Blogging In Daylight!!!

WOW what a gorgeous day it is here in Staffordshire. The morning started off very foggy but now the sun has come out and burnt that all away and left us with a lovely bright but cold day...........just what I like.

Today I am working on some samples for the shop demo at Totnes. I have been asked especially by Dave to use some of the new Hero Arts collage stamps so I am having lots of fun with those.
I really need to get them finished today as the rest of the week I have to fit in packing up for Stockport next Saturday around working at the shop and preparing for classes so it's all go here at the moment.
Hubby will be doing a bit of chuntering for the next week or so as I will be taking over the dining table to lay out my lists and the baskets I stack stuff into ready for packing. He hates eating from a tray on his knee but he is not allowed to move anything from the table in case it gets lost.


I don't really want to show the samples ahead of doing the demo so today I am sharing a couple of cards I made for special orders last week.
The anniversary card may seem very strange but it is exactly what I was asked for.....a ruby wedding card for a couple who are both members of the National Vegetable Society and love gardening.
The black and white card was one theme choice I had from the many interests the recipient has. I had a choice of cooking, gardening, shopping and handbags so I chose to do the handbag theme using my Sizzix die. I usually like to add a splash of colour to black and white cards so the Dunelm bloom was perfect. The scan seems to have bleached some of the colour out of it though as it is a much nicer colour IRL.
The lady who ordered the cards was really pleased with them so I just hope the recipients like them too.


Anyway I had best go and get on with these samples.
Bye for now
Sheila-x-

DCM Little Extra-Christmas Tree

As usual the girls at Daring Card Makers came up with the right dare when I needed a push to make a certain card.

I have been thinking about this card for ages and never got around to doing anything about it.

The stamping has been done with the Holly Doodles set from Tandastamps

Well I am still doing my prep work for Stockport and Totnes. This time I am making all the templates in advance which is taking quite some doing but I think it will help things to run very smoothly and it means the ladies get to take them home too.

As much as I am looking forward to doing both venues I am also looking forward to getting back and tidying up my room ready for all the new goodies I shall buy when I go the NEC next month.

I haven't been for a couple of years except to the trade show for the shop and I have the hugest list of stuff I want to buy.

I wouldn't have even thought of going but DD is insisting on taking me to look for my Christmas present........she's got awful bossy all of a sudden....lol!!! I think she has an ulterior motive though as she now does beading and jewellery making. It's going to be fun to see who spends the most money.

I had a question posted in a comment on the Santa card with the tags in an envelope.

Yes it was a template I used for the envelope which I think was one I bought from Lakeland Limited last Christmas although I am not 100% sure on that as it may also have been one from a set of Anna Griffin templates I have. If it's any help though the finished envelope is approximately three inches square after folding.

I am sooooo loving these cold frosty mornings and being able to wear jumpers and long sleeved t shirts without feeling like I am going to spontaneously combust. Not liking the cold feet much though. I need some new Pods and until I have time to go buy some I am still wearing my Crocs which are a tad draughty.....lol!!!

I'm up playing catch up with myself as although I had a good night's sleep on Wednesday I felt shattered when I got home from work and slept from 6pm to 10pm.

I work better though when everyone else is asleep so I am off to make a few cards ready for workshops with some new stamps I have seeing as how I am wide awake.

Catch you later

Sheila-x-

Santa Baby!!!

Today I am having to share a couple more cards from the Archives as I haven't had time to do any stamping at all today. I have spent all day making twenty eight sets of three layer templates ready for some classes and I feel like a carthorse has done a clog dance on my hands now......they ache like h*ll.

So todays cards were made last Christmas using stamps by Rubbadubbadoo and the blue card uses a technique called Opalite Infusion.
A selection of co-ordinating images are stamped onto white cardstock using black Stazon ink (images with some solid areas work better than outline stamps). These are then dried off with a heat gun to make sure that there are no damp spots.
You then need an Opalite ink pad in the colour of your choice along with a selection of dye inks in matching colours. I used Opalite Nordic Ice and a Big and Juicy ink pad called Waterfall.
Once your stamped images are dry cover the entire piece with the Opalite ink then starting with the palest of your dye ink colours pick up ink from the pad using a sponge or cotton wool and starting in the centre blend the dye ink into the Opalite. Next use a medium ink colour and move towards the edges of the card. Finish off with the darkest around the edges.
Dry off and then apply another coat of Opalite and dry again.
You can now mat and layer your finished piece as required.
The author of this technique is Kim Bennington-Thompson and I found it while browsing sites on the internet. It has become one of my most favourite techniques because I had only thought of using Opalite inks on dark card and this is such a cool way to use them on light card too.


The idea for the second card came from that time of year when you go up into the loft and start to bring down the decorations and wrapping paper and such from previous years and you find odd bits and bobs you saved but didn't know why. So this is some tags that have been put into an envelope and some stray bits of packing tissue got caught in there too. I have used assorted papers to represent the odd bits of wrapping paper you save too..........no wonder some of my cards take so long to make......I sometimes think that I think waaaaayyyyy too much......lol!!!


Well now the templates are all made I need to make up the packs to go with them. I find the easiest way to cope with all the bits needed for each project is to pack an envelope with everything in it for each card. During the class the finished card can be put back in the envelope along with any leftover pieces and it keeps everything nice and tidy.


I am now the very proud owner of a Grey's Anatomy t shirt which arrived from the USA yesterday. I have one that says 'seriously' in bright pink....... I love it!!! My next order is going to be for two one saying 'Dark and Twisty' and the other saying 'Bright and Shiny'. I'd love one saying 'The future Mrs McDreamy' but I think hubby might object to that somehow.......lol!!!


Coffee break is over so I had best get back to work for a bit. I have a feeling I shall be seeing the sunrise today as earlier I fell asleep on the sofa while watching a film with hubby and DD. It was called Pathfinder and I didn't like it at all. Too much violence and not enough story for me so I shan't be watching that again in a hurry.


Bye for now
Sheila-x-

Daring Cardmakers-Christmas Word

DCM's Little Extra dare this week was to make a card with a Christmas word.

I managed to make the lime and pink card yesterday by pinching an hour from the work I was supposed to be doing. It is made totally from die cuts with a punched snowflake.

Dies used-:

Sizzix large circle

Sizzix large tree........trimmed down and embossed in the Cuttlebug

Sizzlits Alphabet-Nouveau

The pot was made by trimming down a small piece of silver card and using a stylus tool to emboss the pattern.
Very quick and easy to put together once all the die cutting is done.


The holly card is one I designed last year and one of my most favourites. The patterned paper is all hand stamped and the letters are hand cut using templates made on the computer.
The holly embellishment is a Sizzlit die cut.


Well as far as I am concerned winter is here......lol!!! For the last few days I have had goosebumps on my goosebumps and my toes have never been warm so I have had a ferret in the wardrobe and found a couple of jumpers out and my Cooler boot slippers have been hunted down and dusted down ready for use.
My workroom is like an ice box when the temperature starts to drop and is also very draughty......hence the Coolers to keep the draught off my ankles.
I am a very happy bunny when it's cold as it means I can 'snuggle'. I get out all of my favourite books with winter and Christmas themes and gather all of my Christmas recipe books together to start looking for new things to try out for the freezer. I then spend my coffee breaks on the sofa 'snuggled' under my fleece blanket and either reading or planning cooking sessions for later on next month once my visit to Totnes is finished.
I know you will all think I am totally barking but Autumn and Winter to me are just the best seasons of the year......I love them.


Right I am off to faff about for a bit longer.
Bye for now
Sheila-x-

Hello Blog Land!!!

Long time no see!!!

I've been having a bit of an odd time for the last week or so. A mixture of work and not feeling so good with a dash of having a good think about what I want to acheive in the coming year.

The card I posted with the pregnant lady went down really well and I have had orders for other cards for other occasions from it which was a lovely surprise.

We are busy at the shop still with Christmas workshops and I did my first Monday class last week. I over-ran by about half an hour but that was due to serving customers at the same time so I didn't do too badly I don't think.......not when you consider that I can run over even when Deb is there to see to the customers........I do have a tendency to talk a lot.......lol!!!

Deb made the mistake of letting me have a look at one of our suppliers catalogues last week and saying that if I wanted anything to write it on the list. As you might guess the pen ran away with me a bit and I came home yesterday with a bag full of goodies. Three Cuttlebug embossing folders, a set of four dies and a large single one, six Adirondack ink pads to complete my collection of the earth tones, two ink rollers, a Brilliance ink pad and I can't remember what else although Deb gave me an early Christmas present of one of the Basic Grey packs with the papers, die cuts and alphabets. I was nearly in tears. It was the Periphery Collection which is just beautiful and I can't wait now to have a play with it..............just a few more weeks and then my time at home will be my own for a while.......yay!!!

The card I have posted today is my first attempt using Stampbord. I have packs and packs of it in my drawer but just haven't had the time to do anything with it but I needed to do something with it for a future class. I have to say that it won't be this card as it took me hours to do but I had fun with it.

The background is alcohol inks on white gloss card. Meadow and Lettuce with Gold Mixative. I then stamped the large image from my Elusive Images Holly set in Sage Ancient Page ink over the top. It doesn't stand out a lot as I wanted a very subtle finish.

The gold lines across the bottom are done with PVA glue which has been covered with embossing powder and heated. The gems were pressed on while there was still some wet glue but it didn't hold them so I lifted them off and re-attached them using Glossy Accents.

The Stampbord was inked with chalk ink pads and then stamped with the holly stamp in one corner. The rest of the decoration was hand drawn.

I scraped some of the drawing off and recoloured with a gold pen for the flourishes and an Adirondack pen for the dots.

Holes were made with my Crop-adile and threaded with eyelash fibre.

I am quite pleased with the effect but I'm looking forward to having a more in depth session with the Stampbord.........especially the larger pieces.

I played hookey today from the work I was doing at home to make a card for the DCM challenge. I will post that tomorrow as it is not quite dry yet and I don't fancy glue all over the scanner bed.

Best go and grab a couple of hours sleep as I have an all day class tomorrow at the shop. I have one Friday too so I will have done four days this week........no wonder I am shattered.

Ooh forgot to say a huge thanks to Andrew, Tanya and Alex at TandaStamps for the lovely welcome when I popped down to see them last Wednesday in Bridport. They very kindly showed me how they go about making the clear stamps and it was fascinating.

Night night then

Sheila-x-

A Not Christmas Card......AT LAST!!!!!

..........and I bet you are as glad as I am...........lol!!!

I've had a pretty productive weekend and caught up on quite a lot of stuff.......even the paperwork for the dreaded tax return which took forever. Next year will be different I can tell you. I have already set up a system on the computer and a storage folder and will keep on top of it all.

Another job was to catch up on some special orders and the card above is one of them.
The pregnant lady is from the Cricut New Arrivals cartridge and I have done her in the largest size. Even at that I don't think I will be using her an awful lot. She was fiddly to put together and very wasteful on card and paper as I had to cut a full set of the accessories in each colour. Having said that I am very pleased with the card.
The sentiment is done using the Girls Are Weird Sizzlits alphabet.

I also had an order for a wedding card but that is still drying and I may not have time to scan it before I deliver it tomorrow on my way to work.

Well I had best go and get some beauty sleep.........and blimey do I need it.......lol!!!
Bye for now
Sheila-x-