Something different

Hi everyone,

Hope you've had a happy weekend. Not the best weather here in Surrey, but that's just a good excuse for staying in and making cards!

Today I want to show some cards that are a little different from my usual style. I was inspired by a card I saw online somewhere - apologies for not being able to give credit, but I spend far too many hours every day surfing blogs and can't find the original source. Anyway, I have changed the design enough to make it mine.

I have a whole raft of birthdays of friends and relations in June and July so mass produced these cards to be ready and organised.

These colour combinations just make me sooooo happy!! A far cry from my usual colour palette of muted pastels, but I really love them. Which is your favourite?

I used a Sizzix embossing folder on the black card and the daisies are cut from a Sizzix die which I've had ages but not used much. There is a similar one (if not the same) in the current Stampin Up catalogue. Each daisy has a quilled fringed flower as a centre. The message banners on the pink and yellow cards are again from stash I've had ages - from Craftwork cards. I didn't have a turquoise one, so made it from a scrap of card and a peel off.

Hope you like them. Also hope none of my friends with birthdays coming up are reading this! Haha!

Jill x

Paper quilling Father's Day cards

Hello everyone,

So sorry for missing my regular post last week - just don't know where the time went. Feeling very chilled and relaxed today as I have a week off from the day job to look forward to - lots of card-making opportunities.

Well, I suppose today I should really be posting something that reflects the Jubilee celebrations this weekend. Sadly I am not that organised but I am feeling smug that I have at last managed to list a couple of Father's Day cards in my Etsy and Folksy shops.

This first card is, I think, adapted from a design by Jane Jenkins. I just love how it's possible to make those cute carrots, cabbages and cauliflowers, all from paper.

The second card is a design that I have been making for years but had been sadly neglected.

Both of these cards can easily be personalised for a male birthday, rather than Father's Day. I still find making cards for men a huge challenge, so it's good to have at least a couple of designs in my armoury!

Well that's me for today. Enjoy the Jubilee celebrations if you are in the UK. I may well be back during the week to show any new designs I mange to come up with in my week off!

Jill x

Quilled Christening card

Hello again,

Hope you've all had a good week. It was my birthday on Wednesday and I managed to arrange a day off work. Had a lovely day out and lunch with my sister and spent the evening watching my daughter and her class mates perform their monologues for their GCSE drama course. Also received lots of lovely presents including earrings from my husband and tickets to see Hamlet at the Globe theatre from my oldest daughter. What could be better? I am very lucky!!
Of course, just as important as the presents were the cards, and I received some lovely ones, including a couple of handmade cards, which I'll post on here another day! My brother commented that it is a nightmare trying to find a birthday card for me!

Well, on to today's card offering from me. One of my customers asked if I had any cards for a Christening. I'd been meaning to get around to making some of these, so used her request as an excuse to spend last Sunday coming up with three new designs.

This was one of the designs - I used a tutorial on another blog to print the wording straight onto my card blank and was pretty pleased with how that turned out. The fonts are Papyrus and Scriptina Pro - I love them both and like them even more in combination.

Well, I suppose I'd better head off up to bed - it's 12.45 on Staurday night/Sunday morning!

Back next week - have a great week, and if you get a chance please leave me a comment - I love to read them! (And if you could vote for my daughter - see previous post - I'd be sooooooooooooo grateful!)

Jill x

Surrey Schools Have Talent

Hi everyone,

No card today, just a shameless plug for my talented daughter! Annie (14), my youngest, who loves to sing, has been shortlisted in the Surrey Schools Have Talent competition and now needs the public to vote for her - the link to view all the finalists is here: www.gosurrey.info/havetalent  but Annie's video is better viewed on You Tube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj4274m50UY

The instructions to vote are as follows:
Vote for your favourite by emailing us at schoolgames@surreycc.gov.uk by midnight on Sunday 27 May.
*You can only vote once and only one vote counts per email. Please provide your name, age and details of the act you are voting for.
The overall winner will receive professional mentoring leading up to a performance that will make history at Stoke Park on the 20 July as part of the Olympic Torch Relay celebrations.

So please vote for "Annie Rose Chapman"

If you could also encourage your friends and family to vote that would be even better (obviously only if you feel she deserves to win!)


Thanks very much in advance!! Back with a card at the weekend.


Jill

Special order quilled card

Evening everyone,

Hope you've all had a great weekend. I can't believe how quickly it goes - it's now 7.30 on Sunday and I still have a heap of things to get done. Mind you, I spent all day Friday at a Health Spa with a very good friend, relaxing and generally doing very little and by the evening I was exhausted!! So I think the lesson to be learned is just to keep going!

Today's card that I'm going to show you was another special request from one of my lovely customers. She lives in Australia and wanted a special card to send to a relation in England.

It was her idea to outline a map of Australia with quilled daisies, in gold and green (appropriate Australian colours!).

I was a bit concerned about how this was going to turn out but the customer was delighted with the photos I sent through - hope she likes it as much in real life!

Today I've been busy coming up with new designs for Christening cards - not totally happy with any of them yet but I'll post them on here next time so you can see what you think.

Right, better go and sort out the teenagers in the family - we are living in a state of heightened tensions at the moment as one is taking A-levels, one doing GCSEs and the other revising for mock GCSEs. What joy!!

Jill

Quilled 60th birthday card

Hello everyone,

Hope you're all managing to stay warm if you're in the UK in this unseasonably cold weather (for May!).

I'm back as promised to show you a card I made recently for a friend.

Well, that's it for me today - short and sweet!

Jill

Quilled 90th birthday card

Hi everyone,

I seem to have had a lot of requests recently for 90th and 100th birthday cards - seems like more and more people are living to see these ages nowadays. This is a card I made a while ago but haven't got around to photographing it until today.

The quilled flowers are mounted on an oval cut with a Nestabilities die and likewise the scallop mat. The message is punched out with a Stampin Up punch called Elegant Label, I think. Add a bit of chalking around the edge of the label, a piece of ribbon to mount it on and TA DA!!



Just off to list it in my Etsy shop. I have to admit my Folksy shop has been sadly neglected recently - I have had so many sales from Etsy that I've had very little time to maintain the other shop. However, I am wondering if the strong sales to the USA will continue after the huge hike in postage costs here in the UK this week. It now costs £3.30 to ship a card to the USA, Canada, Australia etc. Add the cost of a padded envelope etc and I really need to charge £3.50 for shipping!! At the moment I've increased it to £2.95 and I'll absorb the excess myself, but eventaulally I'll have to put them up.

Just before I sign off, I'd like to send birthday wishes for Friday to my crafting friend Lesley, who sometimes reads this blog I think. It's a very special birthday for her this year! I'll show you the card I made her next week.

Bye for now,

Jill