Oh Christmas Tree

Hello fellow crafters,

I think the global weather has gone crazy - while all of you in the Northern Hemisphere are freezing your little toes off under heavy snow, we here in Australia are experiencing temperatures way above normal, and extremely high humidity which is very unpleasant. While much of eastern Australia is still recovering from severe floods, there are major bushfires out of control in Victoria.

We could talk about the weather endlessly, but let's get onto more interesting things. Penny's Paper Crafty has a new challenge for you, and our theme is

'ANYTHING BUT SQUARE' 

Our generous sponsors are

 I was given this cute image, Little Tree, by Limited Runs Digital Stamps to play with, and this is what I created.

The card base was cut using my Cricut.

As usual, I coloured the image with Promarkers. I put dots of  Liquid Pearls

on the image's snowflakes, but as I suspected it would, the ink 'bled' through, so,

when the Liquid Pearls was dry, I then added Star Dust Stickles on top.

Side-on view

Inside the card. Those 2 little trees are bright green stickers with gold stars

but the refelection of the red card stock above them makes

them look black and red.

Challenges I would like to enter are:- 

Passion For Promarkers #191 - 'Bingo (die-cut, free, glitter)

Paper Makeup Stamps #81 - 'Fancy Folds'

Can You Digi It #32 - 'Pick A Season' (WINNER)

Whoopsidaisy - 'Use A Digi'

Image - Limited Runs 'Little Tree'

Colouring - Promarkers

Paper - Grant Archival; Art Stamps Australia Silver Glittered

Dies - Cricut, Accent Essentials cartridge; Marianne Snowflakes, and Poinsettia; Spellbinders Classic Ovals

Others - Stickles Star Dust, Icicles, Liquid Pearls, Peel-off stickers 

It felt strange creating a Christmas card in March, but I may continue the trend so I can avoid the awful sense of panic I usually have in November and December.

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

Until next time, thank you for visiting, and "Happy Crafting".

Hugs,

Jennifer. x

Raining Daisies

Hello fellow crafters,

Just a short post tonight, to show you a card I made recently for no particular reason, except that I wanted to use this ever so cute Penny Black stamp. I bought it early last year, and to my shame, it has never seen ink.

As soon as I saw this pretty, 'springified' paper, I knew it would go so well with this image. 

I coloured the image with Promarkers.

The inside of my card is decorated to match the front.

Challenges I would like to enter are:-

Joanna Sheen - 'Come Rain or Shine'

Penny Black Saturday - 'Spring into Spring'

Ready-Teddy-Go #20 - 'Mum's The Word'

Image - Penny Black Raining Daisies

Colouring - Promarkers

Paper - Jillibean

Dies - Spellbinders Classic and Scalloped Circles; Cheery Lynn Cuties 3; Couture Creations Baby Dove

Others - Ribbon, Stardust Stickles, and gold peel-off stickers, all from my junk stash

Until next time, thank you for visiting, and "Happy Crafting".

Hugs,

Jennifer. x

Under the Sea

Hello fellow crafters,

For the first time this season, the last 2 days have had a lovely autumn feel to them (happy dance!!!!). I love autumn - pleasant days and cool nights snuggled under the doona, while the garden is full of colour, and all the plants aren't burnt and limp. 

Enough of this waxing lyrical...again it is time for another challenge at Penny's Paper Crafty, and our theme this week is 

'GINGHAM AND/OR CHECKS'

Our lovely sponsors for this challenge are

I was given this cute image, Little Honey's Little Mermaid, by Sassy Studio Designs to play with, and at first I wasn't sure how I would incorporate gingham or checks into my design. However, last week while I was at my stamp camp, I saw these gorgeous elasticised ribbons in the 'shop'. They reminded me so much of the swimming costumes little girls wore in the 1950s. My first 2 piece swimsuit was pink and white gingham, and extremely modest by today's standards, I must say.

The background is Core'dinations cardstock, which I spritzed lightly with water, embossed it with a Fiskars plate, then lightly sanded it to accentuate the 'waves'. Some colours do not photograph true to life...IRL the rectangle behind the image is almost the same pink as that of the ribbon.

I used my Promarkers to colour The Little Mermaid.

        

A closer look at the shells, pearls, starfish, and the seaweed which I created using a Marianne die, and a Memory Box die. The 'seaweed' was cut from the same sheet of paper as the mat, despite the colour differences.

As usual I decorated the inside of my card to match the front. That gorgeous shiny paper is from a roll of book-covering paper that I bought years ago. I bought 3 or 4 rolls of different colours, but all of them change colour as they are moved about, and slightly reflect any colours nearby e.g. I was wearing a bright pink top when I took the photos (bottom RH corner, above).

Challenges I would like to enter are:-

Anything Goes #88 - 'Seeing Double-Use 2 of Anything' (2 mini cockle shells)

Cuttin' and Stampin' #11 - 'Pink, Blue, Yellow and Green'

Party Time Tuesdays #112 'Colour-Picture Challenge'

My Craft Spot #91 - 'Embossing or Glossy Accents'

Kaboodle Doodles #163 - 'Anything With Frills'

Cupcake Craft #234 - 'Mythical Creatures'

I Love Promarkers - 'Anything Goes'

Crafty Creations #214 - 'Embossing'

Simon Says Stamp - 'Water'

Image - Sassy Studio Design digi image Little Honey's Little Mermaid

Colouring - Promarkers

Dies - Memory Box Woodland Branch; Marianne LRO192; Spellbinders Scallop Ovals, Labels ?one, and Classic Rectangles

Punch - Martha Stewart Double Loops

Embossing - Fiskars plate Waves

Ink - Versacube Bamboo; Adirondack Denim

Stamp inside card - unknown (from a set at a $2 shop)

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

Until next time, thank you for visiting, and "happy crafting".

Hugs,

Jennifer. x

Blossoms and Fans

Hello fellow crafters, and welcome to my newest follower, Penny. We met at a Stamp Camp last weekend.

Penny's Paper Crafty has a new challenge, and our theme this week is

'RIBBON AND DIE CUTS'

Our generous sponsors this week are

I must admit when I was given the lovely Floppy Latte Design's 

Oriental Beauty to play with, I wasn't sure how I was going to 

bring her to life. I thought "mmm, oriental....washi paper, lots of 

red, and other bright colours...", then I found this lovely paper in

 my junk stash; remembered that I had a little gold fan; and the card 

took over, dictating what it wanted next. I am happy that it did.

The ribbon is metallic, and very shiny, but I could not get 

that to show up in the photo. I die-cut two of the bare

branches for the card front, then cut those into several 

pieces, rearranging them to fit the design.

The inside of the card co-ordinates with the front. These five 

flowers are punched from pearlised paper, with Liquid Pearls 

centres, while the flowers on the front are die-cuts.

I would like to enter the following challenges:-

Passion For Promarkers #189 - 'From Around The World'

Creative Moments #12 'Add A Sentiment'

Fab 'n' Funky #162 - 'Add A Sentiment'

Image - Floppy Latte Designs Oriental Beauty
Paper - Cristina Re
Dies - Memory Box Woodland Branch; Cottage Cutz Spring Vine Wreath (flowers only used); Spellbinders Classic Rectangles
Punches - Carl Vinca; Making Memories Corner Rounder
Sentiment - Wild Rose Studio Cute Greetings
Fan and ribbon from my junk stash

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

Until next time, happy crafting, and thank you for visiting.
Hugs,
Jennifer. x

D.I.Y. Handyman Mouse

Hello fello crafters, and welcome to Joan, my newest follower. I hope you enjoy your visits.

Over at Penny's Paper Crafty we have a new challenge for you, and our theme this week is

'STITCHING - REAL OR FAUX'

This time we have been generously sponsored by

I was given this handsome chappie by QKR Stampede to play with.

My stitching is faux, and I made the tiny pencils by cutting one end off some

toothpicks, and colouring them with my Promarkers.

I coloured the D.I.Y. mouse with my Promarkers.

A close-up view of my tiny 'toothpick and Promarker' pencils.

Inside the card is decorated to match the front.

Image - QKR Stampede digi stamp 16801 Taking Notes
Colouring - Promarkers
Paper - First Edition Family Ties
Die - Spellbinders Classic Square
Ink for sponging - Versacube Baby Blue
Pens for faux stitching - Signo (white), Staedtler (grey)
Peel-off sticker greeting from my junk stash

I would like to enter the following challenges:-

QKR Stampede #28 - '3 of Something' (3 pencils, 3 buttons on his overalls, 3 layers of DP below the image)  TOP 5!

Crafty Boots - 'Old, New, Borrowed or Blue' (old-greeting sticker;new-digi image;blue-DPs)

Pause, Dream, Enjoy #5 - 'For The Boys'

Anything Goes #87 - 'Make It Manly'

Stamp and Create - 'Fur or Feathers'

Cards For Men #5 - 'Monochrome'

For a chance to win great prizes, why not visit Penny's Paper Crafty and enter our challenge.
Until next time, happy crafting, and thank you for visiting.
Hugs,
Jennifer. x

Sympathy Card

Hello fellow crafters,
Recently, I found out that a friend's father had passed away. He was in his nineties, and until a few months ago, when he was diagnosed with cancer, he was very active and independent, so I suppose it was a blessing that he did not suffer for an extended time.

I believe sympathy cards are difficult for most of us to make, especially when they are for friends. I always like to keep these cards fairly simple, with a minimum of embellishments.

For this one, I used 'Birds and Swirls' embossing folder. However, I do not know the brand. I did not photograph the inside, as it is the same as the front, without the sentiment. By omitting the sentiment, there was sufficient space on the blank area to write my personal message to my friend.

Thank you for visiting,
Hugs,
Jennifer. x