Winter wedding inspiration for Visible Image

Hi everyone, and welcome to my latest design team make for Visible Image. The theme for our makes this week is "winter weddings". I always think that the idea of having a winter wedding is very special. My immediate thoughts for a colour scheme were Kraft with white, gold and a pop of red. This is colour scheme I love to use for Christmas cards too. 

There is a gorgeous wedding verse set by VI and I knew this would be perfect to use as the focal of my card. There are 2 stamps in this set and you could just put "on your wedding day" on the front of the card and put the verse inside.

 This is my winter wedding card.

The the verse set I used was 

Wedding day

I also used the Grunge flourish  stamp

and Lilies with love stamps 

with their coordinating  dies.

Here is my step by step tutorial. 

First I stamped wedding sentiment and verse onto kraft card using Versafine Morning mist ink. 

Next I stamped the lilies with love image a couple of times onto smooth white card using embossing ink and gold heat embossed them. I cut them out using their co ordinating dies and also cut out by hand a few pieces of the leaves left behind. Don't worry that they have some parts cut away. They can be tucked away underneath the flowers. 

I cut out the verse using a rectangular stitched edge die from my stash  (but of course you can just cut this out by hand). 

I also ran some white ink around the edges of the plaque. 

Using embossing ink and white embossing powder I repeat stamped the Grunge flourish around the edges of a piece of  5 1/2" square Kraft  card. 

I then added the focal plaque to the centre, raising it up a little with foam 3D pads. 

I arranged the die cut lilies and leaves around the edges. I stuck them in place using a mix of glue and foam pads to give them some dimension. 

I added some finishing touches of my trademark sequins and 3 red gem hearts for a pop of winter colour. I then adhered it to a 5 3/4" white square card blank. 

Here's a close up

and 1 final shot.

Of course this design doesn't have to be just for a winter wedding card.  If you put a different sentiment or verse on the focal plaque it would also work for a winter birthday, or even a Christmas card.

 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 a monthly artist trading card swap in the group. Whether you are a new stamper or a seasoned one you are most welcome to join us. 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. 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.

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 

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

The heat is on

Wow the temperatures have certainly hotted up here in the south east of England. Yesterday was 36c and today we could break the all time record of 38.5c....phew!

My garden flowers are loving all this heat and sunshine especially my sunflower..how aptly named.

The bold colours in my pots also reflect the heat of the summer

It registered 38c on my sunny patio when I got home yesterday from a visit to Bird World

I think this pig at Birdworld had the best idea of the day!

It is also wedding season; we have family one in August so I decided to make some new stock of wedding cards for Dotty's Teahouse where my cards are sold. Here is one of them. 

I used some glittery die cuts and a stamped sentiment. 

a little close up of the stamped Lili of the Valley sentiment which I accented with gold pen. 

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

Addicted to stamps and More anything goes
Die cut Divas July anything goes
Crafting by designs 1/3 anything goes
Creative fingers 1/3 anything goes

Today is also rather special as it mine and my darling Hb's 38th Wedding anniversary. We will be celebrating and raising a glass of something bubbly.  We will find some shade as we celebrate. I will share the card I made for my Hb on Monday.

If you have this heat where you are keep cool.

Cheers!

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

Searching for snowdrops

Despite the winter so far being fairly mild I think the snowdrops this year are much later than usual. I went in search for some on a dull and dreary day.

This is my usual spot I find them near the ponds and sure enough I could see the shoots of some clumps.

These ones are not quite in bloom yet,

but just around the corner I was more successful

My first sighting of these dear little bulbs.
On Monday I met my dear friend Brenda at Wisley Gardens and was delighted to see lots more snowdrops there too.

I will share some more of those photos soon.

It makes me thing that spring is not too far away...but of course first we have Valentine's day!

So my card today is another of my 2019 range for Dotty's Tea House.
It's another of my Tim Holtz inspired tissue wrap technique backgrounds with distress paint.
I added lots of Tim Dies and a pop of glittered red hearts to finish off. I thought his paper doll couple looked just right there too.

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

Double D 1/3 looking back in time
Frilly and Funkie 1/3 vintage Valentine's
Shopping our stash 1/3 hearts on fire
A bit more time to craft 1/3 anything goes
Through the craft room door 1/3 anything goes
Crafty Catz 2/3 anything goes
Mix it up 5/5 anything goes

Thanks so much for stopping by, have you seen any snowdrops yet in flower?

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

Amethyst water cast pendant

Hello, the sunshine made a welcome return yesterday afternoon after quite a dull few days. I took these photos in the early evening last week, I really like the shadows cast at that time of the day.

My fuschia and pots are still hanging on to their colour.

My silversmithing class is on summer break for another month but I thought today I would share the pendant I finished on the last day of term in July.
You may remember that last year we played with watercasting and I cast some interesting organic shapes. If you missed that post you can see it here
I had some other piece left and decided to use it as the base for an amethyst I wanted to set.
These photos are taken on my work bench with my phone so not the best but I know people are interested to see the process.
Below is the piece of water cast silver.

This is the setting I made for my stone.

I soldered both pieces together

 I then carefully cut off the excess and filed the edges smooth.
Then I set the stone, this view is taken from above with my setting held in a vice on some setting wax, which had been melted first. It's very much like the wax used for seals and has that distinctive smell too. It holds the setting in place without marking it and I was then able to gentle tap the edges of my mount over. You then gentle tap the setting out from the wax.

I also soldered a hanging loop on the back.
Here is my finished pendant.

Silver is so hard to photograph but I think you can get an idea. You can even see my hands and the lens in the stone's reflection!

 So my card to day is also purple in colour

It's a very CAS wedding card made for Dotty's Teahouse. The die cut is Sizzix, the stencilled hearts are a Tim Holtz stencil. The maker of the sentiment escapes me ,sorry!

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

Simon says stamp Wednesday anything goes
AAA cards use a stencil
Happy Little stampers CAS die cuts
Creative Moments 2/3 anything goes
Lil patch of crafting friend's 3/3 anything goes

Thanks for stopping by, the sun is back here again this morning and I have a plan to start some Christmas cards..yes only 117 days to go..ho ho ho!!

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

My WI papercrafting journey

Last month I was delight to be invited back to my Mum's Womens' Institute (WI) group as their guest speaker at their AGM. I spoke there 2 years ago about my handmade jewellery and if you missed that post you can see it here. This time I was asked to speak about my papercrafting and I called my talk "My papercrafting journey"

When I was preparing for my talk I was intrigued to see how my papercrafting journey has evolved over the years especially since I retired from physiotherapy. How could I have possible known over 25 years ago when I bought my first stamp that I would be on 3 design teams having  my work on TV and published in several magazines?

Here are a couple of photos from this lovely afternoon.

I asked the ladies to give me a wave before I started

and they were kind enough to clap me at the end

and of course the afternoon had to feature handmade cake, tea

and lots of friendly chat.

I took along lots of projects, from cards to my scrap books and of course Jane's Journal! I gave Dotty's Teahouse a mention as Pett's Wood is not too far away for a visit. 

They even had a write up of my talk in their monthly newsletter which was so kind.

My card today is a new wedding card sale at Dotty's Teahouse as wedding season is in full swing.

I used a Lili of the Valley simply print digi and added lots of white and shimmer white summery die cuts. The stamp is Lili of the Valley and the butterfly is a Visible Image stamp which I have embossed and watercoloured. 

Crafty Catz 3/3 anything goes
Pixie's snippets playground #329

As you like it 3/3 favourite type of embossing and why for this card is it embossing using an embossing folder as it gives the perfect white on white background for my die cuts.

Time out 2/3 warm

Simon says stamp Wednesday bright and cheerful

Lil patch of crafty friends 2/3 anything goes
Die cutting Divas 1/3 add a buterfly

Thanks for stopping by and for your kind comments. This glorious weather continues, it feels like I'm in the Med! I'm off out to meet my dearest friend Karen for lunch and a catch up soon...let's hope the cafe has air con! 

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

A jewellery reveal

Now that my daughter's birthday has been and gone I can finally share one of my latest jewellery projects from my silversmithing class. It was a real labour of love but worth every second.
I bought some lovely stones a long while back and made some silver pins for them.

Next I made a toggle fastening

and then it was time to make lots of links for my chain from silver wire. First I made rings, which I soldered. Some I pulled them ovals and then flattened them all through a rolling mill. This took lots of 2 hour classes!

I then put together my design. First I had to saw through the ovals to put on the rings

and then re soldered them as I made my chain in stages.

Finally I polished everything before wiring in the stones. 

So here it is

with a couple of close ups

Made with lots of love xxx

My card today is a  near white on white wedding card. As today the sun is shining and the sap is rising in the plants I added in some greenery. Everything is looking lush outside and I am looking ahead to summer and the wedding season for my cards I make for Dotty's Tearooms. The image is a Lili of the Valley simply print. I glittered up their headdresses. The stamped sentiment is also LOTV.

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

Fussy and Fancy 3/3 add a sentiment
Simon says stamp Wednesday add some texture
Happy Little stampers 2/3 anything goes with dies
Creative moments 2/3 anything goes
That's Crafty 2/3 circles I used a circular sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy a lovely weekend. We are off to visit friends in Essex, the return of the sunshine is an added bonus. 

Back soon

Bye for now,

Jane x