New Tonic Birdies! Pick of the Day

Starting this evening Tonic Studios are releasing some gorgeous new bird themed goodies on Ideal World and Create and Craft. They are beautiful and you'll not want to miss them!
This card is just a "teaser" - there is so much more - papers, stamps, metal embellishments and dies :)
It's one of the sample cards I made and sent over for the shows but there are plenty more and Jodie has made lots of lovely cards too.
To be continued..........

Some of my cards in the June issue of Crafts Beautiful

This is a photo of 3 of my cards in the June issue of Crafts Beautiful. It's not really clear from my photo but the 3 cards are quite different from eachother - the one on the left is decoupaged, top right has an aperture and is a "tent" card and bottom right is a zigzag card.. I drew the Clematis Montana and the image is now a Crafts Beautiful download. All measurements, instructions and supplies list are in the magazine..........

When I drew the flowers and made the cards for this issue (months ago) I thought my own Clematis Montana would be starting to bloom by now as usual, but the heavy snow and frost have kept it back.

Quick and easy!

Every now and then I like to make a quick card but still like it to look beautiful. Now that Tonic Studios have  their very first paper pad released, that's even easier!

The pad has so many gorgeous designs that the only difficulty is actually deciding which one to use. The one I ended up going for this time was just too pretty to cover up so I kept the rest of the card simple so as not to detract from it. I have cut 2 of the FLAVA butterlfy dies and offset them to create a shadow effect, added 2 punched Butterfly strips and 2 Multi Detail butterflies.
The white card and the beautiful teal card is from Papermill Direct.

A bit of strategically placed glitter and that's it :)

Just a note

It's my turn again to do a tutorial for Papermill and I'm doing "floral" again but this time I'm using some gorgeous new music themed paper (from Crafty Devils) and ribbon (from ribbonbox.co.uk)to complement the flowers.

Here's what you need to make this one..

2  pieces of white felt embossed card  (Papermill)

1 piece of black card  (Papermill)

1 piece of Ivory linen card  (Papermill)

I piece of music patterned paper (Papermania, Bookprint)

Tonic Studios Punch and Stamp set - Peruvian Lily, Evening Primrose, Corncockle

Tonic Studios Peony Window die

Buttercup and Gold Promarkers 

Black ink

Deep pink/raspberry ink

Keyboard ribbon

How to make it..

1. Score and fold one sheet of white card in half to make a card blank. Matt a piece of music paper onto black card and attach to the card front.

2. Print "Just a note" onto white card leaving enough room all around to cut out with the Peony die.

3. Die cut and emboss. You'll only need the centre part but you can keep the white frame to use on another project.

4. Cut and emboss another Peony window from black card - this time it's the "frame" part you'll be using.

5.  Attach these parts to the card as shown.

 To make the flowers ( make 4 of these)

6. You'll need all 4 punches and the stamps from the Punch and Stamp set for the next part..

7. Punch out 3 large petals, 3 leaf shapes, 1 sepal and 1 stamen - all from ivory card.

8. Using the stamps in the set, stamp the shapes as shown.

9. Dab the edges with the ink pad or a finger dabber.

10. They should then look like this.

11. Add a little detail with the Buttercup and Gold Promarkers.

12. Now turn the petals over and curl them with the back of an embossing tool.

13. Cup the sepal with an embossing tool.

14. Dip the petals in glue and add to the sepal.

15. The finished flower. (Make another 3).

16. Punch 7 sepal shapes (oops, I've only photographed 6!)

Ink and colour them - then cup them with the embossing tool.

17. Attach to the card as shown. 

Tie a bow in the ribbon and twist the ends as you glue it to the card.

That's it for today :)

Belfast Craft Fair - King's Hall

I spent the last 3 days at the craft fair in the King's Hall, Belfast and it was a wonderful experience. A massive "Thanks" to all who came to the Crafty Devils stand and gave me so much support. I was so proud of you all and really appreciate all the encouragement you gave a fellow countrywoman!! I was truly overwhelmed by the kindness and thoughtfulness shown by so many. It was fantastic to meet all those who had traveled long distances and I hope you all enjoyed your day and all the different things on offer. A special "Thanks" to Anna Johnston for being so thoughtful as to quietly bring me some lunch and tea to the stand when you saw me wilting - I'll not forget that in a hurry!

I had a great time demonstrating my Punch and Stamp designs and the other Pick of the Bunch products by Tonic Studios and I hope all who joined me enjoyed it too. Looks like Ireland will be blooming this summer!!

I went armed with my camera and hoped to take lots of photos but the show was a lot busier than I expected and it never came out of my bag all day on Thursday. The top photo was taken when Nigel May, who was visiting the show for a few hours on Friday came over to say "Goodbye" before he caught his plane back home. ...if you read this, Nigel, it was lovely to see you again and I'll be in touch soon.

On Saturday I met another lovely lady with whom I've been "friends" for a few years but hadn't met before...."Pinky". Although we'd never met IRL I felt like I was with an old friend. However, as you can see from the photo, by that stage I looked like I had been "pulled through a hedge backwards" as we say in N. Ireland :)

Gorgeous new papers and tags from Tonic Studios

Tonic Studios have just released fantastic papers for the first time! The 8x8 pad is called "Beautiful Butterflies" and has 54 absolutely gorgeous sheets of double sided 190gsm paper. That's 3 sheets each of 18 different designs. There are also "Beautiful Butterflies" toppers to coordinate with the paper and in the card above you can see one of the new floral tags used with it.

You can catch Jodie demonstrating all this new release today again on Create and Craft ...

The paper I've chosen for this card makes a perfect card without having to spend a lot of time adding bits and pieces. It says it all without being too fussy.

I die cut the tag and drew around the petals while it was still in the die, ten added a little detail with Promarkers and glitter......

Well done, Tonic! Another winner!!

Needless to say, the white and black cardstock is from Papermill  - perfect for embossing :)

Thanks to all who came

A great big "Thanks" to all the lovely ladies (and gentlemen!) who joined me today at Hillmount Nurseries for a Tonic demo. I really enjoyed your company and hope you enjoyed the demo.

Thanks, too, to Rhonda for the invitation,and to Robin and Alan for the very warm welcome. I was sorry I didn't get photo of all who were there. Some were camera-shy and others had left before I remembered my camera. Anyhow, I hope you all have fun with the things you bought.

Don't forget that Tonic Studios are releasing beautiful papers tomorrow on Create and Craft for the first time  - I have mine here and they are gorgeous. Watch this space because I'll be making cards etc with them very soon.

 

New Home

Another "one I made earlier"...you may have seen this on Create and Craft about a month ago for the release of the 2nd two sets of Tonic Studios Punch and Stamps. Although this set is called Peruvian Lily, Evening Primrose and Corncockle and makes beautifully realistic flowers like those on the box, I have used it on this card with the Domed Window die and Dotty border punch to make a New Home card. The white cardstock is from Papermill and the background paper is from a book of maps..

I'm hectically busy at the moment but I'll try to keep adding photos of some other cards which I made for the same release which I haven't blogged yet.

Lots of you have been in touch to say you've got your sets now and want to see more cards using them so I'll do my best :)

Happy Anniversary

Can you believe it's April? I hope it's a bit warmer where you are...

My card today is my DT creation for the Stamping Sensations April challenge. The theme is  "Special Occasions other than birthday" so I've made an Anniversary card. As always, the other members of the Design Team have made a brilliant array of cards - and there is another super prize.........from PDA Card and Craft.

I have used one of Tonic studios gorgeous new Butterfly dies - ROSEA -  for the centrepiece and have added inked and twisted petals and stamen from the Peruvian Lily, Evening Primrose, Corncockle Punch and Stamp set.

All the cream card (ie the actual card, diecuts and flowers) were made with Rich Cream linen card from Papermill Direct.

A little bit of glitter and a piece of pink card behind the diecut, that's all there is to it..

Coordination :)

You know the pictures on the front of the Punch and Stamp boxes? Well, they were really only a starting place for your imagination. This lovely flower was made with the Rose, Pansy, Camelia, Gardenia set so you won't find it on the box but just by using the punches with the same papers that you've used for your background can create a beautifully coordinated card. On this one I have twisted the petals and attached two rows of them to a punched circle and added a button and pearl to the centre. It has been glued on top of  a Trellis Wall diecut and  the green twisted leaves are form the same punch set but the burgundy ons are from the Window Basket die set.

The gorgeous border was made with the Butterfly border punch :)