We Have Winners!!!

Thanks for waiting everyone!  I know that this long overdue, but sometimes things just can't be helped.  If you have been following the blog for any time at all, you know the drill.  If you are new, here is how it works.  I will announce the third prize winner, then the second place winner and then the grand prize winner who will receive the whole kit 'n kaboodle shown.  There will still be lots of dots, cuz I love doing the dots, sorry about that!

Without any further delay, the winner of the third place prize is............................................................................................

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Claio1  !!!!!!

The winner of the second place prize goes to..................................

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Rachel's Mum  !!!!!

And, now, the winner of the Grand First Prize goes to.........................

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Lynn (delphinoid) !!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations to all!!  Please email me at sales@particraft.co.uk with your postal address so that I can get your prize out to you.  If you didn't win this time, don't worry, your name will roll over to the next contest and you will receive extra entries for each comment you leave on the blog after a new post.  All for now, Sue x

Spellbinders POTW Samples

Thank you, thank you, thank you is all that I can say for the wonderful support for the Spellbinders POTW launch this week.  The response has been amazing, overwhelming and wonderful!  Although, I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to be back for it as it was a bit touch and go with my folks for awhile, they are on the mend and being looked after. I am planning another trip back end of September, though, just to check on them and make sure they are doing well.  I am going to be  posting my sample cards from the shows over the next few weeks, but this one is still my favourite so its getting to go first.  All my samples came back from Florida in my checked suitcase and I wasn't certain this one was going to make it in one piece, but it came through without a scratch on it (more than I can say for my tolietries as my toothpaste exploded!). 

If you were not able to catch the launch show on Friday, this was my first demo.  I simply cut two lace doily motifs and folded them from corner to corner and then side to side.  I cut a slit from the side to the centre then folded it accordian style (concertina folded) which gave me half of the centre piece.  I did the same thing to the other doily and then glued the two pieces together to create the centre focal element.  I added the smaller doily accent on top in a diamond orientation and topped it with my sentiment stamped in the middle of the labels 22 die shape.  The two borders are made of two strips of the ironworks border turned towards each other and offset, giving the look of a strip on either side of the focal element.  I completed the card with the teal and moss green vintage ribbon at the top, finished with a decorative black button.  I know this isn't the kind of card you would post, but if you have an occassion to hand a card to someone, this is a real stunner and very easy to make (it only looks difficult). I think it is the olive green, teal and black combo that I am so drawn to with this card, but who knows.  What do you think?

A couple more things before I sign off, though.  I know that we have not only hit the 1700 target, but gone over by quite a bit.  I will do the drawing for the blog candy as soon as the shows are over and I can get in to work.  This could be as soon as Wednesday or as late as Monday.  Please be patient as it shouldn't be much longer, but check back within the next week to see the winners.

Finally, I would like to say thank you for all the incredibly lovely emails and texts I have had about my  DVD.  I was very nervous about it being released, excited, but nervous too.  I have had some wonderful feedback about it and that is just so very special for me.  The crafting community is such a warm and caring group of peopleand I know that I am truly blessed to be able to work among them.  Again, thanks so much.

All for now, Sue x

A Sneak Peek For You!

Hi everyone!  I am officially back on English soil.  My plane landed this morning after leaving Tampa just as a very angry storm was beginning to pass through.  I have gotten all my unpacking finished and the laundry started so I can start in on the task at hand, which is preparing my demos for the POTW shows beginning on Friday at noon.  I thought I would give you a little peek at some of the dies on the show.  The POTW dies are all brand new with the exception of a few of the Christmas dies from the last show are being brought back as we have had so many requests for them.  The majority of the Spellbinders dies are from the summer releases that were just shown at the July CHA show in Chicago.  How is that for being on top of things!  I decided on this card for several reasons.  First of all, it showcases several of the new dies which I particularly like.  The ironwork accents and motifs are stunning and very detailed, love them!  The picot edge circles are just a bit more than a plain circle but still fancy enough to coordinate nicely with other dies in this release as well as previous die sets.  I love the way these layer.  Secondly, this card doesn't give away too much. It is a simple card and it probably won't be a demo card, but it does show off another brand new product that will be on the show.  Can you guess?  Thirdly, it is yellow and gray, one of my personal favs! You saw that one coming, didn't you?  I've got to get to work now, but I just wanted to say that it is great to be back and I am really looking forward to the POTW launch on Friday.  I hope you will tune in to see all the great new dies and other new products and stamps!  All for now, Sue x

 Hi everyone,  there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to the collection of cards that I have posted today.  I have just been going through some of the pictures that I took of the samples from the last shows and I came across these three.  I don't think that I ever posted them so I thought that I would now.  I had fun playing with the different papers to make the flowers on this first card.  I really enjoy mixing and matching patterns and colours to see what I can come up with.  (It probably goes back to my Mom allowing me to pick out  my own clothes every morning, boy did I have some doozies for combinations!)

 The second card is a very simple card but I think that is what I like about it.  I used the burlap/hessian to die cut the flower.  I had planned to demo it but it never happened, but I found that if you are working with hessian and die cutting shapes, you can give it a bit of dimension by spraying it with hairspray and scrunching it a bit.  The hairspray will also keep it from fraying too much since it is a bit sticky.  I used distress inks to colour the hessian too.

This last card was just a quickie card using the Spellbinder lattice rectangle dies and the foliage dies.  Simply die cut and layered for a very quick but fun card.  I hope one of these tickles your fancy!

On another note, I occasionally will get comments left where there are questions about cards.  If you will email me at sue@particraft.co.uk , I will happily answer any questions.  Sometimes, the avatar will lead me to an email address so I can follow through.  There were two questions left recently that I could not find emails for so just to answer those, the blue and white Christmas card was done with Broken China distress ink (I almost always reach for distress inks first).  Secondly, it was not a punch used on the card in the previous post, it was the Pariasian border by Spellbinders.

But seriously, if you ever have any questions about any sample that I post, ask me!  I am more than happy to answer anything I can.  All for now, Sue x

A Bit of Tulle

 Hi everyone, greetings from rain soaked Florida!  It has been coming down in buckets for the past two days with thunder and lightning like I have never experienced before!  You know what that means... more indoor crafting time!  While I have been busily working away on new samples for the upcoming POTW shows in a few weeks, it is still too early to show them unfortunately.  Here are a couple of pics of a card I made for the last shows (hope this will hold you over!)  Although my camera skills are limited to say the least, I think you can at least get a feel for the fun of this card.  I used the parisian die border to create a lacy petticoat look for the bottom of this card by stacking ten of the borders in three colours on top of each other.  It really needed a closeup as well as the centre of the card where I stamped and clear embossed a sunflower with the sentiment going around it.  I did, however, take a close up of the tulle flower that I added to the top of the card in the middle of the toffee beige vintage ribbon bow.  I love the way the tulle looks as a rolled flower, but it is hard to see in the top photo.  I really like the way tulle gives a card such a soft romantic feel to it, don't you?  Let me know what you think?  All for now, Sue x

More Yellow!

 More yellow, what can I say!  This first card was such fun to make.  I wasn't sure where I was going when I began and it just sort of happened as I worked away on it.  It has all my favourite stuff on it though, ribbons, flowers, a pin(my last gray one, usually I use two), swirly pearls, embossed background and of course, yellow (and gray).  I love that combo! 

 There is a little story about this card I'd like to share.  In April, I filmed my first DVD  (scheduled to be released August 26th) and I had just finished this card the night before.  I left it downstairs in my kitchen so that I could take it with me and have it added to the card gallery that is included on the DVD.  I left the house that morning very early as it was during that heat wave we had and we wanted to finish the filming before it got too hot.  I didn't realise it until I returned home, but I had forgotten the card!  So needless to say, this one does not make an appearance on the DVD!

This second card was originally made using the butterfly from the Fanciful Flight set.  Since we sold out of that set straight away, I re-did the card with the layed butterfly set.  I like this one too.  The yellow looks nice with the teal and the October Afternoon decorative paper blends it all together.  I love the ruched ribbon on it as I think it adds some nice interest to a simple card.

I want to say thank you to everyone who has sent  lovely emails and comments for my Mom and her recovery.  She is doing quite a bit better and getting stronger everyday.  I will be here for a few more weeks, but I am working on some samples using the new Spellbinder releases and I am hoping to have a few sneak peeks for you before I leave.

I am still running the blog candy contest so be sure to leave your comments on the blog for some extra entries too. 

And last but not least, I didn't want to steal her thunder, but Sam has finally blogged that she is a Mommy and I am now a faux Grandma!  I can't wait to spoil little Leah Mai!  All for now, Sue x

Loving The Yellow!

Hi everyone,  How simple is this card when you just need a quick card for that special friend!  I am in a yellow phase lately as I think it looks great with navy blue or gray or black.  We never seem to give yellow it's due so I am on a mission to bring it to the forefront.  What do you think of yellow?  This card was done using the Parisian dies, both the border and the largest element, as well as the beaded squares from the last shows.  I simply added a bit of ribbon and three of our new organza ribbon roses (I didn't make these as we sell them already finished and they are incredibly affordable!).  I pierced around the edge to finish it off and it frames the card off nicely, I think. 

I was hoping to bring you a few more Christmas cards as well as some of my pics from CHA, but my laptop isn't playing nicely at the moment.  Keep checking back as I am sure that it will come around eventually (must be the Florida humidity!)  All for now, Sue x

Quickie Christmas Cards

 Hi guys!  I thought I would sneak in a few more Christmas cards and this time they are quickie cards!  Both of these samples use the Christmas tag dies from the Spellbinder seasonal die releases.  They are just such cute dies to stamp a sentiment, add a some ribbon and a bow and you are virtually done.  I added some swirly rhinetones and stick pins to the first card, a little ruching of the ribbon too.  I just love music paper, there is just something about it, huh?! 

The second card was made by simply embossing the snowflakes on to the background, adding a tiny bit of distress ink to give it a light tint and bring out the embossing.  Add a bit of white pearl PVA or piercing to give it that finishing touch and you have yourself a quick and easy Christmas card to send out in no time at all!

The summer CHA show in Chicago is next week so I am going to have a look at what is new and exciting in the crafting industry for the rest of the year.  I will try to update the blog with some pics of the fun stuff  I see, so check back.  I am also working on my next shows which will begin on August 26th.  I'm just saying, you may want to  start saving for them now.  I will be premiering the summer release Spellbinder dies on the POTW.  Just wait until you see them! A-maz-ing is all I can say!  I will have some sneak peeks of those closer to the time or possibly sooner if I am persuaded by all of you! (wink, wink)

A Card and Pics of the Workshop

Hi everyone!  It seems that the bauble has proven to be quite popular with the Christmas card loving followers.  I decided to post another sample using it and let you know that they will be back on my next POTW shows in August if you missed it in June!  I requested that they bring that bundle back due to popular demand and it has been accepted.  So look for it to be on along with the new Summer releases from Spellbinders around the 26th of August.  We will have stock of our organza roses back in time for those shows and new colours too!  I am very excited!
   I've also posted a few pictures from the workshops that I taught this past weekend on Saturday and Sunday at the Creative Expressions warehouse in Kettering.  We had a full house both days and a lot of fun, homemade cookies (my other favourite thing to do is bake), laughs and we learned some new techniques (I hope, at least!).  Karen Lines helped me during the weekend and you can see her standing at the sidelines.  I tried to get a few pics while everyone was working away.  I even got a few gals to look up, knoiwing that I was lurking with the camera in hand!  It was a great bunch for both days.  They worked hard and got all the projects finished and still had time to shop in the warehouse.  You can see in some of the pics the aisles and aisles of product just begging to be played with and used on your next project!  It was a fun weekend for all and I hope to do another one soon!  All for now, Sue x

Morning blog followers!  Well it seems that nobody wants to have me shot at dawn or drawn and quartered for posting Christmas samples in July!  Yeah for that, I was sweating bullets!  So here are a  few more of the Christmas cards from the last shows for your perusal.  Since they had the same colour schemes, I decided to post them both together, even though they are using different Spellbinder dies from the Christmas set offering.  I can't really decide which of these I prefer, how about you?  They are both simple in their layouts, nothing too tricky.  I did, however, use the border from the doily set on the first card with the bauble (see they mix and match well, don't they?!)  I do like the soft blue and white colour combo for Christmas.  It gives you the feel of the season, but in a subtle way I think.  Let me know what you think of these and if you are still in the mood for more (because I definitely have more!).  All for now, Sue x

Sorry, But I Have To...

Hi everyone,  Again, I will apologise, but I have to show some of the Christmas cards from the last shows.  I know, I know, it's a dirty word for most of us this early in the year, but sometimes it just takes a few brave souls to post some pics on their blog to get us in the mood to begin our Christmas cards.  I am only doing you a favour by doing this so you won't leave it til the last minute (like last year).  So really this is like a public service that I'm doing, right?  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!  The truth is that I have been busy getting the last minute details finished for my workshops this weekend and the Dabble Day next weekend so I haven't had time to do much new stamping.  I figured that any new card (even Christmas) was better to look at the the same old one that has been on the blog for awhile now, right?  Anyways, this is the first Christmas card that I made when I got the new seasonal dies and I think it is my favourite one.  Usually, I have to make a few cards to get the feel of the dies until I make a card I really like, but this set was a blast to use!  It's a shame but my camera didn't pick up the pretty swirls that are stamped on the ornament opposite the poinsettias.  I love this crocheted ribbon too so look out for more of it to come.  It makes beautiful flowers too!  The Cosmic Shimmer white pearl PVA glue makes fab faux pearls, doesn't it!?  If you aren't too upset with me about having Christmas forced upon you, please leave me a comment and let me know you have been by the blog. All for now,Sue x

Black and White Simplicity

Hi everyone!  Thanks for the great support in the blog candy contest.  I love reading all your really fun comments!  How about this card for a simple layered creation for a special friend?  I just love black and white cards, they are so classic, aren't they?  This one uses the new Spellbinders lattice rectangles, elegant posts, grommet tags and label 20 shape dies.  The black corners are part of the elegant posts that I cut the top bit away.  The centre black parts are another elegant post where I have removed the end of the posts and attached it so it hugs around the top and bottom of the label shape.  All the layers have been mounted up with foam pads for dimension.  I added black rhinestones and  some of our frilly edge white organza ribbon and one of the beautiful organza ribbon roses.  I am in love with those roses, they are so elegant, aren't they?  A little FYI too, we are adding new colours to the line and they will be in stock soon!  Just finished the card off with a couple of our white triple pearl pins (cuz I love them!).  If you like your frilly cards like I do, this will be right up your street.  I hope you like it! Let me know what you think?  All for now, Sue x