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

Blossoming well

I do love seeing the wonderful blossom growing at this time of the year. It really is quite spectacular especially when seen with a background of clear blue skies.

 I have taken snaps of some of the local blossom around me...it's like confetti on trees!

My card today takes uses the inspiration of this beautiful confetti blossom and is one of a series of wedding cards I have made recently for Dotty's Teahouse.  They have proved very popular indeed and have been flying out.

I have found that it does not pay me to sell cards where I hand colour intricate stamps. I love my Lili of the Valley rubber stamps and I still do colour some in for special family cards but as they can take me over an hour to colour a single image it is not practical for making these as cards to sell. However I recently noticed that Lili of the Valley are selling lots of their designs in a format called Simply Print. They are coloured digital images which you "Simply print at home".  I decided to buy one of their gorgeous wedding images. They are brilliant.

Here is one of my white on white creations using one. I embossed a white background and added lots of gorgeous white die cuts. I finished off with a hand stamped sentiment and some sequins. This one sold with a day of me taking it into the shop!

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

The ribbon girl 3/3 use any image
Artistic Inspirations 3/3 anything goes
Lil patch of crafty friends 3/3 anything goes
Noor UK  flowers
Card Mania April showers brings May flowers

I hope that you are enjoying the gorgeous blossom too...it's everywhere...just remember to look up when you are outside! It's turned very chilly again for the last few days too so don't be tempted to put any tender plants out just yet.
Thanks for all your kind wishes re our darling little Jack...he's doing well. Here he is this morning as we stayed last night.

He's blossoming too 😍

 I will be back with some more photos very soon...and his card I have made for his Birthday 😊


Bye for now,

Jane x

A vintage day

Hello and a very warm welcome to my blog. If you are a first time visitor via the Visible Image Facebook page you will discover that my photos of my surroundings and Mother Nature give me all my inspiration for my crafting. If you would just like to see my vintage wedding card just scroll to the bottom of this post. If though you would like to see how I was inspired.....read on........

I looked through my photos on file and realised that I had not yet shared my day out at the lovely National Trust property, Uppark in West Sussex in July. We enjoyed a wonderful day out there in with dear friends. Much of the interior decoration of Uppark were destroyed by fire in 1989  but it was restored to its former glory by the most incredible craftsmen. Luckily when the fire broke out most of the contents were rescued from the ground floor and saved.

Uppark stands in glorious grounds

I love seeing old kitchens, just imagine cooking here...talk about Upstairs/downstairs.

a tray had been set up for afternoon tea....one lump or two Madam ;0)

It must have been amazing to just ring the bell and be served this on a tray! I love the vintage lace cloth.
There was even a dairy where butter and cheese was made for the house.

With such pretty glass windows

This was the view

So looking at these photos gave me an idea for  wedding card I needed to make for Dotty's Teahouse..a very vintage one. By the way Dotty's won Newcomer of the Year at the recent Surrey Life awards. I am very proud to be able to say that I sell my cards at an award winning tearooms ;0)

For my card I used my new set of Visible image stamps..sent to me by Helen to use for my Design work

this set is for sale on their web site here
I used the sentiment to repeat stamp a background . I'm glad I took a photo as I then covered most of it up!

I used the poem, written by Helen as the focal. I stamped and embossed it onto my Craft Consortium papers. I used a  labels die to cut it out. I also made up a frame and a doily die cut in the same papers, mounting them onto card.

I stamped the lovely rose from the set onto book papers using archival inks and fussy cut them out. I finished everything off with a couple of heart pearls and a piece of vintage lace.

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

Penny Black and More 3/3 use a sentiment
Everybody Art anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Monday At the movies My movie is Muriel's Wedding.
Cheery Lynn Vintage You can see my English tea party doily die peeping out at the top and bottom of my card

Thanks for visiting me here today. I have scheduled this post as I am actually somewhere else....

Tee hee yes it's that time ;0)

Back very soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x