Say it with Flowers

Well I'm gradually catching up now with all my cards to show you 

and this collection are all about the florals...

This gorgeous frame is a Hero Arts/Pinkfresh collaboration and I couldn't wait to try

 it embossed on dark card so I could use Prisma colour pencils to add some colour... 

When I had finished this next card I had flower pot envy!! Love this die set from MFT,

 all the pieces are well thought out and make such cute gardening tools, bench and flowers..

Flowers on the go!! Flora & Fauna have such whimsy images and this little van is 

just one of them. For a background I thought I'd try some subtle pattern making with 

a few smaller images... love the effect 😊

Saving my favourite til last and these silhouette stems from MFT are such a dream to stamp in 

layered colours thanks to my MISTI ... I was especially pleased with the daisies!

The vase is actually a take out coffee cup die that's been given a contemporary look.

Well that's all for this post, not sure what the next collection will be,

think we are heading towards a miscellaneous assortment!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Autumn Anniversary

I'm still enjoying the beautiful autumn colours in this neck of the woods, 

the wind has taken all the leaves away yet! I dug this die set out for an Anniversary card I

 needed to make and just immersed myself in rich shades of greens, oranges and browns...

I simply swapped the stem/veins and arranged the leaves around the sentiment panel by 

tucking them slightly underneath it... love those bright colours against the cream card :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Stash Used:

Autumn Leaves Dies - Newtons Nook

Perfectly Penned - Concord & 9th

Fine Frames Rectangle - Altenew

Cutting out Cacti

Cacti still seem to be a trend.... not that I make cards to follow trends but I do love cacti!! 

These have been cut out from the Concord & 9th's turnabout set.... once you've

stamped out a 5x5 panel you have a quite a few coordinating images to play with...

I added a few touches of gold to the pots and some background 

stamping for a modern contemporary feel.

I had enough to make a second card too, these are grounded on a frame with

 Lil inkers stamps and dies spelling out the sentiment...

It's good to get another use from the turnabout sets :)

You can find more details on my Seven Hills DT blog post here

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Stash Used:

To The Point Turnabout - Concord & 9th

Pretty Painted Letters - Lil Inkers

Flora & Fauna Texture stamp sets

Fine Frames Cover Die - Altenew

Christmas Roses

Hello

 Hope you had a lovely Christmas :)

So, it's that strange limbo period between Christmas and New Year...  

I'm sure I never really noticed it when I was a kid... too busy playing with new toys I suppose!

I thought I'd pop on here and share this card I made for my MiL who had a birthday at the start of the month, it's always quite a nice break from making Christmas cards. I went with these lovely Hellebore's in three different colours..

The white one has to be my favourite, on the card and in real life, 

but the green varieties come a close second.

I used two of the fine frames from Altenew to group them onto... 

I love this die set but my 'old' Big Shot struggles with intricate dies like this... 

I've ordered one of the brand new Chrome Precision plates to hopefully 

give her a hand and prolong her life 😊

So that's all for 2018, thank you so much for visiting me here and

 leaving comments... I do read and really appreciate them.

I'd like to wish you all the best for a happy and healthy 2019

Jenny x

Stash Used:

Hellebore builder - Wplus9

Fine Frames Rectangle - Altenew

Birdie Brown Greetings Galore - MFT

Just because it's Autumn

I have a couple of cards I made using the thankful leaves turnabout stamp from Concord&9th.

I love the vibrant colour of the oxides on Kraft card 😊

I made one whole patterned piece and trimmed strips from around the edges for the first card and cut an aperture in the remaining scrap for the second. The water-coloured leaves are also from the background, I just trimmed them out and used them as embellishments.

You can find more details on my DT post on the Seven Hills Crafts blog here.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Stash Used:

Thankful Leaves Turnabout, Just Because dies - Concord&9th

Signature Word dies - Altenew

Hanging Pot Plant

Hanging plants seems to be all the fashion again at the moment.... I don't mean outside, they've always been popular but indoor plants in macrame hangers have come back with the retro vibe.

I've used a few stamp sets to make my own suspended pot plant...

I had to carry out stamp surgery to a border stamp so I could have one string of dots to make the pot holder... oh well I can always put them back together again.

More details and photos on my DT blog post over at Seven Hills crafts.

Stash Used:

Doodle Blooms - Altenew

Indigo - Avery Elle

Spice Garden - Waffleflower

Fuchsia - Avery Elle

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Aqua Florals

I don't make many floral cards..... not sure why as I love flowers but my favourite sort for

 cards are sketchy, whimsical flowers just like these below....

This is just the sort of pattern or print I would be drawn to in a clothing shop.

I started with a light blue colour wash over the stamped images and removed some

 of the colour from the flowers with a piece of paper towel.

I used Distress Oxides to over-stamp with the solid images... 

those inks are fast becoming my favourite ;)

Extra doodling is courtesy of a black fine-liner and a white gel pen and 

I added a sentiment label from Altenew.

Stash used:

Sketched Blooms 2 - MFT stamps

Label Love - Altenew

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Plants and Caterpillars!

Hello again, I'm trying hard to keep up to date with sharing my DT projects for Seven Hills Crafts so I have a couple more for you today....

Yep, I have a plant/greenery theme again today starting with this Indoor Garden stamp set from Altenew which I just love...

The hand-drawn style and areas of solid colour are what sucked me in, I thought I'd add some blocks of colour as a background for a modern 'arty' look!!

I stamped each image, trimmed part way around the shape and made the rest into a rectangle with a knife and ruler..... I then added colour with an alcohol marker. It would have been easier to make the background blocks with coloured card and then add the stamped and trimmed images on top but that's what happens when a card design evolves!! :)

Now it's fair to say that Flora & Fauna are definitely becoming a favourite brand of mine too and I made this card using the Thanks a Munch set which has the cutest caterpillar amongst the images..

I made a circular frame with the leaves and then masked a circular area on the card to add the background leaves and the caterpillar..... he looks like he's enjoying his leafy snack!!

This gives me a good excuse to show you this beautiful Privet Hawk Moth caterpillar we found last weekend whilst gardening, I used to take these in to school in a jam jar for the nature table when I was a child but haven't seen one in ages so it was nice to find him :)

Thanks a Munch for stopping by :)
Jenny x

Two for the Gardener

Hello hello :)

I have another couple of cards to share, this first is based on a notebook cover I made for a craft sale a few months ago.... I love the water-coloured square backgrounds for each image and it seemed natural to arrange them on a square card base...

These Altenew stamps are just lovely for a spot of loose watercolour and staying on the plant theme I have been playing with some new Flora & Fauna succulent stamps, another new favourite company me thinks and they can be found at Seven Hills Crafts here in the UK now 😉

I have used a mixture of paper-piecing, Copic colouring and plain ol' stamping to make this little collection and used the Octagon greenhouse for a Terrarium 😊

That's all from me... time for bed!!

Thanks for stopping by 😊

Jenny x

Stash used:

Beautiful You - Altenew

Sentimental Birthday - Winnie & Walter

Succulents, Octagon Greenhouse die - Flora & Fauna

Distressed patterns - MFT

Air Dancing for You

I love a novelty stamp set and these Air Dancers from Altenew are certainly that!!

I can remember when I first saw one of these dancing tubes outside a retail park, James was with me and was totally mesmerised by their flowing movement.... Altenew have got the shapes and features for these spot on ;)

I reckon they look good all bunched together although it would probably not be advisable to position them like this in real life!! There facial expressions just crack me up and I love how you can change up the arms if you chop the stamps apart.

I made a really simple easel card for something a bit different, using the best sentiment in the set on the inside to hold it all together :)

What a fun set for a celebratory card..... it's always good to have some on hand for 

whatever occasion :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Stamps used:

(Congrats) Altenew

Coffee for Dad

I'm going to start by saying.. "Thank goodness for coffee!"

Not only is it a much needed drink around here but also a great theme for masculine cards

and luckily the girls at Altenew agree because they put the word DAD on one 

of the mugs in the Coffee Love stamp set...

It just so happens that my dad is a coffee drinker so this card was always going to happen.

I smooshed the background with watercolour and went for a monochromatic 

colour theme.. 'coffee' colour of course :)

Love it when a card kind of makes itself :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Stamps:

(Coffee Love) Altenew

(Balloon Messages) Waffleflower

Dies:

(Finished Frames) Avery Elle

(Easel Die) Avery Elle

Keyrings!!

I was pretty chuffed last autumn when I decorated a couple of coasters using coffee stamps from Altenew. The ink took well to the chalk paint I'd used on them and didn't smear when the varnish went on top....  I also loved the distressed look so I thought I'd decorate two keyrings in the same way.... 

Okay, so they're quite large keyrings... the sort you have around the house,

 not to hang on your car keys.. Lol 😊 

We needed one for our conservatory door key so I naturally

reached for Altenew's Garden Grow stamp set. 

As before, I stamped the images using the masking technique and then used the negative part of the mask to sponge and swipe colour through onto the pots. The chalky surface absorbs the ink so you need a few more layers for a vibrant finish. To colour the smaller leaves

 I used a cotton bud to pick up and apply the ink.

For the rather regal looking cat I made a couple of negative stencils for the simple markings

 which I layered.... I thought they matched the fun whimsy style of the image :)

I finished them off with a couple of coats of matt Mod Podge to protect them

 from knocks and scratches, which I'm sure they'll be subjected too!!

Thanks for stopping By :)

Jenny x

Quick Notepad Gifts

Hi there,

Just playing catch up again with some DT projects...

This week, over on the Seven Hills Crafts blog, I shared these notepads which are 

shop bought jotters that I've added a decorated cover too....

They're very simple to make and make something quite boring look rather pretty.... you can even add a piece of thin magnet to the backs so you can put them on the fridge.

They were great fun to make and colour... I shouldn't have a favourite but I

 think it has to be the Kraft coloured one 😉

I have a few more details here on the SHC blog but really it's just a scored and folded strip of card.

They make handy little gifts when slipped inside a cellophane bag 

with a brand new sharpened pencil 😊

I also missed sharing another card using the Woodland Basics dies from Wplus9...

I love the white on white (cream on cream in this case) but I felt those dies needed an 

injection of brown into the design, love this combo.

The dies are layered 3 or 4 times to add dimension without having to 

cut fiddly pieces of foam dimensionals.

More details about this card can be found over on the SHC blog here :)

Thanks for stopping by

Jenny x

Modern Colour Blocking

I'm a bit behind on sharing my DT projects for Seven Hills Crafts... we are cracking on with the decorating whilst I have Hannah at home to help as she starts a new job next week, I've got used to having her home from Uni so it's going to be quiet around here in the day again!

Anyhow, onto the cards and I have a set of notecards to share with you made using the Freeform Greenery set from Altenew. The bold lines remind me of 'lino-cut' style images so I went with bold and bright colour blocks for a modern look....

I was inspired by these pictures on Pinterest, love how the line drawn images overlap the coloured areas :) I chose which stamps to use and then planned each panel on some scrap paper.

For smooth stamping I adhered the coloured and white card onto a piece of copy paper, butting them up against each other, before stamping the images.

Then I cut the shaped panels around the stamping and used black card in various ways to add a mount to the panels...... I found a mixture of sentiments that looked good with the images too.

I hope you like them, they're something a bit different for me but I'm really pleased how they turned out :)

Thanks for stopping by

Jenny x

Coffee Coasters

Hello there :)

I'm over on the Seven Hills Crafts blog today sharing something a little different.... I've decorated a couple of MDF coasters using the Coffee Love and Coffee Talk stamp sets from Altenew...

I used a couple of shades of chalk paint on the coasters then distressed the edges with fine sandpaper before stamping out the images and text. I used a simple colour scheme that will go perfectly in our lounge.... when we finally get round to decorating it.... haha :)

The images are stamped in Versafine ink (which I had to double stamp so thank goodness for the MISTI) and when that was all dry, I sponged colour onto the coffee pots and cup. The beans are stamped with a grey Versafine ink.... I love how they both turned out :)

I left them for a couple of days before giving them a coat of varnish so as not to smear any ink, it's a dead flat varnish so they keep their matt chalky finish :)

I just love the style of images in the coffee set.... It would be really good if the same illustrator could produce a similar set based on wine and other such beverages :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

A Fruity Colour Challenge

Hi there,

I'm just popping by late this evening to share my DT card for this months Seven Hills Crafts challenge.... we have a choice of three fruity colour palettes for you but your project does not need to have a fruit theme at all...

                            

... having said that, I chose to use the gorgeous set called Beautiful You from Altenew which arrived recently and made a strawberry swag to go with the first colour set.

I was drawn by the sketchy style of the images in this set so I used a couple of stamps to make my row of hanging strawberry plants and used watercolour paints to loosely colour them in...

... it goes without saying that I had to add glossy accents to the berries... especially as I've just treated myself to a new bottle and fine tip applicator to go with it :)

We'd love you to join us this month, hop over to the blog here for all the details of how to play along and keep an eye out for more DT inspiration each week :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Stamps used:

(Beautiful You) Altenew, ( Delicious Birthday) MFT