Springtime at the seaside

Last weekend my Son in law arranged a surprise birthday lunch for my daughter. They live at the seaside.  It was the most glorious day...the first sunny day we had enjoyed for a while. We sat in the small private dining room of a local pub,

 looking out to the Isle of Wight.

 There were even people enjoying lunch outside. 

The walk back to their house was so delightful, the sea was literally glimmering in the late afternoon sunshine.

We even stopped for an ice cream....my daughter really enjoyed her birthday surprise lunch.

My card today is quite a patriotic birthday card.

The stamped sentiment is Lili of the Valley

The dies are a mix of Sizzix, Spellbinders and Memory Box. The paper is ancient from my stash. 

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges;

 Creative fingers 3/3 anything goes

Creative moments 3/3 anything goes

Crafty friends 3/3 spring colours

Addicted to stamps 3/3 spring

Lil patch of crafting friends 3/3 anything goes

Die cut divas 2/3 fave colour combination one of mine is red white and blue

Crafty sentiments 2/3 anything goes

Happy little stampers 2/3 anything goes with dies
Simon says stamp Wednesday anything goes

Thanks for stopping by and for the kind comments you take the time to leave me. Have a lovely weekend and hopefully we will get some good weather too. 

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

Pots of flowers

My magnolia in my garden is bursting with pink blooms. It is the only tree I have room for..I love it despite the fact that the blooms are short lived.

Billy and I were able to enjoy lunch in the garden on Monday.

He loves rolling around on the patio..and getting very gritty!

My hard work planting up my pots in the garden with spring bulbs last autumn has paid off and the daffs are gorgeous. 

The winter violas are still hanging on too

and look what I spied...

Yes.....my tulips are pushing up and should be in bloom very soon. 

I love this time of the year, the birds are singing, the bees start buzzing and you can almost hear the flowers growing.

I have been taking down some last Mother's day cards to Dotty's as it is Mother's day here in the UK on Sunday. My card today is one of them.

The image is my old Nicecrane digi, the stamped sentiment is Clearly Besotted. The dies are Cheery Lynn, Marianne and Memory Box.

It is for sale at Dotty's Teahouse, Carshalton, SM5 2AE

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges;

 Creative fingers 2/3 anything goes

Creative moments 2/3 anything goes

Crafty catz 2/3 make it square

Crafty friends 2/3 spring colours

Addicted to stamps 2/3 spring

Lil patch of crafting friends 2/3 anything goes

Die cut divas 1/3 fave colour combination mine is blues/greens

Crafty sentiments 1/3 anything goes

Happy little stampers anything goes with dies

Thanks for stopping by and for the kind comments you take the time to leave me. I hope you are able to start enjoying your own gardens too.  I would also like to extend a very warm welcome to my newest followers. Thanks for joining me on my creative journey. 

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

Into the woods

No I'm not going into the real woods today but into my imagination courtesy of my Design team card today for Visible Image.

Last year I had several projects published and I have not had a chance to share some of them.

This card was made for the fab Creative Stamping magazine and we were give a purple/blue colour way to work with.

I wanted to create a real journey "into the woods" so I made a card which had layers like an old fashioned peep through card which you can still sometimes see in toy museums. The top layer was an acetate "window".

This is the stamp set I worked with.

Into the woods

This is a lovely big A5 size stamp set and I used all the elements and 6 of the words. 

First I created the base background.

I worked with Peacock feathers, stormy skies, dusty concord, seedless preserves and picked raspberry distress ink blending them around a masked moon.

 I then stamped the "background" tree line using faded jeans distress oxide ink

Then I over stamped with the foreground tree line using wilted violet distress oxide.

I also stamped and embossed the foreground trees using white glittery powder onto acetate to make my "window".

I removed the moon masked, stamped one to the owls and added some crackle paint and left it to dry.

For the "raised" box part of the card I used distress re inkers and dribbled them down some card stock. I then stamped"branches" using the large single tree.

I also tore and pulled back the inside aperture. The acetate tree line "window" was stuck underneath. 

I then stamped and cut out the words and put together my peep through scene.

 This sideways shot shows the depth of my card and the layers I created.

and one last shot

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges;

 Creative fingers 1/3 anything goes
Creative moments 1/3 anything goes
Sweet stampin 1/3 anything goes
Crafty catz 1/3 make it square
Crafty friends 1/3 spring colours
Addicted to stamps 1/3 spring
Lil patch of crafting friends 1/3 anything goes

All the Visible Image links can be found here;

Visible Image group page on Facebook. Our friendly Group is here ...it would be lovely to see you there. You will see lots of gorgeous makes by the DT and customers to inspire your own creativity.

The main Visible Image Facebook page is here; there are regular giveaways...open world wide.

And the shop web site is here; where all their gorgeous stamps and stencils can be purchased. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.
It was a glorious sunny day yesterday and the sun has got it's hat on again today here again today. Sending some your way if you need it. 

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

Spring has sprung

Well spring is finally here and I am loving these lighter mornings and evenings. There is the sound of bird song everywhere...and I should think lots of little eggs dropping into nests soon too.

The daffodils are exploding with colour everwyere

I visited Standen House last week and the grounds were so pretty.

 with daffodils and primroses everywhere. 

We saw a lovely exhibition in the house too but I will save that for another post. 

My card today sums up how we should all hopefully start feeling in the mornings!

The background is a silver and blue acrylic paint gelli print I made using the Visible Image

Wings of change stamps. I then added some more stamping and a card butterfly together with the rather awesome sentiment!

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges;

Through the craft room door 2/2 anything goes
Pile it on Favourite colour, mine of course is blue!
The butterfly challenge The letter C I have gone for cadet blue in my gelliplate background.
Cute card Thursday 1/3 spring fever
Allsorts fave stamp mine is this awesome new Visible Image butterfly

My card is for sale at Dotty's Tea House, Carshalton, Surrey, SM5  2AE

Today I have also written a post for the Country View Shop where I am showcasing all the new Visible Image mixed media stamps and stencils. You can see it by clicking here. I would love if you would pop on over and say hello. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today,

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

Bear and gone

Our son's dog Bear has gone home again now and I just wanted to share a few more photos of this lovely boy taken on the patio on one of the dry days we enjoyed.

He is such a gentle giant. I miss him but I don't miss the wet walks with him and Billy is glad to have his house back!

I have been trying to make some more stock for Dotty's Tea Rooms where my cards are sold and I thought some of my sweet Lili of the Valley digis with critters would be perfect for today's blog post as it is also my sweet daughter's birthday today, Happy Birthday M! The dies are from the Works and the circle is Memory Box. The paper is ancient from my stash.

I wonder if Bear spotted these mice amongst my flower pots?

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges; 

Pixie's snippets playground #348

Simon says stamp Monday miniature/tiny things

Try it on Tuesdays 1/3 say it with flowers

Crafty Hazelnut's patterned paper challenge March

Through the craft room door 1/2 anything goes
Time Out 1/3hugs, kisses and birthday wishes

It is for sale at Dotty's Tea House, Carshalton, Surrey, SM5  2AE

Thanks so much for stopping by today,

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

A rainbow lion

Well what mix of weather we have had over the last few days...rain, sun, sleet and wind strong enough to bring down a few trees.

Everywhere though is really greening up and looking very spring like. I have spotted this rainbow of flower colours this week at various place I have visited

 as well as in my own garden

This fits well for my Monday Design Team make I am sharing today for Visible Image. It is a "rainbow lion "I made for the recent Create and craft show using the fab Cowardly Lion 

 and his coordinating die.

For his background I created a rainbow swirl using the Strobes stencil

I wasn't sure which colour I wanted the medal or crown so I stamped several out on white and gold card and used the brilliant dies to cut them out.

I coloured my lion in Promarkers and decided to give him a rainbow mane and tail too!

Here is my finished card.

with a close up of my rainbow lion.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges;

Passion for Promarkers anything goes
Happy Little stampers watercolour anything goes
Mix it up 3/5 anything goes
Stamping sensations 2/3 somewhere over the rainbow
Through the purple haze 1/3 rainbows
Pile it on 1/3 fave colour or rainbow

All the Visible Image links can be found here;

Visible Image group page on Facebook. Our friendly Group is here ...it would be lovely to see you there. You will see lots of gorgeous makes by the DT and customers to inspire your own creativity.

The main Visible Image Facebook page is here; there are regular giveaways...open world wide.

And the shop web site is here; where all their gorgeous stamps and stencils can be purchased. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today,

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x