Stampin' Up! bird builder punch & Take Care stamp set

Have been having so much fun with my new stamp sets & punches.  There is nothing nicer on these freezing cold, dark nights than sitting at my craft table surrounded by all my lovely new things getting inspirational.  Some things work and some don't quite but part of the fun is learning and each time I make something I don't quite I'm learning.

So, what have I started with :-

• bird builder punch
• New Take Care stamp set
• Teeny tiny sentiments stamp set
• word window punch
• Pumpkin pie & old olive card stock
• soft suede, lucky limeade, early espresso & calypso coral ink pads

The card stock I bought came in 12 different colours (great value starter pack at £6.25 for 24 large sheets) so I can create lots of different cards & decide which are my favourite colours before I buy whole packs of same colour. Brilliant.

I have already bought a variety of ink pads & because everything really mixes & matches again I can experiment working out what colours blend and go together the best.

I used a sponging technicque on the bird to create a red breast & body & just sponged a little heavier on the beak.  I did the same on the little leaves & twig.  The blessings sentiment I stamped out using the word window punch.

Second card is really simple but I kinda like it. Simply stamped tree with 2 little decorations taken from  christmas deer set to just set it off.

Now for one that didn't work! Reckon its good to sometimes put things that don't work so here it is. Thought as I was using quite bright card stock with the pumpkin pie I would just use brown & green for the bird & the little eggs for the border.  Unfortunately I think it looks a little drab & probably would have looked better if I had mounted the bird on a white or light coloured backgound. I do like using the little eggs as a border though so that is something to use on another card.

Stampin' Up! starter kit

How exciting I came home from work yesterday to have a huge parcel waiting. My Stampin' Up! starter kit.  Well it just happens to be my birthday this weekend and I always try and treat myself to something and what a treat.  I have become so enthralled with Stampin' Up! and all their great products choosing the items to make up my starter kit was a bit like a kid in a candy store, 'I want it all'

There was sooo much that it covered my dining table.  It is so cool that you can choose whatever you like to make up your starter set & as I had already bought quite a bit from my dear friend Lauren I chose some items that would really work together.

If you are interested in becoming a demonstrator, want a catalogue or just want to know more about Stampin' Up! and their great range of top notch crafting please email me allmark.j@sky.com  The journey begins and it is time to share, share, share :))))

hanging chocolate tree decorations

Have been having some fun today making this yummy little tree decoration using some chocolate coins (thanks goes to Lauren for coin idea)  Well I  got some gold chocolate coins the ones that come in a little bag & decided to make individual tree decorations.  I stuck a circle of card stock to cover the gold coin on both sides, put a heart & a little sentiment on top & then added some twine to hang on the tree.  As the bag contains 9 coins I now can make 9 decorations to co-ordinate with my red & green theme on my tree.  Can't wait to get my tree in from the garden & the decorations down from the loft, but a bit early yet so time to make the other 7 decorations.

 
 

 
Stampin' Up products used : -

• lucky limeade card stock
• Festival of Prints - Designer series paper
• full heart punch
• decorative label punch
• sentiment stamp is a retired set but there are lots of yummy ones in current catalogue

If you want to buy any of these products then please get in touch allmark.j@sky.com

Christmas robin card

As I wait for my Stampin' Up starter kit to arrive with all the goodies, I have been busy practising techniques and creating more cards.  Robins are such a christmasy bird with their bright red breasts & chirpy happy faces & christmas to me is all about love so the heart just complimented the card perfectly.  I used a sponging technique for the robin's body & red breast & then sponged round the outside of the punched shape to give it some depth.

The Stampin' Up products I used were : -

• owl punch - (such a versatile punch as you can make so much more than just an owl)
• poppy parade & soft suede & early espresso ink pads
• lucky limeade card stock
• full hearat punch
• decorative label punch - (again one punch & you can create a variety of different sized labels)

If you would like any of the above products then please don't hesitate to contact me at allmark.j@sky.com

Thank you for looking

Independent Stampin' Up Demonstrator

As you know I am someone who loves crafting & especially card making. Well I have been buying a variety of different stamps, punches & paper to do this but one particular product stands head and shoulders above the rest.  This company is Stampin' Up.  What I really like about the products is that they are the best quality I have found. When I stamp an image onto my card stock I want it to be clean & crisp with plenty of detail. The card stock is of a great weight & so smooth that the stamped images again are crisp & clean.  Homemade/handmade cards are great but I still want them to look professional and the best I can make.

So where do I get Stampin' Up products from?  Well the good thing is that you can't buy them in the shops, so the cards you make can be a little more exclusive, you buy them through a Stampin' Up demonstrator.  Luckily one of my closest friends became a Stampin' Up demonstrator a while ago & she started running workshops teaching & showing off this great range.  It is so much fun as each class you get to learn another technique & to use different stamps & punches.  It really is a 'try before you buy' method.  This was so good for me as it allowed me to grow in confidence and ability to where I was able to make a range of cards & start selling them locally.  There really is a market for individual high quality cards out there.

Well turn the clock forward a few months and I wanted to become more involved with Stampin' Up products and give more people out there the opportunity to buy some of their great range. Stampin' Up offer new demonstrators a fantastic  start up incentive.  Buy £130 worth of stock (absolutely anything from the catalogue, you mix & match to create your own package, the stamp sets you want, the punches, the card stock, ink pads & pretty embellishments like rhinestones, pearls & ribbons, and you pay only £99.  So excitedly I put my order together & on Friday placed it.

Over the next few days I will receive a huge bundle of craftiness to allow me to continue to make some fabulous cards and most importantly continue my passion for everything homemade.  It is very exciting and I can't wait.

I really want to share all of this and Stampin' Up products with all of you out there so I will be starting my own workshops to share techniques & show you all these great ideas & pass on this passion. Remember you can only buy Stampin' Up products through a demonstrator. So please get in touch allmark.j@sky.com & be one of the first to join me on this great Stampin' Up craftiness adventure. Wheeeeeeee!

Bespoke cabinets

Here are a couple of pictures of bespoke cabinets made for customers.  These were made for the bathroom to house different styles of wash basins.  If you are looking for something individual & unique beautifully made to your own personal specifications then please get in touch allmark.j@sky.com

 

Thank you for looking

Unique Mirror

This is a beautiful mirror handcrafted and totally unique.  Each mirror that is made is an original in design & made sympathetically with the curves of the natural wood used.

If you would like to have a mirror to adorn your home please contact allmark.j@sky.com

Hare Card

Working on trying to make a card with a hare on it.  This cheeky little chappie was created using the owl punch (for the body) the heart punch (for the ears) & the owl punch (for the eyes). I do love hares & so will be working on a few more ideas during the coming weeks so keep looking to see what I come up with.

 

 

Have made this a christmas card, but could easily be any other sentiment.

 

Dont forget if you wish to buy any of my cards just email by allmark.j@sky.com

 

 

Sun, sea & surf

I recently had the opportunity of spending some time in Newquay a real surf capital and was able to watch lots of people surfing and enjoying the big waves in this part of the country.  I decided that if ever I was to have a go at surfing it would be somewhere really warm as the idea of donning a wetsuite and running into our freezing sea made my toes curl and my teeth chatter.  So I thought I would make take this idea and do a couple of summery cards.  One is with surfboards & the other shells which stamping everything in blue & using blue cardstock has given them a real seaside feel.

5th birthday

Exciting day today it is my grandson's 5th birthday so day a day filled with laughter & fun. So I have made him a birthday card with 5 little turtles on in shades of blue.  He has a love of turtles & tortoises as he got to ride on the back of a giant tortoise  on holiday in Mauritius when he was only two years old.  He still has great memories of that event and can tell you exactly what noise a giant tortoise makes ( its a sort of deep grunting noise).  I have been invited to his party to be held in an adventure ball park with lots of his friends so I get a chance to climb around & launch myself down slides, which is one of the benefits of being a crazy granny.

Four calling birds

A subtle christmas card with four calling birds sitting in the trees, just right for the run up to christmas.  It is that lovely time of year when everything starts to feel like christmas & for me I love spending time making cards & gifts for my loved ones.  As this always takes a good few weeks, by the time I have finished it is almost christmas eve.  What better way to spend  time in the dark winter evenings than sitting at my craft table being creative.

Unique Mirror

Have you ever wanted something totally unique & individual to hang on your wall?  Well take a look at this mirror.  It is beautifully made from natural wood, hand crafted & finished and totally individual.  This mirror has been finished with some lovely stained glass lead work in the corner which really sets it off and catches the light.

Commissioned pieces to order so just get in touch allmark.j@sky.com

Cards - hearts & trucks

You've got to love hearts, well I do anyway.  So I have created a heart card full of sparkles. Each heart is embossed in glittery tinsel & so is the background.  Hard to tell from the photo but trust me it sparkles. An alternative card for christmas, or any other time really, using a green theme it is perfect for everyone & not just us girlie girls.

 For all the guys out there & us girls that just like trucks here is a cute little card of a pick-up truck carrying home the tree for the festive season.  One card I printed the truck as it was, & the other I washed in blue watercolour & painted the little guy driving.  Fun to do so I hope you like them.

Remember all my cards are for sale so just drop me an email allmark.j@sky.com if any of them catch your eye.

Hare card

Well I was given the task of creating a card with hares one of my favourite creatures. Not being an artist this was something difficult for me as I could not draw a good representation of this beautiful animal.  So I set about creating a silhouette.  This is my first attempt and I am quite pleased as it has given me some other ideas which I will be working on over the next few days.  The hare was cut out of black cardstock with a background of reds, yellows & oranges using a brayer & masking out the sun & then sponging in with yellow.  The picture doesn't really do it justice as the yellow doesn't show up very well as there is far more colour depth to the card.

 I hope you like them as I will be trying to create some more hare cards over the next few days.

Bodren & Guitar

I have a love for music & although I am by no means a great player I enjoy the guitar. I was very lucky to have been bought this year a beautiful guitar. It is made by a company called Luna & it has the most gorgeous dragonflies set  in a turquoise sea.  When something is so beautiful the desire to pick up and play becomes infinitely easier. There are also waxing & waning moons on the neck of the guitar, hence the name Luna I suppose.

I also enjoy percussion instruments especially drums.  I have a couple of dejembes & I recently managed to pick up a lovely bodren from a car boot.  It was a little plain so I decided to decorate it myself.  It is a pentacle entwined with leaves & I was very pleased with the way it came out & it was far easier to do than I imagined.  The tricky bit was managing to draw an exact pentagram but then I used the help of my boyfriend who is a carpenter so has to be very exact.

Home Interior Creativeness

There is an amazing person in my life who is incredibly talented & has added some beautiful features to my home. I have an open fireplace but didn't want the conventional boring surround that you can pick off the shelf. As a lover of wood (especially oak) a green oak sleeper was purchased then cut. The top was joined with tenon & mortise joints & then it was mounted round the fireplace. Lovingly fed with linseed oil it has taken on a beautiful colour & is my pride & joy in my living room.

My floor was tiled with lovely slate tiles in the kitchen & hallway & I wanted a feature piece to just finish it all off. So again with incredible skill a beautiful cream pentagram was cut from individual tiles & set into the slate tiles.  It looks almost as if it was painted or stuck on, but it is carefully cut out of individual tiles. Check out the points of each side to see how amazing the cutting skills are.

Creativity at it's best & I hope he will be able to do many more commissioned work for people.

My beloved companions

These are two of my precious companions. My 7 years old black cat called Diesel & my beautiful 11 year old black labrador Buddy. They are my constant companions and are always there through good times & bad with a gentle smile & a comforting purr or lick. One is always by my feet and the other is always on my lap. I adore them both & they both kinda like each other too.

Selection of cards I have made

Some of the cards I have been making recently using the fanastic Stampin-Up punches, stamp sets, cardstock & DSP papers.I love the diversity of these products as you can let your creativity run wild & make each card individual & fun. With christmas/Yule just around the corner I have designed some really fun cards using festive colours & papers to add that festive flavour.

Some of the stamp sets I have used from Stampin-up are : -
"Christmas deer" which I embossed with glittery silver & put a little red heart in middle of antlers (pic11)
Robins made from the "owl punch" (pic2)
Fun gingerbread men, candy canes, tree & mugs from Stampin-Up "Scentsational Season". (pic 3 & 9)
A pretty embossed butterfly with ribbon & leaves in two of my favourite Stampin-Up inks "rich razzleberry" & "wisteria wonder" with my current favourite sentiment stamp set "Pursuit of Happiness" with the great phrase "Live in the Sunshine"

I really enjoy making cards & am starting to successfully sell them in my local area.

Remembering Summer

My favourite time of year is summer & with all this rain & cold & frost at the moment I was looking back at some of my pictures taken in my garden of roses, lavendar & bees.

How exciting! Have just managed to get into blogger, have no idea what I am doing but I suppose you have to start somewhere. So here goes.

Decided I would start a blog to share my love for crafting & everything homemade. Being someone who enjoys up-cycling & recycling I have tons of enthusiasm but not a lot of knowledge. I struggle drawing or painting anyything more than stick people & one dimensional pictures so I started to create my own cards using "Stampin Up" products. These great stamps allow you to be creative with colour, patterns & ideas without having to be able to draw the images from scratch. So I have become hooked.

I want to start a blog to showcase my work & so hopefull over the next few days I will learn how to use blogger to customise a fandangly page with lots of buttons & thingamijigs to allow me to do this.

Until then............................................look back soon & hopefully miraculously it will appear!