Ballygally - blowing the cobwebs away

 A quick visit this afternoon to one of my favourite places to get the cobwebs blown away. I haven't been too well for a couple of weeks and this was a great place to clear my head. It was so windy that the foam from the sea was mixed with snow and the only way you could tell the difference was the taste! I could hardly hold the camera.

Demo at Fieldmaster, Clonmel next Saturday(7th Feb)

Just a little update on my demo at Fieldmaster Clonmel Ltd next Saturday (7th Feb). I'll be demoing the Trimcraft Sweet Paris collection, some lovely Trimcraft First Edition dies and papers along with Promarkers etc.

Looking forward to seeing some of you there 

I've used the Sweet Paris 8x8 papers to decorate this bottle and added flowers which I made from the same papers cut with the Trimcraft Flower dies.

I've used Mod Podge to attach and seal the papers to the bottle.

If Friends were Flowers..........

It's not really a day for picking flowers because of the snow.....but the sentiment still applies!

I've inked an Annabel embossing folder with blue ink and used it as as background, then added a frame made with the Deco Oval Trellis die set with the sentiment from the If Friends Were Flowers..die set. 

A little touch of glitter glue and baker's twine.........that's it !

Ruth :)

Demo updates

Just in case you missed the update in the sidebar - I'll be heading out and about to demo again, starting next week. I've had a few weeks off from travelling but I've been kept very busy with new projects in the meantime. Now it's almost time to "hit the road" once more and I'm really looking forward to catching up with lots of you again!

My dates for February are..

Sat 7th Feb - Fieldmaster, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary

Sat 21st Feb - Crafty Angels, Newbridge, Co. Kildare

Sat 28th Feb - Crafty Copy, Larne

You'll see other dates for March and April there but there will also be a few more which I'll add as soon as I get confirmation on when and where.

As always, in some of these places I'll be demoing for Tonic Studios and at others I'll be demoing Trimcraft and Promarkers etc ......and will be "doing it all together" at certain venues. I'll give the details closer to each date. Either way, I'm ready to get out there again and will be demoing some different products as well in a couple of months' time - but more of that later ;)

Mod Melts and Mod Molds - from Mod Podge

I've been trying out some of the super Mod Melts and Mod Molds from Mod Podge and trying various ways of adding colour to them in addition to the obvious acrylic paint.

These are the some Melts and Molds. The Melts are available in Milk Glass White and Beach Glass Clear.

A selection of moulds (Mod Molds)

How I used them...

1. I selected the Eiffel Tower mould from the Travel set and melted a Milk Glass White Melt in a glue gun and filled the mould.

2. If there is any excess glue around the edges when you remove the object from the mould it is very easily removed with a small pair of sharp scissors.

3. I used Dimensional Fabric paint by Plaid ( this is obviously not its intended use - but it works!).

I added a few drops of Black shiny and Silver Glitter to a plastic paint tray and used a small brush to apply.

4. After two thin coats of Black Shiny. This takes very little time as it dries very quickly.

5. The one on the left has had one coat of Black Shiny, followed by a coat of Silver Glitter. The one on the right has had two coats of Black Shiny and a coat of Silver Glitter.

6. I used the finished Eiffel Tower to embellish a little tag.

7. I used and ink pad to colour the little birds in the centre and Gilding Wax (Lefranc and Bourgeois) to add colour to the border on the right.

8. I used alcohol ink to colour this heart.

New Tonic dies - Deco Oval Trellis

 Tonic Studios have just released some more gorgeous new dies on Create and Craft and I've made a card using one of the sets - Deco Oval Trellis .

I've made an easel card and cut it so that the trellis part stands up. Then I added some Cameo Boutique paper to the centre with a Dream sentiment on top.

The strip along the bottom of the card was made with the Twine Buckle dies.

I've added a couple of corners from the Just for You set along with a Delicate Dragonfly Petite Rococo die cut.

The next show is at 3.00pm today

I've used ruby red and white hammered card from Papermill

Thinking of you - new Tonic Studios release

Hello! Today I've made one of those cards which we all need to make from time to time. It's lovely to have a set of dies which actually does the job perfectly and is so well coordinated. Every apart of this card (except the baker's twine, of course) was made with the new Tonic Studios "Thinking of You" die set.

I put some aqua coloured ink on the little embossing die before I used it and then cut it out with the circle die from the set.

I have used white hammered and teal card from Papermill

TRIMCRAFT Project - mixing die sets to make "watches"

 I love finding other things which you can make with dies as well as what they were intended for.

 The sets I've used in the sample card to create a "watch" are - Border Dies and Vintage Gentleman Dies.

 As soon as I saw the Trimcraft Border dies I had the idea of using them as "watch bracelets"

This is how to make one...

1. Die cut a border to use as a bracelet, a pair of glasses and a pocket watch.

2. Following the curves, cut off one circle from the glasses and the face from the watch.
Position gold card under the clock hands and die cut.

 3. Place the hands in the centre of the watch (attach at the back with double sided tape), glue the circle on top and then die cut button (from the Buttons set) from gold card.

4. Add the face to the watch with a  3D square .

                      These are the dies I used to make the others....with extra dies from the                                                                 following sets..Flowers, Lock and Key and Buttons.

I used white card for the face of this watch and added Modge Podge 3D Magic in the centre.

The other elements I've used for the card are from the Trimcraft Sweet Paris collection.

Papermill - Win a die set from Tonic Studios

Have a look at the latest news from Papermill to see what you have to do to be in with a chance of winning this beautiful embossing folder and die set from Tonic Studios.

I've made a card using it to show you just one of the ways it can be used.

The Idyllics Embossing Folder and Die set comprises 10 individual dies and a coordinating embossing folder. I've used some of the dies from the set to make this card - and, of course I've used white hammered, black smooth and post box red cardstock from Papermill.

New Tonic Studios Cameos

 New to the Tonic Studios range - beautiful cameos! The Cameo collection is being released on Create and Craft live from CHA at the moment - you can catch the next show at 7.00pm this evening.

I've used one of the Cameos with dies from the new Just For You die set and paper from the new Cameo Boutique paper set.

I've added these to the sides of a Tonic Multi Sided Lantern Box.

The card I've used is white hammered and buff from Papermill

Sweet Paris Canvas

I've been wanting to make a canvas with this beautiful Sweet Paris collection from Trimcraft since I got it and was happy to actually have time to make one last night.

The whole collection goes so well together it becomes more of a question of "what not to use" rather than what to add in.

I've been to Paris a few times and there is just something about the Eiffel Tower....I love the shape and am drawn to anything which has it on it.

I distressed the edges of 8x8 paper for the background and added some 6x6 paper on top along with  some of the gorgeous new Trimcraft dies to decorate the corners, behind the wooden frame and along the top and bottom of the 6x6 paper.

 I've also used a wooden frame, resin flowers, accordion sticker, wooden Eiffel Tower, pearls, lace ribbon and "Paris" die cut.

Aunty - Tonic Dies

Today's card is quick and simple - just a little "silhouetting" to emphasize the main die cuts. 

I've used the Ascot Pillbox die and the "Aunty" die from the Family Members Die Set 2 and have cut these both in white hammered and teal card (both colours from Papermill).

The corner die cuts are made with the "Someone Special" set and I've added some glitter glue to the centres of the hearts. There are debossed lines in the hair so I added some glitter glue there too to coordinate.

Sweet Paris themed flower card

I've been using some more of the gorgeous Trimcraft Sweet Paris collection again today - and this time I've combined the embossing folder, ribbon, doily, sticker and resin flower with some die cuts.

I used the new Trimcraft Window dies - cut out one of them 8 times, pinched the bases together and made a big flower.

There are always more than one way to use dies - just try to think outside the box and you'll get lots more uses for them!