It Was Only A Matter Of Time

Good Morning

I've been admiring some beautiful cards over on my friend Edna's blog, where she has been using some gorgeous stamps featuring Teddy Bo and Teddy Bea. As you know I've very little willpower when it comes to crafty goodies, and after seeing the amazing card Edna made yesterday, I just had to give in!!

So off to the Teddy Bo store I went. I chose 2 stamps to start with, because I am still lacking confidence when it comes to colouring in. Here is my first card using the images.

I printed her onto watercolour paper, and coloured her using watercolour pencils. The backing paper I have had for ages, and looked at it many times! The ribbon border and tags were die cut using a Marianne die, as was the flourish. The ribbon was from my stash, pearls from Joanna Sheen. The buttons I bought from ebay a while ago, and in the pack was this little teddy button, so cute!

Teddy Bo has a challenge blog, and this time the theme is buttons and bows, so I am entering this card into the challenge, full details can be found here

I am also entering the card into Totally Papercrafts Challenge add buttons.

Thanks for your visit today.

Jo x

An Eastern Flower For Mum

Good Morning

The sun is trying its best to shine this morning.

Today's card is the first one I have made with this fold. I've seen it a few times and liked the effect, so decided to give it a go.

The decoupage is printed from Joanna Sheen's Eastern Treasures cd-rom. I love the blue in this design. I printed the decoupage onto a gloss photo paper which has given a lovely effect. It wasn't the easiest decoupage to cut out, but well worth the effort in my opinion.

I printed one of the matching backing papers onto centura pearl paper and covered the whole card with it. I was going to add some pearls but really don't think it needs any, this is such a gorgeous image.

This card is for my mum for Mothers' Day.

Thanks for calling in today, enjoy the rest of your day.

Jo x

A Walk On The Wild Side

Good Morning

Today's card is the second birthday card for my Dad. His birthday is at the end of the month.

I am entering this card into The CD Sunday Challenge Wild Thing

My card is made using the Jayne Netley Mayhew cd-roms from Joanna Sheen.

I printed off the image for the front of the card twice, so I could decoupage the baby elephants. They were matted onto some matt gold cardstock, then orange cardstock, and then onto some pale green cardstock of which I had punched around the edges using a Martha Stewart punch. The Happy Birthday was created using my alphabet stamps from Dimension Fourth. The H and B are cut out of a silvery-grey paper to tie-in with the elephant theme, and then the rest of the words were stamped using Big & Juicy Spice Ink pad.

For the middle of the card I printed out part of the shaped cards section from the cd-rom.

I glued the print-outs to card for extra stability and then cut everything out. I embossed the edges of some matt gold card using my Keepsake Borderfold embossing board, and then attached the shaped elephants to this. The elephants separate and there is a panel behind them for writing a message.

I hope you like this card. Thanks for your visit today.

Jo x

House Mouse Competition Card

Good Morning

Today I would like to share with you the card I made for the recent House Mouse competition that was open to all members of Joanna Sheen's forum. I am delighted and still very excited at being runner-up.

I decided very quickly the image that I was going to use, and upon selecting the image decided I was going to embellish the card with some lengths of wool. Whilst putting the decoupage together, I decided to dig-out my knitting needs and have a try at knitting one of the little chicks with the jumper on. I didn't have a pattern of course, so it took a few attempts until I got one that I was happy with. I then added some plastic feet, some black beads for eyes and made the little beak out of some card. I made 3 chicks in all.

It was then that I came up with the idea of having the knitted chicks in a shop window, like little manequins, displaying the clothes for chicks. So I also knitted some little hats and scarves to display in the window. Having knitted the chicks I was able to determine the depth that the window needed to be and cut this out of some pearlescent card stock. I then cut out the four windows and added some acetate. I searched for a suitable image for in the window, and then attached this to the cardstock before attaching 2 of the little chicks and the other accessories. Of course a name was needed for over the shop window, so I decided on the name 'La Chic Boutique'.

The middle section comprised of some pearlescent paper with the corners punched out, a little image from the cover sheet of the decoupage pack, and then I punched some holes all around the edges and threaded through some lengths of wool.

The back of the card represented the back room of the shop, where the Happy Hopper is knitting all the clothes for the little chicks, which will then go on sale in the shop. I searched for some images of balls of wool which I then adjusted to the size of the back section of my card. The decoupage was applied to this section.

I then knitted a few more rows, which I then transfered to a couple of pins which I had cut the sharp end off, as these represented the knitting needles. I then wound up the rest of the wool into a little ball. This was then attached to the back section of the card.

It took many hours to complete the card but I was very pleased with it once it was finished. It was good fun to make too.

Less Is More Challenge

Good Afternoon

This is my card for this weeks' challenge over at Less Is More, and the theme for this week is Masculine.

It's my dads birthday at the end of the month, so I make him 2 cards, one from me and hubby and one to grandad from the girls. I'd already decided that for one of them I was going to use the Toffee Shop stamp from the Pilkington Lane range, and this challenge gave me a kick start.

I'm adding a second photo which I have taken this morning, hopefully it will show the detail a bit better.

You wouldn't think so to look at it, but it has taken me most of the afternoon to get it finished! I started off with a sheet of black linen card, and die cut each of the corners using my new spellbinders Fleur De Lis dies. I love this set, in fact I love it so much I've now ordered the accompanying set! I then stamped directly onto the card using a white ink, and then embossed the image using a detail clear embossing powder. There is such a lot of detail in these stamps and this is the first time I have used them without watercouring the images.

The black linen card was then matted onto some white card, and then another layer of black linen card, and then finally onto the base card which was made from white linen card, I hope I haven't exceeded the number of layers allowed?

I'm really pleased with how this has turned out, and I think Dad will love it too. Now I just need to decide on his other card.

Last week I visited the blogs of over 150 other entrants to the challenge. I tried to leave a comment on every blog I visited, but sometimes I couldn't, I got a message 'you are not authorised to comment'. So it's not that I didn't want to comment on all your cards, I just wasn't able to do so.

Thank you to everyone who has visited my blog and left me comments, we all love to receive comments don't we. I'm now off to have a look at some of the other entries.

House Mouse & Friends Welcome Spring

Good Morning

The Challenge over at House Mouse & Friends is 'Welcome Spring'.

Well, spring wouldn't be spring without all those showers, so for my entry I chose to choose a Happy Hopper image.

My card is made using a decoupage sheet from Joanna Sheen, and an insert, used as a backing paper, from the new House Mouse inserts cd-rom, also from Joanna Sheen.

I used a white textured cardstock for the base card and then matted some yellow cardstock onto there with the insert/backing paper onto that. I punched out some flowers using my Nellie Snellen punches, and some leaves using an x-cut punch, a pearl was added to the centre of the flowers.

I cut a tag from the same yellow cardstock using a Nellies Choice die, threaded some blue satin ribbon through it and then added the sentiment. Finally I used some clear glaze on the umbrella, puddle and raindrops, and added a few to the leaves for good measure.

Enjoy your Saturday.

Jo x

A Gem Of A Challenge

Good Afternoon

This is a quick post, I feel like Anneka Rice against the clock! I hadn't realised the the current A Gem Of A Challengefinishes today.

We had a sketch to follow, and here is my entry.

I was lucky enough to win some digi stamps in a Pink Gem blog hop recently, and this is one of the stamps I won. He's lovely isn't he? This is the first time I have used a digi stamp, the first time I printed him he filled a A5 sheet, lol. I printed him onto watercolour paper, left the image for a couple of days to make sure the ink was properly dry, and then watercoloured him using Lyra Aquacolours.

I gave him little rosy cheeks because I'm sure all pirates have rosy cheeks! He's sitting on some gorgeous pearlescent cardstock which has been die-cut using a Marianne's die. The backing paper is printed from Crafters Companion Boys cd-rom, and the border has been cut out of the same paper using my fab new spellbinders fleur de lis die. I embossed some pearlescent paper using a cuttlebug die, then added some buttons from my stash.

Phew! Stop the clock!!!!

Have A Sporty Birthday

Hello!

Today's card is for my nephew who's birthday is next week. He loves his sport, especially football and golf, so I decided it was time to ink up some of my Sporty Lofty stamps from Joanna Sheen.

This is my first attempt at a double twisted easel card, I thought it was a good way to display the images.

The images were stamped onto watercolour card using versafine ink, and then coloured using my Lyra Aquacolour Crayons. They were then layered onto a larger oval, cut using a Nellie Snellen die.

The sentiment stoppers came on the stamp sheets and were stamped onto card using a Big & Juicy inkpad. The same inkpad was used to stamp the Happy Birthday sentiment, which is a Dimension Fourth rubber stamp, which was stamped directly onto cardstock which had been Martha Stewart punched. A pale blue card from PaperMill was used to make the easely bit!

I'm quite pleased with how this has turned out. I'm not the most confident watercolourer, but think this has turned out ok.

Have a lovely, crafty day.

Jo

Pretty In Pink

Good Morning

Today's card is made using this months Project Club stamps from Dimension Fourth. As soon as I looked at them, I knew they would make the perfect card for a friend of mine who loves shoes.

I made this card along the lines of one of the suggestions in the set. I stamped the shoe onto watercolour card using Versafine black ink, masked the shoe and then stamped a second. I coloured them using colours from a Big & Juicy ink pad, soothing sunset. The shape that the shoes are stamped onto was made using my Get In Shape templates.

The gorgeous borders I have added to the card were die cut using a Spellbinders Fleur De Lis die from my new set. The little accent I have used to make the brake is from the same set, with some ribbon threaded through and a rose added. Some mulberry leaves and some more of the same roses were added to the main image. I wrapped the wire I had cut from the stems around a darning needle to make the little 'twiddly bits' (technical term there!) that I added to the flowers.

The sentiment comes on the same stamp set and was stamped using the same Big & Juicy ink pad.

Hope you have a great day today.

Jo x

Crafters Companion Monthly Challenge

Good Morning and what a dull morning it is too.

My test results showed that my blood pressure is still much too high so my GP has now prescribed an additional medication to hopefully bring it down. I am feeling very disoreinted at the moment, on top of the usual dizziness so it does feel a bit like one forward two back!

I was delighted to learn that I was runner-up in a House Mouse competition run by Joanna Sheen for her forum members. This is the first time one of my cards has won a prize and to say I am pleased doesn't come anywhere near it! My card, along with the winners (which was gorgeous) and some of the other entries (which were also brilliant) will be on display at the NEC, woohoo!!!

Now onto my card. This is my entry into this months Crafters Companion Challenge which is Easter

I am also entering it into Creative Cottage Challenge - Spring

The card is made using an image and backing papers from the Crafters Companion cd-rom 'Souffle'. He is such a cutie and I thought perfect for Easter and Spring! I decided on a blue and yellow combo as I love these colours together.

The base card is made from a white hammered card from Papermill. I chose 2 different backing papers which I printed off onto a Matt photo paper and then matted on to yellow card. The same yellow card was used for the corners, die cut using a Marianne Die, and the label die cut using a spellbinders die.

I printed the Souffle image twice and then matted the main image onto the same yellow card. I then cut out just Souffle and decoupaged him to add a bit of dimension. The flowers I made to copy the flower in his beak, cut and embossed using my Nellie Snellen punches, and then a gold gem in the centres to finish off.

I hope you like my card today, and thank you for stopping by.

Jo x

The Creative Cottage Challenge - Tag You're It

Hello Again

This afternoon I am posting a card which I am entering in the latest Creative Cottage Challenge - Tag You're It.

Whilst visiting lots of blogs lately, I've seen a lot of stitching on cards, which I really like the look of so decided to give it a go.

The base card is a lovely platinum pearlescent card from PaperMill. The backing paper is printed from the Adorables cd-rom onto pearlescent paper. The snowflake embossing was done using a Sizzix embossing plate. The tag is cut using a Marianne Die, as is the ribbon border. The snowflake on the tag is stamped using a Dimension Fourth stamp and hear embossed with sparkling embossing powder. The little snowflakes were punched using a Martha Stewart punch. I used different thicknesses of foam pads to make up the card to add some dimension.

That's another Christmas card to add to the box!

Christmas Tagged

Good Morning

It's a lovely sunny morning with clear blue skies here today. Freezing cold if you open the door, but still makes me feel happier :-)

This evening I'm at the doctors for the results of my repeat 24 hour blood pressure tape and numerous blood tests. Fingers crossed!

Today's creation is my entry into Winter Wonderland Challenge:Tag It With A Shape

As you can see, my goodies I was impatiently waiting for arrived, and very quickly too. This is made using my newest Marianne Dies. The large tag was made by a bit of jiggery-pokery! I die cut the top part of the tag and then cut the rest on my guillotine. The ribbon border was cut using another new Marianne die, to which I threaded through a lovely green satin ribbon and then attached to the rest of the tag. The same ribbon was threaded through the top of the tag. I've got stacks and stacks of vellum that I haven't touched, so decided to use some to add a bit of decoration. I then cut some snowflakes out of silver mirri using a Martha Stewart punch and added these randomly.

The smaller tag was cut using the same die, I then stamped some snowflakes using versamark ink, using a stamp from Dimension Fourth, and heat embossed using a sparkle embossing powder.

I hope you like this.

Have a great day, I hope the sun is shining for you too.

Jo