Sunday 28 February 2010

Change Of Plans!

Hi to all,  I know that I said last time that I was going to show you some more sneak peeks at the newest stamp offerings, but there has been a slight delay in that.  (Sorry Sunny, I did read your last comment and I know I owe you! Soon, I promise) I was hoping to lock myself in my craft room and tuck in to the new stamp designs and go mad, but instead I was asked to help create samples for Sheena Douglass' upcoming Pick of the Week show this Wednesday.  The show features several different Nestability dies (labels, borders, etc) and the challenge was to use these dies to create some scrumptous cards.  We were allowed to use four stamp plates which included Sheena's fruit, swirls, windmill create a scene and the Rubbernecker Easter plate.  There were four of us, Sheena, Karen, Michelle and myself working fevorishly to make enough samples for three shows on Wednesday.  We divided the stamp plates and the nesties up between us and I made samples for the Easter and the Fruit plate.  I was in full on cutesy mode for the Easter plate, then straight in to arty grunge mode for the fruit.  Talk about from one extreme to the other!  Without giving away too much (so you will have to watch on Wednesday!), here are several  of my fruit favs.  The first one is my favourite, but probably shows off the nesties the least of any of my samples, but it was made using our new Eco-Green paint and ink pad line that I am really excited about.  The crackle technique I've done was shown to me, again, by Julie Andrus at CHA (very talented lady and the Eco-Green paint is her line which we are now going to be carrying!) The second card shows the nesties done as a border, which I rather liked.  For the third card, you've heard about pyrimage cards, well what do you think about my "pear"amage card?  I know, I know, bad joke, I can hear the groans now!  I just couldn't help myself, sorry!
My favourite Easter card is going to  hopefully be shown by Sheena as one of her demos so I don't want to spoil it and show it ahead of time (again, you'll have to watch the show).  I'll be working on these until Tuesday evening, (maybe even a few more sneak peeks too) but after that I AM going to tuck into the new stamp offerings and I promise some results to show you!  All for now, Sue x

Saturday 20 February 2010

Sneak Peek At Some New Offerings!

Particraft has been hard at work adding to it's already extensive line of crafting supplies and goodies.  Within the next few weeks, we plan on releasing over twenty new stamp sets as well as numerous other craft related products.  The new Tim Holtz Distress Ink colours are, of course, part of the list of the "must have" products we will be carrying as well.  I can't give too much away just yet, but I can show you a few of my creations using some of the new stamp sets.

   Today's post is going to showcase our new Military themed line.  There are three new plates called "Life In The Forces, "  "My Hero" and "The Strong and The Brave."   Sam Poole has drawn all of these new designs and I am especially proud of these for several reasons.  Firstly, because I feel there is a real lack of stamping supplies in this area and I think they will fill a full needed niche.  Secondly, because I come from a military background.  My father was a Lt. Coronel in the American Air Force (he was stationed here in Molesworth during World War II) and I feel that the troops need and deserve recognition for their heroism.   I say let's stamp some cards for the troops to show our support.  I hope you enjoy mine and they inspire you.

  The card below showcases a really cool technique that I learned on my recent trip to CHA, the wholesale show in California.  I was watching Julia Andrus demo her new paint line.  (For those of you not familar with her work, she was one of the first demo artists with Ranger and she helped develop the Perfect Pearls and Perfect Medium lines)  She painted a piece of card with one colour of paint, dried it with a heat tool, then spread a thin coat of vaseline over it.  She then painted over that with another colour of paint and dried it.  Using a piece of kitchen roll, she then gently wiped small areas away and the resulting look is that of distressed or peeled paint.  I gave it a go here and I think it's a great look for those masculine based cards, don't you?  You can click on the card for a close-up view if you like.
On the card below, I had a go at making my own camouflage background paper.  I used the distress inks old paper, antique linen, frayed burlap and peeled paint to achieve this look.  I used the inks direct to the paper in swiping motions. They aren't blended like you would get using cut and dry foam to apply the inks.  I liked the look, though, when I was finished. The sentiment on this card is very  poignant, as if from a military wife to her husband.  You might have to click on it to read it clearly.  It fits neatly in to the circle nestibilities. 

 All the samples have had the edges distressed with the edge of my scissors, then inked again with distress inks to give them a more rugged look.

Over the next few weeks, I am hoping to be able to showcase samples of all the new stamp sets and products that are being added to the Particraft line.  I hope you like what you see and if so, they will be available on the website very shortly.  All for now, Sue x

Tuesday 16 February 2010

Brand New Blog Candy!!!

  Hi everyone,  We are starting another brand new blog candy contest.  You know the game by now, we draw a first, second and third prize when we hit our goal of 600 followers, this time,  to the blog.  You will also get your name entered an extra time each time you leave a comment on the blog.  We want to know that you are out there and you will be rewarded for showing your support! 

  This newest blog candy prize features five A5 sized unmounted stamp sets, clear shrink plastic, a set of four polished pigments from Luminarte, a mounted Stamp Collage-able and a mounted stained glass stamp, Cosmic Shimmer bondable fibres, Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Pine Needles), Cosmic Shimmer Twinkles, Cosmic Shimmer watercolour set, Tim Holtz Grungeboard set, Tidy tray, Cosmic Shimmer embossing powder set, Tim Holtz Ideology charm set, Cosmic Shimmer Glitter pot, self adhesive rhinestones and Art Institute Fantasy Film.  Whoooa, that's a lot of loot!  Let me know what you think!  All for now, Sue x

Thursday 11 February 2010

It's Time to Pick A Blog Candy Winner Again!

Oh goody, goody!  I love this part!  We have finally reached 500 followers (seemed to take quite a while this time, don't you think?)  Anyway, we are here at last.  Starting with the third prize winner, that goes to ................................................................................Sheng

The second prize winner is...........................................Fuschia

And the first prize winner of all that lovely blog candy goes to ............................................................................
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KATE STREET!!!

Please will all three blog candy winners email me at sales@particraft.co.uk to verify your shipping addresses before I send your prizes out to you. 

And here is another wildflower card  so at least you will have something to look at if your name wasn't drawn!  This card is my "Ode To California" because you always see palm trees shown this way on post cards with the pretty sunset in the background. (Just for the record, they never look like they do on those postcards!)  Thanks to all, Sue x

Wednesday 10 February 2010

More Wildflower Pics

 I just want to say thanks for all the nice emails of support this morning during my show.  It's really great to know that you are watching and enjoying it.  The hour seemed to fly by so quickly and I don't think that many of my samples got a chance to be seen (although it is kind of a blur to me!)  So I thought I would post a few more so you can see the versatility of these stamps.  There are so many techniques that work well with them.
This card was made using the ultra thick embossing technique called "cracked glass."  You stamp into the ultra thick and then put your piece in the freezer for a bit, then bring it out and give it a quick bend and it cracks into these cool areas.  It is difficult to see in this pic, though.  I used some black soot distress ink to highlight the cracked areas even more.This one is a quick and easy card using a small piece of decorative paper I had lying around and then just stamped the flowers in black on to it.  The green piece was run through an embossing folder.  Add a sentiment and a bow and your done!This one is simply stamped with clear perfect medium, then brayered over it for a resist.  Then I finished by stamping and embossing in white for a dramatic contrast.  Add a satin bow (I love my ribbons!) and your card is complete!

I hope you like these.  They are not my usual style but I did have a great time making them.  I know you would have a blast with these stamp sets and they are now available on the Particraft website for you.  All for now, Sue x

Tuesday 9 February 2010

10Am Show is a Go!






Just a quick blog to let everyone know that the show is indeed on at 10am on Wed. Feb.10th.
I apologise for the delay in this!   I've been so busy the last few days getting everything finished and organised for the show.  Here is another sneak peek of a quick card from tomorrow's show.  I hope you like it.  There are many others, but you will have to tune in to see them all.  I do have a few duplicates to send to anyone who emails in and gets it read on air, though!  All for now, Sue x

Sunday 7 February 2010

Oops! Change in show time!

I have just been told that my show is set to air at 10 am on Wednesday, not 11am as I said in my previous blog.  I will check with Ideal World tomorrow just to be certain and will let everyone know.  Sorry about the error, Thanks, Sue x

Wildflowers on Create and Craft!

Back at last!  I've had a few days to get over the jet lag too.  It is always worse for me on the return trip, I have no idea why!  I am having to get back in the swing of things quickly because I have an upcoming show on Create and Craft this Wednesday, February 10th, at 10am (I've just edited the time in case you have previously read this post)   I'm very excited about this show because I get to premiere a couple of plates of designer Sam Poole's new wildflower rubber stamp designs. 

 I had really wanted to demo this first card for the show, but sadly we didn't have quite enough stock on all the products that I used (maybe next time).  To give you a quick explanation, I used sailboat blue and purple twilight adirondack inks to sponge the background edges.  I left a fair bit of the white card showing in the centre as a highlight.  I stamped the same wildflower stamp first with snocap white pigment Adirondack ink, then stamped it in Sailboat blue and finally in black archival ink.  It is matted and layered with white and black card then mounted on to a larger piece that I pierced around the edge using the Tim Holtz Idealogy ruler with piercing holes in it.  It is a great tool to use as it is clear and very easy to line up.  Sheena Douglass has it on an upcoming show a few days after mine, just to give you the heads up.  Then I matted and layered the larger piece with white and black cardstock.  Stamped the sentiment in black then cut it out with a small round nestibility die, inked the edges slightly with the same blue ink, then mounted it to a scalloped nestibility cut out and added a black satin bow at the bottom to finish the card.   I really like this card with it's beautiful shades of blues and it is so easy to make too.

This second card is another sneak peek from the show.  It is simply a brayed background of sunshine yellow and sunset orange Adirondack inks on glossy white card.  The colour simply gradiates from the lightest yellow to the bold orange tone with a mask added to create a sun shape.  I dried it very well then stamped the wildflowers in black archival ink, added a sentiment, a butterfly and some ribbon,  matted and layed the back ground to complete the card.  So simple and quick, but I love the results.

I'll have a few more sneak peeks to add before the show on Wed. so be sure to check back.  Let me know what you think of these, any favourites?  All for now, Sue x