SWOON!! Another fabby trade....

I really look forward to my swaps with my dear and talented friend Margaret

She always spoils me.

When her package arrives....

...... it always feels like I have another birthday !!

Margaret packs up everything so beautifully and enticing..

making the reveal of our swaps soooo exciting!

We decided to have a Halloween/Autumn trade

Now, are you ready to whoooooo and Arrrrrrr

over the lovelies that Margaret sent to me.....

 A Fantastic Altered Matchbox

 

 Packed with Soooooo many lovely inspirational goodies

 A spookylicious ATC

love the skelly stamp...

 ...and how fun is this, M knows like that I like altering jigsaw pieces, so she wrote me a little note on a jigsaw, which I had to complete to read it !!

Margaret also sent me this beautiful dress *SWOON*

which I absolutely adore !!

Thank you again Margaret, sooooo much for sharing your creativity, kindness and generosity..

I'm so glad to have found you in Blogland x

-oOo-

...and now for what I sent to Margaret

 an altered Halloween themed matchbox

 Goodies for Margaret :)

 A spooky tag...

and last but not least an Autumn fairy atc....

Thanks for Looking  !

Jan x

Mystical Creatures....

I was honoured to be asked by Sarah

to be a Guest Artist for the

Inkurable Stampers 2010 Gothic Arch Challenge.

The theme was Mystical Creatures.

Here is my example

You can read more about how I created it on the Inkurable Stampers Blog

...and also check out the regular designer,the talented Fiona Shultz's fantastic example

Here and Here

Thanks again Sarah for asking me to be Guest Artist on your wonderful Blog.

Wow, I can't believe there are only two more Arch themes until the end of the Challenge!

Been Fun!

Also check out the Inkurable Stampers Blog for some other fab monthly stamping challenges

Thanks for Looking!

Jan x

Run out of Steam!!

Well, I must admit, Steam Punk is a bit of a challenge for me!

...but I bought some Tim Holtz alterations at the Ally pally show earlier this year,

So I was quite looking forward to having an attempt at this one!

This is my 'steampunk' Arch

for the

Inkurable Stampers

Gothic Arch Challenge #10

The background is stamped with

'Paperartsy - Clocks 5' stamp

Distressed with inks

Added this fab free image that I found on flickr

(Sorry I can't remember where I got it from, so if it's yours,

please let me know, so that I can give you credit for it!!)

.....added some Tim Holtz 'sprocket gears (using two of the alterations as wheels) and ball chain'.

Then added some words/saying.

I put some Glossy accents over the face of the image (inside one of the gears)

...and voila - My attempt at steam-punk!!

The next to challenges are #11 - Paint and #12 - fabric

looking forward to these two!!

Thanks for looking!

Jan x

From Russia with love.....

A couple month's ago Julia and I agreed do a little swapping between us, I was excited as I've not traded art with anyone from Russia before.

....and I was so delighted with all the goodies I received.

A beautiful atc, with a sweet image - just adore the stitching around the outside!

...and lookie at the wonderful altered matchbox filled with lovelies!!

...and as for the inchies, they are amazing, all Russian inspired!!

How cute are they, Just love the nesting russian Dolls inchy with the family image in size order behind them!! All the inchies have stitching on them as well :)

...and Julia also sent me a little Russian surprise - my own beautiful matryoshka doll - Thanks again Julia for a fantastic swap, I LOVE everything! It's been a real pleasure trading with you !

If you want to see what I sent Julia for our swap, you can see Julia's lovely post here

Thanks for looking!

Jan x

A taste of the Orient.......

I made this Asian Arch a couple of weeks ago

for the

Inkurable Stampers

Gothic Arch challenge #9 The background is stamped with

(Chinese script background by Personal impressions)

Then distressed it with some coloured inks.

Added a paper cocktail drink umbrella

...and a freebie asian image

which I've added some wings too.

Finished off with a dragonfly and coin charms.

The present

Gothic Arch Challenge #10

is...

Steampunk

So better get my thinking cap on for that one!!

-oOo-

The Asian Arch inspired me to make some Asian dress creations for the

The Artist Trading card swap 'til you drop

ATC swap

-oOo-

The fantastic theme was set by the talented Margaret

( a great mini version of the Dress up Challenge!!)

Our task is to create a pocket atc using the instructions supplied

....then to make a li'l dress to tuck neatly inside the pocket.

Here is what I came up with....

....Using the same (Chinese script Background) Stamp,

Stamped a piece of white card

...then glued the paper from a paper cocktail umbrella to the stamped card

the background stamp shows nicely through the tissue paper :)

....then cut it into a dress shape

...inked a little here and there

...finally added an asian image and charm.

-oOo-

The paper pocket was made from a page with asian script on

distressed with inks

... hand sewn around the edges.

...added a little fake scroll and dragon fly to each pocket

-oOo-

I've really enjoyed making these little dresses

A fun swap!!

Pop over to Chriss's ATC Blog to join in with the ATC swap

...and see links to more fabby pocket/dress creations!

-oOo-

Thanks for Looking!

Jan x

More fabby mail, and a new addition to the family....

...I've been meaning to post about my fabby mail all week, but have been little busy here.

Phew!! Nearly finished redecorating...The boys bedrooms are looking fresh and new again :)

...but, Don't want to see a tin of wall paint for a very very long time LOL!

-oOo-

...and we finally felt ready for a new pooch to love...
so we have a new addition to the household.

....meet my new fur-baby ..

We are still settling on a name for our 9 week old bundle of fun,

I quite like Barney.

... Mmmm what do you think, does he look like a Barney to you?

So I've been a little busy with chasing him about , toilet training , cuddles, and disrupted sleep,

first jabs tommorrow,

he's a little handful....but soooo worth it!

So, I'm Sorry if I've not visited your blogs

.....answered any blog questions or other emails just recently,

popped into groups!

I'm not ignoring you all - Honest!!

I'm a little behind with everything...

..and have not been on the 'net much!

Hopefully get back to some sort of organization soon LOL! ;)

-oOo-

...Anyway back to fabby mail.

I've been receiving some amazing packages in the post,

some expected from swaps,

and one a complete surprise!!

Take a look at these beauties.....

I received this lovely altered matchbox from my new found crafting friend Tina from USA.

She found me through my blog

and we have been doing some lovely trades.

We did an altered matchbox swap recently.

I just adore the cute little birdie in it's nest, and Tina has covered it in everything I love... lace, fairies, daffodils, flowers, buttons etc.

Thank you so much Tina x

-oOo-

I recently did another altered matchbox swap with the inspirational Patty from Magpies Nest

(Yep another matchbox - anyone would think that I am addicted to them LOL!)

...and I was ever sooooo pleased with what she sent too me.

A wonderful asian themed match box

(well 2 matchboxes in 1!)

which unfolds to reveal a beautiful quote!

..and wait there is more!......

Two matchbox drawers which open to reveal a wonderful asian display of goodies!

How cool is this!!

Thank you sooo much Patty, I adore it! x

Patty also sent me some gorgeous goodies including one of her fabby wire nests (which I have been admiring on her blog)

So I was well chuffed!! :)

-oOo-

And what a lovely surprise!! ....

....all these beautiful wonders came from my friend Kath in Canada,

Kath is an amazing artist and I love her Prim painting style .

The gorgeous Prim wall-hanging as now pride of place hanging in my kitchen now!

Kath is also pretty good at wordscraper (scrabble) and is often beating me in a game!!
Check out Kath's Lovely work at her website...

Katie's Cows and Udder things

She also makes some amazing quilled items too.

Thanks again Kath, Love everything you sent! x

Now, off to catch up with blog-land, make take some time LOL!

Thanks for looking!

Jan x

Fabby mail day....

....one thing I have noticed since I started blogging (10 months ago) is how generous other 'crafty' bloggers are...

There is always a giveaways going on

-oOo-

...and guess what, I won one!!

Lookie what I received in the mail, a fantastic altered notebook and some beautiful atc's!!

These beauties were made by

Judy over at

My Artistic Side

Check out Judy's fabby Blog!

Thank you so much Judy.

I've already started to use the notebook to write down and keep up with all the crafty swaps that I'm currently doing.

Thanks for Looking!

Jan x

Matchbox Madness.....

I'm participating in an altered matchbox swap

Hosted by Penny over at The Linen Shelf

The theme was...

Spring into Summer

-oOo-

Look away now...

....if you are also taking part in the matchbox swap and want a Surprise!!!

.... these are my 10 'Spring into Summer' matchboxes

...the boxes are covered in (bright and sunny) hand made papers

I've added my favourite Spring Flowers (Daffs)

and an orange flower with button centres

plus some charms and jigsaw pieces.

Then edged with some lace

Then for the insides, theres a collaged printed image , I've added some craft moss and some beads for eggs.
-oOo-

Can't wait to see what the other participants have made.

LARGE MATCHBOX TRADE


.and now, be prepared to 'Squeal' How FANTASTIC is this....


I've also done a large matchbox trade with Yvonne
Check out her blog, she creates some amazing mixed media art
...and I was overjoyed to receive these wonderful creations.
Everything is soooo stunning!
The box is altered with fabric and lace
(all stitched!!)
..and the contents are just as spectacular
...beautiful atc's and inchies
Thank you again Yvonne!
I love everything!
I won't show you the box I made for Yvonne,
has she hasn't seen it yet, and I dont want to spoil the surprise!!
-oOo-
...and now for even more Matchbox madness
Here are a couple more large matchboxes that I have altered


...and they are going postal to 2 different 'crafty' friends
...so i hope they like them?
-oOo-
Now, lil question for ya....
what do you do with hundreds of unused matches? LOL!!
-oOo-

Thanks for Looking!
Jan x

'swap til you drop' swap......

These are the fantastic 'Garden fairies' atc's

That I recived in a swap with

The Artist Trading Club

Aren't they great!!

-oOo-

Fantastic background and love the lil velum wings on Tina's card.

...and Chris's card is gorgeous, it has little doors that open up, to reveal a beautifuly coloured and sparkly garden fairy.

......Love the sweet images, background and stitching on Martina's card.

Thank you Tina, Chris and Martina.

Oh, and I've also got a card coming from Nancy soon, can't wait for that one!

-oOo-

..and this little beauty is from Chriss,
we did a little trading between us.
Love the image on this one,
and I dont think you can see it clearly in this pic
...but the background is beautifully embossed and sparkly!!

Thanks again Chriss,
.....and for all you do over at the Artist trading Club.
-oOo-

Thanks for Looking
Jan x

Garden Fairies......

This is one of the 5 ATC's (all very similar) that I made for The Artist trading club 'swap 'til you drop' March challenge.

This month's challenge theme was Garden Fairies,

and the Guest host is the fabulous Nancy (love her artwork!!) keeping my fingers crossed that I get one of her beautiful cards in my trade !

For my ATC...

I used a Paper Artsy stamp (wings-plate 3) ,coloured with promarkers, distressed with inks, added some embellies, words and a little glitter!!

-oOo-

Thanks for Looking!

Jan x

You need hands....

The latest Gothic Arch Challenge over at Inkurable Stampers is Hands.

The first thing that popped into my head, when I see that the theme chosen by Sarah was 'Hands' was..... Clocks!!

You have to use at least one stamp on your Arch...and being as I have no stamps with 'hands' this turned out to be a good idea!! I used a Crafty Individuals Clocks stamp (C1-255) for the background distressed it with some inks. Chose an image also by CI with some 'hands' in view!! So I covered all bases by having two sets of Hands LOL!!...added some german scrap, a saying and a pointer onto one of the clocks.

If you enjoy making Arch atc's why don't you pop over too Inkurable Stampers dedicated Flickr Group (Arch Challenge), we are only on our 4th Challenge, so plenty time to catchup and join in with the Fun!!

Thanks for Looking!

Jan x

OWOH...whoo what a ride....

...on that carpet

...and just what I had hoped for...

have met some new 'crafty' friends along the way!

-0O0-

My OWOH giveaway winner Sherry has received her prize from me...

well it didn't have to go too far, Sherry not only lives in England, but also also lives in Essex!!

(what a coincidence, out of 242 comments left on my giveaway, random.org picks someone living in the same part of the Country as me!!)

My giveaway was for a crafty individuals stamp and an ATC made on a theme of the winners choice.

Well, Sherry chose a sewing theme, so this is the ATC
I made for her,

-0O0-

...Also while visiting lots of wonderful and inspiring blogs along the way

I saw that Bee had a post on altered matchboxes on her blog, well being as I have a slight (well major!!) addiction to altered matchboxes, I was interested to see

that she was up for a swap. So I left a message, and was glad when I heard that she was willing to swap with me....

...and this is the gorgeousness I received in the mail:

-0O0-

...one beautiful altered box, how awesome is that handmade rose!!

...a sweet little note card

..and Bee also generously gave me lots of handmade Japanese paper scraps, just so perfect for altering these little matchboxes!

-0O0-

THANK YOU again Bee!!

...and take a peek at the inside of Bee's box, look at all that fabby glitter, whoo I do love my Glitter!!
-0O0-
...and yet another coincidence, not only is Bee also from the same county, our paths have crossed in the past, as we both have made some cards for the same ribbon supplier...
Small World eh!!

I've also altered a matchbox for Bee, but I'm not going to show pics just yet, as it's only gone postal today, and I want it to be a surprise...

-0O0-

....But some more Fabby OWOH news, I won,

...not one

...not two

..but three fabby giveaways!!

WAHOOOO!!

and from three different countries!!

a beautiful heart necklace from Liv (Australia)

another stunning beaded necklace from Peggy (USA)

and a sweet crochet corsage from Emily (Ireland)

-0O0-

..what a bonus to visiting all these wonderful blogs!!

....will blog a little more about my treasures when the arrive!

-0O0-

Thanks for looking!

Jan x

Gingersnap creations - Numbers, Romance, lace and fibers.....

Well, I've been a busy bee the last few days,

..and have been inspired to create 3 different types of projects

for the Gingersnap Creations Challenges...

..for the GC40: Random redhead challenge -Numbers

Here is my atc... full of numbers!!

..a bingo background, ticket, numbered charm.

Image by Crafty Individuals

..added a few flowers and some lace.

...for the GC41: Chestnut challenge - Romance
this challenge, I decided to decoupage a wooden heart,(decoupaged with decopatch papers.)

...for the GC42: Spicy Supply challenge -Lace/fibers

I love using lace in my mixed media art,

I'm really into pretty shabby chic style at the moment.

I made this valentine card using various different sizes of lace.

...added a few buttons, hearts,ribbon, old key and other embellies...

Thanks for Looking!

Jan x

p.s. I'll be announcing my OWOH giveaway later today!

Butterfly - These wings fly.....

Over at Inkurable stampers, they are starting a new Gothic Arch challenge every two weeks.

-0O0-

I love arch shaped atc's, So, I'm going to challenge myself to join in with this, and hopefully turn my arches into a little booklet at the end of the year!

-0O0-

Anyway, the first Challenge is butterflies...

-0O0-

...and heres my arch :

I've stamped the background with a PaperArtsy stamp,

...then distressed it with inks.

...added a transparency image of a butterfly-girl, embellished with some german scrap, buttons, key, oh, and some wordies!!

Can't wait to see what the next arch challenge is now!

Thanks for Looking!

Jan x

Mmmmm! Zetti......

....when I saw the theme over at The Artist Trading Club 'swap 'til you drop' was zettiology, I groaned a little... Soooo out of my comfort zone. I considered opting out of this swap, but then I thought, it wouldn't be called a Challenge, if it didn't test me!!

-0O0-

... So, not knowing much about Zetti, apart from there seemed a lot of black and white stripy legs , pointy hats and strange faces! I needed to do a little investigating on the web.

-0O0-

...So what is zetti, well it's a bit hard to define, after doing a little research, I found that it is a style of art that is credited to Teesha Moore. It's a very eclectic art style, fun and open to a lot of interpretation. I'm still not sure I fully understand it? Anyway if you want to know more, check out Teesha's Blog for yourself.

-0O0-

Anyway, here are my 5 zettiology ATC's, I'm still not sure if I have acheived what zetti is? I just hope they do zetti some sort of justice? I've hand-drawn the faces with promarkers, lots of collage and a few scribbles here and there!

-0O0-

So Thank you Chriss and Hermine from the Netherlands (who set the zetti challenge this month) for taking me out of my crafty comfort zone. I really enjoyed creating these ATC's!

-0O0-

Thanks for looking!

Jan x

Valentine Ribbons....

Wow, lookie what I received in the post to play with!!

Lot of lovely Valentine Ribbons!!

Over at Crafty Ribbons

Challenge #11

....was to create a couple of crafting projects with the ribbons provided
You could choose either Contemporary or Traditional.

I was one of the lucky ten, taken on, to take part in the challenge..
...so, being as I'm a traditional type of gal,
I went for the Traditional Valentine ribbon selection.


....here is my card and a couple of atc's using the gorgeous Valentine Ribbons!

(I've used an Anita's rubber stamp on the card)

3 different ribbons were used on the card

...and 5 different ribbons were used on the 2 atc's.

So, if you want to get your hands on some fabby ribbons,
Check out Crafty ribbons website.
...they also have a Great January Sale on at the moment!!

Thanks for looking!
Jan x