Seed Beads

Hello there,

Sorry about the unimaginative title but I went through some fun tongue-twisting combinations of Seeds, Beads, Berries and Branch before deciding to keep it simple!!

So this card is for the challenge at Less is More this week and using beads on your design is the requirement...... I do seem to have collected a stash of colourful seed beads from when Hannah dabbled in jewellery making a few years ago so it was a case of working out how to use them on a card and this is what I came up with....

This branch is from a PTI set called 'Lovely Leaves' and was the perfect size for the pink beads, I can't believe how quickly this card came together... considering I made it in the early hours of this morning too!! I tested out my idea on a scrap of card and ended up using the very same piece.... the image wasn't central so I had to trim the card and include the pink strip to make up the space..... I have to say I'm pleased I did, I love that solid border of colour :0)

I'm also popping this card into the Spring challenge at Addicted to CAS.... those little pink beads are like buds just waiting to burst when the weather turns warmer!!!... just in case Mother Nature is listening :0)

 

It's been a hectic week here on the run up to Easter but now we are all at home together we can wind down this weekend and I hope to catch up with you all too :0)

Thanks for looking and I hope you have a relaxing Easter break :0)

Jenny x

 

Bright Days at Make the Day Special

Hello there :0)

Just popping by to share a sneak peak of a card I have featuring over

on the Make the Day Special blog today..

Kate and I have both used the Avery Elle stamp 

set called Bright Days to make two very different cards :0)

Please hop over to see how they turned out.

Things are kind of busy here but I hope to be back at the weekend with a card,
see you then :0)

Thanks for looking

Jenny x

AEI♥U March Challenge

Hello there :0)

My new Avery Elle stamp sets arrived this week and I had to get them inky straight away

 and play along with the March AEI♥U challenge....

Below is the photo inspiration..... it took some thinking about but hopefully you can 

see that I picked out the horizontal and vertical converging lines as well as the 

colours and texture. I love the diagonal stripe border, it really gives the impression 

of texture on these recycled card blanks from Paperchase .... I went with a 

one layer design so that pattern could show through behind the bike :0)

The weathered jetty gave me the idea to use White Distress crackle paint on Sahara Sand card

before punching out the stars and lightly sanding the edges for a wooden effect :0)

Avery Elle stamps are available here in the UK at Make the Day Special

The sets I used below are Roll with it and Celebrate... aren't those bikes 

brilliant with all the extras you can add to them :0) 

 

Right that's all from me this week, we are going to fetch our girlie home from Uni this

weekend for her Easter break... can't wait to give her 

a hug again, James is more excited than normal for a Friday evening too :0)

Thanks for looking

Jenny x

Framed Poppies

Hello there,

I'm back with a second card for this weeks 'Framed' challenge at Less is More.
I was inspired by the broad white frames on some of the gorgeous cards in the gallery and had to satisfy my crafty need to make one myself...

I decided on a letterbox shape for a landscape scene.
The poppies are from a stamp set called Silhouette Flowers by Artemio and these are my favourite flowers in the set... I love poppies... that little black centre stamp just brings them to life :0)
I used Distress inks for the background and the poppies, I went in afterwards with a water-brush and slightly darker DI to add a bit of shadow but didn't want to take away from the silhouette style too much.

A little outside my comfort zone but I'm pretty pleased with the result :0)

On a completely different note... Louise has added a selection of the long awaited Paper Smooches dies and newest stamp sets to the store at Make the Day Special, a few match current stamp sets and some are standalone.... they're well worth checking out, click here to have a browse :0)

Thanks for stopping by
Jenny x

Stamps: Silhouette Flowers- Artemio, 
Sentiment from 'Hello Sunshine' by Imagine That Stamps

Framed Reflections

Good Morning,

It seems we've swapped the cold and frosty for the wet and windy weather here in the UK ....ideal for staying in and crafting but unfortunately the ironing pile has other ideas!! :0(

Before I cave in to the laundry I thought I'd add my Saturday morning DT card at Make the Day Special to this weeks gallery at CAS(e) this Sketch and Less is More which is a theme week 'Frame It'. It's not often that the card-making gods come together and my card fits the LiM challenge too.... well I think it does???.....

There is a frame there... it's just set lower than the centre panel, 

here's a side shot to show you...

My inspiration came from a new bedding set I bought this week, I saw it and thought "love the colours"..my next thought was "Paper Smooches Reflections stamp set!!"...... does anyone else do that when they're out shopping??? Here's a web photo of thee said bedding.... I could have pretended it was my actual bedroom but there isn't a Lakeland Terror sprawled across the bed. Lol :0).....  'Terror' was not a typo by the way :0)

Just to let you know the latest release from Avery Elle 

has arrived at Make the Day Special 

and are available here

That's all from me, I'm off to do combat with creases and wrinkles!!

Thanks for looking :0)

Jenny x

Stamps used: Paper Smooches 'Reflections'  'Salutations'

City Spots and Stripes!!

Hello there,

I'm early this week with my card for the Less is More Challenge#110 which is a one layer week and the remit is spots and stripes. It's times like these when I'm glad I kept a select few of my older wooden backed stamps because I found a Rubber Stampede 'Shirt Stripe' stamp which I paired up with an older Woodware set called 'His Birthday' to make a trendy guys card....

You can see from the picture below that the shirt and tie are plain so with some careful masking and stamping I made a rather fetching shirt and tie combo that would suit any trendy city gent :0)

Not sure I could persuade my hubby to wear a tie this bright and bold, James would love him too... he chooses his dads tie each morning and this would really appeal !!!

Thanks for your visit :0)

Jenny x

A Pastel Treat

Hello there, back again so soon I know :0)

I'm being a last minute Lucy with a second card for the Less is More Challenge.... yes I know, with the colour palette I wasn't too sure about!! What can I say I'm a fickle girl *wink*.

I had originally thought they looked like 'Ice Cream' colours and then Laura's card inspired me to get this cute Lawn Fawn stamp set out.... I even added glitter.. phew, I think I need a little lie down!!

The Crumb Cake card base has been stamped top to bottom with one of the borders from 'Interlocking Backdrops' in Colorbox Frost White and I love the subtle pattern it's made.

I think I've got a better handle on the colours with this card and I definitely like them as ice cream flavours :0)

Lawn Fawn Stamps used : Here's the Scoop, Interlocking Backdrops available at Make the Day Special

Thanks for stopping by

Jenny x

Framed Flowers and Homemade Ink Blending Tools

Hello there :0)

It's colour challenge week over at Less is More and I guess you're inevitably going to come up against a colour choice or palette that's not comfortable for you to work with along the way and this week is my 'ooo I'm not sure about these colours' week but a challenge is what it's called so here's my attempt to play with the soft pastel shades for this week....

I'm more than happy with how it turned out but ....hmmm, not sure how close I am to the mark now, my apricot is definitely more terracotta and yes I slipped in a bit of green for the leaves..... you can't have a pot plant without leaves!!!

I used dienamics dies to make the flower pot and inked it with Tea Dye Distress Ink for dimension, the flowers and leaves are memory box dies finished off with a dot of liquid pearls.

I'm happy to say that I'm guest designing with this card over at the Catered Crop where this weeks recipe swap is 'Framed'. Pop over and check out the challenge, winners have a chance to guest design on the next recipe swap and you have until March 16th to join in :0)

Now I promised you last week that I'd show you my homespun Ink Blenders for my Distress Inks.
I got fed up with the one and only Ranger Ink Blending tool I do have, falling apart and covering me with ink everytime I changed the foam pad but I didn't want to buy a tool for each colour so I searched on Google and found this tutorial on You Tube that seemed simple enough and here is the result....

the dimensions of my wooden blocks are 1.5 x 1.5 x 1.75 inches, the foam layer is made from strips of doublesided foam tape from Poundland and the velcro is found cheaply on eBay...and you can just buy the hook side too, so no wastage there! :0)

The length of wood was £2 which made 25 blocks, the foam tape £1 for a big roll, the velcro was £3 for 2metres... in fact the most expensive part was the foam pads but I could justify that with the savings made :0)

I used regular office stickers to label them, an extra bit of sticky tape behind them helps to make them stay put, and oh boy does it make using Distress inks easier and much more clean too... I would never say smudgy fingerprints have been totally eradicated *sigh, tut tut*
The plastic fishing tackle storage box keeps them separate, tidy and easy to view when selecting colours, but any plastic container would do the same job :0)

Apologies for the long blog post but hope you found the blending tool idea useful??
Thanks for stopping by today :0)
Jenny x

Patterns and Circles

Hello there, I've got two cards to share with you today as the challenge deadlines are looming at the end of the day :0)

First up is a zingy little number for the Avery Elle AEI♥U challenge which has a bright table setting in the photo inspiration below, not 'go to' colours for me but you have to push those box edges sometimes!! 

I have just three AE stamp sets at the moment so I got creative with the small retro diamond stamp from Merry and Bright which I love, and teamed it up with speech bubbles from Picture it.

My fiskars stamp press came in soooo handy when making this pattern but don't look too closely because it's a bit dodgy in places!!! A few glitter dots to add some sparkle and I was quite chuffed with my first attempt at creating a geometric pattern with such a small stamp :0)

Now for something completely different (as they say) and my card for this weeks Circle challenge at CASology which was also my DT card yesterday at Make the Day Special where I shared a small tip I found in blogland about using stamps and diecuts together..... see the blog post here.

I've used the Love Birds stamp and die set from Wplus9 for this card and used hessian/burlap again through my bigshot to get that lovely texture on the raised panel.

Now for a shameless plug as both these stamp companies are stocked by Make the Day Special here in the UK, just pop over here for a trip round the store ...... and join us on Facebook here for updates of new arrivals in store :0)

Thanks for stopping by

Jenny x

Another Monster card!!

Yep, another monster... although it's more of a dinosaur really :0)

I couldn't resist this stamp set called 'Dino-mite' from Janes Doodles because the dinosaurs 

have such cute faces and rounded bodies :0) I had this card idea in my head as 

soon as I saw them and finally with the help of the fab 

ColourQ palette, I have bought the design to life...

It also follows the sketch#134 at the Paper Players this week too... a few hours 

left before closing time there!!

This is actually my brothers birthday card. 

He is a leap year baby and, like every three out of four years, he has hijacked the

1st March as his birthday and I am safe to show you this now....although I know he doesn't 

look on my blog :0) I thought he'd appreciate the comic style cartoon scene... we both

grew up watching the sort of cartoons this could be a scene from!!

I cut a circle mask to ink the sky using Distress inks and then used the 

dienamics cityscape in three shades of blue card for depth. I love using the Distress inks on 

diecut shapes....they just bring them to life :0) 

I have a homemade version of ink blending tools to show you too. I followed 

a tutorial on you tube and I'm quite happy with the result......so much 

cheaper than buying the ranger tools. I just need to 

get some photos taken and upload them.

I'll include them in another blog post next week :0)

Right that's all from me, it's been quite a busy week here on the blog

thanks for stopping by :0)

Jenny x