Knowle

It was windy yesterday but the promised storms luckily seem to have passed us by here in the south and I am pleased to still be able to craft outside. The temperatures has dropped a little but no frost as yet. I have not had a chance to share a full post of my recent lovely visit to Knowle with my parents so I thought I would share some photos today. This gorgeous house is now owned by the National Trust but part of it is still lived in by the owners the Sackville-West family.

It is nestled away in Sevenoaks, Kent and is approached through the deer park where Henry V111 once hunted. We didn't spot any on our visit but they were out there somewhere. 

We did spot a few on the walls though 😁

 No photography is allowed in the house but I climbed to the top of the gate house 

via this very narrow circular staircase

 I emerged from the top 

and was rewarded with these stunning views.

If you are ever in that part of Kent this gorgeous house should be on your bucket list. It is well worth a visit and the lunches there are really good too.

I had some playtime in the week and I am pleased to report that my 4th card for the Funkie Junkie 12 tags of Christmas challenge is now under my belt.

If you would like to play along you can see all the rules here. There are some great prizes for the winners too. The challenge is generously sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique Linda shares a tag each week and you just have to take something from it and make something Christmas themed. I have always chosen to make cards and it's a great way to make 12 very unique cards for Christmas.

You can also combine it with any other challenges...so that is just what I did.

Linda's inspiration tag for week 4 is here. I liked her black silhouettes and the holly in the background. She also used the vintage carol sheet which I have used on my Christmas cards for years. I took these elements for the inspiration for my own make.

I  made a neutral inky background

 and then stencilled on holly leaves with my Tim stencil.

 I used black die cuts for my silhouettes. My Knowle visit also inspired me to use some deer die cuts again and I included Tim's holly leaves.

Here is my finished card

and a close up

I would like to enter it into the following challenges;

The Funkie Junkie 12 tags of Christmas #4
Creative Moments 3/3 anything goes
ABC Christmas 2/3 U for unlimited ie anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas challenge 1/3 anything goes #257
Christmas at sweet stampin 1/3 anything goes

The sun is out here so we plan some outside jobs here. Thanks for stopping by. I am back in the morning with my weekly dose of Visible Image inspiration.

Bye for now,

Jane x

A Bear hunt in the woods

As promised our lovely weather continued at the weekend and on Sunday it was so mild that we took our son's dog Bear out for a walk in our local woods.

There were just the odd shafts of sunlight through the canopy.

I also had time to make my next Calendar page for my art journal and took my inspiration from our Bear hunt. For this month the lines from the poem by Sara Coleridge are

Brown October brings the pheasant,
Then to gather nuts is pleasant

I loved seeing the sweet chestnuts and acorns hidden on the floor of the woods among the leaves.

Out came all my brown distress inks

I blended some colour on my card and then added more with my VI fibres stencil

I then added some stamping with distress inks as I wanted this to eventually blend into the background like the nuts on the floor of the woods.

I then added my bird from the VI Leave your fears set.

Again I used distress inks

Once I was happy with the background I gently sprayed vintage photo and tarnished brass over the whole piece to blend this all into the background. I wanted the birds to represent pheasants emerging from their cover. I also used some tree, leaf and bird die cuts.

Here is my finished art journal page

and a couple of close ups

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

The Craft Barn calendar challenge October (I have just realised that I used the word brown rather than fresh....I must have found a slightly different version on the Internet! I hope I can be forgiven!)

Happy little stampers watercolour challenge October

A vintage journey crazy for autumn colour

Noor UK fall colours

Creative Artiste 3/3 anything goes mixed media  I used distress inks, sprays and crackle glaze on 2 of my leaves in the corner
Sparkles monthly 1/3 autumn colours
Dies R Us 1/3 leaves
Creative Moments 1/3 anything goes

Thanks so much for stopping by today and enjoy the rest of the week. I will be back on Friday with my mid month inspiration for STAMPlorations.

Bye for now,

Jane x

The nights draw in

It's now getting dark just after 6.15pm and the clocks go back in a few weeks time. However it's not cold yet and the trees in my neighbourhood are looking awesome.

Some are just beginning to drop their leaves

 Mother Nature is getting ready to feed the wildlife though the winter

 If you look closely at the photo below Daisy's Mr Skinny Legs our friendly garden spider is still spinning his web. Busy catching flies for his supper.

I have been making some more Halloween tags. 

For the base of this one I stamped and embossed a Graphic 45 spider stamp. I picked this fun set up in a sale in the summer together with some papers. 

I also stamped some words from my Tim set in Wilted Violet Distress oxide

and then as we do covered it all up...LOL!

Here is my next Halloween tag...the Tim sentiment is stamped in blood red ink. The paper is graphic 45. The sentiment is my old Nicecrane one. I textured the pumpkins and gave red eyes to the witches cat.

with a close of this fun spooky ghost...

BOO!

My tag was made for the following challenges;

Emerald Creek Dares freaky fun

Card mania 1/3 halloween colours

Pixies snippets playground #301/2

Double D 1/3 fright night

Happy little stampers 1/3 anything goes with dies

Frilly and Funkie 1/3 show us your stamps well most of mine got covered up!

Simon says stamp Monday a walk on the wild side

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I'm back on Friday with my STAMPlorations Guest Designer post as the challenge is starting up again after the long summer break. 

Bye for now,

Jane x

Things are starting to get spooky

Good morning and happy October...autumn is really getting settled in and things will start to go bump in the night as we find ourselves hurtling towards Halloween. The weather has been very kind over the last week or so and we are still enjoying some warm sunshine. The trees have taken on their autumnal hues

and are dropping their leaves. Conkers have fallen like rain and lie like glistening jewels in the grass.

and in my garden golden hues are everywhere.

As it is the first of the month it is of course time for my next design team project for Country View and our brand new challenge. For this month the lovely Rachel has chosen very appropriately " Mixed media with autumnal hues". Remember that you can enter our challenge as many times as you like and combine with any other challenges. Your make can be anything creative! You may even be the lucky random winner of the £20 CVC voucher.

 You will find all the details here

  For my first piece this month I thought I would use a fab die as the focal on my mixed media card.....a hint of spooky things to come later in the month. I took some autumnal Paperartsy fresco paint colours

and brayered them onto some watercolour card.

I die cut lots of autumnal foliage as I will need some for all my October creating. I altered them with inks and stamping and gave some a crispy crackle with Crackle paste.

I added some  stencilling with my Tim harlequin stencil and distress oxides.

 The script stamping is my Visible Image Scripted streets stamp.

I added some gold Wendy Vecchi embossing paste through my Tim Holtz leaf stencil.

Then I added some die cut spider's webs. 

Then it was time to put my witches  creative hat on to put my card together. The fun die cut is by Cheery Lynn.

a couple of close ups

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

Crafty cardmakers 2/3  autumn
Cute card Thursday 1/3 trick or treat

Simon says stamp Wednesday anything goes

Creative Inspirations 2/3 anything goes
Crafty cardmakers autumn
Sweet stampin 2/3 autumn
Deep Ocean goodbye summer
That's crafty 2/3 forever autumn
Mixed media world 2/3 anything goes

 We really hope to see lots of you entering our mixed media autumnal hues challenge this month and remember you can find all the details and lots more inspiration from my CVC teamies  here .

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x