Stamperlou's place

Strawberry Kisses

2012-01-05T01:39:00.000-08:00

Hi all- I'm still alive, unfortunately I seem to be unable to keep up with regular blog posing... perhaps that ought to be my new years resolution??
Anyway, Leann Chivers at Crafter's Companion has asked me to help promote the new range that is being launched this week. It's a wonderful set of rubber stamps drawn by Sally Hunter, the creative talent behind the popular Humphrey's Corner range.
The set consists of gorgeous stamps and a CD ROM that has a fabulous young, retro feel to it. I've uploaded a couple of photos but the stamps are not all masculine- there are some beautiful girly images too.
As a little taster, see Leann's blog, where you can enter to win some of the popular Core'dinations cardstock!
Happy new year to you all!
TTFN
xx

Stampin' Up! mini catalogue now available

2011-04-10T07:52:00.000-07:00

Hi all.
Boy, has life been hectic lately. I've been working on some fantastic new stuff for Crafter's Companion- please tune in to Ideal World at 9pm on tuesday the 12th of April for a special new product. It could make your life alot easier!
Now for some Stampin' Up! news. The 2011 mini catalogue is now available until 30th of september. There are some fabulous new stamp sets, plus we now have the exclusive Sizzix dies available to us in the UK.
I have been getting ready to mail out these to my customers and decided to add a little something, so I created handmade sticker sets made from stamps and punches that are all available in either the main catalogue, or are in the new mini. I have used 'Cherry Cobbler' and 'Elegant Eggplant' colours. I hope they like them!
TTFN
xx

Crafter's Companion February challenge

2011-02-03T03:02:00.000-08:00

Hi all!
I'm ashamed to have been away from my blog for so long- I've been working on lots of new stuff for Crafter's Companion- I can't tell you any details, but there are some fantastic products to come!
Anyway, the February challenge on the Crafter's Companion Challenge Blog is to make a card with the theme of romance. This is a great challenge for those of you who don't like working to a sketch as you can do whatever you want within the theme.
I hope you will have a go!
My card is a quick & simple effort using Core'dinations card and a little greeting from the Popcorn Romance CD ROM.
I hope not to leave it so long next time!!
TTFN
x

Crafter's Companion November challenge card

2010-10-31T13:19:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone.
Here's my enterpretation of the sketch challenge that you can find at the Crafter's Companion Challenge Blog. The sketch also has the theme of one for the girls. I hadn't intended on adding black to the colour scheme, but it seemed to work!For my card, I have used the beautiful new 'Poppies and Daisies' rubber stamp set designed by Sheena Douglass. I've coloured it in with Copics and I've used the printable flowers and backing paper from the S.W.A.L.K 2 CD ROM which in my opinion, has my favourite papers so far in the Crafter's Companion range. To print the flowers in black & white, I selected greyscale printing on my print option panel. I printed the sheet onto standard 80 gsm copy paper, screwed up the sheet before gently flattening, cutting out the flowers and tinting the edges with Victorian Velvet distress ink. The flower centres are silver bead spacers threaded onto pink brads. The black swirls are from the beautiful Marianne Designs frame & swirl die cutting set The dusky pink card is Core'dinations.
Thanks for stopping by.
TTFN
x

Jayne Nestorenko Adorables sneak peak

2010-09-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

Morning all!
I'd like to show you a card that has been made with stamps from a brand new range from Jayne Nestoranko called Adorables. The stamps are beautiful and the CD ROM that accompanies them is full of lovely versatile papers that will make a great addition to your collection.
I have used my large Rock-a-Block to mount both of the background images at the same time. It is easy to organise the separate elements this way.
All of the smaller stamps which were goung to be cut out were placed on the Rock-a-Block together to save a bit of time. Because you can guarantee a perfect result, it's a great way to stamp.
I coloured the background with my Prismacolour pencils and the other elements with Copics. I'm still not very confident with my colouring skills, so forgive the slightly poor results! For more information on the launch of this lovely range, see the Crafter's Companion blog.
TTFN
xx

Crafter's Companion September challenge

2010-09-02T02:10:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone.
It's the start of september & the Crafter's Companion challenge for the month is open! For any of you that have yet to discover the huge range of Crafter's Companion branded ranges, you are welcome to join in the challenge using any image of your choice from any company. If, however, you do use a C.C image on your card,you will be given a second bite of the cherry with an additional entry to the draw for the candy, which this month is a £30 voucher to spend with Crafter's Companion!! I hope you will pop over to the blog and take a look at what the design team have done with Leanns sketch- it might just inspire you to join in!!
TTFN
x

Selling off some craft items

2010-08-02T07:47:00.000-07:00

Hi all.
Due to the fact that my family are having a bit of a hard time right now (I know- join the club!!!!) I'm ebaying off some craft items that will be better served being converted into money that I can pay vet bills with!!! Please take a look!
TTFN

August Crafter's Companion challenge

2010-08-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

Hi all.
Well, another month has passed by and I'm behind on everything as usual. CHA has just finished and I had my usual task of making a whole bank of samples to show off the Ultimate & the add on decorative embossing boards for Sara to take with her for the Crafter's Companion stand. This is a daunting task- not only making every shape & size of card & box I can think of, but then there's the nail biting wait to hear whether or not they arrived in America undented & looking pristine- which Sara assured me they did. Panic over till next time!!
Anyhoo- here's my translation of the August challenge card for the Crafter's Companion blog. I hope you'll skip over there & have a go- Sara always offers a prize for the chosen winner, but win or lose, the sketch is a great inspiration and I'm sure that you'll find it useful!
TTFN
xx

Candy winner

2010-07-18T02:11:00.000-07:00

Morning all!
Just a quick post, as I'm watching Leann doing a live SWALK show.
The names of all who left me a lovely comment were put into a hat & the name I picked out was
mirabelka
Congrats- you've won this cute stamp set!! Please email me here with your address details & I'll get these to you!
Have a lovely weekend!
TTFN
x

Crafter's Companion sneak peak & blog candy!

2010-07-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

Hi all.
Along with the rest of the Crafter's Companion design team, I have a sneak peak of a new product for you! This is a lovely new range called S.W.A.L.K (Sealed with a little kiss). The range is being launched on friday on Create and Craft an consists of 12 stamp sets and a CD ROM packed with beautiful backing papers and accessories. There are some gorgeous features on the new CD that haven't been seen with any other Crafter's Companion CD in the past- these will be fully explored on the TV shows (details below).
This mini card has been made with one of the stamp sets and some of the backing paper from the CD. I've coloured it in with Copics, which work very well with these images. I hope you can check out some of the shows to see more.
Here are the blogs of the rest of the D.T to get a bigger picture of this lovely new release.
Bev's blog
Claire's blog
Wendy's blog
Debbie's blog
Leann's blog
Jacqui's blog
Please leave me a comment and I'll draw out one name on saturday night to recieve this stamp set!
The Crafter's Companion Inspiration Blog will have another sneak peak from Sara, plus fab candy of all 12 stamp sets! (to be drawn midnight Saturday & announced on Sunday).
As promised, here are the times of the live shows on Create & Craft:
Launch show: Friday 16th July 11am-1pm
Sunday 18th 10am & 2pm
Monday 19th 8am
Tuesday 20th 8am
I hope you can tune in- the D.T members always provide tons of beautiful cards to inspire you!!
TTFN
xx

Crafter's Companion July challenge

2010-07-02T02:23:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone.
Please head over the the Crafter's Companion challenge blog and have a go at joining in! The sketch designed by Leann will give you inspiration to apply to any of your card making & scrapbooking.
Here's my effort!
TTFN
xx

New Crafter's Companion challenge blog

2010-06-01T03:30:00.000-07:00

Hi all!
As you probably know, I've been a designer for Crafter's Companion for over 4 years now and I'm pleased to be able to tell you that they have launced an official Crafter's Companion challenge blog today! As it is an official blog, the prizes for entering the challenges will be great and a must for all C.C fans! There is a lovely sketch to try out and there are already some lovely cards made by the D.T to offer some inspiration. (here is my effort!) I have used a sheet of background paper from the Popcorn Floral CD ROM which is one of my faves and the stamped image is from the Popcorn 'Thinking of You' stamp plate.
Please pop over to the blog & take a look!
TTFN
x

Popcorn Kids

2010-05-24T03:19:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!
Not much time (as usual!) but I wanted to share a little project I completed using the Popcorn Kids stamps from Crafter's Companion. These are the latest in the popular Popcorn range and the images are a little smaller than those in the past, giving you new ways of using them. This box has been made by scoring as one layer of an exploding box (297x297mms in size and scored on the Tri-Fold A4 line on all 4 sides, crease & trim out the 4 corner squares). The flowers were made by scoring them on the Celebration embossing board.
Hope you are all well!
TTFN
xx

A Wild Rose Mother's Day

2010-03-12T05:24:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone.
What a few months I've had! I have been working on numerous commissions from Crafter's Companion, in particular, designing the two new 'Celebration' embossing boards. The actual designs on the boards all came from my original drawings (made infinitely better by a professional artist!!). I wrote the instruction book to go with it, including designing & photographing all of the projects inside. It's been a labour of love and it has been very gratifying to see something go from ideas to a product on the shelf.
Anyway, we're well into March and Mothers Day is almost upon us. I made this card using some of the latest release stamps & patterned papers from the Wild Rose Studio. If you haven't yet seen the lovely items available in this range, I recommend that you take a look!

Wild Rose Studio sketch challenge

2010-01-20T05:29:00.000-08:00

Hi all!
I'll keep this short as I've just written a lovely long post with links, instructions details etc & accidentally lost all of it.... AARRRRGGGGHHH!!
Anyway, please check out the lovely Wild Rose Studio blog for the latest sketch and see the gorgeous enterpretations from the other DT members!! The stamps used for this card are from the Love birds stamp set, which is perfect for valentines, anniversary and any other lovey dovey cards!! & When I've stopped having a paddy, I'll go through the details of how I made this flower from punches!
TTFN
Lou
xxx

Finally put the tree up!

2009-12-17T02:11:00.000-08:00

It's late as usual, but the tree is finally decorated. Unfortunately, there's no room to put it on the floor, so it's a bit crammed!

A baby girl card

2009-11-27T14:46:00.000-08:00

Hi all.
Not much to write at the moment... just wanted to share a card that I made for a commission
TTFN
xx

21 with a bit of 'BLING'

2009-11-26T12:36:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!
I hope you're all well.
I was asked to make an extra special 21st birthday card for a girl who likes fashion. I have to say, that I am very pleased with this card- although I wouldn't make too many the same, as I've burned through a large amount of stick on gems!!!
TTFN
x

I can't resist showing you this...

2009-11-14T05:01:00.002-08:00

Ok, he's such a gorgeous puppy, I have to show you all.........!!!

Puppy thank You's

2009-11-14T04:43:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone.
As usual, I'm up to my neck in commissions. I am currently working for Michelle Marsden at Red Hot Bed alongside the projects I do for Crafter's Companion.
I thought I would share with you a set of Thank You cards I was asked to make. There is a charity that I help which trains dogs in bio-detection. They can be trained to find cancer and recognise when a diabetic needs to take their medication and give a warning, among other things. I am an emergency foster home, so I help out by looking after the puppies when the need arises. The dog I'm currently fostering is a labrador puppy called Dizzy. He is the calmest and most loving dog I have ever had and it's going to be hard seeing him go in a few days!
The local charity co-ordinator asked me to make some thank you cards using a dog image, so I naturally thought of the Wild Rose Studio puppy stamp. I used a variety of thank you stamps and some background paper from the Popcorn Bear CD ROM.
I hope she likes them!

Wild Rose Studio November sketch challenge

2009-11-02T04:33:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone.
It's been way too long since I last posted on my blog. Like many people, we are struggling in the recession, so I've been taking on alot of extra commissions lately.
I am pleased that I found a bit of 'Me' time to make a card for Dulcie's November Sketch challenge, that can be found at the Wild Rose Studio blog I was a bit stumped by the sketch to start with, but once I got going, I was pleased with the results!
I have used the 'Louis with Heart' stamp, along with some background paper from the Wild Rose spring CD ROM. The punched flowers were crumpled & flattened out again to add some dimension.
Please go along to the blog & have a go at the sketch- I'll be looking at all of your versions!!
TTFN
Lou
xx

Busy busy busy!!!!

2009-09-13T03:48:00.000-07:00

Hi to everyone!
I fully intend to post something arty in the next day or two, but have been rather busy lately. If I saw you yesterday in Worthing at the Great South Stamp show, hello and thank you for your support. We had a phenomenal day on the Crafter's Companion stand.
I spent last weekend at the house of Sara Davies (genius behind Crafter's Companion for those that don't know!). We spent 3 days planning some fantastic products that will be available over the coming months- can't say any more, but there's some exciting new things on the way to you!
Hope you are all well,
back soon
TTFN
Lou
xx

Popcorn for Christmas!

2009-08-18T06:38:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone.
I hope you are enjoying this lovely summery day- I know it's hard to believe it's here, so make the most of it!
Anyway, I hate thinking about Christmas when it is so warm outside, but I'm working on some commissions using the new Popcorn Bear Christmas stamps by Crafter's Companion and thought i would share this one with you!
TTFN
Lou
xx

Wild Rose Studio sketch challenge

2009-08-14T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hi!

I just wanted to share with you a card that I made for the Wild Rose Studio blog Dulcie provided a great sketch to work with and here is my interpretation of it!
Please stop by & have a go yourself!
TTFN
xx

New baby card and a challenge to boot!

2009-08-12T14:42:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!
I have been VERY busy with commissions just lately. If anyone watched the launch of the Christmas Popcorn the Bear sets on Create & Craft tonight, you'll see what I've been up to!
This baby card is for my cousin and her husband in Germany, who have just had their first baby. I have taken design inspiration from the challenge on the Funky Hand challenge blog for August, so I decided to enter this card for the challenge!
The spotty & the striped papers are both from the V.Funky CD ROM and I have used the same two papers to punch out some of the flowers.
The Popcorn image is actually taken from the new christmas range, but it works extremely well as a new baby image too!
Wish me luck for my first challenge attempt!!
TTFN
xx

Hi all!

2009-07-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!
I have had the busiest couple of weeks... I don't know whether I'm coming or going. I won't bore you with all the details, but I did want to mention a lovely Stampin'Up! workshop that I ran last week. This is one of the two cards that we made on the night. We used the Loads of Love stamp set, which, considering the main image is a truck, is suprisingly versatile!! The hostess fell in love with all of the products, so she signed up to become a demonstrator herself. Can't say I blame her!!
TTFN
xx

Win $1,000 at theCuttlebugSpot.com!

2009-07-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

As a huge fan of Cuttlebug embossing folders, I was pleased to read that The Cuttlebug Spot is having a contest - "The Journey to 1,000"! They are trying to reach 1,000 followers by the end of July and need your help. To enter all you have to do is go to their site, sign up as follower and complete a few easy steps and you could win a $1,000 gift certificate to Custom Crops (www.CustomCrops.com)! GO NOW and check it out at www.TheCuttlebugSpot.com
I have just joined as follower number 951, so be quick!!!

Wedding card

2009-06-16T02:49:00.000-07:00

Hi all!
Just dropped in to share this card with you. The commission was just for 'a wedding card'! I know the people going to the wedding are in their late 20s, so I guessed the couple getting married are a similar age. I went for a fairly austere colour scheme, but lifted it with some quirky heart stamps, made by Luxe Designs.
Fingers crossed it'll fit the bill!!
xx

Christening card

2009-06-13T00:59:00.000-07:00

I used many similar techniques on this card as on the previous one. I'm struggling to take good photos, though. The lighting is the biggest problem. Hopefully, you can still enjoy this card!
xx

Glimmer Mist

2009-06-12T15:55:00.000-07:00

Evening everyone!
I've been a busy bee in the batcave just lately. There's been a shedload of work for Crafter's Companion (FAB new products coming soon- can't wait to show you...) so not much time for blogging unfortunately. I did make time for a 40th birthday card that I was commissioned to make. I had a bit of a clear up and unburied my box of glimmer mists. They're now actually within reach, so I think I'll be using them lots. I'd forgotten how lovely they are!
Anyway, this is a 6 inch square card that I embossed on the edges using a clear stamp set by Inkadinkadoo (97633-floral flourishes). I hand cut the numbers from some card, using a set of templates. I did this as I wanted to use a thick, 300gsm card that would take the embossing & the glimmer mist without buckling. Once embossing with a clear hologram powder, I added some pink inks using Cut'n'Dry foam before spraying with pink & green glimmer mists.
The butterfly is a pre-printed embellishment from Craftwork Cards, also treated with the same colours. I added some pink crystals as a final flourish. I love the Prima crystal flourishes, but I wanted to see if a producing a similar, cheaper version was possible. I think it works pretty well,albeit a bit smaller.
It was so nice to be able to make a card using anything I wanted. I love all of the commissioned work I do, but it's nice to let loose every once in a while!
xx

HELP!!!!!

2009-06-03T02:49:00.000-07:00

Morning, all!!
I've finally had enough of my Cuttlebug embossing folders & my Spellbinder dies that keep falling out of the folder I've been storing them in, so I've emptied them all over my lounge floor to try & organise them, but I don't have a single clue how to rearrange everything!!
I have a few folders with magnetic sheets inside, to hold the nestabilities, but it's not ideal. How do you all store yours???!!!

R.I.P 'Marmite' the hamster!!

2009-05-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

Hi all!
I've not been blogging lately as I've been manically busy with commissions. I've just done some work for Leann Chivers, who will be on Ideal World tonight from 9pm using some of my samples. I've also been doing lots of projects & samples for Crafter's Companion and I had a C.C stand at last week's Great South Stamp show in Worthing. Hi to all of you who stopped by & said hello- we were very warmly recieved and I had a lovely day!!
Anyway, who, you may ask, is Marmite the (ex) hamster?? Well, a very close friend of mine has been having a bit of a hard time lately and ont op of everything else, the family's ageing hamster was on it's last legs. My friend said that she didn't know what to do when it died (She looked pretty horrified when I suggested a burial at sea, via the toilet) so before I'd really thought about what I was saying, I offered to make a coffin!!! My friend was thrilled with this, so I had no choice!! I had intended to make said coffin with time to spare but of course, forgot, so when I got the fateful call to say that Marmite had joined the giant hamster wheel in the sky, I had to get to work PDQ!
Here is the finished coffin- a fitting tribute to a well loved pet!!! (I'm pretty sure that when Sara Davies invented the Top Score & box maker, I don't think hamster coffins would have been on the list of possible projects!!!)
Lou
xx

A 40th Birthday card

2009-05-02T05:26:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!
I just wanted to share a card I have just finished. It was commissioned by my friend who's going to a party tonight. Nothing like doing everything last minute!! I have used a Bella stamp, my oval Nestabilities and a Cuttlebug embossing folder for the background. I stapled the ribbon along the bottom edge and personalised it by printing the words out using the computer and matting onto some silver card.
I hope she likes it!

Are you thinking of becoming an S.U demonstrator?

2009-04-29T08:49:00.000-07:00

Hi!
To all of you that I've emailed or spoken to, here are the four, yes FOUR stamp sets I am offering to anyone who signs as an S.U demonstrator with me! You can no longer buy these sets- they were a limited edition range that were only available earlier on this year and were priced at around £16 per set, so that's an additional £64 worth of product. I've only been with S.U since November myself, but I have made some lovely friends through the company. I'd love to sign me first recruit, so if you want more info, please get in touch!

Stampin' Up! mini catalogue

2009-04-27T06:45:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone.
For those of you that haven't seen it yet, Stampin' Up! have released a mini catalogue, crammed full of brand new products that will only be available until September. This little card has been made with one of these limited edition stamp sets called 'Playful Petals'. It is a 7 stamp set that costs £25.95. This card is one that I'm going to be teaching at a workshop in Portsmouth on wednesday evening. If anyone local to Cosham would like to come along, please email me your details & I'll contact you!

Update on the bird!!

2009-04-12T04:23:00.000-07:00

Well, a total success story!!
I nursed the baby thrush, feeding hourly for 5 days. As you can see from the picture, it gathered strength, body weight, but was also becoming a little too tame! I moved it into the garage into a large cage so that it wasn't focussing on me so much, feeding it mealworms, then I had to leave it for longer periods, hoping that it would begin to feed itself. (The movement of live food stimulates it to peck). Once I knew it was eating enough to live on and was flapping around in the cage, I moved it to an outside area (I was lucky to have my inlaws down the road with a large outdoor cat pen, similar to an aviary) We scatter fed for another 3 days, then left the door open. It took about 24 hours for it to want to leave, but it did so yesterday morning. (Unfortunately, before I'd had a chance to take another photo). My mother in law was a little disappointed that it didn't come home that night, but obviously, we both know this is a good thing!!
(I'm sure I don't need to say that if I had found the bird alone ouside, I would have left it, as parent birds would most likely have looked after it, but deposited on my kitchen floor gave me no other choice!!)

Friends

2009-04-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter, everyone!
I have been desperate to write a post, but I've had to concentrate on my commissioned work before doing anything else. This card is for my closest friend who is going through a very tough time at the moment. I figured that this might cheer her up a little. I photographed it inside my new pop up photographic tent, which is going to take a bit of getting used to. I really should have bought the larger one, as I write lots of projects that need step by step pictures and I don't think this will be large enough for that, although, you can see from my photo that my desk there really isn't enough space for anything bigger! But for taking a picture of a single card, it's going to be useful. The stamps used on this card are all from a company called High Hopes at www.highhopesstamps.com based in Canada. I don't usually go for cute images, but I love this company and have a box full of their unmounted stamps! The flowers are Prima and the greeting is printed on the computer and punched out using Stampin' Up! 1 3/8 circle punch, plus the scalloped circle punch. The frond leaf punnch is by Martha Stewart and the patterned paper is from my stash of odds & ends.

Jack is no more....

2009-04-01T15:16:00.000-07:00

By this I mean that we can't call HER Jack any more! My vet thinks it's probably a thrush or blackbird, judging by the colouring and is most likely a girl!! This may seem like a big mistake on my part, but from the cold bedraggled, cat spittle covered lump I found on the kitchen floor on monday, to the fluffy, bright, chirping thing sitting in a cage in my workroom today, it's like night & day! I am feeding her every hour, from 7 am till 11 pm and she is putting on weight and is now practicing with her half grown wings, so I'm very hopeful that this will have a happy ending.
Back soon
xxx

Meet Jack!

2009-03-30T03:59:00.000-07:00

Well, as if I don't have enough to do today...
my dotty Abysinnian cat, Charlie, deposited this tiny sparrow fledgling in my kitchen this morning. I wondered what the dogs were barking at, so I went to investigate. He was very still and I assumed he was dead. I was about to 'bury him at sea' via the toilet, when his feet moved. A few minutes warming under my jumper and he's looking quite chirpy (excuse the pun...!)
I've mixed up a disgusting concoction from a recipe I found on a website (what DID we do before the internet??) which he's eating and if he survives, I'll make the 20 mile round trip to the bird rescue centre. I've had successes with a baby crow (russell) and a seagull (Atheseus), but neither of these was as tiny and delicate as Jack Sparrow (get it now?).
Hopefully, I'll be able to keep you up to date with his progress, but I really should try & make some cards now!!

Morning, all!

2009-03-29T01:20:00.000-07:00

Happy Sunday, everyone.
I hope you are all planning a day of R&R. The weather is looking a bit unsettled, so I intend to spend as much time in the batcave (my craft room) as possible!
I would love to share with you a recent submission of mine to make it into the April issue of Making Cards magazine.
I was showcasing the new Flower Fairy stamps and CD roms from Crafters Companion. Here are the two cards that were in the magazine and here they are in pride of place on pages 8 and 9! I was also lucky enough to have had one of these cards used on the front cover!

Happy Mothers Day!

2009-03-22T11:00:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone,
I hope all you mums got a thorough spoiling today! My little treasure & his Dad bought me a gift of some scented candles and I recieved a lovely hand made card that was made at school. The verse was written in his best writing, so I could actually read all of it!
Anyway, I remembered at about 10am that I hadn't made a card for my mother in law, so I got on it & this is the result. Overall, I was really pleased, although my hand writing let it down somewhat. I was just too bloomin' lazy to hunt through stamps, or to print something on the computer! Still- the card was appreciated (I think).
I'll be back soon with some more cards and some news on April 1st for all of you Stampin' Up! fans
xxx

'Wild Rose' Bunny

2009-03-12T03:07:00.000-07:00

Morning all!
Dulcie Jackson from the lovely new stamp company The Wild Rose Studio www.wildrosestudio.co.uk sent me some gorgeous easter and spring themed rubber stamps for me to play with. Here is one of my finished cards made using the stamps. It has been made with sturdy A5 acetate scored in half using the Crafters Companion Top Score board. It was decorated first with papers edged with the lovely Martha Stewart doily lace punch. To hide the adhesive, the exact same panel was applied to the reverse of the acetate. I stamped the bunny directly onto the patterned panel using Stazon. I then stamped & cut out another bunny from green card and matted this on top. I coloured the flowers using a Sakura Souffle pen and added a glittery self adhesive dot to the centres. I added a panel of paper inside the card so that there was a place to write a message, but if you have Sharpie pens, it would be quite fun to write directly onto the acetate!

Wild Cherry fairy, the last sneak peek!

2009-03-07T01:02:00.001-08:00

Here's the 6th and last fairy that will be released at 9pm tonight on Ideal World. They are available as stamps and on CD ROMs so I think it'll be worth a look! I happen to know that the launch price on I.W is a good one, so if you're at all interested, please take a look tonight!

Susie has candy!!

2009-03-07T00:30:00.000-08:00

I've been reminded by my lovely friend Susie at http://sassydesignsbysusie.blogspot.com/ that she has some lovely blog candy available, but be quick! You need to go to her blog before the 21st of march, add yourself to the list of followers & leave her a comment to be in with a chance!! You won't regret it- she makes some fantastic things that often insipre me to get on & be creative!

Almond blossom Fairy

2009-03-07T00:24:00.000-08:00

Good morning everyone!
I'm grabbing an opportunity to post the 5th fairy in the Crafters Companion range. The launch will be in a little over 12 hours and all of these cards will probably be used on the launch show on Ideal World. I don't expect to get much crafting done today as my lovely husband has gone scuba diving, so my son will expect my full attatntion for most of the day!

Rose Fairy

2009-03-06T12:28:00.000-08:00

Well, it's friday night at last! It's not been a bad week, just a bad day. I've been fighting off a migraine most of the day and I have started to feel like I'm finally winning! My son had an activity day at school to support book day so we had lots of 'discussions' this morning as to why I wasn't going to allow him to wear his pyjamas to school (This was one of the options on the list- to go in wearing PJs with your fave bedtime story...) Needless to say, with the thermometer still barely registering above freezing , I didn't think it was a great idea so my lovely hubby suggested dressing as a character from a series of books we're reading him. Well, by the time we had rooted through wardrobes, drawers & dress-up boxes, I nearly threw in the towel & let him go in PJs and freeze to death!!!! Still, we finally managed to make him look vaguely like the boy in the story, so he went to school happy!!
Anyway, back to business. Here is the Rose Fairy from the new series of stamps & CD ROMs being released by Crafters Companion tomorrow on Ideal World and Create & Craft. As I said before, faries aren't usually my 'thing', but I loved working with these stamps. This is another large card, measuring 8x8 inches.

Buttercup Fairy

2009-03-06T03:45:00.000-08:00

Here's no. 3 in the set of 6. I forgot to mention that on all of these cards, there is some matching backing paper from the CD ROMs that accompany the stamps.

Zinnia Fairy card

2009-03-05T23:42:00.000-08:00

Here is the second in my series of large fairy cards made for the launch on create and craft tomorrow. These cards are 8x8 which means that I needed to start with an A3 piece of card to make the bases. I wanted to use the largest fairy stamp for these cards, as on the tv, I thought these would best show the detail in the stamps. There is a smaller fairy on each of the 6 theme plates, but the big one is great with shrink plastic & large cards.

A 'Fairy' good morning!

2009-03-02T02:29:00.000-08:00

Morning, everyone!
I hope you've all had a good weekend. My O.H is working nights for the first time this week, starting last night, so I'm trying to creep around rhe house, as he's a light sleeper. It feels odd- like I'm not meant to be here!
Anyway, I've just had the april copy of Craft Stamper delivered today, and in it is an ad from Crafters Companion announcing the launch of a new range of Flower Fairy stamps & CD ROMs than will be available on Ideal World & Create & Craft from the 7th of this month. I think it's now safe to show you some of the cards that I have been making with this set of goodies, as I've been working on them for the past few weeks. Now I was never a fan of flower fairies, but Sara asked for my opinion about what to put on the stamp plates, so I think they're brilliant. The large fairy on each plate stands about 5 or 6 inches tall, so they make a real feature on the front of a card. I hope you'll watch the launch show, as the products are lovely.

Tri-fold card

2009-02-25T03:33:00.000-08:00

Morning all.

I make this style of card regularly for Crafters Companion as it is very popular. It's simple to make using the Top Score tool.

All you need to do is place a sheet of A4 cardstock with one of the short edges against the rest. Score along the tri-fold A4 line. Turn the card over so that you can score the same line again from the opposite end of the card. You now have a piece of card that is scored into equal thirds.

To get the decorative edge, place two of the three thirds against the wavy line on the board and score as shown. Cut away the section above and including the embossed line and fold the card in a zigzag. You can now decorate the three forward facing panels however you want!

Just popping in to catch up

2009-02-18T00:31:00.001-08:00

Hi all.
Sorry I've nothing creative to share just yet- unfortunately everything I'm working on at the moment has to be kept under wraps until march 7th, when Crafters Companion release some new items on Create & Craft as the pick of the day. There's some lovely new products- not normally to my taste I must admit, but I'm enjoying making the samples immensly. I'll post some cards on the launch day. I've also been given a little over a week to use these same products in a 2 page spread in Making Cards magazine. Now, short deadlines usually push me to make some really great creations, but this time, my mind is blank!! Maybe it is because of half term, perhaps I have too many ideas all jostling for a space!!! Anyhoo, I'd better go & get ready to face the day- my son has a friend coming to play and I'm still in my dressing gown (I suppose half term hols are good for some things!!!!!)
Have a great day!!
xx
P.S, I must say a big HI!!! to Caroline, who has found me via my blog. We met several years ago through crafting and keep 'bumping into' each other at various crafty events!! Lovely to be in touch with you!

My first blog award!

2009-02-10T13:34:00.001-08:00

I was kindly awarded this blog by me friend Susie at Sassy Designs By Susie. Thanks, Susie, I think I've just about worked out how to add it to my blog! I'll be passing it on to some others when I've worked out how!!

Another Boo card

2009-02-09T13:46:00.000-08:00

In December, my cousin and her new husband spent a few days with us, over from germany on a whistle stop visiting trip. Apart from her parents, my aunt & uncle, the rest of her mums' side of the family are in the UK. I was a bit suprised that she was very concerned about letting my pet cats & dogs on her lap, as she had always been very keen on animals. I ought to have guessed really... she has just phoned me to tell me that the is 15 weeks pregnant! She only found out days before her stay and didn't want to tell anyone at that time. I've made a card to congratulate her on the good news. I won't officially be an auntie, but I'd like to be thought of as one. I think I'd make a good aunt.... a bit mad & always carrying chocolate!!!!

Meet Boo bear!

2009-02-09T05:21:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday everyone!

I am sitting in my craft room having a play with some new items I bought at the Hobbycraft show that I went to in Brighton yesterday. I had the company of a lovely and talented crafter called Sally and her daughter, (who is 10 and a real treasure!). On one stand, I found these lovely slim dies by Go Kreate, which have been designed in the U.K. These lovely little bears and their accessories are available from http://www.clickoncrafts.co.uk/ . They are the same thickness as Quickutz, so if you have a QK revolution, they'll work fine. I have been using my Big Shot with the thick white plate that comes with it, the two clear cutting mats, plus a Wizard spacer plate to make it the correct thickness. The first card I've made is die number 110032 called Boo 'For You'. These little bears really don't need an awful lot of extra embellishments on the card to look stunning. I have used some taupe Bazzill card, some scraps of pearlescent card for the balloons and a black Sharpie pen for the string to the balloons. I've tinted around the edges of the bear with some Tim Holtz distress ink in walnut colour and some Cut'n'Dry foam to give the shape some depth, and I've added some white highlights with an opaque white gel pen.

Cute huh??

Paper bag album

2009-02-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

Some time ago, I started making paper bag albums to sell. The pages are full of pull-outs & tags so that someone can slot in all of their photos and memorabillia. I have tremendous fun making these little books- here is the latest album.

Cat card

2009-02-05T04:18:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd share this card with you. I made it a while ago and forgot about it! The acetate window on the front of the card has been made by making a 3D 'Envelobox' using the Crafters Companion Enveloper. (It's a useful bit of kit that I keep going back to regularly). I placed the patterned paper inside the envelope to make the background and curtains. Once this was secured to the front of the card, I embellished it with tons of flowers and a cute Sizzix cat. The butterfly with the greeting printed on it is from Craftwork Cards.

Getting ready to craft....

2009-02-05T04:15:00.001-08:00

Ok, I have a few hours to myself now that my son is in school and I've had my dentists appointment this morning (OUCH!).

To comfort myself and prepare for the creative juices to take hold, I've started gathering my essentials together....

2009-01-25T01:09:00.000-08:00

Happy sunday to all!

I'm still getting to grips with the how to's of blogging, so my first few posts probably won't get anyone excited. I thought I'd show you all this picture of my Abyssinian cat- Charlie. At the time I was trying to take some photos of a craft project for a magazine. He is just one and we rescued him last autumn. I have started looking for another one, as he is the most wonderful cat I have ever owned, but it turns out they cost about £450!! I think I'll need to save up a bit first!!

I've arrived!!

2009-01-15T12:53:00.000-08:00

Ok, it's going to be baby steps for quite a while... but I've entered the world of the blogger!! I'm quite sure you don't want to know all the details, but in brief I'm a committed papercraft addict. There. I've said it. This is the first step to recovery.... except I don't want to recover! They say the family of an addict suffer more than the person with the habit- I'm sure my husband would agree (my son is at school during the day, so he doesn't know the extent of my addiction).. but short of the total collapse of my craft room, there's nothing that can stop me crafting!! I'm into cards mainly. Scrapbooking doesn't really float my boat, although I do dabble. I design advertising and display samples for a craft company, sometimes freelance for a magazine, I've just become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and generally make a full time job of 'cutting & sticking for grown-ups' as my husband puts it. When I've had chance to get to grips with this blog malarkey (in other words, had a lie down in a darkened room..) I'll try to share something creative with you all!
TTFN
x