Count Your Blessings

Does being a klutz excuse me for being such a bad blogger?...my excuse

reason for more than a month since I last posted anything on my blog is

that I have been recovering from a serious fall in our garden. I tripped

and crashed into a brick wall. A trip to hospital revealed a broken toe, a

dislocated toe, a twisted knee, a sprained wrist, a whiplash-like injury  

to my neck, a 'jarred' spine, and a severe laceration to my elbow. It is 

4 weeks since my accident, but I am still hobbling around.

Enough of my woes... today is the 2nd Wednesday of the month, so that means

it is time for a new challenge at Words 2 Craft By. This month our quote is

'When I count my blessings, I count you twice'

This is a lovely old Irish saying, and it allows you lots of ways you can employ it.

This sweet image is from a rather old 12x12 sheet of vintage images by

Graphic 45. I always wanted lots of children, but sadly we were only able

to have one baby. This little cherub reminds me so much of our precious

son (now 44), who had big blue eyes, and very blonde curls.

Images - Graphic 45 'Little Darlings Collection'

Paper - Forever Friends 'New Arrival' 12x12 stack

Die - Joy Crafts 6002/0356

Sentiment - Computer generated 'French Script' font

For a chance to win a fabulous prize, pop over to Words 2 Craft By and check out my teamie's wonderful creations for some inspiration, then enter your own creation.

Until next time (hopefully soon),

Hugs,

Jennifer.  xx

Baby

A few days before Christmas our vet gave birth to her first baby...

a girl, so yesterday I made this card to welcome little Olivia.

Concentrating on creating is a pleasant distraction to help  

me deal with the pain.

Of course, the card had to have an animal on it, although I am pretty sure

our vet will not have to treat any giraffes in our little beach side town.

This oh-so-cute giraffe is a freebie digital stamp by Artesanato, and I

coloured her very softly with Promarkers.

My flower arrangement is very sparkly IRL with Star Dust Stickles, 

but unfortunately the camera has not picked up the dazzle.

I completely covered the title die-cut with the Star Dust Stickles, and for

some reason the camera has picked up its sparkle.

The inside of the card co-ordinates with the front. I took this photo after the

sun had gone down, so that is why it is not as bright as the previous photos.

Challenges I would like to enter 

A Gem of a Challenge #185 - 'Celebrate Something New'

CCC Digi Creations #65 - 'Use Die-cuts and/or Punches' WINNER

Crafty Friends #49 - 'New Beginnings'

Crafty Purple Frog - 'New Beginnings'

Daisy Chain #4 - 'Add Some Sparkle' 

Do-Al(l) Kreatives #1 - 'Something New'

Nordsalten Hobbyklubb #153 - 'Baby'

Simply Create Too #123 - 'New Beginnings'

Image - Artesanato (Freebie digital stamp)

Colouring - Promarkers

Paper - Forever Friends New Arrival

Dies - Spellbinder Classic Oval, Scalloped Oval, Classic Circle, Scalloped Circle; Cheery Lynn Flourish Leaf Strip; Marianne LR0217 (Baby); EZ Cut 50046 (Stars)

Stickles - Ranger Star Dust

Flowers, pearl stems and lace are from my junk stash.

After several days of near average temperatures (but with high humidity), we are bracing ourselves again for a major heat-wave here in Australia, so I guess I will be staying indoors with the air conditioning on, and hopefully doing some more crafting,

Until next time, thank you for visiting.

Hugs,

Jennifer x

Starting Over

Happy New Year everyone...

I hope you had a lovely Christmas, and Santa was kind to you with lots of  

new crafting goodies to add to your stash. Due to a serious family crisis, we

had a very quiet Christmas and New Year. My birthday fell between those days

(29th), so John and I went to a seaside town 2 hours away, where we had a lovely

light lunch, a long seaside walk, and a fabulous dinner. Between lunch and dinner we 

had 2 shopping expeditions...John bought me a new handbag, then went for a drive 

while I spent 1 1/2 hours in a scrapbooking/craft store, where lots of 

goodies 'fell' into the shopping basket.

I suppose you couldn't help but notice, I have updated and 'prettified' my blog. 

Of course I had an awful lot of help from my wonderful, and very clever John.

That's enough of my rambling on...let's move on to more important things!

After a break over the festive season, Crafty Little Fairies is back with a new

challenge to start 2014 off. How appropriate that the challenge title is

STARTING OVER 

Your creation can feature a new house, new job, new baby etc. Remember, you

must use an image, either stamped or digi, in order for your creation to be valid.

Our lovely sponsor this week is 

A dear friend's daughter is due to give birth to a little baby girl in 3 weeks time, so I

made this card for the mother-to-be and her husband.

A closer look at this adorable baby bear, by LOTV.

Inside my card with plenty of room to write my personal message.

Challenges

Ready Teddy Go - 'New Beginnings'

Really Reasonable Ribbon #86 - 'New Beginnings'

Image - Lili of the Valley Little Sleepy Head

Colouring - Promarkers

Sentiment - LOTV accompanies the image stamp

Paper - Forever Friends New Arrivals

Dies - Spellbinders Classic and Scalloped Squares and Circles; Memory Box Night Sky Border
Punch - Carl Sakura
Stickles Star Dust
Ribbon and gems from my junk stash

For a chance to win a lovely prize, why not visit us at Crafty Little Fairies, and enter our 'Starting Over' challenge. Don't forget to use an image on your creation.

Until next time,
Hugs,
Jennifer. x

Butterflies and Poppies

Gosh, all day I have been thinking it is Tuesday, but no.....it is Wednesday. 

Where are the weeks disappearing to?????

I would like to welcome to some lovely ladies who have become new followers. 

Thank you for doing so, and I hope you enjoy your visits.

Because it is Wednesday, we have a new challenge for you at Penny's Paper Crafty,

and our theme this week is

'SPOOLED ITEMS'

(ribbon, trim, twine, lace, etc)

Thank you to our 2 lovely sponsors this week. They are:-

and

I was given this pretty tag, For You Butterfly Tag from Bugaboo.

I coloured it with my Promarkers (that took all of 5 minutes),

and.........

this is what I created with it.

Two of the die-cuts are from dies that my lovely English blogging 

friend, Pauline, sent me. They are the large butterfly by Joy Craft, and the

tulips by Memory Box. The smaller butterfly is Cheery Lynn. I smothered

all 3 die-cuts to within an inch of their lives with Star Dust Stickles.

A closer look at the 3 die-cuts, and the lace and white ribbon border.

Inside my card matches the front. The gorgeous paper is New Arrival,

by Forever Friends. It is heavily glittered. My layering of the Spellbinders 

Classic and Scalloped Ovals looks uneven here but is not in reality.

Challenges:

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #236 - 'Double the Ribbon-2 Types of Ribbon' 

Flutterby Wednesday #251 - 'Anything Goes With A Butterfly or Fairy'

Anything Goes #100 - 'In The Garden...add Butterflies'

Creative Card Crew #144 - 'Things With Wings'

Lacy Sunshine #16 - 'Dies and/or Punches'

Sweet Stamps #133 - 'Butterflies'

For a chance to win great prizes, why not visit Penny's Paper Crafty and enter our 'Spooled Items' challenge.

Happy Crafting!
Hugs,
Jennifer. x

Happy Spring

While winter has just begun here in the southern hemisphere, the rest of the world is celebrating the welcome arrival of spring/summer.  In recognition of that fact, my card for this week's challenge at Penny's Paper Crafty features an adorable digi image called HAPPY SPRING , by the talented Kathryne of Stamp Art Designs. Thank you, Kathryne. 

Our challenge theme at Penny's is               

'1,2,3' 

We want you to use 1 image, 2 patterned papers, and 3 embellishments.

Our lovely generous sponsors this week are:-

and

and

This little bunny is so cute, I decided to make a very girly card. 

The sentiment is a bonus that comes with the image.

Coloured, as usual, with Promarkers.

Inside my card is decorated to match the front. For a change, I decided to offset the layers.

I would like to enter the following challenges:-

Totally Papercrafts #170 - 'At Least 3 Punches or Dies

Scrappers Delights #1 - 'S is for........' (Spring)

Marianne Design Divas - 'Get Your Dies Out'

Stamp With Fun #215 - 'Green and Pink'

Animal Friends #3 - 'Butterflies or Bugs'

Stampin' For The Weekend - 'Cute'

Cutie Pie #46 - 'One For The Kids'

Corrosive #176 - 'Animal Antics'

Deep Ocean #53 - 'For A Girl'

ABC #32 - 'I (Heart) Animals

Image and Sentiment - digi StampArt Design by Kathryne Happy Spring
Colouring - Promarkers
Papers - Forever Friends New Arrival
Dies - Spellbinders Classic and Scalloped Rectangles, Butterflies Circles; Memory Box Clouds; Cheery Lynn Mini Dimensional Butterflies; Marianne Flowers.
Card Candi - Craftwork Cards

For a chance to win great prizes, why not visit Penny's Paper Crafty and enter our '1,2,3' challenge.
Thank you for visiting and leaving all your lovely comments, so until next time, "Happy Crafting".
Hugs,
Jennifer. x

Baby owl

Hello fellow crafters,

A few months ago, when I was preparing for our 40th wedding anniversary celebration, I purchased some items from a lovely shop in our nearby town, and the owner asked if I would like to supply her shop with my cards. I was delighted to do so, and a couple of weeks ago her daughter asked me to make a card to give to her best friend who had just given birth to a baby boy.

The new mother apparently loves owls, so the card had to feature one or more owls. Otherwise I could design the card however I chose.

I don't have any owl stamps, so I searched for a suitable digi stamp, and finally found this cute baby owl with a bib at 2 Cute Ink Digital Stamps. I also had to search several craft shops before I found this beautiful little owl charm. They were so nice, I bought several of them.

Inside the card, showing the little tag on which 

to write a personal message.

                      

                              Side view

I usually put some form on embellishment on the back of the card with my contact details sticker.

I tend to get a bit stressed when asked to make a specific card for someone, as I worry that they will have had something else in mind. After all, there are infinite shades of colours, for example, aren't there. Anyway, when I delivered this card to the shop owner's sweet daughter, she had tears in her eyes, and just kept saying "OMG, OMG", and then said "I have to pay you more, you haven't charged me enough". (Which of course I refused to accept!). I had to laugh inwardly, as I had never had that reaction before, but have to admit it felt good.

I would like to enter the following challenges -

Party Time Tuesdays #83 -'Anything Goes'  (VIP Top 3)

I Love Promarkers #132 - 'Anything Goes'

Perfect Sentiments #47 - 'Anything Goes'

Image - 'Baby Owl' digi stamp from 2 Cute Ink
Colouring - Promarkers
Paper - Forever Friends 'New Arrival'
Dies - Spellbinder; Marianne
Punch - Martha Stewart; Carl (tiny hearts on tag)
Sentiment - Computer generated 'Adine' font
Card Candi - Craftwork Cards
Charm, flowers, leaves from my junk stash

Until next time, thank you for looking.

Hugs, Jennifer. x

Pink, pink, and more pink!

Hello fellow crafters,
After a bit of overload using bright colours, particularly reds, in recent posts (except for Scarlette's card here), I have been 'itching' to make a card in pastels. There is a new challenge site called In The Pink, and for their launch they have chosen '50 Shades of Pink'. My card has nowhere near that many shades of pink (I would love to see one that has), but I have still used quite a few.

This little bear stamp has 2 companion stamps, sold separately, and all three were among my earliest stamp purchases, many, many moons ago. I coloured her with Promarkers.

For several months I have been seeing these gorgeous little leaf sprays on cards in various blogs, and tried to find out their brand and name (or even if they were a die), and 2 weeks ago my quest ended. Yesterday I travelled to Newcastle to the annual Craft and Sewing Show, and along with several other goodies, mainly dies, I purchased the Cheery Lynn 'Flourish Leaf Strip' die. I totally love them, and I'm sure they will be making frequent appearances in future.

The easel card fully opened.

I bought the Marianne 'Baby' die several months ago, and I am ashamed to admit that this is the first time I have used it. However, it is so beautiful, I am sure I will use it more often.

I removed the portion of the Memory Box 'La Rue Flourish' die-cut that would have been hidden behind the stamped image, and used it to embellish my contact detail sticker on the back of the card.

Challenges I would like to enter are -

In The Pink #1 - '50 Shades of Pink'

Creatalicious # 37 - 'Fantasy or Baby'

Whimsy Stamps #50 - 'Lots of Layers'

Ready-Teddy-Go #13 - 'Anything Goes'

Delightful challenges - 'Punches and Dies'

The Poodles Parlour - 'Let's See Those Die Cuts' (Top 3)

Stamp - Stamp-it 'Pretty as a Picture'

Colouring - Promarkers

Paper - Forever Friends 'New Arrival'; DoCraft Daisy & Dandelion 'Candyfloss & Marshmellow'

Dies - Memory Box 'La Rue Flourish', 'Ringed Buckle'; Marianne 'Baby'; Cheery Lynn 'Flourish Leaf Strip'; Spellbinder

Punches - Martha Stewart; Carl

Card Candi - Craftwork Cards

Glitter glue - Ranger Stickles 'Star Dust'

Flowers, Rhinestones - from my stash

Until next time, thank you for looking,

Hugs,

Jennifer. x

Scarlette's 2nd Birthday

Hello Fellow Crafters,

Last Saturday, our beautiful little Granddaughter, Scarlette (in London) celebrated her 2nd birthday. It seems  like just a few months ago we received the wonderful phone call announcing her safe arrival. She is a 'girlie' girl, so Grandma made her a 'girlie' card.

The image is 'Abbie' by Connie Fong (Sweet Pea Stamps) - so utterly cute, isn't she, and I coloured her with my Promarkers.

Inside the easel card, showing the pocket and tag, on which Grandma and Grandpa wrote their birthday greetings.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges -
  I love Promarkers - 'Sparkle'
 ABC Challenge - 'T for Two by Two' (No. 2, 2 butterflies, 2 balloons, 2 die cut, & glittered hearts).
 An Oldie But A Goodie - 'Flower Power' (I've had the Spellbinder Heart Dies 3-4 years).
 Papertake Weekly - 'All Things Girlie'
 J. & C. Creations - 'Anything Goes'
 Paper Pretties - 'Bling It On'
 Paper Crafting Journey - 'Pearls and Swirls'

Stamped image - Sweet Pea Stamps -'Abbie' by Connie Fong
Colouring - Promarkers
Sentiment - computer generated 'Balsam'
Cardstock - Bazzill
Paper - First Edition 'Spring Feast'; Prima 'Meadow Lark' Collection; Forever Friends 'New Arrival'
Dies - Spellbinder Scalloped Hearts; Marianne leaves and flourishes; Cheery Lynn butterfly, & light deco
          border; Cuttlebug corners
Punches - Martha Stewart; Carl
Pearls - Kaisercraft
Stickles - Ranger 'Star Dust'
Flowers, charm, chain, brad - assorted brands from my stash

Thank you for looking...until next time,
Hugs,
Jennifer x