Wonderful Christmas

Every year I buy more Christmas stamps etc because I will be more organised, every year it's still always last minute and I haven't used lots again!

Not that I have been sitting around doing nothing mind you but I have made some progress in the last couple of days.

This card could pretty much qualify to appear on JillStampsUp but I didn't use all SU products and as I've done quite a lot of SU stuff recently I seem to have less on this blog!

I've used a great stamp set called Wondrous Wreath which is a two-step stamp.  I've stamped the bottom layer in pear pizzazz ink, the second layer which highlights some leaves in garden green and then added some berries.

This is then cut out with a matching framelit, the bow is also in the set.

These are mounted on a top-note sizzix die which is stamped with a sentiment in real red from the same set.

I have made 18 of these, written and ready for posting now so a good job done.
Now to sort some commissions!!

A new arrival wood

No quilling today but another quick baby card.  Similar to cards I have posted before but just so you know I am still going!

I've been a bit too busy on the Jill Stamps Up side of things recently.

This is yet another of my huge words stamps from Woodware.

I've used some papermania paper from my stash to paper piece in the letters, layered on co-ordinating card and finished with gems and a ribbon.

Simple but effective!

Happy 10th Birthday

Still not enough hours in the day for blogging - sorry again!

I have been busy crafting though.

I'm struggling with light to take pictures in as well at this time of year so sorry the pic is a little dark!

This is a card for my niece who is 10 tomorrow.

I have some number stencils that I drew round and cut out for the base (card is A5 to give idea of scale).  I've then decorated the numbers using a couple of flower Stampin' Up sets with matching punches using both pink and white card.

Sentiment and matching punch are also SU and a few extra flowers and some sparkly gems to finish.

I bought Maisie some Hobbycraft goodies for her birthday which was a fun shop to be able to buy things I'd of loved when I was that age (or even now to be honest!!).

Jill

Candi tree

Unfortunately I was commissioned to make a sympathy card this week.

I've actually managed to make a card designed for card candi and not filled it with quilling for once!

The image is from a Craftwork Cards pad I have in the stash which has lots of different pictures in different colours to populate with candi.

I have simply picked up on the colour and used some candi from my selection and layered the image on co-ordinating card.

Sentiment from Stampin' Up and punched out with SU punch.

Jill

A quilled birthday

A card made for a special commission recently that was so successful I've just made another for someone else!

Stamps and framelits are Stampin' Up which I've then decorated with quilled flowers and some punched silver leaves to pick up on the sentiment colour.

Finished with some little fringed flowers in a couple of corners.

More trees

I was going to give a closer view of the 'seasonal sheep' in my last post that gained a bit of interest but haven't got a picture I thought I had so might have to wait for some daylight to take a new picture to share!

In the meantime this card is similar but different to the purple tree I posted a couple of entries ago.

Using the same Woodware bubble bloom stamp I have stamped it in green this time and added a couple of different colour stickles to some of the bubbles and filled the rest with a mix of 2mm & 3mm solid and open coils.

Sentiment from SU Teeny Tiny sentiments and punched out with word window punch.

Spreading the word!

I am pleased to report I was out spreading the 'Quilling' word last night.

I was invited to a local WI where I did a little talk on Quilling, a demo and then an optional practical!

I was surprised with how many things I came across when looking out samples that I had forgotten about.  It was so lovely to see them all out that I had to take some pictures.

I don't have room to have any of this out so it was nice to see it all!

There is a selection of items from kits, books, workshops, my crazy head and much inspiration from Diane Boden of JJ Quilling that you will recognise if you are familiar with her work.

I also had to bring out all my tea time items from the recent AGM!

I also had a selection of cards for inspiration but that could be purchased too and had to have a little 'plug' area with supplier details, Quilling Guild info and a poster for next years AGM in nearby Sherborne.

Never too early to put it in the diary!  (19th September 2015).

It was a lovely evening and many of the ladies had a go and took away a little snowflake card.

Christmas Tree Bubble Blooms

So, I always seem to be apologising on here.  After my blog had a meltdown I've been so busy doing samples for various talks, workshops & demos I haven't quite got on top of things.

The owl on the last post was a digi image I found on line as I didn't have any halloween stamps.  A copic group I belong to on Facebook had a challenge and I coloured it to make myself use my copics which have been a little neglected recently.

Anyway, today I have another great Woodware stamp called Bubble Blooms - Festive Tree.

For this sample I have used various shades of purple quilling paper in a selection of 2mm & 3mm to make solid and open coils to fill the 'bubbles'.

I'm working on a couple more where I've added some stickles in the circles and then will do one with card candi too.

There are many things to be done with the tree - it's a very versatile little stamp!

Happy Halloween!

Incoming ...

... and we're nearly back.

If you have tried visiting recently apologies I had a small bug issue.  I had scheduled a few posts for a few days I was away and when I went to add more it had a melt down but I think we are fixed so I shall return tomorrow.

Phew!
Jill

Mum's Birthday

This is Mum's birthday card this year made with a stamp set I've often admired (as has Anne!) but never bought until recently.

It's a two-step set meaning the light colour is stamped first and then, with the use of a stamp-a-ma-jig, the darker colour is stamped over the top to provide the detail.

The large flower and 2 sets of leaves were stamped over the base card.  The little flowers were stamped out separately and have been added to the card with foam pads.

Sentiment from a retired SU set and cut out with oval framelits.

Memento ink used was Summer Sky and Paris Dusk.

A special birthday

Looking through my pics yesterday I realised I hadn't shared this one with you!

This was for Caroline at Crafty Bunch who is in our birthday club and I was tipped off that it was a special number this year!  The numbers were cut out with now retired SU dies.

It's a bit of a Stampin' Up extravaganza again funnily enough and I think the ink/card colours were elegant eggplant and crushed curry.

I also used:

Ovals collection framelits
Pricking templates - Occasions
Flower Shop stamp set and matching punch
Petite Petals stamp set and matching punch
Everything Eleanor stamp set

Doggies!

More quilling to follow another day.

I have had rather long periods of absence on blogs this year due to being busy with all sorts, one of which is commissions.  I have made quite a few cards along a similar theme recently so thought I'd share a few today.

They are all made using DOCrafts Digital Designer which is a great tool for importing a picture and making a pyramage of it.

This particular image was printed as inverted which hopefully makes sense if you look at the picture.

This card was bought my a very clever doggie for his Mummy!

This card has both a regular and inverted image on which should demonstrate what the package does.

You can choose up to 6 layers for each image too.

This last one is a regular 'stack' again with a very cute little pup.

All the backgrounds have been stamped using the small stamps in the Woodware set 'Huge Dog' which I have used before - it's a great stamp set.

Sentiment stamps are Stampin' Up and one is computer generated.

I've made a couple more this week too but for birthdays in the future so they will have to stay under wraps for now.

Brilliant Quilling

Some more pics of the brilliant work from the AGM.

Janetta van Roekel who comes from Holland does the most amazing work and was awarded Fellowship of the Guild this time, well deserved.  She is always available to share her ideas too and is very inspirational.  I hope to try some of her ideas in the coming weeks.

In the meantime this is her multi-prize winning competition piece.

It is one of those fabulous pieces you could spend ages looking at - each square has a different flower in it and the rainbow of them is so effective.

This is a close up of one of the sections.
Janetta also won the Salver for this piece which is awarded to what is considered an excellent piece of work on display.

 

Just in front of this picture you can just see this piece of work - I will see if I have a better picture.  Not that pictures really do it justice, the work is soooo fine, some of the papers are literally 0.5mm thick or thinner it is amazing.

I will report more on this in another post.

Finally today while I am on prize winning pieces this is another piece that was fascinating to look at and was produced by Josie Jenkins.

This was awarded the Rosebowl which is awarded for an interesting piece on display that was not entered in a competition.

The graduated paper sets it off beautifully.

Good news for local followers is that this event is coming to Sherborne in Dorset next year so you too can come along and admire all these gorgeous pieces of work - and don't worry I will very much be reminding you nearer the time!!

For a limited time you can also join the Quilling Guild for ONLY £10 which for a year with 3 lovely magazines is superb value.  Next year you could come along to our shared ideas day the day after the AGM to have a play and get some inspiration.
Join here or contact me for details.

Time for Tea

And so to start sharing my recent quilling adventure!

At the Quilling Guild AGM in Norfolk regional areas have a display table - this year Somerset opted for an afternoon tea theme.  This is our table (you may need to zoom in on this one!):

Our centre piece was a table covered with a fab weaved tablecloth that Anne spent many an hour making.  I made the sign in front which picked up on some of the other items I had made and included a 'menu'.

Ideally I would of quilled the letters but you can imagine there was a time issue and I was still adding 'coconut' to my madeleine the night before the AGM.

I then embarked on some 3D items.  I had many more ideas but not enough time and when I came to actually put mind to paper they existed much better in my head!!

This is my afternoon tea stand which stands at 10cm high to give you an idea of scale.  The bottom plate used nearly 1.5 packs of American quilling paper hence why several plates are made with a more filigree option.

These are my other cakes (macaroons and biscuits!!).  The sponge at the back is covered in Diane Boden's legendary fairy dust which is somewhat time consuming but very effective - needless to say there were sprinkles of this all over my premier inn bed the night before the AGM too!

I shall return with more offerings tomorrow.

Jill

Bird spotting!

I am back! Crikey Norfolk is a long way!!

Had a great time though.  VERY inspired by all the quilling I've seen and lovely to meet up with quillers from across the world.

Whilst I sort my pictures and try and return to normality I have to share a picture from today.  We came home via a fabulous National Trust site called Wicken Fen near Ely and were so lucky to see this chap.  The picture isn't amazing but I had to take it quickly before he flew off again!
(apologies for the dodgy watermark!).

Anyone for cake?

Soooo sorry if you keep nipping past and wonder where I have gone - it has been such a busy time but I have actually done some quilling.

Most of which I can't show you yet but this is, literally, a little taster!!

It's not a great picture - I will take a more professional shot for next time - but these are a couple of items I've made to take to the Quilling Guild AGM in Norfolk this week.

If you are in the Norwich area on Saturday afternoon do pop past to Dereham Neatherd High School to browse fantastic quilling from across the world - and treat yourself to supplies if required!

Back soon!
Jill

Walkies!

I am still here pottering away!

I have been doing some quilling recently which I can't share currently but will do soon.
I've also had a few days off work this week and this is a view on Tuesday from a Tor on Dartmoor where we had lunch.

This picture doesn't actually do the height of where I was sitting justice!!

Anyway, 10 miles later and I was feeling quite weary and luckily for day 2 of my hols I had booked a day at the Spa at Center Parcs at Longleat.  This is only about an hour away so ideal striking distance.

I had a lovely relaxing day trying out the different steam rooms & saunas and a bubble in the little outdoor pool.  As we managed to get a whole day we could spare some time to get stuck in to a book too - I even sat in the Zen Garden for a bit as it was a nice day!

Needless to say back to the chaos today (but not work until next week thankfully).

Minions!

For the same crazy friend that the card on the last post was for I was also commissioned to make one from someone else.  I didn't know what to do until I remembered something I had been meaning to try for ages (and wished I'd thought of it for my card!).

So here is the first minion card I have made (I haven't included the sentiment as it was personalised):

These cute chaps use the Stampin' Up owl punch - what a brilliant idea (not mine of course).

Not a lot else to say except the eyes used some circle punches and you can't beat some google eyes too!

I was rather pleased with them and shall be making some more.

Fuzzy heads!

A fun card today for a crazy friend of mine using an idea I found on the internet.

The little heads are in fact a stamp from a two-step stamping flower head (I realise I may now have to make a card to demonstrate this too!).

I think they are so effective with the google eyes.

The sentiment is from a retired Stampin' Up set and I've finished with some punched stars.

I think I might make some more of these as they are rather cute.

Afternoon Tea

A birthday card for my friend today who also has a special birthday this year!

This is similar to one I made a few weeks ago and is a pop-up card that folds flat which is brilliant.

Colours used are Stampin' Up:
Pistatchio Pudding
Crisp Cantaloupe
Strawberry Slush
Old Olive (card base) and a hint of black

Flowers are from the Flower Shop and Petite Petals stamp sets (with matching punches), leaves from the now retired Secret Garden framelits and finished with sizzix cut numbers (rude not to), a sentiment and some gems!)

We have been out to a local hotel today for afternoon tea which was absolutely lovely and excellent value.

11 of us went out and we had 3 of these tiered treats between us - with plenty of tea of course, a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

Wedding frame

Catching up and going back to the wedding last month I shared a card & pic from, this is a present I made for the happy couple.

Using the same colours used in the wedding invitation I received (melon mambo & elegant eggplant in SU colours!) and using punched butterflies that also featured on the invitation I borrowed yet another of Jenny's ideas that we did at one of our 'days'.

I've added wedding details in the middle of the frame that can be replaced by a photo if required.

The spiral die has been used to form the flowers and some leaves and mini flowers punched out to finish.

Each spiral flower also has a large gem in the middle which finishes it nicely and the butterflies have a few for added sparkle and continuing the theme from the invite again.

The picture doesn't show the flowers at their best and makes the purple look much darker but I couldn't get a better picture of it!

The couple loved it which was lovely to be able to give them a gift they appreciated.

A new baby

A little card today - I have completed a few in the last few days but can't post some of them yet!

This card was made using another of the fab 'huge word' stamps from Woodware.

I've paper pieced the letters with some paper from my stash - one of which had lovely butterflies on so I cut a few extra out to add to the card.

The extra little sayings are in the stamp set too and are a great finishing touch.

Roses

A card I made before I went on my holidays for a commission.

As with many things I had in mind what I was going to do from a brief and ended up with something completely different!

Roses was one of the briefs and as I had been playing with my spiral flower die for something else I suggested these.  This is an 8x8" so quite large.

Some backing paper from my stash and SU Deco Label framelits used to add peel offs for the sentiment.  SU punches for the bird and leaves and a selection of pink and cream roses.

Only when I had made this did it then dawn on me that this was not going in an envelope - so then I made a matching box!  I thought it was a shame I didn't have much large card to make the box but then remembered it is now only a 5 minute walk to Hobbycraft and I had a 20% voucher so I soon remedied that.

Luckily it was all very well received.

I'm back!

Well, it's been a strange couple of weeks with holidays, Birthday and sickness!!

I have made a few samples today for Wednesday nights Crafty Bunch (the first one is on Jillstampsup) but I'll share a few holiday pics on here first.

We popped off to Scotland - the trip brought about as I got tickets for the badminton semi-finals at the Commonwealth Games.  We had 5 hours of great badminton matches.
We then chose to stay a week north of Loch Lomond to do some walking/resting!

This was our lovely lodge, we actually got upgraded to a slightly bigger lodge at the top of the site.  




This was the view from the veranda - not bad eh?

Just a quick update - off to do a couple more cards!
Jill

Special Birthday

I keep planning to keep up with the blog and life keeps getting in the way - I am officially having a week off from crafting now though but promise I shall be back with some ideas when I've had an official rest!

In the meantime I had a 'special' birthday last week and was lucky enough to have a surprise night away in a posh hotel in Cornwall which was rather lovely.

My friends at Crafty Bunch didn't know what age I was (luckily) and these are the lovely cards I received from them - plus a couple from other friends that had kindly made me a card.

Mr and Mrs

A lovely day on Saturday spent at my cousins wedding (I'm also her Godmother so feeling very old!!).  Luckily only had a shower while we were in the church and it was ok for photos.

Doesn't the bride look lovely?

The colour scheme was pink and purple and using the colours on the invite I made this card to match.

I've used the 'huge' Mr & Mrs stamp from Woodware again.  Papers are from some papermania pads in my stash with the letter 'r' and hearts cut from Stampin' Up card to match.

Cycling Gold!

As mentioned in my previous post there has been no crafting at the weekend as I went to watch my husband Graeme at Newport velodrome.

He was competing in the National Masters Track Championships.  From age 30 and over all the riders compete within age categories at various events.

Graeme got a hard fought for silver in the scratch race (basically first over the line after many laps!) on Saturday, 4th in the Pursuit and then a blistering ride in the Points race yesterday netted the gold!!
It was a tad stressful - it was an 80 lap points race, every 10 laps the first 4 riders over the line get points (5,4,2 & 1) and if you lap the field you get 20 points.

Graeme lapped the field twice and because he was at the front also netted some points in between times - quite impressive and nice to have some of his team mates there to see it too.

Quite tired today so just a little browse at what to buy from the new Stampin' Up catalogue that goes live tomorrow!!

Love me, Love my DOG

A quick fly past between working and bike races with a card!

This is using another fab Woodware stamp called 'Huge Dog'!!

I've used the extra little stamps in the set to add the paw prints, woofs and little dog head.

Main words coloured in copics and all mounted on a 5x7" kraft card.

Off to Newport Velodrome for the rest for the rest of the weekend so sorry again for the slow down in posts.
Jill

Bicycle thanks

Apologies for the week off there - not intentional, some long days at work followed by some being out and about and keeping up with cards and I ran out of time for blogging.

Hope everyone has been enjoying the sun - I got rather roasted judging bike races yesterday but have been quilling today which has been good (can't share that with you yet though).

A bit of a last minute photo today (unsurprisingly!!) of the Thank You cards I made to be given to helpers this weekend.

Thanks to Tracy for this one!  I was having a little nosey at her sale cards recently and saw this bike die which I hadn't come across before so had to get it immediately of course.

I've also die cut some ovals to mount it on, a couple of Stampin' Up punches,  a sentiment and some card candi and 20 cards later here we are.

Sporting Father's Day

Well, considering I was initially very disappointed that I had to cancel my Plan A for today it has turned out to be a very pleasant day.

I had coffee (and a spot of cake) and a crafty chat with Val over at Aquarius blog, then coffee & a snack with a friend before popping to Sherborne on a craft reconnaissance mission!!

All very lovely in the sunshine - and hopefully fruitful on the mission side but I'll have to report on that another day.

These cards are a couple of Father's Day cards I've made this week.

The stamps are a Papermania set that I've stamped in memento rich cocoa and added a little bit more shading with brown pencil.  I have stamped the main image twice, the second one is cut out and 3D'd on - using thicker pads on the footballer as this was hand delivered, the rugby one was a commission to be posted.

The cards are 5x7" from Anna Marie and are layered up with gold, dark brown and more kraft card.

Finished with peel off sentiment and some matching card candi.  

Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine.

Jill

Santa in June

Well, more by luck than judgement I have a Christmas card today - my first of the year!!

At the recent Stampin' Up training I went to we were shown a card made from framelits which I wanted to try.  A recent delivery of retired stock old olive & cherry cobbler card was to hand which started this card and as the colours reminded me of Christmas I found some stamps to go with them!

The santa image is from an SU set called Santa's List and the stamp on the back section of the card is from Pines & Poinsettia and is coloured with pens each time so the image has 3 colours on it.

The sentiment is also from this set, cut out and added to the front with 3D foam.  I think it's quite an effective style and I'm just having a play with a non-xmas one between actually doing some quilling.

Jill

Horsing about

Well, what a lovely day after a bit of rain first thing (and the thunder & lightning overnight which completely passed me by - I was exhausted!!).  The weather had been built up to be so bad today so I went out armed with waterproof and brolly this morning only to wander round with sunglasses in a t-shirt all day - ideal as I've been to a couple of outside events which has been rather lovely.

Back to crafting and as is often the case when I've done a card and someone sees it there is an element of copying!

My next commission was for a 50th birthday today for a lady that owned a horse.  After yesterday's card you will notice the banner bunting makes another appearance!

I've used 2 scalloped oval tonic dies for the base and added some great decoupage from Paper Nation I have in the stash.

Banner stamp is on kraft card and punched out, layered over some linen thread with little bows added to finish off.  I didn't have time to cut the individual letters for this sentiment so had to resort back to trusty peel offs.

Beach Wedding

A commission to share with you today and congratulations to the couple involved who got married yesterday!

Through a friend the Mother-of-the-Bride asked me to make a wedding card.

They had a great wedding invitation with bunting on and one of the guest requirements was to wear flip flops.

My task was to make a beach-themed card with bunting on with the name of the bride and groom on, a sentiment, sandcastle and flip flops!

The 'sea' on my card mirrors the wedding invitation, as does the colour of the base card.
I used the double sided adhesive sheet I bought at the show last week for the beach and added craft sand to it and cut out a couple of sandcastles.

The bunting is using an SU banner punch and the letters are a new addition to my stash as I get asked to personalise things a lot - I'm a huge fan of these already!!  They are Joy Craft dies.

At this point I should say the banners also mirror the colours on the wedding invitation!

Computer generated sentiment on a 3D banner and some little hearts to tie everything in.

And then the flip flops!! I remembered making some years ago from shrink plastic.  So I googled the process, found my shrink plastic and here we are.  The picture may not do them justice but they have wire on them for the 'thong' element and seed beads for decoration.

It's always a bit scary providing a card for such an occasion when you don't know those involved but my feedback was that it exceeded their expectations so it was worth the flip flop sticking trauma I had en-route!

Getting inky workshop!

My afternoon workshop with Jane Gill on Saturday resulted in this card:

The main background and the background the flowers are stamped on were created with the 'Creative Palette' (like a Gelli plate apparently which I know some followers have played with!).

This isn't the sort of thing I would usually play with but it was really enjoyable.  We did some test pieces first using different colour inks and a variety of 'things' to make patterns like combs, bubble wrap, bottle tops and sponges.

I played with one of my test pieces and will make this in to a card too sometime.

Both backgrounds used 3 different colour inks but in varying quantities.  The fab image is Woodware set JGS332 Spring Flowers which we stamped and embossed in white powder, then coloured with pens.

Really good to try something different and learn things from Jane and the lovely Jan who runs Japonica in Exmouth.

We even had a short break to go and watch 800 Royal Marines speed march past!!  You can read the story here - it was definitely worth seeing as they came past the end of the road.

Banksia workshop

The first 'show and tell' from the workshops I did on Saturday is this card:

This fabulous Banksia was made under the supervision of Jane Gill who is 'the' expert in punch craft.

The flower was actually made from nearly 30 of these punch suns!

It was great to do though and something I would like to do more of.

All the card is from a lovely textured pad that Woodware sell and the stamp is one of Jane's too of course!

Rather pleased with this and will show you the afternoon project tomorrow.

Especially for Val here is the confession of purchases from the papercraft show yesterday - probably the dullest selection ever!!

I topped up with white A4 card and 8x8" cards from Tim at Anna Marie and this is what else I bought!

Even from this the butterfly cards and candi embellishment pad were only bought as they were reduced and I couldn't resist.

I've used some of the A4 adhesive on a project today, needed a few envelopes but did treat myself to 3 stamps - I shall endeavour to use them and show you a card sometime.

One stamp I had planned to buy had sold out by the time I battled my way in to My Mums Craft Shop stand so I'll save that for another day.  It was quite a social too as we met up with several local crafters and had a few chats on the way round.