Design Team Samples

Good afternoon eveyone.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend.  I'm having a lazy day today, in fact I'm still in my PJ's (oops!)

I mentioned I was a member of the Stamp Addicts Design Team so I thought I'd share some of the cards I'd made for them recently.

Samples have to be done when they launch new stamp ranges on the TV channel Create and Craft. They are shown on air when the girls are on as inspiration as to what you can create using their fab products.

Ballet Shoes stamp set 

Ellie, from the Ellie and Rhino set

one from the Ants set

The most recent ones I sent in where these made using the brand new Wildflowers and Star Flowers unmounted stamp sets.









 You can see all the stamp sets and more on their website 
www.stampaddictsshop.co.uk  and take a look at their blog  http://stampaddicts-thepurplezone.blogspot.com to see more from the rest of the design team

nice and simple

Something a little bit different, a pretty wallhanging

 

I love using one colour of ink

 


























I used to make a lot of samples for the TV when I worked at Inspirations, for Hunkydory.  It can get a bit frantic at times because of the deadlines but it's all fun, and you get to play with the products before they go on air which is nice.

Well, you've seen a little of what I do.  I'll be back with more soon.
Have a lovely weekend, what's left of it, and thanks for looking.

Bye for now

Linda

x

Ducks in the Park

On Monday of this week Stephen and I had a lovely day with our daughter Lauren and grandson Alex.  We don't see as much of them as we'd like to, as they still live in the UK.  When we do get across it's nice to get together with them. As it was a lovely afternoon we decided to take a walk in the local park and find the ducks.

Alex is 16 months old and has been walking since just before Christmas.  He didn't want to go in the pushchair so I ended up pushing that round the park empty, while he walked along side.  He's such a little sweetheart and he's growing up fast. He reminds me so much of Lauren at that age.

We found the ducks and had to keep a close eye on Alex otherwise he would have been in the water with them. He got quite excited when they all swam over to him.  His little face lit up when he managed to feed them bread.  At one point some ducks decided to come ashore which Alex thought was fun.  It was a chilly, sunny afternoon but I think we all enjoyed the fresh air.

Have you any more bread left Alex ?

Walking in the park with Mum

I think I'm up to date now. We're back in the Isle of Man, and the weather today is dreadful. It's freezing, no sun but plenty of rain and hail!

Over the next few weeks I'll share with you some of my past craft creations.  Hopefully you'll find them interesting.

Bye for now, and thanks for popping by.

Linda

xx

Speaking of Cake......

Sunday afternoon was spent with my lovely friend Sally-Jo and a bunch of crafting buddies.  Sally is a Stampin Up Demonstrator and everytime I'm over in the UK she tries to organise an SU session for me as I always miss out on her regular demos and workshops.  This time there was cake too....

Not only had Sally made all the projects on show but she had baked a fantastic selection of cupcakes too.  They were DELICIOUS!!  Coffee, cupcakes and Craft, what more can a girl ask for.

Sally had also set up a little make and take using some of the new  SU products and we all made a lovely card using the new stamp set 'Create a Cupcake' along with the matching punch.

SU products make card making easy.  I'm addicted!! Everything is fabulous quality and always on trend.  Why not pop over to Sally's blog stampin-sally.blogspot.com and see the stunning projects she's created, and also read how you can get your hands on these fantastic products.

Tapas and cake

January is a busy month for birthdays in our family, the two most important ones being the kids.  One of the reasons for going across to the UK was so that we could all get together and celebrate Lauren's and Christopher's birthdays.  After the craft workshop on Saturday, Stephen, Lauren and I set off over to Sheffield to meet Christopher.  We'd booked a table at a Tapas place, and a hotel so we could stay overnight - had a feeling that no-one would be in any state to drive back the same night!

Had a fab meal.  I love tapas.  We all ate far too much, and the sangria was flowing all night.  I'd managed to drop off a cake without them knowing so they were a little embarrassed when that was brought out.  We ended the night in a 90's club which brought back a few memories (and made me feel a little old!)  It's nice to know that the kids don't mind being seen out with their parents. 

What a fabulous week!!

I'm back!!  What a busy week we've had. I'll try to keep this short.  Didn't post while we were away so now I need to catch up.

Stephen and I flew across to the UK last Wednesday and we spent a fabulous week with family and friends.  I suppose it was mainly a week of crafting for me, but he was very good and didn't complain once. He did his thing and I did mine.

While over there I popped into Inspirations, to catch up with all my wonderful crafting friends.  For those who don't know Inspirations is a fabulous Craft store in Preston, it's also where I used to work before moving to the Isle of Man, so it was lovely to see everyone, I do miss them all.  It was so nice to catch up and also SHOP!!

Hero arts stamp and finished cards

The Saturday was spent at a workshop, run by the lovely Sarah McCrossan.  She kept us busy all day and at the end of it everyone had a lovely selection of cards to take home.  The class was based around one Hero Arts stamp and how you can use it to create so many different looks.  Sarah is such a clever designer and always shows how to get the most from your products. She has taught me so many techniques, and was the inspiration behind the project I did that won me 'Craft Stamper of the Year'.  On this particular workshop we used Distress inks (my favourite) and Copic pens (another favourite of mine) to colour in the images.  then used various punches and dies to make up the cards. There's a couple of pictures below of my finished cards.  I had a fab day and can't wait for the next one.  Check out Sarah's blog to find details of her workshops and also see her stunning designs.sarahmccrossan.blogspot.com

I'll be back later with the rest of the week.  See you soon.

Linda

xx

Birthday time again!

Hello there.  January is always a busy time for me as far as birthdays go.  I always say that I'm going to be prepared and do cards well in advance, it never happens though.  I just about recover from doing all the Christmas cards etc., and finally get my craft room reasonably tidy, when it all starts again.  My mother-in-law is the first on the 13th - Happy Birthday Mum! I did send her a card early as she's away on holiday from today and I wanted to make sure she got it before she left.
Next it's the kids, both of them, within a week of each other.  Lauren is on the 17th and above is the card I've made for her.  I've used this style a lot recently as I love my Tim Holtz Sizzix dies, especially the dress form. It looks so different each time you use it, it depends on how you dress her up.  This time I used pieces of scrapbooking papers from my stash and added the chipboard wings which have been painted and then crackled.  I hope she loves it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Next is the card for Chris.  I always find it difficult making cards for guys, you have to be careful not to add too many 'feminine' touches.  I know this one has glitter on it but hopefully not too much. I used my Cricut machine this time to make the guitar and kept everything else quite simply by using a lovely 12x12 scrapbooking paper from My Minds Eye, and stamped some sheet music onto it to add a little more interest.  Hope he likes it.
As both kids are over in the UK, Stephen and I are having a week over there starting Wednesday.  We thought we go in between their birthdays this year so neither of them got 'special treatment'.

Happy Birthdays Kids!! 

 

Bye for now  

Linda  

xx

Here it is - finally!!

I've been meaning to do this for a long time now, start a Blog that is.  Well, here it is.  Not quite sure what I'm going to put on it yet but I'm sure I'll think of something.

It's going to be a place for me to share my passion for card making and papercrafting.  I love inks, rubber stamps, scrapbooking papers, ribbon, buttons, gemstones, glitter, anything Tim Holtz/Ranger, the list is endless.

Up until May last year I had my dream job, working in a large Craft store in the North of England, running workshops and doing a lot of samples for craft catalogues and the TV.  However my husband's job brought us over to the Isle of Man and unfortunately I had to leave my job behind. It's not all bad though, I now have the time on my hands to do crafting for myself, creating  projects for me and family and friends.       I was lucky enough to be chosen to join the Design Team for Stamp Addicts, and also last year I was thrilled when I won the 'Craft Stamper of the Year' competition in Craft Stamper magazine.  I suppose that's a good place to start showing some of the things I create.   To enter the competition you had to submit 2 pieces of work that each had some rubber stamping included. I decided on a wall hanging with a matching card.                                                                                   I was so proud when I found out I'd won.  All the hard work had paid off.  The project had taken me ages to do but boy was it worth it.  The idea/inspiration came from a workshop that I'd been on with one of my favourite Craft Demonstrators, the lovely Sarah McCrossan. Sarah taught me a lot of the stamping techniques that I used on the project,  so I'd like to say a big Thank You to her, because without her knowledge I may not have won.

Well, I've made a start.  Hopefully over the next few months I'll get the chance to share my thoughts and ideas and give you an insight into my life on the Isle of Man in 'The Craft Lane' 

Bye for now

Linda

      xx