The concertina effect!

Good Morning fellow crafters!

I hope everyone is well and all the children in your house are all back to school and are happy.

The nights, unfortunately, are really pulling in and the mornings have quite a nip in the air so I think Autumn is well and truly on its way but that always gives us some extra time to get stuck into our crafting projects and hopefully I can give you some inspiration with the projects that we have been busy doing in class today.

The projects were all based around concertina dies and this one is from the Crafters Companion Die-sire range.  This is the rectangle design and I have also used the Jingle bells overlay.  The photograph doesn't show off the glitter card but it is quite sparkly.

 

The poinsettias are from a punch and I sprayed them with a pearl spray to bling them up a bit.

The next one definitely has a Autumn feel to it using this really lovely Graphic 45 paper and Heartfelt Creations Sunflower stamp.  The sentiment is from a paper artsy set that I love to use.  This die set is from the Elizabeth Designs collection.

 

 

I have also got some lovely pictures from our recent Dabble Day which was a fabulous success again and thank everyone for attending.

Busy ladies doing what they do best!

 

 

 

Our next Dabble day is in November and this will be Christmas so looking forward to this one.

Today we have the lovely Clare Charville coming to the shop for a demonstration day and on Sunday we have a workshop and I am a student!! Hopefully, if I finish the project I will be able to show you it next week.

Hope that you enjoy a lovely weekend and thankyou, as always for popping in.

I would love to hear if you have had a go at the concertina type card.

Must dash a busy day ahead,

Bye for now,

Jo x

 



Our Birthday Weekend

Good Morning my lovely crafty Friends,

Hope you are all well and looking forward to the weekend.

Today I have some fabulous news and some sad news.

Firstly the sad news. Unfortunately I am having to step down from the Allsorts Challenge Team as other things have become more pressing.  I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of the team for over 4 years and I have seen some fabulous work from both members of my team and also from the lovely crafters taking part in the Challenge each week. This has not been an easy decision but one I must take.
 

So now for the fabulous news! Let's Create has been nominated for the Best Independent Craft shop in the Midlands area! we are soooooo pleased and can not thank whoever nominated us for this enough.

Voting starts during September and so we will have everything crossed!!
 

 I have some lovely photographs from our birthday weekend and would love to share them with you.

It was a tremendous success and so many of our lovely customers came along to celebrate thankyou to everyone that came along to the demo day and the workshop.

 

 

 

 

As you can see a brilliant day had by all! 

I will still be posting on my blog on a Saturday morning so hope that you can still pop in to say hello and see what we have been getting up to!.

We have a children's birthday party at the shop today 10 10 year olds so lots of messy play ahead!

Have a fabulous weekend whatever you are planning and see you soon,

bye for now

Jo xx

 

 

 

 

 



Week 318 - Use your favourite colour

Good Morning!

Thankyou so much for popping in and a quick post today as it is our birthday weekend at the shop this weekend and the fabulous Sheena Douglass is coming to demonstrate today and hold a workshop tomorrow and there is lots to do!! can't wait though it is going to be a fabulous time.

This week for Allsorts it is my turn to host and I have chosen :-

"Use your favourite Colour !"

as the theme for the Challenge this week and

as you can see from the clue in the title I do like all shades of red - I think that it really brightens everyone up and it is cheerful. This is the card I would like to show you using red!

There is plenty of red in this project starting off with the poppies from the Victorian Florals collection of dies and stamps from Sheena and these have been coloured in using Aqua Tints.
The background has been made using the wonderful Brushos and I am pleased to say that we have got them re-stocked on our website again letscreateartandcrafts.co.uk if you would like to have a go at using these fabulous crafty goodies.  Remember p and p is free over a £10 purchase.
Thankyou for popping in and please pop over to the Allsorts Challenge blog to have a look at the Teams inspiration for this weeks theme.
Thankyou so much for popping in and hope that you enjoy a lovely weekend. I will pop some photographs of our birthday weekend on here so that you can have a peep.
Bye for now
Jo xx



Week 323 - Inspired By Summer

Good Morning my fellow crafters!

I hope that all is well with you all and after having a week of glorious sunshine in Fuerturventura both Mark and I are feeling tip top!

I thought I would share a photo of our lovely holiday

 

 

A lovely chilled out holiday doing absolutely nothing for a week!!! perfect!!!

This has refreshed us for the next few months of very busy times with our Shops birthday weekend with the fabulous Sheena Douglass doing a demo day and a workshop! happy days!!

I cant believe that Let's Create will be 5 years old! where has that time gone.

 

Anyway - back to today! our lovely teamie Tracey has asked us for some inspiration using the title -

 

Inspired by Summer!

(if I had had time a nice scrapbook page of holiday would have been lovely but maybe for another time)

 

This is a card that I made for our very dear friend Gary and he was with us on holiday so a beach theme was appropriate.

 

 

This is a stampendous stamp and I used pro-markers to colour.  I highlighted the sand with some sand coloured embossing powder around the chairs to make it look authentic. Just simple matting and layers with colours taken from the main picture made the rest of the card and the kraft card tag with the sentiment on.  I love making cards for friends.

I hope that you like it and please leave me a comment I love to hear from you.

Please pop over to the Allsorts Challenge blog to have a look at the lovely inspiration from the team members and have a go to be in to win some lovely prizes from our very generous sponsors.

Thankyou so much for popping in and see you next week.

Bye for now

Jo xx

 

 



Week 321 - Allsorts Challenge

Good Morning my fellow Crafters!

 

I hope everything is good with you all and that the last week has been a kind one to you.

I am a very excitable person this morning as we go away for a week in the sunshine today with some very dear friends and I can't tell you how much we are looking forward to it. (Because of this I wont be around for next weeks blog but I am sure you will forgive me!

 

Today Susan has asked the Allsorts Teamies to make a project and  -

 

Add a Butterfly

 

Well, as we all know adding a butterfly to a project is not a difficult one for a crafter and we have so many choices in our crafty stashes from stamps, dies and toppers.  I thought I would share with you a project that I did a few weeks ago for a Friend's birthday and she said that she loved it and I was a happy bunny.

 

 

There is quite a combination of different crafty products as you can see.  The main focal point is the parchment butterfly which is a pattern that a lovely friend of mine Josie Davidson has designed and I traced it in black and coloured it in pearlescent paints and embossed to highlight. The background is grid work using one of the pergamano grids and this pattern is so adaptable to so many different projects.  The die cut is the Sweet Pea from Tattered Lace and the flowers have been made from paper clay using a Katy Sue mould.  As you can see I have matted a layered the background in cerise pink pearl card and white glitter.

I hope that you like it as much as my friend did when I sent it to her.

The team have made some fabulous projects over at the Allsorts Challenge so please pop over and take a peep and get some inspiration if need be. Why not have a go at entering the Challenge this week as we always have some fabulous prizes up for grabs, thanks to our great and generous sponsors.

Anyway, must dash now as our plane wont wait! and I will catch up with you again when I get back home.  August is a really exciting and busy month for the shop so will have lots to tell you about.

Thankyou, as always for popping in and hope that you can find a minute to leave a comment for me.

Bye for now

Jo xx



Week 320 - ~Allsorts Challenge - Use a banner or flag

Good Morning! and welcome to Saturday and Allsorts challenge day!

I hope that all is well with everyone and that the lovely sunshine is making everyone happy and smiley.

Today at Allsorts the Team have been asked to show you some projects using ~

 

 

A Banner or a Flag

 

Well this wasn't a difficult one for me as one of my most favourite and very well used dies is the bunting die from Joanna Sheen's Signature range and I used it on this wedding card which was an order a couple of weeks ago.  The wedding was held in a very pretty garden followed by afternoon tea in the gardens and the customer wanted me to reflect this in the design.

As you can see it has very pale, but pretty colours and I also used the Sweet Pea die from Tattered Lace which is so delicate.  I then embellished it further using a dainty punch .  The couple's die is also from Joanna's range.

The background is from Crafters Companion - one of the Create a card range.

 

 

 

I hope that you like the design and also that you take time to check out the other team members at the Allsorts Challenge blog.

I hope that you all have a fabulous weekend, we are spending a few days with our friends Caroline and John in Norfolk and we are really looking forward to a couple of days of just chilling!

I hope that the sun keeps shining and maybe we can fit a BBQ in!

Enjoy whatever you are doing and please leave me a comment to let me know what you think of the project this week.

Thankyou for popping in and take care.

Bye for now

Jo xx  

Week 319 - Allsorts Challenge - Strawberries and Cream

Hello my fellow crafters,

Thankyou for joining me for another Saturday morning blog post and another week has flown by but how lovely has that sunshine been.

For all of you Wimbledon  lovers I hope that you have been enjoying it and what a shame that Andy Murray has been knocked out :(  bring on next year!

Anyway! lets get on with the job in hand today and  the team have been asked to make a project using the title -

 

Strawberries and Cream

Yummy!

We could have either chosen to use the colours or the image and this is what I have chosen to do -

 

So I went with the image of the gorgeous summer fruit and cream and this is a very pretty topper from a set from the Hobby House. The topper already comes die cut in that lovely shape.  The background has been made using a Create a Card die from Crafters Companion.  The bunting has been made using one of my favourite dies from Joanna Sheen's Signature range - I have cut them in the pink and the blue and then layered both strings with a lime green which I have picked out of the background card.

The team at Allsorts have done a lovely job this week showing off all of their different projects so please pop over to the blog. We have 2 very generous sponsors this week so why not post a design and be in with a chance to win.

All of these dies and the Hobby| House toppers, as well as many other Hobby House products that we love are available on our Let's Create website and all orders over £10 are all free p and P!

I hope that you all enjoy a lovely weekend and please find a couple of minutes to leave me a comment if you like the project today.

Thankyou for popping in and hope to see you again next Saturday.

Bye for now

Jo x

Week 318 - How does your garden grow

Good Saturday morning to you all,

Well it is all going on this week - Wimbledon and Sunshine! two fabulous combinations!!

and I hope that you are enjoying one or the other or both!

 

Brenda has chosen this week's Challenge at Allsorts and is perfect for this time of the year -

 

"How does your garden grow"

 

and this is the project that I would like to share with you ~

 

 

This is a project that we did in class yesterday and the ladies enjoyed making this and 2 other projects all using Sheena's Victorian Floral stamps and dies.  As you can see we used the Sweet William set which is so detailed.

I chose Spectrum Noir Aqua markers to colour all the elements.  The card size is 7" x 5".

We have all of the dies and stamps in this range available on the website letscreateartandcrafts.co.uk

Mark has also put all of Sheena's Christmas embossing folders on the web and I cant wait to start playing with these and showing you what I come up with.

The Allsorts Team have made their usual excellent samples on the theme so please pop over to the site to have a look what they have made.

I hope that you have a great weekend and week ahead and that you can join me next week.

Thankyou so much for popping in and please leave a comment if you have time.

Take care and thankyou for popping in,

Bye for now

Jo xx

 

 



Week 317 - Allsorts Challenge - Blue as the Ocean

Good morning Crafty Friends,

I hope that this finds you all well and looking forward to the weekend ahead. Thankyou so much for popping in.

Well, what a busy week I'm not sure where it has gone!

Some of this week has been spent getting samples ready for the Tattered Lace pick of the week and I decided to show you one of my samples that I made for Nancy's show today as my project for this week's Challenge.

 

 

 

I used the Charisma Sweet Pea die set and CD rom to create a notebook for all the garden notes (I must say the Sweet Pea was one of my favourites!) I used some background paper and the middle tag from one of my Heartfelt paper pads that I totally love! The Sweet Peas have been decoupaged up so that there is a lot of dimension.  The words are from a wooden set that I have and they are perfect size for this sort of project. I distressed the edges of the paper layers to give interest and added candy dots to each corner.

I hope that you like this and that you will find a minute to leave a comment.  Let me know if you saw the show and what you thought to this fabulous collection.

We have parchment class today at the shop and then Mark and I are off to Coventry on a retailer training event for 2 days so we are keeping busy!! Hopefully we should come back with lots of ideas and inspiration to pass on!

Whatever you are doing this weekend please enjoy it and hope that you can fit a little crafting in as well as other jobs!! 

Please check out the Allsorts Challenge blog and have a look at the other Team members lovely work

Thankyou again for popping in and hope to see you again soon.

Bye for now

Jo xx

Week 316 - Allsorts Challenge "Use a Stamp"

Good Morning Everyone!

 

Welcome to another week and I hope that you have all had a good one.

This week at the Allsorts Challenge it is my turn to host and I have chosen

 

 

Use a Stamp of your choice

(but not a digi!)

 

As you all know I love stamping and thought it would be great to see lots of your fabulous creations using your stamp of choice so please pop over to the Allsorts Challenge blog to take part.

We are kindly being sponsored by

 

 

This is the project I have chosen to show you -

 

 

This is the card that I made for Kate (our Daughter) for her 22nd Birthday.

(it does look as if it is floating off the easel but there is some cotton lace at the bottom of the design!)

This is a closer photograph of the main image

 

The stamps are from Paper Artsy and are from the Elizabeth Borer collection from the Eclectica range.  We are pleased to be able to stock these stamps in our shop and on our website letscreateartandcrafts.co.uk and remember p and p is free over £10.

Please pop over to the Allsorts Challenge site and have a look at the fabulous designs from the Design Team.

I hope that you enjoy the rest of your weekend and if you have time please leave a comment for me and let me know what you think of this project.

Thankyou, as always,

for popping in.

Bye for now

Jo x

 



Week 315 - Flower Power!

Good Morning!

Hello to you all and thankyou for popping in. 

 As always on a Saturday morning we have the launch of a new Allsorts Challenge and today is no exception.

Our lovely Team member Tracey has chosen a fabulous challenge for us all and I think it will be a very busy week -

She has asked us to show a project with the title -

 

Flower Power!

I am sure that we all can find something that we have made or are thinking of making with flowers on it and this is the project I have decided to show you -

 

We made this mini canvas in a class a couple of weeks ago and I thought then this will be ideal for this weeks Challenge.

As usual the photograph has not given it justice as there is so much detail on it.

I began by covering the canvas with Tim Holtz newspaper print tissue paper and then painted it with a mixture of acrylic paint and gesso.

In the background I have chosen to use a Tattered Lace die - Birdhouse row - I used smooth white cardstock and coloured some of the detail but left some white so they pop out nicely.

The bolder flowers are a mixture from several JOFY stamps from Paper Artsy and, as you know, these really are some of my favourite stamps.  I coloured these with pro-markers.

The canvas was  7" x 5" in size and this makes a lovely gift to anyone that you would like to give more than just a card.

We all enjoyed making these.

We are sponsoring this weeks Allsorts Challenge and if you are chosen as a winner you will receive a £10 gift voucher to spend on our website

letscreateartandcrafts.co.uk

You will also find all of the products that I have used in the project.

Do remember that all orders over £10 are p and p free!

 

Today is also our gorgeous Daughter Kate's 22nd birthday but she is spending the weekend in Ireland so we will be having some tea together on Tuesday when she gets home. She is rather partial to Guiness so I am sure she will find some there!

Happy Birthday Kate! xx

 

Later today Mark and I are travelling up to Preston and staying over ready for a demonstration day at the fabulous Inspirations - home of Hunkydory! so if you are in the area on Sunday please pop and see me - I don't get out and about too much now so it would be lovely to catch up with some friendly faces. The times for the demonstration are 11 until 3.30 pm.

Must close now and get my bits and pieces packed, I hope that you enjoy a lovely weekend whatever you decide to do and please leave me a comment and let me know what you think of todays project.

Also please pop over to the Allsorts Challenge blog to check out my Team members projects - always a joy to see.

Thankyou so much for popping in,

bye for now

Jo xx

 



Week 314 - Satin and Lace

Good Morning Everyone,

Well it soon rolls around to another Saturday and hello to everyone that has taken the time to pop in.

I hope that you have all enjoyed a lovely week and that the weekend has lots in store.

I am really busy getting samples ready for the Christmas Tattered Lace shows on Create and Craft at the end of next week!!! really! in the first week in June!!

 

Well, back to the matter in hand today. 

Our lovely Wendy has asked the Team to make some projects using ~

 

Satin and Lace

and this is my creation for today ~

 

 

I have slightly pushed the boundaries of the title as I have used one of Joanna Sheen's gorgeous lace dies instead of actual lace (hope this is acceptable!) I have included the satin in the ribbon to neaten the edge of the lace.  We have all of her newest designs on our website letscreateartandcrafts.co.uk if you like the look of it pop onto the web and check them all out - there are some fabulous designs that need very little effort to achieve something really special.

The image is one of my favourites from Penny Black and I have used Spectrum Noir aqua markers to colour - we made this in class this week and everyone enjoyed the project.

We have 2 excellent sponsors for this weeks Challenge at Allsorts and the design team have done a stunning job as always so please pop along and take a look.
Must dash now back to Christmas!
Have a lovely weekend and please leave me a comment, you know I love to hear from you all.
Take care and hope to see you again next week,
Bye for now
Jo x

 

 

 

 



Allsorts Birthday winner!! and Week 313 - Vintage

Good Morning Everyone!

Hello and Happy Saturday to you all.

I have lots to tell you and show you in this post this morning and the first is to announce my winner from everyone that took the time to comment on last weeks project which was to celebrate the 6th Birthday of our fabulous Challenge Blog - Allsorts! 

I am so grateful for everyone that took part and for leaving me all of the lovely comments.   I am so pleased to announce the winner who is 

.......................................................................................

...........................................................

SUZI!!

Congratulations! please contact me by email to lets.create@btinternet.com and I will arrange for you to be sent the £10 voucher to spend on our website letscreateartandcrafts.co.uk! 

It was a fabulous week all round and all the entries on the Allsorts blog were fabulous. Please pop over to check out the winners.

Todays challenge has been set by our lovely team member Tracey and she has asked us all to show you a project that fits under the title ...........

VINTAGE

So here goes with what I would like to show you (I couldn't make up my mind so I have posted 2!!)

 This was another of the many samples that I did for the Tattered Lace Trio show a couple of weeks ago.  I used an assortment of flowers and leaves from the sets and coloured them in very vintage colours which really suited the main focal point which is a Graphic 45 image.  I think the bird is stunning.

and, this is the second project

Again, I have used a Tattered Lace die and teamed it up with some Heartfelt Creations paper and by using inks it has turned this project into quite a vintage look too.

I hope that you can spare a couple of minutes to leave me a comment and let me know what you think. You know I love to hear from you. Please pop over to the Allsorts Challenge blog and have a bash at taking part this week! If not check out the other design team members projects.

Thankyou, as always for popping in and hope that you enjoy a fabulous weekend.

Bye for now,

Jo xx

Week 312 - Allsorts Challenge is 6 years Old!!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Saturday again and today is a very special day for the Allsorts Crew!! we are 6 years old today and we have reached this fabulous milestone because of all of the support that you all give to the blog, so thankyou! from us all.

As a massive thankyou the Team at Allsorts are offering lots of fabulous goodies for winners that take part in this weeks Challenge suitably entitled ....................

Happy Birthday!

This gives so much scope for whatever style that you love to do so if you haven't ever took part in our Challenge before this would be a great time to have a go!

As well as the main prize which has been kindly given by Stephanie at Tattered Lace the Team members are giving away individual prizes on their blogs too so pop over to the Allsorts Challenge blog and check out all of the team members blogs leave a comment and you will be entered into their draws too! 

This is my project that I would love to share with you all as part of the Birthday Celebrations ~

This is a very girly card using some lovely girlie stuff!  including one of Sweet Poppy's fabulous shoe stencils, in black glossy paste, Craftwork cards fabulous papers from the Time Flies paper set and the wonderful flowers are from Tattered Lace Trio emboss and cut flower selection.

I have used some Dusty Concorde Distress Ink to enhance the image and papers.

I hope that you like it!

As I mentioned at the beginning we are offering individual prizes for the Birthday too and I would like to send a lucky winner -

£10 gift voucher

 for Let's Create Website ~

letscreateartandcrafts.co.uk

All you have to do to be in with a chance to win my prize is leave a comment here on my blog and a winner will be picked at random next week and announced on Saturday morning when I post again.

Please also pop onto the Allsorts Challenge blog and comment on the other individuals posts they would love it! 

Well, so much to win so don't miss out!

I am only blogging once a week, on a Saturday, at the moment as I have not been able to pop in on a Tuesday and Thursday for the time being but hope that you will still stay with me and pop in on Saturday's for the time being. I am, however, popping projects onto our Let's Create Facebook Page so please check this out and what excellent offers we are running on the website too.

 I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your comments.

Enjoy a fabulous long weekend whatever you are doing and hope to see you next week,

Thankyou again for popping in and

Bye for now

Jo xx

Week 311 - Allsorts Challenge

Good Morning Crafty friends,

Welcome to Saturday morning and another Challenge from Allsorts and Susan has asked the Team to make this weeks  project - 

Not using Squares!

so I hope this fits the bill -

This was a project from class today - everything House Mouse! and this is one of the most cute! I have used lots of circles cut using the Tattered Lace collection of circle dies I thought this followed on from the bubbles in the stamped image.   The stamp is from Stampendous and is one of the cling range.  These stamps are excellent quality and you always get an excellent image.  We used momento to stamp with as we used pro-markers to colour.  

Today in class is MDF and we are decorating a Candy Box project so really looking forward to this and it is our wedding anniversary today (27 years) so good all round!

Please pop over to the Allsorts Challenge blog and check out the other team members really great projects and the fabulous prizes up for grabs.

If you are a Tonic die fan we have some excellent bargains on our website up to 30% off on some of the sets so check these out before they all sell out!

I hope that you enjoy your weekend and please pop a comment in if you have time.

Thankyou very much for popping in and hope to see you back soon,

Bye for now

Jo xx

A little Tattered Lace Trio!

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope all is well with you all.  I thought I would share a few samples that I have made for the Tattered Lace Craftinator shows that Nancy is launching today on C and C.  They are a gorgeous idea and the dies cut perfectly, as usual, and the embossing is so deep - a fabulous collection.

This started off as a Candy Box Boxette and I have covered it using Kaiser papers and then matched the colours of the flowers from the paper collection.

The Boxette's (mdf) are fabulous and so affordable to decorate and send as a present. 

I sprayed the flowers with Pearl spray from Crafters companion and then popped very small pearls into the centres of the flowers and this gives some dimension.

This is another sample from the collection that is on Tv today 

The colour is a little lighter than it was in reality but I hope that you can see how stunning the flowers are and how deep the embossing is.

Check out Nancy's shows today at 12pm, 3pm and 5pm to see some of the other design team samples - they really are stunning.

Hope that you enjoy the rest of your day and please leave me a comment and let me know what you think of the new Trio collection.

Bye for now

Jo xx

Ummm Brushos and Sweet Poppy!

Hello and good Tuesday to you all,

Thank you for popping in and hope all is good with you.

We had a fabulous round of workshops last week in the shop using one of the most popular and eye catching crafty products that are currently on the market - Brushos.  We used them in conjunction with Sweet Poppy stencils which are a match made in heaven.

This is one of the projects that we did in class -

This is a 7" x 5" size card so you can get the idea of the proportion of the centre focus which is the background using the Brushos and the stencil.  This one is the Wildflower stencil and I stippled black gesso through it first and then took the stencil off and moved it along slightly and then put black glossy paste through it and covered the image with clear micro beads. I used a selection of blue, yellow and greens for the background.  I have fallen in love with the Brushos and the ease of use to make the most stunning and effective backgrounds to accompany many of your other crafting techniques.

Well,  thats all for today but hope that you can join me again on Thursday with another project.

Enjoy the rest of your day,

Bye for now

Jo xx

Week 310 - Allsorts Challenge!

Good Saturday Morning to everyone!,

How are you all?  Hope all well and looking forward to your weekend.

This morning is our usual Allsorts Challenge post and today our team member Mervi has asked the Team to show some projects using -

Die Cuts 2 or more!

Well as you all know this won't be a problem for me as I love my dies so a great week ahead on the Challenge site I am sure. Please pop over to have a look at the other members makes and the great prizes on offer.

This is a card that I have made for a friend of mine that is going to be a certain age! (the numbers on the card give the game away but I have kept it a little subtle!)

I have used more than 2 die sets - the flowers are from Heartfelt Creations and it is the Sun  Kissed Fleur stamp and die set, the tag is from a Tim Holtz die and the little bit of border is from the Sue Wilson range.  I have stamped the background with versamark and embossed with white embossing powder and then coloured using distress inks - Peeled Paint and Broken China.  A little blending around the edges with the Broken China brings it all together.

We have some fabulous Heartfelt dies and stamps on our website letscreateartandcrafts.co.uk if you are a Heartfelt fan and it is always free p and p on orders over £10.00! 

We have also loaded all of the Sheena Douglass new perfect partners range that are featured as a Weekender on C and C this weekend.  They are the most gorgeous flowers - stamps and dies to match and we can guarantee that we can beat the prices on TV! check it out if you love Sheena's work.

Must dash now as I have to get down to the shop and then this afternoon is my Friend's birthday party so I hope she likes the card.

Hope that you all have a fabulous weekend and please leave a comment for me - you know \i love to hear from you all.

Thankyou, as always for popping in 

Bye for now

Jo xx

Good Morning!

Good Morning Everyone

I hope that you all had a lovely long weekend and that you were able to spend time doing lots of things you love to do.

We spent the weekend with our very dear friends Caroline and John - Mark and John were busy sorting DIY stuff (boys things!) and Me and Caroline were 'having' to spend time in her craft room playing with lots of bits and pieces we have been meaning to do for ages.  A great time had by all!!

Today I have a really simple card to show you - one that I made some weeks ago for the Golden Age shows on C and C with Tattered Lace.

I sometimes find matching perfect background papers to fit the occasion a problem (even though I have a room and a shop full!! (as Mark would say!) so when I am out and about I pick up wrapping paper and know that it will come in at some point.  Well, this music paper certainly did on this occasion as I had a sample to make using the trumpet and I decided to use blocks of the paper to make a background, matting and layering them with black so that they pop out.

The stunning oval die that the Trumpet is sat on is the Eleganza die.

 

As you can see I made it into an invitation idea but this could easily have any sentiment on it for whatever occasion it is for.

Simple but effective I think.  What do you think? I would love to hear from you and let me know what you did at the weekend.

Hope that you can pop in again on Thursday for another little idea.

Thankyou, as always,  for popping in and 

Bye for now

Jo xx

Week 309 - April showers bring May Flowers!

Good Morning my Crafty Friends,

Apologies for Missing in Action this week I have been a little under the weather (nothing new just usual rubbish!) so have had to concentrate on what was really needing to be done rather than what I wanted to do! But, back now and ready to go!

and as it is Saturday we know that it is an Allsorts post and today our Team Captain -  Brenda,  has asked us to make a project with the title -

April Showers bring May Flowers!

and what a fabulous title - well done Brenda for thinking of this one.

Now straight away my mind went  to Graphic 45 and the Time to Flourish and it didn't disappoint me - as if!! and I had a look through the paper rack and May papers in the series certainly fits the bill nicely and this is what I have put together - 

This is a definate collage style card and the papers certainly lend themselves to this style.

I have used several elements from the 12" x 12" paper pad and also cut out the large flower and decoupaged it up a little (although the picture doesn't do it justice - it looks as if it is flat on the

 paper :( 

All I have added is some cotton lace and a little mauve cardstock to mat the papers onto.  This series of Graphic 45 have been extremely popular and we still have a small stock left of the 8" x 8" paper pads on the website  if you are interested.  The pad covers all through the year and you can make some fabulous projects with each month.  I think it is particularly lovely if you can send someone special a card with their month of birth - it makes is very special and thoughtful.

As we are chatting about Graphic 45 I would like to mention that we have the extremely talented and very lovely Clare Charville coming to visit at Let's Create in September - she will be doing a demonstration day on the Saturday and a workshop on Sunday.  ( I will pop some more information on the blog next week.  If you are interested please let me know either through my Facebook page or ringing the shop on 01526 344457 or emailing me at lets.create@btinternet.com

Today in class we have parchment and I am really pleased with the project that we are starting.

I will take some photographs and post them next week - it is a picture that we will be doing over 2 classes. 

Please take a look at the other Team members projects - they really are excellent and gives us all so much inspiration for this time of the year.

Pop over to the Allsorts Challenge blog and you may even fancy having a go at the Challenge yourself and be in with a chance of winner a fabulous prize.

Thankyou, as always,  for popping in and  I hope that you all enjoy a lovely long weekend and that the weather is kind to you all.

Take care and bye for now

Jo xx

  

Allsorts Challenge Saturday - Bring on the Bling

Good Morning to you all,

Welcome to another Saturday and to the Allsorts Challenge day.

I hope that you have all enjoyed a lovely week and have had a share of the gorgeous weather.

Today we have been asked by our lovely team member Helene and she has asked us to show everyone a project using some Bling!

This is a project that we did yesterday in class and all the projects were based around Shrink Plastic.  Well, we did have some fun chasing the shrinking pieces around the table!!

I hope that you can see the Bling! I have sprayed the blue card under the lace panel and the scalloped circle with stick and stay glue and dipped it into my ultra fine glitter, this produces the best glitter card and always matches perfectly with the other card stock that you are using on the project!

The card is a 6" x 6" square so you can see how cute the stamped images are.  The lace is one of Joanna's newest dies and I know this is going to be a favourite of mine so I apologise now for the over use! It is called Harriet and we are very pleased to have them on the website - don't delay if you are interested as they are proving very popular! The bunting die and the flourish are also Signature dies from Joanna.  We also have a 10% discount off all of Sue Wilson dies on the website until midnight tonight just quote the code SUE22 and this will be sorted at the checkout for you.


We used translucent shrink plastic for this card and I stamped two really gorgeous stamps from Stampendous - the Teapot and the cups and saucers in midnight blue Stazon and then coloured the pieces before shrinking with Spectrum Noir pencils - these are a great medium for using on Shrink but you need to remember that you need very little as the colour intensifies when you shrink.


Today we have my gorgeous Neice's birthday party at the shop and so she is inviting 8 of her friends to get crafty so looking forward to this.  I hope that you are looking forward to a lovely weekend.  Don't forget to pop over to the Allsorts Challenge blog to check out the other team members fabulous work and maybe take part to win some fabulous goodies.

Must dash, need to get ready for our little ladies coming in,
Thankyou, as always, for popping in and please leave a comment if you have time, it is always lovely to hear from you.
I will be back on the blog on Tuesday so please pop in,
Bye for now
Jo xx

Gorgeous Butterflies from Tattered Lace

Hello My Crafty Friends,

This morning I have a couple of projects to show you that I did for the Tattered Lace Linen and Lace Shows last week on Create and Craft.

Both cards feature the large Butterfly that was also suitable for cutting fabrics and so made an excellent die for applique and patchworking projects too. The card base was 7" x 7" so this gives you an idea of how large the die it!

I simply cut this Butterfly and then sponged through the detail on the die with distress ink to highlight the detail.  I also went around the edges of the die to bring a little more of the colour into the design.  I used pearl drops around the flourishes to add a little more embellishment.  I also embossed the background pearl cardstock with the Tattered Lace Butterfly folder and used their Ultimate die at the bottom half.

This second project was again using the same die but cutting it in half and making it look as if it is just coming into the picture.  I cut 2 and layered it up with Pinflair Glue gel.  I used the open flourishes on the actual die to create the background with distress ink and then added a variety of flowers and leaves for more prettiness!

I hope that you like my 2 offerings today, please leave me a comment if you have time - I would love to hear from you.

Many thanks and bye for now

Jo xx

Week 307 - Allsorts Challenge - Quick and Simple today!

Good Morning!

I know, before you say, I didn't post Thursday! :( Our lap top decided to totally stop working and it had to take a trip to the Lap top Doctors! I have my I pad but that didn't seem to want to play at blogging either! So to make up for it I have 2 projects to show you today and the first one is for my Allsorts Challenge post and it is my turn to host this week and I have chosen ~

 

Quick and Simply Does it!

 

and this is my project -

 

I have made this for a friend who has been a bit poorly so I hope it cheers her up.

I have used some of my very favourite stamps from Paper Artsy and the set I have used is from the very clever JOFY.  We have a lovely selection of Paper Artsy stamps on the website. They are so easy to use and are already mounted so you can get started straight away.

I have used Spectrum Noir Aqua Tints to create a background on watercolour card and I have also painted the flowers and grasses in the Tints too. They are so easy to use.  A little Vintage photo distress ink around the edges brings the eye into the main part of the project.

A little tag, which is on the stamp set, just adds a greeting. 

Please pop over to the Allsorts Challenge blog to have a look at the other team members project and have a go at the Challenge we have some lovely sponsors with great prizes this week.

 

As promised here is a second project for the day -

 

 

This is a project that we did in class yesterday and we were using Sheena's Perfect partners stamps, dies and embossing folders.  Mark has been busy putting all of  these lovely goodies on the website so have a look if you fancy having a play, they are gorgeus to use (the picture has a little bit of shine as I have used pearl card). I embossed the folder and added inks to make a background and then cut the branches and leaves out and layered them over the embossed image.  This gives a lovely 3d effect with such little effort.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at both projects.

 

Please leave a comment if you have time - recently I have had several of my blog friends ask how do you leave a comment so I hope the following makes some sense as I explain how to do it :-

 

At the end of each blog post, you will see the word "comment" and it will show how many comments have been left. Just click on that word and it opens up another page where you can read everyone's comment and there is a box in which to type your own comment. You will then need to choose an identity from the list below this. You don't have to have a google account, if you have tick that box, if not pick "anonymous" however, you must add your name to the end of your comment or I will not know who it is from. You then need to press PUBLISH and this will then show in the comments on my blog.

I really appreciate anyone taking the time to leave a comment, I feel that it is all worthwhile!

I must dash now, a busy day ahead and hope that you enjoy your weekend,

Hope to see you again on Tuesday,

Bye for now

Jo xx

 

 

Fun with Liquid Buff-it!

Hello fellow crafters,

Good Tuesday morning to you all and I hope that you are all well.

Today I thought I would share with you a decorated notebook that was one of the projects on our recent Dabble Day at Let's Create.

This was a very plain and very boring grey board notebook when we started and it finished off to be quite a pretty and glitzy one.

First of all we covered the grey board front and back with acrylic medium and covered this with tissue paper and created some texture by wrinkling the tissue paper up whilst still wet.  We then covered the tissue again with the acrylic medium and put aside to dry.

I had previously cut out die cut flowers for everyone so that we could save a little time.  You could choose whatever die cuts or punched pieces that you like and that would fit in with the theme of the decoration.

Several layers of die cuts were stuck together to create a thicker board like appearance and then adhered to the tissue layer.  We also added small squares of hessian and a few buttons to give more interest and texture. We then brushed black gesso all over the front and back and at this point the whole project looks a little daunting! Now came the exciting part - we stippled (or brushed according to preference) the liquid buff-it to cover the die cuts and hessian mixing the colours in patches. the buff-it dries quite quickly so we didn't have to wait too long before fixing the notebook back together with the book rings and added some final detail with the organza ribbon around the rings.

Everyone said that they enjoyed the project and will definitely be trying it again on other projects as well as on notebooks.

We have the liquid buff it on our website letscreateartandcrafts.co.uk in a range of different colours if you would like to have a go at this yourself.  Have a look at the gorgeous colours that we have. Remember P and P is free over a £10 purchase!

Thankyou for popping in and taking a look at todays offering and I would really appreciate if you left a comment to let me know that you have been and what you think to the project.

I will be back again on Thursday but until then, take care and 

Bye for now

Jo xx

Week 306 - Allsorts challenge blog - Bingo!

Good morning everyone,

A gorgeous day yesterday hope that you enjoyed the weather, hope that the weekend goes in this direction too. 

It's Saturday again and so Allsorts Challenge it is and our lovely Team member Tracey who has chosen a great theme -

Bingo!

We have been asked to choose 3 items from the grid that Tracey has given us - you can check this out on our Allsorts Challenge blog and have a go. - it's great fun to challenge yourself with the different items on your project.

I have chosen this Spring card to show you and have used
Lace, Flowers, Sentiment, Die cut and Pearls ( more than 3 but I am sure nobody will complain!)

I have used the Bubble Bloom (Michelle) stamp from Woodware and covered the image with card candy and pearls and coloured the leaves in with pro-markers.  The greeting is also from the stamp set.  The die cut that I have used is from Joanna Sheen's Signature die selection and is called the Trellis Aperture.  The background checked card is from the Hobby House and I have finished off the project with some cotton lace and some adorable scorable.
The stamps and the die are available on our website letscreateartandcrafts.co.uk and remember postage and packing is free when you spend £10 or over!

Today we have the very talented Hel's Sheridan coming to the shop to demonstrate for the day and I am really looking forward to this.
I will try to take some pictures of the demos and pop them on later in the week.
Please pop over to the Allsorts Challenge to see what the other team members have done with this great title this week.
Thankyou, as always for popping in and hope that you can spend a minute leaving a comment.
Bye for now
Jo x