Edwin in love....

I finished this card yesterday but haven't managed to post it here until now, should be cooking the dinner but need to get this on in time for a couple of challenges...



I made the patterned paper by randomly stamping over some Whisper White card with Real Red ink using 3 different heart stamps, not that you can see much of them on here! I covered the cards with double sided sticky, covered with a layer of glamour dust and mounted on Real Red card. The greeting was from a studio g set, again stamped in Real Red onto Whisper White card, mounted on Real Red card. Love the cute Edwin with rose image, coloured with copics, edged off with Fired Brick distress ink and Berry art institute glitter. The main image has been mounted on Real Red card edged with white art institute glitter. I was going to add a heart border but didn't want to cover any more of my backing paper, so settled for a seam binding bow in white.



Here's a close up of the backing paper, as the glitter is not very clear in the larger photo.

I am entering this card these challenges...
Just Magnolia & Hanglar & Stangler - Anything goes and ribbon
Stamping for the Weekend - Valentine
Secret Crafter - Valentine
Magnolia Down Under - Love
Magnolia Stamp Lovers - Glitter
Sketch & Stash - sketch, will use this layout again...

Nearly the weekend, let's hope I can fit in some more crafting then!

My first challenge card for ages and now its too late!!

Thought it was about time I made a card for a challenge. I rather liked the sketch from Cute Card Thursday so thought I would make a card using that. However it took a bit longer than I thought, so I'm too late - by 10 minutes - thats about par for the course for me!! Maybe a New Years Resolution??



I used one of the lovely Lili of the Valley stamps I bought earlier this month but haven't had time to play with until today. I watched a few you tube videos to pick up some tips for colouring with copics and have tried to put them into practice today.... Papers are a hostess gift from Stampin' Up!

I tidied my workshpace on Christmas Eve, look at it now, only one card later!! Am I the only person to get into such a mess making one card??



Am off to have a tidy up again and see what challenges I can enter tomorrow....

Bye for now.

Creative Card Crew - Valentine challenge

Love is in the air ..... my turn to choose the challenge this week at Creative Card Crew, so with Valentine's Day nearly on us there really was no other choice to be made!!

This week's Sponsor is Crafty Addicts and there is a wonderful Rachael Anne Miller stamp up for one lucky crafter.



This is about the third attempt at my DT card.... It's been a busy couple of weeks and crafting has been put on the back burner :-( probably at a time when I could do with it most!



I dusted off some of my much neglected SU! stash to make this card, rooted out the Simply Said stamp set, Whisper White and Real Red cardstock, Real Red ink and my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig. I decided on a Z fold card as I haven't done one of those for ages. On the left of the Whisper White ribbon I have stamped Love using Versamark ink but it's not showing up too well, you'll have to zoom in to get a better look.
I couldn't make a valentine card and not use the lovely Martha Stewart heart border punch could I? so that's the only non SU! product used here. I've just had another look at the photo, think I was a bit heavy handed with the dabbing on the edges, another one destined for the bin I think!

Looking forward to seeing your entries for this challenge. Happy crafting.

Finally managed to fit in a spot of crafting today.



The Admin Assistant at the local Infant School is retiring at the end of term and I wanted to make a retirement card for her as she was there when my children went through the school some years ago (they are at secondary school and university now!) and for the last 4 years, at the end of the phone when we need to pick her brains.... Madge what will we do without you?
She cheered me up no end the other day by telling me that I would have to work until I am 68, and there was me thinking it was 65.... never mind, according to my Wii Fit, I am 9 years nearer retirement than I actually am - wonder if the Governement will pay my take that into account when I claim my pension!!

Thought this would be an occasion to use the Summer By The Sea set from Stampin' Up! and the Stampin' Pastels, as they haven't been used for a while!! Broke into a brand new stamp set for the sentiment, not sure how long they have sat on the shelf waiting to be used but have put that right now by using 2 of them today. Look out for my Creative Card Crew DT card tomorrow to see the other sentiment.

Am off to bed now, catch up soon.

Another late night post...

What a busy day, my eldest son was 15, only seems like yesterday he was a baby! We've had a lovely day spent with family and friends, so didn't manage to escape to my craft room until quite late. Here is my card for today (Friday).



I thought it was about time I inked up my Miss Anya stamps again, they have been neglected of late. I have combined the challenges from
Inspirational Card Sketches - sketch 30, its the first time I've joined this challenge, what a great sketch to work with.
Copic Colour Challenge - to use C3 Cool Gray, YR04 Chrome Orange (didn't have this so used YR07 & YR02) & E57
Stamp Something - make a birthday card
Dusted off some other neglected stash, my SU! papers, used ones from the Sweet Always set and Chocolate Chip patterned papers. Made flowers from SU! 5 petal & X-Cut punches, added swirls - EK Success punch. Sentiment was from a bargain stamp I got at Newbury, it has Happy Birthday on 4 side of the block in different fonts and was only about £1.
Added a bit of pale blue shading and glossy accents at Miss Anya's feet, supposed to look like a puddle but not so sure now LOL!

Am off to bed now, back with a few challenges tomorrow.

Congratulations - Tilda with Roses

Thought I would make a Congrats card today with the sketch by Beatrix from Friday Sketchers.



I used one of the cute Tilda with Roses images Paula kindly sent me earlier this week. I coloured them with copics, practising my shading - been watching some You Tube videos this week, and finished off the roses with a bit of icicle stickles.
I decided I wanted a bit of white space on this card so didn't put my usual first layer on the base case, quite pleased with how this turned out, not looking to bare as the other layers are quite large.
The papers are from an old DCWV stack, (A Pocket Full of Posies), flowers made from offcuts and an X Cut punch. Sentiment is from a Stampin Up! set, which was free in a promotion earlier this year. Ribbon and brads from stash.

Probably won't get round to any crafting tomorrow as its my oldest son's 15th birthday, so am off to my craft room to make up for it tonight!

Eeek, by the skin of my teeth....

Last minute again..... had a lovely evening, went for a meal at Pebbles, at Stokes Bay, and ended up having a few drinks, then sat chatting with Ellie and her friends when we got home, when suddenly realised I hadn't put my card for the Sugar Bowl challenge this week on my blog.



I haven't entered this challenge before, thought I was a bit more organised with my challenges this week due to my new system to organise them - well that lasted a long time didn't it LOL..... Had to give it a go this week, with the set of Gorjuss Girls 3 up for grabs, would be daft not to give it a try..... here's hoping!

CS - Creamy Caramel, Pumpkin Pie SU!
DSP - Sweet Always - SU!
Stamps - Gorjuss Girls 2 Sugar Nellie, sentiment Hero Arts
Inks - Memento Rich Cocoa, Promarkers
Embellies - Brads - Papermania, Flowers - Poppicrafts & Floradoodles, Bead cap & ribbon from stash
Tools - Crop a dile & circle and scalloped circle punches from SU!

Looking forward to my day off tomorrow, hope to fit in a few challenges and catch a bit of the sun. Looking forward to Newbury on Saturday, if anyone is going and fancies meeting up, drop me a mail....

Anything but a card.....

The challenge at Creative Inspirations this week is anything but a card.
Anyone reading my blog earlier this week would see that I am trying to set up some kind of system for all the challenges out and about, in a bid to enter more and to clear my desk of all the notebooks and scribbed notes.
Not managing to come up with anything new, have resorted to these little index cards I found lurking in a cupboard recently, I have written out a card for each challenge, added day the challenge is launched in pen and the deadline in pencil, so this can be changed each time, the rest of the card is free for the challenge details to be written, sketched in pencil, which can then be rubbed out and the card used again. Once I had written out the card I needed a little box to put them in, not finding any at The Range, not wanting to go to Staples in Fareham or being able to wait for the postman to deliver one I could order online I set about making one.



After a couple of prototypes, this is my final version which I am really pleased with, hope it will enable me to be a bit more organised! Wonder if I could organise the rest of my life so easily ROFL ????
Not sure if this side will be the front or back as I like both sides, perhaps I could alternate it! Dotty circles made using the Seeing Spots stamp set, stamped in Apricot Appeal, Green Galore and Tempting Turquoise ink, then mounted onto co-ordinating card and finished of with brads.



I used an A4 sheet of Tempting Turquoise card to make the box and scraps of Rainbow Sherbet to jazz it up a bit, a length of ribbon tied around it and a few punched shapes completes the look.



I used the the text is computer generated, couldn't get the font colour to match the papers, this is the nearest I could get. I ran an chalk ink pad over the white paper to make it merge into the TT card mount.



I used plain white card to make the divider cards, stamped some TT card with the Polka Dot backgound stamp using the Versamark in pad, added tags with days of the week written on them and one for completed challenges.

Really enjoyed making this, hope it works, time will tell, if you see more entries here you know I've solved my problem....

Was hoping to catch a bit of sun today, but its still hiding away, oh well, have a few jobs to do so could get those out of the way then hope it makes an appearance this afternoon!

All stash from Stampin' Up! if you would like to order any of these or other items, please contact me and I will be more than happy to help.
CS - Tempting Turquoise, Apricot Appeal, Green Galore
DSP - Rainbow Sherbet
Inks - as CS colours
Stamp sets - Polka Dot background, Seeing Spots, Polka Dot Punches
Tools - Tag, 5 Petal Flower, Circle and Scalloped Circle punches
Ribbon - Tempting Turquoise
Brads - as CS colours

Another 3 challenges in 1 card.....

In an attempt to complete more challenges, combining them is the only way to go!



The challenges covered with this card are
1. The sketch at Just Christmas & Birthday Cards
2. Creative Card Crew's challenge is 'Whatever the Weather' and finally
3. Roses on Paper challenge which is to combine 2 challenges and add flowers.

Had to use a Miss Anya stamp, this image was one I coloured just because I wanted to the other night and she lay there patiently on the worktop waiting to be put into a card. Well Miss Anya your wait is over.... Image coloured with PM's mounted onto an oval cut with George & Basic Shapes cartridge, top layer run through the CB with Swiss Dots embossing folder. Papers were some I found lurking in the back of the cupboard, I've had for ages. Flowers cut from scraps, I stamped the pink with one some Kelly Panacci stamps before punching the flowers.

Papers - Citrus Hot off the Press
Pearlescent cardstock & ribbon from The Range
Papermania brads and gems
Punches - 5 petal punch - SU, bloom - XCut
PMs - Dusky Pink, Ivory, Pastel Yellow, Blossom, Rose Pink, Lavender, Lilac, Amethyst & Warm Grey 1 and a bit of blue to add a tinge to the puddle at Anya's feet but can't remember what one I used!

Snow Anya

Thought we could all do with a bit of cooling down and what better way to do it than snow, Miss Anya style....



Managed to combine 2 challenges for this card, first of all the sketch from Sunday Sketch & Stamp and secondly the 'Blue Christmas' theme at Winter Wonderland.
I had to go and find my Christmas box of stash, (not got enough space in my craft room for it to be there all year!) and found some Christmas paper from last year, coloured my Anya image in with my promarkers and a sprinkling of glamour dust, layered patterned paper, image and sentiment onto silver pearlescent card, added 3 snowflake brads and there we have it, another one for my Christmas box, if only I could remember where I put the others I have made!!

Blue & White cardstock - Paper Mill
Stamps - Miss Anya Snow from Snow, Rain & Sun set, sentiment 'Best Yet' hostess L1 set from Stampin Up!
Paper & Snowflake brads - Dovecraft Winter Wonderland
Promarkers - Ivory, Cool Aqua, Sky Blue, Prussian, Henna, Cocoa & Blue Pearl

Have a great weekend, whatever you are up to. Looks like the weather is going to be good - yippee!!!!

3 challenges in 1 card.....

Day off today, I've spent the afternoon playing in my craft room, in between sitting in the garden for short stints, well its too hot to stay out there for very long! Not that I'm complaining...

Wasn't sure what I was going to make, have a list of challenges as long as my arm but once I got going it just seemed to fall into place and I managed to combine 3 challenges with this card!



I followed the sketch over at Sketch Saturday , Cute Card Thursday challenge is 'Wheely Good Fun'use wheels on your card and finally the challenge at Inspiring Inkin' is to make a man's card with an embellishment, I used brads, but you will need to look closely as they merge in with the paper :-( in the photo, more obvious IRL.

Inspiring Inkin' is the Stampin' Up! team I am in, run by Amanda Fowler, who is a constant source of inspiration. If you want to join our happy group of stampers, give me a call or email me for further info, it really is great fun, Amanda runs quarterly training in Fareham and I come away with my head buzzing with ideas. She has also just earnt an all expenses paid trip to Monaco next year, wish I could earn that with my 'day' job!

I coloured a piece of cardstock with my brayer, new toy, using Basic Black, Certainly Celery and Bashful Blue. I stamped the lorry from Loads of Love onto spare card and coloured using SU inks listed below and my Aqua Painter, then added some Glossy Accents to the windows. I cut round the lorry and using dimensionals stuck it onto the brayered background. This was then layered up using Washington Apple DSP as per Sketch Saturday sketch.

CS - Whisper White & Bashful Blue
DSP - Washington Apple
Stamp sets - Loads of Love & Loads of Love Accessories
Inks - Basic Black, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue & Pumpkin Pie
Accessories - Soft Subtle brads
Tools - Brayer, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Scalloped border, scalloped oval and large oval punches
All from Stampin' Up!

Really enjoyed today, didn't get my day off last week as I had a conference to attend but didn't mind as look who the guest speakers were



Vincent and Flavia from Strictly Come Dancing. They were inspirational, anyone who knows me, knows I was not a fan of Strictly but I have been converted, they were wonderul to watch, and very entertaining speakers. If only I didn't have the co-ordination of a dead duck I might be tempted to take up ballroom dancing, much to Barry's amusement when I suggested this!!

Had better go and cook the dinner now, hope to be back later...

Fathers Day cards

At SU team training in December we made a card using a brayer, not a technique I had tried before and I wasn't sure I was going to like it very much ...... guess what?? I did and HAD to buy one, my life just would not be the same without one.... Since then I have been meaning to make a card like the one we made at training in a different colourway, so what better excuse than Fathers Day!



I am pleased with how this turned out, after a bit of practice. I used plain white cardstock as my base and 3 different shades of blue ink to create the sky. I can see me using this technique a bit more often now I've taken the brayer out of its box, especially as the leaflet with it details other ideas.

If you would like to learn some of these tricks and tips, or any other techniques please contact me as I will be running a series of technique classes, timings not finalised yet, as it will depend on when people will be able to attend. I hope to hear from you soon..... come along for a fun evening.

Inks - Night of Navy, Ballet Blue & Bashful Blue - Stampin' Up!
Stamps - Lovely As A Tree - Stampin' Up!
Ribbon, shiny paper & base card from stash

Miss Anya for Anya

It's Anya's birthdaya today, so what other stamp could I use???? It had to be a Miss Anya one didn't it. This is another one that I received recently, that has been waiting patiently to be inked up.



I wanted something nice and summery to match the weather so got out my Rainbow Sherbet papers from SU, found Promarkers to match, a couple of Cuttlebug embossing folders, a few bits and pieces from my stash and here we are. I am really pleased with how this turned out, just wish I had inked the edges of all the layers, but had stuck the larger layers down before I thought I would ink the edges of the smaller layers - lesson to be learned there! I hope Anya likes it, sure she will, as she loves hand crafted cards being a bit of a card maker herself. I used the sketch from Spoon Full of Sugar's challenge this week, which was great to work with, can see me using this one again.

I've got the house to myself this afternoon, didn't get my day off this week so am looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet and catching up with a bit of blog hopping and a few challenges.

Have a fab weekend whatever you are up to.

DSP - Rainbow Sherbet (Stampin' Up!)
Stamps - Miss Anya (The Greeting Farm) Oval All (Stampin' Up!)
Ink - Rich Cocoa (Memento)
Pens - Promarkers Blush, Pumpkin, Apple, Sky Blue, Sandstone, Cinnamon, Warm Grey 1
Embellies - Brads, gems & ribbon from stash

Pop Up Miss Anya

Finally, I have inked up one of my Miss Anya stamps...... can't believe they have been on my desk for over a week, I just don't seem to get that much time to craft at the moment.

I am using this as my entry for the challenge at Passion for Promarkers this week which is to use Cinnamon & Pumpkin.
This is how the card looks when it is taken out of the envelope, well nearly, but I couldn't get it to stand flat IYKWIM but think this is a great picture showing Miss Anya peeping over the top of the card.



And this is what she looks like when she has escaped...



This style of card always goes down well with the recipients.

Card - Brown Bazzil Bling, scraps from stash
DSP - Sweet Always - Stampin' Up!
Inks - Memento Rich Cocoa
PMs - Blusk, Dusky Pink, Cinnamon, Pumpkin, Sandstone, Warm Grey 1
Stamps - Miss Anya - The Greeting Farm, Oval All - Stampin' Up!
Tools - Oval, Scalloped Oval and Tab punches - SU! Swiss Dots embossing folder - CB
Ribbon - The Range

Good Luck card no 2

Here's my second Good Luck card, made the same as the previous one below so won't bore you with the details.






Card - stash
Inks - Stampin' Up! Orchid Opulence, Pale Plum & Pretty in Pink
Stamps - Stampin' Up! Crazy for Cupcakes & Hero Arts Cupcakes
Ribbon - The Range

Stampin' Up spring card

Not managed much crafting since Thursday, been busy with housework, gardening, drinking with friends and recovering!! Thought I was being good yesterday plastering on factor 30 to do some gardening, but missed the back of my shoulders/top of my arms, boy are they sore today!

Here is the card I made for my SU! granny, who has recently had a short stay in hospital.


I had a play with the gorgeous Washington Apple papers, the oval, scalloped oval and scalloped circle punches, to create the flower. This is a great card to make using scraps of paper, but not having scraps of this DSP yet I had to break into brand new whole sheets!!!
The flower was mounted onto some Bashful Blue cardstock which had been background stamped with Versamark and the Polka Dot background stamp. The centre of the flower was stamped with Versamark and one of the Polka Dot Punch stamps that were free in a recent promotion.

Am off to the shops now, got to get some new clothes, last years cropped trousers are all too big! May manage to fit in some craft shopping too as there is a Hobbycraft where we are going!

Have a great Bank Holiday whatever you are doing, looks like the sun is trying to come out.

Stamp Something

Here I am with my second post of the day...... well it was getting a bit chilly out in the garden, the wind was picking up so I thought I would move back into my cosy craft room!

Thought I would have a go at the Stamp Something challenge this week which is 'Clean & Simple Thank You'



This card kind of made itself, I love the Thank You stamp from Wonderful Words set from Stampin' Up! The embossed card was on my desk from a while ago when I was playing with my embossing folders and glimmer chalks, all it needed was a little bit of ribbon et voila.

I ought to do some housework now but I can feel the pull of my craft room and my new rubba waiting to be stamped up.....

Cute Card Thursday - Letters and Numbers

Sorry for being AWOL again much of this week, have been busy making cards for local library who are going to sell some for me, have been burning the midnight oil to try and complete the order. Am going to take them in tomorrow, hopefully will get me some extra cash to spend on more stash......

Its my second week as a guest designer on Cute Card Thursday this week. The challenge today is to use letters and numbers on your card. I have been making card for special birthdays this week, you know, 18, 21, 30,...... so thought I would make another 18th birthday card - always handy as a lot of my daughter's friends are celebrating their 18th birthdays at the moment!



I thought I would make a nice colourful card to cheer myself up, as the weather has been so dull and dreary this week. I used my Rainbow Sherbet papers and Whisper White, Almost Apricot, Green Galore and Tempting Turquoise cardstock as the base for this card and some glitter card from stash. 18 and cylindrical shape cut using Cricut, George & Basic Shape cartridge. Added a bit of bling to the front with self adhesive gems from Papermania.



Used same stash on the second side, Congrats sentiment cut using Beyond Birthdays cartridge.



I wasn't quite sure how many drinks you need to celebrate an 18th!! but put as many as I could without any showing over the top of the triangular pieces spoiling the front image. Stamp set is Cheers to You, images coloured with SU! ink pads and watercolour brush, punched out using circle and scalloped circle SU punches.

I hope whoever receives this will be as pleased with it as I am....

Chipboard Promotion - 25% discount until 31 March

So I haven't managed to make a card tonight, been busy blog hopping and cleaning up after having venetian blinds fitted in the kitchen/family room and my craft room. My eldest son commented he had never seen my craft room so tidy!! It wasn't tidy, just looked bare, as I'd had to clear the work surface - cheeky devil, shame he's not so particular about his bedroom!

I've been meaning to put the details of this fabby offer on my blog for the last 10 days or so, but better late than never. For this month only there is 25% discount on the chipboard ranges detailed below. If you would like to place an order, large or small, please contact me via email on sinclairsj@hotmail.com or 07771565754. Don't miss out on this great opportunity.

I will have details of another fantastic offer from SU! tomorrow, so don't forget to come back and take a look at what's on offer!

Stampin' Up!’®s On Board chipboard is designed to coordinate with many of our stamps and accessories, and is perfect for adding depth and colour to cards, scrapbook pages, or any other project you can think of.

On Board chipboard assortments:

Item # Page # Description Regular Price Discount Price
113658 78 Batch of Blooms On Board £11.75 £8.81
113657 78 Loads of Letters On Board £10.25 £7.69
109978 94 Blossoms & Basics On Board* £11.75 £8.81
109980 94 Lots of Letters On Board* £10.25 £7.69

*Quantities for retired items are limited to stock on hand and are available only while supplies last.