Smile, it's May!

Good morning. Today we have reached May 1st and Mother Nature is in full flow around me. I adore this time of the year. Everything is bursting open 

 the trees are nearly back in full leaf

 and the blossom is everywhere

Of course it also means it's time for a new challenge over at Country View Challenges. For this month the theme is "Be humorous" Now that is open to so many interpretations, from adding a funny quote, words, image etc etc. As always 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.

All the details can be found here

I decided that a new baby card would be very appropriate for this time of the year. First I took out a sheet of yupo paper and I added some blue alcohol inks. Sorry about the poor photo but it was taken late in the evening in my studio!

I have a fun baby quote stamp (long discontinued) which I use a lot (and sell a lot) on my cards for selling at Dotty's tea house. I thinks it really does make people smile.
I also used Tim's crescent moon and stars Bigz die and die cut a moon and stars from snippets of white card. I added grey distress inks to the stars plus a wink of Stella for some sparkle when dry.

I did the same with the moon but blended in some chipped sapphire too.

This is what I put together.

It is a sentiment which always raises a chuckle and is perfect for new baby cards.

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

Pixie's snippets playground #325 
Lil patch of crafty friends 3/3 anything goes
Crafty catz 2/3 anything goes
Simon says stamp Monday time out my entry depicts night time when the moon shines and the stars are out.


We would love to see you enter our "Humour" challenge this month over at Country View. All the details can be found here

I hope you all have a wonderful month ahead, "May time, play time" is what I always sung a primary school!

Now as the theme over at Country View Challenges for this month is humour I just had to share some really corny baby jokes;

How do you get a baby astronaut to sleep?
You rock-it

Eddie; "My Mum's having a new baby"
Sarah; "Why, what's wrong with the old one?"

What are baby witches called?
Halloweenies.

Now come on I bet that did at least raise the corner of your mouth into part of a smile 😂 Enjoy a great May.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

Blooming lovely, Visible Image's brand new stamps preview

Today is a very special day as I am absolutely delighted to be able to share my first Design Team sample made with 2 of the brand new Visible Image stamp sets which are being previewed all this week.

The new stamps are being launched in the USA at Creativation which Helen and Mark,  aka Mr and Mrs Visible Image, are attending for the very first time in 10 days time. They will be flying the flag for their awesome brand which I have the joy of being able to design for. The new stamps will be available to pre order from 12th January.  I will give all the details at the end of this post.

Over the last month I have secretly been beavering away working on some of the new designs and I have made several projects with them. I will be sharing them all over the coming weeks.

Every day this week Helen will be sharing more of the new release over on the Visible Image blog here. They will also be shared on their Facebook page here so don't miss out...why not like their page, click "get notifications" and you will be amongst the first to be able to see all the amazing work my fellow design team members have created for you. You will be blown away by just how unique this new range of stamps are. 

So just to tease you a little more, before I share my first sample, I have a few photos of my sweet hyacinth which started to bloom over the Christmas holiday. Each year I like to grow a bulb in my special bulb holder. I add water and watch first the roots appear..and later the flower starts to bloom...

 and grow.

Now you may wonder what on earth all this has to do with the new Visible Image release.......well it certainly does because the first stamp set that I am showcasing is called..

Bloom and Grow.....an amazing and totally unique stamp baby set

together with the second new set called Organics

...a large A5 set which has so many uses. I can see trees branches, twigs, the sky, the seas, seaweed, frost, ink splats and drips....the list is endless.

Amazing aren't they and so original!

These 2 sets work perfectly together and I decided to make my very own bloom and growing flower baby card.

I've been so busy that I have not got many process photos on file so here is my step by step in words.....First I took some Kraft card and added some walnut stain and antique linen distress oxides, using the wrinkle free technique. Once dry I stamped the fingerprint in red Versafine Claire ink and then added the love stamp from bloom and grow to make the stalk. I then used Organics to stamp some more foliage using a mixture of Distress oxides and Versafine inks.

I then added lots of lovely frantage to give some sparkle and texture... and make a very "organic" card. 

I stamped and embossed the baby and the sentiment and added them to finish off my card.

Here it is..

Just look at the details of the baby.... I love the little flower inside ...such a fab finishing design touch by Mark. I highlighted this one in white but in other projects I have also coloured it in...the choices are endless.

Here are a couple of close ups;

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

Fashionable stamping 3/3 celebrate
Frilly and Funkie 1/3  3 is not a crowd I cut the sentiment from the set into 3 parts before adding them to my card.
Simon Says stamp Monday something new mine are my stamps
The Artistic stamper 2/3 anything goes
Happy Little stampers water colour challenge anything goes
As you like it 2/3 anything goes
Craft Stamper take it make it January anything goes

Simon says stamp Wednesday something new mine are my stamps

Allsorts 1/3 Something new my new stamps!
Penny Black and More 1/3 something new  these brand new, never seen before stamps!

Remember that we are sharing all the new stamp designs every day this week over on the Visible Image blog here so do pop over to see the amazing creations my fellow design teamies have made.
Prepare to be wowed by this awesome new release. Mark Alexander has, as always, designed the most original, unique stamps, unlike any others you will see in the stamping market. They are a total joy to design with and so versatile. All you need is your imagination!

 I am so proud that my some of my work will be travelling all the way to the USA to be displayed.

You can also check out Visible Image via these links;

Visible Image group page on Facebook. Our friendly Group can be found here ...it would be lovely to see you. You can add work to the "Show and Tell" album where one randomly chosen winner each month wins a £25 coupon to spend on the website.

The main Visible Image Facebook page is here; there are weekly stamp giveaways...open world wide!

And the shop web site is here; where all these gorgeous stamps and stencils can be purchased. 

You can also follow via:

 Pinterest

Twitter

and

 Instagram

I will be back on Thursday sharing another card sample I made using another set from the new release.....I can't give you a sneak peek but I will give a very, very cryptic clue to my card......I will digging out a couple of my old paperbacks to photograph too.......tee hee!

The new stamps are available to pre order on the Visible Image web site here from 12 January and will also be available to buy from all you favourite Visible Image retailers, world wide, very soon.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Keep snug, it's turned very chilly here.

Bye for now,

Jane x

Thank yous

I really love our blogging community, everyone is kind and thoughtful. I have had so many messages, emails and cards to congratulate me and my family on the birth of our darling grandson Jack, who was born on 21st April. He is now 3 weeks old and although still so tiny (he was only 5lb 13oz at birth) he is putting on weight. When weighed a week ago he was 6lb 1oz so Mummy is doing really well with her feeding.

I know everyone has been asking how he is so here are a couple of photos from last Thursday and Friday when I went down to stay.

 Our darling Daisy is so grown up and is the most loving and caring big sister

 to her sweet little baby bro

We have a great friend who has lived in our road for over 30 years. She came to the rescue to look after our cat Billy at very short notice when we were going up and down to Southampton just before and after Jack was born. As a thank you I bought her a bottle of wine. I thought the baby feet logo was most appropriate and the wine is a gold medal winner.

As you can imagine time was pretty short at that time to make a thank you card so I made her a thank you gift tag instead.

It went down very well 😋
I have a full step by step of how I created this over on the Country View shop blog today if you would like to see. Here is the link . I used the wonderful distress oxides and some stencilling and added a stamped thank you.

I would like to enter my gift tag into the following challenges;

Dies R us 1/3 shaped cards/projects
A bit more time to craft 1/3 anything goes
Artistic Inspirations 1/3 anything goes
Crafting from the heart 1/3 anything goes

Thank you everyone for your blogging friendship, I appreciate your good wishes very much indeed.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

A new life

Hello friends, I promised I would return with some more photos of my darling new grandson born a week ago. Our Jack William is just gorgeous and although no bigger than his sister Daisy's dolly he is feeding well and in just 1 week brought so much joy to our family.

Here are a few of my favourite photos of my darling Jack;
His first hold by big sister...just look at the joy and tenderness on her face

We went shopping together to buy his giraffe and some clothes...how grown up my darling Daisy looks here...💖

She gave her pressies to her new baby bro

and when we got home she put her own dolly in her new Moses basket (I made this for her own Mummy when her baby bro was born 28 years ago).

How tiny Jack is in his Moses basket (this is the same basket his Mummy and Uncle slept their early days in ).

My very precious boy

Oh my...how much love our grandchildren bring us.

So of course my card today is the one I made for Jack's birthday...it really was his birthday wasn't it.

Yes I just had to make one of my "special" accordion cards for him, just like I did for Daisy.
I used my favourite Penny Black hedgie rubber stamp for the main focal, which I coloured with Promarkers.

I added glossy accents to the daisies, teddy, bows and butterfly. The tag is Lili of the Valley. The papers are First Edition.

The little clothes line with pegs on your left is from a  Lili of the Valley baby stamp set. I paper pieced it and added Pinflair underneath to make them look as thought they are flapping in the wind (the photo does not do this justice). The snug baby and baby in bath (on your right) are buttons and the die cuts are all Memory Box.

Below is one last shot of the cute Hedgie

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

Penny Black and  More 1/3 spring
Penny Black Saturday 1/3 spring or Easter
I love Promarkers anything goes I have used ProMarkers and FlexMarkers to colour my hedgie.
Sweet Stampin 2/3 I wish I could fly...I imagine that's what this hedgie dreaming of is his hammock, shown by the birds on my pattered paper too.

The ribbon girl 3/3 use any image

As you like it 3/3 favourite colour and why These are my favourite blues and greens, I think this combo works so well for baby boy cards. 

Allsorts I spy something beginning with B my B's are; baby, butterfly, blue, bath, bubbles, buttons, babygro, bundle of love, bows and birds! A full house I think. 

Simon says stamp Wednesday anything goes

Simon says stamp  work it Wednesday 2/3 April showers bring May flowers

Deep Ocean spring

Noor UK flowers

I am back on Monday with not one but two DT posts as it is the first of the Month for Country View and another Marvellous Monday for some inspiration for Visible Image. I can also give you a heads up that Visible Image are starting up a monthly themed challenge over on Facebook..pop back on Monday when I will reveal all. 

Have a wonderful bank holiday weekend. We are hoping to catch up with our children again. Thanks for stopping by today and for the kind comments you take the time to leave me. I love reading every single one of them.

Bye for now,

Jane x

Going round in circles for my July Country View Challenge DT inspiration

Hello and welcome to July which must mean that it's time for my next DT post for Country View Challenges.  June was far from flaming but the rain and sunshine we had means that my garden is full of flowers and looking lush.

This month we have been asked to "have fun with circles" by the lovely Hazel who is hosting the challenge.
As you well know there is a "cute" girl inside my mixed media shell so I decided for this month's DT posts I would let my cute side out to play for a change. I decided to make new baby cards using as many circles as I could. I will share the boy's one today and the girl's one for my mid month inspiration post which is on 7th July.

After years of hankering after one I finally found myself the Penny Black baby hammock  stamp.

I stamped it and coloured it using my Promarkers. I  love colouring images but they do take some time. These are never cards in a hurry.  I highlighted it with my Prismacolour pencils and cut it out using a circular die.

I wanted to use as many circles as I could when creating my card so here goes and if you see any more let me know ;0)

1. I used a circle die to cut out my image
2. I used a circle scallop for the border.

3. I used circular jump rings to attach a dummy charm which had a circular loop!

4. I chose 2 papers from my stash both of which feature lots of circles.... and even circles within circles.

5. I used circular pearls and gems as embellies.

Phew.....I really had fun with circles...and here is my finished card.

I would like to enter it into the following challenges;

Simon says stamp Work it Wednesdays wafer thin dies my circle dies are both wafer thin Spellbinders.
Deep Ocean colours of summer

Moving along with the times new baby

Everybody Art male

Crafting from the heart anything goes
Simon Says stamp Wednesday anything goes
As you like it favourite markers and why mine are Promarkers. they are where I started with colouring over 5 years ago and I still love the way they blend. I have lots!
Crafty Hazelnut's patterned paper challenge anything goes July

I hope you will try to join us over at Country view for our new "have fun with circles " challenge. It runs until 31st July and you can enter using any craft and any style. There is no limit to the number of entries nor the number of other challenges you also enter. Simples.....my kind of challenge ;0) You can find the link to it here

Thanks for visiting and for the kind comments you take the time to leave.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

New life in the park

We had a lovely weekend looking after my son's dog Bear. He is such a lovely boy and loves long walks (as I do too). On Sunday I decided to walk to a park a little further than our local ones to see what Mother Nature was up to. The weather was sunny if a little chilly, but perfect for a long walk.

The trees are coming into leaf and I noticed several nests on the lake

I captured this sweet moment as a daddy coot brought food to his mate who is obviously sitting on her eggs.

I then spotted over on the island that there are some babies already hatched. I call these dino birds...I have no idea of their real name but they fly to our area every year and to me they look just like dinosaurs! They had 3 sweet chicks and the father was very protective to them.

Bear loved watching them.

There were also lots of young swans, these are not babies from this year but they still have their young feathers. We had such a pleasant few hours enjoying all the wildlife.

There is lots of new life in the park so I thought my card today should be a new baby card.  There is also a real baby boom around me, lots of little ones due. I also need to get my stock up of baby cards as there are exciting crafty plans ahead for me; more news about that in May. I was commissioned to make the card below for a baby girl and used a fun digi image from Ladybug Craft Inks (remember dear Kerry, I was her GD several times before she sold up, fond memories). Sorry but these images are no longer available, I treasure mine. This sheep is called Eunice.

I coloured my image with Promarkers and and added some fun flock for texture. 

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

Noor UK anything goes

Card mania 5/5  spring

The Ribbon Girl 2/3 any image goes

Little Claire's 2/3 spring colours

Crafty Boots 2/3 use a sentiment

Paper Creator 1/3 polka dots or gingham my paper has polka dots on it

As you like it favourite animal I love all animals but my favourite spring animal is sheep and  their lambs as they really symbolise new life for me. 

The weather for the last 2 days has been beautiful and yesterday my Hb and I managed to get up to the woods to see if the bluebells were out....oh my yes they were and I will share some photos soon.

Thanks as always for your kind visits and comments.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x