Christmas Quilt 2014

Posted on 14th December 2014 by perfectly4med

I started this year’s Christmas Quilt earlier in the year, but it stalled, and as has started to become traditional, I spent a week in December finishing it off. I didn’t follow any particular pattern, being guided by the sizes of fabric pieces I had. After designing and cutting a stencil for the swirl and spending two days doing all the quilting on the calico border alone, I am so glad it’s finished. The overall quilt size is 56″ x 71″ (142cm x 180cm). The centre blocks are from fat quarters, with the borders added and mitred (finally got the hang of that!). There’s approximately 1 km of sewing thread, with 400m of quilting (I know this as I used exactly one 400m reel of the variegated gold/brown thread!).

I’m looking forward to the arrival of my ‘what do I get a man who has just about everything’ Christmas present, which after much thought is going to be …. an overlocker 🙂

I’m also going to be hosting a sewing/stitching/quilting session in the studio on Wednesday afternoons in the new year, so keep an eye on my workshops page if you’re interested in joining the group.

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Gingerbread Village Cards: Part 2 (for Jones Crafts)

Posted on 27th October 2014 by perfectly4med

As you know from Part 1, I was sent eight 12×12″ sheets of double-sided scrapbook pages from Webster’s Pages, titled ‘Gingerbread Village’ by Adrienne Loomis, to work with.

I’ve used the papers to make more cards, this time using the Fair Isle style pattern as a background, two large toppers using the Storyteller cards (all 7×7″ cards), and a picturesque 8×8″ card. I’ve again edged the papers with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Good Tidings, Village Wishes

Cuddle Up, Winterscape, Village Wishes

Golden Glow, Storyteller Cards II

Cuddle Up, Golden Glow, Storyteller Cards I

Winterscapes, Storyteller Cards II

Gingerbread Village Cards – Part 1 (for Jones Crafts)

Posted on 13th October 2014 by perfectly4med

This month, I’ve been sent eight 12×12″ sheets of double-sided scrapbook pages from Webster’s Pages, titled ‘Gingerbread Village’ by Adrienne Loomis, to work with.

I have to admit not having many Christmas themed photographs, so took the decision not to create a layout with them, but instead to mix and match the papers to create a series of themed cards. Part 1: four cards using ‘The Village’ reverse side as backing. All cards are 7×7″ and papers edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Part two to follow in a couple of weeks.

with Winterscape, Storyteller Cards II

with Storyteller Cards 1, Village Wishes

with Storyteller Cards 1, Cuddle Up

with Village Wishes, Storyteller Cards II

Exploding Bauble Box (for Creative Expressions)

Posted on 24th September 2014 by perfectly4med

This is my last project as a member of the Creative Expressions Design Team – and I thought I’d go out with a bang! For some reason the inspiration came at 3am in the morning, and then again at 5am, so 12 hours later, here it is! It also happens to be my first ever exploding box.

The exterior is decorated with heat embossed baubles, coloured with Cosmic Shimmer Mists used as paints as well as the Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Inks and Sparkle PVA, embellished with Cosmic Shimmer White PVA and topped off with a grosgrain ribbon bow.

An all white interior shows the die cut filigree baubles beautifully, whilst the centre bauble seems magically suspended (if only acetate wasn’t quite so reflective!). Here’s a short slow-mo video of the ‘explosion’:

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Sparkling Baubles Card (for Creative Expressions)

Posted on 17th September 2014 by perfectly4med

For my penultimate DT project for Creative Expressions, I’ve gone all sparkly! Featuring heat embossing, two types of glitter, two types of coloured PVA and two types of card, this relatively clean and simple card is packed full of winter sparkle.

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Potted Poinsettia (for Creative Expressions)

Posted on 10th September 2014 by perfectly4med

When I first saw the poinsettia stamps and dies from Sue Wilson’s Festive Collection for Creative Expressions, I knew I had to go 3D. There’s nothing quite so Christmas as a classic potted poinsettia. A simple, though repetitive, make, this will brighten any room.

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Creative Expressions August 2014 Blog Hop

Posted on 15th August 2014 by perfectly4med

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Welcome to the Creative Expressions August 2014 Blog Hop! Hopefully you got here from Donna’s blog but, if you didn’t, here’s the start at the Creative Expressions News Blog!

These new Christmas designs from the Singles Range at Creative Expressions, include seven different stamps. As you will see from the samples made for the Blog Hop, they do not just have to be used as they are but can be altered and interchanged to give lots of different options.

One randomly selected person commenting on this blog post before the closing date will win the following fabulous prize, which includes some of the new stamp designs:

Here are four card ideas for three of the new stamp designs:

Joy to the World

Stamp Joy to the World in Perfect Medium on Coconut White card. Heat emboss with Lapis Black Aurora. Cut to size. Emboss 4½” square piece of Brunswick Green card with Couture Creations New Year Dove folder. Wrap a length of Green/Ivory Grosgrain ribbon round the embossed card and secure. Mount on 4⅝” square piece of Coconut White card, then a 5″ square of Brunswick Green, using Cosmic Shimmer Specialist Acrylic Glue. Stick down to your card blank and then outline the white card border in Cosmic Shimmer Aurora Twinkle.

Believe

Print Believe stamp onto Milk card with Perfect Medium ink and heat emboss with Bright Gold Metallic embossing powder. Cut to size and mount on Brunswick Green card. Emboss a strip of Brunswick Green card, 5″ x 1¾”, using the New Year Dove folder. Mount on your card blank and overlay the heat embossed image using foam pads. Add the pearl swirls and edge with Comic Shimmer Golden Sparkle PVA.

Joy to the World #2

Stamp Joy to the World with Perfect Medium ink and mask the bottom image before printing onto a piece of Cobalt card stock. Heat emboss with True Detail White embossing powder. Cut out leaving a ¼” border. Edge with 5mm double sided tape. Reveal top layer of tape and cover with Cosmic Shimmer Diamond Sprinkes, pressing the glitter into the tape before brushing off the excess and returning to the pot. Cut a piece of Cobalt card 2½” high to fit your card blank and edge with Diamond Sprinkles as before. Using a piece of wide low tack masking tape, press down over the self adhesive Star Swirl and carefully peel off from the backing sheet – the masking tape keeps the shape as you transfer it to the cardstock. Press down firmly on the pearls taking care not to press the masking tape too hard onto the card – peel off the masking tape. Mount on your card blank with Cosmic Shimmer Glue and then adhere two small Fancy Pearl Embellishments using the same glue. Allow to dry completely.

Happy New Year

Ink up Happy New Year stamp with Perfect Medium and mask off side and top section, print onto Cobalt card. Heat emboss with Silver Shine Metallic embossing powder. Mount on Milk card using Cosmic Shimmer Specialist Acrylic Glue. Emboss a 5″ x 3½” piece of Cobalt card with the Couture Creations Happy New Year folder and gild with Pewter Gilding Wax. Mount on Milk card with Cosmic Shimmer Glue. Stamp, emboss and mount the sentiment from All Occasions set as before. Assemble on a C6 card and embellish with drops of Silver Lustre pearlescent PVA.

Thank you for visiting my blog, please leave a comment below in order to be in with a chance of winning a prize!

Once you have done that, you will need to click here to visit Tracy’s blog.

To help you along the way, here is a list for the Blog Hop:-

1. Sue Wilson
2. Julia Watts
3. Tracey Laughton
4. Kim Bacon
5. Donna Ratcliff
6. Neil Burley [you are here] 7. Tracy Heaton
8. Kerry Hickton
9. Pam Smith
10. Creative Expressions

Start page, prize details and how to take part: Creative Expressions News Blog. The blog hop started on Friday 15th August at 6am and ends Tuesday 19th August at 5pm.

Thank you for taking part in our Blog Hop – good luck!

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Christmas Comes Early (for Craftwork Cards)

Posted on 22nd July 2014 by perfectly4med

It’s another of my design team posts over at Craftwork Cards Blog today. Here’s a clickable gallery of the makes, and instructions are over at their blog.

St Nicholas Collection/House Shadow Box (for Jones Crafts)

Posted on 11th July 2014 by perfectly4med

Christmas for crafters starts soon enough, but for distributors and sample makers, it starts even earlier! This is the first of many I have been working on to be published – and is a little late as well. I blame the drying time… Anyway, enough of that, here’s Kaisercraft’s St Nicholas Collection of papers and stickers, their wooden snowflakes and laser cut tree, and House Shadow Box in a festive assemblage:

It’s a cracking set of double sided papers, some of which are designed to be backgrounds, others are vintage postcards and quotes ideal for cutting up and making into boxes, mounts and individual items for layouts. Others form great backgrounds for shadow boxes. The House itself is 30cm square with the roof on top and is pre-cut MDF which is easy to assemble. Here’s a gallery of close ups:

Other things you might need: Cosmic Shimmer Crystal PVA, Glossy Accents, Walnut Stain/Fired Brick/Peeled Paint Distress Inks to colour edges, Kaisercolor Raw Umber acrylic paint, Cosmic Shimmer Specialist Acrylic Glue, and Cosmic Shimmer Polished Silk Glitters for the tree. Oh, and lots of patience for all the cutting out!

Don’t recycle Christmas cards – upcycle them!

Posted on 6th January 2014 by perfectly4med

It’s 12th night, all the decorations are down, and the Christmas cards are destined for the recycling bin. But wait… what else could you do with them? Here are three ideas I came up with for making next Christmas’ cards with last Christmas’.

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