Phoenix Inspirations

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 - ...

Good morning every one - and welcome to all my new followers. It's lovely to have you and I hope you continue to like what you see - it's great to get all your comments too - thank you. OK - on with the job in hand. It's Monday and that can only mean one thing  Make My Monday  challenge blog. This week's challenge is still Autumn themed but with the added addition of some Flora and Fauna Inchies. As you know I have been pretty obsessed with all things geometric lately so this was an easy one for me, although I didn't count on it taking me all afternoon and most of the evening to make! I am rather pleased with it though - take a look It originally started with just the six squares on the left ...... but then it just grew! I used some ATC blanks to stamp my images on to and then coloured and sponged them and then cut them to size. The birds are made using the 2 Step Bird punch and all the different coloured leaves were added by hand. Stamps used - Stampin'...

Yikes - it's cold today. I'm sat at my computer all bundled up in a thick cardi - might even have to have a hot water bottle!! Today's card is a side step card. I demo'd it at a workshop a while ago and had it made up but not decorated. It uses Stampin' Up Butterfly punch and Pocket Silhouettes stamp set The little butterflies are from a mini punch and I don't know if you can see but there is some silver thread wrapped around the large butterflies leaving a bit for their antennae. Each panel on the different sections has been sponged with ink before being stamped with the foliage. I am entering this card into the  Flutter By Wednesday's  challenge - you need to include a butterfly on your card. Hope you like it, bye for now - Jacqueline xx

This week at the  Simply Stampin'  challenge blog they have a colour combo for us Guess what - I actually have all the colours this time! My card uses stamp sets French Foliage and Pocket Silhouettes - take a look There is a background mat of Chocolate Chip card stock with another mat of Very Vanilla on top. This has been stamped in Pear Pizzazz ink with the french script from French Foliage down one side and the ink splodge down the other - in Chocolate Chip ink. A band of Soft Suede card stock has been punched with the scallop edge punch and a strip of Very Vanilla has been placed on top of that. The little picture has been stamped with the Pocket Silhouettes in Pear Pizzazz and Chocolate Chip inks - this has been matted onto Soft Suede card stock. Finally one of the leaf stamps has been inked with Pear Pizzazz and then dabbed with the Chocolate Chip ink, stamped and cut out - three times and these have been stuck on with 3D foam tape. There is also a DT Call run...

It's colour challenge time at  Simply Stampin'  and these are the colours we had to work with These are not colours that I would normally use together - however I think that they do work - take a look at my card  I decided on a gate fold style in the Perfect Plum and used the Whisper White as my base for stamping on. I used stamp set Simply Said, Pocket Silhouettes and the small flower from Flight of the Butterfly. The big butterfly is punched using the Butterfly punch and some smaller ones have also been punched out. Here are another couple of views of the card closed The gorgeous Melon Mambo ribbon has been attached to some punched tabs and then tied in a bow. More butterflies have been added to finish it off. Thanks for looking - Jacqueline xx

I am running out of time - big time - this week. I had a workshop last night where I made some sketches for the girls to follow so that took up all of yesterday and today I have been helping out at the local toddler group. But now I'm back crafting and I think I am just in time for the challenge on this week's Clean and Simple  blog. The sketch I followed looks like this and my card looks like this This is a one layer card and the lines of the sketch were followed by sponging ink on to the card. The sun was created first by using a post it note with a circle cut out. It was then covered with another mask and the rectangle was also masked off leaving the sun off centre. I don't know what I would do without post it notes - they are so useful! The stamps I used were from the Pocket Silhouettes set. So the weekend is nearly upon us and it's another Bank Holiday - will the weather improve do you think? I don't think I will mind particularly if it rains - I'll ju...

Yesterday was sketch day over on the Splitcoast Stampers  site and I have been using Vintage Vogue and Greenhouse Garden such a lot lately that I decided to do a butterfly instead. So I was rummaging through my scraps drawer and all in one go these pieces of card all landed on the floor at the same time - how could I not use them they looked so good together don't you think? The orange polka dot is the last piece from an Anna Griffin scrapbooking set - I'm a little sad to see it go. There are a couple of Bazzill Basics scraps and a small piece of Crumb Cake - mmmmmmm cake! All the edges have been sponged with Chocolate Chip ink and the main image is from the Pocket Silhouettes set stamped in Really Rust (retired) and Chocolate Chip. I added a small wooden button with some parcel string to finish off the butterfly. Oh - and I still have Viji's Martha Stewart punches - so I had to use that too!!! Today I was helping at our village playgroup - it was the Easter Egg Hunt and...

This is such a cool technique - it's called Embedded Embossing and it is so easy. So easy in fact that it only took a matter of moments to do a little tutorial for you. But first my card. I came across the technique when I looked to see what the challenge was today on Splitcoast Stampers.  You get together the components of your card - using punched out shapes or die cuts, stick them onto your card and then run them through an embossing folder on your Cuttlebug (other die cutting machines are available!). I used a base of Sage Shadow with two strips of Very Vanilla and Cherry Cobbler stuck on with a glue stick. I stamped a small motif with Pocket Silhouettes on the Very Vanilla and then stamped the butterfly from Butterfly Prints three times onto some scrap. These were punched out using the butterfly punch. They were then stuck down half on the Sage Shadow and half on the Cherry Cobbler. Three tiny butterflies were then stuck on in the top right hand corner. This was then run thr...

I know I know - I've changed my blog again. I just love to play around with designs and colours. I love to change my hair colour and I change my handbags around very regularly - but isn't that what we all love about crafting anyway - the designs and colours? Well it seems that today I have spent so much time playing around with technology that I haven't had time to make a card yet so will have to make do with one I made earlier. This is very similar to the card I made last week for my workshop - only this time it's pink As you can see - it's more or less the same. The inside also has the suspended butterflies The colours I used are Cherry Cobbler and Regal Rose and the stamp sets are Flight of the Butterfly, Pocket Silhouettes and the sentiment is from Just Believe. I also used the butterfly punch and scallop edge punch. This is a simple card to make but looks very impressive - if anyone would like some instructions please e- mail me on -   deezinesart@gmail.com...

Today was my first workshop of 2011. I had 5 lovely ladies come and squeeze around my dinning room table - and this is what we made This is the front of the card and it uses all Stampin' Up products. The square card is a piece of Very Vanilla 5 1/4" x 10 1/2" folded in half. The front piece is Baja Breeze which has been stamped with Baja Breeze and Night of Navy inks using the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set. The sentiment is from the Butterfly Prints set and the little butterfly from the Flight of the Butterfly. A piece of the Elegant Soiree DSP has been scalloped and stuck at the bottom - all the edges have been inked with Night of Navy. Here is the inside The inside has been decorated a little like the front however a  piece of the DSP was attached to the top of the card to make a stand out pelmet from which to suspend the butterflies. Here is a close up The butterflies have been attached using small strips of acetate so it looks like they are flying out of the card....

Do you know it's ages since I did a challenge card - how shameful! So in order to rectify this I found a challenge over on The Shabby Tea Room . The theme is 'Lavendar and Lace' and here is my card I used a square card blank as my base and added some 'Lavendar Lace' card stock. This was stamped with the florish stamp from the Vintage Vogue set (Stampin' Up) in Lavendar Lace ink. I then used Pocket Silhouettes for the main image - I was hoping that it looked like lavendar flowers, these were stamped in Lavendar Lace and Elegant Eggplant. The flowers down the side are also stamped in Elegant Eggplant and are also from the Vintage Vogue set. The gorgeous lace is some I was sent by a lovely lady who lives in Cypress (thank you Cath!) and I added a few flat backed pearls. Thanks for looking - Jacqueline xx.

Hello - just thought I'd show you some more of the cards I have made for my 'Christmas' workshop on Thursday evening. My favourite is the one in the middle - it uses Stampin' Up Pocket Silhouettes and Autumn Days and is really quick to make. Also used my 2 Step Bird Punch to make the robbin and the gold embossed tree is from the Wondrous Gift stamp set. The object of this workshop is how to produce easy cards that are quick to make - and get a head start on making them in time for Christmas. Hopefully by the end of the evening everyone will have at least three cards made. Details of the workshop are in the side bar if anyone is interested - bye for now - Jacqueline xx P.S - Cath if you see this - thank you for re-following me over here, I really appreciate it xx.

Hi there folks - thought you might like to see some things I made for a family lunch I organised the other day. The invitations only went out to the ladies of the family - eight of us. I made us all a little goody bag as a memento of the occasion - take a look Inside were lip balm holders and post it note holders with mini pens ( made using my Stampin' Up set - Pocket Silhouettes).   Here they all are waiting to be placed around the table We had the best time and we ranged in age from 18 to nearly 80. It has been a difficult time lately as we have all experienced hard times. My father-in-law died very suddenly, my dad's cancer came back, my husband's uncle has had major heart surgery and my nephew has been diagnosed with a brain tumour - and although some of us are hopefully through the bad stuff now I thought we all deservered a treat. We talked and laughed and nobody mentioned any of the hard times and I think everybody left with a smile - well worth all the effort. See...

Hi there folks - too hot to be outside again so I am in my craftroom crafting. Had my Thursday night club last night and we made Flip Albums. I will finish mine later and post it on my other blog in the next couple of days if you would like to see it. Meanwhile I have made a card for the Daring Cardmakers  challenge blog. The theme is Silhouettes so what better stamp set to use than Stampin' Up's 'Pocket Silhouettes'. Also used S'U card stock and inks - Night of Navy, Brocade Blue and Bashful Blue. I used  paper punches for the butterflies and decorative borders. But if that isn't blue enough for you - take a look at the card I made for my brother Peter - he's 40 today. This card also uses my S'U stuff and one of my favourite techniques - brayering. So there you have it - two blue cards, and if you do pop over to see the Flip Album when it's finished - that's blue too! I promise to use some brighter colours for my next card - really!!! Bye fo...

Hi all - this is one card for two challenges - would you like to see it? - The first challege is Project Tuesday  and the theme was an 'Open Swing Top Card' Want to see the swing? - There is a link to instructions for this card over on the blog or you could click here . The second challenge is Gingersnap Creations  and the theme there is 'Shades of Blue' I used: K&Company - Blue Awning papers (I know I'm using it a lot a the mo but it is soooo gorgeous) K&Company flower brads Stampin' Up - Bordering Blue card stock S'U inks - Bordering Blue & Night of Navy S'U stamp sets - Pocket Silhouettes, Flight of the Butterfly & Bird on a Branch (sentiment). Thank you for taking the time to look - I'm off to bed now - good night - Jacqueline xx.

Hello folks - such a long time since I last posted. I do have something good to show you though. This was quite a large project but very worthwhile doing as it could make a lovely gift. This is a bag made from one sheet of 12" x 12" card ( I used Bazzill card stock). The flowers on the ends of the handles are punched using my Stampin' Up five petal flower punch. The instructions for the bag were some I found on You Tube - Splitcoast Stampers - and it quite easily holds four A6 greetings cards . As well as the greetings cards I also made a little yearbook to match. Here is some pics of the cards : I used my trusty Pocket Silhouettes stamp set and Simply Said (both Stampin' Up) Let me know if you have popped over to take a look - I'm hoping to do this as an all day workshop so stayed tuned for details if you like the look of it. Bye for now - Jacqueline xx.

Hello folks - happy Monday to you all. First let me show you my card : This was a lovely card to do, a) because it's for  Stamp With Us and I get to show off all my fantastic Stampin' Up stuff, and b) because it is also for a brand new challenge blog Hidden Treasures Challenge . Here is the sketch from SWU that I followed: The challenge on Hidden Treasures was to use the colours Pink and Brown - here are the materials I used: (all Stampin' Up) Card stock: Very Vanilla, Pretty In Pink & Bravo Burgundy. Inks: Pretty In Pink & Bravo Burgundy. Stamp Sets: Greenhouse Garden, Flight Of The Butterfly & Pocket Silhouettes (sentiment). Punches: Butterfly punch & Scallop Edge punch. Hope you like my card - will be back later with another challenge card. Bye for now - Jacqueline xx.

I have wanted to do this project for a while now. I was inspired by a blog I follow - Stampin 'n Stuff. Her name is Jo and her blog is brilliant. She has done some of these with the new SU colours too and I hope she doesn't mind that I used her template and had a go myself . I used Night of Navy and Ballet Blue card stock and ink from Stampin' Up Rich Regals range and the stamp sets are also SU - Flight of the Butterfly and Pocket Silhouettes. The butterflies are made using a SU punch and are stuck to the cards with 3D foam - the camera hasn't shown that very well. I really enjoyed making this - took me two days but well worth it. I think I will try and make an ATC sized one next. Thank you for stopping by and having a peep - please let me know what you think of my effort - see you soon - Jacqueline xx.

Hello folks - hope everyone is O.K today and enjoying the gorgeous sunshine. I am. I even did some more gardening - that is twice now this year. I think I must be coming down with something, this is most unlike me! I am even typing this post with stung and bitten fingers ( I found a massive ants nest!). This card is going to be entered into two challenges today the first is Color Throwdown  and the challenge was to use these three colours: This is my card: All the materials are Stampin' Up: (except the sentiment, scallop punch + sentiment ink) Card stock - Very Vanilla + Bordering Blue Stamp sets - Flight of the Butterfly + Pocket Silhouettes Inks - Almost Amethyst, Sage Shadow + Bordering Blue Punches - Butterfly + Scallop Edge I would also like to enter this card into the Paper Play Challenges  which this week asks for cards without patterned paper. Am going to rest my poor bitten fingers now and try to deaden the pain with a glass of red wine or two!! See you soon - Jac...

If you click here   you will be transported to the blog - Sunday Sketch and Stamp (it's one of my favourites you know). It's their birthday and to celebrate we had 25 sketches to choose from. I chose No. 2 as you can see above, and here is my card : Now, I really want a Big Shot but my mate Bev let me borrow hers a while ago so I had the correct shape to work with. I used a basic black card stock along with some Bazzill Basics Paper in Grenedine. The sentiments are Stampin' Up - Pocket Silhouettes and the image is my own. Thank you for taking the time to look - hope you like it - Jacqueline xx.