Apologies…

I’ve been neglecting my blog… no sensible excuses, just been busy with work, things going really well at the moment with Mini IQ, however this has left me less time to craft!!

Our recent workshop went well, 3 good friends, here til midnight crafting! great fun! We made these adorable birdhouses (see Jo Dumbleton’s blog http://www.stampin-n-stuff.blogspot.com/) which proved a massive hit which I’ll share with you later on tomorrow…

Also we looked at making these lovely vellum cards with pocket silhouettes stamp set.

and also had a go at making some items from acetate… it is really hard to get good pictures of these cards as the light that you need to get a good picture just glares…

For both cards I went for a monochromatic look… I’d just ordered a pack of neutrals :) (loving Kraft!!), the above card uses the flower images from Itty Bitty Buds stamped with white stazon. The insert is matted and layered whisper white and basic grey with a grey stamped flower. Although there is no photo, there is an identical background layer cut in grey and stuck on the back of the card to disguise the adhesive.

The above card is super easy! It is a 3” x3” notecard which is a great size to knock out quickly from a 12” sheet. I used my scallop punch to punch from window sheets and 2 stamped SAB vintage label images stamped in basic grey. I also fed the stamped images back into my 1 1/4’ circle punch to remove the middle – one of which became the insert.

Front of card: scalloped border of vintage label, centre removed

Reverse of front: stick down window sheet, use second scalloped border to cover adhesive

Inside card: apply glue to circle, then line up image with front of card and close card to adhere.

ILWS and swaps

Recently did a trade with the lovely Deborah I ‘met’ off ILWS (deborahodonohoe.blogspot.com/), am really impressed with this as a method of expanding my stash with little expense!

We ended up having a good ole chat about all things crafty and having listened to a more experienced demo-er I realised that I need to take part or even organise (hmmm) some swaps on ILWS to get myself some new ideas. I’ve just made my very first card fronts for a swap – 15 of the same for a SU training event that I’ll be attending on 15th May. I decided to keep it terribly simple, hopefully people at the swap will still like it! PS the ribbon came unstuck – noticed after I took the pic, they’ve now all been trimmed and tidied up!

 

I may also look into doing some blog hops… not too sure how this whole blog thing works to increase traffic… I know I seem to read masses of other people’s blogs, but I need to grabble with design so that I can list them all in my sidebar instead of just having a big list in Google Reader! I’d also like to learn how to add things like the mini catalogue to my blog… if anyone wants to contact me to talk me through it, feel free!

Itty Bitty Buds

I received this set when I held a workshop – it is not available for order and is a hostess freebie… I love it! it is so useful and lends itself well to decorating papers to then be used in projects. Recently I was speaking with a lovely lady through ILWS who was saying she doesn’t know what to do with this stamp set, so here are a few things that I’ve done!

I used it to create a background for my FIL’s 70th birthday card. it’s always difficult to make cards for men I find, so I stuck with quite earthy colours and a natural theme – maybe it was just an excuse to use my SU XL Bird punch!!

Hopefully one day I’ll get the hang on stamping in a straight line – even with the stamp-a-ma-jig I find I’m making mistakes…oh well practise makes perfect…

Colours used:

Choc chip, close to cocoa and creamy caramel for the card layers, green galore, choc chip and mellow moss to stamp.

I also recently held a workshop to create items for Easter… guess that seems ages away now! However, we made these easy peasey boxes… the large one is made using the backing card that comes with DSP and covered in Bella Bleu but the smaller one is made from Mellow Moss card and stamped with choc chip Itty Bitty Buds again. The sentiment is from a SAB set which is no longer available and cut out with scallop circle punch.

Vellum and Acetate Workshop 30th April

Just a reminder that the next workshop 'Acetate and Vellum' will be held Friday 30th April at my house from 7.30pm

Places filling up fast!

Cost £5 to include refreshments and materials for 2 make and takes.

Come and see the wonderful items from the new Mini Catalogue!

Pocket Silhouettes sunrise…

 

Again me trying new techniques!! I used a cut up make up sponge to cover some Whisper White cardstock with a mixture of earth element inks to create a sunset/sunrise effect. I used: Ruby red, pumpkin pie, more mustard and creamy caramel.

After this I then used two of the stamps from Pocket Silhouettes and black stazon to stamp around the edges to form a nature scene.

The sentiment in the centre was from SAB and no longer available and the dragonfly is non SU (sorry can’t remember who did this one!) and it was embossed with black powder for extra effect. I wish I had embossed the sentiment as well to create extra dimension.

The scene was layered on basic black a5 card blank.

Next Workshop... and the Mini Catalogue!

Dates for diaries!!
Friday 30th April...

Workshop showing some of the wonderful things to be done with Acetate and Vellum!

£5 to cover all materials, redeemable against a purchase of £20 or more.

Email me for further details: mcvictorial@gmail.com

Don't forget also the new Mini Catalogue is out!! Some amazing items here - I've got my eye on the new 2 step Bird punch!

Easter Tree...

Nothing done by my own fair hand has to be said... well other than the sourcing and picking of the branch which was considerably harder than it may appear :) it had to be the right 'twiggy' look!

Anyway, the decs were from Paperchase for only £4 and I even had a few left over!

Very festive!