A weekend dominated by mixed emotions

Saturday started in a lovely way with the Ross Papercraft Show at the the Meadowbank Stadium. It was fun, there were more exhibitors than ever before and I managed to secure some good bargains. And did I stick to my budget? Erm, ... no ... But the lovely tools, embellishments and dies were worth it.

But as soon as I was home and started to put my feet up with a nice cold drink the sky seemed to literally cave in. It is difficult to digest that our family got hit by two tragic losses at both ends of the age spectrum on Saturday - one expected and limiting suffering but still extremely sad, the other one completely out of the blue.

I have been feeling sad and tearful all day, but instead of tossing and turning in bed I might as well still get a bit of work done and catch up with my blog.

Visitors at the Ross Papercraft Show could see these two cards amongst the sample cards at the Stampers Grove stand.

For the Jacobite card I used the Crafty Stamps images 'Jacobite Warrior' (SC165N) and 'Arthurs Seat' (SC159M). I combined it with paper roses by Wild Orchid Crafts, thistles from Stampers Grove (the home of Crafty Stamps) and an embossing folder from Sheena Douglass' Indian collection.

The second card is created using Crafty Stamps' rockhopper penguin (AN143B). It is based on  a Dovecraft 5" x 7" card blank that I transformed with the help of Sue Wilson's background die from the Californian collection. The Sue Wilon die and the wooden shapes on this card are also from Stampers Grove.

Both images are stamped with VersaFine ink pads and coloured in using Derwent Coloursoft pencils and Derwent blender pens.

Rockhopper Penguin

The weather is absolutely crazy here. Yesterday we had more than enough torrential downpours, water standing in the streets and even an evacuation of Edinburgh Zoo. I had to revert to wellies for my trip to the Sincerely Yours show, which was very busy despite the awful weather. Crafters just are a tough bunch and always venture out when craty treats are calling :).

And it was not much better today. At some point the rhones just could not take the amount of water anymore (and they were only cleaned recently) and the water just shot over them like a waterfall.

The above card, which features a rockhopper penguin, had its 'premiere' as sample for Crafty Stamps and Stampers Grove at yesterday's Sincerely Yours show in Edinburgh. I was tempted to add a few more layers. But I am conscious that not everybody wants to create cards influenced by Sue Wilson's style, so I opted for a slightly simplified layout to show that this is also possible with her dies.

Product list:
* Crafty Stamps image 'Rockhopper' (AN143B)
* Sue Wilson decorative frames dies from the Italian collection
* Sue Wilson corner, border and tag die set from the Italian collection
* 15cm square white linen textured cardstock by Southfield
* Foundations card in 'Periwinkle'
* White linen textured cardstock by Southfield
* Neenah card
* Wooden shapes
* Household string
* Decorative pins
* Adhesive pearls
* Black Memento ink pad
* ProMarkers
* Adhesive
* Die-cutting machine
* Toolbox essentials

Animal Kingdom

This is already the end of another busy week - and thankfully the weekend. A training course on Thursday was also a good reminder that I really need to share some projects from the last days with you ...

Let's start with a post dedicated to the new animal stamps by Crafty Stamps. For these two cards I opted deliberately for a more tone-in-tone plus black approach. The beautiful animal images deserve to be the stars of the cards.

The components for the puffin card are:

* Crafty Stamps puffin rubber stamp (AN141F)
* White 15cm square linen textured card blank by Southfield
* Black textured cardstock
* Foundations cardstock in peach
* Neenah card
* Circle dies
* Sue Wilson die sets Basic Frames Set A and Napa Valley from the Californian Collection (I prepared two of the shapes, cut them in half and aligned them with the edges of the card blank)
* Sue Wilson die sets Faux Quilled Blooms and Classic Rose from the Finishing Touches Collection
* Black adhesive pearls
* Black Memento ink pad
* ProMarkers
* Adhesive
* Die-cutting machine
* Toolbox basics

For the zebra card I used:

* Crafty Stamps zebra rubber stamp (AN157M)
* White 15cm square linen textured card blank by Southfield
* Black and grey textured cardstock
* Neenah card
* Sue Wilson corner, border and tag die set from the Spanish collection
* Leaf embossing folder by Crafts-Too
* Black Memento ink pad
* Letraset fineliner 0.1
* Alcohol markers
* Adhesive
* Die-cutting machine
* Toolbox basics

The Edinburgh craft shop 'Stampers Grove' is the home of Crafty Stamps. The stamps are availabe online, in the shop and also at the Sincerely Yours show at the Royal Highland Centre in Ingliston (Edinburgh) on 25 May 2014.

Things with Wings

Today I would like to intriduce two more images from the animal collection by Crafty Stamps. They are both part of the 2014 launches.

The card above features the emu (AN149F). I coloured in the image using ProMarkers in mainly warm grey tones and deliberately limited the colours used for the background in order to have the emu as focal point.

In addition to the Crafty Stamps image I used:

* White 15cm square card blank with linen texture by Southfield
* Textured cardstock
* Neenah card for the stamped image
* Sue Wilson die set 'Umbria' from the Italian collection
* Sue Wilson die set 'Faux Quilled Blooms' from the Finishing Touches collection for the leaves
* Round cutting dies
* Forever in Time burlap daisies (distributed by Woodware)
* Adhesive pearls
* Tim Holtz design ruler for the pierced section

The second card features the new butterfly set 2 (AN145K). For the colouring I used again ProMarkers, but I also highlighted selected areas using a Sakura gelly roll pen in 'Clear Star'. The background is created with the help of an A4 Spellbinders M-Bossabilities folder to which I added small pearls of Cosmic Shimmer Pearl PVA.

Further 'ingredients' for this card:

* White 15cm square card blank with linen texture by Southfield
* Coloured textured cardstock 
* Neenah card
* Oval cutting dies
* Sue Wilson die set 'Filigree 3D Bow' from the Finishing Touches collection
* Paper roses and rosebuds

Big and Beautiful

 

No, not me and not the size of the cards ... Big and beautiful describes the amazing animals, which are depicted in these great images from the new animal rubber stamp collection by Crafty Stamps.

The elephant (AN148Q) is stamped in black Memento ink and coloured in using the ProMarkers Warm Grey 1, Warm Grey 2 and Warm Grey 3. For the card itself I opted for a colour scheme of kraft card and dark brown with a bit of dark green and a more rustic look.

Further ingredients for this card:
* Sue Wilson Spanish Collection - corner, border and tag die set
* Sue Wilson Finishing Touches Collection - faux quilled leaves dies
* Sue Wilson A4 embossing folder 'Illusion'
* Circle dies
* Burlap daisies, which are distributed by Woodware

The Highland coo (or Highland cow to stick with the official name/AN150Q) comes with a posher surrounding in white, red and black on a 15cm square white linen textured card blank by Southfield. The coo (or cow) is coloured in using the ProMarkers, Sandstone, Caramel, Warm Grey 1 and Pale Pink.

I also used:
* Sue Wilson Californian Collection - corner, border and tag die set
* Sue Wilson Finishing Touches Collection - faux quilled leaves dies
* Sue Wilson A4 embossing folder 'Celtic Flower'
* Tartan ribbon by Woodware
* Paper roses
* Black adhesive pearls

Crafty Stamps products are available from Crafty Stamps, their shop Stampers Grove in Edinburgh (in store and online) and today also at the Ross Papercraft Show at the Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh. Stampers Grove are also stockists of Sue Wilson dies.

Meerkat

Crafty Stamps, the Edinburgh-based family business, have brought out some more great animal stamps. This cute meerkat is just one of many.

I was also quite keen to try out some more Sue Wilson dies and to see what the Foundations cardstock, which she is using frequently, is like. The result is this 5" x 7" card where even the card base is created from Foundations card.

In more detail, I have used:

* Crafty Stamps Meerkat (AN152B)
* Ginger Foundations A4 card
* Black textured cardstock
* Kraft cardstock
* Neenah Desert Storm card
* Sue Wilson background die from the Spanish collection
* Sue Wilson faux quilled leave dies
* Sue Wilson faux quilled blooms dies
* Tag die by Marianne Design
* Black Memento ink pad
* ProMarkers in Warm Grey 1, Sandstone, Caramel and Burnt Sienna
* Black self-adhesive pearls
* String
* Piercing ruler and tool

I hope you like the result.

Craft Stamps rubber stamps are available from Crafty Stamps, their shop 'Stampers Grove' and on 12 April 2014 at the Ross Papercraft Show at the Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh. Stampers Grove are also stockists of Sue Wilson dies.

Border Collie

I really like the new border collie image by Crafty Stamps (AN113F). It pictures such a beautiful furry friend. When I saw the stamp my very first thought was to use it in combination with peg stamps - and so I had a play this afternoon.

The stamped image only needed a bit of colouring with Spectrum Noir pens, so I brought in some colour with the peg stamps which I used with Distress Markers. This also allowed me to use more than one colour for some of the stamped images, which are included in the 'Butterfly Blooms' set by Rubber Stamp Tapestry and the 'Highland Winter' Majestix set by Card-io.

Apart from round dies I also used a decorative Die'sire die by Crafter's Companion.

The embellishments are deliberately kept simple with heather and thistles joined together with organza ribbon by Woodware to avoid covering up too much of the stamping.

Animal Kingdom

What a couple of weeks! The visist of an international delegation at work was so extremely interesting and inspiring, but also very hard work. I think I have not managed much more than to rest and to sleep yesterday.

But now it is time to share two projects with brand-new Crafty Stamps images with you.

First up is a giant panda (AN122M). I decided to go for Chinese feel with a black card blank, Core'dinations cardstock and gold mirri card. The red cardstock is embossed using a 6"x6" Die'sire Embossalicious folder. For the bamboo background I used the Dreamweaver stencil LJ845. The Chinese writing is created with stamps from my stash - I think I got them from Lakeland years ago when they still used to sell craft items. I stamped them onto punched ot circles, which I ran along a gold marker pen.

The colours for the second project are kept within the grayscale. I opted for more of a 'faux embossing' in the form of white die-cuts on a light grey background to give maximum impact to the hunting eagle (AN120M).

I hope you like these new projects.