Spreading some love and a Kewpie Valentine freebie for everyone

Thank you for your birthday wishes you left on my last post for my Hb. We had such a great family tea party on Saturday evening and then yesterday, his actual day, we went to Greenwich and visited the many sights there. I will definitely devote some blog posts to this soon as it was a sunny day and the light was just perfect for photography. I took over 200 photos (the wonders of a digital camera) and I will go through them and show some of the better shots. Again if you have a bucket list, Greenwich really should be on it.

Here is just one photo which I think shows the magic of how London weaves together the old with the new. I took it from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park looking down to the banks of the River Thames. It show the architecture of Sir Christopher Wren's Old Royal Naval college  in the foreground with the modern buildings of  Canary Wharf. An amazing view.

The main reason for my post today is that I am super excited today to be able to offer a Freebie from my friend Ignacio, of Nicecrane Designs to all my followers. Ignacio and I met through my interest in his Kewpie images. I was delighted to be invited to join his Design Team, as a permanent Guest Designer, last year. These images are so sweet and are also a favourite of my Mum, who remembers them from her childhood. I have used several of them on various projects.

Ignacio has brought out a new range of Kewpies, just in time for Valentine's Day. This is the sheet he has created and it is available either pre coloured or as black lined images for colouring. They are available in his store to purchase here

 He knows that I am a girl who loves to colour so I made my Guest Designer card for him using the black lined version which I coloured with my Promarkers and highlighted with Prismacolor Pencils.

And here is a close up of the sweet image.

I used the Docrafts pad and sentiments I won recently in Rhedd and Rosie's challenge (thank you ladies). I used  Pumice Stone Distress Ink on the edges. I also treatment myself to a new die set after some recent Etsy sales. The die is by Cheery Lynn and is called the Heart to heart lace Doily set. There are 4 dies in the set, I have just used the middle one. I can see me using these so much.
I have listed this card in my Etsy shop you can find the link here.

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

Cheery Lynn sweethearts
Pan Pastel UK anything goes
Cute card Thursday warm it up
Divas by Design ribbon
Stamping sensations ribbon, buttons or pearls
Whimsy stamps something new my new is the heart die and backing paper and sentiments
Sparkles show us your new stash this is my die and the backing papers and sentiments
Artistic Inspiration anything goes/use ribbon
Party time Tuesdays use ribbon
Passion for Promarkers ribbon, lace or twine
Make it Monday linky party #175

So here is the freebie which Ignacio has generously allowed me to put  here for all my followers to download and use.

Just right click on the image and save it to your computer. You can colour it or just print it off as it is. It is even fun to use as a bookmark or just a pretty picture. Isn't it an adorable image? Please respect the usual courtesies when taking freebies..please only use them for your own personal use and please don't forward them to other people: just spread the love by directing them here to my blog to get the image themselves. Thanks so much ;0)

Before I leave I thought I would share one more photo which really spreads so much love....hands up if your are happy..................

This was the smile my Darling Daisy Jane gave me on Sunday morning when she woke up in her moses basket.

and how cute is her giraffe Gro Bag for sleeping in...awwwww I could eat this little sweetie.

The sun has been out again today and the daylight is definitely lengthening  so go on, spread some love around and give a smile to someone.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

Sunshine after the rain and some Kewpie cuties

The rain on Saturday was quite spectacular and it came down in sheets for most of the day. My very parched garden had its first decent drop of rain for well over 6 weeks. I took advantage of not being able to garden and disappeared to my studio for a few hours to have some crafty play.

On Sunday the sun returned at lunch time and as we sat out in the garden the clouds started to clear
and we watched the huge cotton wool clouds floating overhead.

  

I also noticed all the rain drops hanging on my plants like glistening dew drops.

 There was also that amazing heady damp earth smell that takes me back to summers past. As my other blogging friends have commented there are some signs that autumn is just around the corner but certainly today summer is well and truely still here.
My fussy fushias have been show stoppers this year, this variety is called Blackie.

I also bought a very pretty patio rose. As you know I am not that pink a girlie but I do love this new rose called Gentle Touch

The eagle eyed of you will notice something long hanging down the wall where I was trying to photograph my rose,  yes it's none other than Inspector Billy ;0)

The colour of the rose inspired me to make a new card for my Etsy shop. It is a new baby girl card to replace one I recently sold. It is also good practice for me for when our grandbaby arrives.
I decided to use a wonderful image which was kindly sent to me by Ignacio, owner of Nicecrane designs.

My Mum remembers the original Kewpies which were around in the 1930s.  I also love these whimsical babies and I first saw one inked up by my blogging buddy Kate. I chose to use the girl sitting down and coloured mine up using Promarkers and Prismacolor pencils and fussy cut out the image.
I used my floral oval die to place her on. My sentiment is LOTV and I attached a cute stork charm. The little line die cut is Memory Box. The DPs are ancient, I bought them from the Craft Barn many, many years ago. The pearls are from The Hobby House. Here is my finished card and she is for sale here

What a cutie Kewpie. If you are interested in other designs, including a fab new brownie range do have a look over at the website. I also had a play with colouring another of the designs...here is a sneaky peek but you will have to wait to see the finished card ;0)

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

Papercrafting Journey anything goes
Addicted to stamps Option 2, use a Nicecrane image
Make it Monday Linky Party
Pile it on designer paper
Craft room challenge new something my new is this stamp
Totally Gorjuss add a bow
2 sisters Square cards
Pan Pastels pastel colours
The Cutie Pies anything goes
Pink Gem anything with a B my Bs are bow and baby
A little Bit Crafty summer sun, 3rd and final entry

I have put my new post up today as tomorrow I am off to my stamping class and on Tuesday evening/Wednesday I am catching up with my girlie. It will be great to have some time off work. I hope the weather was kind to you over the weekend too. Thanks for stopping by my post on Saturday and for all the very kind comments you left about my wedding Smash Album. I will be back soon. Have a great week,

Bye for now,

Jane x