Who or What Inspires You

Good morning folks, hope your in for having a  fantastic weekend.

I had someone the other day ask me where do I get my ideas and inspirations from to make such different cards, I found this one of the easiest questions to answer,

I started crafting years ago as I have said I was a florist and started making tags for bouquets etc, I have always been a crafter I do calligraphy, glass painting, cards, I make house signs from slate, paint, decorate etc,so the arty bit has always been there,

I started doing cards more serious a few years ago when I purchased a cuttlebug die cutting and embossing machine, I watched demo on it and was hooked, then not so long after I purchased the daddy die cutting and embossing machine, the grand caliba which takes A4 paper/card as apposed to the cuttlebug A5 size.

I was watching create and craft one day as I knew the grand caliba was appearing,and as I settled down to watch the demo's I was fixated to the screen as an american lady called sue wilson came on air, And from that day it was sue that took my card making to a different level,

Now if anyone knows sue wilson you will know she is the queen of spellbinders, what she can do with a spellbinder is amazing, What she doesn't know about spellbinder really isnt worth knowing,
and you can find some of her cards (which is well worth a look at her blog ) at http://particraft.blogspot.co.uk/, she runs little competitions for her members,and posts a different card idea everyday,
Her blog is a must to follow for anyone with a grand caliba or cuttlebug,

you can see her on create and craft to this week as again she is doing some fantastic demos again using a new set of dies from spellbinders (cant wait for mine to turn up)

so the answer to the question what or who inspires you  is a simple one, Sue Wilson is my inspiration,

I will upload a card in a while for some reason blogger is not co operating this morning so make sure you pop back to see another Sue Wilson inspired card....

Other news 
I order a window cling from
http://www.studiocrafts.net/

I have not long moved in to My new home in Scotland the house has been empty for 10 years or so and it needed a lot of work, I am glad to say we are now getting there with a few touches still need doing,
while was I looking around I popped to ali's site I had seen her clings and I really liked them, bright, colourful and some quite sweet,
I was wondering how I could use these on my home, or where I could use them, as I really liked her ideas.
anyway I have a piece of glass above my door and thought I would have ali design a house name cling,
I wanted the name two tone with butterflies as my whole house is filled with them, gave her the brief and wow I am over the moon with the design she has come up with,
its looks so stylish and includes my butterflies and two tone black with gold shadowing,
and I cant wait for it to turn up, and place above my door,
the service I received was second to none, she started work on it straight away, we had three drafts to go with to which I must say was my fault as I kept asking her to tweak this and that, I am a fussy bugger lol
not once did she say no cant do this or that my every  tweak was catered for ,
we spoke on the phone which was lovely she is a genuine lovely hard working lady that deserves to do well, and I for one will certainly use ali and her shop  http://www.studiocrafts.net/ again....
thanks ali for a great service xx

Toilet paper card???

Good morning to you all, as you can see I have now started to build up my blog, its now hopefully starting to look more like a blog.
today's card I am going to give you a technique using toilet paper but when its finished it does not resemble toilet paper at all but an expensive homemade paper,
I can hear you all saying bog roll????
but believe me its a great technique which once you have done you will adapt it in so many ways,
so now to show you the card.

 so now your saying well were is the toilet paper?
well I will tell you
break off about 6/7 squares of toilet and layer them on top of each other.you can half them to layer them or leave full.
once you have your toilet roll layered we now want to dampen it down, now at this stage we can add mica powder or distress inks.
so using a fine mister, spray the paper till it is wet all through (do not soak it) now once damp you will need a embossing folder i have pick a world map one, layer your damp paper onto the folder and roll through your die cutting machine as you would to emboss any paper ( you will get some moisture) so place the machine on a towel) (do not do this if you have an electric one)
run the paper through a few times.now open your folder and before moving it go around the edge to tidy up I usually use my finger just gently breaking the rough edges away.
once done you must now leave this to dry,I usually gently pull away from the folder and place the paper on a radiator, I wont take long to dry,once dried you can do what you want to it. I have rubbed my distress inks over it to give a rustic look, like maybe a old treasure map,
when it has dried and you have distressed it I don't think it looks like toilet paper at all, i even fooled my husband.
to the card now you have done the messy stuff, started with a blank card and rubbed distress ink around the edge. I used a lighter backing paper and added that on not central, i then took a swirl stamp and stamped around the edges added some ribbon and tied a knot in it,
i then added my toilet paper at angle, I stamped a sentiment and distress it with ink i tore around the edge to give a old look then i ultra embossed it to give a shine,
I added my twine and wood chip decors around the edge randomly to finish.
i ultra thick embossed my wood chip pieces too to add shine.
so that's it you might have thought what would she do with some toilet roll but i hope i have given a idea on how to make your own papers, i use this method quiet often and i think its great you don't have to use your expensive bog roll just the cheapest you can get.it will work on any,
you can also make you own paper using all your scrap pieces in your crafty bin, but that's a another technique for another day..
ok I hope you have lots of fun creating this card, would love to know your views so please leave a comment
or a question,

Thats it for today folks, so goodbye till tomorrow

ttfn xx

Another day flies by......

Wednesdays blog posted Tuesday night, 

I know I am not going to have time to post a card tomorrow so thought I had better do it now. the card I have chosen today I like doing, it takes a bit of time and patients but I always love the end result .You can adapt it in so many ways.

chose different colours, designs, flowers etc..and as ever I am back to using my spellbinders,

As always I start with a blank card,

then I chose my colours , silver and black. I do like adding black on a card I think it makes it look more stylish, I got my die cutting machine out and picked a em-bossility board some flower dies,scrolls, a border, butterfly die,and a half circle (if any one wants to know the dies by name contact me and I will look them up for you,but at the moment my dies are all in one big box unnamed) until I get my craft room sorted and my dies in there new home.

I cut all my dies out mainly using black card, apart from the large flower die. I left the butterfly in the die and rubbed over my versa mark and added some embossing powder on it to give the butterfly a bit of dimension and sparkle, I also added glitter to my flowers using a quickie glue pen.

I started with a black mounting card to cover the white,I then took a silver card cut it to size, I then placed my die exactly were I wanted it cut and embossed, so it left me with a filigree window,

I mounted the silver card over my black matting card to which you can now see the filigree window,

I embossed my black card to give texture, I cut two triangles out to fit over the bottom half of my silver card, so that was the base of my card done, I then started on decor,

I took my scrolls and placed them were I wanted and added my flowers, I then added my border on the left hand side,and placed my butterfly on the filigree window,stamped a sentiment,and finished off with cosmic glue faux pearls.

I have done a few variations of this card which can be found on www.taylormadecards.co.uk

again its always nice to get a comment so feel free.

also if you have spellbinder dies and are unsure an what to do with them again leave a note saying what the dies is and I will produce a card using that die and hopefully give you some ideas, I have many spellbinders and if I haven't got it I will still try and help by using one very similar.

that's it for today folks, again any questions, comment or advise please leave and I will get back to you.

I hope you all like this card as much as i enjoyed making it,and again many variations on my shop so nip over and have a look,

see you all tomorrow 

ttfn xx

Home safe and sound!!!

Well I am back, We decided to buy a car from Enfield, London, which may seem ok to the every day folk , The only difference is we live in Sutherland very North East Scotland. so I volunteered to collect it, which I don't mind as I like the south lol.
Got to inverness airport on Saturday, ready for flight all was so good,the flight was brilliant as you can see from my twitter picture stunning blue skies got to Gatwick, met who was meeting me and then got on the M25 omg!!! there was traffic lol being in Scotland the biggest traffic jam I have seen is 2 cars lol I forgot how hectic it was, I hated it, I was already dreaming of home lol.any way got the car which I must say was very nice lol little MG sport thingy lol I only drive the cars don't except me to know exactly what they are I am female lol
visited my old local pub (shocked everyone) then went ofF to my mother in laws for sleeps...
Set out at 9am for my 6 hundred and something journey back home.
All was going so well until I got on M74 boo my car had no accelerator nothing no power stuck in lane 2 great fun, hazards went on got to the hard shoulder, rung hubby and swiftly said ring AA, I have conked out lol
The AA rung me within 5 mins to confirm were I was and said patrol would be 45 mins as she said that I said I think they will be a bit quicker his here now, now that is service ,
He looked at engine see a HT lead had broke replaced it and within 20 mins of breaking down I was off again, Thank god for the AA they are very nice men lol.
I safely arrived back home at 5 past 9pm. after quiet a few stops as my daughter needed a wee every 10 mins lol.
so feeling pretty shattered today, needing lots of coffee to get motivated,
but all in all it was a great journey there and back and I must say the owners of the car bev and lincoln were very nice and I must thank them for the hospitality they showed me and my daughter, they couldn't have been more accommodating,
I will be sending them a card lol,

Which brings me to today's one, this is a thank you card
again this is a very simple card started with a blank white base card, found some green paper to cover the white, used a corner punch for two decorative corners, added sparkly ribbon with bow.
I then cut out a label using the die cutting machine, inked around the edge with a green distress ink, added my favorite faux (glue) cosmic pearls, stamped thank you, and in my stash I had some wooden pieces I just inked them added a few gems to make them sparkle and that was it, a 20 min card done,

simple quick and easy,

Any questions or comments please leave them, I am happy to get positive and negative feedback. Its always nice to hear your views.
anyway pop over to ww.taylormadecards.co.uk if your needing a special occasion card, there are loads on site, if you don't see what you like then contact me i do, do bespoke design too.
In need of more coffee now so I will see you all later,

take care folks
ttfn xx

Packing my bags!!!

Thank you myth for your comment yesterday,
 I agree it could be used for male/female in adding the right sentiment, and maybe slightly lightening the colour, I think cards these days are to formalised and if you look in a card shop you can instantly tell the men section from the girls but sometime girls don't want flowers or teddy bears on their cards, and something different is always nice, when I used to buy cards I would always choose the sentiment/verse first then look at the outside and more often than not the sentiment would be lovely and the card very twee,
today's cards are getting their but they have not quiet made it... I prefer hand made cards to the shop brought, because I think we understand there are men and ladies that want something different and we as crafters can do that,
I think we have a better range now with steam punk papers, Gothics papers etc that we can really play with, for male or female cards....
would be nice to see what everyones views are on shop brought design to hand crafted designs... and do you think us crafters can offer more choice than a shop?
leave your views on the comments...

Today I am packing for my little trip tomorrow, flying from Scotland to London picking a car up,driving to Northampton-shire seeing my mum in law, travelling back to Scotland Sunday ...am I looking forward to this? no is the answer lol its a long old drive it takes me 9 hours, so I may get back home early evening Sunday well that's the plan, considering I have looked at weather forecast around the counties I am  travelling through, and will have to contend with rain wind snow should be fun (not)
so there will be no blog now until Monday...

and if any thing exciting happens I will let you know....

Now back to cards

Today's choice is another card for a male, keeping the theme going as its Father's day in June,
its a simple card,and really its only the sentiment that makes it for a male so in changing that again could easily be for couple or female,
startered with a blank DL card
I used the linen distress ink around the edge I cut a piece of cream coloured card and then ran the card through the grand caliba with m-bossibility folder found a nice piece of black/grey card wrapped that around the embossed piece and stuck it down added a black bow with a gem,
stamped a nice sentiment reading " he didn't tell me how to live he lived and let me watch him do it"
cut it out using one of the small romantic rectangle dies rubbed distress ink (linen) around the edge and stuck it on using foam pads adding depth to the card,

its a very quick and simple card, and again as I have said changing the sentiment it can be for anyone or any occasion,

This card is on my site www.taylormadecards.co.uk for sale so nip over as there are lots to choose from, manager picks sale is still on so 10% off and free delivery..

So that's it folks for today....I hope you like the card,please leave a comment good or bad nice to get view from everyone.
see you all Monday
ttfn xx
http://www.etsy.com/shop/cardsTaylormadecards
we also stock cards on etsy so take a look

Thursday already!!!

omg cannot believe the week has flown by, just when i thought i had caught up with everything wallop another things lands ...
anyway i thought first thing first a blog update, @workymum had won the card and i waiting to hear from her to see if it arrived safely hoping it did!
hoping she will pop to the website www.taylormadecards.co.uk to leave some feedback or here...
would be nice to hear what she says.
we have had mixed weather this week 4 seasons in one day but yesterday was lovely and my son had started to paint the outside of my house, he said the house looks bigger now that  he started and now wishes he hadn't, but he cant stop now...
 only 3 and half wall to go lol
anyway another card i think is due so this is the one I have picked today

its a blokey card so would suit Birthday/Fathers day etc..
and you will be happy to know no spellbinders were used in the making of this card. as I know a lot of people don't have a die cutting machine ( it is a must to get a grand caliba or cuttle bug) so I thought to be fair to them I would put a card up everyone can do,

as always I started with a blank card found some steam punk paper in my stash, I cut out all the dials from this paper, and the numerals, I then found another paper with smaller cogs/dials on it and used that for half the backing,
the bottom piece is not paper or card, its a tape, if you happen to know a kitchen/bathroom fitter they will get this tape to edge worktops, the tape is quiet stiff and comes in many variations this one I have used is beech effect, its very sticky and fixes well, then i stamped out sentiment, which reads " men are only as great as they are kind"
I placed the layout I wanted on the card again before I stuck anything down, once happy I used 3D foam as I wanted depth to the card,I went round the edges with a distress ink and finished off with cosmic glue pearls in gold
I think it is a nice card for a man as they are often very hard to make for, its usually sport, car related cards you find, so doing something a bit different for them is nice,

again any questions remarks comments etc please feel free to leave.
and tomorrow I will be back to a spell binder card

I am forever updating the website www.taylormadecards.co.uk so make sure you pop over and take a look, also i am on twitter https://twitter.com/#!/cardstaylormade so feel free to follow me there as I do hold competitions to win a card of your choice from my website.

feel free to like us, join the group and become a member, tweet us , the more the merrier
don't think there is anything else to update you on 
just that is is Fathers day in June so get your cards early to avoid disappointment and all my cards shown on here are available to purchase on my website which has a manager picks sale on and 10% off till end of April.

okies take care folks a ttfn xxx




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Top of the morning..

Monday morning blues anyone? not here sun is shining on NE Scotland today.
i hope you all had a wonderful weekend ours was eventful as it always is, tried to do bit more of the house and my daughter decided to slice the top of her finger off.
happy to say she is ok, just very sore and she has trooped off to work this morning, she is a tiler so she had to go.
anyway i also announced on twitter the winner of the competition i was running it was to get to a target of 100 followers and one random follower would get to pick a card of their choice of my shop.
Happy to say she contacted me this morning and picked her card, that will be sent of today. Well done @workymum for winning.

ok back to the reason we are here i said i would post a card up and let you know how i did it so here goes, this spellbinder set of dies are the newest addition to my family of dies,i didn't think i would get much use from them but turns out i love them, they are great, i especially love the manniquin and sewing machine, anyway for anyone making a card for a crafty person these are good buy.

nice easy one to start, i used a blank scalloped edged card to start, i laid out all my dies on the card and decided were their homes would be, I found some material looking backing paper (blue) placed it on the black mounting card. and added to my blank card, i have wet embossed the pin cushion, sewing machine, thimble, scissor and manniquin . to do this you cut and emboss using a cuttlebug/grand caliba or any other die cutting machine. then leave the dies in place on the paper and run over with a versa mark pad then take off the dies gently and sprinkle over your embossing powder and heat and the end result is lovely. i used the trendy embossing folder for my 2 swatch squares to give another texture, to the card trying to keep it all as material like as i could, when i cut out the cotton reel i just wound round some twine gluing it in place at the back i stuck them all down in place adding a few buttons,
the sentiment was stamped and embossed first, then cut and i brushed over a distress ink on the card while the die was in place so it didn't stay stark white,  only the edges stayed white. i used a holographic card for the sewing machine thimble and scissors to give a metal look to them,
i finished with some cosmic glue pearls around the edge
i hope you like the card i certainly enjoyed making it..
any questions please ask.
any comments please leave.

This card is for sale at www.taylormadecards.co.uk

ttfn x

Good morning everyone!

Ok now i have started this blog i better do something with it, from Monday i will post a card and add how i made it,i will also be giving away my tips and techniques,

if anyone has any questions etc then feel free to ask

i would like feed back so please if you visit the blog please leave a comment 

www.taylormadecards.co.uk  all my cards i make will be added to the website for sale..

This will be a quick and simple card to make, i will show you how to do it and what materials you will need

as you have properly seen it will involve spellbinders, so for all you die fans this will be the place to be..

happy Sunday all.....have a great day and i will see you tomorrow!!!

First post is up!!!

http://www.taylormadecards.co.uk/

ok im now here too, will take a while to get the blog exactly how i want it but i will be working on it each day,
i will post a new card from the site here each day, and if anyone wants to know how i did it or what materials i use then you can post comment and i will get back to you,
even if its a Technique  i will assist you anyway i can ..
i will put on the woes and joys of the day,new cards,sale times,discount code etc
this is just another platform to keep you informed....

here is a few cards that are already on the website
any questions just ask...

please feel free to leave a comment,it is always nice to get feedback....

My daughters b/day card

Daughter's 17th birthday card
Posted on 10:04am Friday 13th Apr 2012






It was my Daughters 17th b/day on Tuesday so I whipped up a card for her,

she loves micro beads so I have added them to the butterfly isn't the best pic I have taken but I think you can notice the different texture on it,

I liked this card so much I have also included it in the shop,you can have any name, instead of daughter and any colours just add it in the special instruction box at checkout,

my son lost my usb cable so i havent been able to upload any new cards till today...so being Friday 13th I wasnt excepting any deliveries but first thing this morning it showed up

so I have put a few on with more to follow later,

it's the craft fest in june and I will be having a stall there,if I can work out how to do it lol, looking forward to it,it will be a first for me,so im excited

im on twitter would be nice to have some more followers

so nip over and start following me


but if you do see a card you like remember we do cater for your needs,if you want it tweaking etc...

then contact me....

Okies that's it for today

ttfn x