Phoenix Inspirations

Yes - it's challenge time at CAS - Colours and Sketches and this month Louise has chosen our challenges. This week she wants to see clean and simple cards made with these colours Aren't they just yummy - and don't worry if you don't have the Stampin' Up colours named - just use the closest ones you have in your stash. Here is my card Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: My Friend Ink: Pool Party, Lucky Limeade (retired) Pumpkin Pie Card Stock: Whisper White Accessories: Sponges (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). Thanks for looking - have a great day - Jacqueline xx

Morning all - time for a new challenge over on the  CAS - Colours & Sketches  blog. This week we have a sketch for you - take a look Please remember that we are a cards only challenge blog and that they should also be clean and simple in their design. Here's my card And the inside too Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Pleasant Poppies, Delightful Dozen, My Friend Ink: Stazon Black Card Stock: Raspberry Ripple, Whisper White Accessories: Big Shot, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Folder (Don't forget that if you would like to order any of the Stampin' Up products listed above or from the Annual Catalogue you can do so through me - e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com or see all the details in the top tabs - thank you). The weekend is in sight and I'm looking forward to a rest. Don't get me wrong life is 'such fun' at the moment and I am having a great time however, my husband's health is still an issue I am working around hospital and...

Over on  Make My Monday  Mynnette has decided that we need a bit of Literary Inspiration to aid us with our challenges - here is what she has come up with Here is my card Now I did find this quite a challenge and struggled a little. I used the colours from the book cover - green and blue and combined them with the leafy stamp from My Friend. I also added butterflies and gems. Unfortunately my camera flash has made my colours appear very washed out! All materials used are stampin' Up Stamps: My Friend Inks: Lucky Limeade, Pool Party Card Stock: Whisper White, Basic Black Accessories: Basic Rhinestones Other Non Stampin' Up: Butterfly Punch (All Stampin' Up items cand be ordered through me and delivered direct to your door - please see all the details in the top tabs - thank you). It's always lovely to see each week how you interpret our challenges - everyone sees things differently! Don't forget that if you need any more inspi...

I recently led a workshop where we made Telescoping Image cards. That is where you stamp 2 identical images on 2 separate pieces of card stock, die cut them with nesting dies and then layer the die cuts to complete your card - take a look I didn't forget the inside either! Materials Stamps: Flowering Flourishes, My Friend Ink: Soft Suede, Midnight Muse, Pool Party, Summer Starfruit Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Cajun Craze, Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse Paper: Comfort Cafe DSP Accessories: Hat Pins (retired), Dimensionals, Boho Blossoms Punch, Basic Rhinestones, Window Framelits Other: Seam Binding Ribbon (All Stampin' Up items listed above and more can be ordered through me and delivered direct to your door - please see all the details in the top tabs - thanks). As always to accompany my workshops there is a full step by step tutorial  HERE  on my Craft Club Blog. Thanks for looking, see you soon - Jacqueline xx

Good Morning - there is a new challenge on the  CAS - Colours and Sketches Blog  and this week we have some colours for you Here is my card I used a base of Crumb Cake card stock for today's card and teamed it up with some of the Subtles DSP in Perfect Plum. The Very Vanilla is simply stamped with a Flowering Flourish in Crumb Cake and finished off with a few punched flowers and pearls. There are some lovely cards to see over on the challenge blog if you would like to pop over and take a look and maybe you would like to take part while you are there! All products used are Stampin' Up Stamps: Flowering Flourishes, Made for You, My Friend Ink: Crumb Cake Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla Paper: Subtles DSP Accessories: Basic Pearls Non Stampin' Up - Flower Punch, Corner Rounder (All Stampin' Up products can be ordered through me and delivered direct to you door - please see all the details in the top tabs) Thanks for stopping ...

Here are the colours for this week's challenge over on the  CAS - Colours & Sketches  challenge blog Remember that this is a cards only challenge blog and you must use some stamping - here's my card A lovely combination don't you think? I embossed the lines on the card with an embossing tool and attached my circles with 3D foam pads adding some flat backed pearls as a finishing touch to my flowers. Materials Stamps: Just Believe, My Friend Ink: So Saffron Card Stock: Whisper White. Pool Party, Night of Navy Accessories: Dimensionals, Basic Pearls (I would love to order any of the above Stampin' Up products for you - just e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com for more details) The lovely ladies on my DT have made some stunning cards - please do pop over and say 'Hi' to them and I will see you soon - Jacqueline xx

Freshly Made Sketches How great is this sketch? I fell in love with it the moment I saw it and thought it was the perfect opportunity to use my gorgeous new SU Blossom Punch - take a look I have used some of my Timeless Portrait DSP along with my favourite colour card stock Cherry Cobbler. My smaller flowers are made using the Boho Blossoms Punch and Island Indigo card stock with a jewelled brad in the centre. My sentiment is from the 'My Friend' stamp set. Just hope I can find a suitable envelope for this creation as some of my elements are off the page - I thought it was a good idea at the time!! The link to the challenge is under the sketch, bye for now - Jacqueline xx

At first I wondered at Kylie's sanity - Spring cards in September????? But then I realised that where Kylie is it is Spring 'cos Kylie lives in Australia and while we are being plunged into dark evenings, wet leaves and frosty mornings, Down Under it is getting warmer................do you have any spare rooms Kylie? Anyway - back to my card. Of course the challenge is  Addicted to Stamps   and here is my card for our third Theme challenge 'SPRING' I went with a zingy fresh green to stamp my leaves - a mish mash of sets, there's little leaves from Pocket Silhouettes, Big leaves from My Friend and tall elegant leaves from Just Believe. My flowers have been punched using a bright yellow and the sentiment has been stamped in a matching ink. A few pearls add a finishing touch. Don't forget to pop over to take a look at all the other dt cards on the blog, they are as always gorgeous. Thanks for looking today - it's great to have your company - ...

Next Thursday night will be my Double Diagonal Pocket Card workshop - all the details are  HERE  on my Craft Club Blog but here are a couple of pics to show you what we will be making This has been made using Cherry Cobbler and Crumb Cake card stock, Chocolate Chip and Crumb Cake ink and the My Friend stamp set. As usual a full step by step tutorial will be up loaded on to the blog after the workshop - just look for the link in the side bar - thanks - Jacqueline xx

Not been feeling too well this weekend - I think it maybe the stress of the last couple of weeks taking it's toll however I did make a card this afternoon whilst taking things easy and watching one of my favourite Sunday films - The Goonies, I think they must put it on every Sunday on one of the channels! I followed the fabulous sketch over on this week's  Simply Stampin' . You really should take a look 'cos it's a good one this week take a look Don't forget though if you do have a go you should use Stampin' Up products - just like I have on my card right here I have used a square card base to mat my Twitterpated DSP on to along with some Basic Gray and Whisper White card stock. The stamp set is Bright Blossoms and also the sentiment from My Friend. My colours are Real Red, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade and Pool Party. Going to settle down now and watch Silent Witness or Witless Silence as my husband calls it! See you soon - Jacqueline xx

I was unable to go to see dad as planned this weekend - after a routine blood test before his treatment the results came back saying that his immune levels had dropped to zero - that means he has to keep away from anyone with infections or colds or anyone that could possibly carry them. As my husband has been getting over a chest infection we thought it wise to stay away - it could be quite dangerous for dad to catch anything like that at the moment. OK - so that was the bad news - the good news is *extra crafting time* !!!!. I made this card today for a couple of challenges The lovely ladies at  Less is More  this week want us to make a One Layer Card but only using 3 stamps! Not too difficult - I used my 'My Friend' set: floral stamp, hello and the my friend stamp. Colours are Stampin' Up Regal Rose and a Versa Magic ink pad which I think is called Split Pea! I ran the bottom of my card through a Swiss Dots embossing folder - I did it the wrong way around though (...

OK - my second post of the day - and it's only 8am! I am striking while the iron is hot and making the most of my computer whilst it's working! For this card I have followed the sketch over on  Stampin' Royalty Here is my card I have used some of the last of my Springtime Vintage DSP along with two of my favourite sets - Just Believe and My Friend - both stamped in Rose Red ink. The images have been matted onto Always Artichoke card stock and I have also used some pieces of Crumb Cake and Whisper White. Thanks for taking a look today - see you soon - Jacqueline xx

Today I have made a card using the  Mojo Monday  sketch and the  Stampin' Royalty  colour combo Here is the card I made So - everything except the purple rhinestones on this card is Stampin' Up. Concord Crush, Peach Parfait and Whisper White card stock. Peach Parfait, Blushing Bride and Concord Crush inks. Also used my scallop edge punch and a sentiment from My Friend and a circle flourish from Charming and a butterfly from Precious Butterflies. That's it for today - see you soon - Jacqueline xx

Morning all - I had great fun making this card I'm about to show you. It took two hours to make - the whole of Midsommer Murders!! I do find crafting in front of the telly at night very relaxing. I followed the sketch from this week's  Pals Paper Arts  challenge   and the theme over on  The Paper Players   Here is my card I used two different shades of grey card stock plus Whisper White. I also added some SU retired DSP in Baja Breeze. The flourish is from Everything Eleanor and has some Boho Blossoms placed around it with my buttons on top. My Sentiment is from My Friend. I'm off now to visit my dad - he's in the middle of his radiotherapy so I expect he will need some cheering up - see you soon - Jacqueline xx

Hello everyone - today is Mid-week Motivation day at  Make My Monday  and if you head on over there you will find a step by step tutorial on how I made my flowers for today's card. Firstly here is a close up of my flower - it's a pansy It's made using the Stampin' Up Butterfly punch. I also used Perfect Plum and So Saffron card stock along with Perfect Plum and Elegant Eggplant ink. The veins were added with a Concord Crush Stampin' Write marker. I made three of these fabulous flowers and added them to a card - take a look The tags are made with Crumb Cake card stock and the Large Tag punch and just elongated a little. The base is Whisper White and the sentiment is from My Friend. I found a few scraps of ribbon to tie in my tags. I hope you like this folks as it's going in to this week's  Simply Stampin'  challenge which is 'Totally Tags'. Also  St. Luke's Charity Cards Challenge  - Spring into Spring and  The Kraft Journal  - An...

Well it's that time of the week again and I have two more Christmas cards to show you. It's colour challenge week at  52CCT  and here is the colour combo that Mynnette has chosen for us For my first card I went for squares - lots of them, and added some candy canes from the Hung up on the Holidays set - take a look The candy canes are stamped in Cherry Cobbler ink and they are mounted on to green card stock and then onto blue. The Winter Wishes sentiment is from a Papermania set and is stamped in Handsome Hunter ink. Here's a close up My second card uses a stamp from My Friend and I have hung it from fir tree branches (Lovely as a Tree) and then glittered them in blue I think I went a bit over the top with the ribbon - but I like it!! Here is another close up Thanks for looking - don't forgot to skip on over to see  Mynnettes blog  too 'cos she has some lovely things to see too - see you soon - Jacqueline xx

We have a lovely sketch to follow this week at  Simply Stampin'  - take a look Here is my card I started out with a 5" x 5" card base on to which I added some Poppy Parade card stock and some of my new Sale-a-bration paper.  Then using some Very Vanilla card stock I stamped the two sentiments from My Friend in Lucky Limeade ink. I also used Lucky Limeade for my leaves, more of the Poppy Parade and DSP for my flowers. I added a little sparkle to the flowers in the form of flat backed gems. I used at least four paper punches too - 2 Step Bird, 5 Petal Flower, Boho Blossoms and the Scallop Edge Punch. There are some fabulous DT cards over at  Simply Stampin'  and they have a Guest Designer. It's a lady I have been following for a couple of years now and she does fantastic work -  Monica Gale . Please pop over and take a look - I promise you won't be disappointed. I've been feeling very chilly today so I 'm going to light myself a f...

Here is this week's Mojo Monday  Sketch Here is my card I have used the fabulous Stampin' Up Sale-a-bration DSP with a few bits cut out for embellishment. Pool Party card stock was also used along with stamps from Just Believe and My Friend. Short and sweet tonight - see you soon - Jacqueline xx

When I started this card it was going to be blue, it all changed though when I practised my stamping on a piece of scrap paper - it was too good to be scrapped so I carried on After stamping the green didn't look quite right on the blue background so I got out the green instead. For a splash of colour I added some dark red in the form of Cherry Cobbler. My greens are Certain Celery and Garden Green, my stamp set is My Friend. The same stamp has been used twice to give a shadow effect. My ribbon is red gingham and was given to me by a crafty friend as it was destined for another project but that fell through so I squirrelled it away ready to bring out for a special occasion. It's been a strange sort of day today, the sort of day that doesn't really go anywhere. Hopefully it's about to get better as my husband is cooking up a curry - yum! See you soon - Jacqueline xx

I have just got back from a craft workshop where I was actually one of the taught and not the teacher and we made a 'Never Ending Card' Jo - our leader had some Papermania kits that were pre-scored which we used as templates to cut our own and then decorate. Here's mine It's the same all through the card - I had some 12" x 12" red paper with me and a few stamps. The stamps I used were from Everything Eleanor, Vintage Vogue, My Friend and Just Believe. The card works by firstly opening the vertical centre sections Then the middle sections are opened horizontally There's another vertical opening to get to the back of the card This is so easy to make - look out for a quick tutorial tomorrow on  Make My Monday . See you soon - Jacqueline xx