Summer of '59 Launch

Today on Create & Craft sees the launch of Kraftyhands latest CD, "Summer of 59". The shows are at 12 noon and 4pm. You do not want to miss the debut of this fabulous CD. It's full of vibrant colours, beautiful ladies and delightful papers. There are two card making sets, one for A5 cards and the other to create Scalloped Rocker cards. There are also Pyramid Toppers, Alphabet Banners, Handbags and Pillow Boxes.

This is a card using a Scalloped Rocker card set. I have added the mirri card, rosette behind the sentiment, lace and Candi. The image has one layer of decoupage for dimension.

I used an A5 Card Set for this card. I made a base from Adorable Scorable card and punched one edge of the mirri card. The lovely lady is decoupaged and placed  onto the A5 backer. I matted the sentiment and added ribbon and flowers. 

I printed out one of the Pillow Boxes, then adjusted the sizes to create two more consecutively smaller boxes. All the cut and score lines are on the printout making them so quick and easy to assemble. I glued the boxes together, tied ribbon around them and added a bow and sentiment.

I used one of the decoupaged ladies from an A5 set, and a sentiment, to create this elegant card. The base and layers are cut with a Spellbinder's die. I added ribbon, some gems, a feather and one of my stick pins.

There is so much more on this CD than I have shown you here. There are also five sets of papers, family sentiments in ten different colours, and three more topper sets. Please visit the Kraftyhands Blog to see some of the wonderful creations from the other DT members and the Kraftyhands Webshop for your crafty supplies, including the fabulous polka dot ribbon I've used here.
 Lastly, don't forget to tune in to Create & Craft at 12 noon and 4pm today and show "the boys" your support.

Emma's Crafty Challenge #16 Reminder

You only have 4 days left to enter this month's challenge at Emma's Cards UK, where the theme is

"Pink and Blue" 

We are being sponsored by Foil Play who have generously donated a £15 voucher to spend in their online store. There will also be blinkies for the top three runners up.

My card is a heart shaped easel that I hand cut. The mats and layers are Papermania textured card, a large heart doily and a Floral Damask paper from Kraftyhands CD Edwardian Rose Garden.

The image is one of Heather Valentin's hauntingly pretty Melancholy Moppets. Her name is Anastasia and I've coloured her with Promarkers. For your choice of wonderful digis please visit the Lacy Sunshine Store, it's THE only authorised place to sell them.

I embellished the card with a chopped up memory box die, ribbon and flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts and a Joy Crafts butterfly. All were coloured with Promarkers.

Head over to our challenge blog to see the cards from our talented DT members and check out the rules. Don't forget, you could win a fabulous £15 voucher from Foil Play for your efforts.

We look forward to seeing your crafty Pink and Blue creations. 

Docrafts Birdhouse

I had a lovely day demonstrating for Docrafts last Saturday and met some wonderful crafters. One of the new Docrafts collections is called "Home to Nest" and is full of bird houses and gardening related images and papers. This inspired me to make my own bird house from card. It generated quite a bit of interest at the demo and I thought I'd show it here.

I took four 5"x 7" Papermania Kraft Card blanks and glued them together in a line so each side is a double thickness. I then trimmed two of the sides to 4.5" and cut the other two to make the apexes. I die- cut the circles and glued the two ends together to make the box.

I used another Kraft Card blank to make the roof. I painted the bird house with acrylic paint and made a small box as a perch and then tied lace around the house.

I die-cut flowers using Xcut Petal Posy large dies and two of the papers from the "Home to Nest" collection. I also used the new Palm Punches to create the small flowers and butterflies. 

I hope you like my bird house and that you check out this new Docrafts collection. The artwork is wonderful and suitable for all those men and women you know who love their gardens.

Kraftyhands May Challenge Reminder

You still have 9 days left to enter the "Floral Frenzy" challenge at Kraftyhands. If you use a Kraftyhands product on your entry you could win a £20 voucher to spend in the Kraftyhands webshop so pop over there to see what fabulous goodies you can pick up.
I made this 8"x 8" card using the lovely Edwardian Rose Garden CD. It's full of pyramaged images of the most wonderful roses. There are matching papers, sentiments, ribbons, shaped toppers and inserts too.

I matted and layered the pale yellow and the fresh green textured card with a cream paper from the CD. I added large paper roses, a double bow, a charm and some pearls.

The topper is one of the rectangular pyramage sets, so there is no fussy cutting involved. After mounting  the layers I sprinkled some glitter on the highlighted areas ~ although it doesn't show in the photo.

The "Thinking Of You" sentiment is from the new Summer of 59 CD which will launch on Create and Craft on May 30th at 12 noon and 4pm. It's also available to pre-order from the Kraftyhands webshop. 

It would be lovely if you could join in with this challenge and we look forward to seeing your "Flower Frenzy" creations. A full list of the challenge rules can be found on the Kraftyhands Challenge blog. There is a £20 voucher to spend on the Kraftyhands website for the lucky winner if they have used a Kraftyhands product, and blinkies for the top three entries.

Docrafts May Demo

Today I'm demonstrating  again, nothing political, just Docrafts stuff. I'll be at The Range in Carmarthen from 10am till 4pm. I have been working with three fabulous new collections from this loop, plus some new X-Cut Punches. Here are two cards from each range.

This range is called "Home to Nest" and contains the most gorgeous birds and bird house images and some lovely gardening related artwork. The collection is suitable for male and female cards and a must for anyone who loves their garden.

All the papers and images work fabulously with Kraft card and twine. The range includes papers, decoupage, seed packets  and stamps.

The next collection is called "Ahoy There!" and, as the name suggests, is seaside related. There is everything from ships and lighthouses to shells and beach huts.

This range will add some much needed sunshine to your craft with decoupage, papers, tags, ribbon, stamps and buttons.

The last is the Capsule Collection "Spots and Stripes". A brightly coloured range which has some wonderful coordinating elements for the other two ranges. I love the Big Blooms, buttons and bows.

The 12"x 12" Designstax papers are double sided and perfect for any paper folding techniques. The Capsule Collection also includes Fat Quarters and a Felt Bundle, Fabric Flowers and Craft Tape.

Check out the Docrafts website for the latest news and to find your local stockists. I'll be back soon with some more samples and a special project.

Another 18th Birthday Card

This is a birthday card I made for my best friend to give to Cathy for her birthday. Both of them  love shoes so I knew they'd be pleased with this card.

I used the Shoes in Bloom CD from Ooh La La Creations to create this 8"x 8" card. I used Adorable Scorable card as the base and matted and layered black card and a faux weave paper from the CD.

There are so many fabulous shoe images and papers to choose from, but I thought this pink rose one was perfect.  I printed it a few times and decoupaged the roses. I matted and layered the topper with pink and black card and added glitter to the petals.

I printed the 18, punched it out and covered it in glitter. The roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the leaf flourishes are a Cheery Lynn die. 

Needless to say, both ladies were thrilled with the card. I hope you like it too.

Cathy and Holly's Birthdays

Today is a big day in my youngest daughter's life. Not only is it Cathy's 18th birthday but,  by a fabulous coincidence, it's her horse Holly's birthday too. Holly is a year younger though, but they are both beautiful and very clever. Unfortunately, it's also the first day of Cathy's A2 exams ~ Good Luck Cathy ~  so the boozy celebrations have been put on hold for now.

I created a wrap for Cathy's card by cutting out the number 18 from Adorable Scorable card and decorating it with a Whimsy corner die, some flowers and gems.

I used a paper and a champagne glass image from an MCS CD. The digi image is one of my favourites, Emma, from Simply Betty. I wanted to keep the colours of the card vintage and after having watched Sarah Hurley's sepia demo, I thought the colouring would suit this image perfectly.

I made a card for Cathy to give to Holly using the Jem's Designs CD Free Spirits. I added glitter to the image, some lace and punched horseshoes. 

As you can see, the image on the card isn't a bad match to Holly herself, apart from her white blaze.

Cathy ~ on the left ~ with her older sister Elisha during the family celebrations at the weekend. I can't believe how quickly my little girls have grown up. 

Happy 18th Birthday Cathy!

Emma's Crafty Challenge #16

Welcome to Challenge # 16 at Emma's Crafty Challenge. Thank you to everyone who took part in Challenge # 15 - Butterflies. It proved a very popular theme and we had so many fabulous entries. Voting is currently taking place and the winner and runners up will be announced in a few days time. 

Our theme this month is "Pink and Blue"

 and our sponsors are Foil Play who are offering a £15 gift voucher to the lucky winner.

I have used an 8"x 8" card blank and matted and layered blue and pink Papermania textured card, wrapping with blue ribbon before sticking down.  The next layer is one of the beautiful papers from Kraftyhands CD Kew Floral Collection. I printed another of the papers and cut out the roses and mounted on foam pads.

The stamped image is Elizabeth Bennet by IndigoBlu. I shaded the edges with Pan Pastels and coloured it with Promarkers. I then cut it out and created a mat with pink card. 

I die cut the butterfly twice for dimension and coloured it with Promarkers. I finished the card with a blue bow and some pearls.

Please come and join in with this challenge, we love seeing all the wonderful entries. We accept any new crafty creation as long as it follows the challenge theme. And don't forget the wonderful prize on offer from Foil Play.

To enter the challenge and for a full set of rules please visit the Emma's Cards UK blog. While you're there check out the fantastic creations from my fellow DT members.

Kraftyhands May Challenge

It's the first Saturday of the month, so, that means a new challenge on the Kraftyhands Challenge Blog.
Thank you to everyone who entered our challenge last month. We really enjoyed looking through all the fabulous entries. A list of the lucky winner and Top Three is on the Kraftyhands Challenge Blog.

The theme this month is

"Flower Frenzy"

If you use a Kraftyhands product on your entry you could win a £20 voucher to spend in the Kraftyhands webshop so pop over there to see what fabulous goodies you can pick up.

I used the beautiful Kew Floral Collection CD for my DT card. There are wonderful Stepper Card sets on the disc, just ready for you to print out and assemble. 

The sets all come with a decoupaged image, a coordinating mat and sentiments. The printed base and  the mats for all the panels are also included.

On the CD there are some very pretty, flowery, vintage papers. Using MCS, I printed a section of one of these out a few times, plus the mirror image. I then cut them out and made my own decoupage for the side panels. I finished the card with a big bow and some small buds.

We hope you can join in with this challenge and look forward to seeing your "Flower Frenzy" creations. A full list of the challenge rules can be found on the Kraftyhands Challenge blog. There is a £20 voucher to spend on the Kraftyhands website for the lucky winner if they have used a Kraftyhands product, and blinkies for the top three entries.  Please pop over to the blog to see the wonderful cards the other DT members have created for your inspiration.