A Touch of Spring & Craft Group Photos - Friday 8th March

Good Morning Friends,

I want to get quite a few 'snippets' in this post today, so please forgive for skimping on the card construction details! First of all, welcome to  my new follower, it's great to have you along! To those of you who joined me this week, I haven't forgotten and will check out your blogs, I just need to get tomorrow's Craft Fair over with!

Last night was our regular 'Out of the Blue' craft group evening and this is the card I designed for my group of ladies to make..

Amy and I use the same general idea - stamps and dies, but each make a card for our group: the theme this week was Spring/Easter and I deliberately left it sentiment 'free' so that it can be used for various occasions - I will be blogging with this stamp/die set again because I made a few demo samples but I won't bombard you with them all at once!

The stamp used is 'Garden Bunnies' by Wild Rose Studio and the main idea behind the workshop was colouring with Promarkers...and everyone did brilliantly. Last night we had some new ladies and they had never used these pens before, but were thrilled with how soon you can get excellent results with them after a brief tutorial!

Now for some other news...

Hat's off to Creative Expressions...

Do you remember my problem a few weeks ago with the new Creative Expressions glue top, where it shot off across my desk, ruining a card? After I blogged that, quite a few of you said they had a similar problem. I decided to send them a quick email, just to say I had the problem and didn't seem to be the only one...well almost straightaway I got a lovely email back from them... it looks like  more people had been in touch because they explained that the bottle is being changed back to the original...and they sent me 2 bottles and their latest book! So thank you CE, excellent Customer Service!

Thank's Christine

I also want to say a big thank you to Christine Emberson, who is the UK member of the Spellbinders Design Team and a big inspiration to my paper craft. Some of you will remember that after Christmas my faithful old Grand Calibur started chugging along and rattling inside. I contacted Spellbinders in the US and they were brilliant - repair is free, but as it was out of warranty, I would pay postage to get it to the UK repair man. I explained my GC symptoms to him, but he said I'd have to send it to him and he couldn't guarantee repair, so I was in a quandary as it's quite a heavy item to pack and post safely. In the end I decided to have a new one for my birthday later this month (although I already have it and use it!). However, I didn't want to give up on my original, so I asked Christine's opinion. As it was one of the original GC's there was a 'design fault' which can cause the screws behind the handle to work loose and Christine said this is what might have happened - and told me how to take it apart. Some of you will have seen my photo last week of the 'exposed' GC! Well I'm happy to report that it is all back in one piece now and was used at last night's workshop...whooopeee! So a big thanks to Christine for her help.

Sorry this post has been so long...I am off now to get everything packed up for tomorrow's craft fair...happy Friday all!

Hugs,
Carole X

Bunny Blueprint, Sunday Stampers wk 247 - Thursday 7th March

Good Morning Friends,

I hope you are all well and having a great crafty week..another quick post today I'm afraid, I'm still trying to catch up with myself and my two days off are over, back to work today!

I couldn't let the week pass without contributing to Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers and this week the theme is something pretty. Well this past week or so, I've made quite a few 'pretty' cards for the craft fair - much as I love grunge and steampunk!

So I have decided to go for pretty 'grunge' with my card for this week and have a bunny from Tim Holz's Easter Blueprint stamp set. I have to say that the actual design is inspired by a card I have seen in (I think) a Ranger gallery, wherever I saw it, it stuck in my mind..a chocolate bunny!

I stamped him and die-cut using Spellbinders Labels 17, then I coloured the background with watered down Picked  Raspberry. I wanted it to be uneven to kind of resemble candy floss? Pink and fluffy anyway!

I coloured the bunny in a mix of distress inks: Vintage Photo and Picked Raspberry and for the grass mixed Bundled Sage with Shabby Shutters. I matted and layered on a card that has been run through the Grand Calibur with one of my M-Bossabilities and coloured with Mustard Seed, then a layer of coredinations cream polka dot paper, which I sanded back. 

The ribbon is a soft pink vintage satin, which I spritzed wet and dried crumpled with my heat tool. I tied this around the coredinations card and added a bow.

To finish off I added seasonal Easter words from Ideology Season stickers...well I think he passes for pretty!

Have a good day all,
Carole X

WOYWW week 196 - Wednesday 6th March

Afternoon friends and fellow WOYWWers!

A really short post this week, but as I missed last week, I wanted to make the effort!! For those of you who don't know what WOYWW is, it's a time of the week that those of us who want to share what is lurking on our craft desks...please visit Stamping Ground for all the info :)

So this is my desk right at this moment...

There are a few cards I made whilst designing my group's card for our workshop tomorrow evening - but not my final design :), a guy card I was working on, the latest Crafty Individuals stamp I bought in my friend Amy's shop last week and am planning to use later today and some stamped LOTV images, ready for the Promarker treatment!

That's all for this Wednesday folks,
Hugs,
Carole X

Workshop Photos - Wednesday 6th March

Good Morning Friends,

First of all a big welcome to my new followers and thank you for choosing to join me! I will be checking in on your blogs (if you have them) as soon as possible - but I also need to say to all my lovely and talented friends...sorry if I haven't managed to drop in and visit you these last few days, but as you know I have hit a very busy crafting period! 

The good news is that my crafting has been quite 'prolific' so I will have quite a few projects to share over the next few weeks...it's been one of those crazy times where everything happens in the space of a week! My friend Amy and I have another of our regular workshops on Thursday, followed by another next week and I have a craft fair on Saturday!

Yesterday I took the day off work, not only because I had a lot of prepping still to do for the Fair, but also because Amy and I put on a one off workshop at the request of  a local craft group...and what a lovely group of ladies they were! The workshop had been planned for ages and had to be postponed from February when it snowed...so it had to be this week to fit in with everyone...trouble was for me, it all came at once!!!

We took along a project from one of the workshops we put on for our own classes last year, there were 12 in the group and here are some photos...

That's all for the moment, I will pop back later with a quick WOYWW post!

Love,

Carole X

In the Pink - Sunday 3rd March

Good Morning Friends!

I hope the sun shone for you wherever you were yesterday...it certainly did here and we were even able to enjoy watching the hens in the late afternoon sun, with a glass of wine whilst sitting on the garden bench!

Today is my March Design Team card for Fantastic Ribbons..our theme this month is Mother's Day...

  I chose papers from Tilda and Pink Petticoat..and some fuchsia satin ribbon from Fantastic Ribbons. I wanted the ribbon to be the focal point of the card and tied it in a criss-cross around the front panel, finishing off with a big double bow.

I also decided to make a small box with the left over card, tying it with a selection of ribbons..the fushcia, a pale pink satin and a white heart Grosgrain..all finished with an abundance of bows!

Friends, if you are looking for ribbon take a look at Fantastic Ribbons there a huge choice of gorgeous ribbons, buttons and wash tape.

Happy Sunday!

Love, Carole X

Emergency Crafters DT card - Saturday 2nd March

Good Morning Friends!

Yesterday was a write off as far as much more prepping for the workshops and craft fair is  concerned, but it was a really enjoyable day!

 I walked over to Chipping Sodbury to meet two dear friends for lunch in a wonderful deli we have there. I left early so that I could call in my friend Amy's shop..she had just had a delivery from Crafty Individuals, one of my favourite stamp Companies, so it I had a rummage..I love them all, it would have been rude not to buy one wouldn't it? :) I also got one of their masks and some inks, plus a birthday present for my dear friend Paola in Italy...even though her birthday isn't for a few months!

Then I met Grace and Genevieve...we all used to work together at the charity I still work for...Grace went on to work for a Carers Centre for a while and after finishing her Phd, Gen became a lecturer at Bristol Uni. Grace and I see each other fairly regularly, but we hadn't seen Gen for 5 years..anyway, it was just like we were all together just last week - it was lovely!

Now to today's card, which is my Design Team card for the new Emergency Crafter's Challenge..it has a wonderland theme, but if you want to enter a card or project featuring rabbits, that's fine too!

When I had my Dreamweaver stencils out earlier in the week, I made two backgrounds with the clock and cogs..this time I used bronze paste and a mixture of micas again and heat embossed until it bubbled, but used a bronze matt metallic card. I matted and layered this on a bright blue card and a base layer of the bronze.

The White Rabbit is  from Indigo Blu's Alice in Wonderland Stamp set 2. He is stamped with black archival and then heat embossed with clear powder to give him some shine. I wanted him  to compliment the blue layer and also to jump out from the background, so I coloured him in blue, yellow and red promarkers. I adhered him to the front of the card with a long armed brad and he does actually turn around like a  clock hand. 

The quote is from a Polkadoodles Wonderland stamp set, I heat embossed with clear powder after stamping on cream card and colouring with Vintage Photo. Then I scrunched it up a bit to give it a worn look. I used to 'screw' brads to fix it to the card..just a bit of fun...

Thanks for stopping by, you can find details of the challenge over at Emergency Crafters

Have a great weekend,

Carole  X

White Butterfly Card - Friday 1st March

Good Morning Friends,

Thank you so much for visiting my blog, I really do appreciate it. I can't believe that it was Monday I last posted..I actually have quite a few cards to blog, I just haven't had time to write them up! Why does everything come at once? Amy and I are doing a one off workshop for a local community craft group next week, we have another workshop on Thursday and I have a craft fair on Saturday next week...I have had to turn down commissions because I just can fit them in!

This craft fair was going to be so well prepped...I would have a good selection of cards, a mini workshop for anyone who wanted to make something and some little felt bunny decorations..well I have a small supply of cards, no makes prepped and one bunny! Oops! I know one thing for sure, once the fair is over I am going to totally declutter this craft room because I can't find a thing!

I have managed to drop in and comment on most of your blogs this week and saw lots of lovely cards and makes...you all seem to be having a busy time too. I didn't show my desk on WOYWW this week though..I was way too ashamed of the state of it :)

So to my card...

This is a really simple little card made using Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles - such a lovely die that I felt it would make a pretty stand-a-lone card. I nested the two largest dies and cut them to create the aperture in the centre. I also cut the largest die again to form the back of the card, but I actually mounted them on a small card blank. I  backed the aperture with some sparkly paper from my Desert Blooms pad and added  a lacey oval and butterfly from 'Wings of Hope'.

Guess what I have in pieces on my dining table?

It's a bad photo because I snapped it with my camera in artificial light, but yes folks it is my old GC.It is one of the first models and  they apparently had a defect that can cause the screws behind the handle to work their way out..well one was out (that was rattling around) and the other one fell out when I opened it. I wasn't happy with the state of the screws so we are going to look for some replacements at the weekend and then (fingers crossed I should be able to use it at classes! 

Thanks for stopping!

Love,

Carole X