Just Cute Bears Challenge

Just Cute Bears run a weekly challenge, this week it is an open theme. So I have decided to enter this week, with this card I planned to make at the end of the demonstration, however I did not get a chance to do so. So I finished if off afterwards.

Products used:

Penny Black Teddy and Company Stamp Set

Henbury Lane Paper

Anitas Everyday Wide Organza Ribbon

Papermania Pink Flowers

Black Cardstock

X Cut Mini Circle Punch

Black Brad

Promarkers

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad

Pink Gemstones

Clare Curds Inspirational Challenge

This week Clare Curd as every other week is hosting a challenge over at docrafts. This week it is the turn of the photo challenge.

From this photo, you draw inspiration from the photo, such as colour combination or the physicality of it. Although the picture is of coffee, I dont like coffee but it reminded me of tea as my mum drinks so much tea. I then saw a glitter transfer from the Born to Shop Go Green Challenge, which I just had to use! It was perfect.

This is my resulting card. It was originally going to be a demo card, however recently discovered that the Born to Shop Bubble Range hits the shops in July, but the Go Green range will not hit the shops until end of July. However, no harm in showing the card is there.

Products used:

Born To Shop Go Green Paper

Born to Shop Go Green Glitter Transfers

Adhesive Gems

Anitas Everyday Ribbon - Satin Green

July 2010 Docrafts Essentials

I have just found a site where they are displaying next months docrafts essentials. This site states that the Bubble Range of Born to Shop is being released in July, but my local shop was told August! Anyways, click here to have a look at the items. This includes Christmas and summer selection of goodies.

Penny Black Demonstration Cards

In my demonstration I used bleach with stamping. I only used it once, because it can be smelly and if you spill it, it is very iritating. Trust me! My hands were under cold water, and after lots of hand cream, it felt like forever before my hands felt better.  Sorry to those who found the smell irritating. I had planned to do other things, but because the smell got to those who came to the demonstration it was put away fast.

In this technique, I merely used a ruler to draw straight lines with the ruler. I discovered in the demonstration, it works on slightly darker colours better, and on textured cardstock, but with the textured side up.  Here is two variations on the card I made.

The first card in pink, is one I made as a sample prior to the demonstration matched with the sneak peak. The brown version was made on the demonstration day.

Do give your ruler a wash or rub bleach on the side you are going to use before applying to the card, because my rulers looked clean, but the bleach sure found dirt that was not visible to the eye!

Products used:

Penny Black Flowers & Wishes Stamp Set

3 different shades of one colour

Coordinating Ribbon

X Cut Mini Circle Punch

Adhesive Gems

Bleach

Metal Ruler

Pink Pigment Ink

Vivid Coffee Bean Ink Pad

Verses

I was asked about the inside of a card at my recent demonstration. All my cards are created as blank cards, and when sold it is adapted for the receipient.

I do not know about you, but I often get stuck as I can not decide what to put in the card especially a verse. I often used to take pictures on my mobile in the shops of verses and take ideas from that. However today, i wanted to show you a website I found that has a lot of verses for a lot of occasions.

I have them saved in Microsoft word, so that when it prints onto paper, it will print in the correct place with the correct layout. If I have stamped on the outside, I will often stamp the outline only in side the verse.

Click here to go to the site.

Flower & Wishes

I wanted to show you a card that I made at the actual Penny Black Demonstration. It was well received. I loved this stamp set as soon as I saw it being released.

I was asked at my demonstration if I use sketches and layouts for cards. Yes I do, but not always. I also create my own layouts - in creating your own layout you must do on one side what you do on the other side to balance it.

Products used:

Penny Black Flower & Wishes Stamp Set

Papermania Capsule Verde Paper

Papermania Capsule Verde Gemstones

Papermania Capsule Mono Ribbon

Green Coordinations Cardstock and White

Whisper Brush Markers

New Stash

Take a look at what the post man delivered for me ... Got it last week, but was still super excited.

From the moment I saw this on the Penny Black Official site, I just had to buy it as soon as they were released. Here is a picture of my new goodies. It includes the clear stamp = Betsy Bluebell. 3 wooden stamps - easy rider, mimi and friend, sweet of thing, and a paper pack from trimcrafts - piece of cake. Will show you later on what I have been making from my new goodies whilst I wait for the Born to Shop items to be released in the shops.

The Truthful One....

Earlier in the week, I accepted the Lesa's Creative Writer Blogger Award. For accepting this award I had to post 6 lies and one truth, or vice versa. The idea being I had to mislead you either way. To judge my creative writing skills, click here.

The truthful one, although I would love for some of the others to be true, is this statement:

'I just saw two young skinny tall ladies at the airport. Both were nearly 7ft. A child belonging to the couple in front dropped a drink. The two skinny ladies, then went to hand in their luggage, and thought that it was something out of their suitcases. Their suitcases were dry, however they were rubbing their hands like mad like if it was sticky. And i was rolling around in such hard laughter.'

I went to drop my cousins of at the airport, and this really happened at Birmingham International airport. Seriously, they were really skinny and so tall, i said must be 7ft, but they were wearing really big heels. Ok admittingly, 7ft is an exaggeration but they were were definitely at least 6ft and half.  I did want to say it wasnt you who spilled the drink, but the fact what i saw and the way they were, i have only ever seen in films. I could not stop laughing. Sorry!

Update and Blog Candy

Just a quick post, please check the Blog candy on my side bar. Click on the image to take you straight to the blog and a lovely chance to win some goodies.

Look at all those gorgeous goodies. Go and have a go, you have to be in it to win it.

This morning a letter in the post arrived, a written apology from One Stop who have referred the matter to the area manager who will address the issue directly with the store.

Cute Companions Demo Card

Today I thought that I would show you more of my Cute Companions demonstration card. First is the card I made prior to the demonstration in purple. On the day, I made it in pink, to show how to create your own background in which the image sits on.

Here is the card that I made on the demonstration day:

Products used:

Cute Companions Play Day Stamp Set

CCSR Sentiment Stamp Set

Papermania Watercolour Pencils

Anitas Everyday and Organza Ribbon

Adhesive Gems

A6 Card Blanks

One Stop and Docrafts

I have had no contact from one stop as of yet. I have emailed today, and if i do not get a response by Friday I will be contacting my local papers and ringing their customer services. For one they were racist, then I do not get a courtesy of reply or email. This is 100% ridiculous.

I went on docrafts today after a long time as I could not sleep. The site has improved, the speed in changing pages in the gallery and leaving feedback is super! I am impressed, and will visit their regularly.

Penny Black

I am posting this news for mainly those who attended my Penny Black demonstration (or anyone else who may be interested). Over the weekend, I discovered the official site for the gorgeous Penny Black range, click here to go straight to the site.

On the site you can download catalogues of the products, and within these catalogues are more sample cards from the products for those of you struggling with card making.

Whilst browins, I then got super excited to see a new range from Penny Black. The new Mimi and her cousin Betsy Bluebell. There is one clear and 3 wooden stamps which have just been released. However, I am really impatient and can not wait for the post man to deliver my goodies.  I have orderd all four of them! Ssshhh... don't tell anyone though.

Easy Rider:

 

Sweet Thing: 

 

 Mimi and Friend:

And finally the clear stamp set:

These are so gorgeous, don't you think?  If you want them as much as me, ask Kims Craft to order them in for you.

For those of you who were disappointed that you could not get any of the Penny Black stamp sets I demonstrated, just ask Kims craft they will happily order it in for you.  I know there were a few who were after the Flower & wishes Clear Stamp and the Tiny Wishes Clear Stamp set.

If you are reading this blog, the lady at my demonstration who had forgotten her camera.  I will bring all my cards again at the next demonstration for you.  It is a huge compliment when another crafter admires your work. Thank you again to everyone at my demonstration. I really enjoyed it, and it was a pleasure to demonstrate in front of you all.

Jenny, left a comment on my blog to say after my demonstration to now relax. She is right, I have a demonstration 24th July 2010, and the products are not being released until 1st July 2010. I am stress free atm, well at least for a couple of weeks as I have no demonstration to prepare for and not in panic mode.  This gives me a chance to relax.

Blog Award

I was awarded this lovely yet funny award from Lyndsey Marie and Hells. I have not had time to post it until now.

I must admit at first I did think what I would say. With this award I must post the award on my blog. I then must post 6 outrageous lies about myself and one truth, or the other way around. Then pass the award onto 7 others.

Lets see if you can find the one truthful one..

1. I stalk so much that I have become best friends with David Beckham

2. I regularly dress up in costumes and wander around the street, people look at me funny.

3. I have been married four times, and have 11 children all over the world. However despite having 11 children I am still an amazing size 10. My first husband tried to murder me. My second husband loved me so much I couldnt leave his site for one second. My third... lets not go there. My fourth one is such a darling.

4. I just saw two young skinny tall ladies at the airport. Both were nearly 7ft. A child belonging to the couple in front dropped a drink. They then went to hand in their  luggage, and thought that it was something out of their suitcases. Their suitcases were dry, however they were rubbing their hands like mad like if it was sticky. And i was rolling around in such hard laughter.

5. I always finish the paper packs I buy for my cards. I sell so many cards that I can not make them fast enough.

6. I have travelled all over the world, seen some amazing sites. Done some amazing things.

I will reveal the truthful one this weekend, come back to find out more.

I will pass this award onto 7 others, It was not easy but I was very random in picking these 7.
1. Olga Pope
2. Clare Curd
3. Sparkle
4. Riet
5. Julie
6. Ruth
7. Jennifer

Penny Black Demo

Thank you for all the lovely ladies that came to my demonstration, to the regular and the new faces. It was a pleasure to demonstrate and I am pleased that I am able to demonstrate to you all. And that you find inspiration in my work. No one believes me - but i do struggle with crafting at times with coordination and being unable to be inspired! If you came to my demo, I would love for you to leave a comment so I know you have been.

My next demonstration is on the Born to Shop range which the first half of the set was supposed to be released in June and the next lot in July. Now the first set is being released in July, and the second in August. My next demonstration date is 24th July. I really hope the stamp sets come soon, if not it will leave me less time to prepare the demonstration for.

I had a couple of surprise visitors, my two friends from a demonstration I attend. It was a nice surprise to look up and see you! Thank you for coming.

For Lynn, who asked at the demo about my one stop experience I emailed the store, told they would investigate and not had a response. I will not leave it.

I have been very inspired by Kaths blog and her lovely Penny Black creations. She is one talented crafter. I adapted a layout she used for these cards.

This card, i showed you a sneak peak however it was made to order. And I really should have shown you the whole card. However, I did something similar for my demonstration cards so I did not want to show you all in advance. The background paper was my own, using a fineliner end of the brushmarker and a ruler. It was simple and easy. The same can be done with watercolour pencils, pro markers and you can do it horizontal only as I have done with my Creative Expression Cards. Here i did squares. You can also do the lines diagonally.

Products used:

Penny Black Critter Party Stamp

Papermania - Its a A Mans World Paper

Adhesive gems

For Her:

Products used

Penny Black Critter Party Stamp

D&D Some Bunny Loves You

For Him:

Products used:

Penny Black Critter Stamp

Papermania Its a Mans World

For The One you Love:

Products used:

Penny Black Hugs

Forever Friends All Loved Up Paper

If you made it to the end of the post and are not bored, I am off to bake a Marble Cake. Will catch up with your blogs later.

Final Sneak Peaks

Today at Kims Craft from 10am to 1pm I am demonstrating a range of Penny Black stamps. For location and details of stamps, click here

Just a quick post to show the final sneak peaks of my demo cards.

More Sneak Peaks

I will be catching up on your blogs Sunday or Monday, had a really busy week preparing for this demo and have struggled to get things done. However I wanted to pop on here, before the demo and show you some more sneak peaks.

More Penny Black Sneak Previews

As if you could forget with all my sneak peaks, I am demonstrating a range of Penny Black Stamp Sets this saturday at kims craft. For details of actual stamp sets, and location, please click here

Thought I would show you some more sneak peaks of my Penny Black Demo Cards. I thought I would tease you some more. Just kidding. I like doing this, it gets you thinking.

Thank you...

Thank you for all your kind comments. I am back on my feet, well sort of and taking antiobiotics. Now I need to craft all hours to be ready for this demo on Saturday.

I went to my local one stop shop here in the UK. I walked it there as I live locally, to be refused a lottery ticket. The lady behind the counter, her name was Laney, then she said her name was Elaine later, said I was buying a ticket for my brother. I said I do not know what you are talking about. I am 27, this is my money and I am buying a lottery ticket for myself. She said yes, you do know what I am talking about your mother just came in bought a lottery ticket, then your brother tried, did not have any Id. Then, your mother tried to buy a ticket. I said, just because I am asian, doesnt mean I know every Asian person in the world and you would not make an assumption about a white person. I said i wanted to speak to a manager, she said she was the manager. Well Managers in a store dont dress like up normal staff, and have a manager label - which she did not have. She was rude and very racist. I said I will come tomorrow, when your manager is in. She said she would go and get the details. She came back 5 minutes later. I checked online and she gave me the wrong number for the store and the wrong number for Customer Services. Then she was calling me bab, trying to be my friend. Well, Laney if you were so confident in your decision making why did you spend so long in the back in the hope I would go away.

I found the whole experience a racist one. I found her to be rude. I emailed Customer Services, so head office are aware. And i will go back to the store and speak to the manager Gill Robinson, which I doubt the name evern exists like the telephone number she gave me. .

Poorly Girl

I wanted to come here and just leave a quick note. Please accept my apologies for the lack of updates and I have not been able to catch up on your blogs. Its been a busy week and on top of that, I am now ill. I can not eat, i feel sick, and absolutely exhausted for doing nothing.

Card For Men

Busy preparing demo cards for Penny Black and upcoming Craft stall this Sunday at the Canal Basin.

I made this card for a friend who wanted a birthday card for her husband. She was laughing so much when she saw this and loved it.

Products used:

CCSR Its A Mans World - Couch Potato Stamp Set

Penny Black Demo Sneak Peaks

As I am preparing cards for my Penny Black Demonstration, for more details read about it here. I will update the post, with the additional stamp set I have added to my stamp set list.

Meanwhile I thought I would show you some sneaky peaks of my Penny Black Sample cards.