Journaling cards

Hello everyone!
Here's a little project I've been working on which was part of a little journaling set I made for my crafty friend Elaine's birthday. I knew she really liked the Project Life goodies so I got her some PL pocket pages and embarked on making some journaling cards to fill them with. This is a sample of some of the boy cards I made. There is also a set of girly ones and another of more general ones too. You know I've been thinking about an etsy shop to sell this kind of digital stuff. What do you think?  I'll post a pic or two of the other ones later.
    Now I have to dash off to the girls school summer fare - just hope the rain stays off as it's not looking too promising...The girls have been looking forward to it all week and sadly it looks as though the weather is going to let us down. Off to the school gym hall it is then!
Love Jak
xxx

Millie's First Day at School...

...I know this should have been done a long time ago and it's a bit back to front in as much as Sadie, my youngest's was actually made before Millie's, who started school back in 2007 but hey, there are no rules in scrapbooking that say everything has to be scrapped in order (are they?). The fact that Millie did not have her own minibook to mark the occasion of her starting school was only brought to my attention one rainy afternoon when the girls were having a look (and a giggle) through all the little minis I've made so far. Millie immediately wondered where hers was and do you know this, I was horrified to realise that that one had definitely passed me by. Although I 'd made a couple of 12x12s to mark the occasion I felt it was only fair that she had one made specially for her. So here it is! I made it kinda matching her sister's as I liked how that one had turned out. Next thing I'll probably be asked is "why did she get that on hers and I didn't" etc. etc. Honestly, if there is anything to even remotely squabble about... Bless 'em - they're getting to that age now when you can't do right for doing wrong! I remember those days from my own childhood when whoever complained the loudest got their way first just to keep the peace.Yes Kaggy, that was you actually (heehee!) Anyhoo, while the Cricut was here I managed to cut out a few bits and pieces and I've put them to good use in this mini. I really like the yellow mum and daughter embellishment I put together for the front. As I've said before - I think I really want one of these now, but I'm gonna check out the Silhouette to see what their artwork is like first.
Hope you like my mini, thankyou for stopping by!
Love Jak
xxx

A new toy on loan....

Much excitement (along with collective squeaking!!!) to be had in the Ruby Loves office last week when this arrived in the post... Yay a Cricut Mini - for an office try-out! Well we obviously couldn't wait to get the box open and give it a whirl! Only drawback is that the company I work for are mega security conscious (naturally) and our firewall wouldn't let us download the Cricut software needed to get it all up and running/cutting. Collective boohoo! Only way round it all is to have a designated Cricut Use Only PC/MAC that we can use with wifi internet access. Now as with all big companies this sort of thing does take a while to sort out so, in a spontaneous but professional random act of kindness moment, I thought it would be nice and team spirited of me to volunteer to bring the little beauty home to see how it all works! Heehee! So, here it is in all it's glory! Once the software was downloaded and installed (with really only minimal faffing involved) it was just a case of having a wee look round to see what was free to use from the Cricut Craft Room. The machine cuts like a dream and the sticky mat was great too - not too sticky but plenty of use in it I would say. So, I've cut out a few bits and pieces in the name of research and it's fair to say it is the simplest of machines to use - worth considering if you're looking to invest in a digital diecutter. The only drawback for me, apart from having to return it to the office, is that you can't cut out your own creations - they all have to be bought and downloaded from the Cricut Craft Room, unless that is you have some Cricut cartridges already 'cos you can use those with it. So yep - I'll give it 4 out of 5!

...diecutting strictly in the name of research of course...

  Unfortunately,  I feel a digital diecutter is an absolute necessity in my life now...
Happy crafting folks - will be back again soon with some creative craftiness!
Jak
xxx

2 Princesses layout ...

... and I'll be the first to admit that I was feeling inspired by the Ruby Loves door hanger when I started this one. I'd been drooling over some Pip Studios goodies and it definitely influenced the colours and busyness of this LO... You know it's so true that visuals sink in to your subconscious and seep out later, sometimes without you even realising it. Anyhoo I've used all sorts here - there's a Martha Stewart border punch happening, Papermania patterned cardstock, some embossed/glitter Mod Podged chipboard, there's even some Cath Kidston stationery that has been cut up (the big roses!), oh and a recent acquirement - Tulip Beads In A Bottle. See the little 3d gold pearly dots around the outside edges that's them! They are fun to use but they look all pointy when you first apply them -like they might not be right, however they kinda calm down a lot once they set and dry.

What have you been influenced/inspired by lately that you've found coming through in your creative projects, I'd love to hear!
Keep Crafting everyone
Love,
Jak
xxx

PS - forgot to mention that I've just tried out pastel chalks with VersaMark stamping. That's it on the green leaf border. I'd defo try some more of that - it was cool!
Have fun!
x

Sadie's birthday cake...

Good morning everyone, hope you are well!
This week has gone by in a whirl - my youngest daughter turned 7 on Friday, so this week has been spent shopping for gifts, sorting out a cake and planning parties. Yes, parties - two of them. This sounds more impressive than it was because one was a little tea party with nibbles and cake at home and the other was in a place called Pirate's Island - they do the catering and the kids get to go crazy on the play equipment and play party games for 2 hours. However, you do have to provide your own cake and booty bags. So,  I got a big cake from Asda, one of those ones that they print a photo onto, but they didn't want to print it for me because they felt there was some copyright issues regarding the image. Hmmm, Ok... disappointing, but then I found a great place online that you send whatever image you want and they print it on to a sheet of very, very thin icing. (Now, I'll bet they get some very interesting images to work with LOL!) Yay, it came back in plenty of time and it looked amazing! So, all I really had to do was stick it onto the cake and throw some decorations at it! I was quite anxious about getting the icing stuck down 'cos its kind of a one shot only moment - the icing is really thin and you can't pull it off again if it's not straight. And if you use too much water to stick it, well, the icing just melts... We made some My Little Pony cake toppers for it and a little string of bunting for good measure. Sadie's little face was a picture when she saw it. She still loves My Little Pony and just about every gift she received was something pony related. In true MLP fashion, Sadie said it was her "Best Birthday Ever"!
   Here's the cake 5 minutes before it got demolished by hungry seven-year-olds! Happy Birthday SadieBelle!

Have a lovely Sunday everyone!
Jak
xxx

Best Friends Forever!

Hello everyone! How was your Easter? Cold? Me too! Did you get any crafting done? No, I didn't do as much as I intended either, ah well... I have a few things I must get done this week though. Sadie is 7 on her birthday this coming weekend and I have a party to organise and some crafty bits and pieces to do too - namely bunting and cake toppers so that's my plan for this week. These will no doubt have a My Little Pony theme running through them as she is still quite obsessed. (How cute!) There's a few Ruby related projects to sort out too. Meanwhile here's a quick 12 x 12 to share. I think the colours suggest I'm looking forward to sunnier days and a bit of warmth but, who isn't. I've used an assortment of crafting goodies including Papermania  journaling cards and stamps (tickets in bottom left hand corner), Cath Kidston Washi tape and Smash tape too. The Kraft cardstock background is by My Mind's Eye - I'm seriously loving that 12x12 pad and the title is die cut using a Tim Holtz alpha.  Hope you like it!  There's another 12x12 on my table nearing completion but I feel I haven't thrown enough at it yet (I'm going with the old saying here that more is more with this one ) - check back later this week when hopefully I will have it finished!
Hope you are all well and keeping creative, whether you're making stuff or soaking up lots of inspiration on Pinterest go with the flow, it's so good for you, you know!
Jak
xxx

In celebration of...

...the launch of Ruby Loves!  A gorgeous girly door plaque!

 

I made this for the new Ruby Loves magazine! Normally I never mix business with pleasure here on my blog, but fate has made these paths cross and kind of become one for the moment. As you may have noticed, according to my profile I am actually a magazine/graphic designer to trade and for quite sometime I have been beavering away at work with my colleagues, helping to make this project become real and yay - we launched nationally on Wed 27th March there. It's been a busy old time preparing crafty bits and pieces at home and inventing a style/identity for Ruby at work, but one thing I know is that creativity encourages more creativity and sometimes when you're on a roll, the inspiration just flows. So, she's out there as of now and she is a thing of beauty (well, I think she is and I hope you agree)! Her mission is to get everyone crafting, baking, being creative - especially mums with young daughters like myself, spending time together, not only making and sharing crafty goodies but memories too.
Here's a link to the website - you could pop by for a nosey to see what Ruby Loves. This post isn't meant to be an ad - just sharing the joy of crafting!
Ruby Loves
I hope you'll love Ruby too!
Happy crafting every one!
Jak
xxx