New Tonic release

This is another of the beautiful new Tonic Studios dies from this week's Pick of the Week - I've also used the Roseanna embossing folder in the centre and added some Punch and Stamp Roses and Just for You .

You can see these and all the super demos on Create and Craft this evening.

Santoro by Trimcraft

Have you seen the gorgeous new Santoro range by Trimcraft? I've just had a delivery and couldn't wait to get started .....I've used two of the precut cards in the 5x7  card pack to make an open easel card and used one of the Glitter stickers on bakers twine as a little "spinner" in the aperture.

...and this tag has been distressed and inked with the Dovecraft Neutral ink pad before adding lots of other gorgeous embellishments from the Santoro range - paper blossoms, lace ribbon, twine, rosette, glitter sticker and 12 x12 paper.

Ultra white Pearlised card offer from Papermill

It's Thursday evening - time for another great offer from Papermill. This week it's Ultra White Pearlised 300gsm  and you can buy a small box for £7.50.

Check it out on the OFFER page of the Papermill website HERE

I've used it to emboss and die cut on my card and tag and it has a really beautiful pearlescent sheen which makes it perfect for wedding stationery etc.

I've also used Purple Grape smooth card and coordinating ribbon.

The embossing folder is Tied Together by Creative Expressions and the dies are...With Love, Frond Finesse and Layering Butterflies  - all from Tonic Studios

Win a box of Buff card at Papermill!

You know how sometimes you just love some product and keep reaching for it no matter what you are making? Well, that's what has been happening lately to me with the Papermill Buff card.

It's just so adaptable  -  and I thought I'd share some of my "makes" with it here. 

It can be used as an accent or the main feature just as easily. The neutral tones can be picked up and complemented or used as a contrast. 

I've used it to matt and layer on the card above and also used it to diecut some Verdant Vine leaves.

The image is Cairn Terrier one of my drawings which you can find as a digi image on A Passion for Stamps and is coloured with Promarkers.

You can tell I love dogs :)

I've made a rosette with the Tonic Studios Regal Strip punch from buff card and added the Pups in Basket digi image on top  - this is on the front of a heart shaped gift bag. 

Look how well it takes an embossing folder (Cuttlebug Argylle to match the pattern on the slippers).

I hand cut a tag shape from the same card and cut some Maple leaves with the Cameo before inking the edges to show another way to use the buff card :)

Check the competition out HERE

Just in case you missed the Spring cards I made a couple of weeks ago using lots of this beautiful card - here they are again..

Clematis Montana (Rubens!)

Daffodil

Lily of the Valley 1

Lily of the Valley 2

New Tonic POW

Good morning :) Here's a card I made with a couple of different items which will feature in the new Tonic Studios Pick of the Week which starts tomorrow.....the three panels are made with the Rose Strip Intrica punch and the little flowers are made from the centre of the Rose Doily die.

Keep an eye on the blog and FB where I'm sure you'll see lots more inspiration and ideas over the next few days :)

Co. Down

Just sharing a few more photos for those who like to look at them - quick snaps, as usual, and it was a very windy day on Friday and the sky was really dark at times!! 

This is Kilkeel harbour and just looking at the photos again makes me a bit dizzy. It was so windy here that all the boats were rising and falling so much beside us that I was almost seasick:)

]

No matter what the weather is like it would be impossible to see  path like this and not go further...

Couldn't stay more than a few minutes because the wind was so strong and my ears were whistling!

Cranfield

Papermill offer - white light embossed card

Hello:) It's time for another super offer from Papermill. This week it is the beautiful white light embossed card which I've used for this sample I've used it in 3 different ways on one card - die cut, punched and embossed with the new Tonic Studios Roseanna A4 embossing folder.

It is 270gsm and you can buy a Midi box for £15.00.(approx 255 sheets) Have a look at the Papermill offer page for the details.

I teamed it up with Papermill Ocean blue card for a complete contrast and used the new Tonic Studios "Occasions" Pop up sentiment dies.
Ruth :)

Happy 30th Birthday

 I couldn't resist making one of my favourite tent cards with the new pop up dies which are Pick of the Day on Ideal World today! This uses the Occasions Pop Up set along with the Scalloped Arc border punch and Happy Birthday sentiment on the inside.

If you are creative at all you will soon be thinking up lots of different things you can make with these dies :)

Pop up :)

Have you seen the new Tonic Studios pop up sentiment dies and embossing folders? Tune in to Ideal World at 9.00pm  for Pick of the Day to see them all.

I've used the With Love pop up  on the inside of this white card with pale turquoise card from Papermill.

I used the outer die from the same set with a square layering die cut on top  - this time embossing it with the Amelia embossing folder and added Just for You on top.

The background paper is First Editions New Bloom :)

Cardmaking and Papercraft March 2014 issue...edited

 Good morning. My project for the latest issue of Cardmaking and Papercraft is a set of Sympathy cards.

I used the Roses and Lilies stamps which I designed for Tonic Studios and watercoloured them with Aquamarkers. They are all pastel shades and simple and elegant (hopefully) as I think this style suits best for sympathy cards.

.........and I have just realised that I have another project in the same issue ...

Happy Valentine's Day

Just when I thought I had finished making Valentine cards big son asked me to make one for his girlfriend. He liked the look of the slider card I made for yesterday's Papermill offer so I made a similar shape but with hearts - hope she likes it or I'll be in the bad books! 

I used the Tonic Studios Affections Square Base die with the Someone Special die for the centre. I used the Dotty border punch for the strip along the bottom of the main part and attached it with DST so it moves up and down with the slider.

Some glitter and silver mirror card to finish it off. :)

Postbox Red card on offer at Papermill

 This week's offer at Papermill is the beautiful Postbox Red which I've used on the slider card in the photo above. It's a lovely bright red - just perfect for this dull time of year.

You can buy 20 A4 sheets of this 240gsm card for £2.00

You can see the offer HERE

 I've teamed it with red Tulips ( a digi image from A Passion for Stamps ) which I've coloured with Poppy and Forest Green Promarkers. I added a corner from the Tonic Studios Emily Deco Frame dies and added a couple of parts which I cut off another die cut at the bottom.

The tab pulls the centre of the card up to reveal the "With Love" greeting and the borders were punched with the Doily border punch.

I've also made a quick little bookmark with one of the heart dies from the Tonic Studios  Someone Special dies and I've added a little Xcut button die cut on top with some faux stitching around the edges.

Daffodil, Clematis and Lily of the Valley

It's been ages since I added some of my drawings as digi images to my digi site  - A Passion for Stamps - but I've managed to get a few cards made to show some new additions. Above is "Daffodil on Stem" which I've coloured with Promorkers and mounted onto a 15cm card with a Tonic Studios Scalloped Circle in white and a Regal Doily die in beautiful kraft card from Papermill.

I drew this Clematis Montana because I have lots of it growing just outside my kitchen window and I love it.

Again, I have used the Tonic Studios Regal Doily dies and  Papermill white and kraft card.

This Lily of the Valley (1) digi can also be found on A Passion for Stamps and is coloured with Forest Green and Holly Promarkers with Crystal Dovecraft Glitter Glue on the flowerheads. This time I've used the matching Intrica Regal Border punch along with the Regal Doily die.

This is Lily of the Valley 2  which I've cut out and mounted onto a Regal doily die cut. I love the look of the kraft card with the flower images.

You can see these digis and lots more on my other blog  - A Passion for Stamps :)

Papermill offer

It's Thursday (in case you're like me and haven't been sure!) so it's time for another offer from Papermill Direct.....this week's it's "all white".

You can buy a box of luxury PLAIN WHITE A4 330gsm for just £5.00 (approx 70 sheets)

This lovely thick card is also available in a Megabox for just £35.00 for 600 sheets which is under 6p per sheet.
Papermill are also offering a mixed MEGA BOX of the two grammages for £35.00 for 600 sheets

You can also buy a box of plain white A4 240gsm for £5.00(approx 80 sheets)

This lighter weight card is perfect for punching, moulding, 3d projects, die cutting and much more.

See the Papermill Direct offer page HERE

I made a little card and matching gift box with the Tonic Studios Pillox Box die and Someone Special die set.

Spring is just around the corner..

Just looking at the bright colours made me want to take a photo even before I got these anywhere near a card! I printed off some digis from A Passion for Stamps and set to with my Promarkers. I'll add some photos when I finish the cards.

Embossing Papermill card

My blog post for Papermill this month looks at embossing (ie embossing with folders in a machine).

I use the Xcut Xpress for this on a setting of 6 for smaller folders and 6.75 for A4 folders.

I have a selection of  all the beautiful colours of Papermill cardstock and find them great for getting a clear embossed pattern every time.

I keep boxes of scrap card (colour grouped!) so I always have small pieces to work with as well as I tend to add smaller embossed elements to cards and other projects.

There are lots and lots of ways to use embossing folders which I will not be covering here but I may do in another post in the future ie inking your folder, using embossed/debossed card etc but in this post I'm going to show a few simple ideas to get started...

 Believe it or not I keep my embossing folders in their original packaging in clear plastic containers - grouped such as floral, male, symmetrical patterns etc.

 I use folders from various different companies.

Some folders are "frame" types are lend themselves to adding images, greetings or 3D elements                                                                          in the centre.

Because I have made a sympathy card, the embossing does not need too much added to it. This style of card is best kept simple.

Others look well with 3D elements added on top.

                                    It's a good idea to combine folders for a different look..

Another tip is to emboss a piece of card before punching to give more texture to a project.