CES Challenge - Photo inspiration

Morning everyone? Did you enjoy the Wedding yesterday? I ended up watching it with one eye while I was crafting and it all looked very lovely. I really made the most of my day off and got all my demo pieces ready for the 14th. I will share them with you over the next couple of weeks. We have something a little bit different for you today at CES Challenges, the lovely Vicky has chosen a photo inspiration theme for us this week.
I have made a card using Whiff of Joy and Wild Rose Studio papers which are available from Emma's Shop.

It was my first time inking up my Molly Bloom stamp. I will be using it on my demo day but on a different card. I coloured him in using my Promarkers and layered all the paper pieces onto Kraft card.

Here is the photo you have to be inspired by to make your project. The gingham is lovely isn't it? I would love to have a bedroom like this.

Here's a little close up of George all coloured in, I love his little hooodie, He looks very cosy. I hope you will be able to join us for this week's Challenge. For the chance to win a £10.00 voucher for Crafty Emma's Store. Make sure you check out all the details and some lovely cards from the DT on the blog.
Have a lovely weekend!
Jane
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Whiff of Joy Challenge

Hi! I'm back again! It's been a long time since I posted twice in one day! As I mentioned yesterday, a new Challenge theme was announced yesterday on the Whiff of Joy Challenge blog and somehow, the deadline completely passed me by. It is the first time I have ever forgotten to make a card for a deadline but it is better late than never I suppose.



There is a lovely sketch by Jane for you to follow this fortnight and I loved using it to make my card. I used one of my new Crate Paper 6x6 pads on this card, I love the bright colours and I coloured 'I am sorry Gnome' to match with my Promarkers. I cut the sentiment tag with one of the new Whiff of Joy tag dies, isn't it really dinky and cute! I finished with some stitching, some of my favourite gingham ribbon, pearls and a couple of buttons.

You can check out all the details of the Challenge here and make sure you stop a while to look at all of the gorgeous samples from the DT!
Jane
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By Lori Designs Challenge #15

Yay! It's a Bank Holiday Weekend! I am so happy I have a day off work tomorrow as I have got tons of stuff to do and my youngest also wants me to take him to town so I hope to be able to go out for coffee and hot chocolate with my two lovely boys!


Thursday is 'By Lori Designs' Challenge day and we have gone all pink and girly on you this week so I just HAD to use this adorable little Avery Ballerina!
I made a centre stepper card and used some of my new Echo Park papers which I love!
I used Kraft paper to mat the pretty pink stripes onto and also cut a gorgeous frame from some of my new Nestabilities, this one is a favourite! The sentiment I used is by Pink Petticoat and the various other embellishments are from my stash.

I have gone back to using my old camera as I did not like the photos my new one took, I think I need to explore the settings more but life is just too short to read manuals!! I hope you will be able to join us for this week's Challenge for the chance to win one of Lori's Digis.
You can find all the details here as well as the usual scrummy inspiration from the very talented DT!
Have a good evening!
Jane
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Whiff of Joy GD - Missing You

Hi there! I hope you have had a good day. I have been playing with my papers and stamps tonight while watching the Masterchef final. I popped in to Hobbycraft on my way back from the Hospital and treated myself to some new goodies which kickstarted my mojo!

I have used the beautiful Melinda with a sentiment from this set cut out with this die. The unique cutting system is so clever as you get a perfectly placed die every time! I used string and ribbon from my stash to frame the image. I love how it turned out as it reminds me of a cameo. I bought the papers and the embellishments tonight.

Here is a close up of my image which was coloured with Promarkers and finished with some glossy accents to the win. There is a new Challenge today on the Whiff of Joy blog, I will be back tomorrow with my card for it, I managed to get my days mixed up with the bank holiday but you can check out all the details here and see the wonderful samples from the DT.
Jane
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Pollycraft Monday Challenge - Fun and Games

It's Monday which means it is time for a new Pollycraft Challenge! I hope you had a lovely Easter Sunday, I spent a lovely day with my Family and also managed to fit in some crafting, my mojo came back and my commissions are nearly finished! The theme for this week's Pollycraft Challenge chosen by our lovely Emma is....

Fun and Games

I decided to take the theme litterally and made a game, our very own Pollycraft version of 'Noughts and Crosses'....Critters and Cogs!!

I made a board using a bargain offcut of mount board I picked up on my holiday for 10 pence a piece, I inked the edges with distress inks and then covered it with American Crafts paper. I made a grid with ribbon and gems on more American Crafts paper, mounted it on to brown card and then added it to the middle of the board.

I made counters by printing and colouring 4 each of my favourite Critters and Cogs, I coloured them in, cut them out with Nesties and then mounted them on to brown card and flooded them with glossy accents to make them more durable.
The letters I used are by American Crafts and I finished with a couple more embellishments I found in my stash.
I hope you will be able to join us for this week's Challenge, the prize for one lucky winner is a £10 voucher to spend over at Crafty Emma's Store.

(Please note p&p not included)

Make sure you check out the Challenge blog for lots of inspiration from the DT!
Have a lovely Bank Holiday Monday, right, I'm off now to finish my Commissions before my lot get up!
Jane
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Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter! I hope you all have a lovely Easter Sunday! I will be spending today with my family and hopefully enjoying some of the sunshine. I did a little bit of Crafting yesterday but have still not finished my commissions. I will try and finish them off over the next couple of days.

I have some photos of a couple of the Easter gifts I have made for my family to share with you today. The first is another altered Egg box, this one is a four egg box and I added an image of Fluffy eating an egg and a Magnolia sentiment to the box which had been decorated with scraps from my scrap box.

For the ladies, I painted half of an egg shaped box with pink acrylic paint and then a coat of Tim Holts crackle paint. It's the first time I have used it and it was great fun! It's so addictive to see it crackle under the heat gun. I trimmed the top of the egg box with some ruffled ribbon and then filled the egg with straw and lots of little chocolate eggs.

I wrapped the filled box with cellophane which I tied with ribbon, added a Magnolia sentiment tag and then made a little tag with a Magnolia image which I coloured with my Promarkers.
Both of these gifts were lots of fun to make and came together surprisingly quickly so I will definitely be making more of these next year.
I hope you enjoy your Sunday!
Jane
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CES Challenge #33 - Spring Colours

It's Saturday and the sun is shining! I have been ironing since 6 this morning trying to kick start my mojo! I have commissions to finish and new ones to start, DT cards to make and some demo pieces to put together for a demo day I am doing in May (my first ever in a local craft shop!!eeeek!) but I have no inspiration right now! I am going to do a few more boring chores and take a trip to town to buy summer school polo shirts for my boys and hopefully I will be able to sit down and craft this afternoon...
As you know, Saturday is CES Challenge day and this week the lovely Sue has chosen the theme 'Spring Colours' which is perfect for the weather we are having and a good opportunity to finish off last minute Easter treats.


For my project this week, I have embellished a large egg box and filled it with yummy eggs. I used the Whiff of Joy 'Delivering my Heart to You', and added a little line in the middle of the heart to transform it into 2 eggs!

I used plain pink cardstock and Echo Park Springtime papers to decorate the box and coloured my stamped image with Promarkers. I added glossy accents to one of the eggs and glitter glue to the other one. I also added a few flowers from my stash, a heart shaped button and the tag is tied on with purple button twine from The Ribbon Girl.


I thought I would finish with a calorie free shot of the eggs! It has been torture for me making the Easter gifts this year as I am on a diet so no chocolate allowed!
I hope you will be able to join us for this Challenge for the chance to win a £10.00 voucher for Crafty Emma's store, make sure you check out the Challenge blog for all the details and some wonderful inspiration from the DT.
Have a lovely Saturday and a great Easter.
Jane
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By Lori Designs Challenge #14

I am a little bit later than usual with my card for this week's By Lori Designs Challenge. This week we have some wonderful spring colours for you to work with, I love that green mixed with the aqua!


I have used the lovely Quinn on my card with some of the new Echo Park 'Springtime' papers. The sentiment is by Cat's life press and I stamped it on to a punched Stamping up label. The flower, ribbon and button are from my stash.
Team B are showcasing their gorgeous cards this week on the Challenge blog. Make sure you pop over and take and you will be able to find all the details of this weeks Challenge.
Enjoy the rest of your Thursday!
Jane
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A Japanese Dolly

I have a card to share with you today using one of the new Orange Bird Studio digital images which have recently been released at Squiggle Stamps. This image is called 'Japanese Dolly' and she is very cute!

I used a paper I have had in my stash for a long time with some ribbon which was on my desk! I had a go at colouring Black hair for the first time using grey Promarkers but I am not 100% happy with the results, I think her hair still looks too grey...I added some machine stitching and a sentiment from Hero Arts, a little cherry blossom flower and some gems as a finishing touch.
I hope you have a good Wednesday, I am off to see the Ear Nose and Throat Specialist this afternoon, fingers crossed he will find out what is wrong with me and I will be able to start feeling better soon.
Jane
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My First Tutorial on the Whiff of Joy blog

Hi Everyone, I am sharing my first tutorial today as a Guest Designer for Whiff of Joy on the Whiff of Joy Inspirations blog.


I will be showing you how to make a centre stepper card using the sweet Prima Ballerina Nora digital image. You can see my first tutorial here.
Have a lovely Tuesday!
Jane
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Pollycraft Monday Challenge - Sketch and Vintage

It's Monday which means it's time for a brand new Pollycraft Challenge and this week Maria has chosen our theme and has made a sketch for us and wants is to follow a Vintage theme.
I have used the lovely Cherry Kisses 'Tea in the 20's' image which is available here from the Pollycraft Shop for my card with some fabulous vintage Craftwork cards papers.

I don't do vintage very often but I really enjoyed making this card. I added lace and flowers from my stash and a Whimsy stamps sentiment ticket stamp and finished with lots of pearls.

I hope you will be able to join us this week and use Maria's wonderful sketch. The prize this week is a £10.00 gift voucher from The Creative Cottage

Have a lovely Monday!
Jane
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A Simply Sassy Sunday...

I was recently introduced to the wonderfully quirky Simply Sassy stamps from the wonderful creations of my hugely talented fellow Pollycraft teamie Maria. I fell in love with these images and treated myself before I went away on my holidays.


The image I have used on my card which I made following the sketch for the Simply Sassy GDT call is called Hippie Chick and she is one of my favourites.


I used Prima Madeleine papers and a My Mind's Eye paper and coloured my image using Promarkers. I just love her big eyes and she was an absolute dream to colour in. The sentiment I used is from Whiff of Joy and the ribbons and twine are from The Ribbon Girl.

I really enjoyed playing with my new stamp today, I have lots of things I should be doing instead but I can never resist new stash!
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

New By Lori Designs images

Lori has been really busy and has a few more new images for you...a little pre Easter treat!!

You can find all the new Lollipops HERE!

I love that little bunny!

Hope you are having a good weekend!
Jane
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CES Challenge #32 - Sue's Sketch

Morning everyone, I hope you have had a good week. We have been away on holiday this week in Devon and have had a lovely time. The weather was not perfect but we went to lots of lovely places and had lots of fun. I haven't made any cards for two weeks now and am starting to get withdrawal symptoms! I am hoping to fit in some crafting time this weekend!


We have a lovely sketch for you this week at CES Challenges which has been put together by the very talented Sue. I have used some of the new Crate Paper Toybox 6x6 papers and one of the adorable new Swings and Slides images from Pollycraft.

The sketch is lovely to work with and I added some polka dot buttons and a sentiment and Cat's Life Press sentiment as a finishing touch.
I hope you will be able to join us for this week's Challenge for the chance to win a voucher for Crafty Emma's Store, make sure you check out the Challenge blog for lots of inspiration from the wonderful DT.
Have a great Saturday!
Jane
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By Lori Designs Challenge #13

Hi Everyone! I can't believe it's Thursday already! I hope you are having a good week so far. Thursday is By Lori Designs Challenge Day and we have a fab colour combination for you this week with two of my favourite colours, duck egg blue and olive and they complement the orange and creamy yellow which have been chosen so well.

I am unashamedly proud and over the moon with the card I have made this week. I love how it turned out :-) The apple paper came in a job lot from Sarah's cards and I LOVE it! It fitted the theme of my card so well as I had already decided I was going to use the cute Lacie before I received the paper. I teamed it with some orange card and some ledger paper which I had stamped with a Whiff of Joy sentiment.

I coloured the image with Promarkers and then cut it out before adding it to the card with foam pads. As a finishing touch I added a pencil button and some alphabet twill which I tied in a bow and topped with a pearl.
I hope you will be able to join us for this Challenge for the chance to win some of Lori's fabulous images. Make sure you check out the Challenge blog for lots of inspiration from the DT and all the details.
Enjoy the rest of your Thursday!
Jane
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Whiff of Joy GD - Football Ben

Morning everyone! I hope you are all well. I am still glowing from my time in the Spotlight yesterday on the Whiff of Joy blog, it was so lovely seeing all my cards over there :-) It's time for a brand new Challenge on the Whiff of Joy Challenge blog and the card I have to share with you today was made following this fortnight's theme which is a recipe of:

3 buttons, 2 papers and 1 ribbon

I have used Football Ben for my card with some papers from my scrap box.
One of the things I love about digis is that you get a perfect image when printing on textured card, I love the effect this gives so I chose some bright white canvas textured card to print Ben and then I coloured him in with Promarkers.

I layered my two papers up and stitched them with red thread before wrapping them with my ribbon and adding them to a Kraft card base. I then added a sentiment from the newly released Whiff of Joy set. The finishing touch was three lovely spotty buttons. I loved mixing the red and green with the black and white for this card. I normally shy away from this colour combination as I worry it might look a bit too Christmassy but I think it works really well for Boys's cards.
The Whiff of Joy Design Team have made some wonderful Projects to inspire you, please check out the Challenge blog for all the details!
Have a great Wednesday!
Jane
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New Vintage Ronnie Fundraising image

The wonderful Paula from Pollycraft has released a second 'Ronnie' image to help Emma raise funds for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Please read Emmas FUNDRAISING PAGE for her story, her Dad Ronnie lost his life tragically in 2009 after an accident at work and was transported to the Hull Royal Infirmary by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance

Ronnie is available to buy here and all funds raised will go to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.
Jane
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Introducing Chester!

I have a brand new Cheeky little Chimp to introduce to you all today! Please meet Chester the new addition to the Pollycraft family. Chester is a very busy tiny little Monkey and gets up to all kinds of mischief as you will see here in the fabulous new images released yesterday at Pollycraft.

I have used Chester sat on a vintage phone for my card and teamed him with some Basic Grey and Echo Park papers. The sentiment I used is from Hero Arts
and I used a spring for the telephone cord as I really wanted to cut out the image. The ribbon is from my stash and I have no idea where it is from and it is hiding some stitching that went terribly wrong! The pearl is from Prima.
Make sure you check out all the new images here!
Have a good Tuesday!
Jane
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Pollycraft Monday Challenge - Easter

Morning everyone! It's Monday and it's time for a new Pollycraft Challenge and this week's theme is 'Easter'. I love Easter eggs, in fact I love any chocolate!
I have used 'Fluffy Wabbit' who seems to be a bit of a Chocoholic as well! I don't think that Easter Bunny disguise is fooling anyone!

I made a card blank from Kraft using my Grand Nestabilities and used Echo Park and Funky Hand papers which I sewed together. I used Ribbon Girl ribbon and finished with a touch of glossy accents on the egg and a couple of stick on pearls.
Make sure you check out the Challenge blog for lots of lovely inspiration from the fabulous Pollycraft DT. I hope you will be able to join us for the chance to win 3 digis from The Secret Crafter.

Have a great Monday!
Jane
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Fill your Heart with Love and Laughter

A couple of weeks ago I was very lucky to be able to buy one of SJ's gorgeous new Angel stamps. Dina so beautiful and I made her into a simple card using a digital paper from here and a lovely soft Organza bow.

I paperpieced Dina by stamping her onto white cardstock twice, and once on each of the patterned papers. I coloured her with Promarkers before cutting her out and adding glitter to her wings and halo. The lovely sentiment is by Hero Arts from a set which has been in my stash for a while but has never been inked! I finished the card with a vintage Mother of pearl button and a couple of pink pearls.
Have a great Sunday!
Jane
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CES Challenges - Monochromatic

It's Saturday and I don't know about you but I am good and ready for the weekend to start! Saturday is CES Challenge day and I we have a great theme for you this week! This week we want you to try the 'Monochromatic' look working in the same or shades of the same colour. I decided to go pink and girly and made a card using the adorable Mimi on her bicycle.

I used Prima and My Mind's Eye papers and a Cat's Life Press stamp which are available from Crafty Emma's store with some Ribbon Girl ribbon and Prima flowers.
Make sure you check out the Challenge blog for lots of inspiration from the DT and I hope you will be able to join us for the chance to win a fabulous prize from Crafty Emma's Store.
Have a great Saturday!
Jane
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Whiff of Joy GD - Sweet Nora

I have a card to share with you today which was made using some of the gorgeous Whiff of Joy products which were released on the 1st of this Month.
I have used 'Sweet Nora' on my card with the butterfly die border and a stamped sentiment from the General Sayings set.

I used American Crafts papers in lovely pastel tones, much softer colours than I am used to working with but I thought they suited Norah. I used buttons and some ribbon from my stash with some very pretty pink lace I have had for a while. I used the border die to cut the edge of a strip of paper, the die measures 6 inches long so is perfect to use on 6x6 cards like this one. Nora was coloured with my Promarkers and I then cut her out and added her to the card with foam pads. I had so much fun making this card and trying new colours and making something really girly!
Have a great Friday!
Jane
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BLDC Challenge #12

We have a very pretty colour combination for you this week for the By Lori Designs Challenge, some gorgeous girly pinks teamed with a lovely rich grey. These colours made me think of Weddings so I used the Sugar Sticks 'Bride and Groom' and coloured the handsome Groom in grey and added pink accents to the Bride's dress. They make a very handsome couple don't they?

I used a mix of papers from American Crafts and Wild Rose studio with some darker pink card which I punched with a new EK Success punch. The lovely pink bow is tied with Ribbon from The Ribbon Girl. The sentiment is by Pink Petticoat and I added a little flower and heart charm from my stash as a finishing touch.

Make sure you check out the Challenge blog for lots of gorgeous inspiration from the DT. I hope you will be able to join in for the chance to win a gorgeous By Lori Designs image.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Jane
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A fun Birthday!!

It's my day to share my DT project on the Squiggles and Giggles blog and I have a very bright and cheery card for you this week. I found some scraps from in my box and the bright colours reminded me of the circus so I decided to make a card using the adorable 'Oscar the Clown'.

I coloured in Oscar using my Promarkers to match the papers and couldn't resist adding a bit of glitter to his nose. I cut him out leaving a small border around the image and adding him to the card with foam pads. I created a sentiment using letter stickers and some yummy glittery American Craft Thickers which have been lurking in my stash for ages!
As a finishing touch, I added some punched shapes and some stick on pearls.
I hope you have a great Wednesday.
Jane
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Brand new Swings and Slides from Pollycraft

I have a card to share with you today which I made using one of the new Swings and Slides images which were released yesterday at Pollycraft. If you are a regular visitor to my blog, you will know how much I loved the images from the 1st set so it was a really exciting when we found out Paula was drawing more!

I made a card using the Sunflower Girl and created a little garden scene by layering up patterned papers I had punched with a Martha Stewart punch and some lovely American Crafts cloud paper. I cut a banner using the Dienamics Banner die, punched it and strung them together with Baker's Twine finishing each end with little bows. The sentiment is made from Making Memories stickers and I finished the card with a couple of little gems.
You can find all of the adorable new Swings and Slides here.
Have a great Tuesday!
Jane
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Pollycraft Monday Challenge - Old/Neglected Image

It's Monday already! The weekend went really quickly for me, I went to Hampton Court yesterday morning with my family for a look around and some lunch. I hadn't been there for years and it was great fun walking through all Henry the VIII rooms, especially as I have been watching the Tudors lately.
We have a brand new Pollycraft Challenge for you today and the theme is 'Old/Neglected Stamp or Image' I picked the Felicity and Friends 'Codi Stylin' image I used when I applied for the Pollycraft DT as I have not coloured her in for a while.

I used some of my new Fancy Pants papers and some Kraft card and coloured the image to match using my Promarkers. I stamped a sentiment ticket on Kraft and cut it out and finished with a felt flower topped with a small wooden button.
Make sure you check out the Challenge blog for lots of lovely cards from the DT. Paula is sponsoring this week's Challenge and if you take part you will have the chance to win some of the gorgeous new Swings and Slides images that are being released over at Pollycraft today.
Have a great Monday!
Jane
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Happy Mother's Day!!

Morning everyone! I have the card to share with you today I made for my lovely Mum for Mother's Day. I used a Pink Petticoat Download for the image and Crate Paper papers.

I printed the image twice and coloured it in with Promarkers and decoupaged some of the yummy cakes. I added some stitching, some gorgeous Ribbon Girl Bias binding a little Baker's twine bow and lots of flowers!
I hope you all have a lovely day today!
Jane
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CES Challenge #30 - Children

I am running a bit late today! It's Saturday which means it is time for a new CES Challenge. The theme this week is Children so I just had to use of one the cute Pollyraft Swings and Slides. This one is called 'Hoppy Day' and he is carrying a frog! I am petrified of frogs so would run a mile if I came across him in real life!
I have used lots of gorgeous My Mind's Eye papers from Emma's Shop, a little button and s stick on Prima pearl and finished with lots of sewing. I coloured the image with my Promarkers.
Make sure you check out the Challenge blog for lots of inspiration from the DT.
I hope you will be able to join in with us this week. We have a fab prize for you!

The lucky winner this week will receive:

A £10 gift voucher to deduct off any order placed in Crafty Emma's Store

Please note P&P not included.

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday!
Jane
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Introducing....Ronnie Painting

My lovely DT 'Boss' and Friend Emma of Crafty Emma's Store is releasing a new digital Ronnie image today to help raise funds for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance in memory of her Dad who was tragically killed at work in September 2009.

Helen from Ellephantastic has drawn a wonderful image for Emma called 'Ronnie Painting' which is available to buy here from today..

I made a card using Pink Paislee papers and one of my new Spellbinders dies. I think I am getting the hang of my new sewing machine as I am much happier with the sewing on this one! I used twine to tie some little tags together for my sentiment and added a button and a couple of pearls as a finishing touch.
Please visit Emma's Digital images page for all the information on her Fundraising.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Jane
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