Saturday 31 December 2016

Old turns to new.....

Well that's another year virtually done and dusted! I hope 2016 has been kind to you, I know for many it has been a really tough and testing year. For me personally, I thought it hadn't been a great year, but upon reviewing my blog, social media and a few other things I've come to the conclusion that despite a few trials and set backs, it's actually been a pretty good year. I'm grateful for the all the positive moments that 2016 has delivered.

I've decided that no matter what the incoming year holds for me I will try and focus on the good things. The stuff that makes me and those around me happy. I've also decided to focus upon a word for 2017 that will be my inspiration and motivator - that word is KINDNESS. 


Kindness costs nothing, makes both the giver and receiver of it happy and if there was more of it, the world would be a far better place. I'm determined to do something kind every single day, whether it be simply paying someone a compliment after all, who doesn't like to be told they look nice or that you love their sweater/dress/hair? To donating to a deserving cause or leaving random gift somewhere to brighten a persons day. 

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you all for visiting my blog and taking the time read, comment and share in my creativity. I hope 2017 brings you all good health and happiness.

Claire x

Wednesday 28 December 2016

Belle Papillon the final cut!

Yep we've come to the end of my samples using this fabulous new kit. I hope you've enjoyed seeing my creations?


This card was fairly quick and easy to make. I distressed the papers with scissors and rolled and scrunched the edges.


The cage was die cut, painted with gold acrylic paint and once dry stamped with Stazon.


The elegant nest die cut has been edged with acrylic paint prior to stamping the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

Tuesday 27 December 2016

Shabby chic card

Just popping onto share another card made from the Belle Papillon and Bella Fleur collections.

I die cut the large Elegant Nest from the Belle Papillon Paper Pad, brushed the edges with gold paint and then heat embossed the sentiment.


The papers were distressed with scissors. I used Nikky's Stab n Stitch Tool to create the faux stitching and then ran a fine liner over the holes.


The butterflies were stamped onto shrink plastic and the larger one of them was die cut with the matching doublet die.

I then layered up the papers, lace and embellishments onto a kraft card blank.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

Monday 26 December 2016

Gorjuss Girl altered notebook

Another little make that I did a while back and forgot to blog!

This time it's a notebook that I've altered using a Docraft's Gorjuss Girl stamps. I thought I'd try using pastel colours as the Gorjuss range tends to be darker shades. I think it works quite well, what do you think?

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

Saturday 24 December 2016

Snowman Christmas Card

This will be my last post before Christmas and I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Peaceful, Prosperous New Year. I'd also like to thank those of you who have supported and encouraged me in my artistic endeavours this year, you really have no idea how much it means!


Anyway, here's a little snowman card that I batch made using Sizzix/Tim Holtz stamps and matching dies. They're really quick and easy, so much so that I managed to create matching envelopes.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

Friday 23 December 2016

Another circle card


I'm loving making these little circle cards at the moment. This is another sample that I made for the launch of Polkadoodles Bella Fleur Kit. It was super quick and easy to make and one that I think I will batch make for my card stash.

I hope you're enjoying seeing my projects from this kit launch, if not then you'll be pleased to know that there's only one more card to come!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

Thursday 22 December 2016

Gorjuss Girl burlap bag

I created this bag a while back and have just realised that I've forgotten to blog it!


I used acrylic paints and one of the mid-sized Docraft's Gorjuss Girl stamps on a pre-made hessian/burlap bag. It was a lot trickier than I thought, but the key is not to overwork the paints.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

Wednesday 21 December 2016

Things got a little inky!


So I'm not sure how why this happened, but I got my Distress Inks out to play and ended up with this. Lots of stamping and masking (made super easy with the doublet dies), then a bit of Glossy Glue and Glitter to finish.


Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

Materials
Polkadoodles Bella Fleur Stamps and Dies
Distress Ink
Docrafts Glossy Glue
Glitter

Monday 19 December 2016

Simple circle card

Me again! This time I'm sharing a simple circle card. This was super quick and easy to make using the new Belle Papillon and Bella Fleur kits from Polkadoodles.


I simply used a circle die to cut my shaped card and papers. I then added some die cut flowers, flourishes and foliage. The flourishes and foliage were trimmed to sit neatly on the edge of the card.

To finish I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire

Materials:
Belle Papillon and Bella Fleur Kits

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Sunday 18 December 2016

Vintage Frame From An Old Christmas Card Box

Hopefully you all saw the shows on Create and Craft TV on Friday and loved the new collections from Polkadoodles? If you missed it or don't live in the UK you can watch the 11am show and 3pm show for a limited period by clicking on the highlighted links.

If you caught the 3pm show you would've seen the little vintage style box frame with a shrine setting. I was honoured and exceptionally pleased that Nikky demonstrated how to make a similar frame and then put her own spin onto it.

Anyway, here's the frame. I hope you like it and aren't bored by all the photos!


I used an old Christmas card box lid for the actual frame and one of those little wooden boxes that some companies have started using for packaging embellishments for the shrine. I traced the smaller box onto the larger box and then cut just inside of the marking with a craft knife and checked to make sure it fitted snuggly. I then covered the box with papers from the Belle Papillon pads and made a x in the shrine opening. I then popped the shrine in leaving it slightly proud, and glued the papers to the back of it to support it.


The shrine was painted with gold and cream acrylic paint and I used PVA glue to create a crackle effect.

I die cut the leafy branch from the Birdhouse Doublet Set  into an old cereal box and used the negative as a stencil to apply modelling paste to bottom edges of the frame. Once dry I applied Docrafts Gold Acrylic paint with my finger.


The edges of the frame were swiped with ink before heat embossing with gold embossing powder. I stamped a torn piece of the patterned paper with the script stamp from the Belle Papillon Stamp Set and glued it next to the shrine. I then sprinkled some frantage embossing powders over the front of the box.


Using the Belle Papillon Stamp and Doublet die set I cut and coloured a shrink plastic cage, bird and butterflies. Before arranging them inside the shrine.


To finish, I added some moss, broken twigs and flowers.


I'm really pleased with the way this project turned out and plan on making a set for my hallway.


I have a few more projects from the show to share with you over the next few days. Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

Materials
Belle Papillon Stamps, Dies and Papers

I'd like to enter this project into the following challenges:

Friday 16 December 2016

Did you see Polkadoodles new product launch on Create and Craft TV?

Today saw the launch of several new products from Polkadoodles. If you caught the show you will have seen some of the samples that I made using them.

I know Polkadoodles are normally associated with CD and digital crafting but did you know that they've just launched paper pads and cutting dies? The papers are truly beautiful and the dies.... well what can I say? They cut beautifully (even shrink plastic) and a gentle tap on the table top releases the cut from the die. There's none of this poking every single little piece of paper out of intricate dies!

Anyway, I could go on and on about the new products but I won't, instead here's one of my samples that I made for the show. This was one of the cards that Nikky demonstrated.


I stamped the Belle Papillion stamps and coordinating die set onto shrink plastic and coloured the elements with Lyra pencils.


The papers have been distressed using scissors. I've then used Nikky's Stab and Stitch Pokey Tool Kit to create some faux stitching around the edges.


The sentiment has been heat embossed on vellum and I coloured all of the die cut pieces with Distress Inks before layering up onto the card.

I'll be showing more of my samples over the next few day, so please if you get five minutes pop back and take a peek.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

Materials used:
Belle Papillon Craft Kit
Papers and Stamps
Dies
Stab n Stitch Tool Kit
Wow Embossing Powder

Sunday 11 December 2016

Ho Ho Ho...... Thank goodness for Tim Holtz and Sizzix!!!

I know I said I be back a few weeks ago...... whistles.... but you know life it just keeps happening and whoosh before you know it weeks have gone by!

Anyway, I'm seriously behind with my Christmas preparations and needed some super speedy makes. Rummaging through my unopened stash I came across a stamp and die set from Tim Holtz/Sizzix. So I opened them up and set to work.... wow is all I have to say! I don't think I've ever made so many cards in such a short space of time.


I even managed to make matching envelopes. :)


I've not quite finished making cards yet.... so I've opened another set of dies and stamps and am all set to create a few more cards. Hopefully, I'll be back with these within the next couple of days.

Whilst I'm here I'll also give you the heads up for Friday 16/12 at 11 am when the fabulous Nikky Hall from Polkadoodles will be on Create and Craft TV with a brand new launch of Papers (yes I said PAPERS!!!), Dies and a new CD. Seriously, having been lucky enough to make up some samples with the new kit, you do not want to miss out, they are lush! I'll post one of my samples here on Friday but if you get a chance pop over to the Polkadoodles Facebook page where you can see my fellow teamies stunning creations.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Wednesday 9 November 2016

When is a flower die not a flower die?

When you decide to turn it into a pine cone of course! Yep these lovely looking cones started life as paper flower die cuts.


These are super quick and easy to make as you will see from the mini tutorials below. That's right tutorials as in there's more than one!! I made a whole bunch of these in different sizes to keep in my stash.


Tutorial 1


The first cone has been made using the Flowers 2 Die from Polkadoodles

1. To make a basic cone as shown you will need to cut several of each flower in 300 gsm card.

2. Cut each flower into quarters.

3. Fold each petal in half.

4. Pinch the base of the petal and using tweezers, manipulate the top edge back and over (it will look something like a mouse's ear).

5. Repeat steps 2 - 4 until you have several petals in each size.

6. Take a cotton bud and using a hot glue gun, attach the largest petals to the top of the bud pushing them very slightly upwards.

7. Continue to add the petals to the cotton part of the bud until it is completely covered. Snip the stick of the bud off as close to the base of the cone as possible.

Tip if you want a smaller or larger cone then play around with your start point on the cotton bud and also the size of the petals. For example if you want a larger cone use more of the large petals.


Tutorial 2



The second cone has been made using the Flowers 1 Die from Polkadoodles. There are several ways to make these cones and your final finish will depend upon the way you cut the die cut and how tightly/loosely you wind it.

1. Cut one of each flower from 300 gsm card.

2. Carefully snip into each petal as shown.

Note: The first three pictures show how you can cut the flower to achieve various sized cones. Picture 1 is good for making the base of mid-sized cones or looser style cones. Picture 2 makes tiny, tightly curled cones which are also used as the centres of looser cones. Picture 3 (petals snipped into) is the most versatile as it can be used to make very loose base cones or small tight cones, but requires more manipulation to achieve the desired effect.

3. Take a pair of long nose craft tweezers and grip the widest part of the strip. Wrap around the tweezers and then release. Carefully unfurl and run glue around the base of the strip. Working quickly rewind the strip around the tweezers. If you are making a cone from picture one start at the narrowest part of the strip and apply glue to the centre circle.

4. Allow the petals to unfurl slightly, trying to ensure that they are offset from each other. Hold for a few moments until the glue has time to grab. Set aside to dry.

5. Once dry, use the tweezers to curl and fold the petals as desired.

6. The size of the cone will depend on how tightly or loosely you wind the strip. I created different sized cones by winding some strips very loosely and then stacking strips that had been wound tighter into the centre of the lose cone.

I hope you feel inspired by my tutorials. I'll be popping back later this week with a project made using the cones.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

Monday 3 October 2016

Docrafts Pop Up Box Christmas Parcel Card

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend? I had a really quiet weekend and managed to sneak in a bit of crafty me time. I can't show you what I've been making yet, so thought I'd share one of my recent Docrafts Demo pieces.


This was a really quick and easy card using a Goody Bag, decorative tape, die cut felt shapes and some acetate.


To make, I simply trimmed approximately 1cm off of the edge of a glitter card blank. I then scored the card on the opposite by an equal amount. Keeping the scored edge folded, the edges were then folded to the centre before cutting the card in half on the long edge. Finally I added some staging upon which to mount the embellishments.


I think this makes a really quick and easy show stopper of a card. The best bit is you can make three of these from one goody bag and still have loads of stash left to create with.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

Sunday 2 October 2016

Mad as a hatter?

I hope you've had a good weekend so far? I'm just popping in today to share my final commission for Papercraft Essentials Magazine using the fantastic Winnie in Wonderland Collection from Polkadoodles. It is of course a shaped belated birthday card.


I hope you've liked my Winnie in Wonderland Projects?

I'll hopefully be back tomorrow to share another project that I've recently created.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

Friday 30 September 2016

Winnie in Wonderland is not as it seems.....

As promised I'm back today to share another of my makes from issue 137 of Papercraft Essentials Magazine. It's a really quick and easy card using the Flamingo and backing papers from Polkadoodles Winnie in Wonderland collection (full details can be found in the magazine).


I'll be back on Sunday with my final project that I created for the magazine. I do hope you can stop by and take a peek.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

Wednesday 28 September 2016

Now you see me, now you don't!!!


No I'm not referring to my sporadic appearances on my blog! I am of course talking about this little card I made for Papercraft Essentials Magazine (issue 137) using the awesome Winnie in Wonderland collection from Polkadoodles.


As soon as I saw the Cheshire Cat I knew instantly that he'd look fabulous as a magic slider card.


Full instructions on making the card can be found in the magazine. To give you an idea of how it panned out I've attached a video.


I hope you like my take on a magic slider card and will pop back on Friday when I'll have another project from the magazine to share.

Claire x



Friday 5 August 2016

Life's a beach when you're 18!!!


My baby girl is finally 18!!! I say finally, because it been really hard for her as she's the baby of her social group and has waited for what seems to be forever to be able to go out to the pubs and clubs with her friends.


We're taking her on holiday as part of her birthday celebrations, so hopefully she'll get to enjoy a few cocktails on the beach with us. In view of this I thought this card would be very fitting.


I'm not sure that my photos do this card justice but hopefully you'll be able to see all the dimension and glittery bits. If you have any questions, please feel free to message me either by email, Facebook or Instagram. I always respond and promise that I don't bite!


I inked a simple background with Peacock Feathers and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Inks before cutting a strip of vellum and and heat embossing the Happy Birthday sentiment. Next, I drew a cocktail glass body and traced it onto acetate. Prior to cutting it out I added some "flaps" to the sides of the glass (these are folded and tucked into slits in the inked background to make the glass 3D). Next I cut a simple stem and die cut a circle for the base. I then cut matching vellum shapes.


The vellum was coloured using Distress Inks and secured with strategically placed glue dots. Next I lightly marked where the glass was to be placed on the inked background and cut slits about 1/2cm  in towards the centre of the glass from the edges. I ran double sided tape down the acetate flaps and slotted the glass body into place. I cut a piece of vellum to create the back of the glass and then carefully ran silicone glue around the entire rim of the glass before coating generously with diamond dust. I then assembled the remaining parts of the glass and added a straw that I had cut in half.


I stamped and heat embossed the glasses from the Susan K Weckesser  and added vellum and acetate "glass" to them. Next I stamped, coloured and cut out several flowers, leaves and shells from the stamp sets listed below. and attached them to the card with silicone glue. To finish I added lots of glitter and some 3D gloss glue.

I hope you like my little creation but more importantly I hope she likes it!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

Stamp Sets used:

I'd like to enter this project into the following challenges:

Thursday 28 July 2016

Polkadoodles Stamp Soup - Habourside Hanger

I'm just sharing a little make I made using PolkaDoodles Stamp Soup Little Kingdom set


To create the hanger I stamped out lots of houses onto shrink plastic, coloured them with my Prismacolor Pencils, shrunk them and then attached them to the piece of driftwood. To finish I added some hooks which had been given a faux rust effect and a strip of Command Hanging Tape to the reverse.

I hope you like my little project.

Thanks for stopping by.

Claire

I'd like to enter this project into the following challenges:


Monday 18 July 2016

Mixing things up with Docrafts Woodland Gift Tags and Creativity Magazine Free Gifts!

So I picked up this months Creativity Magazine and as always there were some amazing free gifts in the shape of a set of four double sided wooden postcards and some Wilson Wood stickers. I also happened to get my hands on the new Woodland Gift Tags dies which from the very first moment I saw them I knew that I was going to end up buying them!

I made this little card using one of the postcards and the dies. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.


Paint the scene on the wooden postcard with watered down Artiste acrylic paints. Remove the sign post sticker from the free Wilson Wood stickers and cut out the text from another sticker. Mount onto cardstock and arrange the letters as desired. Using the Woodland Gift Tags Die and A4 Premium Textured Cardstock cut several leaves, toadstools and animals. If desired dry brush detail onto the animals using Artiste Acrylic Paints and Brushes. Arrange all of the elements onto the postcard and secure with Stick It Silicone Glue. To finish add 3D Clear Gloss to the mushrooms and acorns.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire

Supplies:
Creativity Magazine
Woodland Gift Tag Dies
A4 Textured Cardstock
Acrylic Paints
Brushes

I'd like to enter this project into the following challenges:
613 Avenue Create - Anything goes
Dragonfly Dreams - Anything goes
Simon Says Stamp - Create a scene
The Corrosive Challenge - Nature/Animals
Crafty Friends Challenge - Use your dies
Animal Friends Challenge - Anything goes
Crafts & Me - Anything goes
Cut It Up - Die cuts

Sunday 17 July 2016

Up, Up and Away.....


Yep I did a little disappearing act again! I've been busy creating but just haven't had the time to blog. A few things have changed creatively for me, not least of which is that I'm now an official Docrafts Expert and will be demonstrating in various locations in the South East.

Anyway, enough about me and lets get on with showing you a TV sample that I forgot to blog for the launch of Polkadoodles Stamp Soup collection. This was a really quick and easy make and came out heaps better than I could ever have imagined!


This project uses 5 of the stamps from the collection, Distress Inks, Fantasy Paints and a mini box frame.


To create simply stamp the curly leaf and elongated heart leaf stamp several times onto plain card, cut out and colour as desired. I've added a trunk to the tree in the foreground.


Using Stazon Ink, stamp the sentiment, balloon and basket. Add the ropes using a permanent marker pen. Paint the balloon and basket, set aside to dry.


Using glue and foam pads layer up the scene. Create a backdrop piece using a square of card and that's it you're done.


I hope you like this little box frame, I had a lot of fun making it and it was one of those projects that I didn't want to let go!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

I'd like to enter this project into the following challenges:
Dragonfly Journeys - Up, Up and Away
Penny Black & More - Anything Goes
ABC Challenges - L for Layers
Altered Eclectics - Anything goes
Simon Says Stamp - Create a Scene
Noor Design - Anything goes
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