Sailing

I hope you are all still staying safe, and continue to do so as we

have tentative lifting of restrictions.

Before all this terrible virus descended upon us, a good friend was

planning to venture into the world of sea cruising, but of course that

adventure had to be put on hold for some time.

He is still adamant that when the world is back to 'normal', he will

be on the first cruise ship leaving port. This is the card I made to wish

him Bon Voyage when his dream finally becomes reality. It is safe

to show you the card, as he does not look at my blog.

Tying that knot gave me a few grey hairs, but in the end, with the

help of an online tutorial, I was happy with the result. I'm sorry, I

did not save the link, but if you Google 'knots' there are many tutorials.

Inside the card co-ordinates with the front.

I bought this stamp, many, many moons ago, and I am ashamed

to admit that this is only the second time it has seen ink.

Challenges I would like to enter

Aud Sentiments #250 - 'Masculine' (must use sentiment)

Cardz 4 Guyz #244 - 'Vintage'

Creative Card Cottage #129 - 'Make It Masculine'

I Love Promarkers #409 - 'Anything Goes' with option of 3 of a kind (2nd entry)

Try Stampin' On Tuesday #455 - 'Sketch' with option of nautical (have manipulated sketch)

Image - Stamp-It Australia Nautical Trio

Colouring - Promarkers

Paper - unnamed, from 6 x 6 pad from bargain store

Sentiment - Computer generated

Ink for Sponging - Distress Ink, Walnut

The afternoon has turned very grey and cold, so I am off to make myself a lovely hot cup of tea, and put my fluffy slippers on.

Until next time, thank you for visiting,

Virtual Hugs,

Jennifer.  xx

Santa's Aussie Sunset

Today I have another Design Team card I have made for 

Fat Cats Card Corner, using the Santa With Kangaroos die. 

The card is quite similar in design to the card in my last post. Again I brayered

Distress Inks onto gloss cardstock, and multilayered the matts, with the top 

one mounted on 3D tape. These colours truly typify Christmas in 

Australia...it is usually stifling hot!!

A closer look at the cute die-cut.

Challenges I would like to enter

Christmas Cards All Year Round - 'Use Hot or Warm Colours'

Crafty Friends #91 - 'Animals/Birds

Die - Paper Rose Santa's Sleigh With Kangaroos

Stamps - Stamp-it Australia Billabong Tree; 'Greetings...' Unnamed 

Inks - Various Distress Inks; Memento

On this cold, windy and miserable day I will go and prepare some nice hot soup for lunch.

Until next time, thank you for visiting,

Hugs,

Jennifer.  x

Six White Boomers

Today I have another card I have made for Kaaren at Fat Cats Card Corner.

She send me this die (which actually has only 3 kangaroos). Here in Australia, 

kangaroos are colloquially called 'boomers'. 

I brayered several different Distress Inks onto glossy cardstock, after adhering

a circle mask, punched from post-it note, to represent the moon. When I

removed the mask, I felt the moon was too stark, so I rolled the brayer

over the area with the tiny 'stain' of ink that was remaining on it.

Don't you just love the cockatoo sitting on Santa's sack of goodies!!

A popular Christmas song in Australia is 'Six White Boomers, Snow 

White Boomers), so I cut an extra 3 'boomers' to haul Santa's sleigh.

I cut the die from glittered cardstock from Catchy Crafts. It comes

in many gorgeous colours as well as white, cuts beautifully,

and the glitter does not come off at all.

In my last post I mentioned that I had a very busy time fast approaching...

well it has been and gone. Dina and Doug, who own Catchy Crafts (in Sydney),

asked me to be their demonstrator at the big annual 'Stitches and Craft Show' at

Newcastle. I have done so for them at similar shows in the past. 

The Show is held over 4 days, and while it can be frantic and exhausting, it is 

also lots of fun. I meet lots of lovely people, and one of them is a lady called 

Trish. She told me she was from Tea Gardens (a little sea-side town), and

when I told her I also live there, we discovered that she lives in the other 

Retirement Village in town, literally across the road from mine. 

So if you are reading this Trish, "Hello".

Challenges I would like to enter

2 Crafty Critter Crazies #17 - 'Anything Goes with a Critter'

Double "D" - 'The Moon and/or The Stars'

Merry Christmas - 'Anything Christmas Goes'

Merry Little Christmas #1 - 'Anything Christmas Goes'

The Holly and the Ivy Christmas #34 - 'Anything Christmas Goes'

Try It On Tuesday - 'Take A Ride'  TOP 5

Tuesday Throwdown #406 - 'Up In The Air'

Die - Paper Rose Santa's Sleigh with Kangaroos

Stamp - Stamp-it Australia Billabong Tree

Inks - Distress Inks (various colours); Momento Black

Sentiment - Computer generated Curlz font

I must close now, as I have an appointment with my doctor shortly. I twisted my ankle at the Fort recently, and it is still rather swollen.

Until next time, thank you for visiting,

Hugs,

Jennifer.  x

"Phenomenal Woman..."

As it is the second Wednesday of the month, we have a new challenge for you at

Words 2 Craft By  Our themes are always a quote, and with International 

Women's Day occurring last week on March 8th, our theme for this 

month is by a hugely inspirational woman, Dr. Maya Angelou......

"I am a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's Me"

Although Maya's poem suggests that women should be strong and courageous, 

I believe that in addition to those attributes, a women can also be feminine, 

so that is how I created my card. 

Unfortunately, as per usual, barely any glitter shows in the photo...it is on 

my lady's umbrella, her bouquet, and my flower sprays, as well as on

the die-cut  'With Love'.

My floral spray on the left side of the card.

This image is one of the very first rubber stamps I ever bought

and I have coloured it with Promarkers.

The floral spray that is along the bottom of the card.

Inside my card...I love those corner dies so much, I decided

to add a pair on the left-hand side.

A closer look at the inside.

Challenges I would like to enter

As You Like It - 'Single or Multi-layers' (I prefer multi-layers as there are so many lovely papers, I love texture, and I feel the matting "ties" everything together)

Brown Sugar #276 - 'Spring or Easter'

Crafty Catz #407 - 'Layer It Up'

Creative Craft Cottage #105 - 'Make It Feminine'

Dream Valley #174 - 'Vintage'

I Love Promarkers #354 - 'For A Girl'

Passion For Promarkers #435 - 'Spring'

Try Stampin' on Tuesday - 'Tic Tac Tuesday #2'- ' (purple/flowers/glitter & scallops/flowers/colouring)

Unicorn #30 - 'Make It Girly,

Image - Stamp-it Australia Elegant Lady With Flowers

Colouring - Promarkers

Paper - Prima Meadow Lark (6" x 6" pad)

Dies - Joy Crafts 6002/0356; Spellbinder Scalloped Circle; Crafts 4U With Love, Stitched Oval, Stitched Circle; Marianne LR0106; Elizabeth Craft Curvy Leaves

Glitter - Kindyglitz Chrystallina

Flowers - from my junk stash

For a chance to win a lovely prize, why not pop over to Words 2 Craft By, check out my teamie's wonderful creations, then enter your own interpretation of Maya Angelou's quote.

Thank you for visiting, and until next time,

Hugs,

Jennifer. x

Birthday Balloons

Hello again.

My brother has just celebrated another birthday, and I decided to make a 

CAS card for him, influenced by a card I saw about 2 years ago on Pinterest.

The card on Pinterest was a single layer card, but I decided to add a

layer with a very narrow matt border. The border is exactly even, 

but the late afternoon shadow makes the right-hand side look wider.

Inside the card.

Dies - Cuttlebug Birthday (very old 2"x"2 set), Baby Face

Stamp - Stamp-it Australia Happy Birthday. (I only inked 'birthday').

Challenges I would like to enter 

Aud Sentiments #188 - 'Anything Goes with a Sentiment'

Cuttlebug Mania - 'Anything Goes with Die-cuts or Embossing

Tuesday Throwndown #359 - 'Punches and/or Dies'

I will be back in a few days with some of the Christmas cards I have managed to make recently, so until then, "thank you for visiting".

Hugs,

Jennifer. x

For A Dear Friend

 What a shock, I neglect my blog for 2 weeks, then post 2 cards in an evening.

I made this card for my oldest and dear friend, Diane, whose birthday was yesterday 

We met during our first week at High School, 53 years ago, and 'clicked' immediately. 

We have been firm friends ever since, despite our many years of geographical 

distance apart. When we phone each other, or actually meet up, there is not a

slightest moment of awkwardness...we just chatter away as if we had

been together the day before.

Diane loves blue so this gorgeous piece of paper was an obvious choice for her 

card. For about 12 years I have bought lots of craft items from Rebecca, the owner 

of Bizzy Becs, and her service has always been superb. She often slipped a gift of

a small bundle of 6x6" scrapbook papers into an order. This stunning piece of

paper is one of those. I have been unable to part with it for about 4 years!!

I stamped these flowers onto parchment paper, then embossed them with Silver 

Pearl E.P. I coloured the back of the flowers with blue and yellow Promarkers,

then shaped them, before adding some Flower Soft to the centres. The single

leaves with the serrated edges were cut by hand with deckle-edged scissors

from tiny scraps of white cardstock, hand coloured with Distress Ink.

I made the butterfly quite a few years ago at a retreat. It was such a long 

time ago, I have forgotten the name of the product, and the technique 

we were shown. We used a shimmery sheet of foil-like material and an 

iron, then used a butterfly punch and an embossing folder. I found a

little bag of the different coloured butterflies in a drawer recently.

Inside the card co-ordinates with the front. These leaves were also

cut out by hand

Challenges I would Like To Enter

Addicted To Stamps #147 - 'Flowers and Butterflies

Aud Sentiments #179 - 'Flowers Plus A Sentiment'

Country View - 'Flower Power'

Creative Sketchy Girls #11 - 'Butterflies and Flowers

Die Cut Divas - 'Use Flowers'

Dies R Us #72 - 'Flowers'

Paper Play Sketches and Colour - 'Colour Challenge'

Passion For Promarkers #393 - 'Make It Bloom'

Paper - Unknown brand

Flower Stamp - Fiddle Sticks E494

Dies - Cheery Lynn Olive Branches; Joy Crafts 6003/0026

Punches - Martha Stewart PATP set Pansies; Carl Butterfly

Sentiments - Lili of the Valley Sentiment Tags Set 24

Embossing Powder - Stamp It Silver Pearl

Colouring - Promarkers Yellow, Royal Navy; Distress Inks Faded Jeans, various greens

Flower Soft - a mixture of Lemon and Yellow

Must go to bed and try to get some sleep, as we have to be up early tomorrow morning and drive at least an hour into town to buy a new printer. Ours 'died' today, and we need to replace it quickly as we have to have a pile of printing done in readiness for a meeting with our solicitor on Tuesday about our medical negligence case.

Until next time, happy crafting, and thank you for visiting.

Hugs,

Jennifer. x

Peaceful Snow Scene

Good afternoon to all my blogging friends.

Where is this year going???...it's April already! I am already beginning to feel

 a sense of panic that I will be rushing at the end of the year to have all my 

Christmas cards made in time to make mailing deadlines.

Ever since I was a little girl, I have dreamed of experiencing a 'white' Christmas, but

with the horrendous heat we have here in Australia in summer, I guess that is never

going to happen. Understandably then, I have always been attracted to Christmas

 cards with snow, deer and pine trees, so I decided to make a few of my own.

Breaking my own rule of never making 2 cards the same, I made several with this

design, and had such fun using these 3 tree stamps, and 4 different green inks. I 

bought the large tree stamp (PSX) on eBay many years ago, and must confess 

that I have rarely used it...don't know why as it stamps with such a

lovely textured impression.

Inside my card I am trying to use up my HUGE collection of peel-off stickers.

I must admit I have not been caught out with an April Fool's joke for many years,

but John 'got me a beauty' big time this morning...I think he is feeling much better

because while I was asleep early this morning he put all the clocks forward 2 hours,

 so when I woke up I panicked as I had wanted to go to 2 special local Autumn fairs 

that started early. He managed to keep a straight face for about 15 minutes then

said, very quietly, "it's April Fool's Day today" and burst out laughing

as he handed me my wrist watch which he had not altered. 

Mind you, he's lucky he did not finish up back in hospital. lol.

Challenges I would like to enter

A Snowflakes Promise #38 - 'Anything Goes'

Aud Sentiments #176 - 'Any Sentiment Except Birthday'

Fab 'n' Funky #344 - 'Christmas'  TOP 3

Fairytale #165 - 'Cards With Animals'

Kitty Bee Designs #9 - 'Spring Cleaning'

Moving Along With The Times #42 - 'Into The Woods'

My Time To Craft #342 - 'Woodland Animals or Easter'

Season's Greetings #4 - 'Always Anything Goes, with Inspiration Twist'  TOP 3

The Holly and the Ivy #2 - 'Always Anything Christmas Goes'  TOP 5

Winter Wonderland - 'Christmas Animals or Birds'

Tree Stamps - PSX; Stamp-it Winter Wonderland; My Stamps Pine Tree

Inks - Tim Holtz Distress Ink Iced Spruce, Peeled Paint, Bundled Sage, Forest Moss, Stormy Sky

Dies - Spellbinder Scalloped Rectangle; Memory Box Deer Trio

Glitter - Tim Holtz Distress Stickles Dry Glitter Clear Rock Candy

Peel-off Stickers are from my junk stash

I'm off now to transform into a 'domestic goddess', so until next time, thank you for visiting.

Hugs,

Jennifer. xx

P.S. I did make it to the Fairs in time.

Frangipani Thank You

Hi fellow crafters,

It is now just over 2 weeks since I last blogged, so my frustration is growing at not

being able to spend lots of time crafting and happily drooling over your lovely creations.

My poor dear John is still bleeding, and is just getting over another Golden Staph.

infection. We have had an endless round of appointments, and the urologist has 

decided that John has to go back into hospital for more surgery, in an effort to repair 

all the internal damage that was done to him in August 2015. We believe that the

legal case will be finalised towards the end of the year.

The card I have to show you is the one I made to thank the 2 lovely, kind lady

Paramedics who took me to hospital just before Christmas. 

I adore frangipanis, and had several trees in my gardens back on our farm. I planted

one right near our back door about 25 years ago, and during summer the perfume of 

its hundreds of blossoms would waft throughout our house. Before we moved, I took

6 cuttings from it, and they are all happily growing and blooming in large

garden pots in our courtyard, and on our front porch.

This stamp was one of the first I ever purchased, and the image is 

ever so easy to colour. I used my trusty Promarkers.

The inside of my card is very simple, with plenty of space on which

I wrote my message of gratitude to my 'Angels of Mercy'. My

embellishment frangipani is from 1 of my potted cuttings.

Image - Stamp-it Frangapani

Colouring - Promarkers

Paper - Unnamed A4 Vellum (15 years old)

Dies - Spellbinder Classic and Scalloped Rectangles; Spellbinder Decorative Labels Eight

Peel-off sticker and gold brads from my junk stash

Here in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, and in many other regions of eastern Australia, we are experiencing unprecedented high temperatures (mid to high 40s), with nighttime temps only dropping to 26 to 32oC. This summer we have broken a large number of records, and this weekend our bushfire danger indices have been graded 'Catastrophic Plus'. However, many of you are having record cold temps, so where ever you are, please stay cool or warm what ever your case may be.

Until next time, thank you for visiting,

Hugs,

Jennifer x 

Time and Tide

Oh dear, I think I am like a bus...nothing for ages, then two 

posts in one evening.

After several gloriously spring-like days here in the Hunter Valley, the 

weather today is definitely reminding us that winter arrived last week. It

is freezing, raining, and the daylight has been very weak all day. Therefore,

I had trouble getting any decent light to take my photos.

Regular visitors to my blog probably know that very recently I have become

 interested in Mixed Media. I guess it is just part of us evolving in our craft.

However, I will always love creating my cute and clean cards too. Let's just 

say I have added ''another string to my bow''.

So far I have made four Mixed Media cards, but today I decided to try a 

canvas. My few efforts at M. M. are obviously still very "beginner 

standard", but I guess we all have to start somewhere, and the whole 

process is a learning curve. I can't believe how I have changed...the more

messy my hands and desk become, the happier I am...What Fun!!!

This is a small canvas, but even then I procrastinated for an age before

I began...once started though, I really got into the swing of things. 

Previously, I have always created a card/project, then gone looking

for challenges to suit. However, this time there were several challenges

for which I created my canvas. 

This is Tim Holtz's Umbrella Man. I die-cut him from dark grey 

cardstock, ran a narrow line of Brushed Pewter around his edges,

then applied only one coat of clear embossing powder so he had a  

very textured surface. I coloured a silver heart brad with three 

coats of a black Promarker, then applied three coats of 

clear embossing powder.

I printed the quote onto sponged white cardstock with the computer,

cut each word individually, then sponged each tile with black ink.

The clock face was given the same treatment as Umbrella Man, minus

the Brushed Pewter edging.

A side view of my canvas, showing how I mounted Umbrella Man

on black 3D mounting tape.

Challenges I would like to enter

Anything But Cute #2 - 'Make It Masculine'

Craft Stamper - 'Take A Technique...Texture'

Frilly and Funkie - 'Monochromatic'

Mixed Media World #3 - 'Vintage'

Simply Create Too #87 - 'Masculine'

The Craft Barn - 'For The Man in Your Life'

Try It On Tuesday - 'Watches and Clocks'

Canvas Base - Winsor and Newton

Dies - Tim Holtz/Sizzix Umbrella Man, Weathered Clock

Stamps - Blade Rubber Official Paid; Stamp-It Victorian Watch

Stencil - Ranger Dylusions Diamond Small

Quote - Computer generated Harting font 

Texture Paste - homemade (thank you for the recipe Pamellia)

Embossing Powder - Fantasy Crafts Clear 

Printed Tissue - Collections Elements

Gesso - Atelier Traditional

Ink pads - Versamark; Versafine Onyx Black; Distress Ink Pumice Stone; Momento Tuxedo Black, London Fog; 

Distress Stain - Brushed Pewter

Aquapencil - Black

Heart brad is from my junk stash

I can't wait to have enough time to 'play' and get messy again, and will try something with lots of colour and perhaps some flowers next time.

Bye for now,

Hugs,

Jennifer. x

Teddy and Butterflies

Like me, are you all scared at how fast time is rushing by...the days,

weeks, months, and even years all seem to be 'melting' into one another.

My dear friend and neighbour Rosalie, now has 2 little grand daughters,

and I can hardly believe that the oldest, Sunny Mae, celebrated her 2nd birthday 

on Monday. All little girls love cute teddy bears, so circumstances couldn't 

have suited me better, because this week at Crafty Little Fairies, the 

pink fairies would like you to enter our challenge, the theme of which

 is one I know many of you will love...

'TEDDIES'

We are so lucky this week to have 2 lovely sponsors, 

so a big "thank you" to

and

Those of you who visit my blog regularly will recognise the image I have used, 

as it is one of my favourite bear stamps. 

A close up look at my little teddy. The tiny butterflies are some of the 

negatives from the die-cut matting on the front of my card.

Inside my card. I think I would have liked my finished card better if I had not

placed the small piece of butterfly DP under the white scalloped circle. 

Image - Stamp It Australia

Colouring - Promarkers

Sentiment - Computer generated Balsam font

Paper - Crafter's Choice Princess

Dies - Spellbinders Classic, Scalloped, and Butterfly Circles; 

Punch - Martha Stewart PATP Butterflies

Flowers, ribbon, twine, gems and Stickles are all from my junk stash

For a chance to win one of 2 lovely prizes, why not visit us at Crafty Little Fairies, and enter our 'Teddies' challenge.

Until next time, "happy crafting"

Hugs, 

Jennifer. x

".........not even a mouse"

Only four more sleeps to go!

 I hope you are all just about organised. It is difficult to get into the Christmas spirit when

 the temperature yesterday and today reached 41degrees C!! I have never enjoyed 

summer...I much prefer the winter.

I made this card for a dear friend I have known for 25 years, who lives in England,

 using one of the first Christmas stamps I ever bought. I doubt if it is still available.

Isn't he the cutest little mouse. I coloured him with Promarkers.

Inside my card matches the front.

Image - Stamp-it Australia Merry Chrismouse

Colouring - Promarkers
Paper - Art Stamps Australia
Dies - Spellbinders Classic and Scalloped Rectangles, Classic and Scalloped Circles; Marianne Snowflakes; Elizabeth Craft Designs Season's Greetings; Martha Stewart PATP Snowflakes (negatives)

Thanks for visiting,
Hugs,
Jennifer. x

2nd Birthday

I have a special request for many of you out there...please, please, please

remove those Christmas countdown clocks and blinkies from your blogs!!!

They are freaking me out!!! (lol). Yes, I know Christmas happens at the same

time every year, but this year, the weeks (not to mention the months) are

just flying by at what must be warp speed 10. Many of you I feel are 

also starting to feel alarm at how close Christmas is, judging by your

 notes on your blogs.

Birthdays are also occassions that occur on the same dates every year, but

somehow I seem to be making birthday cards at the last minute too. Each New Year I

promise myself that I will be better prepared, but somehow that thing called

LIFE keeps getting in the way of my good intentions.

Those of you who have been looking at my blog since its early days may

remember me blogging about a dear little baby boy we have nicknamed

'Tiger', as he is such a little fighter. He has had an incredibly difficult start

to life, but on Thursday he celebrated his 2nd birthday, and this is the

card I made for him. Russell's big sister, Connie also had her birthday

on Thursday, but I will show you the card I made for her in a 

later post.

The '2' was in a bag of wooden numbers I bought years ago, and I have 

embossed it with 3 layers of red Opals, sprinkling blue Opals 

into the 3rd layer.  

This adorable bear has 2 other co-ordinating bear stamps

that were among some of my earliest stamp purchases.

Likewise, these 3 Cuttlebug dies were purchased soon after my

much-loved Cuttlebug came to live with me. I cut out 3 of each of

the dies - 1 red, 1 black, 1 yellow. I then adhered tiny pieces of 

double-sided tape on the back of the red ones and with tiny 

tweezers inserted the 'hubcaps' and windows.

Inside my card matches the front, and I added some punched out

trains for added interest.

Challenges

Corrosive #186 - 'Tic Tac Toe' (DP,Image,Sentiment)

Creative Card Crew #48 - 'Teddy Bear's Picnic'

Crazy #157 - 'B is for...' (Bear, Blue, Bow-tie)

C.R.A.F.T. #231 - 'For The Boys (0-150)

Ready-Teddy-Go #28 - 'Use Embossing'

Die Cuttin' Divas #139 - 'Anything Goes'

Suzy Bee's Bloomin' #1 - 'Emboss It'

Stampavie and More #197 - 'Bear'

LEJ Designs #77 - 'Anything Goes'

Image - Stamp-it Australia

Colouring - Promarkers

Sentiment - Computer Generated

Paper - First Edition Family Ties

Dies - Spellbinders Classic Rectangles; Cuttlebug -  Engine, Caboose, & ?

Punch - Martha Stewart border - Train

Embossing - Opals Waratah, Blue Lake

Thank you  for visiting, and I hope to catch up with visiting and 

commenting on all your lovely blogs very soon, so until next time,

"Happy Crafting"

Hugs,

Jennifer. x