Spring Demo Day Sneak Peeks

Hi bloggers, we have less than 2 weeks until our Spring Demo event so we think it's time to start the sneak peeks!

First up is stamping Caz who will be demonstrating the Nellie Snellen Magic Card dies. If you need more excitement in your cardmaking then look no further than the Magic Card dies from Nellie Snellen. Caz will be showing you how easy they are to put together so you can achieve that 'wow' factor in your cards.

Alongside these dies, Caz will also be demonstrating the Tonic Studios Aqua Flow pens to show you how to create wonderful watercolour effects on stamped designs.

Add these two demos together and you've got yourself the perfect card.

Stay tuned over the next week for more sneak peeks on what you can expect to see at our Spring Demo Event!

Product Spotlight - Tonic Studios Essentials Stamp sets & Hampton Art Ink Cubes

Hello bloggers and today Caz is here with a few cards that she has made using the Tonic Studios Essentials Flower sets.  We have three different floral sets in stock. 

So let us introduce you to those before we look what Caz has made.

First up is Modern Buttonhole 

Love the fun style on this one.  This is the one

that Caz had chosen to use for today's post.

Traditional Spray is next and you can make some

beautiful blooms with this one.  It feels quite tropical in its style.

And thirdly, Traditional Spray Stamp set 2

which features some gorgeous Roses.  Perfect

for cards for so many occasions.

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First up a little description about the stamps and what

Caz loved about using them.

These stamps are Hardened Clear Stamps and make

stamping a pleasure.  Teamed up with a MISTI for perfect placement

or used with a mounting block for manual placement.  Caz loved the

feel of these stamps, the hardness meant they did not "squish" like 

so many other clear stamps do. So the stamped image was clear instead of blurred.

The packaging had nice examples of using the stamps, so often you

buy a stamp set and then are left to inspire yourself and these give

you a starting point.

The three styles of flowers mean there is something for everyone.

Caz loved the quirky feel of the Buttonhole Blooms, but it was hard decision as she saw the potential in all sets. 

This was the first card that Caz made first and you can see

the inkpads that she used too.  This was stamped onto the Elizabeth

Craft Designs Soft Finish cardstock so has some "texture" on the one side

therefore the stamping has texture too.

You can see that Caz has used the packaging example on the front

of the packet for her inspiration.  

A vision in yellow is up next.  These pretty flowers made using the 

Yellow and Orange ink pads from the Hampton Art Cubes

This was added to a small gift bag and tied shut with Tulle.

Lastly Caz got really inky with a bright mustard cardbase that needed toning down a little with some white pigment ink and a stencil.

Caz stamped the sprig in green and then overstamped "off target" in white

to create a shadow effect.

The inkpads were lovely to use.  For the bold/solid stamps you would be best to stamp a couple of times to give a smoother coverage, The MISTI of course would be perfect for this as the placement will be exact.  The colour sets are gorgeous.  Worst part will be choosing which colours to choose!

Pop on over to the website to see the sets and examples that there.

And let us know which set inspires you the most?

Until next time!

Happy Crafting.

NEW Product Spotlight - Marianne Pillow Box

Hi Crafters

Its Caz back again with this Wednesdays NEW Product Spotlight and I hope you enjoyed last weeks look at the Mini Alphabet Punch Boards.

This week I am taking a look at the Marianne Pillow Box set.  I must say I am rather partial to making 3d items, and boxes are my favourite and this time of year I can see  many uses for them.  From decorating the tree, place settings and gift gifting ideas.  These boxes are perfect for small gifts like jewelry, and also a novel way of gift giving someone money or a gift card.

Here is a look at the die set itself, so as well as the wonderful Pillow Box you also get 9 other dies that you can use to decorate your Pillow Boxes or other projects.  The assembled Pillow Box measures from the longest point to longest point 11cm.  If you measure midway (where to box curves inwards) it is 8.5cm.  It is 7.2cm wide and approx 3cm deep on the deepest part.

Decoration ideas are limitless and here are a few that I have made in the last

couple of days.  I will list underneath the items I used to decorate.

First up is this cutie with a Penny Black stamp set called Santas Helpers

Also decorated with a snipped off piece from the Marianne set called Wreath

which I cut from a piece of the Bazzill Gold Glitter Card Kings Crown

This glitter card is gorgeous to use, does not shed and die cuts like a dream.

(comes in 17 colours HERE)

Coloured with watercolour pencils and added Gold Glitter Glue.

How cute would this look on your Christmas Table with a tag with your

guests name on and filled with some delicious Christmas Treat?

Second up for my samples is a Pillow box that I decorated with an

Autumnal theme using some dies from Tonic.

Autumnal Oak Collection

I swiped the Embossed leaves with  Tonic Nuvo  Embellishment Mousse in Indian Gold

and once again I used the Bazzill Gold Glitter Card Kings Crown  for the acorn.

Owls are very popular and I love them!  Here was my simple decorated

Pillow Box made to look like an Owl.  

The wings were created by die cutting just the end parts of the pillow

box and cutting so it just left long pointed ovals.  The whole box was edged with

Distress ink and I used a old striped stamp for the owls tummy.

A scalloped Circle and Plain circle were used to create the eyes and

 some bling added to the centres.

This one was sort of my first "Failed" attempt at an owl. 

 But it turned out very funny, more chicken like and a bit wacky, 

too cute to not share!

  Someone will love him right?

For my "Chicken" I used some other dies from the Pillow Box set to decorate.

The Face and Wings are both cut from the heart that comes with the die set.

The eyelashes are from the flower, his feet are the snipped off ends of the Bow and the bow was what was left over once I cut down the ends for the feet.  How very resourceful of me :)

 My last Pillow Box and on this one I used the heart from the 

Pillow Box Die set to create a Acetate Window.

I then die cut the Marianne Wreath from the  Bazzill Gold Glitter Card Kings Crown

Cut it apart added glue to it and then stuck it down around the edge of the heart.

The Brown, Green and Bird is from the same Wreath set.  

Once again I used the Embellishment Mousse in Indian Gold 

to add some interest to the die cut pieces.

I really enjoyed using this die set, there are so many other things I could have done

if I didn't have to sleep!.  I am looking forward to creating with this for Christmas Time and I 

am planning to make one for the table for each of my family.

There are a few more examples of this Pillow Box that Marianne have used so click HERE to see those.

Until my next post next week!

Happy Crafting

Caz x

Create & Take: Butterfly Lantern

Hi bloggers, today we are sharing with you last week's Create & Take using the new Sizzix Butterfly Lantern die. This adorable 3D miniature lantern would look perfect as a table decoration with a little LED candle placed inside.

So let's get started...

Products Used:

Sizzix Butterfly Lantern Die Set

Bazzill Basics Cardstock in Parakeet/ Beeswax/ Stonehenge/ Orange

Maja The Sunnyside Side, NYHAVN 12x12 Cardstock

Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad in Candied Apple and Ripe Persimmon

Queen & Co. Light Blue Twinkle Goosebump

Tonic Studios Nuvo Drops Turquoise

Tonic Studios Nuvo Mousse Pure Platinum

Sponge Dauber

Instructions:

1. Die cut four of the side panels from Stonehenge cardstock and GENTLY swipe a small amount of mousse with a dauber over the card. *This is meant to give just a light hint of shimmer and not a total cover up so use sparingly with a sponge.*

2. Die cut solid butterfly from the Maja cardstock, detail butterfly from orange bazzill. Swipe edges with Ripe Persimmon ink pad.

3. Die cut sprig first from Parakeet cardstock and then just the flower part from orange. Swipe edges of flower with Candied Apple ink pad.

4. Assemble the lantern by sticking the tabs together, make sure you fold along all score lines before assembling. Add the handle to the top of the lantern and then stick the butterfly, flowers, sprig to one side of the lantern.

5. Finish by adding a gem, glitter glue and some Nuvo drops.

This die set is not just limited to making the 3D lantern you can also use the dies to design a card also. Check out Caz's sample card below.....

New Tonic Studios Indulgence Keepsake Dies

Happy Friday bloggers! It's the end of the working week and I thought I would share some new Tonic Studios dies to get those creative juices flowing for the Bank Holiday Weekend!

These new Indulgence Keepsakes are a range of boxes and frames with interchangeable decorative inserts - perfect for cardmaking, Christmas decorations and Wedding favour boxes. In the range so far we have just had in stock the Tent Gift Bag and the Balloon Weight Box. We also have a set of the Christmas Inserts which you can use as added decoration to these boxes.

I did some hunting around the Tonic Studios Blog Team to see what ideas they have come up with and remember you can adjust the design of these bags and boxes to come up with your own design.

Doda Smith used the Tent Gift Bag die to create these adorable tiny gift bags and decided to cut off the flap and make her own tie handles instead.

For more information, check out Doda Smith's Blog here.

Dips (otherwise known as Andrea) created some great examples using the Balloon Weight Box, which just shows the versatility of these dies.

This die would be great for the holiday season that will soon be upon us to gift wrap some sweet treats.

For more information about these examples, check out Dips blog here.

Please note the Balloon Weight die is an A4 die and will only work through A4 die cutting machines, such as the Grand Calibur and E-Bosser.

If you fancy having a go at using these dies then head over to craftsulove.co.uk to buy yours today.