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