Just Checking In

I am back from a much needed holiday feeling relaxed and rested!  I didn't get a chance to make a new blog post before I left so I know it seems like you have been looking at te last card  pic forever!  I don't have any new cards to post today but I thought that I would post a holiday pic and have a little game to see if anyone could guess where it was taken!  I meeting my daughter who is coming over for my birthday  and we are heading out for some sightseeing in Paris while she is here.  I promise more sneak peeks for the POTW shows that I have been working on when I return.  By the way, those shows begin on June 17th.

Any guesses?

All for now, Sue x

Shhh, Don't Tell, A Sneak Peek!

I just had to show a little sneak peek of what I've been working on lately.  There are four different Spellbinder die sets (new from their January release)that I have used on this card which will be featured in my next POTW shows in June.  I am loving these as they really play nicely together.  I will  have this vintage ribbon, the mask that I have used to emboss the frame and the Cosmic Shimmer Pearl PVA glue used on the edge of the card on the show as well.
In fact, I am very excited to announce that there will be several brand new products brought out on these shows this time around.  I do have to keep quiet about those (although it's really killing me!)  I know it's quite a way off, but trust me you will want to pop in to take a look that week.  That's all I'm saying for now!  I hope you like it, let me know what you think?  All for now, Sue x

At Last New Candy!

At long last, new blog candy for the contest that will end when we reach 1600 followers.  I know, I know, you have been patiently waiting to see what new goodies are up for grabs.  What do you think about six rubber stamp sets, a Tim Holtz mask, Big 'n Juicy inkpad, Tim Holtz grungeboard set, Dimensional Art Book, sticky fingers tape runner, Adirondack pigment ink pad, Distress ink, gold embossing powder, Medallion stamp, four colours of vintage ribbon, copper tape, Cosmic Shimmer mister, Tim Holtz embellishments, and an assorted silk flower pack?  What would you do with all that haul? Remember, extra entries into the contest for your comments left after each post.  Let's hear from you on this!  All for now, Sue x

Demo Card Explained

Here's another card that I found recently that has never been posted on my blog.  I'm not sure how I missed this one as it is one of my favourites. It was supposed to be one of my demos from the past POTW shows but since I never got that opportunity, I'll describe what I did to create this card .   I have layed up several of the new Spellbinder dies to create the centre focal point using labels twenty one and a faux nestie as the back piece.  I ran the label 21 through our lattice embossing folder while still in the die (cutting edge up) and an embossing mat over it but with the folder open so as not to cut into it.  That is how I kept that pretty little embossed edge on it.  Then I added the fleur de lis doily motif and topped it with labels eighteen stamped with the sentiment and three small pearls.  I used the fleur de lis border to cut into the bottom of the background paper creating the negative pattern, then added a red mat behind it.  Then used the actual border that was cut out below it to create the bottom edge of the card.  I offset the border so that you can see both the red fleur de lis and the patterned paper ones also.  That stripe is the reverse to the little floral pattern on the background paper I used (October Afternoon paper).  The card is finished with a red satin ribbon and two red felt rolled flowers with small pearls added to the centre.  I cut two leaf shapes from green card and folded them in half and ran them through my paper crimper to add "veins".  The two red fleur de lis corners were added as well as the paper piercing to frame and add the finishing touches to the card.  I hope you like it.  What do you think?  All for now, Sue x

Hi everyone,   I hope that you have really enjoyed this glorious weather these past few weeks, but have still had a bit of time to craft and play too!  I spoke with my daughter earlier and she said that the weather in California was damp and overcast with a few showers too.  Imagine that, England's weather is better than California's!  Could this be global warming turning the tides, making all the cold places warm and the warm places cold?  Who knows?!  Even though we have had this amazing weather, I did still spend a bit of time in my craft room making some samples for an upcoming POTW, but alas, I cannot show them yet.  So I have been combing through some previous samples I've made for past shows that haven't made it onto the blog for some reason.  This Native American sample is one of the cards that I made when I was "winging" it last month.  The POTW had sold out in record time so C & C brought back their exclusive dies to finish the shows for the week.  I put this card together for a demo in between shows.  I rather like the way it came out, all things considered.  It is showing several really great techniques, the out of the box, faux stitching  and the faux leather masking tape technique.  I hope you like it!  All for now, Sue x

What's Next?

Hello everyone,  I have been given a new assignment to work on, but it is for shows that are not until mid June.  That does sound like a lot of time but I do have a holiday between now and then so I do need to get cracking with it.  Unfortunately, I can't show any of these samples for a while, so I have been going through some of my sample pics and found some that haven't made it onto blogland yet.  This one is one of my favourites.  It was done using some of Sam Poole's bew wedding stamps.  I am supposed to do a wedding show sometime in the near future, but the date has not been set as of yet.  So I guess that means that I can show a few sneaking peeks in the meantime.  I scored the card at the top every half inch and then brought it down to a diagonal line where I added my handmade roses (using the stamps from the Button Florals).  It is difficult to see but they are covered in Diamond Stickles to give them a lovely shimmer.  I added some ribbon and pearls and finished it with a text tag stamped with a sentiment from the set.  I hope you like it!  All for now, Sue x

And The Winner is...

Hi everyone!  I know that I have been a bit quiet this past week and just wanted to let you know that I have been out of comission with a terrible throat infection since Wednesday.  Unfortunately, no new card today since I have spent the past four days in bed, but we do have the winners of the Big Blog Candy Contest so I hope that will be enough for now.  I promise to get back to work now that I am feeling much, much better.
As always, I will draw the third place, then second place and then the grand prize winners.  Without anymore waiting, here we go.

The third prize winner is..............................................................
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FurryPig!!!!

The second place winner is.........................................................
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Sam Healey!!!!!!

And finally, the Grand Prize Winner is.....................................
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.Buttons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to everyone for playing along!  If your name was drawn, please email me at sales@particraft.co.uk to verify your shipping address.  If you didn't win, you are still entered in for the next contest which will draw at 1600 followers!  All for now, Sue x

Back From Ally Pally!

Hi everyone, Back from Ally Pally this past weekend (and what a wonderful and crazily busy weekend it was!)  Here are a couple of pics that I took of the queue just moments before they came bursting through the doors!  You can see the anxious and excited looks on their faces, can't you?          Even though the weather was A-mazing!, we still had record numbers of crafters to the show.  If you weren't able to be there, at least you had beautiful weather for whatever you were doing!  It was a great weekend all the way around!  I really enjoyed meeting some of my blog followers so I can happily put a face with the name.  Hopefully we will see you all back in September for the fall Ally Pally show.

I demoed all weekend, but never actually finished a full card, just bits and pieces.  So I've included another Tatty sample from the last show for you.  I am just loving the felt flowers lately.  Who would have thought that felt could look so good?  I always think of it as something that kids play with, but not any longer.  And, how 'bout that crinkly edged ribbon?  I sold out of that very quickly on Saturday, but I was able to cut more for Sundays shoppers.  It does make a lovely bow, I think and it is not at all fussy to tie. We are getting very close to the magical number for our blog candy contest draw.  This may be the last chance to leave a comment to get extra chances to win that great big prize (I'm just saying!), you never know!  All for now, Sue x

Ally Pally Show

 It's that time of year again, yes, I mean Ally Pally time!  Twice a year, April and September, Creative Expressions hosts the Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show at the Alexandra Palace in London.  If you have never been, it is quite amazing.  There is so much fun and exciting crafting goodies there all under one roof for your delight and pleasure!  If you are able to attend, you will find me just as you enter the door to your right.  I am demoing at the Rubbernecker booth, but I will also have a Particraft stand with loads of demonstrators and fun demos to inspire your creativity.  A couple of quick notes, first, I had an email on the show last week that asked about the spellbinder die used on the toadstool card shown here.  I erroneously identified it as the lotus border.  I am so sorry about that, but it is actually the In Spades border.  It is a really lovely die that I believe Jo has on a show next week (the 13th) as you can run your ribbon through it quite nicely.

 Thank you for all your support for the Tatty Button launch as it was really well received.  I've posted a few more of the cards for you to get a closer look at if you like.  Although it is difficult to see from the picture of the card below, there is a lovely lavender rose seated in the centre of the bow.  These roses are now in stock in five colours plus an assorted pack and I will have them on the Rubbernecker, Particraft and Creative Expressions  stands at Ally Pally.  If you would like to see a better picture, scroll down to the post made on March 18th and look at the first card with pale pink roses on the white and gray card.  They are ever so lovely and very inexpensive too!  My photography skills (or rather, lack thereof) do not do it justice.  Better for you to pop by the booth and see them in real life this weekend.  I almost forgot to mention that I will have the vintage ribbon in the neutrals and in all the lovely colours at a bargain price for you too!  Please stop by and say hi if you are coming to Ally Pally.  Let me know who you are as I love to put faces to the names and comments left on the blog.  We are getting close to the blog candy contest draw so don't forget to leave comments for more chances to win.  All for now, Sue x

Tatty Button Shows

It's time to premiere Tatty Button on Create and Craft.  You have seen a few sneak peeks of her on my blog, but she is ready for her close up Mr. De Mille, as they say in showbiz!  I think you will find her to be a fun stamp line to play with as she suits so many styles.  Notice the vintage ribbon in the corner?  It's back in stock and on the show again, for all of you that have been asking me where they can get it.  I dyed this one using broken china distress ink to match the card and added a coordinating yellow button.  I've been in a yellow mood lately, wait til you see the rest of the samples!

Just to give you a quick rundown of the show schedule, Jo Channon is taking the lead on these (only fair, considering she never even got to do her POTW shows last time, huh?)  The first shows are on Thursday at 8am, 11am and then 4pm.  I am doing the shows on Friday at 9am and 1pm.  Then Jo is back with the last shows on Saturday at 11am and 3pm to wrap up Tatty's first tv outing!  I really hope you like her as much as I do!  All for now, Sue x

Lovely Day on Sunday!

I just wanted to say what a lovely day I had on Sunday with the great group at Berkley Garden Centre.  I had a crowd there as soon as the doors opens all the way until we ended at 3pm.  I really want to thank them all for coming out and spending time with me.  I don't demo very often, maybe a few times a year at most, but they made me feel right at home like we were all crafting together!  It was really nice to meet some of the people that have been following my blog and leaving such amazing comments for me too.  I really enjoyed that!
  I also forgot in my rush to put up a quick post last time to say a big thank you to Karen ( aka furry monkey) for the wonderful best friend blogger award she left for me on her blog.  It now holds a place of honour on my sidebar with the few others that I have received lately.  I can't tell you what that means to me to be acknowledged  by your crafting friends.  Thank you again.
This is another quick post with one of the samples from last weekends show that didn't see much time.  It is a bit dark, but I really like it.  It may ssem familiar as it is a layout that I really like and have made this card using other papers and stamps from time to time.  It is always one that I am happy with when I finish it so why not keep doing it, right?  It does kind of look like I am hooked on black flowers lately though, doesn't it?  They have stickles on them in real life which looks really nice. The picture doesn't do it justice.  I am getting ready for a couple of shows on Friday the 1st (9am and 1pm) so hopefully I will have a couple of sneak peeks for you soon too.  All for now, Sue x

Brykley Park Garden Centre Demo

I just wanted to let everyone know that I will  be demoing on Sunday the 27th at Brykley Park Garden Centre, Rangemoor, Burton On Trent.  I will be there from 10 am to 4pm showing some fun techniques with embossing folders, masks, spellbinder dies, mica powders and other products that I love playing with and using.  I would love for you to drop by and say hello if you are in the area!
   Here is another sample from last weeks shows that I really liked (and the picture came out okay too!)  The flowers were made from an out of date dictionary I purchased for 25 cents in Florida while thrift store shopping with my daughter in November.  I knew it would make great card embellishments and background paper!  And guess what, there is my favourite vintage ribbon on there too!  That stuff is so much fun to play with and use on cards.  If you are coming to Ally Pally in April, I will have it at my booth and a really lovely assortment of colours too.
Hope I get to see some of you at the demo this weekend!  All for now, Sue x