Crafter's Companion Monthly Challenge

Good Afternoon

It's never really got light here today, very dull and dismal.

Today I've finished my card for this months Crafter's Companion challenge.  As always, there is a sketch to follow with the added option of a theme SOMETHING NEW.

I decided to use an image from the Souffle cd-rom, this is the first time I've used this cd, which I bought from CC just before Christmas.  The images are very, very cute and there are some lovely backing papers on there too.  I can see I'll get a lot of use out of this.  So, I decided to make a new baby card.  I know of a few anticipated new arrivals in the first few months of this year.

 

I chose this extra-cute image in invertage. I printed out an accompanying backing paper from the cd, onto pearlescent paper.  The flowers and flourishes were created using Marianne dies, and I finished them with a punched centre and a gem.  The punched border is made from silver paper using an x-cut border punch with some satin ribbon along the centre.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Jo x

First Card of 2011

Happy New Year!

I hope you enjoyed last nights celebrations.  I stayed put and watched some films with Emma, then at midnight we let off a Chinese lantern.  I'd never seen these before and it was fun to watch it take off and then eventually disappear into the clouds.  There were a lot of them travelling across the sky last night, I much prefer them to fireworks!

I was determined to make a card today, and I've only just got it finished!!  You know when you set off with a vague plan, change it dozens of times and then end up with something completely different - well that's what happened today.

The card I was making was for my niece's birthday later this month.  I had decided I was going to use Patchwork Julie and my new Marianne Creatables frame die and that was my starting point.  This is the finished card and now I'm really not sure if it's all a bit 'too much'.

I used lilac cardstock from PaperMill as my base card.  I took some white pearlescent paper, stamped some flowers using versamark and then heat embossed using clear detail embossing powder.  I then placed a Big N Juicy hydrangea ink pad face down on my craft sheet, spritzed it with water, and then covered the paper in the ink.  I applied the same ink to the Marianne frame, this time using Cut n Dry foam.  The circle that Julie is mounted onto I ran through my big shot with a flower embossing folder.  Julie and the patchwork dog are coloured using watercolour pencils.  My background paper was then matted onto silver mirri board.  The sentiment is from LOTV, I love these sentiments, I stamped in silver and then embossed with clear detail embossing powder.  This was then matted onto silver mirri board which had been punched out using a scallop circle punch.  I then used another of the dies from the same set to die cut the feathered shape in the top left-hand corner, as I felt it needed something to balance it out.

When I was looking for this stamp set earlier today, I found a number of stamps which I haven't yet used.  So, I'm determined, instead of keep buying new, I'm going to start using craft goodies that I've already got.  How long that will last, who knows????? 

Jo

Bookmark Anyone?

Hi.

Can you believe it's almost time to say goodbye to another year and hello to the next?  2010 has been a bit of a rough year for me health wise, so I can't say I'll be sorry to see the back of it!!  Here's hoping 2011 is good for us all.

Yesterday my new Enchanted Dreams cd-rom from Joanna Sheen arrived.  I couldn't get the wrapping off it quick enough and then spent a good while browsing through all the images.  This cd is absolutely jam-packed!!!  I realised yesterday morning that I didn't have a 2011 calendar,  no problem, I thought, I'll look through my cd-roms, so no surprise as to what the first lot of printing was.  It printed beautifully onto matt photo paper, which I then laminated, and this made the colours even more vibrant.  It's all ready now to take pride of place on Saturday. 

My eldest daughter received lots of books for Christmas, and I remembered her saying that she didn't have enough bookmarks, so off to the bookmarks section I go, there were 8 to choose from, well I say choose, it was impossible to choose, so I ended up printing off all 8!!!  I knew the images on this cd-rom would go down well with Sarah, and I was right.  Again I printed the images onto matt photo paper, stuck the two halves together and ran them through the laminator.  I then trimmed down the excess, punched a hole at the top and then ran them through the laminator again to make sure they were properly sealed.  All that was left to do then was attach some tassels, and believe me, after using all those lovely tassels in one go, I had to have a strong cup of tea!!!  But, better to use them than keep them in a box (or so I keep telling myself lol).

So today I thought, Emma also needs some new book marks.  This time I went straight to the Jayne Netley Mayhew cd's, again from Joanna Sheen, and chose 3 of the images, far more restrained this time!!!  I put them together in exactly the same way, gave myself a talking to as I attached 3 more tassels, and then handed them over.  Once again, they were very well received.

I hope that you enjoy your New Year celebrations, and would like to wish you a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2011.

Jo x

Birthday Rascals

Good morning.

Today's card I have made using the L'il Rascals stamp set from Dimension Fourth, this time using both the boy and girl.

 

This is a lovely set of stamps to work with, the boy, girl and fence are front and back stamps, which makes them very versatile.  I coloured all the images with brushmarkers.  The base card is made from Pearlescent white cardstock from PaperMill.

I hope you have a lovely day, whatever your plans.

Jo x

LOTV Challenge

Hi

I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas.  I can't believe after all the preparation, it's over with so quickly.  We've had a lovely time, we spent Christmas Day and Boxing Day with family, we all got some fabulous presents and we're now enjoying some 'free and easy days'.

Needless to say, Murphy was in the thick of the celebrations and he got some new toys and doggy treats.  The wrapping paper was more of a temptation to him, as you can see from the following photos!!!

 

I was a very lucky girl this Christmas.  I got a big shot machine and lots of dies and embossing folders, some Lili of the Valley cute squares, and a set of their circular sentiment stamps, to name but a few of my presents.  Today I've had a bit of a play with the big shot, and must admit I'm quite nervous using it at the moment, particularly for cutting, but I'm sure I'll get more confident with time.

My new presents meant I could enter this months Lili of the Valley Challenge and here is my entry.

The base card is my favourite pearlescent card from PaperMill.  I added to this some lovely quality backing paper that came in a magazine, which I distressed round the edges using fired brick distressed ink, applied with cut n' dry foam.  The red card, again from PaperMill, I ran through my big shot using a birthday embossing folder, and I used the same card, this time with Martha Stewart Scallop Dot edger punch, and again to make the flourishes.  The image is a LOTV cute square.  I stamped the sentiment, again from LOTV, in black ink and then matted this onto some white glitter card, punched out with a scalloped circle punch.

I enjoyed making this card and following the sketch made it much easier for me!!

Have a great day.

Jo x

A Few Creations To Share

Hi

It's good to be back in cyberland.  I feel like I've been given my right arm back!!!!

I hope you don't mind, but as I've not been able to post for a while, I've got a few creations to share with you today.  If I can work out how to upload them that is!!!!!

But firstly I had to share this photo of Murphy trying out my laptop with you!  He's such a character.

This is a selection of some of the desk calendars I have made - I've made 30 so far!!!!  These are all decorated using images from a selection of Joanna Sheen cd-roms.

An 18th birthday card I was asked to make, using Nancy Watt papers and vellum from an issue of Making Cards magazine.

 This card was made using Happy Hoppers Decoupage from Joanna Sheen, and the backing paper printed from the Messy Rabbit Christmas cd-rom also from Joanna Sheen

and finally ........

 A birthday card for my nephew.  I stamped the image using Dimension Fourth's Li'l Rascals stamp set (front and back) and then suspended him on some invisible thread, fastened between the apertures.  I coloured him using brushmarkers and the number and Happy Birthday text were also stamped using Dimension stamps.

Sorry for such a long post today!!!!!

Jo

Snow, snow and more snow!!!!

Good evening!

I've been without any internet access for quite a few days now, after my poor old pc gave up on me.  I think all those craft cd-roms I've been using this last year have well and truly worn it out.  It's quite a few years old now so I can't complain really.

We had a very heavy snowfall during the night and continuing throughout the day.  This means that I am housebound once again, but Emma and Murphy had a wonderful time in the snow.

Emma is a huge Dr Who fan, and decided to wrap herself up and build a Dalek in the snow.  This is the finished result - I'm very, very impressed, she did this all by herself.

And I just had to share with you this photo of Murphy in the snow.  He's so funny, he doesn't know whether to eat it or play in it so usually does a bit of each!!!!

Thanks for your visit today.  I hope you're keeping warm

Jo

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Good Afternoon

I hope you are keeping warm and well.

Today's card is made using a stamp set from Dimension Fourth, these were November's project club stamps.

The main image was stamped onto white card using black versafine ink.  I then coloured Santa using brushmarkers and added polar white flowersoft to his beard, moustache and fur.  The Happy Christmas sentiment and the holly sprigs were stamped using versamark, then I used gold detail embossing powder.  I used the main stamp randomly around the frame, again with versamark, and applied gold embossing power.

I really like this stamp, he is a very traditional Santa.

Jo x

We Three Mice

Good Afternoon

I defy anyone to look at the image on this card and not smile!!  I'm not having a good day today, the pain is really getting me down so I needed something to stop me feeling any lower.  I couldn't help but smile while I cut this out, and when I was putting it all together.

The decoupage is from Joanna Sheen's house mouse Christmas range.  The quality of these decoupage sheets is fabulous, they are a joy both to cut out and then to build up into a card.

The base card is PaperMill's pearlescent.  The backing paper I printed off from the Adorables cd-rom, and then inked around the edges using one of the green's from the Big and Juicy Spice inkpad and some Cut n Dry foam.  The sentiment came on the decoupage sheet, I then matted it onto some pearlescent card stock and applied copper embossing powder around the edges.  Finally, I attached it to  the main image with some jump rings.

I hope you're seeing some kind of a thaw near to you.

Jo x

An Adorable Christmas

Good Afternoon!

I can't believe the problems I've had getting a half-decent photo of today's card.  This, I'm afraid, is the very best I can do!

 

Once again, I got a bit 'carried away' and ended up with a much larger card then I had originally planned, I am pleased with it though.

I stamped the images from Jayne Nestorenko's 'Playing' stamp plate and coloured in using watercolour pencils.  I added some sparkling snow glitter and some of pinflairs snow dust to various places to add texture.  I then mounted the image onto some white glitter card.  The base card is made from white pearlescent card from PaperMill, and the backing papers are printed from the Adorables cd-rom onto Centura Pearl paper.  The sentiment is from the same stamp plate, stamped out using Faded Jeans Distressed Ink.  The ribbons are from my stash, as are the metal charms which I attached to the ribbon bow using invisible thread.

I am entering this card in the following challenges

 

Crafters Companion Monthly Challenge

Top Tip Tuesday 

Enjoy the rest of your day, and please call back again soon.

Jo x

Christmas Sleigh Ride

The temperature remains below freezing here, and the paths are still very icy so there's no sign of me going out for a while.  Ah well!

Today's card is from Joanna Sheen's Thomas Kinkade cd's, the Christmas disc.  I've probably said this before but these cd's are absolutely stunning.  This card uses the image 'Sunday Evening Sleigh Ride'.  I've printed the image out onto matt photo paper.  The base card is made from white pearlescent card from papermill.  I made the snowflake frame using papermill's white pearlescent paper and the Martha Stewart snowflake corner punch.  I must admit it took me a while to get the frame to the right size, but I think it's 'passable'!  The snowflake frame is mounted onto some silver pearlescent card, and after adding the image to the frame I added some fine border peel-offs.  I added some sparkling snow glitter (purchased from Joanna Sheen) to various parts of the image, I have to say that I think this glitter is fabulous.

The large letters were stamped onto some snowflake paper using Dimension Fourth's large alphabet stamps, and the rest of the words (again stamps from Dimension Fourth) were stamped using Faded Jeans distressed ink.  The snowflakes were punched out of the same silver pearlescent card using the Martha Stewart edge punch.  All I've got to do now is add the insert, I don't much like that part!

I hope you're all keeping cosy and warm.

Jo x

Advent

Hello from a very cold and snowy Manchester.  I know lots of parts of the country have far more snow than us, but this is enough to stop me venturing outdoors.  Wheelchairs and snow are not such a great mix!

I've not done much crafting over the last few day, my body has been complaining very loudly and I've not felt up to much.  However, today being the 1st December made me realise I had to get my act together, so with the help of strong pain medication, I've created 2 Advent Calendar cards.  

The Thomas Kinkade one is for my husband, who announced last night that he had  never had his own Advent calendar.  It's made from Joanna Sheen's fabulous cd's and although wasn't difficult, was quite time-consuming.  Once I'd assembled the calendar, I mounted it onto an A4 white card, Cut out a frame from silver glitter card, then punched out some snowflakes from white pearlescent card which I applied to each corner.  Unfortunately, it was quite tricky to photograph as I'd printed it onto pearlescent card, but hopefully you get the idea!

The Messy Rabbit Advent Calendar is again from a Joanna Sheen cd.  Again I mounted this onto an A4 white card, then applied sparkling snow glitter to the snowman's nose and hat, and added some pinflair snow dust around the top and bottom edges.  This card is for my niece and nephew.  I know they have a chocolate filled Advent calendar each year, but thought this was something a bit different. 

Thank you for your visit today.  Keep warm.


Jo x