Aud Sentiments Challenge #245 – Anything Goes!

Happy Thursday everyone!  How are you all doing?  I’m back today with a post for the new Aud Sentiments Challenge , number 245 which has an “anything goes” theme so it’s perfect for everyone to join in!  All you need to do is have a sentiment on your project!

I used the Spellbinders Wine Bottle Tag die set to create a gin glass.  The “You are gin-credible” stamp came from a Hunky dory For the Love of Stamps set, Kindred Spirits.

I used a matt silver card for the glass with some pink vellum under the aperture to look like pink gin.  Hidden in behind I’ve added some die cut berries and my version of a couple of sprigs of rosemary as well as some ice cubes cute from grey card.  I finished off the card with some nuvo drops and silver sequins

I can’t wait to see the projects that people enter for this challenge, remember it’s anything goes!

Crafty hugs

Jenny (AKA the Ginger Ninja!) xx

SAL Sunday 2020 – 2

Happy Sunday crafty people! I’m back with another stitch along (SAL) post and I’m delighted to say I did a little stitching!  I was here last time….

 

I’ve made a little progress and definitely feeling  my stitching mojo is coming back!

I’m really enjoying this project, although it’s very grey I think it’s a beautiful picture and it reminds me so much of my cat Dudley who is greatly missed, I’ll need to swap the eyes to green as they are yellow in the kit.

This SAL is organised by the lovely Avis.  The idea is to finish off a UFO (or Unfinished Object!) and let me tell you I have lots of those!  If you fancy joining in then contact Avis and she will give you all the information you need.

I’m looking forward to catching up with all the other blogs in this SAL group, please give them a visit too, I’ve linked them here so you can easily find them.

Avis , Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze  ,Christina, Kathy , Margaret , Cindy  , Heidi , Jackie , Sunny , Hayley ,Megan , Deborah , Mary Margaret, Renee, Carmela, Jocelyn,  Sharon, Daisy, Anne ,Connie and AJ

Crafty hugs

Jenny (AKA the Ginger Ninja!) x

Aud Sentiments Challenge #244

Hi crafty people!  The Aud Sentiments Challenge Blog has a new challenge launching today and the theme is a Love or Valentine sentiment.

Challenge #244 is sponsored by Digi Doodle Studios who have some fabulous digi stamps.

The design team were kindly gifted an image to use and I was very lucky to be given the  Close to My Heart digi stamp which is super cute!  I coloured her in with alcohol pens and added some detail/shading with my polychromos pencils.

Here’s my finished card…

I hope you are all having a fab week and that you will join us in the challenge over at the Aud Sentiments blog.

What I read in January 2020

Happy Friday crafty people!

Last year I set myself the target of reading 50 books and I managed to squeeze in 57.  This year I am aiming for 52 and I thought I would share with you what I’ve read each month.  I always love seeing what other people are reading so I thought I would give this a go.  I keep track of my books on Good Reads and give them a rating , from 5 stars.  So without further ado, these are my books from January 2020…..

Every Dead Thing by John Connolly – This is the first book in the Charlie Parker series (I read the 3rd last year and enjoyed it so I’m going back to read the rest in order).  The story follows Charlie Parker, an ex policeman, following the brutal murder of his wife and young daughter as he searches for their killer and gets involved in a missing person investigation.  This is a pretty gruesome read but I found the story very interesting and I was compelled to keep reading to find out what would happen next.  I gave it 4 stars and I’ve ordered the next book in the series!

Nothing to Hide by James Oswald – My husband gave me this book at Christmas and I was excited to discover a new to me Scottish crime author.  This is the second book featuring DC Constance Fairchild.  The book takes place between London and Edinburgh (my home town) and starts with the discovery of a very badly injured boy near to Con’s home.  I really loved this book and read it very quickly as I didn’t want to put it down.  I rated it 5 stars and I’ve ordered the first one in the series from the library.

Midnight Son by James Dommek Jr, Josephine Holtzman & Isaac Kestenbaum – I listened to this audiobook as it’s an Audible original.  It is set in the Alaskan Arctic and tells the story of a local man who is on the run following the death of his mother and his reported experience of encountering the Iñukuns (a mythic tribe).  This was really interesting as I knew nothing of the lives of people in this really remote wilderness and the Inupiaq community and their folklore.  I gave it 3 stars and I wonder if the listening experience wasn’t as enjoyable for me as reading a book.

Dying Light by Stuart McBride – The second in the Logan McRae crime series set in Aberdeen.  This was a great book, although again pretty gruesome.  The story follows a couple of different investigations as Logan struggles to keep out of trouble in his police job.  I’ve ordered the next one in this series from the library as I really enjoy the thriller aspect as well as the cast of characters and the challenges they face!  I gave this book 4 stars.

Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance by M.C Beaton – I’ve been working my way through the Agatha Raisin series and as expected I thoroughly enjoyed reading this installment.  Agatha has started her own private investigation business and starts to get cases from death threats to missing pets.  These books always make me smile, I love the characters and the (mis)adventures that ensue!  I rated this one 4 stars.

The Five – The untold lives of the women killed by Jack the ripper by Hallie Rubenhold – This is a fascinating exploration of a well known tale from a totally different angle.  The author is a social historian and she has done a fantastic job of piecing together the lives of these five women who were all murdered by Jack the Ripper.  Traditionally known as “just prostitutes”, Hallie challenges this and tells their stories.  I would say this is more of a social history than a true crime book and I loved it, 5 stars.

Haunted St Andrews by Geoff Holder – I picked this up on a visit to St Andrews as I have lots of happy memories of childhood holidays in the town.  The book is less than 100 pages but it covers lots of different spooky tale from the White Lady, haunted student residences and poltergeists!  It is a good balanced read with the author challenging reports and identifying some of the ghostly sightings are more folk tale than paranormal experiences.  I would definitely pick up another book by this author.  Mr Darcy was enjoying these spooky tales too!  We give it 4 stars!

I’d love to hear if you’ve read any of these and what you’ve been reading this month.  You’ll also find me here on Good reads if you want to connect there!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog, I hope to see you again soon.

Crafty hugs

Jenny (AKA the Ginger Ninja!) xx

SAL Sunday 2020 – 1

Happy Sunday crafty people! I’m back with another stitch along (SAL) post.  I think I’ve missed a couple of these and I’ve not really been feeling like picking up my cross stitch.  I decided to pick up a different project to see if that sparked some stitching enthusiasm.  I’ve had this project for a few years.

This is the starting point for 2020, I’ll be back in three weeks and hopefully I will have some progress to share!

This SAL is organised by the lovely Avis.  The idea is to finish off a UFO (or Unfinished Object!) and let me tell you I have lots of those!  If you fancy joining in then contact Avis and she will give you all the information you need.

I’m looking forward to catching up with all the other blogs in this SAL group, please give them a visit too, I’ve linked them here so you can easily find them.

 

 

 

Avis , Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze  ,Christina, Kathy , Margaret , Cindy , Linda , Heidi , Jackie , Sunny , Hayley ,Megan , Deborah , Mary Margaret, Renee, Carmela, Jocelyn,  Sharon, Daisy, Anne ,Connie and AJ

Crafty hugs

Jenny (AKA the Ginger Ninja!) x

Aud Sentiments Challenge #243

Hi crafty people!  How are you doing?  I can’t believe this is my first post in 2020!  I’m back today with a new project for the  new challenge at Aud Sentiments Challenge  which is one for everyone to enter as it’s theme is anything goes so you can enter any project as long as it has a sentiment on it!

This challenge is sponsored by Fabrika Fantasy  and they very kindly gifted us all an image to use for the blog.  I was delighted to receive Betta Fish Crowntail which is a beautifully detailed fish design and lovely to work with.

I hope you like my fishy card!  Thanks so much for visiting the blog and I hope to see you again very soon.

Crafty hugs

Jenny (AKA the Ginger Ninja!) xx

Aud Sentiments 242

Hi crafty people!  I hope you are having a great week.  It’s such a hectic time of year that I’ve hardly been on my blog and I’m missing it.  I’m hoping to get a bit of time later today with a cuppa to read through some blog posts and see what everyone has been up to.

I’m here to share my contribution to the new Aud Sentiments Challenge which is to create a winter or Christmas themed project with a sentiment.

The sponsor for this challenge is Digi Doodle Studios who have a gorgeous range of digital stamps and they kindly gifted the DT members a stamp to use for the challenge.

I was gifted the super cute Chuie Panda Christmas Tag .  Here is my project…..

I made an easel card with some starry paper and a few gold gems to add a little extra sparkle.  I hope you will enter the challenge, it’s open for a little longer because of the holidays season so you have until the 6th of January next year!

Have a great day.

Crafty hugs

Jenny (AKA the Ginger Ninja!) xx

Aud Sentiments Challenge 241

Hi crafty people!  How are you today?  I’m still busy making stock for a weekemd of two craft fairs (not sure why that seemed like a good idea!!) but I’m sneaking in with a blog post for the new Aud Sentiments Challenge which has the theme of a Christmas or winter sentiment.

The new challenge is sponsored by Polkadoodles who very kindly gifted the design team an image to use for this challenge.

I was lucky to be gifted the “decorations up” image and here is my project….

I hope you will join in too!  Thanks so much for visiting the blog.

Crafty hugs

Jenny (AKA the Ginger Ninja!) xx

SAL Sunday 15

Happy Sunday crafty people! I’m back with another stitch along (SAL) post.  This SAL is organised by the lovely Avis.  The idea is to finish off a UFO (or Unfinished Object!) and let me tell you I have lots of those!  If you fancy joining in then contact Avis and she will give you all the information you need.

It’s been a hectic few weeks and I’ve hardly posted to my blog.  I’ve been busy making orders for my Etsy shop and building up stock for some Christmas craft fairs.  I had my first one last weekend and it was a fab day with lots of people visiting us.  Here I am in all ready for the shoppers to arrive.

Three weeks ago I was working on this mystery square….

 

There were various guesses for the flower in this square and a Avis and Sunny got it right…..

Well done ladies!  I’m not sure that it looks that much like blue bells but it’s quite pretty!  I also managed to complete this square since the last SAL post….

I also made a start on this one….

So in the tradition of my SAL posts any guesses on what the flower is (remember I’m not working in alphabetical order, I just pick based on my preference!).  I hope that in three weeks time I will have this one finished off so I can reveal the completed square and see if anyone guessed right!

I’m looking forward to catching up with all the other blogs in this SAL group, please give them a visit too, I’ve linked them here so you can easily find them.

Avis , Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze  ,Christina, Kathy , Margaret , Cindy , Linda , Heidi , Jackie , Sunny , Hayley ,Megan , Deborah , Mary Margaret, Renee, Carmela, Jocelyn,  Sharon, Daisy, Anne and Connie

Crafty hugs

Jenny (AKA the Ginger Ninja!) x

Aud Sentiment Challenge 240 – Thank You

Hi crafty people!  How are you all doing?  I’ve been super busy getting organised for my first festive craft fair for this year.  I never know how much stock to take but I’d prefer to have too much rather than too little so I’m up to my eyes in Santa hats, glitter and card blanks!  Anyway I found a little time to make a card for the new Aud Sentiments Challenge which starts today with the theme “thank you”.  Challenge #240 is sponsored by Bugaboo Stamps which is very exciting as they have some of my favourite digi stamps!  As a design team member for the challenge I was lucky to be gifted the Beautiful Blocks Thank You Digi Stamp  to create a project.

I simply coloured in the flowers and butterflies with alcohol pens and used some distress ink in faded jeans with a brush to add some subtle blue to the sky.  I mounted the panel on some black card and added it to a card blank.  I trimmed a strip from the front panel to reveal the inside.  I printed the panel in a smaller size too and coloured the flower before fussy cutting it out to add to the inside so it is just peeking out.

I hope you will join in the challenge, you have until the 25th of November!  Thanks so much for visiting the blog, I hope to see you again soon!

Crafty hugs

Jenny (AKA the Ginger Ninja!) xx