Billy 17.7.09 - 22.05.25

Hi Bloggers, I'm sure you might guess by my post title that I have some sad news. Our darling Billy died last Thursday after an unexpected but thankfully very short illness.  He was nearly 17.

He was born on 17th July 2009 and he came to live with us in the September. Such a sweet boy from the day he arrived and the most gentle cat ever. He had the cutest pink nose and white tip to his tail and was such a purr factory.

He even wrote and starred in blog posts about our Christmas trees! Check out this link.

He became my avatar when I started blogging, all those years ago, in 2010

 

One of my blogging friends Jane even made a lino print of our handsome boy. She sent us a copy and it has pride of place on our bookshelves. 

He matured into the most gorgeous cat and in his older years barely left our side. He loved popping out to garden but once we came in would come in with us.

He even slept with us every single night.

In his honour I have made 2 cards as a fundraiser for a wonderful cat charity I support The Ginger Cat house rescue. 

I have made two bright and cheerful card using distress inks for the background, Visible Image stamps and Tim Holtz' mischievous cats die cuts which I water coloured using Billy for my inspiration.

Card 1

and Card 2

This will be a "raffle" where each "ticket" costs £1. The winner will have the CHOICE of 1 of the 2 cards and I will post that card to the winner, anywhere in the world. I am going to keep the other card in Billy's memory.

If you would like to buy a ticket (or tickets) please follow This link to my Facebook page where everything is explained. I also have a post on Instagram here I will keep a running list of everyone and put all the names in a hat. The raffle will close on Wednesday 4th June at midday (UK time).
The Ginger cat house Rescue know and love that I am hosting this fundraiser but are not directly involved. As a necessary disclaimer I need to say here that FB are not involved either!
Any questions please just ask in my comments or email me (my link is in my side bar) and thanks in advance if you can spare a pound for "A card for Billy" 💙🐱💙Every single pound will go to the rescue. I will post the card to the winner anywhere worldwide.
(Just a note to any of my fellow card makers; if you already have a house full of cards😘 and don't need an extra but would still like to donate. If you win, you can re gift the card back to me and it will go with all my other cards I am making to donate to the annual GCHR Summer fair fundraiser which is coming up on 14th June).

I haven't entered any card challenges for a long time, as all the cards I share these days are design team ones. But I will enter some today in memory of my boy,

 

I would like to enter Card 1 into;

Dream Valley Challenge hand coloured image

Allsorts 16th birthday challenge 

Sweet stampin boys. boys, boys

Simon says stamp Wednesday Bright and cheerful

So sweet dreams to our darling boy. We were so blessed he came into our lives.

with love, 

Jane x

More inspiration for our Country View crafts May challenge

  Hi everyone I am here today with my 2nd design team make to hopefully inspire you to join our May challenge. The theme this month is to share your projects which are " aged, weathered, distressed or timeworn." You don't need a blog or an Instagram account, just head over to the group and join in with the fun! The link is Here and if you are not already a member just request to join and we will warmly welcome you. It is also be a place you can be the first to hear about workshops, the latest releases etc etc. We have a happy membership of over 380 crafters and we are growing every day. You can enter the challenges up to 5 times as you like as long as you use products from brands which are stocked on the Country View Website.

I made this aged/distressed card using all Tim Holtz products. 

And this is how I  made it;

I used kitsch flamingo and saltwater taffy distress sprays to make a background. 

Plus a little stencilling using mustard seed distress ink and one of Tim' stencils. 

I then added some background stamping using the Field notes stamp set. 

I  gathered some Tim ephemera and a butterfly I made using the detailed butterfly die with some sterling foundry wax on the edges. 

I also used a stamp from the stamp sticker book and some of Tim's fab cello sticker tape to add to the aged/timeworn feel. 

I put my design together and finished off my card. 

Here it is once more 

with a couple of close ups;

and 1 final shot

I have linked to products available on the website in my post. If they are not in stock just email Susan, who should be able to order them in for you. 

Remember that you can find me most days over on Instagram Here @jane.tyrrell where I share many, many more makes then I have the time to blog.

I hope I may have inspired you to give our May challenge a go. There is a  fab prize up for grabs too for one randomly selected and you can enter up to 5 times. 

Bye for now,

Jane x

Time for a tipple with Visible Image

Good morning everyone. It's time for my next blogged design team make for Visible Image. The theme for this week is "Time for a tipple" Most people know that my occasional tipple is gin so I had to use the awesome "Keep  your gin up "  stamp set to make this card

 I also used the distressed brick stencil in the background. 

This is how I made it; I used these 3 distress oxide inks to blend through the stencil onto a square piece of white card.

I stamped the glass onto a scrap of white card and used the co ordinating die to cut it out. I prefer to use the die on the glass as it gives the stem extra strength you can't get when fussy cutting. 

Using distress watercolour pencils I added a little colour. 

I stamped the bottle twice, once on a scrap of inky mop up card and then white card. I fussy cut the bottle and then a white label.  

I also stamped some lemon slices onto white card and added a little yellow details using the watercolour pencils. 

I stamped some of the fun words and added some of the "splodge" stamp plus an ice cube. 

I then assembled my card, gluing everything into place.  

Here it is once more.

Cheers to you all and enjoy your tipple. And if gin is not your favourite tipple there are many others in the Visible Image drinks cabinet to choose from. Check them out here .

All the Visible Image links are listed below;

Our kind, friendly and supportive customer Facebook Group is here ...it would be lovely to see you join us. You will be warmly welcomed and see lots of inspiration from the DT and customers to inspire your own creativity.  I also organize the monthly artist trading card swap in the group. It is open to everyone worldwide. Over 150 members, worldwide, have taken part since it started over 3 years ago. It's been such fun and it's so lovely to receive a unique piece of art from your partner in the post. The details and sign up for each swap are posted in the group on the 23rd of the month. The May sign up opened  today and will remain open until Monday 28th April. The fun theme is "red, white and blue". There is no "monthly" commitment, just join in when you have the time and if you live in the UK can you choose to post to the UK only if that suits you best. Do come over and join us, you will be most warmly welcomed. 

The main Visible Image Facebook business page is here

Their website is here

Visible Image also has its own You Tube channel here where you can see videos and Lives to give you lots of inspiration and ideas. 

Their Instagram page can be found here 

You will also find lots more of my own Visible Image personal makes over in my Instagram account here; @jane.tyrrell

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

Our May country view crafts challenge

 Hi everyone I am here today with my 1st design team make to hopefully inspire you to join our May challenge. The theme this month is to share your projects which are " aged, weathered, distressed or timeworn." You don't need a blog or an Instagram account, just head over to the group and join in with the fun! The link is Here and if you are not already a member just request to join and we will warmly welcome you. It is also be a place you can be the first to hear about workshops, the latest releases etc etc. We have a happy membership of over 380 crafters and we are growing every day. You can enter the challenges up to 5 times as you like as long as you use products from brands which are stocked on the Country View Website.

I decided to make a timeworn, distressed card. My background is a mix of distress spray stains inks . I used the lovely Visible Image dragon fly set stamp set "live in the moment" together with the embossing folder from the Vault floristry side order set and  die cut wild flowers plus some lace to achieve a timeworn, distressed look. 

This is the card I made.

And this is how it came together. I used one of my spray stain inky backgrounds from my stash and an offcut.

I brayered the folder with scorched timber distress oxide ink and embossed the offcut in my Sidekick. I also die cut a couple of the wildflowers from the offcut of card,

I cut the card background to size and stamped and clear embossed the sentiment from the live in the moment stamp set.

Using these Versafine clair inks  I randomly stamped the rings from the stamp set over the background.

I stamped out the dragonfly and cut it out.  I added gold ink and glossy accents to the wings and let it dry. 

I chose some vintage lace from my stash

and put my design together. I also distressed the edges of the card and embossed panel using my distressing tool. 

Here is my finished card once more.

I have linked to products available on the website in my post. If they are not in stock just email Susan, who should be able to order them in for you. 

Remember that you can find me most days over on Instagram Here @jane.tyrrell where I share many, many more makes then I have the time to blog.

I hope I may have inspired you to give our May challenge a go. There is a  fab prize up for grabs too for one randomly selected and you can enter up to 5 times. I will be back on 16th May with my 2nd make.

Bye for now,

Jane x