Phoenix Inspirations

I don't usually make New Year Resolutions because I usually break them! However this year I have made the decision to cut down on my plastic consumption. I can't see any more pictures of our seas and oceans and their wildlife choked by plastic and not do anything about it. Plastic waste is set to treble in our oceans in the next decade and unless we make changes we will kill all our marine wildlife. So, my resolutions are: to not buy plastic bags from shops - take my own reusable ones. Buy my fruit and veg from market stalls - no plastic packaging. I am also going to try and replace things like face wipes and cotton wool pads with handmade reusable ones and attempt to make my own beauty products. Today I'm sharing with you my new Bamboo Toothbrush Looks like an ordinary toothbrush - yep. And even performs like one. It's a bit like brushing your teeth with a lolly stick to start with but you soon get used to it. Instead of throwing ...

I was browsing through my browser - as you do, and I came across this card that I made a while ago but I don't think I posted on my blog. It's uncanny as it's predominantly red as was my last card for the  Rainbow Card Challenge . Here it is I don't think that this would have worked for the challenge as I think that there is too much black on it however, it was very easy to create. The scene was sponged onto a piece of white card stock using some scraps of copy paper torn into strips. The scene gets paler as it fades into the distance to give an illusion of perspective. The silhouette details were added in black along with the Chinese writing. The panel was then cut into three equal pieces, sponged around the edges and glued to some red card stock. Ribbon was added before adhering to the card base. Thanks for stopping by today - hope everyone has recovered from the New Year celebrations!! See you soon - J xx

Hello and Happy New Year greetings from Bridgnorth! This is my first post of the year and my card is for the very first challenge for a brand new challenge blog. Rainbow Challenge Blog I am so happy to be a part of this new venture and even happier to be working alongside my beautiful friend Mynnette again. Many years ago now Mynnette and I started up the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown and although we are no longer a part of that we had a great time working together and I am chuffed to bits to be doing so again. We also have a fab design team and I do urge you to pop across to the blog to take a look at all the wonderful work they have produced for the first challenge - which is .......... Now this is the Rainbow Card Challenge and your card should only use the colour that is stated in the challenge banner however, if you are adding flowers a little green can be added for the flower stems. Right  - here is my card My red ink and card stock is Poppy Parad...

Wouldn't it be good to be able to slow down time at the flick of a switch? I don't know about you but for me time is simply galloping by. I just about got my tree done and now I need to start on Mum's. But I still have cards to make and write, presents to buy and wrap and of course there is the Christmas Day running order to work out. Oh and I've still got my job to do too!!! So my title is -  few more Christmas cards - however I seem to have deleted some of them from my files so I've got one for today and I will take some more pics later when the light is better - don't you just hate these dark winter days? Today's card is some Triple Time Stamping - take a look Three pieces of card stock with the images stamped on to them and then stacked up with coloured mats behind them. I stamped my greeting onto some velum and also added some gems to add a bit of sparkle. Ok so I'm off to to  bit more Christmas crafting - see you soon - J xx

Well here we are four days into Advent and I hardly have any cards made! I have a day off on Friday and I can see me having a marathon card making session. That's apart from getting them written and posted  - eek! So I said I hardly have any made  - here's one that I managed to get done this last weekend.  I got the inspiration for this from Pinterest and it uses the lovely Christmas Happiness stamp set. I love the pine branches and cones and the silver bow adds the perfect finishing touch.  So before I go to bed tonight I am starting to set up my planner for next year. I love the idea of bullet journaling but I've decided to move from a notebook to a filo fax.  I tend to always be playing catch up when it comes to setting up the pages so I've bought some ready printed ones so I should be more organised  - well that's the idea anyway! I will get it set up and then do a post later in the week. Meanwhile I have been frantically working ...

Hello again, it's been a while hasn't it? Work has been full on plus Mum has had lot of health checks recently. So  - have you noticed the new blog header - yes I've changed it again! The blog address is still the same - phoenixinspirations.blogspot.co.uk - as I guess every time I change it's like I'm rising back up to something new! The blog header has been designed again by my good friend Mynnette and she has done such a great job. I wanted something clean and simple but sophisticated and classy - and she did it! So what have I been doing craft wise? Well not a lot really. A little bit of stamping, a little bit of beading and also a little bit of work with fimo clay. I am also working on a large project for Advent. I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this but hey ho we'll see where it takes us! Here's a picture of the first stage - can you guess what it's going to be? I am hoping to work on this over the next fe...

I have teamed up with my lovely friend Mynnette to bring you a brand new challenge blog. It starts in January and we would love you on our team. It's called The Rainbow Card Challenge The DT call will run throughout November and then in December we will announce the team and details of the first challenge. Isn't it exciting?!! All the details can be found on the blog and we are asking you to produce a card with a MONOCHROME theme. There are other requirements too so please do pop over and have a read. Here is a card I made a few years ago but it will give you and idea of what we are looking for I hope this will inspire you to have a go! Thanks for looking today - take care - J xx