Text Stamped Background ...

Hi Everybody,

This is another of those fun backgrounds and as promised I have done a video  on the making of this card.

I have used the stamp set from Spellbinders Celebration Collection called   Your Day    and it has several stamps on the sheet

Part of the stamp set was used to create the background and this is something that you can do with any text stamps that you have in your own "Stash"

You see the thing to do is simply .... Play !!  get out your stuff and see what you come up with and if you don't like it then start again.

But you may surprise yourself and end up with some thing that you really like and may want to repeat gain on another project.

The other card on the tutorial was made the same way for the background but the Wizard image is one of those from the CD The Next Big Thing from Just Inklined and I am sorry to say that the CD is no longer around.

You may be lucky to find one for sale privately but you will have to search long and hard to find it.  I colored mine with Spectrum Noir pens

I fussy cut him out and added him with a double layer of foam tape along the centre part of the image and he stands proud of the card for effect.

I added in extra peals to both cards for a little extra embellishment and the elephant has the Googly Eye added too.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

British Grand Prix ...

Hi Everybody,

Thank you so much for all your good wishes for a really pleasant day out for us

We went to see the Formula One Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday and it was fabulous.

There was a little rain towards the end but it did nothing to dampen the atmosphere

The race was exciting from start to finish and Lewis Hamilton won and the crowd went wild

Griff chose the seats well and we were right opposite the new Pit lane.

This was the view we had of all the action as they lined up the cars on the grid and a perfect view of the lights calling them to action and then they were off.

We went a few years ago and it was really noisy but this time with the modifications that have been made to the cars it wasn't too bad.

Over the course of the weekend it was said that 250,000 people had visited Silverstone and the audience for the actual race was 175,000

Some crowd ... of very enthusiastic supporters all cheering for their individual drivers.

These are jut a very small portion of the people in part of the stand that we were in

During the day we had a parachute display team, a very noisy air display, a brass band and Alesha Dixon sang the National Anthem

There was food stalls everywhere and lots of places to buy F1 souvenirs.

Other races went ahead during the day,  it wasn't just F1,  and we watched some of them too.

Some famous faces included Jackie Stewart, Stirling Moss, Damon Hill, some of the Spice Girls and the usual faces that introduce the F1 on TV each time there is a race

 It was interesting to walk around and see other things and there was even fairground rides for the children.

This is the vehicle that holds the land speed record and it is very impressive and Griff was particularly interested in this

There was even a big red double decker bus that had been turned into a bar and that got really busy later on in the day.

So yes we had a really good weekend and it was good to get back home again yesterday.

I am glad that my blog posts have gone out as scheduled ... especially my Tuesday Tutorial

And today we have completed two videos that will be with you shortly.

Next weeks Tuesday Tutorial is a fun card that I hope you will enjoy.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Tuesday Tutorial - Labels 41 Decorative Accents

Hi Everybody,

I have a pretty Gatefold Card in black and white for you today and as always all the steps  are shown so that you can  get this look for yourself.

When working with any of the Spellbinders die sets please remember that number one (#1)  is always the smallest 

Spellbinders Supplies:

• S4-468  Labels 41
• S4-469 Labels 41 Decorative Accents
• S4-470 Labels 41 Decorative Elements 
• S6-025 6x6 Matting Basics A
• S6-026 6x6 Matting Basics B

Other Supplies :

• Want2Scrap Diamanté strip
• Sentiment Lili of the Valley

Instructions :

Take an A4 piece of card and trim along the long side to 15cms and then from each of the short sides measure in by 7.5 cms You should then have a gate-fold card that meets equally in the middle 

With die # 8 from Matting Basic B cut one black panel, this is to line the inside of the card.

With die # 5 from Matting Basics A cut another black panel and with #5 Matting basics B cut a patterned panel ...  glue these two together for the front of the card and you will have a thin border around the edges 

With #7 Matting Basics A I decided to cut another patterned panel to layer on top of the black liner. These can be glued to the inside of the card

For the Gate fold panels at the front of the card measure two black panels and two patterned panels so that they fit one on top of the other with a small border around the edges. Glue them in place

Once you have the inside and the side panels glued in place you can add the topper to the front. Add glue to one half of the panel only and add the panel carefully to one of the gate folds.  Adding glue across all of it will glue your gate folds shut .... Ah! Ah! not right !!

With #4 Labels 41 Decorative Accents cut the shape in black. We are going to use the frame but keep the centre part for another project

Stamp and emboss a sentiment and cut it out with die #3 Labels 41

For the panel you need to layer it onto you can use die #3 from Decorative Accents but I chose to use #3 from Decorative Elements because it is slightly larger

Add glue to the frame work panel and place it on the panel at the front and then layer up the sentiment and add that to the centre with foam tape to raise it up. 

Result --- one pretty card for any occasion 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Distress Inks .....

Hi Everybody,

Todays card is created by playing around with Distress Inks to create this Bokeh Effect background for my card.

This is a technique that has been around for ever and it is very easy to do.

Translated Bokeh simply means Blurred and it is a photographic term.

Have you ever looked at a film,  a photo or a magazine page when they have all the lights in the background blurred and running in to each other?   Well that is Bokeh

The sentiment is stamped onto a  Classic Circle and then mounted onto  Spellbinders  Symbology Frame

I have simply turned the orientation of the frame around for a different look

Around the sentiment I have added in some faux stitching and tucked some silver twine behind it

Then I dotted sequins around the card and mounted the panel onto black card before adding to my base.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Two techniques - One card

Hi Everybody,

On todays card I have combined two very different techniques to give a really pretty look.

The background is called Caught In Crystal and the video for this will be with you soon.

The Roses are water colored with Aqua Tints from Spectrum Noir 

The stamp is the Vintage Flowers  from Make The Day Special  website and they have some beautiful stamps to choose from

The panel is layered onto black card and added with foam behind it to raise it up.

I am playing a lot with these Aqua Tints and really liking the effect and I will get better as I learn more about water coloring ... I promise !!

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx