Bright Lights

Ahh, bright lights.... quite ironic that the day I photographed this card was 

anything but bright!! I could have done with some good lighting.

I love coloured fairy lights and this set makes it super simple to add them twirling and 

sprawling across your card front. The gap I left was just the right shape and size for this 'bright'

die cut and all that was left was to add some glossy dimension to each bulb :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Stash Used:

Party lights stamp and die set - MFT

Rainbow Wishes die - Concord & 9th

Mini Merry Messages - Mama Elephant

Big Jolly Holly

My love of all things Christmas greenery drew me straight to this gorgeous stamp set 

I love its huge size... great for getting the watercolours into action 😉

I'm quite pleased how it turned out but if I'm going to make a few of these I think the 

watercolour will have to be a more loose style!!

I messed up the sentiment... well actually it's more that I didn't think the gold embossing 

showed up well enough so I embossed it in white on black card instead.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Stash Used:

Big & Bold Holly Berries - Colorado Craft Company

Holly Jolly

I'm still cranking out Christmas Cards and I wanted to use this die set from Wplus9.

This was my first card, having watercoloured some holly sprig die-cuts from Flora & Fauna, 

I love the pop of bright green against the white woodgrain.

I used gold powder to heat emboss the Holly Jolly sentiment whilst still intact in the

 sentiment bubble which meant I had the outer piece left over to make a second card....

 this is my favourite of the two.

More details on my DT post on the Seven Hills Blog here

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Stash Used:

Holly Jolly Die, Holly Jolly Stamps - Wplus9

Holly Branch Die - Flora & Fauna

Pastel Baubles

I'm a 'traditional Christmas' colour girl at heart, loving my greens and reds but I have to say that muted pastels are up there too in a close second. I was inspired by the bird in

 this Flora & Fauna set to try and make some masked tree baubles in

 dusty pink, blue and beige... love how they turned out.

I think these may be my cards this year, I love the softness of the colours and they

 are a nice design to make in batches too. 

I sponged soft grey through a mask and then added the foliage and bird through the mask too.

The little bow and hoop are made using dies and they add a little bit of 

dimension to an otherwise one layer design :)

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

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Stash used:

Mini Aviary Set, Winter Aviary Set, Holiday Terrarium - Flora & Fauna

3D Mini Bow die - Waffleflower

Christmas Flora & Fauna

Nothing like new Christmas stamps to inspire some seasonal crafting!!

I've used a few stamps and dies from the latest Flora & Fauna release to make these two cards..

Now that's what I call a warm winter hat... just what a little penguin needs when he's waiting for Santa to arrive. I love the simple four block border of Buffalo plaid in the Texture 7 stamp set... great for lining up or stacking to make your own pattern.

This is my fave of the two.... I used a solid stamp for the sky and inked it in three different blues then added a curve of glitter paper and three die cut trees.... fab collage effect :)

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

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Stash used:

Arctic Critters, Texture 7, Festive nature, Mini dress up Penguin,

 Holiday Word Party - Flora & Fauna

Special Delivery

Colourful presents in a hessian sack.... that's an image that makes you think of Christmas!!

That's why I love this stamp from Waffleflower and it was just asking for a real twine drawstring to be added for a pop of colour and dimension..

The linen texture is added using a MFT background stamp and I shaded the folds with markers for a 3D effect. To add presents I cut simple shapes from various papers and added bows and ribbons.

The sack has a space for a sentiment which is all that this card needed I reckon...... sometimes you don't need to add any more words!!
More details can be found on the Seven Hills Crafts blog here with links to the products used.

Thanks for stopping by :)
Jenny x

Stash used:
Special Delivery (Waffleflower)
Linen Background (MFT)
Shadows (Paper Smooches)

Christmas Colour Challenge

Well we're now into November... how did that happen!!???  

Christmas is just around the corner and we have the last challenge of 2017 

over at Seven Hills Crafts.

Time for a colour challenge and naturally we'd like you to make a Christmas themed card or project using at least three colours from one of the palettes below :)

Now some of the more eagle-eyed readers will wonder where the blue is in the third set of colours!!

It seems my printer did not give me a true colour likeness and this is the result... well we can imagine it's a very blue grey ;)

I've used trees from Flora & Fauna's Holidays Watercolour set and decorated some with white gel pen doodles. You can just about make out the pale icy blue snow hill and the sprinkling of snow falling. It just felt right to use that sentiment from Scandinavian Prints Christmas by Neat & Tangled :)

All the challenge rules and prize details can be found here along with the link up gallery... we'd love you to play along with us in our last challenge of 2017!

Thanks for stopping by :)
Jenny x

Poinsettia Pattern

It's time to start thinking about Christmas cards and playing around with 'easy to replicate' designs!! Well this one is one to easily replicate but not the quickest.... a fabulous end result that has a retro feel though :)

This layered Poinsettia stamp set from Waffleflower definitely has a screen print feel to it so I had to try a retro colour combo which is actually my favourite of the two. I used my MISTI to make four identical cards.... It's fun setting up a production line! I paired them up with a sentiment from Avery Elle .... a perfect match for the vintage feel!!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Stamps used:

Poinsettia - Waffleflower

Kitsch Christmas - Avery Elle

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

A Winters View

Hello there :)

There are some lovely Christmas stamp sets released this year and it's fun to mix and match them with older sets so we can give them some more love 😊

I have done just that with this card I made for my DT blog post at Seven Hills Crafts this week...

I've used the new City Sidewalks from Mama Elephant to make the background scenery and the older Winter in the Park from Lawn Fawn in the foreground. The layers open up to see the view unfold...

The middle layer of trees are from an MFT stamp set called O'Christmas Tree, I love how basic they are so they don't compete with the detail in the city scenery. I have a few more details on the Seven Hills Crafts blog here but basically I made the card in three parts..

I decided to make a card stand and attach it to the back of the card... it did stand up of its own accord but I thought this would display the card better...

Love the City Sidewalks set, I can see it will be good for other cards aside of Christmas with those blocks of buildings. This card was fun to make.. more of a special card rather than one for repetitive production though 😉 

Thanks for stopping by

Jenny x

"Inspired by Christmas" Challenge

Hi there :)

Well the start of November brings our last challenge for 2016 over at Seven Hills Crafts, and we are asking you to be inspired by a Christmas Movie, Song or Carol for your project...



My mind jumped straight to our favourite Christmas film to watch.... Elf.
I have been inspired quite literally as you can see...

Buddy's green elf coat is quite iconic especially when paired with the sentiment :) I started by cutting the belt and buckle using the Waffleflower Santa Add on dies, making the belt longer than the die actually cuts. I then cut the green card to match the belt width and glued two strips of card down the middle for the coat edging. I found a squiggle of confetti in an Avery Elle stamp set to make the gold detail down the front of the coat and the collar is made with white felt cut with a heart shape die.

I was so pleased to find the sentiment in Mama Elephants Alpine Caroler's stamp set :)

We hope you can join us for the last challenge of 2016... we can't wait to see what you choose and how it inspires you. All the challenge details and link up gallery can be found here

Thanks for stopping by :)
Jenny x

Kitsch Christmas

Hello there :)

Funny how styles come back around isn't it!! I can remember when I used to send rather twee Christmas cards to my school friends... I sent quite a few so mum used to buy the cheapest pack of cards she could find!! I think using the school Christmas postbox was the main attraction for sending them actually.. Lol :)

I had to have a go at re-creating the retro look of Christmas with the 

 Kitsch Christmas stamps from Avery Elle...

I also had another go at no-line colouring.... I seem to get on better doing this 

technique with animals more than any other image!! It also suits the kitsch look if you ask me :)

I sponged that classic teal background into a rectangular shape and added a few pine sprigs to frame the little deer. That fabulous font just finishes it off like a cherry on top of a cake..not forgetting a smattering of glitter too, that's a definite addition to the retro look :)

I'm adding this to the Less is More gallery this week as it's their 300th challenge and the theme is CELEBRATION & FESTIVALS

This was the challenge that inspired and shaped my cardmaking genre although I don't have the time to play along so much these days.. Well done LiM and all the fabulous design team, past and present :)

This card is featured on the Seven Hills Crafts blog today including links to the products

 I've used from the Seven Hills Crafts shop :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Christmas Greens

Hi there :)

I'm popping by to share another Christmas card... it's really not like me to be Christmas crafting this early... Lol! My card is for this months challenge over at Seven Hills Crafts....

        
Yep, we have three tone on tone palettes for you to choose from this month and as I'm a lover of most things green (not so keen on Brussel Sprouts!!) it was an easy choice for me.

Okay so they're more teal than green but for Christmas cards they work perfectly for Christmas greenery so I used a die from Wplus9's Under the Mistletoe dies to cut out quite a few branches from card I'd coloured myself using Evergreen Bough Distress ink.

To give the illusion of depth I also cut a branch in foam and temporarily adhered it to a block so I could stamp a few branches with Versamark ink....

Oh by the way, I stamped and embossed the sentiment first?... Take it from me, it's the best way round to do it *wink*

I layered the branches over and then added some splatters of white distress paint mixed with water and some enamel accents for the berries..

Ahhh lovely and wintery... not that I'm wishing this lovely autumn sunshine away :)

The gallery is going to look so pretty this month with your tone on tone creations... I hope you can join us. All the details can be found here.. a £15 voucher to the store is up for grabs each month so what ya waiting for!!?

Thanks for stopping by
Jenny x

Sketch Challenge at SHC

Hello there :)

It's time for a new monthly challenge over at Seven Hills Crafts and this month we have a sketch for you to play along with....

Now I quite like the look of the circles in this sketch, although they could be any shape, so I had a look through my stamps and decided on these plump little birds from Concord&9th...

I turned them into robins with a bit of loose water-colouring.... which is not as easy as you'd think it would be!! I added a sentiment from a Lil' Inkers set and Voilà!!.... another Christmas card made :)

How does the sketch inspire you? We'd love you to play along too :) 

Click here for the details and the link up gallery.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Christmas Fun

Well Christmas card making is in full flow here in the Craftroom and both my cards today have already been ear-marked by the kiddos (who am I fooling, theyre both young adults!!) to send this Christmas :0)

I'm sharing these over at Make the Day Special Stamp Store Blog... have you popped over lately to see all the newest stock and Brands in store??

Hehe... I've been waiting to make this card since I had the lightbulb moment of pairing the sentiment from Lawn fawns Winter Sparrows with the twitter app from # Awesome.
IRL the blue is a better match to the actual app but the camera hasn't caught it well!! Just goes to show you can stick a Santa Hat on anything and make it Christmassy :0)

 This next one appealed to James's sense of humour so his teacher will most likely receive it :0)

The chimney is the top half of the fireplace from Lawn Fawns Cosy Christmas and Santas boots are the wellies from Paper Smooches Green Thumb. The PS Slang Gang set comes in useful for fun and quirky sentiments for cards... hehe... too many mince pies me thinks *wink*

More details for both cards can be found over at Make the Day Special Stamp Store blog along with a full product list.

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