Monday Monday...

Happy Monday,

I had a fab time at thats crafty in Romford on Saturday and have agreed to go back in August to do a workshop in the morning and demo in the afternoon.  There are limited places for the workshop (which as it's august will be a christmas card and box!) so contact Thats Crafty HERE for details of date and price etc!

I thought it was time to show some of the sample sI made for the Pick Of The Day shows I did with the wonderful Sue Wilson last month as so few of the 70 odd I made got held up for long!

This card is made, in various shades of Foundation card in blue, using just the ornate corner die for all of the fancy filigree bits  as this die has both corners then it makes a beautiful centre piece.  The neat thing about this one is although they are asymetrical with some cutting they can be made symmetrical.  To do this just cut off the corners and you have matching pieces (this is so much easier to show than describe!)

To make the centre piece I used sky blue and duck egg blue and cut 2 each of the 2 corner dies , i then cut the corners out of 4 of the lighter shade and foam mounted the, made into a medallion, onto four of the corners mounted again as a medallion.

The reminder of the topper is made up form the inserts, cut in blue and grey, from the Rhodes collection I used them to make the tags and also the frames (I love the fact that all of Sue's dies stack and make frames as well as detailed filigree sections its so versatile!


The background is the leafy quad A4 embossing folder which I have rubbed over with Summer blue gilding wax and polished off with a dry wet wipe (available in Julia's shop click HERE)


Ingredients:
Creative Expressions Craft dies from Sue Wilson
Ornamental Corner 
Greek Collection Rhodes
Foundation card in Duck egg, sky blue and grey

Dont forget Julia watts is on Create and Craft today with some brand new Couture Creations dies, I have done some samples so tune in at 9am to see her!

Enjoy...

Simple Sunday...

Happy Sunday,

A mix of ranges on this one and quite a simple card! I stared by making a Aqua foundation card blank using the Ornate Pierced noble die designed by Sue wilson.  Next I cut a mat using the next die down in the set the smallest size I cut in the aqua and the smallest white plaque I cut using the smallest die in the Classic adorned noble die set.  A complex description for something that is as easy as it looks!

To make the frontispiece I cut all the pieces in the new dandelion clocks die set and coloured them using a smoothie and Peacock fathers distress ink.  To make the background I laid a piece of the transfer tape I had on Create and Craft last week over the pice and cut waves in it using my craft knife.  I then removed each layers one at a time and shaded the exposed area with the distress ink.

A simple stamped card that doesn't involve stamping but a nice effect and great for Batch Cards!

Enjoy...

Saturday stamping...

Happy Saturday,

Today I am at That's Crafty in Romford doing Make and Takes as well as demonstrating Sue's new range of dies, click HERE to see details of this Aladins cave of craftiness!  .

Back to today  and this is a simple stamped image using one of the stamps to die for that I designed for Sue Wilson for the last range of dies.. For this card I have stamped the image onto coconut white card using perfect medium and embossed it in detail black embossing powder.  I then cut the stamped image out using the matching outer and inner die from the St Barts die set from the Caribbean Island Collection.  Next I dragged 2 shades of distress ink down the image with the Darker peacock feathers at the top and broken china at the bottom to give the look of a twilight sky.

I cut the inner filigree section from the same die set in black foundation card and foam mounted the stamped image over the filigree.  To n make the background I cut 2 of the Caribbean island borders in aqua and mounted them onto a strip of black card using black pearls at the appropriate points (I love the fact that all of sues dies have places that seem to cry out for a pearl)

To make up the card I embossed an 18x18 cm square with the scored lines embossing folder and added pearls on the junctions of every fourth scored line.  A few layers of aqua and black to make a framed card along with a matching triple bow of ocean double sided satin ribbon.

Ingredients:
Creative Expressions Craft dies by Sue Wilson
Caribbean collection corner border & tag
St Barts
Aqua & Black foundation card
Spring birds stamp to die for

Enjoy...

Small Noble...

Happy Friday,
Today I am demoing at Daisies Jewels and Crafts in Coventry to launch the new Range of Sue Wilson `dies that this card is made with.  If you are in the area it would be great if you could come and say Hi and even better if you have a question you want answering!

Well it is blue and small so it should answer Blue Friday and my promise to show how the same die set as yesterday, which was a large A4 card, could be used to make a much smaller card.  As you know I love versatility in my dies and the nobles are so versatile.

I stared by making a card bank (yes an actual card not a front) using apiece of coconut white A4 foundation card and the largest die in the Ornate pierced design set, the remainder of the card is made using the Classic adorned and you can use the largest die in that set to make the bank however the beauty of the nobles is that the same shapes in other designs are made to nest and I love the pierced card blank you get form the pierced set!

To make the topper I simply cut and embossed each size of the die again in alternating colours using periwinkle and coconut white.

The shiny panel is made by adding a piece of creative Expressions double sided adhesive to a piece of the coconut white card and die cutting it with the outline die  I then added a layer cut with the same sized die however this one I also cut the filigree section from.  In the spaces where there is sticky ( caused by removing the protective sheet and sticking the filigree blue on top) I brushed on pearl mica to give this warm soft gold (using enchanted gold mica powder)

The final layer is a debs piece which I rubbed enchanted gold gilding wax over the debs area to give the same shade in a different format.  The thing I love about Cosmic Shimmer products is that the colours remain constant across the ranges making creating and matching easier!

Finally I added some PVA pearl dots using cosmic shimmer Olympic gold PVA and a twist of the bluebird thin ribbon form the CE double sided satin ribbon pack.

Ingredients:
Creative Expressions Craft Dies by Sue Wilson
Ornate Pierced design
Classic Adorned design
Periwinkle & Coconut white foundation card
Enchanted gold Mica & Gilding wax
Olympic Gold PVA glue
Blue Bird satin ribbon pack

Enjoy...

Spearmint Noble...

Happy Thursday,

I hope you all enjoyed the shows yesterday I had a real laugh with Martin!

back to today and as you all know by now I have  a real soft spot for Sue's Noble dies collection this new design has so much interest in it I have been happily playing with the different layers.  When I first get a die set I usually make a tunnel card where I cut all the layers and mount them backwards form the smelters to the largest so that the design goes into the centre.  This is exactly what I first did with this the new Classic Adorned Design die set.  I simply cut each die in Spearmint or coconut white foundation card alternating the colours with each die.








The beauty of this set ids the thick layer of debating on the second die which has added this stunning swirl pattern to the second layer cut in spearmint.  To get the deboss image you simply need to impress the pattern using the tan mat and pink plate in your calibre, for other machines check what the embossing sandwich is and use that!  I highlighted the swirls by adding some PVA pearl dots using the cosmic pearl PVA.

It make the card I simple layers the die cuts in ever decreasing sizes adding pearl dots where the seemed to be needed ( and I will add them at every opportunity lol)  I cut each subsequent layer larger on the outside (to do this I cut the largest front piece to a size and simply use the lines on my piercing ruler to cut each layer to a mat as I add them on working from the largest to the smallest (I know this makes sense in my head so I hope it does to you)

To finish the card I added some of the new CE pearl corners and a set layer of the spearmint and white.  A large card however I will be back tomorrow to show how this can be turned into a small card, flexibility or what?!?

Ingredients:
Creative Expressions Craft Dies by Sue Wilson
Noble Classic Adorned die set
Cosmic Shimmer pearl PVA
Spearmint & Coconut white foundation card
Pearl Corners

Enjoy...

Shows Today!...

Happy Wednesday,

I will be back on your telly screens Today with a fab new selection of MDF and the Craft Consortium decoupage papers.  Here I have shown a selection of the samples I have made using the papers and the other products on the show.  I have also managed to add back the Tags, bunting and Hearts set that sold out last time so if you missed out on these then here's your chance.

The shows will be on at 10am and 1pm meaning I didn't have to leave the house at 05:30 again like last week so I might be a little more awake (although as I may have mentioned I am a morning person).

Hope you can tune in!

Enjoy...

Oh Canada...

Happy Tuesday,

I promise this is the last, for a while, of the visits to Canada and Portugal as I must show some of the samples from my stamping shows plus I have decoupage shows on Create and Craft tomorrow with some stunning new Craft Consortium papers.  Once again I have been scouring the charity shops for items to decorate I am now starting to have a lovely range of hand decorated furniture that cost next to nothing!

Back to Canada and I thought you might like to see another card made using my (new) favourite background die from Sue Wilson the Canadian collection background.  This time I have mixed it with the Montreal die set that ties in beautifully.  I chose this bright, for me at least, colour combination of Coconut White and Heather Foundation card.

I made the centre element with the Montreal die set using the same procedure as yesterdays card of cutting alternate layers in white and heather however this time I stacked them on top of each other.  I punched holes in each side of the topper and threaded the stain ribbon through the holes allowing me to tie the topper on (with a little foam tape to help)

The background is made using both parts of the Canadian background cut separately in what and cut an aperture in the largest die foam mounting this over a cut of the smaller die cut.

I added a bow and some pearl swirls to finish with the sentiment, stamped in matching amethyst archival ink with a sentiment form my tulip elements set.

I will be doing a series of Make and Takes (my first so please be gentle with me) at That's Crafty in Romford on Saturday it would be great if you are in the area and can pop in an make something with me!

Ingredients:
Creative Expressions Craft Dies by Sue Wilson
Canadian Collection background
Montreal die set
Heather and coconut white foundation card
Amethyst double sided satin ribbon pack
Pearl sprays 

Enjoy...