TEENY, TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday!

I hope today has been a good day for you.

Mine disappeared far faster than I realised.  Mr Heart was on his way home tonight and I hadn't even eaten my dinnertime sandwiches!!!  Where did today go .. .. and why wasn't I hungry??!?!?

Someone really is whizzing the hands round on that clock when I'm not looking!!  LOL!!

Anyway, this evening I had a little play and put a teeny tiny 3.5" creation together and here it is:

This used:

Backing Papers:  Docrafts Forever Friends "Kraft Notes"
Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "Aracne Condensed Regular"
Woodware Envelope Punch
Woodware Heart Punch
Picked Raspberry Distress Ink
My Trusty Sewing Machine
We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

and that is it!

I am sorry my posting has gone a little bit sporadic .. .. wedding work is keeping me super busy at the moment .. .. but I am getting here as and when I can.

Have a good week everyone.

Love Jules xx

SUNDAY SNIPPETS

Hi Everyone

Happy Sunday!

I hope you are having a lovely weekend.

Mine is going well with quite a few in-roads made into several of the current missions on my crafty list .. .. but for all of you who have kindly contacted to say I must remember to "find some time to myself" .. .. thank you for your concern .. .. but please don't worry.  I find some of that too and last night Mr Heart and I hit the town and enjoyed a meal out together.

The crafty clear up went well too and I have been getting the Christmas supplies sorted ready for getting some cards into that rather empty "festive box".

So many half used Christmas pads that I am going to try and use those up so they are out of the way. 

My snippet make today made a tiny dent in one pack:

As always on a Sunday I am super lazy and do not list my ingredients but if there is anything you wish to know then please just ask.

I am going to run along to Pixie's Snippets Playground to share my creation with the other playmates .. .. and as I have actually managed to make a Christmas card whilst the Rudolph Day Challenge is still live I am sharing it there too.   Woo hoo!!  

So that is me for today.

Off to finish making 90 of these little beauties ready for an up and coming wedding.

Enjoy the rest of your day and I will hopefully catch you again soon.

Love Jules xx

WHAT IS IT?

Hi Everyone

Happy Friday .. .. the weekend is nearly here!!  Yay!!

Not sure what this card is.  It started off as my Thursday's Child card but as it didn't get finished until this evening it could even be my Feminine Friday card . .. . .. but whatever it is at least I have something to show. (Unlike the last couple of day).

To say life is very busy would be the biggest understatement ever at the moment.  But I will come out of the other side smiling eventually!  

Anyway, here is my share for today:

This used:

Image:  Digistamp Boutique "Rosie and Ice-Cream"
Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "Rational TW Text"
Backing Papers:  TinkerNCo Digital "Modern Kate"
ProMarkers
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Ribbon from my crafty stash box
and Sketch Fifteen from my little sketch library at the top of my blog

and that is me for today.

I am also going to add my little creation to the June Customer Competition over at the Digistamp Boutique.

Not sure whether I will be able to make an appearance or not over the weekend .. .. it just depends on how all the work goes and if I feel on top of it enough to have a little dabble in my craft pod.  So much computer work to do that it is unbelievable!  If only I could persuade Mr Heart to retire from his day job and be my PA/researcher/banker/buyer and head of postal services my life would be so much calmer.  LOL!!

One thing's for sure though .. .. the weekend definitely needs to start with a crafty clear up.  So many things need returning to their rightful place.

Have a good one everyone.

Love Jules xx

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!

I hope you have all had a good day.

Lots done at this end .. .. but sadly no "white card Wednesday" make. 

Time has got the better of me today .. .. and the house looks like a whirlwind has passed through it. Wedding work lined up in one room, magazine commission aftermath in another two, boxes stacked ready for sorting in another!!  Poor Mr Heart.  He must wonder what he is going to come home to at the end of each day! LOL!!

So as I have a few questions on my list that folks have asked me I thought I would get those crossed off my list and answered here.

Today I chose just to answer the ones relating to the stitching I do on my cards.

1.  How come my stitching always finishes exactly in a corner?

It doesn't always finish in a corner .. .. if it does it is more luck than judgement.  When it doesn't, then I simply lift the foot of my machine to release the pressure and move my card slightly, wind the needle back into my work by hand (so I still have chance to move it again if the needle isn't going where I want to) and all being well I am somewhere near the corner.  But if I'm not then it isn't the end of the world.

As my Mum always says "A blind man would be pleased to see it"!

2.  How do I manage to sew so straight?

There are marks on the feet of my sewing machine and I line the edge of my card with those "by eye".  A lot of it is practise though .. .. I have been machine stitching since I was around 8 years of age .. .. but on fabric .. .. not cards until the last five years or so.  No card seems right without some stitching on now.

Truth be told I wish I could sew "wonky".  I love the look where folks have two lines of stitching that wave around and cross over each other.

3.  Don't I worry about all the glue and sticky tape working its way into my machine?

No, because I don't have any glue or tape anywhere near where I am sewing.  I put a tiny bit of snail glue into the centre of the top layer of card and this holds everything in place whilst I sew around the edges.  

The very first time I stitched on a card I made the mistake of sticking my top layer down first with double sided tape .. .. never again.  It took ages to remove all the gunk from the needle and bobbin case.

4.  Has your bobbin ever ran out part way through a card?

LOL!!  Yes, many, many times.  I try to remember to check before I start every sewing session, but sometimes I just get carried away and end up with a line of holes with no thread in them.  It isn't the end of the world though.  I just fill my bobbin again, go back to where the stitching stopped and start again.  

I make sure I am starting in the last hole that has thread in, then wind the machine by hand and stitch with that, rather than using the foot pedal.  That way I can make sure the needle goes into each of the threadless holes I made the first time.  Once I have ran out of bare holes I then revert to the foot pedal.

5.  What do I do with all the threads as I finish?

I pull the threads to the back of my work and simply tape them down with sellotape.  I don't tie them off or stitch them in by hand (life's too short for that)!

6.  Could I do a video showing how I stitch on my cards?

That would be a "very unlikely"! 

I went to a seminar earlier this year on "Filming DIY Craft Videos" .. .. I just never knew how much time, effort and expense is involved if you want to do this .. .. even at a semi professional level. Major respect from me every time I watch one now!!

So there we go.

Some questions crossed off my list. Yay!!!

Hopefully I have covered everything everyone wanted to know about my stitching compulsion!!

Enjoy what is left of your evening and I will catch you again tomorrow .. .. hopefully.

Sorry about the lack of pictures!

Love Jules xx

TEENY, TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday!

Can you believe I started writing this post with my breakfast .. .. and here I am over twelve hours later only just posting my Teeny, Tiny Tuesday card for this week.  Life is busy, busy, busy and super exciting at the moment!

For anyone new to my little corner of blogland these little creations measure a whole 3.5 inches square.  I love making them and seeing how much detail I can incorporate into the small space .. .. and I much prefer them to large cards that's for sure.

They are great for using offcuts from larger projects, both for the inside and the outside .. .. and the envelopes only need a six inch square of paper too (I even love making those as well!).

So here we go:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black Transparent stamp set "30-116" Social Butterfly
Sentiment:  Woodware Clear Magic Stamps: "FRCL 154" Salutations
Stamps for Backing:  Stampin' Up Gorgeous Grunge
Memento Dew Drop Ink Pads:  Angel Pink, London Fog, Rose Bud and Lulu Lavender
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Glamour Dust
Gems
We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

So there we go.  

I hope everyone has had a really good day.

Love Jules xx

MONDAY'S MALE

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday!

I hope you have had a good day.

Throwing it down with rain here for most of the day .. .. and this evening is looks like the end of a lovely sunny summer's day!  I hope we do get some sunny summer days this year!

So some of you may remember that last Monday all I managed to do was to colour an image .. .. well today I can show you what I did with it.  I turned it into a card for my lovely Uncle who had a birthday last week.

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "2083J" Beehave!!

Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font Zipty Do

Backing Papers:  First Edition "Desert Blooms"

Martha Stewart Punch:  Traditional Scallop

X-Cut Corner Rounding Punch

ProMarkers

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Ribbon from my crafty stash box

and that is me for today . .. . leaving a note for myself to say .. ..

If you try to be clever and schedule a post .. .. try and remember you need to press the publish button after setting the date and time .. .. otherwise it will just sit in your draft box and go nowhere LOL!!!

Enjoy the rest of your evening.

Hopefully I will find time for a teeny tiny Tuesday card tomorrow.. .. amongst everything else that "must" be done.

Love Jules xx

SUNDAY SNIPPETS

Hi Everyone

Happy Sunday - and Happy Father's Day to the special men folk who are going to be spoilt today.  I hope you have a happy day.

Frantic Friday spread over onto Saturday this week which accounts for my "no show" yesterday. Sorry about that.   Juggling a few projects at the moment and just couldn't pull a share in I'm afraid.  

But, I was determined to make an appearance today using my snippets  and went for another much needed Christmas card for the rather empty Christmas stock box.

My image was already coloured and waiting to be used (not that there is much colouring involved with this cute stamp). The backing papers were bits cut and tucked into the back of the pad, and the snowflakes were ready and waiting in my "snowflake box".

So all I needed to do was layer everything up, do a bit of stitching and .. .. voila .. .. all done and dusted.

As always on a Sunday I am lazy and do not list my ingredients but if there is anything you wish to know just give me a shout.

I will get back to you eventually!  I know a few people are waiting for responses from me on a couple of items but things will be calming down to a more normal pace later in the week so I am hoping to catch up with my "what folks would like to know" list then. I wonder if there is a name for someone who is obsessed with lists!!?  If so that would be me .. . LOL!!

Still lots to pull in today at this end so I have set up camp on the dining room table so I can work down there in the company of the lovely Mr Heart between outings and missions - at least I am let off kitchen duties today as we are eating out to celebrate Father's Day with our youngest Son.

Have a brilliant rest of the weekend everyone.  I am off to the playground now to share my creation with the playmates in Pixie's Snippets Playground.  If you have any paper, fabric, ribbon offcuts why not create something with them and link up . .. . there is always lots of fun and banter to be had there, alongside lots of inspiration!  All brilliantly overseen by the lovely Di.

Love Jules xx

FRANTIC FRIDAY!

Hi Everyone

Happy Friday!!

I just know from the emails I have already received today that it is going to be another manic Friday with no time to make anything new to share .. .. so instead I thought I would share two of my favourite creations from the new Quick Cards Made Easy Magazine which goes on sale next Tuesday .. .. Issue 154.

Two of the commissions I worked on were a "Selective Die Cutting Technique" and a "Collage Effects Technique" and I have chosen my favourite card from each of the techniques to share with you.

Firstly the Selective Die Cutting where part of an image overhangs the edge of a diecut shape.

  

Followed quickly by my favourite from the collage effect cards where backgrounds are created using stamps and decoupage papers (well for this example anyway).  

Right best get a jiggle on.

So far three messages to let me know that deliveries are arriving at various times throughout the day .. .. quite good though that for the majority of them nowadays you are given a one hour window as to when to expect delivery .. .. .. plus for some you can even track where your parcel is and I know that for one delivery today I am drop off number 70 .. .. so "Don" is going to be a busy chappie today.  I feel a bit bad though because he delivered to me yesterday as well!  LOL!!

Lots of wedding supplies landing for those happy couples who have booked in .. .. and now I need to find storage space for everything!!   My storage allocation for "work in progress" is overflowing. Eeekk!! I need more space!!

Anyway, off to it and I will hopefully catch you again tomorrow.

Love Jules xx

THURSDAY'S CHILD

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday!

I am sharing my Thursday's Child card today .. .. which uses an image that always makes me smile and think of my eldest Son (the London Kid).  One year on holiday he took part in a fancy dress competition where we dressed him up as a magician .. .. I don't remember his outfit looking this good though.  There was a lot of black and pinned on stars.  LOL!!  Funnily enough he was a Thursday child too.

Anyway, here is my creation:

This used:

Image:  Lili of the Valley:  Little Wizard

Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "Mister Sirloin"

Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat (sadly no longer trading)

ProMarkers

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Nestabilities:  Circles and Scalloped Circles

Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

Charm and Cord from my crafty stash box

I will now apologise for my creation because not only are the papers no longer available but when checking for the name of the image I see that the cute Little Wizard is no longer available from Lili of the Valley either.

So a completely out of date card with hardly any parts of it still available to purchase .. .. but at least it shows I still love my purchases of the past .. .. and to be honest I have invested far too many pennies into my stash not to continue to use them.

I'll catch you again tomorrow.

Love Jules xx

WHITE CARD WEDNESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!!

It is a super "wet" Wednesday here.  Was it this time last week I was reporting beautiful blue skies and sunshine?!!?  Probably!!

Anyway, back to that point in the week where I use up some of the white card that seems to pile up in the blink of an eye.

So here we go with this week's offering .. .. where everything started off as a piece of white card .. .. except for the ribbon and the gems of course LOL!!

This used:

Background images:  Hero Arts Clear Stamp Set "CL290" Printed Flowers
Sentiment and Stars:  Mama Elephant Clear Stamp Set "Make A Wish"
Distress Ink Pads:  Pumice Stone, Worn Lipstick and Spun Sugar
Clear Embossing Powder
Go Kreate Dies:  Large Frames : Scalloped Squares
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Ribbon and Gems from my crafty stash box

and that is it!

Must fly today .. .. a mountain of work to get through so I will crack on.

Have a good day .. .. and I hope your weather is better than ours!  The road drains haven't been able to take all the rain here so there are huge puddles either side of the roads that people are driving through far too fast .. .. and they are soaking the poor people on the pavements! One little girl was definitely not happy  .. ..  even though she was togged up with her waterproof leggings and coat along with sweet flowery wellies.  I wonder if my legs ever stamped up and down that fast in temper!!   I can't imagine how many times she must have been soaked from head to toe on the way to take her brother to school. Bless!!

Catch you soon

Love Jules xx

TEENY, TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday!

I hope you are having a good day.

I pulled my Teeny, Tiny Tuesday card in "early doors" today, which is a good thing, as time is again flying by in the blink of an eye here in the House of Hearts.  I clearly must be having fun!

So here is my little 3.5" creation:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black Clear Stamp Set:  "30-146" Loads of Love

Sentiment and Banner Punch:  Stampin' Up  Banner Banter

Backing Papers:  Free with a magazine years and years ago

ProMarkers

Glossy Accents

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Ribbon from my crafty stash box

We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

and that is it!

The gorgeous flower in the background was still sitting inside my light box from yesterday when I had been photographing some wedding samples .. .. .. and as it matched my creation today I decided it could stay.

So that is me .. .. .. a little more organised than yesterday's feeble attempt that's for sure.

Catch you again tomorrow .. .. all being well.

Love Jules xx

MONDAY'S MALE

Hi Everyone

I hope you all had a good weekend.

Unfortunately my Monday's Male card didn't get very far today I'm afraid.

This was as far as I got .. ..

.. .. shame on me!!

We will blame those happy couples who just love to keep me busy!!  Lots of printing, sample making and ordering of supplies for future weddings done today.. .. .. along with a clock who's hands kept spinning round far too quickly..

Those delivery vans are going to be busy.  Just one wedding can mean orders from anything up to six different places!!

What I will do though is put a few people out of their misery.  So many of you searched frantically for the heart on Saturday's card so that you could be classed as "a professional heart spotter" .. .. but sadly quite a few were driven to distraction.

Well how many of you managed to find it (or should I say them!!!)

Lots of the little darlings all nestled within the snowflakes!  Definitely a Specsavers moment!!

So that is me for today .. .. short and sweet.  Let's hope I have more success with my Teeny, Tiny Tuesday card tomorrow.

Love Jules xx

SUNDAY SNIPPETS

Hi Everyone

Happy Sunday.

I hope you have had a good weekend.

I have been trying to get on top of all the household chores ahead of a "full on" week .. .. but haven't got very far :-(

Sunday I always clear down my craft space properly and collect together everything that may be hanging around from the makes of the week.

Today I made this with what I collected together today:

As always on a Sunday I don't list my ingredients .. .. but if there is anything you would like to know just give me a shout.

I am off now to link up to Pixie's Snippets Playground .. .. as this whole creation has been made from snippets of paper, card and lace.  Even the card base was made from white card rescued from that huge mountain.

I actually enjoyed making a non-square card for a change.  Must do this more often!!

Hope you have a good week.

Love Jules xx

CELEBRATION SATURDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Saturday!

I hope you have had a good day.

Mine has been taken up with gardening and meeting happy couples today.  Lots to do in both departments!!!

Sorry for the "no show" yesterday.  I am beginning to think that Feminine Friday needs to be changed to Flippin' Lucky if there is anything to share!  I don't know what it is about Fridays but just recently they seem to have become the busiest day of my week.

But at least I have something to share today .. .. and it is another Christmas card for that very empty stock box!

This used:

Image:  Hero Arts "K5620" and "H5629"

Sentiment:  Penny Black Transparent Stamp Set "30-310" Believe

Backing Papers:  Docrafts Forever Friends "Timeless"

Memento Ink Pad "Toffee Crunch"

Glitter Card

Diamond Stickles

Glamour Dust

X-Cut Palm Punch:  Star

Pearls from my crafty stash box

No sewing on my card today .. .. I don't think my machine would like the glitter on the glitter card.

Quite pleased with how the Memento Ink Pad matches the lovely pearlescent backing papers so well. 

.. .. and as for the heart.  Well if anyone can spot one then you will be worthy of being called "a professional heart spotter" .. .. good luck!! 

Hopefully catch you again tomorrow with my snippet make.  I think I can find a few offcuts lying around LOL!!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Love Jules xx

THURSDAY'S CHILD

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday!

Many thanks for your lovely comments on my white on white creation of yesterday .. .. I must admit it didn't look quite so bad this morning in the cold light of day! Perhaps it is just me and I am someone who likes to see some colour in her life!! LOL!!

So Thursday is the day that I share a card for a child . . . . a theme I am much more comfortable with .. . and one that will fit nicely into this month's Penny Black Saturday Challenge where they are celebrating their 8th birthday and would like to see a birthday card.  Simples!! 

The Penny Black Saturday Challenge was the very first challenge I ever entered when my blog started in 2009 .... gosh how time flies.... and it has always been a favourite.  In those days it used to be a weekly challenge.  I am pleased to say my cardmaking and photography has improved a little since then.  If you fancy a laugh here is my very first Penny Black Saturday entry.

Happy birthday ladies!!

Here is mine:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "1445K" Partying
Sentiment:  Woodware Clear Magic Singles "FRS009" Make a Wish
Backing papers:  Tinker N Co "Little Cottage Cottons"
ProMarkers
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Ribbon and gems from my crafty stash box

and that it!  

Much easier to photograph than yesterday's creation .. .. though removing a huge fingerprint off the lens of the camera  probably helped!!  LOL!!!

Nearly time to put some more sketches designed and put into that library .. .. but not today.  Today is all about weddings with lots of ribbon tying and cutting out to be done. 

Just thought I would have a little break and post this up in-between missions.

Have a lovely day.  I hope you have some sunshine .. .. and the chance for a little crafting!!

Love Jules xx

WHITE CARD WEDNESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!

Rather late posting today as I made the mistake of starting the day by doing wedding printing .. .. then the emails and phone calls kicked in .. .. which made my creation of the day rather late in being put together.

As some of you will know .. Wednesday is the day I use up some of that mountain of white card I keep adding to .. .. and today is the day I was super brave and attempted a white on white card.  

I feel I have spent longer trying to get decent pictures than I did making it!

Certainly another one won't be making an appearance in a hurry that's for sure.

So here we go .. .. .. . 

This used:

Sentiment ribbon:  Pink Petticoat (sadly no longer trading)

Cuttlebug Embossing Folder:  Roses

Nestabilities:  Rectangles and Scalloped Rectangles

Stampin' Up!: Bird Builder Punch with Branch
X-Cut:  Flower Punch

My Trusty Sewing Machine (that has been treated to a new needle)!!

Ribbon, flower and pearls from my crafty stash box

Sorry, but the pictures are still pretty rubbish .. .. but certainly the coloured background helped a little.

So I finally got my car back today .. .. the garage ran out of time for me to have it yesterday (I know that feeling well) .. .. but it got through its MOT with the help of a little welding and had a good service, so hopefully it will be happy for another year now

OK ... so that is me for today.  

Off to prepare some work for tomorrow now .. .. I need to hit the ground running in the morning!!!

Enjoy your evening.

Love Jules xx

TEENY, TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday!

Did you have a glorious day of sunshine yesterday?  It was gorgeous here.  

Today has started off the same but we are promised thundery rain and hailstorms for later with localised flooding!! .. .. no doubt that will be around the time all the local kids are released from school .. .. and they will all get drenched!

Anyway, round to my teeny, tiny 3.5 inch creation for this week:

This used:

Image:  Stampin' Up! "Serene Silhouettes"
Backing Paper and Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat (sadly no longer trading)
Distress Inks:  Pumice Stone, Milled Lavender and Dusty Concord
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Pearls and Ribbon from my crafty stash box
We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punchboard
and Sketch Number Twenty Six from my little sketch library 

If anyone would like to use any of my sketches then please feel free to do so.  They can be found on the "Sketches" tab at the top of my blog.

So that is me for today. 

Working with my fingers crossed today as my car has gone in for its MOT and service.  I really don't need any bad news (or big bills) on the car front!!

Pretty bad planning really because my car is in today and Mr Heart's is in for the same on Thursday. We must be their favourite customers this week!!

My dear old Dad used to be able to buy a whole car for the price they charge for a full service nowadays!!  I often wonder what he would make of the world today.

Catch again soon.

Love Jules xx

MONDAY'S MALE

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday!

Super gorgeous weather here today .. .. and it inspired the theme for today's Monday's male card.

I have been looking forward to colouring up this image for a while:  

This used:

Image:  Digistamp Boutique "BBQ Stan"

Backing Papers:  Nitwits Collection "All Fired Up"

Martha Stewart Edge Punch:  Embossed Zig Zag

ProMarkers

Diamond Stickles

Ribbon from my crafty stash box

Must admit I wish Mr Heart was King of the BBQ .. .. .. I thought all men enjoyed firing up the BBQ and cooking outdoors. But not my hubby  .. ..  not sure why.  Probably a mixture of having to take everything outside, cook in a fog of smoke, battle with the insect life and then clean up a well burnt BBQ grill at the end.  But never mind .. . .. you can't have everything can you LOL!!

Over the weekend we took the London Kids to a local craft store (they enjoy crafting as much as I do).  Sadly the store sent me an email on Friday to say they were closing down. Boo hoo!  So sad when you see another physical craft outlet disappear.

I know we can buy lots of bargains on line but it isn't the same as having a wander around a "real - bricks and mortar" shop is it.

It did mean they were having a closing down sale though, so we went along to stock up on a few crafty essentials. Even the shop fittings will be going later so I will be having a wander back at a later stage to see what I can put to good use.

What they did have were some of those hanger plaque things that you hook on door handles. They had some decorated up to read "craft room".  I saw Mr Heart looking at them and when he saw I had noticed him he said "That's a shame.  They don't have enough.  You would need one for every door in the house".   Cheeky monkey him!!  LOL!!

Anyway time to get cracking on another mission.  

I'll catch you again tomorrow for Teeny, Tiny Tuesday.

Enjoy your day.

Love Jules xx