Phoenix Inspirations

 Golly I’ve had a lot going on lately but I have managed to make a little card to enter into a couple of challenges.  First let me show you the card  So today as you can see I have a cute little elephant with a bunch of balloons. He is from the Zoo Globe stamp set and I coloured him with my markers. So this card is inspired by the sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge And the challenge this week over at The Paper Players Hope you like my card today - see you soon xx

 I am loving all the beautiful flowers bursting into bloom at this time of year and the sun is shining so they are looking extra beautiful. My card today features Spring flowers and a beautiful blue sky - take a look  There are so many brightly coloured tulips at the moment so I went for a few on my card. I am entering this card into the challenge at Make My Monday The subject is FLORALS  Hope you are all well and enjoying some sunshine - see you soon xx 

 So - I have a drawer and it’s full of scraps of decorative paper, card stock off cuts and unfinished projects. I was mooching through said drawer and found - right at the bottom - some stamped images and I thought hmmmmm - I could use these to make a card. And hey presto - here is is  We’re getting plenty of April showers at the moment so this card is very appropriate! The images I found were not coloured so I coloured them with my alcohol markers. I fussy cut the flowers and added them with 3D foam pads - a few sparkles added the finishing touch, I would like to enter this card into the challenge over at  Addicted to Stamps and More Thanks for taking the time to read my post today - see you soon xx

 I am ashamed to say that these days I have many stamps and stamp sets that I am yet to use! Gone are the days when new stash was used within 5 minutes of being delivered - time was taken up caring for family members. But now I have precious time to spend crafting and I am rediscovering all my favourites and new ones too. Today Peekaboo Farm makes it’s debut - take a look  All the elements for this card were stamped and coloured with my markers and then fussy cut. Each piece was attached with 3D foam pads. Don’t you think he’s a cute little piggy? Well this little piggy is going wee wee all the way into the following two challenges!! NBUS Challenge CAS Colours and Sketches Hope you like today’s card - see you soon xx

 Over in The Male Room they want cards with embossing on. Now I could have used an embossing folder but my Big Shot is deep in a cupboard and it would prove too much of a faff to drag it out! Instead I took a piece of card stock and with my score board I embossed lines to create a grid. I used this as my background for the card adding my coffee cups and coffee beans. The images are from the Stampin’ Up online exclusives - Latte Love. The Male Room Thanks for stopping by today - see you soon xx

 The sun is starting to shine a bit more and the days are getting longer - Spring is finally here!! It’s lovely to hear all the birds singing too and watching them building their nests. Today’s card is very spring like and has lots of birds. It’s an easel card which is one of my favourites to make and they do look quite stunning. I am entering this card into the challenge over at  Make My Monday #223 National Picture of a Bird  I’m off to sit in the garden for 5 minutes with a cup of coffee and enjoy the sunshine - hope you’re having a good day too - see you soon xx

 Posting has been a bit sparse lately due to a fibro flare  - nevermind I have had a little play today and this is the card I have made  I had a mad tidy up in my craft zone a couple of weeks ago and I found a huge pile of bits and pieces that I had saved from the bin! I pulled out a few pieces and the card above was created. It only took a few minutes to make too! Here is a quick pic of the scraps (snippets) I used  I am going to enter this card into the challenge over at the  Snippets Playground Thanks for taking the time to pop over to my blog - hope to see you here again soon xx

Today’s card is celebrating Spring and one of the flowers that blooms so magnificently at this time of year (in the UK). I love magnolia trees and this year they are blooming all over the place - there’s even one outside my mum’s window at her nursing home. So that being said I had to create a card with one on and this is the result - take a look  This stunning image is from Stampin’ Up in the Online Exclusives page and it’s perfect for colouring in. I’ve used both marker pens and watercolour pencils for this and I am so pleased with the result. I am entering this card into the following two challenges  Freshly Made Sketches CAS Colours and sketches Well March sneaked away quite quickly didn’t it? And then Easter passed by too but what a lovely time it was especially as I got to spend time with my daughter, son in law and granddaughter. Penny is 22 months now and loves drawing and colouring - good job Grandma (me) doesn’t mind the mess!!!

 I have a CAS card to share with you today - take a look  It’s good to be minimal once in a while and what could be more minimal than a line of coloured bunting? I added a Congratulations sentiment and then as I thought it needed just a little bit more I added the hand drawn frame. I am entering this card in the challenges over at  Addicted to CAS Well after a beautiful sunny day yesterday we are back to rain now in Soggy Shropshire! I’m also off to visit mum in the care home - it’s a lovely place but it’s deep in the countryside and it’s quite a trek to get there. It’s even worse in the rain 🌧️  Mum is doing very well at the moment and she seems very settled apparently she has the staff in stitches with her exploits when playing bingo! I would love to be a fly on the wall when that’s going on! Thank you for dropping by today - see you soon - J xx 

 Happy Monday Morning to you all - I hope you all had a good weekend. The sun is shining but it’s very cloudy and I don’t hold out much hope for the rest of the day! I have a male card to share with you this morning - take a look  I took inspiration from the challenge image over at  The Card Concept I tried to use as many of the colours as possible: Early Espresso, Mossy Meadow and Black. Instead of a moose I used a deer and I also added some pine cones. There are some stunning works of art provided by the DT and they are well worth a look - maybe you will be inspired to create something too. Thanks for stopping by - please do leave me a comment. See you soon - J xx 

 Time is racing on and before we know it will be Easter! That being said I have a cute little bunny rabbit card perfect for Spring celebrations. This little cutie is being entered into the challenge over at  Freshly Made Sketches Thanks for stopping by today - I’ve a busy week ahead but I hope to be back with some more cards soon. Bye for now - J xx

 Well it’s been a proper miserable week here in Shropshire, nevertheless I have been having fun in my craft room creating this little card to remind us that sunny days are not far away. I can’t believe I haven’t used this stamp before - it was a Sale-a-Bration set in 2022 so well over a year old and I’m ashamed to say that there are other untouched sets in my stash - yep I am hanging my head in shame!! This card is entered into the following challenges  Retro Rubber Challenge Addicted to Stamps and More Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend - please do pop round again. See you soon - J xx

I’ve decided not to be grumpy this year and I’ve created a Valentines card   and I have used the following challenges for inspiration                                                                  Make My Monday                                                                  The Paper Player s I’ve used several Stampin’ Up die sets: Meadow, Deckle Edge Squares and an alphabet set. Using two squares together makes a lovely frame. I also added a bit of stamping inside It is a most horrible day today. I went out early to the chemist and it was just starting to spit with rain and now it’s pouring. It’s very cold and miserable too. Hope wherever you are you are warm and snuggly and like me enjoying it bit of crafting. See you soon - J xx  

 Good morning all - this post should have gone up last week however I got a bit ill and had to have a couple of days in bed. I was so behind with everything when I was better that my blog got a little bit forgotten. However here are the cards. The beautiful moths from Night of Flight look stunning coloured in any colour you like and simply cut out with a sentiment really don’t need anything else to show them off. Take a look  Hopefully I shall have a fibro free week and I can do lots of crafting! Thanks for stopping by - see you soon - J xx

 Hello - I’ve been resting up in January after a particularly stressful end to last year however, feeling refreshed now and raring to go! That being said I have only managed one card so far - some fireflies brightening up the night sky. I really enjoyed getting inky with my sponges and creating the background. The yellow spots were stamped first and then using a sponge I added a bit of a glow. Dark blue was sponged on to the rest of the card stock and I used the same blue to stamp the silhouette leaves. The small flies were stamped on to the card itself but the larger ones were cut out and attached with foam pads. So not only have I been easing myself gently into the New Year but I have been getting acquainted with a new little kitty. She was in need of a quiet home and as I’m on my own now I think we are just what we need for each other. She’s really beautiful and very well behaved but most of all she’s great company. See you soon - J xx