Friday Die Day

Hello friends

It's Friday Die Day!
Today I'm featuring Lonely Hearts.
This is a Spellbinders® Shapeabilities® Decorative Strips die,
it consists of two parts - inset and border and the approximate die measurements are:

Inset: 5⅝ x 2⅛“
Border: 5½ x 1⅞“

This is how it looks cut/embossed.

You also have the option of die cutting the border alone and..

placing it behind to make a very effective background.

For my card I chose to use the die cut without a coloured background and went for a

palette of pale blue and white - a little bit Wedgewood -like.

The background is created with 5 x 7 Matting Basics B.

Before I affixed the die cut vertically, I inserted ribbon through the

filigree parts and secured at the back.

I then selected Bitty Blossoms and created three flowers and leaves.

Best Wishes stamped and cut into a banner.

Positioned those and voila!  Finished.

Some close up pics.



Lonely Hearts is available on the website here.

Also, I should mention, if you are ever in doubt regarding the sizes of dies -

click on the links whenever I name them and on the website I will have listed

the measurements.

And, another tip - if you are unsure if a die has been discontinued, pop along

to the Spellbinders website and type the die name in the search facility.

If it's still available on their website then is has not been discontinued.

Take care friends, wishing you a wonderful weekend.

Cute Cottage

Hello friends

Thank you for the lovely response to yesterday's post,

Yana's cards are stunning and show such a great way of using the dies.

Today's card is another new UK release and it looks very much in keeping

with our country - a cute cottage, Cozy Cottage.

The die set comes with the little shaped pieces that I have added to the thatched

roof but cut in green, they make lovely tufts of grass!

Cozy Cottage is available to pre-order on the website here.

Now to hopefully answer some die questions.

Dies are discontinued for a variety of reasons, firstly it would be impossible to keep

the entire inventory of dies, new dies are introduced, styles change so some definitely

have to be discontinued - I know it's often sad though.

Another main reason is sales.

Even though we may find that a die is extremely popular in this country,

it may not be abroad so the the sale percentage drops.  I guess, like all businesses it 

is impractical to stock a product that is not selling as well as others.

The good news is that Spellbinders are aware that we get upset when certain

dies are discontinued, they take note and an example is Grand Squares,

they realised these were really popular in the UK and have now brought out

the 6 x 6 Matting Basics. 

So take heart, you may see your favourites reappear.

In between keep an eye out on the Pre-Loved section on the website,

you may find the die you have been seeking there :)

Bella news...

A bit of sunshine yesterday so Elliott and I took Bella out to the woods.

It was very muddy but she didn't mind, here she is sporting a red jumper -

Lady in Red!

Also delighted to see bluebells are sprouting between all the fallen leaves.

Take care friends - back tomorrow for Friday Die Day.

Kitty Play

Hello friends

Oooo I have something special to share with you today!

Kitty Play is one of the new pre-order sets of dies I've been chatting about,

a special UK release for retailers.  It is such a lovely set, cats with real character.

I also love the little additions - mouse, fish, ball of wool and paw prints.

How about these for amazing cards....all created with Kitty Play by a very talented lady...

 Such a clever idea to use the negative/silhouette.

 So cute!

All of these cards have been made by Yana Smakula who is on the Spellbinders Design Team.

Yana lives in the Ukraine and her designs are beautiful,

she is also mummy to two cats.

You can visit Yana's blog here - stop a while and definitely be inspired.

And there's more - a video showing you exactly how to recreate these gorgeous cards.
The video lasts just over 5 minutes, if you experience any problems viewing it try
refreshing your page and press play...gremlins have come out to play today!

Kitty Play is available to pre-order here and expected to arrive early March.
I think they are purr-fect!  (Sorry, couldn't resist).

Lastly, I took note of all your questions yesterday regarding discontinued
dies etc and I will be chatting about that tomorrow.

Take care friends - hope you have time for crafting today.

Tuesday Tip Technique

Hello friends

Here she - Bella coiffured!
She has a wardrobe of jumpers in case she feels a little chilly with her short fur.

I had thought she was getting a little tubby but with her haircut I can see it must

have been her curly fur.  Good job I hadn't put her on a diet!

Delighted to report car got through its MOT - good job too as I'm doing a 

great deal of driving!

Back to craft...

Yesterday's card has triggered off today's Tip Technique - thank you Rita for your question.

The yellow background was created with the NEW 6 x 6 Matting Basics dies.

Hurrah!  We now have square matting dies, I've been campaigning for 

larger square dies since Grand Squares was discontinued.

Again, these dies come under the special UK release that was launched at 

Stitches a week ago.

Today for TTT I thought I would clarify why there are two sets of matting dies,  

A and B, how they work alone or combined.

These dies come under Spellbinders® Card Creator range, it means you can

create perfectly spaced layers and also use them with coordinating Card Creator sets.

By using 6 x 6 Matting Basics A you have a spacing of 1/4" between each layer and again

the same with Matting Basics B.

  If you combine the two sets you have narrowing matting options.
Hopefully the photos make it a lot clearer.

These are available to pre-order on the website here.  Available early March.

It really makes card making a breeze and I know there are many of you that will be
delighted that we can be perfectly "square" again! :)

Mrs B (Sue) and Sandra - absolutely thrilled you are coming along to 

Farnborough on Saturday!  Can't wait to see you both. 

Take care friends, I'm back tomorrow with ...cats!

It's a long list!

Hello friends

Well let's get this week underway, it is definitely a busy one!

First off this morning Bella is booked in for her haircut and manicure.

It cannot be put off any longer, she is looking rather scruffy.

Next is car stuff - sorting MOT etc., boring (but necessary).

Then I've got some magazine commissions to do, Friday Die Day,

and getting ready for the Make It Show in Farnborough on Saturday.

Talking of events I am visiting more places ... Chester, Wigan and Nottingham.

Some details are on the website here and the minute I have more info I will 

add it straight away.

Lots of interest in the new pre-order dies I mentioned yesterday,
one of the most popular is Out On A Limb.
I put together a card showing just how cute it is!

I'm thinking this design would work for so many occasions, birthday,
anniversary, valentine's ...

As mentioned this is one of the special release dies which have been launched in the
UK first.  I should be taking delivery of them beginning of March.
Full details of Out On A Limb is on the website here.

Right, I had better get back to it.
Wishing you all a great start to the week.

Take care friends.

Recovering!

Hello friends

A later blog post today as slightly over indulged last night celebrating

my friend's birthday!

Had a lovely meal, a few glasses (!) and thankfully Mitchell was our taxi 

for the evening.  Jolly useful when your kids grow up and drive!
I suspect things could go a little slower today and lots of tea drinking!

Other news...

This month's newsletter went out this week with details of the 

new Spellbinders pre-order items available on the website.

This is a range that was launched at Stitches in Birmingham,

it is available in the UK first and exclusive to retailers.
It features lots of cats, dogs, birds and more... take a look here.  

Pawing Around - Dog (Cat is also available)

Kitty Play

Out On A Limb

There is also some gorgeous new label shapes and flowers too.

Hope you are all having a good weekend, awoke to thick frost here this morning,

come on Spring...we need you!

Take care friends.

Celebrate the Day!

Hello friends

Thank you for all the comments yesterday on FDD,
it seems to have been a popular card!

I recently had this card featured on the Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L blog.
It features Gold Photo Corners and I'm impressed at how 'gold' they are!
They really do look metallised and add a rather stylish finish to a project.

The tiny hearts are 3D Foam Hearts,
I sprinkled WOW! Embossing Powder onto them and heated.

The flowers are...yes you've guessed it a real favourite - Bitty Blossoms.

All the further details are over on the Crafty Power Blog here.

If you have a moment I would really appreciate you hopping over there.

I'm out this evening celebrating my best friend's birthday,

a pub meal and perhaps the odd glass of wine :)  

Like all good friends we've known each other for years (29!), had mad holidays together 

(we used to put letters of the alphabet in a hat - we had the letter 'G' two years running 

so ended up visiting Gambia and Gibraltar!)

She is pet mad just like me -we compete on how many cats we own, 

we are currently equal with 4!

We last went out at Christmas so very much looking forward to catching up...

Bella sitter has been booked :)

Take care friends.

Friday Die Day

Hello friends

Friday Die Day!
This week I am using Contemporary Circles, this is a two piece die set
and measures approximately:

Inset: 3¾ x 5”
Border: 4¼ x 5”

This set is a Spellbinders® Shapeabilities® Decorative Card Front die,
this means half of your card creating is done for you!

This is how it looks cut/embossed.

Rainbow time!

Onto a piece of white card I've attached strips of coloured card,

raided my scrap box again.  Fix these down firmly.

I then used the border die to cut the rectangle.

Pretty colours!

I attached the rainbow rectangle to a white card front.

Attached 3D Foam Squares to the reverse of the Contemporary Circles card front 

and fixed this down onto the rainbow base.

A strip of white card and then a stamped sentiment tag.

Back to Basics Tags...of course!

With the offcuts of my rainbow card I cut/embossed Blooms Four.

Tip: make sure every piece of your rainbow card is fixed to a backing card

otherwise you end up with tiny bits of petal everywhere...just sayin'!

The flower in place with Sprigs added.

A close up photo. 

The card front dies really make things speedy and they look so effective.

Contemporary Circles is available on the website here.

Other card front dies on the website include Diagonal Chevron, Flurries and Glass Effects.

Take care friends - I'm back tomorrow.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Back Home, Lovely Ladies and Winner

Hello friends

Back home and back in the routine of working in London today!

I'm so pleased it is just the two days there, I would be proper grumpy if it were more -

craft deprivation! 

Bella was very excited when I returned home, lots of kisses and following me everywhere 

(the boys didn't show me quite so much attention!)

Spending time with Kim and Stacey in Birmingham was such fun, they are 

amazing ladies, dedicated and inspirational - I feel blessed to know and work with them both.

It was also brilliant to meet many new retailers and arranging my demos and classes.
I'm getting organised and there is a dedicated tab on my website, appropriately named...
Spellbinders!

First off I am visiting the Make-It Show at Farnborough on Saturday 28 February.

I am going to be demoing Spellbinders all day on the Samuel Taylors stand so if you 

live in the Hampshire area please pop along - all the visiting details are here.

Last Sunday I had a giveaway - Grand Labels One.

It was fascinating to read all your stories on how you started crafting,

thank you to everyone that left a comment.

The winner is ... 

Marg

Congratulations Marg, you said:

"My 1st card making purchase was an Anna Griffin kit from QVC just when I was due to retire!

Since then my house has become over run with Inks, Papers,Pens and Spellbinders Dies.. Machines, and everything needed to craft!"

Drop me an email with your address details to hope-chances@live.co.uk

and I will pop your dies in the post to you.

Please stop by tomorrow - it's Friday Die Day!

Take care friends.

Remote Blogging!

Hello friends

Apologies no Tuesday Tip/Technique today as I'm still away in Birmingham.

I've got a couple of photos to share from the show, I've been useless at taking photos but I have been brilliant at non stop chatting - clearly my expertise!

I've also been demoing and teaching classes, busy busy and lots of fun.



Kim, Stacey and me!



I haven't had a chance to look round the show properly but I catch glimpses of exciting goodies!

I'm returning home later today, I've been phoning for Bella updates and I'm not sure she's missing me, she's been having roast dinners!

Take care friends.


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Winner!

Hello friends

Huge thanks to those who purchased this month's Charity Kit -
it was the fastest selling kit ever!

As mentioned, a contribution also went off to Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare.
Nice to know we are helping our fur and feathered friends.

Now it is time to go check your kits, the winning ticket is....

If you are the lucky winner please email me at hope-chances@live.co.uk
Let me know your address details and a parcel of goodies will be on its way to you.

I've begun to receive some photos of completed kits, thank you so much.

First off Kathy who said she loved this month's kit...
The pretty blue gemstones really add a nice finishing touch.

Next is Anne who said...

"I've just finished decorating my set of hearts and it will be my Valentine's card for my husband.

I'm very pleased with it and thoroughly enjoyed 'playing'.

Thank you for the extra matching offcuts.

As you can see, I used a piece to cut out Alan's name and some 'xxxxx's."

And Carole's with the ingenious idea of covering a heart with blackboard paint so she could

personalise it with chalk writing!

Thank you so much ladies, 

please continue to send photos, I really enjoy seeing how they all turn out.

I'm still in Birmingham and returning home tomorrow, if you follow me on

Facebook you may have seen some updates by now.

Take care friends.