Monday, 31 March 2014

#congratulations

"YAY" #congratulations
Hey!

Happy Monday! It's a crazy, tired, busy one after one wonderful weekend with Clearly Besotted Stamps peeps Stephanie, Caryn (and Stephanie's husband, Dean!) promoting CBS at a show on Saturday and teaching a CBS workshop on Sunday (Check out my Facebook page or Instagram for pics of it.) Such fun, but I'm playing catch up with sleep now - especially after losing an hour (hello, BST! :D)

But tired or not, nothing stops for some sneaky peeks Top Dog Dies stylee:


Yup, this week the Top Dog Dies design team are sharing some projects created using the new Top Dog Dies release that will be available for purchase April 5th.

"YAY" 
#congratulations

As a literacy teacher, my heart skipped a beat when I spotted this speech mark die from the Top Dog Dies Camera Finishers set. I'm a sucker for punctuation.  It then skipped a little faster when I saw the hashtag die too! So combining the two, I created a card suited to congratulating someone who is a tweeter or tech savvy at least. :)

"Yay" -  Close Up
I used the Top Dog Dies Vintage Alphabet Die to create my main sentiment and some silver, scrap, sparkly, sticky, stuff to die cut from. 
tips and tricks
  • To keep the hashtag flush with the white panel, I removed the white hashtag that was created with the die and inserted one die cut from black card. To keep it secure, I simply adhered a thin strip of card behind it.
  • I went a little patterned paper crazy here! I find that if I'm struggling to use a detailed pattern, then it usually makes a nice background pattern for a card and makes a tiny dent in the huge stash of the stuff that I'm hoarding LOL!
  •  The hashtag die comes in a frame that is longer than this. I simply trimmed it down to fit my sentiment on but you can fit longer sentiments on it if you wish! 
  • Like the idea of a hashtag greeting? Keep it authentic and don't have spaces in-between stamped words: e.g #happybirthday . Simply ink up each word separately and stamp them close together. 
It's going to be a crazy week here on the blogeroo so I hope you can stay tuned. I have a couple more projects to share with the new Top Dog Dies release as well as the sneaky peeks of the new Clearly Besotted Stamps release. Crazy, busy times ahead!

*Shameless Plug Alert!*
As always, I'm so grateful and thankful for your visits! If you like visiting here, then I'd really appreciate it if you could possibly vote for me as I've been shortlisted in a competition to find the UK's best arts and crafts blog. Thank you! ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!


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New Top Dog Dies products will be added once they're available for purchase. :)

Friday, 28 March 2014

Shortlisted...?!

Hey!

Hooray for Friday! Woop woop! The weekend is about here and I'm here today with a bit of random news for you.

This little blogeroo of mine has been shortlisted in a competition to find the best arts and crafts blogs in the UK. I'm not quite sure how I become shortlisted, but after much research I don't think it's a prank LOL!


Now you probably know that I'm not good at asking for things. However, if you like what you see here then I'd really appreciate your vote! Voting is a matter of popping across to the site and entering via the widget thingy on the post.

As much as I'd appreciate your vote, there's a shortlist of some seriously inspirational blogs. Be sure to check 'em all out and maybe add a couple to your blog reading list....!

Oh, and one more thing: voting ends at 11:59pm on April 7th, 2014

I'm signing off for the weekend now. It's going to be a busy one as I meet up with CBS gals, Stephanie and Caryn, to spread the CBS word at a stamping fair and teach a class on Sunday! Can't wait!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and, if you're celebrating it, a lovely Mother's Day! :)

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Wednesday, 26 March 2014

OCC Homework: Masking and Layering

Especially for You
Hey!

Happy Wednesday! Halfway through the working week already - is it going as fast for you as it is for me? I know I should never wish time away, but I'm so looking forward to the weekend already!

Today I'm popping in with a bit more homework Online Card Class stylee. This card features a layered stamping technique along with a spot of masking and was inspired by the one and only, Laura Bassen.

tips and tricks
  • I achieved this pattern by stamping the lines at a diagonal angle first, then stamping the flowers over the top.
  • There were some gaps in-between my stamped flowers and so I filled them with this tiny heart-shaped stamp. Little stamps like this are great for filling in gaps.
  • I originally intended to only stamp the top panel and sentiment. However, the sentiment looked a little lost and from the stamped panel so I simply stamped a heart in the same pink ink to help the design flow better.

Especially for You Close Up
 
Although the Online Card Class: One Layer Cards 3 has finished, you can still sign up for full access to the videos, pdfs etc... I found a ton of inspiration over there! :)

Anyways, must dash: I'm blogging live this morning and I have to get back to marking the books as they won't mark themselves (man, it'd be amazing if they did LOL!)

I'll be back tomorrow with a new CASE Study card. I hope you can join me! :)

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Monday, 24 March 2014

A 'Hoppy' Place-Card...

This is my second post today. Please scroll down or click here to check out my Iron Craft post - thanks! :)
Easter Bunny Place Card
Hey!

I'm back again with what you could call a 'hoppy' project using Top Dog Dies goodies. :)

I've used the bunny die from the Top Dog Dies Bunny & Eggs Die Set to create a mini place-card. I love creating shaped mini cards using dies and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be making a few more of these for Easter. They're so easy and the hardest part was practising patience in waiting for the Glossy Accents to dry on this li'l rabbit's nose!

I'm sharing a tutorial on how I made this over on the Top Dog Dies blog. Check it out if you're interested. The method I use can be used on virtually any shaped die so you're not limited to bunny shapes! :)

As always, thank you so much for stopping by today!

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Products Used

Iron Crafting and a Video Interview...

Love
Hey!

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. It was a busy one here again with a lovely day out to a craft fair with my mum (purchased waaaaaaay more than I originally intended to buy - just need to find time to play with it all now!)

Today's card is part of what has been a blast with Chaitali Narla (she's the sweetest!). If you didn't know already, Chaitali is the brains behind Iron Craft: a weekly feature in which she invites a crafter over (virtually!) to craft with the same ingredients and see what they come up with.

Well Iron Craft is back for season 2 and I was beyond flattered to be asked if I would join in. For the common ingredient in our creations, we decided upon a set a designed for Clearly Besotted Stamps - Post It: Love.

tips and tricks
  • I love this notepad edge die from Clearly Besotted Stamps. When using it to add a decorative edge, I like to measure and make sure the pattern ends evenly on each end. I simply trim my panel first, then secure the die to the top with washi tape to make sure it stays put.
  • I paper-pieced the postage stamp of the design using a solid grey paper from the same pack the grey and white paper came from. Mix and Match paper from the same collection of patterned paper to help keep things coordinated. 
  • Stamp and emboss the heart first before stamping the postage stamp frame around it and cutting it out. This ensure that embossing powder doesn't stick to the postage stamp and means you can emboss on a larger piece of paper rather than a tiny piece! 
Please do pop across if you can to check out the feature in full to see what Chaitali created with this set. There's also the chance to win this stamp set for yourself thanks to Stephanie from Clearly Besotted Stamps!

One more key thing about Iron Craft: Season 2 is that Chaitali now features a video interview with each crafter. So there's a video of us having a chat about all things crafty. I'm going to be honest. I babble. A lot. I can't help it! However, it was cool to chat face to face with a fellow crafter. :)

Right, I'm off for a bit but that's not all from me today: I'll be back in a couple of hours with a Top Dog Dies post. Hope you can join me!

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Monday, 17 March 2014

A Bold Butterfly...

Happy Mother's Day
Hey!

Happy St Patrick's Day (If you're celebrating it. I like to pretend I'm Irish and my red hair is the perfect disguise *wink*) Apologies that it's been pretty quiet here on the blogeroo. Life has been busy, in a good way, and I have hardly a spare moment to create!

But tonight, and I mean literally as I arrived home from work tonight, I've squeezed in a few spare sneaky moment to create. :)

Procraftinating was the name of the game today. Life isn't about to get any less busy here and here in the UK we have Mothering Sunday approaching on March 30th so I've got a bit of a head start.

Cue the Top Dog Dies Butterfly Die Set (again!) I can't help it. I love this die. I love how intricate it is and how it can be both pretty and delicate (see here) or bold and fabulous like today.

tips and tricks
  • I used sequins to decorate the body of the butterfly, but you can use anything! Sequins, gems, pearls, buttons - whatever you have on hand can work.
  • Use elements from the same collection for the perfectly coordinated mix of patterns/colours. The alphabet letters were from the same collection as the papers.
  • Mix and match for customised sentiments. The alphabet stickers are from Echo Park and the stamped sentiment is from Clearly Besotted Stamps.  
I think the weather has inspired today's bright combo of colours with the daffodils in bloom and blue skies. It also helps when you have the fun Splendid Sunshine Collection Kit from Echo Park too. :)

Well that's enough babbling from me tonight. I've got plenty of catching up to do after spending a wonderful weekend in York. What a beautiful city it is! If you're interested in seeing any pics from it you can check out my Instagram feed.

Right, I'm off to catch up on those things and maybe just have a pint of Guinness to celebrate St Patrick's...just the one though!

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Copyright/Disclosure

I am on various design teams and receive free product to use and promote. I geniunely love the products of the companies and all opinons are honest and my own.

I'm flattered if I've inspired you and you want to CASE anything of mine, but please don't enter it for commercial publications or competitions.
Thank You!
All designs, text, and photographs on Crafting Confessions are ©2009-2016 to Amy Gray unless stated otherwise.