Blog Candy Winners.....Finally!

Hi to all my crafty blog friends!  Thank you so much for your patience and understanding on the blog candy drawing.  I have had a crazy busy day so far, but top of my list was getting my blog candy drawing sorted.  If you came to the blog to see the daily card, you just need to scroll down to the next post, but be sure to stop and check to see if your name was drawn first!

Without further ado, the THIRD place winner is..........................................................
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Utilitygirl!!!!!!!

The winner of the SECOND place prize is.................................................
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Mutley!!!!!!

And finally, the GRAND prize winner of the blog candy is........................
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RAZZMAJAZZA!!!!!!

Congratulations to all the winners!  You do need to email me at americansue1@gmail.com to confirm your address and claim your prizes.  The blog candy contest rolls over and the next drawing will be when we reach 3100 followers!  Thanks again to everyone for all your support, you are amazing!
All for now, Sue x

Dahlia Double Frame

Good morning to everyone!  A simple navy blue and white card for today.  Starting with the background, I have used the new Flora embossibility folder to give texture to the navy blue background.  I cut two frames using the two smallest sizes of the Grand Dahlia die set.  I wove them together so that every scalloped section went over or under the other when offset.  I cut one of the largest Floral Ovals in Navy blue, cut it in half and took out the inner half by cutting along the piercing holes, leaving the fancy edge on both halves.  I hooked the ends of both pieces under my woven Dahlia frames, leaving the top and bottom open for the corner pieces from the Moroccan accent set.  I stamped my sentiment and cut it with the next size of the floral oval set.  While in the die, I inked it with chipped sapphire distress ink.   I mounted it in the centre with 3D mounting foam.  I tied a double bow with the wrinkle edged white ribbon, added a sparkly button and a couple of triple pearl pins.  I pierced the edge to complete the card.  All for now, Sue x

Gold Spectacular Spin Card

 Hello my crafty friends!  Another one of the cut, fold, tuck dies this time, just different styles.  This largest die is from the Spectacular Spin Die set, while the smaller dies are from the Angle Approach  and the Floral Burst die template sets.  I wanted to use a bit of my newly discovered stash of discontinued gold card stock for this project.  Since it is the same on both sides, I attached a piece of our self adhesive sticky sheets to the back and peeled off the other side so I had an exposed sticky side and I added a piece of my background paper to it.  From experience I know that everyone will see the card on their computers differently so to give a quick description of it, the background paper is a really lovely warm reddish  brown, mahogany actually swirly pattern of gold running through it.  Lovely paper (from my stash), I believe it is from S.E.I. but the name had been cut off of it. All the other card used is a shimmery gold.  I cut the largest die using my homemade double sided piece, while the medium die was just cut from the background paper alone and the smallest die was just cut from the gold card alone.  I stacked them a top each other to form my focal element.   I used the border from the new Nautical set from Samantha Walker and cut out a strip from either side of my focal element, removed the border and used the negative space for my card.  I added foam mounting to the back of my paper to give it a floating look above the gold card which shows through.  I adhered a piece of redline tape across the bottom of the card and ruched a piece of brown velvet ribbon from my craft stash.  Once you have this finished to add some Cosmic Shimmer dries clear glue under the loops to hold it permanently, especially with velvets as they will pop off the tape without it.  Using an 18" length of silky crush ribbon cut down the centre, I made two rolled ribbon roses for the corner of my card. You can see the close up below.   I stamped my sentiment on to a small tag and inked with some tea dye distress ink.  I  piece of Bakers Twine from the earthtone set and used a glue dot to pop it in to place with my roses.  I pierced the edge of the card to finish off the project.

Cascading Daisies

Hi guys, I'm using the Floral Tags for today's card.  This is a really simple card, nothing too tricky and you probably don't really need a rundown so I will keep it quick.  I have used the Elegance embossibility folder for the background.  Since it is geometric and easily extendable, that is what I have done to create a larger background area (6" x 7").  I cut six of the daisies from the Floral Tag set and inked up two mustard seed, two with spun sugar and two with victorian velvet distress inks. I added a bit of Cosmic Shimmer aurora sparkle glitter to the centres of each flower.   I adhered the daisies so that they were cascading down the card.  I cut out eight of the leaves from the set and inked them with shabby shutters distress ink for a bit of colour and attached them randomly around the flowers.  I stamped my sentiment and cut it out with the plain tag die and inked it with spun sugar for a highlight.  I attached the tag in the bottom corner and pierced around the edges for a framed finish.  Just a nice way to say have a great day! 

Just a quick note to say that I see we have reached our blog candy goal of 3000 followers!  I will do the drawing after I finish all the shows I have scheduled this week and post the winners in a special post Thursday afternoon sometime!  All for now, Sue x

Paved Pearl Border Technique

Good morning all!   Today's card is a bit of an experiment.  I recently got an email from a blog follower named Sam Smithard and she included some pictures of the beautiful cards that she had made.  One of them had these lovely pearl borders that she told me were actually done using a roll of predone pearls of different sizes (and it was a bit pricey too, I was told!)  It gave me an idea to try to achieve a similar look using our Cosmic Shimmer pearl PVA glues which I am calling the Paved Pearl technique.    I used a pencil to lightly mark out a half inch border on my card and proceeded to make different sized drops using the PVA glue.   I have to say that I rather enjoyed doing it as it was very relaxing and didn't take up too much time either.  I made the drops randomly so that there was a mixture of larger drops with tiny bits in between too.  I left it aside to dry overnight before I assembled the rest of my card.  While it was drying, I went to work on the rest of the card.  I inked the Heart embossibility folder on the negative side using Tattered Rose distress ink.  Using milk coloured card, I embossed it so that the ink transferred to the background of my card, giving it a hint of rose colour accenting the hearts.  I used a piece of our brand new Layered Scalloped cream coloured lace as an accent on the side. If you like this lace, please ask your local stockists to carry it in their shops(there are three styles of lace, all available in both cream and black).   I cut three sizes of the Moroccan Motifs in milk and rose card.  Using the largest die, I traced around it to create a faux nestie for the largest motif.  I stamped my sentiment and cut it out with the small Moroccan accent piece.  I used a light inking of tattered rose to highlight the sentiment.  I completed the card with a swirly pearly accent piece.  What do you think of this new look for my edges?  all for now, Sue x

Beaded Asters

 Good Sunday morning!  I'm up again very early for today's shows, but I've got enough time that I can also do the comment game drawing so don't forget to read to the bottom of the post!  For today's card, I have used the Flora Embossibility folder on a crisp white card background to give some texture to my card.  I gave it a thin mat of rose coloured card to match my vintage ribbon, then matted it with another piece of white card that I pierced.  I cut five of the smallest Aster Flower die in white card that had a piece of the self adhesive sheet added to it (before cutting).  I peeled off the backing paper and beaded them all with the clear micro beads for a lovely texture.  You should be able to see it better in the close up below.  I stamped my sentiment and cut it out with one of the Floral Oval dies and inked it while still in the die using Victorian Velvet with a bit of Spun Sugar Distress ink.  I mounted the sentiment in the upper corner and ran the Asters up the card diagonally.  I added a piece of vintage ribbon and a messy bow for a pop of colour and finished the card with a couple of stick pins.  Another kind of girlie card, but not too specific for any occasion which is nice! 

Now for the fun part, the comment game winners for the week.
They are:
Shazza!!!
Marlou McAlees!!!
JennyWren1947!!!

On the post of April 27th, we had over 200 comments so we have more winners.  They are:
Snapdragon25!!!
Celina Dee!!!
siennawoo!!!

Congratulations to all the winners!  You need to email me at americansue1@gmail.com to confirm your address and claim your prize!  All for now, Sue x

Angle Approach

 Good morning blog friends!  Day two of the POTW shows for me.  It's an early start this morning so this post should be popping up just as I am leaving the house heading for the studio.  I have decided to show one of the cut, fold, tuck samples that I made today.  I love these colours and, although I grabbed a sentiment from one of the sets on the show, you could easily go in any direction with this one.  It's masculine, but feminine too I think.  You decide.  First off I covered my background with the sticky adhesive sheet.  I used the Angle Approach die to cut an aperture in it.  I peeled off my backing paper and poured clear micro beads over it.  I just love the look of these and it is difficult to get the real feel for these in the photos, you just have to try them!  With the positive piece, I beaded it too, but I folded it backwards so that just a sliver of the decorative paper with the beading showed.  I mounted it below my background piece and offset it so the shape did not fit back in the hole the way it came out.  I cut another smaller one of the cut, fold tuck dies to go on top and still a smaller one to go on top of that.  So I layered up three of them in different sizes and shapes to create my focal element.   I used another decorative backing paper for the bottom of the card.  I stamped a few of the stamps from the Design Element set using a clear perfect medium and clear embossed them.  Again, it doesn't show up too well in the picture, but it adds just a nice texture to the piece.  I used some teal vintage ribbon and made a messy bow and added a fancy button and crystal pins.  I used a few pieces of the black rhinestone swirls above and below my focal element.  I finished the card with Cosmic Shimmer black PVA glue dots around the edge to frame it and add accents.  All for now, Sue x

POTW Sneak Peek

Hello my crafty blog friends!  Here is a sneak peek at one of the cards for the POTW shows that begin today at noon.  This card features the lovely Floral Oval dies, Floral Tag dies and an Embossibility folder that are part of the line up.  It is a very simple card and I am not using it as a demo this week so I thought I would show it today and give a quick rundown for you.  I started with a piece of lavender card (5 1/2" x 7" in size) and embossed it with the Garden Delight folder.  Due to the size of this piece, I had to run it through twice.  I wrapped a piece of white crocheted ribbon around the bottom and taped it to the back.  I cut the largest size of the Floral Oval in white and attached it with mounting foam.  I stamped my sentiment and cut it out with the next size of the Floral Oval set and inked it with Dusty Concord Distress ink while in the die.

  I attached that piece with mounting foam to complete my focal element.  I cut and ink two of the rose die from the Floral Tag set and attached them to the upper corner of my focal element.  Small pearls were added to the centres for accents.    I tied a double bow using the white satin edged organza ribbon, one of my new favourites!  I completed the bow with a two mixed stick pins and a pearl embellishment from my craft stash.  I added the bow using a glue dot to the lower corner. I completed my project by adding a pearly swirlie piece to the upper corner and piercing around the edge for a nice framed effect.  The finished size is 6 1/2" x 8 1/2" in size (I actually have the card in my hand for once as I write this!)  This is definitely one for the girlie card lovers out there!  All for now, Sue x

Layered Scalloped Posy

Good morning all!  This is one of my favourite cards from the past shows!  I adore these dies and I love this paper so it all worked for me.  I found a few more pieces of this paper in my stash (did the happy dance!) so you will see it a couple more times in the future I am sure. (In case you want to know, it is by S.E.I. and it is called Jolie Chocolat).  It has the prettiest shimmer to it, but it just doesn't show up in the photos unfortunately.  I used the Layered Scallop Posy die from Heartfelt Creations to cut the top and bottom sections of the card.  This die cuts the half circle part but the bottom edge stays attached to your card.  I left about an inch between the two cuts where I placed my sentiment on a (yes another) forked flag then matted it in gold and grey card.  At the edge of the flag, I added a flower made from the background paper using the Spiral Flower 3.  I cut several of the gorgeous swirl that is sold in the Decorative Dutch Iris set, so that they were radiating outward from my flower.  I added a few bits from the Bella Rose set and a piece of gold tulle from my craft stash to create a floral element on my card.  I added a couple of partial mats in gold card then pierced the edges to complete my card.  I will have a sneak peek for you tomorrow so please check back in the morning.  All for now, Sue x

Fun With Forked Flags

Hello my crafty friends!  I have been using these forked flags (pennants, bunting, whatever they are called, I'm not sure) a lot lately.  I had a bit of fun here with a whole bunch of them for a different sort of look!  I started this card by embossing the background taupe piece of card with the Valor embossibility.  I cut a bunch of different coloured and sized flags to attach to my embossed piece and extend out on the right hand side of my card.  I added faux stitching lines on the lighter coloured flags.  I used a bit of Bakers Twine around the card and tied it through a button.  Next I cut four of the Decorative Window die and cut the smaller side of it off.  I cut a Labels 24 frame out of red card.  I attached the four side pieces I cut from the window so that they clipped on to the edge of the labels frame.  I stamped my sentiment and cut it out with one of the smaller Labels 24 dies.  I stamped my sentiment and cut it out with one of the smaller Labels 24 dies and inked it with antique linen distress ink.  I mounted it on foam pieces in the centre of my Labels 24 frame with the window edge pieces.  I added four black rhinestones in the corners and faux stitched around the edges to complete my card.  I try to mix it up to show some different ideas when I can.  I rather liked the way this came out as it was quite different.  I hope you like it too!  All for now, Sue x

Measured With Kindness

Hi guys,  This should be the last sewing card for awhile!  I have to admit that every time I picked up these dies, they reminded my of days gone by, about my Mom's sewing machine when I was a kid and I just thought "vintage."  The papers I picked here are no exception, if you don't like that vintage look, this may not be a card for you.  I also have to admit that this is the card that I bent Mom's sewing machine needle on too.  Can you see the zigzag seams between the different papers?  It bent where I put the black zipper rose, that was lucky, huh!  The lovely lady at Scrap and Stamp in Inverness, Florida, Vicky Turner, gave me a needle to replace my Mom's. 

Wasn't that just so nice of her! 

This is a great card layout to help use up some of the old scraps of decorative papers you have lying around (yes, I know we all do!).  I taped them to a piece of copy paper and then sewed the zigzag lines between them.  I distressed all the edges to help make it look more vintage using the edge of my scissors.  I added a piece of black guipur lace and attached it to the back of the card.  I tied a bow out of three pieces of black vintage ribbon, spritzed it with water and crumpled it to get a shabby chic look and attached it to my lace in the corner.  I added a piece of natural twine and a black zipper

rose.  Next I stamped my sentiment then cut it out of "milk" coloured card. I cut a second swatch the same size and  I inked them both with antique linen while still in the die.  I used one of Sam Poole's sewing stamps to stamp the swatches too, giving them both a bit of texture.  I added some old buttons from my stash to the sentiment swatch.  I cut the sewing machine out of black card.  While still in the die, I inked it with clear perfect medium.  I popped it out and embossed it with clear powder to bring out the detail on the machine.  I mounted it on the second swatch.  I mounted both swatches on my card at offset angles for interest.  I added a few more buttons in the upper corner to complete my card.  I hope you like my take on a vintage themed sewing card.

Just a quick note before I go, I am doing the POTW shows on Create and Craft this Friday the 27th beginning with the launch art noon.  I hope you can tune in to watch.  I have had many comments from followers of the blog outside of the UK about the shows.  I just wanted to let them know that
if you aren't in the UK, you can still watch online at www.createandcraft.tv .  The shows are live so you just have to work out what time it is where you live when it is noon in England!  If you have any questions, just email me at americansue1@gmail.com   Watch this space for some sneak peeks later  this week too!  All for now, Sue x

Heartfelt Creations Oval Window Card

 Good Monday morning to all!  Yes this is the oval window die, but not a window die, if you know what I mean!  I like this die as it is truly versatile to use.  The negative shape is interesting also.  I cut the oval window twice, once out of taupe card and kept the positive shape and once out of royal blue and used both the positive and the negative from it.  I stamped my sentiment on cream card and mounted my taupe window over it after I removed the cross bars from the inside of the window.  They are easily nipped out.  Next I cut the aperture in the centre of the blue piece, removed the die cut and then keeping the die still attached to the background piece, I situated them on top of the A4 Impressibility (Garden Delight, I think it is called), to emboss the background.  By leaving it in the die, you get a pretty border from the edge of the die that doesn't emboss.  I had to use one of the metal impressibility for this because of the size of my background piece.  If I had used an embossibility, I could only have done a background that was no larger than 5" x 7" in size because you cannot close the folder when using this technique.  Once the background was embossed, I wrapped a piece of the striped grosgrain ribbon around the bottom and taped it the the back of the card.  I used mounting foam to  raise it for dimension and attached it to my back mat where I pierced the edges.  Using the blue window that I cut earlier, I cut it at the second swirl on each side. I hooked the swirls on to the inside of my aperture to hold it in place.   I used a few small pieces of mounting foam to raise up the back edge and secure it in place on my card.  It provided a pretty little tone on tone frame around my focal element.  I tied a double bow with the striped ribbon and attached it with glue dots to the left side of my card.  A button with twine and a couple of crystal stick pins finished off the bow.  I matted a final layer with the same taupe colour as the centre window die cut for balance.  If you were lucky enough to get this die, I hope you can find more fun uses for it too!  All for now, Sue x