Christmas card for my Son using freebies!

I received a wonderful gift when I subscribed to 'Simply Cards and Papercrafts' last month; a set if Indigo Blue Flitter and some beautiful stamps and on top of that the magazine had a great embossing strip folder. So that's what I used to make both my Son and Daughters Christmas cards.
Here's the one for my boy:

I layered textured gold card on a plain 8x8inch white card. Stamped the Indigo Blue image and embossed with silver embossing powder onto black card. Sprinkled a frame around the image with Frantage Aged Gold Opaque embossing enamel and heated it from underneath. I then ran some brown paper through the Bigshot inside the freebie embossing folder and went over it with the lush Pebeo Silver Gilding Wax, stuck on a couple of gold stars, the die cut letters out of a velvet wallpaper sample (!) from the Time Holtz Vintage Market strip and voila!
It had to be a quick card as my son really isn't into cards at all - I've put him off for life with all my crafting!

First post for Artistic Inspirations Challenge Blog

What a frantically busy month it's been. My house has been in chaos as we've been changing rooms around to accommodate my lovely new craft room, which is ALMOST finished and ready to show off and so much happening that my poor little brain is spinning!
Firstly I'm very excited to say I've been invited to join the DT for Artistic Inspirations who run a fab Challenge Blog which gives prizes of digital images generously provided by some amazing sponsors.

Here's my first card for the team, and bearing in mind the limited access to my craft provisions, and that I had a very busy Christmas Card & Paper Craft workshop to prepare for and run on Saturday, it's amazing I submitted it in time!

The digital image is from Stitchy Bear (details on Artistic Inspirations Challenge Blog) and I chose this one because it had something very appealing about it and immediately I thought of a little elf hiding in a Christmas Tree (my mind boggles even me sometimes!).
The backgrounds are stamped with some freebie bauble stamps I got from a magazine, using Versamark ink, heat embossed with Stamp 'n' Bond powder then covered with gilding flakes.
The green background was pre stamped with a tree to look like pine branches as I didn't have a pine branch stamp, but it worked pretty well. The main image is coloured using Promarkers & Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, cut out leaving a white border so it 'pops', then added onto the green background and I made a small slit along the bauble where her hand rests, slid her hand into it so it looks like she's holding onto the bauble (to me anyway!).
I put it all together layering it onto a punched piece of cream card. Then I added double sided tape to both sides, covered with glitter and edged with some vintage lace.
Hope you like it - I had a lot of fun doing this and it was the perfect excuse to take a break from decorating!
Suz
xxx

New Craft Room - work in progress!

Hello creative people.
I've not posted for a few days, but have been frantically busy preparing for a charity fundraising event in aid of the Royal Marsden Cancer Hospital Charity tomorrow, where I'll be running 4 workshops and in between trying to renovate a room which will be my new Craft Room!
As you'd imagine we'd hoped it would be finished by this weekend (rofl) and instead we've had problems capping gas pipes, complications with the electrics and plaster falling off of chimney breasts and holes to fill in flooring where we took away the fire surround & hearth! Here is a pic of it as it stands. I'm still very excited with the progress but I still can't sugar soap the walls & paintwork because there's more messy remedial work to (shame!!).

In then meantime my daughter may have come down with food poisoning or a 24hour bug and I'm just praying whatever the poor girl has got that I don't flipping catch it - especially with all the work I've done for tomorrow- eeeeek!

Wish me luck.
Suz

Journal Cover

And here is the cover of the journal, inspired by Andy Skinner, which I taught at the workshop last week. So many layers of paper, glue, inks and paint it took ages!

And here is one of the inside pages, just playing with different mediums and techniques.

I thought both of these could be entered into the Country View Crafts challenge which is 'letters' as I used die cut letters for both these pages.

Finished art journal page

I had fun preparing for my Introduction to Art Journaling workshop last week. Gave me a perfect excuse to play. I spritzed water onto my journal page, spritzed two strong colours of Luminarc sprays, then blew them around with a straw and once dry I splatted Picket Fence distress stain over and stomped it down with some force (very therapeutic)! Then today I finished the page off by cutting out images from magazines to make the mismatched character and went around the image with black ink, stamped a fab phrase from a set by Dyan Reavely and heat embossed it with white Wow powder. Finally I quilled a bright flower for her hair to be a bit contrary! This page could be perfectly innocent, or have a naughty side with those dark background colours, depends on your imagination!

Think I'll enter this into a few challenges just for fun!:

All Crafts Challenge Theme is anything goes but not cards!
 Anonymous Stamp Challenge Theme is anything/ no theme
Artistic Inspirations Challenges - theme is anything goes/ friendship
Di's Digi Designs - Girly
Musically Challenged - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (perfect theme I think!)
Punk You Girl - Angels and Demons - and I think this girl is both, if she opened her mouth wider she'd probably have fangs!
Challenges for Everybody - Anything goes
That Craft Place Ltd - Sentiment (lovely to see the fab Jools on the DT of on this site!
Craft Stamper Magazine challenge - splatter (did a fair bit of that!)

Quick JoFY Christmas card

Here is a quick Christmas card using a paper piecing technique with the lovely JoFY stamps, and )ov course) some Stickles; great for the boys (still managed to add that glitter though!).

Will enter this into the following challenges:

Sweet stamping challenge - Christmas is coming

and also their Christmas at Sweet Stamping Challenge which has a male theme

Hel's Sunday Stamper - Red

 Stamping Sensations - Christmas

2 Sisters Challenge Blog - Christmas Sparkle 

Crafty Calendar Challenge Blog - All things Chrismas

Back from hols & have finished samples for next weeks workshop

After a lovely week away I'm back and raring to go! Here are the samples of the second project we will make at the workshop on Saturday. Quick and easy but great fun and lovely results. Hope you like them. I'm happy for anyone to copy the design (thanks to those who've already asked because I know how hard it is to always come up with practical workshop ideas, just as long as I do get credit. And the nice thing is they are suitable for the boys, but you can add more bling and glitz to make them more girlie!
Suz
xxx

I'll enter these into the following challenges:

Penny Black and More - anything goes (not digi images though)

My Creative Moments Wordplay challenge - this month it's Seasons & this week anything goes.

CAS-ual Fridays (clean and simple) - theme is tag/ gift, and you can't get a simpler tag which is a gift than this one! 

Crafts-Too challenge you - Christmas scene and what Christmas means to you (for me cosy and glittery sum it up!)

And the brand new Crafty Hands Challenge Blog - Anything goes

 

And my first ever blog hop - if it works!!!

November workshop samples

Hi all
I've been having a play to come up with a card for my next workshop in November. Very organised I know, but as I go away for a week tomorrow I had to get it sorted! I'll post details of how I made it after the workshop.

So, as I'm off on holiday tomorrow  I decided to watch my new Clarity Stamp DVD while packing and putting on my posh nail polish (unheard of for me as they are usually covered in paint!). This is the second time I've tried to watch it; last time my (only 18 month old) tv/dvd player decided to pack up just after putting the disk in, so it was stuck and stayed there for over 2 months until I got around to getting it repaired! Thought I'd try again today, but sure enough, while watching/ listening to Barbara on one of her earlier dvd's (number 2) half way though a brayer exercise, and mid nail polishing, I spot a nasty magpie chasing after my little dwarf bunny in the garden. Only problem was trying to safely put down polish then run from the bedroom (previously the loft) down three flights of stairs to the garden without chipping my polish! Luckily I saw off the rotten bird and Dusky is fine. Anyway nails are done (trying not to chip while I type) and I'm off to Tenerife in 15 hours - hooray!!!! In case you're wondering, I've got all the newest Clarity DVD's (including latest released last week) but decided to get the 2nd as I've got the stamps on the cover! Adios for now!

 

I'll enter this card into a few challenges for fun:

7 Kids College Fund - anything goes

http://craftingbydesigns.blogspot.co.uk/ - anything goes

 http://handmadeharbour.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/midweek-papercraft-party-9.html - something pretty

http://thepapershelter.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-133-use-two-colours-only.html  two colours only

Penny Black and More - Anything goes

 

Andy Skinner's Altered Mirror workshop at The Artistic Stamper

Fab day yesterday being taught how to alter an Ikea mirror by Andy Skinner. Such a lovely group of people, really enjoyed meeting them all. And super lunch too Jenny.
There was so much going on I almost forgot to take pics so here are just two of the mirror at the two major stages (there were so many!). I'm not going to tell you how we went from a plain black finish to the bright colourful mirror the to the final metal affect - you'll have to go on one of Andy's workshops for that- but needless to say we all got very messy and had a ball. And while I loved the mirror at the end of stage one, this was all about learning new techniques so we couldn't resist going to the final stage, and I'm so glad we did, it was great fun!

Thanks Andy, and Jenny and Mal too for looking after us (not to mention the scrummy cupcakes - think that was Lorraine). Can't wait to play with all the wonderful bits I bought in your shop!

Think I might enter this into The Artistic Stamper challenge of 'anything altered' lol!!

I look forward to trying out various stages of the techniques again over the next few weeks!

End of Stage one

The final product

Simple Christmas Cards using JoFY stamps

 I stamped the wreath onto white card and filled in the baubles/ circles with blue Liquid Pearls, and bronze coloured Perlen-Pen (similar to the pearls) buttons and Stickles glue (leave to dry-walk away from the wet card!!!). I stamped the cute robins onto pages from an old BT phone book, cut them out and coloured the chests red and glued them to the wreath (copying the idea from a card made by Jo). I used a star mask, inked through with chalky light blue pigment ink onto the red card base. Stuck on the wreath, added some blue raffia and a few dots of the blue liquid pearls onto the corners.


For this Christmas tag, I die cut the tag shape using the Tim Holtz tag die from the 'tag & bookplates' set with the 'Wish' movers & shapers die inside. I stamped and cut out one of Jo's Robins, cut it out & stuck it on. I inked through a star mask using Versamark ink & embossed with gold Wow powder, then I added gold pen around the outside, but it didn't look gold compared to the Wow powder so I went back over with re Stickles glue. I wrote on the card using a wide calligraphy pen (bit out of practice!"). I forgot to add the ribbon before uploading all of this, it will be gold so just pretend! I'll enter this tag into the Creative Card Crew challenge which is 'tags'.

I'll enter the first one into the Crafting Musketeers 'Christmas' theme, and both of them into the LEJ Designs 'Things with Wings' challenge (for the Robins :-), and Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers challenge which is "Wish" .

Three crafty Saturdays in a row....

I've had two very crafty Saturdays on the trot, with my own cardmaking workshops last week, then demo time at the Craft Barn this weekend , (with a little jewellery workshop in between that I was asked to run), and will be enjoying yet another one next week as I've booked a place on a fab Andy Skinner workshop. I think some places are still available, at The Artistic Stamper in Faversham!

Amongst many other things (!) I purchased at the Craft Barn was a set of beautiful stamps by Jo Firth-Young, I've made some quick cards with them to enter a few challenges! Here is a sample:

I stamped the wreath and greeting onto white card using Memento ink, punched out with a 3" circle punch. Coloured the circles/ baubles with Promarkers. Cut the sentiment in half then ran a Spectrum Noir pen around the outside of the sentiments, circle & backing paper then mounted onto a card blank. I then added Glossy Accents to the baubles and sprinkled dry glitter on top. Finally, bows and gems added.
One of the quickest Crimbo cards I've ever made! Suz xxx
I'm going to enter this into the Emerald Faeries 'Sparkle' challenge and also Penny Black and More Challenge.

Mini books for the September workshop

Here are samples of the second part of the workshops I'll be running on Saturday. Little bits of colourful fun that can be adapted, added to embellished to your hearts content! We'll use alcohol markers, paints, mica powders, stamps and inks to create these little lovies!

One side of the concertina fold-out

The other side of the concertina fold out, and a very different look. I'll enter these into the LEJ Designs Challenge as their current theme is 'layers' and this project has quite a few (inside & out!), the My Creative Moments challenge and Ali-Craft Blog (Great to see you at Ali Pally on Sunday honey!) as their Challenges are seasons/ Autumn and the colours I've used for the main sample are very Autumnal,  another Autumn challenge is on the Artistic Stamper blog and as the flower image on the front of the book is a 'twinchie' (2 inches x 2 inches) I'll also enter the 'Show us Your Twinchies' challenge as their theme is Autumn too!

Here is a pic with the other colour sample.

I'll also add this to the 'Pile it on Challenge' as these fit both the 'cool or warm' themes!

 

 

Card samples for my next workshop

Hi all
I've been making samples for my next workshop on the 28th September and I got a bit carried away with how many different ways you can put this owl card together.....I loved making them. And spookily enough, the night I finished the first sample, I woke at 3am to an owl hooting in the field behind us, which is a rare event (I think it was a sign of approval)!!!! We will also be making a mini album with concertina folds which I'll post pictures of next week once I've experimented a little more. These also fit with the Bird theme of Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers so I'll enter that for fun,
I've also entered this into the Fussy & Fancy Friday challenge as the theme is dies & punches and I used circle punches for Ollies eyes and a sizzix die for the branches/ leaves.
Sorry about the lighting - time is against me at the moment! I'll update the post with details after I've run the workshop. Hope you like these little cuties! Suz xxxx

Twinchie Tiles using Clarity Canal Stamps

I'm just getting into this entering of challenges malarkey. Looking at other bloggers posts they use will enter one item into about half a dozen different challenges and I tried to work out how to do it. So I started by looking at the Clarity Challenge which was animals. That reminded me of the Canal stamp set I've had for a year and not used (very bad)! I've also noticed LEJ designs challenge blog theme is currently hols & travel and this is a holiday I've always wanted to have (hence buying the stamps) so the tiles fit nicely with that. I try to join in Hel's Sheridan's Sunday Stampers Challenge  regularly as I'm a hugomungos fan of hers, this week it is metal - and as I used Treasure Gold around the edge of each twinchie I'm hoping that counts. The idea for the twinchies came from both the Artful Times Challenge Site, theme this month - you've guessed it: TWINCHIES!! Looking at the lovely samples there I came across another site which also fitted as it too had a holiday theme called Show Us Your Twinchies and again had lots of lovely inspiration! So that is a record for me, wonder if I've entered them properly!!!!

Anyway, I stamped the images onto the non pearlescent side of Crafters Companion Centura Pearl card using black archival ink. I used metallic colouring pencils to colour (though they don't look metallic from the pics), wrote the words and framed them with a Micron pen and finally edged each with Treasure Gold before mounting them on small ceramic tiles.  Think I'll use them for decoration when I finally move into my new craft room!

August Workshop

Thanks to all who came to my workshop yesterday. It was an afternoon packed with techniques, hope you enjoyed it. I had a fab time and loved seeing your amazing creations. I'll let you know when the next one is as soon as the September date in confirmed. Love Suz xxx

Here are the samples of the second card we will make at my next workshop on Saturday 24th August.
I posted pics of the quilled card previously.
Hope you like them.
Suz

x

Creative hand embroidery sample.

I'm practicing my embroidery to get me up to speed to run some workshops in the coming weeks. Here is a sample I finished this morning.

A Very British Summer

Bit cute for me but wanted to try a stamp out I've had for ages. Not a great pic as I was in a bit of a hurry, sorry!
Stamped main image and water droplets. Coloured using promarkers, added glossy accents where I wanted a wet look. Cut out the water droplets. Wrote the letters & cut out bunting and put it all together on a couple of die cut shapes. There is a bit of green in here so I'm entering it into Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers Challenge.

 

Magical Masks friendship card

Here is a card I made for a good friend of mine as it is her birthday today, we had a lovely evening celebrating with cocktails in Surbiton tonight (apologies for any typos!!!).

The colour in this card comes mainly from Mister Huey's mister sprays (sunset, plumb thumb & taxi), used on the background card and for the tag backgrounds, but also some TH distress inks, and of course treasure gold. I created a diamond/ harlequin mask on my Cricut Mini which I inked through and then embossed with Stampendous Rose embossing powder. I then used Clarity Stamps on each of the masks (birds, dancer & vine) and then stamped a mask from a Kanban set on all three tags and embossed with black Wow embossing powder. I also stamped the birthday greeting. I added treasure gold to lots of places and around all the edges, also to the little roses which I also cut with my Cricut Mini and rolled with a quilling pen.The touch of purple on the masks is from Cosmic Shimmer mica powders which I mixed with water to create a paint. The cord was from an old gift bag.

The quote is from a Roman philosopher called Lucius Annaeus Seneca
 and was sourced from:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_friendship.html#mZKAb4M4MbzrSJxO.99

I'll enter this into Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers Challenge theme this week is diamonds.
Also Country View Crafts challenge which is sayings & quotes.
Crafts and Me Challenge - which is Anything goes

Simple quilling card

Here is my first attempt at quilling. Got myself a set of quilling dies (easier said than done!) and had a play. I wanted to enter a couple of challenges for 'simple' cards which makes a change for me and gives a cleaner look than the mixed media (though that is still my fav!).
Suz
x

Just for fun I've entered this into The Ond Stop Craft Challenge .

Summer Rose

I made this grungy Summer Rose wall hanging from recycled card, a recycled fridge magnet (the little square canvas) scraps of card, red acrylic paint, white gesso and added shine and a bit of bling with Treasure Gold. Some pics of the stages below to show you some of the steps......hope you like it - and the little ladybird which I made with some small circles of red & black card and a white Sakura pen. The inspiration came from looking at some of the fab blog challenges which are out there. I'll post links to the ones I'm referring to at the bottom of this post.

The quote is my very own (I'm a poet and I don't know it!); simple, just like me!

1. Bit of old cardboard, torn and peeled to reveal some of the corrugation, then randomly painted with white gesso and lightly stamped with a plastic rose shape I had using red acrylic paint, adding subtle red.
2. The base of the hanging is an old mount board label shape I painted with red acrylic paint
3. The little canvas is an old fridge magnet which I painted with white gesso, then overpainted with red acrylic, then added Treasure Gold, printed words and little paper roses. I die cut the roses with my Mini Cricut then used a quilling tool to roll them, added glue to hold them and brushed with Treasure Gold. The vines were die cuts I had cut out about two years ago (Sizzix) and never used, I went around the edges of them with a dark brown Promarker to make them pop a bit. Again dusted with Treasure Gold.
4. After completing the canvas I added it to the cardboard, added that to the label shape then glued on the vines and added yet more treasure gold to the background....and the little ladybird!
5. And the day after making it I felt the roses were not big enough for a Summer Rose statement so I made this humungus rose from yellow copy paper, and spritzed it with Mr Hueys misters (red then orange to get the right shade of red) so I'm much happier with it now!

 

I'll enter this into the A Mixed Media Color Challenge 

And Crafts-Too Challenge You
Also the Country View Crafts August Challenge which is 'quotes & sayings'

Vintage tea room

I'm off to my friends new house on the Goodwood Estate in East Dean tomorrow (very posh!!!). As they are big fans of the The Goodwood Revival, which is all about 1940's50's&60's motor racing scene, and all things vintage,  I thought I'd make this little gift box as their New Home card. I made the 1950's inspired vintage tea set using a fabric and felt kit from Corinne Lapierre, which I cut out and hand stitched (added a few beads too) made a box which I inked and stamped added a die cut doyley and stamped and cut out the 'home sweet home' sentiment to add as a wall hanging in the background. Instead of making it a top and bottom, I hinged it at the back to make a room setting using Washi tape. There are at least 4 layers, 5 in places (card, inks. die cuts, embossing/ fabric, beads) I was hoping to add bunting too but as I'm off to Weymouth (now!!!) then straight to Okehampton after to see my folks, then heading to the housewarming in East Dean tomorrow, I've just run out of time! This must be the fastest post I've ever done - and I'm hoping to enter this into Hels Sheridans Sunday Stampers which is always fun, as the theme this week links and also to the Crafts -Too Challenge You if I can work out how to add links etc below! Finally, added to the Crafts and Me Challenge
love Suz xxx

  

It's been quite a week one way or another. But alongside all the dramas, I've remembered to make cards for my Uncle, who's birthday it is on Sunday and for My Nephew who also has an important event on Sunday because, after months of assessments, tests and waiting, he finally joins the Army. Good luck honey. Love ya. Here is the 'camouflage card' I for him made using leaves from a walk in the woods in Esher, hopefully he will think it's funny as his name is hidden under the leaves, though it doesn't look like a card from the pics (that's the beauty of camo!)! I then came across a lovely blog called 'Sketchbook Challange' whose theme just happened to be a walk in the woods - so I had to enter!