The Other Side Of Me

Hi All! I'm back with the next few days in my December Daily album.  As I am pretty much up-to-date with it I want to do all my posts for it actually in December if I can. So without further ado: Day 5: Presents for the grandchildren I took a photo of the whole stack of presents bought for our 6 grandchildren.  I am using Stampin Up's Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla for any add-in pages I want to make.  I made a little tab card and stuck my photo on.  There are lots of little word stickers in the Cosy Christmas kit, so I put on: Santa Claus/He's making a list/No peeking.  The number 5 is made with the circle from the Clockworks kit and the numbers are from a Hero Arts journaling set.  There will be one of these for all 31 Dec Daily days, but if I just want to put in something general that happened I am using my regular date stamp.  The picture with the santa hat was so lovely I decided just to leave it as it is. Day 6...

Hello there everyone! I'm back with the first few pages of my December Daily album.  You can see my cover here . I've never done December Daily before but I was so impressed with what I've seen on Pinterest I just had to have a go this Christmas. I trawled the internet and decided the papers I liked best were by Simple Stories and they're called Cosy Christmas. I am totally in love with the colour scheme.  I ordered the 6x8 papers, plus loads of stickers and journaling cards. I got mine from Craftie Charlie and I just want to give them a shout-out because I've ordered from them a few times now and I am always thrilled with how quickly they deliver, which totally makes my day. Anyway, I gave myself a set of prompts, one for each day of December, which I am to fall back on if nothing better happens.  But by the time I did this, I knew I'd be going to a panto, going out for a skittles evening with my Bible study group and that I had two works' parties to go...

I am finally able to pop on with some Christmas cards.  I have been making some every day.  I am NOT going to take such a frantic approach next year and you can hold me to that!  I need about 200 cards a year so I have got  to make some every week next year.  I could easily do it if I gave myself enough time. Anyway, on with the cards: I am finally using up the last of my Holly Berry Bouquet papers, which I must have had for about 3 years.  The colour scheme is real red, wild wasabi (although the ink I've used here is gumball green) cherry cobbler and chocolate chip (with very vanilla obviously!)  I've bought brand new inks recently so I could make lots of cards and the cherry cobbler is stunning to work with.  I kept some silver thread from a gift box earlier in the year knowing I was going to make cards like this with it, so I was very pleased to discover this in my stash. I've used various stamps that I've acquired over the years. ...

It was a birthday for one of the card swap group members earlier in the week and this is what I made for her: The cardstock is crumb cake and the stamp is from the Faith In Nature set, which I think was a hostess set a while back.  I also got to use my jewellery tag punch, which is something I wish I could use more often, it's so sweet.  I popped on some pearls, and Bob's your uncle!  A really fun card to make actually, I might make another one soon. I will be back soon with some Christmas cards as I've finally posted ones to the card swap group so it doesn't matter if they appear on here now, so watch this space. Happy crafting! Jane x

Hi there! Popping in today with a card for one of the residents, who is in his 90's. I still struggle with masculine cards, but mostly for younger men, and have to admit, this card came together very easily.  I am never going to go off this SU Sail Away stamp, it's just too beautiful.  The colour is Midnight Muse, cardstock and dsp.  A quick and simple card. Back soon y'all! Jane x

So are you doing it?  Huh?   Huh?! Yes I have succumbed to the attraction of December Daily for the first time ever.  Actually I'm throwing myself into it.  I've got my folder, I've got my journaling cards.  Now I just need to take some photos! I'm going to show you the cover, but before I do, I need to tell you I'm not very keen on it, so don't expect a work of art, because you'll be disappointed!! I'm using Simple Stories Cosy Christmas and it's really lovely stuff. The colour scheme is very close to Very Vanilla (used here on the cover), Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke, which are the colours I'm using to make my Christmas cards this year, so I ordered some extra cardstock just to be on the safe side. The little postcard is from the Cosy Christmas set and the washi tape is from Hobbycraft, as is the little wooden stag on the post card (wooden embellishments with everything, right?!) I know it's hard to...

Here's a little something to show you: Sorry the picture quality's not all that great, and unfortunately I've given the card to the recipient so no chance of taking another pic now. I had such fun making this, but I'm going to be honest.  The SU tulip embossing folder is a very strange size (unless I'm doing it wrong!)  If you used it on a card it would be very small, and I'm really struggling with this.  In the end I embossed a piece of Pool Party cardstock and cut the whole thing out and mounted it on a white piece of card stock as the only good way of doing it. The stamp I recently bought from a woman on a facebook group (which I will never do again as long as I live - what a saga that turned out to be!) and it is truly lovely.  I'm going to be using it for my Christmas cards this year, which I'm very pleased with too, but can't show you yet. The stamps are from the old Fresh Vintage stamp set, which I still love. All the staff signed the ...

Hello, I'm back again with some more from my new mini album. I love the fact that this is basically an A5 book, so any sheets of A5 paper fit into it perfectly. I always used to do The Simple Woman's Daybook, which is actually a blog, but it's great for journaling prompts too.  I try to do it every month.  Here are a couple of pages of what's been going on: This is actually a pad of writing paper I bought from 'the book man' at work.  It's got lots of sticky notes with it and the colour scheme is perfect for my pool party/more mustard combo.  I love owls anyway, they are always welcome in my crafting! We've had a bit of a saga with sofas this year, so I decided to take a photo of our new one.  It's such a relief after having two chairs that were really uncomfortable and awkward.  I've photographed my dressing table as John ordered it as a surprise as I've never really had one and it's perfect.  I've used Spice Cake paper agai...

Evening everyone! I'm gradually working my way through my card list for November and December.  Here's the latest creation: I've managed to use up some Everyday Enchantment dsp for this card.  The stamp is one from the Simple Soft stamp set.  I still adore these. I do love my days off work, where I get lots of time to craft. It's a good job really, as I've recently got my eldest daughter into Project Life. We are both doing December Daily this year.  I've made some cards for my daughter to use in her album.  Hope she likes them. Back soon Jane x

Hi everyone! I hope you're all well and getting plenty of time to craft - whatever form that takes!  I was invited to do a demonstration of art journaling to my church group on Wednesday night.  I wasn't nervous but I didn't expect people to think much of my paltry efforts, but actually when I explained what had lead me to make each one, they were very well received.  I demonstrated different inks and what they do, plus masks, spray inks etc and everyone really seemed to enjoy it. I've noticed in my own crafting a shift in style recently too.  I think I've been influenced by Project Life and some of the funkier designs around at the moment.  Because I work in a care home and mainly make cards for the residents there, they tend to be very pretty and nearly always have some kind of flowers on them.  But there is another side of me that's really appreciating some of the more funky creations I'm seeing on Pinterest recently. This has been reflected in my own...

Hello all, I seem to be spending every spare minute making something at the moment, whether it's cards or stuff  for my PL folder (or my daughter's!) or preparing my first ever December Daily, my desk is never clear. Don't you  think we have the best hobby ever?  It's perfect because it doesn't depend on the weather (speaking as someone who had a horse for years, being able to stay snug indoors and craft means a great deal to me).  It's a hobby that doesn't depend on anyone else for enjoyment.  When you have a horse, unless you have your own land, there is always someone telling you to bring your horse in, sweep up, tidy up, don't let your horse do that, you can't go in the school because so-and-so got there first etc.  I love being able to craft what I want, when I want, for as long as I want, that's what makes this hobby so special for me. I need to make loads of cards for residents in November and December.  Here is the latest one: I...

Hi guys! I've been very, very busy on the Project Life front and have joined two brilliant groups on facebook, but I have made some changes too.  As soon as I've got some piccies ready, I'll update you on my progress. In the meantime, I've been extremely busy on the card-making front as well.  I work in a care home and I make a card for each resident on their birthdays for all the staff to sign.  I had no idea there were so many in November and December.  This is partly why I haven't been on here so regularly, I've actually been making the cards and thoroughly enjoying this amazing hobby. As well as that I run a card swap group.  There are ten members and we make a card for one other person in the group each month.  This is the card I made for Aileen Skene's birthday in October: I saw something similar on Pinterest (if I ever find it again I promise I'll credit it) using a different dsp of course.  I am actually winning the battle to get through...

I'm really enjoying my 6x8 album now and getting into the swing of things.  I can't believe how much dsp you use up by doing this (which gives me the perfect excuse to go and buy some more!) I've been able to make use of the old, but beautiful Spice Cake papers by Stampin Up, and this way I get to keep them! Have a look: The colour scheme is Pool Party, More Mustard, Soft Suede and Very Vanilla, so I've interspersed the patterened papers with plain matching cardstock. My camera is never far from my side these days, and a visit to the grandchildren reaped some great photos that I had to add to my album.  The stickers are all from October Afternoon, which are becoming increasingly difficult to get hold of in the UK and I absolutely adore them. The little wooden frame was a find in T K Maxx.  I go in there every week now and always come out with some treasure! This folder isn't all about photos, though, as I love to journal as well, and I love fun and innova...

Okay, let me explain! There I was, using my Project Life album, taking lots of pictures, documenting everything and thoroughly enjoying myself. Then things started to get difficult. The size of the album became too big for me.  It takes up a lot of room on my desk and it's quite heavy to lug around. A light came on in my head.  I actually lost sleep over this!  I realised, by looking back at my previous journal, that I am primarily a journaler and use pictures to help tell my story, not the other way around.  The thing with 12 x 12 is that it's great if you've got kids and they're doing different things every day for you to take photographs of.  My problem is that I spend a lot of time at work (including weekends) my children are all grown up and gone and I only get to see the grandchildren once every six weeks, so there aren't lots of things to photograph.  BUT that doesn't mean I don't like my life and I still want to document what goes on. So I st...

I have finally given in and been to Hobbycraft and bought the Project Life Blush edition.  I've bought the card set and the 12x12 paper and today my 6x4 plain cards arrived.  It is such beautiful stuff, I was so excited to play  work with this! We took our granddaughter to Twin Lakes last weekend.  We bought a photograph after John and she had been on the log flume, so I knew I was going to start with a full page spread.  This is what I did: I have liked the look of the Blush colours for a long time, they're very feminine.  I had to wait for my 6x4 cards to come so I could put in the wording 'braver than me!' with my die cut letters (braver than me because I'm too scared to go on anything!)  I've drawn a pen line all the way around the outside, I don't know if you can see that.  I've added some lovely October Afternoon stickers.  The one with the butterfly says, 'Walk in the park.'  How perfect is that? This is the right han...

Hello all, I realised I never got around to posting the card I made John for our anniversary this year.  I'm so pleased with it.  The writing in the background is 1 Corinthians 13, which is the Bible verse we had at our wedding, and it's all about love.  It took several attempts to get it to the size I wanted.  After that it was a doddle, I die cut two hearts and hand cut the banner and added it on.  It came out exactly how I wanted and is nicely masculine. Happy crafting everyone! Jane x

This is the card I made for one of the residents for her birthday: I signed up for a magazine called Get Stamping, which was brilliant, but it stopped after about 6 issues.  I must say I noticed there was hardly any advertising in it and I wondered how they were making any money, and sure enough, it folded.  So the owners wrote to me and asked me if I'd like an alternative magazine instead, so I said yes.  This was one of the stamps from the new magazine.  It's really pretty so I decided to go with it.  The lilac strip at the back is made from my SU wheel, but I've actually just taken all my wheel stamps off the roller and now find them much easier to use.  The colour is Wisteria Wonder, by the way.  It's a colour I hardly ever use and yet when I do I realise how pretty it is. I can't believe this is the third card I've made for Brenda and she's now 92!  All the staff signed it and she really liked it.  I quite often find my cards are the...

The challenge I set for July was to use black, white and either pool party or bermuda bay.  I was amazed at how quickly everybody has made their cards this time around, and they're all fab.  Anyway, here's mine: I used up my last piece of pool party cardstock for the base so I couldn't afford for anything to go wrong!  (No pressure!) The base paper is from a black and white set I've had for ages (docrafts I think).  Then I had to play with my new toy  tool which is my Sizzix polaroid die.  It really is the most awesome thing.  I bought it primarily for my Project Life folder but I went on Pinterest and saw some fab cards made with it and just had to have a go. The stamp is, of course, Summer Silhouettes, in black and pool party and the flower is a Marianne die.  I stamped the sentiment and was thrilled that it came out perfectly on the frame. I had a lot of fun making this and got loads of ideas for more cards.  This challenge just remi...

Hello all! I'm still having loads of fun with Project Life.  I've kept a diary all my life but I'm also a woman who likes a lot of paper and PL definitely satisfies that side to my character.  In fact I've decided that PL is the place to keep all those little stickers, notes, leaflets and postcards that you just can't live without.  So instead of tucking them away in a box somewhere, they'll be in my album where I can look at them and get pleasure from them every day.    This is a spread from early June.  I am dithering now as to which layout I prefer, because at the time it was this one but now I think I prefer Design A because I've learned to treat all the 6x4 pockets as mini scrapbook pages, but it took a while (and many, many hours trawling Pinterest!) to work out how to do those.      The colour scheme for this page turned out to be Calypso Coral and Pear Pizzazz but I didn't plan this at the outset, it just worked out t...

I've recently decided I can't stand it any longer and have succumbed and bought a proper Project Life folder and some inserts.  I've been working towards this for a long time and it's made me so happy to finally have one instead of sticking photos into a book like I have been since last August. So why do I infinitely prefer Project Life? 1.  Because you don't need to stick anything down if you don't want to.  This is a massive bonus because I've changed my mind about this first double page spread about 8 times!  2.  You can be as creative as you like or keep it really simple and everything still looks really good.  I've done everything here from using die cut letters and numbers, typing my words and printing it out, using my own handwriting, using proper photos, using parts from magazines, using free printables from the internet, the list goes on. 3.  PL folders enable you to scrap book, art journal or use it as a smash book, it's all down to ...

I made a card for a resident who's birthday is on St Patrick's Day.  Here we are:   I started off with a Lucky Limeade base (it had to be green, didn't it?)  I've been wanting to play with a couple of embossing folders that I have that you would place over a card.  Now I can do this without creasing the surrounding cardstock I just had to have a go. The other thing is that I've just got a new set of Sizzix dies in tag shapes.  I cut a piece of Fresh Vintage dsp in the Lucky Limeade and Pool Party colour, then drew around the same die and cut it out, to make a border.  I popped it on, lined up straight at the top.  Then it was just a case of using up a few Pool Party scraps to make butterflies (I actually have a drawer full of these in lots of different colours and sizes).  Et voilà Back soon, I'm sure Happy crafting! Jane xx

I've looked in my photo folder and have realised there are several photos I haven't blogged yet, so here are a few.  This first one was for a resident and uses one of my favourite stamps, Postage Due.  This is quite a 'go-to' stamp for me and I am never disappointed with the results.  The colour scheme is Soft Suede and Crumb Cake.  I love the linen ribbon, too. This second card was for a resident with a February birthday.  The flower is in one of my Hero Arts sets that I mostly use for art journaling, but it was perfect for this card.  The colour scheme is Primrose Petals. Finally, this masculine card was also for a resident.  I love the stamp.  It's actually from Get Stamping Magazine, which comes out every two months.  I got a subscription for Christmas and I love it.  I was very pleased with the colour scheme and the simplicity of the card. Hope you like my recent creations, they were fun to make. I'm off to ...

I had so much fun making this card.  I challenged the card swap group to make a card using bright colours this month, as it's so dark and grey outside.  I wanted to use a big, 'In your face' stamp as well as bright colours.  I soon settled on this tangerine tango. and garden green.  (The original card was by Julie Wadlinger, but Blogger won't let me add a link any more).  I really enjoyed making the card.  The base is kraft and it's 5"x7".  Then I put a piece of Tangerine Tango through the Bigshot with the hexagons ef.  I cut a piece of white card slightly smaller and decided how much I wanted to tear off, then stamped the dandelion image on the card.  This stamp is from a magazine called Get Stamping, which comes out every two months.  John got me a subscription for Christmas, which I'm really pleased with, as the stamps are fab. Back soon, I'm sure. Happy crafting everyone Jane xx

Okay, I'm going to confess:  I was actually going to stop blogging at the end of 2013, but I find I can't resist it.  I realise this is the first post of the year, though.  This was the card I made for a resident in December.  The colour is Blushing Bride, which I really love. I am delighted to say that everyone in the Card Swap Group wants to keep going, so we will, which has cheered me up no end.  I am going to be more organised this year and send my cards off as early as I can.  I don't go into work on a Thursday until 5pm so I am going to use the whole of that day to craft. 1st Thursday: Card Swap group card 2nd Thursday: cards for residents 3rd Thursday: Christmas cards 4th Thursday: Art journaling. I am carrying on with my journal/smash book several days a week as well.  I'm finding it quite addictive. Back soon Jane xx