Good evening Friends, 

I hope you are having a good weekend! I've  had a super day  helping at the demo day my friend Amy had organised through her shop, for the lovely Julia Watts from Creative Expressions and Create and Craft TV to come and do some demos during the day. Well done to Amy for arranging it and to her mum, Diane and the other two staff members because they had a heck of a busy day back in the shop!

Over 70 people booked (average 15-20 per session) and Julia provided some excellent techniques with shimmer paint, chalk paint, micas, mists, texture pastes masks and stamps. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and I think purchased a lot of the items to try for themselves. I was certainly eager to get in the craft room when I got home, but I was too doggone tired! I'm glad Tom's cooking!

 Thanks for stopping by!


Love and hugs 
Carole

Study in Silver - 3rd July Sunday Stampers wk 212

Hello Bloggers1


Today's project is my contribution to Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers Challenge and this week's theme is titled Silver Dream Machine and calls for silver creations - so silver it is! A grungy piece of Steampunk....

First of all, apologies for the photo...I just could not get it in focus because there was so much metal and reflection going on, so I hope you can actually see it!


I started with black card and inked all around with Perfect Medium clear to create a frame and then I heat embossed with silver embossing powder. I stamped the dress form in Perfect Medium too on white card and again embossed with silver. The stamps are all from Sam Poole's Steampunk Dreams stamp set by Creative Expressions...I do really love this stamp set! I added a few metal watch parts to the form and then die cut the wings and butterfly (wings) from  Spellbinders Wings of Hope using silver craft foil. A butterfly was then cut from Spellbinders Flight of Fancy. I did actually emboss this with a That Special Touch of... Cog Mask but it doesn't show in the photo unfortunately.


To finish I stamped and embossed a sentiment from the same stamp set.


Thanks for stopping by!

This is my contribution to Sunday Stampers Week 212 Silver Dream Machine

http://pinkleart.blogspot.co.uk/

Fabulous Day! - Monday 26th March

Morning!


This card was inspired by a Creative Expressions demo on Create and Craft Saturday and an urge to dig into my stamp pad box and resurrect something I hadn't used in a while! 

There are a lot of elements to this card, so I'll describe as best I can....


Firstly I took a piece of cream card from the card stock that Sue Wilson brought to Create and Craft the last time she was on and I ran it through the Grand Calibur using a 'That Special Touch' (Creative Expressions) Mask, to emboss it. I then added three strips of mauve coloured ribbon and adhered it to the base card. I took a  Spellbinders Grand Oval Nesatability and cut and embossed from the same cream card. Leaving the die on the oval, I laid the Mask over the top and inked through using Milled Lavender distress ink to create a background.


The image was stamped from Sam Poole's Vintage Dressforms set. I stamped with Perfect  Medium and heat embossed with black embossing powder to raise it and give it a gloss. I then used a damp paint brush and Milled Lavender ink  to colour the image before cutting it out.


The greetings were stamped from the same set, cut out using Spellbinders Labels Four Small and shaded with Milled Lavender.


The Wings....I wanted to give the card I very feminine but slightly 'Steam Punky' feel: A packet of Fantasy Film was something I bought ages ago, used a couple of times and put in my box of stamp pads. The 'thing' with creating cards for commissions is that you don't often get the chance to make cards that take a really long time and to make these wings consisted of:


Using PaperArtsy's mini Dragonfly stamp, I inked it up with Stazon and laid two layers of Fantasy Film (Krista's Eyes) over the top, pressing in slightly. On top of this I put a piece of baking parchment. I had already pre-heated my iron to medium and ironed the film for about 20 seconds, giving it time to form. I then cut out the wings.


Okay, it doesn't really take long and isn't even that much of a faff and I'm glad I did it, because the end result is quite beautiful!


I attached the wings to the back of the dress form and attached  the stamped image to the Oval and the card. I finished off with a double bow.


Thanks for stopping by, please leave a comment, I love to read them!


Carole X

Vintage Hollywood - 28th February

Good Morning!


The cards I am going to share over the next few days are all as a result of using some tools/stash I haven't used in a while, mixing them with some new additions and sitting down to experiment with a blank canvas!


My first one is a Hollywood inspired card..I probably should have posted this yesterday to coincide with the Oscars! Instead of all the usual glitz and sparkle, I tried a muted, worn, distressed vintage feel and this is the result...

I started with an 8x8 piece of cream card. Last week when Sue Wilson was on Create and Craft, she brought with her the card that she always uses for stamping and die cutting and as I had been anxious to try it, I ordered some. It arrived on Friday and I have to say I love it.

First of all I roughly distressed the whole card with Vintage Photo distress ink. Amongst my stash I had a sheet of 12x12 'admit one' ticket paper, so I added them to the spine of the card on the left side..it's weird because on the actual card, they look really neat compared to the photo! I printed the papers and topper from Debbi Moore's Diamonds and Lace CD. The two die cuts are made using Spellbinders Grand Scalloped Rectangles. One thing I need to do is invest in a few more 'Grand' dies, as I only have a few. I could have cut a better shape for this card with the Cricut, but I really wanted the embossed edges. I again used Vintage Photo on the script die-cut, but on the film die-cut, I used a little black soot. I did use a little of my Cosmic Twinkles around the edges. I think that even a vintage Hollywood card needs a little glitz!


The 'Happy Birthday' ticket is stamped on some of the left over cream card, using Sam Poole's  Celebration Tickets stamp set, distressed with Vintage Photo.


I finished off with some gorgeous coffee creme coloured crushed satin ribbon, a little diamante pin from my button box, a few peel off starts and 2 Creative Expressions hat pins...


But....the whole card was really made because before Christmas I had bought a little tin of Tim Holz movie reel ribbon and I had been itching to use it. I attached it across the topper with tiny brads and let it rise up to give it a 3D effect. It will easily fold flat and then bounces back. I love it, but will use it wisely from now on!


Carole X


For this project I used: 8x8 Card blank
                                  Cream card
                                  Debbi Moore's Diamond and Lace CD
                                  Vintage crushed satin ribbon
                                  Tickets from My Mind's Eye Kraft Fun 12x12 Kraft card
                                  Sam Poole Celebrations stamp
                                  Vintage Photo, Black Soot distress ink
                                  Cosmic Shimmer PVA glue and Cosmic Twinkles
                                  Tim Holz Film reel ribbon
                                  items from stash

Pretty in Pink - 25th February

Good Morning bloggers,


I'm back today with the first of two cards made for commissions...I have also been working on a few new cards to upload in the next few days....

It's very difficult when I get asked to make two cards for the same person, whatever happens they are going to have my 'stamp' on them and my challenge is for them to be different. 


For this card, which is 8x8, I started with a base layer of card from my Desert Flowers pad. I bought this on a whim and goodness it has been very useful! I shaded the edges with Spun Sugar distress ink, just to lift it a little and then I went for a letterpress effect for the next stage: I took the Spellbinders Heart Squares die and inked it with Perfect Medium. I then placed white card over it and embossed it as normal through the Grand Calibur. The result is the the embossed card can then be cut ut by hand, sprinkled with embossing powder (in this case Cosmic Shimmer Aurora Crystal and heat embossed. Unfortunately, it doesn't really show up in the photo.


I typed the greeting before cutting and embossing it with a smaller die from the same set.For the shading I used Worn Lipstick distress ink. I made the flowers using felt and the Flower Creations and Spiral Blossom One Spellbinders. I just love making these flowers from felt! The age greeting is cut from the Lacey Ovals die, shaded with Worn Lipstick ink and I finished the card with wide, sheer ribbon in a nice bright pink...a rather cheery card I think!


Carole X

Pink Butterfly - 13th February

Morning,


We're all in the pink today..and loving it! This was one of those cards that I made for me..because I wanted to...and am saving for a special birthday or to sell at a craft fair!

I made the tiny dots around the base white layer with my wonderful Tim Holz ruler and then layered this with a deep pink linen effect card from stash. Before fixing the card to the blank I tied an organza ribbon and bow along the side. The sentiment was printed on white card and then cut on the Grand Calibur using a die from the Spellbinders Parisian Motifs set, coloured around the edges with Spun Sugar distress ink. I cut and embossed the butterfly from my favourite 'Fanciful Flight' Spellbinders set, in both white and pink to give it 'flight'. I added the flourish freehand with Creative Expressions Cosmic Shimmer Pearl PVA and the final touch is the pretty zipper rose, again from Creative Expressions.


That's all for now!


Carole X

Anemone - 10th February

Morning,


I made this card a few weeks ago and it was based on an design shared by Sue Wilson on her blog. I liked it so much that I had been itching to try it! Firstly, I typed the greeting on white card and then embossed the card top and botton using the a Creative Expressions mask with my Grand Calibur. I started with a white card blank and matted and layered alternately with white and gold mirror card, finishing with the white embossed card.

I  made gold pearl dots on the embossed card with Cosmic Shimmer Olympic Gold.  made the flower using the Spellbinder Anemone die with paper from stash and layed this on top of a bow tied around the top layer with a pretty edged sheer ribbon.


Hope you like it!
Carole Z


An extra note from me....due to having to do a 'proper' job, I usually schedule my posts a week ahead. I had forgotten this card was being posted today and it is very poignant for me to see it...I made it for my 98 year old aunt's birthday a month ago. There was an error made by the post office (I won't bore you) and in the end my cousin (her grandaughter)had to collect it, so it was late. By then aunty had been taken poorly and was in a nursing home. Sadly she passed away yesterday. It was peaceful and she had told me when we visited Sunday that she was ready to 'leave'. She thanked me for my cards, which she always loved to open. So my oldest aunty, the last surviving connection for me to the past is now reunited with her daughter, husband, my Mum and all their other brothers and sisters...sleep peacefully aunty Mabel X

Floral Bouquet - 2nd February

Morning!


I don't know what to call today's project...it's not a card, just a collection of little flowers I made last week and decided to make into a picture. There was no real thought behind it, but it is now on a shelf in my craft room and is rather pleasing to look at...it has certainly given me some inspiration in the type of flowers I am making for cards and other projects!

Where to start with the description? The leaves were all cut from my Matchmakers Brights pad and for most of them I used Spellbinders dies from various leaf sets...however...some were cut with the Cricut Storybook cartridge, which was very naughty of me because it is white core. It was hard to cut, because I couldn't get the pressure etc right and it tore the paper..and didn't do the blade any good either. But I needed the  flourishes and at present none of my Spellbinders dies are big enough.


All the flowers were made with Spellbinders dies: the big pink flower is the Peony die ...I just cut several different sized layers, secured them together with a brad and then crumpled it up. An easy flower. If I had wanted to I could have added inks or micas, but for this project I wanted to keep it simple (and I wasn't in a messy mood!).


Two of the felt flowers, the orange flower and the pink flower were all variations of  a rose, made with the Spiral Blossom One die and the white flower is created with a mix of blossoms from Flower Creations.The large red felt flower was a little more complex....
I cut three layers from the lovely Anemone Flower Topper and then added the centre by just rolling a strip of red felt. For all the felt flowers I used Cosmic Shimmer acrylic glue. It grabs the materials for glueing really quickly and dries absolutely clear. This glue and Pinflair are the only glues I use.


When I look at this particular flower now, I think that in yellow, with orange for the bugle, it would make a gorgeous daffodil, so I'm going to give this a try.


I think I will just call this an exercise.. would be a good one for a workshop, I will keep that in mind!
All the best,
Carole X

House Mouse Gift Tag - 1st February

Morning!


More of my 'makes' from last week, but this time not cards...just lately I have rediscovered gift tags..elaborate ones..and am trying to make some in between cards...they can take a while to create and something I would like to try, but haven't had the time yet is ATC cards..who knows what this year will bring!


Today, I am sharing with you a House Mouse Tag  I made...hope you like it!

The tag was die cut using the two largest dies from Spellbinders Labels Four Small; the smaller die was coloured with tattered rose distress ink; I stamped a little mouse element from the Birthdays stamp set, coloured with Promarkers and cut him out. He is fixed to the tag with Pinflair glue to give a bit of dimension. The ribbon is vintage red and the roses I made thanks to a splendid Sue Wilson tutorial, which you can find on her Particraft Blog (see my link) or creativeexpressionsdesigns.wordpress.com where it has been uploaded as a workshop tutorial..these were my first attempt using this particular method and I was pretty pleased with them..more practice needed!

I have also made a little box for later in the week,

Bye for now,

Carole X

January 2012

Hello Bloggers! I hope it's not too late to wish you a Happy New Year! Despite all my plans to make lots of cards in the 2 week post Christmas break I have had from work, I only finally got around to making some on Tuesday! That also happens to coincide with the day that my husband Tom went back to work. Even then, it wasn't a chance to play with new Spellbinder dies and some stamps because I had some orders to fulfill. Oh well, it was still card making and I did manage to incorporate some of my new items!

On Wednesday, I managed to make some stock cards - I have been asked for more wedding, plus acceptance and regret so those are what I have been mostly making, so I will share an example with you...


Firstly however, one of a series of different cards I have made using this really cute stamp that was free with Craft Stamper Magazine that I bought before Christmas. You may know that we keep a few hens as pets and I love these funny little creatures, so if I see something with hens on, I want it!


Cock-a-doodle-doo!I stamped the image with Memento Ink and coloured it with Promarkers. I then cut the image out using a Spellbinders Labels Four  Small die and mounted it on a 6x6 card that I had covered with Polkadot paper from stash. I faux stitched around the edge of the card using my Tim Holz ruler and a white Gelly Roll pen. I cut the flower in felt on my Grand Calibur using the Flowe Creations die. This was one of my Christmas presents and it is really useful. I then added a red button, threaded with Bakers Twine. Across the top I took some red vintage ribbon and ruched it.  A really simple card and I hope you like it...it's good for a whole number of occasions really or just to say 'hello'.

Darn these dark days when you have to use flash to take a photo and you still get shadows..so apologies for this photo.


White Wedding For this one I used a Creative Expressions mask and used it to emboss in the Grand Calibur. It's hard to see, but I have added Cosmic Shimmer Pearl PVA dots, using the embossed card to form the pattern. I then simply typed  the greeting and cut it out using the  heart circles die, which I cut in 2 sizes and again added cosmic shimmer pearls at intervals. I used to be really scared to use this effect, but practice makes...you much more confident!


That's all for now, I'll be back soon, 
Carole x


January 14th


I have two pieces of work to add tonight and what a struggle it's been uploading them! For some reason when I try and upload from iPhoto today, blogger isn't recognising my last imported photos...I had to go the long way round through my files and I still haven't found the one I really wanted to upload...oh well...maybe tomorrow!

Lola Rose 18th This is a  fun 18th Birthday created on an 8x8 card blank. I mounted a pink textured card on the front and cut the '18' with my Cricut in the same pink, with a white shadow. Using Spellbinders Grand Scalloped Rectangles, I cut one in pink glitter and one in white and I shaded the white card with Spun Sugar distress ink.


The image is a Pink Petticoat, Lola Rose digital stamp, coloured with Promarkers and finished with Cosmic Shimmer 'Cosmic Twinkles' on the cake icing. I cut out the image and used sticky fixers to secure it to the die cut shape.


I typed the greeting and cut it out with a Spellbinders Lacey Ovals die, which was also distressed on the edges with Spun Sugar. The card was finished off with ribbon tied through the sentiment and around the number.

Vintage Tag
This tag is part of an as yet unfinished card project, but it took so long to make that I wanted to share it with you.


I cut the shape on Chipboard (it's Spellbinders Labels One Small). It was just a little too thick for my Grand Calibur, so I actually drew the shape from the die and cut it out. I then printed some dressmakers dummy backing paper from the My Craft Studio (MCS) Fabulous Fifties programme and covered the shape with it, distressing the edges quite heavily with Tea Dye distress ink. I punched a metallic eyelet through the top centre and threaded off-white vintage ribbon through, tying it in a bow. On top of this I added a button from stash, tied with a little string bow.


The fifties dress is an image printed from the same MCS programme and although it doesn't show in the photo, the skirt is decoupaged to add a little dimension.


I used brown vintage ribbon along the bottom part of the shape,ruching it to add more dimension. Finally the flower.. I was really pleased with the flower!


Now and then, rummaging in secondhand book shops/charity shops I will buy a cheap, old book with thin paper for the pages. After making sure that I am not destroying a priceless first edition (:D), I use the pages to make vintage flowers.  I cut this one using the Spellbinders Flower Creations die and before constructing the flower, I added Tea Dye distress ink unevenly over the petals. I used five layers for this one (and the added bonus is that with thin paper you can die cut quite a few in one go) and put a glittery metallic brad through the centre to hold them together. I used a bone folder to curl the petals, but with paper this thin they almost curl themselves. I finished it off with thin silk ribbon behind the flower and added some little faux pearls.


It's not often that I get the chance to work on a card like this and I haven't made a tag for a long time.. note for 2012..more tags...maybe I'll get a chance to start those ATC cards yet!
That's it for tonight...hope you like them,
Carole xx