Fiery Dragon/dinosaur

 

Hello to all out there in 'Blogland'.

Do you find that while some months are more relaxing as far as needing to

make birthday cards, several others have birthdays coming at an alarming 

rate? Those months for me are January, February, March and July.

This card was for a dear little boy we have known since he was born. I 

matted several images from a sheet of DSP by Art Stamps Australia. 

I die-cut the various stars from glitter foam, and the greeting is 

Stampin' Up.

A close-up look at the dragon/dinosaur. I think he is trying

to be scary, but I just think he is so cute.

Challenges I would like to enter :-

Crafty Animals #80 - Anything Goes

Critter Crazy #83 - Anything Goes (must feature a critter)

Cupcake Inspirations #588 - Dinosaurs

Do-A1(1) Creative #86 - Anything Goes + Optional Mystical or Vintage

Lets Craft and Create #204 - Anything Goes + optional Dots and/or Stripes

I must go and bring the washing off the line, so until next time thank you for visiting.

Hugs,

Jennifer. x

Pink Christmas Poinsettia

 

Good morning. It is no secret that among my favourite flowers

(particulary at Christmas) are poinsettias. 

With a break away from the traditional red poinsettias, I have created

a white one, softly blushed with pink. I used a snowflake stencil and

pearlised texture paste on the pale pink (script) DSP, then when dry,

 I hand-stitched around the edges. I also lightly sponged some of the

foliage die-cuts with the texture paste.

A close up look at my poinsettia that I so lightly sponged

with Victorian Velvet dye ink. The centre is a silver Sparklet.

I painted the wooden snowflake with 2 coats of the

pearlised texture paste.

Challenges I would like to enter.

Creations in pink #56 - 'Anything Goes in MAINLY pink'

My Time To Craft Christmas #57 - 'Poinsettias'

The Holly and the Ivy Christmas #137 - 'Anything Christmas Goes'

Merry Little Christmas #49 - 'Anything Christmas Goes'

Dies - Tim Holtz Holiday Greens, Tattered Poinsettia; Spellbinders Lacey Circles

SPD - Kaisercraft Silver Bells

Sentiment - Art Stamps Australia

Twine for stitching is actually recycled from bags of horse feed, soaked, washed and ironed. My friend Diane sent me a large 'stash'. When we lived on our farm and had horses, I always saved the twine.

Texture Paste - Crafts 4 U

Sparklet, tinsel and wooden snowflake are from my junk stash

I must be off to pretend I am a domestic goddess 😁😁, so until next time, thank you for visiting.

Hugs,

Jennifer.  x

Christmas Lamp

 

Good evening.

Once again, the lovely Beccy at Beccy's Place is running her 'Month of Holiday 

Cards' challenge. This is the 8th year, and runs all of November, with a different 

challenge each day. It is a great way to increase one's stash of Christmas cards, 

and Beccy is very generous with her digi prizes.

A few days ago the challenge was to create a card using up some of the 

pile of 'scraps' we crafters tend to accumulate. I decided to use scraps 

of 3 different papers from a 12 x 12 stack I bought 'yonks' ago. I also

used a cute little scalloped punch which I have also had for 

'yonks' and have only used twice...MY BAD!

It took me ages to carefully align the squares, so my finished base

would be perfect rectangle, but in the end I was quite happy

with the result.

A close up of the beautiful image, one of Beccy's, which was a joy to

colour with (as usual) my Promarkers.

My greeting is from a sheet of mixed font greetings.

  The matt and font are very shiny gold, although they look black.

Challenges I would like to enter:-

Beccy's Place - Day 18 'Scraps'

Colour Crazy #46 - Anything Goes (must be hand coloured)

I Love Promarkers #423 - Anything Goes (with option of 3 layers)

Stinkin' Inkers - Quilting  SPECIAL AWARD

Try It On Tuesday - Traditional Christmas Colours

Image - Beccy's Place 'Christmas Lamp'

Colouring - Promarkers

Dies - Spellbinders Floral Ovals; Classic Ovals

Punch - X-Cut Small Scalloped Square

Paper - Franchville 12 x 12 Stack Christmas Basics

Greeting - Art Stamps Australia

I must be off to bed as we have a big day planned tomorrow, entertaining visitors we have not seen since last Christmas.

Please stay safe in these difficult times, and until next time, thank you for visiting.

Hugs,

Jennifer.  xx

Ornament Trio

 

Hello again. I hope you are all well and keeping safe.

My card has a rather vintage look, and all supplies I used to create it have been

in my junk stash for, in several cases, many years.

My greeting is from a sheet of mixed font Christmas greetings I bought at a 

craft show in Sydney about 10 years ago. I also bought sheets of other 

greetings (e.g. Happy Birthday), some in silver, some in gold.

A closer look at the lovely ornaments, cut from gold mirror card. The 2 large

ornaments are cut with dies I bought many years ago, and the small one

uses the ornament from a fab set of 10 Christmas dies that were free 

with a craft magazine.

Challenges I would like to enter:-

Beccy's Place - 'Day 17-things beginning with 'O' '

Daisy Chain #47 - 'Christmas Is Coming'

Dies - Memory Box Snowflake Ornament: Spellbinders Lacey Circles; Free with Papercrafter Magazine Magical Christmas

Paper - Kaisercraft Turtle Dove

Greeting - Art Stamps Australia

Peel-off stickers (for 'hangers') are from my junk stash

Until next time thank you for visiting,

Hugs,

Jennifer.  xx

Cutie Mouse in a Cup

Finally, I have another card for you. It is so long since I posted anything

on my blog I have almost forgotten how to do so...

However, as it is now the second Wednesday of the month it is time for

a new challenge at Words 2 Craft By, and our quote this month is

"When asked if my cup is half-full or half-empty my only response

is that I am thankful I have a cup." by Sam Lefkowitz

What a profound thought which reminds us that others may not be

as fortunate as ourselves.

I would normally be horrified if I found a mouse in one of my tea cups, but I

 think I could make an exception for this happy little guy with his spring flowers.

This is the first time I have used this ever-so-cute image, although I have had it

for several years (MY BAD!). Of course I coloured it with my Promarkers.

The sentiment and its border is silver, although it looks grey. The

tag is from a sheet of birthday greetings in different fonts.

Image - Stampavie (Tina Wenke) Mouse in Tea Cup

Colouring - Promarkers

Dies - Cheery Lynn Lace Light Deco Border; Spellbinders Floral Ovals: Cuttlebug Vintage Corners

Embossing Folder - Crafter's Companion Flower Garden

Sentiment - Art Stamps Australia

For a chance to win a fab prize pop over to Words 2 Craft By, check out my teamies great projects, then enter your own interpretation of our quote.

Although I have not blogged for ages, I have not been idle. I will be back soon with something VERY different, so...

Until then, happy crafting,

Hugs,

Jennifer.  xx

Ahoy, Matey!

Wow, these months are flying by at an alarmingly fast rate, aren't they!

I was informed this morning that we have only 15 weeks until

Christmas Day (I thought if I wrote the words in tiny print the time

would go a bit slower...no, you don't think so??...eeeek!).

Once again it is the second Wednesday of  the month, and therefore

that means it is time for a new challenge at Words 2 Craft By.

Our theme this month is such a fun one, inspired by 

National 'Talk Like a Pirate' Day in the US on 19 September...

'Ahoy, Matey!' 

Our challenge theme has popped up at a perfect time, because I am sending the card

to a dear little boy who lived near us when we lived back on our farm. He loves 

pirates! We have known him since he was born...where has that time gone????

A close-up look at this ever-so-cute little pirate 'encouraging' his

rather reluctant puppy to walk the plank.

 I printed the sentiment on my computer. 

One of the many 'piratey' images on the fabulous

scrapbook paper I have had for ages, and never used.

Image - Lili Of The Valley digi Walk The Plank

Colouring - Promarkers

Dies - Spellbinder Scalloped Squares and Scalloped Circle; Cuttlebug Alphabet Olivia 

Paper - Art Stamps Australia

Sentiment - Computer generated Kristen ITC font

For a chance to win a fab prize of an e-voucher for a retailer of your choice, why not check out my teamies' creations for inspiration, then enter your own interpretation of our challenge at Words 2 Craft By.

Until next time, thank you for visiting,

Hugs,

Jennifer.  x 

On The Road Again

Lately my mojo just seems to have disappeared...I'm not sure if it is due

to 'crashing' after the mad rush to get all my Christmas cards made and in

the mail, or it is the unrelenting and unprecedented HOT weather. 

One way to get back 'into the zone' is to have family and friends' birthdays, so

the pressure is on to get creative. January contained quite a few birthdays, and

several of them were for a family of friends who were neighbours when we 

lived on our farm. 

One of their dear little boys turned 2, and of course all little boys love anything

 with wheels. Therefore the theme of the card I made for him was a 'no-brainer'.

At a papercraft show a couple of years ago I bought a packet of these little

wooden cars, embellished with glitter (I also bought a packet of cute

pirates). I 'squirreled' them away and forgot about them, until

looking at the fab paper triggered a memory.

The '2' is a peel-off sticker, coloured with Promarkers.

I created the sentiment on the computer. All the tiny stars were silver

peel-off stickers, coloured with Promarkers to match the vehicles

on the paper.

'Tis a pity the photos do not do justice to the gorgeous bright colours

of the paper, but when I finished the card the sky was very overcast,

but I had to get the card in the post in time for little Keiran to

receive it on his birthday.

Paper - I THINK it is Upkit Enterprise (or maybe Best Creations)...I only had a small piece left.

Wooden Car - Art Stamps Australia

Washi Tape (road) - unnamed

Until Next time, thank you for visiting,

Hugs, 

Jennifer.  xx

One Cool Cat

I am such a bad blogger these days. It is already a month since I last added

anything to my blog, but this retirement business is crazy. I can't remember

being this busy when I was working full time, and raising our son.

Enough of my excuses...it is the second Wednesday in the month, and that 

means it is time for another challenge at Words 2 Craft By.

Our quote this month is such a fun one - 

"Life Is Better In Flip Flops"

While we here in Australia are experiencing freezing temperatures at the moment,

much of the Northern hemisphere is sweltering. This cool cat has the right idea about

beating the heat. The fabulous paper is from a precious sheet I bought several years

ago. Unfortunately it is no longer available.

Inside the card co-ordinates with the front.

A close up of the cool little dude. He is a digi stamp I bought many

years ago, and have never used (my bad!!). I put Glossy Accents

on the lens of his sunglasses and the ice cubes, but it does not

show in the photo.

Image - Whimsy Stamps One Cool Cat

Colouring - Promarkers

Paper - Art Stamps Australia

Sentiment - Stampin' Up

Dies - Spellbinder Scalloped Square; Crafts 4U Stitched Square

Umbrella brad is from my junk stash

For chance to win a fabulous prize, why no visit Words 2 Craft By, check out the great inspiration by my teamies, then enter your own interpretation of our theme, "Life Is Better In Flip Flops".

Until next time, thank you for visiting,
Hugs,
Jennifer. xx

Christmas Joy

This was supposed to be a simple and quick card, using my lovely new die set

that I won in a Dies R Us challenge. Many, many years ago I saw a card on a 

blog using tiny die-cuts by (I think) Cuttlebug, and the idea has rattled 

around somewhere in the back of my mind ever since........

I cut all the red and gold squares by hand...THEN the 'fun' (not) began. Trying

to line the squares up with equal distance both vertically and horizontally 

between them almost had me tearing my hair out, and several rather 

unladylike words crossed my lips. I thought the stripey paper would  

help,but then we all know what thought did, don't we? 

It made my wonky placements more noticeable.

A closer look at the cute little gingerbread man. It looks as if the gold 

matting is uneven, but that illusion occurred when I cropped my photos.

.

The lovely bell.

Inside the card, where I used a die-cut of the candy cane as a 

simple embellishment. 

Challenges I would like to enter

ABC Christmas - 'J' for Jingle Bells or 'K' for Keep It Simple (I chose Jingle Bells)

A Snowflakes Promise #40 - 'Anything Christmas Goes'

Crafting By Designs - 'Get Ready For Christmas'

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas #335 - Anything Christmas Goes (optional-Use Some Gold)

The Holly and Ivy Christmas #6 - 'Anything Christmas Goes'

The Male Room #61 - 'Stash/Die Cuts' (Dies new, paper & gems very old)

Weekly Christmas Card #13 - 'Anything Christmas Goes' (optional-Wreaths)

Dies - Impression Obsession DIE220-Q; Spellbinder Classic and Scalloped Squares

Paper - Art Stamps Australia; Gold cardstock from my junk stash

Tiny gems are from my junk stash

This card is for an elderly friend in England, but as he doesn't own a computer and therefore never sees my blog, it is safe to show it to you.

We have once again had a glorious late autumn day, but it is now cooling down...time to warm the house and prepare our dinner, so until next time "thank you for visiting".

Hugs,

Jennifer. x

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Naughty me!!...I am a whole day late telling you about our new

challenge at Winter Wonderland, where our theme this week is

'SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN'

Our lovely sponsor this week is 

I am fast becoming obsessed with mixed media, and decided to create

my DT card in that genre. Methinks however, I probably went a 

bit 'overboard' with my handmade texture paste 'snow'??

I have had this wonderful image of a vintage Santa superimposed on a

vintage postcard for ages, and decided it was about time that I 

printed him out. He was a freebie by the wonderful Linda

from the Funkie Junkie...thank you, Linda.

I am still on quite a steep learning curve with mixed media

products and techniques, and as you can see, my application of crackle 

medium failed. I am now sure that it is partly because I applied it too

thinly, but mostly because I 'worked' it too much. At certain angles a 

thin crackle is visible, but I could not capture it in my photos. Nor 

do the photos show the sparkle of the glitter I sprinkled on the

crackle paste and 'snow'.

I die-cut all my foliage from white cardstock, then sponged it

with various distress inks, the same ones that I used on the image,

although at different 'strengths'. I then randomly scribbled on the 

foliage with a Versamark pen, and sprinkled it with gold embossing 

powder. As an experiment, I over-heated a sample piece, thus

slightly singeing the cardstock. I loved the 'leathery' effect, so

applied that 'technique' to all the pieces of foliage.

In previous attempts at applying texture paste 'snow' over distress

inks, I have found that the distress inks bleed upwards into the 'snow',

therefore discolouring it significantly. With great advice from Pamellia,

I sprayed over the distress inks with workable fixative, let it dry,

then added my 'snow', which remained bright white. Yayyyy!

Challenges I would like to enter

ABC Christmas - 'L for Lyrics...song as inspiration' (Santa Claus Is Coming To Town)

Anything But Cute #2 - 'Make It Masculine'

C.R.A.F.T. #315 - 'Christmas'

Frilly And Funkie - 'Monochromatic'

Fussy And Fancy #141 - 'Distressed (or use an Aurora Wings image)

Simply Create Too #87 - 'Masculine'

The Craft Barn - 'For The Man In Your Life'

Image - Funkie Junkie (Linda Coughlin) Freebie Vintage Santa

Dies - Tim Holtz Sizzix Holiday Greens

Paper - First Edition Christmas Village

Texture Paste - Homemade

Crackle Paste - Tim Holtz Rock Candy

Glitter - Tim Holtz Dry Rock Candy

Embossing Powders - Stampendous Frantage Shabby White; Art Stamps Australia Gold

Distress Inks - Tim Holtz Walnut Stain, Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Iced Spruce

Beads - from my junk stash

For a chance to win a great prize, pop over to Winter Wonderland, check out my teamies' wonderful creations, then enter your own projects. Remember, your project must be for Christmas.

Thank you for visiting,

Hugs

Jennifer. x

Shopping With Rosie Rabbit

Hello to all my crafting friends.

I know this post is late, but with our sad loss on Wednesday (see 

previous post), I felt too emotionally drained to write it up.

The Pink Fairies at Crafty Little Fairies have a new challenge for you,

and the theme this time is 

'SHOPPING'

Our lovely sponsor this week is

If you want to be eligible for their fab prize, you must use 

a stamped or digital image.

In an attempt to increase my supply of Christmas cards throughout the year,

to avoid that frantic and frenzied panic of last-minute card-making, I have 

created a Christmas card using Stampavie's A Rosie Rabbit Gift.

A closer look at Rosie in her shopping bag, coloured with Promarkers.

The inside of my card matches the front.

Challenges

ABC Christmas - ' 'D' for Die-Cut'

Animal Friends #11 - 'Points/Dots'
Cutie Pie #63 - 'Cute With Dots and Spots'
Divas By Design - 'Make It Sparkle'
Fab 'N' Funky #205 - 'Christmas'
The Paper Shelter #147 - 'Animal Magic'

Image - Stampavie A Rosie Rabbit Gift

Colouring - Promarkers

Paper - Imaginisce Let It Snow; Art Stamps Australia Gold Glitter Card

Dies - Spellbinders Classic and Scalloped Circles and Rectangles; Joy! Crafts 

Winter Wishes Snowflake Border 2021; Elizabeth Craft Designs Seasons Greetings

Punches - Carl Snowflake; Martha Stewart PATP Snowflakes (negatives); Creative 

Memories Corner 

Ranger Stickles - Platinum

For a chance to win a lovely prize, why not visit us at Crafty Little Fairies,
and enter our 'Shopping' Challenge.

Hugs, 

Jennifer. x

".........not even a mouse"

Only four more sleeps to go!

 I hope you are all just about organised. It is difficult to get into the Christmas spirit when

 the temperature yesterday and today reached 41degrees C!! I have never enjoyed 

summer...I much prefer the winter.

I made this card for a dear friend I have known for 25 years, who lives in England,

 using one of the first Christmas stamps I ever bought. I doubt if it is still available.

Isn't he the cutest little mouse. I coloured him with Promarkers.

Inside my card matches the front.

Image - Stamp-it Australia Merry Chrismouse

Colouring - Promarkers
Paper - Art Stamps Australia
Dies - Spellbinders Classic and Scalloped Rectangles, Classic and Scalloped Circles; Marianne Snowflakes; Elizabeth Craft Designs Season's Greetings; Martha Stewart PATP Snowflakes (negatives)

Thanks for visiting,
Hugs,
Jennifer. x