Happy Birthday to me

Hi Friends and Crafters. Well I want to say a huge Thank You to every one of you for my wonderful Birthday messages, I am really touched and a special thank you to those of you that have sent real cards to me either through Hochanda or to my UK Hub, it's been a real shock and very welcome to have some nice things to open. It really has been very special for me indeed.So a HUGE THANK YOU.... Here is a closer look at the copper tree I made with the Retro Leaves. A really nice piece that would look great on a wall. Tutorial coming soon.

Well, here goes. A lot of people will know that I used to run a Craft Club in my Village, I was kindly offered the Library, which was smashing. It's a lot busier there now and they kept cancelling at the last minute. Anyway to cut a long story short, I have to stop doing it. My aim was to buy a small house in the village and do the craft club there with no having to arrange it months ahead for the odd session.

Quite a few people have said to join one of those fund raiser sites to help raise the money, but I have to say, that I would not feel comfortable doing that. I also didn't want to do a fundraiser for my Birthday as that seems to be a popular choice to. My dream is to get the money together to get this building and get it sorted for the craft club and so I a asking, not for donations as I feel it is like begging, (thats just me). What I a asking is that if you could buy something from my Etsy Store, that way it helps me to save towards the goal and you also get something nice to craft with. I love this t shirt made with the Retro Chaos Stencil, a real winner for any bloke or lady of course.

It also means that you can leave a review to help others decide on any purchase, and you will also be entered into the Huge Giveaway, with a chance to win the full August collection, consisting of 3 Stamp Sheets, 2 Stencils and 2 beautiful dies. A wonderful prize just for leaving a review on the store. Take a look at the Natter with Nick for a few sneek peeks of whats to come. The new Dolphin Die and some wonderful Rose dies and stamps.

I really pray that this does not sound like begging, a lot of you know me well enough to know that is just not me at all. I would hate to think you thought that of me. I am just so passionate about this and really want to make it happen and leave it for the Village after I am gone. I think you in advance for any support you can offer, It would make a huge difference. Take care and Happy Crafting.xxx

Butterfly Trails

Morning, I am sure you all know by now how much I love the 3D embossing folders from Crafters Companion. They were on Hochanda on Wednesday, so if you missed the shows they will be found via Rewind, on their website. They are so detailed that I really like to keep things as simple as possible to show the amazing depth and detail. They make a very special card or project with very little added, I think they make a real statement. For this project I have used the Butterfly Trellis 3D Embossing Folder.

To help position the hole I wanted, I first embossed the design onto scrap card. The circle was cut out using a die. I then used this to position the hole in my plain card.

Once the hole had been made, I ran it through to emboss the design. Next the whole piece was painted with Antiquing Cream from Deco Art and left to dry.

I wanted to layer my design onto black and teal Centura Pearl while still allowing the base card to show through, so larger circles were cut out of both of the layering cards.

Using Pebeo Dyna paint (Iridescent Copper) I highlighted the  detail so it looked like verdigris copper. I did the same with lilies cut from Sara's Signature Collection.

I arranged and secured the pieces together, then mounted it onto a card base made from Centura Pearl Precious Golds to match. Finally adding the butterfly layered onto a verdigris base, here I use the butterflies from the 'Take Flight' Die set, allowing the precious gold to show through.

Here is the completed card. I hope you like what I have done and the step by step I have shared today. Please join me again soon. For now Take care and Happy Crafting.xx