John Next Door - Christmas - Release 2

 Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How has your week been. For some of us it is a long weekend. Being retired we tend not to do things at the weekend or on a bank holiday. But of course these are the best times to see our daughter and son-in-law. That is what we are doing on Monday. It will be nice to see them. 

Here are the samples I made for the second release of Christmas dies from the John Next Door range. The launch show is on the Craft Store on Sunday at 6.00 pm. I didn't get many of the dies to make samples with but the ones I did are beautiful. 

The NOEL dies and the frame are new. The Small Poinsettias and the Small foliage were in the first release. I have pretty much swapped over the Crafts-Too Linen card and gloss card and glitter card. 

There is a sneak peak of some papers on this card coming soon. 

I wanted to do the letters in a line. It did make a very long thin card. 

This has to be my favourite die set. The frame and the tree come together. 

I do love red and green on Christmas cards. There is another sneak peak for some stamps that are coming soon. I did foil the sentiment with my Kaleido. 

I do like gold and silver too. Really there aren't many colours I don't like. This reminded me of a programme I used to watch when I was younger called the Singing Ringing Tree. 

Can you spot the mistake in this photo? I put one of the cards for the limited edition kit and left one of the second release cards out. Oh well most of them are here. 

Have a good time.

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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When you have a good idea make another Card.

 Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How is your week going? Today our old car is being collected, it will be sold and the money will go to a charity of our choice. The car will be collected from our drive too. It is quite a neat way to get rid of an old car. 

I enjoyed making the Snippets Christmas card last week that I decided to make a birthday card. This is all with scraps of paper that I found when tidying the other day. 

I was intending to make a Christmas card but the blue papers I used suggested a birthday card. 

This image came from an old card. I cut the image and it's mat with circle dies from different John Next Door die sets. 

You can always use a birthday card. 

Enjoy the rest of the week. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Thank You Cards - Fresh Cut Dies and Designer Papers - Claritystamp

 Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How is you week going? We have some lovely weather and we have been able to meet up with friends and family. We have seen our daughter and son-in-law for the first time in ages. The nice weather certainly helps. 

We have been given a few Easter gifts. I decided I needed some thank you cards. I had just received a thank you die from Claritystamp and it seemed like a good time to try it out. 

I started with a black die cut. I found a pale designer paper to go behind the die cut. Then I cut the die again in silver to get the stars. I found a different designer paper and some card stock to finish off the card.   

Here is a purple version made in much the same way. 

I kept looking the waste leftover from cutting the stars from the silver die cut. I realised that the sentiment could we cut from the waste. Here it is laid over the purple die cut. 

Here are all four of them together. I think I might make a few more. 

Enjoy the rest of the week. We have a busy few days coming up. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Christmas card for the Rudolph Days - November Challenge

Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How have you all been while I have been away? We are back now from a wonderful trip. I do love a good cruise. The food, the entertainment and the places to visit it is all great. I will share more when we have settled a bit. Tonight we are going to see a Beatles Tribute band in Fareham with our good friends. Our friends  also helped us to get to and from our cruise.

Here is a small Christmas card I made for the November Rudolph Days Challenge. I made one of my Snippets backgrounds for this one.

I bought lots of A3 black card. I used to buy card blanks with envelopes and then I found that I had lots of envelopes left over. So now I make my own card blanks. When you make a large card blank there is usually enough card left to make a smaller one. I had a layer of silver glitter card for one of the mats. There was enough left over to cut some thin strips. These I used between strips of blue patterned paper to make the background, 

The sentiment die is from the Round Bauble die set from the John Next Door range.

The stags came from the same die set. 

I do hope I have enough Christmas cards. I can't see me having much time next month to make many more. November has been super busy too. 

I would like to enter the following challenges:

The November Rudolph Days Challenge

The November Challenge at Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge

Challenge 465 at  Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge 

Have a great weekend. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Oakham Lattice Wedding Card

Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How is your week going? We got back from Suffolk late on Monday. Yesterday I had a bit of time to craft. It was hard to choose what to make and then I remembered a couple we sit with in church who are getting married early next month.

I decided to use the Oakham Lattice die set. I thought it would look good in the easel card format.

I have no ideas what colours they have chosen for the wedding but I thought white and gold would look good. I just love the Oakham Lattice die set from the John Next Door range. There is so much detail in the dies. I added a heart cut with the Mr and Mrs die set from Crafter's Companion. 

To make the stopper for the twisted easel I used the centre dies from the Oakham Lattice die set. The middle section is raised up on foam pads. The congratulations was cut with another Crafter's Companion die. You can't see it in the photos but I used a white glitter card for a bit of sparkle. 

I am pleased with how this card turned out. I can see lots of potential with this die set. To me it has an Art Deco feel. 

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Challenge 423 at Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge Blog

March 26th Challenge at the Through the Craft Room Door (TTCRD) Challenge blog

Challenge 387 at  Crafty Creations Challenges

Enjoy the rest of the week. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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S is for Simple Nativity Christmas Card

Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How is your week going? I have another busy day ahead. It will be a real treat I am getting together with a group of people I used to work with. They are a lovely group of ladies. we chat for ages and there is a craft shop nearby.

I bought issue 184 of Simply  Cards and Papercraft mainly for the free gift of the Scenic Nativity Border dies. I knew I had dies in my stash that would work well with them.

To make the night sky I used the Starry Night Sky dies from Creative Expressions. Behind it I place some silver glitter card. 

The buildings were cut with the Bethlehem Border die from Taylored Expressions. The gold star die came with the Scenic Nativity Border dies. 

The black stable scene and the green hill with palm trees were cut with Scenic dies. I added Peace cut in gold. 

This was my first try with this die set. I can see lots of potential for other cards. 

I would like to enter the following challenges.:

The November Challenge at Beccy's Place Challenges

Challenge 157 at the Creative Moments Challenge blog

Challenge 417 at Fab 'n' Funky Challenges 

Challenge 412 at Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge 

Challenge 54 at Craft Rocket Challenges 

Challenge 407 at Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge blog

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Moving Along with the Times (MAWTT) - Winter Animals

Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How is your week going? I am busy with invigilating. There is just one Mock exam today. So I should get some time to craft when I get home. Tomorrow I am in for three exams which will make a very long day which will be tiring.

I am hosting the challenge that starts today at the Moving Along with the Times (MAWTT) challenge blog and the theme I have chosen is Winter Animals. 

I used lots of my festive dies to make this winter scene. All the dies were designed by Sue Wilson for Creative Expressions.  The sky was made with the Night Sky die. The Trees were cut with the Winter Trees dies set. The houses were cut with the Cottage Scenes dies. I have had all these dies for sometime. All the white I used is glitter card. This card really sparkles but it doesn't show in the photo. 

Why not join in with our challenge? Click on the logo and you will be taken there. 

The deer were cut with the Deer Family die set. They were embossed, I inked through the dies and backed them with gold card. 

Santa was cut with the Santa's Sleigh dies set I added an extra deer. 

I do love created scenes like this will dies. Enjoy the rest of the week. 

I would like to enter the following Challenges:

The November Challenge at Beecy's Place Challenges

The November Challenge at the House of Cards Challenge blog

Challenge 171 at the Crimbo Crackers Challenge blog

Challenge 490 at the Craft Challenge blog

Challenge 410 at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge blog

Challenge 20 at the 2 Crafty Critters Crazies Challenge blog

Challenge 101 at the Scrapy Land Challenge blog

Challenge 11 at the Crafter's Castle Challenge blog

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Upcycled Snowy Christmas card.

Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

I hope you have had a good week. I have been busy. I keep having to write lists to keep track of what I need to do. I am looking forward to the weekend. We are hoping to get some Christmas shopping done at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth. We have some vouchers for Cafe Rouge that need using up soon and the closest outlet to us is there.

Yes I have been reusing old Christmas cards again. This time I found I had two of the same design.

The background it the entire Christmas card. 

As I had two of the same card I thought I would photograph the before and after. I do love reusing old Christmas cards. 

I used the Deer family dies from Creative Expressions. They were cut once in Kraft card and once in black to create a shadow. 

I like how the members of the family face each other. 

Everything is better when you add deer.  Have a great weekend. 

I would like to enter the following challenges:

The October Rudolph Days Challenge

Challenge 39 at the Holly and the Ivy Challenge blog

Challenge 408 at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge blog

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Nuthatch Christmas card

Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How was your weekend? I hope you did something nice. We really enjoyed the Dad's Army Radio Show at our local theatre it was very funny. The two guys did a brilliant job doing all the characters and you could really tell who they were playing.

When I get images to used for Design Team Projects I often print more than one image in case something goes wrong. Usually everything is fine. I was going through my box of odds and ends and I came across two of these images I used them  to make this card and its partner.

I embossed glitter card to make the background. I love using white glitter paper is it so useful for Christmas cards. The mats and layers were cut with the Double Pierced Circles from Creative Expressions. 

This is the Nuthatch pre-coloured image from Fred She Said Designs and is available HERE. The card I made for the Design Team was a bit more complex. I liked the image so much I just couldn't let it go to waste. I made two of these cards. I am still well behind with my Christmas card making. 

This is John Next Door's Happy Christmas die. I have been using it a lot this year. 

That's another two cards for my stash. Still lots more to make. 

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Challenge 407 at Crfatyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge blog

Challenge 489 at the Allsorts Challenge blog

The challenge starting on 15th October at the Merry Christmas Challenge blog

Challenge 169 at the Crimbo Crackers Challenge blog

Challenge 19 at the 2 Crafty Critter Crazies Challenge blog

Challenge 78 at the A Bit More Time to Craft Challenge blog

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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A batch of Poinsettia and Snowflake themed Christmas cards

Hello my Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

I hope you had a good weekend. Ours didn't go exactly as planned. We did  eventually get to the 60th birthday party in London. We arrived in the right road and we knocked on the house we had been given the number for. Only the person there knew nothing about a party, he was very nice about it. We went off and stood some way off and tried to phone - no luck. Just then our friend drove by and stopped and told us the right address. The number we had been given  was 8 out. Later we got home to news that our son-in-law had fallen on his arm arm and was in pain. On Sunday our daughter took him to A&E and he came home with in a plaster. They suspect he has broken his elbow. So we popped over to them to visit.

A little while ago I mentioned that I needed to make a batch of Christmas cards for the people that my husband works with. Eventually I came up with a design and I managed to get them finished yesterday.

In the background is some gorgeous Crafter's Companion patterned card. Over this I place the Snowflake Square die from John Next Door cut in white glitter card. 

This is John's Happy Christmas die cut in gold with a black shadow. 

I used the poinsettia dies and the matching stamps to make the poinsettias. The dies and stamps make so many flowers at a time. I still have some left to use on another project. The ivy die was cut in green glitter card. I only used one die cut ivy on each card I snipped them apart so more showed around the flowers. 

Here they all are together. They aren't exactly the same but I think they make a nice set. My husband is pleased with them. He did ask for 10 but being me I made 12 just in case. Of course they won't go to waste if he doesn't need them. 

Enjoy the rest of the week 

I would like to enter the following challenges:

The October challenge at Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge 

Challenge 405 at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge 

The September Challenge at the Merry Christmas Challenge blog

Challenge 168 at the Crimbo Crackers Challenge blog

Challenge 77 at the A Bit More Time to Craft Challenge blog

Challenge 3 at the Merry Little Christmas Challenge blog

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Christmas Poinsettias

Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

I hope you have had a good week and that you have something nice planned for the weekend. Though this time I don't think the weather is going to be on our side. I have helped at two felting workshops this week. My latest make is on my Felting Creations page. I am starting to feel a bit more like me again and I am getting on better with my crafting.

I am very behind with my Christmas card making. I need a design to make 10 Christmas cards for my husband to use at work.  I have been trying a few things out.

I found some white glittery card already embossed in my stash. I used the Snowflake Lattice embossing folder from Creative Expressions. The ivy was cut with a die set from Creative Expressions. 

The Poinsettias were cut with the Poinsettia die from John Next Door. For each one I cut two in red and one in green (for the leaves). Everything was shaped with a ball tool on foam. The centres were cut with a Sizzix die and I added beads for texture. 

The sentiment was cut with a Tattered Lace die. 

I don't think this the design I will use but it is another card for my stash. 

Have a great weekend. 

I would like to enter the following challenges. 

The 15th September Challenge at the Merry Christmas Challenge blog

Challenge 2 at the Merry Little Christmas Challenge blog

Challenge 167 at the Crimbo Crackers Challenge blog

Challenge 408 at the Fab 'n' Funky Challenge blog

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Forever Friends Christmas card

Hello My Crafty Blog Friends

How is your week going? Did you have a good weekend? It was certainly good having the extra day. It is a shame it rained so much on Sunday. A quick update on my parents there has been no further talk of stopping the carers going in. This is a huge relief I am sure there will be more hurdles to overcome. My parents can no longer cope on their own they really do need the help. I don't want to find my dad like he was back in the summer.

I would like to say thank you for the messages of support that I have received about my parents. I know so many of you understand.

I have been looking through my files for cards to share. As you know I stepped down from a few design teams and I am having a break from two others. I am struggling to make anything at the moment. I hope things will be a bit more settled when we get back from a short break.

Before everything happened with my parents I was getting on well with making my Christmas cards. I found the image in my stash I have had it for ages. I added trees cut with the Winter Tree dies from Creative Expressions. 

I do like the Forever Friends bears they are very cute. 

This is a Creative Expressions Santa die it comes with two reindeer. I just cut extra and add them. 

I found the sentiment in my stash too. Some of my stash I have had for ages. At the moment while I am not really crafting I am trying not to buy any new crafty bits.  

Here is the finished card. The papers I used were in my stash too. One of these days I will have a proper tidy up. 

Enjoy the rest of the week. 

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Challenge 35 at the Holly and the Ivy Challenge blog

Challenge 333 at Pixie's Snippets Playground

Hugs Jackie

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