Thursday Thoughts

A snowflake sort of day today!

First up is a card I'm entering for the current challenge at Less is More - to use twine or string.  Both the snowflake and sentiment are from my new Uniko Studio set - Stunning Snowflakes.  I needed to keep this card clean and simple and a few attempts found their way into the pull apart and recycle category, but finally this idea popped into my head and I'm really pleased with how it looks.  Twine, button and some glitter were added to give it some dimension.

 

Supplies:

Stamps: Uniko Studio, Stunning Snowflakes

Ink: Memento, bahama blue

Die: Spellbinders, Fleur De Lis Squares

Embellishments: twine & button from my stash; Stickles, Star Dust

Yesterday I went to the lovely Clare's shop in Horncastle for a workshop entitled Fancy Folds and I made this amazing star card with a beautiful Tilda and would you believe it - snowflakes. Just love how Clare converted the flower Tilda is holding into a magic snowflake wand!

 

A few of these goodies then jumped into my bag and back home I made a red version to match my real Christmas tree colours as I'm thinking I might hang it at Christmas. Oh and I couldn't resist adding even more snowflakes and glitter to this one! (Have discovered glitter doesn't photograph that well.)

 

Supplies:

Stamp: Magnolia, Summer Flower Tilda

Die: Joycrafts, Winter Wishes

Paper: Bazill Basics & from my stash

Embellishments: Stickles, diamond

Thanks for dropping by today.

Jane 

Wednesday Words

A scrapbook page to share today featuring photos of my three boys when they were little.  I used the layout from Sarah's Cards October challenge and my newly arrived Uniko Studio Stunning Snowflakes stamps.  I'd been wondering which photos to use for for this challenge for a couple of weeks and then instantly knew once I'd opened the snowflake stamp box.

This 1987 snowfall, early in the year but I'm not exactly sure which month, is one that has become a bit of a family legend.  Every time it snows the depth is always compared to the year 'Dad built us an igloo' and nearly always falls short. Love how remembered events like these become family folklore and just wish I'd got into scrapbooking back then so the little details would have been recorded. You enjoy it at the time, even take photos, but then don't even date them - had to guess the year by the birthday cake candles in a photo in the album just before!

 

  

Supplies:

Paper: ep, Winter Park & A Walk in the Park

Stamps: Uniko Studio, Stunning Snowflakes

Ink: Memento, teal zeal

Alphas: AC thickers subway

Die: Marianne snowflakes

Thanks for dropping by today.

Jane  

Tuesday Talk

Hello and welcome to my blog!

Today I'm sharing a card which I'm entering into the challenge at CAS - Colours & Sketches. When I saw the circle element to this sketch I knew I wanted to use my new Marianne die and thought I would stick to a black and white colourway.  The semi circle had me puzzled for a while and took a couple of attempts before I was satisfied and then just when the card was finished I decided it needed a little colour lift and the shocking pink twine and gem were added.

 

  

Supplies:

Stamps: Clearly Besotted, Holiday Sentiments

Ink: Memento, tuxedo black

Die: Marianne, CR1251

Embellishments: twine & gem from my stash

Thanks for dropping by today.

Jane 

Monday Moments

Two cards today, both using the same layout from CAS(E) this Sketch - liked the look of the first one , so did it agian in a new colourway. For the butterflies I used Uniko Studio Background Builders Flower Power to stamp all over a piece of card and then used a tonic punch.

The first card using Color Throwdown colours:

The second card using ColourQ colours:

 

   

   

Supplies:

Card 1:

Stamps: Uniko Studio, Background Builder Flower Power, sentiment from Flower Power #2

Inks: Memento, nautical blue, toffee crunch

Punch: tonic

Paper: Basic Grey, hopscotch pad

Embellishments: pearls from my stash

Card 2:

Stamps:  Uniko Studio, Background Builder Flower Power, sentiment from Flower Power #2

Inks: Memento, pear tart, tangelo

Punch: tonic

Embellishments: Washi tape & Mei Flower gems 

If you're in the UK I hope the overnight storms have not affected you too badly, seem to have got away lightly in my neck of the woods.

Thanks for dropping by today.

Jane  

Sunday Slot

Patchwork and photos to share today.

Remember this:

Well now it's turned into this:

So now I've got this:

 

Which so far looks like this:

 

Seems my house is destined to be cushioned up!

Over the last couple of weeks I've been taking part in a photo scavenger hunt suggested by ATDML.

OCTOBER Fortnight Photography Scavenger Hunt

1. Time (to represent clocks changing at the end of the month)
2. Pumpkins
3. Autumn Leaves
4. Weather (good or bad, blue skies or wet shoes!)
5. Winter Warmer
6. Something Scary
7. A Treat :)

 I've now completed my hunt and put the photos into a grid:

The photos are in the order of the list, ( should have added numbers, but didn't think of it until now).  I'm hoping everyone will interpret number 4 (weather) ok, I thought the shadow showed that it was a beautiful sunny Autumn day.

Well that's all for today.  Thanks for dropping by.

Jane

Friday Focus

A really gloomy morning, had to put the lights on to see the computer keyboard and definitely didn't want to get out of bed today. Looks like I'm in for a wet walk round to my dad's this morning.

The card I want to share today is super quick and flat, so will post easily.  I'm entering it for the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge - a very simple layout that gives endless possibilities in its interpretation.  Here's my version:

 

  

Supplies:

Stamps: Clearly Besotted, Holidau Sentiments

Ink: Memento, rhubarb stalk, cottage ivy

Embellishments: Sequins from my stash

Thanks for dropping by today.

Jane 

Thursday Thoughts

Today's card was a quick and simple one for me to make as I re-jigged a card that I wasn't happy with, so all the stamping, colouring and mounting was already done.  I just changed the basic card, discarded some parts and moved things around a bit using the layout from Sketch Saturday. I added a new sentiment and I'm now far more satisfiedwith the finished product.

 

 

Supplies:

Stamps: Uniko Studio, sentiment from Flower Power #2; Cuddly Buddly, digi stamp

Die: Spellbinders

Promarkers, ribbon & gems from my stash

That's all for today, thanks for dropping by.

Jane 

 

Wednesday Words

A quick share of a card today and a few photos of a crafty gathering yesterday.

I made the card for CAS(E) this sketch and broke open a new die that had been sitting in my stash for a few weeks.  I decided to keep this card all white and let the die speak for itself, but added a square of embossed card behind just to make it pop a little more. A sentiment and gems and it was all finished.  A really quick and simple CAS card.

 

  

Supplies:

Die: Marianne CR125/

Stamp: Uniko Studio, Flower Power #3

Ink: Memento, tuxedo black

Embellishments: Papermania, adhesive gems

And now for that gathering. This is a group of ladies that meet up once a month to craft and share ideas. This month it was my turn to lead the group and we all made a card topper.  Mine is going to be the cover for an envelope calendar keepsake book, hence the 2014, but most of the other ladies are going to use it on a card.  

Here's my topper which was used as the starting point:

  Here are all the busy fingers:

 

And the finished results:

Thanks for dropping by today.

Jane

Tuesday Talk 2

Now for my scrapbook page.  The theme at The Memory Nest is an Autumn colour challenge, so I decided to to feature some of the photos I shared last week on my blog, here, to make my page.  Also for a change I used digi scrapbook supplies.  I find digi pages much quicker than paper pages and also much more versatile when wanting to match photo and embellishment sizes.  Many digi scrappers are so clever it's hard to know it's not paper, but for me it's the cleaner more precise look that I tend to go for with digi pages.

 

  

Supplies:

 DHD: ShannonMcNab, Seasons of Change FREEBIE

Thanks for dropping by today.

Jane

Monday Moments

Two cards to share today, both in my comfort format, but both a different type of card.  Until I discovered clean and simple I think these two cards pretty much sum up my preferred style.

The first card is for ColourQ and immediately I saw the image I knew exactly which stamp I wanted to use.  Those stripy legs and big shoes just screamed Manga Girl to me. The colour combo clash also seemed very apt as I nearly always colour my Manga Girl stamps in bold distinctive colours. I'm also pleased with myself for remembering to use stitching!

 

Supplies:

Stamp: Sugar Nellie, Manga Girl #1

Ink: Memento, tuxedo black

ProMarkers: marsh green, dusky rose, peach

Embellishments: twine & buttons from my stash

Monday Moments 2

My second card today is for the Less is More challenge - trees.  Again this was a no-brainer for choosing a stamp.  I immediately went to my Lavinia stamps and selected this wintery looking tree, although it's actually called Spring tree.  I considered going with a Halloween/Autumn theme as the trees do look a bit spooky, but once the inks were out I resorted to my norm and chose the purples! I added some sparkle to turn the trees into Christmas/Winter/New Year trees, but have yet to add a sentiment as I'm not sure which I'll use it for.

Supplies:
Stamp: Lavinia, Spring Trees
Ink: Adirondack, denim, purple twilight, eggplant; Versafine, onyx black
Embellishments: Stickles, Star Dust

Finally today I just want to share my cushion top made from these fabrics:

I expect you'll notice something about the fabrics, I know my friend Barb will, but it just wasn't the look I wanted so it had to go.

 

 Next job is to quilt it and sew the backing fabric and fill it. Oh and make another one!

Thanks for dropping by today.

Jane

Sunday Show and Share

Time to share some of the great inspiration I've found around blogland this last month.

First up is this card by Jen Nelson.  I always love her clean and simple style and to pick one card is really difficult as I'm in awe of all her work.

 

And this is my take on her card:

Next is Amy (Aimes) Wanford.  Another blog I follow closely and I always admire her clever cards.  She also includes loads of useful tips about the techniques she's used, so it's a great place to learn and be inspired.

Supplies:

Stamps: LOTV, Christmas Eve-boy; Clearly Besotted, Modern Christmas sentiment

Ink: Memento, tuxedo black

Promarkers: tan, caramel, cocoa, crimson

Flexmarkers: putty, cadet blue, cloud blue, sea mist, satin, blush

Embellishements: Stickles, stardust; twine & button from my stash 

 

And here is my Christmas version:

 

Supplies:

Stamps: Unilko Studio, All Occasion Sentiments #2, Clearly Besotted, Holiday Sentiments

Ink: Memento, rhubarb stalk

Embellishments: Stickles, stardust 

 Finally I'm sharing a card I found when entering a challenge and Barbara's card caught my eye. I love the simple colour palette which makes this card so stunning.

 

And this is my version:

Supplies:

Stamps: Clearly Besotted, Modern Christmas sentiment

Ink: Memento, grape jelly

Die: Marianne

Embellishments: Papermania shimmer dots 

I hope you've enjoyed looking at my post today and will find time to follow the links to the blogs of the ladies that have got my creative juices flowing. Thanks for dropping by.

Jane

Saturday Scribbles

I've been trawling through my boxes of stamps and decided it's time to give some of my older stamps an airing. So over the next few days I've reverted back to more of my old style of card making and it's been fun getting the promarkers out again - I do love to colour, it's so relaxing.

Today's card uses a Lili of the Valley stamp that I've had for ages and the layout, rotated sideways, from Freshly Made Sketches.  One of my crafting aims for this year was to use stitching more often, so out came the machine and I've stiched round both the stamp and background layer.  My grandson is learning to play the guitar so I'm thinking I'll pop this card into my birthday file for him next year.

 

Supplies:

Stamp: LOTV, ST176 playing guitar

Ink: Memento, tuxedo black

Paper: My Mind's Eye, Miss Caroline Dilly Dally

Promarkers: poppy, soft green, khaki, umber, sandstone, cool grey 5, ivory

Flexmarkers: pebble blue, satin, blush, dusky pink

Embellishments: twine from my stash

Thanks for dropping by.

Jane  

Friday Focus

For today's card I went back to my very first purchase from Uniko Studio and gave Flower Power #2 some love.  I've been seeing lots of circular wreath cards around blogland with all the Christmas themed cards popping up everywhere. So I decided to use that as a starting point, but went for a birthday card instead.

I used the stunning colour combo from Color Throwdown's current challenge and it makes for a very eye catching and fresh looking card.  Hope you like it too.

  

 

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko Studio, Flower Power #2, Nature's Treasures 1
Ink: Adirondack, pool, watermelon, denim; Memento, London fog

I have some photos to share of my walk yesterday afternoon.  We went to a National Trust property - Belton House - and only managed a short walk round the gardens as we booked for the downstairs tour and then went on to look around the rest of the house.  The tour was so good, really informative but full of stories that made it come alive and the rest of the house is just amazing. Of course no photos from inside, but the gardens were looking majestic in their Autumn glory.

 

Thanks for dropping by and looking.

Jane