Diamonds and Pearls

First, I need to say a big hello to all my new followers...welcome aboard and it always means so much to see new faces and I can't wait to get to know you all!! Don't be afraid to say hello... :)

It's the start of a new week and I'm loaded with good intentions and there are plenty of creations to be made. Over the weekend, I managed to get all my magazine commissions done and now, the work begins on the next set of Clarity samples. I can't believe how quickly each month goes between these shows...I only seem to finish one set, when the next set arrives on my doorstep and my thought process has to kick itself into action!!!

In the meantime, I'm sure no-one has failed to notice that the Jubilee is going to be upon us very soon and today, I'm going to share this card with you all...I hope you like it!!

If you want to know more about this collection of papers and the gorgeous products that I used to make this card, then sorry for being such a tease but you're going to need to buy the current issue of Making Cards Magazine...where there are two further card projects in this series.

Right, time for me to get back to the drawing board...there is artwork that needs to be finished!!

I'll be round to visit all your blogs later tonight, when I finally sit down and relax!!!

 Bye for now!

Love Emma xxx

Doodle Mania

Happy Saturday, everyone! Hope you've all had a wonderful start to your weekend.

I just wanted to drop by to tell you all about a new challenge that has started over on the Kuretake Blog and it's all about DOODLE MANIA!! There will be three winners chosen at random and there are some fabulous prizes to be won. If you would like to see some of the DT's inspiration then click HERE...there are some amazing doodles to get your creative juices flowing!

For my doodle, I got very inky with some Kuretake Art and Graphic Twin pens, creating colour washes for the background and created a journal page...I hope you like it!

I used the Dylusions by Dyan Reaveley, Around The Edge Stamp Set and stamped onto my colour washed background. I then used various Kuretake pens to colour the images, before applying more ink through some Crafters Workshop masks. I then added my words and other various doodles onto the page, using a Zig Painty Pens and Kuretake Writer Pens.

So, that's about it from me for today and thank you for stopping by to take a look at my little inky journal page. I will be visiting all your blogs, later tonight after consuming the Chinese takeaway that I'm being treated to!! :)

See you soon and bye for now!

Love Emma xxx

Spring Fling

Isn't British weather just the strangest thing ever?? Two weeks ago we were digging ourselves out of our houses and absolutely freezing cold. Today, Spring has sprung, the sun is shining, we've got drought warnings and our overcoats have been thrown off!! I suppose, it won't be long before the downpours start and we'll have floods. It's very strange indeed.

It's definitely been one of those days, today...I've been suffering from a migraine for most of it but it's calmed down enough for me to pop by to say hello and share my final makes for CHA and Craftwork Cards. I hope you like them...

I made the shadow box from card and used the Candi to highlight the sides of the cards and the flower centres.

On this frame card, I used the Candi to accent the window and papers from the Confetti range. The dress form is from Basically Bare, which can be bought direct from the Kuretake Online Shop. The flower is handmade from some more of the Confetti papers.

Tonight, I'm going to take it easy, have a cup of tea and treat myself to a few more choccies from my Hotel Chocolat stash.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look at what I've made and I'll be around to see all your creations, asap!!

Bye for now and see you soon.

Love Emma xxx

The Masked Ball

As many of you already know, Barbara was back on our screens yesterday with the most stunning range of stamps and some of you have already seen my samples and left me some lovely comments...which made my day but as always, after the shows, I'm going to post all the cards I made and show you lots of close up photos, so you can see all the detail!!

So, here's the first of those posts and I have to admit, I just LOVE this stamp...it's just SO me!!! I adore the whole theme of masquerade balls, mardi gras and carnival, so I had a lot of fun bringing these stamps to life and I hope you like what I've made!!

The stamp was coloured with a combination of alcohol pens, metallic markers and Kuretake's gorgeous Wink of Stella pens. I added small adhesive pearls onto the image and then, everything else that I used on this card, is available from Clarity Stamp.

Right, time for me to fly, as it's going to be a busy week for me and I've got lots and LOTS of things to do!!!

I'll be around to visit all your blogs, asap...probably when I sit down with a cuppa tonight.

Thank you for stopping by to take a look and for taking the time to leave all your lovely comments.

See you soon and bye for now!

Love Emma xxx

Vintage Sew

My second post of the day...now, this is a first!! :)

I was going to post yesterday but unfortunately the atrocious weather caused me major problems ~ phone lines, electricity and internet problems all contributed to making things just a little tricky but I survived the horrendous winds, which to be honest were quite scary at times and hopefully, everyone is safe and the worst is over.

Before I share today's post, I just wanted to say a big hello to my new followers...*waves*!! I'm so happy to see new faces and hope you enjoy the ride, that is my life!! lol.

I also wanted to say thank you for all the lovely comments that you left on my last post. You all have the knack of making me smile wide and Katina, if I do get that call from Lord Holtz...are you still up for the position of my PA??? LOL!!!

Okey dokey...back to my post and another card that I made for Kuretake to launch their new Kuretake Online shop. I hope you like it....

Once again, this project was all about the gorgeous Basically Bare products and I used one of the canvas hearts from Basically Bare, together with the sewing machine from the Vintage Sew Embellishment set. I painted the chipboard with Eco Green Acrylic paint, then distressed the edges to give a real vintage feel to the card. The buttons are also from Basically Bare, painted and covered with Glossy Accents.

I used Art and Twin Graphic Pens to colour the Tim Holtz stamped image and ribbons and fibres from Kuretake to complete the card.

Right, time for a cuppa before I start the work, work and MORE work!!

I'll be visiting all your blogs later to catch up on what you've been up to!!

Bye for now!

Love Emma

xxx

Always Follow Your Heart

Is it me, or is time flying again?? I can't believe how quickly the holidays disappeared, I only blinked and it was over but it's now time for a new year and even though my crafty mojo seems to think it's still on holiday, I have begun working on new projects and, I have also got something a little bit exciting in the pipeline!! More about that very soon...

But in the meantime, whilst I'm working on lots of new exciting things, I thought that over the next few days I'd show you a few of my projects that I made at the end of 2011. Starting with this one... I hope you like it!

Some of you might have seen the adverts in some of the crafting mags advertising Kuretake's new online shop and as part of their DT, I was lucky enough to get to work with some fab goodies from Basically Bare, together with all the gorgeous inky products from Kuretake themselves. This card is one of those featured in the adverts and uses a few of the items from Basically Bare.

I used Kuretake's Alcohol Ink on the acrylic buttons and the Art and Graphic Twin pens on the background die cut. I also inked up a my Tim Holtz and Andy Skinner stamps with them and then stamped directly onto card.

Thanks for taking the time to pop over to my blog and take a look and, thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post ~ they were all appreciated.

I'll be around to visit all your blogs later today, when I get to finally sit down with a cuppa.

Bye for now and see you tomorrow!

Love Emma

xxx

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

Well, it's Thursday already and I'm not sure who it is that keeps stealing time but I really wish they wouldn't...I need all the minutes I can get, at the moment!! lol.

I hope that everyone is well and that you're now making some sort of headway in your Christmas preparations!! I'm managing to slowly work through the "to-do" list but unfortunately, due to my crazy work schedule, there was one thing that I didn't manage to do and that was to make my own Christmas cards. I just want to apologise now to everyone who might have been expecting something handmade ~ I did try but time was never on my side...so, next year, I'm starting in January!! lol.

However, I did manage to make one card...a special card for my parents and this is it...I hope you like it!!

As you can all see, there's lots of Tim Holtz goodies been used to make this...the Kraft Resist Paper Stack, Tattered Florals die, Tattered Pine Cones die, Winter Wonder die, stamps, Texture Fades, Movers and Shapers, Rock Candy Distress Stickles...*takes a breath*...oh my, the list goes on but as you all know by now, I do love my Timmie products and seeing as I wasn't able to join in with the 12 Tags of Christmas this year, I thought I'd see how many products I can cram onto one card instead!! heehee...

In fact, I think the only products that aren't Tim Holtz, are the beautiful red fibres that I used on the snowman's scarf, which are from Kuretake and some adhesive pearls, to highlight the centres of the snowflake.

So, that's it from me for today...I hope you all have the most wonderful evening and I'll be around later to see all your blogs!!

Bye for now!

Love Emma

xxx

Entered in the following challenges:

Joanna Sheen ~ Christmas Wishes

Santa's Key

Hello everyone!

Hope you've all survived the atrocious weather that we had last night. The rain poured through our solid wood front door. Not sure where it was all coming from as we couldn't find any cracks, etc., that it could leak through but all night we were putting down towels to mop up the pools of water that kept gathering. Other than that, we're all safe, just have to give the battered wreath, that was in pride of place on the door, a little makeover!!

Some of you might have seen that Kuretake are holding an advent countdown over on their blog and every day, there has been a fab tutorial from one of the DT and today, it's my turn. Here's what I made, using lots of Kuretake products, together with some Basically Bare items. If you click HERE, then you can see full details of how I made it and what I used!!

I hope you enjoyed this little creation...I thought it was a little bit of fun and if you haven't got a chimney, then Santa needs some way of delivering those presents!! lol.

Before I go, in my last post, I mentioned that I had the BEST recipe for Cranberry Sauce and there were some requests for the recipe...so, especially for you ~ here it is!! If you do make it, I'd love to know what you think of it...you will have to drop me a line to let me know!! :)

Spiced Cranberry Sauce with Port and Orange

350g fresh cranberries

225g sugar

150ml orange juice

finely grated rind of 1 orange

75ml water

45ml port

1 cinnamon stick

Serves 6-8

Place all the ingredients in a pan over moderate heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick and serve.

Can be served hot or made in advance and served chilled.

Well, time for me to get back to work...I think I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel ~ JUST!
haha!!

Thanks for popping in to see what I've been making and taking the time to leave a comment!
Bye for now!
Love Emma
xxx

The Sewing Room

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a lovely, relaxing weekend...

I can't believe that we're already in the second week of November and someone actually told me over the weekend, it's only 50 sleeps until Christmas!!! Eek, I haven't even thought about Christmas, which is VERY rare for lil ol' organised me. I really do think that this year, and I apologise now for what you are about to hear and please forgive me but I think my friends might be receiving, *put your hands over your ears for this next bit ~ lol*...shop bought cards!!! I know, it's a sin but I can't see a gap in my schedule to even think about making them, let alone actually getting down to making them. Ho hum, it's a good job I love what I do, isn't it?!? hehe...

Anyway, I am determined to do some Christmas shopping soon and I will get down to all the Christmas baking, that's a quintessential part of my run up to the big day and a must do in our house. Santa doesn't know how good he's got it with all his little elves helping him...maybe I could borrow one or two.... *thinks* LOL

Now, back to today and my share... I hope you like it!!

By now, I hope that some of you have visited the newly launched Kuretake Shop and had a browse around. Isn't it fab? As I mentioned before, all the DT have been busy over the last couple of months using Basically Bare products from the shop and this is another of my pieces that I made ~ The Sewing Room Door Hanger.

If you haven't ever seen Basically Bare, then it's well worth checking out ~ it's fab and not just for altered art, it's for all types of craft!! If you have bought some, let me know, I'd love to see what you make.

Everything that I used to make this door hanger, excluding the backing paper is available from Kuretake.

Thanks for dropping by and taking a look at my little creation. I really do appreciate all your comments and each and every one of them make me smile, including the lovely Maggie's comment about one of my projects not having any handmade flowers...hehe, I do make some cards without flowers, not many but just a few!!

See you soon everyone and have a wonderful day!!

Love Emma

xxx

Fashion Statement

Hello again!

So far, it's actually quite a nice day here in London. It's chilly but there's a few rays of autumnal sun and I've actually managed to get some washing out on the line and, best of all ~ it's drying!!

Anyway, yesterday I hinted at something exciting happening over at Kuretake and I can now reveal exactly what that is...it's the new Kuretake Shop.

You can now buy all your gorgeous Kuretake products direct from the shop and it gets better because they are also distributors for the fab Basically Bare! How cool is that?

Over the last month, the DT have been busy working away with these products and today, I'm showing you just one of the items that I made ~ I hope you like it!!

For this project, I made my own shadow box and combined the Basically Bare items, together with Kuretake products for the finished creation.

I used Tim's Tissue Tape around the edge of the box and coloured it with Art and Graphic Twin Pens. The background on the inside of the box is all coloured with a wash of ink from the pens and then using them directly onto the stamp and stamping the image and quote, which is from a set of stamps by Wendy Vecchi.

On the dress, I used Fabricolor pens to create the little polka dots, together with some lace from my own crafty stash! The ribbons and fibres, all come from Kuretake too!!

Keep watching this space and all the other DT members blogs, for lots more ideas, (including a few tutorials from some of us), of what you can do with these fab products and don't forget to check out the shop!!!

Enjoy the rest of your day!

See you tomorrow!

Love Emma

xxx

P.S. Don't forget about the Craftwork Cards Blog Candy ~ all the details are in the post below!