Phoenix Inspirations

Today's card is a romantic Valentine's card - would you like to see? All materials used are Stampin' Up -  my card stock colours are Regal Rose, Kraft (Crumb Cake), Whisper White, Rose Red, Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party and Apricot Appeal. I also used the 2 Step Owl Punch too. This card is being entered into the  Tuesday Morning Sketches  challenge and  The Kraft Journal  'So Romantic' challenge. See you soon - Jacqueline xx

Mojo Monday  have two sketches this week - one round and one square. I have chosen to follow the square version - take a look My stamp set of choice today is Stampin' Up Ornate Flowers (Friends Never Fade in the USA) and I chose some bright summery colours 'cos I've been feeling so cold, here it is My colours are Tangerine Tango, Barely Banana and very Vanilla card stock, Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight and Peach Parfait ink. The ribbon is Very Vanilla gross grain. This card nearly didn't make it - whilst crafting I accidentally cut the end of my little finger! After he had stopped laughing at me my husband checked me over and confirmed that I hadn't severed the bone and no, I wouldn't be needing to rush off to A&E for a transfusion and stitches - he then fetched me a plaster. No sympathy what so ever!! See you soon - Jacqueline xx

Morning all - thanks for stopping by, I have a recessed window card today for my dt piece over on  Make My Monday . The subject this week is BUTTERFLIES AND DRAGONFLIES - together or separately. Here is my card The base card is a piece of red SU card stock with Very Vanilla for stamping on. My main butterfly is a stamp quickly snaffled from Louise last week especially for this card and the rest is a Stampin' Up set - Nature Walk. The dragonfly is from Organic Grace. This is our final Nature challenge so why not pop over and take a look. Bye for now - Jacqueline xx

There is a sketch this week at  Less is More  - take a look It's a simple sketch that Mandi and Chrissie want left just as it is - no rotation or reflection and to remain landscape and rectangular. OK - here is what I did This is a stamp I've had for years simply stamped in black archival ink. It's shorter than my vertical strip so I matched it up top and bottom. Each of the flowers has a flat backed, clear gem in it's centre. Here's a close up Thanks for looking - Jacqueline xx

Today is the 'Add An Extra' challenge over on the  52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown  and I should have scheduled this last night ......... but I was tired and I thought that I would do it early this morning ................. but I slept in .................. and then I had to get up in a rush to go shopping - doh - failed all round!! Anyway here are my dt cards for my added extra - RHINESTONES The top card uses some Stampin' Up card stock in Lucky Limeade and Real Red. My Craft Stamper Mag freebie was stamped on to Very Vanilla and coloured using Stampin' Write markers. There are rhinestones on the end of the elf's cap, the holly berries, the sentiment label and the scallop edge. No. 2 card is a Hero Arts stamp (I think!) and is stamped in Old Olive ink. Real Red stars are stamped above the trees and then the trees on the centre label have been embellished with ruby red flat backed gems. Our top 5 have been announced today too - did you win? Why not pop

I had my attention brought to a new challenge blog this week - thank you Fliss, it's called  Craft a Scene . I love creating scenes and have made many both with my brayer and sponging. Today's card was sponged using ripped copy paper, a post-it-note and one of my own design stamps. I used Stampin' Up inks - Not Quite Navy, Old Olive, Garden Green and Handsome Hunter - here it is I'm really pleased with how this turned out especially as it is a one layer card - I went ahead and inked and stamped directly onto my card base, very risky I know!! The whole scene has been outlined by hand with a black fine liner pen. The challenge this time is 'Anything Goes' and I'm so looking forward to what the design team come up with for us in the coming weeks - you should hop over and take a look - the sample cards are superb. I'm off now - my craft room looks like a bombs hit it and I really don't feel like tidying it at the moment and I am banned from cr

That was the subject of my last Thursday night workshop - take a look This is my handmade embossing folder and this is what it can do If you would like to know how to make embossing folders too click  here , visit my Craft Club blog and have a go. You can make fabulous cards like this See you soon - Jacqueline xx

This morning after opening my post I proceeded to dispose of the empty envelopes, that is until I discovered this This gorgeous leaf design was hiding inside one of my envelopes. Now the challenge this week over on  Make My Monday  is Flowers and Leaves so I decided to use this in my Midweek Motivation piece - take a look The main image is a Crafty Individuals stamp, stamped in black archival ink and sponged with some Stampin' Up inks. The cut out flowers are from the S'U set Everything Eleanor. I shall be entering this card into the  Gingersnaps Creations  'Glorious Greens' challenge. Jacqueline xx

The challenge this week at  Less is More  is to have a hole or some kind of aperture in your card - take a look at what I made today I cut my aperture using my rectangular Nesties on my Cuttlebug and kept the bit I cut out to use to stamp my sentiment on. The stamp set I used is SU Precious Butterflies and is stamped in Old Olive and Melon Mambo ink. Here is a close up of the aperture My sentiment was stamped from the same set and the onto the piece of card stock from my aperture. It was then attached using 3D foam pads. The cut out flourish was attached using a fine glue pen and also some pieces of 3D foam pad cut very small. The butterflies are also cut out and mounted in the same way. Thanks for looking today - see you soon - Jacqueline xx

Hi all, today's challenge over on the  Make My Monday  blog is FLOWERS AND LEAVES Here is my card My Magnolia stamp is from the SU Simply Soft Hostess set and I have coloured it with Stampin' Write markers in Wisteria Wonder, Blushing Bride, Concord Crush and Lucky Limeade. My leaves are from French Foliage and are also coloured with Lucky Limeade. My card stock is Basic Black and Wisteria Wonder - a black silk bow adds the finishing touch. Please pop over and see what my fellow dt ladies have come up with - they are pretty spectacular. I would also like to say 'hi' to my new followers - welcome I hope you enjoy what you see - Jacqueline xx

It's theme time over at  52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown  and the theme is CHRISTMAS FLOWERS Here are my cards The first card has been made using one of my Craft Stamper magazine freebies and it's been coloured using Stampin' Write markers - Poppy Parade and Pear Pizzazz. After being mounted on to squares of Crumb Cake I decorated the centres with some flat backed gems. This card is a mish mash of die cuts and punches and a few silk leaves have been thrown in for good measure! Please pop over to the blog to take a look and please pop over and visit my partner in crime -  Mynnette  - she's created something very special too. Bye for now - Jacqueline xx

The challenge this week at  Simply Stampin'  is to use die cuts on our projects. I didn't think that I would be joining in this one as I don't yet own ant Stampin' Up dies - I have plenty of punches but I don't think that those qualify this time. However last night I had a small workshop where we were concentrating on our die cutting machines and my friend Louise bought along her stash of dies and amongst them was the Stampin' Up Sweet Buttons Embosslits Die. We were making our own embossing folders and the buttons did not suit our purpose so I squirrelled them away to use on this card which I made for the challenge I have used a base of Very Vanilla card stock and a mat of Crumb Cake. My patchwork squares are SU card stock in Certain Celery, So Saffron, Bashful Blue and Blushing Bride. The sentiment is from the Precious Butterflies Hostess set stamped in Roes Red ink. See you soon - Jacqueline xx

Hot on the heels of Monday's card  here  - I decided to create a similar card but this time instead of it being a day time card - I made a night time scene. Again I found my inspiration from  Michelle Zindorf  and I created my own card in her style for the Mid-week Motivation over on  Make My Monday . This time along with the Lovely as a Tree stamps I used Upsy Daisy. Here they are side by side - day time and night time. Thanks for looking - Jacqueline xx

Life has been a bit hectic lately - my husband had to suddenly leave for Japan on Sunday afternoon (with next to no notice by the way) and I have been frantically cancelling and re-scheduling my week. I have managed to squeeze in a little crafting though and decided to play along with the sketch at this week's  Mojo Monday  challenge. Here is the sketch And here is my card My stamped birds have been coloured in using my Stampin' Write markers and mounted onto Baja Breeze card stock - my background paper is My Mind's Eye. In case your wondering I didn't use pearls around the scallop circle - I used Liquid Pearls which look just as good don't you think? Thanks for looking - see you soon - Jacqueline xx

Morning all - it's week 32 at  Make My Monday  and the challenge this week is still following the theme of NATURE but to CREATE A SCENE , here is my card This week I have taken my inspiration from one of my favourite crafters - Michelle Zindorf - click  here  for her Splitcoast Stampers gallery. I used my brayer to ink the sky and water masking off the clouds. The trees are Stampin' Up - Lovely as a Tree and I also used my brayer to apply the reflection - ink up your stamp and carefully roll the brayer over it, the image is transferred to the brayer and can in turn be transferred to the paper. The foreground is stamped in black Versafine and is from the Just Believe set. Colours used: Baja Breeze, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip and Basic Black. Please hop over and take a look at what my fellow team members have come up with - it would be great to see you there - Jacqueline xx

This week the lovely ladies at  Less is More  are asking us to make a One Layer Card featuring Birds. My first though was to reach for my faithful Stampin' Up stamps - I have recently purchased the gorgeous Young Vermillion. However, tweeting away in my stash were (GASP) some stamps that I had never ever used (more GASPS). Here they are all lined up waiting to meet you These have been stamped in black Versafine and coloured with Stampin' Write Markers. The frame is freehand and the grass is some I have had forever! Thanks for looking today - hope you are having a great weekend - Jacqueline xx

As I write this post I am enjoying a programme on the t.v dedicated to one of my favourite bands - R.E.M so if I drift off or break into song I apologise! I am of coarse writing this last night and scheduling it for today - if you can understand that! So - it's Colour challenge time at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown  - here are the details A lovely simple selection don't you think - this has been chosen again by my partner in crime  Mynnette . Please pop over and pay her a visit too. Here is card no.1 And a close up of the baubles They have been cut on my Cuttlebug, layered and decorated with some red bling. Card no.2 This card uses one of the first Stampin' Up sets that I bought - it's retired now but still very useful and is called Wondrous Gift. Here's a close up I have completely exhausted my stash of red gems on this card! Hope you can find the time to pop over and take a look, why not join in and get organised for Christmas. I hav

Today I made a card with my daughter in mind. She went back to uni 2 days ago and I'm feeling a little lost without her. She has a huge impact on our lives when she is around and not always in a good way. She stays out late and when she comes home she raids the cupboards, leaves the debris in the living room along with her boots, handbag and coat. She undresses in the bathroom and leaves her clothes where they fall. She uses all my cosmetics and lotions and leaves the tops off and soggy cotton wool around the taps - she leaves the light on. After sleeping till well after 12 the next day she comes downstairs, arranges herself on the sofa with her duvet and watches daytime telly for the rest of the afternoon. She then has her tea, uses all the hot water, goes out and it all starts all over again. But she's my little girl and I love her so I packed her off with a suitcase of freshly laundered clothes, a bag full of non-perishable food (including my secret stash of hot chocolate

I know I have been using this image rather excessively lately - but it is so lovely and here I have used it in conjunction with this week's colour challenge at  Simply Stampin' . I don't have any Pink Pirouette card stock so I used Blushing Bride instead - hope that's OK ladies?! The image is from Simply Soft and I have coloured the flowers with Stampin' Write markers outlining the flowers in the Pool Party - I also added some highlights with a white gel pen. The sentiment is from Precious Butterflies and I also added a few pearls and flat backed gems to bling it up a bit!! Thanks for looking - see you soon - Jacqueline xx

OK - so I've argued with my husband, my daughter is returning to uni in about 30 minutes and I've lost my phone charger - it's one of those days. So I have locked myself away and spent a quiet morning crafting. Here is my card I have followed the colour challenge laid out in the latest challenge on  Pals Paper Arts  - take a look The sentiment I have used is from the Precious Butterflies set and along with my Boho Blossoms punch I have used a couple of dies and my Cuttlebug. Here is a close up Thanks for looking today - Jacqueline xx

Today was my first workshop of 2012 and it went really well. We made Bookmark Cards like the one I made  here  last week. I have made another one today to go with the tutorial I have written which can be found on my  Craft Club Blog  or by clicking the picture in the side bar. Here is the card I have used my Papermania Urban stamps again - I really love the seed heads at the bottom of the card. The section on the right has been perforated so that when the card is no longer relevant as a card the section can be easily removed to be used as a bookmark. The background was created using my favourite tool - the brayer and would you believe used 5 colours of ink!! I'm really pleased with the result though and it feels like it has a nice warm glow to it as I sit and freeze in my craft room! Thanks for looking today - see you soon - Jacqueline xx

The challenge at  Less is More  this week is just that - Predominantly Purple. One of my favourite stamps to use at the moment is from the SU Hostess set - Simply Soft, here is my card I have used a variety of Stampin' Write markers to colour my flowers in starting with a pale pink (Blushing Bride). This was then coloured over with Wisteria Wonder and finally some Concord Crush was added to deepen the colour. The sentiment from Vintage Vogue was stamped in Concord Crush. I couldn't bring myself to leave the flower stems so I'm afraid I used some Pear Pizzazz too!! Thanks for looking, bye for now - Jacqueline xx

This week at  Make My Monday  the challenge is to use ANIMALS in your projects. Here is my card Although it's quite unusual for me to do cute cards I really enjoyed making this. It's a centre step card and because the overriding theme is Nature I used some Docrafts Woodland Folk stamps to create my scene. The stamped images have been coloured using Stampin' Write markers and Promarkers, the tree and owl have been punched using scraps of card stock from my stash. We had some lovely bird entries last week so I'm really looking forward to seeing what you come up with this week - hope to see you over there. See you soon - Jacqueline xx

Stampin' Royalty  have a fantastic sketch for us to follow this week - take a look So I thought I'd have a go at creating a card with it I started off (as I always do) with a 5" x 5" card blank. On to this was matted a layer of Baja Breeze card stock. My strips of decorative paper are from the Springtime Vintage pack of DSP. The edges have all been sponged with Early Espresso ink. My circles are stamped in Baja Breeze ink with a stamp from Just Believe, I then used a flower from Everything Eleanor to place over the top. A label was cut in Whisper White and a sentiment from Simply Said stamped on to it. I then added some more of the flowers to finish it off. Things are getting back to normal now after the Christmas break - I have been updating diaries and writing invoices all day with the promise of meetings and committee's to follow. I have my workshop taking place this Tuesday though which is always something to look forward to - details o