Monday 30 September 2019

Demo, Mandel's Art Shop, Castlebar, Co. Mayo


Next stop, Mandel's Art Shop Castlebar, Co. Mayo!
I'm busy sorting out all my demo prep at the moment for Saturday (5th October) and can't wait to see Nora again!
So...I'll be demoing Promarkers (amongst other things!) on Saturday and this is what happens when I start to look at the colours....flowers appear on my sketch pad lol
I forget everything when I'm playing with these pens!

Thursday 26 September 2019

Demo at Hillmount Garden Centre, Belfast. Sat 28th Sept


 I'm really enjoying creating backgrounds with Shimmer Powder to use along with patterned paper and dies. This is one of the cards I'll be making at my demo on Saturday in HILLMOUNT, Belfast. Everything is from Tonic Studios.
(demo times 11.00am - 4.00pm)





Cardmaking and Papercraft Magazine Nov 2019 (issue 201)


This is one of my cards in the November issue (201) of Cardmaking & Papercraft Magazine. This edition should be in your local newsagents within the next couple of days. Not only is it full of amazing card ideas and instructions but it also has a super free gift of a set of Nutcracker stamps with a pack of card and toppers.




Saturday 21 September 2019

Tonic Studios Craft Kit 26


Craft Kit 26 is called "Making Spirits Bright" and has lots of dies, stamps, papers and embellishments which can be used to make Christmas cards with baubles and banners.
The papers and card range from ice blue to deep blue with plenty of texture and shine.
I've shown what's in the box and also how to make a dimensional card. I've also added photos of another simple card using the same kit. I've used several of the elements from the kit and also some white card and 2 dies from the Stitched Dot Square Layering Die Set (2380e)
I hope you enjoy it - and of course, please "like" the video and subscribe to my channel to see more.
The kits are available from Tonic Studios either on subscription or as a single purchase and you can find the details here - https://www.tonic-studios.co.uk/pages/kit-options.

Thanks for watching :) 




Wednesday 11 September 2019

How to make a Pop up easel card with Trimcraft's Winter Rose papers


I have seen some cards with a similar shape and wanted to recreate one with a Christmas theme so  I used the gorgeous new "Winter Rose" papers from Trimcraft .

You'll need:
Trimcraft FE Winter Rose 12 x 12 paper pad Trimcraft FE Traditional Christmas dies FEDIE256x18 Simply Creative Gold Skinny Tinsel Simply Creative Snowflake Sequins( sorry they are in the wrong packet in the photo!) Simply Creative Decorative Clear Tape SCTOP069x19 Simply Creative Wreath die Dot & Dab Tacky Glue Dot & Dab Foam Tape white card die cutting machine

How to make it:
1. Score and fold a 12 x 12 sheet of double sided paper into quarters. Then score and fold the top two quarters diagonally as shown. Cut a 14cm square of patterned paper and cut diagonally in half. Glue each half onto the top folded sections of the card.
Make a slit from the centre of the card to the bottom edge.

2. To make the little easel part - 
Cut a piece of white card measuring 20cm x 10cm and fold in half on the long side . Then score and fold the front in half to create the easel part.

3. Cut paper to the sizes shown - 
1 plain piece 9.5cm x 9.5cm and another 9cm x 9xm.
1 patterned piece 8cm x 8cm and another 8cm x 2cm
Cut a piece of white card measuring 8.5cm x 2.5cm

4. Die cut the wreath and greeting from white card and fussy cut 2 stags' heads from the paper pad.



5. Glue the base of the little easel diagonally onto the left side of the paper as shown and cover the base with the 9.5cm square of plain paper. Layer the patterned strip onto the white strip and add to the card with foam tape.

6. Layer the pieces as shown and glue on the die cuts.

7. Glue the stags' heads below the top fold as shown.

8. Cut out a pheasant from  the pad and glue below the easel. Add some snowflakes to teh patterned paper.

9. Add a strip of washi tape above the centre fold of the card and another short strip across the easel stopper, on top of the patterned paper.

10. Cut a strip of white card measuring 29.5cm x 6cm and fold in half. Cut 2 pieces of plain paper measuring 14.25cm x 5.5cm and 2 pieces of patterned paper measuring 13.75cm x 5cm. Glue the patterned paper onto the plain paper and attach to each side of the fold of the white card. Punch two circles of paper.

11. Punch a hole at each end. Thread a length of skinny tinsel through each ole, glue at the back and cover the glued end with a punched circle of patterned paper.

You can see a video on how to make the card here - 



Nova Watercolour Markers from Trimcraft - video

 I've been experimenting with Trimcraft's new Nova Watercolour Markers. You can see how it went on this video :)






Monday 9 September 2019

Pebeo samples

Good morning :)
I'm doing as little tidy up this morning and sorting out some samples to take to my demo in the art and hobby Shop, Jervis St, Dublin on Saturday. I don't think I've posted photos of these samples before so took a photo before I pop them in the box. These show all different types of finishes and I'll be back later to detail each one :)

Resin Buttons - Pebeo

 I'm gathering up a nice little collection of resin buttons! I use all my surplus crystal resin to make buttons so I keep the mould handy :)

Gedeo moulds from Pebeo

 I've used the Gedeo "Delicacies" Mould to make these little shapes.


I used tiny amounts of resin with glitter and paint in the moulds to create the two tone effect, left to cure overnight and then added the top layer.

 I used the Animal moulds for these little cuties :)




Resin moulded shapes on name plaques - Pebeo

 A couple of ideas with resin animal moulds for those of you who are busy making for craft fairs 
I used Gedeo Crystal Resin and Animal moulds. The writing was done with Derwent Paint Pens.

 I used Caribbean Blue and Turquoise Fantasy Prisme for the background and added grey apint and a little glitter to the resin in the mould.


Resin Marigolds - Pebeo

I have a garden full of marigolds and this is a good way to save some for winter :)

I used Gedeo Crystal Resin from Pebeo to capture the flowers, which I had pressed for a couple of weeks. I found that it worked best with marigolds and hypericum - possibly the waxy coating on the flowers helped - as some other flowers lost their colours slightly.

Fantasy Feather video - Pebeo

Here's another video I posted on YouTube.
Pébéo Fantasy Moon and Prisme on a feather and canvas.
Hope you like it :)

Link below


Fantasy Feather - Pebeo

Apricot and Pearl "Moon" Fantasy with a little Vitrail Glitter Medium,all from Pébéo, on a feather. I'm sure this is the first of many!

Fantasy Butterfly box

I have used some of the Fantasy mediums from Pebeo to decorate the lid of this little butterfly shaped trinket box lid and love how it turned out :)
I used Turquoise Vitrail, Cherry Blossom Prisme, Glitter Medium and Silver Cerne Relief.

Setacolor Fabric Paint - Pebeo (different fabrics)

 When I started using the Setacolor Fabric Paints from Pebeo a while back I tried them on different fabrics to see what the results would be like. You can see here how they looked on hessian, denim and faux leather - I'm really pleased!


 I painted a freehand leaf shape on the faux leather with Olive Opaque (83).

 Then I added some Cinnamon (93) and Brick Shimmer Opaque (63)

Next I added more detail with Chocolate (88)  and White (10)

 I used Raspberry Opaque (81), Oriental Red Shimmer (64) and Purple Shimmer (65) with Olive opaque (83) for the Rose on denim.

I used Buttercup Opaque(13) with Brick Shimmer (63), Chocolate (88) and Olive (83) for the Sunflower on hessian.