Hero Arts and new Distress Ink Rusty Hinge

The background paper and flower were coloured using one of the new distress inks rusty hinge and sprayed after with the red from the Mardi Gras Starburst Stain set, so it has a lovely rich golden shimmer.

The flower is a Hero Arts Cling stamp, that can be found on our website HERE

The adage tickets are from Tim.

AOD 63 Alluring Ladies with (a new set) Icicle and Snowflake Starburst Stains

Well it's not the best of days to be taking photos in the late afternoon here.  It's really grim and stormy outside, and somehow the shadows on the white background appear to be the same shades as those of the card! 

It is made using  Tracey's new stamp sheet Alluring Ladies and the new set of Starburst Stains Icicle and Snowflakes, which is an appropriate theme for the weather for a lot of people today!  Our heavy rain has now turned to sleet, I'm just hoping we don't get the snow.

This new set has identical soft shades the same as the Icicle Creek set but instead of the secondary gold tone it has silver.  It is such a pretty set.  The background is the cling film technique on hammered card.

You cannot see but the mounts and nailheads are silver, so it looks a lot softer in real life.  I have also used my new Sizzix Scrollwork die from Tim for the border, (we still have these in the shop by the way).  It works brilliantly in my Cuttlebug with just the 2 B plates.

I think I will need to take these photos again on a better day as the colours are really much softer and shimmerier than shown.  It was one of the cards I didn't get to complete in time for the Harrogate show, I've a couple more to finish that I've started, time, I wish I had more of it at the moment!

Jill

Tim Holtz Alterations - a little advance delivery!

Maybe I should just whisper this as we only have a few each of an advance order of Tim's new Alterations dies, we did have a small delivery last week but those all went from the shop and at the Harrogate show. 

So don't hang about if you want any of them!  Click HERE to find them.

I suppose that we are just all going to have to be patient for the rest!!

I'm going to announce some blog candy so watch for another post!

Jill

Tracey's Artistic Elements meet new Distress Ink pads

I applied the ink to my craft mat, and spritzed the inks with water before mopping up with card to create the background pieces.

I used the new Distress Inks Stormy Sky, Wild Honey and Rusty Hinge.

The stamps are all from Tracey's new stamp sheet AOD 62 Artistic Elements. I had an idea to stamp the main image onto silver mirri card then cut it out to create a mirror.

These stamps are great for anyone who is into journalling!!

We only received the stamps on Wednesday evening so not much time to create cards before the Harrogate show and I actually put the stamped pieces of this together quickly on the Saturday morning before the show started.  I had rummaged around for the flower to match which I think came from the new Hero Arts flower pack Meadow.  

As I said to a lady visiting our stand over the weekend, all my cards have nailheads on them at the moment, they are so easy to use and they give a great effect instead of brads when you are short of time.  They are also less bulky.

There is another new stamp sheet from Tracey that is very near completion and is totally different from these latest designs.  Tracey also sent me some more new designs to work on last week, as usual they are so different, I really don't know how she can have so many diverse styles!!

She's been a very busy lady!!! 

Jill

Quick 'n Easy Retro Alluring lady!

Well, when Debbie told me on Monday that on Sunday she got lost in a world of her own in her craft room for 9 hours creating a single card, it made me feel a tad of a cheat spending just 15 minutes creating this simple little creation on Friday evening! 

Debbie did have a speedier input into this card though as on Friday morning when we were packing the Cuttlebug folders to take to the Harrogate show that afternoon, Debbie spotted that the Cuttlebug folder Dots and Spots would be great used with Tracey's new stamp sheet.  I grabbed one in the hope of having some time and energy later to make a card with it.

So, after successfully setting up our stand that afternoon, after much anxiety hoping that I'd make everything fit nicely into our allocated space, (honestly, it's like doing a giant jigsaw), and with what seemed like a long.... endless.... drive.... home..... with a shopping stop at the supermarket for something nice and easy for our dinner, I rushed up to my office/craft room to make this.  OK, I hauled my body up the wooden hill to do it if I'm honest! 

My little green buggy friend was there ready for action on my desk and the copper mirri card was fairly easily found.  A small hunt for copper embossing powder, along with the card and copper nailheads and hey presto, a simple, but effective little card was ready for the weekend.

I LOVE these new stamps Tracey...

Jill

PS:  Click HERE to see Debbie's amazing butterfly easel card, it's truly a masterpiece, time well spent Debbie!

Craft Creations Ltd - Springy Flowers - updated

I did say I would show more of the cards from the last show on Create and Craft with Craft Creations from last Friday, so here are a few more.  These are from the Springy Flowers kit.  This oriental take on the springy flower theme is my favourite.  I love those curly wires!

My runner up favourite is the wired springy flower themed easel card.  Love the glitter hearts and dots embellishments on the wire!   Easel cards get my vote every time at the moment, I LOVE them!

Then there's the other gorgeous card that's so tactile.....I think everyone that came on our set felt that side panel and said oh... that feels so nice! 

The purple, gingham and silver combo here is nice too, the photo doesn't show the glittery outlines of the flowers which is a shame.  It is a lovely card in real life.

Well done to all the ladies that made them.

All of the products used on these cards can be found at www.craftcreations.com 

I may be back later today with another post! 

Jill

UPDATE:  If you are interested in buying any of the kits that featured in the show they are now on the Craft Creations website.  Please click HERE to go straight to the page

Harrogate show - a fab weekend!

Well, the show is over and we are back home.  It has been a lovely weekend meeting everyone, so many familiar faces that we've met over the years. 

It was SO busy yesterday, the show was packed but less busy today so more comfortable for everyone.

There was quite a bit of reminiscent chatter and it is nice to know that so many customers who started with us over 20 years ago are still enjoying their cardmaking.  As Harrogate is fairly local to us it is a great show for us catch up with everyone's news.

One of them was Barbara who was one of our first customers, and has now moved to France but came back over to attend the show, it was lovely to see her looking so good, it must be the air in France!  She is still as giddy about cardmaking as she was when we first met her.  Some of you may remember Barbara from our old Demo Days at the hall.

That's the beauty of attending these shows, meeting up with everyone we've met over the years, it's what makes it all worthwhile to us.  I could have got quite jealous of all the hugs and kisses Ian got over the weekend! 

Ian told me on the way home that a lady said to him that she could be living in a mansion rather than a council house and it was all his fault for getting her started on cardmaking, luckily she was joking and quite happy about it.

I stayed relatively clean yesterday as I was demonstrating a pale colour Starburst Stain set, but I made up for it today with the Mardi Gras colours!  I keep thinking I will demo something different but people keep wanting to see me do the scrunch etc.  I did manage to sneak in a few demos with the new distress inks and also use some of the mica powders.

I did manage to get a few more cards made for the show that I will post another time, but have you seen the card Vix made with that gorgeous alluring eye image of Tracey's?  If not, go see, it's a fab idea!  Vix has swapped the normal skin tone shades of Promarkers for grey tones for a charcoal look.  So inspired!! 

Near the end of today a lady asked me to show her the stains and I had more or less used up all the Mardi Gras set so asked if she minded if I used a set that we had sold out of, it was the only other set I had made up with me to use.  I said I wanted to warn her there wasn't any more left.  She said it didn't matter as she didn't have any money any more either!!  We both laughed and I started to show her, of course other people came along to watch and I felt so mean to say afterwards to those that wanted them that they had all gone.

Before I waffle on anymore, Ian and I wish to thank Debbie and Caroline for their hard work, company and enthusisiam, they really helped to make it a special weekend.  Also to Helen, that works behind the scenes, thank you for packing the stock so well, sorry Helen but it all needs unpacking again tomorrow:)  Caroline and I did try to repack it as well as we could tonight.

A huge thank you to you all too for coming to say hello and making it a great weekend for us, we've just been chatting about how nice it's all been.

Jill & Ian

Harrogate GNPE show this weekend

We are home now after setting up our stand and a fish and chip supper! 

We are all ready to go now.  It sounds as if it will be a busy show, more advance tickets sold than ever before, so we have decided to close the shop today as Ian will be coming to the show.

We still have some of the new distress ink pads and also just a few of Tim's new Sizzix Alteration dies amongst lots of other Tim goodies.  We also have nesties and Cuttlebug folders and some dies, Hero Arts stamps as well as Tracey's new stamp sheets. 

Talking of Tracey's new stamps, I am off up to my craft room to try something to use for those...  I may even get a couple more cards done.

I hope you all have a nice weekend, if you are at the show please come and say hello!

Jill

AOD 63 Alluring Ladies with Brilliance ink

How different does this card look to yesterdays.  I used purple and lavender Brilliance ink this time. 

I randomly stamped the circle border design and all of the different individual circles to create the background.  Of course I also had to add some bling!

We are off to Harrogate tomorrow to set up ready for the GNPE show at the showground on Saturday.  If you are visiting the show, please come and say hello.  I'll be the one with the messy hands!!

Jill

A few cards with Tracey's new stamps with new distress ink colours

The first card is a bit dramatic, or just OTT, I've not decided yet!

I love the new distress ink colours crushed sapphire, rusty hinge and wild honey. 

I swished the colours onto the first piece of card from water spritzed inks on my craft mat.  I used the blending tool and foam on the other half which was the base card.  I then stamped the circles randomly over the hammered card before adding black nailheads.

The first piece was torn and then edged with a mixture of wild honey and rusty hinge. 

The main image is embossed in gold which I coloured with Promarkers.

I used some of the new Tim Holtz film strip as an embellishment.  I inked and stamped the smallest ladies head with black Stazon.  I masked as I went down so the images stayed inside the frames.

I used the same colours as above on this easel card.  It is the smallest of the lady with dress stamps.  I used black Memento ink on the top part of the stamp and the distress inks on the dress and then coloured with a skin coloured Promarker.

I have some other cards on the go with these stamps that look completely different to these as I have used pastel colours.  I will try to get them finished and post them tomorrow.

The last card is another easel card.  I mainly used the new distress ink stormy sky.  I don't have the barn door red pad yet so used worn lipstick to paint the heart.

I stamped the filigree pattern on the heart stamp onto the background with stormy sky and over stamped in black ink.  You cannot see but it is mounted onto silver and black card.  I then added one of the new Hero Arts swirly paper flowers with a button and added black nailheads.

I didn't take a photo of it but on the back I used 3 of the other stamps on the sheet, the small ink splatter, the wording about the splodges and smudges and the created by stamp.

Jill

PS:  I received some emails last night, yes we will have the stamps and ink pads at the Harrogate show!

Cards from Friday's Craft Creations Show - Set 1 - Hearts, Flowers and Gears

Here are some of the cards made by the team at Craft Creations for Friday's Ideal World show from the Hearts, Flowers and Gears Kit. 

The kit contains everything you need to make these cards except double sided tape and 3D foam pads. 

The colour theme for the kit is blue, green and silver and also includes a sheet of acetate too.

I will post more of the cards another time.

I've been having a play with Tracey's new stamps, I haven't finished the cards yet so I'll show you those cards later today or tomorrow.

Jill

New stamp sheets designed by Tracey Coates - now in stock!

Just a quick post to let you know that we now have Tracey's new stamp sheets in stock and that they can be found HERE on our website.

We will have them at the GNPE show at Harrogate this weekend.  I'm hoping we will have time to make some cards with them.  Also, I'm hoping that Tracey will pop along for a visit too!!

And the lucky winner of the Blog Candy is......

I tried to copy the table of the number generator I used but it wouldn't copy properly, but here is part of it, showing the number 127.

True Random Number Generator

Min:
Max:
Result:


127


Powered by RANDOM.ORG

After very carefully counting, the winner is

 L o r r a i n e!!

Congratulations Lorraine!!  Please can you contact me to claim your prize before midday on Wednesday.  Would you like the pads or the re-inkers???  Now there's a decision for you, lol

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to take part, I wish you all could have won!

Jill

PS:  Lorraine has claimed her prize, that was quick!

PREVIEW: AOD 63 Alluring Ladies designed by Tracey Coates

As I said yesterday, the teasing is over, here is the full peek at the 2nd sheet as promised. 

How different is this style from yesterday's stamp sheet, yet I love both of them! 

Think retro, think glamour, think embossing powder techniques, think multi-colour ink pads, think distress inks and texture tools, think Copics and Promarkers for skin shading and so much more!

Then combine some of the wording from yesterday's preview stamp sheet, love, secret, discover

WOW Tracey, I love the way this sheet turned out, I cannot wait to play with these! 

As I said yesterday, I'll let you know when they are on the website for pre-order.

It's been a beautiful sunny day here in Yorkshire, although still a bit nippy with the wind.

Happy Mother's Day to all mums, I hope you are enjoying your day.

Jill

GIVEAWAY: All 12 New Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads or Re-inkers! NOW CLOSED

NOW CLOSED

I think it's time for a new yummy giveaway!!!!

For the prize,  you have a choice of the ink pads or the re-inkers.  If you are lucky enough to own the ink pads already, then why not try for the re-inkers! 

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 sidebar 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 is not a requirement.

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, otherwise anonymous entries cannot be accepted.

One entry only, duplicate entries will not be counted.

This candy will run from midnight today (GMT), Tuesday 23rd February until Midday (GMT) on Sunday 14th March.

The winner will be selected at random and announced soon after.

If the prize has not been claimed by midday Wednesday 17th March, a new winner will be drawn.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!

Please continue to our latest post below...

PREVIEW: AOD 62 Artistic Elements designed by Tracey Coates

I decided to quit the teasing and let you have a full peek at one of Tracey's new stamp sheets.  As you can see they are quite different! 

Some of the wording will fit into the frame in the centre, ie the Created by will leave enough space for you to add your name.

The individually created for you text can be used with the smaller ink splodge on the back of your card where you can also add your name, just a little different from the handmade by stamps and ideal for cards where you have used some messy techniques.

I think the designs will be great used with the new distress inks, but then I can also see them used with other inks and embossing powders.  Some designs will be useful for ATCs and journaling too.  I can't wait to play with them.

I'll show the other new stamp sheet tomorrow.

They are not on the website just yet, I will let you know when I put them on.

BLOG CANDY

If you haven't entered the blog candy giveaway, here is a final reminder to get on and do it as it ends at midday tomorrow!

Thank you again to everyone who has entered so far, over 400 comments now WOW

Don't forget to call back to see if you have won!!!

DEMONSTRATION EVENT

Sat/Sun, 24th/25th April

I will let you know more details in due course but for now, you may want to make a note of the date

Saturday - demos with Tracey Coates and Jill Tuck

Sunday - demos with Leonie Pujol and Jill Boulton

I hope you are having a good weekend!

Jill

Whew, an eventful 2 days!

Did you manage to watch the Craft Creations show on Ideal World today?  I haven't seen it myself as our recording pixelated and didn't work.  Ian only managed to record a little of the repeat show later.  I'm hoping it was OK, Leonie was lovely and a pleasure to work with as usual.

The team at Craft Creations made up great kits and everyone there thought their kits and cards were lovely, I will show them here for you to see another time. 

It's been an eventful 2 days, I got home after a long slow stop start drive home, I guess Sally Traffic cannot warn you about all the chaos on the roads on a Friday.  The broken down lorry on the M62 wasn't even mentioned!  And, why do people think that by sitting on your tail it will make you and the traffic in front of you disappear???  

I had intended to post a few more sneak peeks before I left but Wednesday and Thursday just whizzzzzzzzzzed by with not enough time at all for everything I needed to get done before I left, so apologies for that. 

Hopefully tomorrow I'll catch up with everything here and post some more peeks and a news update.

Welcome to everyone new that has visited and joined in with the blog candy giveaway and thanks also for signing up to follow, so many comments!!!! 

More from me tomorrow

A very weary Jill!

LIVE SHOW on Ideal World, Friday 12th March 2pm

I am really teasing you this week with these sneak peeks!  These 2 cards are made from one of the 5 main kits on the show. 

The kits and cards have been put together by the team at Craft Creations, you'll see that they have put a lot of time, thought and effort into them.  The products work perfectly together, the colour combinations are brilliant, they are the normal high quality from Craft Creations, and you are getting a great price! 
 
Can you tell I'm impressed yet? 

I just love the cards they have made, including these with the cogs and gears that are so 'in' at the moment, how great to have something different for men.  I hope you get to see all the cards, I shall certainly do my best to show as many as I can here too.

Honestly, I am really impressed with the kits as they have everything you need except double sided tape and foam pads.  There are kits for ladies and gents, plenty of elegant, retro, floral and funky styles, with fresh and trendy colour combinations.  I am sure they will be very popular and I hope you can either watch or record the show.

Craft Creations are fairly new to Create and Craft/Ideal World, I've filmed 2 live shows for them so far.  It has been a pleasure to work with them, they are one of our main suppliers that we have been buying from for over 20 years. 
I must tell you about this, Jenny, Mrs Craft Creations, has made a brilliant display to show different combinations of one of the kits.  A catwalk.  Jenny hasn't just stuck the ideas any old how onto a piece of mount board, oh no!!  You'll have to watch the show to see it, when I first saw it I realised it was a showcase of Jenny's original ideas for those designs.

Perhaps I should be a little kind with my teasing and tell you that I've put links to the Craft Creation website in this post but, to save you time hunting for them, the kits are not on there. 

OK, coffee break over, I'm off back to play with my kits now to get my demos prepared:)  I'll be back throwing a few more teases at you through the week about the show and other stuff.

Jill

(Whose far too excited today for her own good!)

Sneak Peek at Tracey's new stamp designs

Of course it would be terrible of me if I didn't tease you with a sneak peek at the new designs wouldn't it?   You can trust me to do this to you!!   How cruel am I? 

There are 2 new unmounted stamp sheets from Tracey Coates in production, they are AOD62 Artistic Elements and AOD63 Alluring Ladies.  They are not on our website yet but will be soon for pre-order.  We are hoping to have them by the end of this week or early next week. 

Both sheets are A5 size and will be £14.99.  The keys are from the Artistic Elements sheet and the lady (obviously) from the Alluring Ladies sheet.  Ideas for the new stamps are spinning in my head, I cannot wait to get the actual rubber to get stamping with them!

We have another new sheet almost finished and more in the pipeline...

Thanks for peeking!!

Jill

Thank You!

Blimey, you are REALLY loving our latest blog candy, I'm not surprised as it is a truly yummy one!! Thank you all so much for entering and also to all the new followers.

How funny are the comments that we can make space for 12 new ink pads in our craft area! Only saying this because I understand so well and have had to have a major clear out recently, I'll explain about that later this week.

I cannot believe our blog now has 300 followers... Welcome to all the new followers who have joined, and thanks to everyone else following for sticking with us. Your visits and comments are all always really appreciated!!

I was in a bit of a panic at the shop yesterday as the distress ink pads have been selling so well, we had loads, but I hadn't actually put a set aside for the prize, and the spares in the warehouse side are dwindling. So, I grabbed one of each to make sure they are safely put aside for the winner before we run out. Phew... It had to be done!! 

There's still plenty left in the shop but, what if I'd forgot to put a set aside and we sold out!!!! Eeek, nightmare alley after you've all entered:)  Time for a re-order me thinks!!

I've been VERY quiet, for me, over the last couple of weeks for a number of reasons, all good ones, but I have been busy. I'll post more about it all this coming week so please call back to hear our exciting news about....

New Stamp Sheets from Tracey Coates
Our next TV Show
Demonstration/Sale Weekend Event
Workshops
My Spring/Decade or so... Clear Out
Upcoming shows - GNPE Harrogate

Have a good Sunday!
 
Jill