Gold Waste...don't waste it!

Happy Friday,

Today's card is made with waste pieces, well to be exact one waste piece that determined the whole card!

The centre panel of this card is made from the waste of a gold die cut form the Austrian collection background die.  I say the waste as for the card the background was intended for I wanted a large aperture in the middle.  I cut the aperture using the largest die in the Innsbruck set and to make this card I glued it onto a die cut, with the same die, in coconut white card.


I then mounted this over a full die cut of the background and then added it to a further gold panel that I embossed using the Creative Expressions A4 honeycomb haven embossing folder.  This was then added to a further mat of the white, a larger embossed piece of Milk card and a final vintage gold layer.




For the front of the 'waste' panel I added the centre panel form the background die and a smaller hand cut oval.  The sentiment, form the CE friends sentiment set, is stamped in black archival onto a further background centre die, at a landscape angle and I added a few pearls for effect.

I finally added a strip of champagne silky crush ribbon and a double bow before attaching, with foam tape, the top panel.  As always with a large bow I threw in a couple of hatpins and finished.












Ingredients:
Sue Wilson's Dies
Austrian Background
Innsbruck 
Creative Expressions Honeycomb Haven A4 embossing folder
Friends Sentiments Stamp Set
Silky Crush ribbon, pearls and hatpins all Creative Expressions.

Dandelion Meadow

Happy Thursday,

I used this stamp on Tuesdays card however I thought you would want to see what it actually looked like.  I know that when I reviewed Tuesdays post the centre panel looked even darker than I thought.  So I thought you would like to see what this stamp actually looks like!

I had a great day yesterday and learnt a lot form Julia and met some really nice ladies who made some fantastic cards!

Now whilst I was in the Factory shop I saw them preparing for a sale.  I have added the details below as it seems its going to be a mega sale!

Have we got some exciting news for you!

We are going to have a Crazy Craft Sale here at the Creative Expressions Shop!!! We are talking some SERIOUS bargains, with some items as low as 1p...

Dates: Thursday 30th & Friday 31st October
Times: 9:30am - 4:30pm

If you are in the area, it's most definitely worth popping in to see what crafty bargains you can pick up. We are having a 'clear out' and there are some great bargains to be had.

There are some fantastic bargains and yes I did indulge a little thanx tracey!

Ingredients:
Stamps to die for Dandelion Meadow
Sue Wilson Austrian collection Innsbruck die
Delicate Daisies die
Magical Butterflies die
big n juicy ink pad
Couture Creations swiss dots A4 embossing folder


Enjoy...

CE Time Again!

Happy Wednesday,

I can't believe how quickly the days seem to pass at the moment!  I'm heading down to CE towers today for a workshop with the fabulous Julia Watts as I want to see how a professional does it!  I'm hoping to learn some new skills and get some ideas as I am running my first workshop there on January 27th!  Details nearer the time...

Today is strangely my day for the Creative Expressions DT, click HERE to see what the other members have made with similar products.  

Today's card is a simple one using the same colours and techniques as I did on Monday (great Scheduling hey!)




I started by stamping just the sentiment from the Creative Expressions singles stamp filigree frame onto lilac and cut it out using the smaller oval die in the Sue Wilson Innsbruck die set.  I then matted this onto a coconut white die cut of the filigree section of the same die set.

I placed this as a tag onto a piece of the lilac that has been heat embossed in detail white embossing powder using the that special touch Delicate mask.  I wrapped a two tone, matching, ribbon around the embossed piece and placed it on a double layer of white and lilac that I embossed with the couture creations A4 Swiss dots folder.

Finally a large messy bow and a couple of creative Expressions hatpins and a lovely sentiment card finished.

I wanted to show that one stamp can give lots of different looks, by cutting the sentiment from the centre of a stamp it can be used in many different ways.

Ingredients:
Creative Expressions singles stamps filigree frame
Sue Wilson Austrian Innsbruck die set
Cosmic Shimmer detail white embossing powder
That special touch delicate mask
Lilac & Coconut white foundation Card


Enjoy...

Back to Beige

Happy Tuesday,

I'm afraid that today's card is another the doesn't photo well!  IN real life the centre panel of this one looks like a baked clay tile and does have a lovely shine however in all the pictures I took (I took quite a lot of this one) looked quite dull.

I started by stamping the Dandelion meadow stamp to die for form Creative Expressions in black archival ink.  I then cut it out with the matching die from the Sue Wilson Austrian Collection Innsbruck die and rubbed the ice cut piece all over with perfect medium.  Next I added a heap of clear embossing powder and heated the piece from underneath.  I repeated this twice more to build up a thick enamel layer, making a glazed tile effect.


I then made up the card to hold this piece starting with the largest die from the Innsbruck collection however I didn't cut the die I simply embossed it.  I shaded the piece using tea dye distress ink to bring out the embossed design.

To make the card base I embossed some khaki foundation card with the creative Expressions checker board pinpoint embossing folder and layers it with chocolate card in 2 layers.  I made the front panel by inking through the that special touch mask, counterpane, and adding this to another piece of the chocolate.

Finally I added a strip of brown seem binding balanced with a messy bow, a pearl dazzler and a couple of matching hatpins.


Ingredients:
Sue Wilson's Die Innsbruck
Dandelion Meadow stamp to die for
Khaki & Chocolate foundation card
That Special touch Counterpane mask
Tea Dye distress Ink
Cosmic Shimmer clear embossing powder
Brown seem binding, Dazzler & Hat pins



Enjoy...

What time is it?

Happy Monday,

I am writing this at either five passed seven or six on Sunday morning, I'm not sure of the time as I said yesterday I have a mental block when it comes to the clocks changing.  AS I am up I thought I would write today's post while I am checking that Sundays (today's to me now, see I get confused, has gone out!)

Today's card is a lilac affair that I thought would be nice after the blues and beige's I have been showing for the last week!  I started by stamping the Oval Iron work stamp, from the stamps to die for range, in perfect medium and embossed it with cosmic shimmer detail white embossing powder.  I cut the stamped image using the filigree die from Sue Wilson's Austrian collection Innsbruck die set.  I stamped the sentiment with the same embossing powder and cut this from the centre die in the Salzburg die set and foam mounted it onto the stamped image.

To make the background I ran a piece of the lilac card through the GC with the mask in place then added perfect medium over the top, with the mask still in place, and again embossed it with detail site embossing powder.  I added some pearls using the pearl PVA cosmic shimmer glue.


To finish the card I added the square to a card blank made by embossing a further piece of the lilac with the quilted flowers A4 embossing folder from Creative Expressions.




Finally I added a piece of white silky ribbon and added the die cut shop over the ribbon on the bottom right corner and dressed it with a bow and pearl dazzler and hatpins.


This is a card with a lot of texture that gives a nice feel to a one colour card.






Ingredients:
Sue Wilson's dies
Salzburg
Innsbruck
Creative Expressions A4 Quilted flower embossing folder
That Special Touch mask 
Cosmic Shimmer detail white embossing folder
Cosmic Shimmer Pearl PVA glue

Enjoy...

Simple(ish) Sunday...

Happy Fall Back Sunday,

I think this post should go out on time I struggle every year with the clocks changing thing!  I never can get forward or backwards, whether I gain an hour or lose an hour no matter how many times the nice people on Breakfast news or Radio 4 explain it to me! lol

Back to today's card and I have titled it simple(ish) because it may look a little complex however the stamp and one simple outline die from the French collection Provence Die set does all the work.

I started by stamping the Stamps to die for Arched Swirls, using perfect medium, onto teal foundation card.  I added cosmic shimmer detail white powder and heat embossed it.  I stamped and embossed the design three times and cut them out using the matching die in the Provence set.




Next I made a large card base using layers of the teal and coconut white card, which I embossed with the Creative Expressions A4 Honeycomb Haven embossing folder.  I simply layered the three stamped pieces together with foam tape to complete the design.

To finish I stamped the sentiment form the friends set by Creative Expressions in the same detail white and cut it with the smallest die in the set and foam mounted this onto the top.  A few swirls of pearls and a complex looking, yet simple card was finished.




Ingredients:
Sue Wilson's Dies Provence
Stamps to die for Arched Swirls
Teal & Coconut White foundation card
Cosmic Shimmer detail white embossing powder


Enjoy...

A different Technique...

Happy Saturday,

As I'm still on the show run I'm really sorry but there isn't a something different than a card this week, for my new followers I try to present a project every Saturday that is something different from just a card.  However with the twists and turns my crafting life has taken in the last 3 months I seem to be short on time for some projects at the moment!

Instead today I am showing a card from the shows I did with Sue Wilson Last week with a twist that I didn't get to explain on air, in the hopes that you like it too!

The technique I mean is used in the centre of this card, although it is subtle it does make an impact close up!





What I am waffling on about is the centre panel of the card, cut with the Austrian Collection Salzburg die.  What I have done is to take a piece of 5mm ribbon and thread it, alternately, through the die cut.  I repeated this around the shape so that a complex woven pattern appears (I really hope you can see what I mean)

This adds another layer and texture to what could be a plain card.  The remainder is simply layered in the soft colours using the remaining dies in the set.  The background is embossed using the Creative Expressions Pinpoint Checkerboard A4 embossing folder.

Ingredients:
Sue Wilson's Austrian Collection Salzburg die set
Creative expressions Pinpoint Checkerboard A4 Embossing folder
Coconut white, Milk & Khaki Foundation card (from their naturals pack)
Pearls & ribbon from stash.

Enjoy...

Christmas Friday...

Happy Friday,

I'm still on show samples I'm afraid and don't have anything ready that is christmassy I'm afraid! However with a change of sentiment and maybe colours this one could make a stunning Christmas card!

This is a complex card however the component pieces are quite simple however it has a long ingredient list.  Now this is a technique I am planning to demo on my next Create and Craft show which is pencilled in for the 5th November (will try to add some fireworks) and will be a die based show so lots of samples and demo's methinks!






 The background is cut using the beveled Glass striplet which is then mounted over a double sided adhesive sheet.  I added diamond snow which has a beautiful small crystal effect and in the flesh so to speak really shines!

The main piece is made by sticking a 14cm x 14cm piece of the double sided adhesive sheet onto a 16cm x 16cm piece of black foundation car.  I then rubbed perfect medium over the back of the that special touch mask Lattice so that it doesn't stick to the sheet and spread clear texture paste, Creative expressions cosmic shimmer range, over the mask then added midnight snow (this is the black version of the beautiful glitter jewels again form Cosmic Shimmer)  I pulled off the mask and washed it immediately as the mask has the midnight snow stuck to it!


I then allowed the piece to dry overnight.  Once dry I added more of the diamond snow over the adhesive parts that were hidden by the mask, giving this lovely black and white backing that really shines.  There is also a lovely dimension to this backing which isn't really visible in the pictures.

A few mats and layers of black and vintage silver and all I had to do was finish with a strip of ribbon, a messy bow all in black seem binding.  The sentiment is form the CE Friends set and is stamped in detail silver embossing powder onto a die cut form the French Collection Borders corners and tags set.  Finally, I hear you all breath a sigh of relief, 2 of the Grand Vinery die cuts, again in the silver.

Ingredients:
Sue Wilson's Dies
Bevelled Glass Striplet
French Collection Corners, Borders and tags
Grand Vinery
That Special Touch lattice Mask
Cosmic Shimmer Products
Clear Texture Paste
Diamond Snow
Midnight Snow
Detail Silver embossing powder
Black seem binding
Hatpins

If I have missed anything sorry but its quite a long list!

Enjoy...

A Golden Highlight...

Happy Thursday,

Firstly Thanx for all the feedback and warm comments on my first solos TV appearance!  I had a wonderful time and it was great to have so many good luck wishes emailed into the shows band to me personally.  I will be back in early November and spent yesterday planning what will be in the show.  I can say it will be focused around die cutting with my selection of colours, ribbon and card.

Back to toady I wanted to show this golden card as a thank you especially as I thought it would make a beautiful thank you card.  This was shown briefly as one of my samples on last Thursdays One Day wonder shows with Sue (and latterly myself)

This is quite a simple card to produce however it is a litre time consuming as you have to wait for the background to dry.

I started by cutting a square at 15cm x 15cm and covered it in a double sided self adhesive sheet (one of the most useful and versatile products I have used!)  and then covered it in the Cosmic Shimmer silver dreams gilding flakes.  I then stuck down the That Special touch counterpane mask and added Cosmic Shimmer Aurora sparkle paste which has a stunning shimmer but allows the gilding to come through, a double shine!

 I then gilded a further piece and cut the largest filigree die from Sue Wilson's French Collection Die set Provence, with the outline die in place.  I then cut the smallest filigree die in the same set form the gilded piece.  I foam mounted these in the centre and added a bow in champagne silky crush ribbon and a couple of hatpins form my stash.

I mounted the whole piece on a card 21cm x 21cm  made from layers of vintage gold embossed with Sue's A4 tied together embossing folder and vintage silver layers to keep the silver and gold theme in place.


I haven't added a sentiment for this one as I wasn't sure what we were using on the show.

I simply love the way this card shines!

Ingredients:
Sue Wilson's French Provence die set
That special touch counterpane mask
Cosmic Shimmer Silver Dreams gilding flakes
Cosmic Shimmer Aurora Sparkle paste

Enjoy...

Creative Wednesday...

Happy Wednesday,

As an antidote to yesterdays Pink and Gold fest I am pleased to show a more subtle card for my design team project for this week for Creative Expressions.  This was made using the Wrought Iron Frame stamp again shown by Julia on Create and Craft a few weeks ago.

As the design team were all given variants of this stamp to use it really is worth clicking over to the Creative Expressions blog site HERE to see what thee new team have come up with!

I love the stamp however I wanted to use it in a portrait card and the sentiment runs for the stamp in a landscape mode.  Therefore I stamped the image onto khaki card in perfect medium and embossed it with Detail Black embossing powder.  I then, using my scalpel, cut out the sentiment panel and mounted the frame portrait onto a black mat cut with the Austrian Collection background die by Sue Wilson.

To use the sentiment I thought it would make a fantastic tag so I mounted it onto black card and punched a hole in the centre, adding a ribbon thread of black seem binding.

To finish the card I added a few mats of the khaki and black and added the panel to a piece embossed with the rows of bows pinpoint embossing folder.  I threaded a piece of the black seem binding through the frame aperture and out the other end adding a bow and the sentiment tag attached.

Ingredients:
Creative Expressions Wrought Iron Frame stamp
Sue Wilson's Dies Austrian Background
Cosmic Shimmer Detail Black embossing powder
Khaki & Black foundation card
Black Seem Binding

To answer a couple of questions, Foundation card is available from Create and Craft and Joanna Sheen.  I am hopefully putting together a mixed pack of some of my favourite colours for my next C&C show as well.  To get Dimension I use foam pads or foam tape between each layer of card.

Enjoy...

Back on Your Screens & Tuesday Bright...

Happy Tuesday,

This is a kind of stop press today as well as the usual card!  I have been asked to demonstrate today on Create and Craft with the Sue Wilson Dies so Hopefully I will be able to demo the making of this card today!  The shows are at 10am and 3pm it would be great if you could tune in for my first solo show especially as I haven't given anyone much notice!

I'm glad everyone loved the beige from yesterday however I thought it was time for a little brighter colour!  Todays card is definitely brighter with a colour choice I rarely use namely pink!

I demonstrated the principle of how to make this card, in blue however, on the 6pm show which I believe a lot of people would of missed as it is only available on Freeview here in the UK until 6pm.  However if you want to see how to make a blue version of this one you can see area peat on the Create and Craft website,  if you click HERE you can see a repeat of the show .  This will also show you the embarrassing moment when I realised I had put the top on the wrong way and had to turn this into an easel card! I really shouldn't be sharing something that makes me look daft however we all make mistakes, it's the only way we learn!








This pink version is made in the same method however I have used a different die.  This one uses the French Collection Auvergne die set.  I based it all on the colours of White, vintage Gold foundation card and a pink from my stash.





I made this card to show, especially for our American friends, that even a large die can make a small and hopefully cute card!

Ingredients:
Sue Wilson's Dies
Auvergne
Vintage Gold Foundation Card
Pearl PVA Glue
Pearl Sprays from Creative Expressions
Ribbon & Pink card from Stash



Enjoy...

A Beige Monday...

Happy Monday,

Well it is getting a little greyer outside so I thought a nice homespun stamped design in my second favourite colour combination of Cream, Taupe and Beige might lighten it up a bit!

I started by stamping the country cottage stamp to die for by Sue Wilson in black archival ink onto taupe card then cut it out using the matching die from the French collection Burgundy set.  Next I left the stamped image in the die and using Distress inks in Tea Dye, Antique Linen & Scattered Straw i coloured the image.

I started by colouring the image with the lightest colour first, using cut n dry foam, and worked back to the darkest shade of Tea Dye as the last colour added sparingly from all sides.

I mounted the cut and coloured piece onto a sheet of taupe foundation acrd then cut the largest die from the Auvergne set using the smaller die to create a frame.  I foam mounted this over the stamped image.  Next I cut an aperture using the largest die from the same die set in black card and foam mounted this over the image.  Finally I cut a further aperture into a piece of Milk coloured card and mounted this.

I added the whole piece to a piece of the taupe embossed with the A4 rows of bows embossing folder which I inked again using the tea dye distress ink.




Finally I added the final image to a couple of layers of Kraft and black and added a few inked die cut flowers ( double layered) from Sues Faux Quilled flowers along with the matching foliage. I used ranger Perfect Pearls in graphite for the centre of the flowers and added a few dots to frame the card.







Ingredients:
Country Cottage stamp to die for
Sue Wilson's dies
Auvergne
Burgundy
Faux Quilled Flowers
Faux Quilled Leaves
Distress Ink in Tea Dye, Antique Linen & Scattered Straw.
Taupe, Black and Kraft Foundation Card.

Enjoy...

Simple Sunday... distressed flowers

Happy Sunday,

Today's card is relatively simple although It probably doesn't look it however I ma still using the samples I made so here goes...

 There are just 2 simple techniques on this card distressing and die cutting (I am obviously ignoring the stamping and colouring!)

I stamped the image Scenic View stamp to die for by Creative Expressions in perfect medium then embossed it with Detail Black embossing powder.  This allows you to ink over the image and the embossed areas will resist the ink.  I coloured it using a selection of distress inks masking off the different areas using a post it note.

To make the card base I simply ran a piece of Milk foundation card through the Daisy Tiers embossing folder and inked the resultant piece using Forest moss and shaded lilac distress inks.  I covered the whole piece in the lighter shade then added the darker green on top I then intensified the lilac colour by adding more colour in selected areas.


I then cut an aperture in the card base using the plain large shape form Sue's Auvergne die set and cut a navy frame using the die set to frame the image.  The stamped image was foam mounted under the pareture and the frame was simply glued, using cosmic shimmer dries clear glue, over this.














I then cut 2 of each size of the Delicate Daisies full petal dies from a sheet of milk card onto which I had added the 2 colours of distress ink randomly over.  This technique gives a lovely shaded yet random look. I mounted the two cuts in each size together and pinched the leaves to give the flowers a 3D look.


Finally I cut some of the Curled Vines in the scarps of the distressed card and made a spray of the vines and flowers around the edge of the frame.  A few stick on gems and hatpins from my stash and completed.

Ingredients:
Scenic View Stamp to Die for
Sue Wilson's Dies
Delicate Daisies full petals
Curled Vines
French Collection Auvergne Die Set
Creative Expressions Daisy Tiers A4 embossing folder
Distress Inks
Detail Black Embossing Powder

Yesterday (Saturday) I popped into Daisies Jewels and crafts as Julia Watts was giving a demonstration and I have a workshop there on the 22nd November.  I was there to talk over what I will be doing in the workshop and to agree to give a demonstration in the afternoon.  It was great to have 5 minutes to catch up with Julia as well as to meet some of the lovely ladies who were in attendance.  Wendy (the owner) informed me that one of her Customers Jane is an avid follower of my blog I did get to say hello to Jane however didn't have time for a chat!  Sorry Jane I am sure we will have chance in November!

Enjoy...

Second Demo, Bue of course...

Happy Saturday,

Well I am classing this as a something different as I did demo this on Thursday's TV shows so this will have to do as something different.  Hopefully a lot of you were able to catch me demoing this however Its always nice to see the finished product in close up along with the full ingredient List.

There is however a technique on this original sample that I didn't demo as a last minute change meant that the product wasn't available on the show.  Therefore I quickly changed the centre panel that holds the stamped image and the flowers to an embossed one.





This original is made using a That Special Touch mask and the beautiful Aurora Texture pastes which adds a stunning shine to your projects and creates a lovely level of texture and dimension.  I am hoping to have these products available on my first Solo show (more about that later) so I thought you would like to see the original card in all its er... glory.
















I am hoping to demo this in November because the good news is that I have been talking and planning through my next C&C shows today (no rest for the wicked) I can confirm that I will be appearing again so I can't of been that much of a rabbit in the headlights as I thought!

Therefore as those of you who were able to tune in on Thursday saw most of this card made on air and hopefully in early November (date to be confirmed) I will demo the background its just an ingredient list today!



Ingredients:
Dandelion Meadow Stamp to Die for
Cosmic Shimmer Detail Black embossing powder
Sue Wilson's Dies
Delicate Daisies
Austrian Collection Innsbruck
Distress Ink, Stormy Sky, Broken China & Tumbled Glass
That Special Touch Counterpane Mask
Cosmic Shimmer Aurora Texture Paste
Creative Expressions Sea Garden A4 embossing Folder
Foundation card in Duck Egg and Milk.





Enjoy...