Bank Holiday Fun at The Craft Barn

Morning guys.  Just a very quick post from me this morning before I head out the door to let you know that it is free postage this bank holiday weekend over at The Craft Barn.  So if you have had your eye on something now is the ideal time to treat yourself.  Also if you head on over to The Craft Barn's blog you can find out how to enter a quiz where you could win £30 of gift vouchers!!

Hope you all enjoy your weekend!

Some Sneak Peeks

Well finally I have photographed the sample cards that I've made for this weekend so here are some sneaky peeks of what I will be demoing on Saturday and Sunday.  This first stamp is by Penny Black and is called Sunny Days.

These next 2 pictures are both from a Penny Black clear stamp set called Make A Wish and this is now a firm favourite of mine!  There are 2 teddy stamps in this set and several different mice stamps which all interact with one another so well!!  I had such fun making several different cards with this stamp set alone as you can have them doing so many different things!  In this sneaky peek I have used 3 separate stamps to make this picture.

And for this one I used another 2 different stamps.  Both the mice and the bears are smaller than the normal wood mounted ones and this means that they are just the cutest images!!  Because of how cute and versatile these images are I have already decided this weekend that I will be buying this stamp set as I have loved using it so much!!  Also because the stamp set's clear it allowed me to see exactly where I was stamping each of the images which meant I was able to build up my pictures with ease.

All of the images were coloured with Copics and if you are able to make it to The Glitter Pot's Spring Spectacular Weekend (this weekend) then I'll be able to show you first hand how I use these marvellous markers.  There will be 8 demonstrators on hand to show you lots of tips and techniques using a variety of different products plus The Glitter Pot will have a refreshment stall with the proceeds being donated to a local hospice so I hope to see you there!!

My Stamp Addicts Spree!!!

Well I did promise to show you the photos from my spending spree at Stamp Addicts didn't I?  Well first up are these gorgeous papers from Best Creations.  The photo doesn't really do these papers justice as each of them have embossed, raised and sparkly designs on them.  Suffice it to say that I HAD to have several sheets of each of these as I know that I will want to use them on everything!!

Even the reverse side of these papers are fabulous too as you can see!

Next up are 3 of the new StazOn inkpads,  some Distress inks and mini misters.  There are actually 4 new colours of the metallic StazOn - the one that I didn't get (this time) was Copper as I thought I'd try out Silver, Gold and Platinum first as I think I will use these colours more than the Copper.  As you can see from the packaging they come with a refill ink as well as the pad and although I haven't opened them up yet I am guessing that they are like the Opaque StazOn range where you have an uninked pad and apply the ink yourself.  As you can see I bought just one or two of the Distress Inks!!  I already have all of the new colours in both pads and inks but didn't have some of the older colours in the actual inks.  Some of my pads are getting a little dry now (as I often use my own for classes)plus I thought it would be nice to make some quick backgrounds with the ink by putting a few drops into a spray bottle and adding water - hence the mini misters!!  (So Keryn - does this count as TH stuff or not?!!)

Now at this point I did think that I was done with my spending but then I happened across the ribbon display!!  And somehow..............all of these fell into my basket!!  Really not too sure how this happened!!

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Now as I think some of you know, this weekend I am demoing at The Glitter Pot so I am hoping that I can be a bit more restrained!!  What do you think guys?  Am I fighting a losing battle?  Talking of The Glitter Pot I guess I ought to stop waffling and get back to work as I'm still trying to get my sample cards done!  I know that I did sort of mention a while back that I might post a sneaky peek of what I am demoing but that is a bit hard when I haven't done them yet!!!

Oh, just before I go........................thought I'd let you know that unfortunately all your good wishes didn't work as I wasn't picked for the WOJ Guest DT.  Oh well.............I'll just have to try again next time!!!

Zesty Flowers

Well guys, I must say that I am truly touched by your faith in me regarding my last post!!  Unfortunately you were all right and I did indeed succumb to one or two (!) things whilst I was at Stamp Addicts.  I have taken a photo but haven't had chance to upload it as yet but I will endeavour to do so in the next few days.  I will truly end up skint at this rate!!  I am hoping that I can do better this weekend at The Glitter Pot!!

So today as I haven't got my 'shopping photos' ready for you yet I thought I'd share a card that we did some while ago now for one of my Glitter Pot classes using my Funky Frames stamp sheet.  This was a more advanced class using Distress Inks as all of the card was made using stamps and inks.  I love to do this but I must admit that more recently I have taken to using pretty background papers quite a lot purely because it is so much quicker!!  However there is always something deeply satisfying about making your own papers and of course by using some of the same colours of Distress Inks to colour with that you've used to make the background means that your imagery will automatically tone in with the rest of your card!

The swirls that you can see on the card itself were taken from my Fancy Flourishes stamp sheet and the wording came from the Funky Frames sheet.  I hope you like it!  With all the lovely sunshine we have been having I thought that the fresh, zesty colours of this card would be most appropriate.  I do hope that wherever you are that you too are enjoying some lovely weather.

Home Safe And Sound

Hi everyone.  My thanks to all of you who have wished me good luck with the WOJ DT call - I really appreciate all of your support.

As you know I've been up to Bedford to see the Stamp Addicts girls and it was lovely to catch up with everyone including the ladies who were on my Friday class!  It is always so nice to see you all of your friendly faces and I truly appreciate you booking onto my class especially when you have to take time off work to do so.  As ever my class ran over but I must say that all of your cards looked lovely.  As I think we all know by now, I don't do quick and simple cards so they always take some time to achieve!

It was also lovely to see everyone at Demo Day too.  This was Stamp Addicts's biggest Demo Day yet and they had even decorated the place up for it too which looked amazing.  I do hope for those of you who went that you enjoyed yourselves.  I will get around to loading up the cards that I did for this and the class - just give me time!!

So then guys...................what do you reckon??  Now you all know that I spent a fortune at The Craft Barn when I popped out there the other week....................................do you think that I was good and didn't spend my money at Stamp Addicts or not??

Whiff Of Joy Guest Designer Call

Today I thought I'd share this card with you that I have made to enter the Whiff Of Joy Guest Designer Call. Every 2 months Katharina puts out a call for some guest designers to make some card samples using the wonderful Whiff Of Joy range of rubber stamps, so I thought that I would enter.

As many of you are well aware I love the stamp designs by Elisabeth Bell and of course Elisabeth Bell designs for Whiff Of Joy, so being a guest designer for 2 months would be a 'dream job'!! (I also like the other stamp designers too - infact WOJ keeps me VERY poor!!)

The challenge this time around is a colour one - you need to use red, orange and one other colour of your choice as well as at least 1 Whiff Of Joy stamp.

As you can see I have used Shopping Willow for my main image (that I bought from The Hobby House) and coloured her using Copics. I then used Walnut Stain distress ink to add some shading around her and applied some diamond glitter glue to add some sparkle.

The papers are by My Minds Eye (bought from The Glitter Pot) and the brown swirls (stamped directly onto the background papers with Walnut Stain distress ink) came from the Spring Swirls Collection that I bought direct from Whiff Of Joy.

The flowers are by Prima.

Anyway wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed for me!!

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Tomorrow I am heading up the motorway to Stamp Addicts and am looking forward to catching up with everyone there.  I am unable to get up there very often now so I'm really looking forward to it!!  So Tracy and Sharon - I'll see you tomorrow!!

A Craft Barn Spend - Part 2

So as promised here I am back again confessing more of my spending sins from a few days ago at The Craft Barn.  As you saw from yesterday's post I had a lovely time accumulating some cardstock and papers but of course there was more!!  I really liked the look of these Marianne Creatables dies as they look quite ornate - one of them is quite a lot bigger than the other and am thinking the larger one could make quite an interesting easel card?  We'll see!!  I loved that you got some extra swirls and flowers with them too as I think these will be invaluable for embellishing cards with.  (You can never have too many swirls in my book - whether it's stamps, punches or die-cuts!)  The ribbon flower sets looked really interesting too which are the two sets on the right of the above photo.  I haven't tried them out yet but I've seen them on a website and they looked really pretty.  I think I'm correct in that they have slits in the flower dies which you then thread ribbon through - anyway I shall find out in due course!

Now as some of you will already know I seem to be developing a bit of a passion for Martha Stewart punches so when I saw these they were a 'must have' considering that I love flower stamps and girlish imagery so I felt they would get a lot of use! 

The mulberry leaves I thought would be the perfect accessory for an upcoming magazine project that I am about to do so these HAD to go into my basket and lastly the ribbons went with some of my papers (from yesterdays post) so it would have been a crime not to have them..................wouldn't it??

A Craft Barn Spend - Part 1

Well I'm afraid that I have been spending my pennies again!  Last week I went out to The Craft Barn in order to work out what I'll be demoing with for their June Extravaganza but while I was there I felt it would be rude not to have a little look around!! 

As you can see I didn't come away empty handed although I was several pounds lighter!!

Although I enjoy making my own backgrounds I also love all the different cardstock and background papers that are on the market and this is what I spent most of my money on!

This picture shows the Bo Bunny Double Dots papers that I succumbed to.  I've never seen these papers before and unfortunately for me they are available in a huge variety of scrummy colours!  So infact I was VERY restrained just sticking to these. Although I did have to have 2 sheets of each colour!

Here's a closer look at these wonderful papers so that you can see the dots properly.  The other side of the paper is coloured too as it has a corresponding plain colour.  I just know that it won't be long before I'll be buying some more of these!

You won't believe how long it took me choosing these beautiful background papers as there were just so many gorgeous papers to choose from!  In the end I made this selection from Basic Grey, Bo Bunny and Best Creations (I think!!).  Again I had to have more than 1 sheet of each of them!  Most of these were double-sided as well which makes it even more difficult trying to work out which side I want to use!

Lastly (on the paper side of my spend) I bought these Basic Grey paper pads.  I really like the paper pads as it is a great way of having all the papers in that particular range without having to spend an absolute fortune.

For those of you who are coming to the June Extravaganza you will be able to see how I've used some of these papers as I am planning on using them on some of my sample cards. 

All I can say is that I hope you have more will power than me when you visit The Craft Barn as it is just crammed full of wonderful products!  Tomorrow I'll show you what else I got while I was there................

The Glitter Pot's Spring Spectacular Demonstration Weekend

Hi guys.  I've been itching to tell you about this but needed to wait until the details were announced over on The Glitter Pot's website.

The Glitter Pot are having a weekend of demonstrations at the end of this month - only 2 weeks away on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th May.  I will be there demonstrating on both days with my favourite markers of the moment - bet you can't guess what they are!!  Lol!! -  along with some other top names in the industry such as Francoise Read, Jane Gill, Julie Hickey, Paula Pascual, Jenny Mayes, Claire Curd and Joanne Gelnar. Not everyone will be there on both days so hop on over to The Glitter Pot's website to find out more!

Hopefully I will see you there..............

PS. I may even post up a sneaky peek beforehand to give you a clue as to what I'll be demonstrating!

Butterfly Bear

Morning guys.  Today (before the time runs away with me!) I thought I'd share my other bear card with you that we made at The Glitter Pot a little while ago now!  He is of course by Penny Black and was coloured using Copics - can't get enough of colouring with these pens at the moment!  Just wish I had more time to experiment with them.  The flourish stamp is also by Penny Black and is called Scrolling Along.

I tried to keep the background quite muted for this card as I wanted all the focus to be on the bear but I couldn't resist using my Martha Stewart Floral Lace punch on the Dotted Swiss Bazzill cardstock!

Here's a closer look at the bear panel so that you can see I also did some subtle stamping around him using the Champagne Versamark inkpad along with a flower stamp that I took from a clear Penny Black stamp set before stamping the Scrolling Along stamp with a Brushed Corduroy Distress inkpad.

I hope you like him!!

All materials and products came from The Glitter Pot.

Scrap Theme Sketch

Hi everyone.  For those of you who are interested I just thought I would mention that there is new blog that has been started up by a good friend of mine for scrapbookers!!  The name of the blog is called Scrap Theme Sketch and it is designed to bring inspiration and motivation to all you scrapbookers out there.  Anyway Isa can explain more about it than I ever could so why not click here to head on over there and find out what it is all about!

Bright Flowers

Morning guys.  I know I keep saying this but I really don't know where the time keeps going to!!  I had fully intended to post something up yesterday and what with one thing and another I never got round to it!

So before I start seriously crafting and lose myself for hours I thought I'd post this card up now!  I had a few days off over Christmas and sat down and played around with some of my stamps and this is one of the cards that I produced for Sir Stampalot.  Sir Stampalot have been really good to me over the years and I am always promising them to send them some cards and finally I made good on my promise!  The main image is by Penny Black and called Windflower which I inked up using brush markers and lightly spritzed with water before stamping it out - just like you see me do on the Basics and Beyond DVD.  The wording was taken from a Penny Black clear stamp set, the flourish (on the flower panel) is by Judikins, dotty swirl is by Denami and I have absolutely no idea whose the flourish is in the bottom left corner of the card - it's too long ago!!  I do remember that the green panel was embossed using my Stylized Flowers Cuttlebug folder!

By the way.....................why is it that when you duplicate colours from a real life flower it ends up looking not quite right??  I actually took these colours on my flowers from real life flowers that were in a gardening catalogue and I don't actually like mine whereas the proper flowers looked great!  NOT FAIR!!

Penny Black stamps and Marvy Le Plume II markers from Sir Stampalot
Judikins and Denami stamps from Stamp Addicts

Nature Trail Ted

Oh dear!!  I've been really rubbish at loading cards up this week haven't I?  I just don't know where the time goes to!!  Anyway here is one of the cards that we made a couple of weeks ago at one of my Glitter Pot classes.  This was a class focussing on colouring bears with Copics and believe it or not there were actually 4 shades of brown used on this bear to get this result!!

All the imagery is by Penny Black including the wording and flourishy bits and of course the colouring was achieved using both Copic Ciaos and Copic Sketch markers.  I am gradually increasing my Sketch markers to supplement my Ciao colours and it most definitely makes a difference once you get the missing colours that you need to achieve a good blend between the different shades.

The close up picture shows the colouring up a bit better.  I really enjoy colouring with my Copics now as I've had quite a bit of practice with them and practice definitely helps!!

Anyway I hope you like the card!  It's been a long time coming hasn't it????

Happy Birthday Craft Stamper

The June issue of Craft Stamper goes on sale today and with this issue they are celebrating their 10th birthday!  I cannot believe that Craft Stamper is now 10 years old as I clearly remember when it first came out and it most definitely doesn't seem THAT long ago!!  (Perhaps I've been stamping for too long???)

As this is their 10th birthday, you will find it is a bumper issue with 8 extra pages of projects plus a feature looking back on its 10 year history.  Plus you will find details of a special birthday competition with £1200 worth of prizes up for grabs!!

The Craft Stamper website is getting in on the act too with a brand new look and an interactive gallery where you can upload your work. Click here to check it out!

Right I'm off to go and buy mine right now......................

New Class Dates Added

Hi everyone.  Sorry that I haven't been around quite so much lately but it is chaos here at the moment!!  Anyway whilst it is quiet I thought I would quickly pop on and let you know that I have just added some new class dates at The Craft Barn to My Event Diary on my sidebar.

The classes will be based on using the new clear stamps by Belles 'n' Whistles and will be focusing on two different ways of colouring.  One of the classes will be using Copics to colour and the other Distress inkpads so if you fancy finding out more about them click here to head on over to The Craft Barn's website.

By the way some of you might be pleased to know that The Craft Barn have just added Paypal as a means of paying for your online purchases too.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll actually get a card loaded up for you.................................... 

Spring Rain

Morning everyone - I hope that you are all enjoying your bank holiday weekend! I spent all of yesterday working as today I am actually having the whole day off!!  Can't promise not to work tomorrow though!!!

Today the weather here is not too good - currently raining.  So I thought this would be a most appropriate card to load up!  I know that you have seen this stamp before from previous posts but this time I have added some flowers around Mimi's feet to represent spring.  (I will be doing a card similar to this for my class at Stamp Addicts later on this month so if you fancy having a go at this you know what to do!)

Stamps used:
Denami Design -
Mimi In The Rain
Whimsical Flowers
Large Dot Swirls
Decorative Flourish

Papers from the Sugared paper pad by Basic Grey.

Coloured using Polycolor pencils and a Splender pencil.

All products from Stamp Addicts.