There Are Always Flowers...

"There are always flowers for those who want to see them" ~ Henri Matisse

Good morning everyone!

Hope you're all having a great weekend. Today, I'm sharing my penultimate post before Christmas and then, that's it from me as I'm off to have a good rest because I think I deserve it!!

Today's post is all about those gorgeous Tattered Poinsettias from Tim Holtz. I think you can say that I've definitely had my money's worth out of this die and that is exactly what I personally love about die cutting ~ a die is for life, not just for Christmas. You can use the dies over and over again as they are so versatile, and that's especially why I choose to work with and LOVE Sizzix, as those Bigz dies will cut through almost anything and everything, which is perfect for me as I'm always trying out new and different ideas!! As you've seen from my posts leading up to Christmas, you can use so many different surfaces to die cut from and then, by using texture and various mediums to decorate the surfaces, no two flowers will ever look the same. As always, I really hope you love this tag...

I went for something a little different on this tag and chose a metallic look. The poinsettias themselves are die cut from Grungepaper covered with adhesive foil sheets and then embossed in the Textured Poinsettia Texture Fade embossing folder. Once all the petals were embossed, I applied Alcohol Ink to the surface.

The tag itself is painted with Black Soot Distress Paint, dried and then I added a layer of Brushed Pewter over the top.

To complete the card, I added some rusty wire, an Idea-Ology Word Band and some seam binding that I hand dyed with Brushed Pewter Distress Stain.

So, that's it from me for today...there is cleaning, ironing and Christmas prep to be done...and I think Michael Buble will be serenading me as I do it!! I'll see you all tomorrow with my final post before Christmas but wish me luck with the food shopping/battle that needs to be done before then!!

Bye for now and happy Sunday...Love Emma xxx

The Magic Of Christmas...

Good morning friends...

Hope you're all well and looking forward to the weekend!! I really don't know how we got to Friday so quickly, it was only Monday when I last looked but what a week it's been!!! After a lovely start meeting a friend for coffee on Monday...Wednesday bought a burst pipe in the kitchen, emergency plumbers, enough water to sink a ship and a very damp floor!! We have no drinking water at the moment and our road is being resurfaced, (don't even mention the noise from that) and we can't get out for the next two days!! These things definitely come to try us but I will not be beat, Christmas is coming and I am going to be ready for it!! *deep breath, keep calm and carry on*

Anyway, back to today's post and today, I'm sharing another Christmas tag with a difference...yes, the corrugated cardboard is back!! I just love this stuff, it gives such an awesome effect. So without further ado, hope you love what I've created!!

The tag is inked with Distress Stains, swooshed onto my craft mat and then I picked up the colour and inked around the edges and used one of Tim's snowflake stamps to create my background. Of course, no tag of mine is complete without lots of Tim Holtz products and this one really has got plenty for you to feast your eyes on, including the gorgeous Reindeer Flight, Festive Foliage and the Snowflake Rosette dies from Sizzix, Distress Glitter, the beautiful Merry Christmas stamp from the Christmas Time stamp set. I think that has to be one of my favourite stamps, it's so delicate and such a beautiful font...FAB~U~LOUS and then, you can also see one of the new Idea-Ology Word Bands at the bottom!!!!

As you can see, I made an embellishment from the Snowflake Rosette and the Festive Foliage before adding a red bow to complete it.

You may also spot my little Christmas tree, more about those in a later post but I made those using Tim's Woodland Trees.

So, that's it from me for today...I'm now ready for a morning of craft, followed by some Christmas baking and cake decorating!! Well, that's the plan........

Have a fabulous Friday everyone, even if it is Friday the 13th and have a great weekend!!

See you soon...love Emma  xxx

Dashing Through The Snow...

Hello everyone and to all my American friends... Happy Thanksgiving, have a wonderful and happy day!

Hope you are all well, keeping warm and had a great week, so far!! I can't believe the response I got to my last post...you blew me away with all your kind words and thank you Tim and Mario for pinning it!! *happy smiles* Every single comment and gesture means the world to me and I am truly grateful.

Today, I'm sharing another Christmas card and again, I've used Tim Holtz's gorgeous Deco Christmas stamp set, together with some Sizzix dies ~ as always, I hope you love it!

I used kraft card for my card base and then used the wonderful On The Edge Star Cluster die from Sizzix to give my decorative edge.

The background to the image is created using the "swooshing" method through Distress Stains that I applied to a craft mat and I then stamped the stunning image directly onto the inked card.

I added some Grungepaper stars that were die cut from the Crescent Moon & Stars die and then covered them with Distress Glitter.

 The seam binding is dyed with Distress Stains and I added paper string and an Idea-ology Adornment Ice Skate. Finally, I added Stampendous Frantage along the decorative edge of my card.

Thank you so much for stopping by today...see you all soon!

Bye for now ~ love Emma xxx

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year...

Hello friends...

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and ready for another week. Mine was as busy as ever and I had lots of projects to make to keep me out of mischief. They're now all packed up and on their way to Making Cards Magazine and Clarity Stamp, and you'll all have to watch this space until I can reveal them!!

In the meantime, I just wanted to say a very BIG thank you for all the lovely comments that you left on my last post over on The Artistic Stamper...I absolutely loved making that piece and when I read all the comments, it really does make all the hard work so worthwhile. Between all my DT and magazine commissions, I have also managed to squeeze in another piece and today, I thought I'd share it with you...and ta~dah, here it is!!!

As you can see, I'm using more of my beloved Tim Holtz products and for me, this is a combination of some of my favourites!! I just love Tim's Deco Christmas stamp set, I think this was made for me...it's just stunning and I've always loved Tim's beautiful Snowflakes Rosette die from Sizzix. So, this piece that I've made is a combination of the stamps, dies, Distress Inks, stains, Layering Stencils and that beautiful script stamp from one of Tim's Christmas stamp sets and without further ado, I think I'll let the pictures do the talking and I hope you enjoy and love my Christmas Slider Tag!!!

  Close up detail of the Sizzix dies and all the detail I've added to the pocket.

 

 The tag in detail, showing lots of background detail and that gorgeous silhouette Deco stamp. I also added some Stampendous Frantage to look as if this wonderful couple are riding through the snow.

My tag and the pocket, together.

So, that's if from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by and taking a look at what I've been working on and as always, thank you for your comments ~ you always make me smile wide!!

See you soon and bye for now...love Emma xxx

Heroes...

Happy Saturday friends...

Hope you've all had a great week and looking forward to the weekend!! I wasn't actually going to post this weekend but suddenly thought of two cards that I made for the October issue of Making Cards Magazine to commemorate Remembrance day and I thought it would be nice to show you them, today and tomorrow!! So, without further ado...here is the first of those cards and I really hope you love it!

To make this card, I used the stunning Delicate Blossoms stamp from Hero Arts and instead of the traditional red poppy, I went for orange, which I thought worked so well with the autumnal feel of the card. The leaves are all hand coloured with Distress Stains and inks and die cut using Tim Holtz's Tattered Leaves die from Sizzix. The beautiful stamped sentiment is from the Tim Holtz stamp set, Classics 5. To complete the card, I dyed some seam binding with Distress Stains to match my colour scheme.

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope you'll pop back tomorrow to see my second card in this set.

Have a great weekend everyone...love Emma xxx

Two's Company...

Afternoon everyone...

It's a flying visit from me today as I'm on a very quick coffee and snack break from prepping samples for Barbara Gray's exciting shows, next weekend!!

But as promised, I have another of my Making Cards Magazine projects to share with you all and this is the second card in a set of two, featuring the gorgeous Fairy Rhymes collection from Prima...

As always, I hope you love what I made and I can't wait to read all your comments!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by this week to say hello and for leaving all the lovely comments either here, on Facebook or Twitter...you are all such wonderful blogging buddies and friends and I'm very lucky to have you all!!

I'll see you again next week but until then...have a great weekend!! I know I'm already looking forward to Downton Abbey on Sunday and will be enjoying a a nice glass of wine and a few choccie treats!! Well, it would be rude not too...lol!

See you soon...love Emma xxx

Fairy Rhymes...

Hello friends...

First of all, I want to say a big hello to all my new followers, thank you for coming aboard and I'll look forward to getting to know you all, please don't be shy and stop by to say hello!!! Secondly, THANK YOU to everyone who left a comment on my last post!! As I mentioned, my blog felt a little lonely and needed to be shown some love but you all came to the rescue and it really did mean a lot to me!!! :)

So, back to today and because I'm working on some new projects at the moment, I'm going to share another of my Making Cards Magazine projects. Some of you might have seen this card project on the cover of the September issue, (back copies available HERE) but for those of you who haven't, and I know there are a few of you who find it difficult to get hold of copies of this magazine, I hope you like it...

This card is 8" x 8" in size and I used the gorgeous Fairy Rhymes collection from Prima Marketing products to create it. The one thing that I will mention is that I was blown away with the quality of the stamps that I used and if you do ever consider buying them, then you won't be sorry because the value for money is fantastic!! The stamped image is coloured with Distress Marker pens and matted onto Fairy Rhymes papers.

I added some cute little paper blooms and made some bunting to complete the card.

So, I hope you'll pop back tomorrow to see the second of my card projects and once again, thank you for all your visits!!! I'm definitely wearing a Cheshire Cat smile at the moment...

Hope you all have a lovely evening and see you tomorrow!

Love Emma xxx

The Littlest Things...

"Sometimes the littlest things take up the most room in your heart" ~ Winnie The Pooh

Hello friends!!

Hope you've all had a fab start to your week! It's nice to have some cooler weather at last, and I must admit the last couple of days have actually felt very autumnal...which I'm more than happy about because it's my favourite time of year!!

Today, I've been busy working on a magazine commission and I'm so pleased and excited about this one, at the moment it's still absolutely top secret but I can't wait for you all to see it when it finally appears!!

In the meantime, here's a couple of cards that I made and were featured in the June issue of Making Cards Magazine. They are made using the Bundle of Joy collection from Kaisercraft and as you can see, there's one for a girl and one for a boy...as always, I hope you like them!

The stamped image of the baby girl is coloured with Distress Marker pens and if you scroll down a little further you can see a hidden surprise under that image, which I don't think was shown in the magazine but I'm able to show it off now!!

Here's some of the close up detail of the card.

Then comes the little boy card and i just loved the shabby chic feel and colours to this one...

Once again, the stamped image was coloured with Distress Marker Pens and I added seam binding, rosettes and die cut elements to complete this scalloped round card.

So, I really hope you like what I've created and I'm so pleased I could show you these cards in a little more detail!!

Before I go, I just wanted to let you all know that there is something very exciting happening on Create and Craft tomorrow....

...yes, Craftwork Cards are launching all their gorgeous designs and goodies and I know that I for one will be sitting down with a cuppa and a biscuit to watch the wonderful and very talented Julie Hickey demonstrate some wonderful new kits and I really hope you'll be able to tune in to!!

See you all very soon and thank you so much for stopping by and visiting today!!

Bye for now...love Emma xxx