Hey there...

Hi everyone,

A quick share of a card I made today to enter into a couple of my favourite challenges, of which you can find the details here -

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Get crafty & use kraft

A Blog Named Hero

#54 Recycle It

And here's my card...

I started with a piece of kraft card, and used my Hero Arts, 'Triangle Pattern stencil' and Ranger's embossing paste, (which I coloured using Mustard Seed distress Ink), to create a dimensional, colourful background.  I then die cut this speech bubble from a Mama Elephant set, then die-cut 'HEY' from it, using Lawn Fawn's, 'Quinn's ABC's' dies, and edged everything in Peacock Feathers Distress Ink.  I then backed my die-cut with some patterned paper from Lawn Fawn's, 'Let's Polka' paper pad to make the letters 'pop'.  I stamped out my little birdies form Lawn Fawn's, 'Hello Sunshine' set, again, using some paper from 'Let's Polka', and cut them out.  I added a scrap of twine behind my sentiment, and a little ribbon banner with a black enamel heart, and there you have it.  A very simple card, but I really like how it came out, it kinda reminds me of Pop Art.  Now you might be thinking, 'yup, plenty kraft, but where's the 'recycle/upcycle'...well, everything other than my card base has been made up by using my scraps...and the twine behind my sentiment...well I used that to wrap up by boyfriend's birthday present the other day...before quickly swiping it back, once said present was open, to 'recycle', LOL.  Don't judge me - you'd do the same, right? ...Right haha.

Thanks for stopping by.

Jillxxx

Krafty Halloween...

Hi everyone,

Today, I'm sharing a card I have made for a couple of fun and exciting challenges...

And you can find all the deets for each one here -

Lawnscaping 

Challenge #92 Halloween theme or Colour Combo

Simon Says Stamp

Get Crafty & use Kraft

And here's my card...

I started with a piece of watercolour card, and 'washed' it using Distress Inks, (Spiced Marmalade and Seedless Preserve), misted with water,  I then used a star mask and a black/purple texture paste by Creative Expressions to add interest to my background.  I created my aperture by die-cutting a circle from the centre of my card base (Neenah desert storm kraft card), and my background, and framed it using a thin kraft frame over a Spellbinders, 'Eyelet Circle' die-cut.  I also added  a dusting of glitter to my kraft frame.  My little monster is from Lawn Fawn's 'Monster Mash' set.  I stamped him out twice so I could have two different colours going on either side, so when he spins in his little window, it flicks between two colours, and coloured him using promarkers.  This was a new technique to me, colouring on kraft, and I've gotta say, I can't believe how vivid the colours remained on the kraft card!  I then fussy cut my monsters, and sandwiched some invisible thread between them when adhereing together, and sandwiched the same thread through my layers on my card as I constructed it, so that he hangs there.  My sentiment is also from Lawn Fawn's 'Monster Mash' set, and heat embossed on black card, in white powder.  I added a few little ribbons and a sprinkle of gems, and there you have it.  This is the first time I've done one of these 'invisible floaty' (yeah sure Jill, that's what they're called :/) cards, and I've gotta say, I'm chuffed with how it came out.  I think it's really cute :)

Hope you like it.

Jillxxx

Mama Elephant October Challenge...

Hi everyone,

I'd love to share a card I've made for the October Challenge going on over at Mama Elephant, which this month, is 'Anything Goes'.

And here's my card...

October has already rocked my world!  Soooo many awesome releases, and Mama Elephant have been top of the class!  And this stamp I've used right here, from the 'Peace On Earth' set, my oh my, absolute perfection.  I don't know how they do it, but they do, they just get it right every time!  So I obviously couldn't wait to ink this bad boy up so set to work straight away!  I started with a white card blank, stamped out this huge sentiment in Versmark ink, and clear heat embossed to create a resist.  I then inked over it using Seedless Preserve, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks, and spritzed over the top using a shimmer mist.  I used a Studio Calico star mask covered with texture paste and sparkly embossing powder to create my star background.  Once dried, I heat set my embossing powder.  I also took some star wood veneers, and covered them in Versmark Ink and sparkly embossing powder to embellish with.  I used Mama Elephants 'Basic Set Creative Cuts' dies to create some layers, and made my own glitter card by edging plain white card in glue, and sprinkling with white glitter.  And there you have, a simple but bold card...a lot of inking, and a lot of embossing!

I hope you like it.

Jillxxx

Lawnscaping take #3

Hi everyone,

Well, here it is, my last shot in my efforts to impress the lovely folk over at Lawnscaping Challenge Blog, who currently have a call out to join their Facebook Team.  You can enter a maximum of 3 times, and this is my last life...eeeeeeeek!  I have tried to do three completely different designs, showing the different sides to me, so without further ado, here's my last card...

I took this adorable little fella from Lawn Fawn's 'Monster Mash' set, stamped him out on a sheet of masking paper a few times, and cut out.  I then took a piece of white card stock, and after stamping him out in the bottom right hand corner, to set my 'main' image, I repeatedly stamped him all over the page, masking the surrounding monsters as I went, until the whole page was over-run in a crazy monster mash fest!  I then coloured my main image, using bright oranges, to make him really 'pop'.  Once I'd wasted my time doing that - I decided a) I wanted him to actually stand off the card, and b) Instead of him being coloured, it would be more fun to paper-piece him.  So I put plan B into practise, and paper pieced my monster using paper from Lawn Fawn's 'Into the Woods', and 'Let's Polka' pads.  I also stamped, and cut out, this sweet little bow tie to add an extra touch of cute!  My sentiment is from Lawn Fawn's 'Chit Chat' set, and again, stamped and cut from the same paper, and mounted onto the card using foam adhesive.  I then matted my piece onto black card to frame it nicely, and some more Lawn Fawn polka dot paper.  And there you have it.  I didn't use any embellishments, as I loved the simplicity of the design.

I reeeeeeally hope you like it :)

Wish me luck folks!

Love always, Jillxxx

Lawnscaping Facebook call...

Hi everyone,

I want to share another card I have made to put forward for the call Lawnscaping Challenges have put out, to be part of their Facebook design team.  I mean, can you actually imagine how cool that would be?  Just the thought of it gets me giddy lol.  ...but before we get into that. I have some awesome Lawnscaping related news to share...I only just went and won a 'Top Mow-It-All' place in their most recent challenge (Patterned Papers), with this card behind this link!!!  I can't tell you how happy this has made me, I even done a little squeal haha.  I would love to think this was a sign from Universe lol, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed, my eyes scrunched, and my nose crinkled, until the winners are announced!

So, back to reality Jill, back to reality...

Here's my second card...

You can enter up to 3 times, and I plan on using all my lives here!  I want to enter 3 different styles to show my different sides.

The idea with this card was to make it all about the background, and to create an Ombre effect, using one stamp, with different inks.  So I used this cool vine from Lawns Fawn's, 'Blissful Botanicals', and repeatedly stamped it, switching it around each time. I used Distress Inks, and went dark to light (Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick, Tattered Rose, and Spun Sugar).  My sentiment is cut from Lawn Fawns 'Thanks' word die, which I cut a few times, and glued together, then covered in Versamrk ink and Ranger's Black Sparkle embossing powder.  i then watercolour washed a piece of card, using Picked Raspberry distress ink, misted with water & mica powder, and cut a Spellbinders frame from it.  I then cut the 'Thanks' die from this frame, and in-laid the whole thing to my background.  Now hindsight is a wonderful thing, right?  And I can now see that this was a complete waste of my time and energy as it would look exactly the same had I of just popped the sentiment die-cut right on top of the frame, and not messed around with in-laying...but I did, so hey ho!  I finished by adding some little ribbons I had cut into a flag, tab, and banner and topped with a little black twine bow, embellished with a scattering of gems, and there you have it.

I really like simple graphic cards, and I definitely think this falls into that category, so am really pleased with how it came out.  I hope you like it too.  As always, I would love to read your comments.

Wish me luck :)

See you next time.

Jillxxx

The chance of a lifetime...

Wow wow wow, how exciting...Lawnscaping have put out a call to join their Facebook team!!!  Oh my word, can you imagine?  It would be an absolute dream come true.  I LOVE Lawn Fawn, I love their stamps, their dies, their papers, their twine, their characters, their spirit...yeah, I'm pretty much a mega fan!!!

So you can enter up to 3 times, and they want you to, 'Show us your style'.  I mean, you can imagine what the competition is gonna be like, but you can't pass up an opportunity like this, and you've gotta be in it to win it, right?  So, here goes...

Here's my first entry, made especially for the contest...

I made my card using Lawn Fawn's 'Home Sweet Home' set.  I started with a piece of white card and inked it up using Distress Inks -Tumbled Glass,  Broken China, and Chipped Sapphire over the majority of the card, and a small block of Mowed Lawn and Evergreen Bough along the bottom.  I then die-cut Lawn Fawn's grassy border, and punched out a circle, both from Lawn Fawn's 'let's Polka' paper pad.  Now my new favourite technique in the whole world, is 'no-line colouring'.  I just love the way it looks when executed well...and there lies the problem...executing it well lol.  It is sooo hard when the pieces you want to colour are so teeny tiny, so I managed to do my branches, but my little birds, heart and birdhouse...well, there's a reason I reverted to good ol' Memento Tuxedo ink LOL!  So I stamped out my pieces and coloured them (...with lines) using Promarkers, and fussy cut them all out.  I then die-cut a few little clouds from my background Using Lawn Fawn's 'Spring Showers' die set.   I stamped and heat embossed the cute little banner and sentiment, onto vellum, in Ranger's 'Black Sparkle', and cut out.  I added a little of wrap of twine to my grassy border, and edged my whole piece, including the cloud outlines, with a Zig glue pen, and added a fine white glitter, just to add a subtle shimmer.  I then built up my scene using clear gel to add dimension, and matted onto a piece of plain white card to show through the clouds.

And well, there you have it.  I hope you like it, and as always, would love to read your comments.

So wish me luck, keep your fingers crossed for me...and if you're making the decision...pick meeeeeeeeeee pleeeease :)

(*note to self:play it cool Jill, play it cool lol*)

Love always, jillxxx

Anything goes at ME...

Hi everyone,

Now, first things first...HAPPY 2ND ANNIVERSARY MAMA ELEPHANT!!!

...And to celebrate to myself, I'm sharing a card I'm entering into the October Mama Elephant challenge, which this time round is 'Anything goes', woop woop.

October Challenge

And here's my card...

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love Mama Elephant, I mean my bank balance may not be so keen, but I don't let that come between us LOL.  I used the 'Polar Pals' set to make this card, I was aiming for a kind of 'stark Arctic' kinda vibe...which resulted in a very light card that didn't photograph too great, but hey ho.  So I started with a piece of watercolour card and dry embossed it (something I don't do nearly enough!), with a small polka dotted folder.  I then used Distress Inks, (Tumbled Glass and Shaded Lilac) misted with water on my craft sheet, to create a water colour wash over my card.  I then die cut a circle frame from the centre, and a small banner, and watercolour washed, again, in Distress Inks (Seedless Preserve, and Milled Lavender).  I also water colour washed a separate piece of card to use as my background, in Shaded Lavender, and when this piece was dry, I stencilled a star mask in texture paste and topped with white glitter to add interest and sparkle.  For my gorgeous little penguins, I wanted to practise the 'no line' colouring technique, which I am still very new to, and realising that it is VERY hard when your characters are so teeny!  But practise makes perfect, and I love how it looks when done well, so i will persevere!  I stamped my sentiment onto my banner using silver embossing powder and built up my scene using foam adhesive to give dimension.  I embellished with a trickle of silver gems, (hopefully) like a little cascade of ice chips (Ok, Jill, calm down), and there you have it.

I hope you like, i would love to read your comments.

Jillxxx

Avery Elle #17 - Tags

Hi everyone,

I want to share a card I made for the challenge going on over at Avery Elle, which this time round, is Tags.  Cool huh?

#17 - Tags

And here's my card...

Ok, hands up, I am truly madly deeply in love with this stamp set!  It's 'Noel' from Avery Elle, and it is just unreal.  It's cool, and bold, and folksy, and wow, I just love it!  So i cut a tag using a Paper Smooches die, white heat embossed my sentiment on it, and inked it up with Milled Lavender, Seedless Preserve, and Chipped Sapphire, using the embossing powder as a resist.  I then cut my background panel from plain white card and repeated the process, this time heat embossing a selection of snowflakes from the same set to act as a resist.  I used Mama Elephant's 'Femme Frames' die to cut my vellum panel, and heat embossed these gorgeous doves (Yup, you guessed it, from the Noel set...told you it was awesome!), using Ranger's 'Black Sparkle' powder.  I added a tie of ribbon, and constructed my layers, using foam adhesive on my vellum and tag to add dimension.

And there you have it.  I hope you like it, I would love to read your comments.

Jillxxx

falling for fall...

Hi everyone,

Just a quickie (oo-er) to share a card I made to to play along with a couple of cool challenges happening this week.

There's the Monday Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp, which this week is 'Falling in Love with...' and the bi-weekly challenge going on over at Lawnscaping, which this time is 'Patterned Papers.

                                 

And here's my card...

I made a very similar card to this a few weeks back, but something just wasn't 'right' about it.  I loved the concept, but not the result, so wanted to give it another go, and this is where it took me.

So I took my 'Stictched Leaves' die, and 'Into the Woods' paper pad, all from the delightful Lawn Fawn, and, well, pretty much went to town with them!  I chose a selection of papers I wanted to work with, and cut a load of leaves, inking all the edges as I went.  I then cut an aperture from another piece of patterned paper, using Lawn Fawn's 'Stiched journaling card' die, and built my scene behind it by layering

  my leaves on top of each other.  The idea is to give the impression of the leaves cascading down.  I then die cut a leaf from vellum and stamped out my sentiment from Lawn Fawn's 'Into the Woods' set, and added a little twine bow to it.  I sprinkled a few little gems and sequins over my leaves, like little jew drops of rain, to embellish, and there you have it.

Now I'm gonna be honest...I'm still not feeling it 100%...Fall's gonna be well and truly over before I master this design LOL!  

Thanks for stopping.  Hopefully see you next time.]

Jillxxx

Avery Elle Challenge #17...

Hi everyone,

I want to share a card I have made for the challenge going on over at Avery Elle, which this time round is 'Tags'...and who doesn't love a tag, right?

And here's my effort...

I took my Avery Elle, 'Every day collection' paper pad and chose some delicious papers I wanted to work with.  I cut down a couple of panels, and also cut a couple of tags using my Avery Elle 'Simply tags every day' dies, and inked all the edges using Weathered Wood Distress Ink.  I then took my sentiment from Avery Elle's 'Cake and Candles' set, and, after arranging how I wanted my lay-out to look, stamped it out three separate times on each of my layers, so that when they are all put back together, the sentiment reads correct.  I then added twine to my tags, and constructed my card.  I added a wrap of ribbon, and scattered the background with enamel, glitter, and metal dots to finish, and there you have it.

I love the colour scheme of this card.  The card itself is quite busy and hectic, with all the jaunty angles and different layers. but the cool peaceful colours bring some calm back to it I feel.  I really hope you like it.

Please feel free to let me know your thoughts.

Jillxxx

No line colouring...

Hi everyone,

I'm back with a card I have made to incorporate a few different fun challenges going on right now, kind of like my own little mini-challenge to my-self!

So I am entering into...
Make the Day Special's October challenge, which this month is ...'Try something new', what a great idea for a challenge, right?
Simon Says Stamps, Monday Challenge, which this week is, 'Falling in love with...', for the love of all things fall :)
Aaaand...
Lawnscaping's challenge #91, which is 'Patterned Paper's', beautiful, delish, delightful patterned paper *swoooon*

And here's my card...

So, my 'Try something new' was having a blast at the 'no line' colouring technique...which I love the look of and have been wanting to try for a while.  I used Lawn Fawn's 'Joy to the woods', and 'Into the Woods' stamp sets, and coloured with Promarkers.  I would love to 'try' Copics, but I keep spending all my money on Lawn Fawn products from Make the day Special and Simon Says Stamp, so that will just have to wait LOL.  Now I think it's pretty obvious to see, I need to to practise, practise practise this technique, but for my first ever effort, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  

So I coloured and fussy cut all my pieces and set aside.  I decided this was the perfect time to use my gorgeous Lawn Fawn's 'Into the woods' paper pad again, as I have been a little 'tight' with it haha. *Note to self: buy another couple of pads so you can use them a little more freely*.  So I reached for my leaf shaped dies and die cut a couple of sheets of contrasting patterns and colours to create a frame aperture in which to build my scene. I used a panel of burlap as I my background to add interest and texture, and well, for me, it just 'fits' fall.  I then stamped this cute little banner and sentiment from LawnFawn's 'Home sweet Home' set onto vellum, and fussy cut.  I then constructed my little Autumnal scene, adhered everything down with foam pads an glue gel, and finished off with a simple natural twine bow.

And there you have it.

I really like how it came out and am actually really looking forward to trying out 'no line colouring' some more.

Let me know what you think..Thanks for stopping.

Jillxxx