The Funkie Junkie's 12 tags of Christmas #9 with a Jane's Journal twist

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my weekly creations for Linda's fun 12 tags of Christmas challenge as much as I have had making them. Despite life being incredibly busy for me at the moment I do find making these very relaxing and inspiring. I have also developed my "grungy" side of card making, which I really enjoy. If you would like to join in with this challenge the details are all here. There are also some great prizes up for grabs as the challenge is sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique. All 12 pieces need to be uploaded onto her blog by 22 Dec so you need to get your skates on!

For my post today I have got as far as #9 and the tag Linda made for us to be inspired by can be seen here The first thing I noticed was the amazing non traditional Christmas colours she had used. I loved the blue/silver shimmery background. I also loved the highly embellished snowflake and all that pewter coloured silver.....yum! I also liked the addition of the sheet music.

So I put on my thinking cap and realised that I had no materials which could add a silver shimmer to my card.  I loved the effect Linda had created and she had used Metallic Distress Paint so.......I decided that Christmas had to come early for me and I splashed out on a bottle of the new Tim Holtz metallic paint in Brushed Pewter. Oh my, am I delighted that I did! I have never used any of the distress paints before so this was something quite new to me. I loved playing with it and I added it the the backing paper and even managed to stain my wooden snowflakes using it.

I know you all seem to love watching my creative process so I will first show my finished card (which I will admit I think is my favourite so far in this series..........if you can keep it a secret I will whisper that this is for my Hb for his Christmas card). I will then give a step by step of how it was born!

Here it is

I started with my Distress inks and took a white sheet of card to colour with my blending tool

I then added a wash of the brushed pewter Distress Paint...I really just played with this until I was happy.

I left this to dry whilst I attacked some hessian and some wooden snowflakes I had bought with it too.

I also added several layers of silver embossing powder to some die cut snowflakes

When the backing card had dried I added some Frantage to give an extra snowy feel.

After heating with my heat gun I had a wonderful sheet to play with. So I added all my elements, including my favourite Cheery Lynn Merry Christmas sentiment and holly leaves to create my finished card. |Here are a few more photos of the details in close up

and one more view of my finished card.

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

The Funkie Junkie 12 tags of Christmas tag #9
Pan Pastel Mix it up My post explains all my mixing processes!
Cheery Lynn Non traditional colours
Little Claire's Christmas
A Creative Romance Vintage
Stampin for the weekend Feeling Festive
Sweet Stampin Cause for Celebration
A gem of a challenge Sparkles
Deep Ocean Favourite colour combination mine is my blue,silver, brown, white I have used.
Crafts too challenge you Vintage Christmas twist 2 polychromatic
Country View Crafts Letters there are letters on my backing paper, ribbon and the sheet music
Bunny Zoe Vintage or shabby chic
Make it Monday Linky Party
Artistic Inspirations anything goes
Lexi's Creations Christmas
Die cut Divas Celebrations/holidays
Pile it On Non traditional colours
Bearly Mine anything goes
Oldie but a Goodie  ribbon/lace my oldies in this project are the ribbon (bought in the after Christmas sale last year) and my Christmas words stamp which must be at least 7 years old.
Crafty Sentiments anything goes

Also can I give a shout out that Crafty Ribbons have an Christmas advent ribbon blog event...do join the fun here There are prizes every single day in December. There is also a button in my side bar to find out the details.


I hope all your Christmas creative projects are beginning to come together? Please remember that next week I will be taking part in Lori's annual Visions of Sugarplums blog event. I will be posting on Monday 2nd and Thursday 5th. This will be such fun and we will be showing special traditions which we hold dear at Christmas time plus sharing some creative fun! Do spread the word and if you mention this event in a blog post pop over and tell Lori as you get an extra entry into the grand prize draw. There is also a button in my side bar.

Be there or be square ;0)

I know that my dear friends will be shouting...what no Daisy photo...so here she is ;0)

She's my little vision of sweetness in pink and she is 15 days old today. Tomorrow night her Granddad and I are babysitting for the first time whilst Mummy and Daddy celebrate Daddy's birthday xxx

I would also like to wish a Happy Thanksgiving on Thursday to all my Amercian buddies.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

The glorious colours of late autumn

Although we have had some dismal weather during the week we have still been having some glorious autumn sunshine. On my days off I always go out for a walk at some point and often head down to my beloved ponds. I grabbed my camera to get some photos of the gorgeous autumn colours which are around at the moment. I never get bored of walking to my beloved ponds which were shimmering in the low sunlight.
I love the light at this time of the year.

The trees have turned  gold, red and copper and looked spectacular in the sunshine and are only just beginning to drop their leaves.

Everyone was out enjoying themselves

and enjoying the last blasts of sunshine

and as I walked home I chased the setting sun

until the street lights began to flicker on. I have lived here for over 30 years and I still never get bored of walking around and every time I do I spot something new. I thought the lamppost below  looks like something out of Narnia, I wonder if one day I may spot Mr Tumnus there?

Just beautiful, I find walks like this just so invigorating and I love the history of where I live, our church is even mentioned in the Doomsday Book written in 1086.

My card today features another stamp I never get bored of using, my Stampendous snowy postcard stamp. I just love the vintage feel of it and the warmth it gives out and it makes me feel so cosy and snug at home.

The backing papers are ancient I think they may be Papermania. The sentiment is LOTV and I added some Cheery Lynn holly leaves and holly branch. The poinsettia is Marianne and I used some of my hand coloured papers for it. You will also see that I had added some of my favourite frantage too and lots of glitter for some festive sparkle.


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

Joann Sheen Celebrate
Sweet  Stampin Celebration happy 4th birthday to this sweet challenge blog
Loves rubber stamps Shabby chic or vintage
Papercrafting journey Bling it up
Divas by Design make it pretty
ABC Christmas W for winter wishes
Christmas cards all year round Winter wonderland
Crafts too Challenge you Vintage Christmas twist 2 polychromatic
Country view crafts Letters my card is literally my "letter! (postcard ;0)
Divas by design make it pretty
Little Claire's Christmas
A Creative Romance Vintage style
Allsorts Bring on the bling
Vintage stamping Traditional Christmas time
Bearly mine Christmas Traditional colours red or green using die cuts
The Paper Shelter Christmas is coming
Rhedd and Rosie Christmas is coming
Stamping for the weekend feeling festive
Bunny Zoe  shabby chic/vintage
Make it Monday linky party #167

I really am feeling very festive now (only 32 days to go). Please remember that I am part of Lori's  wonderful Visions of Sugarplums Blog event starting on Dec 2. Please share this with all your other crafty friends, there are prizes too. There is also a link in my side bar. If you also mention this event, with the link, on one of your  blog posts, do pop over to tell Lori here . She is offering an extra entry into the grand prize for everyone who does this. Simples!

I am sure that you would also like to see how our darling granddaughter  Daisy is doing...we visited again yesterday evening. She is just a sweetie and so alert for 11 days old. Are you ready for an awwwwhh moment?

Here she is.............

and do you think I love this little soul..................just a little bit...;0)

Thanks for all your lovely comments, emails, cards and even pressies you have sent to to me and my Hb and  to my darling daughter and SIL, they are just so taken aback by everyone's outpouring of good wishes and love.

Have a crafty weekend everyone, it's been a glorious sunny morning here. I am heading down to my studio now to get my next Funkie Junkie's tags for Christmas, Christmas card made. It's number 9 already, I had better get cracking.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

The Funkie Junkie's tags for Christmas #8 with a Jane's Journal twist

Here we are at week 8 of Linda's fab Challenge over at the Funkie Junkie challenge blog. How fast the festive season is now approaching and this year with our little Daisy it is going to be even more special.
This fab challenge is being sponsored by The Funky Junkie Boutique with some amazing gift voucher prizes. There is still time to join, your 12 entries need uploaded on the blog  by 22 Dec. The full details are here

This week's inspirational tag can be seen here. This week I took the snowflakes, the amazing embossed background, the vintage Santa stamp and the twine to inspire my card. Here is what I made.

Everyone seems to enjoy seeing my creative process for these cards so I shall show you how my card was created;
I started with a blank sheet of smooth card and used my Distress Inks to create a blue based background

I added Pumice Stone DI  to give some contrast to the blues.

 I used a very old snowflake stamp I own and stamped the card with Versamark watermark ink and then added some clear embossing powder.

 


I then used my heat gun to melt the powder.

Next I blended Vintage photo distress ink and it gave a really cool resist effect showing the blue underneath the embossing.

I cut out various snowflakes and my Cheery Lynn Merry Christmas sentiment. I added colour with my distress inks.

I placed the snowflakes in the corners adding a bow of twine as a feature. The vintage Santa stamp is by Visible Image.

I made an oval plaque to hold the sentiment and added a red bow and some red gems to give just a hint of red to the card.

Here is my piece ready to be mounted on a cream card back. It's a shame there is no "touch" feature on the computer as this has great texture to it.

I have put it up for sale in my Etsy shop here. I have several Christmas card for sale and I do combine postage or if you do not buy from Etsy just email me if you have an interest in buying any of my cards.

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

The Funkie Junkie 12 tags of Christmas #8
Crafty Ribbons anything goes with ribbon
Visible Image Make it Sparkle
Crafts to Challenge You Vintage the main theme is A vintage Christmas and the twist for the next 3 weeks is polychromatic, 3 colours or more. I have used blue, brown and red.
Divas by Design Something snowy
Creative Creations Sparkle and shine
Vintage Stamping challenges Traditional Christmas
Bunny Zoe Shabby chic/vintage
Stamping sensations Christmas
Penny Black and More Anything goes
Little Claire's Christmas
Make it Monday Linky party #167
Loves rubberstamps Shabby chic or vintage
Pan Pastel UK anything goes
Crafty sentiments Designs Christmas
Christmas cards all year round winter wonderland/snow
Sparkle Creations bling
ABC Christmas W for winter wishes



I am sure you will not be surprised that there will be a Daisy photo or two here as well ;0) We had a lovely visit on Friday, she is doing really well and is starting to really focus when she opens those sweet eyes. We are planning another trip to visit on Friday..I am counting down the hours.

Don't you think she has a pair of hands which are just itching to get crafty with Nana?

Isn't she just adorable .....my sweetest littlest mouse indeed.

The photo below came in last night so is a bit dark but I could not resist adding it for a real awwwww moment....Vivienne will really appreciate the bunny ;0)

One last piece of exciting news is that this year I am joining my friend Lori, for her annual Visions of Sugarplums. Christmas blog event. How apt this is for me, Mrs Christmas. If you love Christmas you will really enjoy this. Please can I ask you to spread the world to all the other crafters out there, prizes are to won just for visiting and commenting! There is a logo in my side bar...please pass it on or even add the gorgeous logo below with a link. Thanks so much. I will be sharing a couple of Christmas themed posts with you...my favourite time of the year really is nearly here (36days) ;0)

Thanks for all the wonderful comments you have been leaving, I so enjoy reading every single one of them. And a really warm welcome to my newest followers...enjoy ;0)

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

Peepo Daisy Jane!

As promised I am back with  proper post to share more about the arrival of our most precious granddaughter, Daisy Jane. I am sure you can all remember those early sleepless days (and nights) with brand new babies! We were able to go down again last night to visit and had lots of cuddles with this precious parcel. Here she is fast asleep in her granddad's arms. I just adore this little girl ;0)

The latest outfits I bought are the next size and are just a little big but she filled the tiny baby size so I thought best to go one up. This set is from the Very Hungry Caterpillar books...there are so many beautiful baby clothes to buy and I am enjoying being the indulgent Nana.
I also wanted to share with you the best baby book in the world. If you have never heard of it...it's Peepo by Janet and Allan Ahlberg.

It has been in print for many years and my Mum bought it for my daughter when she was a baby. It is the most delightful book as you can say the word "Peepo" and point through at the pictures. They now make a "board" version of the book so it is just perfect for babies.

I so agree.  I will have such fun reading this with Daisy just as I did with her Mummy ;0)

Daisy is enjoying sleeping in her Moses basket (as did her Mummy and her Uncle all those years ago.) You can see how tiny she looks in it.

She has received so many lovely presents and cards and here is the one I made her. My daughter's favourite stamp I own is Bella sleeping by Wild Rose Studio and so I made one of my special accordion cards.

Here are some close ups;

I coloured Bella sleeping with my Promarkers and highlighted with Prismacolor pencils. The quote is one from LOTV ...I love this. I wrote her birthday date on my Marianne baby clothes die cut.

I generated our message on the computer.The baby button is from a sweet Dressin' Up button set as is the Daisy (how appropriate) button.
I also attached lots of baby themed charms including this teddy

I just loved making this card. One more view ;0)

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

Crafty Ribbons anything goes with ribbon
Cute Card Thursdays So angelic
Crafty Little Fairies Top of the pops inspired by a song My song is Eric Clapton's Wonderful tonight..this is just how I feel!
Card Crafter's Circle Pastel colours
Lili of the Valley Pink and white my image used is the Babies' quotable stamp from the Pretty Vintage range which I won earlier in the year. What a great quote it is too.
Digi designs Girlie
Pile it on show us your tools the tools I have used are my Big Shot to cut the accordion card and my heat gun to melt the embossing powder on my baby quote
The Paper Shelter For someone special
A Little Bit Crafty sparkle and shine
Country View Crafts Letters my letters are the alphabet all over the frames of my card
Heck of a Challenge In the frame
Make It Monday Linky party #166
Penny Black and More Anything goes

Daisy went for her first check up this morning at the community hospital and is doing well. She also went for her first trip into Southampton in her little car seat. These were the photos my darling daughter sent me today...don't you just love modern technology, you really are able to "see" your grandchildren every day even though you can't actually be there in person.

 This is the Humprey's Corner babygro I took down for her yesterday.

and here is my darling Daisy on her way out.

Awww I could eat this little sweetie ;0)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and thanks again for all the lovely comments, emails and even cards that everyone has sent. This really is such an amazing time in my life and I am delighted to have been able to share it with you all.

I was working out in my studio earlier and was shocked to find that it was dark at 3.45pm...eek! Winter really is near..but never mind, that means Christmas is just around the corner (actually it's just 39 days away).
Strictly is on soon so my Hb and are are going to open a bottle to celebrate the most wonderful week and raise our glass to the safe arrival of our beloved granddaughter.

Cheers to our Daisy Jane,

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

Edit; I would just like to add that I am taking part in Lori's fab annual Christmas blog jaunt, Visions of Sugar Plums. If you love Christmas traditions you will love this!
Please pass this logo on and put in your side bars. There will be all sorts of fun at my favourite time of the year. Please link it to Lori's blog here
More will be revealed soon! Jx