Fathers Day Again

And another card made for my basket of Fathers Day cards. Many of my customers who come to class say that doing cards for men is difficult. I quite enjoy them as I like the colours usually used.

When making this card I have used some old designer paper. But how many men out there have shirts in  this sort of check? The stitching has been done by hand with a marker pen. The sentiment does lift out of the pocket and buttons are out of my large jar. I have a few more of these in different checks, I'll show you another day. The inside is blank.

Fathers Day

I know I am a bit early on this one, but June is a busy month. For a start I have 130 table place name creations to make for my youngest who is getting married in the summer. We haven't had a family wedding for about 15 years so very excited. I will show you what after the event.
Back to Fathers Day I am planning on putting these in my Etsy shop, thats another reason for getting ahead.
A couple of weeks ago my friend and fellow demonstrator called over for a day in the Den, needless to say we didn't get any making done just talking...... it was business talking, well most of it was. :)
She leant me her nailed it set which I hadn't bought as it just isn't my thing. I know its not carrying forward but there is still time to use it. Here is my first make.... a bit of a joke.

I drew the squares on the backboard, punched the holes and daubed. Then I looked again and decided to leave the lines, its what ours in the utility room looks like. I wanted to put something on for clips but just couldn't find something that would work.  The card is blank inside.  What do you think?

Mediterranean Moments Birthday

Another stamp from Mediterranean Moments with water-colour pencils. I have found with this stamp set pick out the key image and colour that. My business partner is a great fan of "Less is More". She would advocate leaving all of the rest white whereas I always add a little more colour to bits but never colour the whole thing.

This one is very 'in your face' colour wise. The base card is Bermuda Bay to match the scooter and real red to match the door and window shutters. To me it screams mediterranean, what do you think?

Shopping

Mediterranean Moments  143191

Water colour pencils        141709

A quick post today, stitched framelits again, watercolour pencils again but the stamp set is 'Mediterranean Moments'. 

Doesn't this look like somewhere you would stop for glass of something cool and refreshing.

Beautiful You returns!

Another one from my holidays. This one really shows you how bright, how you can get a good depth of colour, then fade it out. The sentiments in the set are also rather lovely. Bit of repetitive stamping here. Finished with a little daubing! 

The pencils really do give you a water coloured look. Plus sometimes when you stamp the image in momento you can get a controlled smudgy look.

Watercolour Pencils

I wasn't sure about this stamp set when it was first in the catalogue but it comes into its own with the pencils. I made one in blue which I sent to a friend before I managed to photo it. It was stunning.

I have used the 'Melon Mambo' pencil for the petals and the range of colour you can get from one crayon is brilliant. Tomorrow I will show you how I started with the pencils before I even started to colour a stamped image. It will give you an idea of how to get started. 

Did you know  there were certain colours you could mix, sometimes the order that you lay down the pencil makes a difference too.

The paper layer, lantern die cut, fancy corners and ribbon are all retired or no SU products.  I just wanted a pretty card.

Shopping

Stamps:-

Birthday Blooms    140658

Other:-

Watercolour pencils, 141709

Please use this hostess code if you order online. I will send you a small gift in March as a thank you.

Stitched Framelits again

Here are a couple of cards, again featuring the stitched framlits and the watercolour pencils this time using the 'Beautiful You' stamp set

Whilst away on holiday at the beginning of the year I took a variety of paper/card pieces that I stamped with staz-on and momento to see how they would react with the watercolour pencils. Some absorbed a lot of water, some not so much. Getting a very bright pencil colour when painted also varied card to card.

I love both of these cards. I don't think I need to say anything else. They speak for themselves.

Shopping

Stamps:-

Beautiful you           143637

Other:-

Stitched Framelits   145372

Watercolour Pencils 141709

Ink/Card/Paper:-

Floral Boutique       141663

Pearls                      119247

Please use this hostess code when you order online. There will be a small gift from me in March as a thank you.

One sheet wonder

Haven't done one of these for ages. Tomorrow -  Tuesday - 1.30pm in the afternoon is our regular class, so this week we are going back to the basics of stamping and creating a one sheet wonder. I have used this years 'In colours' and stamp sets 'Touches of Texture' and 'Special Reasons'.

As there is so much stamping to create the one sheet I have kept the sentiments and embellishments simple. We may add some die cut flowers if time.

This one has a 'Peekaboo Peach base, the sentiment is from 'Badges and Banners'. then punched out. 

The second card has a 'Flirty Flamingo base, this sentiment is also from the 'Badges and Banners' set, and is also punched out. 

The third card is on a 'cucumber crush' base. The sentiment is from the 'Big on Birthdays' set.

For the final card I have cut the stamped piece into three panels. These are matted onto Peekaboo Peach then the panels onto Sweet Sugarplum.

Aren't they bright and cheerful. These are needed at this gloomy time of the year. Hope you like them. This class would be great as a taster session, come and join us tomorrow afternoon at half past one.

High Tide

Its been a while since my last blog as I have had a trip to Manchester to watch Manchester United play football at the theatre of dreams - Old Trafford. It was wonderful, my eldest son joined us with his partner and a good time was had by all as they won 3:0

So a day in the Den creating today. Finalised the makes for the High Tide workshop on March 11th. A beautiful box which I posted here on Feb 12th and to add to that a z fold card with another scene on. The choice will be yours in the workshop, stormy sea or sunrise.

I really enjoyed doing this you can't beat a bit of daubing in my book. The stamp set has so much potential and I still haven't used any of the sentiments which are just lovely.

Please check out the workshop details on Our Creative Den

Shopping:-

Stamps, High Tide143006

If you do shop please remember to use the hostess code if your order is between £25 and £149.

I will send you a small gift in March as a thank you. Happy shopping.

A quick look at us in Manchester, unfortunately I have lots of strange shadows across my face!

Swaps

I can't believe its been more than a week since training. I still haven't shown you the beautiful swaps I received other than the ice cream one.
There was one swap using the same stamp set as I had used, the super hero set, and also a sample from the spring/summer catalogue.

The first stamp set in the Sale a bration catalogue is floral and I have lots of those......... but I hadn't thought of turning the flower over and using it as a palm tree. This one was made by Amanda at the Craft Spa, she is an awesome demonstrator and blogger. Check out her blog here Her sample also shows off the new stitched framelit dies. They layer up so beautifully.

 

Another stamp I have got but it hasn't seen daylight yet is this lovely little van, I have a few ideas for using this, watch this space.

My very good friend knew I had a thing for bumble bees and made me this, the hexagon embossed background is a new folder, its one of those really deeply embossed patterns like the cable knit from the seasonal catalogue. She has die cut the hexagons using the dies from yesterdays set then added the die cut bees from the dragonfly set which is still also on my shelf but I have great plans for that as well. I need more days in the week.

Finally a little romantic one. The balloon is a new die and stamp set bundle, the little foxes are from the annual catalogue stamp and punch set which I have featured before, making it into a valentine card is ingenious.

Such a great variety to choose from, something for everyone. If you would like a catalogue get in touch. Happy crafting

Training makes 2

The second suite leans towards cards for men, the colours are grey, black and delightful dijon which I love. It is actually a feature wall in my living room....  muddy yellow as my other half calls it!

So, it has hammers, nails, a saw, a spanner and other tools. To create these I have stamped on smokey slate and crumb cake, die cut them both then cut some bits away to give different coloured handles.

This is the same style of pop up slider card as we did with the ice cream.

The little stamps of nuts and bolts, screws and nails are great. The sentiment is a good one too.

Love both of the designer papers used here too.

The second card is much simpler, however it features washi tape. Do you have a great stack of this stuff, do you ever use it? Bet I know your answers to that.

In this case I think the highlights of matching colour running across the middle are really effective. This uses another of the papers as a background.

The whits circle has been cut with the new stitched framelits.

The third card again is simple, the background is stamped with the hardwood which still makes a regular appearance. The washi tape again highlights the colours. and the stitched framelits hold the tools.

Thats the second suite. I am very tempted by this lot. Perhaps I will get another packet of the designer paper which I love.

Shopping

The stamps and the dies bundle giving you a 10% discount Nailed it bundle

Stamp set only Nailed it

Dies only          Build it

And remember the hostess code at the top of the page. Small gifts will be posted mid February for all January orders as a thank you from me.

Training makes.

All day training in our team is as much a social gathering as it is a business meeting. We didn't do much business talking, we did do lots of making and the socialising was as good as ever.
One of the benefits of the making part is that this month we used two suites of stamps and paper that I hadn't bought. Te first one is the 'ice cream' suite. I can see the appeal of this set and I love the little ice cream shop created as a card but is still isn't my type of stamp set. I can see a number of my customers enjoying this one.
The pictures are taken with my new phone, I must admit it is taking me a while to get the hang of it, my last one was very old (at least 7 yrs!) Hope they are ok.

This first picture shows the three makes and the swap from team leader Julie Kettlewell.

I love the little line of bunting along the top then the little fold for the shelf. I could always enjoy a ninety nine but I think it is just too cold at the moment.

This is a pop up card that bowl of chocolate coated ice cream scoops looks delicious 

And finally a note card holder. Love the use of the stripe stamp, one which I have dithered over buying. Its a great background stamp. Plenty of room to write a note on the slip that goes inside.

I'll show you the second suite tomorrow.



Shopping

The ice cream set is called 'Cool Treats' and comes as a bundle of stamps and dies. This gives you 10% off. here
To buy them separately
Stamp set   Cool Treats
Dies set     Frozen treats
If you buy online please add the hostess code from the top of this page. Then in February you will get a small gift from me.