Merry Christmas......

...its ok I haven't quite lost the plot...lol....I know we are still in October....but it is only approx 12 weeks to the big day...ugh!!....Sorry but I don't get that excited about Christmas..it just seems an awful lot of hard work just for a couple of days...ok yes its nice to see family (ours will be missing three this Christmas) and friends...but there is just too much hype before hand...my great nephew has started writing his Christmas list to Santa already!!!!.......

Anyway....back to what I'm here for...lol....here is my card for this weeks Less is More Challenge - Trees...

 

I love trees...and tree stamps are just perfect for CAS cards....but I haven't used one for this ..I use a Dee's Distinctively Die.   First I mixed a few DI's in shades of green over white card. then I used a tiny SU stamp of leaves and a pine cone and stamped in dark green all over.  Then I used the die and layered up the pieces.  The 'trunk' is a piece of Wassi tape and the sentiment is stamped in red and I finished with a couple of red gems.

 

Do pop over to check out Chrissie's and Jens creations..truly inspirational.

Happy Crafting!!

Hugs

Jan...xxx

A Little Tilda....

Hello..Happy Saturday to you... Firstly I have to say thank you for all your kind words regarding my BIL....it means so much...

Well.....its not a very nice day here in my part of Kent...very wet and dull...a perfect day to hide in the craft room and make....lol...

I have a Sweet Tilda for you today...a very different look...

 

Yes she is VERY CAS......she is stamped on watercolour paper and I coloured her with DI pens...I haven't been colouring for a while and I just wanted to do something simple so I just matted with colour co ordinating cardstock and added a couple of pearls...not too sure about the placement of the sentiment...but hey!...Have to say it was a bit weird not to get the ribbons and flowers out, but its nice just to concentrate on the image.  I hope you like it.

 

Happy Crafting

Hugs

Jan...xxx

 

 

Less is More....

Hello....I have managed to get to my desk today to rustle up a little card for this weeks Less is More Challenge - Witches & Wizards.. it is also one layer week..here's my card..

 

I used DI's to make the moody moon..lol...but I cant tell what stamp I used as I have thrown away the packet!! Doh!! but I used Versafine ink.

 

Its been a sad week again here I'm afraid. My brother in law Bruce died suddenly last Tuesday...he was in the garden and my sister found him collapsed...she had only left him for a few moments.  He didn't complain of feeling unwell...nothing.  My sister as you can imagine is distraught so is their only daughter...I've been staying with them but I'm home for a few days now and then will go back on Monday for the funeral.  He and my sister were very involved in their local bowls club and Bruce was well known over the County (Surrey).  My sister has received over 70 cards from people who knew him and it is expected that the funeral will be well attended. 

 

 He is the third close member of our family that has died this year. I will be glad to see the back of 2013!!

 

Anyway...I wish you all a happy Thursday and thank you for stopping by.

 

Hugs

Jan...xxx

Well...Hello There.....

Hello All....yes its been a while...a long while...lol.... but I'm back with a little card for this weeks Less is More Challenge...White on White...White Christmas...

 

I used a beautiful Memory Box die that I've had for ages but this is the first time I've used it...the background is just a snowy embossing folder and the sentiment is stamped in silver.  I've added tiny gems in different colours to highlight the tree.  (I hope that's allowed!).  Do pop over and check out the DT gorgeous creations....

 

Well, there's been a lots going on here with me...I had a job..(yay!)....then I didn't have a job...(boo!!)... Mums Probate still on going...just wish it would all hurry up...and I had my craft room redecorated and re fitted....I chose white as I wanted it to feel light and airy. 

These pics were taken just after the units were put together...

 

 

 

Now filled stash...not very tidy..I've been making...lol...

 

 

I love it now....still needs one more unit with drawers for my Magnolia stamps and then that's it.   Good old Ikea...lol....

 

I also have been busy in the kitchen this morning....we have a glut of apples so I made some Apple Jam.....its a first for me and I'm really pleased how its turned out....think toffee apples with a hint of spice...its really yummy...

 

 

Yummy on crumpets....lol...

 

Anyway...I have to get on...I have a craft fair next Saturday so lots of Christmas cards to make...

 

have a lovely weekend

Hugs

Jan...xxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Less is More ....Hand Made Flowers

Hi....I'm back with a card for this weeks Less is More Challenge - Hand Made Flowers....

 

For the flowers I used a Cheery Lynne die...I wanted them to be soft so I cut them using a paper table cloth...the ones that look like fabric...and added silver pearly stamens.....the stems are from a Memory Box Die and the verse is from a JOFY stamp set...and I finished with a few black pearls...

Have a fabulous evening

Hugs

Jan...xxx

Another Tilda to Share

Hello...just another quick post to share a sweet Tilda...its a dull cool day here so I'm doing all the chores so I can spend time in the craft room later...I went to The Craft Barn yesterday and spent the day doing an Art Journaling class...great fun...so you might be seeing some different styles from me but in the meantime here's Tilda....

 

She's coloured with DI pens really trying to master these...the DP's are First Edition New Bloom...I seem to be stuck in 'same layout' mode but I just wanted to show more of the delicious papers...

 

Anyway..hope you all have a lovely weekend enjoining the sunshine..

 

Hugs

Jan...xxxx

 

Tilda with Holly....

 

Hi Guys....yes..it had to be done...the first Tilda Christmas card made today.....and...

 

a ATC...

 

 

Just love those buzy bees...lol..

 

Its a quick post tonight...too hot and bothered..lol...

 

Catch up soon..

 

Hugs

Jan...xxx

 

Gone Back....

Hello guys..happy Monday!! the sun is still shining here and its just fab......

Today I have something completely different for me....well perhaps not really....when I left school many moons ago my dream was to go on to art college..I went to an all girls school where the brighter girls were encouraged to go to Uni and study law and the lower achievers were force to do shorthand and typing which would ease them into office jobs...me?..I was lazy...just wanted to draw and paint...I liked history and geography...language's?..no chance...lol...Maths scared me..(still does)..and as for sports...well...my mum always said that I wouldn't run even if my bum was on fire!!!..lol....

.Our Art room at school was in an old cricket pavilion at the far end of the sports field and I would sneak off there whenever I could to work on my latest art project...I wasn't good at drawing unless I copied but I loved colour and shapes and I was in my element with all the psychedelic stuff going on around me (this was late '60's).  I found a passion for screen printing and was luckily encouraged by my art teachers to interpret any of my projects in this direction and I chose to do my O level exams with this in mind....I really would have loved to go into fabric design but my parents had other ideas and when I left school they wanted me to get a nice safe office job....I did manage to do something a bit more creative and became a window dresser...but that's another story.

I haven't sat and doodled for years let alone get the paints out and have a splosh about but I channelled my artiness into card making as you have seen...but for a while now I have been drooling over some mixed media blogs and books and I really want to do a course..I'm not sure I still have it in me but I feel I wont know unless I try...so I'm looking around for a course to do in my area...but in the meantime I had a play over the weekend.....and here is some original art work by me...its not overly mixed media but its a start albeit a tiny one....

 

I doodled freehand with just a pencil the design on watercolour card....then coloured with DI pens..then I misted with water and let the colours run a bit then dabbed with a paper towel...when dried I went over the pencil lines with a fine black pen..then I used the DI pens again to enhance the colours more then used a white pen over the lines here and there and added more doodles....

 

You know what?...I am so pleased with it..(if I say so myself) all my own work....I feel I've gone back to my first arty love...and I'm not going to give it up again....

 

Have a lovely day...

hugs

Jan...xxx

 

Butterfly Tag...Just for Fun...

Hello....happy Saturday!!!...its going to be a scorcher..I'm off to the hairdressers in a mo to have me roots done..lol...and then I'll be back to laze in garden for a while....so I just popped in to share a Tag with you that I made this week...I must have had the sunshine in mind when I got inky with this....

 

I'm really getting into inky projects at the moment..but I think I'm not adventurous enough yet...I seem to keep it simple... so I'm going to try to find some workshops to attend to broaden my style...

 

Anyway...Have a great weekend...

Hugs

Jan...xxxx

Less is More....Shades of Grey...

Hi Guys...I have finally made a card for this weeks Less is More Challenge...Shades of Grey...

 

Sorry about the grim pic....I did try to brighten it...here...

 

 

but the grey now looks black....anyway..I used a Memory Box die....a Hero Arts background stamp called Woven Fibres  Momento Grey Flannel ink and finished with a few crystals...

 

I have made a few more cards today which I will share tomorrow.

 

Have a great evening..

Hugs

Jan...xxx

 

 

 

Mmmmmmmm.......

.....Aren't they lovely...Lilies....my very favourite flowers.....

 

 

I bought a large bunch as I wanted the house to be filled with fragrance for Mums funeral  which was  on Thursday...these were her favourites too....we had a lovely simple service with her favourite music...I just hope she approved.  The family came back here for refreshments and I know she would have loved having us all together and enjoyed catching up with everyone.

 

She had some beautiful arrangements and this peony was in one of them...I had to bring it home as its so gorgeous...

 

 

it's huge...about 6" and so fragrant the house smells like a florist at the moment..its a good job I don't get hay fever...lol...

 

Anyway...after a very sad day on Thursday...I had a nice quiet day yesterday in the craft room...

 

 

I've had these PaperArtsy Jofy stamps for ages and I was feeling in an inky kind of mood so out came the  DI's and pens and had a play...as they are quite small it didn't take long to rustle up a little collection...I'm thinking of framing them altogether.

 

I doodled with a white pen and a gold sparkle pen here and there to give a bit of a arty feel...and added glossy accents on everything that is coloured red....

 

This one is my favourite

 

 

simple...

 

But I just love these quirky birds too...

 

 

so cute....

 

...I'm planning some more time in the craft room  today....with the patio doors wide open to enjoy the sun ....Hope you all have a lovely weekend and enjoy your BBQ's later..lol...

Hugs

Jan....xxxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

Naughty Ollie

We have this every time he has a bath..he hates being dried with the towel....such a naughty dog...but in a cute way...lol...

 

Hugs

Jan & Ollie..xxx

Itchy Fingers...

Hi...although its been a busy time here sorting things for Mum's funeral next week..I've been hopping around checking out your gorgeous creations for the past few days..and I'm getting itchy fingers...lol..I want to make...!!..I tidied my craft room the other day just to keep busy...so when I sat at my desk this afternoon I didn't really want to mess it up..lol...but as I sat thumbing through this months issue of Craft Stamper mag..I really had an urge to get messy.  I've have a couple of small canvas boards sitting waiting to be transformed...I've seen loads in blogland a really wanted to have a go...so here is my very first canvas board...

 

sorry about the dingy pic..its very cloudy here this afternoon... anyway..I used distress inks and stains...loads of different stamps..I used the inks on the flowers and the butterfly and little shaped flowers are wooden embellies I found at the Craft Barn a while back.  I used probably too much Frantage too...lol...I thoroughly enjoyed doing this and I know I'm well and truly hooked...so there will be more to come...lol...I'm going to hang this in my downstairs loo..

Think I might have a colouring evening...Tilda is waving at me...lol...

Happy Crafting

Hugs

Jan...xxx

I Might Not Be Around....

...for a while...I'm not in a good place at the moment...what with Mum and now a huge blot on the family landscape...mega stress.....and we havent had the funeral yet!!!

 

Anyway........Here's a Sweet Tilda....

 

 

 

Thank you all again for your lovely comments regarding my Mum..I so do appreciate them all...

Happy Crafting

Hugs (boy, I could do with one)

Jan.....xxxx

My Mum...(edited)

I am very sad to say that my Mum passed away on Friday evening.  As you know she has been suffering from Alzheimer's for a while and she has been in a nursing home since January 2012,  I got a call late Friday evening to say I should come.  I didn't get there in time.  They tell me that she had a massive stroke and it was very quick, which was good.  My first words when I saw her was what a relief that she wasn't suffering anymore, Alzheimer's is such a cruel cruel disease.  We have watched our Mum deteriorate over the past months into someone who wasn't our Mum.  We last saw her on Thursday and she was as well as she could be and I managed to make her smile when I teased my sister about her shoes..( my sister had  surgery on her toe and she was wearing socks with sandals..not a good look Jacqui...lol...)...Anyway..I have some pics of my Mum..

 

According to the inscription on the back of this one she was about 2yrs with an uncle...

 

 

She is 18yrs in this one..My Dad carried this pic with him during the War.

 

These were taken in the 60's I think she was mid thirties.. Such style....lol

 

and here she is with my first Yorkie 'Poppy'

 

 

Minnie Doris Morley 1925 - 2013

 

My Mum.

 

xxxxxxx

 

Edit:..I have to tell you this...since Mum has been in the nursing home we have had so many issues about her care..mainly about not combing her hair..or her bed not being as comfy as we would like it to be...or them not noticing she didn't have her hearing aid and not searching properly for it.  I've lost count of the heated exchanges I had with the (male) manager there..and we also made a formal complaint to the head office.  We had assurances that things are changing ..and we had heard that the manager was on his final warning to pull up his socks (we weren't the only family that had made complaints)..well today he surpassed himself...I had to call the home to see what I need to do now that Mum has passed away....he didn't know she had died!!!!!!..'oh no one left a note on my desk' he said..well I went ballistic!!!! He is in charge of the home...he is suppose to be looking after the residents surely that when he starts work after the weekend he makes his business to find out what has occurred in his absence....I have spoken to his manager tonight...she called me...and she will investigate and get back to me later in the week.  Don't we have enough to deal with?? I swear if he was in front of me I would have swung for him!!

 

Thank you all for your lovely comments, they have given me and my family great comfort.

 

Jan...xxxx

 

 

Stayed in Bed All Morning Just to Pass the Time...

..yes it sounds like a good line for a song....lol...but it wasnt just to pass the time..its 'cos I now have a full blown cold and feel really awful..ugh!!!...and to make it worse its been a glorious sunny day here...what a waste...anyway..heres another Tilda....

 

Again she is from the new collection...

 

I hope to be up and about tomorrow...I have gardening to do...

 

Happy Crafting

Hugs

Jan...xxx

And Another....

Hi Happy Thursday!!...hope you're enjoying the sunshine...here's another Sweet Tilda..yes I've been treating myself to the new collection...well it would have been rude not to...lol...

This is baby Tilda...awwww ...so cute...

 

I wanted to take advantage of the sunshine and try and get my front garden in order tomorrow..but I think I've gone and got me a cold..ugh!! so I'm having an early night with Mr Lemsip with the hope I can zap it before its starts....wish me luck..lol..

 

Have a great evening

Hugs

Jan...xxx

Sweet Tilda...

Hi Guys...yes finally I'm back in card making mode and have a sweet Tilda to share...I use lovely bright colours to relect the lovely bright sunshine we are having at the moment.

 

I havent had a good time of late..lets just say I'm pleased that May has been and gone...I have a issue to be solved at the moment but when I can I'll tell you about it.

 

Anyway..I have a few more cards to share so do keep an eye...I'll be back..lol..

 

Have a lovely evening

Hugs

Jan...xxx

A Sweet Tildas to Share...

Hi Guys...well after a very stressy day yesterday (Ollie is definitely back to his naughty self...lol..) I had a nice quiet day in the craft room and have sweet Tildas to share...

 

Tilda is coloured with copics..the DP is BoBunny...I added a Craftworks sentiment, pearls and some of my handmade flowers..

 

Here's another....

 

 

Again Tilda is coloured with copics..the DP's are NitWits from LOTV I added a SU ribbon bow and Pearls.  The flowers are again made by me.

 

Last one...

 

 

Coloured with copics..DP's are LOTV...I added a SU ribbon, Pearls, sparkle and my handmade flowers.

 

Should you be interested in my flowers please email me and I will give you details.

 

Have a lovely evening

Hugs

Jan....xxx

 

 

Oh Ollie...

Yes my fur baby gave me a big fright today...he had a funny turn at the dog groomers!!...she was just finishing him and he went all stiff in her arms so she put him down and he then ran around and around like he was chasing his tail and drooling very heavily.  He then stopped and had a long drink...while this was going on she called me to say he wasn't well so I raced around there luckily she is only around the corner...Phew!...when I got there he seem to be fine then I notice he wasn't walking well..his back legs were stiff and he was wobbling. 

 

I called my vet there and then and rushed Ollie to him.  The vet checked him over... heart..colour..temperature..all ok..he checked his legs and watched him walk around. The vet said that in cases of seizures the dogs recover so quickly that by the time they see them the dogs vital signs are back to normal so its hard to pin point the problem.  The vet said that should he have another while or after resting then we may have a problem or if he has more than one in a month so all we can do is to keep an eye on him. 

 

Anyway by the time I got him home he was back to his naughty self. He chased LilyPuss up the stairs in their usual dog and cat mode...he stops when she turns on him...lol...and he is now on the chair in the craft room watching the birds in the garden....I'm off to have a lie down..lol...I really thought the worse..I thought I had lost him...

 

My Boy...

 

Hope you're having a restful Tuesday

Hugs

Jan..x