Text, Dies & Double-Sided Tape

Wooden Shelving Units for sale

2011-07-01T11:25:00.002+01:00

I have approximately 8 new small wooden shelving units suitable for ink, glitter, embossing powders, punches etc. for sale surplus to requirements.

They have 6 shelves and measure 22 1/2" high x 3 5/8" deep x 12" wide. The shelves are pretty tightly fitted into grooves but I think they can be removed.

They are £19.99 each and can be collected from Wilmslow, Cheshire or I can courier one for £6 or two for £10 to mainland UK.

The ones being sold are new and unused.

If you are interested I accept paypal payment

Chris :-)

Online SLR camera simulator

2011-06-17T14:05:00.000+01:00

One of the regular blogs I follow posted a really cool link to a camera simulator where you can practice using an SLR camera, adjust lighting, ISO, aperture, shutter speed, and distance settings to see what happens to your photos. Try it here and let me know what you think!

SU Regional Training Event - Leeds 5 March 2011

2011-03-05T19:14:00.004Z

Just back from the great SU Training event in Leeds with a lovely stash of swaps which I intend to pour over this evening.

My own swap was a punched lily which uses the oval punch, inks, and cardstock and is quite simple if not time consuming to make 50 swaps!

The recipe is:

Yellow Lily: Daffodil Delight and Wild Wasabi cardstock, certainly celery ink Stargazer Lily: Whisper White and Rose Red cardstock, Rose Red ink
Tiger Lily: Tangerine Tango cardstock, Melon Mambo ink

Score your cardstock approx every half inch, then using oval punch, punch just less than a half oval across the folded edge to form an elongated petal. You will need 7 petals per lily.

Using a sponge run ink along the crease down the centre of each petal and at one of the pointed ends of each petal. To get the speckles I used diferent techniques, some use the side of a pokey tool pressed against my chocolate chip inkpad to apply the speckles, on others I used a black journaling marker.

Next run a bone folder along each petal to get some shape to the petal and then glue the petals by overlapping them. I'll post some more pictures tomorrow of the different stages which might make this a bit clearer. For the stamen I used a 3" strip of So Saffron cardstock folded in half, with the open edges inked in soft suede and then think strips cut not quite to the fold line. I used a small section of the strip and rolled the folded end between my fingers to get a nice round end and with a blob of Tombow in the centre I set the stamen in and left to dry.

Will share some of the beautiful swaps I received soon. xx

I had to post this

2011-02-25T16:29:00.002Z

.... link to a blog I just read. This is just for you Jane cos I know you will love it - clink the link
;-)

Stampin' Up Colour Combo Generator

2011-02-25T15:52:00.005Z

The Stampin Up range has such fantastic new colours and unfortunately I don't yet have all the inks and cardstock in all the colours. I'm hoping to build up my stash gradually but after recently placing my second order and qualifying for a fantastic 30% discount I couldn't resist adding a few ink pads. I think the Brights is my current favourite collection so I'm working towards getting all the inks in that range although part of me wonders why I didnt just buy the ink spots (ie the full set of the smaller pads). Anyway that got me thinking about colour combinations and what are my faves. I think at the moment I really like the Rose Red with Basic Grey and Very Vanilla, maybe with a bit of crumb cake cardstock thrown in for good measure!

Whilst googling this subject, I stumbled upon this amazing tool on Samantha Strachan's blog which randomly generates colour combos. How cool is this!? I don't think I'm a natural colour combiner so I take all the help I can get.

What are your favourite SU colour combos??

Just loving that Crumb Cake

2011-02-16T20:26:00.005Z

Today I'm posting another card, this time a birthday card using my new Stampin' Up! Perfect Punches Stamp. Shame I've not got the Large Oval punch yet so you can probably tell I've cut it by hand. Not a good look! Never mind its Sale-a-Bration time so its the perfect opportunity to add that to the order I'm going to place before the end of February. I've prepared an order and so far I've qualified for three free stamp sets from the catalogue plus £15 to spend on anything I want and a Level 1 free Hostess Stamp Set.
And don't look too closely at the flower shape - that's another punch I need. It's been out of stock for a little while but I noticed its back in stock and orderable today. It's one of my personal faves, I've got the stamp but not the punch so its another must have!

Today's recipe
Stamp sets: Tiny Tag, Perfect Punch, Flower for You
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Real Red
Cardstock: Real Red, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
Punches: Scallop Trim Border, Oval Extra Large, Fancy Flower Extra Large (if only I had them)
Other: Linen thread, snail adhesive, stampin dimensionals

All product orderable from the newest demonstrator on the block! Just email me. x

Chris

Valentines Card using I {Heart} Hearts

2011-02-15T22:12:00.007Z

Wanted to show you the valentine card that I created for my husband using my new Stampin Up starter kit. The recipe:

Stamps: I {Heart} Hearts, Tiny Tags
Inks: Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black
Punches: Jewellry Tag Medium, Heart Small
Cardstock: Whisper White, Real Red
Other: Basic Pearls, Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder

I hope you like it!

I've been challenged by my crafty mate Jane to start posting more so hopefully this is the first of many posts to come. Night night x

NEWS!

2011-02-03T18:39:00.002Z

I have some exciting news to share ... I've just become a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator! I've finally bitten the bullet and signed up. I'm so excited because I love their products- all so beautifully co-ordinated, trendy images andits really easy to create something beautiful, quickly and easily. I'm really hoping my starter kit will arrive tomorrow so I can get cracking straight away.

Please contact me if you would like to hold a workshop/party. I'm based in Cheshire and can travel widely around the North West.

The current promotion is Sale-a-bration which can be seen here.

Getting ready for Christmas

2010-11-11T18:27:00.006Z

I had an idea the other day ... how nice it would be to give my female relatives a handmade Christmas gift .... after all I've invested most of my hard-earned into my craft stash so why not use it to make something lovely and totally unique for my mum, stepmum and the hubsters mum! So I decided that I would make each of them a selection of handmade cards and present them in a box, organised with dividers as a very personal gift.

I started by searching for a suitable presentation box that could be embellished and that was large enough to take some large 6" square cards as well as the usual A6 size and that I could also put dividers inside (and that didn't cost a fortune). I found a few cardboard cubes that I thought might work if I cut the lid off and made a proper box lid in the Card Factory that were cheap enough. However today I stumbled across these in a new shop in the Arndale Centre called Hub which is a new one on me

There were two styles available Born to Shop and Forever Friends and I needed three so I bought two Forever Friends and on Born to Shop. Born to Shop defines my mother in law so that's for her. They are both by DoCrafts and were £9.99. Just perfect!

All that remains is for me to find the time to fill them with creations. I'll post each of the cards that goes into them over the run up to Christmas.

Chris x

Win the entire range of Promarkers

2010-11-07T20:28:00.002Z

Well this has to be one of the best giveaways yet ... visit Enfys blog Going Buggy for a chance to win this marvellous set of Promarkers

x

Aquamarker Blog Candy

2010-11-05T14:04:00.002Z

Hey everyone,

check out Ruth's blog for some lovely Letraset Aquamarker blog candy

Chris

Swap shop

2010-10-18T22:55:00.004+01:00

Here are the lovely swaps that from the Stampin' Up ladies in Bicester ... some gorgeous ideas here ...

This was my offering .....

x

Stampin Up Swaps

2010-10-14T19:21:00.002+01:00

These are the swaps I prepared for a Stampin Up day on Sunday in Bicester. I've never done this before and am not a Stampin Up Demonstrator, but my friend Jane is and I've bought a number of things from her recently. Its such desirable stuff and I love the concept of swapping ideads that the Stampin Uppers seem always to do - offering one of your ideas and receiving something in return. In this case I've prepared 21 mini card toppers (well actually 22 because I remembered to make one for myself) and hope to get some lovely mini cards coming back at me.

Anyway here's the recipe for my simple card topper

Whisper White cardstock, Basic Black cardstock, Dot Dot Dot stamp, Whisper White ink, Basic Black ink, Linen Thread, Snail Adhesive, Stampin' Dimensionals, black pen oh and, of course, their fabulous new Ornament Extra-Large punch!

Incidentally if anyone wants to view the catalogue or order Stampin' Up stuff you can visit Jane's site by clicking here.
x

Blog Candy from Scrapology

2010-09-26T18:01:00.001+01:00

Scrapology are offering some fantastic blog candy. To be in with a chance to win it visit them here. Good luck x ;0)

Promarker Blog Candy from A Passion For Cards

2010-09-22T23:12:00.002+01:00

There's another super set of Promarkers being offered by A Passion for Cards. Visit them here for your chance to win.

Bon chance!

Lothian Crafts Promarker & Tilda Blog Candy

2010-09-22T23:01:00.002+01:00

Visit Lothian Crafts Blog for great Promarker and Tilda Blog Candy.
Click here to go there.

Good luck!

Norman's Italian Roadtrip

2010-05-26T21:57:00.006+01:00

Here's the product of a lovely evening spent with my bezzie Dawn, who has arranged a surprise trip for her fella for a BIG birthday ...

This little book is made from 6 pale blue DL envelopes, each with both of the short edges trimmed off and then creased 9cm from one edge. Each envelope then glued to another and the pages decorated with papers and tags (cut from the George cartridge on the Cricut machine), ribbons, photos etc.

Incidentally, does anyone know where I can get a Cricut machine fixed in the UK? my screen's bust so although the machine still works the screen does not. As you can imagine that means lots of trial and error to get the size you want ... and hence lots of paper being scrapped!

Promarker Blog Candy

2010-04-21T13:23:00.001+01:00

Check out Jak Heath's blog for some fabby dabby Promarker blog candy!

http://www.jakheath.com/2010/04/promarker-blog-candy.htm

Long time no see ....

2010-03-30T19:18:00.003+01:00

well hello again ! worst blogger in the world here. I bought a great book from Amazon last week and Gary took me to Lakeland and treated me to a great piping set and so I could make these little beauties.

I'm so chuffed with my first attempt at piping and decorating. As there's only the two of us at home there was no way we'd eat all these ourselves, so they ended up going to work with me and were shared around the office today. Yum. x

Craftwork Cards

2009-08-21T22:55:00.007+01:00

Here are some of the lovely things I made on the Craftwork Cards workshops recently.

Shoe-box swap night

2009-08-21T22:24:00.005+01:00

oooooooo what fun we had round at Janes the other night .... she hosted a shoe box swap night. Don't ask me why its called a shoe box swap cos its got nothing to do with shoes at all but rather the idea is each guest designs a papercraft project then prepares the a kit for each of the other guests. In our case there were five of us .... all were Stampin! Up demos except moi. Anyway what happens each 'shoe box' goes around the room and the person next in line takes their kit, makes the project and passes it on, so at any one time each person is making something different! And this is what we made...

This was Margaret's card project which I loved

This Debbies lovely post-it note holder project

This my 3" x 3" notelet project

This Janette's Christmas Card project

And this lovely chocolate orange gift bag from Jane

What a great evening

x

Craft Sale, Morley Green, Cheshire Sunday 19th July

2009-07-13T21:35:00.002+01:00

Just a little bit of forewarning to those of you in Cheshire and Greater Manchester - there's going to be a craft swap/sale/fair at Morley Green Club (close to Wilmslow) on Sunday 19th July from 12 til 4. There'll be some great bargains to be had! Tea/coffee/cakes for sale. Watch this space for further info! Mail me if you have any questions.

Chris x

Hello ladies

2009-05-14T10:55:00.001+01:00

.... in the Aga shop in Helensburgh!

2009-05-03T18:03:00.004+01:00

Samuel Taylor Brighouse - Raspberry Ripple Demo

Here are some of the samples I left when I demoed at Samuel Taylor recently. Photos are pretty crabby having been taken on my phone ...

If you fancy having a go at making a flower like this here's a link to where I found it

http://www.making-mini-scrapbooks.com/paperflowers.html

Picture on the left is a little mini album but the photo is so poor you can't really tell.

All made with K&Co Wild Raspberry papers and embellies supplied by Bramwells.

Am going to try to find some new pictures of my room to post so you can see how it has evolved since we first did it.

Lol x

My room

2009-04-20T22:36:00.004+01:00

I remember way back posting some piccies of my then craft room. Well we got busy last year and converted our outhouse to become my new den ... thought I would share some glimpses of how it was when it was first completed. I've filled some of those empty looking spaces since these were taken and I'll post some more up-to-date pictures soon. I'm a bit of a kleptomaniac and struggle to chuck things out. I think I'll end up like Mr. Trebus, that polish bloke that had to climb over junk to get into his house! lol xx Anyway Hope you like it.

night night x

Guild Class Prototyes

2009-03-20T17:14:00.008Z

Spent a few hours prepping some ideas for the Guild classes. I found this idea somewhere on the internet ....

can't remember where I found it but I just loved it ... this is my take on it.

and an exploding box ... this is the hubster and I on our wedding day...

Chris x

Scrapbooking with a Twist

2009-03-18T21:52:00.003Z

I'm very excited today - Wimslow Guild have asked Jane E-C and I to teach a day workshop on scrapbooking at summer school on 9th May from 10am til 4pm. There will be two main projects - one morning - an exploding box - and one afternoon - an envelope and tag book, and at least two smaller projects squeezed in to the day. We hope that you can join us on this scrapbooking day - its the first time the Guild has held scrapbooking classes and we are hoping to start weekly classes in conjunction with the Guild from the autumn.

Chris x

Hobbycrafts NEC 13th March 2009

2009-03-13T19:38:00.004Z

ooooooohh what fun we had at the NEC today. Bumped into a couple of chums, namely Jo Channon and Joey Burdett who are fellow demonstrators for Bramwells. I spent a fortune (goes without saying really) ... thanks hubster who treated me to some spends for the show xxx

Highlights for me were Craftwork cards - treated myself to their goody bag and a few other choice bits and pieces. They have such gorgeous unique stuff, beautiful samples, everything co-ordinates perfectly. So hard to resist (so I didn't). Then a new company on me Lavinia Stamps .... stunning designs, beautifully presented, and well demonstrated.

I replenished my cardstock and envelopes and fortunately found the Every Craft a Pound man who I bought some blades from at GMEX thinking they would fit me craft knife only to find they were too big. So for £1 I managed to get the knife that they fit.

I also love Craftology who sell the most fab plasticised foil card which when stamped with clear embossing powder has a super high shine finish. Hard to describe you have to see it for yourself. Apparantly it has to be this special card to work and I watched as the demonstrator used coloured Stazon to colour the silver foil card before stamping onto it. Great effect.

And at last I found my scalloped circles Nestabilities from Once Upon a Stamp - a bargain at £16.99. I loved this stand! They were demonstrating mould making, had fab metal kits (like Ten Seconds Studio), loads of Nesties, great stamps, a brill deal on Stazon inks 5 for £20! Really really nice stuff. Had to tear myself away....

At home now and just admiring my purchases, can't wait to get cracking with them!

Chris x

Kit & Caboodle

2009-03-09T20:14:00.002Z

What a long way it is to Dalton in Furness from Wilmslow. I was up at the crack of dawn to get to demo on Saturday but it was well worth it. I had a great day with Alison and her lovely ladies. Thanks to Mabe for being gentle with me and not heckling and for Pete's whistling whilst I visited the little girls room! Don't forget to get your competition entries to Bramwells see the link here.

Chris x

Fabby day

2009-02-21T21:14:00.003Z

Just back from a great day over at Samuel Taylor in Brighouse. The lovely Ann looked after me a treat and I met lots of the regular ladies (and gents too!) who loved the triple embossing and stamping techniques we used on the chipboard. I had great fun with everyone there and it was brilliant to see the sun shining for once! x

Inchies

2009-02-20T21:04:00.005Z

Will be at Samuel Taylor's in Brighouse tomorrow doing an Inchies demo so thought I'd share some of the samples I've made for the day. Hope you like them.

Chris x

Stitches Show NEC

2009-02-14T16:09:00.010Z

I'm not going to Stitches Show at NEC this year sadly, but Bramwells sent me some of the gorgeous new K&Co papers and Inkadinkado Inchie stamps and I made these samples for the show, some scrapbook pages, some cards, some embellished notebooks. Hope you like them.

And a BoBunny album, card and mini-book (see YouTub vid below for making instructions).

As I write the hubster is in the kitchen preparing Valentine's dinner (actually he's always in the kitchen cooking something or other!). But tonight we dine in at April Cottage Bistro! He puts so much effort in, god love him. Three courses, wine, chocolates and a printed menu. Can't wait. (No wonder I've got so fat).

Hugs x

One Page Wonder Mini-Book

2009-02-13T23:34:00.001Z

Boy have I been a bad blogger .... loads of things have happened since September .... mostly boring worky type things, not much to get excited about, except perhaps fabulous Caribbean cruise, wonderful Christmas, great technique class at Art from the Heart. Yes I need to catch up slowly. Well let's get started. Just posted this on YouTube. Thought you might like to see it.

Just back

2008-09-05T21:59:00.002+01:00

Hey - we flew home from holiday this afternoon having spent 12 wonderful days in Marbella, Spain, a truly lovely part of the world, with the perfect climate, and back to the appalling weather we are having in the North West of England! What didn't even notice I was gone?

Piccies will be posted soon.
x

Wedding and wedding anniversary cards

2008-08-22T11:48:00.004+01:00

a sneak peek of a wedding card for a special friend ....

and a wedding anniversary card for someone even more special (I hope he's not reading this!) ...

Cricut Design Studio Update

2008-08-19T21:39:00.004+01:00

Yahoo!!! The CDS update is now available that not only updates the software to include the new cartridges (adds Graphically Speaking and Storybook) but also provides a firmware update for the new Create machines!! I've downloaded the update but not hooked my Create up yet. Will probably do that tomorrow and report back!

To get the update open Design Studio software, click on 'Help' and 'Check for Updates' or click on the link http://www.cricut.com/cds/update.aspx. I usually download and save the file to a location where I can then go and double click it to install. You will need to deinstall your existing version of Design Studio before you do the install (go through the Start button, All Programs, find your Design Studio icon and hit Deinstall Design Studio).

x

Just looking at the BBC website

2008-08-19T14:57:00.003+01:00

and this is what they reckon ..

BRITAIN'S OLYMPIC MEDAL TALLY
2008: 32 medals (15 gold, 9 silver, 8 bronze) - as at 1300 BST on 19 August
2004: 30 medals (9 gold, 9 silver, 12 bronze)
2000: 28 medals (11 gold, 10 silver, 7 bronze)
1996: 15 medals (1 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze)
1920: 42 medals (14 gold, 15 silver, 13 bronze)

We're sure doing well at cycling and sailing!! Just shows what lottery funding can achieve.
x

C'mon

2008-08-19T08:50:00.002+01:00

C'mon Team GB - we've just taken another gold medal (another sailing one) taking our tally to 13! Although its a brilliant amount we can't stick at the unlucky number.

Its also just worth saying, what a complete hero is Michael Phelps. He really is superhuman. In fact half man half fish. Well done to him, his name has gone down in history!

ttfn x

Get Me ...

2008-08-17T20:28:00.007+01:00

two posts in one day ... my enthusiasm knows no bounds.

Thought I'd post some of the samples I made today for the Bramwells Bugs for All Seasons demos

Think the pink one is my fave ... bit different for a Christmas card but why not?!

More of the Same

2008-08-17T13:57:00.006+01:00

Well I'm glued to the Olympics now. Its usually so disheartening to see our boys and girls losing out to the competition. But who would Adam and Eve it? As it stands right now we are third in the medals table!!! With another four gold medals and several silver and bronzes so far today we have now (according to Clarie Balding) won as many medals as we won in the whole competition last time around!

Anyway enough of that. Now to more serious things. You may notice I've added a gadget at the side of my blog called 'My Downloads'. You'll be able to click on the links to download project sheets for various card projects including:

Diamond Fold Card

Teabag Fold Christmas Tree

and Criss Cross Card

Chris x

I take it all back

2008-08-16T19:22:00.004+01:00

What! After a day like today at the Olympics there's nothing more for it than to eat my words. Four Golds, One Silver and Four Bronzes!! Success beyond all expectations. Go Team GB!

I treated myself to this for my Pandora bracelet today with my birthday money

and got my SIL Vicks this one which I think is really priddy

Off to a party at Bridgies now. Night night god bless.

The other type of 'One of Those Days'

2008-08-14T11:19:00.005+01:00

We had the other type of one of those days yesterday when DH decided to try to pay some money to his credit card online and having forgotton his inside leg measurement, his shoe size and his mother's great aunt Violet's maiden name, managed to get his credit card locked.

So unable to make the payment and, already late leaving for an important business meeting 5 hours from home, proceeded to a v v quick pitstop visit to the local branch of the bank in question. So he parks up in the pub car park opposite (which was closed) and legged it across the road to the branch to pay the money in.

The local sad *@&!£"^ (expletives deleted) car clamper, who obviously managed to tear himself away from his Take a Break magazine/picking his nose/listening to the air traffic controllers at Manchester Airport on his CB, had obviously spotted DH exiting the car park at speed. This (expletive deleted) must have moved faster than he ever had done is his life before and had DHs car clamped in the blink of an eye. Obviously proud of himself he then waited for DH to return within five minutes and demanded £90 to release him.

Take this as a warning all ye who endeavour to go about their innocent daily business in our home town, Dick Turpin is alive and kicking.

Actually highway blinkin robbery doesn't even begin to cover it.

One of those days

2008-08-10T21:16:00.010+01:00

We've had one of those days today. Those days when you start out by looking for something in the garage and end up emptying the every shelf and cupboard, sweeping, cleaning and sorting out stuff for the charity shop. DH's car boot is now full of stuff ready to be dropped off at Cancer Research tomorrow and the garage is fabby wabby doodah at least for now. Within a month we won't be able to find a thing.

I have one of those husbands (not that I'm complaining darling) that periodically clears out things that he thinks are useless (mostly my things) from the house and into the garage. So today I found a carrier bag full of kitchen utensils that mostly I'd forgotton I ever had. Fortunately I found a critical part of my Magimix that he'd put in there that I had scoured high and low for in the kitchen yesterday. It looks like one of those things that you have in a messy drawer that no-one has any idea what its for but without it all the spinny blady things in the Magimix won't fit. Anyway mystery solved but its too late now!

So feeling very satisfied with a job well done I went to my little room and made these with my lovely Inkadinkado stamps ....

This one is Santa (98684LL) and Seasons Greetings (97343K)

This one is Christmas Tree (97346O)

This is Snowman (97347LL) and Merry Christmas (97342MM)

I had fun with Jones Tones Shiny Clear glitter and Glossy Accents on most! Seems mad doing Christmas cards in the August sunshine (which we had today!) but a papercrafters work is never done. Ha!

Cheerio til later x

New Inkadinkado Christmas stamps

2008-08-09T17:31:00.006+01:00

I love the sketch stamps that Inkadinkado produce. They have such exquisite detail and are fabulous quality with deeply etched images ... and I particularly love their sentiments which are the finest of scripts and stamp perfectly every time. This one is called English Robin and is number
97894O ...

Sorry the image is a little blurred. I got a new lens for my camera for my birthday and I have no clue how to use it yet!

Over and out.

Birthday Girl

2008-08-09T16:17:00.004+01:00

What a lucky girl I am. It was my birthday on Wednesday and my luverly hubberly bought me a couple more charms for my Pandora bracelet ... the ball shaped one with the mother of pearl hearts inlaid in it (soooo scrummylicious) and the ridged clip towards the left which I needed to break up the sections. Then my brother and sister in law turned up with another .... the lovely ribbed one on the right with my birthstone (peridot). So I've got six now and I'm completely hooked!

We're having a bit of a do tonight to celebrate our birthday week so there's half a hundred weight of chilli festering on the cooker, two pizzas the size of dustbin lids, and enough garlic bread to feed a delegation of vampire hunters!

I saw a little bit of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics yesterday. What a masterpiece it was, surely the best so far. Wish I had the time to watch the whole thing and regretting now not recording it. We'll probably come back with a pathetic number of medals but it won't stop us from wholeheartedly supporting our boys and girls out there! Come on Great Britain!!!! whoooohooooo!!

Roger and out x

A cuttle more ....

2008-08-08T18:51:00.004+01:00

I found this lovely silver card in The Paper Mill Shop and unlike mirri card it doesn't show fingerprints and embosses beautifully. I embellished the embossed snowflakes with some gems and stamped my Merry Christmas message in silver on black, decorating this with silver ribbon and silver gems, then mounted this with foam pads

This is another of the combo sets called Everyday Greetings (371164). I used watercolour pencils on the flowers and stems and chalks on the borders. I also used one of my favourites - Glossy Accents on some of the petals to give a glossy depth to them. Just thinking I might play around with a sentiment for this one. I also used some of the lovely new embossed border sets on this one. More to come. Thanks for visiting!

Going out now on a girly cocktail evening - sounds dangerous!

lol xxx

Happy Birthday Honey

2008-08-04T08:57:00.002+01:00

It's Gary's birthday today, so happy birthday honey!!

Animations provided by MySpaceAnimations.com

Shhhhh

2008-08-03T18:38:00.005+01:00

I'm posting this hoping that my sister-in-law won't see it until at least after her birthday next week! I found some yummy khaki green card in The Paper Mill Shop when I was there last week. I inked the inside of my Cuttlebug folder (Friends Forever Combo die and folder) with Colorbox Cream White Pigment Ink and ran it through the Cuttlebug. I then used a Sakura white glaze pen to flood fill the embossed image with white ink, added Hero Arts gemstones in varying sizes, stamped my sentiment with a khaki green ink and added a tiny bow. The whole thing was mounted onto a dark green and then applied to a pearlised green tent fold base card. I like the effect of the cream and khaki green colours.

I also made a second variation, slightly different as I didn't use gems on this one and added it to a smaller card. The sentiment is taken from the co-ordinating die, it was inked in khaki green pigment ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.

Hope you like them!
Cheerio for now
x

Cuttlebug newbies

2008-07-27T20:41:00.008+01:00

Been having fun playing with the new Cuttlebug embossing folders and made these

I had a lovely day yesterday over at the Paper Mill Shop in Ellesemere Port, where plenty of folks turned out to see the new Cricut Create, Jukebox, Design Studio etc. Its a tough demo to do as there's so much to show on the machine, the new Cricut Colour Ink Pens, the new Solutions Cartridges (I was using Indie Art, Home Accents, Soccer, and Wedding). So it's hard to go into any depth with Design Studio too. Hopefully we covered a bit of everything. Save to say the Jukebox is a very popular puchase as its great for all those who already own the baby Cricut or Expression to hold and store their cartridges and even better for those with Design Studio who now don't have to swap over cartridges by hand.

Off to watch Ewen McGregor on his round the world bike ride now.

ttfn Chris x

OMG - I just found this...

2008-07-22T20:59:00.001+01:00

the answer to my dreams .... http://craftystorage.blogspot.com/
Thank you Paula. You've done all the hard work and research, all I have to do is read your blog.

Studio Design

2008-07-21T22:36:00.003+01:00

I've spent this evening scouring other people's blogs for ideas about organising my work space. What wonderful rooms some lucky people have! I mean look at this .... this is Donna Downey's studio. How inspiring (no pun intended) it must be to have all of this space and all organised so wonderfully. I'm chuffed to see that Donna uploaded a few piccies of this room in a messy state too.

If anybody reading has piccies of workspace organisation ideas please mail me. Am trying to plan a new space and in need of help!

Roger and out for tonight

x

Snow White and the Six Dwarfs

2008-07-19T20:34:00.005+01:00

Just back from a great day showing the Cricut Create, Jukebox and Design Studio over at Craft Land on Mostyn Street Llandudno. What a superb place, huge and with some great bargains. Thanks to Johnny and Ron for their warm hospitality and looking after me even though they hardly have chance to draw breath in that shop.

I was up until after midnight last night putting together these.....

I called it a day around 1am hence I took Snow White and the Six Dwarfs with me as samples today, just Dopey still to do.

These were all cut on the CREATE using the PORTRAIT and FIT TO PAGE FEATURE to get the largest cut possible on a 6x12 mat and they all appear on the HAPPILY EVER AFTER cartridge which features characters from CINDERELLA, SNOW WHITE, MULAN and AURORA (can someone tell me who Aurora is??)

Now then where's Dopey? Oh yes he's just washing up in the kitchen.

TTFN

My gift to myself

2008-07-16T22:08:00.005+01:00

I treated myself to this today ....

and some of these to go inside ...

for my Cuttlebug dies and folders. Don't you just love it!

Just in case you were wondering why you can't find much on the 'net about the new Cricut Create, Provocraft have launched it in the UK first. How about that. We got it first!!

Preparing some projects and samples for weekend demos so not much posting tonight.

x

First Jukebox Jive Demo

2008-07-13T10:45:00.007+01:00

Just back from a wonderful day over at Embsay Mill, Skipton where we had the brand spankin new Cricut Create, featuring the brand spankin new Don Juan cartridge, and connected to the brand spankin new Jukebox, whilst with the other hand demoing the Design Studio Software on the computer.

For those that haven't already come across the Cricut machine, its a stand-alone (that is you don't need a computer), cartridge-based, personal electronic cutting system.

This new baby gives the functionality that its fantastic big brother, the Expression, gives (Rotate/Portrait, Fit to page, Auto Fill, Flip and Centre Point) but in the compact version of the original machine and with the ability to cut from 1/4" to 11 1/2" in quarter inch increments - that's a massive, mega, mind blowing 46 different sizes!! And when connected to Design Studio Software with three Jukeboxes stacked each atop the other (linking 18 cartridges directly to the machine) you really are in papercrafters, scrapbookers heaven! I mean how much excitement can one girl handle! Oh and thats before we even start talking about the pens - now rather than just cutting shapes you can draw too!! and draw and then cut! Fwwwworrr!

Just going for a bit of a lie down.

And for Judith with whom I spent ages trying to work out how to draw a shadow around a shape - the answer is Design Studio! Don't know why it didn't come to me straight away! Of course with Design Studio you can nest for instance, one shape inside another (or as many as you want), place them exactly where you want them on visual mat, swap the blade for the pen in the machine and hey ho, you're away!

Thanks to Trish, Geraldine and the staff at Embsay who looked after me wonderfully and who make the best egg and cress butties! And to my new friend who wanted to come home with me after trying to jump into my car in the car park.....

Obviously the provider for the butties!

Tara for now.

Two pocket card

2008-07-10T23:09:00.004+01:00

I've had a few requests to publish a picture of the Two Pocket Card which appears in my You Tube video. Here's one that I did for the Girlz Aloud demo programme. Very simple! Found this on the internet some time ago and unfortunately can't credit the creator as I don't remember where I found it. My You Tube video can be seen here

NNSD x

Boy I need to get organised

2008-07-09T23:40:00.012+01:00

I spent hours last night on my knees in my room trying to sort out my stash ... its the 'can't get a quart into a pint pot' problem. Basically I've either got too much stuff or the room needs to get bigger. It's rained enough recently perhaps if I sprinkle some Miracle Grow on the roof it might grow a bit overnight.

I did clear out some stuff for my niece Hannah but its still busting out all over. Its great when its all put away but as soon as I start to work and I get a few things out I run out of desk space and get frustrated

Just in case you were wondering ... this is tidy

Anyway ... I'm on to it ... I have a plan ... all will be revealed at a later date.

Now a warning ... get the buckets ready ... I'm about to heap praises upon my DH... who bought me this wee wonderful for my Pandora bracelet this week, for no good reason other than he wuvvs me a lot ...

this lovely little dickiebird is only my third charm, and joins Spot my ickle doggie

and my swirly clip that I treated myself to

I don't do proper jewellery but I love this stuff. So thanks honey you are the best hubby I ever had.

Oooh while I remember here's a close up of those gorgeous buttons Jane put on our aprons (see yesterday's piccies). I'm sure she said she bought these in Paris. Probably cost a gazillion euros.

How lucky am I these just arrived from Bramwells, brand new in from the US are the new embossing folders and combo dies/folders for the Cuttlebug and some of the Solutions Cartridges for the Cricut.

All will be being used in the new demonstration programmes coming up over the next few months. My demos are listed above, in additional I have a Papermill Event at Cheshire Oaks in July and Hobbycraft demos in September. All dates will be added shortly.

And for those that haven't seen it yet ... the Cricut Create and Jukebox. ... come and see this baby in action soon.

Sweet dreams x

Better late than never

2008-07-08T22:48:00.007+01:00

Here's a few of the piccies taken at Scrap-a-Ganza in June ... first is my pal Jane (known to some as Lisa T) ... showing off her new Donna Downey camera bag, hand delivered by the lady herself (how chuffed does she look?!)

Another of Jane "the fastest crafter in the West", in the aforementioned (earlier blog) apron - well you can see a bit of it ... much admired at Scrap-a-Ganza ... and our matching aprons all Janes' handiwork.

Finally, there's got to be one of a card hasn't there... here's one of my recent projects for Hobbycraft. Using the Cricut Happily Ever After cartridge, this Cinderella three part accordian style card has a horse mounted on acetate so it stands proud of the other and is linked to the carriage with cord. Hope you like it!

Night night, god bless x

Unfinished but still scrummy

2008-07-07T22:36:00.005+01:00

Here's more of that fabbie Karen Burniston kit. It was such a lovely project to do and I love the pop-up flowers you get when you pull on the tab at the front.

as you can see it's unfinished at the moment but it will be finished soon ... it's going to be pressie for someone with a big birthday this year ... shhhhh keep it quiet

Anyway just a quick post before I go to bed. Night John-Boy, night Mary-Ellen.

WOW! Wimbledon

2008-07-06T21:23:00.011+01:00

I'm worn out having just finished watching Nadal win Wimbledon. What a match. I only watched the last set and I felt like I hit every ball with each of them. It was the best final for a long time and I'm only sorry now I didn't watch all of it although I think I might be physically exhausted if I had!

Oooh and if you were watching the BBC coverage did you see the players reciting the Rudyard Kipling poem "If"? My English stiff upper lip quivered and trembled, my eyes filled with tears and my mascara ran down my face. It was so moving. If I remember rightly its the nations favourite poem and no wonder. Its always been one of my favourites, I learnt it by heart a while ago but hearing the players saying it really got me. Am I a big girls blouse, wussy, softy or what?

You judge here's the link

Here's more of that gorgeous Karen Burniston mini book that I gave you a sneak peek of ...

Now where is my make-up remover ....

(Oh and for those wondering why Gary needs make up remover in the piccies - this is his New Years Eve fancy dress version of Alice Cooper)

Card Samples made for Stitches Show Feb 08

2008-07-05T23:10:00.021+01:00

Bramwells Citrus Splash demos

2008-07-05T22:58:00.006+01:00

Thought I'd share some of the samples I made for the Citrus Splash demonstration programmes ... hope you like them ... all using Hero Arts stamps.

My world ....

2008-07-04T12:15:00.007+01:00

... welcome to my world ...

our gorgeous pusscat Daisy (known as Daisydoodletondoo for reasons best known to my husband Gary)

the man himself (wearing my sunglasses for some bizarre reason) ...

and our other spoilt rotten mog Amba (alias Ambabambergascoigne)...

Gotta give you a sneak peek of two of the Karen Burniston kits I bought at Scrap-a-Ganza, not quite finished but these are so amazingly scrummylicious I couldn't wait any longer ...

OMG how gorge are these!!! More to come on these fabbie projects.

Tara for now

Washout Wales

2008-07-03T22:19:00.010+01:00

Just back from a few days in North Wales. Why is it that whenever mum goes the weather is always fab and yet whenever we go we get wind and rain? Don't get me wrong the sun shone ... briefly ... in between the rain showers.

The best day was Wednesday and we took a trip to Portmerion - wow - it's stunning! We spent the best part of the day there walking through the garden trails, on the beach and through the village and it was a great opportunity to snap away with our new camera. If only we knew what we were doing with it we might get something half decent!! So whether these pictures do justice to the extraordinary architecture and wonderful colours I'm not sure, you be the judge.

I truly recommend it as a great day out.

Now I know we don't know each other that well yet, and at the risk of giving you the impression that I shouldn't be let out on my own (which I probably shouldn't)... and even with husband in tow I am fallible.....

Am I the only one who has ever done this?? And I've done it before. Once I went to work with one high heel and one kitten heel on and wondered why I was limping all day.

Somebody ring for an ambulance.

Supermassive Black Hole: Live At Wembley Stadium 2007

2008-06-27T23:29:00.001+01:00

How cool is this ....

Diamond Fold Card

2008-06-27T13:57:00.001+01:00

I've done a project sheet for this one. When I figure out how to upload it I'll get it in here so you can print if you want.

Two pocket Card

2008-06-27T13:55:00.001+01:00

Here's a folded card which is really simple to do but really effective. Why not have a go!

Diamond Fold Card

2008-06-27T13:41:00.006+01:00

Going to post my You Tube video on this one. Hope you like it!

Errrm......

2008-06-26T08:48:00.004+01:00

Can you hear me mother? I heard that this blogging malarky is the new black, so never being one who likes to miss out on anything (except viruses) I had to have one too. Still not on Facebook but that's my next mission.

So who's going to be remotely interested in anything I've got to say? Well there's my mum .... ..... and my dad (thinking though whether he uses a computer .. possibly not at home ... not enough to read blogs I'd say), oh definitely my hubby, Gary, who daren't not take an interest. So that's two. I expect I'll be talking to myself most of the time and reading the wonderful things other people think of to say in theirs.

How about if I start with the last couple of weeks? Well we gotta start somewhere.

So a couple of weeks ago my mate Jane E-C and me trotted off to Holland to our first ever Scrap-a-Ganza. We were soooo excited - we had 13 classes booked starting on Friday at 3pm and finishing lunch time on Sunday. We scrapped our little socks off and Jane, who crafts like she's up against Carl Lewis doing 100m dash, got several of her projects finished within the hour that most classes took. I did not. Everything I came home with was barely started and some of the stuff, being still wet when I packed it up to rush to the next class, ended up stuck to my stash in my bag and beyond salvage. It felt a little bit like a trolley dash in a supermarket but it was wonderful. If anyone went we were the two with the matching embellished aprons - all Jane's handiwork - and although we both loved them to bits we did feel a bit daft being the only people at the entire event with aprons on! (Photos will follow) (and no neither of us wear aprons at home). The event wasn't perfect but who cares when you've got the chance to learn from such great scrappers and add fabbie things to your stash. Roll on the next one.

On Tuesday night I was demoing the Cuttlebug over at the Paper Mill Shop at Cheshire Oaks. I met the bright and bubbly Georgina, manageress of the shop, her mum and her friendly staff. It was a great night, but as per usual I spent more than I earned for my appearance. Upside is I'm now the owner of a shiny blue Bind it All machine, wires, book covers, cardstock etc etc. So how exciting is that?

Next demo is over at Embsay Mill, in Skipton on 12th July 2008 where I'm going to be demonstrating the fabbie new Cricut Create and Jukebox!! Come if you can. Hope to see you there mum.
x