Thank you card "La Sylphide"

This was made as a thank you card for the adjudicator of our recent Royal Berkshire Dance Festival.  She was an excellent judge, giving really clear helpful advice to the students, and creating a really positive atmosphere, which was great.  

The image is a digi doodle from Scrapbook Stamp Society and is called "La Sylphide" by Mitzi Sato-Wiuff, which I chose as it is quite an authentic version of a ballerina.  I coloured the image, most of the flowers, the leaves and the sentiment with copic markers in a Springtime palette of colours.  I used a copic shadow around the image in R00 to indicate the warmth of stage lighting, but I think another time, I would chose a different colour, maybe in the C or T family of grey colours.  It was tricky to choose something appropriate because even the green has a warmth to it (YGs).

It took quite a while to colour, as it was quite difficult to match up the colours of the bps, even with a large selection of copic colours. I did some tip-to-tip blending , and some feathering on the dress and wings (which, thanks to classes with Wendy at Stamps and Memories, I can now do!) so I'm beginning to feel more at home with some of the more ambitious techniques.

The yummy papers are Prima from the Romantique pad, which I chose for their Spring-like feel, and I can tell you I really didn't want to cut these little beauties up!  The papers on the bar across the base are also from the same pad, and the plain core'dinations card is a sort of salmon pink.  The flowers are mainly Prima, with a few verbena flowers from Hobbycraft, and roses and small flowers from WOC, where I also bought the ivory lace.  There's a bit of Stardust glitter glue on her dress and wings, and around the oval, with Glimmer Mist on the flowers, and a few tiny crystal gems here and there.  Can't remember where the sentiment stamp comes from, but the die-cuts are Nesties and the leaf punch is from Martha Stewart.

I've decided to enter quite a few challenges with this card, as it's been some time since I've done any of these, due to my poor health.  It's come out as quite a selection though, as the card fits with both "wings" and Green or Spring colours, and thanks to Feline Playful - there's a long list of these!

They are: 

http://craftsandmechallenges.blogspot.com -  things with wings

http://digistamps4joy.blogspot.com  - mainly green

http://flutterbywednesdays.blogspot.com  - things with wings + Spring

http://mymumscraftshopchallenges.blogspot.com - Spring colours

http://www.whimsical-designs.com - Going green

http://deepoceanchallengeblog.blogspot.com - Spring

http://totallystampalicious.blogspot.com - Spring is in the Air

http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com - Spread Your Wings

http://ceschallenges.blogspot.com - Flower Frenzy

http://cardmakinmamas.blogspot.com - Let's see some Green

http://ccmonthlychallenge.blogspot.com - Spring

http://cupcakecraftroom.blogspot.com - Spring Bouquet

http://sparklesforumchallenges.blogspot.com - Things with Wings

Such a long post from me today, with plenty of pictures - how nice to have a sunny day to take these!  Thank you so much for coming to visit my blog, and for any comments you would like to leave.  I'm still visiting the blogs of those who left comments on my last project, and it's lovely to see what wonderful crafting is being done by everyone.  Best wishes to you all!

xx Jill

Connor's 12th birthday

Our gorgeous grandson, Connor was 12 this week, which is unbelievable.  He's as tall as I am and loving his new secondary school.  Like most boys of his age, he can recount most of the facts about the Harry Potter books and films.  He can give you reams and reams of the most extraordinary memorised facts about all the characters and creatures to a highly boring degree!

This card is from another craftsUprint decoupage design by Valerie Dawes called "Wizard School", and so was a very obvious choice for his card.  It is an easel design with two extra slots for the owl and bookcase, and needed a couple of hours cutting out, and colouring the edges with copic markers to avoid the white marks.  I was able to put it into an A4 envelope, but had to show him how to set it up.  It also needed a couple of pieces of dst behind, to make the decoupage stand up in the slots, which also had to be explained.  This might not make it suitable to send off by post without detailed instructions, but is fine if it's going to be handed over in person.  It looks great once it's made though, and caused several exclamations of "wow": so very many thanks to the cUp designer.

Thank you for visiting my blog: I really appreciate all the lovely comments you leave.  It certainly helps knowing that someone is reading about my cards!  I hope to come and visit your blogs too.

xx Jill

50th birthday card

This card was made for a friend's 50th birthday, and is a download from Craftsuprint, but I don't recall who was the designer, and it's not printed on the sheet.  There was a lot of cutting out to do for the decoupage, which took some time, and I also punched out some gold grape leaves, and made a bunch of grapes from some burgundy coloured beads and wire.

I altered the base of the card slightly and put a strip of card across to take the grapes and leaves (the grapes were very hard to stick on and I resorted to sticky pads and red tape!), and I also added a couple of extra layers of decoupage.  It was quite a time-consuming card, but the recipient was delighted with it, (and his wife and daughters) so that made it all worthwhile.  I also made a box for this card, as it was quite bulky, particularly with the beaded grapes!


Thank you very much for visiting my blog, and special thanks to those visitors who leave such lovely comments.  It's always nice to know when I'm blogging that I'm not just talking to myself!!  It also means I can come and see everyone's blogs, which I always enjoy.  xx Jill

75th birthday card for "Grandad seaside"

My daughter's father-in-law, "Grandad seaside" was 75 on Sunday, so I decided on a decoupage card from Craftsuprint, designed by Sandie Burchell.  This kit is beautifully designed, and comes with various numbers for special birthdays, and sentiments for other occasions.




















These cards are quite complex to make, with lots of cutting and folding, but the resulting card is all you could hope for.  This one comes out at about 8" x 8", and stands up on a triangular base, with slots at the top, but it folds flat for posting, which is really helpful.

The reverse of the card is quite similar (not shown, because I forgot to take the picture!) but has the sentiment in the panel on the back, instead of the books and birthday message.  I printed all the decoupage pieces onto heavyweight glossy photo paper, and then coloured all the edges of the decoupage with brown and beige copic markers before I started to assemble this.  If anyone is going to do something similar, I suggest leaving the printed photo pages to dry really well before starting to cut them out, as I made the mistake of being too eager, resulting in having to print one page again.  I'd put in a new printer cartridge to get a really fresh colour print, and didn't realise that it was still quite tacky.  I won't be doing that again!

Thanks very much for visiting my blog.  If you are able to leave a comment this is much appreciated, and then I'll know you came, and I hope I can come and visit your blog too. 

xx Jill B 

Roberta's birthday card

Although I made this card on holiday in the Summer, it hadn't been sent, so when it was one of my colleagues birthdays last week, I thought it would be just right for her.  She was running one of the Royal Academy of Dance's new Grades course this year in London and was a really good tutor, so I hope it's boosted her confidence, and made her realise that she's got real potential.

Very much out of my usual style, I used lots of old stash which was too pretty to give away in the RAK bag I usually reserve for Beth, my eldest grand-daughter, or her best friend's mum, Nic, who is a fantastic crafter, and makes "summat outa nowt" with great style. 

A cream card-blank, Docrafts transparent stickers, gold peeloffs, rainbow papers from Craftwork cards, and paper flowers, a few gems, with some gold punched leaves I've had forever, and the job was done!  I felt  very virtuous using up my bits and pieces, and plan to do this again when the mood strikes, rather than constantly being seduced by new papers and punches.  I've just seen the new Nellie rose punches though, which I might just have to buy as they will come in amazingly handy!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog.  Please let me know if you stopped by so that I can return the compliment.  JTLYK my followers pics are gone again, after only one day of being around, so I'm quite sad again.  Why doesn't Mr Blogger play nicely?

xx Jill

grand-daughter's 7th birthday

Our gorgeous grand-daughter, Charlotte is seven tomorrow, so I made an easel card showing the Matryoshka dolls I love.

These little Kanban diecuts are very cute, and didn't need much attention other than some Stickles glitter glue and a few red rhinestones left over from Christmas (holly berries!).  I prefer the "waterfall" colour of stickles glue with a pale blue, green or tuquoise background, as it is quite subtle and transparent, so very suitable for pastels.

The little blue and red flowers, the heart and the sentiment also were die-cut on the sheet, so all that was need was some background paper (Provocraft) and some red pearlised card, also left from the festive season.  Some more stickles around the edges, a few more gems and a red bow, and this very simple card was complete.  Just take a look at all that space without silk or paper flowers - perhaps I need a lie down!  Still I know it doesn't count as LIM (less is more) though, as I couldn't abandon the bps and the flowers completely.

Thanks you very much for visiting my blog.  I really appreciate any comments you leave, and will come to visit your blog too.  I'll be out of action for a short while, as I am due for my surgery on Tuesday, and then have to take it easy for several weeks, so hopefully I'll have a bit more time for blog-hopping during the enforced rest.  Happy New Year to you all.

xx Jill

final Christmas bookatrix

 

I'm typing this with some difficulty, as I managed to slice the side of my right thumb on Boxing Day, grating carrots.  Not a good start to a family meal.  It's still pretty sore, so I'm making lots of typos when I should be hitting the space bar!

This was the last of the commissioned Bookatrix cards that I had to make for Christmas, and is the simplest of the set.  It's a robin cut from an old Christmas card, a couple of flowers, a voile ribbon and a few peel-offs.  What could be simpler?  Mind you, it still takes nearly a couple of hours to cut out all the layers, assemble them, add the embellishments and make the box.  I've done so many of these that it should be getting easier, but it's still fairly time-consuming.  Again, I've backed this with a folding card, so that a greeting can go inside.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog.  I hope you all had a very happy Christmas, and my best wishes for a great New Year!  Please leave me a comment so that I know you came, and I'll come and visit you too, so that I can keep up with all the lovely projects you produce.

xx Jill

Christmas bookatrix no 1

A bookatrix Christmas card commissioned for an elderly couple.  It had to be red and gold, so I used stardream white cardstock, and a bright red mirri card, which has a lovely sheen, rather than a shine (expensive too!)  I dug out the peeloffs from hibernation to create the edgings and the sentiment.  I also made a box for this, and decorated it to match the card.  The silk poinsettia is from Prima, many years ago, the gold flowers and ribbon are from my stash, and the roses, rose buds and chandelier beads are WOC as usual.

I attached the whole bookatrix to an opening card, cut to fit, so that the sentiment could go inside.  I find my customers prefer this to a little stand.  Not sure why bookatrix cards are still very popular, but I have another four to finish, (all are nearly complete, thank goodness) and only a week to go!  I have sent some bought cards this year though, as my back operations haven't allowed me to get on as quickly as I'd hoped. 

Thank you so much for popping by to see my blog - all comments are very much appreciated, and I promise I'll stop by to see what you've been crafting this week - I love a good nosey!

xx Jill

vintage birthday card

I'm very fond of vintage images, and this one is from the Marianne sheet of vintage ladies.  I made this easel card for one of my oldest friends, Valerie, who is still teaching dancing.  Michael is still Dance Captain in Billy Elliott in the West End, some six years on, and remains busy with his young baby and Saturday stage school: not quite sure when he fits in some sleep! 

I bought and dived into the new First Edition papers "Isabelle" on the day I bought them.  Not only do they have a pretty shabby chic look to them, but are also heavily glittered.  The colour-scheme is soft, and in ice-cream colours of mint, coffee and pale peach.   What more can a girl want in 6x6 papers?  

Well obviously a bit more stickle glitter around the edges of the paper, a sliced up doiley (I betcha can't see the join!), some very pretty organza lace (ancient, from my stash), a few WOC roses, Petaloo and bridal flowers coloured with copics, some die-cut swirls, a punched out MS heart and a few pearls!






















 I can't do justice to the real colours in the winter light (or lack of it),  but grab a pack and come drool with me - these babies are gorgeous!  Normally I would sit and stroke these for a few weeks before butchering them, but I was very brave, and galloped straight in.  I really can't do Less is More though.  I have tried to keep it fairly simple in layout and let the paper speak for itself, so it's maybe not as busy in style as it might be.

Thanks very much for coming to visit my blog this week.  I'm having a quiet week next week, as part two of my back operation is coming this Friday, so I'll have to take things a bit easier.  More time to come and visit everyone's blogs I hope ......  If you join as a follower please let me know, as I've lost all my followers pictures again.  I got very excited a few weeks ago when they all came back, but it was only for a day, and then they went again.  So sad!

xx Jill

three men's birthday cards

Thank you so much to those people who sent cards and good will messages following my back operation last Friday.  It will still be some weeks before I know if it's been a success or not, and there's still part two to come at the beginning of December when they de-nerve the other side of my back.  As it was over an hour of needles, electric currents and extreme discomfort, I can't say I'm looking forward to it.  The upside was that because we have a back-pain GP unit at the Dunedin independent hospital locally, I had five-star treatment and a private room with en-suite bathroom!!  Lunch was a prawn marie-rose salad, with a lovely strawberry tart and cream, and a cafetiere of decaff, which was some consolation for the unpleasantness of the operation.

I always have lots of birthday cards to make at this time of the year with several of them masculine cards, which I find quite challenging.  These La Pashe vintage style cards are always popular though, and I even quite enjoy sitting, cutting out the decoupage bits: it makes the boring programmes on tv a bit more bearable.  Why is it that with hundreds more channels, we still can't find anything decent to watch?  It's a mystery!
 





















 These "flipping cards are good fun too, with the reversed image on the inside, and all that's needed is a suitable insert.  The guys all seem to like them, and is solves the perennial problem of what to choose.






















Thanks very much for visiting my blog and for any comments you'd like to leave.  I really do appreciate this, and like to come and visit your blog too.  xx Jill