Christmas Robins times two.

Hi My Crafty Blog Friends

I hope you are having a great weekend. We are very excited in a few hours time we will be heading off to get on our cruise ship. I think we start with two sea days. You never know I might even take an Art class I will have to see what is on offer. I think some chilling time will be worthwhile.

The other day I was very lucky I saw a post on Facebook saying the first five people to respond would be sent some Christmas goodies by Docrafts to feature on their blog. Well I was second and I got my goodies on Friday so I set to and made two Christmas cards.

These are the cards I made with one page of toppers. I love robins on Christmas cards.

This is what I was sent there is lots of lovely bits to play with. I have my Christmas cards sorted out now. 

This is the sheet I decided to use I couldn't resist the cute robins. 

I used Sue Wilson snowflake die for the corners,

This shows the detail of the decoupage. I use gel glue to make up decoupage if there is time for it to dry properly, which there was, I find I can get a better shape this way. 

Isn't this a gorgeous corner Snowflake die?

Both cards are 6" x 6". I tend to make smaller Christmas cards it is more economical with the card stock. This size suited the images well. 

The robins are very cute. 

Click on the logo to visit the Docrafts website. There is lots of inspiration there.

Have a great week. I won't be around for a bit but I will catch up with everyone when I get back. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

Another Leaving Card

Hi My Crafty Blog Friends

I hope you have had a good week. I am on holiday from school now I have been spending my time between crafting and getting ready for our holiday. I am hoping to do one more post before I go. I am working on scheduling posts for Design Team commitments which are due while I am away. So I will be popping up from time to time.

As I have said a few times there were a few people leaving at the end of term. I made a couple of cards for lots people to sign and a few individual cards just from me. I needed just one more card and I remembered the Craftworks cards kit that I got as a members gift from Create and Craft.

This was quite a simple card to make. Though I have to admit that I have never used Craftworks Candi when making a card before. The flowery border was cut with a Martha Stewart punch around the page set. 

To decorate the image I used Candi that came in the set.  I stuck the Candi to the image with Pinflair gel glue I found this easier than foam pads. 

I cut the sentiment with some Spellbinder dies. 

I did enjoy making this card. There are some beautiful images in the rest of the pack. You might be seeing a few more of these cards. 

I hope that you have a great weekend. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

First try with Brushos

Hi My Crafty Blog Friends

How is your week going? Today is the last day of term it is going to be rather emotional as so many people are leaving as well as all the Year 6s. I will have to take tissues with me into the last assembly.

When I went to the Newbury Craft show I treated myself to some Brushos. I was going to buy a smaller set but I was advised to buy the slightly bigger set with more standard colours. I had a play a couple of weeks ago and it took a few attempts to make something I liked.

I cut all the mats and layers with 0.5 cm differences. With the top red mat I embossed it with the Sue Wilson A4 embossing folder Quilted Flower and I inked it with Black Soot Distress ink. The ribbon came from a set of pyjamas  we bought our daughter for Christmas. The bow was already tied. 

As I said it took me a while to get something I liked the look of when I had my play with the Brushos. I tried what I had seen in a demonstration and it didn't work for me. On to watercolour paper I stamped the Zentangles Blossom set by Creative Expression with Perfect Medium and heat embossed it with a sparkly black powder.  Then I sprinkled a very small amount of the Brushos powder on to the image, Finally I spritzed it with water and I left it to dry.

The sentiment was cut with some Spellbinder dies. 

This is the set of Brushos I bought. I am itching to have another play but it will have to wait until I come back from holiday. 

I would like to enter this card into Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 186.

I hope the rest of the week is kind to you. I will be settling down with a lovely large glass of wine this evening because I don't have to get up tomorrow. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

A Wedding card for a Special Couple

Hi My Crafty Blog Friends

I hope you had a good weekend and that you got done all the things you wanted to. We finished our holiday shopping and we went to the house warming party. The house we went to was amazing it was like one of those you see on Grand Designs. On Sunday we just had a quiet day.

I know a very special getting married soon and I wanted to make them a very special card.

For some time I have had The Adoring Collection Couture dies and I decided to use them to make the card. I had to make a practice one to get the measurements right. I used an A4 sheet in landscape and measure in 6cm on each side with my Hougie board. There was lots of lining up and several passes through the Grand Calibur to get everything cut. The die cuts were backed with silver card with a linen effect so it isn't too shiny. I added a touch of colour with some mauve ribbon from my stash. 

All the measuring was worth it to get the closure to work properly and line up. 

This is the insert I did a lot of lining up to get the stamp not to show when the card is closed. The stamp is from Clarity Stamps I love this one and use it a lot.  The Congratulations was cut with a Spellbinders die and it shows when the card is shut as a hint that it is worth opening the card. I will have to be careful when I write inside. 

I might make a few more cards like this as there are a few weddings coming up the colours will be different. I must admit that the lining up was a bit tricky. 

I only have two days to go to the end of term and then on Sunday we are on holiday I am very excited. 

I hope you have a good week.

Happy Crafting. 

Hugs Jackie

Fantasy Stampers - Pretty Petals

Hi My Crafty Blog Friends

Well the weekend is finally here. I wonder what your plans are? We are finishing off our holiday shopping today and later going to a Summer BBQ and house warming. It should all be fun.

Today sees the start of a new challenge on the Fantasy Stampers Challenge Blog the theme this time is Pretty Petals. Why not join us for a bit of fun?  And don't forget the stamping.

I was looking through my collection of stamps and I came across this one from  Creative Expressions  it was designed by Sam Poole  and is called Zentangles Blossom.  I decided to go for a CAS style this time. 

Thank you stamp is one from Clarity stamps. I stamped the thank you and the flower with Blue Archival ink and heat embossed with a clear powder. I coloured the flower with Distress in using a water colour paint brush.  

I do hope that you have a good weekend and get done all the things that you want. 

Don't forget about the new Challenge at Fantasy Stampers. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

A boy and his dog.

Hi My Crafty Blog Friends

I hope you are having a good week. Not long and it will be the weekend and not long after that it will be the end of term - not that I'm counting.

As I have said  before there are a few people leaving work at the end of term. I decided to make a card for the  male teacher who I have been working with this term. I bought the August issue of Making Cards Magazine and I decided to use one of the images that came with the magazine.

This is just a 6" x 6" card made from a single sheet of A4 brown centura pearl card. The doggy papers I have had in my stash for a while waiting for a good use and this was it. 

I cut the image out with one of my Matting and Basics Spellbinder dies. This meant that it was easy to cut mats for the image. There was a space to the side and that is where I decided to put the sentiment cut with another Spellbinder die. I did ink round the image while it was still in the die. This was the first time I had used a brush to apply the ink and  I loved the soft effect. 

I finished off the corners of the card with some dots of  Antique Green CS PVA glue. 

I will give the chap a bottle of wine to go with this card he has been a pleasure to work with. 

I hope the end of the week is kind to  you. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

Delightful Digi's - Christmas Candle

Hi My Crafty Blog Friends

We are well into the working week now. The end of term is marching ever closer. This week I have been mostly watching rehearsals for the Summer Production at school. This time they are putting on the panto Aladdin. I do marvel that so many of the children are confident enough to sing solos. I couldn't have done anything like that at their age.

I am sharing another Christmas card using an image and backing paper from the 2015 Christmas collection at Delightful Digi's.  Did you know that there is a Delightful Digi's Facebook group as well?

I used the Candle image and the Berries paper in red from the Christmas collection at Delightful Digi's. I haven't made an easel card in a while, ever since I found my poorly uncle displaying one on it's side. I thought it would be fun to have another go. I cut the biggest square card blank from a sheet of A4 that I could and I cut the topper from a second sheet. I discovered that my Tonic square dies matted nicely within this size so I used them to cut all the mats. 

This is the base of the card the stopper was made with a free die from a magazine last year. The corners were cut with a Spellbinder die. 

I coloured the image with Promarkers. To get the highlights on the berries I used a blender pen. For the background I cut a circle from a post-it note so I could cover the flame. Then I used a brush to lightly ink the background with blue. Once this was done I removed the post-it note and I covered the rest of the paper with a mask I made with a circle cut out so that I could ink the flame separately. 

It must be years since I made an easel card I will be making a few more. I do like making shaped cards I will just have to be careful who I send them to or be there when they are opened so I can explain how to display it. I have quite a collection of Christmas cards now but there are still more to make. 

I hope the rest of the week is kind to you. 

Happy Crafting.

Hugs Jackie

Delightful Digi's - Christmas Bear with Stocking

Hi My Crafty Blog Friends

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. We spent some time yesterday going round the shops in Southampton getting all the bits that we need for our holiday (a cruise) which to my surprise included a suit for my husband. Today I am hoping to finish a card for one of the design teams I am on.

I am sharing a Christmas card using an image and backing paper from the Christmas Collection at Delightful Digi's. 

The image is called Bear with Stocking and the backing paper is Snowflake plain they can both be found in the 2015 Christmas Collection.

The card started with an 8" x 8" dark blue card blank then I cut a mat in Royal blue Centura Pearl card. I made the snowflake border with a Martha Stewart punch around the page set. I cut the backing paper to fit the center of the punched mat I inked the edges and sprayed the paper with Spray and Sparkle in silver.

  

Here is Bear with Stocking I coloured him with Promarkers I used a gold one to colour the center of the star. 

I made a snowflake with some Spellbinder dies I added a dazzler to the center. The ribbon I had in my Christmas stash (yes it is separate to the rest of my stash). The sentiment was cut with a Signature die.  

I am getting the hang of the new laptop and I rather like the photo editing package I am using now. 

I hope you have a good Sunday and get done all the things that you want to. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

Sixtieth Wedding Anniversary Cards

Hi My Crafty Blog Friends

How has your week been? The weather hasn't been too bad down here in the south. Yesterday I was able to watch my husband giving a talk at a conference as it was streamed live. Isn't technology amazing. Well the weekend is nearly here and that can only be good.

There are two cards to show today. I needed to make two Sixtieth Wedding Anniversary cards one for my parents and one for a commission. At the craft fair last week I managed to get some beautiful sparkly card to use on both cards. The stone for a Sixtieth Anniversary is diamond so I wanted the cards to be sparkly.

I made this one first it is an 8" x 8" card I used pale blue and sparkly card to make the mats. 

I made this one second and I like this one better. This time the layers were made with a darker blue, pale blue and sparkly card.

I used this tiny (but useful) Sue Wilson die to make the lacey effect on the card I cut lots of them from pearly white card. 

This is how the die looks when it is cut it is very detailed and pretty. 

The sentiment was cut with some Britannia dies. 

I haven't decide which will be the commision card and which will be my parents card. For my parents I have arranged for them to receive and message from the Queen. I have to say that once I had a scan of my parents wedding certificate it was a very easy process. 

I would like to enter these cards into Pixie's Snippets Playground week 184 all the white card used was snippets. 

I do hope that you have a good weekend and that you might be able to fit in some crafting. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

Delightful Digi's - Bear Hugs at Christmas

Hi My Crafty Blog Friends

How has your week been so far? I was on a trip yesterday our school is having art week and I was on a trip so that the children could sketch trees and water. The rain that had been forecast held off. We went to Holly Hill Woodland Park near Fareham. It is a lovely place to visit.

I have another Christmas card for you. That is three I have made so far,  there are lots more I would like to make. I used two images from Delightful Digi's Christmas collection and a backing paper.

The card started with an 8" x 8" card blank . I used Bear Hugs and the Rectangular Frame from the Christmas collection. On the computer using Publisher I put the teddies inside the frame and I printed  the result onto 160 gsm card. The backing paper I used  is Poinsettia paper in red. 

The image was coloured with Promarkers. I added some gold PVA dots to the center of the poinsettia's on the frame. I do like my traditional Christmas colours. I did also make the teddies into Southampton supporters, red and white for Saints. I know just who to give this card she and her husband have season tickets. 

The sentiment was cut with a Signature Die in red and gold so that I could have a drop shadow effect. 

I hope the rest of the week is kind to you. I will be back some time to let you know how I get on with the Brushos.

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

Not Just Cards Challenge Blog - Design Team

Hi My Crafty Blog Friends

I hope that you have had a great weekend and got done everything that you wanted to do. We were so busy on Saturday (yes we did it all) that it was lovely to have a day relaxing at home yesterday. Now it is all back to work but for me it is not long to the end of term and I have a lovely cruise to look forward to, I am so lucky.

Have you guessed my crafty news? I feel very privileged that Lori Thomas has asked me to join her Design Team at the Not Just Cards Challenge Blog after she took it over running it a couple of months ago.

This is my first design piece for them and it  uses  an image from the Etsy Store Alldressedupstamps and is called Magical Day . They are one of our sponsors this month we have some other sponsors and the rest of the Design Team have used some of their images. This image proved very popular and three of us used it all in very different ways.

I printed the image onto 160 gsm card and I coloured it with my Promarkers. I wanted the card to have a pretty soft pastel theme. 

I used my Faux Quilled leave Sue Wilson die to cut the leaves and my Sizzix Tattered Floral die to make the flowers. The centers  were made with a Spellbinders die it comes with a different flower. This where I confess that I bought the die set just for the center die. I also added a CS PVA pearl glue dot to the middles. 

This is what I bought on Saturday at the Newbury Papercraft show. Someone was demonstrating  Brushos and I just couldn't resist. It was a brilliant show costing £3 to get in and we were all given a goody bag of bits that must have been worth more that £3. There is another show planned for January 23rd  next year and there is a Facebook page where you can keep up with updates. 

So my first card for NJC Design Team the theme of the all challenges is always "Anything Goes". There will be prizes of Digi stamps from the sponsors of the different challenges. 

I hope that you have a good week. 

Happy Crafting 

Hugs Jackie