WOYWW 160

So I had a fun weekend of making baby cards for a friend, couldn't decide which one I liked better, but now I'm leaning towards the 'BABY' one.

I also found time to try something I've been meaning to do for ages - I've seen all of these sets of mini stamps/tapestry stamps used at shows, and very nearly bought them as I loved the patterns they were able to build with a few small stamps. But I resisted buying them on the basis that I had so many stamps at home. So this weekend I went through all my stamps and pulled out any diddy ones that I thought might work, and had a play. The first couple of attempts weren't that great, think I put way too much on the page, didn't know when to stop! But they started to get better, and this is what i came up with..........

I'm thinking they would be a great subject for one of my classes, so will see what my ladies think!

OK, no pic of my desk today, only what I've made on it :-) I'm off now to link up with Julia here, and to join in her weekly trip around the world to see what other crafters have been up to!

Happy crafting

Debs xx

It's wedding season!

 Hi blog-hoppers! I've had a few commissions lately for cards on wedding themes, so thought I would share them with you.  The first one uses ready made tag toppers I've had in my stash for ages, and the colour theme was just right for this request. The die cuts are Spellbinders Grand Labels 4.  

The background layer is an old Hunky Dory Whispers pearl embossed card, and I ran the white top layer through an embossing folder - I love this particular one, which is swirling vines - think it's Crafts Too.  I added some punched swirls and a few gems to finish it off.

The second one uses a freebie download I've had since last year, from one of the crafting mags, think it was Papercraft Inspirations but not sure! Anyway, I've used it a lot!

This one was matted and layered on more Hunky Dory card, the darker layer is gold embossed, and the lighter layer is the whisper pearl again. Then I cut out a bunch of Kanban flowers I've had in my stash for years, curled and layerd them and added gems. The colour theme for this wedding was metallic turquoise, and I added Stickles glitter glue to the tiny flowers on the topper and all over the skirt of the dress - hard to see unless you look really close, but so pretty!

I have a class in Chandlers Ford this afternoon and another tomorrow night, and this is what we will be making - I got carried away with the flower theme after the wedding card!!

The Grand Labels 4 die came out again - Labels 4 has to be my most used die, it's brilliant! the larger flowers are made from cutting spiral circles, and I've added different sizes of spirals for interest, plus punched flowers, swirls and leaves.

OK, time to go pack the craft box! Thanks for stopping by, and happy crafting :-)

Debs x

Spotlighting rubber stamping

 Hi blog hoppers, this is the sample made for our last class in Chandlers Ford. We focused on the spotlighting technique,where you pick a part of your image and stamp it again, colour it so that it stands out. We also double embossed our spotlighted section so that it really jumped out at you, and used embossed Core-dinations card as a backing - the cards the ladies made in class were fab!  Lots of bright colours and great finished projects.

Next class is at Bella Crafts in Fair Oak this coming Saturday, this will be a Pro Markers class focused on florals and landscapes. It is a repeat of one we did earlier in the year, where we were over-subscribed, so we agreed to tun it again for those who were disappointed to not get in the first time.

Hope you all have a lovely Jubilee weekend, I'm off to do some more crafting ;-)

Thanks for stopping by

Debs x

TP Mini albums - made from loo rolls!

Hi blog hoppers, it's been a while since my last post, and my only excuse is work - and not the crafty kind!

Several people have commented on how quiet I've been lately, so I resolve to try to post more often :-)

This is a pic of a recently completed mini album. We made loo roll mini albums in class a few weeks ago, and we had so much fun!  You make them by squashing the inner tubes from loo rolls ( or kitchen roll if you don't want to use loo rolls!) I ran mine through my cuttlebug to squash them as flat as possible.

I covered mine in a range of co-ordinating papers by covering the loo roll in PVA glue and wrapping paper around then trimming. If you want a pocket just fold one end up on the second side and glue only the left and right edges on that page

You can slip tags inside the ends of the loo rolls, add pockets, mini envelopes, photo corners and embellishments and tags of all kinds. I used a cropa dile to punch and set eyelets and book rings to bind the pages.  It takes a while to stamp all the tags and mount all the photos, but the end result is so cute - I have another 2 part finished :-)

Last week's class in Chandlers Ford covered mica powders and we had a lovely sparkly time dusting, painting, spritzing and spraying! I feel like I owe all my ladies' other halves an apology as they all went away with plans to stock up on mica powders and masks :-)

Off now for a cuppa and kitty cuddle - happy crafting

Debs xx

WOYWW 147 and Pro Markers

I've been absent from blogland for past couple of weeks - phenomenally busy and with new job taking up all my time, so not much crafting done in the Willis house :-(  Really missed my WOYWW fix last week, so will do my best to visit lots of crafty boltholes this week, spread over the next few days. If you want to see what other crafters are up to visit Julia's Stamping Ground and join in the blog hopping fun!

But I have the day off today and this is my desk today, batch stamping lots of images for a Pro Marker workshop this Saturday. Got to get it done today cos I'm working tomorrow and Friday, so today's my last chance!  Took a few mins to colour one of my favourite images, the little row of mice from Penny Black 'Micey Nice Day' - they are so cute I love these meeces!

Aren't they sweet? If we have enough time on Saturday this will be the 'challenge' image at the end of the class (which is focused on skin tones, hair and fur) to make each little mouse a different colour using only a few pens.

Well, that's me for today, hopefully I will get a bit more time soon, as I am missing my crafty play time

Thanks for stopping by

Debs x

WOYWW 141 and the Craft Room Workout!

It has been a really busy week, and I couldn't believe it when I realised that the last time I blogged was a whole week ago! And here I am again, wondering where that week went lol!!  I think I've learned my lesson about scheduling classes so close together.  I have run 4 classes in the last week, and what with packing kits, sorting the toolkits after each one ready for the next, and finishing my samples for the NEC trade show, I am pooped! 


So, I thought I would share with you what I've spent the last 45 mins doing................

 BEFORE...... this is the Cuttlebug work station, aka the kitchen counter (can you tell???? lol!) 


and you can just see at the bottom right of the pic, a big carrier bag full of......... loo rolls.


I needed to flatten these, and a pile of kitchen roll tubes, ready for a future class where we will be making TP mini albums. For those who have never seen them, these are cute little mini scrapbooks/brag albums made from.............you guessed it..... loo roll inner tubes!


Now for the AFTER............

A whole carrier bag full reduced to a few square inches! All neat and ready to go. 


Now for that workout bit, it took 45 mins of manual labour on the Cuttlebug to achieve this, and it was hot work! Who needs Zumba classes when you have a Cuttlebug and a bag full of loo rolls???  Doesn't sound that great, does it!!!??

An now for something completely different.........................  this is the men's Valentine's card I made for the WOW! Embossing Powders design team blog. Random hearts and sentiments stamped all over the inner pop out section and embossed in Platinum, and the sparkly heart dangling in the aperture is embossed in 2 different colours, one on each side of the heart so you get a really cool effect as it rotates.

OK,  I am off to load up the car for tonight's class, and when I get back, or possibly tomorrow morning, I will scoot round as many desks as I can in the weekly snoopathon hosted over at the Stamping Ground


Thanks for stopping by


debs x

Matchbox Easel cards and Pro Marker Storage!

Hi everyone, my recent obsession with boxes has carried over into my classes, and I thought I would share with you a pic of the Matchbox Easel Cards we made last night.

I love these little boxes as they are so versatile. They are a basic square easel card, mounted on a square 'matchbox' in a sleeve. I can personally vouch for the fact that they hold up to 9 Lindor choccies - but only 3 left now! ;-)  They can be for any occasion, we made some for valentine's day, and birthdays. I decided to go with a contemporary black and white stamped design, adding a bold colour accent in the punched images - I think they look fab!

I am entering the one on the right of the pic (with the heart!) in the Oldie but Goodie Challenge cos I've had the cute heart with a birdie stamp for ages and this is the first time I've used it! Also the Allsorts Challenge with one or More Hearts as the theme.

I  also thought I'd share with you a 'tidy tip', as I am rather prone to showing my messy workspace onn my postings, so I thought I would show that I do have some semblance of organisation!  Also, Di over at Pixie's Crafty Workshop is on a mammoth stamps re-org, and inspired me to show some organisation!

One of my biggies with organising my stash is that I need to be able to cart it around to the classes that I run, and so I have several chests of drawers, with lots of organiser boxes holding inks, different paper and card etc.  I use my Pro Markers all the time, both at home and at workshops, so I needed something portable, but that would let me organise my pens into colour families - I have about 75 pens, and want them all in one place.  I wasn't keen on the Letraset storage wallets, and lots of other wallets are really pricey, so here is my solution:

 

This is a toiletries bag, with a number of separate see thru zipped compartments, all of which are attached to the main case by velcro strips and so can be pulled out of the case as required, or I can just unzip the relevant compartment. The middle compartment even has a small zipped mesh outer pocket that holds my ultra fnine nibs - perfect! And the whole thing zips closed and fits nicely into my drawer when not in use.  And the best bit??? This cost me £3 on Ebay!

  

So, that's me for Thurs night. I'm demo'ing this Sunday at Hobbycraft, with a Valentine's theme - by the time Valentine's Day actually arrives I will be heartily sick of hearts! 

Thanks for stopping by

Debs xx

Hide n Seek card

 The sun is shining today, but it's really cold here! I've not had much time to be creative this past week, but wanted to share my Sunday afternoon creation.

I love playing with paper mechanics, when a card does something other than simply 'open' which explains my recent obsession with boxes, and the Matchbox Easel card I have planned for classes this week!

This is a Hide n Seek card, where the card has a 'hidden' interior section.

This is the first thing you see when you open the card, a lovely series of stamped and layered panels. Then, if you close the card and push the outer edges back ,when you open the card again.........

Ta Da!!  A 'hidden' message, in this case, the panels say 'With Love'

this is actually a really easy card to make, but takes ages to decorate all the panels. It's great fun though, both to make and to receive.

Start with a piece of A4, crease and fold to an A5, then add further creases as though it is a gatefold card, mountain fold the centre crease, and valley fold the 2 outer creases.

On the centre fold, mark and cut 3 evenly spaced horizontal slits, cutting from the centre fold to the outer folds at 5.25, 10.5 & 15.75 cm.

Fold each panel you have created alternately left and right. Cut 4 panels of mirror board at 21cm x 7.2cm , sandwich them back to back in pairs. Slide one mirror strip through the 2 left hand panels, and the other through the 2 right hand panels.

fold the card open and closed a few times to make sure it folds smoothly, then decorate to your hearts content!

Thanks for stopping by

Debs

WOYWW 138 and more boxes!

This is today's crafty corner of the dining room, prepping samples for this Saturday's class making gift boxes.  Centre front we have a cute little butterfly hexagon box (templates from a CD by Payperbox) stamped and decorated with butterflies.  Behind that is a pyramid box decorated with hearts (yes, Valentine's Day soon dear, if you're reading this :-)

Then you have a small collection of my Stickles glitter glues, and just behind that a teeny tiny set of dragonfly and butterfly stamps that I've had for years and absolutely adore! They are tiddly tho, perfect for backgrounds!

I didn't dare take a pic of the whole table, cos anyone who read my blog last week might notice that most of the same stuff is still there! Have been super busy this last week, and lost a day yesterday after a visit to the osteopath (old war wound lol!) after which I felt like I'd been kicked by a mule (actually petite and blonde, but she still packs a punch!)

After doing a quick flick thru my Blogger reading list, has anyone seen the preview of the new Distress Ink Marker Pens???   Ooooooooh, I really NEED these!!!! 

I have deadlines coming at me all over the place, 3 classes in the next week, and samples to make for the trade show at the NEC, so forgive me if I don;t make it to your WOYWW entry this week.  I will do my best later today when I have a bit more time, so for now, I'm off to add my name to the list over at Julia's blog, then it's back to the inkpads :-0

Thanks for stopping by

Debs x

Sandown Craft show - new stash!

So I blew my New Year's resolution, which was to not buy any more stash in January!! went to the Sandown Stictch & Creative Crafts show, and bought some goodies........

The beautfiul Isabelle paper pack, lots of glittered and double sided papers in soft shades of green, brown and pink - yum! Packs of coloured card, 10 sheets per pack, £1 a pack - bargain! Got the Martha Stewart punch reduced cos there was no box - yay! And the set of Pro Markers incljudes 5 ultra fine nibs, so very happy with those.  Some extra Glossy Accents mini bottles - so useful for my classes, a leaf punch that I've been meaning to buy for a while, and was reduced, and a cute little Tina Wenke stamp of a book-reading hedgehog that I absolutely fell in love with! 

I was very restrained, kept picking up goodies,sighing over them and then putting them back on the shelf - there were sooooooooo many stamps I 'needed', but still I managed to resist - made of stern stuff, me! Also, the fact that all the credit card machines at the show were playing up helped, cos most stalls were only taking cash and that ran out really quick........ :-)

Been demo'ing at Hobbycraft all afternoon, showing the Papermania 'Blue Burleigh' Capsule Collection, and the Portobello Rd Collectiion.  This is one of the quickie makes using the Blue burleigh  Collection, which includes these great die cuts that you can use to layer up with the toning backing papers for really quick and easy cards.  This one is 2 die cuts, each with a hole punched in the centre of the scalloped edge and tied together with a ribbon bow, then fixed to the front of the card with foam pads.  I finished with sticky gems - super easy!

Thanks to the lovely ladies from my craft classes who stopped by to say hi, it was so nice to see you and have a chat, see you at the next class!

Thanks for stopping by

Debs x

Creativity returns! Hurrah! And WOYWW

woo hoo!  Finally, after a couple of weeks of crafty inactivity, I get to craft again.  Have to confess, I didnlt really feel ike crafting much over Christmas break, which surprised me, as I had several days of 'nothingness'. However, these were spent semi-comatose in front of tv eating anything and everything to hand and watching drivel on tv - bliss!  We have had a few weeks of the 'everything that could go wrong.......' syndrome, starting just before Christmas with Hubby's car dying, so I am currently car-less while he makes use of mine. Isn't it amazing how much you take a car for granted? I hadn't realised just how much I use mine, particularly for last minute supplies for classes!!

Then the dishwasher decided to have a heart attack just in time for Christmas, my poor Brother in Law is still in hospital, having now contracted MRSA and a chest infection following his 4th or 5th surgery. And yesterday, with the storms, I spent a fun few minutes sailing across the garden hanging on for dear lifge to the canopy from our swing seat, as I tried to prevent it flying into someone else's garden, and then our fence blew down!

My work desk is a bit of a work in progress today, as I am frantically packing up kits for tonights class, having left it to the last minute (not intentional - lots of interruptions!!)

centre front is my lovely new A3 cutting mat courtesy of Santa Hubby! and on that is the sample card for tonight (more detailed pic below) and set of packing/construction instructions and box of kits.  If you look carefully at the top right of the pic you will see my Christmas oven mitts which have not yet been returned to their home for another year :-)

So this is a close up of tonight's project - a shutter card with lots of matting and layering, flowers, butterflies and mirri card.

May not get to look at everyone's desk today on WOYWW, but will hop on over to Julia's blog now and hopefully will get a chance to catch up tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by

Debs x

Gift Box (Christmas or any time really!!)

These gift boxes look amazing, and are so easy to make! We made them at the Weds class last week, and I demo'd them at Hobbycraft yesterday, and was inundated with requests for instructions, so here we are!!

You will need:

• 2 x A4 card
• ruler
• craft knife
• scissors
• pencil
• extra strong double sided tape or fast drying glue
• Patterned paper, rubber stamps, die cuts, ribbon etc to decorate

instructions

• To make the base of the box - cut one piece 20cm x 26cm, and one piece 20cm x 10cm
• On the larger piece of card, measure along the long edge and score at 8cm, 16cm and 24cm
• On the smaller piece of card, measure along the shorter edge and score at 8cm
• On both pieces of card, position the card so that the scored lines run top to bottom, with the 2cm section on the right hand side, and score each piece horizontally at 4cm up from the bottom edge
• With the card still in the same position, cut up each scored line, stopping at the 4cm horizontal score line.  This creates the flaps for the base of the box.
• Cut away the bottom edge of each of the 2cm wide flaps, up to the 4cm horizontal score line, and trim a narrow triangle from the left and right edges of all remaining flaps
• fold along all score lines, but do not burnish - you should now have 1 piece with 3 x 8cm panels, and one with a single 8cm panel, each piece having a 2cm flap at the side, and 4cm flaps at the base
• Apply any decoration (Paper panels - see measurements at the end) stamped patterns on the outside etc) before assembling the box - it is much easier when the panels are flat
• using extra strong tape (or wet glue) apply to the long edge on the outside of each of the 2cm flaps, and attach the long flaps to the inside of the next panel
• repeat with the base flaps, folding in 2 opposite flaps, and then the 2 remaining, only applying tape or glue to the last 2 flaps
• place the box upright on your work surface and use a ruler inside the box to press down on the inside of the base panels to secure them in place
• To make the lid cut a piece of card 13.2cm square
• score along each edge 2.5cm in from the cut edge
• to make the flaps, on one edge, cut up the vertical score lines until you reach the first 2.5cm horizontal score line
• Trim a small triangle from the inner edge of each corner flap (important to trim from the small corner flaps, and not from the longer rectangular centre section of the lid, to get a neat finish)
• repeat on the opposite edge of the lid
• fold along all score lines, but do not burnish 
• Apply any decoration (stamped patterns on the outside etc) before assembling the lid- it is much easier when the panels are flat
  
• using extra strong tape (or wet glue) apply to the small corner flaps only, and at this stage fix only 2 of the flaps in place
•  To ensure that the lid fits, place it on the box before finally securing the 2 remaining flaps in place
• Apply any decoration, die cuts, ribbon etc to finish the box

If you want to cut patterned paper panels to fit the box, you will need:

• 4 panels 15.5cm x 7.5 cm for the base
• 4 panels 2.2cm x 7.8cm and one 7.8cm square for the lid

It took a lot longer to type up the instructions than it did to make the box!  These are very easy and a nice size for small gifts.  You could also cut a shaped panel from one side and line with acetate to make an aperture box.

Experiment and have fun!

Debs x

WOYWW 129 - and self inflicted mojo departure!

 

OK, so I normally love to make Christmas cards, I actually started in January this year (only cos I had a couple of free days when I was bored & still in the christmas spirit, so made a few in the first week!!)  

Then pretty much nothing until I had to start making Christmas samples for publication, and that was in the summer! Made a bunch of sample cards and then forgot about my own Christmas cards, until this week, when I decided I really should get my act together. So I decided to get all clever and make a batch of snowmen cards.  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!  I have discovered that batch making cards is a sure fire way to kill my crafty mojo! 

As you can see from the pic above,  my desk has a few snowmen, and I couldn't cope with them all being the same, so started changing the colours, and I stamped off a load of identical 'SNOW' letters, and cut them all out, made a couple of cards with the words on, and  now I'm bored with looking at them! 

So I am going to resort to my crafty inspiration - tea and chocolate digestives (and tonight's Pro Marker class!) And of course, taking a world-wide wander through other people's crafty inspiration over at Julia's WOYWW blog hop.

thanks for stopping by, and hopefully there will be something more fun to see next time you visit, and the crafty mojo will have reappeared courtesy of Mr McVitie's biscuits!

Deb x

WOYWW 128 - Christmas boxes

So I'm a bit slow with the WOYWW pic today, if you hop on over to Julia's blog at the Stamping Ground, you get to take a peek at lots of crafters creations - it's great fun but be warned - it's hugely addictive and can swallow a whole day if you're not careful!

I've spent the morning playing with templates for Christmas gift boxes ready for an upcoming class, and you can see a couple of them on my cutting mat, and another unfinished, with a red ribbon around it and a finished icicle box next to it. Lots of punches, some gems, some Pro Markers, a box of distress inks and the ever present baby wipes! And top right, a box of wires to try out with my new toy - a Zutter bind it All! I bought this on E-bay a week ago and didn't have any binding wires to try it out.  Christmas calendars here we come!

I have some beautiful craft cd's, including the Joanna Sheen 'Ivory Cats' cd, and they have fab Calendars on them, so I'm looking forward to giving calendars to friends and family. Just have to think up ways of personalising them so they aren't just 'print and bind' pressies. Also need to find some of those big cardboard envelopes for calendars - if anyone knows where to get them, let me know!

Next I need to plan and organise my Christmas 'bake in'. My Christmas starts when I make the christmas puddings, mince pies and cake - and I'm a little late this year so need to get my act together. I started making my own Christmas puds about 20 years ago, making only one that first year from an old Family Circle recipe (anyone remember that??) which I still use - it doesn't even have metric measurements! Then family members asked 'are you making them this year?' and it grew from there. Now I make lots of them!  They take about 6-7 hours steaming, the whole kitchen gets soggy, and while they are cooking I make the mince meat (sugar and fat free - so you can have twice as many lol!!) Then I bake the mince pies (8 dozen last year!)and I play Christmas music all day long, much to my husband's disgust!

I love this part of Christmas, the traditions and rituals that are my build up to the big day. Everyone is getting home made pressies this year, and I will be baking, cutting and sticking for a few weeks!
Happy blog-hopping everyone, and thanks for stopping by

Debs x

Kitty update and WOYWW

Thanks to everyone who asked after Barney the kitty over the last few days.  He is home now on 'Mummy Watch' feeling rather sorry for himself, but I think pleased to be home judging by the limpet-like attachment to my lap!  Not conducive to crafting!

One unfortunate side effect of his having been on an open catheter is the awful stink. Good job I love him. Let's just say every surface is covered in old towels to avoid contamination!  Poor little guy is still on tons of meds and with daily vet check ups, but definitely on the mend, so I gave him a bit of a wash earlier today - not sure who got wetter - him or me!

So, crafting mojo seemed to have left the house with the Kitty, and I was forced to tidy my craft table -eeek!! found half finished projects I had set aside for later (erm.......forgot about) and that pesky quickie glue pen that disappeared suddenly, miraculously reappeared.

So here's  a pic of the 'tidy' table - bet you can't tell, huh?  the clue is in the visible table top, a rare sight around here lol lol!!

Am part way thru prep for tonight's class and the glitter is out in force :-) the little purple and lime zippy centre stage is my glitter storage bag, an old cosmetic case that is plastic lined and so doesn't let the glitter out unless I set it free!

Now I'm off to Julia's blog where she hosts the weekly sneaky peek at other crafty desks around the world, have fun desk hopping, and thanks for stopping by.


Deb x

Shaving Foam Marbled paper

A few people have asked about the shaving foam technique, so I thought I would show you what we made last night and explain how.

 This is the marbled paper we created -what's left of it! this one got torn while it was still damp.

I saw Ali Reeve demo this on C&C, and there are videos on u-tube if you take a look. It's very easy to do.  Spray a layer of shaving foam (better than gel) in bottom of an A4 plastic box (or in a clean sink so you can wash it away after). Squirt a few sprays of ink onto the foam - I use Stamps Away Colour Mist, but you can use any re-inker or alcohol inks. the only thing that doesn't work well is something like Mica mists, as they are so diluted with water they just make the foam collapse.

Use the end of a paintbrush or pencil to make swirls in the inked foam, and when you are happy with the pattern, press a piece of paper or card gently onto the foam until the underside is covered with foam. Lay it face up on your craft mat and press a clean piece of paper on top of the foam covered side and you get 2 sheets - the first impression will always be darker than the second, but it's quite nice to create different depths of colour.  Then you just wipe away the excess foam with kitchen roll, or if you're being really thrifty, use an old credit card to scrape off the foam and pop it back in the box. This sample only used a little ink, but you can use a lot and create quite a strong colour - it's fun to experiment!

These are some of the embellishments we made with our marbled card and paper, different flowers, feathers and a rosette (we ran out of time on the rosette cos we had so much fun getting messy with the foam lol lol!)  Or you can use it as background paper, or to create an accent on a card with matting and layering.



And I just had to share with you a picture of my ladies from last night's class, we had 3 generations of one family there, isn't that lovely? We all had a great time, and got VERY mucky!

thanks for stopping by

Debs x

WOYWW

So I've fallen a bit behind in the blogging world........last week I was away all week working, thought I would have loads of time for crafting and blogging in the evenings. What happened? WEach evening I returned to my hotel room exhausted and all I did was eat and sleep! All those lovely crafty bits stayed in my bag, no energy and no mojo!

then this week we have had a family emergency and a poorly kitty to look after around the clock.  Have you ever seen a cat so drugged up he walks into walls and falls down? Bless him, now he's confined to the one room so he doesn't hurt himself

Anyhoo.......this is the pic of today's workdesk, with some strategically placed tissue paper to hide my DT projects that are headed off to the NEC next week!  You can just see a sneaky peek to the left and right of the pink tissue paper.

Front and centre we have the most important project right now - a cuppa!!!  In my favourite mug from Margaritaville. Front right are some masking experiments with shaving foam and spray inks, the key ingredients for tonights class!

I'm off to have a quick peek at a few more desks at Julia's before I head out for tonights class.

Happy desk hopping!

Deb x

Hallloween card - who knew tearing paper could be so scary????

I just had to show you the Halloween card we made last night.  The class had a ball making the card, learning how to 'flap' diamond top cards to get them to fold right, and adding scary pumpkins and bats!

 This is the front of the card, complete with haunted house, witch, pumpkin, black cat and or course, those bats I spent ages punching  out lol!!

The main image and wrap were torn rather than cut, to add to that grungy look, but some of the ladies in the class found tearing paper to be sacrilegous!!! It was so funny watching people trying to tear 'neatly' and some decided not to tear at all, and reverted to their scissors, using them to cut out the uneven 'torn looking' edge printed on the paper!

And as promised, this is the inside of the card, complete with 'flying' ghostie! We stuck 2 ghosties back to back, with some thread sandwiched between, and then poked a hole in the top of the card and threaded the ends thru so the ghostie 'floated' when the card was opened.  We covered the ends of the thread on the back of the diamond with another pumpkin head.

This was so much fun to do, and would work equally well for a Christmas card, with hanging snowflakes, and one lady wants to use it as a nativity, because the diamond top looks like a roof - lots of inspiration there!

Thanks for stopping by

Debs x

WOYWW 123-Halloween and Flowers

So this is my work space this morning - if you're not sure why I'm posting a photo of my messy table, hop on over to Julia's blog where she hosts the biggest snoopathon!!  You get to check out the craft desks and workspaces of other crafters. You get to see what other people are making, and feel better about your own messy (in my case) space!  lol lol

Bottom left of pic are the kits I'm getting ready for tonight's class, and just above that you can see my Halloween punch - I've been punching out gazillions of little black bats - guess what tonight's project is?????????? Witches and bats pumpkins and flying (yes, flying!!) ghosties!!

Above the punch is an empty ice cream container - great size for craft storage, so I will just have to keep eating the ice cream! Also a part-finished DT project I'm working on - not quite coming together yet.  Just to the right of centre are a few pink tissue paper carnations I've been experimenting with, I'm quite chuffed at how they turned out and they are a doddle to make, AND they squash flat to go in the post, and it just makes them look better! Will add them to a later post - thinking of dunking them in glitter to bling them up a bit!

On the far right is a bag of K&Co embellishments and a few packs of die cuts and rub on's. I've had a sort out and I'm trying to decide what to do with them, cos I don't think I'll use them. 

Oh yeah, and in the front of the pic, the placemats from last night's dinner, which is, after all, only the secondary purpose of this table lol lol!!

Happy WOYWW everyone

Debs x

Bella Crafts - Distress Inks workshop Sat 17/9

We had a lovely time on Saturday morning, getting inky with Distress Inks! We scrunched, embossed, blended, bleached, masked, stamped and painted - whew!

We started with background paper techniques, these are some Christmassy ones (I couldn't resist!) The bottom sheet is taking the inkpad direct to paper to create a harlequin effect (seen in an earlier post) and the top sheet is scrunched, opened out then the inkpad lightly dragged across the surface, scrunched again and lightly drag a Versamark embossing pad over the new creases, then sprinkle with metallic powder and emboss - looks fab!

These two examples were made using masks, first dabbing the ink thru the mask, then inking the rest of the card, placing the mask over and spritzing, then lifting the water off with kitchen towel.

This makes a great background for overstamping, I particularly like the one on the bottom, the colours and masked areas work really well together.


OK, that's it for tonight, more crafty fun soon!