Friday Die Day - Part One!

Hello friends

It's Friday Die Day - wow they come around so quickly!
This week I am featuring Hearts and Flutter -
this is a two piece die set and the approximate measurements are:

Butterfly: 1⅛ x 1¼“
Heart: 2⅞ x 2⅜“

This is how they look cut/embossed - so pretty,
that butterfly is calling to me...!

I've chosen to use the 'Flutter' die this week - look out for FDD - Part Two

featuring the 'Heart'!

 

I've teamed the butterfly with Labels Three.

Cut/embossed three sets.

I then selected three pastel pieces of patterned paper from my scrap box.

Placed a piece behind each Labels die cut.

Affixed to my card front with 3D Foam Squares, added a stamped sentiment in the corner.

I then reinserted the butterflies, just applying adhesive to the body part so

the wings could fly!

A very clean and simple card today but it truly shows off the die cuts.

Heart and Flutter is available on the website here.

 

I've got a busy kit-making weekend ahead.  I'm off to Birmingham next weekend

for the big craft trade show "Stitches" at the NEC.

I'm going to be demonstrating and meeting up with Stacey Caron and Kim Hupke

from Spellbinders so lots of fun too.

 

Have a great weekend everyone, keep nice and warm.

Take care friends.

Springtime Gift Bag and Notelets

Hello friends

Each month I create a project for an Ambassador post on the Spellbinders blog,
this month it went live a little early so you may have glimpsed it!

I chose to decorate a kraft gift bag and make mini cards/notelets to fit inside.
I pretty much stuck to using the same dies to keep a coordinated look,
the gorgeous pink flowers are new dies - Urban Blooms.
I promise to stock these as soon as I can get my hands on them!

My favourite Sprigs also make an appearance along with sentiment dies -

these are not leaving my craft desk at all!
The very pretty rectangle behind the flower is the new Swirl Delight - it's an ideal size.

Full details and more photos can be found here.

This month's charity kit was a huge success and it is now...

THANK YOU to all those who purchased, the last batch went out yesterday.
Don't forget if you have chance to make your banner please send a photo -
hope-chances@live.co.uk

Some previous charity kits are still available on the website here
and I'm already working on the kit for next month :)

The winter sale is still ongoing - many of you have snapped up some bargains,
I'm planning to focus the shop on all things die cutting with additional crafty essentials
hence the big sale.  More items have been reduced!

Take care friends, I'm back tomorrow for Friday Die Day!

Thinking of You Tag

Hello friends

Yesterday's TTT went down really well, just occasionally experiments pay off!
Patricia asked if the die cutting sealed the edges, well it did with my heart.
I'm not sure whether over a period of time it may become unsealed but a
spot of glue would work.

A tag today using colours I rarely use.
I think most of us keep going back to colours we love but I forced myself to try
something new!
This project appeared on Scrapbook Adhesives Blog yesterday
and all the details are here.

It features the very clever new E-Z Stars Runner - I cannot wait to stock these!

It looks just like a glue runner but dispenses mini stars.  

You can glitter and/or emboss them too.

Also those sentiments are appearing again...love them,
this time it is Sentiments 4 and the flowers are Blooms Three.
My tag is Ranger Kraft and available here.

If you get a moment I would really appreciate you popping over to the
Crafty Power blog.

If any of you have received your February Charity Kit and made it up, please send photos,
I'm itching to see all the heart banners.
Be good to put together a whole gallery of them for Valentine's.

Yesterday the snow arrived ....the cabin at 8am.

 And then it melted, the cabin at 4pm!
Oh yes, Bella having a run too!

I know it's for the best but I do love a bit of snow!

Take care friends.

Tuesday Tip/Technique

Hello friends

It's Tuesday so it's tip/technique time.

I think I've already earned the reputation of recycling items or using items

around the home so this week it is....toilet tissue!

Yes honestly it is!

This technique is called paper casting.  

Layer up about 5 squares of toilet tissue and die cut with a shape - I've chosen Classic Hearts.

 It cut in one pass.

 Select a stamp, I chose a sentiment but you could go with a decorative one

or both!  Line up on your acrylic block.

 You then need some water and some kitchen towel.  Tap water is fine, I just had a bottle

of water to hand in the cabin.

 Pour some water onto the central area of the heart and lay it over your stamp.

Pat down and then apply the kitchen towel to remove as much moisture as

possible.  Gently lift off and place somewhere to dry.

 The finished effect - you can also ink your stamp and stamp into the image,

mine was still a little damp so I didn't risk that!

Experiment with different dies and stamps and you need not tell anyone it is 

toilet tissue!

Take care friends - I'm back tomorrow.

Birthday Celebrations and Cookies!

Hello friends

Thank you for the wonderful response to February's Charity Kit -
it seems we all like heart banners.

Now I've got you all captive... here are Mitchell's birthday photos!
A few gifts to open in the morning...
that is a box of Japanese 'Happy Birthday' Oreo biscuits!

 We then hopped on the train to London town.

 At King's Cross I took a look in the Harry Potter shop.

 We then ventured to all the geeky shops, including Cyber Candy.

We had cocktails with lunch...

A bit more shopping - browsing in Fortnum and Mason.

Checking out the tea selection...quite a few to choose from!

Our evening meal...it really was dinner theatre!

They sang Happy Birthday to Mitchell - he was just a tad embarrassed!

All in all a fun day, with rather the emphasis on food and drink!

 Happy memories.

Next up, as promised here is the recipe for the chocolate chip cookies.

They are more crumbly and like shortbread in texture as opposed to

American style chewy cookies.

Ingredients:

50g butter

125g caster sugar

1 egg

1tsp vanilla extract

125g plain flour

75g self raising flour

200g chocolate drops (I prefer plain)

A little milk (optional)

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in the egg and vanilla gradually.

Sift in the two flours and fold in the chocolate drops.

You have two options here: if your mixture is firm and dough like,

you can roll out into a long sausage shape and slice.  You can also wrap in cling film

and chill until ready to use (they freeze well uncooked too).

Next option: if your mixture is quite dry and you've added milk, roll into dough balls

and flatten to make cookies.

Heat oven to 220 degrees. Place cookies onto lined baking tray.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden.

Leave on the tray for a couple of minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely

(this never happens in my home, they get eaten literally as they come out of the oven!)

Pop back tomorrow for some craft...Tuesday Tip/Technique.
Take care friends. 

February Charity Kit

Hello friends

Can you believe it is February!?
I was whining about Christmas being over but really it's not too long before
I can think about festive things again...only joking!

Thank you so much for buying.

I'm prompt this month with the Charity Kit, mainly because I thought
it would be nice for you to have the kit in plenty of time for Valentine's.
Hearts being the focus...this month's kit is a wooden heart banner.

Each kit consists of the following:

 MDF banner hearts(10cm) x 3

 Patterned paper x 3

 Length of coordinating twine

 Small wooden heart embellishments x 2

Die cut sentiment

Die cut flowers x 2

 Assorted size die cut hearts x 7

3D foam squares

Lucky number

Full instructions

Please note the papers and little hearts may vary but I will ensure they are lovely,

coordinated and with matching twine.

There is full instructions with step by step photos but you can of course decorate the hearts
exactly how you wish - in fact I'm really excited to see how each of you design the
banner so please send photos.

The price is £8.95 and that includes postage and packing.
A bit of a bulkier parcel this time.
As with previous months, there is a PayPal button below.

You can purchase via the website -
the price will be different on the website because of postage being
calculated at checkout.   The details are here.

KITS NOW SOLD OUT ON WEBSITE TOO!

Also, there is a limited number of these kits available,
even thought I bought up an entire stock of wooden bunting hearts!
So it's a good idea to be quick off the mark :)

As always huge thanks, this month I am also making a donation to
Raystede - the wildlife centre. I mentioned them yesterday with regards to the
knitted nests - they do a fantastic job rescuing and rehoming
lots of animals including battery hens.

I will be back tomorrow with photos of Mitchell's 21st celebrations.
Thank you for all your kind wishes yesterday - we had a fab time!

Take care friends and have a wonderful Sunday.