Wednesday 30 November 2011

True Friendship

                                                                                                   Good morning blog friends!  More teal! And the blog pendulum swings back the other way today to no ribbons or bows.  Just a very simple card, but I really like the way it came out.  I cut the Samantha Walker Twisted metal die out of my teal card.  I kept the die in place and moved the entire piece on to my Grand Impressibilities and embossed it all.  Since I wanted the negative piece as my background, I removed the actual die cut (and saved it for another time). I sanded my background to bring up the detail of the embossed background and edged the entire piece with Black Soot distress ink.  You can see the detail in the close up picture below.  Then I put sticky foam mounting pieces all over the back of this piece and set it aside for a bit.  I cut the Twisted metal die again in black card.  This time, I took the die out and then taped the outer fine scroll piece back in to the background.  I mounted this under neath my background piece so that it created a black edge on the inside.  I stamped my sentiment on white card and centred it into the middle of the opening in the background.  The card was finished with a bit of piercing (as I do) and some matting and layering with both black and white card for contrast.  I hope you like it!  All for now, Sue x

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Ribbon Overload

Good morning to everyone!  You were warned yesterday about the ribbon/bow overload! This is probably the most OTT card that I have done lately so it just had to be posted today.  I did this entire card just so I could demo the gold crochet ribbon rose, then we sold out of the ribbon, go figure!  I just wanted to show that this ribbon makes the same kind of rose that the cream crochet ribbon makes.  The version that I did demo of this card involved using the Grand Impressibility to emboss the gold Labels 20 die.  I really liked the way that came out, but I didn't get a picture of it before they whisked it away to be sent out to the email recipient.  Under the heading of "you just never know", I was not going to show this card as I wasn't crazy about it, when one of the stage hands went absolutely nuts over it.  I thought who knows, maybe it is someone else's cup of tea so to speak, so here it is.  It is out of my comfort zone somewhat as I don't use metallics a great deal, but I was itching to use the background paper that I have had in my stash for some time. 
Well, it seems that I spoke to soon as we had a day of rain here on Monday!  However, judging by the comments that were left yesterday, I will take the rain over the weather that some of you back in England are having (gale force winds, snow, etc.)! I hope today brings some nicer weather for all of us!  All for now, Sue x

Monday 28 November 2011

Happiness Is A Butterfly






























Good morning all!  I have made it through Thanksgiving weekend (including Black Friday!) here in Florida.  The weather has been lovely and I am enjoying my time with my Mom and Dad!  But I still have more cards to post so here is today's card.  Yes, more teal... but not a ribbon in sight!  I may go through withdrawl symptoms so I am just warning you now, tomorrow could be ribbon overload! LOL  How is this for a truly simple, quick and effective card?  Three panels of teal card mounted on to a piece of white card, then a small mat of black glitter card (for bling) then a final mat of black card.  I cut the large butterfly from plain black card using the gorgeous butterfly die from the Fanciful Flight set.  I used the smaller butterfly from the set and cut three of them from black glitter card.  I added some black rhinestone swirls to look like the flight path of the large butterfly.  Stamped the lovely saying from the Garden Sayings set and embossed it with clear powder over black archival ink. Fini!

I have been enjoying all the comments you have been leaving on the blog, thank you so much. As requested,  I will do a photo tutorial for the flowers (crocheted and otherwise) as they all work the same way, but it is different than the flowers on my DVD.  I will also try to get a tutorial done on the Spellbinders that was cut half way but completely embossed.  I have been working on some new cards while I am here, but I haven't done either of those things yet.  The next card that I make using them, I will take step by step photos for you I promise.   All for now, Sue x

Sunday 27 November 2011

Crocheted Ribbon Flower


Hi blog friends! Red, cream and blue today for a simple card with another one of my ginormous bows!  I used the edgeability dies to give a decorative edge to the background and used a little Antique Linen to bring out the detail.  I cut a frame using Labels 20 and embossed it with the polka dot mask, to match my blue polka dot paper.  I stamped my sentiment and cut it out with one of the fancy tags.  The bow was made more focal by the use of the red frilly edged ribbon and the steam blue vintage ribbon.  I topped the bow with a flower that was made with the crocheted ribbon.  It's a very simple method, you just need to cut the ribbon in half down the centre, apply redline tape to the cut edge and roll the flower.  As you roll, just slightly gather it to create the fullness in the flower.  I will try to take some photos the next time I make one of these flowers and do a little tutorial for you if you like.
Here is a close up of the flower for your inspection.  It is really pretty I think and the crocheted ribbon looks great done this way.  What is really nice is that you get two flowers from this technique since you cut the ribbon down the centre.   It's a frilly card, but a really nice way to tell someone that they are special.  Don't you think?  All for now, Sue x

Saturday 26 November 2011

Wishing You The Best in Teal

Good morning everyone!  First things first, we have a winner in the comment game!  On the post of Nov.22nd we had over 100 comments so I randomly drew out number 12 which corresponded to Vee Cassidy's comment.  Congratulations to Vee!  Just email me your postal details to confirm and I will post off your prize to you.  Just to let everyone know, since I have been pre-scheduling my posts the announcements of the winners may lag behind the actual post by several days.  Don't worry, though, I am keeping track of it and since the comments are time stamped. it is very easy to go back and check!
As you can see, I am going through a teal phase.  Teal is just such a soothing colour I think, you may have to endure more of it!  I embossed the background using my fretwork mask.  Since I wanted to do a background that is larger than the mask size, I cut one edge off the mask.  Now I can move it and line it up to do a larger area and it won't leave a line.  In essense, you can make the background any size you want.  I cut three sizes of the Labels 22 dies and added the matching Nestabling in the black rhinestones.  It's a bit much, I know, but it's fun!  I cut one of the fancy tags in aqua and cut it in half and added to either end of the largest Label 22 die.  It has those "holding hands" swirls that are so versatile.  I added a messy bow out of the teal vintage ribbon and a black organza rose for the centre.  Two decorative pearl pins were just calling out to me to be added to the bow, so, of course, I had to oblige! Lol  A bit of piercing a round the edge and we are finished.  What do you think?  All for now, Sue x

Friday 25 November 2011

A Vertical Thank You

Good morning!  What do you say to a pink and teal thank you card?  I have used an array of Spellbinders for this one, but what fun it was!  Labels Twenty provided the backdrop for the focal element.  I then cut out two consecutive sizes of the Fleur de Lis squares and cut them both in half from top to bottom.  I mounted them to the outside edge of the teal label twenty die cut, leaving a gap in the centre.  I stamped my sentiment on to a pale pink card and cut it with one of the fancy tag two dies.  I cut two more of those out of the same pale pink and then cut two more out of a slightly darker hue of pink.  The last two die cuts were then cut in half from tip to tip to be used as a shadow for each side of the pale pink die cuts.  All three die cuts were then mounted vertically in the centre of the gap left by the square fleur de lis die cuts.  I really like this primarily because the tags are almost always used for horizontally placed text stamps (and they are brilliant for that!), but don't let that restrict the way in which you use these dies.  Think about cutting them in half so that the two end pieces are in tact and using them as extender pieces for label dies or even as fancy borders around your labels.  I used a few matching colours of the vintage ribbon to ruche and make a bow to embellish the bottom of the card.  I added some decorative pearl pins and some swirly pearlies to the background to finish the card.  Just have fun playing with your Spellbinders and you never know what you will come up with!  All for now, Sue x

Thursday 24 November 2011

Let Your Dreams Take Flight

Hi blog friends!  I thought that I would mix it up a bit today and show a card that was made about six months ago using the Spellbinders bird cage die set.  I didn't get very much time to play with this die set as it had been added last minute to a show I was doing at the time.  I think I have four or five cards total that use this set (mixed in with my backlog of card samples) but it quite lovely.  I tried something different here and I was rather pleased with how it turned out.  I used the actual die as a stencil for my card.  I applied black soot distress ink through the die so that you get the very subtle hint of the birdcage on the background.  I used the bird die from the set and mounted it in the centre of the floral doily pieces in the corner of the card.  The back piece of background card was embossed using the floral embossing folder and I very lightly inked it around the edges with the black soot to bring the pattern into view.  I wanted to bring a bit more of the coral colour in to the card for balance  so I ruched the vintage ribbon down the side of the floral doily border and added a scrunched messy bow and a couple of black decorative pins as accents.  A fun technique to give a try sometime!  All for now,
Sue x

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Taupe And Blue Finally Together!

Good morning everyone!  One of the things that I love most about crafting is playing with different colour combinations.  Today was no exception as I have been wanting to put these two colours together since the day I bought this patterned background paper.  The paper (purchased in the States at Hobby Lobby, sorry) has a soft flourish pattern to it in taupe tones and I envisioned it with a very bold blue accompanying it.  I always say that I run out of time to do everything I want to do long before the ideas run out.  This was no exception, but I decided that I had looked at that paper long enough, it was time to put it into action!  I decided to pare it with the Labels twenty one, the Lace Doily Motifs, the Samantha Walker Twisted Metal Tag die and the Fancy Tag two.  I really liked the way they all layered up to create the focal element here.  I used a very light inking of black soot to frame in the sentiment here.  The Lace Doily border provided the border edge for the entire piece and the blue card behind it helps show it off.  The edge was pierced this time to help frame the card.  The entire piece was finished with a fun bow of both the frilly edged ribbon in champagne layered with the vintage ribbon in sulphur blue and a taupe button and blue bakers twine.  This one got a "happy dance" as I really liked the way it tuned out! All for now, Sue x

Tuesday 22 November 2011

All That Glitters!

Good morning to all!  Today is the last day of my POTW shows, but the lovely Christine Emberson from the Spellbinders design team will be taking over.  I do hope that you will give her all your support as she will be doing her very first TV shows ever!  Since Christine is helping me with the shows, I am able to fly home to be with my family so a huge thank you goes out to her!
Today's post is a really simple, but elegant card that can be used for any sort of occasion with a simple change of the sentiment.  I have to admit to a strangely odd propensity towards glitter card lately.  I really have never used it ever, but I started using black glitter card behind negative cut out pieces, then white glitter card found it's way into my stash.  Recently, I found this piece of background card at my local craft shop for 39p for a 12" x 12" and  I couldn't resist it!  The pink was soft enough and the pattern on it was rather nice so this is where it has ended up!  As you can see, I did use some white glitter card as a matting layer between my piercing and bottom layer.  I really like it just peeking out as it kind of helps to balance the bold glitterings of the background piece.  As for the focal element, it is quite simply a piece of white card that has been die cut with the fleur de lis square die template and then topped with two pieces cut from the fancy tags two die and then mounted diagonally across each other.  They form a really pretty scrolly square that just sits a top the fleur de lis square very nicely.  I stamped my sentiment and then cut it out with one of the smallest fleur de lis squares, inked it a bit to frame it with the Victorian Velvet distress ink and mounted it in the centre of the focal element.  the white frilly edged ribbon made a splendid bow for this creation and I topped it with a pink button and a bit of pastel pink bakers twine.  I added a few tiny pink pearls from my craft stash to accent the corners and complete the card.   All in all, a very quick, easy card to put together.  You could change it to a "thank you" or a "special day" or something similar without any trouble at all.  Hope you like it.  All for now, Sue x

Monday 21 November 2011

We Have Winners.. A Whole Bunch Too!

Hello blog friends, old (as in friends, not age!) and many new ones too!  Thank you ever so much for all your support, I cannot tell you how much it means to me to get such warm and caring emails.  I spent most of this morning answering emails and getting caught up before making  the several drawings for prizes for today.  I am going to work my way all the way through to the Big prize winner at the end of the post.

Firstly, we have had over 100 comments on the blog posts recently so I have randomly picked numbers from the total number of posts and come up with winners for those.

For the blog post of Saturday the 19th, I picked out number 11 and that corresponds to the eleventh comment and that was left by...................................................................................
...................
.........
......
Dutchess!!!

For the blog post of Sunday the 20th, I randomly picked out number 133 and that corresponds to the comment which was left by ...............................................................
...................
........
.....
Crafty Loops!!!

Now on to the BIG BLOG CANDY DRAWING.  Don't get too excited until the end because I always post third prize, then second prize and then FIRST prize.

Third prize goes to.........................................................................................................................................
............................
.......................
.............
.......
Janet Babar!!!!

Second prize goes to.................................................................................................
................................................................................................
........................................................
............................................
...................................
.......................
...................
Vie Carter!!!!

and now, the GRAND FIRST PLACE PRIZE of all the goodies shown in the pic on the blog goes to......................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................
Drum roll please.............................................................................
............................................................................................
...................................................................................
...........................................................................
..................................................................
........................................................
You know I love this part.........
...........................................
......................................
.................................
............................
keep scrolling....
.....................
.................
...............
..............
.............
............
.........
......
...
Lindyloo!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations to all the winners today!  You will all need to email me to confirm your addresses before I post off your prizes.  We will keep the blog candy going and draw names at every new 100 followers.  I will get a new candy posted just as soon as I can for you, but please be patient as I am traveling soon. 
I have shows today at 4pm and 6pm so I hope you will be able to watch.  Thanks again for all your support!  All for now, Sue x

The Simple Things!

Hi guys!  It's Monday morning and I am not scheduled for shows today until this afternoon at 4pm and 6pm. The support has been amazing for the blog (thank you so much!) and we went over our target goal so quickly and since we reached our goal of 2000 followers, I will be back later today with a separate  post of the winners! Check back midday to see if your name is drawn!
  I love this card as it is so simple.  There is nothing tricky at all, just four small lace doilies cut in black for the background, mounted on to a piece of cream card.  Then I cut one large Labels 23 and added the matching pearl Nestabling. I stamped my sentiment then cut it out using the next size smaller in the Labels 23 set,  added a bit of Antique Linen distress ink and then mounted the nestabling on it also. Done!  Oh and some piercing around the edge, but that's all.  I love cream and black together (it looks like it is yellow, but it is truly cream and black in real life) and it always makes such an elegant card, doesn't it?  And the sentiment is simple and perfectly apropos for this card too I think.  We need more of these reminders in our busy lives sometimes.  I am heading off on Wednesday to see my folks for Thanksgiving (a quaint American holiday involving family, friends and way too much food!) but it is one of the simple things in life that I love.  I promise to keep the blog busy while I am away if you promise to visit it!  All for now, Sue x

Sunday 20 November 2011

So Grateful

Hi blog friends!  I hope everyone is doing well today.  I just want to say first of all that we are well over three quarters of the way to the next blog candy draw and that is the big one!  How exciting is that! Thanks for all your support on this, I am really looking forward to reaching our target and drawing a winner!  Do not forget that leaving comments after the new post each day will increase your chances too.
Todays POTW shows are scheduled for 9am, 4pm, 6pm, 7pm and a "walk on" the tool shed sometime between 12 and 2pm if you get a chance to watch.
 For today's card I thought I would show you one that I made just  recently for the POTW shows this week.  It features the lacy circles and the Samantha Walker blossom tags for the focal element.  I stamped the sentiment on to cream card and cut it out with the lacy circle die.  I then cut two of the scalloped circles from the Samantha Walker set and offset them so they give a more lacy appearance.  I backed it with the large scalloped circle from that same set.  I cut several of the flourishes from another Samantha Walker set called Twisted metal dies and used them to frame the focal element.  The striped background paper  was cut at the bottom with the scalloped edgeabilities and a decorative insert.  I cut one of the Twisted metal tag dies and then cut it in half and mounted it top and bottom of the card.  I added some black rhinestone swirls and a small bow of black vintage ribbon and some piercing to finish the card off.  A little different, perhaps even quirky looking,  but I rather liked the way it came out.  I hope you enjoy it!  All for now, Sue x

Saturday 19 November 2011

Blossoming In Nature

Good morning!  Through the magic power of pre-scheduling my posts, you should be viewing this about the time I am hitting the road to go to the studio for my early start (but why are you up this early? LOL).  I have shows scheduled today at 8am, 1pm, 4pm, 5pm and 7pm. I love the card in today's post, but sorry there is a bit of a shadow on it in the pic.  The background was embossed with the hedged maze embossing folder on to cream card.  I wrapped two pieces of zircon green vintage ribbon around it, then mounted it atop another piece of cream card that I pierced around the edge.  For the focal element I used the square heart die in the back and the lacy circles for the sentiment.  I inked through the die with Broken China distress ink to give it a soft frame.  I mounted those on to another piece of cream card that I pierced around too.  I finished the piece with three spiral flowers made of felt in varying shades.  Aside from being a total "me" type of card for the obvious reasons, these are my favourite kind of cards as they could be given for any reason whatsoever and just make the recipient smile.  I hope you like it and you will tune in sometime today to see more in the way of cards and demos.  All for now, Sue x

Friday 18 November 2011

All White Again!

 
Good morning all!   As promised a sneak peek at one of the new cards that I have been working on over the past few weeks.  This one is probably, if not my absolute favourite, one of my favourites as I love the all white card.  It doesn't photograph very well, but it is quite lovely in person.  I am loving the Nestabling too!  Yes it is on the shows this week, finally!  Here we have Labels 23 and Labels 22 nestabling.  I have used the Hedged Maze embossing folder on the background, you have to look hard for it, but trust me it is there. 

Here is a close up at the flowers I made using the frilly edged white organza ribbon.  I am planning on showing how to make these as well as another method using the same ribbon, it is very versatile.  The Tim Holtz piercing ruler that I use for all my piercing is on the show again as well.  It has been absolutely ages since we had it on any of the shows.  So good to see it back!  I will probably demo this card on the first show at noon so I hope you can tune in to watch.  All for now, Sue x

Thursday 17 November 2011

Parisian in Teal

Hi blog friends,  I was having a play with the Parisian dies here with this card.  They are truly among my favourite die sets that Spellbinders have ever released.  While I made this card some time ago for the original release of these dies on Create and Craft, I wanted to let you in on a little secret...... These dies are going to be back on the POTW shows starting on Friday the 18th in case you missed them the first time around.  Ideal TV is bringing back a great selection of dies that all sold out very quickly upon their launch so if you missed them then, now is your chance.  The bundles will be different as they are based on availability of supply from Spellbinders, but they are all great sets!  Just in case you have all of the dies that have been on previously (lucky you), there are going to be a few new Spellbinders dies that have never been shown on Create and Craft before also.  The POTW shows kick off on Friday at noon and I have been working hard on new cards and demos for you, with a few surprises thrown in too!  I hope you will tune in.  I will be back tomorrow with a sneaky peek for you before the shows start.  All for now, Sue x

Wednesday 16 November 2011

Snowflakes Galore!

Hi guys!  Another Christmas card again today for you.  Snowflakes, snowflakes and more snowflakes this time!  I stamped a couple of different snowflakes from the Creative Expressions stamp set called Snowflakes and Sprigs, randomly all over a white piece of card.  I used a clear perfect medium pad for this and then embossed them with Cosmic Shimmer True White embossing powder.  I then used my Broken China and Dusty Concord Distress inks to blend colour on to the background randomly.  Since the snowflakes are embossed, they will resist the ink so just go over the top of them and work the colour into all the intricate parts of the snowflake.  Wipe with a tissue once you are finished to remove the ink from them.  I then ran it through the Grand Calibur using my itty bitty polka dot mask.  To bring out the embossed polka dots, I very lightly went over the top with the dusty concord ink again.  I also went around the edge with it to frame the piece.  Using my chalk white American seam binding, I dyed a piece to match using my broken china ink.  To do this, simply swipe your ink pad on to your craft mat, add several spritz of water and roll your seam binding in it picking up the colour.   It also helps if you wet your seam binding to get better coverage.  Dry with a heat tool and scrunch to get that shabby chic look.  If you want it darker, just repeat the process.  I tied a messy bow around the piece with a couple of decorative stick pins and I added a small Spellbinders snowflake to the bow, then matted and layered with pale blue and eggplant (aubergine, sorry) card.  I stamped my sentiment on white card and mounted my snowflake piece on to it.  As a frame for the entire piece, I added pearl Pva dots around the edge.  Are you in the mood for Christmas yet?  All for now, Sue x

Tuesday 15 November 2011

Peaceful Wishes











Good morning all!  This is one of those cards that I had no clue where I was going when I started and really surprised myself when I finished it!  My goal was to use the holiday tag die set, but I didn't want to use it as just a tag.  Dies need to have more that the expected use for me, something that justifies it's use (and expense) more than just the obvious.  I like the tag set but I thought this "tag" would make a nice embellishment cut out of black glitter card as just a star in the sky.  My monochromatic scheme may be a bit boring but  there is something about the sereneness to it that I like.  I sponged in some   background clouds using a torn piece of copy paper and black soot distress ink.  I added some hills of black card that just needed something so black PVA glue got the call!  I stamped the pine tree and cut them out roughly and added a forest to my card.  Stamped the sentiment in black archival, added my star and a tiny black and silver reversible ribbon. The card is matted on white with pearl PVA glue dots then finished with another layer of black.  A bit out of my comfort zone, but fun every once in awhile I think!  All for now, Sue x

Monday 14 November 2011

Alcohol Ink Leaves

Good morning everyone!  Todays card was a project that I designed for a Dabble Day that I did last weekend in Leighton Buzzard.  I didn't think that I had any photos of the projects, but I came across this one so I thought I would post it.  We had a great day of "speed crafting" as there were six projects and everyone moves from table to table every 45 minutes.  For this card, you drop alcohol ink in various shades (we used butterscoth, ginger, purple twilight and copper mixative) all over your craft mat.  You have to work quickly as it dries very fast.  You take a piece of gloss white card and with the glossy side to the mat, you pick up the ink by swirling your card in it.  It gives a different effect than if you use the tool to apply it.  It looks very much like encaustic wax to me.  You can do another layer if you want the colour to be more intense.  Then we dropped gold mixative on to our mat and used it as an ink for our stamp (we used a stamp off of the wildflowers stamp set that looks like webbing) and stamped it randomly over the piece.  It gives the look of gold veins running through the background.  Using the anti-static pad over the background first, we then stamped the grape leaf around two sides of the background and clear embossed.  We repeated the same steps for our sentiment and then cut it out with Labels 22 and layered it with mounting foam on the background.  I added a layer of white card to the background, then a bit of piercing and a final mat of black to complete the card.  Total time to complete was under 45 minutes for this one.  Hope you like it and if you made this card last weekend, I hoped you enjoyed making it!  All for now, Sue x

Sunday 13 November 2011

Two Colour Ways!

 Hi blog friends!  I have basically the same card here but done in two different colour ways for your inspection  They both use the fancy ornament from the Christmas Filigree stamp set, which I love!  On both cards, the ornament was simply stamped in black archival ink and embossed with clear powder and I think it looks stunning without any colour to it.  The first one is one of my all time favourite colour combos, black and cream.  I have to make a black and cream card for every show I am working on because I love that combo so much!  I pulled out my octagon nesties for it here.  I absolutely love octagon shape and I never get enough of a chance to use these! I inked the ornament with antique linen ever so lightly for an accent.  The background was embossed with the star from that set and clear embossed for interest.   I added some fancy lace from my craft stash, a border punch, some pearls, a ribbon and some piercing and it was finished.
Virtually the same card here, except with red and cream.  Although the ribbon does look a little bit pink in the picture it is red and cream.  I used Labels 22 for the ornament this time, but I still inked it with antique linen distress ink for interest.  The lace is cream this time and I used the pearl PVA glue instead of piercing around the edge.  The background was also stamped and embossed with the star and shows up quite a bit better in this picture.  What do you say, which one do you prefer? All for now, Sue x

Saturday 12 November 2011

Holly Motifs and Accents











Hi guys!  I'm not sure if this technically qualifies as a card since there is not a sentiment on it, but I just could not resist layering these beautiful dies up as soon as I got my hands on them.  I love this fine filigree type die, right up my alley.  Usually when I first get a set of dies to making samples, I cut them all out of white card and keep them in a file so I can just see how they all look together.  This set did not make it that far!  I layed them on to a piece of red card and that was it, I had to finish putting it together.  So I cut one more of the Holly accent pieces so I could have one on either side of the Holly Motif focal element, and locked their little side pieces together.  This is another one of those ''holding hands'' type dies.  I cut four corner pieces and added them to my unusually shaped rectangular card.  It just needed a bit of paper piercing and some pearls for the centres to complete it and give it an elegant statement.  Completely traditional and a far cry from some of the unusual Christmas colours of the recently shown cards, but I really like it  nonetheless.  All for now, Sue x

Friday 11 November 2011

Black and Brown Elegance











Hi bloggers!  I hope this one isn't too dark for you as I seem to have moved from my green phase into one that is using quite a bit of brown lately.  Although this card was made a while ago, I just realised that I hadn't posted it until now.  I really like decorative papers that have patterns that are very muted, tone on tone and that is what I picked for this card.  I really like the black and brown together, although, I would imagine it isn't every ones cup of tea.  I have used the scallop edge and the heart insert edgeabilities for the four horizontal borders on the card.  The focal element was created using the heart square and the Samantha Walker Blossom tag die and just stamping my sentiment in the centre.  I did a tiny bit of inking around the edge to frame it.  You would never guess it's my card with the ginormous bow, huh? LOL   I really like the black organza rose in the middle and the decorative stick pins to complete it.  Whatcha think?  All for now, Sue x

Thursday 10 November 2011

A Pastel Christmas
























 Hi blog friends!  More Christmas today, but not the usual colour combos you would expect.  Can you handle a pastel pink and blue as a Christmas card?  I wasn't at all sure where I was headed when I started this one!  I originally was going to just keep it to pale pink and dusty rose, but the blue snuck in there as it needed a frosty look to it.  I embossed the Spellbinders snowflakes into the background of the card after I had stamped it with the snowflake from our Christmas Filigree stamp set and embossed with white powder.  I then used the Spun Sugar distress ink and the Broken China distress ink to lightly add colour to the background.  The stamped images acted as a resist while the ink highlighted the die embossed areas.  I cut a frame from Labels eighteen and while in the die, inked it with spun sugar distress ink leaving the white edge.  I mounted it up over my sentiment for dimension.  With a piece of velvet ribbon that had some decorative cording on it (out of my craft stash), I ruched it up the side of the card. I cut out a few of the Spellbinder snowflakes to add to the ruching with some pink Bakers Twine too.   I added some pearly swirlies that I coloured with a tiny bit of spun sugar reinker.  The entire card was matted on pink card and framed with,  you guessed it, what else but pearl PVA glue dots.  You know I love them!

 Here is a close up  that shows the stamping and the embossed card background.  Not my usual style, but I like doing things that are a bit different from time to time too.  So what is the consensus on this one?  Thumbs up or thumbs down?  Be gentle.

We have a winner on our ''over 100 comments'' contest too.  From the blog post on Tuesday the 8th, I picked number 22 randomly and that coincides with comment number 22 which was left by follower Edwina!!!  Please email me to confirm your address before I post off your prize.  Thanks for playing!

Don't forget to leave a comment for your extra entries into the blog candy contest.  If you have any difficulties, email me!  sue@particraft.co.uk  All for now, Sue x

Wednesday 9 November 2011

Plaid Poinsettias














Good morning everyone!  It was great to see all the wonderful comments left about the blog candy yesterday.  remember to keep it up for extra chances in the candy draw!  As for todays post, this is a special request from follower Babs, she wanted to see this card up close.  I honestly thought that I had already posted this one, but I didn't see it when I had a look see back through the old posts.  This is one of the Christmas cards that I made while I was away in Florida in August.  It was a bit strange to be designing Christmas cards when it was sweltering heat outside, I have to admit!  I did rather like the way it came out though.  I used some decorative plaid (tartan?) paper I had to make the three poinsettias on the card.  The Spellbinders layered poinsettia die makes a beautiful flower I think.  I wanted the centre flower to be larger than the other two so I used the extra single leaf from the set to add larger flower bracts to the centre one.  The three flowers were mounted on a white background that was embossed with the Creative Expressions Flourish folder designed by Sam Poole.  There is a holly accents border, but I have to admit, it doesn't show up very well in the pic as it is white on white.  I added a few swirls which were cut using the Samantha Walker Ornate tag set.  The sentiment was stamped and cut out with the Picot edge die and layered on to a lace doily die.  The entire card was framed with the dots of the pearl PVA glue.  I hope it helps you get in the Christmas card making mood!  All for now, Sue x

Tuesday 8 November 2011

The Biggest Blog Candy Yet!

Good morning blog friends!  Today I am posting my biggest ever blog candy to date!  The amount of crafting goodness here is mind boggling I think!  This is a contest that will end when we reach a milestone of 2000 followers so I felt that the goodies should be fitting to that goal.  I must say that when I began my blog a few years ago, I never imagined that I would ever get to this stage, so thank you so much for your support and wonderful comments since this all began.  I would like to give back to you in the form of a really nice candy so here is what I am including.  There are five A5 stamp sets, a Cut 'n Dry Foam pack, an embossing folder, THREE SETS OF SPELLBINDER DIES which have never ever been included in any of the candy prizes that I have offered, an Special Touch mask, two Adirondack pigment pads, two Tim Holtz Distress inks, Cosmic Shimmer film, a Clear Perfect Medium pad, a white pearl PVA and a black PVA glue, a black Archival ink pad, three Cosmic Shimmer glitters and three Cosmic Shimmer embossing powders and a huge pile of assorted ribbons, everything from frilly edged organza, polka dot organza, American seam binding, assorted colours of vintage ribbon, and satin reversible ribbons in various colours!!!!!!  So let me know what you think of this spread of craft goodies?  What would you do if your name is picked?

Now, you say, what do I have to do to win that lot of crafting goodness?  Well, I think this definitely needs to be earned as well as won so here is the plan.  This contest will be drawn when we reach the 2000 follower mark on the blog, but to be entered you need to do a few things.
 1.) Be signed up as a follower on the blog and send me your postal details. You only have to do this once.
 2). After each new post  I make, leave a comment.  Every comment will earn you another chance in the drawing.  Tell me what you like about the post, tell me what you don't like about the post, tell me anything you like,  your choice. 
 3).  If you are having any difficulties leaving comments, then just send me an email at sue@particraft.co.uk
I just want to know that you have been by the blog and either of those two ways will do the trick!  I want this candy to go home with one of the good blog followers that have perservered with me to get my blog going.  It's that simple!  I will draw a winner from the names of those who followed the three steps above when we reach the magical number of 2000 followers!
If you have any questions, email me at the address above.

All for now, Sue x

Monday 7 November 2011

And The Winners Are....

Hi blog friends!  As promised, I am back today with the winners of the blog candy contest.  Thank you for your patience as I know you are all eagerly waiting to see your name drawn!  If you want to see the card for today's post, just scroll down the page to the post below this one.

The winner of THIRD prize is...........................................
..............................................................................
.................................................................
........................................................
.............................................
......................................
............................
.....................
.............
......
Eileen.fj


The winner of the SECOND place prize is....................
..........................................................................
............................................................
....................................................
.......................................
...............................
.......................
...............
......
CraftyCarol

And (drumroll please)  the winner of the GRAND FIRST PRIZE is.....
...............................................................................................
..................................................................................
.......................................................................
..........................................................
.................................................
........................................
..............................
..........................
.............
........
...
..
SANDRA RILEY !!!!!!!

Congratulations to all the winners of the blog candy contest.  Please email me with your postal details at sue@particraft.co.uk so that I may verify the info before posting your candy to you.   I will be back soon with new candy for you and since it is a milestone, it is going to be BIG, that's all I'm saying.  Stay tuned!  All for now, Sue x

Clean and Simple, Really!

Good Monday morning all! You didn't think I could do it, did you?  I mean a totally flat card with no ribbon or bows!  Surprise, surprise!  Not even a nestie on it!   Well I didn't think I could do it either! LOL  But here it is, my take on a clean and simple Christmas card.  I did, however, use a nestie to cut out a large circle out of copy paper as a background that I sponged Broken China Distress ink through.  I cut out a smaller circle as a moon for the background too.  I dried the ink real well and rubbed my anti-static pad over it before stamping my tree in clear perfect medium and embossing it with silver powder.  I stamped my sentiment in black archival ink and I added some snow drops with my Cosmic Shimmer Twinkles.  I added a few score lines and then some border punching, matted it on silver card then black card.  Voila, fini!  Truly a ten minute card.  I did have to fight hard to resist the urge to add a bow to it to be honest, but in the end, I think it is okay without any other embellishments.  I hope you like it.

On another note, I will be back later on today with the blog candy contest draw and I'll announce the winners.   The followers went over the target point on the weekend and I keep everything for the contest at work.  So when I get into work later this morning, it will be my top priority to draw the winners names.   Check back after lunch for the results!  Thanks for your patience.  All for now, Sue x

Sunday 6 November 2011

Autumn Is In The Air!

Good morning everyone!  How about an autumnal card for today's post.  This card uses the Falling Leaves stamp set.  I have stamped the leaves randomly over a piece of white card using a clear perfect medium pad.  I embossed the leaves with clear powder.  I wanted to show the faux batik technique with this piece so  to do that I folded the card randomly all over so that fold lines were going every which way across my background.  It is difficult to see in my photo, but you end up with these nice lines running through your background which give the illusion of batik cracks.  Once you are happy with all your fold lines, you need to lightly spritz your card with water.  Using a brayer, I inked it up with the Spice Big 'n Juicy pad.  You do not want stripes on your background so you need to roll your brayer across the card from different angles to avoid this.  If you have a stubborn spot that you can't get the ink to go into, then spritz the card again lightly and reapply the ink.  I cut an aperture in the card with Spellbinders Labels 23.  I then cut another piece of rust card with  a smaller die from another label set (the name escapes me, I'm sorry).  I stamped my sentiment on a piece of white card so that it was centered in the opening.  I made a couple of flowers from the rust card and added some leaves as an accent.  I finished the card by paper piercing around the edge to frame it and adding some pearly swirly embellishments.  I am just loving the changing of the leaves right now so that was my inspiration for this one.  Hope you like it!  All for now, Sue x

Saturday 5 November 2011

No Calories Here!

Good Saturday morning all!  Today is the day for Sam's shows and I thought I would show a few more samples that I made for her.  The first one is a bright and fun sample using her new candy shoppe stamps.  I just love it when I have new designs from Sam to play with!  She has been rather busy with her new little one lately though, so this is a real treat!  I love colour and these are a perfect excuse for me to pull out some fun decorative paper and go to town!  I did colour these with markers as I wanted the brightness.
 And don't you just love the ''sweets 1p'' label?  How old would you have to be to actually remember that?!!  The good ole days, huh?
 The second card here was made with the chocolate set and it is yummy!  Like the title says, though, no calories, just good fun! 
Here is a close up of all those candies.  I stamped them using a coffee archival ink pad and embossed them with clear.  It really does look like chocolate too!  Don't forget to tune in today at noon and 5pm to see Sam's other creations.  I know she has some special demos planned too!  All for now, Sue x

Friday 4 November 2011

A Sample For Sam Poole's Show

Hi blog friends!  I want to show you a sample card that I made for Sam Poole's shows on Saturday the 5th.  Sam has two new stamp sets called Candy Shoppe and Chocolate. Two of my favourite things,  I like the sound of those already!  Her shows at at 12:00 and 5pm so be sure to tune in to see what exciting demos she has planned for you.  I used her empty candy jar here and stamped it with these chocolate candies by repeating the stamp and masking.  I coloured them with my distress inks by swiping them on my craft mat and picking up the colour with a fine paintbrush.  I stamped a sentiment on the label and added it to the jar and tied a bit of Bakers Twine around the lid.  I mounted it in the Spellbinders Polka Dot frame.  I have used some of the decorative papers that will be on the show also.  I love the purple and brown combo.  The bow is made up of three colours of vintage ribbon, riveria lilac, amber brown and lilac with a button and some more Bakers Twine.  I added a bunch of buttons from my craft stash just because I thought they looked fun (and chocolate is definitely fun!)  I finished the card with the new purple violet PVA glue since it looks like candy dots itself!  Don't forget to tune in! All for now, Sue x 

Thursday 3 November 2011

Gingham And Girlie!


Good morning all!  From Steampunk to girlie!  I'm just keeping you on your toes, aren't I?!  Hopefully between yesterday and today, there will be something to appeal to most.  I don't consider myself a ''pink'' person, but every once in a while, I do rather enjoy a spot of pink as long as it's a bit muted.  This card is really rather a dusty rose in real life, to be honest.  I used the embossing folder called'' Tied Together'' once again for the background and a bit of a pink gingham paper that I had for the top of the card.  I edged the gingham with victorian velvet distress ink to mute it a bit and then added a piece of our new pearly swirlies.  I dyed some American seam binding using the same distress ink.  Once I had dried it well, I ruched it across between the two papers and tied a messy, scrunched bow with it too.  I cut my focal element with labels 10 and I used blossoms four for the inside to create a frame.  I stamped my sentiment and then cut it out with a smaller die from the blossoms four set and inked it while it was still in the die.  Both pieces were mounted using foam pieces to create dimension.  I cut out the rose creation dies in all the sizes in coconut white card, then inked them all while in the dies using Victorian Velvet distress ink again.  I love the pretty white edge you get.  I think it really sets the flowers off nicely.  I cut a few of the leaves from that die set and inked them with Forest Moss Distress ink for the same effect.  I mounted the two flowers to the side of the focal element and added another piece of the swirl to the bottom right.  I pierced around the edge with the Tim Holtz design ruler to complete the card.  I hope you enjoy it!  All for now, Sue x

G

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Steampunk and Flowers? Why Not!

Hello blog friends!  More steam punk again today.  I hope you like this card as it is one of my favourites and it took me forever to get it to load on to my blog.  I kept loading sideways, even though it was the right way up when I started.  I have never had that happen before, but I finally decide to try and trick my computer and it worked!  I turned it sideways in my photo file and then loaded it, and it came in right way up!  Anyways, here it is after much fiddling with it.  I love the way the background came out in this.  I took my clear perfect medium and swiped it over my time embossing folder, but only in areas randomly.  I embossed my card, then I used ancient copper embossing powder over it .  It kind of gives it a patina look, I think.  I distressed around the edges with my scissors and mounted it on to some lined kraft card that I had.  I ran a piece of black craft metal through my Grand Calibur with the metal mask to emboss it.  Then I used the alcohol blending solution to remove the colour from the mask in the raised areas, leaving the silver to show through.  I mounted that piece in the bottom corner and stamped the vintage inventor on kraft card and mounted him on top.  I had some matboard gears that I painted copper and added some beads to and strung some chain through them with a gear.  Then I made some flowers for the corner and added some small tickets I stamped.  Who says steampunk can't have flowers?! I stamped a few more larger tickets for the top cornerand attached them with a faux screw brad  and added a metal photo corner to finish it off.  I wasn't sure where I was going when I started this one, but I rather like where it ended up! You just never know sometimes!  All for now, Sue x

Tuesday 1 November 2011

A Monochromatic Piece

A very good morning to all!  Try as I might to get a good picture of this card, this is the best I could do!  So sorry about that as this card is really rather pretty in real life.  There are a couple of things about this card that I will explain.  It was to be a demo on the last set of shows, but there was a bit of a last minute change in the embossing folders on the show.  The two that I used here did not actually show up in the last shipment due to a bit of a mix up.   We are told they will now be available late November, so you are actually getting a cheeky sneak peek!  The white  background has been embossed with houndstooth folder.  The black accent piece has been embossed with the folder called "Tied Together."  I am quite taken with both of these so I can't wait until the stock arrives.  I used the new silver PVA glue to make small dots at each junction in the embossing.  The sentiment was stamped and a frame of silver card was cut out of label 10 and labels 20, then an insert piece of black card was cut with a smaller labels 10 die.  I cut a faux nestie using the largest size of the labels 10 as a guide too.  Wrapped a couple of pieces of black vintage ribbon around the card and tied a messy bow and then added some Baker twine and a zipper rose.  I decided on the black rather than the silver  PVA glue to create a bolder frame for the entire card and three black glints in the upper corner to finish it off.  Enjoy!  All for now, Sue x