September Demo makes

 Just a little taster of my September demo makes.  Docrafts have some gorgeous Create Christmas products for you to make stunning Cards this Christmas.  Beautiful new dies and mini dies as well as lovely sentiment stamps.

Do try and join me if you can make one of my dates and venues.
I am at The Range in Peverell Plymouth on 10th September.  I am then at Trago Mills Liskeard on Sunday 11th September and finally, at The Range in Plymstock on 17th September, 10am - 4pm on each of the dates shown. Hope to see you there!

Wedding Stationery

 Hi there, in my last post I mentioned being busy with wedding stationery for my friend.  Well, I thought you might want to see them in situ, as it were?   Here they are in the dining room of The Talland Bay Hotel, near Looe.   It was a fabulous day, and Christine looked stunning!

The theme, as you can see, was Sunflowers, and they looked absolutely amazing.  I was thrilled with how my makes turned out and complemented the Sunflower theme.

Below is the seating plan, which Christine wanted.  Each table was named after a variety of sunflower.

Seating Plan

Top Table

Table Names

Place Setting

The place settings were a wallet design, which contained two inserts.  One was a personalised menu and the other was a lovely verse, written by Christine and Don, to thank their guests for sharing their day.

Order of Service & Boxed Wedding Card

Order of Service

 The order of service was A5 size and contained the whole service, together with the words of the two hymns. 

Talland Bay Hotel

Bright and Beautiful

I used 300 gsm quality ivory card stock and a beautiful sunflower stamp from Hobby Art, together with metallic Pan Pastel, Rich Gold to create the shimmer!  I embellished with handmade  sunflowers and delicate ivory lace and ribbon trim.

Hope you like them because I have decided to launch my own business creating beautiful handmade wedding and special occasion stationery!  The name of my new venture, of course, "Annmade for You"!
Watch this space, or follow me Annmade for You on Facebook, as I will provide an update soon as to when my website will be up and running, I am so excited!!

Ann x

July Demo makes for DoCrafts

 Hi there, sorry for the lack of postings lately.  I have been so busy with my friends Wedding Stationery, I haven't had a lot of spare time! 
I have just finished my samples for my up and coming Demonstrations in July, so I thought I would share them with you today.
If you are able to make any of my dates, do come along, you will be most welcome.  Dates and venues for July are as follows:-
9th July - The Range Plymstock
10th July - Trago Mills Liskeard
17th July - The Range Peverell Plymouth.          
So onto the demo makes.  For the month of July, we will be demonstrating techniques rather than products as such.  This brightly coloured tag show cases ink blending as well as a use for the 3D Anita's gloss.  I have added some little rain drops to the finished tag.  If your handwriting isn't up to much, try this quirky font?  Just write in capitals and add round balls to the ends of the letters!                

This one is the first of my use of the fabulous Artiste Acrylic paints.  This is my attempt to paint in a "Folk Art" fashion!  This is the easiest of them all.  You need two style brushes, round and flat.  I have used two shades of lilac for the lavender flowers, one was metallic and two shades of green for the stems and grass.

 I added a glitter butterfly to vellum and added some tiny lilac gems to the body and card.  I really like it!
Sheena Douglass, thanks for the tutorial, I managed to do it freehand, no stamp required!!

 This one is fun to do.  A stamped and heat embossed vellum wrap.  The card underneath is stamped and embossed with the same image.
The bow is added to the side using two holes made in the top of the card and vellum.  This way there is no glue marks to be found?

 The vellum was white heat embossed and the card was done in silver.

This is a heart that I cut 4 times from Kraft cardstock and layered them together for strength.  I painted watered down pva glue for the first coat and whilst wet, added a thick layer of Artiste Acrylic paint in Tea Rose.  Using a heat gun, give it a blast and watch the magic happen, it's really cool!  I then added some random gold embossing powder to the front and sides, and heat embossed it to create a thick layer to that I could stamp into it. I added some flowers, which had the same crackled paint treatment.

 This is the same technique, with no embossing powder added.

This one is the first of two shaker cards.  I used scollop circle dies from the large set together with the lovely butterfly doily for the topper.  I used the hole punch tool to add extra interest to the edge of the scollops.

 This is the other shaker card.  I used the gorgeous "just for you" die for the top layer and placed this over the acetate.

 Another Folk Art card.  I love the colours in this card, so fresh.   White, Tea Rose and Sage, were the colours I used.  To get a perfect match for the mats and layers, I simply painted round the edge of the white card.

 I cut out the flowers and mounted them onto 3D foam pads once the paint was dry.

 A Christmas wreath.  the wreath is easy to achieve using the chisel end of the brush, double loading the paint and flicking the brush when painting.

 The berries are created using a pencil with a  rubber end.  Dab this into the red paint and add a white highlight once dry.

 A very pretty little creation using a vellum wrap.  I have stamped a butterfly border and white heat embossed it.  I added some glitter to the details in the stamp and wrapped this around baby pink pearlescent card.

 I used Kraft card to create this card,   I white heat embossed a background stamp onto the Kraft card.  Once cooled, I die cut the jigsaw and layered it over a vellum background that I stamped with a stentiment.  I distressed the edges with gold embossing powder and heat set it.

 This one is very simple but effective.  I ran a lilac piece of card through an embossing folder and then gently applied metallic acrylic paint to the raised area's.  You can be very careful and added just a bit, or you can add more for a more distressed look?

I finished it off with a double sided purple satin ribbon and tag sentiment.

Hope you like them and you can join me at my next demonstrations?

Bye for now!

Docrafts Demo Makes from May 2016

 Hi crafters, I thought it was time to upload a selection of my favourite makes from all my demonstrations during the month of May.  I have really enjoyed working with all the products that Docrafts have bought out for this loop.  The new filigree dies have featured a lot, mainly because they are so lovely, I am sure you will agree?

 Above is the Filigree Circle Frame.  I have cut this from plain white cardstock and mounted it on 3D form dots.  I then white heat embossed some butterflies onto parchment paper and coloured them behind using the Artiste pens,with a selection of pastel colours that complimented the background mounts.
On the left I have cut the Filigree layering flowers in white and layered them onto Capsule French Lavender papers.  The background is created using the fabulous brick wall background stamp, also new this loop.  The gorgeous card to the right was the most popular make

during my demo's.  It is so easy to create, and what is even better, it uses all your  tiny card scraps up.  The die set is called Woodland Flourishes, just gorgeous and very versatile.  I can see this being used, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, by changing the colours used, and of course, adding glitter at Christmas with a few Holly leaves!  These two to the right were created using the new Cut & Emboss folders.  What a great idea and they make beautiful cards for all occasions.   These were another popular make, and you can see why?

This was a fun little make.  As soon as I saw the Deco patch Beach Hut paper, I thought of a beach bag and so had to make one!  This is actually a box in a bag, as the inside base of the bag is the base of a box.  It makes a really sturdy bag, just right for adding a little gift.  I made 4 simple 3"x 3"  and 4"x 4" cards with envelopes, that had a nautical feel to them.  I simply wrap the deco paper around white cardstock and taped it to the back, then mat and layered the white card.  I think they look great.  The hanging fish was a little handmade embellishment to finish off the bag.

The Little Friend

Here comes Gorjuss!  I love the Gorjuss girls and this loop saw the introduction of the Vintage Rose collection, which is just stunning.  The papers, and especially the printed vellums, are just gorgeous.  This image is one of the 4 new stamps, The Little Friend, Oops a Daisy, Little Song and Heartfelt.  The are all adorable and stamp fantastically, because they are all on red rubber.  If you are a Gorjuss fan, you have to get them, along with the papers and vellums, you will love them!  I have sneaked in another new die from the Filigree tea cup die set here, and a sentiment of my own, printed from my computer.
I coloured the image with the fabulous new Dual Tip Watercolour markers from Docrafts.  The Santoro pens colour match the Vintage Rose collection perfectly and you will get the results you
want to achieve with a bit of practice.. I always use a good quality water colour cardstock as my base. Leave the image to dry before trying to add shading and depth, it does make a difference and it is much easier to work with.

Here she is again, this time the images have come from the A4 Ultimate die cut and paper pack.  This is bursting with toppers, papers and decoupage.  I made a gift bag, a notebook and card, using 3 sheets of black A4 cardstock and 1 sheet of 12" x 12" , cut into 4 6" x 6" squares.  You can do a great deal if you go for the bigger paper.  I love how they turned out and they are really easy to make.  

This card was made using one of
gorgeous printed vellum papers that

Oops a Daisy

match the papers.  I coloured in the image using Faber Castell Polychromo pencils.  If you struggle with blending alcohol markers, I would give these pencils a go.  They are lovely to work with and blend beautifully, with very little effort, just by using a blending solution and a paper stump.  I use Sansodor from Windsor and Newton.  Take a look  on Ebay, you should be able to source both products easily enough.

 This is another version of the first card, only this time I stamped the butterflies onto the same background patterned papers and then cut them out to mount onto the frame.  I really think this is pretty and versatile.  Thinking ahead to Christmas card making, this is another die that will be coming out.  Just by adding holly leaves, berries and glitter, the wreath will be just perfect for batch card making.

Now a couple male themed cards..  this one is featuring that fabulous brick wall background stamp.  The decoupage topper is from the A4 Ultimate die cut and paper pack from Mr Smith's Workshop from Papermania.  With a Father's Day theme, they are all perfect for the men in your life.  There is a range of accessories that compliment the papers, including Vintage brads and mini tool charms, all very useful in many ways.

This fun pop up box card was made using elements from both Mr Smith's workshop and Mr Mister from last year.  I used the other new background stamp, a woodgrain image, onto Kraft cardstock for the base, and used dies, toppers and stamped images cut out, mounted onto acetate to form the focal points within the card.  You can see the fabulous Vintage brads, in both large and small, which have been used to make the drawer handles on the front of the box.




That's all for now, do post a comment if you like any of my makes, I would really appreciate it!
Ann xx

More Scruffy Little Cat

Scruffy Little Cat - Chanel

 Hi there, sorry it's been a few days since my last posting, it's been a bit hectic!  I have started a collection of Scruffy Little Cat Rubber Stamps, from Crafter's Companion, and have only posted one finished example of Ashleigh so far.  I completed these two examples as a birthday gift for my "daughter-in-law" to be, and I thought I would share them with you today.  The idea was to put them in frames to hang on the wall?

This little "Glamour Puss" is Chanel, and below is Lola.

I am so pleased with how they both turned out.  I coloured them with water colour pencils and then finished off the shading with Faber Castell Poloychromo pencils.  I love the eyes and eye lashes.
You can really go to town on them!!


Do leave me a comment if you like them, and I will try to get more of the collection posted soon? So many to choose from, so little time!!!  xx

Scruffy Little Cat - Lola

                                    

Docrafts Demonstration Makes - Cardiff 19th March

                                                                                                                                 

Hi there, I travelled to Cardiff on Saturday 19th to do a Docrafts demonstration,  and what I fabulous day I had!  All the ladies that came especially to see me were lovely and made me really welcome.  Thank you ladies, for coming to the demonstration and making the day so enjoyable.  As promised, I said I would post some of the favourite makes for you and at the end, I have put the measurements and template for the two small Easter Treat holders. 

This was a popular make which is made from the lovely new mini pin wheel die from XCut.  I have cut three pin wheels from the 12" x 12" Geometric Mocha papers from Papermania.  As this is single sided paper, I wanted to add something to the reverse, as pin wheels work best with double sided designs.  So I added some Artiste Acrylic Paints by using the end of a paint brush and dabbing the paper with dots.  I love the effect and you can coordinate the colours with the papers.  I then cut a flower pot shape from brown cardstock, and attached to the A6 card.  I cut a leaf in gold mirri board to place at the back and arranged the pin wheel flowers.  I gold heat embossed a few sentiments from the stamp set that is free with March's Creativity Magazine, and added these to the card.  For the flower centres I used the gorgeous Shimmer Dome Stickers from Papermania.

I then edged the card with a fine marker pen with a couple of sketchy
lines.  I was really pleased with how the card turned out and the ladies in Cardiff thought so too!

These two were another crowd pleaser in Cardiff.   Both very simple to achieve.  I used the Bee and Strawberry stamps from the new Country Life Wooden stamp set.   On some super smooth plain white card, randomly stamp the images and colour accordingly.  I added a sweet little heart and some dots to help fill the background.

I then cut the appropriate letters from black cardstock, using the very useful mini dies Alaphabet.  Above I added a tiny heart punch with a gold self adhesive gem.  For the Strawberry, I punched a medium sized heart and daisy flower from XCut.  I added the pips with a white gel pen and placed this on the card using a 3D form dot.

I adore 3D projects, so making boxes is a real must do for me!  This Pizza style box is so easy to make, and you never have to worry that the lid will not fit?  I have made this from 300gsm card stock, so it is very sturdy and adding the matting layers, gives it a real professional look and feel.  The Geometric Mocha papers are matted onto gold mirri card.  I made a lovely rosette to match, using the same papers.  This is a 1" by 12" piece of paper that is scored every 1/4" and then folded.  As you can see, I used another Shimmer Dome for the centre to pull out the pink in the papers.

Inside the box, I placed the mini cards and envelopes which all coordinate with the Geometric Mocha set.  The box will hold 3" x 3" cards and envelopes.  You will need a piece of card stock that measures 9 3/4" x 5 3/8" and score at 1", 4 3/8", 5 3/8" and 8 3/4".  Turn and score at 1" and 4 3/8".  Very simple, but looks great.  I made a belly band to go round the box, but this is optional?

Here she is, the lovely little Gorjuss No.8, "I love you little Rabbit" stamp.  As Easter is approaching, I thought I would do a cute little card, using this sweet image.  I decided to do the Artiste Paint effect with the end of the paint brush for the backing paper and to paper piece her dress.  I coloured her hair, face and the little rabbit with Promarkers and Polychromo pencils.  I waited for the paint to dry and then stamped the image again onto the card and cut out her dress.  I placed this onto the coloured image and fussy cut her out leaving a 1/8" border around her.  I then used Word on my computer to create the sentiments.  The ladies in Cardiff were surprised how beautiful and different Gorjuss could look, just by changing the colours you use.

Mini Easter Egg Treat Holders

OK, now to the measurements and templates for the two little bags/boxes that hold mini eggs.
The Cream Egg box is made from 210gsm card stock which was stamped first. I used the mini stamps from the Country Life stamp set, heart and chicken.  I gold heat embossed these and then added the dots of paint with the end of the paint brush.   The mini egg bag is made from the Geometric Mocha papers (12" x 12"), this is 160 gsm, which is a perfect weight form making bags.  I used a small piece of acetate in the front of the bag, but scored it first before placing onto the paper and putting it together.  Hopefully, by looking at the template and following the instructions, you will be able to replicate the two.

Mini Egg Bag

Cut a piece of Designer paper 6" x 6".  Be mindful of the pattern when scoring and keep the paper in the right direction.  Score as follows:-  1 3/8", 2 3/4", 4 1/8" and 5 1/2".  This will leave a 1/2" glue tab on the right hand side.  Turn the paper 90 degrees and score at 1 3/8", 4 5/8" and 5 5/8".   You are not ready to cut and burnish your score lines.  Cut away the small rectangle in the right hand corner, as this is not needed.  Cut up each score line from the bottom to the first score line at 1 3/8".  Use a die or punch to make your aperture the front of the bag, do this before you make the bag up.  Place a small piece of acetate over the aperture, remember to score and burnish this before assembling the bag.  Once assembled, pinch the top of the bag on both sides, and then punch holes in the paper to thread your ribbon through.  This will act as the bag closure.  Add any embellishments or sentiments that you wish to coordinate with your gift.

Cream Egg Box

You will need a piece of medium weight card stock for this project.  I used 210 gsm that was super smooth, as I wanted to stamp on it first.  Cut the card stock so it measures 6 1/2" x 5 1/4".  Score as follows:- 1 1/2", 3", 4 1/2" and 6".  This will leave a 1/2" glue tab on the right hand side.  Turn the card 90 degrees and score at 1 1/2" and 4 1/4".  Now you are ready to cut and burnish your score lines.  Cut away the small rectangle in the right hand corner, this is not required.  Cut up each score line from the bottom to the first score line at 1 1/2".  Use a punch or die cut for an aperture in the front, so you can see the cream egg.  Assemble the box, using strong double sided tape on the glue tab and pinch the sides to fit the egg.  I made a small egg base holder by cutting a  square of 2"x 2" card stock and scoring 1/4" on all four sides.  Using a 1" circle punch, cut a circle from the centre of the 2" square.  Cut the score line in each corner, so that it will stand to hold the egg and place it at the bottom of the box.  There is no need to glue this in place, it will fit very snuggly as it is.  Decorate as you wish.  I added some bakers twine to the top with a mini peg to keep the box closed.

You may want to take a look at Pootles Papercraft (on You Tube) as both of these boxes were inspired by Sam Donald, who is a Stampin up Demonstrator.  I haven't ventured into the world of video and YouTube yet, but who knows what might happen in the future?

Hope you enjoyed the posting today, a bit long, but it was a busy day on Saturday! 
Whilst on Facebook, why not like my pages at Annmade for You, much appreciated!!

Happy Crafting!!
Ann x