A new life for a Murano bead

 My silversmithing class re started after the Christmas break and I realised that I have not shared any of my recent makes.  So I thought that today I will share a pendant I made last year.

Like most crafters I tend to hoard  keep things just in case they will come in useful. I had a lovely Murano pendant I bought years ago in Italy and the bail had come off. I had every intention to fix it but it remained in a drawer for years. I decided that this glass star would be perfect for my project which was to fuse glass with silver metal clay. I designed a heart and using silver metal clay and I cut it out and added some texture. I also made 3 small heart to use as "claws" to hold in the star in place once fired. I also cut a star shape out (covered up by the bead) so that the light can shine through.

Unfired it doesn't look like much...this was a photo of it drying. We use playing cards when cutting out the clay so they are useful to dry the pieces on too. If the clay is wet when fired it explodes! Not a good idea really 😂

These were the texture plates I used.

Once fired and polished things look very different. This shows how the little hearts hold the glass in place.

This is the reverse where I cut out a star to let the light shine through. The texture worked out really well and the back is as pretty as the front.

I held it up to the window to show how the bead shines (these photos were taken last year)

and yes someone photobombed 😺

 One more photo

I have been busy making new cards for Dotty's Tea Rooms in Carshalton, where I sell my cards. Tea themed cards always sell really well so today's card is one I sold there recently.

I used a new teapot stamp and die set which I bought in a sale and had yet to be inked. I made an inky background using distress inks and added some stenciling and stamping.  The sentiment is Visible Image and you can see their old Bronte script too (sadly long discontinued but still my fave for adding some inky words to backgrounds). The dies are a mix of Memory Box, Marianne, Sizzix and The Works.

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

Allsorts 1/3 No patterned paper
Sweet stampin 1/3 Lots of layers
Fussy and fancy 1/3 distress it
Crafty Catz 1/3 anything goes
Happy little stampers anything goes with dies

Thanks so much for stopping by. Enjoy a lovely weekend, we have a nice quiet one ahead....I can craft to my heart's content.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane (and Billy 😼) xx

A theatrical sample for Visible Image's brand new stamps release

As I promised on Monday today I am sharing my 2nd Design Team sample made with stamps from the brand new Visible Image release. If you missed my first post you can see it here. Over the next few days Helen will be sharing more of the new release over on 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 to tease a little today before I share my card I dug a couple of my old books from the bookshelf...

I really smiled when I opened this copy as it was the only prize I ever won at High School...for Greek Literature..in 1976!! I love the Odyssey, my fave Greek epic.

Now here is another clue...a bit of intrigue

 and even murder perhaps.....😂

 and my poor Hb's old copy of a Tale of Two cities has pages missing.....

OK....I will let you in on the secret now and share my sample card made with another stamp set from the new release...this one is the awesome

Maskerade

I apologise for this very dark and blurry process photo..but this was taking pre Christmas when I was very busy creating on my kitchen work side. This is what I got up to. I creased and tore some paper and card, adding some pumice grey distress ink.

I also stamped some masks onto book pages from my A tale of two cities paperback,
I use book pages a lot in my crafting.

I cut out the just the eyes of the tragic mask and fussy cut both masks.

I then put all my elements together. Here is my very theatrical Jane's Journal Greek Tragedy

and a couple of close up of my grizzly card

and a side view to show all the torn and crumpled edges.

I even added a mask inside, just for a full theatrical flourish!

Booo!

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

Frilly and Funkie 1/3  3 is not a crowd I used 3 masks, 2 outside and 1 inside my card.
Pixie's snippets playground week 315/6
The Artistic stamper 3/3 anything goes
As you like it 3/3 anything goes
Craft Stamper take it make it January anything goes

Allsorts 2/3 Something new my new stamps!
Cute card Thursday 1/3 something new
The male room new beginnings I hope this is the beginning of lots of creativity with my brand new stamps!
Penny Black and More 2/3 something new  these brand new, never seen before stamps!

I hope you are enjoying seeing the samples myself and my teamies have made for this release. I have another to share on Monday. Remember to check out the Visible Image blog here to see all the samples shared this week.

Visible Image are launching the new stamps at Creativation next week and 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

The 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.

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