When Stamping becomes a Game!!

Hi there :)

I love when I think of other ways to use my stamps aside of card-making and today I'm happy to share one of those ideas over at the Seven Hills Crafts blog....

I picked up this DIY memory card game from my local Tiger store ( I love this shop so much *wink*) and set about making a matching pairs game using lots of stamps from my ever growing stash :) The box contains 44 sturdy blank cards and they have a lovely papery finish which takes ink and Copic markers well..

I was careful not to do too much fancy colouring and saturate the paper, I then finished them off with a coat of glossy mod-podge to make them more durable and I also found it made the colours more vibrant too!!

My twenty year old Autistic lad still loves to play this game and he's pretty good at it too... a nice sized game to take out with you when waiting and patience is required :)

A few more details and links to the sets I've used can be found on the Seven Hills Crafts blog here.

Thanks for stopping by  :)

Jenny x

The Gift of Coffee

Mmmm... the gift of coffee indeed or to be more precise... gift cards for coffee shops!!

My blog project this week over at Make the Day Special Stamp Store is a couple of 

gift card holders on a coffee theme and I broke out my new stamp set 

called Let's Chat by Concord & 9th.

These are great stamps from a new stamp company and they're now available here in the 

UK courtesy of Make the Day Special Stamp Store :)

I love the unique top view of the cup and saucer in this stamp set and although you are given some lovely scripty phrases to place inside your cup, I wanted to be a creative Barista and give my drink a seasonal theme. I used Paper Smooches holly dies to make a stencil and sponge brown ink through to mimic an arty dusting of chocolate :)

I used the MFT Blueprints 16 to make my card .... 

it's such a useful set with lots of components to play with ;)

My second card uses a solid stamp from another Concord & 9th set called Lots of Blots... it's a bit smaller than the space in the cup so I had to do a touch of water-colouring to fill in the gap around the edge but I reckon it would pass as a creamy message in a coffee??!! :)

More details and links to supplies can be found over on my DT blog post here if you're interested :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Cauldrons and Pumpkins!!

Hello :0)

Cauldrons and Pumpkins!!...... that must mean Halloween is approaching :0)
Not something we 'do' here at home apart from carving pumpkins, but I have been hoarding empty yoghurt pots for a few months now just because they were the perfect shape to make mini cauldrons.... I had a lightbulb moment as soon as I saw them in the shop... so I've been upcycling... Blue Peter style :0)

The yoghurts in question are the Activia Intensely Creamy type (other yogs are available but don't have these cute rounded pots!!) ...I just sponged on two coats of Black Gesso for a rough cast metal look and added a wire handle along with rolled paper feet.

As always, packaging manufacturers can't leave well alone and I have since found that the pots have changed shape slightly and have a flat rim .... :( They still would make great cauldrons but I experimented by removing the rim to make pumpkins too!! 

A couple of layers of orange tissue and some orange acrylic paint later they are ready for a spooky face :0)

They're filled with Halloween sweet treats and the toppers are made courtesy of Paper Smooches dies and stamps... I think the spooky sign looks brilliant stamped on the wood veneer  :0)

..... and those O's were begging to be turned into wide eyes!! :0)

These will be going to school with James for his classmates so I need to finish the rest pronto as Halloween falls in the Half Term break here....I'm sure they won't mind having them a week early  :0)

Thanks for stopping by :0)

Jenny x

Paper Smooches products used: Halloween Icon Dies, Ghoulfriends, Happy Campers, Bam Bubble dies.

Wood Veneer paper available at Make the Day Special Stamp store.

Show and Tell

Hello there.... I did say hopefully back to normal so the fact I'm writing this blog post late on a Friday evening is as normal as it's gonna be for the moment!!!

Apologies for harking back to Christmas but I wanted to share with you the gifts I made for James's classmates and teachers before the end of term...... I decided to follow Yaineas tutorial here and try my hand at decorating candles with Lawn Fawn stamps....

I found using solid images easier to start with and I just loved how they turned out..... Needless to say lots of people had decorated candles this year for Christmas... Lol :0)

Next are the edible gifts for the youngsters and We R Memory keepers made life easier for me this year by bringing out the gift bag and candy box punch board… perfect for sweets on the inside and decorating the outside with Lawn Fawn and Paper Smooches stamps.....

 

And a group shot.....

I was over the moon to find the mini gingerbread men..... perfect size for the candy boxes and I love how adding a window to the gift bags made them more like sweetie packets too :0) All three gifts can be adapted for different occasions just by changing up the stamps you use..... Don't forget Valentines Day is just around the corner *wink*

That's all from me, thank you for your lovely comments..... it's so nice to know you're all still there and I'm gradually catching up with you and your crafty places in blogland :0)

Jenny x

 

Mini Card Sets

Hello... I'm dusting away the cobwebs on my blog and sharing three mini card sets I made for James's Class staff at the end of term... we are already two weeks into the holidays so I thought I best get a wiggle on before the photos get lost on the computer!!!

I always find end of term gifts a challenge, I like to give something useful so a mini card set seemed ideal and all neatly packaged in handmade boxes too. I've made collages to try and keep this blog post from being too photo heavy... this first set uses Paper Smooches stamps...

I really enjoyed just playing with shapes and inks... the 'Wisteria type' flower in the bottom left square is my personal fave :0) 

This set uses mostly die-cuts and a simple repeating layout... the leaves are my fave in this set. They are cut from watercolour card and then I had fun getting messy with distress inks and water!!

I went completely different again with this set, using a 'new to me' SU set called Simply Soft, I went with pretty summer colours and again, a repeating layout.

The boxes were easy to make on my scoring board, I have the SU version and find it the most easy to work with for this kind of project. I'm assuming they made it to school without looking too crumpled and dog-eared ... they were gratefully received anyhow so we'll go with that conclusion :0)

Oakie dokie... hopefully not so long until my next blog post, its the school holidays so what little routine I had has gone out of the window completely!! I also just wanted to draw your attention to the Sale section over at Make the Day Special... lots of different stamp companies in the mix so something for everyone, just don't blame me for encouraging you to spend though *wink* :0)

Jenny x
PS stamp sets used : reflections, bold blooms, leafy greens and Salutations
Dies : Watering can and plant pots - Memory Box,  Leaves - Impression Obsession,  Sunflower - Dienamics, 
            Sunflower leaves and stem -Memory Box

A Hipster-Potamus!!

Something a little different from me today!!

This is my make for today's DT post over at Make the Day Special... I wasn't sure about this little guy when he first came into the store but I decided to give him a home and this is his first time getting inked!!

I found a tub of painted balsa wood tags in my stash so I thought I'd have a play... he's stamped with Black Stazon and coloured with Prisma Pencils,  looks kinda cute how his face follows the shape of the tag!!

The back of the tag was left raw so I covered it with patterned paper and added a speech bubble for the Hip Hip Hip Hooray :0)

He's coated with clear matt varnish to protect him from knocks and scratches and he's just looking for a bunch of keys to call home now....at least the keys wont get lost, he's quite large :0)

Thanks for your visit today, hope you have a great weekend :0)

Jenny x

Stamps used: Hipster-Potamus by Avery Elle

Snow Much Fun!!

I just thought I'd pop in to show you my card for todays blog post over 

at Make the Day Special..... I had fun making it :0)

Now I know these guys aren't evenly matched in size but they're having fun.... I think!!

That germ from 'Healthy Vibes' just makes the perfect snowball splat

especially when you add googly eyes and the fact that one of the beads is stuck 

in the up position adds to the dazed look... any other time that would annoy me!!!

I'm enjoying using the newest Paper Smooches Christmas stamps and I used 'Chilly Chums'

to decorate a Milk Carton  I cut on my Cricut using Bags,Tags,Boxes and more 2

I love to look around the Christmas Sweets in the shops *wink* and see what I could buy and 

re-package as Christmas gifts for James's classmates and teachers.....

this carton contains some Frosty Snowballs (sugar coated chocolate balls to you and I).

I'm working on some more ideas... I'll keep you posted :0)

That's all from me today, I hope you get some crafting time this weekend.... 

we are enjoying having Hannah at home after coming back from Uni to collect 

an Excellance in Maths award from her old school 

last night *insert proud Mum face*

Thanks for looking :0)

Jenny x

Stamps: Chilly Chums, Warm Hearts, Freezy Fellas, Swanky Snowdudes, 

              Healthy Vibes, Christmas Sampler from Paper Smooches

              

Teacher Thank You Gifts

Good morning again..... well my blog posts are just like buses... nothing for days and then three come along in quick succession !!!.... and still I'm trying to find time to catch up with you!!

The school term ended yesterday so Thursday night I was beavering away in the craftroom making covered jotter pads for James's three class staff.... yep I know it's last minute, that's pretty much how life's been this week!!!

They started life as a shopping list jotter pad measuring 7x21cm and with some thick card and patterned paper I've covered them and added a loop for a pen too...

I have a photograph tutorial over at Make the Day Special blog if you would like to know how they came together.
The papers are a mixture of Lawn Fawn Brightside Collection, October Afternoon and Fancy Pants... the bold patterns and fun colours do all the talking so I kept the embellishments to a single button which is involved in the fastening mechanism :0)

James has a regular taxi driver that takes him and delivers him from school, he's got to know James so well and that makes a huge difference to his school day having a familiar face every morning and afternoon so we gave him a bottle of wine as a thank you gift and this is the tag I made to hang on the bottle.
I've used MFT dies and stamps to make all the elements for this wine tag :0)

I wondered whether it looks good to give him a bottle of wine to carry around in the car until he gets home...!! Can't help thinking it wouldn't look good to other passengers!!...Lol

 It's lovely to have Hannah back home again, James gave her a huge hug :0) She had a great time with the young children at the school in Poland and soaked up a bit of culture in the freetime they had too but she really missed her comfy bed and home cooking the most... aww bless :0)

Well I gather the warm sunshine is going to finally make an appearance so I hope you make the most of it and have a great weekend :0)

Thanks for looking today
Jenny x

Busy making gifts

Hi Everyone ,

Sorry to have not been around , Ive been busy being the perfect hostess for my Mother in Law and cramming in some last minute gift crafting . I'm not overly good at getting prepared early so Thursday eve saw me rushing to wrap some boxes of chocs for James' class staff and decorate them ....

I used brown parcel paper to wrap the boxes and then decorated a sleeve to go round them ... just sweet and simple I think and they appreciated the gifts too  :)

I've also been altering a jute shopping bag as a gift bag for my Sister-in-law as we are going to her birthday get-together tomorrow. She and her husband are in the process of emigrating to New Zealand for a couple of years so I decided to buy some luxury edible pressies instead of another thing to add to the baggage of moving and this is the bag I decorated to put them in ....

Having lived and worked in Canada for a good part of her life I had to put a Polar Bear or a Moose on the bag so I went with a more colourful scene other than white!!!

I've used scraps of material to make up the picture that have been sewn with my machine and then stuck onto the bag with book binding glue . Everything apart from the moose and the grass is hand cut out of material scraps which have been backed with Vlieseline to stop it fraying . The moose is cut from a pattern off the cricut machine and the grass is a sizzix die

Do you like the snow capped mountains and the swampy lake in the background? It has taken the best part of a day to make but I've really enjoyed it and what a useful gift bag too :)

I'm going to pop over and add this to a blog I've heard about called Passionately Artistic which allows you to link up your crafty projects and see other creations made by some very talented people too...do go and have a look :)

My other bit of news is that I've been asked to join the design team at St Lukes Charity Card challenge by Tara from August onwards and I'm delighted to say that I said yes ... it's for such a great cause :)

It's a monthly card-making challenge with prizes and the hospice benefits by you kindly donating the cards you make so they can be sold to raise vital funds for the work that they do for the patients and their families , of course this is not obligatory to join in with the challenges but the more cards sent in the more money will be raised . Please hop over to the blog and see why this challenge was personally set up by Tara .

Thanks for stopping by....normal crafty service will resume next week X