Phoenix Inspirations

Hello - I'm back! My lap top has been a little poorly but is now back from the menders and I can post again!!! So without further ado lets catch up on this weeks sketch at  52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown Here is the sketch April designed for us to use And here is my card Lovely as a Tree triumphs again - I love that set, I've been using it forever! My posts maybe a bit thin on the ground at the moment as I am attending a few job interviews. I haven't been searching all that long but luckily the one I have tomorrow will be my third in a week!! Just keeping my fingers crossed that I get one. Bye for now xx

Morning everyone -today's card is a Christmas scene. The theme over on  52{C}CT  is....... I'm also entering into the Tic Tac Toe challenge over on  The Paper Players So...... sponging or brayering..........sponging or brayering........ hmmmm how about a bit of both? Plus the middle line from the Tic Tac Toe - Blue, Sparkle or Shine and Embossing, here is my card I brayered the sky with my Speedball brayer and sponged the rooves of the houses. Silver and whites embossed trees and a silver Santa Claus plus some dazzling diamonds glitter for extra sparkle. Thanks for looking xx

I'm back with another Christmas card - this time it's for the challenge over on the  52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown . This week they have a gorgeous colour combo - take a look The colours I chose for my card are Gumball Green and Elegant Eggplant The tree and deer were stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with a clear embossing powder. I then masked off the ground and sponged the green ink over the images. Purple snowflakes were added with sparkly gem centres and some dazzling diamond glitter was added to give a more Christmassy look. The card base was one that had gone wrong on a previous project but the decorated panel fitted perfectly on the card covering the hideous mistake but still showing a bit of the tree underneath - I like it when things work out like that don't you?! Thank you to the lovely 52{C}CT dt ladies for picking last week's card for an Honorable Mention. See you soon xx

I've made a Christmas card at last! I am seriously behind with my Christmas crafting - I need to get going and get organised! Any way here it is It's for the challenge over on  52{C}CT Blog  where the theme this week is  Hope it fits!! This is very simply made, glitter paper on Kraft card stock and the old faithful pine from Stampin' Up's Lovely as a Tree. White craft ink and a few gems. I hope it's suitable for a man 'cos I'm probably giving it to my Brother!!! Thanks for looking xx

Well Monday has come around again and of course I am as organised as ever with my posting - NOT! I went to post my Make My Monday DT card only for my camera batteries to fail 2 seconds after turning it on. I then made the discovery that the card I had so lovingly made was not destined for today's challenge but for next week - it's not the first I've done that recently either. So - this me the perfect opportunity to post Saturday's  52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown  card. The theme is PAPER PIERCING  - take a look I have been wanting to make a Screen card for ages now and I must say I was rather pleased with the outcome. The picture was sponged and stamped whole and then cut to fit the panels. The piercing is at the top of the card and around the legs at the bottom. Here are some close ups This was a very simple scene to create - torn copy paper and sponges were the main tools and stamp sets Wetlands and Lovely as a Tree were used. The opposite f...

It's sketch time again at  CAS - Colours & Sketches  and this week is Patricia's last and this is want she wants us to use And here is my card Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Joyful Christmas, Lovely as a Tree Ink: Mossy Meadow, Real Red, Craft White Card Stock: Whisper White, Night of Navy Accessories:Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Chalk Marker, Dimensionals Please email me on  deezinesart@icloud.com  if you would like to place an order for any of the above items. There is an online catalogue in the side bar for you to browse - lots of lovely things to see in there, grab a cuppa and take a look. I'm back at my Mum and Dad's home again as Dad is really ill, he's seeing the Dr today so we are hoping for some encouraging news. Thanks for stopping to take a look today - hope to see you again here soon xx

It's time for another 'Male Only' card over in  The Male Room  and this week the theme is STARS. For my card I have taken inspiration from one of my stamping heroes - Michelle Zindorf and I have tried to recreate this card I found on Pinterest  HERE . Here is my card Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Lovely as a Tree Ink: Island Indigo, Not Quite Navy, Black Stazon, Craft White, White Chalk Marker Card Stock: Whisper White To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks So before you get too starry eyed looking at this please do check out all the work by the stars in my dt! xx

It's time for a new challenge over in  The Male Room . We make male only cards and projects and this week we want to see some TREES AND LEAVES. Well - out came the Lovely as a Tree set - my go to set for men - but this time I thought a different style of card was in order - a BOX CARD - take a look I also used the fabulous Hardwood stamp for this. A gorgeous background stamp and it's huge. However I have a tip for you - buy the wood mount style. How awful would it be if you bought this wonderful stamp, opened it up and realised that you didn't have an acrylic block big enough?! So I'm thinking that this will be my dad's Father's Day card - what will yours be? Can't wait to visit and find out! Hope you have fun looking at all the other dt cards today over on the blog! (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@icloud.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar along wit...

Morning all - it's time for the next challenge over in  The Male Room  and this week our theme is 'RETIREMENT' For this card I have used my ever faithful Lovely as a Tree set - it was the first set I ever bought from Stampin' Up and it still stamps like the first time I used it. It's perfect for male cards - take a look Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Oh Goodie, Delightful Dozen Ink: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, Sahara Sand, Soft Suede Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Sahara Sand (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar along with the NEW SPRING/SUMMER MINI. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also shop now directly from my Stampin' Up website - click  HERE ...

Hello - it's Saturday so that means another Christmas challenge over at  52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown  and this week is a theme week - take a look And here is my card I love this moose stamp and I thought that he would be perfect for a Christmas landscape - I even considered giving him a red nose like Rudolf but I stopped myself just in time! There is lots of heat embossed white on this to give the impression of snow and I must admit it does look rather chilly! Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Walk in the Wild, Bells and Boughs, Lovely as a Tree Ink: Soft Sky, Midnight Muse, Island Indigo, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Versamark Card Stock: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Whisper White Accessories: Modern Label Punch, Decorative Label Punch, Basic Gems, White EP (Other non Stampin' Up - Ribbon, Kraft card blank) (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a...

Our challenge this week at  52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown  is to pick a previous theme Here is my card - I chose Wreaths from July 2012 I went a bit mad with the gold embossing on this - it really does shine in real life! Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Morning Meadow, Lovely as a Tree, Joyful Christmas Ink: Gumball Green, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Certain Celery (retired marker) Card Stock: Very Vanilla Accessories: Gold EP (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also shop now directly from my Stampin' Up website - click  HERE  to take a look. Please don't forget to pop over and see what the other DT ladies have to show you and I hope to be visiting your blogs soon to s...

This is the theme for the challenge this week at  Make My Monday . I love making cards with a scene on them and Stampin' Up do the perfect stamp set too. I have chosen two: Wetlands and Lovely as a Tree - take a look I've tried to create a river scene with the trees on the far shore reflected in the water and I do love the birds wading in the foreground. There is a reflected sun in there too but I think it got covered by the reeds! Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Wetlands, Lovely as a Tree, Loving Thoughts Inks: Soft Sky, Crumb Cake, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip Accessories: Very Vanilla Ribbon, Scallop Trim Punch, Modern Label Punch, Basic Pearls (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size orde...

It's Recipe time at the  52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown  - take a look And here is my card I had to have a huge search through my craft room to find some Stampin' Up Christmas DSP - this is some from last year along with some old Certain Celery ribbon - it was given to me by a friend and I am determined to use it all one way or another! My 3 gems are just under my tree image which of course is from Lovely as a Tree - my card stock is Cherry Cobbler. I hope you all enjoy the weekend - I'm away for a couple of days at my Mum and Dad's - see you Monday! - 

Today at  Make My Monday  we have a fab new challenge set for us by DT lady Laura - she wants to see some Christmas Cards - come and see mine I was greatly inspired by Vicky's card  HERE  when I made this - I took her idea of the hanging mosaic shape and expanded a little - they do make lovely little baubles don't they? And guess what? Tomorrow the BRAND NEW Stampin' Up catalogue goes live and you can order them along with the co-ordinating punch in a special bundle. As I do with most of my Christmas cards I used the now legendary Lovely as a Tree pine tree too with a sparkly star added to the top. Just the two colours were used - Riding Hood Red (now retired) and Garden Green. Have fun creating your Christmas cards this week and I will see you soon - Jacqueline xx

Morning all - sorry I missed last week's Christmas challenge, I will maybe show you that card a bit later. This week we have a colour challenge for you - take a look Here is my card Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Bells and Boughs, Lovely as a Tree Ink: Certain Celery, Always Artichoke Card Stock: Whisper White, Always Artichoke Accessories: Lucky Limeade Bakers Twine, Dimensionals (Please do drop me an e-mail if you would like to order any of the above items or indeed any Stampin' Up product from the two current catalogues found in my side bar - all my details are above in the top tabs - thanks) . If you like the look of this challenge and need more inspiration then do pop over to take a look at all the other fab DT cards - the challenge can be found -  HERE See you soon - Jacqueline xx

Good morning all I hope it's warm where you are 'cos this week at  52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown  we have some very cool colours for you - take a look Please remember to only use these 3 colours on your Christmas cards - thanks. Here's mine I had great fun making this card as I used my favourite tool - the brayer. Brayering makes such lovely backgrounds but I just used it here to create the sky, the hills were created by sponging over torn copy paper. After creating my main picture panel I mounted it on to Midnight Muse card stock which I had run through the Big Shot with a scallop edge die, this was mounted onto my card blank which had been stamped with the top of a fir tree stamp. Now Ruth I know what you are going to say - no decoration inside! There is I promise you. This card (along with others) was made a few weeks ago just before I did a craft fair and I quickly photographed the fronts of the cards before packaging them up in their cellophane bags ...

We have a masculine themed challenge this week at  Make My Monday  - take a look at what I have made I have even decorated the inside (my resolution is lasting!!) Materials Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Made for You Ink: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake Card Stock: Whisper White, Crumb Cake (All items Stampin' Up - please see the top tabs for details on how to place an order) Please do pop over and take a look at all the fab DT cards and I will see you soon - Jacqueline xx

All last year at the  52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown  challenge blog Mynnette and I created the weekly challenges - this year the rest of the dt have had the chance to get their own back and this month Ruth has created the challenges starting with this fantastic sketch - take a look Here is my card I have used some of the fabulous Candlelight Christmas Speciality DSP for my background and then used some Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla to mat and layer. I stamped the lone pine from Lovely as a Tree with Versamark ink and then heat embossed it with gold embossing powder . Some natural coloured ribbon (scavenged from Christmas wrapping) was tied around the Crumb Cake mat. I've not made many resolutions this year but one of the few is to decorate the insides of my cards - take a look I stamped the pine tree again this time using Chocolate Chip ink and stamping twice and even three times before re-inking. I then used some Cherry Cobbler ink to stamp my ...

It's Saturday and that means it's another challenge at  52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown . This week we want to see cards depicting Christmas songs There are some specific rules concerning this challenge so please do check out the blog for all the details. Meanwhile - here is my card The song I've chosen is my favourite carol - 'In The Bleak Mid-winter' and I look forward to singing it every Christmas. I have brayered my background with blue ink (Brocade Blue and Baja Breeze) and covered the snowy ground with some clear Rock Candy Distress Stickles. My trees are from Lovely as a Tree and have been stamped using Chocolate Chip and Crumb Cake ink. To finish I added some ribbon, sparkly snowflakes and some blue bling. The team have come up with some stunning cards to show you this morning so please do pop over and say hello and I will see you soon - Jacqueline xx

It's my husband's birthday tomorrow, poor thing - this is the second year he will be 'Very Old'! - can you tell I tease him a lot about this? The joke's on me though as he doesn't really care how old he is!! I've bought him a book about walks in Herefordshire so I though that I would make him a nature themed card to go with it. I also followed this lovely sketch from  Freshly Made Sketches Here is my card My card stock is Stampin' Up and I have used Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Old Olive and Basic Black. My image - from Lovely as a Tree is stamped in black and coloured with markers. I used my Cuttlebug and various embossing folders to add a bit of texture and and some nesting dies for the mat to stamp my tree on. I would also like to enter this card in to the  Fab 'n' Funky Challenges  as this week they are 'Celebrating Male-ness' bye for now - Jacqueline xx