Hi and welcome, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are now enjoying a little rest and relaxation!!!! Perhaps you were lucky enough to receive some crafting goodies from Santa which can be experimented with.

The Christmas card pictured below was made using 2 of my favourite stamp sets one from Crafty Individuals and the other from PaperArtsy. If you would like to see the different stages of making this card I have included a link to The Craft Barn Blog where all will be revealed here.

I would just like to wish you all A Very Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year with lots of Craftyness added in. Take Care and see you all in 2017.

Jane x

"Bling It Up" Tag

Good evening and welcome, today I've been cracking on with some things ready for Christmas and thought I would share this tag with you. I would like to enter this for The Craft Barn 2 Weekly Challenge titled 'Bling it Up'.

Apart from adding the 'sparkley' bits the challenge also includes the colours purple, turquoise and green! I know turquoise and purple are often put together for Christmas decorations but the addition of green had me hooked.

So to begin with I started with a large manilla tag and dabbed on some Fresco Chalk Acrylic in Pansy using a small piece of cut and dry. Then once this was completely dry added some Tumbled Glass DI using a blending tool.

Next I coloured some Dreamweaver Translucent Embossing Paste with a little Dreamweaver Metallic F/X in Kiwi. This was then spread through a reindeer stencil by Tando Creative. The stencil was removed, cleaned and replaced, then green glitter was added to the still wet reindeer.

I did not pile the glitter on too thick as I wanted the lighter green of the paste to show through in parts so as to vary the shades of green. Once dry a turquoise gem was added for an eye and a small bronze bell attached with invisible thread.

Then using just part of the main stamp from Jofy 06 the star and baubles were stamped in VersaMark ink and brushed with antique green Cosmic Shimmers Mica Powder and the sides of the tag were also stamped using the VersaMark ink and then clear heat embossed with 'Jingle bells'.

Finally a light turquoise/green ribbon was tied to the top. The shimmer on the hanging stars etc doesn't show that well in the photo but I am very pleased with the effect the reindeer has against the painted background.

If you are making some cards or other creations over the next few days give this colour combination a go and enter the Craft Barn Challenge and be in for a chance of winning a £10 voucher to spend on line in the shop.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you have a good week, take care and keep warm as it looks like it's going to be a "Chilly" one.  Jane X

The Wicked Witches' Residence !

Hi, yesterday I had a fun time creating a 'Spooky' Halloween card which I would like to enter for The Creative Carte Blanche Challenge Witchy Woman and The Craft Barn 2 weekly Challenge Pumpkin and Bat.

I started by cutting 2 houses using Tim Holtz Rickety House die, one in spotty co-ordinations card and one from card that had been coloured with Fresco Chalk Acrylic paints.

Once I'd worked out which window went  where I sanded the black die cut house and rubbed areas with Treasure Pewter.

Next I stamped the bat, pumpkin, broom, and hat onto scrap card and clear embossed so as two make cutting out a little easier. These were coloured with Distress Makers and a silver Pro-Marker.

The banner was cut from kraft card using Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Banners die and stamped with Wicked Witch and heat embossed in black.

The card blank was coloured using Distress inks in Weathered Wood, Stormy Sky and Pumice.

The cobwebs were added using pumice.

I don't normally make Halloween cards but I must admit this was fun to construct and I think the bat is quite evil!!

There is no visible witch in this project so I hope the Creative Carte Blanche will accept this entry.

Many thanks for stopping by, I hope your weekend is full of fun and relaxing things, maybe even some crafting!

Take Care, Jane X

Thrilling News----

Hi and welcome, today I am thrilled and excited to be able to tell you that I've been chosen to join The Craft Barn Blog Design Team. There was recently a post asking for people interested to apply and as I had been a customer of the shop at Lingfield and then Nutfield I felt a strong connection with the business which I wanted to continue.

We were having a couple of nights away in the camper van when I  found out I was one of the lucky 3 to be accepted and I was so chuffed and excited. A few days later the list of themes/topics arrived and I am now preparing various projects for the next couple of months.

My first sample was accepted and went out on the blog entry titled Alcohol Inks and Yupo.

To see how I made this card and a tag click here.

This weeks theme is Dimensional Crafting which I love, so had to add this to my chosen list. There have been 2 samples by other team members on the blog which are both very different and stunning. One is a gorgeous altered tin and the other a beautiful die-cut and stamped bird cage. 

To see these wonderful pieces grab a coffee and pop over to  The Craft Barn.

My entry will be posted tomorrow so to find out what I made with these embellishments please head over and have a peep.

Thank you as always for stopping by today and please do have a look at The Craft Barn's blog and maybe enter one of their 2 weekly challenges. See you soon and take care, Jane X.

Good evening and welcome, today after downloading some recent photos taken will we were away for a few nights in our camper van I found myself looking at this particular picture of a beautiful sunset.

The silhouette of the tree on the right made me think of a Crafty Individuals stamp set 367 ----- so off to the work bench I went.

The background was made using shaving foam and alcohol inks.

I printed off several pieces of card and tags for future use.

The image was then stamped in black Versa fine ink, cream lace attached underneath the image and some raspberry pink ribbon.

The wonderful sentiment from CI 410 was stamped in Brilliance Pearlescent Crimson onto a spare piece of white card then cut out using a die from Spellbinders ribbon banners LG. the edges were then lightly brushed with Seedless Preserves DI.

I was very pleased with the background and feel the colours gave the effect I was hoping to achieve.

I would like to enter this card for ;

The Craft Barn Challenge Around the House.

and

Crafty Individuals Challenge Clean and Simple.

Thank you for stopping by tonight, hope you have a good week and take care  Jane x

Stamping onto Linen

Hi, today I had a spare hour or so and thought I should really make a couple of cards ready for general birthday/greetings because the nearer it gets to shhh - 'Christmas' -- eek the harder it is to get anywhere near my work bench!
So here's my 2 cards which I would also like to enter for the Crafty Individuals bi-monthly challenge titled 'Clean and Simple'.

I started by lightly colouring a small off cut of white linen with distress inks and a brush and then stamped the image in the centre.

I did the same with another piece of linen but using different colours and a different image.

Next I trimmed the material and frayed the edges.

The edges of my card blanks were lightly coloured using the same distress inks that I had used on the linen.

I then cut some kraft card slightly larger than the pieces of material and distressed the edges before using as a mount for my stamped images.

I added a blue bead and some stitching, stamped the sentiment in Archival Cornflower and then added the lines with a very fine black pen.

The body of the butterfly had 8 or 9 very small beads threaded on some black cotton and then added 4 running stitches on each antenna.

The sentiment and 4 corners were stamped using Brilliance pearlescent olive ink. All the stamps were  by Crafty Individuals.

I was surprised at how quick these cards were to make as so often I think something will just take 30mins and it ends up taking a couple of hours or more!

I am pleased with the clean appearance of the finished cards and hope this fills the brief of Crafty Individuals Challenge.

Thank you as always for popping by today, all your comments are very much appreciated, take care and have a good week, Jane. X

My Attempt at making the Leandra Bead!!

Hi and welcome, this fortnight over on the PaperArtsy Blog the challenge is 'Beads, Charms and Dangles'. There are lots of wonderful examples to whet your appetite, but it was the video of the Leandra bead that really inspired me to get out the Melt Pot --- ( which when the temperature outside has been in the 30's for the past few days is not normally the first craft I'd jump too!)

To make the beads I followed the video as best I could with what head pins, Utee etc that I had in the craft room stash.

The head pins were only 45mm and having had a go I would now buy some slightly larger ones.

To start with the pan only had clear Utee added but gradually as I popped the growing beads into various shades of blue EP lovely streaks appeared  adding extra pattern and design to the beads.

Then as the contents of the pot got a little muddy I added some Primary Apple Red, Ancient Copper Metallic and the tiniest spot of black. 

Oohh thats yummy! 

These 2 beads were shaped by pressing the round bead onto the sides of the melt pot.

As the Utee level was going down and making the covering of the beads more difficult I decided to pour the remaining contents onto the craft mat and inked up a rubber stamp with Archival Black ink and pressed it into the very hot, molten Utee.

Once cool the stamp was removed and I rubbed in some Treasure Gold in Ruby and Renaissance but ------- was not completely happy with the result so decided to cut my losses and got the heat gun out and melted the piece on the craft mat---(" Is she mad " I can hear you saying!) Well I was very pleased with the end result as the wax melted just on the top and gave a lovely marbled effect. I then very lightly added a little Pewter wax to hi-light the edges of the letters.

When I started to make these lovely Leandra beads I had no idea what I was going to use then for but was itching to make something ----

So I now have a pair of unique ear-rings

and

some lovely beads for future projects.

A big thank you to PaperArtsy for the very inspiring video and I'm now off to order some larger headpins and another pot of clear utee !

Hope you all have a great weekend and if you live in the UK enjoy the Bank Holiday if you're lucky enough not to be working. Bye for now and take care Jane x

'Dream' Tag

Hi, it's been a while since I last did a blog entry but with having a fab week in Cornwall, a few odd days out in the Campervan, lots of gardening and a wonderful few days in Ireland visiting our gorgeous Grandchildren there hasn't been an awful lot of spare time. Ooh and I forgot to mention -  the odd bit of crochet--------

Anyway back to the job in hand! Over on the Creative Carte Blanche Blog their theme for August is Sun, Moon and /or Stars so here is my entry for this month.

I started with a large manilla tag which was coloured with various Pan Pastels, this was then lightly sprayed with Jackson's Pastel Fixative.

Next I stamped the shimmering moon by Clarity Stamps in VersaMark ink and rubbed the stamped image with Pewter Pan Pastels. 

Dream was then stamped underneath in Versafine Onyx Black and then clear heat embossed.

The stars were added using Grunge Paste through a That's Crafty Dinky Stencil, once dry lightly sanded and then the clean stencil was replaced and the stars coloured in the centres using Treasure Pewter wax.

The ivy was stamped using peeled Paint Distress Ink and a Lavinia Stamp. 

Recently we have had some beautiful sunsets and star lite skies and this gave me the colour tones to work with for this entry. Hope you are all enjoying the summer sunshine that we have been finally blessed with as up until now the summer has been rather dull --- so long may it last.

Enjoy the rest of the week and hopefully you too will find some free time to have a 'Play" and maybe join in the Creative Carte Blanche challenge. Bye for now,  Jane X

"If I Had Wings" !

Over on the Creative Carte Blanche blog this month the team are challenging us with a theme titled "Winged Things"which after much thought about fairies, bees, dragonflies, etc, etc I came up with the following tag.

If you have 10 mins do click on the link here and browse through the DT's samples and the other entrants.

I began by painting a large manilla tag with fresco chalk acrylic in Space Cadet, then a coat of Americana Weathered wood and then once dry a top coat of Vanilla paint.

The edges of the tag were then distressed with vintage photo and peeled paint DI.

Below is a photo of the main items used.

Next I stencilled on the roof tops with walnut stain ink and hi-lighted the edges with a fine black pen.

The boy in flight was stamped in verso fine black onyx and embossed with clear powder. The area around the boy was then lightly touched with Treasure Pewter to give the impression of movement.

A cluster of stars were added to the top using a small stencil with scattered straw ink and then brushed with perfect pearls for a light shimmer.

If I had wings was stamped in Archival cornflower blue ink and then clear embossed.

The journey token was from Tim Holtz idea-ology muse token set.

The light was shinning on the embossed parts which made taking photos a little difficult but I hope you can decipher the different textures etc.

Another great challenge ladies, it's great to be able to rummage through ones stash of crafting goodies without worrying about which company or make each item is from -- thanks.

Hope you all have a good weekend and that the sun may shine on you, as here in Kent it's been Very grey and Very wet for far too long! Take care and many thanks for stopping by today, Jane x

Welcome to the House that Nature's got a grip on!

Hi, today I have completed a wooden house that I've been constructing for the Creative Carte Blanche
May Blog Challenge --- titled 'Wood, Word and somethingWild'. Now from the off I knew I wanted to make a wooden house but as I progressed the design gradually altered, 'the creative journey'!

To begin with I rummaged in the shed for some wood off cuts and set to sawing my pieces for construction.

The body of the house measures 10cm x 11.5cm x 4cm and was sanded well and given a coat of white gesso as was the roof.

The roof was then given a coat of titanium white acrylic paint before stencilling the tiles through a Michelle Ward stencil.

The house was painted with Fresco Chalk acrylic paint in Space Cadet, lightly sanded and then given a coat of Stone paint and sanded again.

The windows and door were painted free hand using the titanium white.

Then on one side I stamped a tree from Jofy 29 stamp set and clear heat embossed. This was then coloured in and the grass stamped at the bottom.

Up until this point the plan was a cottagey type house with bunting above the door with the letters Home on and the back of the cottage was going to have a stamped wild meadow,  hmmmm?

Then I went outside to water the plants in the greenhouse saw some dried dead moss on the brick path and hey presto!!!

The ivy was stamped using various DI's and odd patches were clear heat embossed and touches of Treasure gold in Olive Bronze added.

My work bench got messier and messier!

The birds nest was made from dried ivy roots and the bird stamped from Clarity Garden set. The Welcome sign was die cut and tied using invisible thread.

I cut a wooden bench from a piece of old trellis fence that had started to decay. Twigs , dried old leaves, roots etc were added.

A flower pot stamped, coloured and cut out was added.

A brad for the door handle, smudges of pumice stone, walnut stain and peeled paint DI rubbed into the door and finally some fake moss from Hubby's model railway scenery stash was added to the chimney and roof.

Welcome to my Wooden house that the Wild has begin to reclaim.

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you enjoyed my creative trip down natures path.

 Take Care, Jane x