On the move

It's taken a while but my website has been updated. It's now more streamlined and easier to navigate.  My blog is now incorporated into the site so would be so pleased if you lovely people would visit there at jtcards and I promise to keep it updated more than this one!

Welcome

 

 

 

I realised it's been a while since I blogged, will try and be a little more speedy updating next time! This has proved to be a popular choice to welcome a New Baby.  Available in pink, and blue of course, using a beautiful Centura Pearl card. The flowers are a little fiddly to make but I think they finish the pram off with style.

Silhouette

I wanted to bring a little elegance to this wedding card so have backed it with lilac card then used a Clarity stamp with Perfect Medium to heat emboss some Centura Pearl card. I punched some flowers and used Liquid Pearl to make dots in the centre, used a Syntego motif as the focal point and finished off with a little white bow.

New Nest

This seems to be the season for ‘For Sale’ signs to spring up throughout the country.  If you know of someone moving to a new home this is the perfect card to wish them well.

Hot off the press

 

As the wedding season begins, here is a sneaky peak at a new design about to go on my website.  I hope to have it listed within the next few weeks.

The largest layer is Centura pearl in teal and then a layer of the same card in snow white that has been heat embossed with Wow embossing powder, sparkling snow. The hearts have been embossed with roses and the flower is stamped onto paper and heat embossed, cut out and shaped before sticking the layers together. It takes a while to make but feel it will make a lovely keepsake.

 

Stix2 anything

My latest find with excellent bonding products is the Stix 2 range.  They kindly sent me samples of some of their range and I was very impressed. The high tac roller tape is so easy to use and the tape glides on easily making a very strong bond.  I tried the micro dots and they are perfect for using on delicate embellishments such as intricate die cuts. Follow them on Twitter (@stix_2) or Facebook (Stix-2-anything)

 

A sticky problem

When I first began card making about 7 years ago, I made Christmas cards for the family. Looking back, they were not that great but I was proud of them.  My eldest daughter and her husband were given one with a fireplace, Christmas trees and stocking hanging by the fire, (all very useful stickers).

The day after she put it up, they came down in the morning to find it all had all slid off the card and was leaning drunkenly on top of the television. They thought it was funny and her hubby stuck it all back on with sticky tack. This incident began my quest for ultra-strong sticky stuff that wouldn’t stick to me or result in my efforts all slipping of the card.

Once of the best things I found first of all was Pinflair Glue Gel. This is amazing glue that bonds surfaces so strongly I have no worries it won’t stay put. I also used it to seal the rubber round my car door that the garage told me would cost a fortune as they would have to order special glue. They obviously hadn’t heard of Pinflair and it is still stuck firmly several years later. The amazing thing is, it just dries and peels off your fingers if you happen to touch it. How does it do this? Do you remember those strong adhesives that used to pull the skin off your fingers? 
 

For intricate pieces, needing a fine nozzle, then Cosmic Shimmer Glue is my choice. This bonds really well and is great for making flowers and fixing intricate die cuts.  Both these glues dry clear and that is another bonus. Next time I’ll tell you of my latest finds.

 

Happy New Year

Hope you have all enjoyed Christmas and I would like to wish you

a very Happy New Year

 

Snow is falling

Now we’re getting into the mood (!) here’s another couple of Christmas cards, The first one was made using Spellbinders dies and the blue section is cut from blue sparkly felt. A good quality felt cuts really well and adds dimension to your designs.

The second is with the background cut, again using Spellbinders dies, with a Clarity Stamp deer using Flitter glue and silver gilding flakes. Gilding flakes are so effective, once you’ve mastered the art of using them. Before that they end up on the floor, stuck to your fingers, in fact everywhere.

Christmas Card in Silver

Just in case you’re not quite in the mood yet here’s a Christmas card. I went a little overboard with making poinsettias so they featured on a lot of my cards this year. I used a Spellbinders die and my Grand Calibur, cutting them out with centura pearl snow white paper and loved the result.

 

 

A sleeping cat

I used to meet up with a couple of friends once a week and we would all do some artwork. The easiest thing for me to take with me was a piece of mountboard and some watercolour pencils. I used them dry and it involved a lot of tap tapping as each piece was worked on. Here is one I was quite pleased with and was very proud to win first prize at a local show.  I had a problem deciding how to spend the 50p.

Still learning

A friend wanted a birthday card for her son who is still learning to drive (at over 40!) so I came up with this one. Luckily, he has a sense of humour.

Boxing

My first image is of a box I made for a Christmas present. I was watching a programme about the Hougie Board (as modelled behind the box) and Kay, who invented it, mentioned it can be used to make boxes. Now, I have tried to make boxes before using the score boards designed for the purpose but with little success.  This time as I have the first project book, the Hougie board and some very nice Centura Pearl card, thought I would give it another go.

I had three presents to wrap that needed to look a little more interesting so opened the book to the right page and had a go. My first test piece was with some co-ordinations thick paper and I was quite pleased with the result.  I happened to have bought some A3 centura pearl that proved to be perfect for the size I wanted so cut it up and tried to concentrate to score in the correct places. It turned out to be really easy and I was so buoyed up by my success and being on a bit of a roll, I looked round for anything that needed a box. I have now boxed up four Christmas presents and have a couple of spare small boxes that might just be useful one day. I do like the Hougie board and, now I am trying out a few more ideas, can see it has even more potential.

This all reminded me of when my eldest daughter was small and used to sit avidly watching Blue Peter. I used to dread it when something was made as I could guarantee she would turn to me at the end and say ‘we could make that, couldn’t we mum?’ and most times we did.

My first post

I have been trying to think of something significant for my first blog but no luck so far!

Just to introduce myself, I work part time and, when not working, immerse myself in all kinds of crafting, specialising in designing personalised cards to sell on my website.

The idea behind beginning a blog is to share ideas and discuss subjects that might be of interest.  I have resisted getting started for a while as I felt as though it was just one more thing that I couldn’t fit into my day but it really looks like fun.

I just have to find out how to personalise my page with a background. After thinking about something for a while, I tend to jump straight in without reading the ‘instructions’. J

I’m just going to press the button now and see what happens.