Friday Focus

A couple of projects to share today.

First up a card using the colours from the current ColourQ challenge.  Since they were so pink I decided to make new baby girl card to complement the baby boy card from the other week.  I did intend simply to do a pink version of the blue card, seen here, but in the end it looked completely different. 

I stamped the congratulations panel in pale pink first and built the other panels around it.  Somehow the pale colour meant the sentiment was getting lost, so I tried the darker pink on a piece of scrap, which I luked much more.  Then I wondered what it would look like with the pale pink stamped slightly to one side, a sort of shadow effect and I liked that even more.  So that's what I went with.

 

Supplies:

Stamp: Uniko Studio, All Occasion Sentiments #1

Ink: Memento, angel pink, rose bud

Embossing: Cuttlebug, swiss dots & baby pram

Embellishments: twine

Next I want to share my envelope calendar I made ages ago for 2014.  My idea was that I would be able to store photos and memorabilia in each pocket as the year progresses.  I chose my favourite Tilda stamp for the cover and aqua, lemon and kraft as a peaceful colour combo. I think these colours come a close second to my favourite purples and pinks.

And here's a peek inside:

So throughout January I've added a couple of receipts and my first ever attempt at crochet - more about this in coming weeks. I chose a photo and added a favourite quote and then decided it just had to have a little journalling so I made a card and added a few key things about this month.

So here's my January pocket and a closer look at some of its contents.

 

 

 

Thanks for dropping by today, hope you've enjoyed reading about what I've been up to!

Jane

 ***

Wednesday Words

I love taking photos, mainly with my phone at the moment, but also with my point and shoot and very occasionally with my husband's proper big Canon.

So when ATDML started doing monthly photo prompts back in October I was definitely 'in'.  It started well with October and November completed and posted, but then of course Christmas got in the way of December. I did take all the photos, but never quite got round to uploading them to my computer.

But never mind this is a new year with new possibilities and I'm back on track again.  So here's my photo selection for January:

 

And here's the breakdown:

1. Celebration - that's the cake I baked on New Year's Day, a rare occurence!

 

2. Sales/New purchases - A handbag charm with my word for 2014, ACCEPT 

 

3. Resolutions/aims - these I posted at the beginning of the month. Hmm, not managed the day trip yet.

4.  Footwear/footsteps - a not so pretty selection of my current footwear.

 

5. Something you've made - Rosie

6. Self portrait - did this using the timer on my camera. Made sure I picked a day when my hair was straightened and I had make-up on - so vain!

7. Winter chill - really had to be patient to get this one as we've had so few frosts this year, plenty of rain, but not much ice.

So that's January's challenge all done and dusted, hope you enjoyed my photos.

Thanks for dropping by today.

Jane
 ***

Another Monday Moment

So there I was wondering how to fill a spare hour or two - no brainer, get crafting!  So HOTP is this card made with the sketch from Less is More.

 

Had to keep it simple for Less is More, but jazzed it up with bold - well they are for me - colour choices.  

Next instead of squirrelling away the left over little pieces I thought I'd make a matching gift card. Don't know why I've never thought of this before.

Supplies:

Stamps: Clearly Besotted, In the Frame, Say it in Style

Ink: Memento, lilac posies

Embellishments: adhesive pearls

Thanks, or thanks again, for dropping by today.

Jane

 ***

Monday Moments

Just a little card today and as it's a thank you card I want it to be for everyone who leaves comments or  follows my blog.  It's always a thrill to see and read your lovely comments and a double thrill when someone decides to follow me - THANK YOU SO MUCH!

I used the layout from Freshly Made Sketches with a little bit of shrinking to leave more white space - obviously a bit of a thing for me at the moment! The colours from Color Throwdown look very chic and modern, but a bit outside of my comfort zone - so good to be challenged or everything would be purple and pink.

 

    

Supplies:

Stamps: Clearly Besotted, In The Frame, Say It In Style + matching die

Inks: Memento, London fog, rhubarb stalk

Embellishments: hemp twine from my stash

Thanks for dropping by today.

Jane

 ***

Saturday Scribbles

Looking through my 2013 scrapbook album I discovered a couple of gaps that needed filling. So off I went searching for a suitable photo and remembered the enormous hot chocolate that James had before climbing up the Laxey Wheel on the Isle of Man.  My new page was born!

I used the sketch from The Memory Nest's Make It Monday challenge and picked up on the colours from the photo - my preferred way of selecting colours.  I followed the layout closely and laid out all my papers, but quickly realised for me this look just didn't work. I knew I had to scale it down and leave plenty of white space before I would be satisfied.  So this is what I ended up with, definitely more my current style.

 

Supplies:
Paper: Kaisercraft, Up & Away
Alpha: ep, Yours truly

Thanks for dropping by today.

Jane
 ***

Thursday Thoughts

Today I want to share something a little different.  For Christmas I was given this beautiful book and rag doll kit - someone knows me well!

 

I've had such fun this last week making her up and dressing her.  Here I am at the very beginning cutting out the fabric.

 

Here she is all cut out and waiting to be sewn together.

 

Adding the stuffing to an arm.  Couldn't quite believe how a big bag of stuffing could be used up on such a small doll!

 

 All finished and ready to be dressed.

A quick search through my fabric stash and I found some suitable left over pieces to make a blouse and pinafore for her.  All the patterns for her clothes - there are several other outfits - and the instructions are in the book. So here she is all ready to play.

Thanks for dropping by today.

Jane

 ***

Wednesday Words

A double challenge today - the layout from Sketch Saturday and the theme from Less is More.

I wanted to keep the card clean with minimal embellishments to satisfy Less is More requirements and chose a traditional baby blue colour scheme to keep it looking fresh. Although I love to see babies in bright modern colours part of me always yearns for gentle pale pastel colours and I guess that's why my card looks as it does.

A great sketch that also lent itself to my current obsession with text based cards. I'll definitely be making a pink version to keep in my stash.

   

For our challenge  this week we have chosen

the theme

New Baby!

 

Supplies: 

Stamp: Uniko Studio, All Occasion sentiments #1

Ink: Memento, Summer sky 

Embellishments: Feet buttons

 

Thanks for dropping by today.

 

Jane

 ***  

Monday Moment

A quick and simple card using a layout from my favourite place to play - CAS(E) this sketch.

This sketch was so clean and simple and perfect I hardly wanted to change anything, so I didn't.  I just found a stamp that resembled the shape of the sketch closely and the card just about made itself!

 

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko Studio, Flower Power #1 & #3, Always & Forever
Ink: Memento, rose bud, bamboo leaves
Embellishments: pearl

Thanks for dropping by today.

Jane
 *** 

Sunday Slot

A little card to share today using the colours from CAS Colours & Sketches current challenge.  I couldn't resist when I saw the colours, so up my street.

I'm loving all my text stamps at the moment and saw lots of Christmas cards around that used just text, so thought I'd have a go with a birthday version.

 

  

Supplies: 

Stamps: Uniko Studio, Flower Power ##2 & #3, All Occasion Sentiments #2; Clearly Besotted, In The Frame

Ink: Memento, grape jelly, rose bud

Embeliishments: pearls

Short and sweet today, so thanks for dropping by.

Jane

 ***

Friday Focus

OK so I've given in and gone all pink and traditional with my love themed card.  I saw this layout at Sketch Saturday and knew I wanted to use my Uniko Studio heart stamp in place of the star straight away.  The other elements took a bit longer to come together and a few efforts ended up in the bin before I was ok with how it looked.

 

  

Supplies:

Stamps: Uniko Studio, Always & Forever

Ink: Memento, lilac posies

Embellishments: adhesive gems

I'm thinking maybe I could send these love cards I've been making to my grandsons on Valentine's Day.

Thanks for dropping by today.

Jane 

  ***

Wednesday Words

A little love card to share today.  Love themed cards are not usually my thing, but I couldn't resist making a fairly understated card so that I could enter the challenge at Clearly Besotted.  I just love Stephanie's stamps and they come all beautifully packaged in tissue with a hand stamped gift tag - such amazing attention to tiny details that make her products so special.

I steered away from the traditional pinks and reds of Valentine's cards and chose blue and a fairly open ended sentiment in the hope that I will be able to find a use for this card at some point. Loving the new frame stamps from Clearly Besotted and imagine they might just be a bit of a theme for me over the next few months. Anyway here's my card, hope you like it!

Supplies:
Stamps: Clearly Besotted, In the Frame & Holiday Sentiments
Ink: Memento, Danube blue
Embellishments: hemp twine, heart brad & adhesive heart gems

Thanks for looking today and if you have time to leave a comment it will be read with appreciation.

Jane
 * * *
 

Monday Moment

Hey!

The beginning of a new week and already a third through January.  Can't believe how the time is flying!

Today I want to share my title page for my 2014 scrapbook album. Last week there was an amazing sunset when I was travelling home from the supermarket, but wouldn't you know by the time I found somewhere to pull over it was almost gone. But I took a shot anyhow as the sky and clouds were pretty amazing too.  I know it's a bit backwards to be starting an album with a sunset photo, but there's absolutely no chance of me being up in time to catch a sunrise and the shot seemed to capture my feelings about accepting things as they are - my mantra for 2014.

I used the colours from The Memory Nest's Make It Monday January challenge as they seemed to echo the colours in the photo pretty well.  I also managed to get both the twist elements on the page - a stitched sun burst and a chevron inspirational quote.  At one stage I was going to leave it there, but after walking away for a while I came back and added flexmarker shadows to highlight the stitching, a little handwritten journalling about my hopes for 2014 and buttons to frame and draw the eye down the page. Now I'm satisfied with the overall look and ready to share.

 

Supplies:

Alpha: AC thickers, Hugs corrugated letters

Pen: flexmarker, linen

Quote: found on pinterest & background made using my digi supplies

Embellishments: buttons from my stash

Thanks for dropping by today.

Jane 

Ten on the 10th

Well here goes with my first list for 2014.  I got this idea from Shimelle's blog where she and fellow incredible crafters used to share their ten favourite things each month.  So as I love lists I thought I could adapt this idea and use it on my blog.

So for January's list it seemed only appropriate to start with my crafting space and share ten things that I love about it.

1. The whole idea of just having a room to myself.

 

2.  The visual reminders of my One Little Words. These are on the wall right in front of my desk so I can see them as I work.

 

3. My 12 x 12 paper boxes. I have two for each colour, one for whole sheets, one for left over scraps.

4. My Uniko Studio stamps nestling alongside my boxes of (colour organised) card stock. If you follow my blog you'll know I use these stamps all the time. They are just behind my chair in easy reach and I love how they come in plastic boxes to make storage and location sooo easy!

5.  A pretty array of A4 binders where I file away ideas and workshop notes.  I love the colourful mismatch that adds a bright cheerful corner to balance out all the plain white plastic boxes I use for storage.

6. My cuttlebug machine and dies.  I do have an ebosser too, but always seem to use my cuttlebug so much more.  The dies are kept on magnetic sheets in handmade folders, roughly organised by shape.

7.  My punches and little boxes. The punches are easy to grab and I've always found the idea of things in boxes appealing.  I use these for leftover punched shapes, eyelets, candi and other small bits and pieces. I have another set of smaller boxes for buttons, organised by colour of course!

8. My two sewing machines - one for fabric and one for paper.  I love using my Janome, it's the best machine ever and of course the little purple one is perfect for cards and just so me!

9.  My multi coloured stacks of ink pads, more plastic storage boxes and my gorgeously pretty set of drawers. I keep my stamp sets in the boxes, my favourite designers like Clearly Besotted, Lavinia, Magnolia & Molly Blooms have their own boxes and one contains a collection of sentiment stamps. The drawers were an unexpected find in a cheapo shop my dad dragged me into and I keep my Adirondack & Ranger ink pads and Inkylicious brushes in them.

10.  My makeshift ribbon organiser.  I do have boxes with reels in too, but I had so many one metre bits getting tangled up that I came up with this idea. It adds a colourful splash to my room and locating the right ribbon is a doddle.

So that's the end of my first 10 on the 10th.  I thought I'd struggle to find ten, but actually it was hard to choose what to use and what to leave out.  It's certainly made me appreciate how lucky I am and how much I love this organised and chaotic mix that is my craft space.

Thanks for looking today and maybe you might be inspired to find 10 things you love about your craft space too.

Jane