Phoenix Inspirations

OK so I'm cheating today the card I have made to show you today uses Mynnettes gorgeous  Make My Monday  colours and is the subject of this week's Mid-week Motivation found -  HERE I have also used our sketch from this week's  Addicted to Stamps  challenge - I loved this sketch so much that I had to make more than one card for it Here is my card As my title suggests - this is a Double Dutch Fold card and if you hop on over to  Splitcoast Stampers , check out their resources section - you will find a tutorial showing you how to make one. Did you notice that I had used my new Bright Blossoms set again - I am so in love with this set!! Here's a close up of the large panel Here is what it looks like opened And this is how I attached the ribbon to the back have a great rest of the day folks - Jacqueline xx

Last night was my monthly Thursday evening workshop and we made a 'Petal Fold' card. Below is the basic petal fold shape - I found this on Splitcoast Stampers again in their resources section - it's a fab place to find unique crafting projects This was then mounted onto a 5" x 5" card base which had been decorated with some patterned papers A few paper flowers punched using the Boho Blossoms punch were added to the corners along with some ferny leaves and pearls. Here's what it looks like open As always there will be a full step by step tutorial  over on my  Craft Club Blog  - just wait for the link to appear in the side bar. I'm off now to finish my preparations for the weekend - have a great time folks - Jacqueline xx

This is a card I made a while age when Louise came round to craft - don't know why it's taken me so long to blog it but it's come in very handy as I am too busy to do anything else at the moment. I got the tutorial from the resources section on Splitcoast Stampers - i found it very easy to follow and I'm very pleased with the results - take a look All the card stock is from my stash drawer and probably years old (!) but the stamp set is the S'U Good Neighbors (still haven't given it back to Bev wonder if she's forgotten I've got it mwahahaha!) - it's stamped in Creamy Caramel and More Mustard inks. Here's what happens if you pull the ribbon And here's a couple of close ups of the sentiments Thanks for looking - see you soon - Jacqueline xx

Yesterday was my monthly Tuesday morning workshop and we made 'Spring Fold Cards' - take a look The one in the middle is the one we made first and I have a close up as you can't see it very well in the picture above! I used some basic coloured card stock to make this along with some pieses of the gorgeous Stampin' Up DSP - Beyond the Garden. Stamps used were from the Greenhouse Garden and Field Flowers sets and I used Peach Parfait and Tangerine Tango inks plus a little Old Olive. The next two cards were a technique  quickly demo'd at the end of the workshop and are 'Side Spring Fold Cards'. So using more or less the same materials these cards were made using a tecnique I found in the resources section on Splitcoast Stampers - stamps used were Everything Eleanor (swirl) Field Flowers and Fabulous Florets - also a sentiment from Vintage Vogue. The scalloped edge square was die cut on my Cuttlebug. As always - all tutorial details will be ...

My card today uses the sketch over on  Mojo Monday . There is a choice between the round or the square sketch designs - I chose the square I also popped over to  Splitcoaststampers  where their colour challenge is to use Lucky Limeade, River Rock and Garden Green. This is what I have come up with Bev came round to play today and brought with her her Always Elegant set - I had to have a go with it, would've been rude not to don't you think?! Lucky Limeade comes in the form of the gorgeous Sale-a-bration papers, River Rock is the main background and Garden Green is used for the ribbon, matting the main image and my little Boho Blossoms flowers. Off now to prepare my card for next week's workshop. I'm also going out tonight to play at a group in Malvern so I will be back later to show you what I make - bye for now - Jacqueline xx

Good morning all, it's Monday so that means it's challenge time over on the  Make My Monday  challenge blog. This week it's still SEASONAL projects with the added extra of RED RIBBON.  Here is my contribution to the dt line -up It's a Centre Step card - I got the instructions from the Splitcoast Stampers site (via Just Us Girls). I used Kraft card stock as my base and then used SU Lucky Limeade and Very Vanilla. The poinsettias were made using the French Foliage stamp set (see Vicky's blog  here  to see where I got my inspiration for these). They were coloured using Poppy Parade and Lucky Limeade. My RED RIBBON is wrapped around the base with my sentiment mounted onto it. Hope you have the time to pop over to the blog and take a look and maybe even have a go your self. I am also entering this card in to the  Just Us Girls  challenge as they are looking for Centre Step Cards. Bye for now - Jacqueline xx

I made this card a couple of days ago using a sketch from one of the daily challenges on the  Splitcoast Stampers  site. I used one of my favourite stamp sets and some retired DSP - Springtime Vintage. The DSP is matted onto some Kraft card stock which has had the edges sponged with Chocolate Chip ink. The flowers were stamped and then coloured with some Stampin' Write markers and the bird was stamped and cut out before being attached with 3D foam pads. He was coloured using pencil crayons. The green ribbon was some I unearthed from the depths of my ribbon bag - I think it's from an Anna Griffin set I bought some years ago. Now luckily when I extracted my ribbon from the bag it wasn't too crumpled but I have been told that crumpled ribbon can be made smooth and flat again by running it through hair straighteners!! (Don't have then too hot though as it will probably melt!). The little label is a Nestability shape with a sentiment from the set Just Believe. Thanks ...

I am in a bit of a bind at the moment - I am trying to work out what to do for my next workshop. I have a few ideas and so I am trying them out first to see how they work out. Idea number one looks like this Can you see the little tab at the side ? If you pull it - this is what happens A flap opens up and there is a little hidden message. It's a T-Slide card and I found the tutorial for it on Splitcoast Stampers. It's a little tricky but well worth the effort I think. Here is a close up of the sentiment  The stamp set I have used is Simply Said and I have used colours: Summer Sun, Cameo Coral, Not Quite Navy, Old Olive and Ruby Red. I'm away now to try out another idea that I have buzzing around my head - see you soon - Jacqueline xx. 

Hi folks - not starting the week off very well at the moment as I am suffering with a bit of a head cold. I can't breathe and it's so frustrating. However that has not stopped me from crafting - as if - and today I have made this card This a card inspired by the Clean and Simple challenge today on Splitcoast Stampers. It is using up some of my scraps and some of my treasured Cameo Coral card stock. It's treasured because it is no more - retired - finito :(    The stamp set is Ornate Flowers also stamped with Cameo Coral and a touch of Old Olive. I have used a Martha Stewart punch (will have to give that back on Thurs evening :(( ) and one of my huge silver brads holding a piece of Very Vanilla ribbon. Don't know what I will come up with tomorrow - friend Bev is coming round but I am showing her how to set up her own blog. I have been persuading her to do this for ages - good job too 'cos she is a fab card maker as hopefully you will soon see! Bye for no...

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 am making the most of this gorgeous set while I can. It's called Inspired by Nature - it's a retired set borrowed from my friend Bev and I love it. The grass stamp is just so versatile and I think that I will have to use it every day till I have to give it back! Today I have teamed it up with my Teasel stamp to create a sunset effect. I brayered the background using some Whispers Archival inks and my brayer, then I stamped the grass with Close to Cocoa and the teasels with Chocolate Chip. To give the picture some depth I stamped the teasels twice before re-inking. The sentiment was stamped onto cream card and cut with some decorative edge scissors. This was so I could enter it into today's Splitcoast Stampers challenge. So - one more day before the weekend - this week has gone sooooo fast. Got to start seriously thinking about making some Easter Cards else it will have been and gone! Bye for now - Jacqueline xx. 

Yay - I am so excited - I have made my first stamp (soon to be available to buy on my website). Now you all know how much I love my brayer so my first design just had to be a silhouette - here is my card The image is taken from one of my own drawings - as will all my designs and is stamped onto a brayered background using Baja Breeze and Not Quite Navy inks. This is just a prototype at the moment - I still have some kit on order to enable me to make my saleable stamps but hopefully you won't have to wait too long to see those. I have also uploaded this card onto the Splitcoast Stampers  website for today's challenge - no stamping in Black, White or Brown ink. I have to go now 'cos I have a meeting tonight so no vegging out in front of the t.v watching Eggheads for me! - See you soon - Jacqueline xx.

yay - I have a working scanner again! I stole my husband's as mine really had bit the dust - still it's done him a favour as he now has more room on his desk!! Today's card is inspired by the sketch challenge over on Splitcoast stampers  - it was a very clean and simple design so I kept my card quite simple too It starts off as a 5" x 5" cream card blank and I matted and layered some Baja Breeze and cream card stock - the sentiment banner uses the same. The stamp set is Vintage Vogue and uses Baja Breeze and Sage Shadow inks. I am feeling a little shell-shocked today - I went to an AGM meeting last night (I'm the bookings manager for our local village hall) and I managed to come away from the meeting as the new secretary. How did that happen?! I'm sure that I wil be fine at the job - I just hope I can find the time speaking of which - I have a workshop that I need to finish preparing for. Really looking forward to that as we are making Paper Bag Mini Al...

Today is my one year blogaversary - it's been one year and a couple of days since I set it up and exactly a year since my first picture post. Don't go back there though - my efforts back then weren't up to much. Instead feast your eyes on this It's a sort of copy from one I saw whilst browsing the Splitcoast Stampers gallery - I changed it quite a bit but the idea is the same. It uses mainly Greenhouse Garden and a bit of Vintage Vogue, Mellow Moss and Summer Sun and a bit of bling. Now you may be aware that the appearance of my blog changes quite regularly and it's about to change again - I know what can I say - I love to play. Seriously though I hope that these new changes are going to be big. Stay tuned - you have to be in it to win it as they say. See you soon - Jacqueline xx.

I couldn't resist the sketch on the *SPLITCOAST STAMPERS*   site today - it was so clean and simple. And because of this I decided to go with a simple colour palette too - Very Vanilla and So Saffron . I also used minimal stamping too - just the sister sentiment in the top right hand corner. The fancy squares were created on my Cuttlebug and the flowers were made using the Stampin' Up punch Boho Blossoms. I added a tiny bit of  bling to the center of each flower. My head is a lot better now and I have been doing a bit of blog hopping - may I draw your attention to my side bar please - a new monthly challenge of the scrap booking kind. I'm really looking forward to taking part in this. I am relatively new to scrap booking but with regular layout ideas and colour combinations I think even I will be able to manage something every month! I might be back tomorrow - I might not. I'm off to see my Mum and Dad this weekend - Dad is having some more treatment in hospital on F...

I was being very good last night and tidying my craft room - I have a friend coming round to play later - when I spyed a piece of card that I had brayered to show my craft Ladies last Thursday. So all tidying then had to cease 'cos I really wanted to do something with this piece of card. I then remembered seeing on the Slpitcoast Stampers site that the weekly CAS challenge was to make your own background - this is what I made It is very similar to some I have done in the past but in blue. This one used a whole host of yellows and oranges from my Whispers Archival range and then a final layer of Cherry Cobbler. The sun of course is a post it note punched with a circle punch (tip - fold the p-i-n in half or double them up sticky to sticky - it goes through the punch much more easily). The stamp set is my current favourite - Just Believe, stamped in Chocolate Chip. I did finish my tidying in the end - just a bit later than anticipated! Oh - and I managed to find some quite tiny coff...

River Rock, Basic Gray and Whisper White were the colours for this week's colour challenge on Splitcoast Stampers. Not a combination that I would normally pick but I stand corrected - they look really good together - here is my card I have used the 2 Step Bird punch on this - just 'cos I love him so much. I stamped his wing with the foliage stamp from Vintage Vogue and also used it for the background to the bird. Behind the white is an old dictionary page which I distressed a little and the finishing touch was one of the little flowers from the Boho Blossoms punch. Hope you can pop back tomorrow - I'm hopefully(!) putting together a picture tutorial on how to make the 3D Vintage Vogue flowers find them (*HERE*)   - I say hopefully - my Son has been ill for a while now with joint problems. He had some tests yesterday in hospital and he's having more tomorrow. Add that to the fact that because he lost so much school due to his illness - he was asked to leave and now ha...

Thankfully I don't need one of these at the moment. But it is one of those 'just in case' cards. This was using the sketch from this week's sketch challenge on *SPLITCOAST STAMPERS* Once I had cut all my card stock - Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla - I distressed all the edges using my scissor blades. Then I applied Rock Candy Distress Stickles to the edges -this took a long time and an even longer time to dry! I was pleased with the result though. Stamps used were Just Believe and a sentiment stamp I've had for ages and can't remember where from! I am also going to enter this card in this week's *PAPERPLAY CHALLENGE*   - the theme being 'Layer it Up'. That's it for today folks - hope you have a good weekend - see you soon - Jacqueline xx.

One of my favourite colours this year is Stampin' Up's Cherry Cobbler. It's a very deep, almost blood red. However I would never normally team up red with pink - so I was very surprised with the way this card turned out The colour combo comes from yesterday's Colour Challenge on Splitcoast Stampers and should have been Cherry Cobbler, Melon Mambo and Pretty in Pink. I didn't have any Melon Mambo so I substituted Rose Red instead. The stamp set is Just Believe. I even made a special effort with this card and decorated inside - instead of just stamping the usual 'Happy Birthday' or 'Best Wishes' Now, I really should not be sat here playing in my craft room - I'm away for the weekend and have a million and one things to do before I go............maybe just a few minutes more.......! - Jacqueline xx.