Lacy Sunshine

Hi guys,

well I know I've been quiet, but I have loads of bits in the process so to speak, and here's one thats just finished drying. I deliberately left it long enough, as I have a nasty habit of sticking my finger in Glaze that isnt quite dry and leaving my finger print all over things..............

This is one of the Lovely Heather Valentin range of Digi's, Meet Eleanor. She is supposed to have Pickles with her, but the pen blobbed on him so I had to cut him off, and now the title of this digi doesnt make sense: A Wish come True.
So for Inspiration you need to go Here and to get Eleanor you need to go here.


So to my version of Eleanor: My Eleanor is a dark haired girl, with a Peaches and Cream complexion, and thats always my starting point. But this is a very Fairy Tale image, even without Pickles, so little girl Pink was the chosen colour. Spectrum Noir PL1 BP2 and BP 6. Her Hair is GB 8 GB 10 and EB 5.
Okay so then I had to remove Pickles, and a tip with your Speccies if your finding that they blob: stand the on their chisel tip for a couple of days to allow the ink to drain to the chisel tip end. Normally you wouldnt do that with an alcohol pen, but as these are a bit generously filled you just need to shift the ink out the way a bit, and thats direct from Crafters Companion, coz I was getting frustrated with Poor Pickles!
Right so Back to Eleanor then..... Hmmn without Pickles what do I do, aha!
Birthday.......................... Cake! so rummage through my papers, you know the stack of papers you have lying around, that came either as freebies or you printed off too many? So in there was this Cake Paper! and the colour matched!
But I just knew that I wouldnt have any base card in just that shade! But I did have some white card and the Speccies! so white became Pink, and was matted and layered, add some glaze to her Glasses lens, and some glitter to her dress, print off a sentiment, and then die cut it, and jobs a gud 'un as they say.
so dont forget to grab Eleanor for yourself, from here and remember that Lacy Sunshine ONLY is the ONLY authorised seller of Heather Valentin Digi's, xxx

Papercrafting leads the way

Well Guys, I'm impressed! Well done to all those who realised that we papercrafters lead the way. If you didnt catch Top Gear tonight, then you might want to pop over to the Pagani website and have a look at the interior of the replacement for the Zonda!
Quote from the show tonight was that the interior is a "victorians vision of the 23rd century". In other words ...........Steam Punk!
I'm sorry but I do find this very funny!
But now to more interesting stuff.
A post or so ago, I related my tale of my first craft, and how I started. And that my New Years Resolution was to return to doing it after, and I had a good count: 31 yrs!
so I made one and posted it. so I made more:

Jasper on a suede cord, with chainmaille.

Peridot on suede cord with Chainmaille

Swarovski. AB crystal Pendant Suede coed, Chainmaille

Purple Glass bead earings

Swarovski. Crystals, Contemporary Christmas Selection

Swarovski. Crystals, Contemporary Christmas Selection, as a floating choker, with Amethyst Clasp

Swarovski. Crystals, Contemporary Christmas Selection

So thats what I did yesterday having a bit of a gap in dt work for once, lol
Sources for Beads used are listed here:
http://www.beadsandmore.co.uk/
http://www.beadsdirect.co.uk/
http://www.mailorder-beads.co.uk
http://www.qvcuk.com

me time

Oh how good that sounds! Dont get me wrong, I love making samples, and find it an incredibly challenging experience, but sometimes there isnt actually enough time to go around!
Well as I paid for it I decided that by jove I was going to do it!
At the end of last week I had a phone call from Aly's Inky Fingers. Back at the GNPE Harrogate show I had signed up for Aly's email stamp thingy, well I said to send me the stamps, for a small charge  and they arrived mid last week.
So mid sample making, I had these stamps sitting there staring at me, (actually nothing new there, there's normally stamps sitting there staring at me, but in the end they get put away unused, one day I promise I will stop buying, and start using, just not right now lol.). So, and as its an area that I still havent mastered, I decided to get to grips with Aly's Stamps, She of the appearing Fairies, and Pan Pastels.
So I pushed aside the samples I was making, and started following the worksheets Aly had sent with the stamps.
Oh Blast not using Pan Pastles! Drat! Oh well, use the distress inks then, as instructed:

Okay, done! lol, but as with all crafters, you always add your own touches, so turn the base card, add some ribbon, a Staple, 3 gems and some of the Holtzers Crackle Glaze (slight problem with this glaze is that it always distorts my base card, ggrr!).
Okay done. Now what bits have I got left?............... Hmn, some of the base card I used for 3d'ing the flowers with, so what can I do with that?

A Tag, using Spectrum Noirs to colour the flowers, and a freebie stamp from Card Making and Papercraft magazine.

Now to get the Pan Pastles out to play.....................

This one I really like. Pan Pastels on the base card, stamped with Versamark, and dusted with Pan pastels. Freebie backing paper from my stash in a lilac Damask, Purple satin ribbon, colour the flower heads in with Spectrum Noirs, add a peel off glittered butterfly in the same shade of green, and Hubby was VERY insistent that this was an Easter card, so again freebie stamp from Cardmaking and papercraft magazine.

This is basically the same, but this time making a feature of the other Stamps Aly sent, the Frame and sentiment. Again coloured the flowers and inside of the frame with Speccies, added glitter, some card and ribbon from my stash. a very Vibrant card.

Now one of my private new years resolutions this year was to return to my first form of Craft. This was back in my mid teenage years, when I had some spends, and we made a visit to London, probably for School uniform, I know I ended up with a skirt from Jaeger as a result of that trip, but I clearly recall standing in the old mid floor of Liberty's, the bit that bridged the buildings, the really old and ancient bit, looking at beads!

I know I came away with lots of lovely little packets, and spent many a happy hour creating earings for myself, and yes I did get a bit extreeme, but I was a teenager!

So I got myself a bead spinner, and some beads, and here is my first attempt in over 25yrs at jewelry making:

I can see a few strands I missed, and will get them with a magnifying glass later. For some reason the clear strand of beads isnt as vibrant as it is in real life, its more of an Opal than it appears in the photos!

Right back to samples, 

hugs,,

Lou

Postage Issues

Okay, as anyone who has to send samples in is very aware, Postage in the UK has become extortionate!!
However, there is no need to panic, or withdraw from Design Teams, as I know some are, as there is a solution.
I dont get paid by any company I recommend. So bearing that in mind, I recommend the Happy Cut, the City Ink Express company, and I dont get paid for it, I'm now going to recommend an alternative to the usual suspect for postage here in the uk.
Hermes, that service we love to love and hate deliver parcels from private individuals. I know! You could have knocked me down with a feather when I found out! I send in my "order" via the internet, they turn up at my house on the arranged day, collect and deliver the said parcel to its destination. And the last parcel I sent, as it was under 1kilo, and under 1.2 meters in length, width and height, it cost me the grand total of wait for it wait for it, £2.75.

Just before Christmas I sent out 3 parcels, all with Hermes, a Craft Robo, a large collection of Pro-markers, and 12 packs of Spectrum Noir pens, all to different addresses, now come on you lot, you know how much things weigh, and how much the Post Office charge to deliver items. So guesses please as to how much you think Hermes charged me for signed for delivery to the 3 address's in total?

go on guess.



£27.00 for 3 parcels, all signed for by the recipients, and collected from my house! Now as far as I am concerned thats a result! As the Post Office wanted £27 for the lightest parcel!

Now I have recently sent 15 card samples, and one note card book to Krafty Towers, it weighed under a kilo, coz I measured it on my kitchen scales, it didnt cost anything in petrol to get it to the Post Office, it didnt cost me anything in phone calls as I did it all online, it was collected from my house by my usual Hermes delivery lady, on the day they said they would collect it, it arrived within 3 days, and wasnt even signed for! all for £2.75.
If I dont want them to come to my house, then they also collect from the corner shop about a mile away from my house, for 25p less than it costs to collect from my house. So if your struggling with costs, and think it is going to be an issue for you to send samples in then I would recommend Hermes. www.myhermes.co.uk

Hope this helps someone out there, xxx

another one from the shows

right last individual post I think, this one I am particularly proud of.

I think this is my favourite of all the samples I did, and a true mix of mediums and techniques.
The base card has been covered with some photo card reproduction of one of the green stripes Paper. Then there is some parchment on top of that that has been "Parched". Next up is a ribbon from my stash, and a small topper from one of the card sets. finished with a Blue greeting to match the dress of Miranda, and a couple of tiny blue gems, highlighting the "parching", and tying it all together, and finishing it off,
right the last show is on after the school run, and Louis sent a card in too so I have to watch to see if its shown!

Hugs, xxx

heheh, Well Deano liked it, lol

Heheh , well I had a good old chuckle this morning with Deano and Mike and Ian over on Create and Craft, did you?
this time I'm going to post 2 cards  one which Deano was Playing with in this mornings show, and the other is from an older CD which is selling really well apparently, so here we go:

This is my very large never ending card, using 8 toppers, two pages of papers which I printed off onto A3 pearlised card stock, and embellishments.

here are a couple of my samples from the  Vintage Chic CDs:

 Dont forget to tune in at 4pm, for more ideas from the boys, xxx

the eleven plus

Well for those of you who are UK based, yes the Eleven + still exists! And Youngest has just completed his today, so fingers crossed he gets a place!
For those of you from abroad, its an entry exam to one of the forms of schooling here in the UK, this is for a version of Secondary school, the Grammar School, and you have to sit a test to get in, and if you dont do well enough, well simply put you dont get in! Harsh? Maybe, but they are allowed to pick the best, as they arent exactly a government sponsored school. So fingers firmly crossed that he showed enough potential.......
Anyway this is a reminder for you to watch Create and Craft at 9 am, and 4 pm! Krafty Hands has 2 shows with Miranda and Mo tomorrow, or rather today by the time I finish writing this post, oops, so keep your eyes and ears open, and you may spot youngests contribution to the show as well!!
Here's another offering from me from the samples I sent in:

A Mel Heaton style of card, using scraps left over from one of the card making kits, and a small slice of backing paper.
So ears open at 9am, and eyes too and see how many samples of Mine, and Youngests you can spot...........................

hugs

Lou

Miranda and Mo.

Hi guys,
well here's one reason I have been quiet. Mother has been cracking the whip, and I had my nose to the grindstone, producing samples for tomorrows shows....................

This is one of my entries, lol
Its actually one of the Shaped Cards, printed on A3 size, then split down the join, and used to encase a box of shaped cards printed normal A4 size as a gift.
Each of the cards actually has a different greeting on it, as the pre-pared sheets incorporate all sorts of sentiments.

So tomorrow at 9 am, and 4 pm, and yes I have it set to record, and fingers crossed I will remember to watch as well, lol, tune into Create and Craft, and see what I and my fellow Team Samplers have been up to, xxx

Challenge for the New Year

Happy New Year Everyone!!
Well it doesnt seem as though I have done a lot since my last post does it? Mainly because I dont photo and post a card if I have made it specifically for someone, so most of my Christmas cards are not photographable. And then there been some private commissions, so I dont photo those either, but I will post one soon, of one commission, as I have permission from the Bride to post this one, just not the rest of the stuff, lol, so watch this space for a glimmer of what I have been up to.
Anyway, you're not here for that load of gossip, you're here because its a new challenge over at Krafty Hands this weekend!
New year, New Challenge, and a New beginning! And thats the Challenge over at KH HQ! A new Beginning!
So make a project, and it doesnt just have to be a card, using some of the products they sell, for a new beginning! Here's the rules:

"Anyone can enter our monthly challenges, the only criteria we have is that you must be a follower of our challenge blog, we know that taking part is 99.9% of the fun!

To be the monthly winner of the £20 Kraftyhands voucher, you must use at least one Kraftyhands or Crafter's Companion product in the creation of your challenge project.

That's as complicated as it gets!

Each month we choose 3 winners, the No1 winner will receive a £20 voucher to spend on the Kraftyhands webshop and the No1 winner's "blinkie", the other two winners will get a winner's "blinkie" for their blogs!"

Also there's currently a DT call going on for the two teams KH run, the TV sample group and the Blog challenge group, so do pop over to the blog and see whats going on..............
Right down to business, my inspiration entry for the New Beginnings Challenge:

 

This all came from the  Bouncing Babies CD, and is an entire project on the CD, a lovely Baby Book.


I simply printed it all out, mounted some pages onto card for added sturdiness, especially where I was putting pockets in the pages, to allow room for extra photo's and keepsakes. My project has 13 interior pages, all that were available, and double sided. There are additional elements you can use for Twins, they havent been forgotten!


I decoupaged the front of the book, by simply printing  the pages I needed several times. The blocks on the front were cut out and glazed with Crystal Accents before using sticky pads to mount them over the top of the blocks on the page. the flower was again decoupaged, on top of the original. The edges were sealed using Washi tape.

The tag was taken from another page on the CD, in the decoupage section, and backed with an additional tag. 

The Baby's First Christmas Page was embellished using stickers, and the pockets were highlighted using Washi Tape.

 

I created a see through pocket on the page for Baby's hair, by using that old teachers favourite Fablon, you recall having to back your books using the clear plastic sticky stuff? Well I managed to pick some up from my local Pound shop, and created a see through pocket by sicking it to itself, leaving a margin on 3 sides, then folding the sides back to sick them to the page. Anyone who remembers using it, knows its not going to come off short of destroying the page! I will say its too elastic to cut on a manual die cutting machine! and I havent tried it through my electronic machines yet!

Right off to see what you have been upto, and hope you will join in the Challenge with us at Krafty Hands?

Hugs and wishing you a happy new Year, xxx

Lou