Rubber Stamping - North Wales

Good morning everyone. I hope you are keeping safe & well & finding lots of time to craft. Today I have a couple of birthday cards I made recently; On this one I used a HoneyDoo flower spray & sentiment.   The colour was added randomly with their splat stamps. the bakground edge was also made with one of the splat stamps. I cannot remember where this stamp came from - probably a free gift on a magazine. I haven't bought one of those in ages. I liked the butterfly in the centre - so I stamped it separately then decoupaged it. The colouring was done with the Chameleon pencils I won - also from a magazine. I have a few more cards to show you - will do that over the weekend. Have a good weekend - as best you can if in self-isolation.  Or will it just be using the time to tidy up craft rooms, other rooms etc.  Have fun as best you can.  Stay safe.

Good evening all I am sorry that I haven't had much to say over the last few days but I have been busy making Christmas cards & of course, as some of them will be for you, I cannot show you what I have been doing.  But I do have a couple of cards to show you that were made for birthdays earlier this month; Here is the first one - This was for our son-in-law, who lives in the USA, for his birthday. I decided to use a newish collage stamp I have & also just one colour. I used one of the Adirondack ink pads - I think Caramel or Ginger. Here is the second card -  This one is for our daughter-in-law, Nadine - who had a birthday earlier this month. The images & background card is from Hunkydory. Today I took some photos of my workspace which I thought you might to have a laugh at - I might show you tomorrow. I hope you are all having a great weekend. That's all from me today.  'Bye for now.

Good afternoon everyone I hope you are having a nice weekend. I have managed over the last couple of days to sit & work on some Christmas cards, which I had already started before I got this nuisance cold.  It (the cold) started to go so I began to feel a bit better - now it is back again.  It has made me quite tired & so I can only sit & work for short sessions at a time. Here are my cards; They all use the same components - but not identical layout. A closer look at 3 of them. Those die-cut holly sprays were difficult to deal with.  At first I just die cut one & used wet glue to apply it to the card.  It did stick but was fiddly especially trying to avoid getting glue all over the cards. Next I die-cut them all using stick-it.  I thought that would better for the fiddly areas - oh how wrong can you be.  When I peeled off the backing the little bits didn't always come away so then I had to hold them & remove pi...

Good morning everyone.  A few days ago when sorting through work that I had on a to-do list I decided it was time to use up some cards & images that I had via a freebie on a magazine. The actual freebie consisted of some base cards & the mechanism strips to make the twist & pop card, along with some pretty toppers.  We made the twist & pop card at one of our club nights possibly last year some time - maybe longer ago than that. Anyway, I didn't like the mechanism pieces very much & decided I would go my own way with the remainder of the items.  The toppers are quite pretty with a watercolour look to them. So here is what I ended up putting together. Just added some decorative paper behind the topper & inked the edges. Just inked the edges. Two more with decorative paper behind & inked edges Made this one as a gate fold & used one of the toppers for the insert. The blank half front will have a s...

Good afternoon everyone. Well, despite the road closures everyone made it to the Mold club meeting last night.  Mind you we took a wrong turning leaving at the end of the evening & ended up going round in circles a couple of times.  Just didn't recognise the roads in the dark.  Anyway a good evening was had by everyone. Joanna kindly took the photos of the project & when she has time to send them to me I will put them here. In the meantime I have 2 birthday cards to show you today.  October quite a busy month - it is Gareth's birthday, Elayne's birthday & their wedding anniversary. Here is the card I made for Gareth It's a Gate-fold card but the photo shows it closed. The car topper is what keeps it closed. I think I have given car cards to Gareth before -  so I better start searching for a new idea for next year. Here is the card I made for Elayne I used Hunkydory card & images for this one. I really love the d...

Good afternoon everyone on a very grey & rainy day. Today I have 3 cards that I made recently to show you.  All 3 are very similar & were created because I realised when I was preparing for an upcoming club meeting that I had missed 3 birthdays. So I just had to say sorry. Here they are; At least I stamped the word "Sorry" I have to say that after making them I rather liked the effect of the emboss & die cut folder & that aperture can hold lots of different media. I also make cards without stamping because not everyone appreciates the craft & the above cards fit that well.   So, I may well use this folder again. I have spotted a card in a magazine which I will have to photograph for the member showcase spot. So will try & do that tomorrow. Then I have started photographing my lovely birthday cards in order to show you. That's me for today. Take care.  'Bye for now.

Good evening everyone. I have 2 photos to show you of some cards I made recently - at least I don''t think I have shown them to you. The reason I am unsure is because I created the topper pieces a little while back but only recently put the cards together.  So, apologies if you have already seen them; I used the split negative technique for these 2 cards.  A technique we covered a long time ago & I thought I would revisit.  The hardest part is the most important part & that is cutting the topper exactly in half - both times, otherwise the 2 halves do not fit together well. When I do use this technique I always use black & white but it can look very effective in colours or with just a splash of colour on the black & white version. Tomorrow I have a member showcase for you. Sorry this post is late at night - had a busy day & yesterday we met up with an old friend of Bob's for a meal & a natter.  We do this every couple o...

Good morning everyone I thought I would show you the 2 baby cards I made for the arrival of our grandson on 21 July. This first card is the one I made for Gareth & Elayne. I created this one digitally after finding this delightful royalty free baby photo on Google. Everything is flat but the package I use when digitally crafting allows you to make it look as if there is layers by creating shadows. This card I actually sent to Gwion himself. The images were a freebie recently on a magazine (Simply Cards & Papercraft - Issue 164). They are based on the Russian Dolls & there was a lady & a man, a young boy & young girl & a baby. As soon as I saw them I knew how I would be using them, using the lovely z-fold style card that Carolyn of Mold II showed us a while back. The die-cut message on the front panel is "Welcome to the family" & the little image at the bottom is the baby doll, so I have written Gwion's name under...

Good evening everyone Tonight I have another one of my recent cards to show you - in fact I think I will show you 2; This card was for my brother's girlfriend & is from some of my leftover Hunkydory win. I am down to odds & ends of that pack now that I won last year some time - or was it 2015! This card - also from a Hunkydory pack which was free on a magazine fairly recently, & this one I made for one of my nieces I had a really good session yesterday trying out some different fold cards that I had found out about some months ago - so they will pop up in your meetings some time. I hope you have something really nice planned for the weekend.  Tomorrow (Saturday) in the evening we are off to Llandudno to  Venue Cymru to see "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night".  we have both read the book & are curious ourselves as to how it will be interpreted for the stage.  Our grand-daughter is coming with us as well so a n...

Good afternoon everyone. Another weekend approaches & I do hope you have some interesting things to do.  Here in my area it is the annual carnival day, so I hope the weather will be nice. The card I have to show you today is this one.................... in fact ................... I will show you two; This stamp was free on a magazine around May-June time & it was so suitable for a summer birthday card.  With the strawberry stamp there were some words (not the happy birthday I used here that is one from Clearly Besotted ) & some individual strawberries & leaves. There was also a strawberry corner die that came in the set - but when I tried using it this week I found it didn't cut very well. I was using my cuttlebug - so I must try it through the Gemini before I decide I will not be using it. The die I used for the topper was, if I have remembered correctly, a freebie on a Die Essentials magazine. There were several nested sizes, so nice topp...

Hello everyone. I am sorry I haven't been popping in since Saturday, but as for everyone, the days are getting a bit busier now with Christmas less than 3 weeks away. My posts will be a little sporadic from now on until the New Year - but I will pop in here as often & frequently as I can. Tomorrow sees the last 2016 meeting of the CSNW club over in Rhuddlan - so Thursday there should be some photos of their Show & Tell & project for the evening. In the meantime here are the cards that I made on Saturday at the Card-io workshop; Sorry this one is a little blurry. This just requires a greeting on the front to finish it. I fell in love with those candles - so had to buy a set. I have never used Liquid Pearls before - so had to take a deep breath & go for it. Turned out OK - which pleased me.  Just a "Merry Christmas" to go on this one. I really liked doing this one & thought I was doing it in black as the name ...

Good morning everyone Well, I didn't finish those other Z-fold cards yesterday, or this morning as I got side tracked.  I was checking the blog & the information on it & Joanna's sample Bokeh technique caught my attention. Sorry, Joanna I couldn't wait until next week I had to have a go NOW!! I really enjoyed trying this technique out & as the title says -- I made 2 cards.     I have an idea for a Christmas card for this technique - so will probably be doing that later.    I can see that whilst I have my inks out I shall probably sit here & make several different coloured backgrounds in readiness for using on cards.   I know you are going to love this technique & I look forward to all the cards you will be making with it.   'Bye for now.  I have a crochet workshop to run this afternoon   - so must get ready.

Good afternoon ladies. I thought I would show you some recent cards I have made - they are in fact the ones that I made for the WI talk I gave.  You were able to see them in the display photos I posted on Friday. The photos are in the order of my demonstration, & I demonstrated how I had created the card before holding it up & passing it around for them to see closer; This was the first card & I used it to show how I made background papers, in this instance using Card-io stamps. It also gave me the chance to talk about embossing folders & of course the different colouring mediums, & how different a card looks when it is layered like this. This card was to show Clarity Stamps designs & pattern making & of course variegated inks. I also used this card to talk about stamping flower shapes & creating multi-layered flowers. This card was to show the use of the stamp positioner. Those eagle-eyed amongst you will spot that I sti...

Although I have to own up to them not being stamped. That is because they are samples for a workshop that the garden centre would like me to put on for cards that are a little different & with a Christmas theme. Anyway - good afternoon everyone & what a lovely day.  It is so good to see this sunshine. The cards I have made for the workshop are recent club cards - although in fact one of them you haven't made yet.  I have 2 to show you then I am working on another one which I will probably show you Friday, as I won't have enough time tomorrow. Here are the 2 cards; The first one is the Bendy card Yes - I know this is not a Christmas one - but they suggested that after I started making the sample. & the second one is the z-fold card you will be doing later. Well, tonight I am off to do my rubber stamping demo / talk.  It is the first one in ages.  I really had to reel myself in as I kept thinking of things to take & show - I...

... but sadly for one of those moments we would rather not make cards. I have for a while had some beautiful pre-embossed white cards & they are just right for this particular occasion.  So I die-cut the "With Sympathy" in white & glued them in place. Yesterday morning I had a call from our son Gareth to say that his grandfather had passed away earlier in the morning, (the gentleman was Bob's ex father-in-law).  A sad time for Russ, Gareth & Nicky. This afternoon I have had some time on my talk items & decorated the candle that you may have spotted on my dining room table photos.  I also stamped a rather cute teddy oto shrink plastic & cut hhi out ready to shrink on the day. Just about finished I think. That's me for today.  Another weekend arrives - goodness where do the weeks go. 'Bye for now. Ooh, just had a thought.  If you should be thinking about going to Daleside Garden Centre - they are refurbishing t...

Good afternoon everyone Today I have photos of 2 cards I made recently that are very similar to each other.  I rather liked the first one I made & had materials left over so I thought I would use them to make a second card & just change the layout a little. I used kraft cards & put the fronts through the dot embossing folder.  The stamp is a corner stamp that I have had for quite a while - might have been a freebie.  I stamped & embossed it in white EP then coloured with my watercolour paints.  The sentiments were from another set & fitted rather nicely in the die cut scalloped circle. I am just putting everything ready for the CSNW meeting tonight.  When I had my problem with my leg I had to cancel their July meeting, so they are decorating the mdf heart tonight.  I will have photos for you tomorrow.  I also have more of my recent cards to show you. Enjoy the rest of the day. 'Bye for now.

Good afternoon ladies Sorry to didn't write any post yesterday I had rather a strange day.  Back in April I managed to have a sty appear on my right eye, which vanished a couple of days later. Then on Sunday night there was another one. Yesterday my eye was constantly running & although I managed to sort some things for a 60th birthday card I couldn't use the computer comfortably. Before I show you the cards I want to mention for the Mold II ladies that I am going along to see Liz later this afternoon at the Maelor. Please go to the post HERE where I told you about Liz being in hospital - as she has added a message. The 2 cards I have to show you are almost identical & are for a new baby; My friend Caroline's daughter Amy had a little girl, & consequently Caroline & her husband became grand-parents.  So I thought it only right to do the two cards. I have a couple more recent cards to show you including the 60th birthday card which I did...