A New Baby

Good Morning

I have a new baby card to share with you today, created using the paper embroidery technique:

All the sewing uses metallic threads.  This was then matted onto holographic card, and finally white linen card to which I'd punched a border with a Martha Stewart punch.

My card is for the following challenges:

Sentimental Sundays - Colour of your birth flower (mine is iris, hence the blue)

Crafty Sentiments - No designer paper

Ladybugs Crafts - Oh Baby

Raise the Bar - Stitching

Crafty Ann's Challenge - Clean and Simple

Crafts and Me - Use blue

Creative Craft Challenges - Fancy Edges

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jo x

Let It Snow

Good Afternoon

Well today I finally got a chance to play with the fabulous new SWALK range from Crafters Companion.  This is my favourite image from the Winter Cheer range.

I stamped the image onto watercolour card using versafine ink.  I then watercoloured her using brushmarkers. I found some fab holographic card in my stash out of which I cut a frame using a spellbinders die.  I used an ironworks die to cut the fabulous snowflake out of silver glitter card, and used the same card to die cut the bauble using a Marianne die.  The gorgeous backing papers, borders and flower are all printed from the accompanying cd-rom.  The sentiment is LOTV embossed with silver detail embossing powder.

I used the remainder of the printed papers on the inside of my card:

My card is for the following challenges:

Crafters Companion Monthly Challenge - Pink and Green

Willow Sketchie Challenge  - Sketch

Jingle Belles - Softly falling snow

Totally Papercrafts - Lots of layers

The Secret Crafter - Wrap up warm

Paper Sundaes - Flowers and sparkle

Sparkles Christmas Challenge - Christmas Songs (Let It Snow)

Now then, which image shall I play with next????

Have a lovely evening.

Jo x

Hop It

Good Evening

I hope you've had a good weekend.

My card for today uses a lovely digi stamp from Pollycraft.

Isn't he gorgeous?  I coloured him using Coloursoft pencils.  I followed the sketch over at Willow Sketchie Challenge.  The papers are from my stash, I've had them for ages!  The zig zag is a Martha Stewart punch and the shaped mat behind the main image an x-cut die.

My card is for the following challenges:

Willow Sketchie Challenge - Sketch

My Time To Craft - Punches, dies or both

St Lukes Charity Challenge - Male card

Seeing Double

Good Morning and a happy Saturday.

Today I have 2 cards to share with you.  Again these are thank you cards.  I was pleased with how the first one turned out, so I made a second one in different colours.

The embossing is done using a Nestabilitie.  The stamp is a Sheena Douglass and the colour is added using Big and Juicy ink pads.  I used peel offs for the sentiment as I wanted to keep the cards fairly plain.

My cards are for the following challenge:

One Stop Craft Challenge - No designer paper.

The CD Sunday Challenge - Around The World

Good Afternoon

A warm welcome to my new followers, I'm glad you like my cards.

My card for today is for the current challenge over at The CD Sunday Challenge which this week is Around The World.  I decided to go to Paris, and here is my card.

I am very pleased with how this card has worked out.  I printed a decoupage image from Debbi Moores Art Deco Paris cd-rom, along with a couple of backgrounds. I matted the decoupage onto some lovely pearlescent cardstock I got some time ago from papermill.  I matted the backgound onto some antique gold card and added some glitter to the tower and fireworks.  The roses are made from the same gold using a Marianne die.  The leaves are cut from black cardstock and gold embossing powder added to the stems.  The buckle is cut using a Memorybox die with black organza ribbon threaded through.

I used a second scene to decorate the inside of the card:

I cut some white card using a spellbinders die and gold embossed the edges so there is somewhere to write.

My card is also for the following challenges:

Polka Doodles - Use ribbon

Top Tip Tuesday - Use layers

Time To Craft - Use punches, dies or both

Paperplay Challenges - Use black

Moving Along With The Times - Vintage

Totally Papercrafts - Layer upon layer

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jo x

Autumn Leaves

Good Afternoon

This is another of the many thank you cards I have been making recently:

This uses a stamp from Dimension Fourth embossed with Copper Dreams embossing powder and coloured using a Big and Juicy ink pad.  Some simple matting and layering and a gold peel off complete the card.

I would like to enter my card in the following challenges:

Stampin' For The Weekend - Autumn Colours

CES Challenge - Forever Autumn

Paper Sundaes - Halloween or Fall

Pile It On - Fall is fun

Craft Challenge - Autumn

Stamps R Us - Nature's Gifts


Now please can I ask for your assistance.  I want to top up my stash of distress inks and I want to get a blue that is good for Christmas Cards.  I already have faded jeans so am trying to decide between broken china, chipped sapphire, tumbled glass and stormy sky, it's hard to know the true colours when looking at a screen.  If you've used any of these, please can you let me know what you think.  Thank you :-).

Jo x

Yummy Teddy Bea

Good Evening

Over at Teddy Bo and Co Top Tip Thursday our homework for this week is to make a fabulous corner bookmark.  Here is mine:

I'm going to use mine in my recipe books, so this was the perfect image for me to use. Teddy Bea is coloured with pencils, and matted onto some orange cardstock cut with a Nellie Snellen die.  The backing paper is from a Cute Companions cd-rom,  I attached some lemon and mint green satin ribbon to which I added some round and flower-shaped gems.  I've put it to the test and it works perfectly!

Just to let you know that my friend loved the tea-bag holder that I made for last weeks' homework.  I filled it with tea-bags and biscuits before giving it to her.

I would also like to enter my bookmark in the following challenges:

My Mum's Craft Shop - Food and Drink

Cuddly Buddly Challenge - Anything But A Card

PaperPlay Challenges - Cupcake

A Thank You Note From Teddy Bea

Good Morning

I am in the middle of a batch of Thank You cards for my daughter to send to thank everyone for her 18th birthday presents.  I've had to keep them fairly straight forward but had a bit of a mental block to say the least!  The current challenge at Teddy Bo is Clean and Simple, so I decided to sit and colour my favourite bear to use on one of the cards.

Teddy Bea is coloured with coloursoft pencils and then matted onto some lovely mottled cardstock that I got from Papermill.  The flower and flourishes are cut using Marianne dies and a gem added to the centre of the flower.

My card is for the following challenges:

Teddy Bo Challenge  - Clean and Simple

Saturday Challenge - White plus one other colour (not including the colour of the image)

The Crafty Pad Challenge - Monochromatic

My Time To Craft Challenge - Punches and dies

Creative Inspirations - Monochromatic

Bling It On Challenge - No patterned paper

Pollycraft Monday Challenge  - Girls, girls, girls

Whoopsi Daisy Challenge - Free and Easy

Thanks for visiting my blog today, I'm off to try and finish the rest of the Thank You cards.

Jo x

A Vintage Lady

Good Afternoon

I hope your Friday is going well.

My card for today is one I made for my Auntie for her 80th Birthday. 

The image and backing papers are from Joanna Sheen's Dancing With Shadows cd-rom.  I printed the image twice so I could decoupage her.  The mat she is sat on is cut from linen cardstock with a Nellie Snellen die.  Some feathers were added to complete the card.

My card is for the following challenges:

The Crafty Pad Challenge - Vintage

Sentimental Sundays - Anything Goes Plus A Sentiment

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jo xx

Boo To You

Good Afternoon

A very warm welcome to my blog.  My card for today is a spooky card for Halloween:

The image on the card is a digi stamp from Pollycraft and I have coloured her with coloursoft pencils.  The spiders web was one of those bright ideas that ends up taking an age to do.  The outer shape was created using a Marianne Die and I then threaded black cotton through to create the web.  The wording is die cut using an x-cut alphabet die and the pumpkins are from a My Craft Studio cd.

My card is for the following challenges:

Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge - Halloween

Cutie Sunday - Halloween

Crafting For All Seasons - Fall Flowers/Pumpkins

Cupcake Craft Challenge - Halloween

My Time To Craft - Orange and Black

Shopping Our Stash - Spooky and/or orange and black

Crafts and Me - Use orange

Thanks for calling in today.

Jo x

Time For Tea Teddy Bea

Good Evening

As soon as I saw Nela's fab project over at Teddy Bo & Co I knew it was a perfect make for a friend of mine.  Here is my finished project:

The paper I've used on the teapot is from a previous Making Cards magazine and I went round all the edges with Milled Lavender distress inks.  Teddy Bea is coloured with coloursoft pencils and distress inks, and the pattern on the cup is made using a teeny-weeny stamp.  The sentiment is computer generated.  The mat Teddy Bea and the sentiment are sat on are Spellbinders Labels 22 and this is the first time I have used them.  Little gems were added to complete the design.

I would also like to enter my project in the following challenges:

Teddy Bo Challenge - Use Your Favourite Colour

Totally Paper Crafts - Animals

Allsorts Challenge - Use A Bear

One Stop Craft Challenge - Anything Goes

Paper Sundaes - Favourite Colours

Hooked On Craft  - Anything But A Card

Digi Makeover Challenge - Anything But A Card

Thanks for having a look.

Jo x

Let It Snow

Good Afternoon

My title isn't a request!!!  Here is my card for today which follows the current challenge over at Willow Sketchie Challenge which gives us a sketch to follow with the addition of a snowflake:

My main image uses a Dimension Fourth stamp from this months project club.  The snowflake is made up of lots of 'Christmas Words'.  I stamped it using versamark and then mixed some of my very neglected mica powders with some clear detail embossing powder.  It looks lovely and sparkly in real life but unfortunately I can't capture it on camera. I die cut a large snowflake using my ironworks die, added some gems, and placed this under the stamped snowflake.  The snowflakes and sentiment are from the same stamp set.  The doily is a gorgeous Marianne die and the corner punch Martha Stewart.

My card is also for the following challenges:

Bah Humbug - Glitz and Glitter

A Gem Of A Challenge - Let it Snow

Saturday Challenge - Sparkle

Whoopsi Daisy - Let's Do Christmas

Papertake Weekly - Use 3 Different Shapes

Crafty Ann's Challenge - Inspired By A Christmas Song (Let It Snow)

My Mum's Craft Shop Challenge - Reminds You Of A Song (Let It Snow)

Sparkles Christmas Challenge - Christmas Songs

Bling It On - No Patterned Paper

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jo x

Just A Shade Late

Good Morning

My card for today is a belated birthday card for a friend.  I feel terrible that I forgot to send one in time for her birthday.  I've made this card using Joanna Sheen's Viva La Divas cd-rom.

I used the sentiment as it was on the cd-rom and just added her name.  The corners, flowers and swirls are all cut using Marianne dies and some gems added to finish.

I would like to enter my card in the following challenges:

CRAFT Challenge - Bright colours

Polka Doodles - Handmade flowers

Sentimental Sundays - Anything goes plus sentiment

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jo x

Winter Friends Take 2

Good Afternoon

After making yesterdays card, I had quite a bit of left over backing paper on my desk.  I also had another look at it and decided I could make an improved version so here it is:

Once again, I used some decoupage from the Adorables cd-rom.  For this card I added some pinflair snow dust to the sign post and around their feet.  Another of the ironworks dies was used to mat the greeting onto.  The greeting is a stamp from Lili of the Valley and says "Happy Christmas Sending Love Across The Miles".  This card is for some very good friends of ours who live over a hundred miles away, I also thought the sentiment worked really well with the signpost.  I finally added some poinsettias made using a Marianne die, I think these look lovely when they're made up.

My card is for the following challenges:

The CD Sunday Challenge - Natures Wonders

One Stop Craft Challenge  - Anything Goes

Polka Doodles - Handmade Flowers

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jo x

Winter Friends

Good Morning

My card for today is another to add to my Christmas card stash:

and is my entry into Crafter's Companion World Cardmaking Day Challenge.

My card is made using the adorables cd-rom from Crafter's Companion and the papers are from the cd also.
I embossed the mirror board that the images are sat on with a sizzix embossing plate.  The snowflake is a Spellbinders Ironworks die.

My card is also for the following challenges:

The ABC Challenge - Anything Goes

Paper Sundaes - Lots of Layers

Anything Goes Challenge - Use Die Cuts or Punches

Creative Inspirations Challenge - Friendship

Raise The Bar Challenge - Furry Friends

Totally Papercrafts Challenge - Animals

My Mum's Craft Shop Challenge - All Things Bright and Beautiful

Crafty Calendar Challenge - First DT Card For Me!

Good Morning

I hope you are enjoying this lovely sunshine.

Today see's a new challenge at Crafty Calendar Challenge and my first DT card!  I'm very excited!!!  This month we are celebrating our 2nd birthday and there are lots of fabulous prizes on offer.  Do hop over and take it look, you really don't want to miss out!!  The theme for this month is 'Spooky' and we are sponsored by Wild Orchid Crafts - here is my card:

I've used a digi stamp from Pollycraft for my card, coloured with coloursoft pencils and blended with baby oil.  I added some holographic card to the cut out areas of the pumpkin to give the effect of a lit candle inside and to add some spooky features!  The word 'Spooky' is computer generated.  With my new printer I can print direct to card which is so handy.

This is how I decorated inside the card:

Well I hope you like my first DT card.   Don't forget to go and have a look at the challenge blog, the DT have some fabulous inspiration for you.  I look forward to seeing your spooky creations.

I am entering my card in the following challenges:

Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge - Anything Goes

ABC Challenge - Anything Goes

The Secret Crafter - Halloween

Moving Along With The Times - Spooky Halloween Cards

Raise The Bar - Hats Off

Have a fab Saturday.

Jo x