Thank you for the follow and lovely comments x

Firstly i would love to welcome 2 new followers Patricia and Hazel 2 lovely very talented sisters who also craft

And to everyone else who left lovely comments

Samantha wade
karen letchworth
zoe sanderson
debi ryan
essie jane
judy corner
jacquie j
mervi leikas

i thank you all xxx

what a week i had had some lovely comments on my blog which has given me the boost i needed.

This card im showing today i really enjoyed making.

i have put it as a birthday card but it could be for any occasion. i think it would make a nice wedding card too.

after finishing the card and taking the photos i did do something extra on it as i think it needed it see pictures below.






materials used 

black ce card
white ce card
green pearl card
blue co-ordinations card
blue/white ribbon
bling
faux pearl gems
and a peel off sentiment
glitter,
Hat pins

double side self adhesive sheet

spellbinder dies used

parisian accents die (background)
1x fancy tags three die
1x fancy tags two die
floral ovals

 How to put together 

started with black card and added my faux pearls left to dry. pierced my white card which you just see in picture above.
cut another black card and used as another matt.
i took my green pearl card and placed a sheet of self adhesive over it. cut to size put to one side.
i then did all my cutting firstly work out how many i needed and cut out 9 parisian motiffs out of my blue card .
i then cut out my floral oval the largest in the pack in white card then in the green and blue card cut out one of each tags .
i did use a bit of distress ink on the oval .
i then cut out my banner shape (nr bow) in white and green card. made up my bow added dazzler and 2 stick pins set aside to dry.
once i had all my elements together i started to play around with the lay out. once i was happy with were everything was i started to put the card together

 firstly i took of the self adhesive sheet and placed my Parisian motif's on the green card. once i was happy with the lay out i pressed them all firmly in place i then took some glitter and sprinkled it over the rest of the adhesive that was left exposed and rub it all over. that's the back ground complete.
i then mounted the oval on to the card using mounting foam and glue as on glitter added my two tags placed sentiment in to the centre
i placed my banner at the bottom added bow. i did add faux pearls to the banner after as i thought it needed it see pictures above.
i like the way this one turned out hope you do to

would love again to read your comments as its always nice knowing your not alone out there.

so take care folks hugs to all 

see you with another card soon.

 I have been given some tartan to play with as i haven't really done many Scottish themed cards i thought i would use the tartan on them, 

so the next few cards will be themed.

any questions please feel free to get in touch.

also any card on this blog is for sale if you interested in any then just use the contact me form on the left. im trying to make room so all will be low in price 

thanks for reading 

ttfn xxx

blog challenges and cards

hi im entering these cards to the following blog challenges 

1. allsortschallenge ,craftingbydesigns ,4kraftygirlzchallenges

this is my card im entering into the
4kraftygirlzchallenges
 allsortschallenge.blog
craftingbydesigns

this was a card for my daughters birthday and i just love it!!!

2. flatfriends challenge

this card is for the flatfriendschallenge   spring colours 

3. tattered lace challenge

 the following card is for the challenge.tatteredlace.

4.craft-roomchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

this last card is for the craft-roomchallenge.

challenge 75/ roses and romance

5.graphitmarkers.blogspot.

  

this is the card entered into the graphitmarkers challenge 

the challenge is yellow and orange 

graphitmarkers-7-summer-sunshine

HELLO FROM SUNNY SCOTLAND!! FOR THOSE THAT HAVE SCAN N CUT BUT DONT UNDERSTAND SVG FILES AND HOW TO GET THEM ON TO MACHINE TO USE.

good morning from warm sunny Scotland, and yes i said sunny and warm in the same sentence as Scotland !!

this is a long blog for me today. so before you start grab a cuppa and a choccie biscuit, sit back and relax and have a read. if your not interested in the scan n cut please dont switch off scroll to the bottom i promise there is a card there....honest!


A discovery on the scan and cut,

i just want to mention i had a break through with the machine last night yeah ! and wanted to share it with all those that have no idea about svg files etc.

now im not very good at crafting on the computer. i have never done it, i had no interest in creating a card on the laptop to me thats not crafting. but i am slowly converting i think.

now on the brother scan n cut from what i under stood i could bring in svg and j peg  files and convert them to fcm files which was needed for the brother canvas site .
this site is for you to make designs transfer on to usb stick and then transfer on to your scan n cut machine. are you keeping up?

well after 4 weeks i have sussed it. hallelujah!!! and it was a hallelujah moment for me. as i had search everywhere online to see how you did this but could not find it. yes there are instructions but if your like me words mean nothing and they fell on deaf ears.
i even found out that i could put a photo yes a photo on my canvas site, you properly knew this already but for me i was like whoa this is great.
i knew you could scan a photo on to the machine but not through the canvas site.

its really easy as 1,2,3

1.go to your scan n cut canvas site sign in .
2. click new

now on this page on the left hand side you have a space to write your project name then moving right you have 7 little buttons 1st is create new project 2nd is overwrite this project 3rd is image tracing 4th is import svg 5th is select this has arrow on it 6th is path and 7th is freehand paths.

3. press the 3rd button which says image tracing this will open a box saying choose file press that which should open where you have your j peg images click one and it should go in to the right side of the that box then all i do is click outline then colour then if you happy click ok the image will then go onto your canvas blank for you to play with.

now im still working out hows on this page but if your copying a black solid image then thats all you need to do. but for a more detailed one im still playing as when the image goes on to canvas they are doubled so i need to get rid of the double image then make the second image my cut file .

i transferred a photo on to the canvas site it took forever to download and i really didn't need it on there but i just wanted to see if that was possible and it was. i wouldn't press the colour or outline buttons for this but take it straight to the blank page and you can cut out certain parts of picture etc i wouldn't use this feature as i don't do scrap booking but it would be great for that.

once you have played with your image and your happy with it just click download follow instructions to transfer on to your usb and then put your usb in to the scan n cut machine and you image will be on there ready to cut resize play even more.

im starting to learn more and more about this machine and its features. and when you do make a break through you think wow thats another thing i can do.
i love the fact that i can now take any image and use it for crafting
 (please check copyright first on the image)
i love that i can make faux nesties for all my spellbinder dies, without having to draw round and cut out free hand (so time consuming) i can stamp an image and fuzzy cut so easily. no scissors required.
i can draw my images.
i can prepare any sentiment i want, i can personalise anything i want. i can make home decals up to 2 foot in length.
i can do want ever i want now without having to think about it.
this machine is a considered purchase but when you think about how much you can do with it, and how it can work with you not against then that price is minimal.
and really ive only just scratched the surface.
what i love most about this machine is that its not heavy its not huge and take minimal space.

i brought a cricut imagine 2 yrs ago i have used it twice why you ask, because its heavy no room to have it out all the time.and i have to buy cartridges for it which are expensive.
i cant bring in my own designs in.
this machine is now for sale....

i would really like if anyone else has a machine what have you discovered, and what do you use the machine for.

i cant wait to start playing with the quilting patterns as that is my next big project a quilt for my bed lol

This is a card i made using one of the quilting patterns and spellbinder dies.

i just picked two coloured pieces of card
picked a quilt pattern from the machine and cut out the pieces
i glued them all together on plain white card
draw some stitches added some buttons and from one of my spellbinding sets i have the sewing dies.
now i didnt use the grand calibra to cut these out i scanned them all in to the scan n cut.
highlighted and cut out the bits i wanted.
this was an experiment as i didnt know whether that would work but hey presto it did . clever little machine lol.
 i wrapped some bakers twine around my  cotton spool
apart from the spool, stitches and buttons the whole card was made using brother scan n cut

what do you think?
im fairly impressed.








 

i would love to have some comments on either the card or the scan n cut.
it would be nice to know someone is looking at the blog getting help hints tips and inspiration.
and if they is anything you would like to know ask im always here.

but for now i am going back to gardening today. i have a new garden to plant up. i will put some pictures on the blog of the garden start to finish when its done. its been back breaking at times a lot of sweat and tears especially as last yr i really couldnt do anything due to my op. but im getting here and although i should not be doing what i am in the garden. along with crafting gardening is a passion and never a chore so just try and keep me away from it.

thanks for reading take care and have a wonderful day

ttfn xxx

BEEN PLAYING WITH SCAN N CUT AGAIN !!!

ok i know this is a blog showcasing spellbinders and my cards well i thought could i combine the two using the brother scan n cut and spellbinders and the conclusion i come up with is yes you can...

i have many in fact some of you would say extreme amounts of spellbinder dies i have posted a picture of just one walls worth on here before. well the collection has grown in fact i just brought the new d-lite sets which include woodland animals, fairies, trees and twigs and what i would call corners.

out of the whole collection i would say my favarite would be the hedgehog since a young age i have been fascinated by them. anyway i thought i would do a simple card using the hedgehog die

ok so this was the card i made, i thought the hedgehog would be great for a male card

and i think it looks quiet cute,

materials used

a4 gold card for card
co ordinations orange for matt
black card for base
beige card for hedgehog and sentiment
faux pearls cosmic shimmer glue


so i started with my dad which is a preset on the scan n cut machine i cut that out
then i ran my black card stock through the cuttlebug with an embossing folding which was the simplicity one
made a flag using gold and black card stock

i cut out the hedgehog plus sentiment using the cuttlebug

when i placed them on to the card i wasnt really happy i wanted a faux nestie behind the hedgehog and sentiment now if you were doing this by hand and scissors you would not have had a perfect cut so what i did was.
i placed both dies on to my scan mat and scanned them through the scan n cut which then gave me the whole die i then got my card and placed it on to the cutting mat
i selected the whole area of the die and cut it out
on the scan n cut

now i have tried to get as close as possible with my camera to show you the cut your looking at the faux nestie behind the hedgehog cut out, the orange card !
they is no snagging no loose card nothing its a beautiful clean cut image,
as with the sentiment nestie too
i never thought a cutting machine could cut so cleanly, i have the cricut imagine and i could never get a clean cut with it. and i would never be able i a million years to cut this perfectly using scissors .

so now all of a sudden my spellbinders have grown so not only using the cut out die of each i can now create a nestie easily using any die through the brother scan n cut amazing!!!

i would love to know if you have a brother scan n cut or if your planning on buying one , if you have one already what do you do on yours i would love to hear from you especially to know what you have discovered since using the machine.

anyways please leave a comment so i know you have been and read and to generally let me know what you think


see you soon folks

ttfn xxx

BROTHER SCAN N CUT !!!! IS IT WORTH IT?

ok my new toy arrived the brother scan n cut so i thought i would post my view of the machine here , ok its true what they say you will open box plug in and play within 10 mins 

but over the weekend i really didnt get chance because i was a a craft fair which wasnt very busy but heyho back to the machine.

on first impressions you think how can this machine do everything it says so after a few attempts i was fussy cutting my stamped images but then i wanted to mainly try the installed images, i found a bunny so being easter soon thought i would weld two bunny shapes together and see if i could produce a card 

the result was....

yes i made the above bunny card

 secondly i wanted to make some shaped cards so this one below was the next attempt
i also cut out the fonts and egg from the preinstalled images

 not bad !!!

 thirdly there is a guy who showed the machine on c and c
john bloodworth now he makes everything seem simple and he has his own blog which i will give you all in a bit because he helped produce the next card i made.
the font eggs the eggs flowers and swirls are all pre installed images within the machine but the wonderful lattice star shape is from johns blog he has done a few files for everyone to save and use at their own leisure
and his blog is gentleman crafter so if you click the link your will be taken there.

 now this last one again is from johns blog well the lattice sq and atc in the middle are, i gold leaved my lattice sq and added some flowers from my spellbinders to it i think the lattice sq is lovely

now i love this last one this was from a file download svg cuts site 

i had to down load all three layers add them to scan n cut canvas then transfer to the scan n cut machine now in all honesty i only managed to work that out today 

i have never crafted with svg files in my life and had no idea what to do but this site was straight forward enough to use. 

and this little mum card was the outcome. john is also going to do a blog post regarding converting svg files soon so hopefully i can use different sites when he does that so watch this space.

now i was not convinced this machine was going to be worth it but after a few plays im converting to it. lets say im not sending it back......
the more i play the more i learn and like it ok it wont take over the way i craft but i can adapt it to make my life easier ie no more fussy cutting using scissors lol
this machine has alot to offer every crafter and i think if your serious about crafting then this is a must for anyone.

i will continue to post updates on the machine as and when i try something new but for any questions please ask or go to johns site he has everything you need to know there.

please let me know if this blog was helpful to you in any way

happy crafting folks see you soon please leave a comment

ttfn x

LOVING THESE CARDS.....whoop whoop

good morning britain!!!! and everyone else in the world that reads my blog.

well my news today is that i gave up smoking Tuesday, so this is day two lol
i never smoked in the house anyway it was always a garden pleasure but i woke up decided  that's its no point in spending a fortune no more as they have gone up loads, went to docs on Monday got patches and gave up Tuesday. now i can treat myself lol
well this is my view don't think the husband agreed lol as i went and brought the new brother scan n cut machine. as from today im still waiting for it to get delivered. and i cant wait to see if its as good as lot are saying, i will play with it for two weeks and if it doesnt live up to my expectations it can go back. So watch this space i will write a bit about it when it arrives.

anyway todays card again is a boxed one for the show on saturday

this is an unusual wedding card, as its using black card stock

theirs a few different techniques used to make this card and i will try and remember and list what i did

firstly i embossed my embossing folder to get a letter press effect

to do this i took a spellbinders embossing folder and wiped perfect medium over it ran it through the grand calibur then sprinkled embossing powder over it and heat set it.
i did this on the risen side so i could get the debossed embossed if that makes sense lol
my second technique was using my micro beads on the cross i cut the milk card cross first covering in double sided adhesive sheet then set beads into it, then cut another cross out of blk card to make shadow behind milk card
another technique used was faux pearls using cosmic shimmer glue.
i used my clay to make embellishments flowers a bird and leaves.

in general i liked this card and i think its a bit different from the normal wedding cards you get.
i dont think black card makes it any less a wedding card.

after saturday all the cards on the blog (if not sold) will be available to purchase at my online shop
so please pop over and see if anything takes your fancy for that special person.

THE SHOP

i will keep up all update about my giving up smoking, brother scan and cut machine the craft fair on saturday next week as from now till sunday im going to be so busy.

so see you all monday take care have fun and have a good weekend

ttfn xxx

Sneak peek revealed!!!!

good morning folks,

Today's card is another air dry clay one but using a heartfelt creations die set.
i am really enjoying making this style of card at the moment, Im making them for the craft fair im doing. Im making 5 to take with me so only have 2 more to make now which hopefully i will get them done today,
these cards are for varied occasions could be birthday,Easter,anniversary, get well the list goes on.
on my embellishments i waited for them to dry and then i found out my spray and sparkle silver and went over them,
im hoping you can just about see the sparkle on the embellishments in the close up.

This was the finished project, the card i used was a really nice duck egg blue and silver
you can see i have used a heartfelt creations die set,
this one was called layered scalloped posy set .
this card took me about 2 hours to complete start to finish.

 On this picture you can just about see that i have used my micro beads on my die cut outs, i love these beads they give interest and texture and on the silver card i used it almost makes the card look like a glitter card.

 in this picture you can see the dimension that the flowers and bird give to the card.
you can also see the shine from the spray and sparkle i have used on the embellishments

again you can see the dimension
also in the heartfelt creations die set are these tiny flowers which i cut out and shaped using bore tool to give dimension. in each tiny flower there is a crystal gem.
i also used my cosmic shimmer pearl glue to make faux pearl gems on the micro beaded die, you can just about see them here.













on this picture you can see the effect and shine i got from the spray and sparkle, i even gave the bird a coat and i really liked the effect it gave.








This is the finished card with its matching box  price of this card is £9.99

if your interested in purchasing then please contact me via MY SHOP it will not be on the site just use the contact form stating which card you are after and i will contact you back asap.

stock  and methods i used to make this card

blank white card
textured silver card
dimpled silver card
duck egg blue card
heartfelt creations die set (layered scalloped posy set)
micro beads
spray and sparkle silver spray
clay embellishments (handmade)
silver peel off
crystal gems
cosmic shimmer pearl glue
foam pads and silicone glue

methods used
matting and layering
card piecing
faux pearls made using cosmic shimmer pearl glue
die cutting
and micro beading die cut pieces

i hope you like this card and box set just as much as i did making it.
feel free to leave a comment or ask a question.

thats all for now folks take care have a good day and i will be back in a few days

ttfn xxx