Moonlight across the lake

Good Morning Peeps. Still no sign of the sun here is the Fens, but this morning it's really misty so I am hoping that might clear away into a nice day, we can but hope.

You seemed to like my inkyness yesterday and thank you so much for your very kind comment, so thought I would share another, this time a moonlight scene across the lake. As usual a mixture of stamps from Art Impressions, Stampscapes and the little boat is from a Stamp Addicts sheet which we used  a few months back for one of the Create and Craft TV shows. I tried to create some reflection in the water by sponging and reverse stamping.

I used the trusty Speedball brayer onto gloss cardstock and Adirondack inks cloud blue, denim and black. I usually leave these type of cards fairly simple, but I decided to add a little lace and ribbon to this one to give a softer feel.

I am entering this into this months Create a Scene challenge who want to see 'Moonlight'

Have a good Thursday everyone.

A pretty little box and tutorial

Good Morning one and all, I thought I would share a little box I made following the inspirational idea of Maria Simms demonstration on C&C a few days ago when as well as lots of lovely card, she made a very pretty box which I just has to try.

Maria was using Spellbinders and took one of them as her template to create a five sided box, but as I don't have any that shape I used my scoreboard...................just a cheap and cheerful one, not one of these fancy ones that have instructions for all sorts................to create a eight sided box as I thought this shape would be easier to work with. As well as Spellbinders to decorate I cut some little panels with Ruth's new Lily of the Valley Image at A Passion for Stamps.

And I thought I would get a step ahead of you before I get the inevitable questions about sizes etc., and do a little tutorial on how I made my version of Maria's box.

Here's what I used:

1 sheet A3 cardstock  (but you could use all A4 and join the lengths for the sides)

1 sheets A4 cardstock

Black cardstock to decorate
Dries clear glue

I cut two lengths  from the A3 sheet to 9cm x 34cm. I scored one at 4cm intervals to create 8 panels plus a 2" one at the end to fix into a octagon shape. I did exactly the same for the bottom of the box, but scored the sections a fraction smaller to allow the lid to fit over.

I used the assembled shapes as a template to cut two pieces slightly smaller than the assembled boxes to use as inner bases to give the box more rigidity and two further pieces 1cm larger to act as the top and base of my box.

I snipped a 1cm cut into each scored edge on one end of both pieces, then folded the little flaps inwards and glued the smaller pieces inside both pieces onto the flaps.

Next the top and bottom larger pieces can be glued into place.

You are now ready to decorate you box as you like.

I used Spellbinder Parisien and Fleur de Lis accents and the flowers mentioned above. And you can of course adjust the box to other sizes, I have done a second one cutting the two main section to 11cm high.

You now have an assembled box to 

I hope all of this makes sense and do let me know how you get on as I would love to see your boxes. Also thanks to Maria for the inspiration.

Brayering into Autumn

When you check out the new Stamp Addicts stamp sheets here which will be featured on the new Create and Craft TV programme at 10am and 1pm on Friday 28th October, it will come as no surprise that I have totally enjoyed playing with them.

These two cards have been made using the Trees and On the Water sets, plus I have used a few elements such as the sheep from the Scenery sets feature earlier in the year but still available to buy on Stamp Addicts web site.

For both cards I used the good old Speedball Brayer and Adirondack dye inks onto glossy cardstock and the fence is just drawn in with a fine nib permanent pen. The poem on the top card was sourced on the Internet and is the first verse of 'Autumn' by Elizabeth Barrett Browning which sums up the season beautifully.

Don't forget............

...............Stamp Addicts latest programme live on Create and Craft today at 10am when Sarah and Vicky will be full swing in Christmas mode.

And as I am on my hols, I am relying on Mr Blogger to get this post up and running and share two of the cards I made in readiness for today's show. The one at the top of my post was inspired by Louise and the design of the lovely Birthday card she sent me. I used the Stamp Addicts Playful Penguins set, Bo Bunny DP and my still favorite new toy, TH hinge die, plus Copics for the bit of colouring.

My second share uses the Stamp Addicts Polar Bear stamp set, this is the larger of the two bears and my second favorite toy on the moment, Fleur de Lis Nesties. I'm not altogether sure of the make of DP, possibly My Minds Eye, it's the reverse of one from last Christmas.

Christmas in July

Morning peeps, this is where I get reliant on Mr Blogger as we head off on our holidays, so from now until 9th August it's going to be all hit and miss what appears here and when, so lets hope he's feeling in a good mood.

My shares today are samples I created for the next Stamp Addicts programme on Create and Craft on Friday 22nd July at 10am and no prizes for guessing it's all about Christmas.

The card at the top of the post is using the Stamp Addicts Snowy Village and Christmas Sentiments 1 sets and gave me the prefect opportunity to squeeze in just a little bit of brayering. As usual the Speedball brayer, Adirondack dye inks, Copics to colour the houses and liberal helpings of Judikins snow glitter.

Looks like my second card somehow managed to get a blast from the Speedball as well...........how did that happen I wonder........... and a reflected image created by running the brayer carefully over the inked image and rolling onto the gloss cardstock to achieve a faded effect......remember you need to think in reverse here so it's upside down as you look at the card. The images gliding across the frozen ice are from the Stamp Addicts Playful Penguins set and have been stamped again in the normal way above the shadow ones.

All of the stamp sheets in the show have several images on them and represent really good value for money and are perfect for all those Christmas cards I know you will be starting on any time now.

New Create and Craft TV programmes

I am calling on my agency staff again to share a few cards with you.

I do think there is a bit of improvement at this end and the physio seems to be helping oil the cogs so I hope it won't be too much longer before I can join you all properly.

I have been doing some crafting, just short bursts as and when and have been enjoying playing and creating samples with the latest set of stamps from Sarah at Stamp Addicts. These are the transport set which will be aired live on Create and Craft TV on 21st March at 11am. There is also a new Stamp Addicts programme this Saturday 26th at noon featuring the new fairy stamps, so don't forget to set your record button.

The card above uses the train from the set, there are several more images which I will share with you soon, along with the lovely Stamp Addicts Countryside sets. I stamped the image with versafine sepia and embossed with detail clear, then shaded round the image with TH broken china. The DP is October Afternoon and the frame was cut with Nesties. This is for the following challenges:

Paper Playtime - Technology (trains are on their list)

Paper Sundaes - Masculine colours

Cards for Men - Recipe

Shabby Tearoom - Buttons and bows

Bee Crafty - Tatty or Buttons

My second cards was cut on the Cricut and the scalloped circle a Marianne die. The image is Hero Arts S5049 Flower Wreath and the sentiment and frame Hero Arts CL384 Floral Frames which I coloured with Copics. The butterfly is a Cuttlebug cut and emboss folder using vellum. I only has a small piece of the floral DP............which means Jules that it's a "Snippet" just for you...............which matched really well but as there was not enough for the top section of the card I stamped a white circle with various leaf stamps using TH distress inks mustard seed and sage. This is for the following challenges:

One Stitch at a Time - Anything but square

Pollycraft - Pearls and gems

Incy Wincey - Punches and dies

Oldie but goodie - Spring is in the air

Floral Fantasy

It's Friday morning and that means a new challenge at Polkadoodles and this week Nettie has chosen the theme of Monochromatic.

As the DT have been playing with the lovely new All Around and Everywhere CD which launches on Create and Craft today so my DT card for this week is using the Floral Fantasy........how apt is that I ask you......section.

The butterflies stamped onto the border and the sentiment are from the new Meechelle and Gracie Fairy Flutterfly stamp sets and the pounced border is Martha Stewart round the page eyelet lace.

A couple of challenges and Candy news

Well it's still snowing on and off and by the look of the news it's pretty bad in some parts. Here in the Fens we had a heavy fall this morning which compounded by the hard frosts we've had almost every day on top of the Christmas snow which is still laying around, it's pretty treacherous out there. Whatever your weather, keep warm and safe.

A mixed bunch here and might be a long post so grab a coffee first. Two cards, candy news, some challenges, another tutorial and the first of some very overdue samples for Sir Stampalot using one of the new releases from Hero Arts. And for those of you on the look out for a bargain, their mega sale starts on Saturday 9th January, but if you cant wait there are already some sale goodies to be grabbed right here.

Just had a quick nose myself and there are some real bargains to be had - Alphametal Stamp Kit - £29.95 down to £9.95, Tim Holt stamp sets half price, Rubber Soul stamp sets £12.50 down to £5, Ladybug and friends £10.99 down to £6. Me thinks I need to do some serious shopping......................

Now the candy news. I have said many times that I have been overwhelmed by the friendship I have received here in blogland and the wonderful friends I have met. I realised this week that my followers are close to reaching 200.......this just astounds me it really does, so as a thank you I am offering some candy. It is a bit of a mixed bag, stamps, ribbons, cardstock, flowers, DP's and lots more, I am just waiting for a decent bit of daylight to take some photos, then I will get it posted up over the next few days.

A few people have asked me how I do the messy aceate, glue and foil technique like the one above, so working on a tutorial for that, but again need better weather before I can bag some decent photographs.

On to some challenges. My first card is for this weeks Creative Card Crew which had a theme just made for me "Distressing" and Everybody Art Challenges wants us to use our favourite colour combo. Well I love all colours so it's a hard call to decide on my favourite, but as I repeatedly drift back to autumnal colours and getting all stressed out.......some days that's not just my cards either I can tell you.........so I guess these colours must be some of my favourites.

For this card I started with Glimmer Mists pineapple, copper, gold terracotta, vanilla breeze and iridescent gold to create a background piece. I then stamped onto this with Hero Arts G3316 Harlequin, F5042 Leaf Flourish and H2365 Old French Writing using a mixture of versafine sepia, versamark and detail gold embossing powder. To add a bit more interest I sponged some brilliance gold through a piece of mesh and distressed the edges with Tim Holtz brushed corduroy. Next I stamped good old favourite Stampendous P107 Agapanthus Cluster onto a piece of acetate using versafine black and heat embossed with detail clear and the same Hero swirl down the side and embossed with gold.

After joining the acetate the the base piece with some brads, wrapped some gold cord round and mounted it onto a piece of Crate Paper DP, again distressed around the edges. Finally I added a flower, some gold gems and a journaling tag.

Tuesday Taggers (and a Stampalot sample) has the lovely theme of Black and White, always a pleasure to work with and I love the crispness of the combination. I stamped some swirls onto the card itself with Inkadinkado 97632 then stamped one of my new Hero stamps CG165 Silhouette Bells onto white linen cardstock using versafine black and embossed with detail clear. I cut nested mounts on Cricut Storybook and cut a central oval with nesties through the Big Shot Express. More roses I'm afraid, this time with black vellum, white pearls for stamens and some punched leaves.

My rose tutorial can be found here for anyone who fancies a go at making them, believe me they are very simple and much cheaper than the commercially produced ones.........plus you can make them from your DP's so you get an exact colour match.

ABC challenge

Hope you are all keeping warm in this freezing cold weather. It looks lovely but not so good for those of us that need to go to mundane places like work and school.......who have just e.mail parents to say they were closing early again today so guess there must be more snow on the way........ so another trip to make.

I have just the one card to share with you which is for this weeks ABC challenge and the theme 'L for layering' so the perfect opportunity to share one of my sample cards for the Create and Craft programme at 11am on Sunday 10th January when the brand new Polkadoodle Love, Marriage and More CD will be launched.

The designs on this CD are just stunning and I really enjoyed playing with it and creating my sample cards. This card uses papers from the Boundless Love collection. I printed off a second sheet on pink paper to give me some pink flowers which I cut out and decoupaged (hopefully this counts as layering), some punched leaves and pearls added, some black lace, gems and a border punched with Fiskars threading water.

A few Christmas Cards

A quick share in my lunch break of some really quick and easy Christmas cards I made the other evening. Not had a lot of time to make very much for sharing this week as I am working flat out on samples for a new Stamp Addicts programme on Create and Craft later this month.......all top secret at the moment but I will share with you as soon as I can.......really exciting stuff this time and some really yummy products and techniques........but that's as much as I can say right now.


All of the cards are made using my K & Co Winter Wonderland 12x12 pad - these ones really are so 'strokeable' with lots of glitter and foiling which unfortunately do not show up too well on my pictures.

The layout is very similar to the white on white card I did for this week Penny Black challenge and thought I would try it out with some colour and really quite like to finished article.

The square and circle panels have all been run through the Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots folder and cut with Nesties and the flowers which I hope look a bit like Christmas roses have been made with various punches. The swirly branch has been cut on Cricut Joys of the Season and the sentiments are a variety of different stamps.

Creat and Craft TV reminder

Morning folks - well not actually blogging this early, a scheduled post from last night just to remind you that the new Stamp Addicts live show will be on Create and Craft today at noon. And anotert quick share of one of my cards - product details in previous posts this week.

Stamp Addicts sneak peek

I am back with another sneak peek of some of the samples coming up on tomorrows Stamp Addicts show on Create and Craft TV. This is a brand new show and is sure to be packed with inspiration, so don't forget to set your TV to record.

The first card is again using this super background stamp (details in yesterday post) stamped with versafine and embossed with detail white onto black cardstock. The card itself has been randomly stamped with versafine and embossed with detail clear using the same Judikins cube (as yesterday post). The main image is Judikins 2776G Aiko. I have added a black tassel - these are coming up in the show as well.

The second card uses JudiKins 3462E China Girl which I have also used to create the strip down the card. The background DP is one of the lovely glitters ones from My Minds Eye. The little sentiment is A Stamp in the Hand, but no code on it I am afraid, but sure the girls at Stamp Addicts will know which one as it will be in the show.

Stamp Addicts new show

As promised some more news and sneak peeks of some of the goodies coming up on the Stamp Addicts new show which is going out live at 12 noon on Wednesday 14th October. Being on their DT I was treated to some super new JudiKins stamps to create samples and as you will see there is an Oriental theme going on. Here I am sharing two of the cards I made, you can also see more on Sarah's blog The Purple Zone, where she also has some candy on offer.

For my first card I created my own background paper by repeat stamping JudiKins Japanese Fabric Cube 6734I and Brilliance Olive and Red ink pads. The three butterflies were stamped with Stayzon on to shrink plastic and coloured with the same two brilliance inks after shrinking. The little Japanese girl is JudiKins 3467E Dancing Girl, coloured with Promarkers and the mats cut with Nesties through the Bug.

My second card has a brayered background using Tim Holtz Broken China and Lipstick Red onto gloss cardstock, with a bit of paper tearing to create the hills and clouds. The main image is JudiKins 2815H and the writing down the side is just a section of JudiKins 2201J - this is a massive stamp and fantastic for creating an entire background. I added some foiling to the bonsai to add some shine and interest.

Two cards, two challenges

I usually do a separate post for each card, but time being a bit at a premium and with several posts to let loose early next week for an new Stamp Addicts Create and Craft show on Wednesday 14th , I am including two here for two different challenges.

The first is for this weeks Friday Sketchers following Beatrix's sketch. I have created a moonlit background by masking the moon then brayering with Big and Juicy Waterfall. I have absolutely no idea of the origin of the image which I think is a Venetian gondola.......might be on the river Cam for all I know, ther is enough of them there, but Venice is far more romantic a notion. The overhanging leaves are Art Impression F2055. The DP os from my stash as is the butterfly and gems. Not a lot more to tell you really, quite a quick and simple card. Mats were cut using Nesties run through the Bug.

The second card is for this weeks Stamping for the Weekend where there is a colour theme of Orange, Brown and Leaf Green, nice combination. The DP is My Minds Eye and the image stamped onto the reverse of the DP is Magenta 42022K simply stamped with Versfine sepia and embossed with detail clear. I stamped the leaf and dragonfly again and decoupaged them. I made two two paper roses from the same DP and added some cord and pearls. The leaf across the bottom corner is from Inkadinkado 98396.

Stamp Addicts new Christmas show

A quick post this evening to share another of my cards for the new Stamp Addicts show which you will be able to see live on Ideal World/Create and Craft/Freeview 36 at 11am on Thursday 30th July. The show is a Christmas one and will feature some fab stamps from JidiKins.

Same snowman JudiKins 3084H which I used on the cards I showed a few days ago, but this time masked so now we have Mr and Mrs Snowman in their pink and blue scarves which were coloured with Marvy pens. It's snowing by the magic og Judikins snow white glitter ........ can't recommend this enough, it really is brilliant and I also used it on the bottom using a heavy dose of Art Institute dries clear glue so as to achieve a bit more dimension. I have simple matted the image onto some dark blue glitter paper.

Create & Craft sneak peek & Cupcake challenge

As I'm not very productive on the cardmaking side of things at the mo, thought I would share a couple of DT samples for next weeks new Stamp Addicts Christmas Programme ........ 30th July, don't forget to put your TV on to record. As this is the first airing of these cards I am using the lilac and acetate card at the top of this post for this weeks Cupcake Challenge where the theme is Christmas Cards.

All stamps used are Judikins and will be available from Create and Craft and of course Stamp Addicts........ hopefully I won't get shot for saying this, but I believe they may even be available from them direct now.

Have to be honest here and say I made these cards 2/3 weeks ago and shipped them off to them so having trouble remembering from my photos exactly what I did, but these are pretty straightforward so hopefully no misinformation. On the first one I stamped 3073 onto heat resistant acetate with versamark and embossed with detail silver. The snowman is 3084H stamped onto nesties cut on the bug, coloured with Marvy pens and placed on the inside of the card so he shows through the snowflakes.

The second card uses the same happy snowman, this time stamped simply with black versafine and embossed with detail clear, coloured with Marvy pens (was still waiting for my Promarkers then) and glittered with JudiKins snow white glitter - this really is brilliant for snowy scenes, it's larger granules than regular glitter and really does do a great 'snow' job. DP is from stash and the edges were done with Firkars threading water.

Another Stamp Addicts sneak peek

Well, it's only just over a week until the new Stamp Addicts Christmas programme - 30th July on Create and Craft, Ideal World and the new Freeview channel 36.

Here's another peek at one of my sample cards for the programme. This one is using the Judikins bolio stamp - just a section of it - as the main image, stamped and embossed with versafine black and clear powder. Coloured in with Marvy pens. The semi circles are cut with nesties on the bug and I also stamped Judinkins snowflake v3073D on the base card with versamark and embossed with iridescent.

Stamp Addicts live on C&C

Just a reminder that Sarah and Vicky from Stamp Addicts will be live on Create and Craft and Ideal World at 11am this Thursday - 18th June, so don't forget to tune in or set to record to see the "Best Sellers".

I hear their first retreat at the weekend went really well and everyone went home exhausted after a jam packed crafty weekend, but full of new ideas and inspiration. These are two of the cards I created for the retreat using JudiKins Four Leaves 28741 and Snowflake 2780F, the orange one is using brayering onto a gloss cardstock for the background and the second card stamped and embossed with versafine sepia and detail clear, then painted with Twinking H2o's.

I'll be back later with some challenge work ........ well that's the plan anyway, have to see how the afternoon pans out and if Mr Mojo makes an appearance.

Rosie Dees Challenge

Good morning everyone, the sun continues to shine and the garden is a huge drawm, but decided it's time I got down to some serious work ........ you can have too much of a good thing. My first project is for Rosie Dees challenge which I only found the other day and liked their take on using different techniques. This week is Triple Embossing, a technique I really like and often use, especially at demos as it always gives that wow factor.

Here I have started with three layers of UTEE, then a coat of gold, yellow and sapphire and stamped into it using Stayzon black and Hobby Art SC1732E, a lovely weeping willow and it's first outing ......... yes, it was one of those still in my box of stash picked from my last crafting sortie. When I use UTEE I like to keep the rest of the card fairly simple to allow the beauty of the enamelled piece to show through, so I have added a simple greeting using Art Impression G3130, one of those used for samples on Sir Stampalots Scenic Watercolours C&C programme. The corner elements are cut on the cuttlebug using nesties and I added swirl embellies which are gold, lightly rubbed over with Stayzon black.

A Spoonfull of Sugar 52

A Spoonful of Sugar challenge this week has the theme "Celebration - any celebration will do".

My card could be a wedding or special anniversary using Art Impression J3398, a lovely greeting which was a special commission by Sir Stampalot for one of their Create and Craft TV shows, which incidentally is scheduled to screen again at 4pm on Thursday (21st May). This card is not dissimilar to one of those I created for that show, although I've had to improvise with the flowers as the cuttlebug folder I used then went walkabout at class and never found it's way back to my basket !!

The centre element has been run through the cuttlebug using Swiss dots at either end and scrolls added using one of the the fancy corners. The flowers and leaves are cut from Hero LP140, which I stamped onto vellum with veramark and detail gold embossing powder.