Be Creative Launch Sample Previews

Welcome back to my second post for today. Justin and Gordon from Be Creative have launched some wonderful New Colours to add to the collection of Wonder Embossing Crystals. The shows are at 1 pm and 6 pm on Hochanda, The shows are going to be great so please dont miss them or the great products they are bringing today.

The new colours are amazing, the mixes are super and give you the ability to achieve so much more. Being part of their design team, I have been lucky enough to craft with them, so today I thought I would share some of the projects I have been making.

Within the collection is a Special Limited Edition 'Hochanda Pink' to help to celebrate their 1st Birthday. Also new to the range are Celebration Blue, Celebration Red and Celebration Purple. The addition of these new colours really opens up the possibilities. I am sure they have a lot more to come, so it's all very exciting.

I have really enjoyed using the new colours both on their own and in conjunction with the exsisting range. I have made quite a few samples and I will be sharing step by steps for them for anyone wanting to know more and how I went about them.

I have also been making samples with the beautiful paper pads. The quality of these is excellent, I would definitely describe them as card more than paper. I have loved the designs and colourways, I would highly recommend them.

Thank you so much for taking a look at my post today, I hope you like the items I have made and shared. I will be sharing my first step by step for the cards and projects I have been making on Saturday, I hope you will take a look.Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Angel Trumpeter

Good Morning and welcome to the first of my step by steps using the stamps and pens that Leonie launched on Hochanda. The sparkle is so beautiful, it's such a shame that the photos don't show it off to it's best, I can assure you, you will love them.

I started with an 8'' square of watercolour card, using a mask made from copier paper I stamped the leaves and poinsettia around the card to create a frame.. Then after stamping the angel, I masked everything with Pebeo drawing gum so I could create the background.

On my glass mat, I scribbled and blobbed some of the ink from the pens. I used Iris and Lavender from the ''Wrapped Up' set and the Cobalt, Arctic and Ice Drop from the 'Frosty Christmas' set. You really dont need much colour. I then spritzed with water and placed my card down, I was hoping for a cloudy sky effect.

Once it had dried I removed all of the drawing gum.

On a separate sheet of watercolour card, I did some extra poinsettias to use for decoupage.

I decided to colour my poinsettias blue instead of the regular festive red.

To colour them I used the Cobalt with a clear overlay sparkle pen. As I mentioned before, you only need to use a little to add the colour as they are so rich in pigment. Here are a couple of photos to show how much I used. As I took the photo in between the colour had started to dry, if you blend straight away there are no lines. 

When I had coloured the whole project and flowers, I cut them out, to fit where they were to be positioned. I used Collall 3D glue gel to secure in place and lift them from the card.

To finish the card, I used a stamp from Leonies last launch to add a curved sentiment. Finally I backed my project with Navy blue pearl card.

I have another exciting post to publish later today, so I hope you will come back and visit, Justin and Gordon from Bee Creative have some exciting products to launch later on Hochanda and I will be sharing some of the projects I have made.

Thank you for visiting today, I hope you have enjoyed the step by step I have shared and the finished card.Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Back To Bed

Morning, I thought it would be nice to make a monochrome Christmas Card, Could be great for a mans card. You could also add a real statement shot of colour by adding a poinsettia in the corner, which I think would look great. For this card I used just one stamp from the Christmas Collection that Bev from Bee Crafty launched on Hochanda on August 18th, if you missed the shows, please visit the Hochanda Website as they will still be available via the Catch Up facility.

To create the frame for this card, I inked up the large Christmas Tree and stamped around the edge. I didn't want this uniform so I stamped some further in than others, while still keeping the continuity. These trees really are beautiful, the detail is absolutely amazing close up.

I had deliberately kept the edge low on the left hand side to allow for the sweeping landscape, so I could get the feeling of distance once I had added the image. I used torn paper and a light blend of Black Soot Distress Ink to create the land.

I started with the full large tree, I stamped one to the right. For the second I used torn paper to mask the first, I didn't want a hard line so I didn't make the mask to cover the whole of the edge. I also masked of the land using the torn paper so I could lower the tree without it looking wrong on the hillside.

Next I added my sentiment, which I think goes incredibly well for this card. Then using scrap paper I masked off the land again and stamped another of the trees, so that only part of it became part of the design and give the perspective in such a small piece.

That was my design complete.

To finish the card, I layered it onto Black Cardstock, I did look at other colours but black was the colour that finished of the card better than the others.

Thank you for taking time to visit today, I hope you have enjoyed the step by step I have shared today and the finished card. Hope to see you again very soon. Take care and Happy Crafting.

Leonie Launch Samples Part 2

Welcome to part 2, I am showing you some more of the samples I made for Leonie's new launch on Hochanda. I really hope you got to see the show last night to see just how wonderful her new sparkle pens are and how well they colour the beautiful stamps and backgrounds. If not you can always see it on catch up, however there are other great shows today at 9 am, 12 noon, 4 pm and last chance at 7 pm.

They really look good on the show, but I can truthfully say that they are even more sparkly in real life. I have been so pleased with the results I had, using them. I have lots more ideas and cant wait to try out other ways of using them.

Please take the time to visit the other members of the design team. We all have very different styles so you can get lots of inspiration from them, I have included links to their pages for you:

Elaine - Cakecoffeecraft.blogspot.co.uk

Jane - Isleofcraftycreations.blogspot.co.uk 

Katrina - Cornishkat.blogspot.co.uk  &
Natalie - natsplat86.wix.com/splatsplog

Tomorrow I have a post of one of the cards I made with the Beautiful Bee Crafty Stamps. I hope you will visit. I will be starting my Step by Steps for Leonies Samples on Wednesday and an additional exciting post at 1 pm, so please look out for that.

Thank you so much for popping by today. I am so happy to get your messages here and on Facebook, they really are lovely to read. Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Leonie Launch Samples Part 1

Hello, I am so glad that you have come to see some of the samples I have made from the latest goodies from Leonie. She is launching her very own range of amazing Sparkle Pens and stamps on Hochanda tonight. Please dont miss the shows to see just how wonderful they are.

The colours are so rich in pigment, that you use very little to achieve stunning results every time. I have used them in so many ways from making backgrounds, colouring, stamping, I hat to use this phrase, but the possibilities really are endless.

The sparkle from these pens is superb, the photos just dont do them the justice they deserve. To see them to the fullest you really need to see the shows or better still get them home to see their full potential.

The soft nib brush, is an absolute joy to use, whether colouring a large area or for very fine detail. There are 12 colours in total over 4 sets, I am hoping that there will be a lot more to come.

Thank you for popping by to see part one of my launch samples, as always I will be sharing more tomorrow morning, hope to see you then. In the meantime please take the time to visit the other members of the design team, they also have some great samples to share with you.

Elaine - Cakecoffeecraft.blogspot.co.uk

Jane - Isleofcraftycreations.blogspot.co.uk 

Katrina - Cornishkat.blogspot.co.uk  &
Natalie - natsplat86.wix.com/splatsplog

Snow Deer

Morning, The day as arrived when Leonie will be launching something very special on Hochanda. Please don't miss the One Day Special, starting tonight at 8 pm. I will be posting my sample previews as normal from launch. For today I am sharing a card I made using the 'Nature Trail' Stamp Set from Hobby Art, brought to Hochanda by Jenny recently.

When the card was finished I wanted a white border around my design. So to start with I cut a rectangle frame from copier paper and secured it to mt card with Stick n Spray, a repositionable adhesive by Crafters Companion.

Next using the set of stamps I planned and stamped my design with Versamark Ink. I used the smaller stamps towards the back to give a feeling of distance. I stamped the largest Deer in front and masked it using Pebeo Drawing gum, when this was dry I added a smaller deer behind. Each time I stamped an image I masked it with the gum.

I coloured the landscape using shaded Lilac and Faded Jeans Distress Ink, using ripped copier paper for the land making sure these matched any lines that where on the stamps. For the sky I used Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire and Black soot, I wanted the sky very dark to make the foreground seem lighter. I then removed all of the Drawing Gum.

To add the watercolour to the images, I used a selection of Spectrum Aqua Markers and applied them with a brush and water.

I removed the copier paper and removed any excess marks from underneath.

Lastly I trimmed down the border slightly and backed the piece onto a black background.

Thank you for stopping by today, I hope you have enjoyed the step by step and the finished card. I will be posting some of my launch samples later, so I hope you will visit. Thanks again and Happy Crafting.xx

Leonie's New Launch on Hochanda

Morning, Another day without the use of my hand, so I have another opportunity to share a taste of whats to come from Leonie's New Launch on Hochanda. Please dont miss these shows, what she has in store for us on Sunday (28 August), is for absolutely everyone.

All I can say for now is they are absolutely wonderful and have been a pleasure to use. I dont want to spoil anything for you so I can only post a teaser, but I will be sharing on Launch night as usual. Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Exciting New Launch from Leonie

Morning all. I am really sorry to say that I cant do a full post today, but I thought I could treat you to a sneak peak of whats on the way. Somehow I have sprained my wrist, so I couldn't manage to make a card for today. I really hope that it will be better in the next day or so. Leonie, has a brand new launch on Hochanda this Sunday (28th) at 8 pm. Leonie will be bringing something very exciting that can be used will just about everything crafty. I have plenty of posts ready to go for this launch, so please dont miss it.

Take care and Happy Crafting.xxx

O Christmas Tree

Morning, Thank you so much for stopping by today. The collection that Leonie Launched on Hochanda on August 10th has been a pleasure to work with as always. I have so enjoyed the entwined concept that I decided to use it again with this card. The tree is so elegant and stately that it deserves to take centre stage.

To start with I cut out the Entwined Christmas Tree base from Holly Green Silk Art card. Before I entwined these later, I added some Empire Gold Gilding wax from Pebeo to the green base.

Next I took so red Silk Art card, secured a piece of Stick it adhesive sheet to it and cut it using the Entwined Christmas Tree 'Frost'. When it was cut I removed the backing and covered with 'Festive Red' Diamond Sparkles from Hunkydory. I did the same with the 'Happy' & 'Christmas' from the Entwined Cross Base.

I entwined the tree and set aside. Ten I took a 6'' square piece of Navy Silk Art card and covered it with snow, using a white Sharpie fine liner pen. Then I secured the words and the tree to the base using Cosmic Shimmer. I then backed this onto white gloss card, leaving a 1 1/4'' boarder on all sides.

Then I cut a frame from the same Navy card and placed over my design, This was cut to leave a 1/4'' border of white all around the inner card to frame the design.

Thank you so much for joining me again. I hope that you have enjoyed the step by step I have shared with you and the finished piece. I hope you will pop by again very soon, for now Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Christmas Kaleidoscope

Morning, Today I want to share a card that shows just how useful the square Inkables are, this is just one use for them but there are many, many more. I have also used a selection of the Christmas Stamps that Bev from Bee Crafty launched on Hochanda last Thursday (18 August). I think we all take some tools for granted or look at them and dont realise how else we can use them,Me Included.

This card I completely flat, so brilliant for posting. However id does appear to be be fairly layered. By using the Inkables and overstamping it gives the illusion of dimension. To start with, I took my card base and put the largest Inkable in place using temporary spray adhesive, here I used Stick n Spray from Crafters Companion.

The using Memento Bamboo Leaves, I stamped around the outer edge using the large tree stamp. I then repeated this with the other sized Inkables, rotating them slightly each time ensuring the centre one was square with my card.

In the outermost square I stamped the white space using the Holly Flourish and Memento Bamboo Leaves. In the next space I used the individual Holly Stamp and this time used Pine Needles Distress Ink.

For the next space I used only the swirl part of the Holly swirl and stamped using both the Bamboo Leaves and the Pine Needles. I then overstamped all of the edges with Black Versafine, making sure the green showed from beneath.

In the centre square I stamped my Christmas sentiment and edged using the smaller Holly Flourish with Bamboo Leaves.

I then added the holly berries, using Cosmic Shimmer PVA glue in 'Festive Berry'. I then took a Zig glue pen and highlighted all of the edges with gold foiling to add even more dimension.

To compete the card I layered it first on to red Mirror Board and then a black base card.

I hope you have enjoyed the step by step I have shared with you today and the finished card. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit and hope you will come back again very soon. Take care and Happy Crafting.xx