WE WON!!

We had a great day at the NEC Birmingham yesterday. Not only did we receive the Craft Retailer for the South West award for the 7th year running but to our absolute delight we were awarded Craft Retailer of the Year for the whole of the UK. Thank you so much to all our loyal customers who voted for us- we couldn't do it without you! I'd also like to take this oppportunity to thank Jan for sharing the honour with me & to Tracey & Rosie for their joy & support. Oooh I'm beginning to sound like Meryl Streep. I haven't stopped smiling yet! 
Yesterday was an amazing day for me in a lot of ways too. I sent a lot of time on the Woodware stand & I was so proud to see my cards up there on display with Jane's & Francoise'. I was also able to take a forthcoming blog project to show Fran Seiford (the owner of Stampendous)  as it features her new range of Frantage products. I'm proud to say that this is also on display on the Woodware stand now & will be featured in my blog at the end of next week so watch this space!

Here are some photos from the fantastic Woodware stand

My "Frantage" mirror

Gill hard at work

Here's a selection of some of the beautiful cards on display using the new season's stamps designed by Jane Gill & Francoise Read -some done by yours truly!!

Forty Shades of Green!

Shopping List

Stampendous SSC1048 Changito Shamrock

Scrapbook papers London & Bremen

Daydream Ensemble 8"x8" paper pad

Tombow pens

Stickles Lime Green

Woodware buttons

Crafty Edger + Tag cassette

Candy Bonbons Lime Green

Olive polka dot organza ribbon

Gingham Spring Green ribbon

Narrow organza ribbon in olive green

Grosgrain green polka dot ribbon

Versafine Olympia Green inkpad

Lime Green linen card blank

Christmas green linen card

 As soon as I saw this weeks theme I could immediately hear Val Doonican singing "Rafferty's Motor Car" with it's forty shades of green. So my card this week just had to have an Irish flavour & what better set of stamps to use than this cute Changito set. It has loads of potential for future projects too as there are a lot of useful icons & messages so watch this space!The images were stamped with Versafine & embossed with clear powder before colouring with Tombow pens & some soft sponging. The bottom border was created with one of the new London papers used with the Crafty Edger & the Tag cassette. I've pulled together a whole range of papers & embellishments, don't think I've quite managed my "40" maybe only 39!! What do you think?!!

A Heart for my Heart

Shopping List

Stampendous SSC1042 Paisley Spring

Crafty Edger+ Heart Scallop cassette

2" heart punch

craft card

Tombow pens

White + red polka dot organza ribbon

All available from:-

http://www.woodware.co.uk/

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you didn't forget to make a special card for the special someone in your life......or maybe there's more than one!! We have a second outing for the Stampendous set Paisley Spring. This is such a versatile set and my favourite thing at the moment (you guessed!) As well as the fab design stamps there are several words that can be mixed and matched to suit a varity of occasions. I have simply stamped the hearts twice onto cream card, coloured with tombow pens and cut out. For the bottom half of my card I have created a border using a piece of red polka dot paper and the Crafty Edger with it's Heart Scallop cassette. As you will spot (oh that wasn't a pun!!) I have used the cut outs from the border to embellish my card- nothing is wasted!! Punch a heart from craft card  and stamp the greeting. I have then added some faux  cross stiching around the heart and some faux stitching around the edge of the card too. Now simply add a border across the centre of the card created with a strip of cream card with some polka dot ribbon on the top. Attach the heart greeting and your card is complete.  

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Happy Spring!

Shopping List

Stampendous clear stamp set SSC1042 Paisley Spring

Magenta papers Wheat Field & Victorian Beauty

Sakura Stardust pens

Versafine Onyx Black + clear embossing powder

1" daisy punch

Candy Bonbons

 All available from:-

http://www.woodware.co.uk/

Spring is just around the corner and what better way to look forward to it than with this gorgeous set of stamps from Stampendous. This week we have the Sketch Challenge for February with quite a different layout this time. As you will see I have stamped the butterfly twice and embossed with clear powder. This gives a nice raised outline for watercolouring with the Sakura pens. I have used the pens direct to the stamped image where I want the colours to be bright and concentrated and used the watercolour technique over the large area of the wings. A little soft sponging around the edges of the panel and random stamping complete the design.I have layered this onto the bright side of  piece of the Victorian Beauty paper from Magenta. I have then used the 2 Magenta papers to form the required panels for the sketch. The card is finished with some punched daisies and a "Happy Spring!" 

Here is the original Sketch 

Why not play along for a chance to win a crafty prize!

You may also like this one using the same set of stamps.

3D Delights

Shopping List

JGCL533 Daffodils

Magenta Memor 215 Delicate Posies

Magenta Odyssey Garden Fresh

Tombow pens

Glossy Accents

Pale Green Elements

Silicone glue

Embossing tools

All available from:- 

http://www.woodware.co.uk/

Time for some decoupage this week and Jane Gill's pretty Daffodils clear set lend themselves beautifully to this technique. I have stamped several times onto the Odyssey paper and coloured with Tombow pens. I have then cut several pieces of the print and layered them on top of each other using silicone glue with the smallest pieces last and on the top. Before layering I have added  some scupting to the flowers to give some dimension. For the background of the card blank I have used Magenta Delicate Posies paper used on the green side and the sentiment stamped directly onto this. Add the decoupage panel and attach the frame over the image for an added dimension. The lime green Elements just add a little sparkle to  the project and I have applied Glossy Accents to the flowers with a fine brush to give a varnished effect.