The Last Post

Hello crafting friends and, well, sadly, it's also goodbye from me.

This blog grew up on the simple principle that I would provide you with crafting inspiration from Monday to Friday, with a few laughs thrown in, if you would place your Stampin' Up orders with me sometimes. I am deeply grateful that some of you did. I'm also humbled to have received emails from all over the world admiring my designs - and some of you seemed to like the little anecdotes at the end of each post too! The icing on my cake was being chosen to represent the UK on Stampin' Up's Artisan Design Team - what a proud moment and a wonderful year working with some amazing talent!

I want to say a really huge thank you to everyone that has supported my business over the last five years. Thanks too to all my regular readers and everyone who has left messages here for me. I have loved reading them and am always bowled over by our wonderful crafting community :)

EDITED TO ADD: Thank you so very much for your heartwarming messages and good wishes. It's wonderful to feel so appreciated! 

THREE WAYS TO SAY GOODBYE
This blog featured my lovely family so much that I asked my daughter and youngest son what they thought should go in my last post. They discussed it with great enthusiasm and these punning cards were the result! Come and see:

Actually this one was my idea! What a cutie this little duck is and he's happy to be stamped onto designer paper! The banner from Endless Thanks is perfect for freshening up the traditional images in The Wilderness Awaits. I've doodled my apt sentiment inside the banner but you may feel happier using the beautiful greetings provided with the set!

My son came up with this idea and I thought it was hysterical! The lettuce image is from Market Fresh, coloured with an aquapainter and inks. I inked up the banner and part of the sentiment again, this time with a grey marker, stamped it and cut it out before adding the word 'leaf' where it said 'celebrate' before! Clever huh?! (Now it says 'let us leave' for those that are struggling!)

This one is courtesy of my daughter and made me giggle too. The cutie patoot cat is from You Little Furball, and she's sashaying about on a Dotty Angles background. I doodled the punning sentiment, cut it out with the Washi Label punch and finished the card with a bow tie snipped out of card stock with a tiny star punch :)

I hope we've given you a giggle with these cards and perhaps a tiny last bit of inspiration too!

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THESE CARDS NOW!
Click on any item to be transported to my online shop!

The Wilderness Awaits Wood-Mount Stamp Set £22.00	Dotty Angles Photopolymer Stamp Set £14.00	Endless Thanks Photopolymer Stamp Set £14.00	You Little Furball Wood-Mount Stamp Set £23.00
Market Fresh Wood-Mount Stamp Set £21.00	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad £6.00	Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad £6.00	Washi Label Punch £16.00

My shop is open all day today but will close from tomorrow 1st August 2015.

You may not be able to buy Stampin' Up supplies from me after today, but there are some other wonderful demonstrators flying the flag for these fabulous products!

• Lizy Bartaby who blogs regularly and is a constant inspiration with her beautiful, CAS designs.
She also holds classes and offers parties in Bolton and the North West.
• Jan Malcolm whose blog I love for its cheerful, chatty style and who offers parties in Hertfordshire
• Yvonne Potterton who loves to help people discover and develop their creativity.
She offers parties and classes in the Leicestershire area.
• Jackie Collins whose passion for crafting is infectious and who offers classes and parties in the Bedfordshire area.
• Em Fairley, regular blogger, pillar of the online crafting community and all round stamping queen!

I'll leave you with a scene from Crafting Clare Towers, where Eva pup is feeling a bit bored.

"I know," she's saying. "I'll have a look for that pussycat - I'm sure she'll want to play! Have you seen her anywhere?"

Take good care of yourselves and enjoy your crafting!

Hugs,

The arty fox! Acrylic block image colouring tutorial

I've been stamping with Stampin' Up's The Wilderness Awaits stamp set and have come up with a really fun arty technique for you to try. Come and see:

This fox is a real cutie isn't he?! Do you like the way I've coloured him in this abstract, watercolour style?

It's so easy to do this!

ACRYLIC BLOCK IMAGE COLOURING TUTORIAL

Here's what you'll need:

The Wilderness Awaits stamp set
Markers (I used Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi and Cajun Craze)
Stazon ink pad
Stamp-a-majig
Stampin' Up's fab new extra thick white card stock
An acrylic block (I used E)
Water in a spritzer (I used an empty Stampin' Mist bottle)

Here's what to do:

Stamp the fox onto your Stamp-a-majig imaging sheet using Stazon ink.

Turn the imaging sheet over so Foxy is facing the other way.

Place the acrylic block over the back-to-front image, so that it shows through, and roughly colour the block with markers using the image as a guide.

Spritz the block with water. I gave mine two spritzes from about 15cm (6") away - you don't want to make it too wet.

Stamp firmly onto the card stock using a surface with some 'give' - the Stampin' Pierce Mat is perfect for this. Admire the arty way the ink pools! Each time you do this you'll come up with something unique :)

Give the inky background a few minutes to dry, then ink Mr Fox up with Stazon ink and, using the stamp-a-majig, position the stamp so that the colours of the background correspond with the image. Don't worry if the colours overlap - it's all part of the arty look!

Add detail with the markers if you like, then add a greeting. See how different the images can look depending on how much water you spritz? The one on the left has more water, the one on the right has less (you can get a closer look if you click on the photo.)

So what do you think? Do you fancy having a go? Let me know how you get on won't you!

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THIS CARD NOW!
Click on any item to be transported to my online shop!

My shop is open 24/7 so you can buy Stampin' Up products from me any time, day or night.

If you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

While I was typing up this post, my youngest son came up behind me to talk about something he needed for school. When we'd dealt with that he looked at the screen and smiled. "And now," he said in a David Attenborough voice. "Foxes!"

It's Artisan Design Team blog hop day tomorrow and you'll definitely want to come and have a look because it's all about Packaging! See you tomorrow,

Watercolouring with The Wilderness Awaits by Stampin' Up

I love the idea of making scenes with stamps, and the realistic style of stamp sets like The Wilderness Awaits is perfect for them. Scenes don't have to be complicated as I show in today's card. Come and see:

I adore this gorgeous dog image, although naturally a golden Retriever would have been better ;) For the background, I just scribbled the ink around in a rough circle shape. If you don't trust yourself to get the shape right, why not cut a template with a large circle framelit and watercolour within the boundary?

You could keep the images in this set very traditional with a simple greeting or you could add a modern twist with a sentiment like this banner-style one from Endless Thanks photopolymer set.

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THIS CARD NOW!
Click on any item to be transported to my online shop!

The Wilderness Awaits Wood-Mount Stamp Set £22.00

Endless Thanks Photopolymer Stamp Set £14.00

Marina Mist Classic Stampin' Pad £6.00

Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad £6.00

My shop is open 24/7 so you can buy Stampin' Up products from me any time, day or night.

If you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

Eva pup isn't allowed sticks any more after we realised she was actually eating them (!) but I came across this photo on the internet and it made me giggle:

See you tomorrow,