My DD has had a few parties in the last couple of weeks so I’m getting better at the small girls card thing   I made this card last week (twice!) with the gorgeous Russian Dolls – aren’t they just so cute?!  The spooky part is that I was looking round blog land yesterday and saw this weeks sketch on one of my favourite sites clean & simple stamping, and it must be ‘great minds think alike’ as it’s the same layout – SPOOKY!

Supplies used: Hero Arts Russian Dolls Stamp set, Memento InkPad – Tuxedo Black, Copics for colouring, Corner Rounder, Ranger Glossy Accents, Basic Grey Urban Prairie paper, SU! Old Olive Ribbon, Bazzill Avalanche cardstock

Happy crafting

Jane

I’m a couple of days late I’m afraid – off on a sandcastle building expedition in Norfolk! – but the thought was there   I like to keep my cards simple and clean looking (I have a lot to make!) and at this time of year Christmas materials can be a bit thin on the ground.  These are great for using up last years bits and bobs as you don’t need big pieces (the squares are about 3.5cm square)

This gorgeous pale blue glitter isn’t even Christmas paper, it’s from the DCWV Spring stack! You can’t beat a bit of bling at Christmas!

Supplies used:  White cardstock base, DCWV Winter Mat Stack, DCWV Spring Glitter Stack, v old Woodware Snowflake punch,  Dovecraft Adhesive Gems, Penny Black Christmas set from last year, Colorbox Quicksilver & Warm Violet.

Happy crafting!

Jane

Finally got a chance to play with the gorgeous MME today!  I decided to have a go with the Bloom & Grow – I think the colour palette is a little more ‘me’ but I’m sure I wont let that stand in my way of trying the Wild Asparagus too )  Charlotte and I are sharing a set of the Basic Grey Beta Series stamps – don’t tell her I’ve used them already!!!

This is a fun little card for my niece who’ll be 10 at the end of the week. I hope she likes it – I had such fun with it I made two variations!  The patterns are great to work with – I don’t stamp onto patterned paper much, I get stressed combining patterns but it was a breeze with these…

Supplies used:

MME Bloom & Grow 6×6 paper pack, Basic Grey Beta Series stamp set, Co-ordinations cardstock (sorry I can’t tell you which colours – I got so many oranges out I got all mixed up!), Fiskars Scalloped Lace Border Punch, SU! Scalloped circle and 1 1/4″ punches, Fiskars shaper cutter for the 2″ circle, Piggy Tales Chicken Little Ribbon.

Not that I’m obsessed or anything but this is another sketch from clean & simple stamping!

Happy crafting

Jane

I’ve had some Copics Markers for a while now but haven’t really got round to using them – I do like to take out the wallet and admire them, there’s something very satisfying about seeing all the colours lined up (well, there is for me anyway!)

They have a super sketch and examples at the clean&simple stamping blog spot this week so I thought I’d get out my fruity stamps and my markers and have a go.   I found this tutorial from one of the Copics design team on colouring in red fruit which came in very handy! Here’s what I came up with (not a master yet but not bad for a first attempt!):

Supplies used: white card stock base, brown paper for my kraft layer, white journalling pen, Basic Grey Urban Prairie for the turquoise layer, Kars Fruity stamp, Tsukineko MementoTuxedo Black for stamping, 1.5″ circle punch

Happy crafting

Jane

My little boy was at a party today so it was small boy birthday card time again )  I was a little short of inspiration yesterday so after having a browse round I was very taken with this Clean and Simple sketch challenge from SplitCoastStampers. A big part of the challenge was that there wasn’t actually a sketch that I could find (!) so you had to imagine it in your head based on the various samples!!!  It is however a great layout which I can see myself using a lot so expect to see more of this one.

The card is approx 6″ square and I’ve used a 1.5″ circle punch for my circles.

Supplies used: Basic Grey Archaic collection pack, SU  Always Artichoke (I think) as base,  Bazzill Mystique cardstock, Basic Grey Archaic Buttons, Chipboard and Foam squares for a little lift!, SU linen thread, 5 is from Basic Grey Offbeat Chipboard Alphas.

I thought that I’d make another one (to have in for emergencies!) while I had all the stuff out.  This is the budget version as I used the front cover from the collection pack – waste not, want not! The circles are a little smaller (1″) Supplies as before )

Happy crafting

Jane

DCWV Latte,  rather than the beverage )

I have to admit to loving these papers – they are such ‘me’ colours!  I have so many matching ribbons and embellishments in my stash it’s like they’ve been designed with me in mind ) I’ve made lots of use of them already this week but this first one is definitely my favourite. It’s very girly, which is not my normal style but I just love how it’s turned out.

Supplies used: DCWV Latte Matstack paper, Bazzill Mystique cardstock for the base, card stock scraps for mat and sentiment, Prima flower from stash, Fiskers Scalloped Lace Border Punch and a Making Memories Boho Chic ‘Lauren’ brad for the flower centre (these don’t look very promising in the package – I got them free in a goodie bag – but I can thoroughly recommend them for flower centres!)

The really great thing about the Latte collection is the colour palette which lends itself to so many occasions – here’s a couple more including a ‘tricky’ masculine card.

Supplies used: DCWV Latte Matstack Papers, SU Old Olive card and ribbon, petrol blue card from stash for mats

Happy crafting

Jane

Do you craft in centimetres or inches? I’m generally a centimetres girl but there are sometimes when it all seems to come together more easily in inches!  I guess this is because most papercrafting products are designed for the US market (which is firmly in inches!) and so the repeats etc just work right )

I went with inches for this project as I wanted to use the whole width of a 12″ sheet of Bazzill so it just seemed to make more sense. I’ve been toying with the idea of a gift bag for cards for a while and I am so pleased with how it turned out!

It’s amazingly economical – I’ve just used a single piece of black Bazzill, a scrap of pink that I had left over from another project, 2 7″ lengths of black grosgrain and 2 sheets of 6×6 Dovecraft Wild Blossom (I’ve used the rest of the ‘Try Me’ pack for my cards to go inside). Here’s the dimensions for the Bazzill (just click to enlarge) in case you fancy having a bash! I’ve cut the patterned paper panels 1/4″  smaller all round to fit with a nice border.

(thanks to my DH for this diagram – isn’t it impressive?)

Here’s the first of the cards that I’ve made to go inside (a sketch from my current fav – again!) – Wild Blossom 6×6 as with the bag (I’ve added some of the chipboard shapes too, and some black organza). Hopefully I’ll have finished the rest by the end of the week (the bag will hold about 6 depending on layers/embellishments etc) and I’ll pop them on here )

Supplies used: Avalanche and Blackbird Bazzill, Dovecraft Wild Blossoms 6×6 ‘Try Me’ paper pack, Dovecraft Wild Blossoms chipboards, narrow black organza from my stash and the sentiment is done on the computer.

Happy crafting

Jane

I’ve found a new favourite place on the internet! I’m sure you’ll all say ‘oh we know that one’ but it’s new one for me )

It’s a blog called clean & simple stamping and they have the loveliest sketches and examples. I only came across it yesterday and I’ve been inspired to make two cards from their sketches already!

This one is FTL32 and is a belated birthday card for a dear friend whose birthday was on Friday I’ve only just realised (oh dear!)

Supplies used: O’Scrap Felt Flower, pink dotty button from stash (I have SO many!), Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, pink & white card scraps.

This cute little easter card is for sending a little monetary gift for chocolate purchase in lieu of an easter egg! I’ve had the egg paper out on my craft table for a while all ready but had been undecided what to do with it – until  I saw this sketch.

Supplies used: DCWV Spring Mat Stack ‘Easter Egg’ paper, lilac & white paper scraps, spring green grosgrain ribbon from a swap with my sister, Penny Black Transparent ‘Salutations’ enjoy… stamp, Colorbox Wisteria chalk ink

Happy crafting

Jane