Continuing to sizzle

Records here in the south of England are being broken as our heatwave continues......we had 33c in the shade on Thursday and Friday...goodness knows what it was in the sun...it really feels like I have moved to Rhodes! My garden is looking a bit frazzled but I still have some colour in my pots and my tomatoes have ripened beautifully.

 Billy has been flaking out in any shade he can find.

 I enjoyed my first crop of tomatoes when Daisy stayed last week, there is nothing quite like the flavour of home growns. 

I am sharing a tag today, as we are meeting up for a family lunch at my son's. The fun egg stamp is Rubber Dance and provided a perfect seat for my Tim Holtz, very dapper paper doll to sit on in shade of the tree. The die cuts are a mix of Tim's and Cheery Lynn and the sentiments a mix of Tim's rub ons and small stickers. The stencils are Tim's and Visible Image. 

I thought my hearts, made from corrugated card and inked and flicked with gold paint looked a little like sun dried tomatoes! My son has become the most avid gardener...much to my amazement but total delight and spends many hours tending his gorgeous sunny garden.

Family Times together, now that our children are grown, are few and far between but they are a true delight when then happen and I like to record them.

 We all have our sunhats and deckchairs packed and will enjoy some precious family time together today. 

I would like to enter my tag into these challenges;

Rubber Dance colour theme or nature Their stamped eggs are perfect to sit my dapper chap on! 

Emerald Creek Dares 1/3 the great outdoors

PaperArtsy mint, sage, claret and gold (there is gold spray on my hearts, hard to see in the photos but they are there!)

Creative Artiste 1/3 anything mixed media

Simon says stamp Wednesday make your own background

Creative fingers 3/3 anything goes

Enjoy your weekend too, keep cool if you are in this part of the country.

I will be back on Monday with my next Visible Image Wonderland sample.

Bye for now,

Jane x

Cast a clout, the May is out

Yes after all that amazing weather we enjoyed over the bank holiday weekend the Hawthorn is in flower which means the May is out!

The ancient saying "Don't cast a clout til May be out" means the Hawthorn blossom, (May flower) not the month. I hope that we have seen the last of any frosts, especially here in the South of England.

I snapped the May over the weekend. It is such a pretty flower but with a very odd scent indeed!

I had bumper April card sales down at Dotty's Tearooms so I have been busy making some new stock. My card today is one of them. I was inspired by the fresh spring colours around me and created an inky background with my distress inks. Friendship cards sell very well at Dotty's and I used this very old Lili of the Valley sentiment stamp lots.

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

The butterfly challenge spin the wheel and the letter H It is Mrs A's 100th challenge, such an achievement. I am so glad to join her and hope many of you will too. I went for Hunter's green for my plain leaves  and some of my inking and heat embossing, my sentiment was heat embossed.

Crafty catz 2/3 anything goes

Lil patch of crafty friends 2/3 anything goes

Crafty Calender 2/3 Things with wings

Cute card Thursday 2/3 anything goes
Dies R Us 1/3 flowers
Double D May flowers
Sweet stampin 1/3 flowers

Thanks as always for stopping by and for the kind comments you take the time to leave me. I would also like to warmly welcome my newest follower. 

Enjoy the better weather and all the colours of Mother Nature in May (the month!) I even spied some butterflies over the weekend, a sure sign how much warmer it has been.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

Wintery walks

As the weekend was such a washout and it was mostly spent indoors I thought I would share the last of my photos of my recent walks when Bear came to stay. A lot of our many walks with Bear were on very cold but gorgeous blue sky days.  I shared our walk to the woods here .One day we walked to Carew Manor through Beddington Park and I snapped a  few photos of the beautiful church too.

We have such wonderful historical buildings in our area, Carew Manor dates back to King Henry V111 time and is now a school for children with special needs.
On the way home we even spotted a white heron

It might look warm in these photos but believe me it was freezing and as the sun went down the frost returned.

My project today is a nature inspired one. It's a birthday money holder I made, inspired by the wildlife we saw and these awesome greens and blues from our walk. I got inky with some distress inks and added lots of layers of stamps.

 These birds looked very chilled out sitting there.

 I used lots of circular date Crafty Individuals rubber stamps too.. below shows the inside.

It was made for the following challenges;

Allsorts wings on things my birds have plenty!
A vintage journey going round in circles I used lots of circular postage rubber stamps on my wallet.
Everybody art anything goes #394
Moving along with the times 1/3 something in the air.
Let's craft and create 1/3  things with wings
Simon says stamp Monday chill out  my birds on the line are totally chilled out, as we were on our walk.
A bit more time to craft 2/3 anything goes
The ribbon girls 1/3 any image
Craft Heaven 2/3 winter blues
Happy Little stampers mixed media layers I have given the appearance of layers by layering my stamps using different inks.
We love to create 2/2 anything goes mixed media
Crafty catz add ribbon

Thanks for stopping by today and for your kind comments. Enjoy the rest of the week.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

2017

Happy New Year!

Wow here we are at the start of a brand new year. Welcome to 2017 and I hope you enjoyed all your Christmas and New Year Celebrations. We went down to see in the New year with Daisy and Co and had such fun.

The weather turned so chilly for the end of December but Mother Nature as always looked so beautiful. We managed a walk in the woods which I will share soon but here is one of the photos.

Not only is it the start of the new year but it is also our very first challenge of the year over at Country View. It's a really simple theme for January an "Anything goes" challenge this time. 

You can share any handmade craft, it doesn't have to be cards or tags it could even be a knitted item.  There are no limitations to the number of other challenges or the number times you can enter. You can win a £20 voucher too so it's win win in my books! All the details can be seen here. 

I wanted to make a New Year card with an inked and stencilled background. I wanted some spirals and "whizzes" (you might not know what I mean but it will all make sense) but I have no stencils like that. Soooo I decided to make my own and rather that cut them out I decided to make them with my glue gun! I rarely use a glue gun and whilst looking at projects on the Internet I found that lots of people make their own stencils with them so this is what I got up to.

Mine is a real cheapie gun purchased from Tiger for £4.

I just drew my spirals and "whizzes" by hand onto a craft mat

when then had cooled I peeled them off

 and arranged them on a sheet of mixed media paper to make a master board

Out came my sprays 

first red 

then I washed and dried the stencils and moved them over so that I could spray gold

I loved this effect. 

I wanted to add some fireworks but the only thing I could find in my stash was this tree...no I'm not mad...............

I just masked off the trunk, inked it up

and hey presto, fireworks were now going off in the background. 

I wanted some final bling so I added some glittery stars through my star stencil, which I forgot to take a photo of but you can see in my final card photos.

I cut a piece of card from my master board and put on my creative hat  and this is my New Year's card.

The image is a sweet Nicecrane digi. It was sooo hard to show the background but here is a close up. IRL the gold shimmer and the paste really sparkle and you can see the fireworks exploding! If you want to see what I made with the remainder of my masterboard stop by again on this Thursday. I will give a clue that it has a rather "loving" feel to it 😉

I would like to enter my first card of the new year into the following challenges;

Time Out 2/3  with each sun rise we are given the chance for a new beginning I am certainly looking forward to 2017 and all that it brings.
That's crafty 3/3anything goes
Winter Wonderland someone special or happy new year mine is for new year

Pile It on 3/3 any holiday/celebration

Simon says stamp Wednesday anything goes

Cute card Thursday 3/3 anything goes

CRAFT anything goes

                Creative Inspirations 3/3 anything goes with optional sketch

                     Allsorts 1/3 something new mine is the New Year!
             Dutch card lovers new year card

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a fabulous New Year everyone....

I found this great poem by Helen Hunt Jackson written in the 1892. It's a great way to start 2017.....and worth remembering,as Helen wrote, that we don't need a new year to make any resolutions or changes...each day starts anew as it is only a night from old to new!

Only a night from old to new!

Only a night, and so much wrought!

The Old Year’s heart all weary grew,

But said: “The New Year rest has brought.”

The Old Year’s hopes its heart laid down,

“The blossoms of the New Year’s crown

As in a grave; but, trusting, said:

Bloom from the ashes of the dead.”

And cried: “I have not half I need.

The Old Year’s heart was full of greed;

With selfishness it longed and ached,

True love it shall understand;

My thirst is bitter and unslaked.

But to the New Year’s generous hand

All gifts in plenty shall return;

I was a slave; it shall go free,

By all my failures it shall learn.

I have been reckless; it shall be

 The Old Year had its work to do;

Quiet and calm and pure of life.

And find sweet peace where I leave strife.”

Never a night such changes brought.

Only a night from old to new!

No New Year miracles are wrought.

All nights are sacred nights to make

Always a night from old to new!

Night and the healing balm of sleep!

Each morn is New Year’s morn come true,

Morn of a festival to keep.

    Each sunrise sees a new year born.

Confession and resolve and prayer;

All days are sacred days to wake

Only a night from old to new;

New gladness in the sunny air.

Only a sleep from night to morn.

The new is but the old come true;

Have a happy and healthy 2017 everyone. I hope that it brings you all your hearts' desire. 

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

March winds

Wow the weather certainly turned topsey turvey over Easter. From sitting in the heat of the sunshine in the garden on Friday to the tempest of Storm Katie who blew her way in during Sunday and screamed around during Monday morning.

We were lucky enough on Sunday to find a couple of sunny hours in the afternoon to walk off some of the Easter chocolate and to burn some energy off from my son's dog Bear. Bear loved "herding" us along the coastal walk and checking on Daisy sleeping in her buggy, oblivious to the wind.

I wish these photos had a "hearing" part as the wind was really howling

The Marina looked gorgeous in the sunshine

But just look how choppy the water was

But Bear is never put off by the weather

It was a fab walk and when Daisy work she amused us by donning her sunglasses

As the weather closed in we returned to our daughter's home and all enjoyed a wonderful roast gammon dinner cooked by my SIL and shared around the table by my Hb and I and our dear children and their partners. Such treasured family times. 

My card today is another Easter card I made using the same techniques I used for my March Tim's card version of his tag here
I stamped out a whole sheet of sentiment using my Visible Image Bronte senitment stamp

I the added a mixed media die cut page

 and then add some bright spring colours using gellatoes

 I prepared a corrugated front

 and die cut lots of spring flora and fauna

So then it was time to put my card together.
This is what I made

.... bright butterflies being admired by some little birdie friends. I used lots of inks and sprays to create the bark appearance of the card and the birds.

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

Anything but cute crazy for colour
Allsorts  2/3 wings
Emerald Creek Dares Easter Parade
Stamps and Stencils Spring is in the air 
Butterfly challenge M is for margin and/or mint
Artistic Inspiration  1/ 3 anything goes
We love to Create 1/2 anything mixed media #7
Crafty Boots 1/3 spring is in the air
Crafting from the heart 1/3 anything goes

The weather has calmed down again and the evenings are so light now after the clocks sprung forward. I have lots to look forward to this week.... I will share more later this week.
Thanks for visiting,

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x