Home with the sunshine

Happy October everyone. I'm back from my wonderful holiday in Rhodes. Thanks for all your lovely comments you left on my post whilst I was away. My Moment is sitting proudly in my studio and I can transport myself back to our special time there every time I look at it.

I need to download all my photos and will share some soon but today I just wanted to share some of the wonderful sunshine I have woken up to. Here is the UK the weather seems set fair and it really is wall to wall sunshine.

I opened my backdoor this morning to hang out the first of several loads of holiday washing (!!) and was greeted by this lovely autumnal view which I had to photograph.

The moon was still in the sky...talking of the moon we watched the gorgeous full moon whilst away and I got some great photos which I will share soon.

Everything was soaked with morning dew here but still so beautiful.

Someone is very pleased to be home too....but I have told him that crafting will have to wait

.........................:0)

It's great to be home, there is no better place.

My card today is a Guest Designer card for Ignacio of Nicecrane designs. It is inspired by the autumnal colours that have greeted me on my return to England and the fact that now that it is October...there is spookiness ahead at the end of the month.

The image is from the Nicrane on line digi store and you can find it here

I love this sheet and use it lots 

The fab spooky die cuts are Cheery Lynn. I made a very inky background with my distress inks and stencils. The leaves are Memory box and crackled with Crackle paste. I added some Halloween remnant rubs and some spooky charms which I painted. There is even a Tim skull stamp too which I stamped onto book pages. 

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

Cheery Lynn anything goes
Simon says stamp Wednesday anything goes
Rubber Dance autumnal colours tree bark, falling leaves and pumkin.
Crafting for all seasons autumnal hues
Dies R Us Halloween
Country View add some texture
Noor UK Halloween/autumn
Pixie's snippets playground 196 I used snippets of card to make my leaves
Crafty friends name that tune  name that tune mine is "Monster" by Automatic..particularly the lyrics...What's that coming over the hill......
That Craft Place anything goes mixed media mixed media anything goes
Artistic inspiration anything goes
Crafting from the heart anything goes
We love to create anything mixed media goes

Enjoy this very welcome early autumn sunshine if you are in the UK and if you don't have any where you are Billy and I are sending you bucket loads. I adore the colours seen in Mother Nature at this time of the year...so much to inspire me.

Back soon,

Bye for now ,

Jane x

Spring blossom

The weather last weekend was simply glorious. What a difference a blue sky makes.

 The cherry tree outside my house is in full blossom

and the magnolia is also in flower in my garden.

Buds are just bursting out everywhere

This unexpected burst of warm weather meant one thing on Sunday....lunch and tea on the patio

and once someone saw us out in the garden you can guess who wanted to join in can't you

yes our sweet Billy....

who found some shade under my chair and rolled around in glee ;0)
Such a welcome relief to the dreadful wet winter we have endured. Knowing our fickle English weather no doubt by the end of the month it will be snowing but for the weekend we basked in the sunshine and breathed in that warm balmy air.

My card today is a GD piece for Ignacio as his newest spring introductions are wonderful. You all enjoyed my blossoms and birds cards, this one uses his newest release,

Enchanted Spring which is available here
Here is my card creation

 and here is the gorgeous image in close up

I used my favourite floral oval die to cut her out and added lots of floral die cuts and also some sweet butterflies cut with my MS small butterfly punch. The backing paper is ancient, from my stash (which I am trying to use up before I buy any new ones ;0) The little tag sentiment is Lili of the Valley, I use these so much, they tuck in so well. The glittered brads add just a touch of zing.

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

Oldie but a Goodie spring has sprung my button twine is over a year old as are my stamps.
Love to create anything goes
The Squirrel and the Fox autumn or spring
Cupcake inspirations butterflies
Country View Crafts paper chase my butterflies, the centres of the flowers and the backing paper are all all cut from paper.
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Mother's Day/special girl
My Mum's Craft Shop Spring/Easter


Today has also been glorious and as it's my day off I met up with my Darling Daughter and Daisy. We met at Painshill in Surrey. It is renowned as one of England's most elegant 18th Century landscapes gardens. Oh my it lived up to that promise. It is so picturesque. We had such a wonderful time and I will certainly write a post soon but just to whet your appetite here are a couple of snaps of our day out.

and just look at my Darling Daisy Jane....what a wonderful day we shared.

 and by the time it was going home time she had completely exhausted herself. My darling grandbaby was 4 months old on Tuesday, how fast the time has flown by.

This settled dry period is due to continue right into the weekend, I hope everyone in the UK is enjoying it. To my friends on the East of the USA  and my other european buddies I really hope your snow clears soon and in the meantime I am sending you some English sunshine to brighten your day.

Back soon,

Bye for now ,

Jane x

Signs of Spring

Yesterday morning we woke up to blue skies and sunshine, such a bonus at the weekend. We had already appreciated how light the mornings and evenings are becoming...all signs that spring is on it's way. My daffodils are well ahead this year and were nodding sweetly in the rays of the sun. Such a pretty sight.

I also noted that my flowering current is in blossom.

And look at the buds on my magnolia

Last week Ignacio of Nicecrane sent his DT some of his new releases. I really loved these images, they are just perfect for spring themed projects and they are aptly named Blossoms and Birds. I decided that it was a perfect time for my inspiration from my garden to help me create a few projects for him as his DT guest designer.This lovely sheet is available here.

I first decided to make a card using the bluetit image on the bottom left. I made an inky backing card using some very spring coloured Distress Inks, one of them is named Mown Lawn, what a great name! I also added a few flicks of water to give some extra texture.

I wanted to made a scene like my branches I saw on my magnolia tree so I used my Marianne bough die which I inked to give some depth. I also wanted to make some blossom so I headed for a couple of punches I have had for years and punched out some little blossoms, I wanted these to have just a delicate wash of colour so mad woman that I am I decided to paint them.....I kid you not and here is a photo to prove to prove it.

 The backing card is some gorgeous new blue pearl card which fell into my online shopping basket the other day.

Here is my finished piece. I kept it quite simple as I think it shows off the image, blossom and backing card without other big distractions.

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

Frilly and Funkie Bloomin' marvellous
Ladybug crafts Ink flowers galore
Country View Crafts Painty Pleasures
Totally Papercrafts spring
Artistic Stamper use Distress
4 Crafty Chicks things with wings
Cupcake Inspiration Birds
Pile It on Thinking of you

And in case you have been missing the newest flower in my family... darling Daisy...she is 14 weeks old tomorrow and has started swimming lessons ;0)

Here she is 2 weeks ago wearing Nana's handknit...;0)

and my daughter sent me these photos during the week of Daisy when she first woke up, waving to Nana...bless ;0) She is losing her very dark hair she was born with and looks as though her hair is going to be a light brown.

Daisy is just such a happy soul, her photos make me smile every day and I do miss her lots.

and when my girlies came to stay the other week we had lunch in Caffe Nero and it seems my granddaughter has already taken an interest in cake...it must be in the genes.She was fascinated by it but at least at this age can't pinch any from her Nana. 

and good news...my girlies are driving up to meet me after my silversmithing class on Tuesday and then we have a whole day down there with them on Saturday, I can't wait.

Thanks for all you kind words and your entries to my jewellery giveaway, I have put a link in my sidebar for it and also you can find the post here if you would like to join the fun. It is open until 7 March to everyone.


Today is rather dull and damp but I have plenty to keep me busy as it's my darling son's 25th birthday tomorrow and we are hosting a little tea party here in the evening...so there is a cake to bake....must get going.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

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