With Love and some holiday pics

Hi Bloggers.

I was asked by Maria at my workshop on Saturday to share you photos from my holiday and I promised I would try to do that today so at the end of this post you'll find some pics (mostly taken by Kathryn as she's got a much better photography eye than I have).

Here's today's card -

This is an easy peasy card, just using the Spellbinders Renaissance Vine Die Set and stacking up the die cuts.  The background is Bright White Card embossed using the Spellbinders Hearts M-Bossabilities Folder.

I have alternated the die cuts with Steel Pearl Card and Bright White Card. The sentiment is from John Lockwood's Pierced Tag Sentiments, stamped using Clear Perfect Medium and embossed with CS Silver Shine Detail Embossing Powder.

I've added some White Pearl Corners and pierced around the edges using my Tim Holtz Ruler, Precision Probe and Piercing Mat.

John Lockwood is back on Hochanda today with shows at 11am and 3pm. I'm offering the usual 10% discount on products I have on my website from the shows. You can find them here. Offer applies till midnight tonight. Discount will be applied automatically at checkout.

Are you ready? Holiday photos -

We went to Boa Vista in the Cape Verde Islands (just off the coast of Sengal in Africa). Our hotel was the Riu Karamboa literally 3 minutes bus ride from the airport which wasn't an issue as there are currently only a handful of flights each day.

Here's some pics around the hotel -

The lobby -

The maids kept the place spotless and re-arranged our nighties and towels each morning -

The pools -

 We were right on the beach -

 Us - in the Atlantic Ocean!

They love their cats - very tall and skinny ones -

We went on a trip to the 2 capitals - the old capital and the new, Sal Rei

The launderette in Sal Rei!

 The courtyard in the oldest Guest House on Boa Vista -

We went on another trip to visit a Spanish Shipwreck (a freighter that hit a reef 48 years ago). Beautiful beach.

We also went to a couple of villages in this (struggled to get in and out of this, I can tell you!)

That's it! If you need a good rest, I can certainly recommend Boa Vista and the hotel we went to. Hope you've enjoyed the photos.

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 (12th July) - Sue Wilson Alexandra Die Set only £12.99!

Merry Christmas

Hi Bloggers.

We had really busy shows yesterday despite Wimbledon and the Grand Prix. Thanks to everyone who tuned in. As the shows weren't a One Day Special, please look out for repeats of the shows and you can also catch them on catch-up on Hochanda for up to 2 weeks after the date broadcast. There may not be much stock left though, just to warn you.

I won't hit you with loads of Christmas cards this week but I will share another today -

For the background, I've used a paper from Phill Martin's Frosted Essentials Paper Pad. I've trimmed it down a little. I popped the pine cone corner from the Christmas Corner Mask into one of the corners of the paper and spread some Phill Martin CS Frosted Aqua Sparkle Texture Paste through it. I put it aside to dry for a few hours and then repeated the process in the opposite corner.

I cut and embossed of the tags and an insert die from the Spellbinders Christmas Tags Set out of Coconut White Card and rubbed CS Phill Martin Frosted Aqua Gilding Wax over. I left it a few minutes to dry and then buffed it up using dry wet wipe. I added some Pastel Bakers Twine.

I cut the largest die from the Spellbinders Holly Motifs Die Set out of Coconut White Card. I pressed it into a Clear Perfect Medium Ink Pad, added CS Phill Martin Frosted Aqua Embossing Powder and heat set. I added more ink, more powder and heat set again.

I made some flowers using the Spellbinders Layered Poinsettia Die Set, inking through the die with CS Phill Martin Frosted Aqua Colour Cloud applied using a Smoothie and adding an Aqua Dazzler. I cut a couple of corners from the Spellbinders Holly Accents Die Set out of Aqua Card, cut them in the middle and used them either side of each flower.

I assembled the card as shown adding some  CS Phill Martin Frosty Aqua Twinkles around the edges and then sprinkling with CS Iced Snow while still wet. I also added some Craft Consortium Pearls. I pierced around the edges using my Tim Holtz Ruler, Precision Probe and Piercing Mat.

John Lockwood has shows on Hochanda today and tomorrow with his new Christmas Stamps and Paper Pad. The shows are at today at 10am, 1pm and 5pm and then tomorrow at 11am and 3pm. I'm offering the usual 10% discount on products I have on my website from the shows. You can find them here. Offer applies till midnight tomorrow night. Discount will be applied automatically at checkout.

The winner of the card from Freebie Friday on 8th July is .................................

Maria Illsley

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 (ask for one in the comments box at checkout).
Deal of the Day today (11th July) - Wild Rose Studio Vivianna Corner Die only £4.99!

 

Show on Hochanda today

Hi Bloggers.

Had a great workshop day yesterday, thank you ladies. Next workshop at Yardley Gobion is Sunday August 14th.

I have 3 hours on Hochanda today with shows at 11am, 2pm and 5pm. I hope you can join me.

I have another two-fer for you today!

For the background, I used a piece of Coconut White Card and cut the inner die only from the Spellbinders Holiday Botanical Strip. I then cut it again, offsetting it slightly so that the top of the next row snuggled into the recess of the previous one (I'll try to demo this). This left me a little gap on one side but I was able to re-seat the die in place and extend that line. I cut it once more to make a 3rd row, positioning the die into the recess of the previous row. I popped a piece of Double Sided Self Adhesive Sheet onto a piece of Black Card. I removed the backing and added my die cut background to it. I then added some CS Diamond Snow in the exposed adhesive.

I cut a frame out of Coconut White Card using Sue Wilson's Double Pierced Squares and Double Pierced Squares Set B. I added it to my backfround using 3D Foam and cut away the excess using scissors.

I cut both dies together from the Spellbinders Fancy Tree Die Set out of Coconut White Card and inked through the dies with Black Soot Distress Ink using a Smoothie. I cut a tag from the Spellbinders Christmas Tag Set out of Black Card.

I stamped the sentiment from the Justrite Holiday Magic Stamp Set onto Coconut White Card using Jet Black Archival. I cut it our using Spellbinders A2 Matting Basics A and cut a mat out of Black Card using Spellbinders A2 Matting Basics B.

I assembled the card as shown adding an 8mm Black Pearl to each corner of the frame.

Here's your 2nd card -

This is so very simple. I've embossed a piece of Coconut White Card using the Couture Creations Jolly Christmas Embossing Folder. I ran it through a second time to extend the design.

The trees are from the Spellbinders Art Deco Trees Die Set - I cut them from Silver Shine Pearl Card. I cut the fat one and a star once and the thinner one twice with 2 stars.

I stamped the sentiment that comes with the Creative Expressions Snowflake Bauble Stamp, onto Coconut White Card using Clear Perfect Medium and embossed with CS Silver Shine Detail Embossing Powder. I cut it out using Spellbinders A2 Matting Basics B.

I assembled the card as shown adding some little 3mm White Pearls to the stars and some 8mm White Pearls to the corners. I pierced around the edges using my Tim Holtz Ruler, Precision Probe and Piercing Mat.


Unfortunately, I don't have many of the products from the shows in stock on my website yet but I've popped 10% discount on the ones I do have. You can find them here. Offer applies till midnight tonight and discount will be applied at checkout.

I have removed the paypal express facility on my website as a number of people have experienced problems when paying via paypal. This does mean that for the time being you will not be able to pay via paypal if ordering via a mobile device only - you can still pay via credit or debit card. I have already contacted paypal on this but not heard back so I will try to chase on Monday. I'll let you know if Paypal Express becomes available again.

See you later.

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 (10th July) - Phill Martin Sentimentally Yours Chic Floral Occasions Border Sentiments only £8.99!

Sneak Peek

Hi Bloggers.

I'm running a workshop locally just outside Milton Keynes today - with Alcohol Inks and Sue Wilson Dies. It's going to be a good one!

Today I have a sneak peek from tomorrow's 3 shows I have on Hochanda and it's a two-fer!

This card features the brand new die set from Spellbinders called Holly Berry Wreath. Here's what you get in it -

As you can see, you get lots of extra little dies that you can cut to layer up in different colours. I've cut the wreath out of Brunswick Green Card, the holly out of Emerald Card, the foliage sprigs out of Rich Green Card, the pine cones out of Antique Gold Pearl Card and the berries out of Ruby Card.

The background is Milk Card run through the Spellbinders Platinum Machine with the Couture Creations Jolly Christmas Embossing Folder. I ran it through a second time to extend the design. The sentiment is from the Justrite Holiday Magic Stamp Set, stamped onto Milk Card using Clear Perfect Medium and embossed with CS Gold Detail Embossing Powder. I've cut it out using Spellbinders A2 Matting Basics A.

I've matted and layered with Milk, Ruby and Brunswick Green Card and pierced around the edges using my Tim Holtz Ruler, Precision Probe and Piercing Mat. I've added some Craft Consortium Pearls to the corners.

Here's your second card - same die set, different colour scheme.

For the background on this one, I've used Coconut White Card embossed with the Couture Creations Merry Little Christmas Embossing Folder, running through a second time to extend the design.

I've cut the wreath out of Coconut White Card and then rubbed CS Phill Martin Frosty Sky Gilding Wax over it. I added some CS Phill Martin Frosty Sky PVA to the berry spots and put aside to dry.

I cut the foliage springs out of Coconut White Card twice and then pressed them into Clear Perfect Medium. I added CS Phill Martin Frosty Sky Embossing Powder and heat set. I repeated the process a second time for a glossier finish.

I cutsome little poinsettias from Phill Martin's Frosted Essentials Paper Pad using a die from the Spellbinders 5 x 7 Holly Frame die set. I chose 2 patterns and cut the die twice from each paper. I paired them up and added a little Craft Consortium Pearl to the centre of each.

Once my PVA dots were dry,  I added my wreath to my background and glued the extra pieces in place.

I stamped the sentiment from the Justrite Holiday Magic Stamp Set onto Blue Dusk Card using Clear Perfect Medium and embossed using CS True White Detail Embossing Powder. I cut it out using Spellbinders A2 Matting Basics B.

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

Hope you've enjoyed this sneak peek two-fer. 6 of the dies sets are brand spanking new and Creative Expressions/Hochanda are the first to receive them in the UK. Needless to say, I don't have any in stock yet!


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 (9th July) - Creative Expressions Stamps to Die For Heart Striplet only £2.99!