CiLi in Papers Jubileumstävling nr 1 - hÄnglar & Wings

 Hello,

Last week CiLi in Papers celebrated their 15th birthday, CONGRATULATIONS!

The whole week they had a generous offer in the shop (and yes, I might have clicked home a few new goodies), and on their blog they hosted a new challenge/ competition every day, 6 in total. Luckily the challenges/ competions are up and running until the 10 of March, so people like myself who couldn't participate last week have the chance to create and enter their creations.

Here is my entry to challenge/ competition No 1 - hÄnglar & Wings

The criteria was to use at least on stamp by hÄnglar&Wing. I used one of my favourites "Livräddare", perfect as we are a family of sailors and lifesavers. My husband is part of the Swedish Sea Rescue and knows his CPR. All of our four children are qualified lifesavers/lifeguards, so they know their first aid and CPR too, and I'm a nurse. I also used the stamp set "FikaErika" for the birthday greeting-

Take care, keep crafting and have fun!

Jane
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A trio of ATCs - butterfly babies

Hello, 

Today I'm sharing a trio of ATCs I created the other week.

I had a go at mixed media, not my forte but I had a lot of fun creating these cards.

Here's a close up of the cards

If you create ATCs and like to swap with me please send me a message on Instagram or leave me a comment here on the blog.

Take care, keep crafting and have fun!

Jane
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ATCs for Ukraine

Hello Crafty Friends, 

The 24th of February 2022 was the day Ukraine was invaded by Russia, two years today.

Normally I'm not a person who likes to talk about politics etc, and I try to respect everyones believes and political opinions, as I think we all have the right to our believes and political opinions as long as they don't do harm to others. But when it comes to one country invading another, and not wanting to call it what it is, WAR, I just have to speak up. War harms people, and invading another country is doing harm to others and it is WAR and nothing else.

In support of the Ukrainian people I created four ATCs as a small sign of me letting them, and everybody else, know that they are not alone. There are a lot of us standing with the people of Ukraine, and we will do so until they have regained their country and are free from their invaders, Russia. 

Be kind to each other, and respect others whether they have the same beliefs and/or political opinions as you do. And to all of us living in democracies (true ones) think long and hard before you go to vote the next time, and most importantly VOTE, use your democratic right!

Jane
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Visible Image February ATC swap

 Hello Friends,

My ATC, and accompanying card, for the Visible Image February ATC swap has been received by my swap partner, this time in the UK. The theme for the swap was

All You Need Is Love

and here's my take

I had a clear picture in my head of what to do and what VI stamp sets to use, but I couldn't get the old Beatles tune out of my head. So in the end I just had to go with the lyrics instead.
I had the lyrics start on the accompanying card

Visible Image stamp sets used
"Sing" for the music
"One Kind Word" for the hearts
and a variety of sets to find words to create the sentiment on the ATC, and the word "LOVE" on the card.

The sign up for the March swap starts on the 23rd of February, so if you'd like to join in head on over to the Visible Image group on Facebook. You only sign up for one month at a time, and only to create a single ATC. So why not give it a go?

Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate it!

Take care, keep crafting and have fun!

Jane

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AAA Colourful colour themed challenges - Colourboard #1

 Hello Crafty Friends,

Today is the day! I'm so excited!
It's time for the the launch of the brand new challenge blog -

🎉 AAA Colourful! 🎉

AAA Colourful is a monthly challenge all about using colour. On the 15th of every month there will be a new Colourboard for you to be inspired by, the colours on the board should be the most prominent on your creation, but you may also use neutrals like black, white, greys, browns and skin tones. You will have until the 14th of the following month to play along. Cards can be for any occasion, and any style. We would also love to see tags, ATCs, scrapbook pages, journaling pages......

Now back to the very first AAA Colourful challenge - Colourboard #1. For this first challenge we are inspired by the colours from our blog header - a gorgeous selection from the rainbow. 

For my very first creation for this very first AAA Colourful challenge I have opted for a birthday card, as you could say today's AAA Colourfuls birthday. 

I started by ink blending a card panel using a heart stencil and Distress Oxides in three different colours. After ink blending through the stencil and removing it I went over the whole panel with the same colours as I used for the stenciled hearts. I addhered the inked panel to a card base after giving it a black border. Then it was time for my centre piece, a white heart with a party hat and a greeting. I die cut two hearts, one with a lacy border, and addhere to the front of the card. I die cut, and put together, the party hat, the greeting and some little "twinkles" and added them all to the white heart on the panel. As a final touch I added a few sequins to the card.

Products used

Stencil: "Print Shop" by Vicki Boutin

Dies: Thinlitz Colorize "Celebrate" by Tim Holtz/ Sizzix, "Lacy Heart Stackables" and "Outside In Stitched Heart Stackables" by Lawn Fawn, "HB2U - D180204" by Gummiapan

Inks: Distress Oxide inks "Picked Raspberry", Spiced Marmalade" and "Squeezed Lemonade" by Tim Holtz/ Range
Papers: Nennah Solar White and scraps from my stash

I hope you are inspired to play along with us in this very first colourful challenge, and many more to come. In need of more inspiration, and information? Head on over to the AAA Colourful challenge blog for more colourful inspiration by the amazing Design Team. I am so happy to be part of this team, and I must admit I'm a bit starstruck to be amongst so many talented crafters.

Hope to see you and your colourful creation on the AAA Colourful challenge blog ! You have until the 14th of March to create, upload and link your project.

Playing along with the following challenges;
Crafty Calendar Challenge - Add A Heart
Moving Along With The Times  challenge163 - Love Hearts
Pearly Sparkles Challenge  92 - Love/ Have a heart
Scrapping 4 Fun Challenge   232 - Anything Goes
Snippets Playground Challenge #473 - use your snippets (the party hat, crosses and the HB2u all from leftover paper snippets) 
The Rocket Challenge  #111 - Birthday

Take care, keep crafting and get colourful!

Jane

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Hearts and Birthday

 Hello Crafty Friends,

Hope you are having, or have had, a lovely weekend!

Today I'm sharing a CAS (Clean and Simple, with lots of white/ empty space) birthday card, inspired by all the lovely heart filled challenges out there, including our current challenge at AAA Birthday - Hearts.

I started by die cutting a card panel, and then some hearts along one side of the panel. I stamped and heat embossed a birthday greeting to the panel. I added a piece of scrap paper, leftover from playing with my alcohol inks, behind the hearts. I gave the panel a thin black border before adding it to my card front. Three little enamel dots and my card was done.

Products used
Dies: "Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables" and "Outside In Stitched Heart Stackables" both by Lawn Fawn
Stamps: "Blandade Hälsningar" by hÄnglar&Wings
Alcohol Inks: by Tim Holtz/ Ranger
Enamel dots: "Transparent dots" by Nellie's Choice


I hope you've been inspired to play along with us at AAA Birthday, and that I'll see your heart filled birthday card creation on the challenge blog soon! For more inspiration head on over to the AAA Birthday card challenge blog, which is filled with gorgeous creations by my DT colleauges and our special guest designers for the month, Karen and Liz. Their cards are amazing!

As I said I was inspired by several challenges, not only the AAA Birthday's, and I would like to enter this card to the following challenges;

Allsorts Challenge - week 767 Hearts/ Anything goes
Craft Rocket Challenges - #111 Birthday
Crafty Calendar Challenge - Add a Heart
Moving Along With The Times - challenge163 Love Hearts
Pearly Sparkles Challenge - 92 Love/ Have a Heart
Simon Says Stamps Wednesday challenge - Simon Says: Love Is In The Air

Thank you for taking the time to stop by, I really appreciate it!

Take care, keep crafting and have fun!

Jane
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January 2024 ATC swap at Visible Image

 Hi Friends,

My ATC, and accompanying card, for the January ATC swap at Visible Image FB group has arrived at my swap partner's in the UK. The theme for the month of January was -

"Your favourite previous VI ATC swap theme"

and there were so many amazing themes to pick from. At first I was going to go with a theme from last year, my first year taking part in the swaps, but then I started looking at all the previous themes. There were so many themes I was inspired by, but in the end I went with the October 2021 theme "words and pictures". Here's how my card turned out

As you can see I ended up putting my emphasis on "words", VI has so many great word/text stamps. I really stepped out of my comfort zone when creating the cards, and tried ink smooshing, which I find so difficult to get a "good" result with. Here's a picture of the ATC and the accompanying card

Products used
Visible Image stamp sets: "Express Yourself" and "Love of ATCs" for the ATC, and "Brighten the World" for the card.
Inks: Distress Oxide inks "picked raspberry", "squeezed lemonade" and "tumbled glass" by Tim Holtz/ Ranger.

Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate it!

Take care, keep crafting and have fun!

Jane

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AAA Birthday Card challenges Game #58 - Hearts

 Hello Crafty Friends,

It's the 1st of February and time for a new challenge at AAA Birthday Card challenges. The theme for the month, chosen by me this time, is

Hearts

Please see challenge card further down.

When I first chose the theme I had all these ideas of what I would create, but then when I sat down to make my card they were all gone and I had no idea of what to do. I started going through my stash and found this stamp set with hearts by hÄnglar & Wings. I love this set and decided to create a CAS (clean and simple) birthday card using the beautiful hearts. The actual card took me minutes to make, but the prossess to get there took forever. That's just how it is sometimes, you get struck by "crafters block". The good thing is after making this card it was like the block just lifted and my creativity came back in full swing.

The sentiment on the card reads "Happy Birthday" in Swedish.

Products used
Stamp sets: "Hjärtan" and "Grattiskombinationer #2" both by hÄnglar&Wings
Inks: Distress Oxide inks by Tim Holtz/ Ranger and VersaFine Clair "Nocturne" by Tsukineko
Die: "Small Dotted Rectangles Stackables" by Lawn Fawn

I hope you are inspired to play along with us. I can recommend a visit to AAA Birthdays challenge blog which is fill with beautiful heart filled inspiration by our two guest designers for the month, Karen Walker and Liz Cavill, and my amazing DT colleagues. They have all put me to shame, especially our guest designers, so don't forget to visit their blogs/social media and give them some love.

Now that you have checked out all the amazingness on the challenge blog, it's your turn to show us your take on this heart filled birthday card challenge. You have until February 29th to create, upload and link you birthday card to the AAA Birthday Card challenge blog. Hope to see you there!

Take care, keep crafting and have fun!

Jane
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