Around The World

Wow, it's Thursday already? Where do these weeks go? One minute, it's Monday and we're looking forward to a new week and before you know it, we're at Wednesday and waiting for the weekend!! Dare I say it...it'll be time to start Christmas cards soon. I know that I'm starting to think about them for my projects in Making Cards Magazine because you have to work so far in advance but it's going to be strange making Christmas cards whilst the sun's shining! Eek...

But back to today and some more cards from the Clarity shows...hope you like them!

The first card is the beautiful image of Nerfertiti and the Sphinx. When I was at school, I remember studying Egyptology and loved every minute of it. It used to fascinate me and I've spent many days roaming around the British Museum looking at the wonderful artifacts from this magical time in history! So when these stamps arrived, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them...

The hieroglyphics backing papers are from The Crafthouse Press and I've had them for a while but never used them before but always knew that they would come in handy, one day! I wanted to use the rich colours of lapis and gold to compliment the stamped image, which was coloured in using Promarkers. I tore some textured paper to give the look of papyrus and finally made a lotus flower, using Tim's Tattered Florals die and some white pearlescent papers.

For my next card, which unfortunately was sitting at the bottom of the pile of samples and even though I was willing the presenter to stop talking and pick it up, it didn't get a showing due to the stamp set selling out. But as usual, you get to see it here...

I used the Eiffel Tower stamp, together with the Postcard set of stamps, to make this one and really just wanted to create the look of vintage ephemera, complete with a seal of UTEE enamel, which I'd melted down in the Melt Pot and then stamped into, with the Eiffel Tower image. The flourishes are of course from Tim's Elegant Flourish die and the papers are once again, some that I had in my crafty stash, from The Crafthouse Press.

So, tomorrow is the final two cards and I hope I haven't bored you with all these samples but I just love sharing my work with you and hopefully, inspiring you to make your own creations using Clarity Stamps.

Thank you all for your comments and thank you to Tam for your very kind words on my last post...it was a very sweet thing to say and meant a lot to me! Also, I wanted to say thank you for all your well wishes about my shoulder...it's still no better but I'm now taking medication for it and also have a hot water bottle strapped permanently to my arm, so fingers crossed that some of the movement will come back and soon!!

See you tomorrow with the final share...

Love Emma

xxx

Vintage Memories

It's another busy, busy week but just wanted to drop by and show a card, featuring another one of the fabulous stamps from The Crafthouse Press' new stamp range.

When it comes to making men's cards...I think we all can find it a struggle to find an appropriate image that would suit, but these vintage images are ideal.

I wanted to create a really vintage feel to this card and to achieve this, I used some beautiful papers from HOTP and then using Tim Holtz's On The Edge dies from Sizzix, I die cut the edges of the paper to give this fab decorative border. Once all my matts and layers were cut, I used a distressing tool around the paper and then distress inks for a vintage look.

I stamped the image onto a matt of white card, die cut with a Spellbinders Labels Die and then coloured it in with Aquamarkers. Finally, I used some more distress ink to build up the background to my image. As finishing touches, I added one of Tim's Adage Tickets, some ribbon tied into a bow and buttons.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look at my lil creation...

Love Emma

xx

Absolutely...Fabulous

First of all, I have an apology...I was a bit of a bad blogger last week but it was just one of those weeks, where everything I touched seemed to go wrong. It was like a disaster movie, one thing after another but I did manage to make a few cards along the way. And I did receive lots of exciting new products from Clarity Stamps and The Crafthouse Press, which I've started work on...and that you will all get to see, over the next few weeks.

So, now it's a new day and a new week and time to share some more cards and this card features just one of those new items that I received. It's part of a new stamp collection that The Crafthouse Press are launching and includes images from their new Fabulous range, Dandelion the Rabbit and last but not least, they've included something that we all struggle with and can never find and that's...stamps with images for men from their Vintage Memories range. There really is something for everyone and are beautiful, good quality rubber stamps, ready mounted for you to use.

And this is what I've made using the shoes from the Fabulous range....

I used the Spellbinders' Peony die to make up the handmade paper flowers, in the same paper that I used for matts and layers. The image itself is stamped in a Memento ink pad and coloured with Promarkers. As a final touch, I used a message tag from Craftwork Cards.

I really hope that you like what you see so far and that it will tempt you to look out for these fabulous new stamps. Hope you all have a wonderful week and as for me, I'm keeping everything crossed that this week goes smoothly, unlike the last.

Love Emma

xxx

Mitford Ladies...

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and is now, looking forward to the week ahead. For me, it's going to be a busy one, culminating in a trip to Ally Pally at the weekend to The Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show. I can't believe it's six months since visiting the last one and so much has happened to me in that time. It's been a whirlwind of exciting times and for me, just two of the highlights were joining the wonderful design team at Craftwork Cards and being involved in lots of fabulous projects with them and demonstrating the wonderful Gorjuss products with The Crafthouse Press at the QVC Customer Event in July. Sometimes, I really have to pinch myself to realise that all my dreams and hard work are finally paying off...and best of all, I'm loving every single minute and hope that things can only get better and there will be more adventures to come.

Anyway, enough about me and let me show you today's share...

These "Mitford Ladies" images are by Kanban and are just spectacular. The quality of the cardstock is second to none and I can't emphasise how much good quality products will always give you that professional look to your card and these must be some of the very best. The card, which I hope you can pick up on, in the photos, actually has an enamelled glazed finish to the pattern and is just beautiful. It was hard to actually use it and not just look and stroke! :)

The drawings themselves are the epitome of elegance and sophistication and they really have captured the decadence of this period in time. With added additions of ribbon and a little tassel on the fan, it really does make a beautiful card, which will be very hard to part with!!

Hope you all have a fabulous week!!

Take care...love Emma

xxx

A Winter Rose

I wanted to share something a little bit different and special with you all today...and some of you might remember that I showed you a teeny tiny, sneaky peek last week of this project.

As some of you know, even before I was lucky enough to work with the wonderful decoupage images from The Crafthouse Press, I've always loved Suzanne Woolcott's Gorjuss illustrations. There is just something so endearing about them and something that totally appeals to the artistic side of me and because I always see like to think of what I do as little works of art...I decided to do something different and use the decoupage images to make a wall hanging and here it is....

I think that the Winter Decoupage kits were absolutely stunning and probably my favourite so far and together with some handmade roses, using templates and paper products from Inspire Me, I was over the moon with how this turned out and I'm really proud of this and couldn't wait to show you all and hope that the photos do it justice. I really wanted to show everyone the dimension in this piece.

And finally, here it is hanging in pride of place...

So, hope you all had a fabulous weekend and thanks for stopping by to take a look at my work. It's always lovely to get your comments and to welcome new followers!!

Love to you all...

Emma

x

Giggle...

Hi everyone...hope you all had a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend and now, ready to start a new week and new month. It's unbelievable where August went...but today, I woke up to see dew on the grass and a definite autumnal chill in the air. I love Autumn and can't wait for the leaves to start turning a beautiful shade of orange...

As for today's post...I did promise you that I was working on a lil stationery set and here it is...

This letter and envelope set works perfectly with the Post-it Note holder in the previous post and show's that if you think outside the box, you can create so much more that cards with these Gorjuss images from The Crafthouse Press. I've even created some bottle top drawing pins with left-over images and some UTEE, melted in the Melt Pot and poured into the caps, to give this gorgeous enamelled look.

Everything that you see on these projects is made totally by hand, I even made the little paper flowers using a Craftwork Cards Perfect Petals template and painstakingly cut out all the petals and layered them up, one by one before popping a beautiful bead in the centre. Sometimes, the harder these projects are, the more I love doing them...it's as if my creative juices never know where to stop!!! But I really do love what I do and I love sharing them with you all and seeing all your lovely comments. It makes it all worthwhile....

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my lil creations....have a wonderful week!

Emma

xx

A Winter's Tale...

Just dropping by to say hello and wish everyone a wonderful weekend. Of course, here in the UK it's August Bank Holiday and in the past, I might've taken the opportunity to visit the Notting Hill Carnival or go and see some fabulous bands playing at the Reading Festival but this weekend, is one of total relaxation, good food, wonderful wines and maybe, a little bit of window shopping along the way!! 

But there is something else that I always have time for and that's crafting...and today's share is something a tiny bit different from usual. By now, I think you all know how much I love the Gorjuss girls and what I wanted to do with the new releases of Winter Decoupage from The Crafthouse Press was show everyone that these images are not just for card making...there is so much more that can be done with them....

Ane here's what I made.... a hanging Post-it Note holder and this is just the first of many in a stationery collection that I'm making!!! 

I've always loved stationery products, even as a little girl...I used to spend hours in department stores looking at the latest designs and buying them with my pocket money but what can be more satisfying than making your own and it's really not that difficult...I promise you!! You just need paper, card, punches and embellishments!! The rest is up to your imagination....

Before I go, there is one last thing that I wanted to do and that's to send my love and support to Suzanne Woolcott and her husband, Grant. *hugs to both of you*

So, I hope you like my little creation and as I said, there will others to follow!!

Have a fabulous weekend and thanks for stopping by to take a look!

Love Emma

xx

Snowflakes are Winter's Kisses....

Happy Monday and I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend.

As for me? I had a good weekend and even managed some relaxation time...I know, it's a miracle! I'd forgotten what that was! But I do love what I do and I'm never happier than when I'm creating my little masterpieces and just lately, I'm pushing myself to become more and more creative...trying to find new ideas for cards all the time. As much as I love the easel card and I was even tempted by Kirsty Wiseman's new inventive idea of the double easel card which I saw her make on Create and Craft last week...I really did want to try some new ideas to showcase all the fabulous products that are around and with this card...I hope I've done just that! To be honest, you know when you make a card and just will NEVER be able to bring yourself to give it away?? Well...for me, this is it!!!

It's actually a frame card and everything that you see on this card, is created by my own fair hand from two pieces of A4 cardstock and a scoring board and my tip for making a card such as this...use good quality card...I used Centura Pearl in Snow White from Crafter's Companion and the pearlescent sheen that you get with this card, is stunning!! I've really tried to show you every little detail about this card and I hope that the photos can do it all justice.

The main decoupage image, is of course from the Gorjuss Winter Decoupage by The Crafthouse Press and when I saw it, I really wanted to showcase the beauty of these illustrations and a frame just seemed like the perfect idea! I die cut the snowflakes using Spellbinders Snowflake dies together with some more Centura Pearl card and I punched some Bazzill card, using a Martha Stewart punch to make the little picket fence behind the main image. The snow comes courtesy of Flower Soft and just gives that wonderful feel of freshly fallen snow. As finishing touches, I added some adhesive gems to complete the look.

So, I really hope you love this card and thanks for stopping by to take a look...it's always fab to hear what my fellow crafters and friends have to say!!

Have a wonderful week....

Love Emma

x

Entered for the Winter Wonderland ~ Walking In A Winter Wonderland theme challenge!