Just Because

Hi Bloggers.

Well, I failed yesterday - my lounge still looks like a stock room! I spent most of the day getting my website orders parcelled up and in the post, had to do some planning for my shows on July 10th and some other bits of admin. My lounge will look even worse this morning as more stock is due in, including the new pastel colours in the Cosmic Shimmer Metallic Gilding Polishes range. I've already loaded them onto my website. You can find them here. As a heads up, if you're in the Wolverhampon area, I will be demoing them at Domino Crafts 10am till 4pm on Saturday. I'll also be demoing CS Pixie Powders and Sue Wilson Dies.

Anyway, here's today's card -

There are so many techniques that you can do with the Spellbinders Acanthus Leaf Card Creator Die Set - this is just one of them that I demoed in one of the ODS shows on Tuesday. It's a variation of Sue Wilson's Fire & Ice Technique.

I cut the inner die only from the Spellbinders Acanthus Leaf Die Set out of a piece of Black Card. I used the Spellbinders Tool 'n One to remove the card from the die and on the reverse of the die cut to remove the 'hairy bits'. Making sure that my Craft Sheet was clean, I popped a piece of Creative Expressions Double Sided Self Adhesive Sheet over the the FRONT of the die cut - it needs to be a bit larger than the die cut. I turned it over to reveal the areas of adhesive and rubbed Gold Metallic Micro Beads all over. Now, I have learned from experience that these little beads like to escape when adding the ice bit to this technique thus contaminating the Iced Snow. So, it's wise to cover the area by gluing a piece of copy paper over to seal them in.

I turned my piece over and peeled away the other piece of adhesive. I then rubbed CS Iced Snow all over. I used the outer die from the Acanthus Leaf Card Creator Die Set to cut my background to size - you need to go back and forth a couple of times in your machine as the die is cutting through card, DS adhesive, copy paper and Iced Snow. It's also best to wait till the glue on the copy paper is dry. Do check your die afterwards for any Iced Snow that might be sitting on it - if left there you will get a little embossed disc on your edges!

I stamped the sentiment from the Justrite Chrysanthemum Stamp Set onto Coconut White Card using Clear Perfect Medium and embossed with CS Gold Detail Embossing Powder. I cut it out using a die from the Spellbinders Acanthus Leaf Tags Die Set and cut the corresponding larger die out of Black Card.

I assembled the card as shown adding Craft Consortium Pearls (with some CS Glue as they're going onto Glitter Jewels) and piercing around the edges using my Tim Holtz Ruler, Precision Probe and Piercing Mat.

I've loaded photos of all of the samples from this week's ODS into the Gallery section of this blog (accessible via the top menu) and onto my Julia Watts Crafts Facebook Page.

Sue Wilson is back on Hochanda during the next 3 days with slightly different products on each show. I'm offering 10% discount on the items I have in stock on my website from today's shows, tomorrow's shows and Saturday's shows. You can find them here. Offer applies till midnight on Sunday 3rd July (to give you chance to watch on catchup if you need too!). Sue's shows are today 10am & 11am, tomorrow at 5pm and 6pm and Saturday at 2pm and 3pm.

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 (30th June) - Spellbinders Savoy Labels Die Set only £13.99!

 

Love & Kisses

Hi Bloggers.

Back from a busy One Day Special. Today I'm hoping to get on with some chores that I haven't been able to do for the last few weeks including sorting out the website stock that is sat in my lounge! Wish me luck!

Here's today's card -

The background is a Sue Wilson technique - I think it's called Mother of Pearl technique. I used a piece of Heat Emboss Acetate. I added some CS Clear Varnish Lacquer and then some CS Phill Martin Titanium Mica Powder. I mixed it together, spreading it all over the Acetate. I scrunched up a piece of White Tissue Paper, added it to my background and put aside to dry.

I cut the Spellbinders Renaissance Border Two Die out of Coconut White Card 4 times and added it to the front of my background once dry, offsetting them as shown.

I made a frame out of Coconut White Card using Sue Wilson's Stitched Lattice Frame Die Set and added it to my background using 3d Foam.

I stamped the sentiment from the Justrite Spring Wishes Vintage Labels Eight Stamp Set using Clear Perfect Medium and embossed with CS Silver Shine Detail Embossing Powder. I cut it out using one of the smaller dies in the Spellbinders Acanthus Leaf Tag Die Set and also cut the corresponding larger tag die out of Steel Pearl Card.

Last day - 10% discount on new Sue Wilson Festive Collection till midnight tonight.You can find them on my website here. Discount will be applied automatically at checkout.

 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 (29th June) -Sue Wilson Pyxis Gemini Die Set only £7.99!

Spellbinders One Day Special Continues on Hochanda today

Hi Bloggers.

I'm continuing with the Spellbinders One Day Special on Hochanda today with shows at 9am. 12noon, 4pm and 7pm. Lisa Horton has shows today too at 10am, 1pm and 5pm with some fab MDF. Hope you can join us.

I have another two-fer for you today featuring the die sets that are in the One Day Special.

Here's the first card - made entirely from Steel Pearl Card -

I've used Saliboat Blue and Purple Twilight Alcohol Inks and and Alcohol Ink Applicator Tool to colour some pieces of Steel Pearl Card (I just did the edges of the mat pieces). I cut the inner die and one of the outside edge dies from the Spellbinders Acanthus Leaf Duality Die Set towards the bottom of a piece of Steel Card and added this to my Alcohol Inked card.

I cut the outer die only in the Spellbinders Acanthus Leaf Card Creator Die Set (love this die set - lots of techniques to show you with this) from another piece of Alchol Inked card. I then cut both dies together out of Steel Card and glued the 2 pieces together.

I coloured 6 Craft Consortium Pearl Hearts with the same Alcohol Inks as before.

I assembled the card as shown piercing around the edges using my Tim Holtz Ruler, Precision Probe and Piercing Mat.

Here's the second card (and it is an actual card! lol) -

This is a real quickie. I inked all over a piece of A5 Heat Emboss Acetate with Purple Twilight, Sailboat Blue and Sunset Orange Alcohol Inks using the Applicator Tool.

I folded it in half. I also folded an A5 piece of Coconut White Card in half. I popped the 2 pieces together and secured them with a piece of Craft Consortium White Satin Ribbon adding a Craft Consortium Small Circle Pearl Diamante Charm.

I stamped the sentiment from the Justrite Chrysanthemum Stamp Set onto Coconut White Card using Jet Black Archival. I cut it out using one of the small dies from the Spellbinders Acanthus Leaf Tags Die Set and inked through the die with Chic Pumpkin Colour Cloud using a Smoothie. I cut the corresponding larger die from the set, again out of Coconut White Card and inked through the die with Chic Pumpkin.

I added a couple of Craft Consortium 5mm Pearls to the right hand corners.

I hope you've enjoyed today's two fer. I love Alcohol Inks - there are so many techiques you can do with them. I hope to be able to able to demonstrate some of them (please see last night's launch show on catchup on Hochanda's website here). Tim Holtz has done a bunch of videos on Alchol Inks - I've included a couple below -

Unfortunately, I don't have the colours of Alcohol Inks in stock that I have on the shows but I do have other colours - you can find them here.

I'm offering 10% discount on items I have in stock from the shows. You can find them here. Offer applies till midnight tonight. Discount will be applied at checkout.

I've had a quick look at Lisa's table at the studio and I've spotted that she has her latest stamps on her shows so I've popped them and the White Gesso Primer with 10% off - you can find them here. Offer applies till midnight tonight.

Just a reminder, if you like the look of Alcohol Inks but would like to try before you buy, my next workshop locally at Yardley Gobion Village Hall features Alcohol Inks. You can see more details and book via my website here. This workshop is being repeated at Creative Expressions HQ on Wednesday 3rd August.

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.
www.juliawattscrafts.co.uk
10% discount on new Sue Wilson Festive Collection till midnight tomorrow (29th June).You can find them on my website here. Discount will be applied automatically at checkout.
Free card with all website orders (ask for one in the comments box at checkout).
Deal of the Day today (28th June) - Phill Martin From the Heart Female Relatives Die Set only £8.99!

Spellbinders One Day Special this evening

Hi Bloggers.

I'm launching a One Day Special on Hochanda this evening at 8pm with some brand new Spellbinders Dies and Stamps - yes, I have some stamps from Spellbinders this time too! The ladies who were on my Stamping Masterclass earlier this month had the chance to use some of the new Spellbinders Stamps and I'm sure they will agree with me that the quality is fantastic and they stamp beautifully.

I have a two-fer for you today featuring both of the stamp/die sets that are included the shows (not in the ODS though). I fell in love with these when I received the samples from Spellbinders a couple of months ago.

Here's the first card -

The background is Coconut White Card embossed with the Spellbinders Elegance M-Bossabilities Folder - I ran it through the Platinum Machine a second time to extend the design and inked around the edges with Chic Pumpkin Colour Cloud using a Smoothie.

I coloured a piece of Craft Consortium Lily Lace Ribbon with the Chic Pumpkin Colour Cloud and wrapped it around my card.

I stamped the Spellbinders Flower Bouquet Stamp onto Coconut White Card using Jet Black Archival. I coloured in using Distress Markers - I used Abandoned Coral, Carved Pumpkin, Fossilized Amber, Milled Lavender, Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint. I pulled the colour out using a Water Brush - you may notice that my orange flowers have a slight sheen, this was due to there still being some Mica on my Water Brush from my last shows - a happy accident!

I cut the image out using the die from the Flower Bouquet Set - it cuts with a little border around the edges.

There are a couple of extra dies in the set - a flower and a leaf spray. I cut the leaf die out of Brunswick Green Card twice and hooked the die cuts around my image (Leonie Pujol style!).

I tied a bow using the narrow ribbon from the Craft Consortium White Satin Ribbon Pack and tucked it behind my image.

For some reason, I forgot to put some sentiments stamps on the show so I've dipped around a bit for my sentiments. This one is from John Lockwood's Pierced Tag Sentiments. I've stamped it onto Coconut White Card using Jet Black Archival, cut it down into 3 sections and inked the edges with Chic Pumpkin Colour Cloud using a Smoothie.

I assembled the card as shown adding some Craft Consortium Pearls to the corners and piercing around the edges using my Tim Holtz Ruler, Precision Probe and Piercing Mat.

Here's a pic showing you what you get in the Flower Bouquet Set -

Here's the second card using the other Spellbinders Stamp/Die Set that's on the show -

For the background, I've embossed a piece of Coconut White Card with the same Spellbinders Elegance M-Bossibilities Folder (I must like that one! lol). This time, I've only used it once as the card is 5" x 7" so just fits on one pass through. I've inked around the edged with Rose Blush Colour Cloud using a Smoothie. I matted onto Black Card. I inked a piece of Craft Consortium Floral Notes Lace Ribbon with Rose Blush Colour Cloud and wrapped it around my card.

 I stamped the Spellbinders Embroidered Flowers Stamp onto Coconut White Card using Jet Black Archival. This stamp is quite sketchy so is very forgiving if you're not a confident stamper. Having said that, it does stamp beautifully. I've coloured in using Rose Blush and Chic Pumpkin Colour Clouds - I dabbed a little inked from a Smoothie into the lid and picked it up using my Water Brush. I used Twisted Citron Distress Marker for the leaves, pulling the colour out using my Water Brush. I cut it out using the die from the Embroidered Leaves Set, as before, it cuts leaving a little border around the image.

I cut the largest die from the Spellbinders Renaissance Vine Die Set out of Coconut White Card and inked though the die with Rose Blush Colour Cloud.

I stamped the sentiment from the Justrite Chrysanthemum Stamp Set onto Coconut White Card using Jet Black Archival. I cut it out using a rectangular die from the Spellbinders Renaissance Tags Two Die Set and inked through the die with Rose Blush.

I assembled the card as shown adding some 5mm Craft Consortium Pearls to the corners and piercing around the edges using my Tim Holtz Ruler, Precision Probe and Piercing Mat.

Here's a pic showing you what you get in the Embroidered Flowers Set -

I'm offering 10% discount on items I have in stock from the shows. You can find them here. Offer applies till midnight tomorrow night. Discount will be applied at checkout.

As I am still doing prep, I won't have time to parcel up any website orders today. Orders placed before 7pm yesterday will be posted this morning. Orders placed after 7pm yesterday will be posted on Wednesday.

The winner of the Freebie Friday Card on June 24th is ....................

Jennifer Smith-Kirk 

Please email me at juliawattscrafts@gmail.com with your address and I'll pop it in the post later this week.

Hope to see you later!

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.
www.juliawattscrafts.co.uk
10% discount on new Sue Wilson Festive Collection till midnight Wednesday 29th June.You can find them on my website here. Discount will be applied automatically at checkout.
Free card with all website orders (ask for one in the comments box at checkout).
Deal of the Day today (27th June) - Sue Wilson Italian Collection Decorative Frames Die Set only £9.99!

Where there is love

Hi Bloggers.

Still knee deep in prep for tomorrow night! There's not enough hours in the day for me at the moment!

Here's today's card -

I used the Justrite A2 Card Front Basics Die Set to create my Coconut White Card Blank and the Black mat layer.

I stamped the foliage from the Justrite Create a Flower Garden Stamp Set using Mowed Lawn Distress Ink. I then cut out using the Justrite A2 Card Front Basics and edged with Salty Ocean Distress Ink.

I misted 3 pieces of  Coconut White Card with CS Chalk Misters - one with Pastel Pink, one with Pastel Blue and one with Pastel Purple. Once dry, I stamped the elements from the Justrite Home Twist Home using Jet Black Archival and cut them out using scissors - I cut the little bird's beak and legs off. I added the stem using CS Glue, the birdhouse using 3D Foam and glued the bird on. I used a Black Pigma Micron Pen to draw in the beak and the legs of the bird.

I stamped the sentiment from the Home Tweet Home Stamp Set using Jet Black Archival.

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.
www.juliawattscrafts.co.uk
10% discount on new Sue Wilson Festive Collection till midnight next Wednesday (29th June).You can find them on my website here. Discount will be applied automatically at checkout.
Free card with all website orders (ask for one in the comments box at checkout).
Deal of the Day today (26th June) - Ranger Cheese Puff Dye Ink Pad only £2.99!

Best Wishes

Hi Bloggers.

I'm knee deep in prep for the Spellbinders One Day Special which starts on Monday evening on Hochanda at 8pm so I hope you'll forgive the short description today.

Here's today's card -

For the background, I've embossed Coconut White Card using the Couture Creations Bradshaw Embossing Folder.

I've stamped the image from the Justrite Large Oval Celebration Stamp Set onto Black Card using Clear Perfect Medium and embossed with CS True White Detail Embossing Powder. I've coloured in using CS Summer Garden Watercolour Set using a Waterbrush. I've cut it out using Justrite Hope Oval Fame Dies and cut a couple of mats using the same die set.

I've cut the sentiment using the Justrite Best Wishes Sentiments Die Set and the corners using the Justrite A2 Card Front Basics Die Set.

Phill Martin continues with his One Day Special on Hochanda today with shows at 9am, 12noon, 4pm and 7pm. I'm offerning 10% discount on items I have in stock from the shows. You can find them here. Offer applies till midnight tonight. Discount will be applied at the checkout.

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.
www.juliawattscrafts.co.uk
10% discount on new Sue Wilson Festive Collection till midnight next Wednesday (29th June).You can find them on my website here. Discount will be applied automatically at checkout.
Free card with all website orders (ask for one in the comments box at checkout).
Deal of the Day today (25th June) - Couture Creations Cappucino Die only £6.99!

Freebie Friday

Hi Bloggers.

It's that time of the week again! Here's this week's card that needs a new home -

You can read how this card was made in this post.

Leave a lovely comment below to go into the draw for a chance to win it. I will announce the winner on Monday.

The winner of the card from Freebie Friday last week (17th June) is .......................

BridgetCG

Please email me at juliawattscrafts@gmail.com with your address and I'll pop it in the post.

Delivery of the brand new 2016 Festive Collection by Sue Wilson is due in this morning. This includes new dies, clear stamp sets and stamps to die for. You can find them on my website here. I'm offering 10% discount on them till midnight next Wednesday (29th June). Discount will be applied automatically at checkout.

Phill Martin is launching a One Day Special on Hochanda this evening at 8pm. I'm offerning 10% discount on items I have in stock from the shows. You can find them here. Offer applies till midnight tomorrow night. Once again, you'll see the discount applied at the checkout.

I almost forgot - my latest post went live on the Spellbinders Blog on the day I went on holiday. You can see it here. It would be lovely if you could stop by and leave a comment.

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 (24th June) - Creative Expressions Vintage Bronze Buttons only 99p!