J&C Creations April Challenge - Nurturing

Items from J&C Creations:

6x6 blank white card

Coconut card

Memento Tuxedo Black dye ink pad

Wild Rose Studio Bella Sleeping stamp

Pink paper

Dark and pale green card

Pink flower (pack of 2 medium)

Dark pink glitter

Glue pen

Stickles Crystal

Marianne Creatables LR0227 Anja’s Leaves and LR0151 Garden Branch

Also needed:

Alcohol markers

Sentiment – this one is from LOTV

Method:

• Mat and layer pink paper onto green card and then to the base card
• Stamp the image with Memento ink and colour with alcohol markers
• Die cut the Marianne dies using pale green card and cover with Stickles
• Take the medium pink flowers and carefully separate the layers
• Use the glue pen to go over the printed darker pink lines on the edges and centres of the separated petals
• While the glue is still wet, cover with glitter and press down gently
• Shake off the excess and leave to dry.  Once dry, reassemble the flower but using both flowers to make one as in the picture

Add the image, sentiment and embellishments to the mats

Blooming Wheelbarrow

Hello, today I have a card made with mostly LOTV products.  The image is one of the previous release of stamps called Blooming Wheelbarrow and I have used Promarkers to colour it.  The paper is their 8x8 papers called Crab Apple Lane - Country Lady which are gorgeous "crafty" colours so go brilliantly with craft card which I used for the fishtail (Die-Namics die).

The sentiment is also LOTV from their new Set 8 General Sentiments preprinted so all you have to do is cut them out and for this one I used the smallest Classic Scalloped Circle from Spellbinders.

The flower is made using the Tonic Punch and Stamp set 701e which Brenda uses over at Floral Fantasies.  My roses are not presentable yet but this is a Camellia and I have a couple of Pansies which I am pleased with so another card is in production using them.

Sweet Pea

Today I have a card made with a Stampendous Stamp called Sweet Pea.  I have to thank my Blog friend Brenda (Floral Fantasies) who led me to the Cheddar Stamper website when she posted "Tonic meets Stampendous" on 27th March.

When I saw the flower stamps, like her, I had to have some and several fell into my basket!  This is one of them - they are beautiful stamps.

I used Promarkers to colour the image and the background paper is Bo Bunny Isabella.

J&C Creations Celebrating National Garden Month 8th April 2013

Every April communities, organizations, and individuals nationwide celebrate gardening during National Garden Month. Gardeners know, and research confirms, that nurturing plants is good for us: attitudes toward health and nutrition improve, kids perform better at school, and community spirit grows. Join the celebration and help to make America a greener, healthier, more livable place! (Quote from the National Gardening Association website). 

We don’t have a national day in this country as gardening is all year round in most gardens but the growing season for hardy plants is the time between spring and autumn when plants do all their growing and  gardeners do most of their work. The rest of the year is the dormant period when (most) plants and gardeners are resting according to Alan Titchmarsh.

Items from J&C Creations:

6x6 white blank card

Heartfelt Creations Posy Patch Flowers

Heartfelt Creations Posy Patch Clusters

Gold pearl pen

Memento ink pad Tuxedo Black

Archival ink pad Jet Black

Black card

Coconut card

Sticky fixers

Spellbinders S3-028 Standard Tags

You will also need:

Alcohol markers – flexible brush type are best for this method

Suitable sentiment

Glamour Dust in Crystal

Double-sided adhesive sheet

Method (This is adapted from the article Tipsy Glitter from May’s edition of Craft Stamper):

• Cut the black and coconut card to fit the 6x6 blank white card.
• Stamp one of the Posy Patch Flowers using Tuxedo Black onto the prepared coconut card in a random pattern, add gold pearl dots if required.
• Stick a piece of double-sided adhesive sheet to a piece of white card a little bigger than the Posy Patch Cluster flowers.
• Peel off the top release sheet and stamp the cluster using the Jet Black and leave for a few moments to dry.
• Sprinkle the Glamour Dust over the whole image, rubbing with a finger in a small, circular motion to get even coverage and leaving the surface smooth, shake off the excess.
• Starting with the darkest colour and using a very light touch, add colour to the centres of the petals over the Glamour Dust.
• Continue working outwards using the mid-orange and then the yellow.
• Colour the leaves using the same light touch.
• Finish the flower using brown for the centres.
• Cut the posy out.
• Place onto your stamped coconut card with sticky fixers and add the sentiment.

Take on Clarice Cliff

Hello, today I have a card made with a stamp in the Clarice Cliff style.  The stamp is called "Pastel Autumn" and produced by The Artistic Stamper.

Clarice was known for her extreme boldness of design and colour, "Bizarre" being the first range of hers to be produced by Wilkinson's Newport Pottery in 1927/8 where she became Art Director in 1930.

I coloured this image with Flexis and the background paper is Authentique's Delightful pad.  I used 3-D Gloss on the image which I painted on to look like glaze used on pottery.

I used Sizzix dies for the border and the cut out shapes made the 4 flowers.

Spring

I hope everyone had a nice break for Easter.

Today I have this card which I made for J&C Creations but have not posted on my website.  It uses Tim Holtz Sizzix Bigz Alterations dies: Tattered Florals, Tattered Leaves and Elegant Flourishes.

I cut them out using grungepaper, painted them with Distress Paints: Peeled Paint, Black Soot, Picked Raspberry, Picket Fence, Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet and then "stickled" the petals.

The letters are Tim's idea-ology Kraft Resist Chipboard Letter Numbers which I have gone over with Black Soot.

Double Delight

Hello, today I have one of the new Cut, Fold and Tuck Spellbinders dies called Double Delight.

I have used First Edition's Sweet Owl paper to cut the die and for the backing paper.  The butterfly and "leaves" are Memory Box dies.  The gem on the Pink Petticoat sentiment looks off centre but IRL it is perfect so it must be the angle at which the photo was taken!

Milk & Biscuits

Hello, today I have another card made with another die cut from the same sheet as last time - LOTVs Take it Easy sheet.  The rubber stamp for this one is titled "Milk and Biscuits".

The backing paper is from the Bo Bunny pad Weekend Market together with Tim Holtz Kraft-Core Shattered Collection with a bit of distressing.  I have gone over the image with Antique Linen because the white background was a bit stark on this paper.

I have also used two Memory Box dies and a Craftwork Cards sentiment.

Gone Fishing

Hello, I am back after my week in Dorset.  We drove in and out of rain on our way down and woke up on Sunday morning to snow!  We then had a sunny day which melted the snow on the lower hills and lasted until Thursday.  It was really lovely - not! - walking around Lyme Regis in the freezing, pouring rain with the sea really high, lots of white horses and no view because of the low cloud.  

We had a storm overnight and it was still raining on Friday so we decided to come home, driving back in the pouring rain until we neared Kent where it was dry.

Considering the time of year, we were very lucky with the weather but have decided not to go that early again.

I made this card yesterday with paper from a MME Fine & Dandy Boy pad, Memory Box and Spellbinders dies.  The image is a die cut from LOTVs Take it Easy sheet.

Bunny Friends

Hello, another scheduled post but I am back at the weekend.  This is PB's very cute stamp Bunny Friends and this time I have coloured the image with Aquamarkers for a change.  I just love the one upside down!

The paper is Prima Songbird and the flowers and fence are Memory Box dies.  

Royal Peacock

Hello, today I have the other card I made with the same stamp as the previous post whilst it was still sticky.

This time I used Royal Peacock gilding flakes.  The border butterflies and main butterfly are Memory Box dies.  The paper is Prima's Romance Novel.

Lancashire Rose

Hello, today I have a card made with IndigoBlu's Vintage Floral stamp on which I have used Lancashire Rose gilding flakes.

I love the look one gets from these flakes but the Flitter Glu is a real pain to remove from the stamp.  I follow the directions from IndigoBlu to the letter but my stamps always end up with a tacky feel to them.

The  border die is Memory Box and the paper is from Prima Reflections pad.

J&C Challenge for March

J&C Creations Challenge for March is Easter - if you hop over to the Challenge website today you will find the instructions on how to enter the competition to win a £20 voucher to spend at J&C Creations.  The Challenge runs until 12th April so you have plenty of time to enter.

Items from J&C Creations:

6x6 blank white card

Coconut card

Memento Tuxedo Black dye ink pad

Penny Black wooden stamp – Easter Joy! (1936K)

Pink, green and yellow card

Doodlebug Design 12x12 paper – Birthday Girl Stripe

Small flower punch

Adhesive gems

Marianne Creatables dies Ivy Set (LR0206), Tiny Flowers 2 (LR0249) and the bird from Fence Set (LR0205)

You will also need:

Letters either dies or stamps

Fishtail Flags 

Alcohol markers

Flowers

Method:

Use the Doodlebug paper and pink card to make a mat for the base card.

Stick a strip of Doodlebug paper to a strip of pink card and cut out the letters for the word EASTER and the Marianne Tiny Flowers 2 die.

Cut a Fishtail Flag to fit the letters on from yellow card and attach to the top of the card.

Use green card to cut the Marianne Ivy die.

Cut the bird from the Marianne Fence set from a scrap of pink paper.

Punch enough flowers to place on the letters depending on the size of your punch and add gems to the middles when dry.

Stamp Easter Joy! onto coconut card with Memento Tuxedo Black and colour.  Mat onto pink card and mat onto the base card.

Place the other die cuts and flowers as in the photo.

Blazing Poppies

Brenda over at Floral Fantasies is having a blogaversary celebration and this card is my entry.

I have used IndigoBlu's stamp Blazing Poppies and coloured the image with Dylusions.  I went over this with LuminArte paints to give a sheen.  I dotted the spaces with a Versamark pen and then used Stampendous Fran-tage opaque Aged Gold powder.

The background was made using Adirondack Alcohol inks.  I dotted drops of colour onto a craft sheet, sprayed with water and then picked up the colours.  I went over this with a dotty mask.

My card is finished with a Memory Box butterfly and a pink heart jewel.  I also had some fibres which I thought looked good in the centre of the card as the colours matched.

Over the Rainbow Bridge

Hello, today I have the card I made to thank our vets for all the care they gave over 2 and a half years to keep our gorgeous guinea pig Ted alive.  He collapsed in 2010 and after emergency treatment was diagnosed with a heart condition which apparently is very common in guinea pigs but often misdiagnosed as a respiratory infection.  

He was on heart medications and lived life to the full indoors with us until he died from an undiagnosed tumour last September as a result of inbreeding by the person who sold him to the pet shop I bought him from.

I hadn't been able to post this before and even now still find it very upsetting.     

Mother's Day

Hello, today I have the card I made for my Mum for Mother's Day.  I have used the gorgeous Bo Bunny Isabella paper again which is my current favourite and one I find very difficult to use because I don't want it to disappear!  

I have decoupaged Tatty Ted which was one of the 4 images I received free with a recent Papermania order because he is so cute.  

I have used Memory Box dies Lavish Branch, Isabella and Pippi.  The roses are from WOC.

Bella Bouquet Again

Hello and welcome to my new followers.  Today I have another card using Bella Bouquet from Memory Box although looking at it now, I wish I had used paper with a stronger colour rather than this shiny one which looks washed out.

The die cut on the left is another of the new Memory Box ones called Nottingham Border.

Vintage Sailing

Hello, today I have another man's card for which I have used Tim Holtz's paper from the idea-ology paper stash - Destinations.

I found some Penny Black Stickeroos under a load of stencils I was sorting out.  I don't remember when I bought them but I think this one goes well with the papers.

I also used a Memory Box die to cut the star border and Britannia dies to cut the lettering.

UK School of Craft

Hello, today I have some great news about a new school of crafting - J&C Creations have opened the UK School of Craft at their warehouse in Maidstone.

The Tuesday Group

Come along on Tuesday mornings from 10:30 to 12:30 and meet like-minded people to chat with.  Bring along some crafting with you. 

Do you have a crafting question we could help you with?  We like a challenge, so we'll do our best to resolve any crafting queries you have.  

Entry is £2.00 which includes tea, coffee and biscuits, plus a ticket for our raffle which will be held at our end of year party.  

Free parking.

See the UK School of Craft website for further information on the workshops.

Nellie's Flower

Hello, today I have a card made by paper piecing one of Nellie Snellen's new filling dies called Flower.  

The backing paper is from a cArt-Us paper pad called Spring Flowers and I have used one of the new Sizzix dies for the sentiment.

The weather has been cloudy, damp and cold since the snow last weekend and  it would be nice if we see some sunshine today.