Pearls and Swirls

Good Afternoon

My card for today is a First Communion card I was asked to make:

This was created using a Glitter Girls embossing board and Centura Pearl cardstock.  Silver peel-offs were added around the design.  Tiny white pearls were added, some white feathers and I made a small floral arrangement for the centre.

I used some patterned vellum inside the card, with a printed insert, punched around the edges with a Martha Stewart punch.

My card is for the following challenge:

Sentimental Sundays - Dry Embossing

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jo x

My Valentine

Good Afternoon

My card for today uses one of the lovely SWALK stamps, this is its first inking!

I coloured the image using promarkers and coloursoft pencils.  I printed the heart pattern directly onto card from a Crafters Companion Popcorn cd-rom.  I printed onto both sides of the card.  I cut an aperture using a Spellbinders die to create a shaker card.  Here is a close up of the shaker:

The sentiment is computer generated, the label is a spellbinders die.

My card is for the following challenges:

Crafters Companion - Share the Love

Cupcake Craft Challenge - All You Need Is Love

The Poodles Parlour - Love Is In The Air

Crafters Companion Monthly Challenge - Love Is In The Air

Allsorts Challenge - Hearts

Anything Goes Challenge - To The One I Love

Paper Sundaes Challenge - Valentines

The Crafty Pad - Valentines

Thanks for stopping by today.

Jo x

Happy Birthday Grandma

Good Morning

A big warm welcome to my new followers.  I appreciate your interest in my crafting. :0)

My card for today is one I have made for my daughters to send to my mum.  She loves Lily Of The Valley so I wanted to include this on the card.

There is a new challenge over on the Joanna Sheen forum which this month is to use tea-bag folding.  I printed some tea-bags papers from a Crafters Companion cd-rom and followed the instructions for the fold. I added a little flower brad to the centre. I die-cut a Marianne doily from silver mirror card and green core'dinations and attached the tea-bag papers to this.  I printed the image of the fairy with the LOTV twice, so I could decoupage her a little.  I used glossy accents on flowers she is holding.  A tag cut with a spellbinders die and a peel-off added complete the card.

My card is for the following challenges:

Joanna Sheen forum challenge - Tea-bag folding

Senitmental Sundays - Die-cuts plus a sentiment

Papertake Weekly - Highlight part of the image

Moving Along With The Times - Blooming Marvellous

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a lovely Saturday.

Jo x

Floral Decoupage

Good Afternoon

I have another card to share with you today, made using Joanna Sheen's latest cd-rom From The Heart Of The Garden.  I really cannot recommend this cd highly enough.

Today's card is from the Inspirational section, decoupage.

I made this card to send to a friend who I know has had a challenging week this week.

I printed the decoupage onto pearlescent paper for a softer look.  I used a lovely cream pearlescent card for the card blank. and cut the corners using a Marianne die.  I put come core'dinations card on the back, so the green would show through the die-cutting. Some co-ordinating pearls were added to complete the card.

My card is for the following challenges:

My Mum's Craft Shop - Flowers

Moving Along With The Times - Blooming Marvellous

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jo x

Christmas Penguins

Good Morning

I am determined to work my way through my un-inked stamps, and here is another that has been used for the first time:

I love this stamp and it was a lot of fun to colour in.  I'm sure I'll use this much more.  I coloured the image using coloursoft pencils blended with baby oil.

I followed the sketch over at Jingle Belles.  The backing paper came free in a magazine.  The ribbon was saved from a Christmas Cake!  I can't resist but keep all bits of ribbon and twine from wrapping, it's such a waste just to throw them away.  The border is cut with a Memory box die and the other die cuts are spellbinders.

My card is also for the following challenges:

Christmas Card Challenges - Colour

Sentimental Sundays - Die-cut plus sentiment

Craft Your Passion Challenge - Colour Bingo - I chose green/red/yellow

St Lukes Charity Cards Challenge - Recycling (ribbon from Christmas cake)

Dream Valley Challenges - Animals

Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes

Thanks for calling!

Jo x

A Birthday Card And A Diet!

Good Afternoon

My card for today is a birthday card for my mum, it's her birthday in February:

I love this image, the colours are so vibrant.  The image is from the new Heart of the Garden cd-rom from Joanna Sheen, it really is a stunning cd.  I printed the image onto photo paper and decoupaged the image.  The backing paper is also from the cd, printed onto pearlescent paper, the wording says 'Wishing You A Wonderful Day'.  I embossed some co-ordinating green card with my newest embossing folder and then added some gems for extra sparkle.  This was then matted onto linen silver cardstock.

I'm really pleased with how this card has turned out.  You can't really tell from the photo, but the decoupage looks fantastic.

My card is for the following challenges:

Colour Create Challenge - Pink and Green

ABC Challenge - H for Happy Birthday

Crafty Ann's Challenge - Use new stash (cd and embossing folder)

And now for my diet!  It's a stash diet, it's getting silly the amount of unused craft items I have.  I've so many lovely stamps that have yet to meet an ink pad!!!  And I've got some fabulous cd's that have not been used or hardly used.  So no more craft buying for me for a while.  The only things I'm allowing myself are essentials such as glue!  I would really like a Grand Calibur and think I could put one to very good use, so I'm going to start saving up for one!!!

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jo x

The CD Sunday Challenge - Zodiac

Good Evening

My card for today follows the theme over at the CD Sunday Challenge and the fab sketch over at Willow Sketchie Challenge:

This lovely image is from Joanna Sheen's Enchanted Dreams cd-rom.  This just happens to be my star sign, and I love this image and the gorgeous colours.  I printed the image onto glossy photo paper.  The backing paper, also from the cd-rom, is printed onto a pearlescent paper for a softer look.  The other panel is core'dinations card, embossed using Divine Swirls embossing folder and then sanded slightly.  The ribbon border is 2 different widths of organza ribbon gathered.  I decided to try my hand at making flowers from the ribbon, and am quite pleased with how they've turned out.  I then threaded a hat pin with some co-ordinating beads which I added to the flowers.

My card is also for the following challenges:

Crafts and Me Challenge - Use pins

PaperPlay Challenges - Ribbon every which way

TotallyPaperCrafts Challenge - Make your own flowers

Allsorts Challenge - Needles and pins

Crafty Cardmakers - Use beads

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jo x

Pollycrafts Pirate

Good Evening

The current Pollycraft Monday Challenge is 'Bingo'.  Here is my card:

I chose to use the line - buttons/Pollycraft image/punches.

I coloured my image using promarkers.  The yellow card is core'dinations.  The backing papers are from my stash, and I used a Martha Stewart punch.  The stars are cut using a Die-namics die and buttons with bakers twine threaded through are added to each star.

I've made this card for my nephews birthday, he loves to dress up so this should fit the bill.

My card is also for the following challenges:

Shopping Our Stash - Across the border

Moving Along With The Times - Things with wings

Cards for Men - Boys and their toys

Stamps R Us Challenge - Cards for kids

The Crafty Pad Challenge - Something for the boys

Thanks for stopping by.

Jo x

CD Sunday Challenge - Enchantment

Good Evening

I didn't want to miss the CD Sunday Challenge again this week, so here is my card:

I went straight to Joanna Sheen's Enchanted Dreams cd-rom for this challenge.  I printed both the image and backing paper onto glossy photo paper, which really makes the fabulous colours stand out.  They were matted onto silver mirror card.  I used a scolloped card by way of a change.  The corner is a new Marianne die that came in the post today, cut into holographic cardstock.  Three gems complete the card.

Thanks for having a look!

Jo x

A Spot Of Gardening

Good Morning

Having seen some lovely teepee cards around blogland, I decided to give one a go.  I used the design to make a calendar.

The image and backing papers are from the Smiley Bears cd-rom, I haven't used this cd for ages! The mat the main image is sat on is cut  using a Spellbinders die.  I used three different colours of cardstock to make up the teepee to add interest.

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

CES Challenges - Anything But A Card

Truly Scrumptious - Something Forgotten (the cd-rom)

Pile It On - Fuzzy Friends

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jo x

Thank You In Black And White

Good Morning

My card for today follows the challenge over at Diva's By Design which is Thank You.

I had a number of thank you cards to make, so kept this one quite simple.

I used a stamp from Dimension Fourth, stamped onto black card in versafine ink and then heat embossed using white detail embossing powder.  Some simple matting and layering and then some black peel offs to complete the card.

Short and sweet today!

Jo x

Get Well Soon

Good Morning

My card for today follows the sketch over at the Stamp With Fun Challenge:

I chose the colours to tie-in with the current challenge at My Mum's Craft Shop which is your favourite colour combo.

I used one of the lovely SWALK stamps, coloured with promarkers and coloursoft pencils.  The mat the image is sat on is cut using the Marianne die that I re-discovered yesterday, inked with tumbled glass distress ink to highlight the embossing.  The papers are from SWALK cd-rom, printed onto Crafters Companion satin finish paper (which I love).  The embossed card is core'dinations, embossed with an argyle embossing folders and then sanded to bring out the core colour.  The flowers are cut from the backing paper, with a gem added to the centre of each.   The leaves are a Nellie Snellen punch.

My card is also for the following challenges:

One Stitch At A Time Challenge - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly - Buttons,bows, bling and blooms

My Time To Craft - Favourite embellishment (hand made flowers)

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jo x

Snow Is Falling!!

Good afternoon.

It's only snowing on my card thank goodness!  This year I am determined to make Christmas Cards throughout the year so I don't end up with the usual last minute panic.  It's far more enjoyable if there's no time pressure.  My mojo's being a bit stubborn just now, so I was glad of the help of some Christmas challenges to get me cracking.

Here is my card:

I followed the current sketch over at Christmas Challenges (with sketches).  The image is from the SWALK winters cheer range, I love this image, those hats are fab!  I coloured the image with a combination of promarkers and coloursoft pencils and added some pinflair snow dust to the fur areas.  The backing papers are also from the cd-rom.  The die the image is sat on is a Marianne designs die, cut from core'dinations cardstock and then the embossed area sanded.  The snowflakes are also Marianne dies and the edge punch is  Martha Stewart.

I made a co-ordinating insert using My Craft Studio to complete the card.

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

Fussy and Fancy - Let It Snow

Christmas Cards All Year Round - Traditional plus non-traditional colours plus embossing

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Use digi image or paper (as my papers are from a cd-rom, I assume they count.

ABC Christmas Challenge - A for Anything Christmas

Truly Scrumptious Challenge - Something Forgotten - I'm ashamed to say I'd forgotten I had this die.  I'd put it away in the wrong place and completely forgot I had it.  It was a lovely surprise when I found it!!!

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jo x

Happy Bea-irthday Megan

Good Morning

Today is my niece's birthday and I wanted to make her more of a keepsake than a card this year.  With the help of Teddy Bea here is what I made:

I'm sorry about the quality of the photos, the light is very poor here this morning.

Using my new MCS cd-rom, I imported the lettering from a Crafters Companion cd.  I then selected the images I wanted to use and cut round them all using the new scissors tool. I then re-sized the letters and images to suit and added an image to each letter. I printed them all out on Neenah cardstock and then coloured all the images using coloursoft pencils, blended, as usual, with baby oil.

I added a small dimensional butterfly to the letter M.

I added ultra fine glitter to the moon on this image, but I didn't spread the glue evenly as I wanted to try and create the surface of the moon. 

This is one of the first digi stamps I purchased and still one of my favourites.  I added a balloon embellishment from my stash to this one, threaded through her hand to secure in place.

I added eyelets to each of the letters for extra strength, and then attached them to each other using bakers twine.

My creation is for the following challenges:

Teddy Bo Challenge - Anything Goes

Flutterby Wednesdays - Bright Colours

My Mum's Craft Shop - Here Come The Girls

Moving Along With The Times - Spots and/or stripes (All the letters are spotty)

Chocolate, Coffee and Cards - Add Glitter

Alphabet Challenge Blog - Y for You Can Choose

ABC Challenge - Happy Birthday

I'm sorry for the long post today, I hope you stuck with me!  Enjoy your Sunday.

Jo x

Taking A Nap

Good Morning

Another calendar today, this time made using the fabulous Furry Friends cd-rom from Joanna Sheen:

The adorable image is printed onto glossy photo paper and cut with a Spellbinders die.  The backing paper is from the cd-rom, matted onto some co-ordinating cardstock.  The strip across the middle is made using a Martha Stewart punch, and the mat the calendar is sat on is silver linen card cut with a Marianne die.

My calendar is for the following challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Die Cute Special

Moving Along With The Times - Spots and/or stripes

Have a great day.

Jo x

Rose and Sparkle

Good Evening

I'm back with another calendar today.

I used some of my new Christmas goodies to make this one - the Spellbinders die and the embossing folder.  As soon as I saw this embossing folder on Joanna Sheen's website, I knew this is how I would first use it.  The gems are also from Joanna's shop.  I made the roses using Marianne dies, the leaves are punched using a X-cut punch and some gold embossing powder added to the edges.  The tiny butterflies are made using a EK Success border punch.  I added some beads to a hat pin as an extra embellishment.

My calendar is for the following challenges:

Joanna Sheen forum challenge - Bejewelled.

One Stop Craft Challenge - Bingo - I chose Flowers, Die-cuts/Punches and embossing

Cupcake Craft Challenge - Something new (Spellbinders die and embossing folder)

Pollycraft Challenge - Anything but a card

Shopping Our Stash - All that glitters, sparkles or shines

Craft Your Days Away - New beginnings - I've used my new goodies and it's for a new year.

Anything Goes Challenge - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations Challenge - Something New

Divas by Design - New Beginnings

Thanks for stopping by.

Jo x

Relax

Hello

A warm welcome to my new followers.

My card for today follows the current sketch at Willow Sketchie Challenge:

The image is from Crafty Sentiments coloured using coloursoft pencils. I added glossy accents to the bubbles although you can't really see it in the photo. This is layered onto a mat cut from core'dinations cardstock using a Nellie Snellen die.  The backing papers are printed from Joanna Sheen's house mouse cd-rom and the ribbon is from my stash.

My card is for the following challenges:

Willow Sketchie Challenge - Sketch

Crafty Sentiments Design - Water Themed

Crafty Cardmakers - No Floral Embellishments

An Elegant Lady

Good Afternoon

I thought I'd share another calendar with you today, I hope you're not fed up of seeing them!

This is made using Joanna Sheen's ATC cd-rom, this was one of the first craft cd's I ever bought.  The backing papers are also printed from the cd-rom.  I decided on an easel style again as I think they display really nicely.  I used brown and gold cardstock for the matting and layering.  The calendar is sat on a mat cut using a Marianne die.  The butterfly is also a Marianne die with some pearls in the centre.  The roses and leaves are once again a Marianne die.

My calendar is for the following challenges:

Flutterby Wednesday's - Open plus fairy, butterfly or angel.

Dream Valley Challenges - Anything Goes

One Stitch At A Time - Use 3 embellishments

Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Photo Inspiration

Top Tip Tuesday - Anything Goes

Have a lovely evening.

Jo x

Teddy Bea Sitting Pretty

Good Evening

The current challenge over at Teddy Bo and Co is to use your birthstone.  My birthday is in February, therefore my birthstone is Amethyst which could perhaps explain my liking of purples.  I have been busy making calendars, and I have made this one to tie-in with the challenge:

Teddy Bea is coloured with Coloursoft pencils, blended using baby oil. The mat she is sat on is cut using a Spellbinders die, matted onto core'dinations cardstock which I have distressed with a sanding block.  Distress Inks in Milled Lavender and Dusty Concorde are used round the edge of the image to take away the starkness.

The gorgeous papers are printed from one of the SWALK cd-roms (sorry I can't remember which one), I printed them onto Crafters Companion satin paper, as recommended by my lovely blogging friend Edna, you get such fantastic results with this paper.

The calendar tab is sat on a mat cut with a Mariannes die from core'dinations card, again I distressed this with a sanding block.  The flourishes are also a Marianne die from silver mirror card.  The flowers are Nellie Snellen punches, with a co-ordinating pearl in the centre.

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

Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes plus distressing

Shopping Our Stash - Revisit an old challenge - November, use a digi

Thanks for having a look.

Jo xx

January Crafty Calendar Challenge - New News

Good Morning

There is a fabulous new challenge over at Crafty Calendar Challenge and this month our theme is 'New News! with the optional extra of buttons and bows'.

Here is my card:

This adorable image is available from Crafty Sentiment Designs who are our fab sponsors for this challenge.  This months lucky winner will get to chose 4 digital images from the store.

I coloured the image using Coloursoft pencils, blended with baby oil.  The image is sat on a mat cut using a spellbinders die.  The lovely papers were free with Simply Cards and Papercraft.  The little teddy bears have been in my stash for ages, and the red fibre band was included in a prize I won recently.

Please do pop across to the challenge blog and see the super cards my fellow DT members have created.  I do hope you'll join in with our challenge.

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

Di's Digi Challenge - Something New

ABC Challenge - G is for Green

One Stitch At A Time- Use a digi

My Mum's Craft Shop - Something New

Cute Card Thursday - Something New

CES Challenges - Anything Goes

Craft Your Days Away - New Beginnings

The Poodles Parlour - Use Buttons

Jo x

Olympic Cyclist

Good Evening

When I saw the theme for this weeks challenge over at CD Sunday Challenge - O for Olympics - I didn't think I'd be taking part this week!!!  I'm not in the least bit sporty, but not wanting to miss the challenge googled olympic sports to see if I could get any flashes of inspiration.  Well fortunately, when I saw cycling on the list I remembered an image on one of my cd's that was suitable for the challenge.

This is Jack Jones, a decoupage image from a Do-crafts cd-rom that came with a magazine ages ago.  The backing paper and sentiment are also from the same cd.  I die-cut five circles in the appropriate colours to further tie-in with the theme of Olympics.

My card is for the following challenges:

CD Sunday Challenge - O for Olympics

Sentimental Sundays - Anything goes

Rainbow Lady's Challenge - Travel

Thanks for visiting my blog.  Have a great weekend.

Jo x

Just To Say ..... Thanks

Hello

I'm busy making lots of thank you cards at the moment.  This is one I sent to a friend a little while ago:

The is made using a set of stamps from Inkylicious.  I stamped the main image in Versamark and the heat embossed with white detail embossing powder.  I then applied colour from a big and juicy ink pad (hydrangea)using ink duster.  It is sat on a mat cut using a Nellie Snellen die.

I then stamped other flowers and grasses from the set using the same ink pad.  I love the colours in this ink pad.  I added the sentiment using satin ribbon and then matted this onto some silver mirror card.

My card is for the following challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations Challenge - Use heat embossing

Creative Inspirations - With thanks

Clear it out Challenge - Thank you

Craft Challenge - Thank you

Thanks for having a look.

Jo x

Leann's Giveaway

Good Evening

If you pop over to Leann's Blog she has a fab giveaway.

Jo x

Time To Relax

Good Morning

Today is my brother-in-laws birthday.  I couldn't decide what theme to use for his card so had a look through my Nostalgia cd-rom from Joanna Sheen.  This is the card I came up with:

I'm really pleased with how this came out.  I always seem to struggle with stepper cards and had to work out my own dimensions for this one.  I printed a backing paper from the cd-rom onto card stock to produce my base card.  The images are all printed onto glossy photo paper and matted onto gold linen card.  The sentiments are Lili of the Valley using versafine ink.  All the sentiments are matted onto gold linen card too, the circular sentiment mats cut using a Nellie Snellen Lily die which I got for Christmas.

My card is for the following challenges:

Joanna Sheen Challenge - Celebrations

Bunny Zoe Crafts - Fancy Folds

Rainbow Lady's Challenge - Anything Goes

Top Tip Tuesday - Anything Goes

Pile it on challenge - Anything Goes

Paper Sundaes Challenge - Something Old (Stamps) Something New (Dies)

Ladybug Crafts Ink - Use new stash (Dies)

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jo x

A Look Back At 2011

Hello

Happy New Year to you all and a big welcome to my new followers.

One of the reasons I started a blog was to keep a record of cards I have made. I noticed a lot of my fellow bloggers have chosen their favourite cards from 2011 and decided it would be nice to have a look back at my blog for the last year and pick my favourites too.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Thanks for journeying back through the year with me.

Jo x