Double Stacked Aperture

Hello crafters!  I think you will like this one as it shows the California collection and one of the
 matching stamps and how to create different sized apertures.  Those beautiful Faux Quilled Blooms
 make an appearance as well!  By the way, the stamp that I have used on the card today is called "Golden Gate" as we had not yet named any of the stamps when we filmed the videos.
 In case you didn't see, I did the drawing for the blog candy so if you missed it, please scroll down
to the post below this one.

Finished dimensions are 7" x 8 1/2" in size.  All for now, Sue x

Blog Candy Winners

Hello fellow crafters!  Finally I have been able to get everything sorted and get along to my Blog Candy drawing today!  As always, I will work my way up to the Grand prize winner.

The winner of THIRD PLACE Prize is.......................................................................
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Suejimbel!!!


The winner of the SECOND PLACE Prize is ......................................................................
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Rachel Taylor!!!

The winner of the GRAND FIRST PLACE Prize is....................................................
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Camelot67 (Margaret A)!!!!

Congratulations all!  Please email me at americansue1@gmail.com to confirm your address and claim your prizes.  We will do our next blog candy drawing when we hit the 5000 follower mark and I think I will have to find some very special blog candy for that one!  All for now, Sue x

Wednesday Weekly Card Giveaway

 Hello bloggers!  This is just a whirlwind of a week for me!  I can tick off Ally Pally and the Wedding shows from my list, but I still need to do my drawing for the blog candy as we have just hit our target of 4900 followers (I will post it later on today!).  I have also been asked to do my dies on Create and Craft on the weekend.   A few months ago I said on the blog that we wouldn't be bringing my die line to C & C and that was because they were requiring a period of exclusivity.  They are no longer requiring that so I am happy to show off the dies as I have had many requests to see them on the tv.  A bit more prep for those shows and I will be ready to go.  Please note that they have amended the schedule for those shows and I have added the changes to the right hand side of my blog for you.  After that I leave to see my Mom again, just in time for her 91st birthday!  Busy week ahead!  Today, however, is a giveaway day and I decided to go with this card as I had several emails wanting to see it after the show a week ago.  It showcases the Cascading Fern background from Justrite Stamps.  I stamped it using a clear Perfect Medium pad on to lilac card.  I heat embossed it with white detail powder.  Using my new Art Deco embossing folder, I embossed the pattern into the card for more texture.  I cut the background into three equal strips and matted them with a thin white mat.  I mounted them with foam on to a larger white background. I tied a piece of Mauve seam binding around the card and taped the ends to the back.  Using my Classic Rose die set, I made a flower out of coconut white card.  I inked it with Shaded Lilac distress ink lightly around the edges of the petals then "sugared" it with Ice Snow.  I seated the flower on a messy bow tied from Mauve seam binding and white tulle.  I added a few leaves to it and made some matching stick pins.  I stamped a sentiment from the Bold Sentiment set and cut it into a strip and cut the ends into a flag.  I tucked the end under my flower.  I added a Lilac card mat before adding my double white pierced mats to complete the card.  Finished dimensions are 7" x 7 3/4" in size.  If you would like to be included in the drawing to win this one, just leave me a comment.  I will announce the winner on Saturday's post.  I have included a few pictures of some of our blog family that I met up with at Ally Pally last weekend below.

 Jean Phillips and myself.  Jean has been on the blog from the early days!

 Clare W (with her white bow) and Elaine Lewis with me here.

Tres and myself!  Tres made a gorgeous flower and wore it on her lapel!


There were lots more pics taken during the day, but not on my camera!  It was a fab weekend!
All for now, Sue x

Stained Glass Window

Hello my crafty friends!  Let's make a stained glass window card.  It is really easy and I will show you how in today's video segment.  It isn't too long either so I do hope you will enjoy it!

Finished dimensions are 7" x 8 1/2" in size.  All for now, Sue x

Sneak Peek

 Hello crafters!  I had an absolute blast at Ally Pally Sat. and Sunday and it was so nice to finally meet so many of you that leave me such lovely comments daily!  I am hoping that some of you that took pictures will email them to me so I can post them on the blog (hint, hint)  later in the week.  I managed to get home and get all the drawings done and caught up from the weekend, but the rest will have to wait until Tuesday or Wed.  For today, I thought I would show you a sneak peek at one of the cards from my wedding show this evening.  It is only an hour this evening but Create and Craft have extended freeview hours so my show will be able to be seen at 9pm tonight.  Now I have never done a wedding show, but I have always wanted to so they have kindly allowed me.  The show is geared mostly towards those individuals that make wedding invites, cards, stationery etc, however as you can see from this sample, that I have also included some cards that you may just want to make if you are going to someones wedding as well.  I had this pretty pearly paper in my stash for ages and I pulled it out for this card.  For the background of the card, I embossed some detail into the paper using the Tracery mask.  For the bottom portion of the background, I used the reverse side of the paper and added a thin strip of the striped patter.  I used one of the edgeability edges and inserts to create a border between them.  I added flatback pearls to the border as accents.    I cut several simple ovals for my focal element.  I stamped the wedding cake on milk card, coloured it with pale blue and silver mica powders and cut it out and mounted it up on the ovals.  I used the Blossom Five die set to create the pretty roses and added a spray of them along the side of the oval with some cream jute.  I tipped the flowers in the matching mica powder by swiping a clear perfect medium across the tops and edges of the petals, then dusting them with the mica.  I stamped my sentiment and embossed it in silver.  I cut it out with the Fancy Framed Tags Two dies and added it to the bottom of the card with foam pieces.  A double pierced milk mat was added to finish the card.  Finished dimensions are 6 1/2" x 8" in size.  I do hope you can join me for the show this evening and Tuesday morning at 10.

Thank you for your patience in announcing all the winners this week.  The first announcement is for the Wednesday Card Giveaway.
This week's winner is:   Yvonne May!!!


For the weekly Comment game, the winners are:
Jacquie J!!!
Annie Pennington!!!
Susan White!!!


For the extra qualifying post of Wed. April 9th, the winners are:
TOB (Theresa)!!!
Sue from Wiltshire!!!
Hilary!!!

Congratulations all!  Please email me at americansue1@gmail.com to confirm your address and claim your prizes!  All for now, Sue x

It's a Two-Fer Sunday

 Good Sunday morning all!  Since I am delving into the sweet treats, I decided to go all the way and let you have two of them today!  This first card was a real lark to make as I just started stamping a piece of milk coloured card with the ice cream cones from the Cupcake Celebration stamp set.   They are in two parts as you can mix and match the top and bottoms of the cones with other styles on the set.  I stamped all the cones, then went back and stamped in all the ice cream.  I picked pastel pink, yellow and blue to colour them and kept all the cones the same.  On each of them, I added a soft blue shadow around the edge.  I covered the entire background with a sticky adhesive sheet and then added Glacier Ice.  I used three pastel colours of seam binding and tied it around the bottom of the card and made a matching messy bow.  I stamped a sentiment tag and cut it out with one of the tags from the Cupcake set.  I tucked it under a wooden button with some twine on my bow.  I stamped the large ice cream cone from The Scoop stamp set by Justrite, coloured and cut it out by hand.  I cut one of the tags from the Vintage Labels Four die set out of milk card and inked through it with Antique linen.  I cut another out of blush card, cut it in half and used it as a shadow.  I mounted it on the card as my focal element.  I finished the card with a double milk mat and used the new Cosmic Shimmer Ivory PVA Glue dots around the edge.  Finished dimensions are 6 1/2" x 8" in size.  There is another sweet treat for you below!

 Card number two is a clean and simple version.  I cut a heart aperture out of a piece of coconut white card.  I embossed the remaining background with the new Honeycomb embossing folder.  I added mounting foam to the back and mounted it over a striped decorative paper from my stash.  I stamped my sentiment and made it into a double ended flag and mounted it partially across my aperture.  I stamped one of the small cones and added three scoops of ice cream to it.  I coloured it to look like chocolate ice cream and cut it out.  I added a tiny piece of foam to the back and attached it to my sentiment flag.  Using the Choco brown PVA glue, I added the chocolate "sauce" to the top and allowed it to dry.  To complete this card I added a double white mat and used the Cosmic Shimmer White PVA glue to dot all the way around the edge to frame my card.  Finished dimensions are 7 1/4" x 8 1/2" in size.
Sorry to have to make you wait another day for the Comment game winners to be drawn, but don't forget to read all the way to the bottom of the post on Monday to see if your name has been picked!  All for now, Sue x

Your Strength

Hi bloggers!  I am so hoping to see many of you at Ally Pally today and tomorrow, please do come by and see me at the Rubbernecker booth and say hello.  The card today is from last Sunday's shows and it shows off the pretty Swirly frame mask that was on the show.  I used it to emboss the pattern into the coconut white card background.  For the centre, I used my Decorative Frames from the Italian Collection and cut the heart circle in white.  I stamped the design from the Ribbon and Swags set on white card and embossed it with white powder and cut it out using the Lacey Tiers die set.  While still in the die, I inked it with Eggplant Adirondack ink which brought the stamped image to life.  I stamped the sentiment from the same set and cut it out with the smaller die in the Vintage Labels Seven die set.  I inked it with Eggplant as well.  To give a little frill around the sentiment, I added two Heartfelt Creations corners.  As embellishments, I made a couple of felt flowers and seated them on white tulle, pearl strings and stick pins.  I cut several of the small dies from the Classic Rose out of white felt and made some small flowers for the top of the focal element.  Flatback pearls adorned each of the corners and a double white pierced mat finished off the entire card.  Finished dimensions are 7" x 7" in size.

Saturday's post is usually when I announce the Wednesday card giveaway winner, but it has been delayed due to being away in London at Ally Pally for the weekend.  I will announce the winner's name on my post on Monday.  Don't forget to check back.  All for now, Sue x