Fairytale foxgloves

It's that time of the year when my foxgloves start to bloom...they are one of my favourite flowers and in my garden I just let them self seed at will. The really are the promise that summer is just around the corner now.

They pop up all over the place in my tiny piece of paradise.

I have them in shades from white to the deepest of pinks.

Even after the heavy rain overnight they still stand majestically in my garden.

As I went down to my studio on I could hear the busy bees buzzing in and out of the blooms.

and I even caught at few with my camera

Such industrious little creatures. I also loved to see the drips of rain on my flowers

So this was enough inspiration for my latest card make...pink, flowers, bees...yes you get the idea. I have recently sold several of my birthday cards in my little Etsy shop so I decided that I would make a few new ones. Foxgloves are associated with fairies in folk lore so I decided that I would use a fairy image. I reached for my Lavinia stamps as they have just the right fairy and scene stamps I needed.
I got very inky and created a foxglove inspired backing card with my Distress Inks using the wrinkle free technique. I built up my garden scene using several Lavinia stamps. I made the lavender stamp look like my tall foxgloves using 2 different coloured inks. You can see them peeping out under the frame.

I die cut a spellbinders frame which I coloured with DIs and then added Distress crackle...I love this stuff. I then blended some Walnut stain into the cracks to give a vintage feel.  I also added some frantage as I think that my foxgloves in my garden look as though they have been sprinkled with it.
Here is another close up

I don't have any bee dies or punches so I used a butterfly punch.

And here is the big reveal

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges

Lavinia stamps Birthday girl
Sweet stampin sparkle and shine
Stamping for the weekend Girls
Polkadoodles Things with wings
Country View Natures beauties
A Creative Romance Girlie
Deep Ocean Wings
Premium Crafts UK Pan Pastel Florals
Squirrel and Fox let's hear it for the girls
A little bit crafty flower power
Crafty little fairies in the garden
Bearly Mine flowers
The Artistic Stamper in the garden
Stamp and Create spring colours

and it for sale in my Etsy shop here.

We were very lucky with the weather yesterday, lots of sunshine whilst we enjoyed some special Daisy time in Southampton, but today we have woken up to grey skies and rain. My foxgloves seem to be enjoying it though and I may well get some more inky time in my studio as all my gardening plans need to be put on hold for a little longer. Enjoy the bank holiday whatever you do and I hope my friends in the States have a good Memorial Day. Have a lovely week and thanks as always for visiting.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

A Moment in Bristol

On Saturday we drove to Bristol to attend my niece's 30th birthday party. The weather all last week was exceptionally good and the weekend was even better. We woke to clear blue skies and the temperature tipped the mid 70s by the afternoon. When we arrived at our hotel my Hb and I had 4 hours to visit the harbour and find somewhere to eat. We have driven through Bristol many times in the past, en  route to the West Country but this was our first visit to the city.
The harbourside is such a vibrant area and the sunshine had brought everyone outside to revel in it.

We strolled along in the sunshine taking in the atmosphere.

We also walked into the city centre, everyone was out making the most of the glorious weather.

How blue is that sky!

The harbourside area has been regenerated and has an incredible number of water side bars and restaurants.
We were spoilt for choice but eventually settled on one and enjoyed a delicious meal...with my drink of choice for the sunshine...Pimm's of course.

As we walked back to the hotel I spotted this group of houses below, all painted in different colours. I decided that when  I got home I would use that as inspiration to make an art piece as a memory of a wonderful sunny weekend trip with my darling Hb.

The party in the evening was such fun and I saw my brother and his family, precious time together, which is always so special.

I bought a lovely scrapbook/journal from Paperchase at Victoria station last week and I plan to put bits and pieces in there of special memories. I have put my tag I made after my Old Girls meeting on the first page. It will be the "physical" Jane's Journal and I will stick little momentos and inspiration pieces I make for fun inside. I has a Kraft pages inside and ties with a bow.

 When I got home on  Sunday we decided just to have a restful afternoon  in the garden. Whilst my Hb enjoyed reading in the garden I headed to my studio and created this little piece
To create my piece I used the wrinkle free technique as the background. The Distress inks I chose were colours that came to mind when I thought about wandering along the banks of the harbour.....Squeezed Lemonade for the sunshine, Salty Ocean for the blue sky and Peacock Feathers for the blue/green of the water.

 I stamped an image from one of my TH stamp sets to represent the old houses meeting the modern buildings. I coloured them with DIs adding a little pop of pink, just like the house I saw. I then fussy cut them out.

 I used my Stamps by Ryn rising bubbles stamp to add some texture.

 I blended some colour onto a TH clock die cut. I changed my anchor charm from silver by using some Distress paints and again added a pop of pink.

Here are some close ups

The backing paper is an old Magnolia one which I added DIs to. I thought my die cut looked very beach, almost like shell where I had added distress crackle. The deep blue gingham ribbon added to the nautical theme.

And here is my completed piece.... the little pink heart brad on the anchor adds one last pop of pink to remember those houses by.

Now this is not a tag or a card. It is created on a piece of card and not directly in my journal..I wondered what I could call  it. When I asked my Hb he gave me a great name.....A Moment. I really like the idea of adding "Moments" to a physical Jane's Journal. They will be put into my Journal and I will add some writing so that I have some memories captured by my artwork. Just by looking at my Moment I can transport myself back to that glorious sunny May afternoon strolling hand in  hand with my soul mate. This piece is all about him.........happy days.

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

Vintage stamping Ribbons and bows
A Vintage JourneyAll about him
Penny Black and More anything goes
Stamping sensations anything goes
Craft Hoarders Metal/glass I have used a metal charm and a heart brad.
Loves Rubberstamps Fun with your name. Mine is J for Journey A for anchor N for nautical theme and E for enjoy (part of my stamped sentiment)
Rhedd and Rosie No flowers/floral
Die cut Divas add an embellishment mine are a nautical ribbon and a charm
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Vacation/travel
Our creative corner Love those leftovers My lattice is left over from my May TH tag project, the charm was left over from my summer jewellery projects, the nautical paper was left over from a project about 3 years ago (!!) the clock die had been cut but not inked after another project and the ribbon had been sitting as a little end piece in my stash box. I do love using up my stash of leftovers when I can.
Whimsy stamps use 2 or more die cuts
Divas by Design anything goes
Cupcake Inspirations nautical

Thanks for visiting and for leaving such kind comments. I shall be making some more "Moments" during the year when I get the time and I will enjoy sharing them with you.
We will be enjoying another bank holiday weekend here in the UK. The weather is looking a little unsettled but I am sure there will be a chance to still enjoy the great outside.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

4 Generations take Afternoon Tea

Thursday was the most wonderful day and the weather could not have been kinder to us. For those of you who are not aware my daughter gave my Mum a voucher for afternoon tea the Dorchester In London as a gift for her 80th birthday in November. As Daisy was only 2 weeks old at the time he thought it better that her, my Mum, me and Daisy would go together in the spring time. May seemed the perfect time and we booked it for Thursday.  My daughter and I took the train up to London with Daisy in her pushchair and arrived for afternoon tea at 1pm at the Dorchester. My dear Mum was already waiting for us, having travelled up by train from Kent.

 The staff at the Dorchester could not have been more helpful to us and the Doorman helped us lift the buggy up into the entrance.

Afternoon tea is served in the most luxurious surroundings.

Daisy even had a high chair brought over for her to sit in. We were served champagne to start.

and then enjoyed sandwiches

followed by limitless cakes and pastries

...and of course never endings pots of tea. The Dorchester blend is delicious. Even Daisy approved.

My Mum was so thrilled to have her daughter, granddaughter and great granddaughter all with her. Daisy was such a good girl and looked so pretty in her new dress.

After 2 1/2 hours we had finished munching our way through lots of sandwiches and cakes and decided to walk back to Victoria station together via Hyde Park and enjoy the wonderful warm sunshine. London always looks beautiful to me but on Thursday it  looked even more stunning. The trees in Hyde Park are in full leaf now and the grass is lush.

We walked past Eton Place and admired the houses we would love to own if we could afford one. Even just a single bedroom flat in one of these properties sells for nearly 2 million pounds.

Belgrave Square also has the most exquisite houses.....Downton Abbey eat your heart out ;0) 

One thing I also love about London is the amount of green space around. Little parks and gardens are everywhere. Some are owned by the large squares of house.

 But others are open to everyone.

We so enjoyed our stroll back to the station. There we said our goodbyes to my Mum and  the 3 of us made our way back home. What a wonderful afternoon  of memories we have of enjoying tea and the sunshine in London. 4 generations of girls together, how lucky we are.

My girlies have gone home again and  the house seems very quiet. I chose a card for my challenge that I have made as a GD card for Ignacio of Nicecrane Designs today. It is very appropriate as it features a very sweet vintage childhood image. It is available, with others as a digi sheet in his shop here. This  lovely sheet is by the artist Jessie Wilcox. I used another of these sweet images to make my Mum's Mothers' Day card recently.

Here is a close up of the backing paper I made using an embossing folder, distress inks and some embossing glitter.

This card is for sale in my Etsy shop here

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

Feeling Crafty one for the girls/ ladies
Craft Hoarder's Anonymous ribbon/ twine etc
Loves rubberstamps Girlie glittery and glam
Crafting from the heart anything goes
Allsorts Purple Passion

We are off to a family party in Bristol this evening and my Cinderella slippers will be getting another airing ;0) The weather continues to behave and it really is feeling like summer is on it's way. It reached 23c yesterday afternoon here in Surrey...I am a very happy girl.

Thanks as always for visiting and the kind comments you take the time to leave me. Have a wonderful weekend,

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x