Nicer than you

Our house is cold and smelly ,Bob is putting white gloss on the woodwork in the new kitchen , it gives me nasty headaches . I've been to work this morning and I'm no holed up in the craft-room . I will paint walls and do DIY but hate glossing. Windows and doors wide open I'm wrapped up in a fleece jacket.

My card uses pretty echo park digi papers . The flower is a heartfelt creations die "sweet juliet ", with a do craft brad. I've added some zig zag stitching and a sentiment stamp from a set "Lillibet" a tale of friendship by trimcraft. I've added a do craft tag with a pink heart punch and ribbon tucked into the pocket.

 to the pocket.

challenges entered :

The paper players : followed the sketch above
The pink elephant challenge : love

Off to the doctors later , seeing the nurse too , lucky me !
enjoy the rest of your day and happy crafting. janex

Vintage Cute

This card features all the things I like , pretty girls in pretty dresses , cute puppies , vintage papers and a dolls house. I made some curtains for my dolls house on Thursday in a pretty pink vintage rose fabric, pity they weren't so easy to make for real size house windows.
The papers and elements are all echo park digis , so into these lately  and the image is a Sarah Kay called " Fanny's Cuddle " , that name makes my hubby laugh , can't think why? I coloured her with pro and flex markers then inked all the papers with brown distress ink for a lovely vintage look.

challenges entered :
Allsorts : vintage
Fussy and fancy : vintage
alphabet challenge : Y is for young card or little one

well what a day of two halves weather wise, set off with my Mum to go to Lady Heyes craft centre ,the sun was shinning , sunnies on in the car, couple of hours later wild wind and hailstones , we were shivering with cold but still managed to shop , we both bought some really lovely bargain vases, glassware, pottery and a picture  , then my Mum treated me to a yummy pub lunch and a pint of real ale. Back home , heating on and arranging my new (antiques) buys.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend. janex

Skater turns 18

This card is for a skating mad boy called David who is 18 on Saturday . He works part time at the ice rink in Blackpool, I have not seen him skate in real life but have watched videos of him skating , he looks great .

The skates where a cutting file from Silhouette America,I cut them in 3 layers on my portrait machine ,alone with the numbers and inside sentiment . I laced the boots with embroidery silks using a large needle . The rosette and happy birthday are echo park paper embellishments, the graft paper is from papermania and the spotty ribbon is from hobby craft. The actual card is a fancy 8"x8" from craftwork cards. I've used a bit of teal coloured chalk ink on the edges.

challenges entered :
crafty little fairies : sport
creative knockouts :Birthday Time
Southern Girls : all new (new cutting files used)

blowing a gale here , but sunny , an hour ago we had hail stones.
I was going out with my Mum today but my tummy is hurting as per usual .

happy crafting. janex

Echo Park Life Is Beautiful

This card , like the one in my last post , uses digi image by echo park printed then cut on my silhouette portrait. Someone said it's a different style for me, it is  and one I've always admired but never seemed to have mastered, it's definitely easier with the right tools!
I'm pleased with my machine stitching today , no slipped stitches, it must like this card and paper thickness. I do love stitching on cards but I don't have a 100% success rate.
I've added some cute flower buttons from do craft and added matt an layering with the help of my perfect layers ruler.

challenges entered :

everybody art : followed the sketch above.
love to create : button it up
one stitch at a time : use a digi

It's cold and dull here today , the nights are pulling out now , bit by bit , roll on Spring , sick of Winter, would be nice to get in the garden ....never mind more time to craft .
enjoy your day. janex

Your One Of A Kind

Good afternoon crafting friends, dull and cold here , perfect for staying snug in the craftroom .

Everyday I'm learning new things to do on my Silhouette portrait. I've learnt how to import digi kits , print them and then cut them on my machine. How brilliant is that, all the embellishments and words you could ever need.

I've always liked echo park papers , now I'm buying them in digi form.
For my card I used "sweet girl " and cartabella eho park digis. I've inked the edges , added pearls to my butterfly and added a button with bakers twine tied in a bow.

challenges entered :

Aud sentiments : any sentiment
allsorts : buttons and bows
moving along with the times : girly cards

enjoy the rest of the weekend. janex

Feeling Fruity

I'm not feeling fruity just my cards , in fact I have a water infection and just feel a need to spend a penny ever 5 mins , bit painful too. It's not affecting my crafting though .
I cut the fruit out on my silhouette portrait using a cutting file from silhouette america  . The paper on the pear card is K&Co, the paper on the apple card  G.C.D studios . Both sentiments were done on my silhouette machine using a sketch pen for the lettering. I've stitched with  a zig zag stitch on my sewing machine , the stitched keep skipping so I filled the mistakes in as best I could with a black biro. The gathered black checck ribbon I bought from ebay, along with other colours,( I used all my red on Christmas decorations), I love this stuff , must get some more ! The ribbon on the apple card was from hobby craft. I've inked some edges with wild honey distress ink .

challenges entered :
 divas by design : use  ribbon
allsorts : ribbon but no bows

 Happy crafting .janex

A Friend Is .........

Good afternoon crafting friends , hope your well. Sunshine and showers here, bit cold walking the poodles.
Since getting my silhouette machine I haven't made a card using an image I've coloured ,shame on me, so out came the pro and flex markers to colour this adorable new image from Mo Manning called "a friend is".
I've used mainly shades of green , the ivy corners are Marianne design diecuts . The dotty paper is Do craft , the stitch ribbon is from crabapple crafts and I've inked the edges with crushed olive distress ink.

challenges entered :

fussy and fancy : monochromatic

winter wonderland :monochrome

sweet stamping : girly but no pink

my pc seems to be on a go slow , must be because it's a Saturday. 

happy crafting . janex

Lets Celebrate

I can't get enough of my new silhouette portrait , I just love it ! I made this card using to cutting files from the Silhouette America store , you download straight to your machine and its saved in your library . They cost around 64p each file . I used black medium weight card from stapples for the silhouette and bazil coloured card for the sentiment. The card it's self has a linen texture and is from a wedding inspirations pack from Strikes garden centre.

challenges entered :

Divas by design : lets celebrate
fab n funky : lets celebrate
crafty creations : something to drink

The gorgeous cut square above was cut with my portrait using adorable scorable card. The cutting file was free from Bird Cards blog . How fab , I cut it twice to get a good clean cut.

Well it's still and grey here, pretty good compared to other places , my thoughts are with those experiencing bad weather , here and abroad.

happy crafting. janex

Thankyou card

Afternoon crafter,s , bit chilly today, walked the dogs down the Wirral way (was an old railway line years ago ) and the wind blowing from the fields was very unpleasant . Good job we all had our coats on , poodles included.
I've made a thank you card , it's rather grand so it will have to be for a really big thank you.
The sentiment , scallop frame and flower where all cut on my new silhouette portrait , using cutting files by bird cards  (this blog has lots of wonderful free cutting files , please take a look).
The pink and black ribbon is from my local craft shop , Crabapple crafts . The insert is from a Joanna Sheen cd , heart of the garden as are the backing papers.

challenges entered :

crafty catz : thank you

totally gorjuss : ribbon

cd Sunday : pretty in pink

allsorts : free and easy

enjoy your Sunday , where going to Bob's parents for dinner later. Say warm and happy crafting . janex

Victorian Lampost

I will always love making cards but it's nice to ring the changes , stops me getting bored and losing my creativity , so I bought a cutting machine , the new small silhouette portrait . It's all linked to the computer . no dies , no cartridges ....the sky's the limit...and I love it ....wish I'd bought one years ago and saved a fortune on dies and punches , not to mention all the room and mess saved.

My show for today is a 3d model made from a svg cutting file called Winter wishes, it's part of a set of Christmas things , I made the card but that's on someone's mantel piece now. It wasn't hard to make but you do need a bit of patience with the base when it comes to the final panel.
Where the glass would be I've used vellum , I placed a battery powered candle inside , that flickers , I've taken a picture in a dark cupboard to show you the effect. It looked lovely in my front room at night.
The card cost about 50p , the sentiment /sign was part of a sticker set from Hobby Craft , as was the holly berry trimmings , I found them in a basket at the store fallen off some decoration , asked the price and the lady said just pop them in your bag , no charge..... so it was cheap to make and I still have it for next Christmas.

challenges entered :
Sparkles Christmas challenge : more than one fold (lots here)
craft your passion : some thing new ( made using my new silhouette machine )
papercrafting journey :  It's Christmas Time
The squirrel and the fox : anything goes


Well Happy New Year to you all , this past one has had  it's ups and downs for us but we need to be positive.
I have lots to show you that I've made with my new toy  and all that blogging I missed , but the kitchen is finished bar a bit of painting and I'm finally getting into a routine without the house full of builders.

Happy Crafting . janex