Happy New Year !

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas ? It goes by so quickly but there is lots to look forward to in the new year and if you are anything like us you are still enjoying lots of sweet treats ! I have had a very serious discussion with several friends and we have decided that we will not give up the fairy lights in our kitchens and when the decorations come down they are staying !!!! After all what is good for Nigella is good for us !!!
No cards to show you today but a last little bit of Christmas ! I thought I would share with you my Christmas welcome wreath which decorates my front door. I make up my wreaths from dried roses and foliage from my garden and freshen them up regularly with new leaves and stems. I am know locally as " Wreath Lady " by my neighbours as I always have a seasonal wreath on my door and as you know I have quite a fondness for putting them on my Christmas cards , so it seemed appropriate !!!

Wishing you all a :

VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR !

I hope 2012 is a wonderful year for you and your loved ones !

All my very best wishes !

Hugs Jane x

Merry Christmas !

Hello to fellow bloggers and hoppers around the world ! This is my last post of the year and I want to wish you all a ;

VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I truly appreciate your lovely comments and the interest you take in my blog ! I look forward to sharing lots of new exciting projects with you in the new year.

Here are a few last cards for Christmas, I'm a little sad as they are my favourite cards to craft but I've lots of ideas for Valentines and birthday cards for the new year !

Lastly, I enjoyed a lovely afternoon with my friend Peg and she taught me how to make this gorgeous little mini book ( her fabulous craft blog is at www.pegcraftalot.com - so sorry I do not know how to do a link but this is to acknowledge that it is Peg's project ! ). It is actually a little handbag but I have turned it sidewards and added ribbon so it ties as a mini book/card. My gorgeous daughter Rosie will be the recipient of this !

That's all for now folks ! It just remains for me to send you blessings of the season and hope and peace in your heart. Have a wonderful day and don't for get the washing up rota so you don't have to do it !!!!

Until next year, 

Hugs Jane xxx

Lots of Last Minute Christmas Cards !

Hello, long time no posting !!!
It always amazes me at this time of year how the big day suddenly creeps up on you and the days go fast !!! I absolutely relish Christmas and I enjoy everything except the wrapping which I never leave enough time to do really well. I have all these plans for hand stamped paper and co-ordinating tags and I always run out of time ! This Christmas is no exception and I still haven't wrapped a thing !!!
I have made some last minute cards though and thought I would share them with you as my second to last Christmas post of the year. They are all really simple and I made all these and some, in about two hours. Some have already been sent out to my lovely crafting friends; just hope they get there on time !

The idea of this post is to show you some last minute ideas; sometimes it's nice to check out craft blogs for inspiration if you are feeling a bit stuck or your brain is overloaded with food lists or making up the spare room for Christmas guests ! 

Supplies from Stampin' Up used in these cards are as follows:

Card stock: naturals ivory, very vanilla and real red.

Inks: real red, cherry cobbler, riding hood red, old olive, lucky limeade, sahara sand and crumb cake.

Embossing folders: vintage wallpaper

Stamp sets: Sincere Salutations, Pines and Poinsettias, Lovely as a Tree, Winter Post, Delicate Doilies and Bella Toile ( retired ).

If I am very organised, I will post again before the big day ! In the meantime, enjoy all your Christmas preparations and all the other lovely things we are blessed with at this very special time of year. We don't have a wider family, so spend Christmas day just the three of us and it's lovely , but we do get to see our wonderful friends around the holiday period and it's so nice to enjoy their company and share  yummy food and drink. I am  always a little sad when the tree comes down along with all the pretty twinklies and my beloved fairy lights !!! But that's not for a while so lots to enjoy still !!

Enjoy the season !

Hugs Jane x

Christmas Banner !

Hello ! Gosh, it's rather windy here today but thankfully we don't have snow !!! My sweet daughter's uni course requires her to work outside so she has gone today with multiple layers and a funny hat just in case !!! In contrast she will look gorgeous tonight as she has the uni Christmas Masquerade Ball to attend all dressed in sumptuous purple velvet !
I have a banner for you today made very simply from the lovely petal cone die using naturals ivory card. The stamp set " Letter It " was used to make the sentiment - BELIEVE - and this was stamped in crumb cake ink.

This die is so versatile but it helps you make a very quick banner or pennant and I made up some rosettes from the first edition speciality DSP and layered these up with punched scalloped circles in gold card and some stamped and embossed " Delicate Doilies ".

  

The light is not good today for taking photos and a banner is tricky to photograph so I popped it onto the fireplace in an attempt to show you the project ! The gold ribbon is taped to the underside of the flap using double sided tape; this lends itself well to this design and you get a really neat back to your banner too. I spaced the pennants 3cm apart.

Here is a close up, this time taken on the floor in daylight ! I have added some bling and glitter to make it shimmer and glued a strip of lace made using the eyelet border punch (my favourite !) I've just realised that the letters I have photographed spell a fib ! LOL ! Funny how you never notice these things when you take your photos ! Note to self - wear your glasses when taking photos for your blog !

This final photo gives a more honest representation of the true colours !

This is quite quick to make if you have the petal cone die but  all the components could be hand cut for a similar effect !

I'll be making versions of this with my lovely ladies next Tuesday; though we plan to scoff mince pies and mulled cider too !!!

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit; if you have any questions about any of the projects shown please do contact me via the link on my profile above.

In the meantime - Happy Crafting !!!

Hugs Jane x

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas !

Good Morning !
Actually I'm not  ! Especially after last winter; us Brits are bemoaning the dreadful weather we endured during the last Christmas season and beyond (and before !!!). I'm not sure we'll ever stop talking about it !

Anyway, I have some snowy cards for you today as I continue with my white on white theme . I have embossed both these cards and used a background stamp ( "Bella Toile " ) which sadly retired  but " French Filigree " or " Parlour Prints " from the new catalogue will give a similar effect or a smaller swirly type stamp randomly repeated like the one from "Creative Elements ".

The card stock is whisper white and naturals ivory for the embossed designer frame; I have also used some vellum left over from one of  the cards in the previous post. My punches are getting lots of use nowadays; the white band across the card is made from the lace ribbon border. The snowflake is stamped from " Delicate Doilies " and the sentiment from " Winter Post ". The pale gold powder is non SU as I wanted a very pastel finish to this card. I then added some SU pearls but I need to do some detective work as one seems to have made the great escape (I've just spotted it's missing as I am writing this post ) !

Here is more detail; I use sahara sand to stamp the sentiment as it is so subtle.

I started with a very vanilla base for my next card and used the gold powder again and some white too, just to lift the scheme. Everything else SU except the swirls, it just needed something extra ! Similar swirls could be stamped and trimmed out from " Everything Eleanor ". The smaller snowflake is from " Winter Post " and the frame embossed from the set of designer frames.

I love working in this limited colour palette; white, silver and grey  (use the second and third print from the ink basic grey ) also look lovely enhanced with some rhinestones and don't be afraid to mixup all the pale neutrals as they look gorgeous together !

I have my lovely ladies coming later for their fortnightly class (Christmas cards of course)!

Thank for your visit, do stop by again ! 

Hugs Jane x

White Christmas !

Morning ! Hope you are enjoying your Sunday ? I have finally managed to get some half decent photos today as we have lovely winter sunshine here in Worcestershire today (  jolly cold wind though ! ) . It struck me that I was not adding enough texture to my white on white cards and I think that may have been why I was having little success. So I have tried to put that right; see what you think !
Both cards are 15 X 15 cm and based on whisper white card with a punched edge. This one has a topper made from the scallop circle die in naturals ivory card which has been run through the perfect polka dots embossing folder after I had stamped my trees from " Lovely as a Tree " in crumb cake ink !

The lace ribbon border was used to punch from the neutrals DSP paper stack and the frame is embossed using the oval from designer frames.

The sentiment is from " Welcome Christmas " and has been trimmed down and  mounted on a little banner. Snowflakes are waste from a non SU punch and I have added some SU pearls.

Here is some more detail, I think that texture is the key on neutral projects and of course all white is hard to get right so add in neutral colours; for both these cards I have used crumb cake, sahara sand and soft suede inks.

The next card appears to be another wreath ! I am a bit obsessed with them and a couple of Christmas ones have appeared in my house already ahead of the big decorating session ! This one was randomly stamped  and then trimmed out middle first ( this is easier and more stable to cut than the other way round ).

I have used a piece of white vellum mounted and edged on top of my base card. I used the lacey holly stamp from the gorgeous " Pines and

 Poinsettias " and just stamped using whisper white ink in rows until I had covered the background. The ink needs time to dry on vellum so leave it a good half hour ! To punch on vellum, use a dry non permanent glue to attach the vellum on top of a sheet of printer paper ( line up the edges

 accurately ) and then punch the two layers as one .Then peel off the printer paper and use your fingers to roll off the unwanted glue and then use as desired ! If you don't do this the punch will eat the vellum !!! The vellum will have a nice curly edge which I like but it can of course be flattened if you prefer. The sentiment is from " Christmas Post " and I use a bit of card left over from the first card for the banner and added some very vanilla seam binding ribbon to complete

This close up shows the detail on the stamped vellum, it gives such a pretty effect and you don't need to be too accurate with your stamping ! I added some pearls and a little glitter glue to finish. I'll continue with this theme at some point as there is lots more to explore !

In the meantime here is something deep and meaningful for you to ponder by Lou Holtz !

" Ability is what your'e capable of doing,

Motivation determines what you do ,

Attitude determines how well you do it !" 

Have a wonderful day and thank you so much for stopping by !

Hugs Jane x

Oh No ! Not more Christmas Wreaths !!!

Hello!
I do apologise for no posts so far this week and I have no white on white cards for you !!! There is a reason for this, to be truthful I have really struggled to put together anything worth posting and they are not easy to photograph ! I've also been playing with heat embossing , can you believe that I have never tried this technique until now ! I love it but now need more powder colours, as is always the case when you try something new ! So, to sum up, I have lots of bits which will evolve into cards eventually !
I do however have a couple of wreath cards to share as I have been trying to perfect the art of using a good eye for judgement as I am too impatient to measure out my stamp spacings ! They are a variation on some I did earlier, but these are simpler as they are stamped entirely on the card stock with the exception of the sentiment.

I have used my favourite Christmas stamp set from SU " Pines and Poinsettias " and worked in two inks - lucky limeade and old olive. The bling is glitter glue and the sentiment from " Welcome Christmas ".

Here's a little more detail. This is another 10 minute card; I have been designing lots of these of late as my cards, as you know tend to usually be far too detailed. Looking at lots of other lovely blogs you learn that some times simple is best. That's not to say I won't spend several hours making cards for my daughter and OH this year, as I will and probably on Christmas Eve ( as is unintentionally traditional ) !!!!

I went down the soft suede and crumb cake route for this one with a bit of old olive  for the holly ! The sentiment sits on a decorative label punched from real red card stock and edged in soft suede ink - the sentiments for both cards are stamped in cherry cobbler ink.

I am going now to persevere with my white cards ! I will not be beaten !

Hello to new viewers from Down Under and the Far East; thank you for stopping by ! Have a great day wherever you are and happy crafting !

Hugs Jane x

Stampin' Up Baby Cards !

Morning !
As promised I have a few more baby card ideas for you today !
Using the same Stampin' Up stamps , inks and papers as in yesterdays post I ran up some more very simple cards which are quick and easy to make !

This card has a little taffeta ribbon and some flowers punched from all my scrap card using the itty bitty punches.I never waste anything and always punch out shapes from waste card and store them in box for future use !

This card has been embossed to create a frame for the baby using the designer frames and I have added a background stamp for the sentiment from " Everything Eleanor ".

These final two are 10 minute cards. So simple and uncomplicated to make! 

I'm getting withdrawal symptoms from Christmas crafting and plan to do some shades of white cards over the weekend, if I get time ! Today my daughter and I are making our mincemeat and Christmas puddings as it is her day off uni and she needs some time away from assignments ! So we're going to dig out the Christmas CD's and enjoy some special time together !

Have a great weekend !

Hugs Jane x

Hello Baby !

Hello ! I have had a couple of days away from making seasonal goodies and thought I would show you some baby cards I have been creating. We are just coming to that time in our lives when some of our friends children are getting married and you know what usually comes after that !!!
I have made these using two new a la carte stamps - " Elebration ", which is the cutest little ellie I have ever seen , and " Bring Baby " which is traditional and features a delightful waving baby carried by a stork !!!
I love pink and blue together, so have made cards that are very plain and traditional in theme.

My colours are bashful blue and pretty in pink and I have also used the polka dot paper from the patterns DSP stack ( white with a grey dot ). Edge punches are - the eyelet border and scallop edge border and I used the fancy flower punch and 2.5cm circle punch in addition to the scallop circle bigz die. To add some texture I ran some of the card through the perfect polka dot embossing folder. 

The new " Letter It " alphabet is lovely and I like that you don't have to cut out the actual letter, which can be so fiddly. I added some onesies from 

" Bundle of Love " to break up the lettering.

I rarely do cutsie, but this is the most adorable little ellie, which lends itself to baby and children's cards. These cards are so basic but it's nice to do a uncomplicated card when the image is so lovely; it doesn't  need any more fuss !

My last card featuring the waving baby !!! I've mounted him/her on top of a couple of hearts made from the scalloped heart of hearts embosslit die and added a sentiment from a retired SU stamp but I've just checked and there are baby sentiments in both " Petite Pairs " and " Teeny Tiny Wishes "

I have more to come on this theme ! Not sure what will evolve, so do watch this space !

May I just welcome any new visitors from here at home and all around the world, it is so good that you took the time to check out my little blog ! I tend to post 2-3 times a week so do come back and see what I have been creating !

Hugs Jane x

1920's Vintage Christmas !

Hello ! Hope your Sunday is good !
Just a very quick post today to share with you two simpler vintage Christmas cards. These are less fussy and use images from the 1920's, so I have still used layering but in a neater way just adding a simple drawn line as an accent. The colours are typical of the era ( think Clarice Cliff  ) and the beautiful images are the main focus with very little extra adornment !

The 1920's were all about fashion and here we have a well co-ordinated mummy and daughter ! I have picked out the teal and orange tones from the picture in the card I have chosen. The die cut doily frames the top of the picture and follows the shape; I've tried to make the card a little Art Deco without being too obvious ! A little glitter glue adds to the snowflakes !

I found this image just too cute ! Again I have kept the frame simple and just added a few punched snowflakes and some glitter to add interest.

When printing, use the best quality setting on your printer and print on to good card. Todays projects are quick to make; the key thing is getting a strong, clear image as it is the main feature of your card !

If I can offer any help on any of the projects featured, please do mail me via the link on my profile above; I'll be happy to help !

Until next time -

Hugs Jane x

Vintage Christmas !

Hello ! I have something a little different for you today. I have been working on some samples that I have made for my class; they are going to be making  Christmas cards, with the emphasis on distressing and vintage ! Some cards are inspired by the Victorian era but I love the 1920's and have used some lovely images from that era too. There are lots of sites which allow free downloads of vintage ephemera and these are good to use as a main focal point for your card.

I concentrated on adding lots of layers and punched lace edges to a cream card base. This card features a doily which I stained with a wet tea bag, some designer paper, some stamped holly leaves and an insert made from some very old tracing paper.

The rossette is made from paper ( 30 x 3.5 cm, then punch the edge ) which features MOP buttons and I've added a snowflake and stamped sentiment and edged with a platinum glitter.

These little 1920's children were printed onto vellum and cut out and then using vellum tape applied over the paper; I really like this effect as it is very delicate and pretty, as you can see I couldn't resist adding a little glitter !

I love Toile de Jouey and this was the inspiration for this card which uses red and tones of cream/stone. The red card base is layered with some red and stone parchment printed paper and then a torn punched layer of more paper, followed by the  Santa topper cut from a sheet of designer paper. I added in a stamped and cut out holly image and a Merry Christmas stamped sentiment. 

This message strip is easily cut from card and rolled around a pencil to coax it into shape. These cards always look good with a bit of bling, beads or glitter, but keep the aged effect by not choosing anything too brash.

For my last card I started with a cream base card and punched the edge and then inked about 1-2 cm in from the edge in red. Then I cut a piece of paper printed with vintage tape measures the same size as the front of the card and tattered and rolled the edges before adding some stamped red holly leaves, inking the edges in sepia and blinging with more platinum glitter. When added to the card it reveals the red underneath.

Two more layers of paper in green and red were added before popping on the topper and a punched lace edge, oh, and a green gingham bow !

Vintage cards from the Victorian era through to the Twenties and Thirties were quite detailed , so add lots of layers and fancy edges to get the look. These cards are actually quite simple in concept but take a little time to make as they are labour intensive with all the edgings and distressing effects, plus there is quite a lot of measuring ! 

I have more simple vintage style cards to come featuring lovely 1920's Christmas images, so do stop by and check out this space soon ! To find your own toppers try searching - ' vintage Christmas ' , ' 1920's Christmas ' , ' vintage Christmas children ' , ' Victorian Christmas ' and you can always use the word ' postcard ' in your search because many cards then were in the form of postcards.

Until next time, thank you for your visit !

Hugs Jane x