Early Sneak Peak...

Happy Monday,

I'm back on Hochanda next Monday with the stunning new Stained Glass dies by Sue Wilson for Creative expressions.  Anyone who has seen me at a show or demo recently will know how much I love these dies I've made so many samples that I decided ti start showing some early!

For today's Post I have focused on the embossing / quilting technique where you emboss different colours of card using the die and then cut out selected sections.  I mount these behind the die cut topper, a great way to make effective yet simple card.

Some times we all need a quick simple card but we want to  make them as interesting as possible.

I have used a combination of Cobalt, Primrose, sky blue and bright white to make both of these.

If you want to see how these are made and this technique then tune in next Monday night at 8pm.


Enjoy...

Sailing Away...

Happy Sunday,

I forgot to post these 2 cards that I am sharing today I made them as samples for the Nautical Show Sue Wilson had on Hochanda a couple of weeks ago.  I meant to post them then but couldn't find the pictures But i thought they deserved their day on the blog.

Both of these are made with the Nautical range of dies, microbeads and the matching Treat cups.

Enjoy...

Colouring Saturday...

Happy Saturday,

I thought I should share a card made with the new Stamps to Die for to match the new Die release from Sue Wilson for Creative Expressions.  I started with the Sunflower trail designed to match the shapes within the Indonesian collection.

I stamped the image twice in moment black in and coloured all of one image.  I added the sentiment to the second image, cut out the oval central die from the Sumatra die and coloured just those flowers showing in the die cut.  I then foam mounted the central oval over the fully coloured image ( all coloured using the Graphmaster alcohol pens.

To make up the card I cut the outline die in the Indonesian background and add the largest die in the Sumatra die to this.  I then cut the centre out using the next die in the Sumatra set.  I placed the die cut and stamped image, with mounting cushion, in the centre.

I made up the card as shown adding n embossed panel using the dahlia garden 8x8" embossing folder on a piece of DCWV core card.

Enjoy...

Vintage Friday...

Happy Friday,

Another week another new card made with vintage dies!  Just a quick post today as Ive been so busy I'm really short on time.

 I used the French collection, faux quilled leaves and the camellia complete petals dies for today vintage card.  The colours are coconut white, a sage from my stash and silver pearl foundations card.

Enjoy...

A host of Butterflies...

Happy Thursday,

A simple to make but complex looking card for today which involves just cutting one die four times to make all the main elements!

I stared by cutting the inner die from the Sue Wilson cascading butterflies die into a piece of deep cocoa foundation card.  I then backed this with a pice embossed with the braided vines A4 embossing folder with the pattern highlighted using copper gilding polish.

I framed the background with a set made form the Noble double pierced squares set A and B and mounted it onto a few layers of the tan, papyrus and deep cocoa foundation card to make this 8x8"

Next I cut the cascading butterflies twice from a piece of tan card to give me the tan butterflies .  I then simply arranged the butterflies in a cascade across the front by sticking them only in the centres and folded out the wings.

Finally I added bronze 3D pearl accents from cosmic shimmer in the centres of the butterflies.

Enjoy...

The Long and short of it...

Happy Tuesday,

A card from the Atlantic ocean today would you guess that this is made with a square background die?

I started by cutting the background into bright white foundation card twice.  I then cut these in the middle to give me four pieces ( 2 left and 2 right)

I took 2 piece and using the pattern as a guide I merged 2 piece to make a small rectangular piece.  Next I added the 2 other pieces behind this, with mounting cushion, so that it appears that the background goes all the way across behind the piece.  I hid the joint on the front panel using a strip of white satin ribbon from my stash with a bow added at the bottom finished with a white crystal embellishment.

Next I cut both of the atlantic tag duo frames et one in primrose one in white and backed them with the alternate colour.  I mounted these on top of each other, rotated so that the pattern shows on each tag, stamped with the sentiment.

To finish I added double pearl strips in white down the edges of all the background pieces and added layers of copper pearl and primrose foundation card.  I also added an embossed layer of white embossed with the raindrops 8x8" embossing folder and a couple of frosted hat pins to highlight the front.

Enjoy...

Kiss the leaves...

Happy Sunday,

I thought I would share this card I made for the glitter kiss show last week on Hochanda.  I think this is, to me at least, the perfect men's card as its just leaves and is a great way to use glitter on a men's card.


I covered a piece of card with the Copper, golden sand and Sahara gold glitter kiss to make the textures glitter card.  I then cut the autumn leaf trio of the card and stamped my wood grain A6 Rubber stamp over using black archival ink ( that's one of the great things about Glitter kiss you can stamp over it with normal ink)

Next I took a piece of ribbed white foundation card and cut the leaf trio out from it.  I placed this over a piece of heat resident acetate and added the outline dies from the same set into the apertures.  I then added pieces of the glitter kissed card behind this with mounting cushion.

I stamped the floral circle sentiment for  Happy Birthday off the page and added the stamped leaves in the centre with a metal embellishment from my stash.

I finished with layers of Gloss Black and more of the white to keep the colours simple yet classic.

Enjoy...

Whats black white and red allover?...

Happy Thursday,

I've been meaning to blog this card since I first made it but I keep forgetting!  I made this as s ample for the Hochanda shows that featured the Infinity striplet however I made it at a demo day in Fife and completed the mats and layers at home.

I stared using the quilted technique that I showed on Hochanda a few weeks ago.  I cut the front panel using the infinity striplet.  I cut the backing panel extending the die to give 4 panels.

Next I embossed a piece of red and black using the die but not cutting it.  I then cut the red and black into separate squares and slotted them alternately behind the die cuts.

I then stamped the sentiment and added a chrysanthemum die cut in red and white with a red centre with red sporing foliage.

Enjoy...

Rippled Heart...

Happy wednesday,

Its that time of month again when I do my monthly workshop at Breedon Priory.  I love this event as we get to try lots of different techniques!

Back to today I thought I would share this card as the colours just sing to me!

I stared by cutting the Rippled striplet 6 times across a piece of iris foundation card matching the pattern each time by rotating the die each cut.  I backed this with wisteria foundation card.  Next I cut the straight heart form the laced heart die into the background.








I then added a strip of coconut white fouantion card cut with the rippled striplet and backed with blue dusk.  I added this over the hole left from the heart then added the heart die cut back on top with mounting cushion.

I cut the laced heart outline in white and added the fluttering heart die cut cut in wisteria over the top. Finally I made a wisteria chrysanthemum with a white centre and wispy fronds cut in iris and the chrysanthemum leaves cut in white.

Enjoy...

Aqua Lucy...

Happy Tuesday,

A simple yet complex looking card made with just the Lucy die and the Atlantic ocean tag duo set.  I love this use of plain card to focus attention on the sentiment.

I started by cutting the centre panel from the Lucy die in white and backed it with Aqua foundation card.  I repeated this 4 times and added these to the front of a piece of sky blue foundation card.

Next I cut the outer die from the Lucy set again in coconut white and again backed this with aqua.  I added this on top of the 4 squares slanted and tucked the messy bow into the middle.

I stamped the sentiment onto a pice of coconut white foundation card and cut it with one of the tag duo dies.  I backed this with aqua and added another cut of this die behind this before placing this in the centre.

Finally I added some crystal hearts from my stash and a few layers of the white and aqua card.

Enjoy...

Silver Moon Ocean...

Happy Monday,

I thought I would share another card made using the Atlantic ocean background as I love this die and made so many samples using it!


I stared this card by covering a sheet of double sided adhesive with silver moon gilding flakes.  I then cut all the dies in the Atlantic ocean set into this separately.  so I cut the first die, then cut the central die with the outline and the final die again with the outline.

Next I backed the first piece with Wisteria card ( doesn't it look brighter when teamed with white and silver) I then added the spring foliage die cut in white around all four sides of the central square and mounted this with foam in the centre.  I cut the flowers from the Spring Foliage set in more of the gilding flakes which I shaped and added a crystal in the centre.

I backed the final die cut with coconut white and rotated this before foam mounting this in the centre. I added a frame made with the noble double pierced squares dies and set B in white and wisteria and traced the outline with crystal strips ( these come as a double but I like to cut them into single strips)

Finally a pearl and crystal embellishment with a messy bow made with ribbon form my stash ( Ive got to use more ribbon I collect far too much!)

I have updated the demo and workshop list at the right hand of the blog so if you want to see where I will be in March its all there!  Also I am running some workshops at CE Towers in Kettering starting in May for more details see the Creative Expressions Facebook page.

Enjoy...

White Chrysanthemum...

Happy Sunday,


A missed card form my recent shows last month on Hochanda using the Jessica die from the Frames and Tags collection from Sue Wilson.

To make this simple buckle card I cut dies number 1, 2 and 3 from deep cocoa foundation card.  I backed these with double sided adhesive and added silver microbeads in the spaces.  I then simply threaded these onto a strip of grosgrain ribbon and attached this over a panel embossed with the 5x7" beaded fanfare embossing folder.

Next I made up a white chrysanthemum by cutting all four dies twice.  I added one set at the outer petals by shaping them and folding them out.  I then curtailed a full set to the centre and added these in the centre to make a more realistic flower.  I added more of the silver microbeads in the centre.

Enjoy...

Vintage Friday...

Happy Friday,

It's Friday which means another new card made with Vintage dies and this week I've chosen the Belgian collection and just the Brussels die.  This card is made with just one die and one embossing folder ( if we exclude the flower lol)

I started by cutting the detail die twice in a 6" x 8" piece of ivory foundation card.  I backed this with velum and then periwinkle foundation card, this makes the colour softer and extends the shades available.  I then cut the die in full in ivory and backed this with velum before foam mounting it over periwinkle and placed it in the centre.

For the smaller die in the set I cut this three times in periwinkle and cut the shape in velum and ivory. I added the velum over the top and added ivory behind, again this softens the blue from the periwinkle.  I added these as shown adding the 2 side pieces under the main cut to look like a strip across the front.

I embossed a piece of velum using the A4 quilted flower embossing folder and spray glued this onto a piece of periwinkle before cutting to size and adding more mats and layers of the Ivory and Periwinkle.

Finally I added a hand made rose shaded with colour cloud blending ink and added this to a lace bow with thin stain ribbon and 3 hand made hat pins.

Enjoy...