April Workshop

Hi everyone, hope you are having a relaxing Sunday or doing your favourite thing today, wherever you are! Just posting the cards made in my April workshops, great to see everyone again and have loads of laughs and share any new crafting news and products too!

So the first card is a no-colouring, lots of punched-and-die-cut-shapes card, where we used daubers and templates to ink our own sky background.

the products I used and links are below:

Mairanne's Bicycle die LR0233

Martha Stewart grass punch

EK success leaves punch

Memory box Flower mound Die

Spellbinders labels called Grommet tags

Cheery Lynn fence die

Spellbinders grand oval and grand label dies

Pearls from Jeans range in Cottage Crafts, Co Wexford

 The next card is a coloured image one which is good for a get well soon or cheery spring card or for anyone feeling under the weather - the products used on this one were:

a polymer stamp from Stampavie called Giving Shelter

Martha Stewart frond punch for leaves

EK Success Daisy punched flowers

Faber Castell Polylchromos pencils for colouring

 

Here is a side on view of the flowers and layering:

and the inside of the card decorated to match the front:

 

The other coloured image card for this month - using an Elisabeth Bell stamp (did anyone notice the new DVD of coloured Elisabeth Bell images just released? - let me know if you want more info by leaving a comment if you are interested in getting one)

Stamp called You Make the Grade

Memory Box Butterfly

Spellbinders Grand Ovals and Grand Scalloped Ovals

Charms from eBay (see my where I shop page for Links or HERE)

Cuttlebug Swiss dots folder

Faber Castell Polylchromos pencils for colouring

and below are some close up photos:

  
     

  

To decorate the box, we used a Marianne's key die, LR0193 which was embossed in silver mirri card, and the same colour ribbon used to finish.

A very handy hint is to use promarkers / peel off markers / alcohol based pens to colour your clear gems and  turn them into other colours - the same can be done with white pearls. I used a dark purple coloured promarker to colour mine.

The next card was a 'simply stamped' one, so for those who had never inked and used  stamp before, this was a good introduction of how easy and effective stamping can be!

the flower punch I used was tiny and an old EK success one which I think is now discontinued sadly, but you can find this shape flower in the Spellbinders'/Heartfelt Creations POSY PATCH die set (this set contains an amazing 7 dies all nesting to create amazing flowers you can make yourself with the aid of glue and ball / embossing tools to add shape). I guess that the dies will last longer than any punch will and I have used my set lots already.

The sentiment and branch / flower stamp set are from Stampin Up and are called Hopeful Thoughts, and if you want them, they may be a retired set soon enough so here is a link to the product which you may be able to find on eBay as a second hand /used set.

this is the inside of the card, again using Jeans' Pearls from Cottage Crafts:

The last card for this month was a twisted fold card using images from Fred She Said, called Smelling the Cherry Blossoms - 
These digi's come in precoloured or black and white if you wish to colour yourself, with extra blossoms. The added advantage with digi's is that you can resize to suite your own project! the little girl is also available in the digi set without the background.

this is what the card looks like open:

Some angled photos so you can see the layering:

Other products  used in this card were:

Cuttlebug embossing folder called Floral Screen (on of the early designs!)

Starburst or 'splat' shaped punches for centre of flower

EK success retro flower punch
note - I have the digi artist's permission to use digi images in my workshop

that's all for now, I need to make some more communion cards, so will be back in a few days with some more to show - enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Thanks to everyone who attended a workshop this month, and keep on crafting :)

A Keepsake Easel Drawer Box with lots of photos

Hi everyone, its a lovely sunny day in my part of the world and hope its shining where you are too..! I think spring has finally arrived but don't want to jinx it, as I am so over the cooler weather!

So, just to alert you, there are lots of photos on this post - its a keepsake easel drawer box thingy which I made for a special birthday request.

Here is a view of the box in the 'closed' position - I want to keep the recipients photo personal, hence I have blurred them,  hop everyone understands that. The papers I used are from the DO CRAFTS V&A Hanoverian range (I am only using them for special stuff as they are so precious!)

The colour scheme I chose and have used before and love is olive green and pale pink, mixed with a touch of mink/ecru kind of colour, finished off with wild orchid roses and pale pink satin ribbon and embellished with pearls from Cottage Crafts' Jeans range.

The front of the box (the sentiment is hidden behind the easel),

 and a view from the top so you can see the layers...

Finally the drawer inside - I made a double walled drawer so it was nice and strong, and pulling the ribbon doesn't bend the front panel.

Lili of the Valley Baby Card in Pink and Muted yellow

Hi everyone, popping in while I have a moment to spare -

 thanks for all the ladies who attended my workshop in Enniscorthy yesterday and it was great to see you all again (a perfect day for crafting as rain came for most of the day so we didnt feel bad about being in doors when it was so wet outside)!

I will post photos of the cards we made soon, but in the meantime I have some other things to get through and other projects to show..

The first is a baby girl card from couple of weeks ago, and with a stamp which I was itching to ink, from this year's Lily of the Valley releases - its called Starry Ted and you can find it HERE

I coloured the image with polychromos pencils, and the blending stumps / sansodor was only used on the background, not on the image itself, giving two different effects.

The stars are cut with quickutz/lifestyle crafts nesting stars (I got this set as the spellbinders doesn't have as many of the smaller sizes as this set) and I love love love using stars, so they are a good buy.

Here is a link to the product which you can find at various retailers.

I also used a Martha Stewart Butterfly punch on this card, the larger of the butterfly punches in that range,

and finished off with Jean's range gold and white pearls from Cottage Crafts which you can find here.

that's all for the moment, I need to head away and colour some images :)

Lili of the Valley Thistledown Fairy

Hello everyone on this fantabulous sunshiny day! The weather is just great here, blue skies and only a few clouds, great to lift everyone spirits so don't mind the nip in the air!

and this card has a bit of sunshine about it. Had to wait a while before I could post it, and the recipient received it - hope you liked the fairy Laura and had a great birthday with all your favourite stuff!

So I used the Lili of the Valley Thistledown Fairy image for this card which you can find here in rubber stamp form, and its another version of a similar card I made a while back, I just changed things a little. Added different leaves, lots of turquoise gems and coloured with pencils this time.

The papers are from Bearly Mine Designs and are called Floral Fantasy which you can find here.

The flower die shapes are from spellbinders and a good few which nest in the one set and the frilly lacy die is one of the first ones I bought in the My Favourite Things range.

Workshops in April and May

Hi everyone, just to let you know that I have updated my workshop page HERE, with details of workshops in Dungarvan, Co Waterford and in Kilkenny.

Places will be restricted, so please book if you wish to come along.