Phoenix Inspirations

I made a card recently for the Less is More challenge -  here  - and this is more or less the same card but on a larger scale. Would you like to see? This time the Pine Tree stamp was stamped in a circle - my post it notes came in very useful again as they masked off the centre. I used two greens - Handsome Hunter and Always Artichoke. The Christmas Roses are again from the Everything Eleanor set and are stamped in black Memento ink and coloured with Promarkers. Red flat backed gems add the finishing touches along with the sentiment in the middle. Well it's the first of December tomorrow and I get to open the no.1 door on my Advent Calendar - yes it's a chocolate one and I had to buy one for my Son too , just to stop him stealing mine! - See you soon - Jacqueline xx.

Here are a couple of cards that I made today whilst out playing at Jane's. She makes fabulous vintage cards all the time which you can see  here  and today was one of her classes where I had a go myself. She had loads of papers, images, ribbons and embellishments to choose from and this is what I made I started off by using some cream decorative paper that I distressed and inked with Tim Holtz Distress Inks. The red holly is an Anna Griffin Stamp as is the border at the bottom. A rosette was added with a die cut snowflake. Jane had die cut some lacy borders which went really well with my chosen image. This one started off as navy card which was layered with some red paper. Again this was distressed and inked. The vintage image was distressed also and stamped with a cute little holly stamp and some Brilliance ink. The doily was treated in the same way before layering behind the image and some ribbon added. The snowflakes were inked with more Brilliance ink and the fi...

Morning all - it's week 26 over on the  Make My Monday  challenge blog and this week we are making a DECORATED CHRISTMAS BOX Now I have known about this challenge for weeks but I only started planning it last Tuesday. I made the box, the bits inside and the lid. I decided that I would start the decoration yesterday - nothing like flying by the seat of your pants then! This is how it started I stamped out all these leaves (from the French Foliage set) and coloured them with Stampin' Write Markers (Poppy Parade and Lucky Limeade). I then cut them out. Had to take time out to do lunch and tea and then of course there was Strictly and X Factor so at 9.00 last night my box was still not completed!!! Managed to do the outside - take a look It's like this on all four sides - and the lid As for the inside of the box - you will have to wait. I'm sorry I was going to finish it this morning but as I was waiting for Il Divo to appear on Lorraine, I realised tha...

This week at  Less is More  Chrissie and Mandi want to see projects with bling on them. Well I'm always happy to oblige so here is my card This is made using using one of my newest SU sets - Everything Eleanor. The large flower reminded me very much of a Christmas Rose. It was stamped with a black Memento ink pad so that I could colour it with my Promarkers. I went over the shadows in gray and coloured the stamens yellow. They were cut out and added to the card after I had stamped the foliage. This was achieved using the Pine Tree stamp from Lovely as a Tree, Handsome Hunter and Always Artichoke inks. The sentiment is from Hero Arts and finally the bling was added using some tiny red flat backed gems - oh and I also glittered the centres of the flowers too. Hope every one has a good weekend, see you soon - Jacqueline xx

Last night was my monthly Thursday night workshop and we made this It's made by folding little squares of paper origami style and if you would like to know how to make it pop over to my  Craft Club Blog  to find out. Jacqueline xx

This week at  Simply Stampin'  we have a sketch to follow - take a look Here is my card I used Crumb Cake and Whisper White card stock and my Precious Butterflies stamp set. Inks used were Old Olive Island Indigo and Pool Party. See you soon - Jacqueline xx

French Foliage is one of my favourite Stampin' Up sets as I love nature - especially leaves. My blog friend Vicky also loves this set and a couple of days ago made a gorgeous Christmas card using one of the leaf stamps and turning it into a Poinsettia - take a look  here . Well - I e-mailed her straight away asking her if I could CASE her idea. She said yes so here it is The leaf was stamped in red, coloured with a Stampin' Write marker and cut out. I actually cut out 20 and made 3 poinsettia flowers. The leaf was then stamped on the Very Vanilla card stock in green and 2 of the flowers were stuck down flat. The third flower in the left hand bottom corner was stuck down on 3D foam pads - small yellow gems were then added to the flower centres. I found a new (new to me!) challenge blog so I would like to enter this card Cards & Things Challenges  - color challenge - Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive and Crumb Cake. Thanks for looking and thank you Vicky for letting me use...

This week at  Less is More  the theme is Silhouettes and as my Christmas Tree stamps were already out from yesterday I decided to use them for this card - take a look I masked off a square in the centre of the card with post it notes and made a moon from the post it notes too. After the landscape was sponged with black ink the trees were added - I stamped them twice before re-inking to create a feeling of distance. The snowflakes were stamped randomly at the two corners and clear gems were added to the middles. The finishing touch was using a black fine liner to frame the picture. Speaking of silhouettes - this is a picture I took earlier of my cat on my son's shoulder. It's not what I wanted but it makes a great silhouette!! Jacqueline xx

When I first got this Clarity Stamp this is the card that I wanted to make, it's also the reason I designed the tree stamp that is also used on the card This is a one layer card - it's all created using masks and post it notes and is inspired by the cards created by Barbara Gray on Create and Craft. The sentiment was first stamped and embossed, it was then stamped onto a piece of copy paper and the centre of the O was removed. This is then placed over the sentiment on the card and the scene stamped through it. Post it notes were then used to cover the whole sentiment and the scene was continued around the edges. The landscape was created by ripping scrap copy paper and sponging. The trees were stamped twice before re-inking to give a feeling of depth and perspective. The white space around the sentiment was outlined with a black fine liner to make it stand out. Our cat Louis has found a new place to sleep ...... in the coal scuttle!! I managed to take a couple of pics o...

This week at  Make My Monday  we want to see some Christmas Flowers, Foliage or Snowflakes. Now my DT have really done me proud this week and there are some absolutely gorgeous samples for you to see over on the blog - please do pop over a take a look. Before you do disappear though please take a quick look at my card I cut an aperture in my card and stamped my greeting on the inside. The front was then decorated with poinsettia flowers - these were die cut on my Cuttlebug using some Marianne Creatables dies. Sorry - it's a very quick post today as I haven't been home long. I went away leaving my son and his dad on their own...............I have a lot of housework to catch up on!!! See you soon - Jacqueline xx

This week at the  Simply Stampin'  challenge blog the theme is 'Leafy'. Now I had idea that I wanted to create something with mistletoe on it but it didn't turn out quite right and I think the mistletoe berries have morphed into  snowberries - anyway I added plenty of leaves!!! - take a look The cones and needles are from the Autumn Days set and are stamped in Chocolate Chip and Lucky Limeade. The scallop circle is Ruby Red card stock and this has been used to punch the poinsettia flowers and the red breast of the robin - he is Early Espresso and the leaves are punched from Old Olive with added pearls for berries. Away now to spend some time with Mum and Dad and my Daughter is joining us from uni - should be a good weekend - bye for now - Jacqueline xx

I have another clean and simple card for you today using one of my favourite Christmas stamps - come and take a look The large Noel sentiment stamp is a Clarity Stamp - you may recognise it from the Create and Craft shows with Barbara Gray. The poinsettia stamp in the middle is a freebie from the Craft Stamper mag - I've had it a couple of years now but it always comes out for Christmas! I coloured it with my Stampin' write markers - Poppy Parade and Lucky Limeade. If you are interested there is a tutorial on how I made this card over on the  Make My Monday  challenge blog. Thanks for looking - see you soon - Jacqueline xx

It seems that most of us are getting into the spirit of things and being organised by making loads of Christmas cards. So before I too abandon myself to the frenzy I have one more butterfly card to share with you. Stamps used are from the Precious Butterflies Hostess set and the colours are Sage Shadow, Almost Amethyst and Elegant Eggplant. I used my favourite ever punch Boho Blossoms to make the flowers in the centres of the butterfly rings and then added a gem to the centres of the flowers. Dad is having more chemo at the end of this week so I'm taking a few days off to go and stay with him and Mum. I shall still blog as long as make enough cards before I go and I remember to schedule them all correctly!! Bye for now - Jacqueline xx

Another Clean and Simple card for you - for three challenges. Take a look I started with a 5" x 5" white card base and a hand made tag stencil. I then stamped the script stamp from French Foliage in Versamark ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I then sponged over the script with Desert Sand and Rich Cocoa Memento ink - this is the 'Ghosting' technique. The leaves were then stamped with Old Olive ink. The challenges I am entering this card into are: Less is More  - Leaves Just Us Girls  - Ghosting Technique CAS-ual Fridays  - Tag - You're It. Bye for now - Jacqueline xx

It's week 24 at  Make My Monday  and we are in Christmas mode. This week we want to see Clean and Simple cards with emphasis on the sentiment. here is my contribution to this week's DT line up My huge sentiment stamp is from Clarity Stamps and  has been heat embossed in gold. The centre of the O has been removed and the ornament stamp (a freebie from the Craft Stamper mag) has been stamped inside the card. I then stamped it again on some scrap and coloured and cut out the baubles. They were then stuck on using 3D foam pads. Please pop over and take a look - we are also having a DT Call too if you fancy joining us. Details are on the blog or in the side bar. Bye for now - Jacqueline xx

Here is a card I made a while ago - I haven't had any time for crafting today as I had to re-write all my pdf file instruction sheets. Something strange happened when I tried to download them from a memory stick and the air here got a bit blue - hence the choice of card to show you This card was inspired by one I saw on a blog -  here  and uses some of the last of my Springtime Vintage DSP. I also used Baja Breeze card stock and ink and a touch of Not Quite Navy. The ribbon I used seems to have become invisible - it's some white taffeta wrapped around the DSP with a bow just peeping from under the left hand flower. I also added drops off 3D gloss varnish to the stamens but that has become invisible too!! Got to dash now as it's nearly 6-o-clock and I have my MMM card to make for tomorrow and I have to watch Strictly Come Dancing and X Factor and cook the tea - see you tomorrow - Jacqueline xx

There was much excitement in the Deezines craft room this morning - squeals of delight in fact! A couple of days ago I found out that I was a winner on the St. Luke's challenge blog and look what arrived this morning in the post Well I had to play! This is what I made I used some of the gorgeous papers (My Minds Eye), some glittery chipboard letters (K&Co), Liquid Pearls (Ranger) and a pearly stick pin (Creative Expressions). My stamped image (Polka Doodles) was coloured in using Promarkers. I nicked a swirly stamp off Bev and embossed it with some white embossing powder and the ribbon is some that was tied around the last pack of pre-scored cards that I bought. I am entering this card into two challenges: St Luke's Charity Cards Challenge  - Christmas Polka Doodles  - Swirls and Pearls Thanks so much for looking, bye for now - Jacqueline xx

This week Mandi and Chrissie have challenged us to use the colours Red and Orange over on  Less is More . So this morning - trying to ignore the gloomy weather outside I made a card using my faithful Poppy stamp. I coloured the flowers in using Poppy Parade and Peach Parfait Stampin' Write markers and then did some sponging with a little Tangerine Tango. The sentiment is from the retired set Bird on a Branch. I had a friend helping me this morning - Louis my cat decided to join me but spent most of his time on the window sill watching the birds on the bird table. He also got very excited when he spied a squirrel running down the path You can't see it in this picture but he was muttering very angrily at that squirrel! - bye for now - Jacqueline xx

Simply Stampin'  challenge blog have a colour challenge for us this week - take a look I love it when my friend Bev comes around to play as she always has a new stamp set stashed away in her craft bag. This time it was Baroque Motifs so of course I had to have a go with them! Using the colours above I created this card Each of the picture squares measures 2" and when matted onto a slightly bigger piece of card stock fit nicely on to a 5" x 5" square card base. Sorry ladies the sparklies are not Stampin' Up but they matched the Daffodil Delight colour perfectly - hope you don't mind! Thanks for looking, see you soon - Jacqueline xx

Yesterday was my monthly Tuesday morning workshop and we were making Christmas cards. This is the main card that we made I made each of my ladies a little kit containing everything they needed to make this card and I think they all had fun doing it. I am also posting a quick tutorial on how to make this card on my  Craft Club  blog if you would like to make it too. We also had time to make this card too - this was very quick and easy to make and could easily be made in bulk This is made using the Stampin' Up Pennant punch (cunningly swiped from Louise a couple of weeks ago!) and this makes a cute little 3D Christmas tree - it also folds flat for easy posting. The last card looks quite quick to make but believe me it took ages punching out the pine fronds as my punch is very stiff and I ended up having to stand on it to get it to work!! Once you have all the elements ready it doesn't take long to assemble and both cards will have tutorials to go with them on th...

It's week 23 at  Make My Monday  and we have a brand new challenge theme chosen by Suzi B. It's a CHRISTMAS  theme and the first challenge is VINTAGE/TRADITIONAL . Here is my card I have really gone too town with my embossing powder - it's all around the edge as well as outlining the red poinsettias. The vintage images are some I was sent by my good friend Cath and fit in so well with this theme. Please find the time to pop over and have a look as we have a lovely Guest Designer - Mynnette for the whole of November. See you soon - Jacqueline xx

This week I was lucky enough to be honoured with a blog award from one of my lovely blog friends - Mynnette. Mynnette's blog can be found  here  and you should really pay her a visit as she is a wonderful crafter. I would also like to thank her very much for giving me the award - it's my first - and you really made my day when I read your blog. There are rules in accepting the Versatile Blogger award 1) Thank the person who awarded you. 2) Tell 7 things about yourself that your readers may not know. 3) Award 7 other bloggers this award. OK - so 7 things you may not know about me 1) I'm married to a Priest - although he no longer works for the church, and we live at the foot of the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire. 2) My favourite drink (although I don't get it very often) is neat Jack Daniels. 3) I set up Make My Monday challenge blog 'cos I had tried and failed to get on anyone else's DT 4) I hate being cold - it makes me very grumpy. It may be...

Simply Stampin'  have a sketch challenge for us this week And here is my card The light has completely gone this afternoon and we have had torrential rain so i apologise for the photography. I have used the utterly gorgeous Everything Eleanor stamp set to create this card and a colour palette of Rich Razzelberry, Blushing Bride and Lucky Limeade. The sentiment is from Vintage Vogue. Hope everyone has a good weekend and a safe Bonfire Night - Jacqueline xx

Everyone knows that November is the month of Remembrance and that we commemorate this time with our poppies. At deezinesart this month everyone who orders my Poppy  stamp will receive instructions to make three projects *FREE OF CHARGE* . I will also personally donate 50p from every Poppy stamp sold to our local British Legion charity. Here are some pictures of the projects you can make To place your order while stocks last please click  here  - Jacqueline xx

Last week I went to craft with my friend Jane and she had found a cute little bird house template. It was really easy to cut out and she had used some of the gorgeous Stampin' Up Ivory card stock to print it on. Jane also has one of the new Stampin' Up Christmas sets - Pines and Poinsettias so of course I had to have a go with it! As you can see I added my owl to the front of the birdhouse but the 2 Step bird punch works just as well. The leaves are scraps of card stock inked with Old Olive ink before being punched out. Here is a view of the side And the back I had so much fun making this that I have joined Jane's workshop classes - we are called the Powick Paper Dollies - I went to my first workshop yesterday and I will show you what I made when I have finished adding the final touches to them. Off now to curl up in front of the fire and watch T.V - oh maybe not it's football :(     See you soon - Jacqueline xx

I have had a lovely day today - I have been out crafting with a lovely lady called Jane ( you can find her blog  here  ) and we made some gorgeous little Christmas boxes. I haven't quite finished them yet but I will get them up on the blog as soon as I have. Speaking of Christmas (and it is only 54 days away folks) I had a go at an idea that has been buzzing around in my head for a while. I took a 5" x 5" card blank and scored a line down 2" in from the edge with a perforating tool. I then took a piece of white card stock and stamped a winter scene with some blue ink, a sponge and some ripped copy paper I then took some blue card stock and cut it so that it would fit either side of the perforated line. The winter scene was then cut to fit the blue card stock. It was all then attached to the card I bought a craft magazine recently and on the cover was a free set of clear Polka Doodles stamps - perfect for what I wanted. I added a couple of s...

Make My Monday is increasing it's Deezine Team. We are looking for 2 more crafters and all the details can be found  here  or by clicking on the speech bubble in the side bar - Jacqueline xx