Stamped Acetate...

Happy Sunday,

I ahd a fab time at the workshop yesterday I have added a few pics of my project at the bottom of todays post!

A real simple card today made withy the gerbera background in black and acetate coloured with the izink pigment dropper inks.  I then stamped the dragonflies from the Gerbera daisy stamp set.

Enjoy...

In the Pink...

Happy Thursday,

I had a fab coupe of days with Aunty Glo and the ladies of allbrights can't wait to go back again!

Today's card is again using up pieces leftover form demos on Hochanda I really do love coming hime form a demo day or workshop and using the pieces i have made!

The large ribbon threaded circle is, of course, form my ribbon threader die set I simply cut this in white and threaded the Crafts Too stitch grosgrain ribbon through this adding a bow at the base.  I matted this onto a rosa lustre print card mat cut with the Press Cut plain circles which fit perfectly.

The background is form a show early in February made using the fabulous Nellie Snellen layering stamps where you get 4 individual stamps that make the stunning corner when you ink and stamp them in different colours!

I added the centre piece to a plane of embossed rosa card with layers of white pink and green to finish.



Enjoy...

Dont waste ...

Happy Thursday,

Ive called today's post don't waste as the card is made from the pieces I made whilst demoing on Hochanda on Tuesday!  rather than wasting these I took everything home to use for more projects and this card is made with the bits left form three demonstrations!

I started by cutting the background paper ( made on the 12pm show I think) into a square for the front of the Card Fold die I had on the shows ( This is a press cut die which must the card base and the opt out section for the middle)  The paper was made by using the larger media plate, the izink dye inks and the solid leaf stamps from the circle leaves clear stamp set.  Next I cut the circle out form a piece I again made on air using the plate, this time masked off with a circle die cut.

I used a further piece of card scrap to cut the leaves I placed over the messy bow.

For the centre I used 2 pieces left from the main card front down each side of the card.

The centre panels are cut form again another background I made on the show ( again the 12pm I think)  I made this using the palette along with my new landscapes mask which gives the clouds, hills and trees.  I added some dragonflies form the butterfly corners clear stamp set.

Ive added a few more pictures so you can try to get an idea how this was made as I now the instructions really aren't clear!


Enjoy...

Christmas tree...

Happy (real) Sunday,

Sorry for the mistake in the day yesterday as I am sure you can all imagine I am rather tired after everything this week!  I do have to say a big thank you again to everyone who has helped and supported me through the launch with a special mention to everyone who came to Inspirations in Preston on Thursday and Friday to see the first live demo of John Next Door!

A couple of bits of news today so don't forget to scroll down to the bottom of todays post to see info on a special Workshop!  I thought today I would share a card made with my products and other Crafts Too products.






I started this card at the demo on Friday with a mixture of my Winter Trees stamps and the Magic Stamp.

I stared by heating a cut down rectangular magic stamp which I then pushed into the christmas style tree from the winter trees set.  This creates a negative stamp of the image.  I inked this with ultramarine and the ocean izink die ink pads and stamped it in the centre of a pice of card.  This leaves a perfect white tree against the shaded background.  Next I positioned the actual tree stamp in the white space and using the Press to Impress stamp platform I stamped the tree in black exactly in the middle ( This is almost impossible for me with a stamp block as I always got outside the line!

The background is a piece from something I am trying so its a bit of a sneak peak!




















Now onto the news Mrs Duck and I will be holding a workshop all details below.  I keep getting g asked if I do workshops that aren't in a specific shop so we thought we would create one!  This is the first one so spaces are listed and it even includes lunch!

There will also be a pop up shop selling my latest ranges and other selected products!


Enjoy...

Trees in the mist

Happy Wednesday,

Firstly thank you al Sooooooo much for the wonderful support yesterday and through this period of change to me new John Next Door brand.  The shows yesterday were so busy I hardly had time ti think trying to get more stock between shows so I didn't disappoint anyone!

I know I have said it before but I want to reiterate that none of this would be possible without those of my blog family who visit, whether you comment or not, every day It really is so special!

Roight Mushy over now nback to the crafting.  I thought I would share this card today as It has a softer feel but shows what other things can be achieved with the Winter Stamps from the new range .

This card started out as an accident, it happens to all of us I know, as i accidentally smudged one of the trees.  I stamped the tree from the winter trees set in the tea izink dye ink pad onto pearl acrd.  I moved the card along 5am and stamped it again and repeated this once more to get three tress.  I then used the mint and ocean inks and randomly stamped the leaves in the set over the trees. It was at this stage that I smudged one of the trees ( as the ink takes longer to dry on pearl card)


This gave me the smoky / misty look as seen on the trees.  I repeated the process but didn't smudge the next one and I simply cut this out and mounted it in a gold circle ( using the CE pierced circles dies)

I mounted the crisp tree at one edge of the misty strip and added a border of more gold before making up the card as sown with the Happy Birthday stamped repeatedly across the bottom.

Again something different to do with the Joh  Next Door range!

I have had loads of emails asking where the stamp press is available form as well as the rest of the range. There are lots of retailers who are stocking these there is a link to a couple on the sidebar.

I will be demonstrating the new John Next Door range at Inspirations in Preston Tomorrow and Friday as well as my selection form the Creative Expressions Christmas die range so pop in and see in person how to use the system and products!

Enjoy...

Colouring Saturday...

Happy Saturday,

I thought I would share a different colouring technique today one that was suggested or discovered by Mrs Duck!  This is really simple to add the coloured stamped image to a candle you stamp and colour onto a piece of thin tissue paper.  However if you leave a piece of card below and colour with Alcohol markers then a watercolour version is left behind.  I used this to make the card next to the candle.

Enjoy...

Vintage Floral Circles...

Happy Tuesday,

Ready for tomorrows launch of my stamp range on Hochanda I thought I would share this card that I made to showcase the new Vintage Floral Circle background stamp.  This stamp was delayed from the original launch and only reached me last week!

I stared by stamping the circle onto a piece of vintage gold foundation card using perfect medium in random pattern as shown.  I then added snow-cap brilliant sparkle embossing powder and heat set this which makes the design show in white with a sparkle which is better seen in real life!

Next I repeated this process onto a piece of velum and backed this with a circle of vintage gold, both cut with the Sue Wilson noble double pierced circles dies which fit the stamp perfectly!  Next I cut a series of the stitched flag dies in the papers form the new Kraft and Gold 6x6" paper stack from DCWV.

I made up the card as shown with a layer of the ribbed white foundation card ( available on the show with Kraft card and the return of the gloss black reversible card ( early waring on this as It sold out so quickly last time)  I finished with a chrysanthemum cut in velum with a small gold dazzler as the centre and foliage of the Olive Branch die, all by Sue Wilson for Creative Expressions.

I will be demoing a version of this card on one of my shows on Thursday at either 9am, 12pm, 4pm or during Final Call at 7pm so tune in to see how this was made!

Enjoy...

The Language of Flowers...

Happy Monday,

Today is the first day of the launch of my new for 2017 range the language of flowers.  This range is designed around d the victorian language ion flowers where different flowers and colours have different meanings.  I thought I would start today with the Vintage Rose I hand drew 6 flowers which I then converted into an A6 rubber stamp of the flower alone and an A5 clear stamp set with a selection of frames and flowers that match along with the appropriate sentiments that match the meanings of the flowers and the different colours.


This card shows the new stand alone vintage rose with the new Knotted wood A6 background and the definition of Vintage form the clear stamps set.





The next card shows the vintage rose corners that come form the clear set along with one of the sentiments / sayings form this set.

 This card uses the corners stamped and coloured with Graphmaster alcohol markers and cut with the Noble Double pierced background rectangles

Another Flower and clear set tomorrow.



Enjoy...

Christmas in Blue...

Happy Friday,

Its back to normal with a Christmas Friday I really must get a start on my mums card! lol

Ive chose one of my favourite stamps from my Christmas range the leaping reindeer created in a different way!


I stared by stamping the reindeer in perfect medium onto heat emboss able acetate.  I added detail silver shine cosmic shimmer embossing powder and get set this.  I then added cobalt PVA dimensional glue into the space left by the embossing.

Once dry (leave this overnight to get a proper dry finish) I turned the piece over so that the blue shows through neatly.  I then added frosted sky PVA at random intervals on the front as snow along with some smaller dots of the cobalt PVA.

I framed the piece using a frame made with the noble double pierced dies set A and B in bright white and cobalt foundation card.  I added the whole piece to a background embossed with the twinkle star A4 embossing folder along with some layers of cobalt and white.


I made up a bow of silver white and blue and added a pearl heart in the centre.  The sentiment, from the same set, is stamped in silver on a silver pierced tag backed with a cobalt tag.

A different colour Christmas card but its my favourite so why not!!

Enjoy...

Quick Cards Show...

Happy Monday,




I'm back on Hochanda tonight for the launch of the One Day Special which is a fabulous bundle designed to have all the things you need to make your quick batch Christmas Cards.

I have added some pictures of a few of the quick card I will be demoing tonight and through tomorrow!

Enjoy...

Simple Stamping Twofer...

Happy Thursday,

The last sample, for this week but Im sure a few more will pop up in the coming weeks form my Autumn range of stamps.  I thought I would show the same card idea done 2 ways for today its a really simple stamping project that hopefully has a great impact!

For the first card I masked off a square on the front of a card piece using low tack tape ( the tape I use for securing my dies)  Next I shaded from bottom left to top right using Adirondack pigment inks using a mini smoothie.  The colours ombre as I used varying shades, terracotta, Sunset Orange, Peach Bellini and Lemonade.  I then stamped the tumbling leaves, in watering can archival, across the top before removing the tape.

Next I stamped the oak leaf solid stamp in terracotta tumbling down the page.  I then outline this using the matching outline stamp in jet black archival ( the dark colour needed the strong black)

Finally I added the sentiment across the bottom from the Autumn Wreathe elements clear set over a panel I made using the same technique with masking and shading.  The great thing about using Pigment Inks tis that the are slower drying and so blend well.  A couple of layers of the dark cocoa and finished.

For the second card I did all of the above stages but missed out the background stamp which makes a simpler, but no less effective, card

Enjoy...

A Simple Masculine Wreath...

Happy Saturday,

IM taking a rare Saturday off this week and prepping for another workshop at Rainbow Ribbons in Solihull tomorrow and at Mountain Ash Crafts on Bank Holiday Monday.

I thought I would show a couple of simple cards this weekend starting with this simple stamped use of the Autumnal wreath form the autumn elements clear stamp sets designed by me for this weeks shows.

I stamped the wreath in watering can archival ink.  I then coloured this with Distress markers using a water brush to pull out the colour and give some shading.

A simple mat of deep cocoa and a 5 x 5 card blank and a simple card finished another one great for the men I think!


Enjoy...