Top Note Postcards from Paris !

Hello ! 
Long time no blogging ! I have had some time out from my crafting over the Easter hols as I have moved my current crafting from my tiny cluttered craft room onto the dining room table ( the rest of it is still upstairs but sorted and I now have a good idea of where most things are ! ). I like to be downstairs with the doggies while I work and as we have a little breakfast room we can still eat at the table if we wish . Furthermore I want to teach more classes and I regularly have crafting pals round to play so it makes sense. Over Easter however, we did do more more entertaining than usual so all my goodies went upstairs for a rest and I was really too busy to craft, which sounds terrible , but you can't do everything !
I have a couple of samples to show you today ! I have been designing swaps for an upcoming SU training event and these are what I have come up with!

They are based on the top note die and naturals ivory card stock and I have tried to make them very representative of my particular style as I think the idea of swaps is to show different ways of using SU stash !

My little class started back yesterday and I am back in the groove, so to speak. I am quite excited about a new branch of craft that I want to get into and I am planning a class starting shortly as soon as I have finished all my samples. I went with my daughter Rosie to the craft show at the NEC in March and was thrilled to see all the lovely textile work on show. One lady had made the most amazing art journal based on a true love story and had added quotes, sketches, silk, embroidery, dried flowers, stamped tags and all sorts of lovely things, all mounted on a gorgeous textured Indian paper. I was bowled over by this piece of art and as I have a Textile background, was inspired to have a go at some mixed media creations. As far as I can see, Art journalling seems very loosely defined and I think that is really nice as you can mix all sorts of lovely things together and you don't need to be good at Art !! I'm very keen as you may have guessed !

Another reason why my blog has suffered a little is Pinterest; I love it and it has given me so much inspiration for projects and I really enjoy all the banter with fellow pinners ! So, to anyone visiting via Pinterest welcome and do come again ( I am usually a little more regular with my posting ! ). Also hello to new friends who have come via Gill's blog ( @lillybygilly )! I had a lovely surprise last week from the lovely Gill and will post shortly to tell you all about it !

Happy crafting !

Hugs Jane x

Elebration !

Hello !

I've been burning the candle at both ends of late and seem to be meeting myself in the middle ! I have a late Sunday lunch under control in the oven ! Hubbie and Daughter are out in the garden re - potting some older plants and adding in some new for Spring and generally making everything in the garden look pretty ! So, I have a few spare moments to share with you a little card I made using  a cute a la carte stamp from SU !

I used my favourite pretty in pink card as a base and topped it with pink pirouette and used lucky limeade, pretty in pink, soft suede and crumb cake inks. I really think that Elebration is the cutest stamp that SU make ! I'm not even going to mention the itty bitty flowers and the sentiment is from a retired hostess set stamped onto a punched scalloped oval.

I have shaded little Ellie with some crumb cake ink; this is easy as the lines are already stamped for you ! I have also used punches to add some edge interest !

Thankfully our temperatures have returned to average for the time of year here in the UK ! I hope you are having a lovely Easter Sunday; it's so good to see the garden in Spring mode, everything looks so fresh and pretty ! 

Thank you for taking the time to visit ! 

Hugs Jane x

Happy Easter !

Good Morning ! 
Just a quick little post today as we have some lovely friends around for dinner later and I've lots of cooking and preparation to get on top of ( if I could only get off Pinterest and compulsory blog hopping ! ).
This is a cute little stamp set which sadly retired; it was a baby set but good for Easter too ! This is a five minute card and tiny too ! I only ever make small Easter cards; I have no idea why ! It's just very simple and I've shaded the bunny with some crumb cake ink and used pink pirouette card for the base. Other inks used are lucky limeade, soft suede and old olive.

I love all the pretty pastels you get to use for Easter cards and I am very traditional as you know !

 This year has been so very busy and my daughter has been doing two jobs this holiday to earn some extra money ( she is a poor uni student ! ) and we haven't spent much time together as a family so Easter Sunday will be very special.

Thank you to everyone who visits my little blog and for all the kind comments; I love to hear from you !

Sending you all Easter blessings ; I hope the sun shines for you !

Hugs Jane x

Rule Britannia Bunting !

Good Morning !

I hope wherever you are in the world that you are enjoying better weather than we are here in the UK ! After days of glorious sunshine and warmth we seem to be experiencing winter again; cold and sleety and just not nice ! However , it is excellent weather for crafting and I have been a busy bee finishing off this bunting which I started almost a year ago now !

I had this fabulous plan that I would make some patriotic bunting whilst I was watching the Royal Wedding last April. So, I did all my preparation and downloaded all my images, sorted out my papers, stamps and inks well before and off I went on the day ! Well, needless to say, very little got done as I was glued to the TV screen and then we went off to the street party BBQ organised by our neighbour !

I don't like leaving projects in mid air so decided to return to it and get it completed and it is still very current with the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics this year !!! This is a very photo heavy post; I hope you like them, they still have to be strung but I'm nearly there !

These measure around 25cms deep, so are quite substantial and are cut from heavy patterned card stock. I found all the images online and they are very personal to me as they represent many of the things that I love about Great Britain. These are just a few of the collection, but they give you an idea of what I set out to achieve !

I stamped over patterned card, punched the edges and added lots of sepia ink to distress everything. I ran some of the images through some embossing folders for a bit of texture and then highlighted the coins and some other images with glossy glue to add more definition ! The stamps are distressed and have some platinum glitter glue added too. I chose vintage blues, reds and ivory and used the coins and stamps to link all the triangles together.

I had fun with this project and have some vintage red, ivory and navy cotton striped ribbon to string them all together !

 Thank you so much for stopping by ! Do come again ! 

Hugs Jane x