Candi Cup Cascade

I’ve seen several of these ‘magic’ cups made by one of my Facebook friends – she stamps, embosses and then cuts out lots of flowers to decorate hers. I’ve wanted to make my own for ages, and finally got chance (and the cup and saucer) to do one this week. I didn’t have the patience to cut out a lot of flowers, but for some reason found enough to individually place and glue some 400 pieces of Candi (from Craftwork Cards). Delighted with the outcome and looking forward to arrival of a new turntable which will make a 360 degree video so much quicker!

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I’ve got a new role!

News released today from Craftwork Cards:

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We are delighted to announce the appointment of Neil Burley as our Social Media Manager.

Neil has been a key part of our Design Team for the last two years and there is no doubting his amazing creative skills. He has made so many fabulous, inspirational projects for us and now he will also be working with us to coordinate the various social media sites we use, including our blog, Pinterest boards and Facebook page.

Neil will be working closely with Julie Hickey, Design Team Co-ordinator, and the Design Team as a whole to bring you lots more beautiful inspiration, sharing their top tips and techniques, step by step mini tutorials on how to create some of their fantastic creations, and much more! There will be links to our collections too, making shopping much easier for you.

We have lots of exciting plans for the new year, but we would love to hear your ideas too! Please email them to Neil at socialmedia@craftworkcards.com.

Welcome to the Craftwork Cards team Neil!

 

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Festive Chalkboard Candle Gift Cards

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I know, it’s still too early to mention the ‘C’ word, but in crafting terms I started Christmas crafting back in June with the Festive Chalkboard collection. This time, I’ve used it to make gift cards containing three scented candles courtesy of a certain Swedish flat pack specialist. The cards themselves are made using the Eazi-Score board from Diamond Card Craft – my instructions and board purchase information are here.

I’m getting stock (including these cards) ready for our church’s Christmas Fayre (Whetstone Memorial Hall, near Leicester, 28th November), so there might be a slight pregnant pause between posts as I’m frantically sawing, sanding, polishing, sticking, pricing and moulding various items – but as soon as I’ve finished each project, I’ll be sure to post them!

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Papercraft Garden Bench (with Craftwork Cards)

Papercraft Garden BenchWhen I saw the new Window Box Cards from Craftwork Cards, several ideas came to mind… but for a change, others in the Design Team had beaten me to those! As I looked at the cards a little more, this idea formed, and I spent much of the rest of the day making this garden bench, complete with flower-filled trug and birthday card with envelope. The bench and embellishments feature the new Scrumptious collection, augmented with Liquid Pearls (Flamingo and Juniper) and Star Dust Stickles.

 

It might seem quiet…

It might seem quiet, since I have neglected to post on this ‘ere blog in a little while. For regular readers, you know this is probably due to me being silly busy and not finding a moment to update! Well, you’re not wrong…

I’ve been prepping and delivering staff training at Coleman’s Craft Warehouse on Viva Decor products (yesterday) and I’ll be there demo’ing there again for their Big Demo Day on Saturday between 10-4. There’s also two workshops (bookable via their website) on 25th October, when you’ll be able to get your hands all inky with the same products.

I’ve also launched an Art Journaling Session here at the Studio, meeting on the first Monday of the month – and it’s already full! The homework this month was to choose and journal a favourite quote… here’s mine:

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Simple background to emphasise the extravagance of the colour in the word, and a bit of sparkle added with Stickles. Oh, and I didn’t hand draw the text in case you were wondering. I designed it on the computer, printed and then traced it out.

I’ve also been designing this year’s Christmas cards… Spoiler alert – if you don’t want to see what you might get through the door in a couple of months’ time, look away now 😉

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Stamp is an oldie from Stampendous, embossed with WOW! Metallic Bronze onto watercolour paper. The dove is masked, the paper spritzed with water and then Purple Brusho sprinkled, teased and dried to get the nebular appearance. Oh, it didn’t quite look right in blue.

I also had the fastest sample turnaround ever yesterday afternoon – I got back in from teaching at 2:15pm, opened a package from Craftwork Cards that had arrived not an hour before, and was crafting by 2:30pm. Five samples in 90 minutes, labelled and packed and to the post office by 4:45pm for 9am special delivery (how much!?!?) for today’s Create & Craft TV shows with the lovely Julie Hickey. Phew!

And talking of Craftwork Cards, I’ve been helping out with graphics and the inaugural Project of the Month over at the official Craftwork Cards Fan Page over on Facebook. For details of how to make this ‘Christmas Kisses’ card, pop over to the page, ask to join if you haven’t already and look for the POTM header 🙂

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The Potting Shed – for Craftwork Cards

This morning saw the launch of Craftwork Cards latest paper and die cut collection – The Potting Shed – on Create & Craft TV. Once again I’ve had the chance to make some samples for the show which will be featured on their blog on 26th August. In the meantime, here’s a tutorial video I did for a pop-up insert for one of my cards.

 

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Card Candi Flowers (for Craftwork Cards)

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It was a special Craftathon Champion Deal for Craftwork Cards yesterday on Create and Craft, and I was asked as part of their design team to come up with new ways of using Candi as the deal included over 5000 pieces of delicious Candi. In a fit of enthusiasm, I also filmed a tutorial video that’s also on their YouTube channel.

Here are the close up of the step-by-step cards that Julie was showing on TV:

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The Pinch Petal Rose

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The Pinch & Twist Flower

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The Propeller Flower

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The Roll Up Daisy

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The Shuttlecock Flower

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The Star of David Flower

 

More showtime for Craftwork Cards…

Earlier this month, I was busy creating with the cracking new paper kits from Craftwork Cards: Paper Couture, Al Fresco and Harbour Boulevard. Most of the samples I made featured in the inspirational studio display for the One Day Wonder on Create & Craft TV along with the other DT creations – and one is included in the Paper Couture inspiration instruction sheets exclusive to C&C. More making details are over on the Craftwork Cards blog if you’d like them, but here’s a gallery of the pieces I made:

I have some templates available to make the dress form, which were prepared for the CWC workshop in April that had to be withdrawn. Click on the ‘Templates’ tab above to go to an order page. I also hope to film an online class as my first for my new improved blog, so keep watching this space!