Squigglefly release day

It's release day at Squigglefly today and I have a little cutie to share with you! This image is called Cupcake Cutie and is by Joni Walker.

To make the card, I cut a shaped card base using my Nestabilities and cut a piece of DCWV backing paper for the front of the card. I wrapped a gingham ribbon through the middle and then stuck it to my card base. I coloured the image with my Promarkers and stamped a sentiment below it and cut the image out with my Nestabilities. As a finishing touch, I added a bow, button and a couple of little pearls.
Make sure you check out Squigglefly today for lots more new images!
Have a great Saturday!
Jane
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Bee Happy!

I have some ATCs for the Addcited to ATCs swap, to share with you which I made using the bee from a My Cute stamps set from Make the Day special.


Emily has some adorable My Cute Stamps set in the shop, including some Christmas sets if you are starting your Christmas cards early! These ATCs are for a 'Things with wings' themed swap and this smiley little bee was perfect for my Bee Happy sentiment!
Have a lovely Friday!
Jane
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A Rugby themed card

My good Friend Pauline asked me to make a card last week for her Godson's birthday. The brief was a card for a 15 year old who plays Rugby for one of the Scotland Junior teams. I didn't have any Rubgy stamps so decided to go 'digi' and then came unstuck as I couldn't find any!!

I asked my talented Pollycraft DT teamies for some help and clever Becky found this colouring in page which was perfect! The rest of the card came together nice and quick using Smirk for him papers, a Hero Arts stamp and some Prima letters.
Have a lovely Thursday!
Jane
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Emma's Design Team Call!

My very talented Pollycraft Design Team buddy Emma recently opened an online Craft shop which is full of yummy stash. She has fabulous papers, flowers, gems....and so much more! I have already placed 2 orders!!


Emma is starting a fortnightly Challenge blog and is looking for DT members. If you want to apply please check out this post here!
Jane
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WOYWW - work in progress...

It's Wednesday again already! The weeks are flying by this year, it will be Christmas before we know it so it's lucky I made a Christmas card last night!

This was my desk when I finished working on a couple of Projects last night. I received 2 new release stamps from Squigglefly and I made one little Cupcake cutie into a quick shaped card and then I made a sample for Di's Digis website which will go in my basket as a start to making my family Christmas cards.
There is a new tin on my desk. I treated myself to a Cath Kidston buttons tin in the sale last weekend, I have the matching threads tin but refuse to buy them full price even though I LOVE anything Cath Kidston!
I hope you enjoy having a snoop around my desk. If you would like to see more desks and workspaces please pop over to Julia's blog for more and why not share a picture of yours too?
Have a great Wednesday and Jack says thanks for all his birthday wishes you sent him :-)
Jane
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Happy Birthday Jack!

My baby is 11 today! I can remember so well being pregnant with him and waiting for him to arrive as he was 2 weeks late and ended up arriving very quickly the night before I was due to be induced. These past 11 years have just flown by and now we are preparing for him to go to Secondary school in September. My baby is all grown up!

Jack is footie mad, he goes to watch Reading at every home game with his footie mad Dad and plays for a local team so I spend most Saturday mornings on the edge of the pitch and I still don't have a clue what is going on most of the time! It's so much more complicated than paper and glue!
To make Jack's card I used papers from the Smirk for him range and an adorable image from Di's Digis.
I kept the layout simple and used letters from Prima and My little Shoebox for my sentiment. The ribbon and football button is from my stash.
Here is a photo of my Jack looking cool and dudey on his way to his school prom last week.

So cute and looks so cheeky! No wonder he gets away with so much mischief!
Have a lovely Tuesday! I will save you a piece of birthday cake :-)
Jane
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Happy Anniversary!

I have been married for 13 years today! The card I made for my Hubby is an upcoming DT project so I have another anniversary card to share with you today.
I used this stamp from Elzybells for this card and cut off the last teddy!
The scene was created using Doodlebug, My Mind's eye and yellow gingham paper from my stash. The balloon was also paper pieced. I added a little pink heart gem for the other little bear to carry. As a finishing touch I added a bow, button and an Elzybells sentiment.
Have a lovely Monday!
Jane
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My entry for the Funky Hand DT call

Another post...3rd one for me today! I was browsing through my Blogger Dashboard catching up on everyone's makes after my busy day when I spotted the Funky Hand DT call! How exciting!! I have loved Funky Hand CDs for ever and they just keep getting better. Anice puts together amazing collections of fabulous colours and patterns which always include lots of spots, checks or stripes and lovely bright colours which are a treat to use. I couldn't resist applying for the DT position for the chance to join Anice's team of amazingly talented crafters.
I had a bit of trouble choosing some Projects for this post to showcase some of my favourite makes as every time I finish something it obecomes my favourite, but I have managed to pick three.
The first is a scene I created using a Pollycraft Digi. It was so much fun choosing the papers and building up the layers. I loved adding texture with the stitching, flowers and twine.

The second is a 3d watering can I made using a template I found on the web. This was loads of fun to make and I actually made another 4 of these as Easter gifts, I loved adding all the details.

This card is a bit different but I love it's simplicity, the colours, patterns and letters speak for themselves and I was so pleased with how this card for my Son's special birthday turned out.
A photo of this card was also shown on Create and Craft as I emailed it in to one of the shows that Anice was on!
It has been really good fun looking back over some of my favourite Projects and I hope you have enjoyed seeing them too.
Wish me luck!
Jane
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Pink and Girly for the Die Cut Dreams DT call

I'm back again already! I have decided to enter the Die Cut Dreams DT call with a Pink and Girly card made with one of my favourite Pollycraft images. I had a lovely time as part of one of Susie's other DTs and had lots of laughs and would love the opportunity to be part of the Die Cut Dreams DT.

I used papers from My Mind's Eye. Pink and green is one of my favourite colour combos!

I coloured the image using Promarkers and added some glossy accents to the shoes and shopping bags.
I just had to add some of my favourite gingham ribbon and gems and a lovely pink button as a finishing touch.
I hope you all have a great Sunday.
Jane
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Follow your heart....

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend. Yesterday was very busy for me! We will be visiting family today so I won't be crafting. I have been so busy lately, I am going to have a couple of days rest from crafting to restore my mojo!

Here is a little card I made a little while ago but hadn't shared yet. The image and sentiment are from one of the Pollycraft Mini Doodle sets. The flowers, gems and buttons are from my stash and the papers are DCWV.
I hope you have a lovely Sunday.
Jane
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Shabby chic Unity flowers

I was asked to make a card by a Friend for their Auntie and who loves flowers and the lovely Flower stamp from the Adventures in Happiness kit which is available from Make the Day Special immediately sprang to my mind. I love the simplicity of the design of these flowers and the fact they can be embellished with buttons and gems to make them look different every time.

To make the card, I used a square card blank and cut a section from the front at an angle. I covered the card with the Papermania Rose Garden papers and added a strip of ribbon down the cut edge of the front of the card.
I stamped and coloured my flowers and cut them out with a Nesties shape which I matted on to a scalloped circle cut from pink card. This was then mounted to the card front with foam pads making sure I only stuck them where they would not show!
I embellished my flowers with a button and gems, added a bow and a sentiment from the paper pack and some letters to spell out Auntie which are also in the pack and a couple of punched butterflies.
Have a lovely Friday!
Jane
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A cute bear from Di's Digis...

Di is continuously releasing gorgeous images of cute animals and I adore this little Heartfelt Daisy bear!
I made a quick card with a simple layout and added some stitching in bright purple thread to add a bit texture. I used some lovely backing paper from American Crafts which has a great Summery feel to it. The little sentiment which was stamped on to a tag is by Elzybells and I added a Prima flower topped with a pale blue button as a finishing touch.
Have a great Thursday!
Jane
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WOYWW? Mess, mess, mess!

Here is my desk today, it's messy and I actually cleared some debris before taking this photo! I have been mega busy this week with orders, DT projects etc and I had a bit of excitement at the end of last week when I received the latest copy of Quick cards as my cards are featured in their Quick makes section and they have also published another 2 cards of mine in a subscriber only feature. I have officially been published as a 'Designer'!

In amongst the rubbish on my desk there is a completed Pollycraft project, a tube of pencils I hope to alter soon, some of my favourite string and a pad of freebie papers I simply love and will be using for yet another Project.
I hope you enjoy looking though my mess and if you want to see more desks and workspaces and maybe share yours too, please pop over to Julia's blog for more WOYWW fun!
Have a great Wednesday!
Jane
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A shabby chic Wedding card

I have made lots of wedding cards recently so will be sharing them with you over the coming days and weeks. I bought this stamp at the NEC craft show earlier in the year and this is the first time I used it. I adore this image! The wedding couple are just so cute!

I used a backing paper from a huge K+Co stack I bought ages ago and I love it's Shabby chic feel. I coloured the image with Promarkers in pastelly colours to match the paper and created a simple layout stitching around the edges of the layers with my Sewing machine. The lace was from my stash and I added vintage Mother of pearl buttons to the centres of my Prima flowers. The sentiment is from Elzybells and I added a small heart pearl from Quixotic paperie to highlight it.
Have a lovely Tuesday!
Jane
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Pollycraft Monday Challenge

It's Monday already and time for another Pollycraft Challenge. It's Paula's birthday today and she has chosen a 'Happy Birthday' theme. Happy Birthday Paula!!!

I used one of the wonderful new mini doodles sets to make a Birthday card using some of my favourite colours.

The backing paper is by DCWV and I added a lovely little strawberry charm and my favourite gingham ribbon.

This week we are sponsored by Bunny Zoes Crafts

This week's winner will received a Wags 'n' Whiskers 'Buddy's Balloon' stamp and a personalised digi set.

Huge thanks go to Nikki for sponsoring us this week...

I hope you will be able to join us for this Challenge! Make sure you check out the Challenge blog for some fabulous DT projects to kick start your inspiration.

Have a great Monday!
Jane
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Beautiful Blooms for the Squigglefly Challenge

It's Monday and time for a new Squigglefly Challenge! The theme this week is Beautiful Blooms and you can interpret the theme any way you like. I decided to use the super sweet Hula Girl image by Jackie Mathews who has a lovely flower in her hair and flowers around the top of her grass skirt.


I used a Sizzix XL die to cut my card base and covered it with Bobunny Double dot in a zingy green. I added a flower shape cut from DCWV citrus stack paper. I coloured and cut out the Hula girl and added her to the front of the card with foam pads. I then added flowers to the bottom of the card to look like a flower necklace before stamping my Hero Arts sentiment. I added a few coordinating gems as a finishing touch.
I hope you will be able to join us for this Challenge, I love seeing all your Squigglefly cards!
Jane
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Pink and girly for Sketch Saturday

My Son asked me to make a card for one of his Friend's yesterday. I was quite surprised he asked me as he had originally said he wanted to buy one. He asked me for a card with a girl shopping on it so we had a look through the Pollycraft digis and he said this one was perfect!

I asked him to pick out 3 papers from the My Mind's Eye stack which came free with a Magazine recently and I added the zingy green Bobunny double dot card.


I followed the fab Sketch Saturday sketch and added a 13 from American Crafts thickers and a Hero Arts sentiment. As a finishing touch I added a few flowers, a button and some gems.

I hope you have a lovely Sunday.
Jane
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Squigglefly release day and Christmas in July!

It's release day for Squigglefly today and you are going to love the new images this week! I had a play with some of the new images and also made my first Christmas card for this year.
The first image is Golfing Girl by Cheryl Alger. I created a little scene using My Mind's Eye cloud paper which I got from the Funky Farm Scrapbook Barn. I love cloud papers and this one has a lovely textured and the reverse side is a great green which is perfect for grass. I sewed around the edges of my cut out pieces to add definition and then coloured and cut out the image.

I used an Elzybells stamp which actually says tea-riffic and inked the words I needed leaving a space for some Prima letter stickers to spell out my sentiment. I added the image to the card with foam pads and the golf ball was stuck on with glue and I added glossy accents. As a finishing touch, I added a bow topped with a button and a small gem.
It does feel a bit early to be talking about Christmas already as I have not yet been on my Summer Holidays this year but I couldn't resist making a card with this adorable Rollie Ollie Santa by Mark Hicks which is also part of this week's release.

I made a very simple little card by matting and layering Basic Grey Christmas paper onto red card and stitching around the edges. I coloured the image with Promarkers and cut it out adding Flower soft to his beard and suit. I stamped a sentiment and cut it out with a Spellbinders tag and tied a charm to it with Bobunny double dot ribbon. Such a cute and quick card to make, I will be making many more of these in the months to come.
I hope you have a great Saturday and don't forget to check out all the new Squigglefly releases!
Jane
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Pollycraft new images

Paula released lots and lots of new images yesterday all available as digi downloads from Pollycraft.
She has created something a little different for you this time: Mini doodle sets! Each set has 3 images on a theme and coordinating greetings and you can get them here.

I have made lots of cards with them already and will be sharing them with you over the coming weeks. The 'Yummy Wishes' set is perfect for Birthdays and I loved colouring and glittering the little cake.
The 'On the Road' set is great for Men's cards and I created this great Summery card using DCWV papers.


The 'Love Naturally' set has some great whimsical images, this little squirrel is adorable!

There are also three more Cherry Kisses girls, I love the 'Lil miss Attitude'!
Make sure you check out the rest of the DT's blogs for more examples of cards made using these fun new images, the links are in my sidebar.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Jane
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A Happy Life heart hanger

I received a wooden heart blank from Julia recently and have been wanting to alter it and make it into a hanger for a while. I decided the Happy Life sentiment from the Adventures in Happiness kit available from Make the Day special would be perfect to embellish the heart.

I first cut strips of tulle which I sewed a running stitch through to created a ruched frill which I stuck to the heart with my glue gun. I drew around the heart on to ledger paper to make a shape to cover the front and back of the heart and distressed the edges with inks. I then stamped my sentiment before sticking the heart shape to the heart blank. I added a string hanger and embellished with flowers, ribbon, buttons and pearls.
Make sure you check out all the new stamps at Make the Day Special. Unity are now making Cosmo Cricket stamps and Emily has 3 new adorable sets available!
Have a great Friday.
Jane

A card for my Best Friend !

I have a quick share for you today! This is the card I made for my Best Friend's Birthday. I have know Fiona for as long as I have known my Hubby and we have so much fun together. In our younger days we got up to allsorts of silly things and have been on allsorts of adventures...

I made the card using some Hanglar and Stanglar images which my friend Petra gave me. They are adorable and so lovely to colour in. I couldn't resist using lovely bright colours and chose this DCWV paper as I loved the reds, blues and greens contrasting with the crisp white.

As the image was quite large for the card, I kept the layout simple. I matted the backing paper on to red textured card and cut out the bench using Nesties and layering it on a red scalloped panel. After colouring the images with my Promarkers I cut them out and then added them to the bench with foam pads.
There are no inked edges on this card and no glossy accents! The letters I used are Prima and Making memories and the flowers and gems are from my stash.
Have a lovely Thurssday!
Jane
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A bit late...WOYWW

Better late than never...here is my desk today. It's tidy. I felt bad about scaring some WOYWWers last week so had a big tidy up. I. finished the albums I mentioned last week, there is a post with photos of them here. Not done much over the past few days as I have been feeling unwell. I have been sleeping a lot and am really achey and have a sore throat and muggy head :-(

There is a basket of finished cards on the desk, some still need to be photographed before bagging as they are for an order from my local craft/gift shop. The paper on the left is for another wedding card I have planned for when I am feeling better. I hope you enjoy having a look around my desk, if you want to see more, please pop over to Julia's for more photos of desks and Workspaces.
Will try and visit a few desks now before going for another sleep.
Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday.
Jane
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Two special albums, all finished!

Those of you who read my WOYWW post last week will have seen that I had just received an interesting commission from my Friend. Madeleine wanted 2 books made up, one for her Son and one for his girlfriend to tell the story of their Summer as they started going out together in May.

The covers of the albums are different. I made the albums 6x6 inches by cutting my own chipboard and used mostly Papermania papers to create the pages.
I inked the edges of all the pages and the covers and I bound the albums using my Bind-it-all.
I used an invitation from the party where Freya and Cathal met as a focus for my first page.
This page shows them waiting for their 1st proper date. I used bits and bobs to represent their hobbies. All the stamps I used are Elzybells but I had to chop and change a few of them around to fit the 'story'.
The page on the left is their first date and the other page is to represent a visit to Freya's and a walk in the woods where there is a castle.
They watched the England Algeria match at Cathal's and went to a party together in Twyford. These two pages are my favourites...

A day at the Henley Regatta with Friends.
These pages show their plans for the summer.
The last pages are different as they are both celebrating their Birthdays soon.

And that's it, I really enjoyed making these albums even thought they took me ages and had me tearing my hair out at times! Madeleine was delighted with them which made it all worth it :-)
Have a great Tuesday!
Jane
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A card for a 'Cool Brother' and a freebie.

I had a play last night with my Promarkers and papers and made a card for my oldest Son to give to his younger Brother for his birthday at the end of the month.

I used an image from Di's Digi Downloads called 'On the bench'. Jack is footie mad and this little boy actually looks like him a little and the little dog is like our Puppy Charlie.
Make sure you check out Di's blog as she has an adorable freebie for you this month.
I used a spotty backing paper from the DCWV Safari Stack and coloured the image to match it.
The ribbon is from Hobbycraft and the letters are Making memories and My Little Shoebox.
Have a lovely Monday!
Jane
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Surf's Up! A Pollycraft sneaky peek!

A quick post to share a card made with some new Pollycraft images which will be available soon. These are a bit different to Paula's usual characters but I know you are going to love them!

The papers I used are DCWV and the ribbon was from my stash as were the buttons.
Have a great Sunday!
Jane
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A Ruby Anniversary Cuthbert card.

I have been so busy this week and I have loads to do today as well, it seems never ending at the moment! I will be glad when the kids are on holidays in a couple of weeks!
I didn't get a chance to make a card with the Pollycraft Friday freebie, make sure you go over and get your 'On the Ball Maurice', he is great and I will definitely be using him on a card soon.

I made this quick card yesterday morning before going to work for a colleague and his wife who are celebrating their Ruby Anniversary soon. I coloured Cuthbert with Promarkers and added him to the card with foam pads. The papers are Basic Grey and Pink Paislee, the ribbon was bought from Tesco at Christmas, the word stamps are Elzybells and the stickers are Prima. I added a heart button and some red gems as a finishing touch.
I hope you have a good Saturday!
Jane
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Wedding Congratulations!

Love is in the air and we are now slap bang in the middle of the Wedding Season. I had another play with my 'Be my Bridesmaid' set from My Cute Stamps available from Make the Day Special and made a wedding card in non traditional colours. I used some of my new Basic Grey and Pink Paislee papers which I matted and layered and stitched with my Sewing Machine.

I paper pieced the wedding dress using some dotty papers and coloured the rest of the image with Promarkers. I wrapped organza ribbon around the front of the card before fixing it to the base.
I mounted the image on to the card using foam pads and added a sentiment from the set, lots of cream flowers and lovely pearls.
I hope you have a lovely Friday.
Jane
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Daisy with a Balloon

I made this little card for my Friend who is Dutch and a fervent supporter of their National Football team.
Orange is their colour so I just had to make her an orange card. I recently made her a Football plaque and it seems to have brought her luck as her team have just made the World Cup finals so I thought she should have a card to match!

I printed the cute little Daisy out and coloured her with Promarkers before cutting her out. I stamped the Hero Arts sentiment in the top right hand corner and added a couple of little flowers and gems.
As a finishing touch I added some glossy accents to the balloon.
I love the simplicity of this card and the stiching and the black frame really sets the image off nicely.
Have a great Monday!
Jane
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