Monday Moments

When I saw the Colour Q challenge last week I was really excited as it features a zentangle mug as inspiration.  I immediatley thought I should do a zentangle card, but it didn't quite work out that way.  I got out my black and white chevron washi tape and that sort of shaped my card. Oh well there's always another day, another card!

 

 

Supplies:

Stamp: Uniko Studio All Occasion Sentiments #2

Ink: Memento, tuxedo black

Die: Xcut star

Embellishments: washi tape & button from my stash

LSNED Day 29: Almost the last day of this class and time to muse over how far I'd got with my quilting. I can see some improvement and I don't panic so much when the fabric slides, but I am still finding the sheer weight and size difficult to handle. I spent an afternoon darning in some of the thread ends yesterday, a delaying tactic probably.  Lesson learnt - to set myself some simple goals to keep on track.

 

Thanks for looking.

Jane

  

Sunday Slot

A whole day out yesterday, so no crafting done, but I do have a challenge win to share today, over at Less is More. I'm super proud of this one as it's a style I've really struggled with and it also happens to be a card that's gone into my keeping box.

 

And this was the card:

 

We spent a really lovely day yesterday in North Norfolk, so I thought I'd share a few photos.  All the photos were taken on my phone's camera and that's the way I do most of my photography now. Maybe when they invent a DSLR camera that fits in your back pocket I'll convert back.

First stop was Holkham Hall and a visit to their coffee shop.

Next we walked down to the walled gardens, admiring the views on the way.

 

The garden stretched seemingly forever and had some Autumn goodies growing.  Definitely want to return in Spring and Summer to see the differences.

We dropped down into Wells for a fish and chip lunch, but decided against eating out on the quayside - too many seagulls!

We went back to Holkham to walk down to the beach and burn up some calories. The big sky and shore of the North Norfolk coastline is just amazing. It looks like we had the beach to ourselves, but in reality there were loads of people doing what we were doing and taking advantage of the gift of a beautiful Autumn day.

 

Then just perfect to end the day a glorious sunset when we got back home.

 

It was so good to get out for a whole day, made me wonder why we don't do it more often.  So that was my LSNED lesson - A day out, do it more often.

Thanks for looking.

Jane

Saturday Scribbles

Hello! And that's just what's on my card for today.

I used the lovely fresh colours from Color Throwdown - how I wish I had the courage to use a colour scheme like that in my house.  The layout is based on CAS Colours & Sketches current challenge.  I like simple sketches like this, it seems to give me more freedom to create a card with elements that I really love.

 

    

Supplies:

Stamps: Uniko Studio, All Occasion Sentiments #2 & Flower Power #1

Ink: Memento, Cantaloupe, Danube blue

Washi tape from my stash

LSNED Day 27 - Today I was thinking about  what I've got planned for the next few months and realised it was time to get on and pencil a few things in my diary so I can start to enjoy the anticipation of what's to come. I always go with a friend to Nottingham for a day of Christmas shopping, so that was the first date decided.  Lesson learnt: Looking forward to good things lifts my spirits.

Thanks for looking.

Jane

Friday Focus

Hi everyone!  I want to start today's post with a big big thank you to everyone who has been leaving such positive and encouraging comments about my cards and blog.  They all come through to my phone and I just love reading them.  THANK YOU!!!

Today's card is so embarrassingly simple I'm almost ashamed to put it up - but then again it was fun to make and tha's what crafting is all about.  I used the layour from Freshly Made Sketches and the first thought that popped into my head when I saw it was a Christmas present, so that's what I went with.

I used a scrap of paper for the wrapping paper, a piece of ribbon tied round and a stamped label for the central square. The stamp is from a sheet of Christmas sayings, but I've lost the packaging and can't remember the make. This card was so quick to make!

 

LSNED Day 26: Today I decided to play with my digi scrapbooking supplies and combined this with a new class I'm taking at Big Picture Classes.  The first challenge there was to use signs as inspiration for a page and I spotted the THINK BIKE road sign, where the I is a picture of a motorbike, and had fun playing around re-sizing letters to recreate something along that line. Lesson learnt: Grown ups learn through play just like children do.

 

Thanks for looking.

Jane

Thursday Thoughts

A purple card to share today - YAY!

I used the layout from Sketch Saturday as my starting point. First up I stamped the images to build a picture and then got out my inkylicious brushes to add the background colour and the masked off sun. Then I set about putting the card together and decided to turn and flip the sketch to get the balance right.

I experimented with patterned and plain papers and card for the horizontal and vertical elements, but none of them quite gave the look I wanted.  So in the end I plumped for my favourite stand-by of scoring lines on the base card. Finally I added the gems, and opted for three, one didn't quite seem balanced.

 

  

Supplies:

Stamps: Lavinia Stamps, butterflies, group poppies, field grass, dandelions 2

Ink: Adirondack, purple twilight, raspberry, eggplant; Memento, toffee crunch; Ranger distress, dusty concord

Embellishments: ribbon 7 gems from my stash

Yesterday I went over to Claire's shop in Horncastle for a zentangle workshop. As always Claire had rocked this and I made two fantastic cards. It was a very quiet workshop as we were all so busy concentrating on our doodle patterns and both relaxing and eye boggling at the same time. So here are my cards ....

 

LSNED Day 25: Today I was thinking about things that make me happy and straight into my mind popped my pink toenails.  I did go on and have more meaningful thoughts too, but I stuck with my toenails for the photo.  And it did provide me with a light hearted lesson as I'd used basecoat, free with my recent Ragdale purchases, for the first time and learnt - nail polish goes on so much easier if you use basecoat.

 

Thanks for looking.

Jane

Wednesday Words

A bit late today as I've been in Horncastle this morning at a workshop, more about it tomorrow.

Today's card is for the Uniko Studio's third challenge. The theme is washi tape which is right up my street as I have quite a stash and have had their washi tape stamps on my wish list for a while.  Just my luck then that they were out of stock - he who hesitates.... 

So I chose one of my favourite tapes and it had to be the Fabulous sentiment to go with it as I think washi is just FAB.  I quite liked the look of it just like that, but after some thought decided to add the three flowers just to make it even more fabulous.

 

Supplies:

Stamps: Uniko Studio, Flower Power #3, All Occasion Sentiments #3

Ink: Memento, Lady Bug, Tuxedo Black 

Yesterday was the monthly get-together of my crafting friends.  It was a very relaxed afternoon, led this month by Marie and was much more quiet than usual as we were all concentrating on colouring and cutting out butterflies to make her pretty CAS card.

 

LSNED: Day 24: Today I was thinking about how using my old school photo on Day 17 had led to some memories resurfacing when chatting to one of the girls in it. It prompted me to look again for old photos and I'm trying to name all the girls, without success at the moment, in this sixth from photo. I'm hoping my friend will fill in some of the gaps for me. So lesson learnt - sharing memories triggers more memories.

 

Thanks for looking.

Jane

Tuesday Talk

Busy schedule today, shopping with Dad in the morning and a crafty get together this afternoon. So no time for idle chatter.

As soon as I saw the sketch from CAS(E) this sketch this week I knew how I wanted it to look. I loved the clean simplicity of it.  I also loved the cheery colour combo from CAS - Colours and Sketches so it was obvious to team up two favourites. Hope you like how it turned out.

 

    

Supplies:

Stamps: Uniko Studio, Flower Power #2 & #3

Ink: Memento, Teal Zeal, Potter's Clay

LSNED Day 23: I was mulling over the fact that I like to say 'yes', which in itself is not a bad thing, but something inside me always has to complicate it.  Like making a quilt - I have to go for a full size double as my first project. Like writing a blog - I have to do a daily entry. So lesson learnt - I'm good at saying 'YES', I need to sometimes say 'NO'.

Thanks for looking.

Jane 

Sunday Show & Share

Thought it was time for another post where I share some cards I've made using inspiration from cards I've found on other people's blogs.

My first card is a Christmas card using this card as a starting point.

It really caught my eye with its traditional colours but very modern look.  Debby has lots of beautiful cards on her blog and a visit is very inspiring. I used a background builder stamp from Uniko Studio, then coloured the circles red and green using promarkers.

My second card is an adaptation of this beautiful card from Clearly Besotted.  I have only discovered these stamps recently and am just beginning to build a stash.  I love the simple style of the cards made by Stephanie and always want to emulate her designs.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko Studio, Background Builders Round in Circles,;Kaisercraft, Turtle Dove
Ink: Memento, tuxedo balsk, London fog 
Die: Spellbinders, labels 8
Promarker: pine, cardinal red

Supplies:

Stamp: Uniko Studio, Flower Power #3

Ink: Memento, London fog, Rose Bud

Embellishment: Twine from my stash

 

My version uses a Uniko Studio stamp and I think it translates really well.  This card is definitely finding its way into my favourites box to wait for the right occasion to use it. I'm making so many cards at the moment that I intend to give most away to raise funds for charity, but there is always the odd one or two that I hang on to for personal use.

My last show and share card gets its inspiration from Nicki, one of Uniko Studio's design team.

 

 My card really is just a straight copy apart from the change of colour, sentiment and pattern at the bottom.  I thought it was such a beautifully simple card that I could make a set of them in different colours to package up as a Christmas present for my aunt who always writes thank you letters even if the gift is hand delivered - think it's a generation thing.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko Studio, Background Builders, Chevrons, Flower Power #1, All Occasion Sentiments #3
Inks: Memento, London fog, Rose Bud

LSNED Day 21: Today I was pondering on the significance of weekends now that I am retired. When I was working full time Saturdays were very busy catching up with housework, washing etc. Then when I worked part time, Saturday was a work day.  But now that I'm fully retired Saturdays are a favourite when I get to do mostly things for myself. So lesson learnt - weekends are still different now I'm retired. The photo is a bit random today, but the late afternoon sun cast such pretty shadows I couldn't resist using it.

 

Thanks for looking.

Jane

Saturday Scribbles

The weekend already! My plans for today are fairly vague, but I do want to get some more of my quilting done and there is a magazine that has been sitting on my shelf unopened for a couple of weeks.

Today I'm sharing a scrapbook page about my son's first ever boat, my horror that he took my grandson out in it and his sheer joy at this boyish adventure.  I used the layout from Sarah's Cards September challenge and the watery theme from The Memory Nest. I chose cogs instead of stars as they looked a bit like a ship's wheel and my interactive element is two mini photos that pull out from underneath the main photo.

           

Supplies:
Dies: Spellbinders, small labels & cogs 
Papers: just bits & pieces from my stash
Embellishments & alphas: from my stash 

LSNED Day 20: Today's page is all about something that friends would use to describe me. Well the obvious one here is the colour purple, but I also had fun on Pinterest looking at my star sign Capricorn.  I already knew I was pretty much a typical Capricorn, but it still came as a shock to realise just how often I was thinking 'Yep that's me'.  Lesson learnt - I'm even more of a Capricorn than I realised.

Thanks for looking.

Jane

Friday Focus

I had a good outing yesterday and my purse is now feeling considerably lighter.  As well as a wonderful selection of stamps and sample cards Sir Stampalot also stocks an amazing variety of 12 x 12 papers. I can never resist, but did manage to limit myself to grid papers to use as a background for my pages and just looked and drooled at all the pretty patterned papers.

Today's card uses my favourite go to brand of stamps - Uniko Studio. I found an embossing folder that had little flowers all over it that echoed the stamp I used and even a tiny flower shaped button in my stash - the theme should have been flowers! I'm entering this card into two challenges, Freshly Made Sketches and Color Throwdown.

 

    

Supplies:

Stamp: Uniko Studio, Background Builders Flower Power

Ink: Memento, toffee crunch, sweet plum; Ranger distress, bundled sage

Embossing: Cuttlebug

Embellishments: Twine & button from my stash

LSNED Day 18: Today's page was about finding time to slow down and relax and then remembering I do have time to do this. Lesson learnt - notice when I make time for myself.

Day 19: Today's page is all about the many changes that have happened in my life over the past twelve months and how I'm trying to come to terms with them. Lesson learnt - some things you can't change so it's best to try to adapt.

 

Thanks for looking.

Jane