The Other Side Of Me

Hello all, It's a bit nippy, isn't it?  We haven't had a lot of snow, though, fortunately.   I've had a week off work and I've been packing, but also doing loads of french and getting some cards made. In January the card swap group challenge was to use a definite shape on your card, like a square, rectangle, circle, etc.  As it turned out, the majority of people went for hexagons in one way or another and they were all fabulous. This is the card I made for Michelle: I've used Pool Party and Lucky Limeade, with some of the lovely Fresh Vintage paper. I can't believe I've still got some of that in my stash. It's been absolute ages since I made one of these cards and it's silly really because they're very easy and fun to make. The whole piece of Lucky Limeade cardstock measures 28cm x 11 cm.  I scored at 7cm from either end and folded it over.  I cut two pieces of matching dsp at 10.5cm x 6.5cm and stuck them to both flaps.  Then I cut...

Morning all!  I had planned to go swimming, but it's looking a bit rough out there, so I think I might have to try again tomorrow. I'm popping in to show you a card I made for one of the Card Swap Group members earlier in the month.  I saw something similar on Pinterest (as always!) and decided to make my own version: Just after Christmas I decided to buy some packs of ready made cards in various sizes, and I'm so glad I did because it saves the hassle of having to cut my own from A4 and there's no waste. The bicycle is a stamp I've had for years and truly love.  It comes from Little Claire's Designs.  The butterflies are all from my Stampin Up die,  I have a stack of these in different colours in a drawer. This turned out to be very easy to make, but as usual, quite nerve wracking when you're stamping directly onto the card base, especially when I decided to add the sentiment after I'd attached all the butterflies!   Well I'm off to continue...

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

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

I've been meaning to put these cards on for a while, but life has been pretty hectic lately. These cards have both been sent to me from members of the card swap group, by two talented ladies.  The first one is from Zoe Tant.  Now, one of the things Blogger won't let me do any more is provide links to other blogs, but if you google http://stampingscene.blogspot.co.uk/  you'll find it.  Here's her card: It's beautiful and I've given it pride of place on my notice board.  Thankyou so much Zoe, it's lovely. The second card is from Ann Wall, the lady who first got me into Stampin Up and who I still order my supplies from.  Check this out: I'm assuming this is Coastal Cabana, it's a beautiful colour and the photograph doesn't do it justice. I absolutely love this card, too. The funny thing is, they've both used the same embossing folder, different ways up, can you see?  Thankyou to both of you, there's nothing like a fab card in the...

Last month I challenged the Card Swap Group to make a card where the wording was the main focus.  This is the card I made for Margaret King at http://makingpapercrafts.blogspot.co.uk/ All the cardstock is Very Vanilla.  I haven't used any of this for ages and had forgotten how beautiful it is, completely different from white.  I cut out the central piece with my framelits dies and held it in place on the base card so I could stamp the wording (from Clarity Stamps) then stuck the top panel in place, raised up on sticky fixers.  The dark ink used throughout is Chocolate Chip. Then I stamped the leaves on some spare pieces of Very Vanilla cs and stamped on them with the Gently Falling stamp set, which I am really in love with.  It's a two step stamp set.  Sometimes I use the stamp-a-ma-jig and sometimes I don't and to be honest, the results are just as good, as it's not something that has to be perfectly lined up to look good. I fussy cut the leaves ...

Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with your eyesight, you really are seeing two identical cards! One is for a member of the card swap group, Alison Pilkington, who had her birthday last month.  Around the same time, one of the residents had a birthday, so as I had everything out, I decided to make two of the same card.  I was on a roll!  The pink cardstock and ribbon are in the beautiful Blushing Bride.  I have a top this colour and absolutely love it.  This made it the perfect opportunity to use up some of my Twitterpated dsp.  The grey is Basic Gray and these two colours go really well together.  The stamp was actually a free one with a magazine ages ago. I'm off for a hop round to see what you've all been up to. Back soon Jane xx

Finally my Blogger account is working properly again. It's been really weird which is why I haven't been on here much lately. So at last I can show you the card for last month's card swap group. This has momentarily satisfied my addiction to hexagons!  The papers are October Afternoon, Thrift Shop.  What a great way to use up scraps.  This was for Michelle, who I know is pretty keen on hexagons herself.  Lots of other things going on here.  I am busy preparing for a fete at work on Saturday where I am selling some cards (hopefully!)  If I can do that once a year it'll be very worthwhile. I'm also gradually becoming addicted to art journaling, and have decided to start a new blog showing my creations here .  I've missed the diary style of my old blog so have decided to get more into it again.  Pop over and have a look if art journaling is your thing. Back soon, folks. Make sure you're all getting plenty of fluids in this heat...

Hello all! Goodness, June was a hectic month, wasn't it?  After selling Barnaby and then going on holiday, it's been work, work, work, with very little crafting time thrown in. Paris was wonderful.  You can read more about it on my other blog here .  But now it's time to show you the card I made for Aileen last month, come and have a look: The colour is Summer Starfruit with white.  I love the ribbon that comes with these In-Colours.  I ran a piece of white cardstock through my honeycomb ef and then cut a smaller piece of Summer Starfruit cs.  The white on the small piece is stamped with the retired Dot Dot Dot stamp.  Then I've used my posy punch to stamp out a flower.  It was at this point I gave a huge sigh when I remembered I wasn't making a birthday card (brain freeze, obviously!) and that the Hello stamp in the set would be perfect. So there we are, an easy, but fun card to make.  I think I'm going to have to order a pack of Summ...

Hello peeps, it's all go here, as usual! I didn't realise how many days had gone by since I last posted. I realised I'd completely forgotten to show you this little creation: I made it for Victoria Jefferies' birthday back in early April. She's one of the members of the card swap group I'm running, and a very talented crafter.  I don't think I've ever sat down at my desk and whipped something up so quickly (because I am an incompetant oaf who should have taken more notice of the date in the first place!) I literally finished making it and put it straight in the post so it's quite nice to revisit it again. Here are the deets: The card base is Baja (boo hoo!) Breeze, 5x7" Layer 1 is Basic Black cardstock. Layer 2 is just plain white cardstock, run through a 5x7 ef and trimmed to size. Layer 3 is So Saffron cut with the 3rd largest labels framelit Layer 4 A stamp from the Apothecary Art stamp set (luvs youuuuu!) which isn't colour...

Hello, sorry I am a bit late with this post, peeps, but April turned out to be a very hectic month, with cardmaking and everything else. Quite early in April I received this fab card from Margaret King, as part of our card swaps: Sorry the photo doesn't do it justice really, you can get a better look at it and see all the details (and the fun Margaret had making it!) here .  She is a very talented crafter and her blog is well worth a perusal.  I love her style, she is the queen of the neutral card! This is a lovely combination of Early Espresso and Pool Party, which I'm definitely going to have to play with very soon.  Thankyou Margaret, it's such a lovely card.   It was also Margaret's birthday in April, so the whole group made her a card.  This is what I came up with: Remember, I'm making this for someone who loves her neutrals, so it was with a sweating brow I pulled this stamp out for the first time.  The stamp is from the Po...

I'm so sorry I've just realised the quality of this photo isn't all that great, I seem to have a smudge on my lense, but I just wanted to show you the card I made for this month's swap group.  I've been wanting to make a joyfold card for ages, and actually received one as part of my swaps last month and this made me even more keen to make one.  I found a very good tutorial on Splitcoast and was away. I decided not to use a picture for my central piece, but the sentiment that comes from the Faith In Nature set.  This is the first time I've ever used it. It was one of those cards where you're not really sure if it's going to fit into a standard size envelope as you're making it and you have visions of having to make a special envelope to fit it, and heave a sigh of relief when you've finished and it goes into a normal envelope - phew! I added all my pieces of cardstock onto a Soft Suede base and used a stamp to help keep it closed. Here is a ...

Hello Blog Friends! Is it snowing where you are?  I can't believe we woke up to about 4 inches of the white stuff this morning.  It's March , for goodness' sake!  But isn't crafting the perfect antidote to this ridiculous weather?  I don't know where I'd be without it at the moment. As you know, I've set up a card swap group.  The first card I made was to go to Sue Ralph, and this is what I made: I kept it nice and simple as I'd said to send out a card with 'Hello' or 'To brighten your day' or something similar just to get to know one another. The card base is Baja Breeze and it seemed to dictate the rest of the card, really.  The ribbon is Baja Breeze, too, and I've stamped and cut out the base of the flower, using my Sizzix set, then stamped on vellum for the top flower, in white ink, which I then heat embossed.  I am definitely not embossing enough and need to make a card at least once a month with a touch of heat embossing o...

Good morning everyone!  It's actually a sunny day as I write today's post.  Maybe spring will finally put in an appearance soon. As promised, I'm now able to show you my wonderful birthday cards. These were all made by members of my brand new card swap group, plus an extra surprise.  There is some amazing talent out there, let me tell you!  Let the parade begin: This card is from my dear friend Ann Wall.  I blame her entirely for my addiction to Stampin Up!  She runs a wonderful craft group in Derbyshire, where I learned so much.  Fabulous use of the Feeling Sentimental stamp, don't you think?  I got this as a birthday present and can't wait to ink it up. What amazed me about these cards was that each one contained something significant that I love, whether it be a colour or element on the card.  In this case, it's the bicycle as I have a passion for  images of bikes.  I adore the stamped image on this wonderfull...