Hippi chic!!!

I hope you are all keeping well, I am doing fabulously, and I feel great since starting back at Simply B store, latest fashions coming in thick and fast and a great selection of party dresses for the season.

Any way the card I posted has been done for a while but have not been able to post due to work, but here she is using Be creative papers and Hippie chick stamp by saturated canary, whom I adore with the addition of some satin ribbon, and a sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by xx

Papertake weekly challenge #2

I had made two cards for the Papertake weekly challenge the brief being all about the base anything but a square and I couldnt decide between the two so here is number two hope you like it, enjoy the challenge.




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Papertake weekly challenge

All about the base
Im so pleased to say that i am a guest designer for the next few weeks on Papertake weekly challenge, and the challenge is to create a card that is not a square so here is my interpretation of the breif hope you like it and enjoy the challenge.





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Gebera are my Faves

My two crafty buddies, they are so brill, we went out for dinner one night while we were in Manchester and there were flowers on the tables, a single Gebera in different shades of pink, and I absolutely adore them, so they gathered them all up and we had a bit of a photo feast with them this was one of mine and I am so pleased with how it came out, believe it or not this was taken with my I phone using the Adobe photo shop app which is brill. I love photo's but I don't deny I find technology mind boggling, so to get a result like that is tremendous, hope you enjoy as much as I did.

And here is a group shot



Thanks for stoppiing by xx

Manchester glad to be back

Event city Manchester, is absolutely awesome, I just love coming here and the people are brilliant, so down to earth and friendly, the workshops always go well here. So I thought I would come outside and take a break and talk to some of the people that I have met on the workshops and no matter where you go people want to come and say hi, so i cant wait till next year Manchester you are fricking awesome.

Thanks for stopping by xx

Cats wiskers

Id like to introduce to you my cat Tinker who started life out as Tinkerbell, when we got him from my friend Diana Austin, so when he come of age and it was time to get him neutered, well it was a surprise to me when the vet called and told me she was a he, but he is and has been the most loving cat I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, he misses me when im away and he doesnt let me out of his sight when I get back, I love him xxxxxx

Snowmen melt your heart

When was the last time we had snow? and I love it, I cant help but get sentimental about snowmen, its what Christmas is all about inst it.

This stamp is called stacked snowmen and is very popular, as i had to find my stockist through the Woodware facebook page and they were very helpful in finding some one for me.

I had so much fun colouring this as there were so many colour combinations that i could have used, which ones would be male, which one would be female.

Here is another view for you

 

And here's a close up, thanks for stopping by xx

Robin red breast

Birds flock to my garden in the autumn and winter because of all the grubs and insects they find, not only that they have taken to stealing the rabbits feed as well, so I occasionally see the odd robin lurking around.

When i found this stamp set at an exhibition, I had to have it I was already having ideas on what to do with it, it calls for being layered up and coloured with reds and greens.

Woodware have been going for as long as I can remember, and I have many of the stamps that they have released and even my older ones are still perfect.

If you click on the link you will be directed to the stockists who stock woodware stamps.

Breaking from tradition I have given you the close up first as I think you would appreciate the layering on this card







Thanks for stopping by xx

Cute and simple

This was one of the first Lawn Fawn stamps I played with, and I felt like I  needed to test the water so to speak, so i figured i'd just do a one layer card and some inking round the edges.

The stamp set used is called Baa humbug and it is soo cute.

And as usual here is a close up

thanks for stopping by xx

Happy Ginger/sad ginger

Metaphorically speaking ginger bread men shouldn't be so happy due to the fact that they are going to be eaten. I on the other hand would take great pleasure in baking my gingerbread men and adding frowns instead of smiles and maybe it would save me a few calories as I would feel very guilty lol.

As for my card for you today I have created another oh snap card by Lawn Fawn using their stamps and dies to create a cutsie card, featuring both of the ginger bread men.

All of the supplies used can be purchased from Once upon a stamp

And as usual here is a close up



Thanks for stopping by see you later xx

A little bit ginger

Well its took me a while to get this posted, but I have finally got round to it after a week at Manchester event city, meeting loads of lovely crafter's who are mad fans of Tonic dies.

It was a joy to see lots of new faces and a few regular ones, it was really busy for the workshops and I hope everyone enjoyed the fab projects we had for them.

The last post featured some gorgeous Christmas stamps and dies from Lawn Fawn, and I would like to feature another set for you, which if you go along to Once upon a stamp you will find them there at really reasonable prices.

Isn't this set great I had so much fun playing with it it features two ginger bread men one happy and this sad one who has lost a leg which has been broken off :( oh dear well he shouldn't be so tasty then should he. So what I have on my card is like mass assault  on a cookie ha ha, I was so tempted to use my red pro marker and put blood splatter's everywhere but i thought that might have been a bit graphic, because as usual here is a close up

Thanks so much for stopping by xx

Baaa humbug

Get it, baaaa humbug!!! never mind my sence of humour isnt as great as the designers of these stamp sets this is another instalment of the Lawn Fawn christmas stamps available from Once upon a stamp.

They also come with dies that cut out the images, and you get lots of images to one stamp sheet

Jo Austin and I were sat up most of Friday night playing and its something we haven't done in a long, long time. It was so much fun and I think tiredness got the better of us and we ended up in fits of laughter.

But in the end we ended up with some wonderful creations and here is one of them called Baaah humbug available from Once upon a stamp and also come with matching dies, they are quirky and fun and who ever receives them will love them.
thanks for stopping by x

A quite scene

Here is a new one from me, its Lawn Fawn, Ready, set, snow, I absolutely adore these stamps, and really enjoyed creating with them. They are small and come with coordinating dies to cut out the individual images, and are currently available at Once upon a stamp

Here is another view thanks for stopping by

Supreme Sandown

I may be biased but Esher in Surrey is such a beautiful place on its own but it also boasts a beautiful racecourse called Sandown. I thoroughly enjoy visiting this place and i know its one of my Paul's firm favourites, 

I saw a lot of my favourite people, Barbara, Jan to name but a few, but there were so many new favourites that are and have been for a long time Tonic aholichs.

The workshops were very busy as usual but the theme of faeries was not new to our crafters they had already gone out and bought the dies, and thoroughly love them.

So the only thing that i could say was a problem is that we couldn't fit enough people in, ladies were saying we could have done with doubling up the spaces.

A good thing was that most of them really didn't want to leave and we found ourselves planning to meet again at the next exhibition. I love my job!!!

Thanks for stopping by x

He used to bring me roses !!!!

Well wasnt i shocked on saturday when my fiancee paul bought me some flowersband they were a mixture of Freesia and Lily,and there was a hidden Gebera in there too.

Heres the close up and heres what i have been up to hope you like

Christmas has come Early for me

Well ive decided to start early and get my cards out of the way so here is one of many from the very versatile stamp set from stampin up, called Happy thoughts, off the top of my head,  and im using the bird stamp and ive coloured it with my Flexmarkers, reds and brownslayered on to a die cut circle card blank

Well thats all for today, hoping to see you again.

thanks for stoppping by x

Organising your space

Who likes getting organised? I do, and with this neat little filing system you can store all your recipes and favorite meal plans away in this gorgeous wooden tote.

Floral recipe card holder

Hope you like it
thanks for stopping by

Day out

Here is a little view I thought I would share with you today. 

Look at this view... one of my many days out working with Aunty Jojo..... we had been to the Shepton Mallet show at Somerset and took a detour on the way home to look at this beautiful place in Bath. 

I thought you would like to see it.... I miss it already but hope to be back at some point soon!

Which of you crafters have come to visit our Tonic stand and see us working our magic... Guess where we are going to next?!

Our craft Community

It came to my attention today that I am not a lone crafter, that there are many crafters out there who do craft alone and are unaware of other crafters within they're community.

We are, or should be obliged to reach out in our own communities and introduce ourselves, and what we do, to engage people, and to give them the creative inspiration to try something new.

As a crafter, i have been in the privileged position to be able to carry stampin’ ups mission statement, To inspire people, to help them to create some thing new and to share what we know, this has led to me meeting some wonderful people, from all over the country, from Glasgow to Somerset and many other places.

I have a passion to make people happy doing what they love best, and showing them that there is a lot of crafters out there who may go home and craft alone but they go home with the realisation that crafting is a global, international and nationwide passion that we all share, so i have been doing some soul searching, and have been looking at my very first projects that i ever made. Remnants of left over craft sales that have stayed with me because i have been to embarrassed to

consider re-selling as i had moved on from them, and have improved on my skills but that is exactly why i needed to re-connect with what i initially wanted to do those years ago, and that was to share what i know, and to share the passion, and the creativity that i have to make people happy and that still stands today.

So i would like to introduce myself, my name is Sharon Cuffy and i am a crafter, just like you, and this is what i like to do, would you like to have a go.

If you do i would like to start some workshops in my local area promoting the idea of making your Christmas a handmade Christmas, and I'm here to help you create something beautiful to gift at a special time of year. Do you want to join in well you can you just have to register your interest, date and times to follow in the coming weeks. When we have enough people we can get together and craft together not alone.

Thanks for stopping by xx

Bringing you a little sunshine

 

I cant believe how much rain we have had this week its certainly stop me from looking for washing to do, i was almost ready to take my curtains down and strip the beds, beat the mattresses with my broom (well that's how i ,like to do it) and down it came.

My day started off with a jolt and i got up and heard my electric meter beeping it was about to run out, so i rushed to get dressed and run round to the shop to get to top up my card, from then on in my day started to go a bit pear shaped, then i thought to myself, you know I'm going to do what i want to do today, and stay in my craft room all day, as it was my daughter holly, stayed at her friends all day and stopped over for game night.

So that was that i got busy, i did a bit of tidying first off and cleared my desk.

 

Once i had done that here is what i created again using Tonic dies, the layering dies this time the rectangles which i absolutely love.

The cardstock is Stampin ups Melon mambo, Old olive, Crumb cake for the base and Blushing bride, the sentiment is from the Lotus blossom clear set from stampin up, along with the image which is a three step stamp set.

I really enjoyed making this card, i hope you like it too

Thanks for stopping by

Peaking to early maybe!!

I'm not sure but my crafting is so much more fun now that i don't have uni and course work and other distractions, i can craft on a night and not worry about being too tired for classes, so i think I'm on overdrive a bit because i have a new level of concentration, and all those new and lovely products i have been acquiring from the shows are now coming out to play.

First off i want to acknowledge all the new lovely people i have met through the Tonic workshops and all the lovely tips and tricks i learn from other crafters, its been such a joy, and to remind you of the Tonic workshops that are coming up at Sandown on the 3rd-5th of September,

Cant wait to see you all there, we will be on stand n06, don't quote me I'm going on memory near the food court and near the coffee shop, so even if you don't do the workshop come by and say hi so the card i want to share with you uses Tonics layering dies ovals, which i love 14 dies in a set and i  have also used flex markers to colour in my image. the image is Rapunzel by some odd girl all mounted on a 6x8 easel card.

I am entering this in to a challenge with the crafting musketeers challenge 28 use a sketch and here's the sketch

And here's my card i must say i thoroughly enjoyed a chance to colour again,

 

And as usual a close up of the detail and thanks so much for stopping by

 

Ribbon Dilemma

 

Do you agree that when you have a really nice ribbon stash you really don't want to break in to it, I'm a confessed hoarder, i have my favourites that i don't touch.

Bur this card needed it i want to use the Ribbon bow dies from Tonic studios and also the reach for the stars fairy set, and i love them its making me get really daring with my colour choices, no colouring necessary, still feel i need to colour something though. Well enjoy this from me and always reach for the stars inn whatever your doing

Thanks for stopping by

Are you in my Garden

 

This post is self explanatory, i wanted a card that i could just send you know, just because as i have a lot of friends who don't live close by and i like to send them something to let them know I'm still thinking of them so this was perfect i used Stampin up Designer papers and card stock and it cuts so well with the Tonic dies that i have and this set, If friends were flowers is so pretty, it was perfect to fit on a 6x6 card to pop in the post.

I may not get round to sending everyone in my garden a card but, if you are in my garden im sure you,ll either have had one or soon to get one.

As you can see im still working on getting my pictures looking right, but you can share that journey with me as i get better at it, thanks for stopping by

Words well said

 

I have finally finished my Degree and i have my Bachelors in Fine art and craft, the last three years have been a rollercoaster of emotions but i have learned a lot about myself and i feel i can be free in what i want to do and a weight has been lifted.

So this card i want to show you has been made for me, as i have never done that before and felt that i needed something as a reminder that i have work to do to create the life that i want.

 

This card uses tonic dies Royal shrub strip die, and also The life you imagined sentiment set which i love both, the colours i chose are very royal colours, navy, cream and gold, so i hope you like it, till i blog again see you soon.

Wednesday Blues

 

Its mid week and I'm feeling the post grad blues more now because i know

that after Friday I'm going to have to keep both me and Holly(my daughter), occupied,

not just myself as i am trying to organise my days to be full and

productive, she isn't so easily pleased and can be hard work, especially

when she is in boredom mode.

Any way i have been having a really good play with my

new tonic dies and i am even more impressed with what i can achieve.

But still even though i have had some crafty time the grades I'm waiting for through the

post still have not arrived.

So I'm going to keep you in suspense until I've taken some decent pictures of my

makes which i am having to get to know my camera again and while we have

such beautiful weather it will look great outside so talk to you later.

Hoo doo anyone

 

The theme for my work is based on voo doo or the use of it to bring about change in someone's life, in the good old days it was called hexing some one, but there is a lot of phycology linked with it and the state of mind of the person who thinks they are jinxed.

What I'm looking in to is the use of images to give a physical embodiment to what we call spirit energies or as the American Indians called totems or effigies.

Voo doo is one of the practices that was used by Africans, Caribbean's, pagans and wiccans alike it uses the power of thought giving life to peoples desires and wishes done purely for gain, such as love, money and power over a person or persons

Don't worry he doesn't bite he is just an example of what a voo doo priest would look like and these priests are usually given names such as Papa daylight or Papa Doc the name of the Haitian president of the 60’s who had power over his people and used it to gain himself power and money, and it worked for a while as well. But it is not to be tampered with because what you put out you get back three times three is the wiccan rule.

Catch up time

To say that i have been very busy is an understatement, what with dissertation hand in and getting work ready for our final exhibition it is an emotional roller coaster, if i told you i have been that stressed i made my teeth bleed would you believe me, i didn't believe it either.

well i thought i would share a pic with you as i haven't posted for a very long time, trying to keep up with course work blogging seems like such a luxury nowadays.

Meet the guys from class this isn't all of us but there's a handful of character just in these few people their work is amazing and i hope to get to share there're work with you over the coming weeks leading up to the final show and also a bit of mine but like i always say its not always about me there is always a good team behind the best shows.

Best year ever

well so far it has been, I'm overworked and getting paid, but i wouldn't have it any other way I'm still a stamp in up demo, but I am a full time degree student.

I still run my online 24 hrs stamp in up store, but I'm also a Tonic workshop demonstrator as well, I know, how do i fit it all in, well on another post i will share my secrets with you, but i am wanting to bring you all up to speed with what's going on, on my side of the blogger sphere.

I have far too many pictures to upload, so i shall try my best to add at least 2 at a time, more will follow.

Just Hitting the books

Hi there, how are you, got quite a post for you today as i have been spending some time blog hopping, BBMing folk and FB ing folk, and doing extra religious education in my spare time as i suppose i could do with some spiritual guidance before i start my degree in September. Also I hope to blog a bit more as i think it will help with my grammar, I have been told that this is very poor.

Thank goodness for spell checker eh, lol

So without further ado, I would like to share with you an 8x8 card

Digi stamp artwork is by Krista smith click on her name  to view her blog, I have coloured her in pro-markers and highlighted buttons, glasses and pearls on her glasses strap with crystal gloss papers are DCWV spring stack, with ribbon from dovercraft

and here’s another

The card base i cut away leaving a semi circle and added a scallop detail with 1inch circle punch outs then distresses this and covered with double sided cardstock, the sentiment is cut from stampin ups decorative label with a verse from MFT well read stamp set, and as always a close up or 2, I would like to enter this in to the following challenges

Papertake weekly: Anything goes

Craftyourpassionchallenges: Anything goes

Makeitmonday; linky party

Incy wincey designs: Sugar and spice and everything nice girly creations.

The Ribbon reel: Challenge 34 Retro

I think that's it from me good luck to everyone who enters we have had so much inspiration from the design teams, lets see what we can come up with

thanks for stopping by