More Sarah Kay

Hi guys!  A little while ago I showed you one of the Sarah Kay cards that we made when I was last at The Craft Barn.  Here is the other one that we made as well, although to be honest the ladies only had chance to colour up one of the images as there is quite a lot of colouring to do with these little works of art!  I must say though that they did a really fantastic job!

I just love the Sarah Kay stamps as the detail is just incredible so as soon as I saw this image (which is called Eloise and Mimi Saying Hello) I just had to have it, although as it takes a little while to colour I don't think I'll be using it on my own Christmas cards this year!

The papers are by Bo Bunny (the brown one which I decorated by stamping snowflakes onto it with white ink) and Prima which I stamped with the wording and ivy using brown ink.  (The Prima papers are absolutely gorgeous - so pretty and pastel.  I want them all!!) The snowflakes and ivy came from the Personal Impressions Snowflakes and Candies clear stamp set and the wording and small snowflake is from Woodware's Must Have Christmas Words clear stamp set.

Here's a slightly closer look of the papers. As you can see I used my Martha Stewart Snowfall edging punch as well to add some decoration to the Prima paper. (Just love this punch set.)

As you've no doubt already guessed the image was coloured using Copic markers and then stickles was added to the snow area.  (Once again I'm afraid that I can't tell you the Copic colours used due to it being a class card but I chose markers that would match the papers.)

All products on this card came from The Craft Barn.  I hope you like it!

So how is everyone's Christmas cards coming along then?  I've only just begun to make a start on mine!!

Winter Fields

Hi guys. So have any of you (in the UK) had snow yet?  We have had a few flakes falling but nothing of any substance yet!!  However for our region they are forecasting blizzards for Tuesday and Wednesday so we have been out and bought snow shovels and rock salt in preparation!!  Which of course will mean that we won't see a single snowflake now that we are all prepared!  Even without any snow it is absolutely freezing here as the current temperature is -1c - thank goodness for our log burner!

So with snow (and cold temperatures) in mind I thought I'd show you one of the cards we made at The Craft Barn last Saturday using one of the new Christmas releases by Sarah Kay.  Isn't she sweet?  This one is called Francesca in the Winter Field and being that she is so lovely I had to have her!  The background papers are by Prima and Bo Bunny and the ivy and snowflake stamps are from the Snowflakes and Candies clear stamp set by Personal Impressions and the wording is from Woodwares Must Have Xmas Words.

The image was stamped using black Memento ink and coloured using Copic markers. (Sorry can't give you the colours as this was a class card!)  The brown snowflakes were punched using a Martha Sewart edging punch from the Snowfall set.

All products used on this card including the ribbon and the self-adhesive pearls came from The Craft Barn.

Here's a closer look at the colouring for you.  As you can see I opted to create a snowy ground by adding touches of blue here and there with the grass tufts peeking up through the snow.

Hope you like it!

Spring Challenge

Morning everyone.  I thought that I would have a go today at my very first blog challenge!  Normally I don't get the time to do this sort of thing but for once I wasn't snowed under so thought this would be fun to do!  So this is my entry for the StampAvie Challenge 19 - Spring.  I thought that it would be most appropriate for me to use this Sarah Kay stamp as it is called Spring Is Back!  The 'spring' wording I took from an old Penny Black stamp which reads 'spring is here' and just cut off the words that I didn't want.  For the background panels I chose to use some flourish stamps and as you can see I used another of my Martha Stewart punches called Floral Vine!  The wide open lilac ribbon came from Quixotic Paperie and the dotty ribbon was given to me by a friend of mine.  The Prima flowers came from The Craft Barn and the lilac flourishes were done using my new punch from The Hobby House.

Here's a closer look at the Sarah Kay panel which I stamped using Graphite Black Brilliance and coloured using Copics.  Although you can't see it very well  in these photos I added Stardust Stickles here and there to make it sparkle.

I hope you like it!

Pretty Pastels

Hey guys!!  Well it is almost the weekend which means that it is not long now until I get my Dancing On Ice fix!!

This week I have been busy making a special card for my Auntie as she will be having a party this weekend to celebrate her 65th birthday and also her retirement.  It took me ages to decide on what to do for her and in the end I cheated and used one of my pictures from my Art Deco Ladies Clinton Cards calendar as I know that she likes them!  I'll load it up in the next few days and show you the result.  I have been days making this card as I wanted it to look just right and kept changing my mind on the layers of cardstock!  There is absolutely no stamping on the card at all or any colouring so it really shouldn't have taken me very long at all!!  I don't think that I have ever made a card with no stamping on it before!!

Anyway here is a card that does have stamping on it and colouring too!  This was made using the Sarah Kay Precious Moments stamp which is just so sweet and then coloured using Copics.  Everything that you see on this card (apart from the 'best wishes' wording) is available from The Craft Barn.  The background paper that you see is by Bo Bunny and the cut out sentiment is a Craftwork Cards Oh My Words message.

If you like this card you might like to hop on over to The Craft Barn's blog as they have some more Sarah Kay cards showing today too.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Hi guys!!  I just want to wish everyone who stops by my blog a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.  My thanks to everyone who has visited my blog, left me kind comments and also those who have opted to become followers.  It is so nice to know that I am not waffling on to myself!!

I have had such a lovely lead up to Christmas this year - not only have I had presents given to me from companies that I work closely with such as Stamp Addicts, The Craft Barn and The Glitter Pot but I also had a beautiful Christmas bouquet of flowers turn up yesterday from The Stamp Man and of course this year I have had some beautiful handmade Christmas cards coming through my letterbox.  So to everyone who has sent me a card or gift - THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!  It has made this Christmas very special.

Don't forget that The Stamp Man are going to be running something very special on their blog starting from 27th December so if you can do stop by as not only will there be candy on offer but some awards too!!

Before I go this card is one of the designs that I made to send out this year.  I just love this Sarah Kay image she is so sweet!!  She was coloured using copic markers and then combined with SEI background papers - all of which came from The Craft Barn.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Christmas Is Coming!!!

Oh how sad am I???  I am starting to get really excited now about Christmas as yesterday I braved the shops and did some more Christmas shopping.  It was lovely hearing all the Christmas songs in the shops and seeing the lights and all the store displays and I even met Father Christmas!! 

What is even nicer is that your Christmas Cards are starting to arrive too and yesterday I received my first card from abroad!!  Please do keep them coming as there is still plenty of time for you to enter the competition and it really is sooooooooooo nice seeing what you have made - I now can't wait for the postman to arrive each day! 

This card is very similar to one that I showed a while ago but with a different Sarah Kay image.  This particular one I designed some while ago for one of my classes at The Craft Barn.  The Sarah Kay image was stamped using Starlite Black Brilliance and coloured using Copics.  The papers are by SEI and are from their Christmas Mint collection.  All products can of course be bought from The Craft Barn.

Guess What's Arrived!!

Morning everyone.  Just look what turned up here yesterday afternoon!!  At last I have been able to see what the covers of my new DVD's look like and I must say that I think they look very pretty!  I have added each of them to my sidebar with details of how you can get hold of them.

In the next couple of days I will post up details on how to enter my Christmas Card Competition where the prize will be your choice of one of these DVD's so don't forget to check back!

I have added a new date to My Event Diary which is a day of classes at The Craft Barn on Saturday January 23rd 2010.  In the morning I'll be showing you how to create some beautiful backgrounds using my Fancy Flourish stamp sheet and in the afternoon I'll be taking you step-by-step on how to build up different arrangements using some of the different flowers and leaves elements from the Funky Flowers stamp sheet along with some basic masking.  So if you fancy joining me for either of these classes you know what to do!!

Meanwhile my last day of classes for this year will soon be approaching on Thursday 10th December 2009 at The Glitter Pot.  So if you fancy getting away from all the Christmas mayhem for a few hours it would be great to see you!

Talking of Glitter Pot classes here is a card we made from one of my last classes there using a Sarah Kay image along with some co-ordinating background papers which I embellished a little using a snowflake from the Hero Arts Winter's Butterfly clear stamp set.  The Sarah Kay image was coloured using Copic Ciaos and I will be showing you how to get the best from these pens in my classes in December.  The greeting was taken from a Popcorn Bear Christmas stamp set.

Seasonal Sarah Kay

Here is that adorable Christmas Sarah Kay image of her on the doorstep.  The detail of all the Sarah Kay stamps are just incredible which is why I like to colour them using my Copics as these give such a nice clean crisp look.

The background paper is from the Christmas Mint collection by SEI and both the paper and the stamp can be bought from The Craft Barn.

The wording was stamped out in Brilliance Cocoa Bean and was taken from Woodware's Traditional Christmas Greetings clear stamp set.

Back To Sarah Kay

Back to those Christmas cards that I have been having to make recently for today.  This is that cute Sarah Kay image that I showed you a few days ago but this time coloured in an entirely different colour scheme.  I did of course use my Copics again though and in the Colouring Technques DVD that will be released soon I show you how I colour my Sarah Kay images using these markers.

The paper is by SEI again and you can see I stamped and embossed the pink Bazzill cardstock using a snowflake image, Versamark inkpad and crystal embossing powder.  The wording and smaller snowflake were stamped in Brilliance Cocoa Bean.  The snowflakes were taken from that Stampendous Snow Spindle Lite clear stamp set and the wording is from Woodware's Traditional Christmas Greetings clear stamp set.  All of these products can be bought from The Craft Barn.

More New Christmas Sarah Kay

I think that this is most probably my favourite card from the cards I designed for The Craft Barn's Extravaganza Weekend.  I just love this new Sarah Kay Christmas image - I think she is sooooooo sweet!!  Again many of you at the Weekend Extravaganza agreed with me as there were only 2 left by the end of the weekend and therefore I was unable to use her for my classes last Saturday.  Once again I used these gorgeous SEI background papers which go so well with her.  She was of course coloured with my Copic Ciaos with the Clear Copic Spica added here and there to add some shimmer which the scanner didn't pick up.  If I get the time I would dearly like to do some more of these for my Christmas cards this year but we will have to wait and see on that!!  If any of you live near The Craft Barn you will be able to see this card and most of the others that I did for their weekend on display there. Meanwhile I'm afraid that I will be bombarding you with yet more Christmas cards for some while yet as that is what I am currently having to make!

New Sarah Kay Christmas

As soon as I saw this stamp I had to have it and I think other people thought the same as we ran out of this stamp last Saturday at The Craft Barn's weekend.  She is just soooooooooooooo sweet!!  I had hoped to use her for my class today at The Barn but because she sold out I had to opt for another one instead which I will show you in a few days time!! However even though I couldn't use this particular stamp I took the design of this card and just juggled it around a little for one of the cards we are making today.

I think these background papers by SEI suit the Sarah Kay images really well.  These particular papers are from their Christmas Mint collection.  The wording is from Woodware's Traditional Christmas Greetings clear stamp set and of course the image was coloured using Copics.

Hope you like it!!

So Much To Do!!!

Hi guys. Sorry for not posting yesterday - time just disappeared on me!! Very much like I think it is going to do today!! I still have loads to do in preparation for tomorrow!! Royal Mail really let me down and I didn't receive the stuff I needed from The Craft Barn until Wednesday so this has only given me 3 days in which to do all the cards and the preparation required for the weekend. Needless to say I am not very impressed with RM at the moment!!

I haven't had chance yet to upload any of the cards I did for The Glitter Pot's birthday weekend or the photos I took of some of my birthday flowers and cards so meanwhile here is the card that I made for Mum's birthday.

She also really likes the Sarah Kay girls but doesn't like too much on her card as she feels it detracts from the image so I kept the card quite plain just for her!! The background papers are by Basic Grey and the image was coloured using Copics.

Don't forget I'm at The Barn's Extravaganza Weekend on both days this weekend, where I will be demonstrating with the Copic Ciaos so if anyone has any questions about these markers I will do my best to answer them for you. However I am still learning myself with them so I don't know everything 'Copic' as yet!!

Apple Pickin'

Here is the other card that we made in the afternoon class at The Glitter Pot. The little girl is another Sarah Kay stamp and she is just sooooooooo sweet!! I really like these images as the detail is amazing and they look sooooo dainty. Just like the last card she was stamped onto watercolour card using Brilliance ink and watercoloured using Tombow/Marvy pens and a water brush. The background paper is by MME and is the reverse side of the brown flowery paper that was on the other card I showed a couple of days ago.

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As you already know I had a lovely time on Saturday whilst I was demoing at The Glitter Pot. I was kept busy most of the day demoing the Copic Ciaos which I must say I do love and will load up some of the cards that I made using them as soon as I've sorted them out. Meanwhile if anyone is interested I am doing a day of classes at The Glitter Pot on Friday 30th October using these wonderful markers. In the morning class I'll be showing how to achieve a good blend using the markers and along with showing the benefits of the blender pen (which I could not live without!!) and in the afternoon we will be progressing to adding the Copic Spica pens to add some subtle shimmer to your colouring.

Pretty As A Picture

This little girl is SOOOOOOOO sweet and is definitely one of my favourite Sarah Kay stamps. This is one of the cards that we made at The Glitter Pot in the afternoon the other week. She was stamped onto watercolour card and coloured using Marvy/Tombows and a water brush. When working with water you do have to be VERY careful not to saturate the card too much otherwise the ink will run outside of the lines. Once you have mastered it though it does give a lovely result but practice does make perfect!! The brown and pink paper you can see is by MME. Both the paper and the stamp can be purchased from The Glitter Pot and don't forget that I will be at The Glitter Pot tomorrow demonstrating the Copics so if you are in the area do come along!!

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Well so far I am having a lovely day. This morning I was greeted by a Thorntons chocolate bottle of champagne that had been personalised with Happy 40th Birthday Kay written on it with icing. Which I have got to say was extremely well done - I couldn't do it that's for sure! This was from my parents and they had bought it before I discovered I was allergic to dairy products so as the chocolate is made with milk it will mean that the bottle might actually last a while!!

I have already received some lovely cards. Jill (from The Stamp Man) made me the most gorgeous card with a very large pink 40 on it!! If she doesn't mind I will post it up at some point so you can all see it as a lot of work went into it. This morning I received two wonderful bouquets of flowers which turned up together as they had been ordered from the same florist. I absolutely LOVE flowers and so was absolutely delighted to receive them. I'll see if I can get my act together and take some photos of them later to post up next week sometime. My living room now looks extremely festive with three wonderful bouquets of flowers along with my cards, the chocolate bottle of champagne and Jill's balloon bobbing about!

Well I have been good for long enough ....................................I'm now off to go and open my presents!!!

Sarah Kay Class

Yesterday I was teaching all day at The Craft Barn. It had been quite a while since I had last held a class there and it was so nice to see everyone again. I am always made to feel so welcome when I am there which is really nice. It is a lovely place and crammed full of crafting stuff - heaven on earth to us crafters!

What really made my day was seeing some of my regular class attendees from when I used to teach at The Barn about once a month. It was SO nice to catch up with them and I must say a big thank you to Jo who had so kindly bought both me and my Mum (who had come with me) a bunch of roses each! What a lovely surprise and such a kind thought - they were greatly appreciated.

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I showed you one of the cards that we would be making on the morning class a couple of days ago so here is the other one that we did. I must say that each time I use these Sarah Kay stamps I am amazed at the quality of them - the detail is absolutely superb and I am eagerly looking forward to some more being released! The image was coloured with Copic Ciaos which are fast becoming a firm favourite.

My First Sarah Kay Card

Good morning everyone. As promised here is a sneaky peek of one of the Sarah Kay cards we will be making next weekend made in my favourite colour of lilac. As you'll already know from my Oh My God post I am truly amazed at the quality of these clear stamps - the detail you get from each stamped image is remarkable.

Being that this is for a class I can't go into detail as to how it was made but I will tell you that all the backgrounds have been created by hand - not a backing paper in sight and the image has been coloured with Copic Ciaos which are fast becoming a firm favourite.

I will post up the other class cards next week.

Meanwhile if you check back here tomorrow I might let you in on a secret!!