Come On Summer Hurry Up!!!!

The coloured stripes of this paper remind me of Neapolitan ice cream, my favourite. I can never make up my mind what flavour to have and this saves all the decision making. Three in one, yumm, yumm, yumm.




For this card I have used design papers from Polka Doodles and one of the digi images from their Pretty Sweet CD. This gorgeous little girl has been coloured using a selection of Pro and Flex Markers. I don't seem to be able to make a card without using at least one Spellbinder die, so here I added some flowers and leaves and highlighted with a matching pink ink.

I have entered her into the following challenges:

Polka Doodles - Summer Fever
Willow Sketchie - Anything Goes

Getting Krafty

Ingredients To Make This Card

Kraft cardstock
Red cardstock
Designer paper from a recent Making Cards magazine
Spellbinders Labels 14 and two different edge dies
Butterfly punch or die
Brown ink to distress the edges
White marker pen for faux stitching.

I have entered this card into the following challenges:

Papertake - Getting Krafty
Fussy and Fancy - More Than Words
Alphabet - Busy Bugs
Allsorts - It's Your Choice


Jo xxx

Winter Blues

I have been feeling a bit blue myself this week as our heating has decided to pack up and the weather is not yet warm enough to go without it. I hate putting on loads of layers, it really slows down the crafting and I tend to knock all the piles of stash I have around me all over the floor. Anyway in amongst the chaos I did manage to make this card.



I've used the Papermania Birdsong 6x6 paper pad, Spellbinders label 18 to stamp the sentiment on and one of the Fancy Tags to create the scroll border, then decorated with a few pearls.

This card I have entered into the Tuesday Throwdown Challenge - Winter Blues.

Jo xxx

Quick & Simple Card

This card was quick to put together once I found the papers for the chipboard image. I have kept this set of chipboard in my stash for ages as I am mad on camper vans, but thought I should really use it and this seemed like a good time.

The letters are chipboard, I bought them ages ago, put them away without opening them. To my surprise they are coated with felt and all fluffy "bonus" so they were easy to colour with my Promarkers to match in with the papers.

I have entered this card into this weeks Raise the Bar Challenge - A Side of Chips

Jo xxx

What An Exciting Start To The Week!!!

I managed to get to the trade show at the NEC on Monday and meet lots and lots of lovely people, especially Sue Wilson, Hels Sheridan and Ali Reeve demonstrating all their new products that will be coming our way very soon. Others I only managed to get a glimpse of such as the great Tim Holtz, but still nice to see everyone in the flesh as it were. By the way Sues card samples are to die for.

I came away on a real high and inspired to get going with some projects that have been waiting to be finished and to start some new ones, also have had some inspiration to get going with some of my own products that have been waiting in the wings for a long time too.

My personal life has been very mad for the last three years and I think it may be coming to a more stable time (fingers crossed and everything else), our son and his fiance, who have been living with us for the last few months are about to move into their own home and have a baby. Yes we are about to be grandparents, although we said we were to young to be granny and grampy yet, we are really loving the idea and getting so excited. This has meant that we will have a spare room, but not for long as this will be mine all mine. This will enable me to get going with all these ideas and projects. I will try and put up photos of the transformation.

The days have gone by so quickly this week, but I have managed to make a couple of challenge cards.


Primarily this card was for the Polka Doodles Challenge. This week was a Recipe of 1 x image, 2 x papers, 3 x embellishments, but I have entered it into the following others:
A for Animal Antics - Alphabet Challenge
Anything Goes - Allsorts Challenge

Jo xxx

Pretty Sweet Crazy!!!

Once again I am using the papers and images from the Polka Doodles Pretty Sweet CD . This one and the Pretty Tuff CD seem to be the first I pick up. I usually print out a batch of the images and then have a good old colouring session in front of the tele.

This card has been made using this weeks Willow Sketchie and entered into the challenge.





Ingredients

Plain chocolate brown and white cardstock
Pretty Sweet CD
With Love stamp
Flower and swiss dots embossing folder
Selection of flex and promarkers
Small leaf punch
Small circle and hearts Spellbinders die
White fine line pen
Wooden ladybirds to embellish

Love is Everything

Ingredients

Black and white plain cardstock
Download image from Polka Doodles Challenge Blog
Designer paper from Polka Doodles Pretty Sweet CD
Selection of Promarkers and Flexmarkers
White outline pen
White polka dot black ribbon for a bow

I have entered this card into the following challenges:

Polka Doodles - Quick and easy card using digi image
Fussy and Fancy - With All My Heart
Allsorts - Free and Easy February

More Love!!

This is the second of my romantic cards. Chose colours that you probably wouldn't normally use for a Valentines Card, but I liked them and the paper used for the flowers was a dream to mold. Must try and find some more and in lots of different colours.



Ingredients

Plain cream cardstock
Kraft cardstock
Rust pearlescent paper
Other scraps from my stash
Love stamp
Circle heart, spiral blossom one and foliage Spellbinders die
Marrianne spiral flower dies
Heart from the Glitter Girls 12 x 12 board
2 x Creative Expressions crystal head pins
Frayed Burlap Distress ink for edges
Brown fine liner for faux stitching

I have entered this card into the following challenges:

Joanna Sheen - Love Is In The Air
Fussy and Fancy - Polka Dots

Love Is In The Air!!!

Just lately I have been concentrating on using my Spellbinders dies and with Valentines just around the corner a great excuse to make lots of flowery cards. Here's my first attempt, hope you like it.


Ingredients

Plain cream, red and chocolate brown cardstock
Designer paper found in my stash
Spellbinders foliage, spiral blossom one, Lacey ovals and classic scalloped oval dies
Marianne swirl and spiral flower dies
Love in Bloom stamp
Heart charm
Creative Expressions pin
Frayed Burlap Distress Ink

I have entered this card into the following challenges:

Allsorts - Free and Easy
Polka Doodles - Show Me Love
Tuesday Throwdown - Be My Valentine

Sons Card

This weeks Willow Sketchie Challenge



My Card


Ingredients

Chocolate brown cardstock
Dovecrafts Wild Blossom 12 x 12 paperpack
Creative Expressions embossing folder
Digi image from Polka Doodles Pretty Tuff CD
ProMarkers
Frayed Burlap Distress Ink pad
Rub on sentiment
Parcel string

You're my No 1!

Front and inside of the card

Ingredients

Plain white cardstock
Backing papers and digi image from Polka Doodle Pretty Tuff CD
Black ink for distressing
Grey and black ProMarkers
Spellbinders labels eighteen
Swiss dots embossing folder
A piece of black spotty ribbon
You're my No 1 stamp

I have entered this card into this weeks Tuesday Throwdown Challenge 81- Neutral colours.

Pretty Sweet

Inside and outside of card

Ingredients

Plain white cardstock
Purple cardstock
Designer paper from my stash
Scalloped oval nesties and Lacey ovals dies
Image from Polka Doodles Pretty Sweet CD
Various ProMarkers
Embellishment from stash

I have entered this card into this weeks Papertake Challenge.

Jo xx

Celebrations!

Ingredients

Plain white cardstock
Backing papers and digi image from Polka Doodles Pretty Sweet CD
Spellbinders dies
Two hat pins and a sticky diamond
Milled Lavender distress ink for the edges
Brown fine liner pen for the faux stitching
A selection of ProMarkers to colour the digi image.

I have entered this card into the following challenges:

Raise the Bar - "Ring" in the New Year
Polka Doodles - Sketch
Allsorts Challenge - 138 Needles and Pins
Joanna Sheen Monthly Challenge - Celebrations

This Weeks Willow Sketchie Card

Here's the sketch that we had to work from.


And here's what I came up with.

Ingredients

Dark brown cardstock
Designer papers from back issue of Making Cards magazine
Frayed Burlap distress ink for the edges
Spellbinders in spades border and large leaf dies
Digi image from the Pretty Sweet CD from Polka Doodles
A selection of ProMarkers to colour the image

Hope you like it?

Jo xxx

What With The Olypics and all !!!

This year is going to be a year of celebration or that's what they say, although we have got a couple of big events coming up. It we be a year of immersing ourselves in everything that is British. Red, white and blue, cups of tea and big red buses. I am so glad I like the colours or by the end of the year I could go quite mad.

Talking of big red buses, here's a card for you. They say that you can wait for ages for a bus and all of a sudden three turn up, that's the theme for this card, hope you like it.



And the inside.


Materials

Plain white cardstock
Porobello Road 6"x6" paperpack from Papermania
Portobello Road Urban stamp set from Papermania
Spellbinders Postage Stamp die set
Promarkers - ruby, pastel blue, cool grey 3+4



Challenges I've entered this card into:

Raise The Bar - A Banner of a New Year
Allsorts Challenge Blog - Celebration of Nations

Getting Back Into The Challenge Mode

After a week of looking after hubby with his bad back I'm trying to get back into making my challenge cards. Finding my mojo can sometimes be difficult after a little break, but this time I am very pleased with the results.

While out of it for a while I did manage to sit and do some colouring and get a stash of images ready for cards so this really helped when it came to putting them together. I think I will do this again as that was probably the answer to the loss of my mojo sometimes, I wasn't starting from scratch.

Well here's what I came up with. Hope you like them.



Materials:
Creams and dark brown cardstock
Papers from my stash
Beaded circles Spellbinders die
Creative Expressions floral embossing folder
Campervan from Stamposaurus Stamps
Boy image from the Polka Doodles Pretty Tuff CD
Happy stamp and buttons from my stash
ProMarkers to colour
Edged with Frayed Burlap distress inks



The inside of the card to match.

I have entered this card into the following challenges:

Willow Designs Sketchie Challenge
The Alphabet Challenge - Y is for you can choose

Polka Doodles - Week 2 Vintage/Retro

First Challenge of the Year

Willow Sketchie Challenge 29th December 2011

My version of the sketch using We R Memory Keepers - Travel Light papers and Polka Doodles Pretty Tuff CD for the character, coloured with ProMarkers.



Hope you like it.
Jo xxx

Happy New Year!

Well I'm finally back to it after the break and I hope everyone has enjoyed the holiday season and looking forward to a great 2012, I know I am. Here's to lots of new crafty projects and trying to finish some that have been put to one side for a while.

I did however start two new projects over the holidays. The first was out of necessity and the second was just because I wanted to have a go. Both are messy projects but I had a ball getting all inky and gluey.

Project No 1

For sometime now I have, at the end of a project just whooshed all my little flowers and die-cut left overs into an old take-away tub and shoved them onto a shelf out the way, but I wanted something that looked more me and in keeping with what I do, so I have set about to change all my containers (big project I know, but you have to have a go). I made a little drawer easel card a while back with chocolates in and that's what gave me the idea.




I have used torn pages from an old novel and decoupaged them to the outside, when dry I used my distress inks and aged the paper. A screw head brad was used for a handle and small die-cuts in gold mirri rubbed over with sandpaper to give extra detail.


I have made three in total and they sit on my shelf above my work area and computer. I can easily make more and keep adding to them, well that's the idea anyway.

Project 2

Well this started out as one idea and now is another.... oh well artistic licence I suppose.
Yet another thing that I have been watching out there are the art journals and junk journals, so that was what I started out doing.

A while ago I found in a charity shop this ring bound A4 notebook, thinking it would make a good journal.

This is the back cover. In my eagerness to get started I forgot to take before photos, but I think you get the idea.

The cover has been created using the same technique as the drawers. I've been playing around with the Spellbinders flower dies and made several different types and sizes. I stamped one of the Tim Holtz sayings onto a die cut shape and grunged it to match the rest.

Now here is the change. I new once I had filled this book it would be very full, so I just needed to take out a few pages to make space, then I had the idea of cutting the pages down and using them to create the pages to another book. After taking out quite a few I just kept going and then another idea struck me, I could make this a free standing picture. I would do another design on the back but in landscape and when I wanted a change I would just turn it over.

I think I may be mad, but who cares I am having lots of fun and it's something I can work on inbetween other things. I will keep you posted just in case I come up with yet another idea for this project.

I hope this may inspire you to just have a go this year and bye the way have a good one everybody.

Jo xxx