A little something different!

With Christmas Craft Fair season being upon us, I thought I would try my hand at something that will hopefully sell well at the few fairs I have signed up for... heat embossed slate coasters.
I came across these little beautes a few days ago when out shopping and you know how us crafters are... 'ooh, I could do something with those' lol.
I tried a few designs with just ink to see how they would hold up. I wasnt iverly fussed on 3 of the designs I tried out but quite liked the fourth snowflake one. I washed the other designs straight away and thankfully they washed fine leaving me a blank canvas again. The snowflake one I left a while to see how it would take. I left it about an hour then wiped off. This one took a little more scrubbing as it was leaving an almost watermarked look which, pretty as it was would be no food for the long term.
Second thought was to try hear embossing them so I stamped all 4 coasters with versamark ink and a snowflake stamp I had in my stash (I'm guessing it was part of a free magazine gift stamp set as thats where a lot of my stamps come from) and heat embossed it with a white embossing powder. This took really well (bar the few loose specs lol) and came out really clear on the slate.
Tried wiping (ok scrubbing hard) with a sponge (after burning my hand... the slate is REALLY warm for ages after embossing) and the images stayed in tact. I also put a really hot plate on it at dinner time to check the heat of the plate didnt affect the embossing or melt the powder more! All good there. Finally I brought them to mums for tea and we all used them, spilled our tea on them and then cleaned them after. All remained perfect so happy days.
Really like this idea so I'm thinking of making a fair few more in different designs and maybe colours depending on how they look against the slate but hoping I've a seller here. I havent seen thease being sold at any fairs I've been at so fingers crossed.
Anyways... here they are :).

Card and keepsake in one!!

Its my older sisters birthday in a few days and as she lives all the way in Canada while the rest of us are home in N.Ireland, and as it'll be her 30th, my mum asked me to make a few cards for her from both her and my youngest sister.
Mum never gives me any specifications when ordering so I pretty much get free reign.
With this being a milestone birthday, I wanted to do a little something special for her and thought of adding a few photographs of Shelley (my sister) throughout her life in the card somehow. Originally I had planned on doing a little fold out accordian style but in the front of the card but you know me and plans lol.
Instead I looked through my stash of dies etc and settled on an oval die cut topper with tattered lace wording and decided to try and add a pocket behing in which i could add the photos. I still intended on doing an oval accordian style fold but changed my mind last minute for something easier lol. For the insert I used a tonic pop up die. I've had this die for AGES but never actually used it inside a card for a pop up. I really like these dies tho so think I'm going to have to experiment a bit more in future. 
Anyways... this is the card I ended up doing. All using Papermill Direct card... as if you didnt already know :p.

To finish this card I added some satin ribbon and cosmic shimmer liquid pearl (will post pics of thw finished card tomorrow along with the wall hanging with photos... I'm sure Shelley won't mind me showing pics of a younger her lol). 

                

Mum also asked me if I could make a card from my youngest sister to send to Shelley. I really liked the Peek-A-Boo card concept I had seen on a technique challenge previously and thought something fun like an interactive card would be nice to make from Alannah (the youngest sister lol). 

Using a video turorial I found on YouTube and papers from Lili of the Valley combined with a Saturated Canary image... this is what I came up with! I really love this style and plan on making some Christmas cards with it as well as childrens cards. 

When the card is opened, this panel slides across to show the message.

 This is where Alannah will write her personal birthday message to Shelley. The back of the card is made in such a way that it opens for easier access for writing purposes. 

And Christmas has begun!!

Well the making of the Christmas cards anyways lol.
I bought a new die set the other day and of course didnt look at the size of the dies so when they arrived, they were smaller than I had thought. It took a while to figure out how to use them with them being so small and when I made my first card with them, I didn't like it and posted it on Facebook for a few opinions from other card makers on how to improve it. Turns out it was quite popular and everyone seemed to like what I had done... just goes to show what isn't one persons cup of tea might be anothers.
The good feedback led me to using another of the dies in the pack to make another card using the same layout.
The tree card is the first one I made and the cup of hot chocolate (I'm assuming lol) is tonights make.
These cards were really easy to make... for the tree card, I used cream linen cardstock to make a 6x6 card base. I then cut a layer of teal Papermill Direct cardstock a quarter if an inch smaller and  layered it on top leaving an even border on all sides. Using the piece of cardstock I cut off from making the card base, i cut the tree die out 8 times and stuck them evenly at the top and bottom of the teal cardstock. This left a gap in the middle I wasn't sure what to do with so I decided on using white ribbon with a thinner teal ribbon on top to bring the card together. Using both ribbons, I also made two bows with the white one being slightly bigger. I layeres these together with glue dots and using a bit of bakers twine, i tied a christmas tree charm around the bows.
Pretty easy!
The other card was down basicallybthe same was other than ysing Papermill Directs Buff colored cardstock and white and red ribbon. This time I didnt add a charm as I had none that would match however I coloured the little heart that came out of the die cuts in red (spectrum noir DR1... also what I used to colour white ribbon red as I have run out of red ribbon) which helped add that little something.
I think these cards are growing on me noew and I'm starting to like them... probably helped by the feedback I received from the lovely people of Facebook land lolm Crafters really are the nicest people :).
Anyways... without much further ado... here are my cards using Taylored Expressions You've Been Framed Christmas dies.

Its A Boy!!!

I've had this gorgeous Sugar Nellie digi stamp sitting coloured in for a while (I've one I've coloured pink sitting about somewhere too) but was yet so do something with it.
I absolutely love how lifelike these images are!
There wasnt much needed for this card as the image does most of the work for you :)... image had been printed in Supersmooth cardstick from Papermill Direct.
For this card, I basically just embossed a piece of linen cardstock (it wasnt the embossing folder I had planned on using but of course the one I did want was nowhere to be found this morning) and layered it onto a piece of pearlescent cardstock 1 1/4 inches bigger that I had distressed in shaded lilac distressing ink. I used a Create and Craft die to cut out the image and because there was no matching larger die to matt this onto, i drew around the die I used for the image and because the cutting blade wasnt at the edge of the die, it left me a bit of a border that I was able to cut around with my scissors. I also used the distressing ink for this on pearlescent card as well as for the matt and layering of the strip on the front of the card aswell. I used white linen card from Papermill Direct for the embossing layer and for the top of the strip going across the card and using my creative expressions piercing ruler, i pierced along the top and bottom edge before adding the ribbon halfway down the card.
All that was left to do was put the card together... all card layers were stuck flat to the card base (which was also made from Papermill Directs linen cardstock) and the the image was stuck to the matt with 3d foam pads and it in turn was 3d foam padded to the card base. I used liquid pearls in the top right and bottom left corners to finish the card off.
How cute did it not turn out. Alls left now is to persobalise it whenever I have someone for it lol. I do have two cousins pregnant at the minute... one due this month but shes having a girl (in hindsight, I really should have used my baby girl image lol) and the other in a couple of months and shes keeping it a surprise so you never know. Although by that stage I'll prob have a few more baby cards made lol.

Challenge entered:

 

Paper Creators Crafts - New Baby

Distressing (but in the good way :p)

Howdy all :).

I havent got a lot of crafting done this last couple of days however it's been a few days since I blogged so I figured I'd stop by with a quick post to show you all what I've been up to this morning :).
I have a few card swaps I signed up for this month, 5 I think, so I really needed to get myself un gear and get making. I recently came across my embossing powders that I had long since forgotten about (and an unopened white one that I just had to have months ago cos I had so much I wanted to do with it apparently :p)  so figured this would be as good a time as any to give them a go.
I had seen the heat emboss in white and distress ink iver the top ages ago on You Tube and had always wanted to give it a try. I loved the results I got with this. On the first card, I used my Spectrum Noirs to colour in parts of the stamp and then layered my card onto matching PaperMill Direct cardstock.
The second I just left the embossing as it was as I loved how it looked against the colours of the distress inks (shaded lilac and evergreen bough).
For the last card, I used my versamark inkpad but instead of white embossing powder, I used a blank glittered one. This one didnt come out as crisp... not sure if its cos I used linen card or if the black embossing powder wasnt as fine as the white. I still liked the effect it gave tho so all in all...happy days lol. x

Where The HeArt Is

Staceys Crafty Sanctuary: Where The HeArt Is

Where The HeArt Is Challenge Blog

Where The HeArt Is

So I told you all a couple of days ago about a new Challenge blog starting up...
Where The HeArt Is.
http://wheretheheartischallenge.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1

Well... today's kick off day!

We were given this lovely image from
The Chubby Mermaid https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/161226756/instant-download-be-free-coloring-page?ref=shop_home_active_14 to use in our projects.

Its amazing how different the same image can look on different projects. The Design Team did an amazing job on this challenge. Their projects really are something else!

Why not take a pop over to the blog page and get a look at our projects and join in the challenge.
The brief is 'USE TEXT' so its a pretty easy one to start us off.
Like I said the other day, this blog has two Design Teams... one for cards and one for mixed media so whatever your craft is, this challenge caters to all.

Heres my Design Team project for this challenge.

Hope you like. And remember, this is a new blog so we need people to participate in the challenges to help make it a success. So pop over, join in and spread the word. Hope to see you all there :) x

For this card I stamped onto some vellum with a versamark ink pad and heat embossed it with white embossing powder and layered it onto pale blue card from Papermill Direct (I used this same card for all my layers). I printed the image 3 times and coloured little elements in a pale blue Spectrum Noir (TB1). 

I then stamped my sentiment onto a piece of white card the same size as my images in a memento pearlesent blue ink and layered it intonthe blue card aswel. Using a silver gel pen I drew a wonky line around all 4 sides just to add a little something and using a blue ribbon I had in my stash, tied a bow and stuck it on below the sentiment. 

I used the same ribbon and stuck it around the card halfway down them foam padded my 4 main elements and stuck them down. A few pearls from my stash finished the card and helped balance it out a bit more and hey presto lol. 

New Challenge Blog!!

Just popping by to let you all know there's a new Challenge Blog on the go...

Where the Heart is! http://wheretheheartischallenge.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1

Not only is that exciting enough on it's own but better again is that I've been accepted to be a member of their Design Team. YAY!!!

This will be the first time I've been a member of a Design Team so it'd be great if everyone could pop over and take part in the challenges etc :).

This Challenge blog is a little different from most I've seen before as they have two design teams... one for Mixed Media and one for cards... something to suit us all (I'm a member of the card team but I'm sure you all guessed that anyways :p).

There are some amazingly talented designers on both teams so feel free to pop over and take a look at their work and check back regualrly for updates on challenges.

Time to pop on now... bye and hope to see you over at Where The Heart Is :) xx

It's been a LOTV kinda day! :)

I got a message from my aunt on fb yesterday saying one of the nurses in my grannys care home had saw some of the birthday cards I'd made granny and wanted me to ring her about getting a wedding card made. Excited that she liked my cards enough to want to order one but nervous as I'd have to take an order over the phone (I'm quite a shy person and am not one for talking to people I don't know lol) but still... yay lol.
So I got up the courage to ring and she was lovely. Don't know what I was nervous about but then that's always the way, right? Anyways, she wanted a wedding card and was prettyuch letting me have free reign although she did say she liked the 'older' look with lace, pearls etc and didnt want any glitter or shiny stuff lol. Just as she was about to hang up she then remembered about another card she could get me to make. This time an engagement one for her daughter who had got engaged in May but she hadn't got her a card yet as she didnt see one she liked. Eek... no pressure or anything lol. The brief was pretty much the same for this one... older type and no glitter. And she needed both before Sunday.
Hmm... lol.
So I got to work tonight (after getting another message from someone else at around half 4 today to see if I could make a 16th birthday card for 6 when I got home from a morning of babysitting my niece... will post pics at the end of this post) and looked through my stash. I really had no time to go out and get anything new and if I started looking digi stamps online I'd lose track of time and forget to come off... happens quite regularly to be fair :p.
I came across an art pad from Lili of the Valley that I thought might be suitable... the True Love pack. I paired my images from the True Love pack with papers from their Country Lady paper collection and got making.

Almost forgot lol, the bottom layer of this card was embossed (not sure of the folder as I binned the packaging ages ago... whoops... but its an A4 folder) and distressed the edges with Tim Holtz Antique Linen distress ink. 

This is the 16th birthday card I also made today using papers from LOTV Butterfly Kisses paper pack and an image from their James and Jenny Bear Art Pad. 

English charm

I love getting orders for cards! Last week the woman who ordered the coral and army wedding card from me placed another order for two birthday cards. One had specific requirements and the other was more of a free reign with the only instructions being they wanted it personalised and the recipient liked eating and drinking.
I had some beautiful toppers from Lili of the Valley that i thought would go perfectly. They incorporated the earing aspect but not so much the drinking so I included it in the verse inside.
Unfortunately with this card, the client mis spelled the recipients name, even after I double checked it with her so I had to make a slight alteration and add a few extra gems to cover a minor mark but I was able to salvage the card without having to re do and I actually like the added gems as they seem to add that little something extra.
The papers I used for this card were all from Lili of the Valley however I mixed and matched papers from various collections. The image is from Englsh Charm Art Pad and the ribbons are ones I had in my stash. For the gem on the bow, I used my glue gun and made a dollop of glue on some non stick paper and sprinkled with glitter. I love how these turned out and how easy they are.
I used a mixture of dies to add another layer to the cards and really liked the outcome.
Hope you like my end result :)

In love!

I sold a couple of cards today so decided to go treat myself tonight to a couple of new digi stamps. Wasn't sure what kind of digi I was looking but with sugar nellie being in my head from earlier, I had a nosey on their page and found a few beautiful digis I just couldnt pass over. They have so many beautiful digis (the simply adorable ones especially) so I bought a couple of those and a pretty fairy digi for a card I have to make in the next couple of days.
Of course I had to get printing straight away (I have zero patience) and had only planned on printing and possibly colouring tonight but you know how hard it is to stop when you get started lol. Plus, I had my papers out sonI could co ordinate my colouring to the ones I had planned using so it would be rude to only do half the job after all lol.
Anyways, I used the darknbrown cardstock from Papermill Direct to matt all my layers (topper included) on to. The papers I used were ones I got free in a mag last week... BoBunny Isabella collection and I added handmade roses and both satin and lace ribbon I had in my stash. The beautiful image was coloured using my Spectrum Noirs (FS6, FS3 and (FS2 for the skin tones, CT3, CT2 and CT1 along with the blender pen for her hair and PP3 and PP1 for her dress and roses in her hair. Her lips are also PP1 and theres a hint of it on her cheeks as well).
Hope you like :)

 

challenge entered:http://thecraftyaddicts.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/challenge-2.html

 

 

 

DT Call Out

I love sugar nellie stamps etc so can you imagine my excitement when I saw a DT call out and therefore a chance to be a member of their team. Fingers crossed.
So I've my application sent in and its just a waiting game now. Wish me luck!
If I'm successful I'm sure I'll be letting EVERYONE know lol.