Going For A Spin

I have a great big box full of Sugar Nellie stamps, and for some reason, I've not used them in ages , I can't say why just haven't! Well there are a lot of sporty challenges in blog land at the moment ,the only sports ,if you can call them that ,I do , are walking and cycling, so I fished out this neglected stamp.
It's called "going for a spin" a 2008 design by Elizabeth Bell, for Sugar Nellie. I've coloured in bold markers to match the papers, papermania happy days 12x12 pad, the sentiment is from the same pad and so are the raised flowers.The corner is folded and a brad added , all mounted on yellow bazil card.



Challenges entered :
The Sweet Stop : followed the sketch
The squirrel and the fox : make it sporty
Polka Doodles : Summer
party time tuesday : anything goes


horrid weather here today, very dull and raining, what a Summer. Watched some of the Olympics last night, the men's gymnastics was fantastic.
have a crafty day. janex

A country card with beautiful poppies

I've been saying to Brenda at floral fantisies I'm going to make a poppy card for her candy challenge , so here it is at long last. I love poppies, always a beautiful sight growing wild in fields. I have several varieties that pop up in the garden in the strangest of places,the gaps in paving and gravel, always welcome though.

My card card features a Penny Black stamp,aptly named "Poppy Fields". I've coloured with copic markers trying to keep the shades muted. The papers are serif , picnic in the park. The tag is Diary of an Edwardian Lady , free with a craft mag.
The flowers are made using several different floral punches, the petals,2 different size Marianne punches with matching embossers.The black stamen centres are an em punch,very useful one and the leaf are a woodware punch. Bit of red ribbon ,chalk inked edges and some red gems complete the look.

other challenges entered :

Allsorts : case it , case Emma's gorgeous Hedgy card
Die Cutting Divas : summer fun

stamping for the weekend : photo inspiration

have a good Sunday, dull here this morning,after the rain last might.
janex

The Honey Snatcher

Morning crafting friends, bit cooler here on the Wirral,but the sky is blue so the day looks promising. My craft room has been like a little oven,big window and a lap top that's like a small heater.
Thought I'd make a nice bright card,so cheerful, and hopefully it will raise a smile. My stamps are all from House Mouse and Friends ,Gruffies "ride of your life" set from Joanna Sheen.
I've coloured with copic and pro markers. The sky and bee paper is from Messy Rabbit cd rom. The other scraps of paper with honey combs are echo park,country drive collection.The yellow background paper is bazil basics.

Challenges entered :

craft punked : speed demon (some kind of transport)
totally papercraft: orange and yellow
House Mouse and Friends : summer fun (3rd entry)
simon says : anything goes


Alphabet challenge : M for Men only
Secret crafter : bright and cheerful

Did you watch the opening of the Olympics, not sure if I liked it , a bit strange. All the time I'm thinking how much has that cost in this time of cut backs and recession. My son is 18 and has never been to London, last time I went I was just pregnant with him,to us Northerners it seems a long way away and a whole different way of life. The BBC is trying to make out it's for everyone, where ever you live (the power of TV). A man my husband works with enquired about a deal at the travel agents...1 night in London B&B, 1 visit to the games , transport there from Chester and back ,for him and his young daughter...£800 ...yes he gave that a miss!

have a great weekend. janex

No Stamp, No Pens,Just Die Cuts and some tips.

It's been so hot and clammy here, too hot for crafting, but I did manage to have a bit of a cut out session with my grand Calibur. Must say I don't use this as often as I thought I would, usually I stick to my big shot, that is used daily and has just had new cutting plates,the old ones were so broken through use I had 3 little bits.

The reason I brought out the Grand Calibur was a new die cut I bought, called Fleur De Lis squares, a beautiful but very intricate die. Basically it would not cut properly on the big shot ,brought out the GC better but then bits where stuck,later ripped when removing. I was not happy ,just spent £15 on said die cut set, then I remember watching a tip on create and craft, use a piece of wax (grease proof) paper,between the die and your card or paper for cutting. Doing a bit of baking from time to time there is always a roll of it in the pantry. Well it works very well ,in fact it's essential...so that's my passed on tip.
Makes you think how far home crafting has come on since the early days when I started, everyone doing cartwheels over simple die cut shapes.

On to my card , monotones of aqua, one of my fav colours , found all around our home.
The die cuts used : Fleur De Lis Squares , Parisian accent corners and Marianne designs bird on a branch .I've added gems , perfect pearls and a bit of lace. The paper is from Linen closet , DCWV.

challenges entered:

Fab N Funky : no stamped images
Charisma Cards : monochrome
Totally Gorjuss : leaf it

Looking out on to a beautiful sunny blue sky, yesterday was too warm and very dull, ending in a total down pour ,as it usually does in the Uk.
Have a great day, and a super weekend. janex

Sand,Sun and Surf

Morning crafters,still warm here but very dull,yesterday was a scorcher , far too hot to craft. I was lucky enough to be taken for lunch by my Mum, she payed in exchange for me doing her hair, good deal for me I thought. It was lovely because , for a change, we could sit outside.
Keeping to a summery feel my card features a "fun in the sun" House Mouse and friends stamped image,coloured with promarkers. I've added flower soft sand and puffy embossing powder for the sun cream. I cut out a foam mounted the image, the background paper is Beach Babe, a free gift with cardmaking and paper craft mag. The added flip flops, sunglasses and cream are from a sticker set by Jolees Boutique.The sun is a woodware punch.

Challenges entered :

House Mouse and Friends : Summer Time Fun (second entry)
creative stamp friends : Summer ,sun ,beach and sea
cupcake challenge : the ocean
crafty calendar : fun in the sun
Joanna Sheen : animal crackers

hope you have a happy sunny day. janex

Spotty Rose

Well yippee the suns come out, in fact it's hot here...to0 hot in my craft room...still fancied a play..
Yesterday I made a few flowers with my Tim Holtz tattered florals die. This card features one of them ,using the 2 smallest flowers cut from spotty brown paper. The leaves are a woodware punch. The Swiss dots pink card is from Handy Hippo and the DP is kaiser crafts ,the lake house collection.I've added some large brown gems and craftwork card sentiment and a pretty strip of lace ribbon.The corners are gold peeloffs on brown card.

Challenges entered :

Love to create : spots and dots

cup cake inspirations : see above pic (my inspirations are the colours)
papertake weekly : all things girlie

enjoy your day . janex

Time For A G&T

When the sun is shining and jobs are done there's no better way to unwind than with a lovely cool G&T. I love loads of ice in mine,tonic with a hint of lemon and a big slice of lime.
The mice on my card don't seem to keen on the lemon and limes, don't you just love those cheeky faces . This card has been made using the new Joanna Sheen House Mouse cd, it comes with a gorgeous glossy project book too. Would I recommend it....oh yes.
My extra finishing touches are spellbinder Parisian corner die cuts and perfect petal diecuts by di namics, with yellow brads for centres and a touch of glamor dust on the fruits.

challenges entered :

House mouse and friends challenge : summer holidays and summer time fun

well it's not bad weather wise today here, got the long grass cut an=d washing on the line, makes a change. Enjoy the weekend. janex

Just Sitting Here

Thanks for all the nice comments on my ice cream card yesterday,it's looking at me now and making me hungry,lunch time I think.
My card today features one of my oldest and most favourite Penny Black stamps called purr-fect time. I love it because it's so pretty, easy and lovely to colour and is so big it fills a card. Before we had our 2 poodles and my Mum had her's , we had cats, I love cats but think a dog is a real family member although I had a beautiful cat called Thomas who was so loving and followed me to work.
The card I've used is by Hunkydory,my favourite things collection.I've coloured with promarkers . The sentiment is Hero Arts and the pretty roses part of a candy I won from Tracy at Country Mouse.

Challenges entered :
Totally Papercraft : photo inspiration (see pic above )
My Mums craftshop : cats and dogs
charisma cardz : favourite animal

It's stopped raining here, wet this morning, fingers crossed for the weekend.
Happy crafting.janex

I Want Ice Cream

Well what I really want is ice cream weather. This Summer is just not fair! looking out of my craftroom window, the rain is hammering on the glass and the wind is howling, it should be I want hot chocolate.
All that aside ,I still wanted to make a Summery card with ice cream and icecream colours.
When I was first given an old pc , many moons ago,I was very uninterested, my brother the computer pro,gave me 2 software discs,1 was Scrabble (I love board games and words), the other paintshop pro. He said they would appeal to me and using them I would develop good mouse control. He was right on both accounts.
I used to do a lot of computer crafting and making hybrid digi cards,well ink was expensive so I stopped, but recently I've found cheap ink that works and some great digi kits ,so my hybrids are back.

My card is made using Sweet shoppe design digi kit called I scream for ice cream, this kit is in the sale, and very reasonable and of course instant. All my designing and planning is done on paint shop pro 8. I'm very familiar with this soft ware, it has a drop shadow feature to add dimension too, but use what ever soft ware that works for you.
Some of the elements I have cut out and raised with foam pads. I've added quickie glue and glamour dust, for a touch of sparkly sherbet effect and added tiny gems and a real button centre to my digi bow.
I had great fun making this card,and if you have a printer and suitable soft ware , I urge you to give hybrid digi's a go..

Challenges entered:

crafting for all seasons : ice cream /popsicle
papercraft star : icecream
Divas by design : anything goes
crafty ribbon challenge : anything to do with holidays, sun, beach etc

have a great day, and pray for some sunshine on rainy Britain. janex

Party Time In The Farm Yard

Well after a lot of rain the sun has finally come out, not brilliant by any means but I'm trying to be optimistic here !
Got a nice bright card though. Thought I dig through my Penny Black stamps, after seeing the promarker challenge I had chickens on the brain...or is that I'm chicken brained...
The super and humorous stamp is called "best of luck", I love it, coloured in bright promarkers . The lime green gingham card is from pinflair and the ribbon was a mag free gift. The sentiment (speech bubble) ,old stash, I think it was from paperchase. The flowers are Marianne dies with buttons gallour flower button centers. I must admit I'd forgotten about these flower die cuts, then my Mum sent me a card for my Birthday, one of my own makes, on it was flowers made with that die. Oh I thought isn't that lovely so I found it and used it. Definitely a case of too much stash, well we all do it !

Challenges entered :

Passion For Promarkers : down on the farm
Dutch Dare :tic tac toe. (I choose , bright colours,flowers and summertime)


Tuesday Alchemy : Button,Button who's got a button

A Birthday Wish

Well, not blogged for a wee while, lately our social life has been quite busy. This weekend we had a dinner party and yesterday went to a barbecue. The food was lovely but although it stayed dry ,the weather wasn't brilliant,fire on when we got in and a hot cup of tea. Bob and I both feeling a bit achy today, hope were not coming down with some thing.
The loft is done now, boarded and lagged,thank goodness, I've still got bruises from being up there. But while I was up there I found some old crafting cd roms. My card features an image from a found cd rom, Victorian Birthdays by Joanna Sheen. The background paper is a Raspberry road download called circle of friends, this is a lovely vintage set I'm sure many of you would love , found here.
I've used a martha Stewart punch for the border strip and added some lace , part of the candy I won. The diecut is di namics, the flower brad The Hobby House and I've added some glamour dust for a bit of sparkle.


challenges entered :
sketch N stash : Sue's Sketch

cupcake inspirations : see pic
Dream valley : anything but a square
Alphabet challenge : L for Lace

well the weather is doing it's best to put a dampener on everthing, least it can't spoil our crafting. My internet has been going down a lot lately but I will try to visit you all soon. janex

Ballooning for Berries

Sorry If I've not visited you, blogging friends, I've been having internet problems. It's Virgin Media's fault ,3 times now, fingers crossed it's fixed for good now.
When I saw the house mouse challenge this fortnight was fruits, I thought that ruled me out, no fruity hm stamps, then I remembered my lovely blog pal Pinky had sent me some hm stamped images a while ago,quick shufty though , and I found this super cute image called " Ballooning For Berries". The little house mouse better look out for the birds,one poke with their beaks and pop!
I've coloured with promarkers and the papers are raspberry road,mag free gift. The scene is enough on the card,so I kept it simple with just a bit of matt and layering.

challenges entered:

House Mouse and Friends : Lets get fruity
craft a scene : in the garden
simon says stamp :lets get fruity

It's my Bob's Birthday today, he's 48 , poor things working hard at Royal Mail today, but I'm treating him to a carvery meal tonight at a local restaurant.

enjoy your day. janex

Bright Grasses

I couldn't resist this stamp "grasses " by woodware,clear magic. I think you could do so many different looks with it. Me being me, decided on a bit of bright colours. I choose some pretty paper from my Spring Drop pad by first editions, and coloured with promarkers in colours to match the papers and photo inspiration. I added glamour dust and gems for a little bling. The sentiment is K&Co and the orange orangza ribbon from my big bag of ribbons.
I'm not really and floral card making girl, but I'm often asked to make them , I must say I'm loving the way this has turned out, what do you think?

challenges entered:

Everybody Art : Summer (thought the colours where bright and Summery )
Passion for promarkers : ginghams or checks
love to create : photo inspiration
Sir Stampalot : what's your crafting passion (I love stamping, colouring with markers, fancy cards ,pretty ribbons and a bit of glitter and gems )
cute card Thursday : gardeners world


well Bob's back at work,and it's raining as per, so it's back to normal,bit of house work, bit of dog walking,bit of ironing and lots of crafting. The new house mouse project book and cd from Joanna Sheen has just arrived...super fabulous ...can't wait to play....BFN janex

added note , my internet has been off all day nearly, just come back at 5pm.

YOU MAKE ME GO [WOW]

Afternoon crafters,quite pleasant here today, warm with a bit of sun. The couple who's wedding we went to where so lucky as the sun shone on beautiful North Wales all day and the evening was so warm. You would think the weather for July would be ok ,but after the heavy rain we have had since forever it seems that is not the case, so they were very blessed .
I went to Hobby Craft again last week ,for another mooch round ,and spotted these gorgeous retro papers "Happy Days" by do crafts , going on a stand. Quick flick through the 12x12 pad and then into my basket. I've used them on my card, cutting the adverts and a ticket out as a sentiment. I've teamed them with this adorable House Mouse image ,sew mice , unmounted set by Joanna Sheen.
The image is coloured with promarkers and a few eyelets and buttons for a finishing touch.
It's my Bob's birthday soon and I think he would like this card, he likes cute animals like me. We have 2 little girl cats,called Violet and Tipsy, that coming visiting the garden all the time,we have been fussing them today, Bob would love us to have them, Alfie my white poodle is having none of it!


with all the work and socialising I've done this past 2 weeks I'll be glad for a bit of peace and quite. Still got some of the loft to empty, the worse job ever. I have 3 big multi coloured bruises from being up there the other day,the car was full to the brim and headed for the local tip and my neighbours have lots of wood to burn on there stove.My hubby has asthma so can't go up there but is very happy to send me ,one of the boards I stood on sprang up , hit me on the shin and caused a great lump, I got down the ladder after about 2 hours, black from dirt and black and blue from bruises. Take my advice don't horde (this is rich coming from a crafter ) but if you do don't stick it in the loft.
enjoy the rest of the weekend. janex

Summer Time and the living is easy

If only the title was true, not raining today that's something , but not exactly great Summer weather.
Been AWOL from my blog for a few days, just busy with stuff . It's been a whirl of social activity around here, some folks like my Mum ,would love that but I prefer a quiet life. Last night we celebrated Bob's Mums 70th Birthday and tonight we are going to a wedding do,then out again Sunday, I'm tired but don't want to miss the do tonight, my pretty new frock is already to wear and I don't often get the chance to look posh.
On to my Summery card, one of my very fav penny black stamps, bee costume, coloured with promarkers. The pretty papers are printout from Raspberry Road called honeycomb.
The glittery sun was from dress it up, hobby craft.

challenges entered :

The sweet stop : followed the sketch above
Penny Black : summer Time , and the living is easy
craft punked : monochrome
craft your days away : doilies and lace
Paper Play : happy Birthday

Some Bunny To Love

I just adore this cute bunny, I made a card with this stamp set "love Bunny " Joanna Sheen unmounted , a few days ago ,see post here , but it sold on Saturday,so good excuse to make another.
The papers are wildrose studio , spring, printed from a cd rom. I forgot how lovely this cd is , now I've got some afordable ink to work in my printer, I'm printing lots from this cd,so watch this space.
The diecuts used are spellbinders oval nesties and ellison design thick cuts buckles (the heart). The buttons are do craft , the london line. Pink oraganza ribbon,to tie the look together.

Challenges entered :

The Sweet Stop : followed the sketch ( I thought it was too busy for me ,but using the same tone papers did the trick ,I think )
cupcake crafts :bright as a button
Shopping our stash : triple Threat : 3 of something (I have 3 heart embellishments)
Paper Take Weekly : anything goes
craft creations : recipe : 3 patterned papers, 2 buttons, 1 ribbon , 1 sentiment

this morning is wet again, yesterday was a bit brighter ,so after eating a Chinese banquet the night before, we decided a spot of exercise was in order. Bob and I and the 2 poodle walked up Maul Famau , a mountain in North Wales, it was super despite the not so brilliant weather, fabulous views and lovely clean air. The dogs loved it, even at 11 they have plenty of go in them. You might laugh at this but when I make a picnic for us , I also make them a sandwich , they really enjoyed haslet on wholemeal, a great energy boast plus a small piece of white chocolate each.

have a great day. janex

Lilac Cluster

This is a shock a floral card from me,for a woman who loves the garden ,plants and flowers , I don't make many floral cards ...why...
well I like cute, I like colouring and I think there are other crafters better at floral than me...saying that I'm pleased with this card ,it's turned out pretty and I know someone will buy it or receive it.(revised, this card sold hour after I made it, just had to add Nan in gold peeloffs)

The image is a Penny Black stamp called cluster, coloured with copic markers. The papers both K&Co,garden collage pad. I've used nestie oval dies , a hobby craft corner punch and a Martha Stewart lace edge punch. The sentiment sticker was the free gift with quick cards ,along with some pretty papers, this month.



Challenges entered :

Penny Black and more : Summer blooms
Allsorts : in bloom
Joanna Sheen : Summer Daze

well another dull and wet day here, this can't go one surely , it's July now ...where is Summer.
Enjoy your day despite the rotten weather ,who knows it might be glorious where you are. janex

Dipped in chocolate and Christmas house mice

What is it with the British weather,yesterday morning,hail,rain and then sun. Boy did it rain ,the heaviest sheet rain I've ever seen and great bits of hail, the garage is soaked but luckily the house is ok, unlike for some poor souls.
Now if this fun image ,house mouse unmounted sheet called dip ,doesn't raise a smile ,well you just don't have a sense of humour. When the set arrived I couldn't stop chuckling at it and I had the perfect inkadinkadoo sentiment to go with it.I used brown gingham card by pinflair, I do love gingham. Coloured with pro and copic markers and an organza ribbon and bow to complete the look.

challenges entered :
everybody art : monochrome brown
Tuesday Alchemy : furry companions
Tuesday Throwdown : gingham
my mums craft shop : favourite stamp (well who could not love this)

Made my first Christmas card of the year. The house mouse unmounted set from Joanna Sheen called mice and cosy. The knitted things look very Christmasy with some stickles glitter. I pack my Christmas stash away til sept usually, but I found a poinsetta and used a backing paper and insert from my new house mouse cd rom.

challenges entered :

merry Monday : followed the sketch and Christmas theme
secret crafter : Christmas
The squirrel and the fox : Christmas in July

well the jobs are done,apart from the everyday stuff, nice feeling. I got the carpet shampoo-er from church yesterday and washed all the down stairs carpets,nice and fresh but I can still smell the horrid gloss paint.
Next week we can relax and enjoy a few days out ,if the weather decides to behave.
enjoy the rest of the weekend and happy crafting. janex