Monday 28 January 2013

Another Spellbinder Episode

Good Evening Everyone,

As I am sure you noticed I had a day off from posting Spellbinder samples as I had a day out at Eden Hall Spa which was a fabulous Christmas present from the even more fabulous Mother-in-Law Val!  We had such a lovely day chilling, eating lovely food, reading and generally having a good laugh.  I got home with all good intention of posting and I was soooooo chilled that I sat and watched a bit of T.V and then fell asleep!!

Thankyou to everyone that has left comments it is great to hear what your thoughts are on the dies and it is fabulous to hear that some of you have received yours from C and C and have played with them.
So here's some inspiration for today.

This is a sample that I have made using the Labels 29 which is a perfect set of Nestibilities that are perfect for making booklets and also for matting and layering and using in conjuction with your other dies.  As you can see I have used it on an easel card.  The book does look a little flat on the photo but if you saw it on T.V is does look more dimensional.  I have also used the Framed labels die to add a sentiment, a paper flower (made from Tim Holtz Tattered Florals set) with a Dazzler in the middle and some swirly pearls  I think this would also make a fabulous star card.


Simply does it for this one.  This is such a quick and easy card and really proves that the Spellbinders really do the work for you.  I have used the Timeless Rectangles to cut layers of pearl card alternating the colours and then added a little organza ribbon and a spray of flowers. 

I have a few more new samples up my sleeve and will be demonstrating them on C and C tomorrow at 3pm and 6pm and Wednesday at 11am.  I will be popping them on the blog and will continue with a daily post until you either get fed up with popping in!! or I run out of samples I do hope that it is the latter first!!!

Thankyou as ever for popping in and having a peep.  
I will post again tomorrow
Bye for now
Jo x

Saturday 26 January 2013

Week 191 - Masculine

Good Morning!

Today is Saturday and that means another fabulous Challenge from the Allsorts gang.  This week it is Catherine's first Challenge and she has chosen very well ....................

MASCULINE

We have 2 brilliant sponsors this week - and they are:

Digi Darla
http://www.digidarladesigns.com/

and

The Craft Barn.
http://www.thecraftbarn.co.uk/

Thankyou to you both for your help with the Challenge this week.

My offering uses a design from Digi Darla which has kindly allowed the Design Team to use an image of their choice.


The image that I have used is from the Masculine section and is called mountain biker.
I have used Pro-Markers to colour my image and then distressed the edge with Frayed Burlap.  I have used the Spellbinders Cogs die to cut the biker out and I have used the other cogs to embellish the card further.
The background paper is a My Minds Eye 12" x 12" paper.  I have cut a piece of Kraft card and stamped it with a Cogs stamp that I found in my draw.  I have really enjoyed making this design and I hope that you like it too.

Please pop over to the Allsorts Challenge Blog  a have a look at their stunning designs.

Thankyou so much for popping by and hope to see you later when I post some more of the Spellbinder samples.

Bye for now
Jo x 

Friday 25 January 2013

Day 5 - A few more Spellbinding ideas

Good Evening,

Cor it really is cold in Lincolnshire and it speaks of more snow! :(  Just when you thought it was all over.
We had a fantastic days workshop today at Let's Create doing what us crafters do best - stamping and colouring.  It was great to get everyone back after being snowed in.

I have 2 more telly cards for you and I would love to hear what you think to these.



I really enjoyed this demonstration.  I am sure you will recognise the dies now - this one is the Labels 22.  I stamped and embossed  the image first - this is from the design elements stamp plate from Creative Expressions - I then cut around the image (make sure that you tape the die down so you don't slip and cut into the embossed image) I used Broken China distress ink to enhance the embossed edges of the die. The sentiment has been stamped onto the smallest of the labels in this set. The background embossed image is from the Butterfly Kisses M-bossibility.  To Finish off I have added some swirly pearls, flowers and organza ribbon.


This demo was to show how you can use the Spellbinders to cut other products other than card and paper. I have used a self-adhesive canvas from Papermania (I happen to stumble over it in the Range when I popped in the other day) I used the 4 sizes of the Decagons and edged them with ink.  As you will see I have also used the Opulent Ovals to stamp the greeting on.  A little ink around the edges and a few flowers finish this really straight forward card off.  Quite a girly one.

Tomorrow is the Allsorts Challenge day so I hope that you can pop by to have a look at what the Challenge is going to be for next week.  I will also pop on later in the day with a couple more cards from the shows.
Enjoy the rest of the evening,
Bye for now and thankyou, as ever, for popping in.
Jo xx


Thursday 24 January 2013

Day 4 Spellbinder samples

Hello Again Crafters,

Well I haven't long been back from C and C towers after 3 more hours of showcasing these amazing dies.  May I send a massive thank you to everyone for their fantastic emails - I hope that you enjoyed the 2 hours special with myself and Dean - what a laugh he is such a brilliant presenter to work with, the problem is you don't now what is coming next! We tried to answer lots of questions relating to die cutting and particularly the Spellbinder dies and in between throw in some demonstrations.  It was fun and I think one of the best shows that I have been involved in.

Today was the last shows of the week I have a workshop tomorrow at the shop and looking forward to playing with Joanna's stunning Holly Pond Hill stamps.  I do hope that the snow doesn't fall again tonight and stop everyone from getting to the shop.  Fingers and toes crossed.

Anyway, as promised more samples from the shows.


This one is actually a tent card but it was a struggle to get the photo right with this one.  
I really liked making this one as it was quite straight forward - the dies definitely did all the work.
I have used parts of the Adoring Squares set, the Stately Circles and the Butterflies.  They all seem to really gel with each other.  The paper that I have used is from the Papermania vintage collection. I picked this up on my travels.


The second sample for tonight is quite an eye catching one.  I have used Decorative Labels 22 and cut it very simply in black card and embossed it.  Unfortunately you cant see the embossed on the background but I have used the Special Touch Eyelet mask.  The stamping on the card is from the Beaded Elements stamp plate from Creative Expressions which has been embossed with Cosmic Shimmer embossing powder from the Vintage set.

I hope that you have enjoyed tonights offerings and I will pop back tomorrow to show you a few more.
Thankyou as always for having a peep and hope to see you here again soon.
Take care and Bye for now
Jo xx



Wednesday 23 January 2013

Day 2 and 3 of Spellbinder samples

Hello Everyone,

Firstly sorry that I didn't get to post yesterday - it was a bit crazy at the studio as they were asking me to do extra shows to cover for people who couldn't get in because of the snow so I was frantically prepping extra demos in between shows!  Keeps me out of trouble!!

Anyway back to business today I will pop 3 samples on to make up for yesterday.


I hope that you can see this one it seems to mingle together on this photograph.  I have used 2 sizes of the Opulent Ovals set and have edged these with some Raspberry Adirondack ink.  The stamped image is from the Masquerade set of stamps that I have used a few times on the shows.  These are from Creative Expressions.  The squares on the side have been embossed using the Harlequin embossing folder and then inked and embossed with the vintage embossing powders.

This second card is one of my favourites and is so straight forward to make.  I needed to use the 
Petite Labels M-Bossibility so thought I would include the Timeless Rectangles at the same time.  The colour has come from Adirondack Currant and Cosmic Shimmer Vintage sprays which gives a lovely mottled effect.
I cut the rectangle in half and used it as a gate fold effect.  Finishing off with ribbon and a dazzler.  



This last one for today was made using the Adorning Squares - I'm sorry this isn't the best photo. I have also used the Quilted M-Bossibility as the background.  

I hope you have enjoyed having a peep and that it has given you a few ideas.

I hope to see you back here tomorrow.  (I have just had a call from C and C!! they have asked me to do 2 shows tomorrow 2pm and 5pm to cover for people not getting in again because of the weather so better get some prep done!!) 

Thankyou for popping in,
Bye for now
Jo xx

Monday 21 January 2013

Day 1 of Spellbinders Show and Tell!

Good Afternoon Crafters

Well!  what a fantastic day we had yesterday when we went to the Strictly Come Dancing Show at Birmingham.  It was an amazing show and sooooo pleased that Kate treated us to the tickets.  For everyone that have tickets you will really enjoy it.

As promised this is Day 1 of the Spellbinders show and tell and I have 2 samples that I have demonstrated on Create and Craft over the last week.  As you know these were the World Launch dies and are not available in the UK yet but keep your eyes open for them.

This card has been made using 3 of the dies - Enchanted Lables 28, Matting Basics B and the Framed tags.
This is such a straight forward card and is achieved very easily by just cutting out the dies and layering them up.  This was one of my favourite sets as it is so ornate.  I have embellished the design with the Cosmic Shimmer PVA Pearl glue and added some flowers using a Marianne punch.

Again this was a really straight forward and the dies do all the work.  For this card I have used the Stately Circles as the centre piece with the Butterfly die in layers on the top of this set.  I have also used a Special Touch mask - Butterfly Frame as a background - it went so well with the die.  I have inked over the mask with Dusty Concorde and popped some PVA Pearl glue in the centres of the flowers.

I hope that you have enjoyed having a peep at these and hope that you can pop back tomorrow to see a couple more.  I have just had a call from C and C asking me to cover for demonstrators that cant get into the studio because of the snow so I am going to be on at 10am, 2pm and 5pm tomorrow!
Hope that you all keep warm and safe,
Thankyou, as always, for popping by
Jo xx

Sunday 20 January 2013

A Very Exciting Day!!!

GOOD MORNING CRAFTERS!

Well the day has arrived an what an exciting day this is going to be - today we are going to Birmingham NIA to see Strictly Come Dancing - The Tour which are Daughter Kate bought Mark and I for our Christmas present - very excited to be going but also as promised today is also the day that we draw the Blog Candy!!

As you know the Candy is the gorgeous Flourish Di-Lites Die and I am so grateful for all the lovely comments that you have left when I posted the cards that I have made using the die.
I now have the pleasure in announcing the lucky winner and that is 

..........................................# 48 
and that is ........................................................


JANETTE!!!!!

Wow Jeanette thankyou so much - this is your first blog comment how fabulous is that to win my candy on your first comment!  Well Done!  Thankyou also for watching my shows on C and C and I know you will love to use the Opulent Oval that you ordered from the World Launch Dies.
Please e mail your address my e mail is lets.create@btinternet.com

I would also like to take this opportunity to send a HUGE Thankyou to everyone that has sent emails to the studio whilst I have been doing the shows this week and also for all my new followers and all your fabulous comments on the blog - it really does mean a tremendous amount to me.

During this week I am posting each day showing you the samples that I have made for the shows over the last week.  So pop by and have a look.

Anyway, thankyou again and must go as we are off on our trip.  Will let you know how amazing it was.

Please keep warm and safe and remember to pop by each day to have a peep at the Spellbinder samples.

Bye for now
Jo xxxxxxx



Saturday 19 January 2013

Week 190 - Flower Power

Hello Crafters

Well what a week I think the car could take itself to Peterborough to the studio!! I have had a ball using all the new Spellbinder dies and Embossibilities and they are all soooooo gorgeous.  I would love to hear what you all think to them.  Stock is disappearing really quickly now and I am back in tomorrow to do another 2 shows.  I think I am going to need a snow plough to get there though!! All of a sudden the snow came and it really has made quite an impact.  I just hope that we dont have any more tonight.

Back to the job in hand.  It is our lovely Tracey who has chosen this weeks challenge for Allsorts and it is

Flower Power

What a fantastic week last week with so many entries - I havent quite got around to finishing off my commenting but please be assured that I will finish it off tomorrow at the latest.  There were some amazing cards made out of dies and punches.  What a difficult task to choose a winner.

The card I have chosen to show you is this one

This was a card that I put together for the Spellbinders last Pick of the Day with the Di-Dlites and this card shows you 3 of those dies Garden Weave, Flower Burst and a Frame.  This was one of my favourites as I love the Flower Burst die as it has do much detail and could be used for so many different occasions.
A little ink and some pearl glue was all that was needed to complement the dies.

We have 2 lovely sponsors this week at Allsorts and they are
Ribbon Girl and you can find them at
www.ribbongirl.co.uk/

and 

My Heart Pieces
at
myheartpiecesdigitalstamp.blogspot.com/

Thank you for your sponsorship.

Dont forget that I will be choosing a winner of the Blog Candy on Sunday so if you havent joined in yet it isnt too late.  You will find the information on post just before this one.

Sunday is when Mark and I go to see Strictly come Dancing in Birmingham so I hope that the weather improves.
Must dash now as I need to get to the studio in time for the 10am show.

Thankyou, as ever, for popping by and I hope that you all keep warm and take care if you have to venture out and about.

Bye for now
Jo xx


Saturday 12 January 2013

Week 188 - Dies and Punches

Good Morning!

I hope that this finds you all well and hopefully snow free so far! Oh I really hope that it doesn't come down like they are predicting - everyone keep their fingers crossed.

I have some amazingly exciting news today that I can share at last with you all - I have had to keep it real quiet until today under strict instructions!

Firstly I would like to share my creation for this weeks Allsorts Challenge the title for this week has been chosen by our lovely  Sarah and  is .................

Dies and Punches

Now this fits in really nicely with my exciting news .........................................  which I will tell you about in a minute!!! 

This is the card that I have chosen to share with you 


This is a really simple card that I have made using Spellbinders D-lites.  The 4 repeated dies are Grateworks which I think really lends itself for using as a background.  The cut is so fine and the best way to adhere these fine dies are with Crafters Companion Stick and Stay spray.
The middle focal point has one die from the Medallion 2 set and the flower is the Daisy Flower Topper set which is one of my favourite flowers from Spellbinders.  Adding a little ink to each layer with a few pearls in the middle really finish it off.
As I said a really easy, simple card but showing you how versatile the D-lites dies are to use.

DONT FORGET TO CHECK OUT MY BLOG CANDY POST - CANDY STILL UP FOR GRABS UNTIL SUNDAY 20TH 

Thankyou to our fabulous sponsors this week who are
CRIMSON CLOUD .http://www.crimsoncloud.co.uk/142-crimson-cloud
AND
A PASSION FOR STAMPS http://apassionforstamps.blogspot.co.uk/


Now I think that you have waited long enough (I hope you do find it exciting after all this waiting!! lol)
On Sunday I have been asked to Demonstrate the World Launch of this years brand new latest releases from Spellbinders!!!!  wayyyyyyy
It is a very exciting weekend for C and C and this starts today at 5pm - they will be filming live from the CHA trade show in America (they have sent Nigel and Leonie over!!!!!! oh what mischief they will get into I am sure) and they will be filming and linking this over to C and C.
On Sunday I will  be demonstrating all these amazing new dies and embossing folders at 2pm and 4pm.
I will also be on at 10am demonstrating for Joanna Sheen so another busy day.
If you are a Spellbinder addict these shows are a must see so that you can see the very latest designs.
If I get a word in edgeways I hope to show you some lovely demo's using these.
I hope that you are as excited as I am to be doing it and hope that you can tune in and send an email to let me know what you think of the new designs.

Well, after all that blurb I will leave you to pop over to the Allsorts Challenge Blog
to have a peep at the other DT's work which is fab as ever.
I hope that you enjoy a lovely weekend - I Know I will!! and pop back next week as I will be showing you some of the samples that I will be demoing on Sunday's show.

Thankyou so much for popping by and please leave a comment if you have a minute to spare.
Enjoy this week's Challenge
and Bye for now
Jo xx

Friday 11 January 2013

Fantastic Flourish design card

Happy Friday Everyone!

This is just a quick post to show you another idea to use the Fantastic Flourish D-Lite which I am giving away as Blog Candy.  We have another week to run on this so get your comment in so that you are in with a chance to win this fabulous die.


With this card I have used the Flourish again in the centre but I have inked the edges to give it some more dimension.  
Remember the Candy will be drawn on Sunday 20th January.

Thankyou for popping in and I will see you again in the morning for this weeks Allsorts Challenge.
Bye for now
Jo x

Sunday 6 January 2013

NEW YEAR BLOG CANDY!

Good Morning Everyone,

BLOG CANDY TIME!

As promised yesterday  this post is to let you all know that I have a lovely piece of blog candy up for grabs
to celebrate the New Year.
I would like to give away a gorgeous Spellbinder Die- Di- Lites Fantastic Flourish Three so that one of you can have the pleasure of using this fabulous design.


This is a card that I made for the recent Pick of the Day that I did and it shows how you can use it to make a very eye catching background


I have also used the gorgeous butterfly stamp from Joanna's Knitting set which I stamped and embossed in white embossing powder.

The only thing I ask is for you to leave a comment - it would be fantastic if you became a follower of the blog too as I am posting on a much more regular basis showing you some of my designs including Spellbinder ideas that I have been showing on my recent shows.
I will keep this Candy running for 2 weeks ending on January 20th (which is the day that Mark and I go to see Strictly come Dancing in Birmingham!!! totally unrelated but very exciting!!)

Thankyou for popping by again and I have that you are the lucky one to receive this fab die.

Bye for now and enjoy a lovely Sunday,
Jo xx

Saturday 5 January 2013

Week 187 - CAS (Clean and Simple)

Hello Crafters

HAPPY NEW YEAR 
TO ALL MY FABULOUS
FOLLOWERS

I hope that you all enjoyed a lovely Christmas enjoying all the family being around and having time to rest, eat and drink!  I was a very lucky girl as Mark bought me a lovely ring for my thumb and Kate (our daughter) bought us tickets to see Strictly at Birmingham in a couple of weeks!!!!! oooooooo I hear you say lucky people.  
I hope that your New Year celebrations went well too.  Did you make any New Years Resolutions?
I did, some I can share, some I wont bore you with! I would love to hear yours but I bet there was a lot of you that said that they would keep their craft rooms tidy!!  .............  Whatever!!!!

There is one that I definitely am going to stick to and that is to blog more often that once a week and to get the ball rolling on this I am offering some blog candy on a post tomorrow so please pop by tomorrow to see what I have to offer.

Back to today.
As it is Saturday it is the Allsorts Challenge as usual and this week the Challenge is from our lovely Emma and is ...
CAS - Clean and Simple
this is what I have come up with and I have used a Digital stamp from one of our fabulous sponsors

 I'm not sure that this is particularly clean as I have used Walnut Stain distress ink around every edge but it is very difficult for me not too! The image is Louie and Cupcake and can be found in the Images with flowers section.  I have coloured it in pro-markers. The background papers are from the Kanban range.

Please pop over to the Allsorts Challenge blog to check out the other Design Team projects and also welcome our fabulous new Teamies at Allsorts.  
Thankyou also to our 2nd sponsor Flonz Craft for their continued support.

Don't forget to pop by tomorrow to check out the Blog Candy - it is worth it!
Hope that you enjoy a great weekend and thank you, as ever, for popping in and special thanks if you leave a comment. 
Hope to see you tomorrow
~Bye for now
Jo xx