Cinder's Celebration

Every girls dream ... to grow up and be a princess and Katie is no exception. She loves all of Disney's princesses ... so naturally she had to have one on her card.

It took me weeks finding the decoupage on the Internet, but finally found a company that supplied them, thank goodness. The castle is made using a template by "Colour My World" (available from good craft stores/websites - UK company so not sure if available worldwide). I used three different types of card to make the castle (glitter/plain/patterned). Then added dots with a white sakura souffle pen to define the towers and white seed beads for the window sills.The front of the card is acetate, because I wanted it to look like Cinder's was standing away from the castle (I think it worked OK). Then I added a die cut sentiment and punched flowers to finish the card ... very girlie.

My sister used the same template to make a pink castle for a scrapbook page.
Happy crafting.
Tracie x

Wolf Wilderness

I love wolves and huskies, so when I was asked to make a card with wolves on ... I had to do it.This is another cd card, using "My Craft Studio", it just let's you manipulate any jpeg image and I'm addicted to this program ... I recommend everyone has this program, especially if your a little pc challenged.
I designed the whole card on my pc and printed out all the sheets. I did three images in different sizes and mounted them onto silver mirror card and layered them at different angles on the base card. I used my cuttlebug to diecut scalloped nesties and do some spirelli with black cotton, to tone in with the card. I added a greeting tag to finish.
Ever since I started using "My Craft Studio", I've become quite taken with making inserts and envelopes that match the outside of the card. And I've sold a lot more too.

Love to you all.
Tracie x

Bountiful Butterflies

Hello Girls, I've been gone so long, I've forgotten how to blog!
With illness/recovery, 2 week holiday and then the dreaded swine flu, I've had a pretty strange few weeks. But hopefully the worst is behind me and I can finally try to get some normality back .... PLEASE!
I've managed to make a few cards over the past few weeks, though not as many as I'd have liked. So over the next few days I'll be catching up with you and letting you see the cards I've managed to do, if that's OK?Today's card is a cd card, using "My Craft Studio". It was all designed on the PC and then printed out and decoupaged etc.So I used nesties with decoupage mounted onto it, a bit of matting and layering, added a giant bow and a couple of butterflies ... oh, and gems of course.
I made an insert to match and think it's finished the card of lovely. And with the new envelo-boxes I've started making to pop my cards in, I'm really pleased with this one.
Happy crafting girls, back soon
Tracie x

Champayne Celebrations

Turning 65 ... what a milestone for this guy. I've used this layout several times ... I simply adore it, so classy for a man too.I stamped the background using brown dye ink and water coloured using whispers brush markers. I mounted this layer onto gold mirri card and then onto the black base card. I used Arty Farty's celebration bottle template, cut out all the pieces in co-ordinating colours and layered the pieces together, then I just added some quickutz stars and ribbon.

I made a quick envelope box to match, very sophisticated for the older gentleman.

Back soon, take care.
Tracie x

Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf?

Definitely not me ... I've turned into a twilight fan, while I was poorly with lot's of time on my hands, I decided to read twilight to see what all the hype was about, well ... I just couldn't put it down. So then I had to by the rest of the saga and before I knew it I'd read all four books thrice ... yes I did say three times ... how sad am I?

But I have to say my fave is Jacob (not Edward) ... I looked around for a tote bag ... but didn't find anything I really liked, so ... why not make my own. I used some 'iron-on transfer paper', designed what I wanted on the bag on my pc and printed them out.
Then after allowing the images to dry for 15 minutes, I cut around them but not to close as the paper has a tendency to curl if it has to many intricate shapes. I ironed the bag nice and flat, removed the backing paper and laid the images down in position. Using a piece of baking parchment (not greaseproof paper as this sticks to the image) and a hot iron (no steam), I ironed the transfers into place using a fair amount of pressure, but only for about 20 seconds on each area (otherwise the transfer will burn and lose it's colour).

I love it, and so many people have asked where I got it, cool.

Happy crafting friends.
Tracie x

Long Time No See

Hey Girls ... yes I've been away for a while, doesn't mean I haven't been crafting ... just illness/injury and recovery. But I'm finally refinding my feet and thought it was about time I tried to get back with the whole blogging scene.

Thanks to everyone who emailed me in my absence, your well wishes really did make all the difference. xxx

So let's get back to crafting.
Tracie x

Faux Stitching

Good morning everyone, no card today ... but ... I've had a request to show how I do my faux stitching!

I'm in the middle of making some superman underpants ... YES, you read right, lol. So I will take some pics as I make it and will post a tutorial, it's incredibly easy.

Thanks for the request.
Tracie x

Dad Dig's his Shed

Today's card is for Father's Day, made especially for my father-in-law, who loves his garden. Perfect lawn (you could play bowls on it, it's that flat, green and trimmed), gorgeous flower beds, tubs, hanging baskets and a bountiful veggie patch. So I just had to make a gardening card, didn't I.
I found this gorgeous decoupage sheet and thought it suited my father-in-law brilliantly. So I cut out all the layers and decoupaged them up. I added glitter pen to the cobweb's to make them glisten and stand out, made a blue scalloped background and swiss dotted it, then cut two white clouds and layered them between the sky and the shed. The fence wasn't part of the decoupage sheet, but I found it on another and thought it went well with the shed.
Then I added a sentiment to what should have been the back of the shed and cut it to size, with a matching blue background, to make a greeting tile and added some extra pots etc and a ladybird.

Thanks for stopping by.
Tracie x

Soapstar Superstar

Good evening everyone, I'm really late today, sorry ... I've been out in the garden with my Mum, planting (well ... I should say watching, as my back injury doesn't allow me to do any digging etc ... but I can manage a bit of weeding and of course sweeping up). Today is the first relatively cool day we've had here for over a week, so we took the opportunity to get all the summer bedding plants out, hanging baskets done and tomato plants into bigger tubs. My Mum did a fantastic job, as she always does for me ... tomorrow I'll take some pics, so you can see.

Ok, back to today's card ... I had an unusual request ... for a lady who loves Martin Kemp (member of the 80's group Spandau Ballet and Actor here in UK). I've never been asked for anything like this before, ever. So, I needed help ... luckily I have a friend who collects 80's memorabilia and she was able to send me some black and white magazine photo's of him.To make the card, I used the fact he is an actor and made a couple of film strips, placing the magazine pictures behind each clip (you can just see by the photo that some of the magazine clippings were a bit big ... but they seemed to work out Ok with a bit of jiggling about). Then on "My Craft Studio", I made a faux film set, with lighting etc and added a couple of swirls for extra details ( I also made an insert to match). I then cut a wide strip of white paper, a narrow strip of silver, punched the edges using my floral geo punch and added them onto the card, butting up the straight edges. Black organza ribbon with a bow helped to disguise the join and add extra interest.I used foam pads on the back of the film strips to raise them up and placed them on the card, the horizontal one first, then the vertical one. The small flower waste from the punch was added to the card, with tiny pale blue gems in the centres.

It turned out far better than I expected.
Thanks for stopping by.
Tracie x

Cuttlebug Update

As you all know, I injured my bug a few weeks ago (and yesterday I had a message from a gentleman called Matt, who said his wife had, had the same thing happen to her) ... after contacting Provocraft (cuttlebug manufacturer), I have a couple of suggestions.

* Provocraft guarantee the Cuttlebug for 12 months, but this only covers manufacturer defects (it does not cover any damage or defect caused in any manner after your purchase).

* The height of your cutting materials should not exceed 1/8" thick. (by running through thicker material, you risk damaging your machine and may negate the warranty).

Having said this ... to my knowledge, I've never over stressed the machine (forced something to go through). However the gears are under great stress when we run items through the machine, so it's understandable that after time these gears become weakened. My bug was nearly three and had covered a large amount of ground, I can tell you, I've made so many cards with it, that it really didn't owe me anything. I have been unable to find anywhere that sell replacement parts for the cuttlebug, I guess it's because the machine itself isn't exactly a considered purchase, say like a digital cutter.

So my hubby is going to try and make a new gear for me, whether it will work or not ... I guess we have nothing to lose. But I have to say, how lucky am I, I married an engineer, whose willing to try and save me buying a new one.

Have a great day everyone.
Tracie x