Cupcakes!!

Here are a few of the samples that I made today with the new cupcake stamp plates. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I have a horrible sweet tooth (sugar should be my middle name!), so these were great fun and complete torture at the same time (remember that diet I spoke of last time!).

I couldn't pick which one was my favorite so I decided to show you several and let you decide. Send me a comment and tell me what you think please!

Unfortuneately, the colour and detail does not show up as well as I would like, but you can probably get an idea at least.

As you can see the crystal lacquer, nestibilities and the cosmic shimmer are all fun products that work well with these designs. They will be up on the Particraft website very soon.

Happy crafting, Sue x

New Stamps from a New Designer

The artwork has just been finished on three fun new plates that are going to be used on the TV in a few weeks (currently scheduled for July 16th). Sheena Douglass will be doing the show with Samantha Poole who is the artist and designer behind these fab new plates. It will be Sam's first tv appearance so I am hoping everyone will tune in and be very supportive of her. The new plates are A5 size and are cupcake and sweet treat themed. I was given the rubber today to have a play with it and they are great fun and so wonderfully drawn! Not the best theme to be playing with whilst trying to shed a few pounds though!!!! I just wanted to gobble them up they look so delicious! The designs lend themselves so well to cosmic shimmers, crystal lacquers and the new nestibilities range from Spellbinders. I'll be sure to post of few of my creations when they are finished. I'll also keep you updated on the show and when it is due to air and let you know when they have been added to the website for sale too. All for now, Sue x

New Show Date!

I said in an earlier post that I was scheduled to do a show on Create and Craft on Monday the 29th. That rumour is totally false! They have changed the date of the show once again! The latest move has my beach themed show now on Wednesday July 1st at 3pm. It is supposed to be shown on Ideal World tv also. I'm hoping that this is the last time it gets moved or I'll have to change from a beach themed show to Christmas show at this rate! Just kidding! But I am eager to show all the fun new samples I've made for the show. No more sneek peaks, you have to watch to see them. All for now, Sue x

Card Making Fun!

I have been having a ton of fun lately making stairstep cards. My latest creation is part of my upcoming beach themed stamp show on Create and Craft on the 29th. (By the way, it is rumoured that the show is at 10am on Monday the 29th, but they haven't actually confirmed this so it may change).

To get started you need to cut a piece of cardstock to 10 1/2 '' x 5'' to begin with. Score that piece at 1 1/4'' , 2 1/2'' , 4 1/4'', 6'', and 8 1/4''. Next you need to accordian fold the cardstock so that there are 3 ''mountain peaks" and 2 ''valleys.''

Now the fun begins... simply stamp your images colour and cut out, then attach them to the front of each section. I used my 3 beach gals as the middle focal point, the sentiment on the signpost and flip flops on the front section and the lighthouse as the background. I stamped the plane and cut it out and attached it to a piece of clear acetate that I secured to the back of the lighthouse. This gives the effect that the plane is in the sky flying. You have to look very carefully to see the acetate. I also attached the kite to a piece of wire and secured it to the beach gal in the middle. It gives the appearance that she is flying the kite as she is seated on the beach.

Stairstep cards are great fun to make and allow you to be very creative. Once made, they fold up flat for mailing and give the recipient a great surprise!

Happy stamping, Sue x

New Stamp Plates!

What a week! I have been working on putting together a bunch of new stamp plates for the Particraft line. I know it seems incredibly early, but I have just finished six new Christmas plates in the popular A5 size. Two of them are rather cutesy, two are on the artsy side and the last two are fairly traditional. I think that gives a really nice mix of designs for all tastes. I am looking forward to posting some sample cards for everyone once the master plates are finished and we have RUBBER!!! (one of our favorite things!) As well as Christmas, though, there are also some vintage fashion ladies, funny animals, native american Indian, hearts and love, little lovins tots, florals, coffe and tea and many others. Like I said, I've been very busy! I hope you will enjoy the new offerings. I can't wait to show everyone. Soon, I promise! Take care, Sue x

Congrats!

I just want to say a great big congratulations to Particraft demonstrator Lynne Gilbert! Lynne had a very successful party Monday evening. She demonstrated for several hours to a group of about a dozen ladies. They were thrilled with all the new techniques that Lynne showed them. Her demonstration included such fun techniques as braying and the various uses of distress inks. Again, hats off to Lynne for her inspiration and dedication to crafting! Happy Crafting, Sue x

Look What I Found!

I finally found the time to download my holiday pictures from my camera on to my computer and I forgot that I had taken about a dozen pictures at the last Particraft workshop for the demonstrators in May. Here is one of the pics with two of our Particraft demonstrators, Lynne and Michelle, happily colouring their Paradise Flip Flops. We made a flip flop necklace out of clear shrink plastic and beaded it. This is sure to be a hit at a party or workshop, and especially if there are kids there!

The set of stamps is avaliable on the Particraft website and comes with instructions for making this adorable necklace. Particraft demonstrator's Becki and Alan Ritson have a really nice picture of the finished project on their blog (Papercraft Adventures). Have a look at it!

I think that everyone had a really great time at the workshop and I have already had calls asking when the next demo day is to be planned.

I'll have to get back to you on that one, though. Hopefully soon!

All for now, Sue x

A Few More Pics

I have gotten several more samples cards finished for my upcoming show on Create and Craft at the end of the month. I thought that I would give a sneak peak at a few more of them to see what you think.

I have been having such a fun time working with these stamp sets. Even though the weather hasn't been incredibly good the past few days, my beach stamps have made me feel like it's the middle of summer!

I welcome any comments that anyone has about the samples. It is really nice to hear what everyone thinks of them!

All for now, Sue x

Particraft ad and feature article out now!

I am pretty excited as I have just had my first magazine feature published. It came out today in Papercraft Essentials issue 43. Particraft has a great big advertisement on page 42 and my "Here Fishy Fishy" cards (from the Particraft summer supplement) are featured on the next four pages! I am really pleased with how it has come out. I didn't know what to expect, but I think that the cards actually photographed very nicely. Have a look at the magazine, which is out today on the newsstand, and let me know what you think about it. All for now, Sue x

An Amazing Week!

My partner just surprised me for my birthday by flying in my daughter and one of my best friends for my birthday last Thursday. He told me that he had a meeting in London, but in reality, he had driven down to Heathrow to pick them both up as they were flying in from Los Angeles. Imagine my shock when I opened the door that night and in they both walked!!! I would be willing to bet that I could have been heard all the way back to California. So needless to say, I have had such a great week showing them both around England. We took the train into London one day and spent the day shopping and sightseeing for about twelve hours, then exhausted, caught the train back to the Midlands. Another day we spent seeing the sights of Cambridge and even took a punt ride on the River Cam. That day even started out rainy, cold and very wet, but the sun came out and we had a glorious day. It was a truly lovely six days with them, but I had to take them back to the airport this morning. I tried to hide their passports so they would have to stay, but they found them! LOL Maybe I will be able to have them back again soon. I miss them already! I do have to get back to work tomorrow. There's so much to do! I have to get me feet back down on the ground and my fingers wrapped around a stamp! All for now, Sue x

Sneek Peak!

I almost forgot.... I promised a sneek peak! I tell you, give me a couple of weeks off and my mind just doesn't want to come back to work! I had quite a bit of fun making these two cards. I just love the retro red, black and white colours of the bikini card. The stairstep design of the other card is one of my favourite styles. You can have so much fun with the stairsteps and these stamp designs work really well together.

In case you are wondering about the plane in the background, I attached it to clear acetate and then attached it to the top of the lighthouse so it appears to be flying in the sky! The kite is attached to a piece of wire and being held by the center beach gal and is actually in front of the plane (hard to see this in the pic) The bluish background is just the tabletop where the picture was taken, the card stairstep is the sand coloured piece and all the stamped images are attached to it.

I would love to have your comments on these. Let me know if I'm on the right track with these samples.

All for now, Sue x

Lessons of Life

My Dad, who is 89 years old, sent me this. I thought that I would like to share it with others even though it is quite long. I hope you take something from it with you. LESSONS OF LIFE .Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio "To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more: 1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good. 2. When in doubt, just take the next small step. 3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. 4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch. 5. Pay off your credit cards every month. 6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree. 7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone. 8. It's OK to get angry 9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck. 10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile. 11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present. 12. It's OK to let your children see you cry. 13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about. 14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it. 15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks. 16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind. 17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful. 18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger. 19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else. 20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer. 21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special. 22. Over prepare, then go with the flow. 23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple. 24. The most important sex organ is the brain. 25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you. 26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?' 27. Always choose life. 28. Forgive everyone everything. 29. What other people think of you is none of your business. 30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time. 31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change. 32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does. 33. Believe in miracles.3 4. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do. 35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now. 36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young. 37. Your children get only one childhood. 38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved. 39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere. 40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's,we'd grab ours back. 41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need. 42. The best is yet to come.. 43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up. 44. Yield. 45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift." Remember that I will always share my spoon with you !Friends are the family that we choose for ourselves I think that we all need to take a few moments every day and be grateful and appreciative of what we have. All for now, Sue x

Working on new samples

Hi to everyone, I have been spending the morning working on some projects for an upcoming Create and Craft show that I am scheduled to appear on June 29th. The theme of the show is beach days and fun in the sun. I am premiering three new stamp plates that have not been seen on Ideal yet. I am really excited about it and I'm hoping to have a bunch of fun new samples done for the show. Just thought that I would take a quick break and spend some time blogging. Like I said, just a quick break, back to work now! I might even be persuaded to let you have a sneak peek at a few of the samples for the show if I get a few requests! All for now, Sue x

Welcome To Particraft

Hi Everyone!

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Sue Wilson and I am responsible for keeping all of our Particraft demonstrators happy and informed on new products, techniques and general crafting blurb. For those of you that are new to Particraft, why not check out our website and find out more about us.

I am really excited as this is my very first blog post ever! Looking forward to sharing project ideas and news about Particraft events, parties, workshops and products.

For today, I would like to introduce our amazing free hostess gift, which is available now until the end of June for anyone hosting a party during this time.

This fantastic unmounted stamp set has a spring/summery feel giving you the opportunity to use a bright or contrasting colour scheme or of course, you can make it as elegant as your tastes desire. It would be great to see some of your crafting projects made from this set. So I invite you to comment with a link to your pictures so we can show them off to everyone!

Looking forward to seeing your projects,

Sue x