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A very warm welcome to my teeny, tiny part of the huge world of blogging. This is where I share my passion for making hand made greeting cards. So - why "Always with a Heart"? Well this is for two reasons. Firstly, it is because every card I produce carries a heart on it somewhere. This can be big and bold or small and almost hidden - the fun sometimes is just trying to find it! Secondly it is because I put my heart into everything I produce. I hope that any visitors enjoy seeing what I post. If you drop by then please leave me a comment so that I know you called. It would be nice to know that you have found my heart in what I do.

Saturday, 29 June 2019

PENNY BLACK SATURDAY CHALLENGE

Hi Everyone

Happy sunny weekend!!!  I hope everyone is well and able to enjoy the lovely weather we have been promised for the next couple of days.

Sorry it has been so long since I posted anything.  What can I say other than life is busy, busy, busy!!!

My poor little blog and followers will be thinking I don't love them any more .. .. which couldn't be further from the truth.

I have really missed visiting all of your lovely blogs and catching up, but life has been very, very busy on the wedding, and magazine front .. .. and it is going to continue to be that way for quite some time yet as I have lots to do for both on my work list.

But apart from drafting up some table plans and working on a couple of invitation samples the whole of this weekend is going to be dedicated to the rather large list of "general cards" which are desperately needed.  So if all goes to plan I will be making lots of mess and creating what I hope will be "a nice pile of cards" .. .. who knows I might even get to take some colouring out into the garden as the weather is promising to be gorgeous!  My imagination sees this afternoon with me sitting at the table outside under the sun umbrella, colouring and painting away at a pile of images with Mr Heart immersing himself in his latest reading book alongside.  That would make for a really nice afternoon.

So here is my first card of the day and it is for taking over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.  Their challenges are always "anything goes" but they also add an "additional" twist and currently that is "partial stamping" .. .. which can mean stamping off the edge of your card or only inking up part  of a stamp and here is my offering.




This used:

Images:  Penny Black "3782J" Lazy Days and "3811J" Winsome
Sentiment:  Kaisercraft "CS301" Bombay Sunset
Backing Paper:  Mixture of pads from The Works (some lovely ones available at the moment)
ProMarkers
Nail Heads
Ribbon
My Trusty Sewing Machine

My "off the edge" stamping was done using the "Winsome" stamp.  I cut the design paper square for the base then another smaller square from scrap copy paper.  Held the scrap paper in place and stamped the Winsome image all around the edge to create a narrow border.

... ... and now to confession time .. ..

So with my head held low in shame I have to admit that I have now officially broken my new years resolution on the Christmas card front!  No festive makes for the last two weeks apart from magazine ones.  With everything else being so busy and I just couldn't warrant spending any time making any.

But on the bright side my resolution lasted until mid June and I have 30 Christmas cards in my box (so far) so I am at least pleased about that.  I will just have to make it my mission to make the same resolution next year and try and keep it for longer.

But I am not giving up.  I shall still be trying to keep increasing those Christmas card numbers ahead of December as I am determined this Christmas is going to be a "stress free" one!  Hope those aren't famous last words!!! LOL!!!

Enjoy your weekend everyone .. .. don't forget the sun cream .. .. you don't want to end up looking like a lobster come Monday!!  It's not a good look!!

13 comments:

cotnob said...

A super card Jules, such a cute image and great off the edge stamping.
It sounds like everything is going well on the work front, I'm surprised you managed to keep your new years resolution for as long as you did!
Pauline - Crafting with Cotnob
x

Aquarius said...

Obviously you have been missed but it is great that the reason is that you are being kept so busy which is brilliant for you. This is a gorgeous image and I hope Mr Heart has found a nice large flower to shade himself in a similar way while he is reading in the garden and enjoying the beautiful weather while you enjoy yourself with the colouring and painting. Sounds idyllic!!

Sarah said...

Good to see you Jules and I hope your imagination has become a reality and that you are enjoying some al fresco colouring time. This is a lovely card and the off the page border looks really effective. A perfect stamped image too, just right for a sunny day. We treated ourselves to a bacon roll on the beach at Weymouth this morning before the hordes arrived!! Enjoy the rest of the weekend xx

Lynne said...

A lovely card Jules. I love that cute image and the stamping around the edge adds that little "something" extra. Have a lovely weekend, it sounds idyllic with you and hubby sat outside, but it's too warm for me I'm afraid x

Liz said...

Super card, Jules, the image is so cute! Love how you've done your partial stamping, very clever and really effective. xx

Kathleen said...

Go and stand in the naughty corner.
Fabulous image and card, super colouring.
I have bought a small and a 12 x 12 pad of backing papers from the Works and I love them and good quality papers too, not to mention the great price.
Keep up the good work.

Kath x

Carol S. said...

I love PB Hedgies, they are so cute. A gorgeous card and a pretty design Jules. My promise to myself this year, was I would do more pages of my family scrap book. I didn't do any last year and here we are half way through this year and still not done one page!! Have a restful Sunday. Big hugs, Carol S.xxx

Stamps and Paper said...

Such a sweet card Jules love the PB images....well done on making so many Christmas cards, I've still got a few over from last year so I'm not thinking about the 'C' word for a while.
Thankfully the temperatures down here in Somerset have cooled down about today it was horrendous yesterday, I hope all the folks at Glastonbury remember their sun cream

Anne

cuilliesocks said...

30 cards is pretty good Jules, unless of course you send hundreds lol.
Lovely card such a sweet image and beautifully designed and coloured.
Enjoy your time under the sun brolly. We have thunder and lightening now, oh well that's weather for you, Kate x

JanR said...

I hope your plan of crafting outside came true for you! Super sweet card! I love the bit of stamping around the edge, it's so cute!

Enny said...

Dear Jules, I do hope that you can make more cards this weekend, preferably outside ! Your first card is adorable, a lovely stamp and lovely "off the edge" stamping ! You don't have to apologize, we fully understand that you are busy. How nice that you have sunshine now, we had a whole week of tropical weather (up to 38° C), tomorrrow, it's finally getting a bit cooler... Hugs, Enny

Carole said...

Hi Jules... love hedgie, he is defo in the sunshine! Fab card with that off the edge stamping. You have 30 more Christmas cards than I have so not bad going for a busy lady! Take heart! (lol!)

Brenda said...

Such a fun and super adorable card Jules! I haven't posted on my blog in a long time either, so you aren't alone in that. I wasn't busy though, instead healing from a fall. You lasted pretty long on the Christmas card resolution, maybe next year you will be able to go the whole way. But even if you missed a week or two, just get back on the wagon when you have the time and keep making. It will still pay off! Hugs, Brenda