Bonfire night card - black card offer from Papermill

Today's offering is another tent card, this time made with beautiful Black Buckram embossed card which is on offer at Papermill. It is 270gsm and you can buy 20 sheets for £5.00.

You can find the offer HERE

 Buckram embossed has been created to look exactly like real Buckram which is the fabric that is used to cover hardback books.  Take a hardback book off your shelf, remove the dust cover and you’ll be able to feel the lovely cloth like texture of this card.

The Design Team were asked to create something inspired by Fireworks with this card so I made another of my tent cards with the Tonic Studios Indulgence Elegant Vine Square die and some punched Multi Detail stars suspended down the centre aperture. I've added a little battery tealight again and it really does the trick with this one :)

I've also made a little treat box to match.
You really ought to pay a visit to the Papermill blog to see the gorgeous creations made by the rest of the Design Team.

Perfume bottle card

This is another card made with some of the beautiful new Tonic Studios dies  -  you can see them on Create and Craft today at 5.00pm and 11.00pm.

I've used the Perfume bottle tag die  on top of the Chic Antique tag oval die with floral paper in behind for a more subtle look. 

I've added some glitter to the top and followed the embossing with a bow and floral paper. 

The flowers on the card were made with the Peruvian Lily, Evening Primrose and Corncockle Punch and Stamp set with parts of the Sensational Sprig set behind.

The border was punched with the Loopy Lace border punch.

RDS on Saturday

Hello again...I'll be at the RDS in Dublin at the Craft Fair on Saturday and am looking forward to seeing lots of the lovely folk I met in Dublin on my last visit! I'll be on the Crafty Devils stand with lots of Tonic Studios goodies so please do come along and say "Hello". It will be my first time there so I'll be very glad to see some friendly faces  - you know who you are!!!

See you there!

Cardmaking and Papercraft

Time for a cuppa:)  My Christmas issue of Cardmaking and Papercraft has just slipped through the letterbox..and I'm delighted once again to see how my latest projects have been staged and photographed for the magazine. I made a cake band and toppers  - and would love to pretend I made the cake, pies and pudding too but it's been a long time since I baked a Christmas cake.

They have even managed an appearance on the front cover too :)

Now, I just can't leave it without pointing out p70!! I have a couple of cards in the Q&A section but look who's there....

Yep......it's Thumper!! He was at my heels everywhere I went for 7 years and it still brings a tear to my eyes when I think about him. He had a state of the art hutch etc but preferred to sleep in a big flower pot in the summerhouse at the bottom of the garden. During the day he had the full run of the garden in all weathers and the 2 photos I used for the card here shows him in the garden in summer and then in the snow.

Buzzing around

Not my usual colours but I love the contrasts. The card looks bright and cheerful on my worktop on a grey morning like this. Believe it or not, I have actually been buzzing around so much that our clocks have still not been changed!! I'm just going to do it now as it's getting a bit confusing..

I cut out the lovely background with my Silhouette Cameo and the rest of the card "just happened" after that!

All the card used is top quality cardstock from Papermill -  White, Black and Daffodil Yellow and it cuts beautifully.

The rest of the "tools" are from Tonic Studios.....flowers made with the Peruvian Lily, Corncockle and Evening Primrose Punch and Stamp set: Domed Window die (with the top removed); Celtic Square die and the bee is from the Clear Stamp Die Topper set and is coloured with Promarkers.

The greeting is from the Watch the Birdie stamp set 2 stamped onto a tag from the Butterfly Beautiful Topper and die set.

Tonic Indulgence and tag dies

Good morning! I've used the same Papermania paper to make another Christmas card - this time with the brand new Tonic Studios Indulgence and tag dies. I've been waiting for something symmetrical for ages so as soon as I saw the Antique Mirror tag I just knew it would make a lovely 3D bauble. I cut out 5 mirror tops for each bauble and glued them together. I also took photos as I did it so I'll add them in a day or two when you've actually got your dies :)

Don't forget these gorgeous new dies are on Create and Craft as Pick of the Week....and are selling fast!

The card used is Papermill Purple Grape and Rich Cream linen.

Christmas projects - card, stars and crackers

 I've been using my Tonic Studios Indulgence Elegant Vine Square die again. This time I cut the two dies out in Papermill Purple Grape and Rich Cream card and offset them to create a shadow effect. Then I cut out a Cracker Tag die in cream, decoupaged the centre and embossed it with a dotty folder and added some glitter. The flowers are made with the 2 petal sizes from the Carnation, Sweet William, Peony Punch and Stamp set. The beautiful swirls are from the Frond Finesse die set.

The background paper is First Noel 12x 12 paper pad.

 These cute little star boxes are made with the Tonic Studios Star die and Papermill White, Forest Green, Kraft and Ruby Red card along with some Stickles, silver card and ribbon.

 The crackers were made with the Tonic Studios Cracker die. The one on the left is made from Papermill cream linen card with a Multi Detail punched Snowman and Gothic border punched pieces glued on behind.

For the 2nd cracker I have used the Tonic Studios Vintage Christmas Cracker die pad and added a border punched with the Gothic border punch onto Papermill cream linen card to elongate it.

Belfast Lough

It was just such a gorgeous day I had to take more photos. I only had about half an hour to have the walk but the sun was shining and I felt so privileged to live so close to this beautiful scenery. 

Whiteabbey

Towards Belfast with Harland and Wolff shipyard in the background

Towards Belfast

Belfast Lough

Chic Antique and Mannequin

This  card is made with some of the new Tonic Studios dies which will be on Create and Craft as Pick of the Week tomorrow.......you're going to love these - there are so many gorgeous ones this time.

I've used the Chic Antique Oval Base die set with the Mannequin Tag and it was a great excuse to add buttons, thread,tape measure embossing etc.

The ribbon is Apricot 10mm matt grosgrain from Fantastic Ribbons.

The kraft, mocha brown and white card are all from Papermill

Papermill Calendar

Have you seen the 2014 Create a Calendars from Papermilldirect? They are available in 2 sizes and are a great way to give a personalised gift. 

I've shown a photo of my May page here with a photo of our son,Andrew, who will be 20 in May (guess who's going to be mortified if he sees this?!!)

I've used the Tonic Studios Vine border punch and Frond Finesse dies at the sides.

Just as a coincidence, this photo was taken years ago in the Lake District where the Papermill paper and card is manufactured.
He look so cute here - hard to believe he's 19 now and 6'1.

Tent card and tealight

Oops! This may be the start of an addiction.....tent cards and tealights (battery, of course!). There is something fascinating about the light coming through the delicate die cut patterns of the Tonic Studios Verso dies that just makes me want to make more and more of these. In this card I've used two of the dies from the Decorative Bow Rings set to create a central pattern and added 4 gold corners from the Fanciful Flourish die set.

As the actual card is a 15cm square I cut a strip of card 15cm x 6cm to create the "tent" effect. I scored this at 1cm, 3cm and 5cm on the short side; folded the centre score upwards so that the card would lie flat when closed; and folded the two edges down and added a strip of DST to each to attach them to the card.

Thanks, Donegal Stationery

A massive thanks to Bernie and staff and all the lovely ladies who came along to Donegal Stationery today for my demos. You really made it a great day - and what can I say - it's the first time I've ever been held at (glue)gunpoint during a demo!!...Eilish . Just managed to catch a few of you in these photos but there will be more of you in the local newspaper next week! I'm looking forward to my next visit already!!

If you're ever in the area you really should call in - plenty of lovely crafty goodies and other art equipment as well as general stationery....not to mention the very friendly staff :)

As well as having fun we did actually get through a lot of demos - crackers, Verso dies, Indulgence dies, tags, Punch and Stamps etc.

It's a beautiful drive from Belfast to Letterkenny and the scenery is breathtaking. Early this morning, however, the fog was really thick on the top of the Glenshane Pass.

I did enjoy my lunch,too - especially the hot chocolate fudge cake with fresh cream (maybe I mentioned that once or twice!!), then a lovely 2 hour drive home with a stop off for fish and chips on the edge of Lough Neagh.

Great offer from Papermill

 FREE SHIPPING ON ALL ORDERS OVER £25.00!!

Just use the code OCT25 between 5.00pm today (Friday) and 5.00pm Monday 

Have a look at the Christmas Goodies page to see the fantastic card offers along with the brilliant new Luxury Artist Pads which come in A2, A3 amd A4 sizes.

These pads are top quality watercolour paper (made in the English Lake District) and are ideal for sketching, painting, mixed media etc.

..and the Create a Calendar 2014 which ideal for creating personalised gifts for family and friends.

Demo at Donegal Stationery, Letterkenny on Saturday

Just a couple of my samples for the demo at Donegal Stationery on Saturday. We'd love your company if you are in the area and free :)

Double take -2 ideas with the same dies

Over the next few weeks I'll be adding some cards to my blog/galleries etc showing various ideas using the Tonic Studios Indulgence dies. These were released several weeks ago as Christmas dies with an ornate oval and square outer and a simple tag shape in the centre.They look stunning when used with the 4 Christmas tag dies which were designed to be used with them but they also lend themselves to lots of other beautiful ideas.

Today's two cards show how well they look when used with the Domed Window die in the centre.

The first card has a background of Tonic Studios Butterflies Beautiful paper with corners from the Fanciful Flourish die set

Secondly, I've made a Christmas design with Papermania "First Noel" paper as the background and die cut the Oval shape and Window Basket die in gold, then added a little Roman blind with a Delicate Lattice border. I've added a Poinsettia from the Clematis, Lily, Poinsettia Punch and Stamp set, ivy from the Window Basket die, punched Classic Snowflakes and Verdant Vines swirl in the corners.

Demoing in Donegal Stationery, Letterkenny

I'm really looking forward to demoing in Donegal Stationery on Saturday and am looking forward to seeing Bernie and the staff with all the others who come along. If you are in the area do call in - you'll be sure of a great welcome!

Belfast Lough

I've been busy, busy for a while now and it was so lovely just to have a half hour's walk along the shores of Belfast Lough just a couple of minutes down the road from here. I know from all the emails I get and from being out and about at demos etc that there are plenty of people who read my blog who love seeing local photos but as they don't have blogs or Facebook themselves can't leave any comments - well this is for you :)

As always, they are not the best photos but I really do appreciate the beautiful scenery all around here.

These were taken at Hazelbank and you can just about see the Knockagh monument in the background of the photo above.

The steps down from the carpark.

Looking up towards Belfast.

The Cave Hill in the background.

Walking back to the carpark - you can just see Carrickfergus in the background.

This odd looking fish is just between the carpark and the walkway.