch my immediate thought was washi tape, so I decided to go with my instinct and this card was very quick to make - just slow in the thinking! I actually prefer the colours and simplicity of this one.

 

 

Supplies:

Card 1:

Stamps: Doo Lally Pip, Hopeful Harriet Feelin Good

Ink: Versa Color 17 Violet, 34 Orchid

Embossing: Crafts Too, fancy lattice

Embellishments: Stickles, Star Dust; Martha Stewart, butterfly punch

Card 2:

Stamp: Stampin Up, Oh Hello

Washi tape & ribbon from my stash

Thanks for looking.

Jane  

Sunday love

Another scrapbook page today. This time I used the sketch from The Memory Nest. When I first saw this sktech I found it quite daunting - so much going on and the examples so bright and full on - but it's good to get out of your comfort zone occasionally.  Once I'd found a spotty paper and the photo the page actually came together quite quickly.  I did feel the need to stick closely to the sketch, although I played a bit with the orientation and placement of the title and journalling..

Supplies:
Paper: Bo Bunny, Back to Basics; SU; AC craft cardstock 7 from my stash
Alphas: ep, country drive; simple stories, handmade holiday; October Afternoon, mini market cream & denim
Punch: Martha Stewart
Ink: Ranger distress ink, brushed corduroy
Embellishments: Buttons & string from my stash, Glossy Accents

Thanks for looking.

Jane 

 

More Saturday love

Two posts? Well I needed to enter a scrapbook page over at Sarah's Cards before I run out of time.  The thing is the page has been made for a while now and I was waiting for an empty idea blog day, but I'm happy to say that hasn't occurred yet.
I buy quite a lot of my scrapping supplies from Sarah's Cards online store - there is such a super selection and their blog is inspiring and instructional.  Certainly makes up for the lack of scrapping shops in my locality. There is currently a half price sale on, so even more reason to check it out!

Supplies:

Paper: My Mind's Eye, The Sweetest Thing, Bluebell & Miss Caroline, dilly dally

Die: Sizzix Sizzlits decorative strip

Alphas: American Crafts, thickers Fantastic & Iguana; October Afternoon, Mini market

Thanks for looking.

Jane

Saturday love

On Tuesday this week I went to Stitchcraft Studio to learn all about foundation piecing patchwork, a workshop taught by Sue Atkinson.
This was a new concept for me and basically consists of using a paper diagram to add pieces of fabric sewing as you go.  During the day's workshop I managed to complete four of the panels and started the fifth.
All fired up from a lovely day's sewing I set to at home over the next couple of days to get it all finished - though as it's Christmas themed I suppose there was really no rush, but I do like to get on and finish what I've started! 
As you will see from the photos my Christmas colours are not very traditional. I wanted to use this banner as a table runner for my coffee table and my lounge tree is artificial and decorated in browns, golds and greens - so maybe that makes more sense now.  I do also have a real tree in the conservatory where it's cooler and I stick to the more usual reds, golds and greens there. I'll have to remember to link back to this page when I put my trees up in December.

Hope you like it and thanks for looking!

Jane

Friday love

New challenges today, then tomorrow I'm going to share a Christmas project I made at a patchwork workshop this week.
So today's card uses a favourite range of stamps from Lavinia.  I first discovered these stamps a couple of years ago at a show at the Doncaster Dome.  It was instant LOVE! Mostly I've used them with a brayered background, but just recently I've been trying to be more CAS.  The colours from The Play Date Cafe this week seemed perfect and I used the layout from Freshly Made Sketches.  I tucked my splash of neon behind the tag meaning it to look like the moon or the sun.

 

Supplies:

Stamps: Lavinia stamps, Fairy Wish & sentiment

Ink: Versafine, black

Punch: Woodware circle

Card & paper: from my stash

Embellishments: Stickles, Star Dust; ribbon from my stash

Thanks for looking.

Jane

Thursday love

A purple card - well it had to happen!  I used this Sketch Saturday sketch as the basis for my card and then thoroughly enjoyed indulging my passion for all things purple. Actually it's a triple whammy as the stamp is my current favourite and is appearing all over the place and I just love the name of the purple ink - purple twilight. Probably something to do with my favourite books and films - The Twilight Saga

 

Supplies:

Ink: Adirondack, raspberry, pool & purple twilight

Stamps: Uniko Studio, Flower Power#2

Die: Sizzix, labels

Embossing: Crafts-Too, fancy lattice

Cared: from my stash

Embellishments: ribbon from my stash 

Thanks for looking.

Jane

Wednesday love

Back to scrapbooking today for a challenge at the memory nest.  I love this sketch. It's a bit like all the project life pages that are so popular at the moment. I'm sure I'll return to this layout for more pages in the future.  But I suppose it was the colours that led me to the photos of Andrew sitting so peacefully soaking up the tranquility of the countryside on the Isle of Man.

    

When I placed the photo at the top I realised I was going to have to crop a major part of what I felt showed the atmosphere of the place to make it fit and I really did want to use this snap.  So I decided to try splitting it over the two top squares and I quite like how it looks. It seems to elongate the view even more. Hope you agree!

Supplies:

Card & paper: My Mind's Eye, Abbey Road; Bo Bunny, a gift of love; ep, times & seasons & country drive & from my stash

Dies: Spellbinders labels 1

Alphas: from my stash

Embellishments: buttons, twine & stickers from my stash

Thanks for looking.

Jane

Tuesday love

Do you ever wake up early and have an idea just pop into your head? Well that happened to me yesterday morning. I even got up and made one card before breakfast and I'm not usually an early riser! Then as so often happens this card led to another and then to another. I really like taking the same idea and seeing how it pans out in different colours or materials.  I wonder which will be your favourite?

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko Studio, Flower Power #2
Ink: Kaleidacolor, riviera; Memento, bamboo leaves
Embossing folder: Crafts-Too, fancy lattice
Embellishments: Papermania, shimmer dots, ribbon from my stash
Paper & card: from my stash
 

Supplies:
Stamp: Hero Arts 
Ink: Memento, rich cocoa
Promarkers: poppy, crimson, marsh green
Embossing folder: Crafts-Too, fancy lattice
Embellishments: ribbon from my stash
Paper & card: from my stash  

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko Studio, Flower Power #2
Ink:  Memento, tuxedo black & cottage ivy
Embossing folder: Crafts-Too, fancy lattice
Embellishments: Papermania, shimmer dots, baker's twine from my stash
Paper & card: ep times & seasons; My Mind's Eye, the sweetest thing bluebell & from my stash




Sorry about the dark shadows on the photos, I've got so used to taking photos any time of the day I hadn't realised how the evenings are already beginning to draw in.  Soon be Christmas!

Thanks for looking.

Jane

Hello Sunday

Today's cards are two of the quickest simplest cards I think I've ever made. I bought the butterfly washi tape a few weeks ago to use on my scrapbook pages as I love using butterflies across my pages to add movement. It's so pretty I thought I could use it on a card too and had a play around and made this card.

I thought it looked so clean and appealing I made another similar card, but this time using the colours from this CAS-Colours & Sketches challenge. I love the cool and classy colours and added a favourite sentiment that seemed fitting.

Supplies:
Ink: Ranger distress ink, cruched olive, frayed burlap
Stamps: Uniko Studio, Background Builders Round In Circles; Kaiser Craft, Life Sentiments
Card & paper: from my stash
Washi: from my stash
Punch: Martha Stewart, butterflies 
Embellishments: glossy accents

Back to yesterday's plans.  Well it was certainly cloudier than it has been, but still almost as hot.  Nevertheless I made four more patchwork stars and sorted all my squares into sets ready to sew.  Seems my maths is not too good as I need to cut more of the cream squares that are in every star and I'm not sure I bought enough fabric - oops! As this is my first major patchwork project I suppose I should expect the odd hiccup. Looking on the bright side it does give me an excuse to revisit the shop and get my fabric fix - I just love touching all the fabric bales, so pretty!

Thanks for looking.

Jane

Hello Saturday

This week Uniko Studio are hosting their first ever challenge and the theme is 'Say Hello'.  All their design team have made a card and shared a random fact about themselves in a blog hop.  As always lots of inspiration and some fun info too!

So in the spirit of the challenge my random fact is:  I slept with my teddy bear all my life until I got married at the age of 23. He now sleeps in the top of my wardrobe and is very shabby and battered from all those years of cuddling.

My one little word for 2013 is 'simplify' so in keeping with that I've combined this challenge with two others - a sketch from CAS(E) this sketch and colours from The Play Date Cafe. The colours of my papers really are melon and cantaloupe matches, but my photo seems to have turned them pink and blue - oh well something else I need to practise!

Hope you all like my card!

        

Supplies:

Stamps: Uniko Studio, Flower Power#2 & Nature's Treasures 1

Ink: Memento, Rich Cocoa; Ranger distress ink, Bundled Sage

Card & paper: Basic Grey, hopscotch & from my stash

Dies: Provo Craft, Hippy Chick alpha

Embellishments: pearl gems from my stash

Looks like it's going to be a cloudier slightly cooler day so maybe I'll get my sewing machine out and make some more stars for my patchwork quilt - tha's the plan, but I'm always flexible.

Thanks for looking.

Jane

Hello Friday

Yesteday I went to a workshop taught by the lovely Clare at her shop Cloud Nine Crafts.  Clare is so patient and calm and I try to get along to one of her workshops each month.  The theme for yesterday was 'Vintage Christmas' and we made two stunning cards - my first for Christmas this year!

This card is just so beautiful and the photo doesn't show up the subtle sparkle on the oval made by using micro beads and glamour dust. I just love the postcard stamp and the way Clare has used elements from it to add layers.

This card is much more CAS, but equally as stunning.  It really catches your eye!  I love the embossing folder and as it's a 5 x 7 is really versatile for different sized cards.

Clare has many more cards on her blog and has won so many prizes for her designs - a very talented lady! I feel blessed to have discovered her shop and workshops and have learnt so many techniques from her.

Thanks for looking.

Jane

Hello Thursday

Today I'm sharing a scrapbook page I made this week. I've had the photo printed since the 2nd July when I made the collage as part of the BPC phone photography project. All the photos were taken on my phone and the collage was also made on my phone using the PhotoGrid app. As I was pleased with how it turned out I knew I wanted to scrap it, so when I found the sketch from Sketch Saturday it was all systems go.  I like how the clean lines of the sketch reflect the simple structure of the collage - hope you agree!

             

     

 I've been advised by a friend to always put a watermark over my photos, so I've tried it out with this page.  I don't think it interferes too much with the image and I'm always open to advice &  help from experienced bloggers.

Supplies:

Paper: Little Yellow Bicycle, Splash; ep Country Drive; from my stash

Letters: AC thickers, Subway

Punches: Martha Stewart, button & butterfly; Woodware, corner punch

Stamps: My Mind' Eye, the sweetest thing;Kaisercraft, grid

Ink: Ranger distress ink, brushed corduroy

Embellishments: buttons & baker's twine from my stash; glossy accents

Thanks for looking.

Jane     

Hello Wednesday

I'm so excited today as I received an email from weinerhoneymooners letting me know she had showcased my scrapbook page from Tuesday on her blog.  I know I always get inspiration from reading blogs, but this is an amazing thing to happen to me.  Thank you so so much!

Yesterday I met up with some crafty friends for the day.  We usually get together once a month to make a card or scrapbook page and swap ideas.  The stand out for me yesterday was this zentangle design made by Barb.  She used a peel off and then filled in the outline with her doodles.

I came home all fired up and rifled through my stash to see what I could find to have a play at this myself.  I ended up making three cards, one with a peel off that's been lurking in my box for years and two using stamps.  I think they turned out ok, but I would emboss my stamped image if/when I make some more. It's certainly a very relaxing process and reminded me of the endless doodles I used to draw all over the margins of school books and conference handouts.

Supplies:

Ink: Memento, Tuxedo black; Adirondack, cranberry

Stamps: Uniko Studio, Flower power#2, Background Builders Chevrons, Hero Arts, poppy

Peel off: Craft Creations

Pens: Promarkers with a fine nib

Embellishments: gems from my stash

Card & paper: from my stash

Thanks for looking.

Jane 

Hello Monday

Another glorious day with the sun shining and the washing drying almost as soon as it's put on the line.

Today my card is very simple following the layout from CAS-Colours & Sketches and the summery sunshine colours from The Play Date Cafe.  I love the simple look of this card and will probably experiment with the same layout but different colours for birthdays for the men in my life.

Supplies:
Ink: Memento, rich cocoa; StazOn, Timber brown 
Stamps: SU Oh Hello
Card & paper: from my stash

Thanks for looking!

Jane

Hello Sunday 2

Just posting my other card so that I can enter it for the challenge at http://casethissketch.blogspot.com.au/.  I blogged about it here. 

 

Supplies:

Ink: Adirondack, meadow

Stamps: Clarity Stamp, the Birdhouse & English Garden Elements; Papermania, sentiment

Die: Spellbinders, Labels 4

Card & paper: from my stash

Jane

Hello Sunday!

Funny how long it takes to notice something obvious.  Like the title of my pages - only  spotted yesterday that I don't need to put the date as a title, it's already there!  So that posed the problem of choosing a title.  Decided to go with Hello for each day.

Now this didn't take long to notice and I am so excited to be included in Beverley's choices to show on her blog yesterday.  Apart from entering many challenges I've been keeping a low profile while I get used to blogging, so it was just amazing to be featured on someone else's blog.  I am delighted!!!

Inspired by this I sat down and made a new card which I am entering for this week's CAS(E) this sketch challenge.  I just love working with the Flower Power stamps from Uniko Studio, they always looks so pretty no matter what the colour or how they're arranged.  Currently my 'go to' stamps.

I'd already made one card for this challenge, but I wasn't too sure about the colour.  Purple and pink are just so much more my colours, but then it doesn't hurt to experiment a bit. I may still enter the original card, but it needs to be on a different blog post.

Supplies:

Ink: Versa color, 17 violet, 34 orchid, 42 lime

Stamps: Uniko Studio, Flower Power #2, Nature's Treasures 1; My Mind's Eye, the sweetest thing

Card & paper: from my stash

Thanks for looking at my blog.

Jane

Saturday 13th July 2013

 It's so hot today so I decided to sit quietly and make a card.  I'm entering it for a challenge at  http://freshlymadesketches.blogspot.co.uk/


It was such a simple sketch but I love the diagonal strip which immediately made me think of using washi tape. I really like how you can see the layers through washi tape.  I chose the blue as it looks cool, (I really am very hot) and the cranberry is a good contrast.

Supplies:
Ink: Adirondack, sail boat blue & cranberry
Stamps: See-D's, Garden of Friendship; Uniko Studio, Natures Treasures 1
Card & paper: from my stash
Washi tape: from my stash

Well I'm off now to find a cool shady place in the garden to sit for a while and read my kindle.

Thanks for looking.

Jane