June tag

My tag for June

I spent lots of time playing with yummy techniques for the background and then did my usual trick of piling on stuff until the background had almost disappeared !!! You know me - less is more - NOT ha ha

The corrugated heart had been coated with gesso, once it was dry I rubbed it with Rock Candy stickles and finally finished it with a little gold wax rub.

The lush fabric roses were in the sale bin at my local co-op, they started life as hair slides and I had been wearing them but they just seemed to fit the tag perfectly, oh well will have to treat myself to some new ones for the barnet.

As always I was not alone creating these tags

Paulien's is HERE

Anita's is HERE

Nicki hasn't had chance to create hers this month as her craft room is housing extra furniture from a decorating project so the poor love is struggling to get any crafting done at the mo.

In other news

I have signed up for a really exciting class with the supremely talented Kirsty Wiseman, it is an art journalling project and I truly can't wait to play. And at the risk of sounding like a complete star struck wally, I had the pleasure of speaking with her on the phone today, oh bless her heart honestly she is so sweet, I can't wait to get to know her better throughout the class.

My ladies that crop will attest to the fact that I emitted several excited squeals and did a happy dance round the tables, simple things make me incredibly happy, I promise to keep you posted on how the class goes and promise not to squeal if she rings again. Sorry Kirsty I think I might have babbled incoherently for a little while.

Love and squeals

Tracey xxx

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers day to my lovely Dad, who has always been there for me, but even more so this last two years with the shop. I honestly couldn't do it without him, he literally is my right hand at work, so thankyou Dad for always being there and making life much easier.

This is the card I made him, an A5 easel.

The little girl is a Stampin' Up image that I have coloured with Polychromos pencils, I nearly used my copics but I like the slightly grainy effect you can achieve with pencils and I thought it suited the image better.

And this is the card I made for the kids to give to Neil, another A5 easel

The verse at the bottom is printed onto a little folder I created to hold some journalling cards, the cards are where the kids all wrote their little messages for Neil.

Love and warm daddy hugs

Tracey xxx

Cards, Cookies and Cosiness

The card my ladies made in class this week, there was a fair bit of cutting, all the little layered panels took some time but everyone agreed it was worth the effort. I think the fold will be replicated in lots of different styles.

We all agreed the extra weight made it a 'give' rather than 'mail' kind of card. The papers are by Prima and the die cut is a Nestie. The stamp is Hero Arts.

On wednesday afternoon June came in laden with a huge box full of homemade cookies, peanut butter, milk chocolate and white chocolate with walnut. All absolutely delicious - and gluten free too as we have a lady with an intolerance in class - how thoughtful ! We all had a couple of each and there were plenty left over, June said I could take them home for the kids - thankyou June, they went down a treat, the kids all say a BIG thankyou xxx

Remember the vintage ATC's I made a couple of posts ago ? I have started to make an extra one each swap to use as a card topper, this is the one I made in the crop this afternoon, very quick and easy as I had the stamping already done. Papers are Basic Grey, vintage button is K and Co. The large rose is a Prima flower, we took delivery of them a couple of weeks ago and they have been flying off the shelves, such a pretty flower !

Talking of ATC's, you have a fortnight to go to hand in your Recycling ATC's for the Running With Scissors swap, I already have quite a few in and I can tell you they are all fabulous, really creative with some fantastic reuse and recycle ideas.

Finally I will leave you with a picture of a scarf my lovely friend Dawn made, she truly is such a talented knitter and one of the sweetest ladies you could meet. She brought one in to show me last week and lo and behold had made one for me by wednesday - thankyou so much Dawn - I can't wait to wrap myself up in it xxx

 Love and cookies

Tracey xxx

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

After a thorough polish and shine throughout the house and once all the laundry had been completed, I sat down with a view to leafing through a magazine and enjoying my coffee whilst it was still hot.

Nope ! Best laid plans and all that.

Inspiration struck and I began a cardmaking frenzy.

Maybe I missed dad more than I care to admit last week or the thought of the forthcoming Fathers day was in my mind - whatever happened I decided to make some masculine samples for the shop.

With a little pile of manly coloured papers and not a flower or pearl in sight I set to ! I played with a few different styles, trying to accommodate all ages.

The men in my life are not really into hobbies and sports and I know from a lot of my customers that they themselves have male friends and family who aren't either or they have already exhausted the golf, football, snooker and fishing themes, so I thought I would challenge myself to create all the cards without going down that route.

I couldn't resist reaching for a little pink and some flowers for this one though, as I had a little girl in mind when I created this, these next two cards were just really quick and fun, ideas for little ones to give to their daddies.

I hope I have inspired a few ideas.

In case you are wondering, no, none of the above are destined for either Neil or my dad, they both read my blog and I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise for them so I won't be sharing their cards until after they have received them.

And ...... the coffee never did reach my lips, ah well, I did have a relaxing afternoon !

Love and cold coffee

Tracey xxx

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