Whiff of Joy DT for the Whiff of Joy Challenge - Love is in the air

Good Morning Everyone! The girls on the Whiff of Joy Challenge blog are getting ready for Valentine's Day with this fortnight's theme which is 'Love is in the air' and I have taken this quite literally for the card I have made for the Challenge. I have used the fun 'Penguin Trio' from the latest release at Whiff of Joy who are floating through the air clutching their heart shaped balloons.

I have used Fancy Pants 'Love Story' papers and matted the heart paper onto black card. The cloud paper is an old scrap from my scraps basket and I think it is from American Crafts. The sentiment I have used is by Hero Arts.

I stamped the Penguins onto white card and coloured them in with my Promarkers before cutting them out. I wrapped some twine around the layers before adding them to my card and then hung a little tag on a bow and added a small kraft die cut heart. I added a small tab of black gingham ribbon topped with a red heart button to the top right of the image and some small gems as a finishing touch.

Please take a look at the Challenge blog for all the fab DT cards and all the details on what you need to do to be in with the chance of winning the prize which is a voucher for 15%  off your next order from Whiff of Joy.

I hope you have a lovely Thursday.

Jane

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Sugar Nellie DT - Babies delight

Good Morning! I hope you are having a good week so far. You have probably noticed some changes on my blog lately, I decided to try out a new template and I have also upgraded to the new blogger interface. It took me a while to take the leap as I was a bit worried it may mess up my blog but it is slowly growing on me. One of the features is the ability to have extra large photos displayed so I am trying that today! Let me know what you think!

Every other Wednesday I get to share a card on the Sugar Nellie blog and today I am sharing a card made with the adorable 'Babies Delight' which was released on Friday at Sugar Nellie.

You can read all about how I made my card here, I also made a matching box using a pastry box from Waitrose, I may need to buy some more cakes to get another one as they make perfect gift boxes!

The colours are a bit different from my usual bright colours but I had so much fun using them and adding the gorgeous pastel flowers and the lovely bias binding. I am also entering my card into the latest Ribbon Girl colour challenge which is 'pink and blue'
I hope you have a lovely Wednesday!
Jane
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WOYWW!!

Hello! I hope you are all doing well this Wednesday. I have decided, after a VERY long break to start joining in again when I can with What's on your Workdesk Wednesday so here is my desk as it looks today, photographed last night.

It looks quite boring as I tidied after making what you can see on the desk which is something I have made for the Whiff of Joy Inspirations blog which will be revealed on Saturday. I hope you enjoy having a look around my desk...I really must clean off those sticky double sided tape marks from the front edge...they look  terrible on the photo although I hardly notice them when I am crafting!
I will be back in a bit with a Sugar Nellie card and if you want to see lots of interesting desks and maybe show us yours, you can read all about WOYWW here.
Jane
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New Embossing folder storage!

Good Morning Everyone! I don't have any new cards to show you today but I thought I would show you my new Embossing folder storage. I used to store my folders in a large black zip up folder with my dies but I was running out of space in my second folder so needed a cheaper and more easily accessible way to store my embossing folders. I came accross this binder at the weekend from Paperchase....

and teamed it up with some top loading recipe card holders. The complete binder with inserts cost me £5.25 and I can store 20 embossing folders in it and it sits very neatly on my shelf.

The cuttlebug folders fit brilliantly in the pockets, the sizzix ones are a bit of a tighter squeeze but still fit. I bought an extra set of inserts and have discovered they are a great fit for my Hero Arts sets so I have order two more binders and some more inserts online. I am determined to get my stash organised this year and so far it is going very well! I hope you have a lovely Tuesday.
Jane
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Pollycraft Monday Challenge - Bingo

Good Morning Everyone! It's Monday (booooo!) but luckily we are back to our regular Monday Challenges on the Pollycraft Challenge blog (yaaaaay!!!) so at least there is something good to look forward to now on Mondays.

Cazza has come up with a fabulous theme for you this week....Bingo! She has put together a grid and you will need to pick three items in a line and feature them on your card.

I have gone for a diagonal line and have chosen Pearls and Ribbon to go with my Pollcraft image. I chose to use the fab and funky Sonny Honeycloud image 'My Way' and coloured her in with my Promarkers to match a mix of papers from my scraps basket.


The fabulous ribbon is from The Ribbon Girl and I used a pearl swirl I have had in my stash for ages and a new flower from Wild Orchid Crafts. The sentiment I used is a rub-on by Melissa Frances. I added a red heart button and a heart pin from my stash as a finishing touch.
I hope you will be able to join us for this Challenge for the chance to win 10 Pollycraft Digis.

Have a great Monday!
Jane
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A card for the By Lori Designs Colour Challenge

Good Morning Everyone! I hope you are having a good Weekend so far. I don't normally have a lot of spare time to take part in all the Challenges I enjoy but made a special effort when I saw that the By Lori Designs Colour Challenges were back.

I have used a favourite By Lori Designs image I bought a while ago from Claudia and co and coloured her in to match the colour scheme for the Challenge.

Here is an 'arty' close up of my card, all the papers were in my scraps basket and the sentiment is also from By Lori Designs.


I stitched through all the layers with green thread and added some flowers and a bow tied from gorgeous ribbon from The Ribbon Girl. I added some gems and a little button which was lying around on my desk just begging to be stuck to the card.
I hope you have a lovely Sunday!
Jane
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Sugar Nellie Puppy Love Blog hop - Day 2

Good Morning Everyone and welcome to my blog for your first stop on day 2 of the Sugar Nellie Puppy Love Blog hop. You should have come here from the Sugar Nellie blog if you are following the hop. Thank you so much for all the lovely comments you left on my card yesterday. I have another bright and cheerful card to share with you today which I made using the adorable 'Hugs for Fifi' which is available to buy here from Funky Kits.


I coloured Fifi with my Promarkers to match these fab vibrant American Crafts papers and then cut her out with an oval die and added her to a frame cut from turquoise card. I added a lovely bow tied from from red polka dot ribbon. The sentiment I used is by Hero Arts and I die cut the label shape from a Papermania die. I tucked a small doily behind the image panel before sticking it down and finished with some flowers and some stick on pearls. Your next stop on the hop is the lovely Jenn's blog, remember to leave comments along the way for the chance to win some fab Candy! I hope you enjoy the hop and you can take a look at all the new stamps here.
Have a great Saturday!
Jane
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Friends are the Flowers of Life - Tiddly Inks Blog Hop

Hello Everyone! This is a late and quick post from me as I have decided to join in with the Tiddly Inks Blog Hop. I recently treated myself to an adorable Wryn Image and couldn't resist taking part, I hope I make it before the deadline!


I have made a card using Wryn and some gorgeous Fancy Pants papers, the sentiment was a freebie with the image. I layered up my papers onto kraft and added my usual stitching and some gingham ribbon and lots of flowers. I love this image and she was such a delight to colour too!
I will be back in the morning with my card for the second day of the Sugar Nellie blog hop.
Jane
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Sugar Nellie Puppy Love Release Blog Hop - Day 1

Good Morning and Welcome to my blog for another stop on the Sugar Nellie Puppy Love Blog hop to celebrate the release of these adorable new Sugar Nellie stamps! If you are following the hop, you should have come here from the lovely Pat's blog.
My card was made with the adorable 'Lead the way' and I have coloured her in with my Promarkers to match these fun papers from Papermania. I love their vintage feel and the red,white and blue combo. To make the card, I covered my card base with blue spotty paper and then matted some red patterned paper onto a large scalloped square which was cut from Kraft and I sewed around the edges before adding it to the card at an angle. I die cut a fancy heart frame from more Kraft and layered this up with an envelope cut from the paper before adding the image on top. I added a printed sentiment, ribbon and some bits and bobs from my stash to finish the card off, including a little crown I have had in my stash for ages! I just love how elegant this image is and the little pooch is so cute with her little jacket! Make sure you take a look at all the wonderful new images in the Sugar Nellie shop as they are released today! Keep hopping to see some more samples made with these fabulous new stamps, your next stop on the hop is the lovely Mina.
Please remember to leave comments along the way for the chance to win some Candy and make sure you come back tomorrow as we will be starting all over and hopping again with Day 2 of the hop!
Have a lovely Friday!
Jane
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Whiff of Joy DT for the Whiff of Joy Challenge

Good Morning Everyone! I hope you are having a good week so far. I have a very special card to share with you today which I made for my lovely Hubby's Birthday and which follows the theme this fortnight on the Whiff of Joy Challenge blog which is 'Charms and Bling' .

To make the card base, I created a template in Word and printed it onto Kraft card before cutting it out with a craft knife. I then used the card to trace the shape onto the reverse of patterned paper and also cut this out with my Kraft knife. I sewed (very carefully!!) around the edges of the number before sticking it on to the card base and then matted and layered more kraft papers for the inside of the card.
I stamped 'Happy New Year Ben' onto white card and then coloured him in with Promarkers before cutting him out leaving a small border and added him to the card with foam pads. I tied a heart charm around the number with red twine and added a sentiment by Whimsy stamps which I mounted onto a red scalloped circle. I added some red gems as a finishing touch.
I hope you have a lovely Thursday.
Jane
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Magazine Candy Winners!

Hello Everyone! I hope you are having a good week, I'm not feeling very well at all today so this is a quick post from the sofa to announce the winners of my Magazine giveaways drawn using Random.org

The winner of the Simply Cards and Papercraft Magazine is:

Carly


Carly said... What a fantastic idea! Looks like a great magazine. I love it when they come with some paper or a stamp .. something to help you create something they have in the magazine.

You are so lucky to have a subscription. Thanks for the chance to win your great candy.

xoxoxo Carly

6 January 2012 01:54

and

The winner of the Quick Cards Made Easy Magazine is:

Deirdre

Deirdre said... Woohoo... congrats Jane on another publication. Haven't see it yet. Happy New Year to you and yours. Wishing you a year full of health, happiness and a little papercrafting! LOL!

7 January 2012 20:08

Congratulations ladies!
Please send me an email to milliesmarvels@gmail.com with your address and I will send the Magazines out to you.
Jane
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Sugar Nellie New Release Sneaky peeks start today!

Good Morning Everyone! Sugar Nellie are releasing some new stamps Friday, the adorable Puppy Love stamps! You are going to love them and if you can't wait until Friday....

.....hop on over to the Sugar Nellie Blog now for a little sneaky peek!
Jane
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Hello!

Hello Everyone! I had a play on my nice and tidy craft desk yesterday evening. I have had this adorable Beanie Anya Greeting Farm stamp for over a year now and finally inked her up for the first time yesterday. I coloured her in to match papers from the Fancy Pants Winterland Pad.

I coloured the image with Promarkers and then matted and layered the gorgeous papers onto dark red card and sewed around the edges with aqua thread. I created a sentiment by stamping Whimsy ticket stamps and a sentiment and then layered up two tickets, added some sewing and some flowers.
I added a Whiff of Joy snowflake topped with a button and a bow tied from some gorgeous pink ribbon, I finished the cards with some paper flowers, some gems and some stick on pearls.
Have a lovely Tuesday!
Jane
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Pollycraft Monday Challenge - Anything but a card

Good Morning Everyone! I hope you had a lovely weekend, mine was very busy and very productive, I feel like I didn't sit down for more then 5 minutes all weekend but it was worth it when I look at everything I have done! We are back to weekly Challenges from this week on the Pollycraft Monday Challenge and this week it is my turn to set to the theme! I have chosen...

Anything but a card

I decided to try and get ahead and decorate a money envelope for my Son's birthday next month, I just need to make sure I don't lose it before then :-) I have used the fab Jerry Kisses 'Tune' and some fun and funky Echo Park Happy days papers. I love the fab colours!

The sentiment is one I used last week from Crafter's Companion and I stamped it onto Kraft cardstock this time before cutting it out. Jerry was coloured with Promarkers. The money envelope started life as a gift card that came with an Ipod touch and I rescued it from the bin this weekend!


I punched holes and set eyelets in two of the flaps and tied a bow through the holes with gingham ribbon to match the front. I added a tag created using a Whimsy stamp.
I hope you will be able to join us for this week's Challenge, we are being sponsored by the fabulous Hayley from Funky Farm Scrapbook Barn!


There is a fab sale going on at Funky Farm Scrapbook barn with lots of fab goodies at fab prices!
I have been a customer of Hayley's fab shop for a couple of years now and her service and range of products she stocks are amazing and I cannot recommend her enough, she is brilliant and I am so chuffed she is sponsoring my Challenge week. Make sure you check out the blog for all the details of the Challenge and how you can win the £10.00 voucher for Funky Farm Scrapbook barn.
Have a lovely Monday!
Jane
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New desk and stamp storage ideas...

Hi Everyone! I have been a busy bee this weekend, I have decluttered and decorated my eldest Son's Bedroom which was hard work but really worth it, it has been transformed from a smelly teenage pit to a lovely fresh grown up room, all white with red accents and a fab canvas photo of Times Square but most importantly, he loves it!
I have also been busy reorganising my craft area and stash. I am very lucky to have a little space of my own to Craft under our stairs, the desk that used to live in our bedroom just fits in the space and I have been looking for ages for storage solutions to put on it to house my most used items.


I thought small CD racks would work well stacked together and be the right size but as is always the way, could not find what I was looking for at a good price or the right size until last weekend. I popped in Poundland when I was shopping in Basingstoke to buy some foam pads and tape and there were 4 CD racks which turned out to be perfect and just £4.00 for the lot! I am so chuffed with how they look stacked up and they match some of the other boxes I have had for a while. My Promarkers are stored in pen holders from Muji which were rather expensive but do the trick.
I have also reorganised my unmounted stamps into Slim a4 Tuff Boxes which I bought from Amazon. I was using CD cases but they were a bit fiddly and difficult to label and I could only fit a couple of stamps in each box so it was all getting a bit out of hand.

I have filled 5 of these boxes already and have another 9 on the way which should keep me going for a while!
This is how the look closed and they can easily be labelled by sticking a label on the closing clips.
I have finished all my chores now so will be making my desk messy tonight as I have a DT project to make for tomorrow! I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Jane
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Quick Cards Made Easy Magazine Candy

Morning Everyone! I have another spare Magazine to give away as Candy, this is the latest issue of Quick Cards which features cards made my me! I have made some Topiary cards for the stamping feature, some collage cards and the cards which show what you can do with the free papers.

This issue of the Magazine also features an interview with the lovely Jules from 'Always with a heart' and comes with a 6x6 paper stack.
If you would like to be in with a chance of winning a copy, please leave a comment on this post and I will draw a winner on Wednesday the 11th of January.
Jane
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Simply Cards and Papercraft Magazine Candy

Hi Everyone! I have a spare copy of Simply Cards and Papercraft to give away, I thought my subscription had run out so I bought one and got mine a few days later in the post so I thought I would offer it as a small candy.

The magazine comes with a lovely pad of 6x6 WeR Memory keepers papers. Please leave a comment on this post to be in with a chance of winning and I will draw a winner on Wednesday the 11th of January.
Jane
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Whiff of Joy DT - It's release day!!

Good Morning Everyone! It's release day at Whiff of Joy and this month's release is all about Love and Valentine's day. I have made an Anniversary card using the adorable robots and Echo Park Yours Truly Papers.

I matted and layered the papers onto black card for my layout and sewed around the edges of each layer with red thread. I used a Melissa Frances rub on for my sentiment and the Make it Crafty gears were heat embossed with silver glittery powder. I added a lovely gingham bow and some red gems and pearls as a finishing touch. Make sure you pop over to Whiff of Joy to see all the gorgeous new stamps!
Have a great Thursday!
Jane
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Sugar Nellie DT for the Sugar Bowl Challenge

Morning Everyone! I hope you are having a good week so far and if you went back to work yesterday I hope it wasn't too hard! It's my day for sharing a card on the Sugar Nellie Blog and I have made a card using the sketch from the current Sugar Bowl Challenge.

You may notice something unusual about my card...I have not used any designer papers as this is the optional theme.

I have used the adorable 'Let them eat cake' stamp which is available here. You can read all about how I made my card here on the Sugar Nellie Blog.
Have a lovely Wednesday!
Jane
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U Rock!

Good Morning Everyone! It's Back to Life and Back to Reality for me today as Christmas is well and truly over and I am back to the usual routine of work from this morning. I have really enjoyed having some extra time to craft and to spend with my Hubby and am already looking forward to our first week off this year in March. I was inspired this weekend by the optional theme of 'no designer papers' that is running on the current Sugar Bowl Challenge and decided to have a go at making a card with no Designer Papers. I have so many papers to use, I am toying with the idea of a 6 month paper buying ban to see if I can use up some of my stash!


The image stamp I have used is a Gorjuss girl which was from Sugar Nellie but is discontinued. I love her little skull clip in her hair and I chose some matching skull ribbon I bought in a fantastic haberdashery store in New York which was my starting point for the colour scheme. I embossed a square of pink Papermania card with one of my favourite embossing folders and then inked the edges before stitching it with grey thread to some black card. The sentiment stamp and 'xoxo' stamp are from Crafter's Companion and I stamped the 'xoxo' stamp repeatedly to create a backing paper and the die cut it and stitched it to a scalloped circle. The image was coloured with Promarkers and cut out before adding to the card with foam pads. I added a couple of gems as a finishing touch. I hope you have a good day if you are returning to your 'usual routine'.
Jane
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Whiff of Joy DT - another preview!

TGood Morning Everyone! I hope you are all well today, it's lovely having an extra day off work this weekend, more time to craft! I have made lots of cards over the Christmas break and have been so inspired by all the new stamps from Whiff of Joy which will be released on the 5th of January.

Love is definitely in the air at Whiff of Joy for the next release of Love and Valentine themed stamps. I have used the adorable Henry who is sporting a gorgeous bow on this card and coloured him to match the beautiful My Mind's Eye Love me papers. The sentiment is from an old Hero Arts set and I added a touch of red glitter glue to the hearts before die cutting it and stitching it to a scalloped circle so I could pop it on foam pads behind Henry's head. The gorgeous cotton ribbon is bias binding from The Ribbon Girl, I 'ironed' it flat with my hair straighteners, I love the slightly distressed feel this gives and then tied it in a gorgeous full bow which I topped with a grey spotty button which matches the grey in the papers perfectly! I added a couple of gems as a finishing touch.
I hope you have a great Bank Holiday Monday!
Jane
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Sugar Nellie DT - A little hug

Good Morning Everyone! Happy New Year! I hope you had a good New Year's Eve, ours was quiet apart from the Fireworks! I thought I would celebrate the New Year with an older Sugar Nellie image. I have made a card using a Leanne Ellis stamp called 'A little hug' which is available here on special offer from Funky kits.

I really love the Leanne Ellis stamps and they make lovely 'just beacuse' cards. I have used Echo Park brown spotty paper and layered some gorgeous Bobunny paper on top before stitching around the edges. I distressed a rectangle of the brown paper before adding the image on top which had been coloured with Promarkers and Flexmarkers. My Flexmarkers are slowly creeping into my colouring these days, it took me a while to get used to the colours but I am getting there!
I added a bow from Organza ribbon I found in my stash and a swirl cut from a die I borrowed from Petra. The little brown flowers are from Michaels in New York, I want to go back!!! I finished with a sentiment by Hero Arts, a button and some flowers from my stash. I was very naughty this morning and treated myself to some new flowers from Wild Orchid crafts, can't wait for them to arrive!
Have a lovely New Year's day!
Jane
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