Shop's 9th Birthday Demo Event

Hi bloggers, today we want to share with you the fun that was had at Saturday's Shop Birthday Demo Event. The rain dried up and the sun came out shining to make it a glorious day. Thank you to all of you that came out to see us, to watch the demo's and buy those all important crafting goodies. We will break down the day by first looking at all the different demonstrators, sharing a few of their samples and any hints and tips we picked up from the day!

So let's get started.....

Christine Emberson - Global Ambassador for Spellbinders

Christine had lots of great tips and techniques to share with us using a variety of Spellbinders die sets. Christine also brought with her lots of samples that have been made using many different dies which provided great inspiration on how to use them. Also the many different ways we could use one die to get the most value out of it, including how to use ink with your die whilst die cutting. This effect looked stunning and helped create dimension once it had been embossed!

Christine also shared with me a quick tip for cleaning your embossing pads to get all those tiny frays of paper off. Simply get hold of some low quality parcel tape (e.g. Poundland) and cover your mat with several strips of tape. Put the mat through your die cutting machine and then peel off the tape to reveal a clean embossing pad! Check out the clean line below after the tape had been peeled away!

Kim Dellow - Crafter/Designer/Blogger

Kim brought with her lots of inspiration for using the Tim Holtz new distress colours which were a fab arrangement for this time of year with lots of bright colours. I watched Kim demonstrate as she created the butterfly card (bottom left) using a circle stencil to keep the colours contained, Kim merged the different colours together and then dripped some water droplets on top to make the distress ink react with the water. Kim also had some fun ideas creating cards with the Project Life card kits, making card making simple and fun for everyone!

Paula Pascual - Freelance Designer

Paula's table was full of bright colours and flowers, providing lots of inspiration for using the new Craft Asylum die sets from Sizzix. Paula had many different varieties of projects from cards to scrapbook layouts to 3D flowers and more! Check out the beautiful 3D flower (bottom right) Paula made using a combination of the Sizzix Bigz floral dies. Once again Paula provided some great tips on creating simple and effective cards that can save you time and money!

Nick from Chameleon Pens

We were lucky enough to have Nick, a representative from Chameleon pens to join us on Saturday to show us how to use these pens. Simply by placing the nib of the pen in the blending chamber you can create a multitude of colours from one pen. The longer you place the nib in the chamber the lighter the colour and then as you begin to use the pen you will see how the colour changes creating great blending techniques and shading. These pens really show you how you can do more with less!

Stamping Caz

Caz went back to her stamping roots on Saturday demonstrating the new stamp and die sets from Hero Arts alongside the Hero Arts Ombre ink pads. Caz created some stunning effects, specifically one called 'Bokeh' to place lighter shades on her backgrounds in a circular shape which can add some artistic flair to your creations! As you may notice in the top left picture Caz also had a quick chance to play with the Tim Holtz Bird Crazy stamp set which we will be getting back in stock the week commencing 10th August.

Sue M

Sue provided us with some great inspiration for using the Lindy's Stamp Gang embossing powders, turning a plain die cut into a wonderful card embellishment. As usual Sue kept to her vintage theme, using vintage images to decorate her cards as well as the new Prima Garden Fable 6x4 paper pad. Sue also showed us that you are not just limited to embossing on paper and card, why not apply the embossing powders to glass? Which is exactly what Sue did with an old jam jar (bottom right).

Alex Kamann

Christmas has come early at Alex's demo as Alex showed us different ways to use the new Memory Box and Poppystamp release. Alex demoed how to create a shaker card using the new Circle frame dies from Memory Box and I have to say I'm convinced that I'll be incorporating this design of card in my Christmas card making this year! Alex also showed us how to use the dies to simply just emboss the design onto a card rather than die cutting the shape, again providing more value out of your die.

Charry Wijers

If you're looking to create some different shaped cards then Charry's table was definitely the place to be as Charry demonstrated the new Create-A-Card die sets from Crealies. If you've purchased a Crealies die or seen the image of them on our website you'll know what I mean when I say the shape of the die looks too simple to create such an intricate design of card but when you see them in action you can see all the engineering behind it. Charry also shared her tips for looking at the online instructions on Crealies website which provide templates and also the size of the cardstock you need before die cutting your card.

Jo Wojcik

Jo demonstrated the new Tonic Studios Indulgence Shutter die sets and was again a great demo for anyone looking to create something a bit different in their card making. As Jo demoed how to create these cards you could see how much value you were getting included in the die set. These die sets provide you with the die to create the shape of your card and then all the extra dies that cut the papers to fit it, speeding up your card making time.

Karen Maccoy

If you love using flowers in your cards and projects you would have loved Karen's demo using the Susan Tierney Susan's Garden collection from Elizabeth Craft Design. Karen made some beautiful card samples, adding incredible detail to her flowers and all of them started off as plain white cardstock. The magic of the Tim Holtz distress colours transformed them into stunning poppies, hydrangeas and holyhocks.

So as you can see there was lots for everyone to be inspired by. But we can't forget the other events of the day including the Charity Auction, Raffle and Lucky Dip which were all in aid of St. Catherine's Hospice and raised an amazing £406 so thank you very much everyone that bid, bought raffle tickets and took part in the lucky dip.

We also revealed the winners of our Birthday Card Competition and we think it was definitely a difficult job for our demonstrators to choose the top 3 cards but here they are:

1st Place: Lisa Plummer

Winner of a £50 Crafts U Love Gift Voucher

2nd Place: 

Winner of a £20 Crafts U Love Gift Voucher

3rd Place: Sam Alpine

Winner of a £10 Crafts U Love Gift Voucher

Congratulations to our winners who will be receiving their gift vouchers in the post soon!

Also thank you to everyone who sent in your wonderful birthday cards, we appreciate the time and effort you put into making these cards and we are truly touched by all the entrants we received.

All in all the Shop Birthday Demo Event was a fantastic day and once again we want to thank everyone who came and those that have been supporting us for these past 9 years at the shop and also from the very beginning!

THANK YOU!