Toot the Tug

Hi Bloggers.

Here's today's card -

I started by misting a piece of Coconut White Card with Phill Martin's CS Vintage Blue Ink Spray Mist. I then popped some of the ink into a Water Brush and used it to create a wash. Once dry, I ran it through the Platinum Machine with the Creative Expressions Ocean Waves PinPoint Embossing Folder. I trimmed it down using scissors following the lines in the design (you can get 2 pieces for 2 cards!). I added this to my misted background then matted onto Black Card and Coconut White Card.

I stamped the boat and seagull from the Woodware Toot the Tug Stamp Set and the clouds from the Woodware Charlie Tango Stamp Set onto Watercolour Card using Onyx Black Versafine Ink. I coloured them in using CS Essentials Watercolour Paint Set and a Water Brush, except for the water line below the boat which I coloured using my Vintage Blue Ink in my Water Brush. I cut them out using scissors, leaving a thin white border (except along the water line below the boat which I cut close). I added them to my card using CE Mounting Cushion as shown.

I stamped the sentiment from the Toot the Tug Stamp Set using Versafine Ink and cut it out using Sue Wilson's Double Pierced Circles.

Unfortunately, our trip to the vets was not good. Poor Charlie had a tumour on his intestine. He had suddenly lost alot of weight and I had thought that it was his kidneys as I've had cats suffer from that before. Charlie was only 6, very unlucky to have this so young. MK Vets were brilliant at explaining options to us and the possible outcomes, none good, unfortunately so we made the difficult decision to put him to sleep. This is the worst thing about being a pet owner and it never gets any easier. Nathan came with me to say goodbye to Charlie. He's very upset, Charlie was his fave cat of ours ever. RIP Charlie Cat.

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.
www.juliawattscrafts.co.uk
Free card with all website orders over £10 (ask for one in the comments box at checkout).
Deal of the Day today (31st May) - Creative Expressions Stamps to Die For - Tuileries Frame only £4.00!

Faux Quilted Bonsai Stained Glass Window

Hi Bloggers.

Here's today's card -

This is a very simple card to make, a little time consuming but very simple.

I started by cutting Sue Wilson's Bonsai Stained Glass Window Die out of Black Card. Then, I ran the die through the Platinum Machine using the emboss sandwich with a piece of Coconut White Card slightly larger than the Black piece of Card.

I painted the areas on the embossed White Card using the CS Christmas Watercolour Paint Set and a Water Brush. I made sure I painted right down to the lines. The paint dries really quickly. I placed the black die cut on top and added extra paint where necessary. Once I was happy, I used Quickie Glue to adhere the black die cut to my painted piece. I matted onto another piece of Black Card and onto a Coconut White Card blank.

Thank you for all your orders over the Bank Holiday Weekend. I will do my best to get as many of them out today but some may slip to tomorrow. My youngest cat is poorly at the moment and I need to try and get him to the vets today which is never a quick trip. He could have waited till I had less prep to do! Lol 😟

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.
www.juliawattscrafts.co.uk
Free card with all website orders over £10 (ask for one in the comments box at checkout).
Deal of the Day today (30th May) - Spellbinders Foam Mounted Rubber Stamp - Make Today Your Best Day only £4.99!

Happy Birthday

Hi Bloggers.

I was inspired by a sample by Jane Gill to make this card (the card I made on the last Woodware One Day Special is later on in this post using different products so be sure to scroll down to see it).

For the background, I started by adding a little Scarlet Mist CS Pixie Powder to a piece of Coconut White Card. I spritzed with a little water and blew through a straw to move the ink around. I repeated this with Pewter and Peacock Green Pixie Powders.

Once dry, I stamped several of the sentiments from the Woodware Plenty of Birthdays Stamp Set using Onyx Black Versafine Ink. I cut out using Sue Wilson's Double Pierced Rectangles and inked around the edges with CS Misty Grey Chalk Cloud using a Smoothie.  I matted onto Black Card cut fromthe next sized die in the set and popped onto a Coconut White Card blank.

I cut Sue Wilson's Happy Birthday Circle out of Black Card.
 
I stamped the cake and the candle from the same stamp set onto Coconut White Card using Clear Perfect Medium and embossed with CS Black Detail Embossing Powder. I coloured in using Scarlet Mist Pixie Powder using a Water Brush, adding a little Graphmaster BG1 Alcohol Marker as a shadow. I cut out using scissors leaving a thin white border around and added to my card using CE Mounting Cushion.

|I completed my card by adding a 5mm Black Pearl to each corner.

Here's the card I made on the One Day Special shows -

I used misters for the background - Phill Martin Vintage Blue Ink Spray Mist, Phill Martin Old Gold Mister and Pastel Purple Chalk Mister. I edged with Pastel Purple Chalk Mister which I sprayed onto my Craft Sheet and picked up with a piece of Cut n Dry Foam.

I coloured the cake in using CS Summer Garden Watercolour Paint Set and CS Essentials Watercolour Paint Set using a Water Brush.

I thought I would also share the background that Charlie made during the show as we had so much fun doing this -

I added a couple more ideas to the Stained Glass Window techniques on yesterday's post so if you visited before 10:15am yesterday morning, you may want to pop back.

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

The winner of the card from Freebie Friday on 26th May is................................

 Cathie Weary

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

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.
www.juliawattscrafts.co.uk
Free card with all website orders over £10 (ask for one in the comments box at checkout).
Deal of the Day today (29th May) - Craft Consortium Satin Ribbon - Lilac 3m each of 10,15 & 20mm only 99p!

Butterfly Stained Glass Window plus a few extra bits

Hi Bloggers.

Here's today's card -

I started by cutting the Sue Wilsons's Butterfly Stained Glass Window out of Black Card. I used Quickie Glue to add the die cut to a piece of Acetate. I cut the die out again, added Quickie Glue to the front of the die cut and glued it to the other side of the Acetate in line with the die cut on the front. I find it easier to do this so that I can colour in all the areas at once without having to wait for them to dry. It also reduces contamination of colours.

I coloured in on the back - I popped a little CS Clear Lacquer Varnish onto my Craft Sheet and added CS Pixie Powders. I used Scarlet Mist, Mango Blaze, Purple Violet and Emerald (to separate blobs of Lacquer Varnish). I mixed well using a Paint Brush and painted onto the Acetate. I find it's better to dab the colour on rather than brush on - the colour is more intense that way.

Once dry, I added Quickie Glue to the cental area. Once the glue was clear,I added CS Golden Sand Polished Silk Glitter.

I matted onto Coconut White Card, then Black Card and then popped onto a Coconut White Card Blank.

Over on my Facebook Page, I have set up an album with some experimenting I did with the lacquer and stains, pixies, glitter and alcohol inks. I realise that not all of you have facebook so here are the details -

Blue - CS Laquer Varnish with Alcohol Inks - surprised that this doesn't really work, alcohol ink colour seems to split in the varnish.
Red above blue - CS Lacquer Varnish & CS Rich Crimson Intense Pigment Stain - FAB!
Top (under pokey tool) - CS Lacquer Varnish, CS Rich Crimson Intense Pigment Stain & CS Sahara Gold Polished SIlk Glitter - I was surprised that this worked as when I have mixed PS Glitter in with Sparkle texture paste all it did was colour the paste as the glitter is so fine but here it works! Happy with that!

Corner under pokey tool - CS Clear Varnish Lacquer, CS Rich Crimson Intense Pigment Stain & CS Iced Crystals Glitter Jewels - bit gloopy and hard to get even coverage. Would probably be ok with Diamond Snow, Diamond Sprinkles and possibily Glacier Ice.

Bottom Square - CS Clear Varnish Lacquer, CS Rich Crimson Intense Pigment Stain & CS Frosty Dawn Diamond Frost - Lovely!
Area under Pokey Tool - CS Clear Varnish Lacquer, CS Scarlet Mist Pixie Powder and CS Frosty Dawn Diamond Frost - as above but a bit more opaque.

   CS Clear Varnish Lacquer, CS Scarlet Mist Pixie Powder and CS Sahara Gold Polished Silk Glitter.

Left overs from some of the experiments used on the flower and butterfly. Leaves are Hunter Green Polished Silk Glitter applied with Quickie Glue. Other flower was Light Purple Quickie glue applied too early on air so it's patchy. I used some extra experiment leftovers on the back of it - not really recommended!

Just a quick play - hopefully it's useful to you. I wanted to share as I was wrong about using the lacquer with Alcohol Inks and Polished Silk Glitter and wanted to make amends for what I said on air.

Update - 10.15am Sunday 28th May. A couple more experiments :

 You can use Alcohol inks directly from the bottle but be careful that the dropper doesn't flow too quickly and flood the area. Here I used Valencia Adirondack Alcohol Ink. I then used Limeade in the area next to it and if flowed quite fast and contaminated the areas nearby. Test your ink first - if it's flowing too quickly, perhaps use a pipette.

Here I used Valencia Alcohol ink in the bottom rectangle and Amethyst just above. I have a blob in the Amethyst one so I really need to apply so more ink there.

 Alcohol Markers work a treat. Here, I've used a Graphmaster Alcohol Marker.

Phill Martin is launching a new One Day Special on Hochanda this evening at 8pm with some more Sue Wilson dies from the April Release! 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 or while stocks last. Discount will be applied automatically at checkout.

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.
www.juliawattscrafts.co.uk
Free card with all website orders over £10 (ask for one in the comments box at checkout).
Deal of the Day today (28th May) - Designs by John Lockwood - Autumn's Child Clear Stamp Set only £6.99!

Many Happy Returns

Hi Bloggers.

There's still quite a few cards from the Woodware One Day Special that I did earlier this month that I haven't shared yet so I'll mix it up a bit with the cards from this week's shows over the next couple of weeks.

For the background, I dusted a piece of Coconut White Card with an Anti-Static Pad. I applied Clear Perfect Medium to the deboss side of the CE Rope Chain Embossing Folder via a Brayer. I added CS Crushed Grape Brilliant Sparkle Embossing Powder and heat set. I edged with CS Gentle Lavender Chalk Cloud using a Smoothie. I matted onto Black Card and popped onto a Coconut White Card blank.

I had a strip of background leftover from another project - spritzed with CS Pastel Purple Chalk Mister through the Being Square Mask onto Black Card. I edged it with Gentle Lavender Chalk Cloud.

I stamped one of the flowers from the Woodware Fancy Flowers Stamp Set onto Black Card using Clear Perfect Medium and embossed with CS White Detail Embossing Powder. I coloured in using CS Summer Garden Watercolour Set using a Water Brush. I cut the image out using Sue Wilson's Double Pierced Background Rectangles and edged with Gentle Lavender Chalk Cloud.

I stamped the sentiment from the Woodware Birthday Cake Stamp Set using Clear Perfect Medium and embossed with CS White Detail Embossing Powder. I cut it out using Sue's Pierced Flags and edged with Gentle Lavender Chalk Cloud.

I completed my card by adding a Black Rhinestone Self-Adhesive Swirl.

Here's the list of the Sue Wilson Dies that I have on my One Day Special on 12th June -
Necessities Collection : Elegant Cross, Vintage Handbags, Vintage Perfume Bottle
Expressions : Chistening Day Die
Indonesian Collection : Background, Border and Corners, Mini Frames, Bali, Java, Sumatra plus all the co-ordinating Stamps to Die For
Finishing Touches : Lily of the Valley, Spring Daffodils, Rose Spray Corners, Hobnail Vase

If you would like to make some cards and have them shown on TV, email me at juliawattscrafts@gmail.com and I'll let you know where to send them. Be sure to put your name on the back of your cards so I can give you a name check and if you'd like them back after the shows, be sure to add your address too. I will need your card by Friday 9th June. Many thanks.

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.
www.juliawattscrafts.co.uk
Free card with all website orders over £10 (ask for one in the comments box at checkout).
Deal of the Day today (27th May) - Justrite - Multi-Step Butterflies and Flowers Clear Stamp Set only £4.99!

Freebie Friday and Beading Pics

Hi Bloggers.

Here's this week's card that needs a new home -

You can read how this card was made here.

Leave a lovely comment below to go into the draw to win it. I will announce the winner on Monday. Be sure to pop back to see if you have won.

Please note : Only comments left below will go into the draw. Comments made on the original post will not count. Information given on the original post was correct at the time that post was published.

I have posted out all of the cards that were sent to me to use on my last One Day Special. If you sent some to me but did not include your address and would like your cards back, just drop me an email.

I'd like to say thank you once more to - Susan, Sandra, Karen, Iris, Maria, Dilys and Jeanette. Hopefully, you enjoyed hearing your names on TV?

I wonder if you any of you would like to send samples in for my next die show on June 12th?  I'll include the list of dies in tomorrow's post.

I promised some pics of Beading Projects so here you are -

Bracelet :

Box :

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.
www.juliawattscrafts.co.uk
Free card with all website orders over £10 (ask for one in the comments box at checkout).
Deal of the Day today (26th May) - Designs by John Lockwood - Birthday Seasons Clear Stamp Set only £6.99!

Birthday Wishes again

Hi Bloggers.

Here's today's card -

For the background, I embossed a piece of Coconut White Card with the Creative Expressions Tulip Twist Embossing Folder. I edged it with Clear Perfect Medium using a Perfect Medium Pen and my Tim Holtz Ruler. I added CS Silverlight Brilliant Sparkle Embossing Powder and heat set. I matted onto Pale Grey Card and then Coconut White Card.

I popped 3 drops of Rich Crimson and 3 drops of Blue Violet CS Intense Pigment Stain into 2 separate mister bottles with some water and mixed. I misted both colours onto a piece of Watercolour Card and blotted off using another piece of Watercolour Card (I used the latter on another project).

I cut Sue's Stained Glass Butterfly Die out of Silver Mirror Card and matted onto a piece of my spritzed background using Quickie Glue. I added some 3mm White Pearls and matted onto Pale Grey Card.

 I cut Sue's Lace Butterfly Die twice - once out of Silver Mirror Card and once out of my spritzed background. I shaped them and glued them together just at the body.

I cut Sue's Birthday Wishes Die out of Silver Mirror Card.

I completed my card by adding an 8mm White Pearl to each corner.

Thanks for stopping by.

Julia.
www.juliawattscrafts.co.uk
Free card with all website orders over £10 (ask for one in the comments box at checkout).
Deal of the Day today (25th May) - Craft Consortium Always & Forever - Star Rhinestone Buckle Charms only £4.99!