Gold mad.............

Hello everyone.  Next weekend Tony and I are going to his cousin's Golden Wedding Anniversary party so I've been working on a special card for them over the last couple of days...... in between cooking breakfasts for over 100 people!!!!  Enough said.......

I decided to use my Bookatrix embossing board as everyone always seems to appreciate these cards.  I decided to see how many different types/colours of gold card I actually had and was quite surprised at what I found.  The base is a double sided pearl card , the second layer is a gold embossed gauzy type fabric which I've stuck onto cream pearlised card.  The top layer is a fairly dull gold card which has a faint sparkle to it.  On this layer I have used my SU Manhattan Rose embossing folder on each side.  I've used flexible peel-offs around the edges of these layers and after shaping them around a bottle (empty!!! lol) used silicone to put them together so they kept their shape.  For the sentiment I have printed this on my computer onto a clear adhesive backed sheet and used gold leaf on the back - this and the mat were cut out using nesties.  The flourishes are a Marianne die and the butterflies are a Stampin Up Sizzlets die.  I've used wired gems and flowers from my stash and added gems here and there.  The central ribbon has been put through a diamante buckle.  I've also made a box to match.  Hope they like it.

Whoopee!!!! A new craft shop opening in Yeovil, Somerset

Hi everyone - just wanted to give you heads up about a new craft shop opening in Yeovil next Saturday, 6th August.  The shop is called:

Stamp'N'Craft
Unit 2
Merlin Road, Lynx Trading Estate Yeovil
Somerset  BA20 2GZ
Tel: 01935 473115
Web: www.stampncraft.co.uk
 (Note:  I don't think their website is up and running yet).

I've been in touch with the owner, Beth, who said the following: 

We want the shop to be a really social place where crafters can come whenever they want and have a drink and a chat and relax with like minded people. We are going to be running many workshops as we have a wonderful light and airy space set aside for workshops and demos. We would love to have some craft clubs come as well. We are specialising in stamps, such as Joanna Sheen, Chocolate Baroque, Penny Black, Sweet Pea Stamps, Hobby Art, Sheena Douglas, Stampendous and more. We will also stock inks such as Big n Juicy, Distress inks, Adirondacks, Stazon, Memento and more. We will have the entire promarker and aquamarker range. Embossing, micas, and watercolours from cosmic shimmers. Craft CDs from Debbi Moore, Joanna Sheen, My Craft Studio and Crafters Companion, which we will demo as I wont buy a CD if I cant see what is on it. Tools such as Cutting Mats, Craft Knifes, adhesives, glitters etc. Dry Embossing and die cutting tools and machines. We will also be stocking Miyuki beads and everything needed for beadweaving. 

We are having 10% off on the launch day and a prize draw for anyone who makes a purchase.

The opening hours are, Mon - Sat 10:00am to 5:30pm.

Beth will be delighted to see everyone on the launch day and will appreciate your support.  They
will have a suggestion box as they want to supply what their customers want while ensuring that the goods they sell are all of a very high quality.

Black, white and one other colour

I'm really late for this month's challenge over at St Luke's Charity so have made two cards to compensate!!!  They are both in the same colourway of black, white and Dusty Concord Distress Ink.  For the first I have used my Marianne Designables DS0912 cutting and embossing folder which I just fell in love with when I first saw it.  This has been mounted onto black card and then onto a 5" x 7" white pearlised card.  The flower and sentiment is an Anita's stamp which was actually too long for the space so I covered the flower and inked the sentiment, stamped it and then covered the sentiment, inked the flower and placed that above.  The butterflies are a new Stampin Up Embosslits folder using pearl card and colouring with the Distress Ink.

The second card was inspired by Aileen and I just couldn't resist doing a similar card using my Stampin Up Manhattan Flower Embossing Folder and Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die.  This has been mounted onto some purple pearlised card and then onto black and I'm not sure you can see from the photograph but I've coloured a peel-off sentiment to add to the black margin at the right side and then placed some gems.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Blog Candy from The Pretty Little Ribbon Shop

Just wanted to give you heads up about some gorgeous blog candy being given by the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop.  Why don't you pop over and leave a comment for a chance to win.

Bah Humbug - Challenge 29 Beads

His weeks challenge from Humbug Towers is beads.  I've gone really small for this with a 4" square card with decorated edge from Craftwork Cards.  It's covered with backing paper from my stash and the main image is stamped and embossed onto white pearl card.  This is from the Stampin Up Contempo Christmas stamp set.  It's been matted onto some co-ordinating card.  I've then raised it up with foam pads after putting a piece of organza ribbon across.  The beading on this card has been made from various beads on craft wire and I've used a Coiling Gizmo which is a really fun piece of equipment for making all kinds of wire jewellery etc.

Thanks for stopping by.

Less is More - Week 25 Recipe Button or Ribbon

This week's challenge at Less is More is a recipe using either button(s) or ribbon(s).  I have gone with a very simple pearl white A6 card which has been embossed with a harlequin Quickutz embossing folder.  I have tied some lilac ribbon around the card making slits in each edge so I can adhere the ends to the backside of the card which will be hidden with an insert.  The sentiment is from a Stampin Up set called Sincere Salutation.  The addition of three gems finished it off.

Thanks for stopping by.

Die Cut Dreams - Animal Antics

This week's challenge over at Die Cut Dreams is Animal Antics which must feature an animal with four legs.  I decided to make another card using CraftArtist and it was based around this lovely photo of a cat and her kitten which I couldn't resist.

Have a great weekend - at least the weather here in Somerset is looking up so I was just forced to get out and do some jobs in the garden this morning!!

Contest over at Create with TLC

The lovely Paulette over at Create with TLC has set up a contest to celebrate her 300 member party and 1 year anniversary celebrations on Crafters Digital Art Centre.  She has provided us all with two images to chose from to use in a creation Icard, page layout, ATC etc).  The twist is that we have to provide an original sentiment to go along with the image.  There will be a total of 4 winners - a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winner using a random draw.  The 4th winner will be chosen by Paulette based on their sentiment and if it makes the grade Paulette will turn it into wordart for everyone to see and enjoy.

I've made my card using CraftArtist and decided to use this very feminine crab.......... she looked ready to go out for a night out so came up with the sentiment Hair's done, make-up's done..... all I need now is a manicure!  Hope Paulette likes it........

Thanks for stopping by.

Less is More - Week 24 Circles

This week Lady LIM Chrissie and Diva Mandi at LIM Towers have challenged the LIMettes to make a CAS card using circles.  For my card I've used an A5 white pearlised card blank.  I've used a piece of circle backing paper and used a variety of punches to cut circles out of the paper.  I then cut a piece of acetate the same size as the backing paper and ran it through my Xyron.  I then placed the circle paper on top of the acetate and sprinkled Diamond Dust on top which stuck wherever I had punched the holes.  I tied a ribbon (dotty pink and black of course) to the left side of this and mounted it on a piece of co-ordinating card.  The sentiment is from a Stampin Up set called Congrats and I stamped the main message in pink and embossed in clear e/p and stamped the remainder in black Versafine.

Thanks for dropping by.

Hope she sees the funny side!!!!!

A friend of mine has recently had to have an operation on her back which has been causing problems for a long time.  As I had recently bought this stamp set called Wrinklies from Dimension Fourth  I just couldn't resist using it to send Maria a card wishing her better............. I do hope she sees the funny side and it makes her giggle!!!  lol

Bah Humbug Challenge 28 - Shapes

This week the ladies over at Humbug Towers have asked us to make a shaped Christmas card.

At the weekend we had a marvellous workshop with the lovely Jenny, our Stampin Up demonstrator, and she had done a really nice double diamond card so I decided to use this shape for my challenge card.  I began with some card I had in my stash which was cut to 12" x 5" and then I folded it to make the double diamond shape (there are lots of templates/tutorials on the net).  I matted and layered silver mirri, blue pearlised and green pearlised card and stamped and embossed a snowflake from a Stampin Up set.  The sentiment is also from a Stampin Up set and was cut out using the oval and scalloped oval SU punches.  I have also used a Martha Stewart punch to add interest to the edges of the card and a small Tonic holly punch for the embellishments on the diamonds.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sew what.................?

I've just finished my free machine embroidery classes and wanted to make a card for our tutor Lynn.  It obviously had to be something associated with sewing so I used a combination of the Sewing & Stitching stamp set from Local King Rubber Stamps in Canada and a Creative Expressions stamp set.

I started off making a square easel card using my book pages nesties.  I then made some backing paper using a variety of the rubber stamps, adhered to the top and then folded to make an easel card.  I then die cut some felt (which absolutely cuts beautifully) using a nestie and then some card using the next size down.  The main image is an old sewing machine which I stamped and clear embossed and then cut out carefully.  I stamped and cut out some bobbins which I then wound threads around.  The stopper on the inside is actually an EK Success button edger punch which was embossed in clear e/p to make the buttons shiny and then I added some more "real" buttons.  The sentiment (inserted photo top right) comes from the Creative Expressions set and just about sums up the feelings of crafters everywhere!!!  lol  I also added some safety pins, more buttons and a flower.

Thanks for visiting.

Bah Humbug Challenge 27 - Meeces

This week's challenge over at Humbug Towers is Meeces!!!   Hmmmmmmmm.......... I've just realised the one thing I don't have are any Christmas Mice stamps or digis so - what to do?  I hunted around my digi images and came across this cute image of mice taking tea and eating biscuits.  It was entirely the wrong colour for a Christmas card so took it into MCS to play around with it   I then went into Word and created the sentiment using text boxes.  Both the image and sentiment have been die cut using nesties.  I decided to make a twisted easel card.  The backing papers were from my stash left over from my recent penguin card.  I ran a piece of ribbon through and under the sentiment and used the extra for an embellishment.

Thanks for looking.

Less is More - Week 23 - Something with Legs...........

This week's challenge over at Less is More is a one layer card and something with legs!!!!  Hmmmmmmm!!

I decided to use the lovely basque and feminine set from Clarity Stamps.  To start I made up an A5 card from white pearlised card and ran it through my Joy Trouvaille and embossed the smallest die from my Go Kreate XXL Frilly No 5 frames.  I then inked up the basque stamp and put some Angelina Fibre Cobalt Sparkles on top, placed a piece of baking parchment over and then ironed.  I then cut out around the image and threaded through some blue cord for the lacing.  The sentiment feminine was inked with Distress Ink Faded Jeans and stamped once one way, then I turned the card around and stamped it again to get the two legs.  I then added the basque using Pinflair Glue Gel.  The addition of some blue gems finished the card.

Thanks for dropping by.

Less is More - week 22 - Colour

Hi Everyone.  This week the LIMettes have been challenged to produce a CAS card using different shades of blue.  Again I've had to make a very quick and simple card and I have used my Stampin Up Rose embossing folder which is very versatile.  I have used a textured blue card, a blue vellum and plain blue card - all put through my Joy to emboss the card.  I then decided to decoupage one layer over the others and cut each down to suit.  I then used Distress Inks in Tumbled Glass and Faded Jeans to colour the embossed areas and, on the final piece at the front I sponged half of the card making sure to colour the areas that hadn't been embossed.  They have been placed on a white linen square card.  The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set CL001 and has been stamped directly onto the card using the Faded Jeans Distress Ink.

Thanks for calling by.  Hope you all enjoy your weekend.

Bah Humbug Challenge 26 - Acetate

Sorry for the lack of posts over the last week but things have been a bit hectic........ hopefully after the weekend it should start to settle down again!!!  This week's challenge at Humbug Towers is acetate.  I am afraid this was a very quick card for this challenge.  I have coloured a piece of acetate on the back with alcohol inks and then stamped on the front with black Staz-on.  The stamps are all from the same set but I've no idea where I got them from as there isn't a name anywhere on the packet......  I matted onto white pearl card and then onto a matching pink card which had been put through my Joy in a Christmas embossing folder (although I don't think you can see that on the photo).  This has been mounted onto a white DL top folded card and all I've added are some gems.

Thanks for stopping by.