'Tis the Season

Oh goodness!! Sorry that I've been so quiet!!!  There is a VERY good reason for my 'quietness' which I can't reveal at the moment! Suffice it to say that I have been really busy these last couple of weeks with something that I am SUPER excited about! Just as soon as I can I will tell you all about it - soooooooooooooo excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meanwhile I have suddenly realised that Christmas is fast approaching and I am now in full blown panic mode as I haven't done anything towards this yet!

A couple of months ago though I made this card/box  for the launch of Hunkydory's Tis the Season collection.

This first photo shows the cover of the card which is a box lid. The image was taken from the matching Little Book and just trimmed down to make it into a square then layered onto a panel of gold mirri.

Next up is what is revealed when you take the lid off which in essence is a box base all decorated inside using the matching cardstock and the decoupaged element.

Then this is the inside of the card which has been decorated with one of the matching inserts.

Robin Redbreast

Oops I've been busy, busy, busy so I've been neglecting my blog again!!

I also going to be busy for the next few weeks so before I make a start on my next assignment I thought I'd stop by and quickly share a card with you that I made using Hunkydory's Season's Greetings/Windows to the Heart collection.

 So this was made using one of Hunkydory's side stepper card blanks which I covered with Evergreen Adorable Scorable. The main Robin Redbreast panel was taken from The Second Little Book of Festive Poetry and all the other toppers and borders came from the Season's Greetings Collection.

I also used a matching insert to decorate the inside. I love to finish my cards off in this way :).

I have yet to make any of my Christmas cards this year and I've a feeling that it will be a last minute dash with some Hunkydory makes!!

Brusho With Mica

Hi everyone.  Yesterday I took my last class of the year for The Craft Barn so I thought I'd share with you a couple of the cards that I designed for this class using stamps by Woodware.

The cards were created by stamping and embossing the imagery before adding Brusho, then whilst the cardstock was still wet (from spritzing the Brusho) Pearl Mica powder was sprinkled over the top which gives a lovely shimmer to the snowy looking cards. For proper snowflakes Chunky White embossing enamel was sprinkled over the top and for some extra sparkle I added a little Crystal glitter glue here and there.

 

The Brusho colours used were Prussian Blue, Ultramarine and Lemon - I love this combination to give a wintery, snowy sky. The trees and wording were taken from Woodware's Winter Wishes stamp set and the star was taken from the Huge Snow stamp set. The pictures below shows the shimmer that was created from sprinkling the Pearl mica. The light rays from the star was achieved using a Clear Sakura Stardust pen.

For this card I used the same three colours of Brusho for the background and just introduced the Black and Gamboge Brusho for the snowman's nose, hat and mittens. The same Woodware stamps were used on this card along with the introduction of Funny Snowman. Once again you can see the shimmer a bit better on the card below of the mica.

I hope you like them!!

Demo at Sharon's Card Crafts 12th Nov

Hi everyone.

I'm just stopping by to let you know that next Thursday (12th November) I will be demoing some of the latest releases by Crafter's Companion at Sharon's Card Crafts in Swanley, Kent from 10am-4pm.

Amongst the products I'll be demoing will be the fabulous Accordion Dies with matching Everyday Overlays, some of the new Create a Card Collection and the fabulous new Sparkle Spectrum Noir pens. So if anyone is in the area do stop by and say hello :).

This is one of the cards I created with the Rectangle Accordion Die when I was last there using one of the Christmas Overlays along with one of the Perfect Partners stamps by Sheena.

It's amazing the sort of cards you can create with these Accordion Dies!!

Sneaky Peek of Brusho class

Hellooooooo - today I thought I'd share just a little sneaky peek of part of one of the cards we'll be making on my Blinging Up Brusho class for The Craft Barn on Saturday 31st October.

All stamps used are by Woodware :).

Poinsettia Accordion

Today I thought I'd share a card that I created for my demo at Sharon's Card Crafts in Swanley last month using Die'sire dies combined with a Sheena die. (I'll be back at Sharon's on 12th Nov demoing with more Crafter's Companion products :))

The dies were cut from Centura Pearl cardstock and I just kept it all very clean by sticking with just the one colour. I added some glitter glue to the poinsettias but you can't really see it in these photos so you'll just have to take my word for it - lol!!

Dies used were Die'sire Create a Card Square Accordion with the Die'sire Ivy Square Overlay. (Keep a look out for a project using these dies in the next issue of Making Cards magazine ;)!!) The poinsettia die is Sheena's Perfect Partners Festive Fancies Poinsettia. Such a beautiful die :).

Obviously you can jazz this up as much as you like but for my demo I had just wanted to show what can be achieved with minimal effort :).

Less Is More

Hellooooooo again!!  Today I thought I'd share one of the cards I created last year using products by Crafter's Companion.

This cute little Party Paws character was coloured using Spectrum Noir pens and the background was just a piece of Centura Pearl cardstock embossed with an Embossalicious Baubles folder with a little Shabby White embossing enamel sprinkled along the base of the panel.

A very clean and simple card.

Just For You

Look at me...............I'm back again with another post!!!  It won't last - lol!!!

Today I thought I'd share a card that I created a lot earlier in the year for my demo at The Glitter Pot before they closed their doors - do you ever get the feeling that I spell 'death' to our local craft shops!!!  (They all close on me!!!!)

Anyway here is  one of the cards that I did for this demo using a fabulous Penny Black cling stamp called Divine for the main image. The supporting imagery came from a Penny Black clear stamp set called Sprigs and the little words and butterfly are from another Penny Black clear set called Snippets which is just full of really handy small sized font words - just perfect for squeezing into little spaces!!

The colouring was done using a combination of Copics and Distress Markers - I just love the texture that can be created by combining them.

For added interest I cut up a Flourish die by Penny Black and glued little pieces of it where I felt I needed some decoration and that's it!!

See you next time.............

Ahoy There!!

Now don't faint!!!  But here I am again with another post!

This time I thought I'd share a card with you that I made from one of the topper collections in Hunkydory's Tots 2 Teens Collection. This was originally made for the £1 Million Giveaway launch shows on Create and Craft and you can still take advantage of this amazing offer on Hunkydory's website.

 As you can see I chopped into the cardstock quite a bit for this one to make a dimensional stepper card. The actual stepper card was created out of some red Adorable Scorable cardstock with each of the steps decorated with the matching pirate cardstock and topper.

I really enjoyed creating cards with this collection :).

Brusho Trees

Today I thought I'd share another of the cards that I had on display with me last Saturday at The Craft Barn made with the wonderful Brusho featuring the Trio of Trees stamp by Woodware.

Once again I chose to create a wintery scene with them using Prussian Blue and Lemon for the background area along with Grey to create the shadows under the trees and for the trees themselves. The lights on the tree were painted with Lemon and Gamboge - for the green coloured lights I just added a tiny amount of Grey to some of the lights that I had painted with Lemon.

My next class 'Blinging Up Brusho' that was to be held at The Craft Barn on Saturday 31st October will still be going ahead but the venue will now be different - all those that have booked on will be informed by The Craft Barn as to what the new venue will be!! (It is only about 7 minutes from The Craft Barn!)

My thanks to everyone who stopped by my table for my last ever demo at The Craft Barn at Priory Farm :). If anyone needs a demonstrator/tutor then please get in touch!! My email is on the sidebar - thank you!! :) Meanwhile I shall still be popping up with a magazine article here and there!!

Last demo at The Craft Barn........ever!!!

Hi everyone. Tomorrow I will be at The Craft Barn demoing for their October Mini Fest but I am very sad to say that this will be my last demo there ever as on October 18th The Craft Barn will be shutting their doors and becoming an online business :(.

It is only through The Craft Barn that I ever got into demoing and teaching in the first place SO many years ago now............................

Anyway tomorrow will be my last day there demoing with the marvellous Brusho powders so if anyone fancies stopping by it would be lovely to see you.

Below are a couple of cards that I'll have on display using Woodware stamps. I'll be demoing and sharing the techniques on how to create effects like these from 10am-4pm.

The card above was made using the Woodware Poinsettia Corner - with Lemon, Alizarin Crimson, Ost Red and Emerald Green Brusho. The white and gold specks are Stampendous's Shabby White embossing enamel.

This card was made using Woodware's Patch Circle Bauble along with Grey and Purple Brusho. Once it was dry I added some shimmery silver squiggles to the bauble using a Sakura Silver Stardust gel pen. The white specks on the background is Stampendous's Chunky White embossing enamel. A really quick and simple card to create but quite effective :).

Two by two

Today I thought I'd share one of the cards I created using elements from the Tots to Teens Collection by Hunkydory that was part of the 1 million pound giveaway event on Create and Craft. Hunkydory are now offering this event over on their own website too - you can check it out here.

I wanted to create something a little different with this card so as you can see I decided to make the large topper come forward from the main card through the use of acetate.

However after doing this I thought that the bit behind the topper looked a bit bare so I added another topper onto the main card which is only revealed once the main topper stands forward - so it's a little surprise!

I was actually quite pleased with how this turned out as I didn't quite know where I was going with this when I started it!!

The Craft Barn's October Mini Fest

This Saturday it is The Craft Barn's October Mini Fest which means that there will be 6 of us demonstrating lots of different products and techniques from 10am - 4pm.

I will be there demoing with my favourite medium of the moment..............Brusho!!!  Below are some of the cards that I will have on display using stamps by Woodware -

The other fabulous demonstrators who will be there are Lin Brown, Helen Chilton, Jo Firth Young, Chris Dark and Carol Cockbain.

Bobble Brusho Flowers

Hi everyone. I'm just stopping by to let you know that I have done a step by step tutorial over on PaperArtsy's blog on how I made this card using JOFY stamps and Brusho paints if you'd like to stop by and have a look!

With Love K Card

The fabulous Hunkydory Christmas collection of Season's Greetings/Windows to the Heart is now available to buy directly from Hunkydory Crafts so I thought I'd share a K Card style of card that I created using elements from this collection.

 The K Card opening was made to match the topper perfectly by drawing around the topper and then cutting it out with a craft knife. As you can see whenever I make a K Card I decorate the whole of the inside too so that it all looks pretty and as Hunkydory had matching inserts for this collection it finished it off beautifully!

 As you can see below I also used a matching topper to put on the back of the oval shaping.

 Below is a look from above so that you can see that the prettiness was carried all the way through the inside of the card using those fabulous insert sheets.

You can view the entire Season's Greeting/Windows to the Heart collection here. It is just full of pretty and delicate imagery that is also suitable for Christmas birthdays too!!

Christmas Brusho

Helloooooooo. This week I've been playing around with my Brusho paints in readiness for my class at The Craft Barn on Sunday 27th September.

Below is a sneaky peek of part of one of the cards we'll be creating using Woodware's Trio of Trees stamp.

Demo at Sharon's Card Crafts

Hi everyone. Well this time I have a good excuse for bring quiet on here as my broadband has been down for a while. Today I am back in the land of technology as it is now fixed so I thought I'd take advantage and let you all know that this Thursday (3rd September), I'll be demoing some CC products at Sharon's Card Crafts in Swanley from 10am - 4pm :)

Sleigh Bells

Helloooooo. I'm afraid that it is yet another Christmas based post!  (I'm SO sorry but working in the crafting industry we have to make Christmas cards in Summer as that is when all the Christmas related products start coming out!!)

So did any of you catch the Hunkydory Windows to the Heart 4DD on Create and Craft this week? Unfortunately my card samples that I made for the Create and Craft shows weren't collected in time by the courier so none of them made it to the studio - gutted!!

So I thought I'd share with you one of my brand new and unseen by anyone cards that I made with this pretty new collection - made in the style that I just keep doing at the moment!!!

I'm currently addicted to making these style of cards and this mini topper collection from within the Season's Greeting Windows to the Heart collection just suited it perfectly!

As you can see from the photo below I used a matching insert for the inside and then took one of the matching poetry panels from the new Second Little Book of Festive Poetry to put within the opening front section of the card.

I am just enjoying myself SO much working with all this Hunkydory loveliness!!

I'll be back again soon!!........

Festive Birds have landed at Hunkydory!

Hellooooo!  The gorgeous Festive Birds of Britain collection is now available to buy direct from Hunkydory.

This was my 'take' on one of the concept cards in this collection which is supposed to be a twisted easel. Instead I made up the pyramage and popped it onto the snowflake card and then used a piece of ribbon to suspend it within a snowfall acetate card. The snowflake card still opens to write in but instead of the card then just being thrown out once Christmas is over the snowflake will detach from the card and it can then be hung via the attached ribbon in subsequent years as a Christmas decoration.

Here's a closer look at each of them for you.

You can see the whole collection here.

New Windows to the Heart range launches today!

Hi everyone. I just had to pop by to share with you one of my cards that I made using the brand new Season's Greetings Collection from the Windows to the Heart range by Hunkydory.  This collection launched today on Create and Craft and Jak is on again at 1pm today.

This really is such a pretty, delicate range.

Without further ado here is one of my creations! I've taken a few different views of it!

Plus this shows the gorgeous matching insert.

This collection is the current 4 Day Deal on Create and Craft.

Nativity Decoupage

I thought I'd share another Hunkydory creation with you today using the Tis the Season decoupage collection which launched on Create and Craft a couple of weeks ago.

So without further ado here are three cards that I made with the Nativity Topper Collection in this kit.

This first card is one of the dimensional cards that I keep making at the moment. I just love this style of card as it looks a bit different but still folds flat for posting!

Above is a top view of the card so you can see just how much that centre panel stands away from the rest of the card. As you can see it has a matching insert as well.

 Next is a very simple card - just half a sheet of the beautiful printed cardstock with a sentiment.

And of course another matching insert!

 And lastly an A6 size card.

With another matching insert!

Tomorrow Hunkydory are launching another fabulous Festive Collection on Create and Craft and the imagery is so pretty and delicate! You can visit Hunkydory's Facebook page for some sneaky peeks of this stunning collection! I've already set Sky+ to record!!

Santa Paws is now available from Hunkydory Towers!

Hellooooo!!  I just had to stop by to let you all know that the super cute Santa Paws collection is now available direct from Hunkydory.

I honestly had SO much fun working with this collection - there wasn't one image that I didn't want to work with as they were all SO appealing.

Here's one of my creations that I did for the launch.

 As you can see I opted to make a side stepper card which I thought suited these cuties really well. (I'm definitely in to trying out different shaped cards at the moment!!)

From the angle above you can just make out that it has got a matching insert which you can then see properly below. I just love being able to finish off my cards inside like this as I think it makes them look more professional :).

Not only have Hunkydory got matching inserts for their Santa Paws collection but they've got one of their fabby paper pads too - love it!! You can check out the whole Santa Paws range here.