Phoenix Inspirations

Hello,  today was supposed to be a day off work for me but I was called in at the last minute this morning  - no crafting for me then! Fortunately I had this card I made earlier in the week all ready to show off today  - take a look Now I don't usually do Halloween but I always try and make one card just so I can dust off the few Halloween stamps that I have. The houses are from a new bundle I have bought  - Hearts Come Home and they are stamped in Basic Black ink. The moon and stars are from the same set and are stamped in  Daffodil Delight ink. The pumpkins are from an old retired set as are the spooky bats. The gorgeous sentiment is from Hearts Come Home too. This card is entirely one layer  - no added extras just stamping.  I did make one tiny mistake - a smudge just under the word Season.  I covered it up with a line of stamped kisses!! This card is being entered into the "Halloween  - I Put a Spell on You " challenge over on  Make My Monday

More crafting today and this time I was playing with my new Colourful Seasons bundle. Page 146/7 of the Annual Catalogue has the Colourful Seasons goodies. There is a whole suite - card stock, DSP and ribbon etc. Also if you purchase the stamp set and co-ordinating dies you save 10% on the price - bargain! Today's card use this bundle - take a look The white card base was stamped with the solid leaf stamp in Crumb Cake and then over stamped with the open leaf and Pumpkin Pie ink. The banner is Early Espresso and the die cut leaf is cut out of Pumpkin Pie and Cajun Craze card stock. The sentiment is stamped in Versa Mark ink and heat embossed with gold embossing powder. This card is being entered into the challenge over at The Paper Players All the products listed above are in the current Annual Catalogue and can be ordered direct from me and delivered to your door (p+p £4.95) anywhere in the UK. To place an order please email me of go to my on line shop

Oh dear - it's been a while. My treatment for my fibro is continuing and it's not exactly been pain free. I was referred to the gym by my dr - I go twice a week and it's tough! Any way enough about me - I managed to fit in a bit of crafting today and I had another play with my Painted Harvest set. The background is So Saffron card stock and it has been stamped with the Hardwood stamp - it's huge it did the whole background in one stamp! It was stamped in Crumb Cake ink which was also sponged around the edge along with some Early Espresso. The diamonds were cut from So Saffron and Crumb Cake card stock - again sponged with Crumb Cake and Early Espresso ink. The Sunflower  - stamped in So Saffron and Crushed Curry ink was attached using Dimensionals. The leaves were stamped in Lemon Lime Twist and Old Olive ink and punched out using the co-ordinating punch. The sentiment is from the Graceful Garden set. This card is being entered into the challenge at C

During October if you order 3 sets of designer papers - this includes papers from both the annual and autumn/winter catalogues and selected speciality papers - you get one free - take a look Email me now to place an order or buy from my on-line shop HERE See you soon - J xx

Today I have a bookmark to share with you. It was made for a RAK swap and the theme was our favourite book. Can you guess which book I chose? The scene is Mirkwood with the Misty Mountains in the background. Rising up is the Lonely Mountain and flying around is the dreaded dragon Smaug. The book is of course The Hobbit - one I have been enjoying from a very early age when my dad used to read it to me at bedtime! It's mainly just sponging with inks and torn post it notes and the trees are from an old set from Clarity Stamps. The inks are Stampin' Up and my dragon is from my jewellery making stash. My bookmark is being entered in to the challenge over at  Make My Monday The theme is  Animal Antics. Thanks for stopping by today - see you soon - J xx

For one day a year the whole world comes together to do one thing - make cards. This year that day is October 7th. For Stampin' Up though one day wasn't enough and the celebrations have started. Up until the 10th of October Stampin' Up are offering the following promotions for it's customers Don't forget that there are loads of fab designer series papers that co-ordinate with these stamps. Stampin' Up have listed them here for you so you can see them at a glance To order any of these items please do get in touch or go to my on-line shop HERE See you soon - J xx

Wow - what happened to September, where did it go??? Time is moving so fast and I seem to have done so little! I am having treatment for my fibromyalgia - I have to go to the gym twice a week and surprisingly I am finding that I quite enjoy it - it's not as good as swimming which I LOVE but I am enjoying it! I have managed to grab a little time for crafting and today I have a tutorial for you on how I personalised my phone case - take a look I started with a clear plastic case which fitted my phone - bought mine in a shop in Hereford High Street but take a look on line as I'm sure they are available there too. Draw around the case cut it out and then place inside the case to check the fit. At the same time mark the holes for the camera etc and cut those out too. I was creating a sea scene on mine so I masked off the area for the sky first using post it notes. The sky was sponged with a pale blue ink - Soft Sky.  After that the sea and beach were add