Christmas Card Competition: The Winners

Hi bloggers, today we want to share with you the winners of our Christmas Card Competition.

Firstly check out the pictures below of all our fantastic entries, the judges definitely had a task on their hands to pick the top three. See if you can see yours!

So the 1st place winner of the Christmas Card Competition is............. Sheila Byrne. Well done Sheila! 

2nd place winner is........ Joanne Stott-Sargeant. Well done Joanne!

3rd place winner is........ Georgia Thompson. Well done Georgia!

Well done to the three lucky winners above. 

We would like to thank everyone who entered the Christmas Card competition and we appreciate all the effort that went into making your card entries. 

If you requested for your entry to be sent back to you, these will be sent out this week and should be safely back home with you shortly.

If you want some more Christmas inspiration then make sure you check out our Christmas Demo Day post from yesterday.

Christmas Demo Day Inspiration

Happy Tuesday bloggers! Today we want to share with you some inspiration from our Christmas Demo Event from our three fantastic demonstrators. For anyone who was able to get to the event, we hope you had been inspired by what you saw and that it got you excited for crafting for Christmas.

Caz was demoing the new Hero Arts Ombre Ink Pad Colours (Red & Green) with some of the new Hero Arts woodblock stamps and clear stamp sets. Caz also used some of the new Poppystamps stamps and their matching die sets.

We love this little treat bag made using the Lori Whitlock Sizzix Treat Bag Topper die set.

Charry was demoing the Penny Black stamps and die sets and had some beautiful examples to show you how you can make the most out of using them.

Charry shared her ideas on how you could use the same stamp for Christmas and non-Christmas by simply changing the colour combination and added some beautiful artistic effects using some Archival inks and Distress Ink Pads.

Jo demonstrated the We R Memory Keepers 1-2-3 Punch Board and created some wonderful examples to show you that the board can make so much more than just your average box, envelope or bow. Take a look at some of these inspiring creations...

Create some fabulous bows!

Treat Bags

and boxes

Jo also created some cards with the board as well...

A file folder card (instructions to make this come with the board)

As you can see from the photos there was an abundance of inspiration to get you in the Christmas mood with the added help of our festive Christmas music and mince pies.

All in all it was a fantastic day and we want to thank everyone for coming who watched, shopped and got inspired!

Also to those that bought raffle tickets and helped us raise £63 for St. Catherine's Hospice. The winners have been contacted and they are as follows:-

Winner of  Signed Tim Holtz Configuration Book - Christine Tagg

Winner of Collection of Dies - Tanya

Winner of Basket of Crafting Goodies - Fern

We will be sharing the winners of the Card Competition in our Card Competition post later this week. The winners have already been contacted and we want to thank everyone who sent us their cards and took part. 

If you requested for your card to be returned to you we will be sending them out this week.

If you have any questions about any of the products that were used in the demo event please do not hesitate to contact us. We hope you all had an enjoyable day and look forward to seeing you in the shop again soon.

Win a signed Tim Holtz Book

Hi bloggers, would you like to be the winner of this signed Tim Holtz Compendium of Curiosities Volume III Book?

If you're shouting at the screen "Yes, Yes, Yes" then read below to see what you need to do.

As part of  our Christmas Demo Event on Saturday 10th October, we are organising a raffle, in aid of St. Catherine's Hospice. Our top prize this time round is a signed Tim Holtz Compendium of Curiosities Volume III book kindly donated and signed by the man himself. Thanks Tim!

Raffle tickets will be available on the day at the event for £1 per ticket and there will be a few extra prizes up for grabs as well. (So if I were you I would buy a few!)

Tickets can only be purchased at the shop on the day so it's definitely worth making the effort to come and see us.

And don't forget........

We have 3 demonstrators who will be demoing some fantastic products including the 1-2-3 Punch Board from We R Memory Keepers, Penny Black stamps and dies and also new Ombre Hero Arts ink pads to get you inspired for crafting for Christmas.

Demonstrations start at 10am so we look forward to seeing you there!

Christmas Demo Day

Today we will be reviewing our Christmas Demo Day with pictures from the day and information about what each of our designers were using in their demo's and links to the pages you need to purchase those products!

Our three designers on the day were Jo Wojcik, Stamping Caz and Alex Kamann, each demoing something different but all with a Christmas theme in mind.

So let's start with Jo.....

Jo has had massive success with her classes and demos on the Sospeso Transparante range and last weekend saw her demo some beautiful poinsettias using the exact same concept as the flowers. For these Poinsettias Jo particularly used the Clear Shrink Film and White Shrink Film. Jo demoed how you could use a Poinsettia napkin by adhering it to either the clear or white film and then cutting around the shape before bending each petal with a candle. Jo also demoed how you could use the Tim Holtz Poinsettia Bigz die to die cut the clear film and then add some colour using the Adirondack Alcohol Inks. Both effects look amazing and are fabulous to decorate cards and gift boxes this season.

To view the Sospeso Transparante range click here

To view the Adirondack Alcohol Inks click here

From 3D shapes to 3D cards, let's move onto Stamping Caz....

These beautiful sample cards from Caz show you just how effective the Snowy Window die set from Marianne Designs can be. Caz used a range of extra products in her demos to create different effects; from the Marianne Bricks embossing folder to the wonderful cute Christmas stamps from Taylored Expressions. These cards are so fun to create as you can really lose yourself in creating the perfect Christmas scene. Caz also used a product called Snow Tex by DecoArt, which she applied with a natural sponge to give a great texture when creating snow scenes. An extra feature that Caz also demoed was using the Elizabeth Crafts Stand Up Helpers die set to create a domed effect on the front of the card so that you could place a small LED tea light behind the window to light up your card! So cute!

To view some of the products Caz used in her demo, click on the following links....

Marianne Design - CR1286 Snowy Window Die Set

Marianne Design - DF3403 Bricks Embossing Folder and Die

Elizabeth Crafts - Stand Up Helpers 2 Die Set

Taylored Expressions - Ready, Set, Snow Stamp Set

Taylored Expressions - Deck the Halls Stamp Set

Penny Black - Warm Wishes Cling Stamp

Penny Black - A Gift For You Cling Stamp

The final of our three designers is Alex Kamann.....

Alex was demoing a range of io Stamps and Cottage Cutz dies, all with a Silhouette effect on a beautiful inked background. These cards are simple but very effective and great for those of us who have an ever growing number of friends and family on our Christmas card list! Alex used Tim Holtz Distress Inks and a large sponge dauber to create the backgrounds, which set the scene perfectly for layering the dies on top of. Most of the dies were either cut from black or white cardstock to create a strong contrast with the background.

To view some of the products Alex used in her demo, click on the following links....

io Stamps - Manger Die Set

io Stamps - Carolers Die Set

io Stamps - Evergreen Trees Die Set

io Stamps - Deer Trio Die Set

io Stamps - Small Deer Die Set

Cottage Cutz - Santa Village Scene

Cottage Cutz - Nativity

Tim Holtz Distress Inks

All in all our Christmas Demo Day sure did inspire us to get in the Christmas spirit and start creating because the holiday season is just around the corner!

Demo Day Today

Alex is at the shop today demonstrating the latest Hero Art Stamp & Cut Sets with Distress Inks so why not pop over to see her.

Baughan 5!

Tracy cleverly personalised Ben's T-Shirt using the Smooth & Flock adhesive on the Silhouette machine. He loves it!

Christmas Demo Day at Crafts U Love!

What a fantastic day we had with Helen Meighan & Kim Fee on Saturday for our Christmas Demo Day. A big Thank You for everyone that popped by. Helen and Kim treated us to some beautiful cards and ideas. So here they are....

Some sample cards

Here are a few of the cards Wendy and Kim made on our Christmas Demo Day. All products are available at Crafts U Love. Lots more samples coming soon