These really are beautiful products to use and pretty simple to make up because everything goes so well together! Some of the cards are much bigger than I would normally make but the embellishments are big too so proportionally it all works! It's a different style for me card-wise but I'm lovin it!
Keep creating!
J
xxx

... well, trying to. You know it doesn't come easy to me, cardmaking. Why this should be I don't know. Perhaps it's the small format or the fact that to sell them at a good price you can't spend too much time on them. Whatever it is I do find it very challenging and I have to say it's kind of got under my skin a bit and I will not be satisfied till I've got a production/sellability formula worked out. Meanwhile I have been trying out a couple of QVC TSVs. One, a My Craft Studio CD-rom product - I really liked 50% of the backgrounds and digital stamps but not enough to want to hold on to the whole package which was a shame 'cos it came with some really lovely glittered papers too. It went back to QVC! The next TSV was an Anna Griffin box full of vintage botanical goodies and it's a keeper!!! Wowzer! - just beautiful! I have only one complaint about this and its that the C6 cards have larger than C6 envelopes (to accomodate the layerage and dimensionality bestowed upon the cards I'm presuming) so this means C6 baggies don't fit them. Hmmmph! But that aside it is a lovely collection of goodies. There's even acrylic stamps for inside your handmade cards. Gorgeous!
My next project here is to have a good old tidy out. I'm having a joiner put in some heavy duty shelves in my utility room so I can store away bit's and bobs like xmas decs, stuff to recycle/put to the charity shop (and other various bits of junk that anyone else would generally throw out). I live in an old house and much as I love the proportions of the rooms and high ceilings etc, builders didn't "do" storage back in the 1900s which means although I do try to keep stray things to a minimum, my utility room often ends up like Steptoe's yard. An other alternative of course would be to get the attic floored but I think I would end up hoarding everything if I did that!
Anyways... better go and get on with it eh! Soz there's no piccies this time, will take some photos of the beautiful Anna Griffin kit soon as I make some cards with it!
Happy crafting everyone,
love Jak
xxx

Its something I don't do an awful lot of, but I have taken a notion to put together a box of cards - hopefully 50 or so - to sell with donation/percentage to charity. I'm trying to reign myself in and not spend too much time doing them cos then they end up costing too much and therein lies a dilemma. If I wouldn't buy one from myself, then (to me) that means they're not good enough. But then on the other hand, if they're too "artsy" then that puts other folk off who don't appreciate that kind of thing. Now I know that you cant please everyone but there's no point in making 'em if I can't sell 'em! Hmmm! Your comments/opinions on this one would be welcomed. If you make cards which do you find sell the best? Birthdays? General/blank? Should I do a mixture of baby, moving home, good luck sentiments? Anyhoo I've only made 20 so far so I'm not even half way there yet! Got a total bargain from ebay the other day - 3 sheets of Anna Griffin sentiments for under £4 with p&p all in! Result! I do love an ebay bargain - not that they're easily come by these days! Gotta go - there's cards to be made!
Happy Easter - step away from the chocolate now!!!!
Jak
xxx

Hello everyone,
Heres a 12x12 of our little cat Mog. She's very photogenic and knows how to play to the camera! This photo was taken on Leon's iphone and put through the Instagram app which made it all lovely and contrasty and old skool! The actual LO itself was inspired by one I'd seen in the latest version of Scrap365. The feature in it demos how to make a woodgrain effect background on cardstock which I fancied having a go at. It was really easy to do and I think its not bad for a first attempt! I would encourage you all to have a go too - all you do is drag the edges of your ink pads at varying angles down the cardstock then distress the edges. Simples!
Thanks for having a look,
Jak
x

If you've ever "Mothered" someone or something, human or other, then this day is especially for you - you're a star! A big thankyou to my gorgeous family, you ROCK MY WORLD! A special thanks to Sadie who visited me at 5.45am this morning to wish me Happy Mother's Day, ask if I would like my breakfast now (er - no) and would I like to open all my cards (see below!). Cute!


A whole My Little Pony show worth of cards here - I think I got the whole cast. Bless!


A sculpture from my Belle!



I love this packaging as much as the perfume! Get those colours - LUSH!

Enjoy your day!
Jak
xxxx

Crafting on hold this week - been watching the Masterchef finals!!!!
I've been having a trawl through some photos my other half has taken on his iphone. There are some beautiful pics from our hols and lots of kids and cats. Can I just say - with the Instamatic app you just can't take a dodgy photo. I just love the old retro polaroid feel they have. When I look at them they remind me of MY childhood. I guess everyone has those old snapshots, kept in dusty old shoeboxes at the bottom of the wardrobe that whirl you back in time to those never-ending summer holidays when the sun always shone and you were out to play all day, only returning home when you were hungry. Ahh - those were the days. Sweet!

I'm gonna put together a couple of LO's with these pics, hopefully, so pop in again soon and thanks for stopping by.
Keep creating
Jak
xxx

Good Saturday morning to everyone in craftland - hope you are all well!
In my pile of "photos to be scrapped", I found these b&w supercute pics of a 2 year old Sadie. She's clearly fed up with me clicking the camera at her and wants up for a hug instead. That pic of her puckering up for a kiss is just adorable. When I first looked at them I thought I would definetly do a monochromatic layout for a change as these photos were just ideal, but I'm such an anti-authoritarian (I try to keep it in check mostly heehee) - I couldn't help but rebel against even my own rules! So instead of toning it down, I have ended up with a riot of colour and glitter thrown in for good measure too! A bit OTT? Probably. I wonder if this psychology works in reverse? Like, if I set myself a brief to make the most colourful layout known to mankind, will I end up doing a black and white one. Probably not!
Anyhoo, for this LO I have used American Crafts textured cardstock as my base and I added some background texture by dabbing a white chalk ink through some sequin waste. The photos were distressed at the edges by sanding with an emeryboard and layered on top of Colorbok patterened paper. Both the turqouise and orange alphas are from WRMKs kits (from TK's again, ages ago) but the pink foam ones are from Poundland (I love a scrapbooking bargain).
My favourite tool of the moment is a rotary cutter I bought from The Works. I love the blade that does a perforated line which you can then rip, leaving a roughness to the edge of the cardstock.
Righto - the washing machine has just stopped. Heyho, time to get that washing out and on with my domestic duties. I have a work related project to get stuck into later which entails a bit of sewing! Hopefully I'll be able to cope with this and not get into too much of a mess - you know how stressed sewing makes me!
Wish me luck
Jak
xxx

Oh, memories... Sadie's 2nd birthday and auntie Kaggy is helping her open some presents. God, how time flies when you're bringing up a family. Sadie is going to be 6 next month and we've just been invited to her second Parents Evening at school in a week or so. I will be interested to hear if her teacher still thinks she's the wee angel that started with her back in August who she never hears a peep from in class(!). . Tell ya, no-one was more surprised than I when her teacher told us she was such a quiet little thing. I can only think she must save it up for at home where her little munchkin voice rings in my ears 'til bedtime. Haha - the only time she's quiet is when she is up to no good, usually in the bathroom, with tubs of cream and water - or anything that leaves a mess come to that. Thankfully we don't get so much of that these days, since she realised she can work the PC and i-pad. But that is another story that needs only two words to describe - one of which is i-pad and the other is WARS which consists of us having to limit their times and make sure they share in a rota kinda style! Can't wait 'til the weather warms up a bit and I can force them out into the fresh air to play in the garden!
Oh happy days!
Thanks for dropping by,
Jak
xxx

...says every mother throughout the land when their kids go back to school after those long, long, summer holidays. As is the tradition - photos must be taken before they set off in the morning just to have that photographic evidence to prove they do in fact start the day all spic 'n' span and squeaky clean - till they get to the top of the road at least!
This is my Millie heading back to school for P2, I think, which may not be entirely factually accurate, but hey, who's gonna split hairs. The papers are from a WRMK set again, on sale last year in TK's for 2 quid. I've also used a bit of old dictionary paper and some pink hessian which has been cut with my sizzix heart die. Ooh I'm really breaking out the old stash now - the cat brad is from Smirk (not sure if they're still on the go) which I think is probably the first out of the pack which I bought probably at least 3 years ago. All text from my computer - if you like the typefaces I used they are called Chickenhawk and Albertsthal Typewriter, which you can download for free from fontspace.com. Love, love, love, free typefaces! As for me, I'm quietly chuffed (or is that smug haha!) that I've kept to my word so far and got 3 LO's done and uploaded, quite quickly too. Best not get too carried away with myself though as I did say I would do a half dozen.
Well done to my friend Elaine who finished her Xmas mini last night at the craft club we go to. It's looking lovely E! Another heirloom in the making!
Love to you all
Jak
XXX

Getting on with these 12x12s... I have so many photos of when the girls were younger that I should sort them out into scrappable/photo album catagories. As mentioned a while back, I'm really rubbish with a digital camera and where the kids are concerned, I couldnt't take a decent photo to save my life. However, I do have lots of expressive pics which, although not technically great, they do make for good scrapbook pages. So here's the next LO entitled ADORA-BELLE. Although my youngest's name is Sadie Grace (a misnomer if ever there was one - especially the Grace bit LOL!), everyone who knows her calls her Belle - it just seems to suit her better. She is always pulling some kind of face and always making us laugh. A real little ray of sunshine, so these bright papers totally suit the subject matter. These papers were from a kit I got last year in TK Maxx - a total bargain as they were reduced in price down to £2. I know a lot of other scrappers managed to get something similar as they were the talk of the forums at the time. Talking of retail therapy - did anyone get anything from QVC's Craft event? Sadly, I didn't as I had recorded it all and the stuff I had a liking for all sold out. Shame, but as is so often the case - You Snooze You Lose! On the bright side though, I saved myself at least £50!!!
Happy Sunday everyone - keep creating!
Love Jak
xxx

Well here we are with layout number one. I've used Anna Griffin lace stamps, elements from an old Colorbok kit I got from QVC, lace and little paper flowers. It was quick to do - hopefully I can keep the momentum going for the next lot. I feel I must get some stash used up as I want to buy some new stuff. I'm gonna have a clear out soon and will donate any papers I have now outgrown to the craft club I go along to. Isn't it funny how your taste in stash changes and some stuff looks so old fashioned even though it might only be two or three years old! Anyhoo, I feel like a wee purchase might be pending and its craft day on QVC so.....
Keep crafting
Jak
xxx

Flamin' heck - talk about the gift that keeps on giving! Finally, it's finished and I felt it was all looking ok. But then I had a look on youtube and saw a really OTT but in amazing way Xmas mini and felt completely inadequate. Oh well, a scrapper has to aspire to grow and learn new techniques, to always try something new...
And well to be honest, this took long enough to do. I feel, being a bit thrifty with the old stash makes you more creative and I love to recycle that years pretty cards and parcel ribbons, resulting in an eclectic randomness that really makes each piece unique. I just know I would never be able to make the same piece twice.
Anyhoo, with that all complete, I'm going to clean up and tidy away Christmas till at least September and get on with some 12x12s. It feels like its been ages since I did this size and I feel like I could rattle off a good half dozen quite happily, so now it's out there lets see if I can walk the walk and come up with the layouts. Yow! That's a challenge! (Eeek! What have I done?)
Thanks for popping by
Jak
xxx
PS - now panicking!

One exploding box! Phew! I loved making this and I think it makes a lovely keepsake to go alongside my mini album which (ahem -) isn't finished yet... I've used American Crafts cardstock for the basic box and decorated it with Brenda Walton Evergreen (doublesided) papers by K&Co. I bought these last year for 2010's mini but as I hadn't used that many or seen anything new I was desperate to have, I've gone with them again. I'm getting my money's worth!!! Which is great cos I've put quite a dent in 'em now - there's not many left and this means I can shop for new stash without guilt! Yay!
The candy canes on the lid are made from pipecleaners - thankyou my girls, and the rosette thingy is a Tim Holtz diecut, distressed with a bit of gold ink. There's quite a few heat embossed bits and pieces stuck here and there too and lots of wording that's been stamped onto cardstock. I used those teeny little Hampton Art alphabet stamps which are always a faff to clean and put away, but always worth the effort. I hope you enjoy having a look. Please let me know if you have made any Xmas projects of your own by leaving a comment with your blog address or link to your gallery as I love having a snoop around other folks creative stuff!
Cheers for now and ta for popping by!
Jak
xxx

...At this point depending on where you are in the country, you might even have a few of your own (keep it clean please)! Meanwhile, here in Dundee however we have the bluest skies and the brightest sun with not so much as a cloud nevermind a snowflake to be seen. The girls' sledge is stuck in a cupboard gathering dust and I must admit I do feel a bit jealous when I see all the snowy pics in the papers and on the news. Ah well I can always listen to Kate singing about the stuff! I have loved this lady's work since I was 13 and this has to be one of her best albums in a long, long time and that's saying something since she usually takes years putting them together. If you have ever liked her, then you must invest in this and give it a good listen to. Amazing!!!
Anyhoo, my Xmas crafting efforts are nearly done and I will be uploading my box very soon (- does that sound a bit odd or is it just the mood I'm in today?)
Pop back soon to have a wee look round!
Jak xxxx



Some blue sky today, as seen from my window!

Just a quick post - busy finishing off my exploding box. Here are some taggy bits that I've made for it. They are clear embossed stamps on brown Kraft cardstock, with a bit of distressing and I've lightened the inner bit of the image by rubbing some moonlight white chalk ink on them which really brings out the contrast in them. Cool. Even printed out some photies too so, watch this space for more images soon.

Happy New Year and best wishes for 2012, to all you crafty peeps out there! Hope you're scrapping or at least doing something creative with all the photos you have taken over the festive season. Or not, if you're me. Well, it's not that I'm not doing anything creative cos as you can see I've made a start with this years mini, the only thing is I don't seem to have many photos of this Christmas at all. Must've been too busy opening pressies or something (or in the kitchen cooking probably!). Never mind, I have no ink to print them out anyway which gives me time to take pics of favourite pressies and pretend I took them all on the 25th. No-one will ever know I "cheated".
Anyhoo, here's a sneak peak of what is on my messy old table at the moment. It's not nearly finished as I haven't done any titles or journalling yet but while I'm getting round to taking some photos and getting printer ink, I think I might do a wee exploding box which I've taken a notion to making. I made one of these about 5 years ago and it was fun. This one is a bit different this time round with pockets and flaps instead of just layers, so its a new challenge. Stay tuned to see if I can work out from the instructions how to do it!
Love to you all,
Jak
xxx

Well who'd 've thunk it!
Me sewing! Aaaaargh!
And at the busiest time of the year!
That is Pester Power for you. Sadie is the Queen of Pester Power and I have been mithered relentlessly since this little parcel was opened Christmas morning. So much so that I was actually (almost) glad to get to work for a break from the incessant "Will you help me make my Sock Kitten Mummy pleeeeeease?" trilling in my ears! However by yesterday afternoon I'd run out of excuses and was actually feeling a bit guilty about dodging this duty that I kinda thought I'd better show willing and just get the job done if only for the sake of my ears...

So here in all its glory...





And so admired and grateful was my little Belle that she couldn't wait to get off to bed with he who has been named Mittens Stripey Strachan!
Bless!
Kinda made it all worthwhile ... maybe. Can I just add that Millie got one too but she surely must be old enough to sew it herself by now...surely?

Oh. And when we got up this morning, Mittens looked like this...



Hahahaha - he'd lost an eye! Eeek!
D'oh - better go. I have a Sock Kitten in need of emergency opthalmic surgery!!!!
Happy New Year to everyone!
Jak
xxx
PS - don't ask me to sew for you. Ever!

Well lookey here!
I've managed to squeeze in another post! Here's a layout I was working on at my last craft club night (Merry Christmas ladies!). It needed a few finishing touches to complete it and finally I'm happy with the way it has turned out. It was inspired by the LO on the cover of the first issue of Scrap365. I really like the splashy paint style - a bit more lively and defo fun to indulge in. My first attempt didn't quite work though - I used the "wrong" colours and it ended up looking like some kind of horror/bloodbath, crime scene layout! That had to go as it was totally distracting and did nothing for the small photo. In the end I went over with a soft pink paint that complimented the colours in the pic instead! Ah well that's what its all about - some you win, some you have to work a bit harder with! Hope you like it anyway.
Have a very Merry Christmas everypeeps!
Lots of love
Jak
xxx

Hiya my crafty friends! This will most likely be my final post this year (maybe) and I feel I should apologise for my lack of new posts this month. However its not that I've been resting on my creative laurels - oh no! I've been busy recycling piles of other peoples Chrimbly cards (from last year) and turning them into tags for the school craft fair. Oh and then there was the magnetic peg memo holders and the xmas cards and money envelopes etc... So with all that and Xmas shopping etc - phew! But I do have lots of ideas for next year that I want to try out. I love the new scrapbooking mag that came out last month - Scrap365, (yay I won a 6 month subscription which makes it even better) and have found a good few inspiring projects in there that I'm going to get going with as soon as the madness here calms down. Did anyone else love that Glue Book and the self made Smash Book? Oh I'll get some of those scrap bits of stash used up yet...
Meanwhile I'll leave you with a pic of a notebook made for a xmas pressie (dust off that bind-it-all) using some recycled corrie cardboard, vintage dictionary pages and my favourite glue ever - Golden Gel which dries with a bumpy brushed texture. Love it! Hope Santa brings you all new stash to play with!
Have a fabsy Christmas everyone!
Peace, Love and Creativity!
Jak
xxxx

Just finished and just in time! Only a week or so to go. So exciting! Can't wait to meet baby and can't wait to see this little book all filled up with pics and journaling. Come on Sam, tell that little poppet to get a move on...

Here is a quick project I made for the craft fair that we were at on Saturday. The ladies from the club really liked them and asked if I could show how to make them at our next meeting. They are super easy to make - the only thing that might not be in everyon's stash is the adhesive magnetic strip for making them stick (there's an excuse for some retail therapy if ever there was one)!
Cheers!
Jak
xxx

Me and my friend Elaine are taking part in a craft fair at the Cabin Community Room in Monifieth on the 12th Nov. This is a mini poster I've designed to recruit some new members! Pop by if you can!
Jak
xxx

All went really well and everyone had lots of fun making stuff and decorating their cakes. It was non stop for 3 solid hours but all the girls went home with 2 makes and decorated cookies and cakes. I think it was definitely worth a week of sleepless nights but I don't think I'll be making a career out of it anytime soon. Phew! Here are some pics of the party in full swing...

Flag making



Cake decorating - Yum!




Name plate making.




Hope you enjoyed a wee look at what we've been making!
Back to some scrapbooking soon!
Jak
x