Bags, Boxes and Tags

Hi Bloggers.

I'm running a workshop in Milton Keynes. It's a Backgrounds Masterclass so lots of lovely background techniques to share with the ladies today.

Today, I thought I'd share a selection of additional Christmas items you may like to make.

First a gift bag -

I started by stamping the Justrite Snow Days Background Stamp onto Coconut White Card twice using Phill Martin CS Decadent Denim Colour Cloud applied using a Smoothie. I used these stamped backgrounds to cut the side panels out using the Spellbinders Favorably Simple Gift Box Die Set. The stamped background isn't quite long enough to get the whole box side in but I positioned it so that the bottom flaps were slightly off the stamping - this isn't seen unless you turn the bag upside down. I cut the inside flaps of the bag out of Coconut White Card.

I assembled the bag as per Becca Feeken's YouTube Video

I cut the small snowflake die from the Justrite Snowflake & Tags Die Set out of Coconut White Card. I added it to the flap of the gift bag and added a Blue Dazzler.

I stamped the sentiment from the Justrite Christmas Mini Tags Stamp Set onto Coconut White Card using Decadent Denim Colour Cloud. I cut it out using a tag die from the Justrite Snowflake & Tags Die Set.

A little box -

I spread some CS Holly Sparkle Texture Paste through the Holly Background Mask onto Rich Green Card. Once dry, I cut the box top die from the Spellbinders Bracket Edge Box out of it and I cut the bottom die out of Rich Red Card. I used CS Dries Clear Glue to assemble the box.

I cut a die from the Justrite Multi-Step Poinsettia Dies out of Coconut White Card . I double embossed them using Clear Perfect Medium and CS Ruby Slippers Brilliant Sparkle Embossing Powder. I added some 5mm White Pearls to the centre of my flower.

I stamped the sentiment from the Justrite Christmas Mini Tags Stamp Set onto Coconut White Card using Clear Perfect Medium and embossed with CS Bright Gold Detail Embossing Powder. I cut it out using a tag die from the Justrite Snowflake & Tags Die Set. I edged the tag with CS Crimson Kiss Colour Cloud using a Smoothie.

A couple of tags -

I stamped the sentiment from the Justrite Inside and Outside Christmas Sentiments Stamp Set onto Coconut White Card using Red Geranium Archival, I cut it out using Sue Wilson's Pierced Tag Dies. I cut the tiny circular reinforement die in the set out of Rich Red Card.

I stamped the smaller poinsettia from the Justrite Multi-Step Poinsettia Stamp Set onto Coconut White Card. I used Crimson Kiss Colour Cloud for the 1st 2 steps, then Red Geranium Archival for the 3rd step (veins) and Coffee Archival for the centre. I cut them out using Justrite Multi-Step Poinsettia Dies.

I assembled my flower and added it to my tag. I finished by adding some Red Two-Tone Ribbon.

For this slightly smaller tag cut using Sue's Pierced Tag Dies, I stamped santa and the sentiment from the Justrite Christmas Mini Tags Stamp Set using Red Geranium Archival. The 'To' is from the Justrite Inside and Outside Christmas Sentiments Stamp Set. I added some Bakers Twine to this one.

Another video I did for Creative Expressions has gone live on YouTube. This one is on Pixie Powders.

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.
www.juliawattscrafts.co.uk
Free card with all website orders (ask for one in the comments box at checkout).
Deal of the Day today (15th October) - Phill Martin Sentimentally Yours - Baroque Relative Corner Sentiments only £8.99!

Thinking of you at Christmas

Hi Bloggers.

It's day 2 of our demo weekend at Inspirations in Preston today. I'll be focussing on Christmas today.

Here's today's card -

This card features one of my favourite techniques with background dies at the moment - a variation of Fire & Ice but with Mica Powders instead of Gilding Flakes.

I cut the inner die only from the Spellbinders 5 x 7 Mistletoe Card Front Die Set out of Coconut White Card. I placed a piece of Creative Expressions Double Sided Self Adhesive Sheet on the front of the die cut. On the back, I added Phill Martin Cosmic Shimmer Frosty Heather and Frosty Aqua Mica Powders, spreading them all over the sticky areas with a Soft Dusting Brush. I removed as much of the excess Mica Powder as possible and then sealed the whole area with a piece of copy paper. I turned the piece over, removed the other backing sheet from the adhesive and added Cosmic Shimmer Diamond Sprinkles all over.

I cut the Spellbinders 5 x 7 Holly Frame out of Coconut White Card with a Spellbinders 5 x 7 Matting Basics B die in the centre to form a frame. I lightly inked through the dies with Frosty Heather Colour Cloud using a Smoothie.

I stamped the sentiment from John Lockwood's 12 Days of Christmas Sentiments Stamp Set using Clear Perfect Medium and embossed with Cosmic Shimmer Silver Shine Detail Embossing Powder. I cut it out using Spellbinders Holly Tags and inked through the die with Frosty Heather Colour Cloud.

I tied a bow using 2 lengths of Off White Satin Ribbon. I pressed a Metal Dazzler Setting into Clear Perfect Medium, added Silver Shine Powder, tapped off the excess and heat set. I allowed it to cool for a few minutes, added a Purple Dazzler and popped it onto my bow using a Glue Dot.

I made a couple of Stick Pins using Creative Expressions Stick Pin Elements (Teal Teardrops and White Pearls - must use Glossy Accents) and popped them behind my bow.

I assembled the card as shown piercing around the edges using my Tim Holtz Ruler, Precision Probe and Piercing Mat. The mat behind the pierced one is Coconut White Card coloured with PM Frosty Heather Colour Cloud Blending Ink using a Smoothie.

Just to let you know that there is scheduled maintenance at Digital River who provide my payment gateway on my website between 8am and 9am today so if you experience problems paying during that time, that will be the reason. Paypal payments will be unaffected.

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.
www.juliawattscrafts.co.uk
Ask for a free card (in the order comments box at checkout) when you order in August!

Show on Create & Craft today and a two-fer

Hi Bloggers.

I have 1 hour on Create & Craft at 9am with some lovely new dies from Couture Creations. I want to give a big shout out and Thank You to Tracey Laughton and John Lockwood who have helped me by making some gorgeous samples. I'm on with Dean today so I hope we get to show all of them. I'm planning to show as many techniques as I can with the time I have. Just a heads up - some of the dies are already out of stock at the Creative Expressions Warehouse and it's unlikely that the dies will be re-stocked so if there's anything you need/want be sure not to hang about! I've also put a couple of nice card packs on the show - 1 pastel and 1 bold colours. They work quite well together as many of Tracey's samples show - be sure to check those out.

I have 2 cards today to share with you -

An inky background on this one. I cut the larger butterfly from the Couture Creations Edith & Baby Die Set out of a piece of Coconut White Card (doesn't matter what colour actually). I used this as my mask. I spayed a little Phill Martin Cosmic Shimmer Decadent Denim Ink Spray Mist onto my Craft Sheet. I picked it up onto a Smoothie and dabbed through the die cut onto a piece of Coconut White Card. I repeated this randomly across the whole background piece.

I cut the border from the Couture Creations Frames n Frills Gulda Set out of Sky Blue Card. There's no cut edge at the ends so I extended it to the length of my background. I repeated this again then cut a White Pearl Strip in half and added it to the middle of both die cuts.

I cut the 2 tags from the Couture Creations 2 Tags & Flower Pot Die Set out of Sky Blue and Cobalt Card. I added a piece of Creative Expressions Double Sided Self Adhesive Sheet to a piece of Sky Blue Card and cut the Flower Pot from the same die set, peeled off the backing and added Diamond Snow Cosmic Shimmer Glitter Jewels. I added a 5mm White Pearl to the centre of the flower.

I tied a bow using 2 lengths of Off White Satin Ribbon. I added another piece of Creative Expressions Double Sided Self Adhesive Sheet to another piece of Sky Blue Card and cut the largest butterfly from the Edith & Baby die set, peeled off the backing and added Diamond Snow Cosmic Shimmer Glitter Jewels. I added some 3mm White Pearls to the body of the butterfly.

 I assembled the card as shown piercing around the edges.

Here's the second card which show off the Happy Birthday Die Set and the Edith Border.

I've embossed the background using the Creative Expressions Leafy Quad Embossing Folder. The Edith & Baby Die Set and the Edith Border have been cut out of Lilac Card.

The Happy Birthday die set has been cut out of Coconut White Card. I pressed Clear Perfect Medium into it, covered with Phill Martin Cosmic Shimmer Decadent Grape Embossing Powder, tapped off the excess and heat set. I added more ink, more powder and heat set again.

I completed the card with a couple of Pearl Corners, some White Self Adhesive Pearls and piercing around the edges.

I've added all my samples for today's show to the Gallery section of this blog accessable via the top menu and on Facebook here.

See you at 9!

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.
www.juliawattscrafts.co.uk

Enjoy

Hi Bloggers.

This card went down really well at the Trade Show this week.

So, I used Sue's Striped Weaving Die for the background. I cut it twice out of Milk Card and twice out of Sky Blue Card. I glued the 2 Milk Die Cuts together along one side.

I separated all of the Sky Blue strips and wove them in and out of the Milk strips. You can see how the weaving dies work on Sue's You Tube Channel here. This version with just the Striped Weaving Die does take a little longer than when you use the Classic but it's quite relaxing!

I cut the largest 3 dies together from Sue's Noble Classic Adorned Squares Die Set out of Sky Blue Card. I cut the largest die from the Sue's Ornate Pierced Squares Die Set out of Milk Card. I glued the Sky Blue Frame to the pierced die cut, seated the Classic Adorned Squares Die back in the centre of the Sky Blue Die Cut and ran it through the Grand Calibur to remove the centre from the Milk Die Cut (great tip from Sue).

I cut Sue's Enjoy Die out out Sky Blue Card.

I made a flower out of Cream Crochet Ribbon.

I cut the 2 branch dies from Sue's Blossoming Branch Die Set out of Milk Card and the flowers from the same die set out of Sky Blue Card. I shaped the flowers using a ball tool on a moulding mat and added them to the branches. I added a 3mm Cream Pearl to the centre of each one.

I assembled the card as shown adding an 8mm Cream Pearl to each corner.

Just a reminder that I have workshops on Tuesday 24th February in Kettering and Saturday 7th March near Milton Keynes with Sue's Dies and lots of Cosmic Shimmer and Creative Expressions products - details in the Workshop section of this blog (access via the top menu).

John Lockwood has shows on Create & Craft today at 10am and 4pm - hope you can tune in.

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.

Seasons Greetings

Hi Bloggers.

Here's another demo that I didn't get to do on C&C -

For the background, I stamped the Newsprint Holly A6 Background using Perfect Medium. I brushed Bright Holly Mica Powder from the  Cosmic Shimmer Festive Brights Mica Spray Set all over. I removed the excess mica powder using a dry wet wipe. I edged the background with a little Malachite Cosmic Shimmer Shimmer Paint using Cut n Dry Foam.

I masked off the image panel on the Seasons Greetings Stamp, 'inked' up the top section of the stamp using Malachite Shimmer Paint and stamped onto Coconut White Card. I cut it out using a Spellbinders Romantic Rectangles Two Die.

I 'inked' up the bottom section of the Believe Stamp using Malachite Shimmer Paint (there was no need to mask as I was going to be cutting it out by hand) and stamped onto Coconut White Card. I covered with a piece of Creative Expressions Double Sided Adhesive Sheet and added Cosmic Shimmer Diamond Sprinkles.

I cut a piece of Rich Green Card using Spellbinders Grand Squares. I ran it through the Grand Calibur with the Couture Creations Poinsettia Lullaby Embossing Folder. I then rubbed Malachite Shimmer Paint all over using Cut n Dry Foam.

I added a piece of Creative Expressions Double Sided Adhesive Sheet to a piece of Coconut White Card and cut 2 trees using Spellbinders 2013 Holiday Tree Die Set. I removed the backing and added Cosmic Shimmer Glacier Ice.

I assembled the card as shown adding some White Pearls to the corners and some dots of Cosmic Shimmer Holly Sparkle PVA around the edges.

I'll be back tomorrow with a sneak peek from Thursday's shows.

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.

Just Wanted to say Hello

Hi Bloggers.

Here's today's card -

This card was inspired by a card I saw on Sue's blog last week. Again, a very simple card to construct.

For the background, I inked through the Delicate Mask with Dried Marigold Distress Ink. I then ran it through the Grand Calibur with the Couture Creations Extra Confetti Embossing Folder. I ran it through a second time to extend the design and inked around the edges with Dried Marigold using Cut n Dry Foam.

I made 2 frames out of apricot card using a couple of the dies from the Spellbinders Gold Squares One with a die from the Classic Squares Large either side.

I stamped the sentiment from the Creative Expressions Heartfelt Sentiments Stamp Set using Jet Black Archival and embossed with Cosmic Shimmer Clear Embossing Powder.

I tied a bow using White Crochet Ribbon and added a Frosted Peach Dazzler.

I assembled the card as shown adding some White Pearls and some dots of Cosmic Shimmer Pearlescent PVA in White around the edges.

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.

Friendship Doubles Joy

Hi Bloggers.

Another card today featuring the Creative Expressions Trees of Imagination Stamp Set.

For the background, I ran a piece of Burgundy card through the Grand Calibur with the Couture Creations Chiaro Embossing Folder. I ran it through a second time to extend the pattern.

I cut a Spellbinders Scalloped Labels One out of black card. At the emboss stage, I inked over the Floral Vines Mask with Perfect Medium and then placed it on top of the die (NOT the cutting edge side). So, the sandwich here was - base plate, tan mat, die with card in it with cutting edge going down onto tan mat, mask - ink side down, pink embossing plate. I carefully, removed the card from the mask and the die, added Cosmic Shimmer Lava Black Embossing Powder and heat set.

I stamped the tree from the Creative ExpressionsTrees of Imagination Stamp Set using the Perfect Medium and again embossed with Lava Black. It looks different on white card and black card. I cut it out using a smaller Scalloped Labels One.

I stamped the sentiment from the Creative Expressions Sincere Sentiments Stamp Set again with Perfect Medium and embossed with Lava Black. I cut it out using another Scalloped Labels One die.


I tied a bow using 2 lengths of Two Tone Ribbon and added a Black Dazzler.

I assembled the card as shown adding some dots of Cosmic Shimmer Pearlescent PVA in Black Pearl around the edges and some Black Self Adhesive Swirls.

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.

Miss You

Hi Bloggers.

Here's today's card from the Pick of the Day.

For the background, I popped some Coconut White card inside the Spellbinders Garden Lattice A4 M-Bossabilities Folder. I edged it with Peach Bellini Adirondack Dye Ink using Cut n Dry Foam.

I cut the smallest of the Spellbinders Grand Decorative Circles One dies out of white card and inked through the die with Peach Bellini. I cut the next size up out of Foundations Dot and Dash Paper. I cut the CFT Triumphant Blossom out of the same Foundations Paper but used the other side uppermost. I folded and tucked and popped it on top of the circles, adding a few 5mm White Pearls as showm.

I stamped the sentiment from the Creative Expressions Sincere Sentiments Stamp Set using Jet Black Archival and embossed with Cosmic Shimmer Clear Embossing Powder. I cut it out using one of the smaller Marvelous Squares dies. I inked through the die with Peach Bellini and added a few more pearls.

I cut some little corners out of Foundations Paper using the French Frills die set and added a pearl to each.

I tied a big bow using 2 lengths of White Sheer Wrinkled Edge Ribbon and added a couple of Crystal Decorative Stick Pins and a Frosted Peach Dazzler.

I assembled the card as shown adding some dots of Cosmic Shimmer Pearlescent PVA in White around the edges.

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.