Little Black Dress...

Hi Everybody,

This is the LBD that I started to paint in the video Painting Your Dress Form  ... and of course I had to leave it to dry and so it was never finished in time for the film.

 I thought I would take this opportunity to show you what I did to complete the dress form.

I made this a one shoulder style.

When it was dry I added some really beautiful Diamante and Black Pearl "Bling" from Want2Scrap  along the shoulder line and the hem of the dress.

Then the next thing was to give the form a skirt.

 It doesn't matter what material you use you can still follow the steps in the video I added yesterday 

 Dress Form Skirt

I am pleased with this but I have yet to add in the hat peg and the hat.

But the little skirt is all fringes and silver balls and it looks much better in real life.

This is the back of the dress and for this one I painted the top part of the form with a Flesh coloured Acrylic paint.

With all the exposed skin I thought it would look better.

This is another one that my family have claimed as theirs so once the hat is done it will be going to a new home 

Now although my "Film Crew" has been kept busy he did arrange for us to go out to the cinema and for tea afterwards.

I told you we were going to see Les Miserables

What a film ... I cried most of the way through it and then had to go out to tea with blotchy cheeks, red eyes and a runny nose and sit there and order food.

Griff said to me .... "You just want to go into a corner and cry don't you?" and all I could do was nod.

Hugs xx

I'm very surprised....

Hi Everybody,

After all the entries for the Spellbinders Grand Decorative Circles and all the congratulations that went out to the winner  .... I am very surprised that Cara B has not come forward to claim her prize. 

 It was such a fantastic Give Away and one I know that many of you wanted ..... badly.

But sadly there was only one ... and Cara was the one drawn randomly by InLinkz.... but where are you ???

The Spellbinders are waiting patiently to be posted to their new owner but you are nowhere to be found.

So all I can say is ...  that to be fair I will wait for one week from the announcement of the win ... which will take us up to Sunday the 20th January.

If they have not been claimed by Cara by  that date then  I will add them again to a "Give Away" and give someone else the chance to win them.

Does that seem fair to you??

P.S. The Blenders are being given away this weekend too so pop back and add your name if you would like to win these ... all hand made by my "Film Crews" own fair hand ... It goes live on Saturday.

Hugs xx

I love these ....

Hi Everybody,

Over the weekend my "Film Crew" and I have been extremely busy porducing  not one ... not two ... but THREE   video tutorials for you to see and I know you are going to love these.

I showed you how to get pattern on your dress form in the last video by using one of your favorite stamps and some tissues .

But you may not have a favorite stamp or even some tissue to hand ...  so how about this idea instead.

The new videos  will take you all the way through  Painting Your Dress Form   and creating this kind of look.

Then decorating it up with any pretty trim that you have in your "Stash"


The flowers I have added  are from Wild Orchid Crafts 

Then how about adding a

 Dress Form Skirt
to make it even more beautiful.

The stands are made by my "Film Crew" and the hat pegs are added by me to make them a little different and of course to add the Hat...

Which are the subject of the third video, because to me the hats just finish off what is a beautiful gift for any woman you care to give them too.

This is an alternative style for the hat we covered in Dress Form Hats

That video produced a hat with a rounded dome to the crown ...

This one gives you more of a Top Hat shape but is is just a pretty.

Please take a look at Dress Form Hats - Another Style   and then you will have two to choose from.

This is the finished dress form and has gone to it's new owner to stand on her dressing table.

And I have to say she is as pleased with it as I was.

Hugs xx

Wendys' Flower ...

Hi Everybody,

I promised to show you what I did with the crochet flowers that Wendy -- Spanish Crafter   sent to me and here is one of the cards.

I made this one a white on white but I inked all the edges with Antique Linen just to bring out the shapes.

The butterfly is from Les Papillion from Spellbinders and I have added pearls to the body and for the trail.

The centre is a mixture of Marvellous Squares, Decorative Labels 1, and  Decorative Labels 27

The leaves are from the Foliage set and again I have inked the edges.

The verse is from Clarity Stamps  and it says .... "If  I had a single flower ....."

And of course the flower is the beautiful white and silver flecked one from Wendy.

I have used silver embossing powder on the verse which ties it in with the flowers


I have added a large pearl cluster to the flower centre and a pearly trail from the flower.

Hugs xx

We Have A Winner ...

Hi Everybody,

I have been overwhelmed at the number of entries to win the Spellbinders

Grand Decorative Ovals

There could only be one winner though and this morning the draw was done by InLinkz.

And so I am pleased to tell you that you .....

Cara B

are the lucky winner of the Give Away.  Congratulations 

I know you will love these large dies and the way that they can enhance your designs... and I hope you will post some of your photos in the  Gallery Pages  at Card Making Magic.

You can add four photos at a time and we would love to see how you put these beautiful dies to work.

This afternoon I am going to see Les Miserables ... and I have two boxes of tissues to take with me 

Hugs xx

Paper Creators Challenge

Today sees the launch of another challenge for you to enter over at  Paper Creators   This is the third one and this time it is set by Colette.

The theme for this one is "Love is all around" and of course with Valentines Day on the horizon what could be better.

These are the cards I have made and they are from the   "Sassy Sally" collection.

There are some really sweet images in there for all your girly cards.

And you can dress them up any way you wish.

This one has  Butterflies from Les Papillion. 

Some Gingham ribbon from my stash and a tiny button complete the look.

I have kept the colour scheme to the colours in the pre coloured image. 

(No not my colouring this time)

I have added glitter to the swirls already drawn onto the topper

There are also inserts on the sheet and this will give a really neat finish to any card.

This card has been made into an Easel Card  and if you click the link you will find a tutorial on how to make it ...  if you are new to cardmaking.

If you are not ...  then maybe you would like to try the more adventurous  Quad Easel   

Although not a video it will take you step by step through the details.

My claim to fame with this card is that it is the one that was featured on Create and Craft last year .... aaaaand I was credited with the idea.

So have  go and see what you come up with.

You will also find the links to all the other types of Easel Cards that can be made.

From Twisted Easel to Triple Easel they are all there.

Please pop over to Debbies Challenge and enter your cards.  You are then in the chance to win a prize.

Good Luck 

Hugs xx

I have a Gift ...

Hi Everybody,

Yesterday I received these lovely hand crocheted  flowers ... as a "Thank You"  to me ... from  Wendy the  Spanish Crafter   for the last Give Away.

Wendy was the lady who won the Enveloplus Board and she is over the moon with her win.

The card she sent to accompany the flowers is in the background.

I have layered up some of the flowers and added a Pearly Brad to the centres and they will grace the cards that I make in the next few weeks.

I will be sure to point them out to you when I have used them.

So Thank You Wendy  for the lovely gift ... it is much appreciated.

Now apparently when I thanked you ladies yesterday for your comments I missed out a MAN   .... so my apologies go to Mark and it won't happen again .... promise.

But if YOU are a fella then please leave a comment and make yourself known to us girls just as Mark has done ... and welcome to the Blog xx

And I have to say Girls that the "Film Crew" is NOT up for grabs.   I won't be adding him to a Give Away now or in the future .... but he will be coming up with some "Goodies" for us and I promise to tell you about them.

Hugs xx

You Are Amazing ...

Hi Everybody,

How I love you ladies ... you are  ALL  amazing and I  thank you all for your interest in the Blending Tools and that you would like to win them.

I get the message loud and clear that you would like the tools but no more comments please.
 And please stop with the compliments to my "Film Crew"  

His head is getting so big from all the praise he won't be able to get through the door.  He has had so much fun reading all the comments though.

Some of you have suggested that we go into selling them ..... now there's an idea for the coming months....   and Griff is now pricing up materials to go in to full scale production.

But that produces another question ....... What would you consider a fair prices for a pack of  5 Blending Tools ???   Bearing in mind the cost of one of them in your country... and of course P&P

Another thing Griff  has done is produce some very pretty stands for the mannequins and this is what they are like ....

I am in the process of sourcing  just the actual body forms  and the stands are what you would need to display them.

These are square and beveled along the edge to make them more interesting, and the doweling rod  is a good size too.

So this will be another give away in the next couple of months.

It will have everything you need to make the hat and the Dress Form ... including the peg for the hat.

It will need to be assembled by you and then you can decorate it however you wish.

And of course the videos on the Hats and the Dress Forms will show you how to do that.

I have done a lovely pink one just to give you an idea of how it will look when decorated.  The photograph is looking down onto the Form.

You can see the stand and they are in proportion to the size of the Dress Form.  

This one has been stained and varnished.

I have come up with a different style for the Hat too and you won't need the Polystyrene balls either.

This one is covered in felt with Maribou Feather  trim  and it looks gorgeous in real life.

The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts   Any "Bling" is from Want2Scrap

Here you can see the two different styles.

The one on the right is domed and the other is shaped similar to a top hat ... but not as high.

Over the weekend this will be a video on how to make this one.

So I am planning some exciting 

 "Give Aways" 

over the next few months and I hope you will come and participate as they come up.

Hugs xx

I need your feedback please ....

My "Film Crew" has been very busy woodworking in the garage , and I told you that he has some surprises up his sleeve.

And  I think I have told you that he is a builder ... well he is soon to be a retired builder and ... rather than let him stagnate in a chair ... he is going to be doing projects for the website and this blog.

His talent is woodwork  and one of the things he did for me years ago was make me some Blending tools.

I like to use Distress Inks on my cards and to buy one of these blenders in my local craft shop was £4.99.

These are a very useful item for your crafting stash and the pads on the bottom are removable so that they can be cleaned or replaced.

Now I use a different blender for each ink and that would have cost me a fortune.

So I thought that for the next "Give Away"   I would put five together in a pack and send them out.





But what I need to know is ..... would you be interested in winning them ... or am I wasting my time???

Hugs xx

The Giveaway....

This is important regarding the Give Away

The draw for the Grand Decorative Ovals grows every time I look at it ... and now stands at 225 

I  very  stupidly   have made it run until the end of the month instead of for one WEEK 

Apologies for my mistake ... but I honestly did not think it would get the response that it has.
I will know better next time and not make it as long.

Anyway I was wondering  if you would like me to end it sooner and get it sent out ...  and then maybe add another one in the middle of January instead.

I will leave this question open until the end of this week (Saturday) and if you are happy with that suggestion     you don't need to do anything.... and no news is good news as they say, and if your name is already on the list then your chance  to win is safe.

But if you are really opposed to this then you have up till Saturday to let me know.
 Other wise  a winner will be picked on Sunday 13th January 

 Hugs xx