Craft Show Purchases

Hi Everybody,

I had a lovely day at the Craft Show and I managed to spend £50. Which is not a lot for me but these are some of the things I bought and they will restock my stores.

I got some embossed gold and silver mirror card that will always come in handy, for layers or to cut sentiments from.

The coloured card is from AnnaMarie Designs and it is a beautiful knitted pattern on a 250gsm card  that comes in several different colours. 

 It should have been £14.99 a pack, but was being sold off at £6 for 36 sheets,  so I couldnt refuse.

It will layer beautifully with flowers and leaves and I will have fun using it on my cards.

I also got the newest Distress Oxide, Scorched Timber, and the re inker to go with it and that means that I now have the whole set of these lovely ink pads. I love this ink as it is wonderful to colour plain smooth card before cutting it into my embellishments.

I also got my self a new Versamark Ink Pad and refill as I always manage to get my ink pads dirty. I will try my very best to keep this one clean for as long as I can.

There are also some DL cellophane bags as I have run out of that size a while agio and I have lots of DL cards to pack up ready for my charity box.

 And last but not least is some of the Pinflair Glue Gel and that is great for adding height to layers where foam pads cannot go. It is also a really strong glue for other jobs too.

So that completes my purchases this time around and now I will go an put them al in respective places until I need to use them on my cards. The next Craft Show is in June at Leigh Sports Village.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Craft Show Purchases

Hi Everybody,

Yesterday at the Craft Show was a really good day out, despite the fact that it poured down most of the time.

I went with Pauline Hickey and we had so much to talk about. We saw lots of things that we liked and we bought some beautiful card from AnnaMarie Designs.

They were in packs of ten, so Pauline and I bought five packs each of different colours and then we split them, having five sheets each from the ten packs.

That gave both of us a good selection to play with in the next few weeks. I also got the new Distress Oxide Ink and a refill for the pad to. Plus some re-inkers for black ink pads that I have. 

The little glue bottles I need coz no matter how hard I try I always get them clogged and so I need a regular supply of new ones with the pins. I also lose the pins regularly too!!

The ribbons where only 50p a roll so I bought six of them and a very large bottle of Collall Glue ... for the little glue bottles. I also bought some really thick Acetate.

 I am very happy with my buys and I can remember years when I used to save up for months and spend loads at the shows that Griff and I went too. This is the first show I have been to since he died.

Pauline and I enjoyed it and we went for a meal at the near set pub afterwards and another natter.

Good day all round ...

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

 

NEC Birmingham

Hi Everybody,

It's taken me a little while to add these photos and that is because I have not been well this week. But these are from the NEC Craft Show that I as at last week.

It was amazing to see my name up there and to stand in front of tables that are filled with my designs.

I cannot tell you how grateful I am for all that Practical Publishing and Craft Stash have done for me.

The whole team is fantastic and I enjoy going into their offices to see them all.

These guys are the team that I was working with on the Sunday and I did enjoy it. 

It was lovely to meet up with people who visit my blog and website as well as YouTube and I had some lovely comments from them all.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Water Colour Wednesday - Snow Buddies

Hi Everybody,

The stamp I have used for todays card is from Woodware and called Snow Buddies.

It is one that I bought at the craft show last weekend and it is about 3x7" in size so makes a really good card front.

I have added both onto a long card base that will fit neatly into a DL envelope.

The one on the left has been coloured with pencils and the one on the right is water coloured with Zig Clean Colour Real Brush Markers

I much prefer the vibrancy of the right hand card and I really enjoyed the water colouring too.  I have added extra sparkle to both cards with glitter on the bobble hats

This cute stamp set really caught my eye  as the characters are already stacked for you and so very easy to produce aaaannnddd  ... it was only £5.50 .. a real bargain !!

Which is your favorite from the two??

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Craft Show Buy ...

Hi Everybody,

The card today is much prettier in real life because of the background ... the photo does not do it justice.

It has a gold thread running through the pattern and is very elegant.

It was a craft show buy and it is fabric.  Voile to be factual and there were many colours and patterns to choose from.

It is added to double sided adhesive sheets and then you can cut it down to the size that you require.  I cut mine with the Grand Labels and it cut beautifully.

I added it to a   Faux Nestie   panel of the labels in the cream card and added it with foam tape to the front.

 But this is the bit I wanted to share with you and  how much of a bargain it was.  

Three sheets to each pack and buy one pack and get another one FREE .....Who could resist such a buy  ... er not me !!

£2.50 and I have 12 sheets of voile to add to my cards for a really special look.

The centre of the bow was one of my bargain bracelets from Primark  ... so who is feeling a happy bunny then ???

So to answer some questions I have been getting about the "Give Away" .....

• The red cross at the side of your name just means that you can delete it if you wish ... it is nothing sinister.  But please delete it if you add your name more than once.
• You don't need to have a Blog to enter ... just leave the URL box Blank
• URL is nothing sinister either ... it is just the way that each page on a Blog/Website is found and it stands for Unique Random Locator  ... that's all
• It doesn't matter where you live you can still enter for the chance to win .... I am happy to send the prize to you where ever you are

And if you haven't added your name yet then here is your chance ..... Wild Orchid Flowers.  ... I can't believe how many of you want this prize, there are over 700 names so far and we have till Saturday before the winners are chosen.

If you spot any duplicates then please let me know as it is getting rather hard to scan them all now

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Some of those "Goodies" ...

Hi Everybody,

Here are a couple of cards made using some of the GNPE "Goodies" that I bought.

Both of them have been made the same way using the Hinged Card Style

I find using this method, which gives me the fold at the top,  allows me to use more of the card in the portrait orientation.

So all I have done is double embossed the background with the "Wow" embossing powders.

Once the heat embossing is done I have dry embossed it in the Regency Swirls embossing folder from Crafters Companion .

I wrapped the ribbon around the panel and then added it to the front.

The sentiment has been stamped and heat embossed in silver and added with foam tape to the card using   Fancy Tags Three

 But the centres of the bows have been filled with the gorgeous Diamante and Pearl embellishments that where a bargain buy.

They where once a bracelet from Primark and they had eight of these lovely sparkly bits in them

They cost me £3.00  but worked out at just 37 pence for each one and so I don't mind adding them  to a card.

The sentiment ifs from the JustRite Large Fancy Sentiments stamp set.

I have used the Letterpress technique with the embossing powders on both of these cards and I am happy with the simple look that they have.

I have a really good "Give Away" going live this weekend and you are going to love what is on offer.

So pop back on Saturday and add your name for the chance to win some beautiful  flowers from  

 Wild Orchid Crafts

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

"Blingy" Bits ...

Hi Everybody,

Wondering around Harrogate we on Friday we did the usual of going in and out of shops with nothing particular in mind ... just mooching about.

But this is a little haul that I wanted to share as for me it is such a bargain .. but not as it is. It is the Bracelets at the top of the picture that I wanted to show you and this was picked up in Primark

They are metal  with Diamante and pearls as well as some really pretty cameos on some of the pieces and they cost me £3 each.

But once I took the bracelet apart  I ended up with eight lovely individual pieces that can be added to a bow to really add a touch of the special to a card.

They came in black and silver and cream and gold and they are much prettier in real life than the photo gives them justice.

As I use them I will tell you and then you can judge for yourself whether or not you think they look good.

But I was really pleased with my purchase.

The rest of the goodies in this little haul are some polka dot resin bows some small Diamante hearts that are earrings for pierced ears ...  and I will take the posts off them.

The other items in the lower right corner are some Diamante hair grips.  I will also remove these from the grips and that butterfly will grace a card just perfectly.

So although this lot cost me £12.50 once all the items are taken apart there are 33 individual pieces which works out at 37 pence per item and that is not a bad buy at all.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Craft Show "Goodies"

Hi Everybody,

Home again and this is my haul from the GNPE craft fair on Saturday.

I managed to get everything on my list and some of it was basic stuff like the White 300gsm  Card from Anna Marie Designs

I bought Double sided adhesive sheets and magnetic sheets to store my Spellbinders on.  

Some  "Wow" embossing powders from  Stamps by Chloe   as well as some of her stamps.

But tucked in the background there is one of the newest M-Bossabilities called Roman Romance and it is lovely.  I will point it out when I use it on a card. It is very deep and intricate.

The tartan ribbon was a buy I couldn't resist.

All the shiny  "Bling" bits at the front are from The Hobby House   and consist of some buckles and some Diamante circle with pearls in the middle ... all magpie collecting stuff that I love to add to my cards.

So I shall be playing with this new stuff and I will tell you which ones as they are added to a card.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Manchester Craft Show

Hi Everybody,

Yesterday saw us tripping down the motorway to visit the craft show that was being held at Manchester Central.

It was very good and I went with my prepared list and my saved pennies.

This time I went looking for particular items.... and although I try to stay true to my list I always come home with the extras.

The photo shows some of the items that I bought and they include some beautiful glass beads to make my Hatpins with, sentiment stamps and various coloured card.

They Glass beads  are in the pots at the front of the photo and are in shades of pink and turquoise.

The card I bought is shown underneath the pots and of course I had to buy some Spellbinders.

But this picture of the ribbons was my absolute bargain of the day ....


The front ribbon was some that I bought at £10 for three rolls ... and as there is 25 yds on each roll it was a good price.

But the ribbon shown to the left and right of those rolls was what really caught my eye.

We wandered around and passed a fabric stand and there sat a lot of rolls of ribbon at £4 a roll  ...or three rolls  for £10 ...... had have you seen the size of these rolls  ??????

I couldn't hazard a guess at how much is on each roll

I couldn't just walk away now could I ??

And given the choice which would you pick at  three rolls for a tenner the ones at the front or the ones at the back at the same price ???

That ribbon will last me a long, long time and so I bought  six rolls of  the colours that where there and came away feeling really pleased with my purchase.

More tomorrow .... and probably with ribbon on it !!

Hugs xx

Spellbinder Flowers

I love to add  flowers to  my  cards  and  this  one is no  exception.

The only difference to  this one  is that these  are cut   Spiral Blossom 3  from Spellbinders, and they are Felt Flowers

Sometimes the felt doesn't always cut on the first pass through your die cutting machine ... but not to worry just alter the position on the plates a little and run it through again.

The flowers it produces is well worth the effort with the cutting.

This  felt was  not  expensive  and I  got mine from  Dunelm Mill.  They have some very pretty colours and this is three shades of the pink that they had.

To the centre of each flower I have  glued a flat backed pearl and the swirly leaves are  cut from the Damask Accents.

The backing paper is from the Floriography CD from My Craft Studio and it has a filigree pattern down one side.  I have accentuated this with a  Sakura  Quickie  Glue  pen and some very fine glitter.

There is real lace along the left edge and I got it from a craft show .... and this Sunday I will be going to the same show in Leigh and I am so looking forward to it.

To see  if there is  craft show in  your area click the link to Sincerely Yours Shows   as they run shows all over the  UK and  they will not  disappoint  you.

Anyway back to the card ....  This has faux gems along the right edge and once again I have added in the Hatpin for effect.

Hugs xx

Just one more ...

I have one more  Christmas card to show you and  then I  am not  making any more for a few weeks.

This one has the  aperture removed with the  largest of the Heirloom Baubles  and the centre filled with some more of the pretty  stripy paper.

I have then cut another  Heirloom  bauble and covered it with Micro Glass Beads  which adds  lots of texture to the shape ... you can just make them out  if you enlarge the picture.

I buy mine in pots  from  Creative Studios  and there are lots of other goodies too.

The beautiful Diamante strip on the front of the Bauble is from Want2Scrap   along  with the Swirl on each side of the aperture....  on the right hand corner.

I have matted it all onto some silver mirror card

The little sentiments are from a set I bought many years ago from   The Glitter Girls  and they are all wood mounted.

So I am having a free weekend this week.  

Today  we are going to visit some friends on their Canal boat and going for a sail through some locks on the canal near "Botany Bay"

We will be having a spot of lunch on the way and I just hope it is not raining....

Then next Sunday the 26th ... I am going to the Sincerely Yours Craft Show  in Leigh.

I've got my pennies all saved up and a list of what I want ... and I can't wait

Hugs xx

Craft Show Goodies

What a lovely day this has been ... but then whenever I go to a craft show it is always a lovely day. It rained quite heavily but nothing was going to spoil my day.

I tried ever so hard not to spend any money ...  but I couldn't resist some of the goodies on offer.  I was very good and didn't spend too much.

These are some of the things I bought and you will see right in the middle are some Spellbinders. Now those I can never resist as I love the effects I can get with them. 

Just to the right is a stamp from  Just Rite.  It is made for the Labels 20 shape and there are several sentiments on the sheet that will  then fit inside the stamped image.  I can't wait to have a play with that.

I bought some large pearls, diamante ribbon sliders, silver and gold Mirror card and some gorgeous pastel coloured feathers that you can see on the left of the photo.... and boy ! am I going to have some fun over the next few weeks with my "Stash"

Just a few feathers placed here and there can make your cards look really feminine.

The pale pink feather, and the pink ribbon,  are for a special Christening card that I have been asked to make and it is inspired by the one I have made for Isabellla.  The order was made because they liked that one so much.

But tonight it is going to be feet up, glass of red wine and some telly... so more tomorrow.

Hugs Christina xx