Tuesday 22 January 2013

Flowers by Post

It’s always a joy to receive flowers, even more so when you are least expecting them.
I received from Interflora today and they really are beautiful, I even got Chocolates with them.
Flowers1
I took a close up picture of the velvety deep red roses which make the most Lovely Gifts
Flowers2
I know you are all itching to know who sent them to me but I’m keeping schtum.
Maybe it’s my secret admirer (wink)
Jak Signature

Monday 21 January 2013

How I Roll–Colouring

It’s been a funny old day (Sunday) and I’ve been playing with some colouring techniques, I started my day at 05:45 feeling quite groggy and a little under the weather, so many germs going freely at the moment to anyone who will have them, it started with a headache on Saturday that just wouldn’t go, by Saturday evening I was taking pain killers and taking myself off to bed.

So at early o’clock I started colouring with my FlexMarkers by Letraset, I’m loving the new colours in these, I also love the brush tip that allows the ink to stay wetter longer allowing better blending, I also love that the colours are true and not wishy washy.

So this is what I was colouring. A selection from Mo’s Digital Pencil 

colouring

Now as I was a little unwell I ended up back in bed and staying there until around 13:30. I have a wonderful man who made dinner and the went shopping for the weekly groceries while i took more medication and just played with images.

I decided to use Pastel Pencils on top of the FlexMarkers colouring I‘d done, I love that you can do this, I often do it with prisma pencils but I decided to invest in some Faber Castell Pastel Pencils and I love them. I use them with paper blending stumps by Derwent and I’ll thing you’ll agree that they work well.

This is the Tin of pencils that I invested in.

pastel pencils

Feeling a little better now but not managed to make a card I thought you would like to see what I’d been up to.

Jak Signature

Sunday 20 January 2013

What to Draw

There’s nothing better that sitting with a big sheet of blank paper and a pen or pencil, especially if you are young and care free, the imagination just takes over and before you know it you are in your own action packed day dream.

What to Draw from Mo’s Digital Pencil 

I coloured the image with FlexMarkers by Letraset using some of the newly released colours, the Sunset red is a must have, it really makes other reds pop.

what to draw1

You can see the concentration in his little face can’t you?

what to draw2

Jak Signature

Saturday 19 January 2013

Snow Stops Progress

I’m blogging today rather than getting off my butt and pedalling on my bike.

The snow has stopped me for the time being, although very pretty in parts it is not exactly what you would call ideal cycling material.

Last week I did very well, I track my progress on an app called Endomondo, it is great having it all logged because it pushes you to go a little further on your next journey.

Saturday was a stickler however because I took my bike to be set up correctly for me so we were late getting out and because the roads were busy we decided to go off road. I guess you can say too much too soon, the road was too bumpy, I wasn’t sure when I got back if I felt sick because of the pain in my back or sick because I am so unfit and totally out of breath. Too much up bank for a novice like me. I’ve added screen prints from my tracker you can click on them for a bigger picture.

Saturday 12 January

sat jan12th

So Sunday was different, we managed to get out a little earlier and decided to go the coastal route. I knew I had to pop to my mams after the bike ride and half way along the coast road Chris suggested we could cycle there. I manage to cycle most of the route but had to get off for a short while to catch my breath off the incline and to pass through the railway crossings, I did however get back on and pedal the rest of the way to my Mams where I got to rest and have a glass of water.

Sunday 13th January first part.

sun jan13a

So the reason I went to my Mams was I had been having problems with ear ache after I’d been out cycling, I get it when out for a walk or out shopping so I needed something to protect my ears but something that would still allow me to hear.

I put out a please help on Facebook with a knitting pattern to which a couple of nice people are coming to my rescue, mean while my Mam sat up all night making me this. you can see my Mam peeping in the background.

cozy ears

Now although this did the trick, I truly wanted Grey are Black so that is would look like part of the helmet, but at least for now I have a solution.

The knitting pattern came from here

So back to my cycle ride home from Mams.

sun jan13b

So all in all I clocked up over 4 miles on the Sunday.

Now come on weather, sort yourself out, I need to keep this up.

Jak Signature

Thursday 17 January 2013

Dream Team Blog Hop of the Month–Embellishments

It’s that time of the month when the Mo’s Dream Team come together and do a special project to give you a little inspiration and hopefully some Oooo’s and Awes along the way.

Two of Us-015

This months theme is Embellishments and Julie is our host so that is where the hopping starts.

you should have came here from Pops 

I used Cooking Dough C for my image from Mo’s Digital Pencil and I have added six Embellishments 2 pearls, 1 star, 1 flower, 1 pair of baby shoes and 1 ABC blocks, not to mention my ribbon bow in vintage seam binding from Ribbon Carousel 

cookie dough curly1

I just adore the expression on his little face dont you?

cookie dough curly2

I also happen to like scraping the bowl for the scraps of left over mixture.

ABC and ribbon

cookie dough curly3

Baby shoes.

cookie dough curly4

Flower and pearls

cookie dough curly5

Next up is Gretha and she has made something jaw dropping gorgeous to show you.

Don't forget to leave comments along the way as there is a couple of spot prizes on comments left

The blog hop order if you get lost is  Julie, Debby.Y, Heidy, Alice, Debbie, Mina, Pops, Jak, Gretha, Kerttu, Jane,

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Tuesday 15 January 2013

Sympathy Cross

One of those cards that you never want to make but it is important that you do make one to let someone know you are thinking of them.

I’m starting this one with a close up picture of the Spellbinders Cross Die, it doesn’t just have to be sympathy that is is used for, it can be used for loads of different occasions.

Sympathy cross3

I started the cross in a cream card and edged it with some suede coloured ink, I then used twine from Ribbon Carousel bound around the center of the cross I then stamped a spare piece of cream card with a script font stamp then cut one the smaller crosses and distressed it before adding on top with foam pads.

Sympathy cross1

Of course with this type of card the inside sentiment is always of importance so my favourite sentiment was used.

Sympathy cross2

Again using the twine to tie on the smallest of the crosses from the die set.

Jak Signature

Monday 14 January 2013

Hattie Bowler

Just a little fun card, you see so many images for mens bowls that we thought it would be fun to have one for the women.

Hattie Bowler from Just Inklined is such a fun image that I kept the card clean and simple.

Hattie Bowler1

Doesn’t she just bowl you over? Added ribbon and twine from Ribbon Carousel and a few blossoms to finish.

Hattie Bowler2

Jak Signature

Sunday 13 January 2013

Marker Storage Verdict – Crafters Companion

I finally got my hands on the marker storage by Crafters Companion, having tried so many I was sceptical whether or not this system would work for me but it truly didn’t disappoint me.

crafters-companion-ultimate-storage-20146-43407_medium

However I did want it to store my FlexMarkers by Letraset and as these pens are shorter and fatter than Spectrum Noirs, Copics, Twin Touch etc. I was worried that they may not fit so good.

Actually they did fit perfectly the only issue I had was they where a little difficult to get hold of the ones in the middle to pull them out of the tray.

So my thinking cap came out, I needed something to stop the Markers going to the very back of the tray so that I had a little bit extra to grab hold of.

My answer came from the pound shop

marker storage1

Draft excluder tape, self adhesive and high density cut into little strips and stuck at the back of each compartment, works beautifully.

marker storage3

All neat and tidy and easy to get out.

marker storage4

You can see the excluder tape in each compartment in this picture.

Jak Signature