Vintage Christmas Pics

It's that time of year again and I am heading off to spend Thanksgiving (a quaint little American holiday) with my folks in Florida.  This time, however, my daughter will be meeting me there.  I am so excited!  I thought that I would put up a quick post before I left since I am not sure if I will be able to blog once I get there.  My laptop has a mind of its own so it's very up in the air.  The card above is one of the projects we did in my workshop last weekend.  It uses the Eco Green line of paints.  

   Speaking of Eco -Green products, did you see Jo Channon today using them on Create and Craft?  She was fab and the samples were simply amazing.  Such a talented lady! 
The card below was another of the workshop projects.  This one used alcohol inks on dominoes.  Dominoes make such great jewelry pieces like necklaces, earrings and belts, but they are quite fun on a card too.  The background was sponged with distress inks to match the dominoes.  Well hopefully I will be able to put up a few posts while I am away, but if not, I promise you some exciting sneak peeks at the upcoming POTW show that I am preparing for when I return.  All for now, Sue x

New Candy!

Here is a pic of the latest blog candy offering.  If you can get past the glare from the gold leaf, you  will see that there are five rubber stamp sets to keep you busy.  There is some Tim Holtz grungeboard, a maskand a distress embossing powder, a few Cosmic Shimmer products including a Mica set, a mister, film and fibre sets, a watercolour set and an embossing powder.  There is a Spellbinders impressibility as well as a dimensional book to decorate. And finally there is a distress ink, an Adirondack pigment pad, some beads and  a Cosmic Shimmer glue and a large pot of Mica powder.

To the right are two new Particraft demonstrators who came for training on Friday.  Meet Karen (left) and Isla (right).  We spent the day going through different products and showing techniques and ideas and how they can be used.  The girls are displaying their messy fingers to prove that they jumped in and tried everything!  They are raring to go so if you live in either the Rotherham or the Clitheroe area in the North, they would be happy to demonstrate at a party in your home.  Just give us an email at sales@particraft.co.uk for more info.  All for now, Sue x

Finally!

Whoopee!!!  It is finally time to draw the blog candy winners!  Thank you for putting me out of my misery so quickly!  I have been looking at this candy sitting in my office for awhile now.  I've practically been tripping over it.  Perfect timing as I am having a cleaning day around here so it can finally go to a nice home.

Just to keep you in suspense a tiny bit longer, I am going to draw the THIRD prize, then SECOND, then the FIRST grand prize winner (so you will have to scroll down to see if you have won!)

The THIRD prize winner is ...........................................................................................
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Lorraine (avatar of a dog)

The SECOND prize winner is.........................................................................................
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..... Lynne From Spain

And now, the FIRST GRAND PRIZE WINNER IS......................
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Lelly Jelly !!!!!!!

All three of you need to email me with verification of your postal address before I can send out your prizes to you please.  We will start a new blog candy contest and draw the next set of winners when we reach 1300 followers.  If you are a follower, then you will remain entered in the next contest.  Remember, you get extra entries when you leave comments after each new post.  All for now, Sue x

Workshop Pics!

Saturday and Sunday were just spent teaching my Vintage Christmas Postcard workshop. The classes were full up for both days and I really enjoyed teaching new techniques and ideas to everyone both days.  We did four projects during the day and this card is one that we did using the shaving cream technique.  It was a bit messy but I think everyone really enjoyed it. I will try to post the other projects soon (I need to take a few more pictures first).

Here is a pic we took on Saturday while everyone was working on the card above.  Unfortunately, we only got about half the room in the shot.  You can see all the blue cans of shave foam on the table.  One of the attendees asked me if anyone said anything to me when I purchased all the cans of shave cream.  I had to be honest with them and tell them that I was concerned about the reaction I might get buying a dozen cans of it.  So I chickened out and just bought a couple at a time when I was doing my grocery shopping!  I'm a big chicken, I know!  

Not to change the subject, but we are ever so close to another blog candy draw.  I am just itching to give this candy away.  Can we make it happen soon and put me out of my misery?  Please!

All for now, Sue x

Another Button Floral Pic

Here is another of the samples from the Button Floral stamp set. I really like this one as it is quite a different colour palette than what you might expect to see with florals.  It seems fitting for the autumn that has descending upon us here recently in the UK.  I had embossed the houndstooth background paper with one of our embossing folders but it only really shows up when you see the card in real life.  Oh well, I tried! 
I will have to keep posting the last of the Button Floral samples as I work away on the next batch of samples that is for the POTW show which begins on Christmas Eve.  The premiere will be a two hour show that I will be sharing with Jo Channon.  If we can hopefully pull you away from all your family activities that day to watch for a bit, we will have a bunch of great new techniques to show you.  I will be back on Christmas Day (that show will be pre-recorded) and then I will be live again on Boxing Day.  I promise you some sneak peeks of what I've been working on when it is closer to the time of the show.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this one.  All for now, Sue x

Faux Batik Technique

I just love this technique!  I think the lines from the faux batik add so much interest to the overall texture of the card.  I thought you might like a close up of one of the cards that I demoed on the Button Floral Stamp shows.  In case you missed it, I will give you a quick rundown of the technique.  You begin by stamping your image all over the background using a clear perfect medium pad.  It helps if you use an image that has a bit of solid area to it also.  Then you will use clear embossing powder over the entire background and heat until melted.  Next step is to fold your card so that there are creases going in all different directions across it.  I think that "mountain" type folds work best with this technique, although it is not essential.  Once you have all your folds in place, spritz your card to moisten it with water.  This will allow the ink the get into the areas right next to the folds.  Using a brayer and a Big 'N Juicy pad (I used the Waterfall Colour), ink your brayer then roll it onto your card in short bursts.  You do not want it to take on the same striped pattern of colour that is in the pad so you need to stop and start from different angles.  This will mix the colour up and blend it a bit.  Allow to dry thoroughly before attaching it to any mat and layering pieces.  Let me know what you think!  All for now, Sue x

It's Break Time For Awhile!

Well that is it for me for awhile.  I hope you enjoyed the show and the new embossing folders.  They are a blast to work with!  I don't have another show scheduled until Christmas Day and that is a pre-recorded show that I will be doing around the middle of December.  I will be on live on Boxing Day, however, as part of the POTW shows that I will be doing with Jo Channon.  I've just begin working on those samples today, but I am supposed to keep them under wraps for awhile.  That means I will have to periodically post the rest of the samples from the Button Floral shows until I can give you a peek at the ones that I am doing now.  Sorry about that, but rules are rules you know.  I will say, though, that I made two samples today and I am crazy about how they both came out!  So... just to let you know, it's killing me not being to post them!  I'll just say two words about them...new technique, very cool (okay four words!)  All for now, Sue x

The Show Must Go On!

I thought that I would let everyone know that Saturdays show is going on as scheduled.  I am on at noon with Leonie, I am told.  I am very excited about this show as I am premiering some new products for Creative Expressions.  We have added a wonderful new line of embossing folders to our range and I will be showcasing two of the new designs tomorrow.  I'm still working with the button floral stamps designed by Sam Poole, but I think these two new folders look especially lovely with them.  One is the new lattice folder as seen on the sample above.  By the way, did I tell you that they are nice and large and will do an entire background in one go!  No more of this fiddling around with the smaller sized folders.  I have planned most of the demos around some fun new techniques to do with them too!  Just to answer a quick question from one of the followers, if you do not live in England (or don't get the cable channel that it is on) you can watch Create and Craft on your computer.  It can be found at http://www.createandcraft.tv.com/ but you have to remember that the show at noon is live so you will have to figure out what time that would be in the time zone that you live.  If you check the tv schedule on their website, more often than not, they repeat the shows in the evening so they would be easier to watch timewise.  If you are in the States, it is 5 to 8 hours behind England time depending on which coast you are on.  (Does that help Mimi?)    I will try to post more of the samples after the show too as I have a bunch of them!  All for now, Sue x

Button Florals

Button Floral Sample Card

I had a few minutes to spare so I thought I'd put up a pic of one of the samples  from the show on Monday.  It didn't seem to me that many of the samples got a chance to be seen.  This is a really quick easy card using several nestie shapes layered up with black faux nesties behind them and all decorated with my favourite white inksential pen dotting the edges.  I did a boo-boo when I was making this card as I meant to use the thanks a bunch phrase as the stem for the flower so it would mirror the sentiment stamped on the oval nestie, but I grabbed the wrong stem so it's a best wishes to you stem!  Oh well, I had already colored the flower and glued on the button so it stayed.  (Just pretend that you didn't notice,okay!?)  See what happens when I stamp with out my glasses on!  Right now, I am still scheduled for another show on Saturday at noon.  I will keep you updated on any last minute changes to that schedule so check back.  All for now, Sue x

Change Of Plans!!!

Just when I thought it was safe to "ink" in the show times in my diary...  they have changed!  I am still doing one show on Monday the 25th at noon on Create and Craft, but the 3pm show on Ideal World  has been rescheduled.  There is a tentative date set for it on Saturday the 30th at noon on C & C.  Monday's show will still be featuring the Button Floral Stamp sets, with which the two samples shown have been made.  I think that these two are my favourites from all the samples, unfortunately my photo skills (or rather, lack thereof) don't capture the lovely colours in the papers I've used.  I really like how these sets seem to easily adapt to any season or occasion.  So if you weren't a "pink" person (from my previous post), then maybe the soft pastel tones from the card above or the earth tones from the one below will appeal to you.  What do you think?

                                         

I almost forgot, I have finished the ribbon wreath tutorial that I promised eons ago and it has been put up on the Creative Expressions website for anyone that is interested.  You can click on this link http://creativeexpressionsdesigns.wordpress.com/sue-wilsons-ribbon-workshop/

All for now, Sue x

Shades Of Pink

As promised, here is a sneak peek at one of the samples for my upcoming show on Create and Craft on Monday.  This is one of my favourite ones because even if you are not a pink person, it just seems so happy, it makes you want to smile I think.  This sample is also incredibly easy as  the flowers are simply stamped on to three different shades of pink card, embossed with white powder, cut out (I said easy, not fast) and layered up with buttons glued to the centres.  Add a lovely sentiment and a big bow (I do love my ribbon) and you have yourself a card.  The stamp sets that I am using on Mondays show are called the Button Florals designed by Sam Poole.  These stamp sets are a real delight to play with too.  I will try to get a few more samples up on the blog between now and Monday.  What do you think of this one?  All for now, Sue x

The Last of the Vintage Samples

I thought that I would post a few last pics from the Vintage Christmas samples before I wrap them up and start showing some sneak peeks from the next stamp set that I am working on at the moment.   I can't say enough about how nice this set is to stamp and play with.  Sam Poole has done an outstanding job with these and there are just so many things that you can do with them.  They lend themselves to a myriad of stamping techniques with great results.  If you are one who really doesn't go in for strictly traditional styled Christmas cards, then this set is for you.  The fun vintage feel and colours of the samples has made  these a true delight.

The green and brown "Joy" card is from the Vintage Christmas Sleighride stamp set, another fun set in the Vintage Christmas series.  This card was done using Crushed Olive and Forest Moss Distress inks on the swirly background and Coffee archival ink on the music background.  The ribbon is a light olive IRL although it came out quite a bit darker in the picture. (I guess becoming a photographer is out of the question, huh?!)  The centre of the "Joy" is an ornament and it makes a great 3D element for the card too. 

The mauve postcard is all about the layering of elements including the scalloped frame from the set and some new nesties.  The lacey scallops are a brand new nestie design that are quickly becoming one of my favs and a very useful die as well.  There is no end to the fun stuff you can do with it. 

As it stands right now, there haven't been any changes to my next show date.  Dare I say you can ink it in now for Monday Oct 25th.  The first show is at noon and the second one is at 3pm.  They are both using the same stamp sets, but have different products on both of them.  The first one has a premiere of a new product that I am very excited about!  I can hardly wait, I have some really fun techniques to share with you.  I will keep you posted if there any last minute changes.

As for the current blog candy contest, we are over half way to our goal, but I'm itching to give it away, so come on let's get there soooon!  You can increase your chances of winning too if you leave comments on the blog after each post.  All for now, Sue x