Tags, Tears and Trades

My tag for May will surprise some of my friends and blog readers. I had to smile when Debbie told me on saturday that she thought of me when she uploaded her latest card as it was orange. It's good to know my aversion doesn't rub off onto my class members otherwise Grimsby could well be an orange free zone !

As usual I was inspired by the techniques my dear friend Paulien used on her tag especially the use of texture. Paulien used puffy paint to achieve hers, as I didn't have any, I substituted with Fluffy Stuff from Woodware, I must admit I liked it so much I got a little carried away and everything on my craft mat ended up receiving a liberal daubing. The little vintage ticket on the left of the tag was a free download from the very talented Miss Cutie Pie - thankyou for sharing hon xxx

The little birdie was an image I found from google, the flowers have been buried deep within my flower drawers for all eternity, I honestly never thought I would be using them, but they look really lush layered up and smothered in fluffy stuff.

The bird cage is a Marianne die that has also received the texture treatment and I have dangled some T!m baubles from the bottom.

The ribbons are dyed with distress inks - Peeled Paint and Spiced Marmalade.

You can see Paulien's tag HERE

And my friends who are also doing the tags

Anita's tag is HERE

and Nicki's tag is HERE

Also this week I completed my ATC's for the Stampman, these are actually for July - ooooh get me !!! a month early !!! The theme was Vintage, I love Vintage so this was one of my favourite themes to create and I can hardly wait to receive my swaps.

It is hard to see from the photo but the background paper has been distressed and spritzed with two shades of glimmer mist, the image was stamped with a sepia toned ink and the buttons are genuinely vintage mother of pearl, salvaged from a charity shop.

I also made a sympathy card this week. One of my class members has recently suffered a bereavement, I know nothing makes much sense when you are going through a loss but I guess it helps to know your friends are thinking of you, I always think a sympathy card is like a gentle hug in an envelope.

The stamped image is a cling from Hero Arts.

And a couple more flower photos, there is always a sense of serenity in a white flower I think.

Finally I would just like to say a massive THANKYOU to all my lovely class ladies. The past 6 months have been nothing if not a trial and I am so grateful for the patience and understanding that has been shown. I haven't lost any of my lovely loyal ladies, they have all come back to class, filled me in on all their news and made me laugh. They also made me realise just how much I actually missed them all. My classes kicked off on tuesday and it almost seemed like there had never been a break so THANKYOU all, I am so proud of the little crafting community we have fostered together xxx

Love and laughter

Tracey xxx

Tag for April

Paulien is posting some fantastic tutorials on her blog each month, myself and a few friends are playing along and creating tags in a similar style. I am playing catch up ( nothing new there !)

Here is my tag for April

This month Paulien inspired us to use netting as a mask for the background, she used Gesso - silly me left mine at the shop so I created mine with acrylic, even sillier me used Pearl instead of matte ( I should really look at labels before slapping it on) but you know what ? I actually quite like the way it turned out - the tag now has a lush lustre.

The large flower, I made from cutting a multitude of voile and net flowers, I layered them atop one another then added some string and a mulberry rose to finish. All the flowers have been brushed with stickles for a little extra sparkle.

You can see Paulien's april tag HERE

Anita's april tag HERE

Nicki's april tag HERE

Next I have a card to share - just using up some scraps here, and, the funny shaped mat behind the photo was an accident, I cut it wonky and to save discarding it and starting again I decided to cut the bottom at an angle too and make it a feature. I must say I owe finishing this card to the lovely Denise of Tilly's in Immingham, I ran out of silicone glue just before adding the flowers ( you all know by now I cannot be without my flowers !!!) so Neil took me on a mercy dash so that I could finish the card. Yes !!! even I run out of the basics sometimes. I wished I had more time though as Denise has such gorgeous lines and I would have liked to have browsed and treat myself - oh well will have to pop back soon.

The sentiment is a rub-on by Basic Grey that has been languishing in one of my drawers forever ! The ribbon has been made by cutting a scrap of velvet paper into a strip and running through my Cuttlebug for texture, I rubbed a little white pigment ink over the top to define the embossing.

The vintage image is a PaperArtsy one and I have attached it to the card with silver brads that have been backed by silver spacers, bought for me by my lovely friend Victoria - thanks hon xxx

Just before I sign off for the night, I would like to apologise for my lack of blog-hopping, getting the shop back on its feet has eaten into all my free time of late and I have missed stopping by and seeing all your lovely creations, I will be back to normal very soon and can't wait to catch up.

Finally I have a couple of photos from the bouquet Pat brought me on Saturday.

Love and pearly tags

Tracey xxx

Up ,Up and Away

The crop on friday was very laid back and easy going, the good company and sharing of stash definitely inspired me and I completed two cards.

On this card I used a spare stamped image I had created whilst planning tuesdays class. The papers are old ones still available in the shop and I would have overlooked them but they matched the Victorian Velvet coloured image so perfectly, the papers are a mixture of Bo Bunny and Magenta. The butterfly is one of the new laser cut embellishments we have just taken delivery of and the sentiment is by Kaisercraft, this I borrowed from Margaret - thankyou Margaret xxx

The flowers have all been 'Stickled' and all the edges of the papers have been inked with Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks.

*** TIP - to make stickling fiddly embellishments easier, squeeze a large blob of stickles onto a non-porous surface and use a fine paintbrush to apply ***

The second card I made uses one of my favourite items for texture - currugated card.

Anita was busy creating an embellishment for a tag and was using the card and it just seemed the perfect element to finish my card off too. I drew around a die and handcut the heart ( die-cutting tends to flatten the little channels out too much for my liking)

The heart was painted with Gesso and then Tim Holtz Rock Candy crackle paint. Once it was dry I matted it onto a die cut heart, the die for which was lent to me by Anita - thankyou Anita xxx Once again everything was inked with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and the sentiment was another lent to me by Margaret.

Another little laser cut daisy just finishes off the flower.

Next I have some ATC's to share, these are for an international swap, the theme for which was chosen by Anita, she chose song titles/lyrics. This had me stumped for a while until Anita showed me one of her new stamps, she suggested the title and it was far better than any of my ideas, so I rolled with it.

The stamps are by Inkadinkadoo, the background was created with Weathered Wood Distress Ink, I cannot take full credit for this background, I saw a similar idea ages ago where someone had done clouds behind a cute girl image, I have no idea who it was, so if any of my lovely readers has seen this or is indeed the original creator of the idea please let me know and I will give full credit to the original artist.

The words were handwritten with a journalling pen and the balloons were coloured with Distress Inks.

I did get a little carried away and made a couple too many, so with one of them I created a masculine style card. I simply left off the handwriting and added a stamped sentiment instead. Papers on this card are by Basic Grey and the background is the new Kraft cardstock we have just received in the shop.

Finally, remember the flowers I received from Beryl this week, the lilies have revealed themselves to me today and I couldn't resist trying to capture a little of their beauty.

As I was taking the photo I realised that although the flowers will not last forever the photo will, and I made a decision to use the photos to make a special little mini-book. I received another gorgeous bouquet from Pat today - thankyou so much Pat, honestly, I have the most loveliest, big hearted customers in the whole wide world. So when the light is good and the flowers are in full bloom I will be adding photos of Pat's flowers to the ones I already have and eventually the mini book will be shared on here too.

Love and Flora

Tracey xxx

You're so special

I have been playing with some new papers and stamps in readiness for my classes restarting next week. I was feeling a bit rusty so I thought it best to polish up my card-making skills, my class ladies are all very gentle with me but Anita takes no prisoners, so I must be up to speed by tuesday !

I challenged myself to NOT use my Cuttlebug, it is so tempting to settle for the easy option and it is one of my 'go to' tools, let's face it, it does all the hard work, but I don't want to become formulaic and see the same thing on all my projects ( I have just got to tackle the flowers and pearls now - that addiction might take a little more effort to give up !)

The papers are Prima and the stamp is by Hero Arts. Flowers and leaves all sneakily fell into my bag as I was sorting out my last delivery - oooooops.

I think I left a few bunches to sell !

This next photo shows that I have decorated the reverse also, to allow space for a greeting/sentiment. 

Next up is my ATC for this months Stampman swap - the theme of which was 'Trees'. Normally my atc's end up very three dimensional. I think this arises because I am a scrapbooker and I am used to creating with copious amounts of product. Subconsciously, the same amount of product I rake out for a 12 x 12 inch page, teeters precariously atop my little 3.5 x 2.5 inch atc's, it is hit and miss that they will ever fit into a sleeve let alone an album.

So, with all that said I allowed the stamping to do the talking on this occasion and reigned myself in to keep embellies to a bare minimum - the ribbon just naughtily tied itself into a bow, rolled its cheeky little self onto a glue dot and planted its bottom atop the atc, refusing to budge, just like Greenpeace to Airtel !

I have received some really sweet surprises this past week, Bonnie stopped by with plants for the children, tomatoes and mini cucumbers ( safe ones  - not the sort laden with e-coli - thank goodness! ) The kiddies were delighted and have been monitoring their progress, impatiently awaiting the luscious tomatoes that are sure to be making their appearance soon. Thankyou Bonnie xxx

My gorgeous friend Nicki ( who is even more lovely this week after her recent new hairstyle) made me this absolutely stunning scarf - YES ! I repeat, MADE me this scarf - isn't she clever !

I love, love, love it and have been wearing it even though the weather has been positively balmy - thankyou so much Nicki - love ya xxx

Last but not least I received a wonderful bouquet of carnations and lilies yesterday from Beryl, who is one of the most ladylike, kind-hearted and genuine friends you could wish to have, I felt quite emotional when I saw her yesterday as it has been a while since we last met, and I have really missed her company.  I am silly, I know, but to know her -  is to love her.

The following photo is from the bouquet, the carnations are just beginning to reveal their full beauty whilst the lilies are quietly waiting to thrill me with their splendor.

One last comment before I bid you goodnight, the Running With Scissors ATC swap is up and running. I apologise for the break in swapping, collection and delivery was nigh on impossible whilst the shop was closed, thankyou all for bearing with us, it is nice to see so many of you playing again, and, we have some lovely new swappers joining in this time also. All the next twelve months themes are on the forum HERE, ( GET ME !!!!! being so organised ! - it surely can't last lol) I am hoping that by providing the themes in advance it will help people with postage and allow everyone a little extra thinking time too. I have already received three delightful sets to swap, I am so happy to be resuming this swap and it promises to be even bigger and better this year.

Love and swapping ( but not wives of course !)

Tracey xxx

Go Green

I am hosting an atc swap over on our shop website and have been busy choosing themes for the next twelve months.

Here are a couple of example ATC's I made

The swaps start in June and the first months theme is recycle, the swappers all have to incorporate a recycled element on the card and they must also include the colour green somewhere.

For the first ATC the recycled elements are : the cross stitch fabric which was an unused portion of a kit gifted to me by Anita, the string  and the chain which is a broken necklace.

I created the faux wood background with distress inks and a felt tip pen.

For the requisite green I stamped my sentiment and image with an olive green ink.

 For this second ATC I recycled some Prima packaging ( the green background), the butterfly is punched from an old dictionary page and the heart is made from an old plastic carrier bag and the button is one that I salvaged from my button box.

I will be making a set of different atc's to actually swap and am really enjoying rummaging around the house for trash to turn into treasure.

 

On Stranger Tides

Happy Anniversary to my sweet, love you Neil. We are celebrating 19 years of marriage today.

This is the card I made for him.

I used Basic Grey papers, the Dream Heart Cherish stamp is by Inkadinkadoo and I used a Stampin Up punch for the floral details.

The deep heart border is a punch by Martha Stewart, the poem for the inside was computer generated.

The little tags were made using a stampin up tag punch and stamps, and I used bakers twine to attach them to the large heart.

And what did we do to celebrate 19 years of bliss ?

Romantic meal out for two ? 

Sunset stroll along the beach hand in hand ? 

Quiet evening just the two of us with wine and chocolates ? 

Nope, not for us

We took the kids to Burger King for tea and enjoyed the new Pirates of the Caribbean  film all together as a family, and you know what ? It was the best night out we've had in ages.

Walk With Me

I have been working on a couple of little projects for my window display at the shop, I was going for a whimsical, young, clean and crisp look in bubble gum pink and green.

I created these two layouts to form a part of the display.

Both are much different to my usual style of scrapping, but I really want a cute feeling of whimsy, so I took a step out of my comfort zone.

With the scraps I quickly put together this really simple card.

Huge thanks to Nicki who worked all afternoon, helping me to put another two large orders of stock out on the freshly fitted shelves, thanks hon.

IMPORTANT NEWS for class members

All classes will be resuming from 6th June onwards, if you had a place last time round it is still yours.

Thankyou all for your patience and understanding whilst we have been working through the enforced refurbishment.

Banner Tutorial

Today I have a little tutorial to share with you. I made this quick and easy little banner this afternoon to decorate the shop.

First of all, trim your cardstock into rectangles, mine measures 21cm long by 9cm wide, mark a little dot halfway across the tag, 5cm up from the bottom and cut down to each corner to remove the little triangle in the middle, keep this triangle and use it as a template to mark all your remaining rectangles, cut them all out the same.

Use a decorative punch to create a border along the top of each tag ( I used a Martha Stewart border punch)

Now we need to make some patterned paper shapes to fit inside the white shapes we made in the previous step, this time cut your rectangles to measure 15cm long by 8cm wide and use the little white triangle as a template once again to create the shaped bottom.

Score each white piece 3cm from the top of your decorative border, and define crease with a bone folder.

Attach both layers together using DS tape leaving an even border all around the shape, you will have a larger blank area at the top.

I used red high tack tape to add my ribbon as I didn't want each pennant slipping down the ribbon. Lay all your pennants side by side onto a table and add your red tape to each side of crease, ensure all your little flags are evenly spaced on the table and then lay your chosen ribbon just below the crease on each pennant, fold over top of pennant - trapping ribbon between each layer of red tape.

Now for the fun part, add your embellies and lettering etc.

I punched out large scalloped circles, inlaid them with co-ordinating patterned paper circles and then added some thickers for my lettering.

The little boys and the butterflies were all handcut from some Prima patterned paper.

I have a couple of thankyous to say, the first two to Pat and Trish who both brought me in boxes of yummy Thornton chocolates, thankyou so much and the third one to Ann who brought me in these gorgeous flowers yesterday, thankyou very much xxx Chocolates and flowers - what more can a girl ask for !!!!

I tried out some close-ups with my new camera - still not brave enough to take it out of auto mode ! I know these shots are not perfect but they are much better than my other little point and shoot was capable of.

And on that happy note I shall love you and leave you to create a couple of layouts that are currently bouncing around inside my head. 

Before I go, a brief note to say the ATC swaps are back in full swing on the RWS forum HERE, all the necessary info and rules are there if anyone is interested in playing along, due to time restraints and postage the swap is only open to UK residents at the moment.