A Song of Spring

 Hello

Here are some more of my cards made with the fabulous Book of Spells from the Crafty Witches.  These are from 'A Song of Spring' Collection:

For this card, I printed off a topper, backing paper and solid paper.  I embossed some white paper using one of my very neglected embossing folders, and the used square dies to cut out all the layers, which were then glued onto the base card.

All the toppers for this card and the one above were printed on one sheet - and I still have some to use!  Such economical crafting!  I printed a sheet of patterned paper and one of solid and used some more of the embossed paper left from the card above.  The layers were all die cut and then glued, flat, onto the base card.  I stamped a sentiment which was then added to the centre, and some tiny pearls added to each corner.

There are also beautiful matching inserts included in the Book of Spells and I added these to each of my cards to complete them.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Jo x

Exciting News!

 Hello

I'm thrilled to say that I am now on the design team for the Crafty Witches.  I've been a follower of Lynda Chapman for many years and she first got me into digital crafting and I've never looked back!  The first of my creations were on Highlight Crafts last Saturday, and I was thrilled to see them on screen.

These are a couple of my creations from the Cutest Cuddles Toppers which are in the Digital Book of Spells 2025 Spring Edition.  There is so much beautiful content in this collection and it really sparks your creativity.

I LOVE giraffes, and this is such a beautiful image.  I enlarged the topper and printed it twice.  I then used 3d glue to create the decoupage and raised the mummy giraffe higher than the baby.  These were then matted onto layers cut with Teardrop and Sweep dies from Carnation Crafts and I stamped a sentiment to complete the card.

I had such fun creating this one!  Again, I enlarged the topper and printed it out twice.  I glued one topper to the back of the frame for extra stability. I then cut out and added a layer of ultra-thick embossing powder to each of the Orca's.  I added the baby with one layer of 3mm foam pads and the mum with 2 layers.  I made the shells using paper clay so the picture didn't end up too heavy.  These were added using silicone glue.  The driftwood was collected from a beach on Anglesey. 

I used a deep box frame from Hobbycraft.

I'll be back tomorrow with some more of my creations!

Thanks for visiting.

Jo x

CD Sunday Plus Challenge #175 - Hosted by Meg

Hello and welcome

Already it's time for a new challenge over at CD Sunday Plus.  We all loved visiting your blogs and seeing your entries into our last challenge.  If you'd like to join in with the fun, full details of how to enter our challenge can be found over on the challenge page.

Here is my card for this challenge:

 I made this fun card using the Kanban Wobblers cd-rom and dies.   The die cuts out the base and rocker elements and the rest is cut out by hand.  He rocks and his head wobbles!  He makes me smile each time I look at him (which is a good thing at this time of year!)

Thanks for visiting today, and for any comments you leave.  I hope to see your entries on the Challenge Blog.

Jo xx

House-Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge

 Hello

A close friend of mine has a birthday this month.  We met at high school and have been friends ever since.  This is the card I have made for her birthday.

Isn't that just the most adorable image?  I made it in decoupage and then matted it onto cardstock that mirrored the design.  The sentiment is by Phill Martin and all the mats were cut using Sue Wilson's double stitched rectangles dies.

I am entering this card in the House-mouse & Friends Monday Challenge

Jo x

CD Sunday Plus Challenge # 174 - Hosted by Pamela

 Happy New Year

I hope you've had a lovely Christmas and that 2026 is a good one for you.

It's time for a new challenge at CD Sunday Plus and there are a few changes for this year.  Firstly, we no longer have a Facebook page and secondly, the challenge will now close at 9pm on the second Friday.  Any entries for this challenge therefore need to be posted by 9pm on Friday, 16th January.

Here is my card for this challenge:

I recently treated myself to the All Our Yesterdays collection from Highlight crafts as I thought it would fill in some of the gaps in my collection for men's cards.  I used some of the dies and downloads to create this card for a friends 30th birthday.  I don't often create this style of card, and really enjoyed making this one.

I hope you like my inspiration and you'll be able to join in with our challenge.

Jo x

CD Sunday Plus Challenge #173 - Hosted by Jocelyn

 Good morning

Today see's the start of a new challenge over at CD Sunday Plus and this is the last challenge for this year.  It is also the last challenge for Margaret, who is stepping down from the Design Team.  Margaret has been a part of the design team for as long as I can remember, and I think it's always sad when someone has to leave.  I will still be following her blog and will keep in touch, but will miss her being part of the team.

Here is my card for this challenge:

For my card I used artwork and dies from Carnation Crafts.  The sentiment is stamped onto a spellbinders die and the edge is also a spellbinders die.  A few pearls were then added to complete the design.

I hope you'll join us for our challenge, and look forward to seeing your creations.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and look forward to seeing you in January for another year of crafting.

Jo xx

CD Sunday Plus Challenge #172 - Hosted by Margaret

 Hello

Time for a new challenge over at CD Sunday Plus and this time Margaret will be hosting.  I used the Wine Buffs cd-rom by Katy Sue Designs to create this birthday card for my brother-in-law:

I selected a decoupage image which I matted onto cardstock cut using Teardrop and Sweep dies by Carnation crafts.  A few pearls were then added to complete the design.

It has been a stressful few weeks for our household as my youngest daughter has just bought her first home.  What we thought would be a very straightforward purchase turned out to be far from that, but I'm very relieved to say that the purchase finally completed on Friday, on my daughter's 25th birthday!  She is now busy doing some painting before she moves in.

I'm very proud of both of my girls, but it's going to be very strange neither of them living here anymore!  It will soon be just me, John and Bailey after 32 years of having our children live at home!  I'm very glad that neither of them will be living too far away.  

I hope to see you over on the challenge blog.

Jo xx

CD Sunday Plus Challenge #171 - Hosted by Me

 Hello

I can't believe it's time for the next challenge over at CD Sunday Plus!  Where does the time go?

It's the Guide Dogs Christmas Fair on the 30th November and so I'm busy preparing for that.  It's always a lovely event that we all enjoy doing.

I've used some of my 'favourites' on my card for today, which is a birthday card for a friend who likes to go walking.    

The decoupage is from the Jolly Nation Men's cd-rom.  I love Jolly Nation images, I wish they'd done a cd-rom with the Children's artwork on.  The mats and layers are created using Carnation Crafts Teardrop and Sweep dies and the sentiment is stamped.

Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope to see you joining in with the challenge.

Jo x

Jolly Nation Men's cd-rom

W for Walker

CD Sunday Plus Challenge #170 - Hosted by Meg

 Good morning

Welcome to my blog.

Did you remember to put your clocks back?  Being an early riser, I welcome the daylight starting earlier in the day.

Today is the start of our next challenge over at CD Sunday Plus.  Recently I've been trying to use CD-roms from my collection that have had little use or haven't been used in a while.  As a friend is celebrating his 84th birthday, and is a lifelong Manchester United fan, I decided to re-visit one of my La Pashe cd's to make the following card from the 'Remember When' section.

 

It's a decoupaged card (still my favourite type of card making), and I couldn't resist adding the 2 little dogs.  I couldn't ever take my dog to a football match, even if it were allowed!  I have a 4 year old cocker spaniel who is my constant companion.  He's the softest dog you could ever meet, and would just be jumping up and be-friending everyone there!  He really does make all the hours I spend in the house so much better!

I hope you'll visit the challenge blog to see what my talented teamies have created and to enter our challenge.

Jo xx

House-Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge #451 - Anything Goes with option of using Purple or Orange

 Hello

I've finally managed to make a card in time for the House-Mouse challenge!  I chose this adorable image from the Gruffies & Happy Hoppers cd-rom and added orange to the card:

I printed the image 3 times so I could turn it into decoupage.  The layers on the card were made with double-edge dies and the sentiment was made using Dimension stamps.  I edged the layers with distress ink as there wasn't room on the card to mat them!

This card is for my nephew who LOVES pizza!  I hope he likes it!

Thanks for visiting.

Jo x

CD Sunday Plus Challenge #169 - Hosted by Pamela

 Hello and welcome to my blog

We had a lovely cruise but since getting home have both come down with the horrid but that's doing the rounds so are going to need another holiday to recover!

It's time for a new challenge over at CD Sunday Plus and this time Pamela is hosting.  Here is my card:

For my card I used a decoupage image from Crafters' Companion Tales of Jeremey Fisher cd-rom by Beatrix Potter.  I love all the Beatrix Potter stories, so nostalgic.

I die-cut the frame using Tear Drop & Sweep dies by Carnation Crafts.  I then used a woodgrain embossing folder which I used on it's side to represent water.

Margaret has sadly decided to leave the team at the end of this year.  I've enjoyed being on the team with Margaret and will miss her creations.

I hope to see you over on the challenge blog.

Jo x

CD Sunday Plus Challenge #168 - Hosted by Pamela

 Hello and welcome to my blog.

By the time this post is published, I will be mid-way through a cruise around the Baltic. At the time of writing this post, I am sat in the sunshine in Southampton awaiting our allocated boarding slot. We are both very much ready for a holiday!

Today Pamela hosting the new challenge over at CD Sunday Plus.

My card for this challenge is for a friend who loves her garden:

I used various dies and downloads from Carnation Crafts, edge dies from Spellbinders and stamped the sentiment.  I finished the card with a pretty butterfly gem from my stash.

I look forward to seeing you over on the challenge blog.

Jo xx