Repeat times for today's Create & Craft show

Just a quick post to thank everyone for watching the show today, for the emails, and for your comments.

If you missed the show, you may be able to catch a repeat at midnght tonight or 7am in the morning.

Many thanks

Jill

NEW Create & Craft Show Today at Noon!

We hope you will be able to join us today, we have some new kits to use with Tracey's designs to show even more ways to use them. 

I believe we have Nigel presenting the show which is great!  So glad he is back:)

After the last show with Tracey's designs, Create and Craft asked us for another Moonglow Sampler Kit, brad kits, heatable acetate and also gold leafing, and we certainly have lots of it in the show!

I actually left home yesterday, so am not really here!  I've scheduled this post, hope it works!!

I'm stopping down South for a few days now to visit my family.  I'm hoping to have a day out and do a little Christmas shopping with mum, which will be a REAL treat!  I will be popping in though if I get a chance to borrow mum's laptop, she's become quite a whizz on it now, so I might not get much of a look in:) 

OTHER NEWS

Kay and I had hoped to be doing a new show around this time with her new DVD's that she made in conjunction with Craft Stamper Magazine, unfortunately it wasn't possible to go ahead with it.  When I suggested it, I thought it would be a good idea and the prospect of it gave us much excitement.  It would have been nice to have been able to give you a few little peeks at the demos and gallery on your telly's, but it wasn't to be. 

The DVDs are a great Christmas present idea to add to your wish list if you want to see Kay doing her stuff!  Click HERE if you would like more info about them.

Last of the last batch of Demo Cards

Today's card is the last of the demo cards from the last show with Kay's stamps.  Following yesterday's card, it also features the masking technique.  I much prefer this card as it is much more subtle, perhaps it is the time of year, yesterday's card would be much more appreciated when spring arrives, it was a little bright:) 

The masking panel is again only a small part of the sheet I made for the show.  I still have plenty of the sheet left, I will have to save it to use when the weather gets better for cards in Spring.

Forward planning though, mum's birthday is in January and I'm sure a nice bright cheery card would be most welcome!!


Just a little detail on the paper flowers... I added dots from the Stardust pens to tie them into the dots on the stamp design, they also add a little extra sparkle to the card.

I hope you can watch the show today, if you haven't been able to, I will post the repeat times as soon as I know them, so do call back later!

Hope you are having a good weekend!

Jill

Masking with Post It Notes

After the excitement of blog candy announcements, it's back to the last of the cards from the last telly show with Kay's stamps.

For this demo, I wanted to show how you can use some of the elements on the sheets.  It is nothing new, it was one of the first techniques I learnt getting on for 20 years ago.  If like me, you have been card making for years, it is nice to revisit these solid core techniques that work time and time again but with new products or designs. 

It is one of the reasons I have stuck with this hobby for so long, there are so many different techniques to try with different materials.  That is the joy of stamping, adapting these techniques with new stuff we have.

Way back when we started and I'd learnt masking to share with customers, we had a stock of small inexpensive stamp designs that were easy to use.  The basic requirements for starting were a smallish stamp, a permanent ink pad, something to colour in with like coloured pencils or a pack of inexpensive brush pens with a paint brush/water, Post It Notes and some white card.

The stamp I used on the show wasn't the easiest example to use for this technique as the design wasn't obvious as to which way round it is, but, if for instance you choose an object that has an obvious top and bottom, like a butterfly, it will be much easier to do when you first try it.

I have to say that when I made the background at home, it went far more smoothly than when I did it on the telly (of course!), I enjoyed revisiting this technique and was happily engrossed in it for quite a while.

Ok, so how to do this for those that haven't tried it yet...

Use a single stamp that is easy to cut out. 

Stamp the design on a Post It Note, stamp at the top of the pad that has the sticky bit underneath.  Take 3 or 4 sheets off the pad and cut out the design.  This will give you 3 or 4 masks.

I find it easier to stamp the first design in the centre of the card, this will make it the focal point as it is going to remain in front of all the others you stamp.

Stamp your design onto a piece of card with a permanent ink pad, (such as Ranger Archival, Stazon, Memories), and allow to completely dry, you can use a heat gun for this.

Place a mask over the design matching the pattern and stamp over the top of the mask with the same design, stamp above/below/wherever you have a large enough space to place the design. 

Add masks over some of the designs you have stamped and continue stamping over them to build up the design until the card is covered.

Colour the designs with whatever you prefer to colour with.  I coloured the background as well to really make the flowers pop out.  I added glitter glue to the flower centres to add extra sparkle.

Well, that is basic masking.  You will find that as the design is quite busy, you can cut borders or mounts from the piece you have made to make quite a few cards, you'll be surprised how far an A4 sheet will go.

OK, another reminder, I hope you will be able to join Tracey and I tomorrow at noon on Create and Craft TV, (Sky 671, Freeview 36).

We'll both give you a wave:)

Jill 

New Create and Craft show on Saturday at noon!

My excitement about the show is mounting, as yesterday I received a whole lot of cards, it was like having Christmas and a big special birthday all in one go!  So many cards to look at and admire. 

But it isn't my birthday or Christmas yet... the postie brought them from Vix and Jo who have made cards for Saturday's show for us.  You know how it is, you get a pile of cards for your birthday and you want to open them all at once, but at the same time, take time to enjoy each one.  T'was even better than opening a box of your favourite chocolates!!

If I get a chance, I will let you know which ones they both made on the show.

They have done an absolutely fabulous job with them, so many different ideas and techniques, it's great having different people's take on products.  It also shows how versatile the stamps are.  It is a challenge, as we are supposed to limit ourselves as near as possible to products sold in the show.  We can't have every basic stamping supply on the show so using things that most people are likely to have in their collection is a bit of a necessity. 

We have lots of flip through cards, so if you missed the last show then hopefully you'll get a peek at those too.  If you have already bought the stamp sheets, then I hope you will gain more inspiration for them with the products and techniques we have in Saturday's show.

I am really impressed that they have both been able to stick so near to the products in the show and have come up with some lovely ideas to show you!  So thank you Vix and Jo, I really appreciate all your hard work. 

Oh, just spotted that Vix has added her cards to her blog already, so do go and have a peek, she will be explaining about them over the next week.  Didn't she do well!!

Vix added something extra in her parcel, a gift for me, that I will try to show you on Saturday, something not stamping but on the theme!  Vix told me it is the first one she has made like this, gosh, what'll they be like when she's had more practise!!  I will take a photo of it and post it here when I get back.

I'm not coming back home straight after the show as I'm taking the opportunity of visiting my family while down that way, apparently I've a full itinerary planned while I'm down there though, so really looking forward to all that too!  When I get back I've so much to catch up on, including my blog hops, sorry I've been AWOL in that department recently, it will be nice to catch up with what everyone is up to.  Probably lots of Christmassy things going on, eeek, I really must get my cards done!  

I'm really behind with reporting events here....  We had 2 fab visitors at the shop last Thursday, Sarah and Kate, who had arranged a meet at the shop and, they brought some of their artwork with them!  Do click on their names to go see what they have to show on their blogs...

I tried not to drool too much, but I did touch, there were textures to be felt and colours to adore...  They decided to meet here as it is about half way for them both and it was lovely to spend time with them both, I've known Sarah for years, but it was the first time Sarah and I had met Kate.  I had visited Kate's blog and admired her journal pages, what a talented lady!   I thought, like Sarah, that they were probably large pages, A4, but in reality they were in a cute tactile A6 (ish) size soft leather bound treasure trove journal!  It really inspired me, huge pages are scary, but this size looks achievable, I must make time to do this as something that's for me. 

I am especially pleased that Kate is intending to use our Moonglow Starburst Stains in one of her workshops in March next year, I can't wait to see what she does with them!  If you are in the North Yorkshire area, I think you'll have a great time if you can attend Kate's workshops!

It was also lovely to see Sarah's artwork, being able to share artwork on blogs is great but it really is so much better to actually see things in  real life and appreciate the colours and work involved.  Sarah has sent me some cards this week, made with Kay's stamps, I'm sure she will be showing them on her blog so keep an eye open for them here!

Well, better get on...  The first of our blog candy giveaways has now started, so please do join in!

Jill

CHRISTMAS BLOG CANDY GIVEAWAYS!!

In the run up to Christmas, I have decided to run a few blog candy giveaways, the lucky winners will receive these extra presents for Christmas as a big thank you for visiting, following and for the lovely comments you have left since I started blogging. 

I've really appreciated your support with it, so thank you very much for taking the time to read all my waffle!

Some of the giveaways will have a short time space, so do call back regularly to see what's happening, or you'll miss out and that wouldn't do would it! 

I have other fun things planned to continue the giveaways into the Christmas holidays that will also take us into the new year that I hope you will join in with too.

The first blog candy giveaway will begin soon, so do call back to join in!

Jill

PS:  Don't forget to set your telly box to record our next live Create and Craft show for Saturday at noon!

THE STAMP MAN CHRISTMAS BLOG CANDY NO.1!!!

Ok, here's the first of the giveaways.  We've used these 3 sheets designed by Kay Carley in 2 of our recent Create and Craft TV shows, you'll find card ideas in the labels section for them.

There will be 3 winners for this prize.

Each winner can pick ONE of the following unmounted stamp sheets from our own range for their prize, so, if you already have one of them, pick another to compliment the sheet you have!

The sheets to choose from are:

Aspects of Design 56 Funky Flowers
Aspects of Design 57 Funky Frames
Aspects of Design 58 Fancy Flourishes

For those with blogs - to enter all you need to do is leave a comment below this post and spread the word on your blog by putting a picture of this blog candy onto your blog linking it back to this post.

If you would like to sign up to become a follower that would be great as we'd really love you to follow our blog, but it is not a requirement, although becoming a follower will alert you to any Blog Candy updates!

For those without blogs - please leave a comment below this post. Please note that you will need to leave your full name within the comment to be entered, anonymous entries cannot be accepted.

One entry only, duplicate entries will not be counted.

This candy will run from today until midday GMT on Tuesday 15th December. The winners will be selected at random and announced later that day. 

As we will not have your contact details you will need to check back to see if you have won and contact us as soon as possible.  If the prize has not been claimed by midnight GMT on Wednesday 16th December, a new winner will be drawn.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!

Vixykins Blog Candy

Glitz Spritz - Medieval Gold

Starburst Stains - French Lilac Violet

Starburst Stains - Maidenhair Fern Green

Moonglow embossing powders - Razzleberry Plum

Moonglow embossing powders - Midnight Emerald

Moonshadow Ink - Tawny Turquoise

Moonshadow Mist - Phantom Fuchsia

Here's a reminder for your chance to win some Moonglow products.  There's loads of shimmery stuff in that there magical prize that will give the winner many hours of messy yummy playtime:)  All kindly offered personally by Vix herself, so pop over to Vixykin's blog for a chance to win her blog candy. 

Have a look around there too for inspiration, she has great ideas for Moonglow stuff (amongst other things), she is a Moonglow lover like me:)

Vix recently joined our design team, and is busy making cards for the Create and Craft show that Tracey and I are filming on 28th November.  We will have another Moonglow Sampler Kit on the show so do watch for some Moonglow techniques, you'll then have some ideas if you win the prize:)
 
The sampler kit we have on the new telly show is different, so if you go for that AND you win Vix's prize, you'll have even more of a variety to play with!
 
The candy will finish at 12 noon GMT on Friday 11th December and the winner announced shortly afterwards, so get over there now and find out what you need to do!!!! 
 
Go...go...go...
 
Good Luck!

Kay's new DVDs

Before I show the last cards from last Monday's show with Kay's stamps, I wanted to mention that we have Kay's new DVDs for sale on our website.

Kay made these DVDs with Craft Stamper Magazine.  The DVDs are full of information, there are lots of hints and tips too as well as inspiration in the gallery sections.

Basics and Beyond £12.95
* Stamping a Detailed Image
* Stamping & Embossing
* Using Bold Stamps
* Brushstroke Flowers
* Combining Solid & Outline Images
* Kiss Stamping
* Interactive Stamping 1
* Interactive Stamping 2

Colouring Techniques (on 2 cds) £14.95
* Water Based Pens
* Pigment Based Pens
* Dye Based Ink Pads
* Coloured Pencils
* Water Soluble Pencils
* Alcohol Based Pens
* Sparkle Pens
* Coloured Chalks

Shrink Plastic £12.95

* Basic Techniques

* Shaped Objects

* Bold Flowers

* The Shrink Plastic Ruler

* Shrink-then-Stamp

* Frosted Effects

* Intaglio Background

* Intaglio Outline

* Black Shrink Plastic

* Layering

Multibuy
We have an offer if you buy all 3 DVDs together as a multibuy price of £32.00, a saving of £8.85!


You will find them for sale on our website HERE

Kay is also running a Christmas Card Competition, to be in with a chance to win one of her DVDs, hop over to Kay's blog for the details!

More Nestie shrink plastic

Just a quick post today with more Nestie Shrink Plastic from last Monday's telly show used with a scalloped oval card mount.  This time I stamped the flower (from Kay's Funky Flowers stamp sheet) with black Archival ink over the white Brilliance flourish background on the shrink plastic.  I left it to dry before colouring with the Sakura stardust pens.

I ran the pink vellum through my Cuttlebug with the Swiss dots folder, which cracked the vellum to create white dots.  A few paper flowers and ribbon have been added as finishing touches.

New blog look and more Nestie Shrink Plastic

Another card with a shrink plastic button along with a large piece that I used as a platform/mount for paper flowers.

I decided to have a play yesterday evening and decorate my blog page.  I may have another play and change it.  What do you think so far?  or, do you like it as it is? 

When I started my blog I didn't really know what to do for decoration so just left it. 

Tracey having started her new blog has spured me on to have a play with it.  I did try to help Tracey with her new blog and managed to loose her lovely background so I thought I needed to learn a little more about it myself!!

Talking of Tracey, she is working on new stamp designs to add to the ones we already have in hand but she has asked if there are any stamp designs you would like to her to draw.  Do pop over to her new blog with any suggestions you have.

Jill

Shrink plastic buttons from last Monday's show

Same basic idea and instructions as the previous 2 cards but on this one I made use of some of the Shrink Plastic scraps to make buttons, well you can't waste it can you? So use your punches or nesties to make them. If the buttons are for embellishments, so what if they are square, triangle, octagonal or oval!

I meant to mention this before, you may find that you get little shreads of plastic around the edges when you cut a shape with a punch or die cutting machine. That was what I was doing on the show when I stood there sanding the edges, but didn't explain. When I watched the show back I saw it was still a bit tatty, but Shrink Plastic is very forgiving though and it does hide a lot of imperfections when shrunk. If you do have a sanding block then it doesn't hurt to tidy it up a little.

Since the show I have been asked which colour Shrink Plastic I used, it was translucent.

Stamp the swirl stamps onto the Shrink Plastic with white Briliance ink for a nice elegant look then use an office hole punch size to make the holes (1/4"). Using anything smaller will make it difficult to thread ribbon, threads or cord through, and life's too short to spend 1/2 an hour threading ribbon!

Of course, you can stamp in any colour for the buttons that will match your project, just remember they will be darker once shrunk, so don't apply too much colour. If I want to make a coloured background to simply stamp over, I wipe the pad, direct-to-shrink style, then wipe a lot of the ink off with tissue before I stamp on it, it really needs to be very pale.  You may wish to try just sponging a little ink here and there on.

For this button I doubled up the ribbon, tied a knot at the fold, then threaded each end through the button holes to the back. I fixed the ends inside the card. It makes a nice knot with no loose ends.

Again I was Cuttlebug obsessed on the show, I just love the white embossed effect, has had me hooked for years, but it is SO much easier to do than dry embossing using a stencil and takes the blandness away from a plain piece of card.

This wasn't one of my favourite cards I made for the show, it was one of the last I got together and why I stuck that bow on I'll never know!

Anyhow, I can't hide it as it does show how you can use a Shrink Plastic button or in fact any button. Maybe if I make the picture of the button big, and the picture of the card small, you won't notice how bad it is.

I decided it is about time I decorated the blog, I hope you like the changes.

I think I've waffled on enough, thanks again for reading!

Jill

Shrink Plastic platform card with Nestabilities

Same idea as yesterday for this card. I stamped the flourish design onto pale blue vellum with white Brilliance ink and left it to dry.

I stamped the same flourish onto a large scalloped edge square of translucent shrink plastic that I cut with a Nestability and shrunk it straightaway, no need to wait for it to dry.

The largest dragonfly on Kay's Funky Frames stamp sheet was stamped with black archival ink onto another piece of shrink plastic that had been cut from a large label Nestability.

I edged the piece with the black ink so that there would be a contrast between the dragonfly piece and the scalloped platform.

I left it to dry for 30 minutes before colouring with Sakura stardust pens as I explained on yesterday's card.

I shrank it down and glued it onto the platform.

Remember not to panic when shrinking!!

Jill Boulton held a workshop with us here today, but I didn't get to play:(   In amongst serving customers, I must have made quite a lot of cups of tea and coffee, dozens I think, plus Ian and I made a start getting product samples decided and together for a new live show we are doing on Create and Craft TV on 28th November (12pm).

We have been asked to go back to film another show with Tracey's stamps that featured at the beginning of last month. We will have different accessories this time so I made up the envelopes today for the new design team members to have a play. Quite a challenge for them as there isn't much time and again, there are restrictions on what we can use.

So no chance to take a breather at the moment, it's straight onto the next show. Somewhere in between I really must start my Christmas cards!  I have ideas in my head that keep changing so by the time I get to actually make them I'm hoping I'll have decided what I'm finally doing!

The ladies at today's workshop used a variety of Ranger products, distress inks, cut 'n dry foam, grunge paper, alcohol inks, acrylic dabbers and this afternoon metal embossing with Walnut Hollow products.

The Cuttlebug came in handy on and off all day and last thing this afternoon I poked my nose in with something to try, embossing the Moonglow filigrees onto metal and then working on them with tools. I'd tried it in the week but hadn't made a note of the order for the sandwich, and it proved illogical to figure out again! But we got there in the end and they looked good. Another thing I will show you once I get a chance to make something with them!

Jill

New Design Team members and a card from Monday's show

Here's a very bright and cheery card from Monday's Create & Craft TV show. I know we should be thinking Christmas at the moment but people still have birthday's at this time of year and how nice would it be for them to receive a nice cheerful bright card! More about the card later but first some news...

I added 2 great new design team members to our blog on Wednesday evening, Vix, who is a true out and out Moonglow fan like me, I reckon she has it flowing through her veins like me:) I feel I've found a twin! Check out her blog... there's lots of Moonglow inspiration there, I'm really looking forward to our combined inspired play with Moonglow! So, watch this space:)

I am also very happy that Jo Austin, (my partner in the Springer Spaniel fan club), has joined us too. On the very rare occasions that I've been in the same place at the same time as Jo, she has accepted my Springer Spaniel type over excitement at seeing her, so the usual welcome with a big HUG goes to Jo, I am really looking forward to seeing what Jo does with our stuff!

Plus, tonight I am adding Tracey into the links too, as she has now got a blog! Do pop over and have a look, she has lovely cards on show there already. I did to Tracey what Debbie did to me, convinced her she needed to have one, Tracey is very new to blogging and we all know what that is like so I hope you will give her some support by joining and following her blog too.

So... more about the card.



A ran some of the vellum through the cuttlebug with the Swiss dots folder. Heavy pattern folders will crack the vellum and don't work so well, but the dots are great as the small white cracking effect looks good as a contrast against the colour of the vellum.

Use Nesties, punches or your trimmer to cut shapes out of shrink plastic, I used the largest square scalloped nestie for the platform and a slightly smaller circle to mount on top. I sanded the scalloped square piece and added colour from the Ocean Breeze Chalk ink pad before stamping with the black archival ink and the swirl stamp. Once you have done this you can shrink straight away, it is only when you want to colour in that you need to let the archival ink dry for half and hour.

I stamped onto the smaller circle with the Ranger black archival ink, without sanding, not necessary with the archival ink (also, it will bleed into the sanded lines, as will Stazon ink, so not good). Leave for half an hour and then you can colour in.

The Sakura Stardust pens are brilliant for colouring shrink plastic as they will give a great glittery effect when shrunk. I just traced around the stamp outlines and pulled the colour into the centres with an almost dry waterbrush. Don't apply too much colour, it needs to be very pale as the colour intensifies when shrunk. I went back over the lines before I shrank it, no need to wait for the ink to dry as they will heat set once shrunk.

If you haven't tried shrink plastic before, a very important tip here, and as I said on the show, don't panic! Easy said I know!!! If it looks like it is sticking to itself, just leave it and keep going, if you have a lolly stick to use then keep it where it is, don't start poking and prodding to try releasing it. Just keep heating and it will (normally) release itself.

Sometimes, especially with long thin pieces, it will stick and not release. With these pieces I rub my anti static bag over it lightly before shrinking, you can also use talcum powder for this if you don't have an anti static bag. You don't want to dust too much powder on it as it will spoil your colouring, so just use a small amount. It is less likely to stick to itself as the powder takes some of the sticky away.



What else to say on this... Use a good glue that dries clear to stick the pieces together, pva or silicone glue spread entirely over the back of a piece works well. I'll be showing more shrink plastic cards from the show and will give more tips as I go along.

I just need to add a greeting to this card before I send it!

Before I go, I must suggest that you pop over to Vix's blog, she has put up some Moonglow blog candy, totally thought up by her and from her own collection, how very kind of her, I will make sure she has something nice as a treat to thank her for doing that! You'll find her link on the right hand side with the other new DT members!

Thanks again for your comments and for reading all this, (if you've made it down this far)

Jill

Brilliance ink card from Monday's show

I thought I'd start with this card from Monday's show first. I made it with the Brilliance ink pads featured in the show, I'll explain how it was made shortly, but first a bit about our day.

We normally only get to show 3 demos but on Monday they wanted extras, it caught me out as the floor manager had moved my demo crate to the other end of the set. I had told the producer I could do some demos on the hop if needed, when I looked down my crate wasn't there!

I always try to keep it near me just in case I've forgotten to get something out and only have to reach down, it was way too far down the counter for me to even grab when Joanne was at the other end, so the floor manager came behind us on his hands and knees to grab it back, better him than me, as you'd have probably seen my head bobbing up and down as I went along!! He couldn't even drag it in case it made a noise so he had to lift and carry it back while still on his knees. That'll teach him to move the guests things too far away from them:)

I hadn't worked with Joanne before but I found her good to work with, she is a lovely lady, I felt she let me talk and get on with it.

We had a meeting at Ideal World before we set off on our journey back home and found that the sign we saw first thing in the day about the A1 north being closed still stood, it was quite foggy in the morning and we thought that it was maybe an accident or fog that would have cleared by the time we headed home, but no, it was completely closed into the afternoon with a huge back log of traffic on the small roads in the diversion (to Newark).

Thank goodness for Sally traffic who said the junction was open so we turned around. The junction wasn't open as stated but we followed the other cars that had listened to Sally and obviously knew an alternative route and hey, we turned up at the next junction to a nice clear road! All was OK until we hit the M62. Sorry, I seem to be getting obsessed with traffic, I'll shut up about it now.... so more about Monday....

I think they were quite taken with this card and Joanne kept going back to it. I wasn't expecting to demo it but it was a nice simple idea and definitely my kind of thing.



In case you missed the show, I applied the Brilliance ink pads direct-to-craft sheet, just randomly using the crimson, ivy, gold and white ink pads (they are all pearlescent inks). I hadn't taken my spray bottle so I had to sacrifice my drinking water by flicking it onto the ink splodges, I did most of that off screen, not a glamorous way to do it, much better to use a spray bottle if you have one!

I then placed my card on top of the inky mess and swished it, lifted it, swished it, lifted it etc, until I was happy with the pattern. You can always add more colour and if you find it is getting a little dark, just apply more of the white. The card I made has more of a pink tone to it than the darker crimson as I had used more white on that piece. I used more gold in the demo, but as I say, it doesn't really matter as you can adjust it.

I stamped over the background with the black archival ink pad when it was dry. I did add some colour to the leaves on the finished card with the Stardust pens and also added the brads to the flower centres so basically a very quick card to make, but it does have a lovely pearlescent finish to it.

I'm not sure if the show will be repeated at the weekend, but if it is I will post the details as soon as I know. I'll show another card from the show tomorrow, it'll be a shrink plastic one, didn't Joanne do well with her first piece of shrink plastic, I think she was really pleased with it. You didn't see us doing it on screen, but we did a high five after it!

Thank you for the comments and messages you have left here or emailed, they are always lovely to receive.

Jill

Live show repeat times

Just a quick post as we have only just got home, (traffic problems again!)

Today's Create & Craft TV show will be repeated at 11pm tonight and 7am in the morning on Sky 671.

Will post more tomorrow

Jill

Next live TV show on Create & Craft - Mon. 9th Nov @ noon!

Yes, yet another live show!

Here's another card from the last show with Kay's Funky Flowers stamp sheet. A simple card coloured with Tombow brush pens.


I know, I know, I've not been posting or commenting as I normally try to, but October was a busy time so I have just been flopped out for a bit since. It's my own fault for lifting those crates onto the darn trolley at the end of the Doncaster show that didn't help and on top of that I got a cold which knocked me for six too, so all in all, in amongst other things, not a good time!

I had a burst of energy on Tuesday, my back wasn't quite so painful and how strange that I felt a different person! Anyway, I spent a bit of time preparing for Monday's telly show and yesterday I got some more of the elements ready, I had made a list of ideas, and at least some have been done and I'm feeling a little less pressured about Monday's show now. I will play again tomorrow to finish things off.

I will be using Kay's latest collection of stamps again and wanted to demo different things from the ones I demo'd in the last show, although there'll still be shrink plastic! If I can get my bits together to form some cards then I will be even happier:)

Yes, it's me on my own on this one, I have been dreading the drive and had decided to go by train this time but, Mr Superman Stamp Man has stepped in to chauffeur me, phew, that is such a relief, as I know I couldn't do that loooooooooong drive at the moment. I didn't nag Ian, honest....OK, I'll stop whinging now!

Kay's 3 new DVD's are on their way to us, and they will all arrive on our website very soon! If you are a beginner at stamping, do start with the first one as Kay explains, very well, about different ink pads, of which there are many, and so much more, it will prove a great start to your new hobby. There's loads to learn on them all, so they are a good idea for you to add to your Christmas pressie list this year. We'll have a multi-buy offer too if you want to go for all 3 DVDs.

Kay has used some of her stamp designs on the DVDs, including her latest collection that I am showing on Monday's show.

What else do I have to mention, oh yes, Walnut Hollow products for metal embossing, I have now added them to our website. I tried the starter kit at our workshop last weekend and it has a good mix of stuff to get you started. There are other add-ons which you can gather as you go along, it really is great fun to do. I'll show you what I made as soon as I get them finished.

I've added a few new workshop dates to the website too, the workshop on Saturday November 14th is with Jill Boulton, grunge paper and metal embossing techniques, so another great workshop theme with a chance to try metal embossing if you missed out on last weekend's workshop.

More blog candy is coming soon, once I get a chance to get it together along with a photo, so do call back to join in.

Umm, I think that's all the waffle I have for today. Thanks for reading!!

Jill

Just another note!

A similiar card to the one in my previous post but this time the background is made with the scrunch technique and Autumn Leaves Starburst Stain set. The centre panel has been sprayed with Moonshadow Mist. The words and image have both been stamped with timber brown Stazon and mounted onto gold mirri card, (which you cannot really see).

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PS:

I just found these extra photos of this card that I should have added before so you can see a little more detail!

Just a note with Classical Instruments!

Here is another card made from Tracey's Classical Instrument stamp sheet. It was stamped with brown Stazon and painted with a green Moonshadow ink. I did a bit of manic stamping for the border with the same stamp by repeatedly stamping, sometimes without re-inking to give it a bit of depth. I then ran it through the Cuttlebug with the swirl folder to add some texture.

Jill Boulton had a workshop here yesterday metal embossing, I joined in and played too which was great, we tried lots of techniques, the elements we made need making into something so I'll show what we made another time.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Jill