Phoenix Inspirations

It's a long time since I got all grungy and inky but today seemed the right time to do it again. My Tim Holtz Grungepaper has been lying forgotten on my shelves for too long now. I also had some Idea-ology Film Strip Ribbon for Christmas and I have been dying to use it. Here is my Creation This card started life as a tag to which I added a flower and swirl made with grungepaper, coloured with Distress Inks. The heart and wings are also grungepaper and they were attached using staples. I then added a small sentiment attached with a paper-clip and some of my new Film Strip Ribbon. The card base itself was just a 5" x 5" cream card square on to which I stamped a heart (Stampin' Up - Simply Said) with Tattered Rose Distress Ink. This was then inked with Brushed Corduroy. I added the polka dots by inking up one of my embossing folders with Fired Brick and stamping that directly onto the card. The brown card was torn, crumpled and spritzed with gold Perfect Pearls and then

This card turned out even better than I hoped - it was a long time in the planning but I think worth it. It uses some pale gray card from my stash and then Stampin' Up Basic Gray and Cherry Cobbler, the stamp set is Vintage Vogue. The three large flowers are handmade and start out as the large flower stamped three times. Each flower is cut out - the first flower is cut down one petal to the centre and folded round and glued. The second flower has one petal removed before gluing and the third flower has two petals removed. The three flowers are then stacked and fixed with a brad before being glued on to the card. A strip of Very Vanilla ribbon finishes off the card. Inks used are a gray Color Box chalk ink pad and Cherry Cobbler. I am going to enter this card into two challenges: *SKETCH SATURDAY*   - sketch *JUST US GIRLS*   - Create a 3D Flower. Thanks for taking the time to look today - Jacqueline xx.

Thankfully I don't need one of these at the moment. But it is one of those 'just in case' cards. This was using the sketch from this week's sketch challenge on *SPLITCOAST STAMPERS* Once I had cut all my card stock - Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla - I distressed all the edges using my scissor blades. Then I applied Rock Candy Distress Stickles to the edges -this took a long time and an even longer time to dry! I was pleased with the result though. Stamps used were Just Believe and a sentiment stamp I've had for ages and can't remember where from! I am also going to enter this card in this week's *PAPERPLAY CHALLENGE*   - the theme being 'Layer it Up'. That's it for today folks - hope you have a good weekend - see you soon - Jacqueline xx.

Today's card follows the sketch from this week's *MOJO MONDAY*   challenge   I decided to use up some of the retired card stock I had left and I'm not really sure I'm happy with the result. The colours are Mellow Moss and Ruby Red - which did look O.K. But then I added the black ribbon and I think that was my mistake - what do you think? The stamp sets used were Flight of the Butterfly and Butterfly Prints with a bit of two step stamping again. I also added a few black gems and a couple of brads to hold the ribbon on. Thanks for stopping by, see you soon - Jacqueline xx.

..... comes to me from lots of places - today I have been browsing through the 2010/11 Ideas Catalogue and made this card I have used some of my favourite colours here - Crumb Cake (mmmmmm cake), Not Quite Navy and Old Olive. The stamp set is of course Flight of the Butterfly. The thin piece of ribbon down the side is a bit cut off a jumper (does anyone else do that?) and I have finished it off with a few flat backed, self adhesive pearls. The main butterfly uses a technique called 'two step stamping' and this is something we will be exploring along with masking at my next workshop - stay tuned for some more samples of this in the next few days. Thanks for stopping by today - see you soon - Jacqueline xx.

Good morning - another week begins - hope you all had a fab weekend. I must admit that I have cheated a little with this card. I follow a blog where every day a lovely lady named Vicky posts the most amazing cards. She is a dedicated Stampin' Up demo and the inspiration I get from her is immeasurable. Vicky's blog can be found *HERE*   She always leaves easy to follow instructions for all her projects and a supplies list. For my card I used Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Summer Sun (retired) and Cameo Coral (retired). The stamp sets are Simply Said and Flight of the Butterfly. I made mine into an Easter Card but I can see this as a fab Valentine's card, Anniversary or Wedding Card. I'm off now - I have to do some proper work today (Monday's are office days) - see you tomorrow - Jacqueline xx.

Four lovely ladies came to my Parchment Craft workshop last night - and these are some of the samples I had prepared for them For those of you who maybe do not know - Parchment Craft is the art of tracing a design onto Parchment (which is like a very thick vellum) with white ink and then embossing onto the back. The embossing tool breaks down the fibres of the parchment so when you turn it back over the design is raised and white. There are also other techniques which involve perforating too with a fine needle tool. So I provided my ladies with some designs to work from and some very pretty pink parchment and this is one of the designs we did Hope everyone has a lovely weekend - see you soon - Jacqueline xx.

I love making cards that can take a long time to make - sometimes I can take all day. This card today however didn't take long at all. In fact if I'm honest it took less than an hour. As you can see in the photo - I even inked all the edges. I used yesterday's sketch from Splitcoast Stampers  and the Just Believe stamp set. The papers are from the gorgeous Elegant Soiree DSP range and the ink is Chocolate Chip. I'm still working on some parchment craft samples at the moment - for my class tonight. Hopefully I will be able to show you tomorrow. Bye for now - Jacqueline xx.

I know I know - I've changed my blog again. I just love to play around with designs and colours. I love to change my hair colour and I change my handbags around very regularly - but isn't that what we all love about crafting anyway - the designs and colours? Well it seems that today I have spent so much time playing around with technology that I haven't had time to make a card yet so will have to make do with one I made earlier. This is very similar to the card I made last week for my workshop - only this time it's pink As you can see - it's more or less the same. The inside also has the suspended butterflies The colours I used are Cherry Cobbler and Regal Rose and the stamp sets are Flight of the Butterfly, Pocket Silhouettes and the sentiment is from Just Believe. I also used the butterfly punch and scallop edge punch. This is a simple card to make but looks very impressive - if anyone would like some instructions please e- mail me on -   deezinesart@gmail.com

Butterflies are my favourite things to put on cards and I have several stamps and punches to use. The one I used today cuts the butterfly's wings but not the body. I have also used the Just Believe stamp set, the sentiment from Butterfly Prints and the colours Certain Celery and Always Artichoke.  This is a very short post today. I've just got back from a weekend away and I've got two meetings later today - hope I can fit in some crafting too! - Bye for now - Jacqueline xx.

I was so pleased with the colour combination of yesterday's card that I though I would use it again today - Cherry Cobbler that is. This time I teamed it up with a pale grey and vanilla. Couldn't resist using the Just Believe set again either - sorry to be repetitive Can't stop - loads of paperwork to do before I can leave tomorrow. I really should be working and not playing! - See you soon - Jacqueline xx.

One of my favourite colours this year is Stampin' Up's Cherry Cobbler. It's a very deep, almost blood red. However I would never normally team up red with pink - so I was very surprised with the way this card turned out The colour combo comes from yesterday's Colour Challenge on Splitcoast Stampers and should have been Cherry Cobbler, Melon Mambo and Pretty in Pink. I didn't have any Melon Mambo so I substituted Rose Red instead. The stamp set is Just Believe. I even made a special effort with this card and decorated inside - instead of just stamping the usual 'Happy Birthday' or 'Best Wishes' Now, I really should not be sat here playing in my craft room - I'm away for the weekend and have a million and one things to do before I go............maybe just a few minutes more.......! - Jacqueline xx.

Today was my first workshop of 2011. I had 5 lovely ladies come and squeeze around my dinning room table - and this is what we made This is the front of the card and it uses all Stampin' Up products. The square card is a piece of Very Vanilla 5 1/4" x 10 1/2" folded in half. The front piece is Baja Breeze which has been stamped with Baja Breeze and Night of Navy inks using the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set. The sentiment is from the Butterfly Prints set and the little butterfly from the Flight of the Butterfly. A piece of the Elegant Soiree DSP has been scalloped and stuck at the bottom - all the edges have been inked with Night of Navy. Here is the inside The inside has been decorated a little like the front however a  piece of the DSP was attached to the top of the card to make a stand out pelmet from which to suspend the butterflies. Here is a close up The butterflies have been attached using small strips of acetate so it looks like they are flying out of the card.

I love making easel cards - they are relatively easy to make and are very effective. The one I have made today is a little bit different though. Instead of the front looking face on - it twists to the side This what it looks like flat The flowers come from the gorgeous Vintage Vogue stamp set along with the sentiment from Simply Said and the colours I used were Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive and Certain Celery. The card however is not Stampin' Up but from a pad I bought a while ago from Lidl - £1.99 for 25 sheets - bargain! Tomorrow is my first workshop of 2011 and we are going to be making a Butterfly Suspension Card so if you pop back then I might have some samples to show you - bye for now - Jacqueline xx.

It's not too bad here today. The sun has been shining and I can see some blue sky - it's still a bit cold though and I think I will have to light my fire soon. We have an open fire and there is nothing like snuggling up on the sofa with a glass (or two) of wine in front of a roaring fire. My card today is a spring card and uses the sketch from today's Sketch Saturday  challenge. Here is my card I used some Stampin' Up card stock and the S'U Boho Blossoms punch and the image is one of my own original 'Deezines Digiz'  I used Promarkers to colour it in and added a few flat backed pearls to the flowers. The sentiment is one I've had for years and it has been layered up with some 3D foam pads. Hope everyone is having a good weekend - Jacqueline xx.

So - carried on sorting and tidying in my craft room, was going through a box of paper punches and found a small heart punch hiding in a corner at the bottom. I haven't used it for ages - how shameful! Well - no time like the present thinks I and thus a card was created -   I have a growing pile of scrap paper and card so this has used a bit of it up along with some ribbon recycled from a Christmas present. Also used my Simply Said stamp set and 2 Step Bird Punch. The inspiration also came from today's challenge on Splitcoast Stampers  . Hope everyone has a good weekend - Jacqueline xx.

I'm having such a good time in my craft room today. I'm sort of having a clear out of all the stuff I don't need any more but finding hidden treasures that I'd forgotten I had. That does mean though that there is more playing than clearing! Another good thing is annoying my kids by playing my Bruce Springsteen CDs REALLY loud! Today I have sought inspiration from two places. Firstly I headed over to Splitcoast Stampers  and followed the Sketch Challenge from yesterday. I also saw a card on Vicky's blog here  - where she had used a combination of mustard and black and this is what I have come up with - I also used Stampin' Up Ornate Flowers to create my image. Really must get back to my sorting now - see you soon - Jacqueline xx.

Happy New Year to everyone - hope it's a good one. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas. Mine was very strange. Because of the snow and travel problems me and my husband had to spend Christmas apart so that was very sad. But that is in the past - it's a new year and time for some crafting! Today's effort was inspired by the Clean and Simple challenge on the Splitcoast Stampers site. It uses the 'Kissing' technique - you take a large stamp (in this case the scribble tree from Wondrous Gift), ink it up (Cherry Cobbler) and place it face up on your work top. Then you take a smaller block stamp  (Flight of the Butterfly) and place that on top of the large stamp and then you stamp it on to your paper. The image from the large stamp takes on the shape of the block stamp. I also used Simply Said to stamp around the card edge and on to the the card in the middle and the sentiment is from Butterfly Prints. I am off now to blog hop around all my favourite blogs - if you lea