I believe

It's still not too cold which is good in my books.  The leaves continue fall as we approach mid November and the squirrels are busy gathering up the nuts. I can remember as a child that by November it would be freezing cold and the squirrels would virtually hibernate. They don't seem to do that anymore and these little fellows are still busy foraging and playing in the park.

My view through the waterfall is getting larger as the leaves drop, leaving just the coniferous yew tree in leaf, 

I took a break from my Christmas card making  to make a new art journal page. We are approaching the end of the year long dictionary  challenge over at the Craft Barn and for this fortnight the letter is I. There are also some other fun challenges I wanted to enter.
For the letter I ...I chose I...yes I as in me!

I decided to use a fun photo of me as toddler on a cold November day probably in 1962 or it might be 63..which was a savage winter.
I also wanted to make something Christmassy in my Art Journal so I thought I would make a Moment of how I have always loved Christmas time and how much I did, and still do ;0) believe in Father Christmas. I can still remember standing by my bedroom window of our old draughty Edwardian house on Christmas Eve listening for the sleigh bells and knowing that Santa was on his way. I really did hear them in my child's mind.

The black and white of my photo inspired me to create a monochrome background with distress inks.

I masked out a moon

and kept blending until I was happy with my background. I then added some retro festive stamping around the border and some stars, which are just visible, as I used Picket Fence DI.

I then stamped some Visible Image Snowflakes using white acrylic paint. 

I wanted to set my photo in a festive frame ...I used lots of festive die cuts. Here it is with my dictionary definition for I ...I also add my own quote ..."I believe" using my retro Dymo label maker... I added some mittens as I am sure that mine would have been in my pocket or somewhere?

and here is my completed page...of course Santa is on his way...

and a couple of close ups

Even as an adult I still listen out for those sleigh bells on Christmas Eve...don't you?

I would like to enter my art journal page into the following challenges;

The Craft Barn alphabet challenge I mine is for I
Sparkles 2/3 Christmas is coming
Let's craft and create 3/3 winter
Christmas at sweet stampin 2/3 anything goes
Simon says stamp Wednesday Christmas critters
Noor UK Winter
Cute card Thursday Christmas/holidays
Happy Little Stamper anything goes with dies
Deep Ocean use die cuts and/or punches
Anything but Cute  rustic glam my glitter star border added my touch of glam to my rustic scene.
Crimbo Crackers anything goes
Fashionable stamping 1/3  'tis the season
Winter Wonderland 1/3 poinsettia or snow is falling of course snow is falling in my AJ page.
ABC Christmas 2/3 w for wishes

Thanks for stopping by today and for the kind comments you take the time to leave. It's a beautiful blue skies and sunshine morning so I am heading out to my studio to enjoy some inky time. Tonight I shall be glue to Strictly as it's from the Blackpool Ballroom...such great entertainment and amazing dancing. Enjoy your weekend.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

Swan pairing

Since early autumn there has been a lone swan on our ponds. I have shared some photos of him on my blog ( I just assumed he was a he!) and often wondered why he was alone as swans tend to pair for life.

 He seemed to be quite content with his duck and geese friends.

However a few weeks ago I spotted that  a lone cygnet had arrived

to join him 

and unbelievably last week....2 more cygnets arrived...

and yes with them his sweetheart arrived too! It's delightful to see this family of 5 reunited.

I wonder where his dear heart and the other 2 cygnets had been all this time? It's a shame they can't talk as I would love to find out. The swan family now seem quite happy spending the autumn days on the ponds.

My card today my #7 card for the Funkie Junkie challenge and a few other great challenges which are running at the moment. I decided to have lots of white in my card just like the beautiful swans on the pond.

 If you would like to play along with the FJ Christmas challenge please check out Linda's post here which gives all the details of the challenge requirements. The challenge is sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique and you could even win one of the prize vouchers if you complete all 12 weeks.

For week 7 I was inspired by Linda's blue background, the deer and the gorgeous white and silver snowflake. For my card I wanted more white in my background rather than a solid blue so I used some blue Infusions.

and made this lovely inky background

I die cut and layered up a large Snowflake using MB and Tim H snowflake dies. I stamped and cut out my Merry Christmas sentiment and added some bling with some gems. Everything was matted with silver.

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

The Funkie Junkie 12 tags of Christmas #7
Sparkles 2/3 Christmas is coming
Let's craft and create 2/3 winter
ABC T for 3 I used 3 different dies to make up my snowflake stack and 3 different colour gems to add to the sides.
Christmas at sweet stampin 1/3 anything goes
Simon says stamp Wednesday Christmas critters
We love to create 2/2  anything mixed media #23
Cute card Thursday Christmas/holidays
Allsorts feature a creature
Emerald Creek Dares Heartfelt freedom and festivites, anything goes

This card (and many others) will be heading down to sell at Dotty's Christmas market on Friday 2 December....just over 2 weeks away now. The flyer below is also in my side bar. Please feel free to share this and tell your friends and family who may live nearby. Please spread the word!

The address is 108 High Street, Carshalton, Surrey, SM5 3AE

I will be there from 11am selling my cards and also some of my jewellery, including my glass lamp work bag charms. If you are nearby please pop in and say hi, it would be so lovely to see you there.

Today I am having a break from my card making and I am off to do some Christmas shopping with my best buddy Karen...yes I am making that list...and checking it twice ;0)

Thanks for stopping by today and for the kind comments you take the time to leave me. They are very appreciated.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

Pops of red

It's been many years since I have remembered to buy and pot up an amaryllis. I usually see everyone's blooming beauties after Christmas and realise that I have again missed the boat. However recently I spotted some in a garden centre and decided to treat myself.

 The kits are really worth buying as you simply put the bulb in the pot, add the soil and water and voila...the bulb ready to grow.,

It's on my sunny window sill and I have my fingers crossed that I will get some lovely blooms around Christmas/New year. I do love to have something growing at this time of the year when it's so dark.
There are pops of red in some of the Christmas catalogues appearing on the high street too.....Only 40 days left until the big day!

There are also pops of red on the bushes, the berries are ready for the birds for the winter months

and the very last of my acer leaves gave a last pop of red in my garden,

I have been designing some new Christmas cards with my Visible Image stamps and decided to use a pop of  red in my latest card design. Did you know that Visible Image ship worldwide? They are also able to ship immediately on ordering as they are no longer manufacturing their stamps in house. In the UK that often means next day delivery.

 I like to make small batches of Christmas cards and this design has already been popular with my friends.

Here is what I got up to. ..

I took some black card and randomly stamped their enchanting snowflakes. This set of snowflakes makes for some brilliant backgrounds. I used Picket Fence distress ink for a subtle effect.

After drying with my heat gun I stamped the Smile, sparkle shine set with Versamark and added sparkle glitter embossing powder.

I then stamped "Merry Christmas and a happy new year" from their brilliant Go to Christmas words set

again with Versamark but this time used my gorgeous red geranium Wendy Vecchi embossing powder.

Here it is pre heating

and then post heating....a great shine!

Once I had made my 4 card fronts 

I matted them onto red card before attaching them to white card blanks. I added a little red gem star as an extra pop of red.

Here is my finished card

In real life the sentiment has such a sparkle with the glittered embossing powder but I found it impossible to get my camera to show it off!

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

Penny Black and More 2/3Anything Christmas
Craft Stamper take it make it November anything goes
Stamping sensations 2/3 Christmas greetings
Crafting Musketeers  Christmas wishes
Noor UK Winter
Sparkles 1/3 Christmas is coming
Let's craft and create 1/3 winter

My stash of cards is growing nicely but I am still beavering away here. Thanks for visiting me today and for the kind comments that you leave.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x