All Together Now

Good Morning

My card for today is using another of the Faye Whittaker decoupage sheets from Joanna Sheen.

I used a white hammered card stock for the base, and matted onto this some pale blue backing paper. I added an eyelet to each corner which I threaded some 'chunky' thread through. The little flags were made from coloured card and a cocktail stick. The little shells along the bottom are from my stash.

I would like to enter my card into the Raise The Bar Challenge which is 'We "Shell"'.

Thank you for your visit today.

Jo x

Bea In Orange

Good Afternoon

I have only just managed to tear myself away from the tv. I've loved watching the wedding, they seem so very happy.

It's the return of my favourite bear today, and my entry into Papertake Weekly Challenge which is to follow a sketch.

Orange isn't a colour I use very often, but for some reason have used twice in a week!

Bea is coloured in Lyra Aquacolour's and sat on a mat cut using a Marianne's die. The backing papers are from an issue of Making Cards magazine. I used a Martha Stewart punch on the edges. The flowers are made from the same paper using Nellie Snellen punches and embossers. A tiny pearl was added to the centre of each flower, these were purchased from Joanna Sheen.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jo x

The CD Sunday Challenge - Butterflies

Here I am again, 3 times in a day!!

This is my entry into this weeks CD Sunday Challenge and Joanna Sheen's forum challenge.

The decoupage is from Joanna Sheen's Enchanted Dreams cd-rom, which has been layered onto various gold and holographic cardstock. The base card is holographic card with glitered vellum layered over the top, attached to the card with little flower-shaped brads.

Thank you for having a look.

Jo x

Rainbow Lady's Challenge - In The Country

Hello again

I have been meaning to enter the Rainbow Lady's Challenge for a few weeks now. As luck would have it, I was putting together a card this morning that fits the challenge perfectly! Here is my entry which is 'In The Country'.

I've been tempted by the Hobby Art Scene It stamps for some time, and gave in (sooooo little will-power) and ordered the new In The County set. I stamped the images onto watercolour card, and coloured using my Lyra's. This was then matted onto various cardstock, including some which had been run through my big shot using the Argyle cuttlebug folder (I used it horizontally just to be different!). The base card is a cream hammered card.

I've got my eye on the hillside and coastal sets too! They are excellent quality stamps.

Jo x

Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside

Good Morning

Come on, sing a long now, you've got the song going round in your head now haven't you? Sorry about that!

Today's card is made using one of Joanna Sheen's Faye Whittaker decoupage sheets. These sheets are a joy to work with.

I couldn't decide what to do for a background, so decided to add some ink to a sheet of silk art card, using my ink dusters, to extend the image further across the card. It's quite subtle, but I have to say I'm pleased with the end result.

The sentiment came on the decoupage sheet.

I'm sorry I've not visited other blogs as often as usual this week. I've had another of those sickness bugs which has of course had an effect on my pain medication, so it's been a tricky few days. Thank goodness for my laptop! Anyway I think the bug is now on it's way out so I just need to try and get back on top of the pain control. One step forward, two back.

I hope you all have a lovely, sunny day today.

Jo x

A Time For Reflection

Good Morning

Still quite chilly here this morning but the sun is trying it's best to break out so fingers crossed for another lovely weekend.

Todays card is one I have made to give to a friend for his 50th birthday. They don't 'do' birthdays as such, but I can't let this milestone pass without acknowledgement.

I used some silk art card from C & C and applied various inks (big & juicy, distress inks) using my ink dusters from Inkylicious. I cut a circle from a post-it note for the shape of the moon and for the trees I used my new stamp set - Pilkington Woods. To get the reflection I stamped onto my non-stick craft mat and carefully lined up the images.

This was then matted onto gold mirror board and the base card is made from pearlescent cardstock from PaperMill.

Please tell me honestly what you think about this card - is it good enough to give him?

Thanks for stopping by, have a good day.

Jo x

Just Resting My Eyes

Good Morning.

I hope you've enjoyed the Easter weekend. It's such a special time of year. It is notably cooler here this morning, but I'm hopeful the sun will reappear in time for the next long weekend.

My card today is my entry into the Teddy Bo Challenge which this time is Tag It.

As soon as I saw this image I just had to have it, made me think of my dad :-D. I've coloured the image with pencils. The backing papers are from some of my craft cd's but I'm afraid I can't remember which!!! The corners are cut using a Spellbinder die. For the tag I drew round a Marianne die to make all the edges straight (the die has flowers in each of the corners which I didn't want this time). The sentiment is computer generated. I added an eyelet and a short length of ribbon to complete the tag.

They're having a 2 day sale over at Teddybo.com today, so I'll be calling in later to add to my collection of these adorable little bears.

Thanks for visiting today.

Jo x

Less Is More - Week 12

Good evening.

I hope you are enjoying the Easter weekend.

This is my card for this weeks Less Is More Challenge, which this week is 'Off Centre'.

I finally gave in and bought the Pilkington Woods stamps from Create & Craft recently, so decided to use one of the trees for this challenge.

I stamped the tree onto silk art card using Versamark ink and then embossed with white fine detail embossing powder. I then used my brayer to apply the ink which is Big & Juicy soothing sunset. To try and add a bit of depth to the image, I firstly brayered through an aperture, then removed the aperture and brayered all over the image.

This was then matted onto some gold linen card and orange card stock. White hammered card was used to create the base card. A brown ribbon from my stash was added to the card and a simple knot tied.

I decided not to add a sentiment to make the card more useable.

Thanks for having a look and for any comments you wish to make.

Puppy Birthday Card

I had plans to share the rest of my Easter cards with you today, but when I came to upload the photos they had vanished!! So instead I am showing a birthday card that I was asked to make, for a 16 year old girl who loves dogs, particularly scotties.

This image is from Joanna Sheen's puppies and kitchens cd-rom, which I matted onto cardstock and then decoupaged. The backing paper is from the same cd. The flowers are mulberry flowers from my stash, and the leaves are made using a small punch I have.

The same backing paper is used on the base of the card, and the name is stamped onto some paw print paper, printed from Jayne Netley Mayhew cd-rom, using Dimension Fourth's alphabet stamp. This forms the brake for the card.

I made a box for the card using Crafters Companions new box maker board and white hammered card.

Thank you for having a look.

Jo x

Easter Card

Hello again

This card is one of my Easter cards for this year, made using the Heavenly Cards cd-rom from Joanna Sheen.

The backing paper is printed onto Centura Pearl paper, and the toppers onto gloss photo paper. Martha Stewart punch used for the borders and finally a tassle added.

This is more or less the same card, just in different colours, and using ribbons instead of a tassle.

I am entering the following challenges:

My Time To Craft Easter Wishes

Top Tip Tuesday Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by.

Jo x

New Baby Boy

Good Morning

I'm not feeling so great again today so will keep this post short.

Sharing with you today a card I have made at the request of a friend.

This card is worked on 18 count Aida and takes a lot of stitching so I only make it for special requests! A few beads are also added to the card.

I made the card from Centura Pearl card, with pearlescent blue and silver card used for the apertures.

Thanks for having a look.

Jo x

Less Is More - Use Acetate

Good Afternoon

This is my entry into this weeks Less Is More Challenge

I hope it fits correctly with the challenge criteria.

Back to my favourite Teddys for this challenge and this time it is the turn of Teddy Bea.

I coloured Baking Bea with pencils. An embossing folder was used to emboss the frame, which has acetate in the centre. Sugar strands were added behind the acetate window to make a shaker card. Bea was then added to the card and a little stickles glitter glue added to some of the cakes.

Thank you for having a look at my card.

Jo x

Groovy Granny

Good Morning

This is the card I made for my friend who has just become a Grandma for the first time.

This is one of the images from the Crafters Companion SWALK range. The shape of the card was created using a Marianne die, cut 3 times. Then I had to create a hinge as I don't have a large die cutting machine. She was coloured using Lyra's and her dress paper pieced with the same paper that I used for the background. Since taking the photo, I have glazed her glasses with glossy accents.

The stopper for the easel was cut using a spellbinders die and then some mulberry flowers and punched leaves arranged into glue gel.

Thanks for taking the time to have a look.

Jo x

Just Too Cute

Good Afternoon

Some very happy people in my house today after City's win at Wembley yesterday! Fingers crossed for the final.

A friend of mine became a grandma for the first time yesterday. She now has a little grandson and is going to make a fantastic grandma.

This is the card I have made to send to the new mummy and daddy.

How cute is that image? It's a digi stamp from TeddyBo.com. I coloured the image using soft-leaded pencils. The backing paper is printed from a Seraphina cd-rom onto centura pearl paper. A Marianne Die was used on blue and yellow card to create the frame and Teddy was added using foam pads. The corners are also a Marianne die. The sentiment is a Lili of the Valley stamp which I triple-embossed, and this is mounted on to a tag cut using a Spellbinders die. Tiny pearls were added to each of the corners to complete the card.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jo x

Lili Of The Valley Challenge - Happy Birthday

Good Morning

The card I am sharing today is my entry for this weeks' Lili Of The Valley Challenge. The theme for this week is 'Happy Birthday'.

I used one of their cute squares on my card, which I trimmed down a little and matted onto some blue holographic card. The backing paper is from Crafter's Companions Boys cd-rom. I used my Martha Stewart trellis punch on some of the holographic card, the idea is it looks like a football net. I cut the label using a spellbinders die and the sentiment stamp is LOTV. A button and some card candy were added to complete the card.

Thank you for having a look.

Jo x

Teddy Bo With Love and Hugs

Good Morning

I'm back with my favourite Teddy this morning! This is the first time I have used this image and for once I'm really pleased with my colouring. In fact, when I showed it Emma she thought it was a ready coloured image :o)

I do like easel cards, I think they display images very well. This card was made using a white hammered card. Teddy Bo is printed onto watercolour paper and coloured using Lyra's. I did have to be very careful not to use too much water, as this would cause the printer ink to run. I printed the image over a week ago to give it loads of time to dry out, but didn't want to take any chances.

The mats that Teddy Bo is sat on were cut using my Get In Shape Templates. The flowers were cut using a Marianne die and the leaves with an x-cut punch. Small buttons are added to the centre of the flowers with a little thread knotted through.

The border is a spellbinders die, this time with ribbon threaded through. The sentiment is computer generated.

I've made this card to send to a very good friend who had her first chemotherapy treatment yesterday.

Thanks for calling in today. I hope you enjoyed your visit.

Jo x

Just For You

Good morning from a very chilly Manchester.

Parents were invited up to school this morning to watch Emma's class assembly. They were fantastic. Fortunately Emma doesn't take after her mum, and has no end of confidence! You could see that the children throughly enjoyed it, and it was also clear that a lot of planning and preparation had gone into it. Well done Emma and all of Year 5, you were stars!

I started out planning to make a simple card. I feel I have somehow cheated if I make a card that doesn't take at least a couple of hours to make, so, needless to say, this card isn't quite as simple as first planned!

Whilst commenting on some blogs last week, I discovered that Inkylicious had a stamp set called Meadow Breeze. Upon a visit to their website, it was clear how much I needed this stamp set.

I cut the oval mat out of some gorgeous plum-coloured card using a Nellie Snellen die. I then stamped the image using versamark and embossed with a detail silver embossing powder. The sentiment tag is cut from the same card using a Spellbinders die and a silver peel off added which reads 'Just For You'.

The base card is a smooth white DL, onto which I stamped the small dandelion clock and a butterfly using versamark. I then applied mica powders using a soft brush. You can't tell in the photo, but when the light catches the mica powder it looks fab. Finally, I added some tiny clear gems around the frame.

Thanks for stopping by today, I'd love to know what you think.

Jo x

My Time To Craft Challenge - Nautical

Good Evening

This is my entry into the My Time To Craft Challenge which is Nautical.

The images are from a stamp set by inkylicious called Sea Scapes. I stamped the images using versafine ink onto some of their silk art card. The colour of the sand, sea and sky is from Big & Juicy inkpads Waterfall, Spice and Soothing Sunset and was applied using ink dusters. I used a Sakura pen to add a few waves. The image was the matted onto some pearlescent card, which was then put onto a hammered white card blank. A few minature shells were added to complete the card.

Thanks for having a look.

Jo x

Crafter's Companion Monthly Challenge

Good Morning

My card for today is my entry into Crafter's Companion Monthly Challenge where this month we are to make a card using Aqua and Brown.

I used Helene from the Patchwork Polly stamps for my card. Both Helene and her duck are stamped onto watercolour paper and coloured using Lyra's. How cute is that duck, don't you just love the socks? The backing paper is printed from the Appleby Dapply cd-rom and punched round the edges using a Martha Stewart punch. The mat she is sitting on is a Spellbinders die, as are the sentiment tag and the flowers. I used buttons for the centres of the flowers with a short length of cord tied through them. The leaves are cut using a Marianne die.

Thanks for visiting today.

Jo x

Easter Stitching

Hello

Isn't this sunny weather fabulous? I hope it lasts for a few more days.

Today's card is another made using the paper embroidery technique, this time with a pattern from stitchingcards.com.

The design is stitched using gold, green, red, blue, pink and purple metallic threads.

Have a lovely Sunday.

Jo x

Crafty Calendar Challenge - April Showers Bring Forth May Flowers

Good Morning

and what a lovely sunny morning it is too.

Today's card is my entry into the Crafty Calendar Challenge.

The image is one from the SWALK range, which I stamped onto watercolour card and coloured using watercolour pencils. I added some glossy accents to the puddle, rain drops and top of the umbrella.

The oval she is sat on is cut using a Nellie Snellen die, cut out of gold pearlescent card. The papers used are printed from the SWALK cd-rom. I cut four corners using a Marianne die and added a tiny pearl to each corner. I punched the centre strip with a Martha Stewart border punch. A few mulberry flowers (May flowers :o) ) and punched leaves were added to complete the card.

I hope you have a lovely Saturday.

Jo x

Time For Tee

Good Morning

Sorry I've not been around much this week, it's half term holidays and John is off work too so I've not spent much time at the pc this week.

My number of followers has increased, which I'm very pleased about, and I'd like to say hello to my new followers :o)

Today's card is for my nephew's birthday. He is a very keen golfer so this should fit the bill.

This card uses the paper embroidery technique and a stitching card pattern from Form-a-lines. Gold, green, and blue metallic threads were used to stitch the design.

I do enjoy making these cards, they're very theraputic.

Have a lovely sunny day.

Jo x

Teddy Bea And Her Knitting

Good Afternoon

Here I am again, back with another challenge card featuring my favourite bear. I just had to have this image, so sweet. Here is Teddy Bea doing her knitting.

The Challenge over at Teddy Bo is 'Punch It Out'.

Well, as luck would have it, I got a gorgeous new Martha Stewart PATP set for Mother's Day, this one is called Swirling Lace, and they couldn't have picked a better one. I've seen this on a few blogs and really like it, so I'm delighted!

I cut a couple of squares of card from some pearlescent cardstock and punched out the four corners. I then added a little pearl (from Joanna Sheen)to each of the corners. The backing paper is from Making Cards magazine, designed by Nancy Watt, which again got the punched corner treatment. I then punched a border from a strip of left over paper. The flowers are die-cut using a Marianne die and little buttons added to the centre with ribbon threaded through (I figured if she was knitting, she'd probably need buttons!).

I then knitted a few rows and made up a mini ball of wool, used a couple of pins for knitting needles, with the sharp ends cut off and a little glue gel applied for safety. This is a close up of her knitting.

I had stamped Teddy Bea onto some watercolour paper, but this time decided to colour her with coloured pencils. I thought that the grain in the paper would make her fur look more textured. I applied a little glossy accents to her glasses.

She was then added to the card using glue gel so she didn't look 'flat'.

I thoroughly enjoyed making this card and am also entering it in the Papertake Weekly Challenge Anything Goes with the option of using something new (my punch and the image).

I am also entering this card in the Craft Your Passion Challenge Anything Goes.

Thanks for visiting.

Jo x

Flowers For St Luke's

Good Morning

A new challenge blog has launched this week St Luke's Charity Cards Challenge. If you click on the challenge name, you will be taken directly to their website where you can read all about this fantastic new challenge.

The theme for this month is flowers, and this is my card.

For my card I used a hammered white cardstock for the base. I took some lovely mint green cardstock and punched down the edge using a Martha Stewart lattice punch. I made a double bow with some narrow ribbon which I then threaded through the lattice. There were some very sweet stamps included as a free gift with Cardmaking & Papercrafts magazine, and I used some of these for this card. I stamped them onto watercolour card, and then coloured them using brushmarkers.

My completed card will be sent off to the address provided to be sold to raise funds for the charity.

Thank you for stopping by today. Have a lovely day.

Jo x

Happy Birthday To You

Good morning.

I hope a good Mothering Sunday was had by all. I had a lovely day and was well and truly spoilt, some new crafty goodies amongst other things :o) and a handmade card from Emma. John and Emma went to watch City play in the afternoon, and they won 5 - 0, so big smiles all round.

Today is my younger sister's birthday. Happy Birthday Kathryn. So today I am sharing one of the cards that we sent her for her birthday.

This card is using Joanna Sheen's Precious Petals cd-rom.

I printed the image twice so I could add some dimension to the card. Some of the tulips are on 1mm foam and the others on 2mm foam. The frame is on 2mm foam. The flower border across the top was die cut using a Spellbinders die, and the wording was created using Dimension Fourth stamps.

Have a lovely day, I'm off to play with my new goodies!

Jo x

Less Is More - A Touch Of Red

Good evening

This is my entry into this weeks' challenge over at Less Is More. The theme for this week is a touch of red.

I hope I haven't overdone the red with this card. The stamp is a Pampered Pets stamp, which I stamped onto watercolour paper using versafine ink and coloured with brushmarkers. The red mat is die cut using a Nellies die. The image is applied using glue gel to add a bit of dimension. For the sentiment I matted some matching card and added a gold peel-off.

I am also entering this card into CBGM Blog Challenge which this time is pets.

Thanks for stopping by, and thank you in anticipation of all your lovely comments.

Jo x

A New Baby Girl

Good afternoon

I didn't think I was going to get to post anything today as my camera has had a major blip and I can't work out why. Anyway, managed to borrow one to get this photo taken.

Thought I'd have a change from the bears today, so this is a digi stamp from Pink Gem Designs which is very cute.

I printed the image onto watercolour paper and coloured using Lyra's. The mat the image is sat on is cut using a Spellbinders Fleur De Lis die. The spotty paper underneath was cut using a Get In Shape template. Some ribbon and a few little buttons added to complete the card.

As luck would have it, the current challenge at One Stop Craft Challenge is spots and dots, so I'm entering my card into the challenge.

Thanks for visiting today.

Jo x

Up, Up and Away

Good Morning

Before I show you my card for today (you'll never guess the theme, lol), I thought I'd show you some photos of a camellia I have in my garden. It's been there about three years now, and started out as a little twig! Last year it has three buds on it, and I was so upset when a neighbours cat managed to knock one of them off. Well just look at it this year.

There are lots of buds still to open, so hopefully it will be like this for a couple more weeks. Up close the flowers are so beautiful.

It's like my dad always says, you can't rush nature, you can't be an impatient gardener.

Now onto todays card. And yes you've guessed it, it those gorgeous bears again.

This time I have coloured Teddy Bea with brushmarkers. Isn't she cute? The balloons and clouds are embroidered directly onto the card, which is a pale blue colour. When it was finished this card reminded me of a Winnie the Pooh story I used to read to Emma, where Pooh bear was floating through the sky hanging onto some balloons!

I may show something different tomorrow, but can't promise - these bears are so addictive!

Have a lovely day.

Jo x