My Cards made with the Press Cut Die Set - Margit's Pop Box

 Dear All

Sorry I have not been around. Life has been hectic with a new born grandson and two funerals to arrange and the on going care of my parents. I have not been making much. Though I did make some samples with the new Press-Cut Die Set - Margit's Pop Box. John Lockwood knew that I liked this style of card and he asked me to make some samples. I did enjoy immersing myself in craft for a while. My mental health has not been great. I am so lucky that I have a very supportive husband. 

I had to make at least one Christmas card. 

Enjoy your weekend. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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MIA some of the reasons I have been missing

 Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

I just thought I would give you a heads up as to what has been happening. 

On Saturday 21st May my loving Mother-in-law had a fall and the paramedics were called out. This time she wasn't taken into hospital. My brother-in-law had trouble getting her to bed in the night and he asked us all to meet at the house on Sunday morning. We arrived at 10:00 am and found my Mother-in-law on the floor again. The paramedics were called again and this time she went to hospital. 

In the meantime my Father-in-law was being difficult and he was reluctant to leave the bathroom. Eventually we got him downstairs and he had some food. In the evening he went to bed as normal. 

On the morning of 23rd May my brother-in-law went into the house and found my Father-in-law on the floor. The paramedics were called and he was taken into hospital the same one as his wife. 

Early on Tuesday 24th May we got a call saying that my Father-in law had passed away. He had been refusing medication. He died of a heart attack. We went to see our daughter to comfort her. Then we went to the hospital to visit my Mother-in-law. 

In the early hours of the morning of 25th May we got a call from our daughter she had gone into labour 2 weeks early. We had to stay at home to let in the people rebuilding our conservatory. Then we dashed up to Andover to sit with our daughter and son-in-law's dog. Our daughter had a very difficult time. She started in Andover hospital but then she had to move to Winchester hospital. She was in labour for 31 hours and ended up having a C-Section and little Issac was born at 8:30 on Thursday 26th May. Our daughter had an infection and had to stay in hospital until 30th May (her birthday). We split our time between Andover to dog sit, Frimley to visit my mother-in-law, home and funeral planning. On Saturday 28th May we found fraud on my parents bank account. 

My father-in-law's funeral was on Monday 13th June. It was a proper military affair with flags and pipes if he had been there he would have loved it. After the funeral we visited my mother-in-law. She passed away two days later on Wednesday 15th June. Her funeral was on Tuesday 12th July. This was much easier to arrange as she had left details on what she wanted. 

We have been having a financial assessment for my parents which as taken a lot of prep. We have been supporting our daughter and son-in-law a lot. 

I just haven't felt like making anything. 

We hadn't visited my parents for a while there was just no time to fit it in. We went last week and when we showed them pictures of their great grandson my mum in a moment of lucidity asked for a photo. 

Meet Issac he is a delight. I am wondering about making something like this for us to have at home. We have a meeting at my parent's house next week I will take this then. 

Sorry about the long tale of woe. 

Take care. 

Hugs Jackie

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Reef Travellers - from Beccy's Place

 Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How is your week going? We went parent visiting yesterday and they all seem to be in fine form and the care for them all seems to be working. On these trips we get coffee in a nice little coffee shop a trip to the Art of Craft Shop and a nice meal with my husband's brothers and wives. 

This is a sad post for me. This is the last time I will be posting as one of Beccy's Blog Contributors for Beccy's Place. I have decided to step down from the Design Team. I am finding I have less time to craft and this is only going to get worse. When our grandchild arrives we will be doing child care two days a week. Beccy has been very understanding and she is a dream to work with. The images come in plenty of time before the deadline for the makes. Beccy is always so kind about what you have made. 

The last image set I have worked with is called Reef Travellers. I made three very similar cards. 

I have a Nautical paper pad that came from The Works. The papers worked so well with this images. I added some die cuts to this card. 

This is a proper DL card. All the sentiments I used came from the set. The images were coloured with Faber Castell Polychromo pencils. 

With this card I used up strips of the nautical papers. This design works with Washi Tape too. 

This is the Reef Travellers digital image set and it is available HERE.

Here are all three cards together. 

What have I decided about blogging? I am certainly going to be cutting back for a while. I really am not making so much. We might start buying cards this year. I won't say I won't blog ever again just not so much. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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A Diamond Point Card for our Daughter and Son-in-law

 Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How was your weekend? Did you have a nice Easter? On Good Friday we spent the day with our Daughter as her hubby was out with friends. On Saturday we had our good friends round for afternoon tea. Then on Sunday our Daughter and Son-in-law came for Sunday lunch which was provided by the M&S Easter meal deal. Yesterday my hubby got up early and took some friends to Heathrow so they could fly to Australia to visit with grandchildren they have not met before. The rest of the day we caught up on jobs. We have two insurance claims to make for our last cruise. My hand and a missed port. I even tried to claim my Hampshire County pension but that didn't go so well. 

Here is the card I made for out Daughter and Son-in-law for Easter. 

I decided to make another Diamond Point card. The image is from the Poppet Postcards Flower Set from Clarity Stamp. I coloured this when I was following along with the Shack. I used my Faber Castell Polychromo pencils. I chose papers in my stash to match the image. 

I did enjoy joining in with Barbara Gray and the Shack. I just don't seem to have the time to join in now. 

Our Daughter liked this card a lot. 

Enjoy the rest of the week. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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John Next Door Summer Box Kit

 Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How is your weekend going? The weather has been beautiful so far, I do hope it continues. My hand is healing okay. I have had some issues arranging to have the stitches removed,  not helped by the fact they were due out on Easter Sunday. 

Back in March I made three cards for the John Next Door Summer Box kit. My brief was to make floral cards and to provide step by step instructions with photos for one of the cards. I will have to buy a copy of the magazine to see how the article turned out. 

For this card I use one of my Deco Frame dies. The papers and the flowers are from the papers in the kit. I was able to decoupages the flowers to give some dimension. 

In the background of this card you can see a lattice that was cut with a die three times. All the flowers were made with the dies that came from the kit. I used John Next Door Ivy dies too. The sentiment was made with some of the stamps in the kit. 

For this card I used the patterned papers and the stamps from the kit. I stamped the flowers three times so they could be decoupaged. This is the card I did the step by step for. I had made another card but I had misread the brief. All the card I used was Linen Card they do have some beautiful colours. 

There are some lovely elements in the kit. I didn't really scratch the possibilities. There are some fantastic examples from the whole team in the Crafting with John Next Door, Craft Artist, Presscut, Two Jays and More Facebook Group. 

I hope that you have a very Happy Easter

Hugs Jackie

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Easter Cards - two from one old card!

 Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How are you all doing? We have just been to M&S to get the Easter Meal deal it is a very good offer. So we are now all set for Sunday. 

I will explain about my hand and the stitches, which I am hoping to have out next week. For our anniversary we went on a Cruise to Northern Europe. Due to the weather the itinerary changed a lot. The day we were due to leave Rotterdam the wind was so strong we had to stay an extra day. We went out for a walk we saw the cube houses and found some really nice shops. We walked back to the ship along the Erasmus Bridge. When we were nearly half way over we were caught by a gust of wind that swept us along and crashed us into the bridge side. My hand took the force of this and I ended up with a gash on the back of my hand. We went back on the ship having had my hand dressed in the terminal building. Reception sent us  to the medical centre and a nice doctor put 7 stitches in the back of my hand. It was a rather scary experience that could have been a lot worse. 

Here are two Easter cards that I made from one old card. 

Here is the first card it uses the main image from the card. The patterned paper was in my stash. 

This was a little image from the inside of the card. I just wish I could stick things on straight. 

Here are the cards together. They will be hand delivered. 

I won't post anything until after Easter now. 

Have a very Happy Easter. 

Hugs Jackie

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Apollo Background and Summer Vintage Leaves

 Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How is your week going? I have manged to pick up a cold which has laid me low for a couple of days. I also need to arrange to have the stitches removed from the back of my hand. Apart from that everything is fine. 

Here are my latest makes for the John Next Door range. Unfortunately these dies were delayed in the post. This meant that I only had time to make three samples. It was lovely to see all these cards  on catch-up on Create and Craft. 

I had the Presscut Apollo Background die and the John Next Door Summer Vintage leaves. I placed a patterned paper behind the background die. Not all patterns work behind this die. The sentiment was made with the Stencil Sayings die set. 

Here I cut the Apollo die twice and I cut one in half. It was fun lining up the halves behind the centre panel. I do love how the skeleton leaf has a background. I used the Double flag dies for the sentiment on this one. 

I found one of my inky backgrounds and used it behind the Apollo die and for the background. In the background I used just the skeleton leaves. 

Here are all the cards together. It is lovely to have been able to use these dies. I wonder what I will be making next. 

 Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Tractor Pull Digital Image Set from Beccy's Place

 Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How are you all doing. We have just come home from our cruise. The Iona is a fabulous ship. I think we have to have another cruise on her to get to know her better. I have come back slightly damaged, more of that later. 

I am one of the blog contributors for Beccy's Place. This month the fantastic Tractor Pull Digital Image set has been released. Here are my makes with the images. 

This is a very versatile set. Here is a birthday card. 

Now a Christmas card. Both of these cards used  Pre-coloured images. For the Christmas card I used the Stencils Sentiments dies from the John Next Door Range. 

Here I used just one element and a sentiment from the set. The balloons were coloured by me with my Faber Castell Polychromo colouring pencils. 

Here is the Tractor Pull set which is available HERE. 

Here are the cards together. I think this set has lots of potential. 

Happy Crafting 

Hugs Jackie

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Happy 40th Wedding Anniversary to a Dear Hubby

 Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

Well today is our 40th Wedding Anniversary. We are away cruising on the P&O ship Iona right now. Here is the card I made for my hubby. 

On the 3rd April 1982 we got married at a church in Aldershot. Forty years is a long time. 

I used lots of John Next Door dies. I knew the Stencil Anniversary  dies would be useful. Names are easy with the Stencil Alphabet. 

Here I used the Small Champagne bottle die set. The numbers are from a Britannia die set. 

We both like red wine. The numbers in the middle were cut the Advent numbers die set. 

I will be back soon with a couple more posts. Then I will let you know what I have decided to do about blogging. 

Happy Crafting 

Hugs Jackie

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Regal Alphabet Dies New Job Card

 Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How is your week going? My hubby is getting better. Really he hasn't been too bad at all. We have had a quiet week but that isn't a bad thing. Sometimes life is just so hectic. 

Here is another of my makes with the Regal Alphabet dies. Those dies are very versatile. 

I did like using the grid that came with the dies. You can make up all sorts of phrases. The bunting across the top of the card was made with the smallest of the Presscut Nested Banner dies. All the card I used was Linen card. Behind the grid I used some Clarity Stamp Designer paper. 

Enjoy the last day of the month. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Pretty Cosmo Flowers with Alphabet Frame Background

 Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

I hope that you had a good weekend. My hubby has a cold so we didn't end up going to our daughter and son-in-law's house on Sunday. It was a shame but it is better for them to be safe. We did get some bits done in the garden. On Saturday we visited Grey's Court National Trust. The weather was beautiful and the garden there is just amazing. If you are ever in the area I recommend a visit. 

Here is another of the cards I made for the one day special last week on Create and Craft. This card used up lots of leftovers. I had lots of frames left from cutting tiles for the alphabet dies. Here I have overlaid one on the other to give a kind of tartan effect. I used pollen in the centre of the flowers. The heart and stars in the corners come with the Regal Alphabet set. 

I was pleased with how this card turned out. 

Have a wonderful week. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Double Flags and Cosmo Flowers and Leaves

 Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How is your week going? The weather has been glorious. We have just accepted a quote to have our conservatory replaced. Work should start in about a month's time. When it is finished it is going to be so lovely. I will share pictures here when it is all finished. 

Here is another of my makes for the One Day Special that was on Create and Craft on Sunday through to Monday. I did hear Hayley say this was a gorgeous card. 

I used the Double Flags and the Cosmo Flower ad Leave dies. In the centre  I used the  Presscut Nested Hexagon dies. All the card I use was Linen card. 

Enjoy the rest of the week. We are off to see the Bootleg Beatles tomorrow that should be fun. 

Take care. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Pop-up Box Card with Cosmo Flowers and Leaves

 Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

What a lovely start to the week. The sun is shining and I have been out in the garden. There is a lot to tidy up after the winter. 

The one day special of all the new dies and pollen is still on today. It was lovely to see one of my cards on the counter. 

I do like making Pop-up Box cards in fact I do have a tutorial on this blog you can find it HERE. 

The paper came from an older John Next Door Box Kit. I made up the flowers and I put a blob on gel glue in the middle and covered that with pollen. They had to be left to dry I usually wait until the next day to use them. I added numbers and a banner to the box. I made stalks for the flowers and attached the flowers. I popped leave in between. All the card I used was Linen Card. 

Here is the card on the counter at Create and Craft. 

Have a good week. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

Release Day of the Regal Alphabet and the Cosmo Flowers and Leaves

 Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How is your weekend going? There has been some lovely weather and we are enjoying our garden. Our Magnolia looks amazing this year. 

Well here is another blog post from me. I made quite a few bits with these new dies. 

The grid die doesn't have an outer border so you can make the border any size you want. I cut the Cosmo flowers from some Clarity Designer paper. I mostly used Linen card for the rest of the card. There are some gorgeous colours. When we visit my in-laws the Art of Craft shop is just down the road from them. The Crafts-Too warehouse is next door and I have been there too. 

Here is our tree and our washing. 

Some of the flowers.

The inspiration for this card came because my lovely Mother-in-law is very poorly. It would be so nice to send her a card like this. With an Alphabet it is so easy to personalise cards and other makes. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Infinity Shaker Card with Cosmo Flowers and new Pollen

 Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

The weather here is lovely today. I think we will be spending some time in the garden. We did visit our parents yesterday and things for all of them aren't good. They are all comfortable and well looked after. 

Here is another of the cards that I made with the One Day Special Collection that is being released on Sunday on Create and Craft by John Lockwood. 

I decided to make an infinity shake card. 

For this card I used nearly everything that comes in the kit including: Cosmo Flowers and Leaves dies, the Double Flag dies, the Regal Alphabet as well as some of the new Summer Colours Pollen. I used a lot of linen card to. 

I found one of my inky backgrounds and trimmed it to fit one of my plastic pockets. Inside I put two shades of the pollen and some silver stars. The pocket was then sealed so that none of the contents could come out. 

I made mats and layers to fit the shaker pocket. The front was decorated with the Cosmo Flowers and Leaves and a banner cut with the Double Flag dies. The Alphabet dies were cut into the top layer of the banner.  The centre of the flowers has some of the pollen in them. 

I was quite pleased with how this shaker card worked out. I think I will be making some more of these. 

Enjoy the rest of the weekend. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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