Simple Flower - Rare Earth Stamps - Crafts Beautiful March 2020

Hi blog friends!

If you hurry, you can pick up the latest copy of Crafts Beautiful which includes a free bunny/Spring themed stamp set by Rare Earth.

I did a few makes for the issue, including this simple floral card. I kept it in my usual style of clean and simple with a limited colour palette of white and blue.

Image copyright Crafts Beautiful

If you are looking for Easter or Spring inspiration, then look no further than this issue. It is jam packed. I particularly love the crocheted bunny ear egg cosies - so cute. There are lots of interesting features and some fab giveaways plus free backing papers of which you can download and print too.

To download the free papers, templates and see more projects, click here to take you to the Crafts Beautiful website. You will need to register, but it is free and simple to do.

Hope you like my little card and I'll be back soon with a cute rainbow make. Thanks for stopping by!

Deck the Halls

Hello blog friends!

I want to share with you a card that I made way back in 2018 for the Crafts Beautiful Christmas Special. I still have it and thought it would be nice to show it.

It uses an ingenious stencil by Clarity Stamp. The circular stencil is made up of two layers, the lower one has the images cut out and the top one has an aperture. You place the aperture over the image you wish to stencil and the rest of the disc masks any ink or medium from marking your work.

The stencil I used is the 7" Wheelie Bauble Stencil and I teamed it up with bright, zingy colours to create a fun background.

What you need...

Stencil: Wheelie Bauble Stencil 7" - ClarityStamp

Card stock: Teal; Stencil Card 7" x 7" (50 Sheets) - ClarityStamp; 

Paint: Fresh Lime, Bubblegum Pink, Post Box Red, Calypso Teal - Dylusions

Stencil brush

Christmas phrase stamp

Ink pad: Extreme Black - My Favorite Things

Ribbon; lime green

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Cut a piece of the stencil card to 11cm x 15cm and stencil baubles randomly over the surface using different colours and bauble shapes. Leave the centre of the bauble paler to give the illusion of light reflecting off the bauble.

2 Cover a 10.5cm x 14.5cm blank with teal card.

3 Trim the bauble card to 10cm x 14cm and mat centrally onto the blank.

4 Stamp the sentiment onto white card, trim and mat onto a slightly larger piece of teal card. Attach to the blank and finish with a lime green bow.

The sentiment I used is from the Festive Greetings stamp set by WPlus9, but any large font word(s) will work.

This card uses bright, modern colours, but you could use more traditional colours if you wish.

At the time of writing this blog the stencil is £5.99 and the stencil card is £7.98. Click here to take you to the ClarityStamp website.

I know most of you will now have finished your Christmas makes, but it never too early to start for next year.

I hope to be back soon with another couple of Christmas makes so watch this space.

Thank you for stopping by! x

Christmas Snow Globe - Crafts Beautiful

Hello Blog friends!

I'd like to show you another card I did for my Masterclass tutorial in the Christmas Special of Crafts Beautiful.

I did a lovely snow globe shaker card featuring the iconic truck and tree, this was created with the Silhouette using a gorgeous image file by Lori Whitlock.

What you need...

Die cutting machine: Silhouette Cameo

Design Store image: A2 Snow Globe Shaker Card Christmas Pick-Up (#154936) - Lori Whitlock

Card stock: white, lime, aqua, red, grey, black, brown, glitter

Chipboard

Acetate

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Purchase the image and add to the Design Page. Ungroup the images, separate and cut out in the relevant colours.

2 Crease and fold the blank. Attach the back panel, globe panel, dotty circle and the hill.

3 Assemble the truck and attach to the blank.

4 Stick the globe apertures together and attach the sentiment.

5 Glue the acetate to the red circle and stick to the front of the globe aperture.

6 Place the snowflakes around the truck. Glue the globe aperture in place making sure there are no snowflakes trapped. Add a large snowflake to decorate.

I used a thin chipboard so had to cut several of the apertures. Depending on the thickness of the chipboard you will need to experiment on how many to cut. Just make sure the snowflakes can move around easy.

This complete file cost £1.31 which is great value. You could also cut the basic snow globe aperture and add your own image and shaker parts.

I hope you like this fun little card. The file also includes the envelope. I cut another little truck and stuck it to the front of the envelope.

Just before I go, I would like to mention a fantastic online card company called Paperless Post. I did do a post previously on this fab company (click here to read the post). 

I recently sent six thank you cards, I chose a gorgeous little card featuring Paddington Bear. As the thank you message was the same to all six recipients all I had to do was add their email addresses and they all were sent at the same time. 

There are hundreds of cards to choose from and all occasions, you can customise your greeting if you choose and most cards cost around six coins. You can purchase coins which are held in your account and these will not expire. Some features are free, others may cost one or two coins. Recipient response cards are also included so the recipient can acknowledge receipt of the card.

If you would like to have a look at Paperless Post then feel free to click here to take you to their website. Paperless Post is great if you need to send that last minute greeting.

Thank you so much for popping by. TTFN!

Cute Pumpkin - Crafts Beautiful October 2019

Hello blog friends!

I would like to share with you a cute moveable pumpkin card that I created for the current issue (October 2019) of Crafts Beautiful.

I have a monthly masterclass in Crafts Beautiful showing different techniques from gilding right through to kinetic cards.

For this issue I decided to come up with an adorable pumpkin so that when you pull his stalk, his arms wave up and down.

The beauty of this design is all of the items needed you will most likely have in your craft stash.

You can find the template for this cute little guy on the Crafts Beautiful website, click here to take you to the template download page.

The mechanism works by cutting out two of the tabs and two arms and then connecting them to the stalk with brads. Cut out another main body piece in white and fix to the back with foam tape making sure you leave gaps for the arms and enough room for the mechanism to work. A small top fold card blank in fixed to the back to allow the little guy to stand up.

If you don't want a moveable card, just make him up without the mechanism.

I hope you like this cute little dude and thank you for popping by. TTFN!

You're So Sweet - Crafts Beautiful May 2019

Hello blog friends!

It's been a while since I shared with you one of my projects from Crafts Beautiful. This month (May 2019 issue) my masterclass shows you how to do resist stamping using white embossing powder and some fruity, zesty inks along with a cute stamp set featuring citrus fruits.

This month's issue comes with an exclusive free gift from docrafts which contains layering stamps, papers, card blanks and die-cut sheets. On the Crafts Beautiful website there are some projects that I did using the free gift.

This issue is jam packed with some beautiful projects and there are some great makes from my favourite talented designers Tracey Daykin-Jones, Keren Baker and Cathie Shuttleworth.

Of course there are lots of other crafts featured such as sewing, cross stitch and brush lettering. There is also the usual features, hints, tips and how to's.

There are lots more to be found on the Crafts Beautiful website, click here to take you to the home page. If you wish to download any of the templates or free papers you will need to sign up, but it is free.

I hope you like my makes and thank you so much for popping by. Until next time!

Spring Makes - Crafts Beautiful February Issue 2019

Hello blog friends!

As some of you may know I design every month for Crafts Beautiful and PaperCrafter magazines as well as doing makes for the marketing and promotions department.

In the current issue of Crafts Beautiful (Feb 2019) there is a gorgeous free stamp set worth £9.99. The stamp set is huge and comes mounted on an A4 sheet. The theme is spring animals and there are some adorable images.

Myself and two other designers have come up with lots of ideas in the magazine on how to use your stamps. There are some bonus makes on the CB website, which I'd like to show you today.

Here are my three bonus makes...

Ducks in a row

Piggy

Shimmering Snowdrops

The full instructions for these makes and other bonus makes can be found on the CB website. Click here to take you to the page. You will need to register, but it is quick, easy and free and means you have access to templates, downloads and free papers. 

Don't forget that Crafts Beautiful is packed with all different crafts, hints, tips and techniques and you get a free gift every month. It's a lovely magazine and I really enjoy designing and illustrating for them.

I'll back soon with a Kraft inspired 'Love' card and a cute and fun monster birthday card.

Thanks for popping by!

Happy Mother's Day

Hello luvs!

I hope you are all well. I've had this cough virus that's going around and it's not pleasant! Plus, it lasts about two weeks, so keep wrapped up folks!

Back to cards...Mother's Day will soon be upon us (in the UK) and I have a card to share with you that I did as a 3D flower card tutorial in the March 2018 issue of Crafts Beautiful.

This card was made just using scissors, a ball tool and card. You just need to add gems, a sentiment and ribbon. You can find the templates for the petals and leaves in the March 2018 issue or you can download it for free from here.

Why not check out all the other free templates, papers, hints tips and ideas over at the Crafts Beautiful website? You need to register, but it is quick and free. There are lots more of my makes and templates too.

The new April issue is out on the 1st March and you get a free floral pop-up box making kit. I did the makes for the issue using the free kit. They are a lot of fun to create. I'll post up them as soon as I can.

Thank you so much for popping by. See you soon!

Doodle Flowers

Hello peeps!

Dark nights are coming and It's the perfect time to get out your colouring pencils/markers and do a bit of colour therapy. I remembered that I illustrated a cute little flower panel for the Jan 2017 issue of Crafts Beautiful.

Here is the sample card that I did...

What you need...

Free Doodle Flowers download

Colouring mediums

Card stock

I also designed the image with just the outlines of the flowers and border so that you can doodle in your own. You can get these free from the Crafts Beautiful website, click here to take you to the download page. You need to register to be able to download any of the templates or free papers, but it is free, quick and easy.

You don't have to make a card with the doodle, print it off several times and colour it in different colour schemes.

I'm going to head off now and make a few Christmas cards. 

Thanks for popping by! TTFN! 

Happy Halloween

Afternoon peeps!

Hope you are all well! 

Today I would like to share with you the card I illustrated and made for the current issue of Crafts Beautiful (Oct 17). This was for my monthly masterclass and this tutorial is on colouring and blending with coloured pencils, with a Halloween theme.

I used Zest-it Blending Medium, this is fab for blending in the colours and removing the shine that you get when using coloured pencils.

What you need...

Digital image: Free to download from Crafts Beautiful

Card stock

Coloured pencils: Brunzeel Design

Blending Medium: Zest-It Pencil Blend

Tortillions (paper stumps)

Patterned Halloween paper

Baker's twine: orange

Adhesives

I had such fun creating this design and even better fun colouring it in. I think I may do another one with Copics and see how that one looks.

The Halloween image along with other templates from the October issue can be downloaded here. There are lots of other images, ideas, hints and tips on the Crafts Beautiful website. You will need to register to be able to download, but it is free, quick and easy to do.

Okay, that's me for now. Thank you for popping by and I'll be back soon, ttfn!

Party Pop-Ups!

Good afternoon lovelies,

Yay! I'm back! I've missed updating my blog, but things have been soooo busy lately. I still haven't had chance to make anything as of yet, but I wanted to touch base and say hello. 

Crafts Beautiful have recently showcased one of my past makes on Facebook. It was a set of three pop-up cards using the journaling Birthday SN@P collection from Simple Stories.

You can find the instructions and everything you need on the Crafts Beautiful website, click here to take you to the page. It does state on the project that they were designed by Amanda Walker, but I can assure you it was me :) They've got the designers name wrong - oops!

The great thing about journaling collections is that they have lots of printed pieces in handy card sizes and with lots of printed die cuts it is quick and simple to make a fab card.

Hopefully, it won't be too long before I'm back with a make. Thank you for stopping by!

Hello Sunshine Happy Cards

Good afternoon lovely peeps!

Seeing as the weather is still yuk here in Norfolk and other parts of the UK, I thought I would post up a collection of cheery cards I did from a past issue of Crafts Beautiful.

I used the Hello Sunshine Stamp and Hello Sunshine Die sets by Lawn Fawn for these cute little makes. You can find the full instructions on how to make these cards here on the Crafts Beautiful website.

Don't forget you can finds lots of other ideas, projects and inspiration at Crafts Beautiful. There are loads of free papers, templates and downloads too. You just have to register, but it is free and only takes a couple of minutes.

I made a few cards yesterday, so I'll be back with some posts very soon to show them off. Thank you for calling by! xx

Watermelon Party Set Part 2

Hello lovelies!

I'm back with part 2 of my watermelon party set I did for the June issue of Crafts Beautiful.

*For Faith (Daffodil Cards) - the only difference between the Curio and the Cameo is that the Curio stipples, etches and embosses. I only used the embossing part on the 'party'. I think the watermelon images etc are available to purchase for the Cameo too :o)

They last two projects include some cute watermelon bunting and a little gift bag...

The new issue of Crafts Beautiful is out tomorrow (Fri 27th May), but you can still find these and the other projects in the set on the Crafts Beautiful website or click here to take you to the page. Don't forget you can also follow CB on Facebook and Pinterest for more ideas, tips and inspiration.

I hope you like my watermelon makes, they were such fun to create and would be perfect for a Summer party!

I'm off now, but I'll be back soon with a cool card I made for my brother-in-law. Until then, ta ta! x

Watermelon Party Set Part 1

Happy Sunday all!

In this month's issue of Crafts Beautiful (June 2016) I have a cute little party set that I created using the Silhouette Curio. As I did four makes, I thought I would split them into two posts.

Here is the party invitation...

...and the 3D melon slice...

The full projects can be found in the current issue or here on the Crafts Beautiful website. This cute set is perfect for a summer party. 

You can't really see in the top photo, but the 'party' is printed and then embossed, all done by the Curio.

I hope you like the first part of my mouthwatering makes, I'll be back soon with part 2.

Thanks for looking! x

You Make My Heart Soar - Cricut® Explore Air

Hello my lovelies!

Wow! Friday already. 

Today I would like to share with you another little card that I created using the Cricut® Explore Air.

Items needed...

Digital die images: Create a Critter Heart (#M3862D) - Cricut®

Card stock: aqua, black, bright pink, white
Glitter card stock: white iridescent

Gems: clear

Adhesives

The Create a Critter cartridges are some of my favourites. They are so cute and are suitable for adults or children. They mix and match really well too. Don't forget, you don't have to buy the whole cartridge, you can purchase individual images.

The little cloud sentiment is one that I designed for a couple of projects in the January 2015 issue of Crafts Beautiful. The illustrations are still available for you download, print and colour. They feature a heart shaped balloon, clouds, flying heart and sentiments. Click here to take you to the download page. You will need to register, but it is quick, easy and free!

I might post the projects from that issue at a later date.

Thank you for stopping by! TTFN! xxx

Cute Fox

Happy Sunday peeps!

I hope you are all having a lovely day :o)

Crafts Beautiful have been showcasing a past make of mine on Facebook recently. As cute foxes ane still so popular at the moment I thought I would re-live this past make.

You can find the instructions on how to make this adorable little fox card here and the templates here. I also included a full illustration of the fox with the templates so that if you didn't want to paper piece him, you can download, print him out and colour him instead.

You can find lots more templates, projects, freebies, templates and ideas at www.crafts-beautiful.com. For lots of inspiration and ideas, you can also follow them on Facebook and Pinterest too!

Why not have ago at making this card tonight? It's a perfect way of using up those little scraps of paper and card!

Thank you for stopping by and I'll be back soon xx

Cosy Christmas/Warm Winter Wishes

Afternoon my peeps!

This will probably be the last post before the 'big day' so I wanted to visit a blast from a Christmas past to wish you all a Cosy and Warm Christmas!

These two cards featured in the October 2014 issue of Crafts Beautiful and combine the use of lovely ice-cream colours mixed with lush chocolate brown, a perfect combination to remind you of hot chocolate, cuddly mittens and snuggly jumpers. The designs are created using simple piecing techniques with subtle shading around the edges.

Without further ado here are the little cuties...

All the items needed and full instructions can be found on the Crafts Beautiful website along with the downloadable templates. Click here to take you to the project page.

I hope you like theses cute little makes. 

Have a wonderful, healthy and peaceful Christmas and I'll be back soon. xxx