Keeping creative for Visible Image

Good morning, a fortnight has rolled round and it is time for my regular design team post for Visible Image. Wow there have been so many changes in these 2 weeks. Sadly the upcoming Create and Craft show on TV was cancelled, but that was the right decision of course. Dotty's Tea House, the vintage tea rooms in Carshalton where I sell my cards has closed so life has changed so much for everyone. Helen and Mark aka Mr and Mrs Visible Image have lots of ideas to keep us all entertained, engaged and creative in the weeks ahead and one lovely idea is the start of a new challenge.

The theme of challenge #1 is such an apt one, "Brighten someone's day".

 I managed to see my best friend for a long lunch just before this whole situation took hold and we both cherish those few hours and realise it may be quite some time before we see one another again. I decided to make my card to send to her.

I knew just the sentiments to use. This is such a great set. 

So much stronger

My dearest friend  loves her garden as much as I do so I also reached for the wings of change set.

Her favourite colour is pink so I made a very pink and girlie background. First I sprinkled on some Infusions and added some spritzes of water

 I then blended on some Distress oxide ink.

 I also made some textured butterflies by stamping on some left over inky card, adding crackle accents and a sprinkle of glamour dust for texture and sparkle.

Once dry I cut them out minus the antennae.

I stamped the sentiment and butterflies on the background and then stuck the butterflies on top raising the edge of their wings with foam pads. 

Then it was time to put my card together. Here it is;

and one last shot;

I would like to enter it into the following challenges;

Pixie's snippets playground #374 using snippets of card for my butterflies

Creative fingers 3/3 anything goes

Simon says stamp Wednesday anything goes

Addicted to stamps and more 2/3 make your mark

Through the dark room door 2/3 anything goes

Crafty sentiments 3/3 anything goes
C.R.A.F.T 2/3 spring/Easter

All the Visible Image links are listed below

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. Do check out the Facebook LIVES and videos where you will be able to see lots of the samples we have been making with the new release in the flesh!

Their Instagram page can be found here

  Pinterest  here

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

There is  also a special Mindfulness section on the Visible Image  website here which has 30% off, just perfect for crafters who are sending out cards to help raise people's spirits at this time. Visible Image is a small husband and wife team who are still shipping here in the UK and abroad for as long as they are able to . 

And yes my dear best friend received this card last week and told me that it did lift her spirits which was my very intention. I feel empowered by my crafting that during these uncertain times that I can give a tiny moment of positivity to someone's day. 

I do hope you might join us over on FB with this challenge. The link is above.  Perhaps you could then send what you have made to someone you care for and cannot see in person for now? 

Back soon,

Stay safe and stay creative,

Bye for now,

Jane x

A new garden, Mindful Moments 2

Hello again dear blogging friends. I am back with my second Mindful Moments post. If you did not see my first and wonder what these are do check out my first post here. I know a lot of people read it and I really hope you found it a moment to make you smile in these turbulent times.

This is a pretty long post, do make yourself a cuppa and pull up a seat. 

 So a week on and here in the UK we are now in lock down for at least the next 3 weeks while the cases of covid 19 escalate.  I must admit on Monday evening when the PM announced the lock down  I think everyone went into shock. Even though I think we all realized that it was coming when the realization came true it did hit hard. This is perfectly normal and a very human response.  However once everything had sunk in we started to see the very best in human nature. Kind souls rallying around for their elderly neighbours and this includes my parents caring neighbours who are picking up their milk etc for them. Our neighbour next door is 69 and fiercely independent but I am keeping an eye out and I have told him to ask if he needs anything at all, we are here.

Last night was extraordinary as at 8pm we experienced the first Clap for our NHS/Carers. Everyone and I mean everyone in our road opened their widows or doors and clapped. We will be doing this every night to give thanks to our amazing NHS and those who are caring for the vulnerable and also to remind everyone to stay at home to do our bit to help. I will confess I had a slightly moist eye as I found this so very touching. 

Bear is making slow but sure progress and the most wonderful thing about the weather since Monday is that we have been blessed with the most amazing sunshine. The skies have been clear blue from dawn to dusk and he has been able to rest on the new lawn, it is like a green duvet for him.

 I have shown a few sneaks peeks of my new garden so I thought for today's post I would share my new garden story with some photos.

We were not due to have our landscaping work started until now but we had a call back in late January that due to a cancellation our Landscapers could start on the Monday. Well of course we jumped at the chance and it is very spooky that we never knew what lay ahead. If we had to wait until now our garden work would not have gone ahead this year.

This was the work in progress in January, they are such a fab crew and worked so hard. 

The whole and I mean whole garden was dug up. Luckily the weather was dry at the time but boy it was a mud bath.

New raised beds were built,

 new paths laid

and a new lawn laid. 

 Everything was left for a month to settle down and then the weekend before lock down my darling son came over and top dressed my raised beds for me and put in my very first plants. 

A winter jasmine,

a hydrangea

 and a rosemary which has the most gorgeous blue flowers and scent which attracts the bees. 

That day we enjoyed with our son is a very treasured memory for now. I know I won't be able to buy more plants for a while but I have found some seeds which came free with Gardener's World magazine last year, which I will try planting in April. 

So now as I sit out in the sunshine, sipping my cappuccino next to the rosemary I can hear the bees buzzing

and I feel so very grateful for my tiny piece of paradise. 

I know how lucky I am to have this wonderful space to sit in 

 and a safe haven for Bear to fully recover. 

My project today is a little bookmark I was inspired to make after sitting outside in the spring sunshine for Jack, my nearly 3 year old grandson.

I caught a wish for him and put it in his little jar. These delightful stamps are by Tracey Easson. I used green distress inks for the background and coloured Morty the mouse with Zig markers. 

I would like to enter it into the following challenges;

Moving along with the times 1/3 anything but a card

Creative fingers 2/3 anything goes

Simon says stamp Wednesday anything goes

Addicted to stamps and more 1/3 make your mark

Through the dark room door 1/3 anything goes

Crafty sentiments 2/3 anything goes
C.R.A.F.T 1/3 spring/Easter


So I have lots of reason to smile today; my gorgeous new garden is finished, Bear is recovering (very slowly but surely), I have been able to dry my washing outside, the bees are buzzing and the sun is shining.

Here is my little quote for today.

Kind hearts are the garden, kind thoughts are the roots,
Kind words are the flowers, kind deeds the fruits.
Take care of your garden and keep out the weeds,
Fill it with sunshine, kind words and kind deeds.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 

Keep safe, keep mindful, keep clapping and keep washing those hands. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

With love, Jane x

Spring time, Mindful Moments 1

Hello blogging friends, wow what a change has happened in the space of a few days. The covid 19 pandemic is now ramping up here in the UK and life for now is being put on hold. Social distancing is and should be the normal. My husband is working from home, which is fine but the rest of our family face difficulties as so many households do. My daughter is on the front line as an NHS GP and faces some very tough months ahead. My parents are in their late 80s and we have to safeguard them as a priority. Our communication is via watts app video for now. Hopefully when the weather improves we can sit out in the garden at a distance. The most important thing is to try to protect our most vulnerable and to ride the waves ahead. Please do take all the advice we have been given seriously to try to flatten out the wave which is coming. 

I have always written Jane's Journal with a very positive vibe and I have always chosen not to put my my personal trials and tribulations (which we all have) here so I am not going to start now. Even before this situation there is always enough bad news around without adding to it.  I like my readers to be able stop for a few minutes, see some cheerful photos and one of my creative makes, and hopefully leave with a smile. Just a mindful moment. These things will pass, we just need time. In no way am I trying to minimize the seriousness of the coming weeks and months, I am just trying to catch a breath in the madness.  I will continue to blog right through to the other side but I will try my absolute hardest to put a positive spin on life here. Jane's Journal is 10 years old this summer and my stats show that lots of people do still read my blog and I hope it might just give one tiny glimmer of normality through Mother Nature to anyone who reads it. Thank you all always for your support, especially those readers who are always here and you know well who you are 😍

I plan, between my usual card makes, Design Team  posts etc to publish occasional mindfulness posts. I am going to call them Mindful Moments and number them, today's is number 1. They will not necessarily be weekly but every post will be 1 step closer to the end of all this. One day I will come back, read and reflect on them and they will serve as a good reminder to be grateful for normal life. 

So here we go with a springtime mindful moment;

There are 2 very special reasons for smiling today; it is the first day of spring and my darling daughter's 34th birthday.

I have been out for my walk and spotted lots of signs of spring in the local area.

The weeping willow is coming into leaf and looks gorgeous in its lime green hues. The daffodils are nodding in the breeze

and at the ponds my dino ducks still come to see me.

 Hello Jane

can I bring a friend?

And yes they all got some food from me. 

In my back garden my acers are coming into leaf

and my magnolia is in flower.

The sun came out, always a bonus too. 

and also spending some time in my garden is my son's gorgeous dog Bear. He has been very poorly but is now on the road to recovery and is going to be between both our homes to convalesce.

My card today is one of spring time calm, using my Mindful Moments Visible Image stamp set and one of their new stencils called drizzle.

I would like to enter it into the following challenges;

Not just cards 3/3 anything goes

Creative fingers 1/3 anything goes

Crafty catz 1/3 anything goes

Simon says stamp Wednesday whatever the weather

Addicted to stamps 1/3 anything goes

Through the dark room door 1/3 anything goes

Crafty sentiments 1/3 spring is coming

To finish off  my first Mindful Moments post I wanted to share this thought to celebrate the first day of spring and my gorgeous girl's birthday.

Some old fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine

are hard to beat

(Laura Ingalls Wilder)

Remember we are now 1 day nearer the end of all this madness. Take those walks outside and choose calm. 

So happy birthday to my darling daughter, she knows the song well that her Hb, Daisy and Jack will be singing to her today as she blows out her birthday candles........ha ha ..

Keep safe, keep mindful and keep washing those hands. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

With love, Jane x

Galloping horses for Visible Image

Good morning, it is time for my fortnightly design team project for Visible Image stamps. Today I am sharing my first project with the 3rd of the 3 new release larger A5 sets.
It is called Revolution

My fellow design team members have recently shared several lovely projects using the large musketeer face stamp so I thought I would try something with the other fab stamps in this set.
I also wanted to use the new Renaissance stencil which has so many gorgeous patterns within it.

I had a play with a couple of designs and colours 

but settled on the one below. This is how I made it. First I blended candied apple distress ink through the centre of the stencil and then added faded jeans. You don't need to be perfect with any lines as the inks blend so well together. 

I stamped and embossed the galloping horse

I then stamped the flourish stamps in a pattern

I stamped out the words onto snippets of card and distressed their edges. I also stamped the large and small fleur-de-lis onto gold card and also cut them out.
Then it was time to put everything together.
Here is my finished card.

with some close ups;

and 1 last shot

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

Love to craft 3 /3 anything goes

Craft stamper take it make it 3/3 anything goes

Creative artiste 3/3 anything mixed media
Crafty catz anything goes/optional boys and their toys
Not just cards 2/3 anything goes

Thanks so much for stopping by today. The new release is available now. You can buy it here on the website or from your local stockist.

All the Visible Image links are listed below

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. Do check out the Facebook LIVES and vidoes where you will be able to see lots of the samples we have been making with the new release in the flesh!

Their Instagram page can be found here

  Pinterest  here

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

And I have a little heads up to give you...Visible Image will be back on your TV screens again very soon. Stay tuned for all the details.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x