Birthday Bears

Hi there :)

Just popping by to share a card that fits with this weeks CAS(e) this Sketch challenge :)
I made this card for my Sister-in-Law who adores bears.. well Polars are her fave but I thought these guys would add more colour to her card :)

I couldn't resist these Honey Bears from The Ton stamps... the bears have such cute faces and you have the choice to give them different expressions with extra stamps in the set too... I love the guy making off with the letter 'Y' !!

I thought they fit the sketch quite nicely at CTS if you flip it on it's side!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

A Fancy Fold Challenge

It's time for a new challenge over at the Seven Hills Crafts blog and this month we challenge you to incorporate a fancy fold in your project i.e. more than just the one along the top or down the side of your card ;)

Mine is not really that fancy... quite clean and very simple actually!!

I backed a piece of card with a scrap of patterned paper and then used the Santa beard die from this Waffleflower set to cut into the panel. After scoring a line across to join the ends of the cut I folded the piece down to make my icy lake for the little penguin. 

The negative space the die left was not large enough for my liking so I used a stitched arch die from MFT to give the penguin some sky.... I think it gives a snow-globe kinda feel don't you think :)

I added some soft inking for the sky and a few branches from Lawn Fawns Deck the Halls to act as trees in the distance. I love this sentiment because I can leave the inside of the card blank ready to use for any occasion :)

I'm popping this in over at CAS(e) this sketch too... it's a bonus if I can play along in challenges these days :)

                                                  

Come and join us this month at Seven Hills Crafts.... we're looking forward to seeing what fancy folds you come up with too. More details can be found here along with the linky tool so you can add your card to the gallery for the chance to win a gift card to the store :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

      

                                    

Make you Smile :)

I'm on the Make the Day Special Stamp Store blog today with a card using the new stamp and die set from Waffleflower called Tiger & Lily....

I used this weeks sketch at CAS(e) this Sketch for my design so I'll pop it in over there.... it's a loose interpretation because I love building up scenes within a frame and allowing some elements to overlap the edges :)

This stamp set just appealed to my inner child and I love how Nina coloured the images in the product video so I had to have a go too :)

                                                           

I'm also entering this into the Less is More challenge this week which is 'Life's a Beach'... well it certainly is for this shark with his piece of birthday cake!! Luckily he's a friendly chap so it wont be a deserted beach for long :)

Oh.... and just for a fun surprise on the inside.....

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Embossed Balloons

I'm playing along with CAS(e) this Sketch this week with one of my DT cards for Make the Day Special Stamp Store. I picked up the awesome Balloon stencil when the new Echo park goodies arrived in store and I have used it in two different ways on two separate cards...

I've dry embossed the stencil for this card although its a little tricky to photograph the subtle pattern,  here's another shot which shows it better..

This follows the sketch quite literally, I just flipped it 180°. Its a design I probably wouldnt have thought of myself so thanks to CTS... I even used the chevrons :)

                                                           

My second card uses black glossy embossing paste through the stencil and on black card, this technique shows the fab pattern off nicely and I think the tone on tone looks quite classy too..

I went silver and glittery for the sentiment and added a splash of red too :) I love how that glossy paste shines..

More details on both can be found over on my post at MtDS here with links to the products I used too :)

Thanks for stopping by

Jenny x

Florals in a Frame

I'm sharing my DT card from the Make the Day Special blog as it's made with a couple of challenges in mind. The ladies at Less is More are asking us to choose three previous challenge themes for our creation this week and the sketch at CAS(e) this Sketch helped me to collate my ideas....

The three LiM challenges I've used are Wk. 54 Stripes, Wk. 79 Blue & Green and Wk 111 Frame it 

and here's the sketch from CTS this week

                                                      

The flowers and leaves are the Doodle Blooms stamp set from Altenew, the matching 

dies have just arrived in the UK and I couldn't wait to buy them...

 they make flower arranging so much easier..Lol :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Stamps and dies used available from Make the Day Special Stamp Store:

                     Doodle Blooms - Altenew, 

                     Basic Borders - Mama Elephant, 

                     Hand Written Notes - Avery Elle

                     Scalloped Frames - Paper Smooches

                     Doodle Blooms dies

In the Window Frame

Hello again... I've another card to share for a challenge!!
It's been a while since I blogged quite so many cards but this one came together late last night when I was supposed to be clearing my crafting desk *wink*..... anyone else do that???

The elements for this card were just sitting on the desk and the CAS(e) this Sketch challenge came to mind...

Earlier I had been experimenting with watercolouring the plant on a scrap of card and trimmed it out, I thought it would look good sat on the frame so I took inspiration from Therese and her  fabulous wintery card here, and turned it into a window with two thin strips of card. I placed vellum behind to mute the bkgd stripes and embossed my small sentiment inside one of the window panels... I'd love to tell you I planned it to be above a dark stripe but alas.. it was a happy accident ;)

                                              
Really love the sketch this week so I'm glad I had a chance to play along ... only a couple of hours left til the gallery closes so I best get over there and then I still have a desk to tidy!!!

Stash used: Planted - Waffleflower stamps
                  Wide Stripes bkgd - Simon Says Stamp
                  Party Animal - Avery Elle (sentiment)
                   Die cut frames - MFT Dienamics

Jenny x

Anniversay Text

Just popping by quickly this morning, it's half term break here and whereas most teenagers stay in bed on school holidays...not James!! He's up usual time but does everything in a leisurely manner and speed!!

My parents Wedding Anniversary is coming up so I grabbed this stamp set from Lil' Inkers.. I love the stick characters and simple short sentiments. I had a lightbulb moment when I paired it up with the fab sketch at CAS(e) this sketch this week... a text message style of card although I fear it may be a little too modern for my parents now.. Lol :0)

What a great sketch and I love the negative space of the speech bubbles raised above the actual bubbles!!

I wasn't sure if colouring the couple was a good idea but I love how Prismas show up on the dark card and I think the splash of colour works :0)

Right must go... a trip to the supermarket awaits!!
Thanks for stopping by :0)
Jenny x

Christmas Crackers!!

Well it's about time I turned my attention to Christmas Cards seeing as it's hurtling towards us at an alarming rate!! I honestly have enough Christmas stash that I could make individual cards for everyone on my list for the next three years I think, but still the new stamps and dies tempt us to buy them *sigh*

I have made Christmas Crackers for my DT blog post today over at Make the Day Special Stamp Store and used a couple of dies from the Paper Smooches Stockings dies set to do it ....

I've used two of the stocking cuffs in the set along with those gorgeous dainty bows from Avery Elle's Finished Frames....they look sooo yummy in shiny gold card, which I have re-discovered amongst my stash!!

To keep such small pieces together I used a thin strip of card behind the cracker and this allowed me to adhere the bows in the gaps too...this is a fab way to use thos scraps of festive papers up, I'm all for that :0)

Well it wouldn't be a Christmas Cracker if you couldn't pull it and anyhow the confetti is highlighting the sentiment :0)

I'm entering this over at CAS(e) this Sketch, it's a two week challenge this time around so you still have some time to play :0)... and The Paper Players have a Clean and Simple challenge this week using Silver or Gold, that's the most gold I've ever put on a card so I'm counting that as okay *wink*

              

Right must dash...heaps to do, thanks for stopping by :0)

Jenny x

Prickly Birthday Wishes !!

Surprise!!!
Yes it's been about two weeks since my last post so I thought it was about time for another one :0)

I have a card that I'm sharing over at Make the Day Special today using one of the latest Paper Smooches stamp sets called Southwestern Charm and it just so happens it's for a couple of challenges too :0)

I just knew that Paper Smooches Cacti would make adorable little characters and I wanted mine to be the smaller potplant variety rather than huge outdoor types so I had a search through my PS stamp sets and found the perfect containers...... in Needle Little Love :0)
Yes the red shallow dish is the base of the sewing machine and the yellow pot is an upturned thimble... don't they make a rather cute, but prickly, ensemble????

Paper Smooches Sparks challenge is anything goes this week and I've loosley followed the sketch at CAS(e) this Sketch too :0)

                                         

Thanks for stopping by :0)
Jenny x

Fly Away!!

Hello Monday!!.... at least we're still on Easter hols here so no rushing about going on in this house :0)

I was inspired by the talented design team at CAS(e) this sketch when I needed to make a card this weekend for a family member who's retiring overseas very soon.....

It's occasions like this when I'm so glad I make cards because I'm not sure I'd find something so bespoke in the shops!!!
I went through many ideas before settling on this simple design... gotta love vellum for its ability to add detail whilst remaining translucent although it can be it's downfall too!!! That swoosh of vellum wasn't wanting to play nicely and lay flat so those clouds hide small pieces of adhesive tape to fix that problem !!!

This card fits nicely in with the Far Away challenge at Addicted to Cas too :0)
                                  

Apologies for the fuzziness of the photo!!....I didn't realise until I was editing it that the camera had just randomly decided to reset the settings I usually use :0(
Thanks for stopping by :0)
Jenny x
Dies used: High Rise Alphabet, You Move Me and World Traveller by MFT Dienamics

Ovals and Banners!!

Here's my take on this weeks CASe this Sketch which, as you can see, I went with quite literally and ended up making my own version of Shabby Chic... I think????. I don't use ovals much in my card-making despite owning a set of oval dies so I thought I'd give the sketch a go...

Less is More are asking us to use stencilling or masking this week for the challenge so I showed my oval dies some love and made a mask to stamp Mama Elephants Water Blooms through and then used another to cut the flowery panel out. Hmmm.... then the banners gave me a problem, I didnt want them to compete with the flowers so one is a negative cut in the green card and the other is vellum embossed with stitching .... I like how they turned out.
In case you're wondering, the real stitching is "vintage" on purpose... it was quicker to do and looks much more like my sewing would do if I used a machine *wink*

 

Thanks for stopping by :0)
Jenny x

A Love Explosion!!

Hey, did you know it's Valentines Day coming up???? I'm guessing so unless you've been under a stone for the last few weeks...Lol  :0)
Well my card over at Make the Day Special has me getting in the Valentine theme this week using a new Lawn Fawn set in store....

I'm loving the Science of Love stamp set because those geeky birds are just the cutest but the little test tubes had the first inking along with the sentiment which looks so cool in two colours :0) Love how the firework explosions from Happy 4th make a great backdrop for those shooting hearts!!

NEWS FLASH : I've managed to marry up three challenges for this card... YAY!!.... 

                   

...and I've managed to get all three graphics in a line in this blog post... not sure which one I'm more ecstatic about... Lol :0)

Continuing the Love theme... I thought I'd share this card which I had published in Craft Stamper Magazine last month... same idea but using Paper Smooches stamps and dies instead

All this love and excitment... it's too much for a Monday morning!! I need to go and immerse myself in housework and calm down :0)

Thanks for visiting
Jenny x
Stamps used : Science of Love and dies, Happy 4th by Lawn Fawn.  Great Chemistry, Bam Bubble Dies by Paper Smooches

A Canvas Flower

Hello there, I have a card to share for a couple of challenges :0) 

I need an anniversary card to send to our nephew and his wife so I looked to the challenge blogs for inspiration..... use felt or fabric is the requirement at Less is More this week so I had a rummage and found these old printed canvas flowers (I think from Jilibean soup). I also found the raised swirl which is a very very old sticker...in fact I'm surprised it's still sticky it's that old!!!

I added the threaded button to the flower stack and flipped the fab sketch over at CAS(e) this Sketch for my layout.... I'm pretty chuffed that I used some older stash  :0)

                                                               

On the homefront.... dear daughter has gone back to Uni and is living off campus in a student Let with 4 others and is enjoying a semi independent life again. It wont be quiet around here for long though as we are having our Bathroom and Kitchen revamped which includes a bit of destruction so a building site will ensue here soon. I can't say I'm looking forward to the transition process but the finished product will keep me going :0)

Right best get these entered and have some lunch.... thanks for popping by :0)

Jenny x

A Little Bit of Autumn

Okay... don't tut at me!!... I know the summer's not over with but there's a different feel to those early mornings now and the sun rises with our bedside alarm so I feel a bit justified to share this card with you for Less is More's Washi challenge and CAS(e) this Sketch.
I had this sycamore leaf left over from a previous project.. it's been cut from watercolour card and dipped in diluted Distress inks to give that blotchy coloured effect, the heat gun helped to move the ink around too :0)

These two challenges seemed to work well together and it was good to have a play with some Washi Tape... it really does give instant impact and I love how the woodgrain shows through the solid brown tape too.
A possible new obsession are those candy dots from Stampin Up... I love how they add dimension but aren't too shiny and rounded .... think I might need them in each colour family *wink*

                                                                

Oakie dokie... need to get this entered as CTS closes its doors soon .. thanks for stopping by :0)
Jenny x
Leaf Die by Impression Obsession
Sentiment from Wetlands - Stampin Up