Wednesday 31 March 2010

WOYWW - Easter!!!

Quick post today for What's on your Workdesk Wednesday, it was a mess but I tidied. I crafted until midnight last night trying to get finished for Easter and here are the fruits of my labour.

Here is a close up of the boxes, I used a Wild Rose Studio stamp and some Nesties to make a simple topper.
The sentiment stamp is by Elzybells.
Make sure you pop over to Julia's to see her desk and many more and if you feel like it why not share a piccie of your Workspace too.
Have a lovely Wednesday!
Jane
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Tuesday 30 March 2010

Stamped buttons and some VERY exciting news!!

My very talented Friend Petra made some fabric covered buttons a while ago using Graphics Fairy images which she had printed onto fabric and I have been wanting to try something similar for ages. I bought some cheap plastic buttons that can be covered and a cheap handkerchief and set to work.

I used Hero Arts stamps stamped with Stampin Up ink and added little gems. I stamped the sentiment first and then covered the button. I stuck the little flower and heart stamps onto my thumb to pick up the ink and stamp it on to the buttons. Using your thumb rather than a block allows you to curve the stamp around the edges of the button. I added a gem as a finishing touch.
I found out some very exciting news last night, I have made the DT on the Pollycraft blog!
I love Paula's images and I am so excited to have been chosen! I can't wait to get started working with her fabulous images :-)
Have a lovely Tuesday!
Jane
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Monday 29 March 2010

NEC stash shopping and a Funky Mini card

As promised, here is a photo of the new stash I bought yesterday at the NEC. I went up there first thing on Sunday morning. My Hubby and I discussed it on the Saturday night as one of us had to stay at home on Sunday to look after Charlie our puppy as he had 'the operation' on Friday. I wasn't sure I fancied the drive on my own but got up Sunday early and just went for it!


I just tidied my desk so I could unpack my bags, I actually bought more than I thought I had. I bought the £5 Create and Craft goody bag and got some free DL card blanks and envelopes from them too, they were really heavy to carry around! I got lots of stash from the £1 craft stand, brads, card blanks etc. My first stop was at the Magnolia stand where I bought 3 stamps, I can't wait to ink these up. I bought various other bits and bobs from all over. I really like the Hobbyhouse stand and I stocked up on Envelopes from 'A touch of craft'. It was great fun seeing all the people from the telly, they all look really different in real life.
My tickets for Ally Pally arrived today, I am going on the Sunday, can't wait! Ally Pally is still my favourite of all the shows I have been to so far.
I had a day's holiday from work today to look after Charlie, I took him back for a post op check and he has a temperature so is feeling a bit sorry for himself. We have to take him back Wednesday to check it again. I have been sat downstairs with him and had a play with my Funky Hand CD and used some of the papers to make a DT card, I used the leftovers to make this mini card.

The image is from the Stamping Boutique and was perfect to make a card to Thank my Friend Madeleine who gave me a box of eggs from her 4 Chickens on Friday. We had them for dinner on Friday night and they were delicious!
Jane
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Bugaboo Crabby Cathy card

A quick post today to share a card I made for a colleague who returned to work with us this month.

I just love these Bugaboo images and they are so much fun to colour in. I used a Making Memories ledger paper to print the sentiment onto. I then printed the image and coloured it in with my Promarkers. I added glossy accents to the clock. The little stars are stick on earrings from Claire's accessories.
I snuck off to the NEC yesterday for a couple of hours and bought a few new bits of stash. I have a day off today so I may be back later if I have a chance to take a photo of my new goodies :-)
Have a lovely Monday.
Jane
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Sunday 28 March 2010

Mini Greeting Farm cards

I had a burst of creativity on Friday night and ended up making lots of mini cards. I love making these small
cards and I have received an order for some more so it was the perfect excuse to get playing.
Here are a few of them made using The Greeting Farm stamps.

The first card was made with a scrap of Crate Paper backing paper, I used a scrap of Bobunny double dots to mat the image onto. The ribbon was a scrap lurking in a pot on my desk. I coloured the image with Promarkers and the sentiment is Hero Arts. The button is one of the ones I bought last Sunday.
My next card is an underwater scene with Mer Ian. I printed him onto textured card and coloured him with Promarkers adding stickles to highlight the image. I pieced together scraps of Bazzil and American crafts card and matted them on to a scalloped square cut from DCWV card. The little flower is from Prima as are the pearls. The sentiment is by Hero Arts.

I used Ebony to make a funky little card. I used a precut white blank and added Nesties shapes cut from Inspire me and DCWV papers. The little sentiment is from Elzybells and the button was bought from a local shop. I coloured Ebony with Promarkers and added a little glitter to the skull on her T-shirt.
My last card is very cute and girly with Princess Anya coloured with my Promarkers. The backing papers were printed from the Funky Hand Papercraft Factory CD. The sentiment is by Elzybells.
Have a lovely Sunday.
Jane
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Saturday 27 March 2010

Jane's Doodles release day on Squigglefly

It's release day today on Squigglefly and Jane is releasing some gorgeous images which I have been lucky to have a play with this week. The first is a lovely rabbit which Jane drew a long time ago. It is quite different to Jane's usual cutesy style. It was lovely to colour in and I decided to create quite a simple card by cutting the image out with Nellie Snellen dies and threading ribbon through the holes on the oval.
I then added a bow and a sentiment. The backing paper is from DCWV and the image was coloured with my Promarkers.


My second card was made with the Tulips digi stamp which I also printed onto textured card and cut out with my Nellie Snellen die. I followed the sketch from 'I love Promarkers' and they also are asking for dots for this Challenge so this My Minds Eye Paper was perfect.

The strips are cut with a Martha Stewart punch , the sentiment is Hero Arts and the flowers are Prima with kanban pearl centres.Make sure you take a look at the other DT members blogs and see their wonderful creations using these gorgeous stamps.





and guest designer

Jane is running a giveaway on her blog, so make sure you visit her and leave a comment for a chance to win one of her images.
Have a lovely Saturday, I have an afternoon of crafting lined up as everyone is off to watch football leaving me on my own with the dog :-)
Jane
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An Easter basket for Easy Craft Projects

Our new Easy Craft Projects Challenge launched last night and the theme this fortnight is Easter. I created another woven basket following the tutorial on the Magnolia Challenge blog.

Our sponsor this month is the Stamping Boutique so we were very lucky to be given the choice of some images from their lovely online shop.

I chose the super cute Audrey holding a basket of eggs to make a label to decorate the basket. I cut some Nestabilities shapes, inked the edges and added an eyelet to thread with ribbon.

I used Papermania patterned paper to make the basket teamed with yellow card and added Gingham ribbon and lots of flowers and cute little butterflies with gems. The sentiment on the label is from Elzybells.

I coloured Audrey using my Promarkers using Pastel colours. I just love this image, I think Audrey is adorable and the little chick is really cute too!
I hope you will be able to join us for this Challenge, the winner this month will receive 5 images of their choice from the Stamping Boutique.
I will be back later with Jane's Doodles new image release.
Jane
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Friday 26 March 2010

Princess Mia Birthday digi giveaway!

Do you remember Mia? The cute digi stamp Jane created inpsired by her daughter? She is back and it's her Birthday! She will be available to buy from Squigglefly tomorrow but to celebrate Jane is giving away Mia all day today so pop on over to her blog to get her now!

I coloured Mia in with Promarkers and gave her a sparkly necklace. I added a button for her balloon. I used My Mind's eye paper to cover the card base and cut Mia out with my Nesties before mounting her with foam pads on the card. I added gems as a finishing touch and some glossy accents to her little birthday crown.
I hope you will all join me in wishing Mia a very Happy birthday and don't forget to go over to Jane's blog to get your cute freebie.
I will be back tomorrow with more cards made with Jane's new release images as Saturday is release day at Squigglefly.
Have a lovely Friday!
Jane
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Thursday 25 March 2010

Willow Sketchie DT card

It's Thursday so it's time for another Willow Sketchie Challenge! This week we are using the fabulous Winnie download. I adore the backing papers in this download and Winnie is just so cute!


I printed the papers and digi image onto linen card and coloured in with Promarkers.
I added little gems and a Hero Arts sentiment, the little flowers are from the Craft Fairy and the ribbon was from my stash.
Here is the lovely sketch by Lauren we all followed this week. Make sure you pop over to the blog to see all the other DT cards, we all had lots of fun with the lovely Winnie this week! If you join us for this week's Challenge you could win one of Sharon's fab digi downloads!
Jane
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Susie's Sassy Challenge DT Project: Springtime Garden

Sally has chosen a Springtime Garden theme for this fortnight's Sassy Challenge. I decided to make something other than a card again and used a lovely watering can template that I found here.



I went to the Range in Swindon on Mother's day, I had never been there before and I loved it! They had so may goodies, I bought a My Mind's eye pad which I used to make the watering can , trim and the butterflies.

I also bought the Butterfly punch there and lots of other fun stuff. I love this Butterfly punch so much, it is so versatile.

The flowers I used to decorate the watering can are from various places as are the gems. The sentiment is by Elzybells and was cut out with a Nesties label die.

I used my Martha Stewart border punch to decorate the bottom of the watering can.
Now for some sad news... last week we had to say good bye to DT member Vikki, this week we say goodbye to Lisa, Susie has also decided to close this bi-weekly challenge and concentrate on the other 2 challenge blogs she runs with Vikki. The last Challenge will be the 8th of April. I have had such a lovely time working with the girls and I hope you have enjoyed playing along with the Challenges too.
I hope you will be able to join us for our last two Challenges, make sure you take a look at the blog to see all the wonderful DT cards, they are so bright and cheerful, I think we have all been very inspired by this theme!
Have a lovely Thursday.
Jane
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Wednesday 24 March 2010

What's on your Workdesk Wednesday?? I've made a big mess!

This is my Workdesk today, you can just about see it under the mess. Believe it or not it was tidy yesterday before I started but 2 Projects later and it is a total mess!

The 2 sheets of card are what I use as a backdrop when I take photos. I am addicted to using pearls at the moment and there is a sheet of them to the left of the photo. I bought the huge bottle of tacky glue in Oxfam on Saturday for £1.50, bargain! My pink ribbon has appeared again and you might spot my latest DT project for Willow designs if you look closely enough.
I hope you have enjoyed looking around my desk, if you want to see many more, please pop over to Julia's blog for hers and those of her loyal followers, you could even share a photo of yours...
Hope to see you there!
Jane
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Tuesday 23 March 2010

A bright and colourful Easter card

This card was a commission. My Friend needed a large card for a lot of people to sign for Easter. I used Jane's adorable bunny and teamed him with the free carrots digi stamp from her blog. The finished card is 19cmx19cm so it is quite large.

The cheerful stripey backing paper is from Making Memories and I used a Hero Arts Background stamp behind the bunny.
The orange pearlescent card is from Payper box. I coloured my bunny with Promarkers. The linen paper gave a mottly look which I think looks a bit like fur. The little star I topped with a button is from Paperchase. As a finishing touch, I added glossy accents to the carrots and the bunny nose.
Have a lovely Tuesday.
Jane
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Monday 22 March 2010

Princess Anya mini birthday card

A quick post for today's card. This is a mini card I made Saturday with one of the images you saw on my desk last Wednesday.

I made this little card to pop in a little Birthday parcel for a friend. The pearlescent card is from Rymans, the patterned paper is printed from the latest Funky Hand cd. Ribbon and bling from my stash and the sentiment is Hero Arts.
Have a lovely Monday!
Jane
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Sunday 21 March 2010

My day at the Stitch and Craft Show...

I went to the Stitch and Craft Show today for the first time ever. It was good fun but Alexandra Palace is still my favourite. There were not as many Papercraft stalls as I hoped for but I still managed to find some lovely goodies to add to my ever growing stash. I also had a chat with Claire Curd and she lovely, it was nice to meet her.
This is a photo of the ground floor taken from the 1st floor balcony. It was quiet when we first arrived but it soon filled up.
There were some of the regular stalls that are at Farnborough and Ally Pally but I found that they were selling the same old stash. I did like the Craft Fairy stall and bought a few packs of flowers and ribbons.
One stall really caught my eye, Shimelle was doing demos at the show and had a lovely little stall filled to the brim with yummy colourful goodies!

There was lots of American Crafts and the Dear Lizzy Range, lovely stamps ....
......gorgeous scrummy papers....I treated myself to some of these!
Shimelle doesn't have a shop or sell online, such a shame as she has impeccable taste! I would buy everything!
These gorgeous buttons were on The Eternal Maker stand, it was a pick and mix, I loved the bright colours.
So..... what did I buy??
Lots of paper,cardstock, flowers and buttons.

The beautiful butterfly paper is by Jenni Bowlin and I bought a miniature stack of mixed Jenni Bowlin papers too.
Lots of lovely new things to play with!
I hope you are having a lovely weekend.
Jane
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Saturday 20 March 2010

A new Home card and an exciting day!

I had a very exciting day today. My local craft shop is also a gift shop and the lovely lady who runs it asked me to bring in some of my cards to show her when I was last in there (I am there every week!). She looked through my cards today and bought 48 to sell in her shop. I was, and still am gobsmacked! It was so lovely to know that Beryl liked my cards and she has ordered some more from me too!


I wanted to share a New Home card with you I made a few days ago. I used an image from Jane's Doodles and coloured it to match my Ribbon with my Promarkers. I then layered it on to some Elzybells cardstock and added a sentiment which I tucked under an Elzybells button.
I added some glossy accents to the bird and some gems to the image as a finishing touch.
I spent an hour and a half in the pouring rain this morning watching my Son play football, we were absolutely soaked by the time we were able to head home!
I don't mind too much though as we are off to the Stitch and Craft show tomorrow at Olympia. I have never been before so don't really know what to expect. I don't really need anything at the moment apart from some number stamps and there is always room for more paper!
I hope you are having a good weekend.
Jane
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Thursday 18 March 2010

Some Funky Monsters cards...

This is my 3rd post today! The other cards I posted today were DT projects so I had made them some time ago. I had a play with some of my digi stash today and I thought I would share these two cards with you.

I received a card commission to make a card with some spotty monsters on it and knew these coordinating papers from the Funky Hand, Funky Daze CD would be perfect. I printed the papers onto linen card, then printed the monsters onto the card. I cut a piece to fit the front of the card and inked the edges before sticking it on.
I printed each monster twice onto white card, one copy was used for paper piecing and the other was cut up for the eyes and cute little monster teeth. I cut out the monsters into little squares and inked the edges before layering up my little monsters. I coloured the detail with my Promarkers.
I used Hero Arts sentiments which I stamped on to Nestabilities circles.
All the pieces were then added to the card with foam pads.
I am constantly amazed by the ease of digital crafting, when one of my Crafty Friends first told me she was printing papers I almost discounted it without trying as I loved buying paper and getting all inky with stamps but I love all things digital now, there are so many talented digi designers out there, it is possible to mix digital and traditional methods of stamping too, as I have done on these cards. I am truly spoiled as I am lucky to be on the Willow Designs and Jane's Doodles Design teams so I get to play with all their creations before anyone else!
If you have ever wondered if you would enjoy using digi stamps and papers, I can only highly recommend you give it a try, I guarantee you won't regret it!
Jane
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My DT card for the Willow Sketchie Challenge.

Here is my card for the next Willow Sketchie Challenge. For this fortnight's Challenge, we got to play with the Walter Owl download. He was so much fun to colour in and I really like these backing papers, I think they will be really handy for New Baby cards and for Easter. I just love playing with ally my Willow Designs scraps and seeing what I can make as they are so gorgeous and I hate to throw them away!
I used my new Martha Stewart punch on this card and some of my Nestabilities, the Butterfly is also a new punch I bought last weekend. I love it! I used what I think are flower centres which I bought from Ashridge farm to make antennaes.

The sentiment is by Hero Arts, I think their sentiment sets are unbeatable, so versatile and always lovely fonts. The sentiment was stamped on to a Spellbinders tag shape through which I threaded a lovely lilac gingham ribbon. The gems are by Papermania and Kanban.

Not so sure about my colouring this week, I have been experimenting with a new linen card and my Promarkers and it is not as nice to use as the canvas textured card I had got used to.

This is the lovely sketch by Karen which we followed this week. Make sure you pop over to the Willow Sketchie blog to check out the rest of the DT's gorgeous makes. Join in with the Challenge this week and you could win one of Sharon's gorgeous Willow designs downloads.
Have a lovely Thursday!
Jane
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I love digi Challenge no 3: An Easter Card or Gift

It's time for our 3rd Challenge already on the I love Digi Blog and the theme this fortnight is Easter. We would like you to make an Easter card or gift....or both!
I decided to make a little box full of yummy Chocolate eggs to give to my Friend this Easter as my DT project.
I used a Sizzix Shaker die to cut the box from Willow designs card and decorated it with a Willow designs image. The little Chick is so cute and perfect for Easter! I coloured him in with my Promarkers.

I decorated the inside of the box with a cute little crown which is also from Willow designs.

The sentiment stamp I decorated the bottom of the box with is from the Everyday sentiments set by Elzybells. The gems are Papermania and the flowers are Hero Arts.

We have a sponsor for this Challenge, Wink Wink stamps is offering 3 digi stamps to our lucky winner.

I hope you will be able to join us for this Challenge. Make sure you check out the rest of the DT's blogs for more inspiration. The links to their lovely blogs are in my sidebar.
Jane
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Wednesday 17 March 2010

What's on your Workdesk Wednesday

Can you believe it is Wednesday already and time for WOYWW again? I had a very pleasant evening yesterday. The stamps I had bought from Heidi were waiting for me when I got home so after all the things I had to do had been done I sat down to play.
My eldest Son and Hubby went to Football and my youngest begged me to take him to Tesco, he has cabin fever as he has been ill for a week and has not been anywhere apart from his Nanny and Grandad's house. He is going back to school tomorrow. He had 2 weeks pocket money to spend as well and it was burning a hole in his piggy bank.
This is a picture of my desk taken last night, it still looks the same this morning. There are a couple of things on my desk which I bought at Tesco. I just had to buy the little notebook with Cherries on as it matches my blog! I bought 2 really useful boxes to put my stick on gems in and lots of choccie goodies to put in Easter treats.
My new Anya stamps are all over the desk too and some Magnolia stamps I also bought from Heidi.
There is a new butterfly punch on my desk too which I am totally in love with. I could spend hours just making Butterflies!

I bought some new photo paper at Tesco to try with my Promarkers and got mixed results. The memento ink bled a bit on it so I am going to have to try it with my printer and some digi images. I am so used to colouring on textured card, I am not really sure if these look ok. I added some glitter glue to them for a bit of added texture.
So, there you go, I've showed you mine so why not show us yours! If you want to see more desks and fancy showing yours off too, please pop on over to the lovely Julia's blog and join in the fun, be warned though, it's addictive!
Jane
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Monday 15 March 2010

You Rock!! Pollycraft Friday Freebie

There were two freebie images this Friday on the Tales from Pollycraft blog, a very cute duck and the super funky Codi Stylin' image.
The image was perfect to use with my DCWV Rockstar paper which I teamed with some Elzybells cardstock.

I printed Codi on to linen cardstock and coloured her with my Promarkers. I added faux stitching around both the layers and wrapped black string around the top layer before putting them together.

The little flower is by Making Memories and the button is from my stash. The sentiment was printed on my PC using a font I downloaded from Two Peas.
Paula is looking for new DT members so I am submitting my application with this card. Wish me luck!
Make sure you also check out the freebies for yourself, I know you are going to love them!
Jane
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