Farewell 2020

 

Good evening on this final day of what has been a year like no other.

In addition to this horrendous pandemic that has devastated so many

millions of lives, here in Australia we began 2020 with much of our

country experiencing apocalyptic bushfires while still reeling from

the worst drought in recorded history. Floods and hurricane-like

storms then followed at times throughout the year. It's little

wonder that we all can't wait to see the end of 2020.

This is my last Christmas card for this season. The paper is many years old,

but I still love it. I can't remember the maker.

My card features a large greeting by Stampers

Anonymous, designed by Tim Holtz, Doodle Greetings 1.

I tore and sponged around the edges to create a more

vintage look, then coloured the little doodles with Promarkers.

A closer look at the poinsettia, cut with an old Spellbinders die,

its centre of micro beads, the mixed foliage, 

and the cute candy cane.

Challenges I would like to enter:-

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 'Pick a previous 2020 challenge' (November colour challenge 'Red & Green')

ABC Christmas - 'Y your favouite thing/s, or Z zzzzzzzz (sleep). My favourite things for Christmas are poinsettia, candy canes, and lots of greenery.

Crafty Gals Corner #214 - 'Tis the Season'

Double 'D' - 'Poinsettia'

I would like to wish you all a very happy and safer New Year, when hopefully we have banished this hideous virus for all time, and we can once again have contact with our loved ones.

Until next time, thank you for visiting my blog,

Hugs (socially distanced of course),

Jennifer.  xx

More Chocolate Box/Cards

 

Hi all. Here in Australia, Christmas Day has just finished, but in many

other parts of the world you will still have many hours left to celebrate.

Before I fall into bed, I thought I would show you a few more of the

6 chocolate card/boxes I made.

The recipients all loved them, and I had such fun

designing and making them.

I have never made a pink poinsettia before, but I loved how this one

turned out. I also enjoyed making the tiny bead sprays.

Another variation, using vintage-look paper.

A close up of the floral and foliage spray.

This one is using a very vintage-look traditional paper.

A closer look at the spray, with the micro bead poinsettia centre.

For those of you with Christmas Day behind you, I hope you had a wonderful day despite the sad separations many of us must bear, and for those of you who are still celebrating Christmas Day, may the remaining hours be special. 

Please stay safe in these uncertain times, and treasure your loved ones near and far.

With socially distanced hugs, thank you for visiting,

Jennifer. xx 

Snowflake

 

Good evening fellow bloggers. 

I'm afraid my blogging came to a screeching halt a week ago, 

as I injured my back, just lifting a bag of groceries out of the car. 

I have spent the past week 'zonked out' on a cocktail of 

painkillers. Today is my first day back on my feet,

albeit with regular 'horizontal' breaks.

This is a rather quick and easy card to make, so I made a couple of them

in different colours. I attached a piece of JAC D.S. tape to a piece of

bright blue cardstock, then after peeling off the top protective layer,

I attached the die-cut snowflake & greeting onto the very sticky

card front. 

I always save the tiny snowflakes left from punching the corners

of my Christmas card inserts, so I placed several of them around

the large snowflake.  I smothered the exposed 'sticky' with glitter,

but as usual, the wonderful sparkle does not show up. To finish 

off, I cut a silver layer, then adhered this to a white card blank.

A closer look at the greetings die-cut.

Challenges I would like to enter:-

Allsorts #603/4 - 'Sparkle and Shine'

My Time To Craft #447 - 'Monochromatic'  TOP 3

The Holly and the Ivy #85 - 'Anything Christmas Goes'

Christmas Craft Creations - 'Winter Blues' (must show challenge logo)

Dies - Kaisercraft Fancy Snowflake (bought at a post Christmas sale for $2!!!!!!); Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Holiday Words:Script

   Punch - Martha Stewart Aspen Snowflake

   Glitter - Tim Holtz Rock Candy Dry Glitter

Wow, only 3 more sleeps til the big day. I hope all your preparations are progressing well, although Christmas 2020 will be like no other. Recently, here in Australia, most restrictions had been lifted, but sadly last week Covid once again reared its very ugly head and is rapidly spreading again, so Christmas, like in so many other places globally, has been basically 'cancelled'.

I am way overdue for my 'horizontal' break (for the night), so I will close.

Stay safe,

Hugs (safely distanced of course),

Jennifer.  x

Birthday Poppies

 

.

Hello fellow bloggers.

This time I am having a break from Christmas cards, and

have a birthday card instead. Strangely though I seem to

still be in Christmas colours mode.

The lovely image is a digital stamp, and is 

coloured as always with Promarkers.

Challenges I would like to enter:-

Beccy's Place - 'Anything Goes' (must use Beccy's image)

Crafty Catz #530 - 'Anything Goes' (with optional twist 'Say it with Flowers)

Passion For Promarkers #572 - 'Add A Sentiment'

The Crafter's Cafe #256 - 'Anything Goes'

Image - Beccy's Place Poppies free digital stamp (many thanks Beccy)

Colouring - Promarkers

Die - Spellbinders Floral Ovals

Punch - Martha Stewart Butterfly Trio

Sentiment - Timeless Images Vertical Happy Birthday

I hope you are all staying safe in these uncertain times, and your Christmas preparations are progressing well.

Until next time, thank you for visiting.

Hugs,

Jennifer.  x

Green Chocolate Card/Box

Good Evening.

Recently I showed you a chocolate card/box I made using pink blue, and 

silvers. I made 6 of these in all, and while they were all made using the

same template, all are in different colours.

This one is made using a luxurious linen-like paper.

A closer look at my handmade poinsettias, and mixed foliage.

Inside my card/box with the message tag, and a yummy chocolate in situ.

Another close up look at the flowers, and the tiny die-cut sentiment.

Challenges I would like to enter:-

Allsorts #600 - Christmas Flowers, Wreaths, and Trees

Beccy's Place - Day 30 'Do what you love' (Anything Goes)

Dies - Cheery Lynn Poinsettia Strip; Tim Holtz Holiday Greens; Stampin' Up Sweetest Border; Spellbinders Holiday Sentiments, Scalloped Ovals; Creative Expessions Pine Cones and Greenery

Paper - First Edition Christmas Village

Ink for sponging - Distress ink Aged Mahogany, Peeled Paint, Iced Spruce, Forest Moss

Ribbon, 'berries', gold cord, eyelets are all from my junk stash

Goodness, we are less than an hour until December...how did that happen??????

Until next time, Thank you for visiting,

Hugs,

Jennifer.  x

Silver Trees

 

Good afternoon.

At the beginning of this year I made a promise to myself that I would

limit my urge to add lots of goodies to my junk stash. I managed to

keep my promise fairly well, but when I saw this gorgeous 3D

Embossing Folder, my resolve mega-melted!

The E.F. is large, and because it is 3D, the naturalistic layered look of the forest is

fabulous. I LOVE it! I bought that lovely snowflake ribbon about 3 years ago at

a craft show, and decided that it was time to use it.

For my greeting, I used dies from 2 different sets.

The insert of the card has snowflakes punched in each corner, and 

I used this rather large peel-off sticker I have had for 'yonks'.

As I'm sure you all know, gold and silver are really difficult to photograph (as is

glitter). I took almost 20 photos from all different positions, but none were fully

successful, so please forgive the quality of my photos.

Challenges I would like to enter:-

Allsorts #600  - Christmas Flowers, Wreaths, Trees

Beccy's Place - Day 23  'T' (Trees)

Cute Card Thursday #662 - Silver or Gold

Double D - Winter Blues   TOP 3

Fezziwigs Festive Frolics - Decorate The Tree

Embossing Folder - Stampin' Up 3D Evergreen Forest

Dies - Cottage Cutz Rustic Scene and Trees; Cheery Lynn Merry Christmas Set; Spellbinders Holiday Sentiments

Ribbon - Craft Queen

Peel-off sticker is from my junk stash

On this boiling hot, record-breaking day I will go outside, and try not to melt while I take my washing off the clothesline.

Until next time, stay safe, and thank you for visiting,

Hugs,

Jennifer.  x

Forest Deer

 

Good evening.

I don't expect any of you to believe what you are seeing...I can barely

believe it myself...2 cards in 1 day!

I decided to keep the design of this card fairly simple, just using some

lovely, sparkly black cardstock from my stash, and some Stardust Stickles 

around the edge of the die-cut. The sentiment is a die by Elizabeth Craft Designs.

I think my card looks like a night-time forest scene with a twinkling sky.

When I saw this (unnamed) die on e-bay I knew it had to come and live with me.

I ordered it way back in April, but I eventually gave up ever seeing it,

thinking I had been scammed. However, it finally turned up a few 

weeks ago. I fell in love with it all over again.

Challenges I would like to enter

2 Crafty Critter Crazies #44 - Anything Goes - MUST include a critter

Beccy's Place - Day 26 'W' (White With One Colour)

Crafty Animals #44 - Anything Goes - MUST include animal

Creative Knockouts #378 - Christmas Delight

Cut It Up #214 - Christmas

Wow, in less than 1 month, Christmas will just be a memory, but hopefully a happy one for all.

Until next time, thank you for visiting and also for your kind comments.

Hugs,

Jennifer.  x

A Merry Little Christmas

 

Good morning.

My card today has a touch of vintage to it with lots of sponging and, 

no surprise, one of my poinsettias.

A closer look at my floral 'arrangement' made with an old

Spellbinders die Layered Poinsettia, and Tim Holtz Holiday Greens dies.

 

I embossed the Stampers Anonymous Doodle Greetings sentiment 

with gold E.P., but the shine does not show in my photos.

Challenges I would like to enter

Beccy's Place - Day 25  'V'  WINNER

Stamping Sensations - 'Christmas Flowers, or Wreaths, or Garlands'

I hope to be back later with another card, so until then, thank you for visiting.

Hugs,

Jennifer.  x

Christmas Lamp

 

Good evening.

Once again, the lovely Beccy at Beccy's Place is running her 'Month of Holiday 

Cards' challenge. This is the 8th year, and runs all of November, with a different 

challenge each day. It is a great way to increase one's stash of Christmas cards, 

and Beccy is very generous with her digi prizes.

A few days ago the challenge was to create a card using up some of the 

pile of 'scraps' we crafters tend to accumulate. I decided to use scraps 

of 3 different papers from a 12 x 12 stack I bought 'yonks' ago. I also

used a cute little scalloped punch which I have also had for 

'yonks' and have only used twice...MY BAD!

It took me ages to carefully align the squares, so my finished base

would be perfect rectangle, but in the end I was quite happy

with the result.

A close up of the beautiful image, one of Beccy's, which was a joy to

colour with (as usual) my Promarkers.

My greeting is from a sheet of mixed font greetings.

  The matt and font are very shiny gold, although they look black.

Challenges I would like to enter:-

Beccy's Place - Day 18 'Scraps'

Colour Crazy #46 - Anything Goes (must be hand coloured)

I Love Promarkers #423 - Anything Goes (with option of 3 layers)

Stinkin' Inkers - Quilting  SPECIAL AWARD

Try It On Tuesday - Traditional Christmas Colours

Image - Beccy's Place 'Christmas Lamp'

Colouring - Promarkers

Dies - Spellbinders Floral Ovals; Classic Ovals

Punch - X-Cut Small Scalloped Square

Paper - Franchville 12 x 12 Stack Christmas Basics

Greeting - Art Stamps Australia

I must be off to bed as we have a big day planned tomorrow, entertaining visitors we have not seen since last Christmas.

Please stay safe in these difficult times, and until next time, thank you for visiting.

Hugs,

Jennifer.  xx

Poinsettia and Foliage

 

Good morning.

"Oh dear", I can hear some of you say, "She's on her poinsettia obsession again".

Yes, its true, I love poinsettias, and yes, I do have several cards and boxes

again this year where I have used them, but not as many as usual.

Previously I have taken my cards outside to photograph them, but am therefore

always at the mercy of the weather, so recently I made myself a 'light box' and

bought 2 reasonably expensive lamps. However, I am not at all happy with the

quality of my photos. The photos above and below were taken less than a

minute apart, yet the reds look completely different???

A closer look at my poinsettia and some of the foliage. I attached that gorgeous

lattice die-cut to double-sided JAC paper, then liberally sprinkled glitter dust

to fill the open spaces. I also applied the tiniest amount of glitter dust to the

poinsettia, but as is always the case, the amazing sparkle does not show up.

 

I love this greeting die. To make it easier to attach it to the background,

I attached a piece of the silver paper to JAC paper before cutting it out.

Challenges I would like to enter:-

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 'Red and Green' (must show logo)

Beccy's Place - Day 19  'P'

Moving Along With The Times #124 - 'Christmas Flowers' TOP 3

Papercraft Business #33 - 'Christmas'

Try It On Tuesday - 'Traditional Christmas Colours'

Dies - Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Poinsettia, Holiday Greens; Creative Expressions Sue Wilson Netted Star Background, From Our House To Yours, Pine Cone Greenery; Memory Box Woodland Branch

Embossing Folder - Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations Poinsettia

Inks for sponging - Distress Inks Aged Mahogany, Vintage Photo, and various greens

Pearl Centre - Stampin' Up Beaded Pearls

Glitter - Crafts 4U Glitter Dust Clear

Until next time, thank you for visiting and also for your kind comments.

Hugs,

Jennifer.  x

Ornament Trio

 

Hello again. I hope you are all well and keeping safe.

My card has a rather vintage look, and all supplies I used to create it have been

in my junk stash for, in several cases, many years.

My greeting is from a sheet of mixed font Christmas greetings I bought at a 

craft show in Sydney about 10 years ago. I also bought sheets of other 

greetings (e.g. Happy Birthday), some in silver, some in gold.

A closer look at the lovely ornaments, cut from gold mirror card. The 2 large

ornaments are cut with dies I bought many years ago, and the small one

uses the ornament from a fab set of 10 Christmas dies that were free 

with a craft magazine.

Challenges I would like to enter:-

Beccy's Place - 'Day 17-things beginning with 'O' '

Daisy Chain #47 - 'Christmas Is Coming'

Dies - Memory Box Snowflake Ornament: Spellbinders Lacey Circles; Free with Papercrafter Magazine Magical Christmas

Paper - Kaisercraft Turtle Dove

Greeting - Art Stamps Australia

Peel-off stickers (for 'hangers') are from my junk stash

Until next time thank you for visiting,

Hugs,

Jennifer.  xx

Chocolate Box

 

Good afternoon all. I know I've once again been M.I.A., but I will not bore

you with the details of why.

My offering today is something I have not created before...I'm not sure what

is the correct name, so I will just call it a Chocolate Box. 

I saw some examples on Pinterest, but none contained a brand of chocolate

that I wanted to use, so I experimented with scraps of cardstock til I had the

correct dimensions. Once I had 'mastered' the technique, it was quite 

quick to produce, so I made several using various patterned papers.

Inside the box showing the large 'pocket' for the chocolate, 

and the smaller 'pocket' for the gift tag, on which I will write

our personal Christmas greeting.

A closer look at my festive floral arrangement. The other boxes

I made use more traditional Christmas colours, but I did enjoy 

creating this one using the blue, pink and silver combination.

Challenges I would like to enter:-

Beccy's Place - "Day 12 Try Something New"

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas #516 - "Anything Christmas Goes"

Fezziwigs Festive Frolics  - "Anything But A Card"

Little Red Wagon #575 - 'Non Traditional Colours"

Moving Along With The Times #124 - "Christmas Flowers"

The Holly and The Ivy #83 - "Anything Christmas Goes"

Christmas Craft Creations (must show logo) - "Anything But A Card" DT Favourite

Dies - Spellbinders Layered Poinsettia; Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations Holiday Greens; Stampin' Up Sweetest Borders: Elizabeth Craft Designs Season's Greetings

Paper - First Edition Christmas Village 

Ink - (sponging) - Distress Ink Tumbled Glass

Pearl, ribbon, and fine silver cord are from my stash

I must go and water my pot plants, as an extremely hot day is predicted for tomorrow, so until next time, thank you for visiting.

Hugs,

Jennifer.