An Awesome Superman!!

Hello again... I know, unusually back so soon!!

Well..... with it being the first of the month on Sunday, a new challenge started at Make the Day Special and we have a sketch for you this month so I thought I'd pop by and share my inspiration card which is also going to fit in just nicely at CASual Fridays this month where Make the Day Special are sponsors too :0)

Soooo.... a guys card which includes a ribbon eh!!..... well I just cannot put my Paper Smooches stamps away at the moment and this pint sized hero has been waiting patiently to be paired with the "Awesome" from CASual Fridays 'Wait for it' stamp set and I just turned the sketch into a comic style picture. Adding a ribbon was the tricky bit but I think it serves it's purpose of underlining how Awesome he's obviously feeling :0)

Here is this months sketch at Make the day Special prize Challenge, click here to see all the details
                                                           

..and here are the graphics for CASual Fridays challenge, the DT have some brilliant cards to share with you and I can't wait to see how everyone else uses ribbon on a guys card too!!
                                                            

Thank you all so much for your lovely comments on my PS Sparks blogpost and thanks for dropping by today :0)
Jenny x

More on that Hot Spot...

Hello there :0)

Edited to add: Thanks ladies for selecting my card as a winner over at CASual Fridays :0)
                                      

I'm back again, both here and over at Make the Day Special blog today, with a couple more cards using the Large Hot Spot Base die and I've also made these as my submission entries for the Paper Smooches Sparks DT call.
I have a rather *a-hem* large collection of Paper Smooches stamps and I love using them so I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring for the DT call having thoroughly enjoyed guest designing for Kim a couple of years ago on the PS blog... I cannot believe it was that long ago!!

So this was a tall order to combine the Hot Spot die and a prevoius PS sparks challenge but this is how it went....

This is my fave of the two, I love that hot spot die cut in the woodgrain paper, it makes a brilliant jump off point to make a scene with this cheeky little monkey :0) 

Here's the past Photo Inspiration I used from the PS sparks blog ..

                                         
I'm also entering this cheeky chappy into the CASual Fridays challenge this week because the sentiment is stamped on DP... hope thats not too tenuous!!
                                    

                                                 ******************************

For my second card I modified the Hot Spot die to make a Polaroid frame..

Now I own a few photo frame dies *sshhh* but by enlarging the window with the smaller die you make a polaroid frame with rounded corners inside and out... how cool is that, I've not got one like that in my stash!!  I'm sure you know how I did it but here's a photo because it takes up less space than explaining it!! :0)

Oh and I'm so pleased about the faux washi tape too, I used the back and front of the dotty strip in the Alphadot stamp set over a piece of torn copy paper to get that ripped edge look :0)  Bonus score for using two brads as well!!

Here's the past Paper Smooches Sparks photo inspiration for this card...

The DT call closes on the 20th May if you fancy giving it a go...it's been open since the 4th but hey I take my time on these things!! Find the details here .

For all your Paper Smooches stamps and dies check out the store at Make the Day Special here in the UK.

Thanks for stopping by :0)

Jenny x

Stamps used: Vogue Abode, Zoo Crew, Love Monkey, Sentiment Sampler

Silver Hearts and Great News!!!

Hello, I'm back again with another card that I made on Monday morning.... I was making up for lost crafty time last week!!!

I tuned into see the new Less is More challenge on Saturday and thought yippeee, Paper Piecing.... but no, on closer inspection of Chrissie's and Jen's inspirational cards I could see it was Paper Piercing.... that little r makes a whole world of difference, good job I studied them closely :0)

So I combined the piercing with the 'Hi Ho Silver' challenge at CASual Fridays this week...

I decided that I preferred the raised bumps when you pierce the card from the back, I just had to work out my curves back to front instead. I used a couple of large plastic circle stencils to prick along the edge of and then curved and stamped the sentiment to match. The heat embossing isn't great .... I'm gradually replacing old rubbish embossing powders and it looks like silver could be the next to go although to be fair the silver inkpad isn't up to much either but then it's not a colour I use a lot!!
I managed to solve the need for a smaller heart die cut for this card by finding an old sizzix sizzlets alphabet that has hearts set in the letters so I ran one of the dies through a few times to cut those those tiny hearts :0)

The great news is that the place to buy your favourite American stamps is back online today.... yes Make the Day Special has re-opened its doors with a new look, new owner and the same great stamps... with hopefully some new companies coming soon ..... pop over for a visit here and have a look around :0)

Thanks for stopping by today
Jenny x

Love and Marriage

Hello there. I've been scratching my head thinking of a love song I could use on a card for CASual Fridays this week and a look through my older wood mounted stamps found this little gem which is thee perfect song for the theme of love, the song title is there for all to see too.....

I punched a few hearts in the same coloured card stock and stuck them down for a faux embossed look and a touch of glitter on the chapel and round the edge of the frame for a bit of sparkle, hard to see on the photo..... I love the look of Kraft and white together :0)

Short and sweet today because I'm off out Birthday pressie shopping for my Mum..... it's a big one this year!!!

Thanks for stopping by :0)

Jenny x

 

Winter Blues

Hello :0)

When crafting time is limited I just love challenges that work so well together and even better if I can make a Christmas card for them too :0)

Over at Less is More this week we're asked to use hardware on our cards .... hmmm .... well most of my metal hardware seems to be brads and eyelets so at least that narrowed the choice down and I went for simply hanging these three inked and stamped tiles on my card with a brad and triangular loop thingy!!!

Casual Fridays is a two week challenge this time round called Winter Blues and a new challenge for CAS loving crafters in blogland is Addicted to CAS and their first challenge is 'SNOW'..... now that's a Hat-Trick!!

Do check out the fab DT cards at these challenges and sorry for the short post, life's like that at the moment!!

Thanks for looking :0)

Jenny x

Stamps : 'Folk Art Flurries' WPlus9, 'Signature Christmas' PTI

CFC#76 - Kraft On... CASual Fridays Stamps For Sale!!

Well it's been an exciting week over at the CASual Fridays stamps blog and today 

sees the new CASual Fridays Stamps go officially on sale :0)

... but before you go and have a peek let me tell you about this weeks challenge...

...yep you guessed, we would love to see you use Kraft or Kraft coloured card somewhere in 

your project this week and to tempt you even more... the winner will recieve a gift card 

to use in the new CASual friday stamps store :0)

I have used a sentiment from 'WTF' and teamed it up with some bright coloured balloons,  the pattern on the pale blue panel has been made using the striped border pattern in that same stamp set.

If you've been over to the CASual Fridays blog you will see this is my last  challenge post as I've decided to step down as a Girl Friday :0( I'm just not having the time to craft and comment at the moment because  I'm needing to spend more time with James whilst  he gets used to a few changes around here. I'm not going for good...  I still intend to play along with challenges when time and mojo allows :0) I've enjoyed being part of the team and I'm grateful to Michele for giving me the chance to  work alongside some seriously talented designers these last 6 months :0) Also saying goodbye are Karolyn, Julie and Stephanie..  so dont forget to stop by and say farewell. Thanks for stopping by Jenny x

"Woot Woot".... it's a Sneak Peak

Hello, hello....

it's a very exciting week here at CASual Fridays...did you see Michele is 

launching her own stamp line called CAS-ual Fridays Stamps :0)

If you love all things CAS you'll adore these sets... todays sneak peak is a set called
Woot Woot!!

It's a brilliant set with some real fun celebration messages and sentiments 

in a mix of fonts with  background builder elements too... you can mix and match to your hearts content with these stamps :0)

This sentiment from the set just called for a couple of glasses of the bubbly stuff!!!

Perfect for a celebration :0)

 We have a great line up of guest stampers joining the Girl Fridays 

this week for the sneak peaks and it wouldn't be a 

celebration without chances to win the new stamp sets too :0)...

 so make sure you visit the new CAS-ual Fidays Stamps blog , oh and don't forget this weeks 

winner of CFC75 'Over the edge' challenge will win all 5 sets too.....

I told you it's an exciting week here at CAS-ual Fridays :0)

Here are the all important details

• The stamps are made in the USA from the finest Photopolymer, I can tell you that they ink and stamp like a dream :0)
• There are 5 new stamp sets being released on the 26th October and each day this week, starting yesterday, we are sneak peaking a different set.
• We are giving away one of the featured stamp sets from each day, all you have to do is visit the store blog and leave a comment... if you missed yesterdays peek don't worry, you still have time as commenting closes at 11.59pm EST this Weds :0)
• Winners will be announced this Thursday and the store goes live on Friday...make sure you bookmark the store address www.cas-ualfridaysstamps.com

CFC#75 - Today's the Day!!!

Well today is the big day!!!

You finally get to meet CASual Fridays little sister....I'm sure you're gonna love her :0)

BUT..... before you rush over to see her let me show you this weeks challenge badge...

.....yes we want to see part of your design  go over the edge of your card.

All the girl Fridays have used stamps this week from our 

super new SURPRISE sponsor

I hope you've got your sunglasses handy.....

Dont ya just love that large sentiment.... it was just asking for a fun, bright card !!!

Yes I went to town, in a CAS way, with the mirror and glitter card, it was fun to 

break into a little razzmatazz for todays big announcement :0)

Now you need to take those shades off and hop over to CASual Fridays

(I bet you sneaked over there already though) and check out what

 the party is all about :0)

Jenny x

CFC#74 - Put your Heart into it

Hello Everyone

It was lovely to see so many of you join in with our challenge last week

 and so many personal stories shared too ....

it was a wonderful pink gallery :0)

Well it's just a week to go now until the big announcement at CASual Fridays so lets 

get a step further and see this weeks challenge without further ado....

Our sponser this week is i {heart} papers who are kindly giving the winner a giftcard 

to use in their store, sooooo.... we would like to see hearts in your project this week please :0)

They can be large or small, one or many and it doesn't even have to be a heart shape...

perhaps just the word, it's up to you how creative you want to be :0)

It just happened that I needed to make a baby girl card this week and I've been wanting 

to get this sentiment in use for a while now so my little pink heart is hanging from a tree branch...

I should have taken a photo of the inside because the sentiment carries on......

"Congratulations to the old roots!"

I bet your giggling too, right ;0)

As always, hop over to see more inspiration from the rest of the Girl Fridays 

at the blog before you start creating.

Thanks for popping by

Jenny x

One for the Girls

It's Friday again and time for a new challenge at CASual Fridays :0)

I loved seeing your cards inspired by your own blog headers and judging by your own words and creations, you enjoyed making them too.... even the most simple designs inspired you to make some wonderful cards. 

Now October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month so our challenge this week is called 'One for the Girls' and it's a guest designer search week as well.

We want to see your cards celebrating the girls in our lives... family or friends and this weeks winner will receive a gift card from our regular sponsor Simon Says Stamp.

My card is pretty self explanatory really... going with the pink theme of the Breast Cancer campaign ribbon I used this large sentiment from My Favourite Things which continues onto the inside with "Really, you are!"

I hope you join us this week to help raise awareness of this terrible disease, whether it be a gentle reminder to check out any concerns you have or to celebrate those fortunate to come through treatment and fondly remember those who were not so lucky.

The Girl Fridays have more cards to share with you over at the blog and this week we are joined by the wonderfully creative Birgit as our guest designer. Pop back this evening for a special Happy Hour post for news of an extra prize giveaway too :0)

Thanks for stopping by today.
Jenny x

Can you Toot Your Own Horn??

Now I bet you're curious about this weeks challenge at CASual Fridays with a title like that!!
No... nothing to do with transport, instead we want you to be inspired by your own blog header and translate that into a design on your projects :0).... how fun is that??

We have a great prize this week from our sponsors  a.muse studios  worth over $35!!!

I looked at my blog header and decided to not go literal with the layout on my card but kept with the tree theme and injected some colour by adding falling leaves....

I cut a few Memory box branches and 'pruned' them so they didn't all look the same before positioning them on the card..... oh boy did that take a while fiddling with them!!
The oak leaves are cut from basic grey PP with the Lil'inker Acorn die and then stuck back to back so they could withstand being shaped and curled.... I love the dimension they give to the scene :0)
The hessian/burlap bkgd and jute on the card base are to represent my blog bkgd.

I'm so looking forward to seeing where your blog inspiration takes you... don't forget to go check out the rest of the Girl Fridays cards this week by clicking here

Thanks for stopping by :0)
Jenny x

Autumn Time at CASual Fridays

Happy Friday everyone....

The sun is rising later in the sky this time of year and there's a definite chill in the air some mornings so it's safe to say that Autumn has arrived here in the Northern hemisphere, it's only right then, that we have an Autumn challenge for you at CASual Fridays this week :0)

We would love to see your cards and projects inspired by Autumn  and all it's beautiful glory.

Our sponsor this week is Great Impressions Stamps who have donated a $25 gift card for this weeks winner, take a trip to there store here :0)

I've turned to my newest lawn Fawn sets again and a spot of paper piecing on these sweet little pumpkins....

Who still has some of the Sizzix paper pads called Little Sizzles?? Well I found mine the other day and was reminded how good the patterns were for this sort of technique... I love the homespun patchwork feel :0)

Don't forget to check out the rest of the Girl Fridays cards over at the blog...lots of golden autumn goodness to see.

Thanks for stopping by...

Jenny x

Stamps: So Thankful & Belinda's Borders - Lawn Fawn
Papers: Little Sizzles pads-Sizzix
Texture: Linen IP - PTI

You're The Bomb!!

Hi Folks, It's been a crazy busy week here which is why Friday has rushed around again so quickly and along with it a new challenge at CASual Fridays and this time we have a colour theme to spark your creativity :0)

We have a new sponsor this week... Neat and Tangled Stamps. 

Danielle Walls is the designer and owner of this new stamp company, see her cute hand-drawn stamps here,  our Facebook team where generously given a set to play with so don't forget to check out there daily inspiration this week :0)

I've gone extremely CAS with my card, even-so, it took me a while to make as the mojo seems to be ebbing away at the moment!!

The stamps are from There She Goes and I've popped up the word 'BOMB' so I could tuck the actual bomb slightly behind it. It's just a small card because the images aren't big and I just love these cute square,  textured cards :0)

**********

If you visit my blog regularly you'll have noticed the reduced number of blog posts this past month!!

Well it seems the school holidays and transition from school to University and all it entails are keeping me busy, leaving no time for blogging and crafting apart from DT stuff :0(

I'm hoping that by October things will be more settled although I'm not sure how all these changes will suit James...... he's going to miss not having his big sister around when she goes to Uni, he had a few weeks to get used to it in the holidays when Hannah went travelling and he coped quite well so fingers crossed for an eleven week term!!

Anyhow, in the meantime .... I'll enjoy seeing where this colour theme takes you....what will you choose to go with black and white??

Thanks for looking :0)

Jenny x

CFC#69 Embossing

Good Morning,

It's time again for a new challenge at CASual Fridays and this week is a Guest designer search too :0)

Embossing is this weeks theme and it can be heat, dry or both if you fancy!!!.... so dig out those heatguns, light boxes or folders and get embossing for a chance to win a gift card for our regular sponsor,  Simon Says Stamp.

I used this challenge as a chance to rummage through my under-used brass embossing stencils and found this cute design from Lasting Impressions....

Their stencils are great for embossing, fussy cutting and layering up using a variety of materials... I used Whitewash Co-ordinations for the bath and vellum for the bubbles alongside regular card..... the alphabet is a Sizzix decorative strip called 'Easy Peasey'.

This week we have Nerina guest designing with us so please go check out her card along with the rest of the Girl Fridays before you start creating :0)

Thanks for looking :0)
Jenny x

Back to School at CASual Fridays!!

Hello.... It's Friday and nearing the end of the school holidays here in the UK, James goes back next Thurs and that first morning is going to be hard work!!!

So with the new school term looming you'll understand that it's no coincidence that this weeks challenge at CASual Fridays has a school theme to it then :0)

This week we want to see your cards for those starting or going back to school.... teachers or pupils!!!

The sponsor this week is Pretty Paper Studio, check out there store here.

I have to say I have never made or received a 'Back to School' card.... kinda feels like your rubbing salt in the wound!! ... it was bad enough having to buy new uniform as soon as the school holidays started! .... you can tell I didn't like school much can't you *wink*

I decided to make a denim rucksack for my card as a new school bag was possibly the best bit of going back in September along with new pens and a pencil case :0)

Love the primary colour scheme... I thought this would be perfect for a little one starting school, they have much more enthusiasm for it :0)
I used various shape dies to make the bag and pencil and the sentiment is computer generated using 'Chalkdust' font.

Remember to check out the CASual Fridays blog where you will see Piali has joined us this week as our newest Girl Friday...I hope you pop by to make her feel welcome :0)

Thanks for looking  :0)

Jenny x

CFC#67 Banners and Flags

Good morning

I really enjoyed the CASual Fridays gallery last week... with quite a few beach themed cards I almost felt like the summer holidays had started again for us here in the northern hemisphere :0)

This weeks challenge at CASual Fridays is to show us Banners or Flags on your cards....

I have gone with a golf theme for my card and used various dies to make up a small green, complete with flag....

The centre of the Dienamics Upsy-daisy makes a great golf ball with the small indentations pressed into it and I also thought it would look good as part of the sentiment too. 

The sentiment is a Sizzix alphabet strip called Hunky Dory...... I love using these alphabets...I have a few and must remember to use them more, they're so versatile :0)

Hop over to CASual Fridays for more inspiration and details of this weeks prize before joining us in the gallery with your flags and banners... look forward to seeing what you make :0)

Thanks for looking

Jenny x

CFC#66 Splish Splash!!!

Hellooooo it's me again so it must be CASual Fridays time and I have to say that I enjoyed looking at all your square cards last week... so many great designs, you all make choosing ten favourites a difficult task :0)

... this weeks challenge has a watery theme for you.....

...... so if you find it under water then we want to see it on your card... how inventive can you be, I can't wait to see , eek I'm rhyming now :0)
This weeks sponsor is Stop and Scrap which is a great online store stuffed to the rafters with stash from well known crafting companies :0)

For some reason I had this cute fish stamp set from Inkadinkado still un-inked, gee that's a tongue twister waiting to happen!!!..... so I rectified that for my card to share with you this week...

Photographing this card to show the fish bowl was almost as difficult as deciding how to stick the thing down!! Glossy accents came to the rescue applied to the 'gold' fish which is between the acetate bowl and vellum water... great for hiding PVA glue behind it too *wink*
I dusted down the cricut to cut the bowl and have to say this was the first time I used acetate in it and I'm quite pleased with how it cut :0)

Remember to check out the rest of the Girl Fridays cards and the fab prize on offer this week over at CASual Fridays and then dive into those craft supplies and join us in the gallery for some watery fun :0)

On a more personal note I have to blow the ol' family trumpet this week because here in the UK it was A level results day yesterday and our clever girl has got her first choice place at Bath University with an A* and two A's!!!
*beaming proud mummy face* Yay.... whoop de whoop and a toot toot toot :0)
She so deserves that peace of mind now until Uni starts at the beginning of October when it's nose to the grindstone again!
Okay putting the trumpet away now :0)

Thanks for looking today.

Jenny x