Fuchsia Shadow box card

You can make so many more flowers than the ones on the fronts of the boxes!!

This is a shadow box card with one of my favourite flowers inside :)

You may have seen it on Create and Craft on Sunday as it's one I made and sent over for the shows.

The fuchsias inside are made from the punches in the Peruvian Lily, Evening Primrose,Corncockle set.

Full instructions are included inside.........as shown here

It uses these 2 punches from the set.

The box itself is made with card from Papermill Direct.
The shadow box is held together with Crafty Power Tape

and the flowers are held firmly in place using Medium Dodz from Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L

The aperture is framed with the Tonic Studios Fuchsia Window die and Clear Stamp Die Toppers coloured with Promarkers. I've used beautiful white card from Papermill Direct and the border punch is Dotty Border (which you'll find on lots of my cards as I looove it!)

Pocket full of Pansies

Today I have a little tutorial showing how I made a card with a pocket inside. It's a Mother's Day card in this instance but could be adapted to suit any occasion.

I have made it Pansy themed and added a few packets of Pansy seeds in the pocket inside. 

All made with Papermill Direct White Linen cardstock and stuck together with Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L

You'll need....White linen cardstock, new lilac and grape cardstock (both from Papermill) Mystick permanent adhesive, Crafty Power Tape, 60cm white satin ribbon, Tonic Studios Trellis Wall die, Tonic Studios Punch and Stamp set (Rose, Pansy, Camelia, Gardenia), white gel pen,black ink and tools.

To make the pocket card..

1. Cut 2 pieces of card measuring 18.5cm x 16.5cm and score at 1cm on the 16cm side. Fold both sides back.

2.Run a length of MyStik permanent adhesive along one of the folded 1cm edges.

3. Stick both sides together to form a card with a spine.

4. Cut a piece of white card measuring 19cm x 10cm and score at 1cm, 2cm 17cm and 18cm on one side and at 1cm and 2cm on the other side. I use my Tonic Studios Super Trimmer to do this quickly.

5. Cut off the 4 little squares at each side.

6. Add a length of Mystik along the pieces shown above, fold these back and stick together to form a pocket.

7. Attach the pocket centrally on the inside right hand side of the card.

8. Cut 2 pieces of new lilac Papermill cardstock slightly smaller than the card front and add a length of Crafty Power Tape all around the edges then attach a 30cm piece of ribbon as shown.  

9. Die cut 2 Tonic Studios Trellis Wall shapes and cut off 2.5cm from the bottom of both.

10. Matt and layer a piece of lilac gingham paper onto the plain cardstock and attach to the front of the card then join the Trellis Wall dies as shown.

I decorated the front of the pocket to match the card front and went to put the seeds inside......true to form, I can only find one packet! Where on earth did the others go? Oh,well. I'm sure I'll find them when I start to clear up the debris from making this card ;)

Making the Pansies..

Cards by Brenda...

I just have to share these beautiful cards - I didn't make them myself (but would have been proud to have done). They were all made by the very talented Brenda who has been using the new Tonic Studios Punch and Stamp sets to make gorgeous flowers. You'll find more inspiration on her blog here...Floral Fantasies.

Some more of  Brenda's cards are in the slideshow to the right of this post too.

Actually, I could keep on adding gorgeous cards but why don't you grab a cup of tea, check out her blog, sit back and enjoy...

Stamping Sensations DT card

This is my DT card for the March challenge at Stamping Sensations where the theme is The great Outdoors.

The challenge is sponsored this month by Crafty Individuals

Why don't you head on over to the blog and see the lovely cards the rest of the DT have made and join in.

 It's a bit different from my usual type of card because I don't normally use ready made toppers, however I was demoing some Riverside Revels goodies along with Tonic punches etc at Paperworks in Dungannon yesterday and fell for this little beauty. the colours really appealed to me and I couldn't resist it.

I have backed the topper onto a pretty Tonic Studios Butterfly Circle die and then set to work making some coordinating flowers from the backing papers with the Rose, Pansy, Camelia and Gardenia Punch and Stamp set with some additional leaves from the Window Basket die set.

Don't forget to check out my newest Punch and Stamp designs on Create and Craft today on Tool Shed from 12.00 midday -2.00pm and another show at 5.00pm (Tonic Studios)

New Punch and Stamp sets - Create and Craft on Sunday

This is just a little preview of the "fantasy flowers"- I'll show you lots more after Sunday :) - how you can use the stamps to make gorgeous realistic flowers.

There will be 2 more of my Punch and Stamp sets on Create and Craft on Sunday! I hope you like these as much as the last 2.

Again, I've made the petal shapes completely different  - soon you'll be able to make a whole bouquet!

They also can be used to make anything from simple flat flowers to fully 3D realistic looking blooms when you use them with the accompanying stamps.

Jodie will be demonstrating them on Create and Craft on Sunday on Tool Shed from 12.00 - 2.00pm and then at 5.00pm (with a repeat at 10.00pm). Both Jodie and I have made lots of lovely samples with them so, go on, have a look and let me know what you think...

Roses and kraft

Just having a play with some of the lovely new papers, ribbon and washi tape sent up from Paperworks, Dungannon - gorgeous!

Couldn't make a card without a good dose of Tonic too - check out the Rose stamp, Dotty border punch,Domed window die, Doily Square die and the Rose, Pansy, Camelia, Gardenia Punch and Stamp set.
The rose stamp is coloured again with my Promarkers.

Demo at Paperworks on Saturday

It's time to remind any local crafters that I'll be demoing some beautiful designs at Paperworks at the Linen Green in Dungannon on Saturday 2nd March from 11.00am - 4.oopm. I'm really looking forward to it as I enjoyed my last demo there so much. There will be lots of floral ideas using many of my own designs of dies, stamps and punches....and the new Punch and Stamps will get an airing too. I hope all the lovely ladies (and also the patient gentlemen who waited on their other halves!) can make it this time too.See you there. (Hope you can make it too, Lena!)

These little flowers were made from the Tonic Studios Rose, Pansy, Camelia, Gardenia Punch and Stamp set. I have made the flowers from the 2 different petal sizes and threaded them onto a set of battery lights.

Tonic Studios at Stitches Trade show

It has taken a couple of days to get my feet back on the ground after the show...literally! I wore high heeled boots (with a pair of "flatties" in my bag!) until I reached the airport to go home and my feet are killing me!

I just wanted to share a few photos from the trip with you.The top one was taken with the lovely Lucy - an adorable new addition to the "Tonic Team"

Mark and Mike 

Mark in Monday mode...

 Lucy keeping my seat warm :)

 With Betina from Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L

With Jodie, Leonie Pujol and Lucy

 With Gareth

 Mike and David helping to pack up after the show

 David (my hubby) helping to take the stand down when it was all over.

 All hands on deck!

Simon and Gareth packing the van.

After all that it was a quick trip to the airport and a lovely flight home to Belfast.

Lots of news today..

Wooo, I'm so busy at the moment I can't remember when I last slept! Flowers, flowers and more flowers - our house is beginning to resemble Kew Gardens. And before you think I got a massive bouquet for Valentine's Day, think again. I've been making lots and lots of samples of punched flowers.

 I have three exciting bits of news to share today...in chronological order (not bad for a Thursday!)

1.  I have just been informed that as of today I am now officially a member of the Design Team for Papermill!! I've been using their superb quality paper and card for years now and am delighted to be able to share my projects on their blog and Facebook page now too. Why not have a look at the Papermill blog to see who else has been picked. You'll love their creations.

2.   I will be heading over to Birmingham on Sunday and will be at the Craft Hobby and Stitch trade show on Monday and Tuesday demoing for Tonic Studios. I'm really looking forward to meeting up with all the guys from Tonic as well as lots of others who have been in touch - hopefully my new friends from Papermill too.

Keep an eye out for lots of photos when I come home.

3.   Last, but not least, a little bit of advance notice of a demo. I'll be demoing my new Punch and Stamp sets along with other lovely things at Paperworks, Linen Green, Dungannon on 2nd March for the lovely Heather. I'll post another reminder of this in a separate post when I come back from NEC. I am really hoping to see some of the ladies who made it such a great day the last time!

IDEAL WORLD TOMORROW

A little heads up about some shows on Ideal World tomorrow..

Jodie Johnson will be demoing some gorgeous new Tonic craft goodies on Ideal World tomorrow at

 6.00 pm, 8.00 pm and 12.00 am.

She's been busy for days making beautiful samples so try not to miss!

To answer your questions....

I've had quite a few messages and emails about the flower punches and what flowers they make so I hope this helps...

At the moment there are 2 sets available as shown in the photos above. I designed 4 punches with 4 small coordinating stamps. These have been manufactured by Tonic Studios and come in boxed sets with a little acrylic cylinder and booklet of instructions on how to make the flowers shown on the boxes. (Of course, there are many more flowers possible from each combination and also by combining the 2 sets - the only limit is your imagination)

These sets were released by Tonic at CHA, USA on Create and Craft on Jan 13th  and were subsequently exclusive to C&C for 1 month. The set to the right above sold out completely and the set to the left is low in stock. They will be available from other retail outlets very soon - I'll keep you posted.

Just to show you again ...these are just some of the possible flowers from each individual set

Hope that clarifies things a little  - but feel free to get in touch if you need to ask anything else.