It's those penguins again........ - Tubby Craft DT Tutorial

Happy Monday!

I'm sharing a couple of the new release Tubby Craft stencils in different ways.  As it's cold and nearing Christmas I thought I'd use those adorable penguins once again.

For my first card I had a brainwave to use the brick stencil to make ice bricks for my igloo!  Isn't it cute?  In order to make my igloo I die cut an igloo shape and used the Tubby Craft inks through it with a foam pad.

This is the result I got and I also die cut a smaller nested shape and inked it in the darker blue.

After colouring in my penguin and fussy cutting him I added to my card which I had backed with some glitter card to resemble snow.

For my next card I decided to do a fun shaker using artificial snow flakes.  To begin, I inked the stencil with blue to create a cloud background.

I then added the snow directly on to the background.

Finally I die cut a frame and added acetate to it and double sided foam tape them placed it over the snow and the background to create my shaker.

I added a sentiment and one of the coloured and fussy cut penguins to finish.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and that you'll have a go at making some fun winter cards.

See you again soon!

Shabneez

Supplies Used:

Tubby Penguin Love Stamp Set

Tubby Craft Stencil 

Tubby Craft Stencil 

Tubby Craft Dye Ink – Jet Black

Tubby Craft Dye Ink - Sapphire Blue

Tubby Craft Dye Ink - Aqua Blue

Dovecraft Artificial Snow

Time for Tea Scalloped Frame Die

Darice Glitter Card

Everything else from my stash

O Christmas Tree - Daring Cardmakers DT

Happy Friday!

Just a quick post from me today (I can hear you all sighing with relief !!!!) to share the Daring Cardmakers latest challege.  It's a Christmas Tree themed one and you don't have to make a card either.

I had this idea in my head about trying to make a Christmas tree shape card yet I didn't want it to be entirely triangular so I made this!  In keeping with the theme I have added 3 wooden Christmas trees and embellished them with gems.

It's definitely a favourite of mine this season and it went down well at the Trimcraft demos too.

If you'd like to join in, here is a little more info and you can see lots more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team HERE.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and see you again soon!

Shabneez

Products Used:

Dovecraft Wooden Trees

Dovecraft Christmas Tales Paper Pad

Dovecraft Christmas Tales Decoupage Pad

Simply Creative Gems

Dovecraft Christmas Washi Tape

Dovecraft Wooden Alphabet Letters

Dovecraft Twine

Everything else from my stash

December Elemental Challenge - Daring Cardmakers DT

Happy December!

It's been a very productive week even though I've had a man down during the latter part of the week.  My little one has actually been very good whilst at home so I know he must be ill - bless him! 

As it's the first Friday of the month the Daring Cardmakers have an elemental challenge and I  am showcasing a Christmas commission that I based on the elements from the challenge.

It's only when I began making my Christmas cards this year that I realised I had so few Christmas dies.  So I treated myself to a few over the lead up to Black Friday.  I really enjoyed mixing them up with printed images and papers.

I've never owned a poinsettia die and I really liked how I got a couple of sizes in the set I bought.  Also, the detail on the leaves really stand out even after cutting out of glitter card.  Can you tell I'm pleased with my purchases?!

This is the mood board from which you have to choose at least 3 elements.  I chose the deer, foliage, snowflakes and colours.  You can see what my fellow DT members have made HERE and I do hope you'll join in.

It's my birthday weekend and I don't know what's in store, but I know I will enjoy spending it with loved ones.

Have a great weekend,

Shabneez

Products Used:

Sizzix Poinsettia Flowers 

Sizzix Winter Foliage

Crafters Companion Merry Christmas Die

Hunkydory Moonstone Relative Dies

Everything else from my stash

Shining Lights - Daring Cardmakers DT

Happy Friday!

How are you?  Have you bought anything in the Black Friday sales? I've picked up a few bits - mainly for the boys, although I did succumb to buying a couple of crafty bits.

This week's Daring Cardmakers Challenge is all about shining lights and it immediately made me think of a candle, so I got out the only candle stamp I own with which got it's first airing on my blog this time last year!

I stamped the image on watercolour card and used my Zig Clean Color Pens to colour in the image using some sparkle.   I then decided to add some sprigs of die cut holly and my Nuvo drops for the berries.

I added a frame around my aperture in gold and die cut a sentiment in the same cardstock to finish.  It took me a long time to design this one but I'm really pleased with the way it's turned out.  You can see the glow from the flame in this close up a little better - it was hard to capture.

You can see lots more inspration on the blog HERE and I hope you'll join in as it doesn't have to be a card - anything crafty with lights!

I've got another blog post tomorrow so I better go and finish that one off!

Happy Shopping - ha!!!

Shabneez

Products Used:

CrafTangles Holly Jolly Christmas Stamp Set

Sizzix Winter Leaves Die Set

Nuvo Crystal Drops - Red Berries

Crafters Companion Christmas Sentiment Die Set

Zig Clean Color Pens

Everything else from my stash

Natural, Gold & White - Daring Cardmakers DT

Happy Friday!

It's been a strange old week, I started off really productive then things started getting in the way so I wasn't able to achieve as much as I wanted to.  I had a horrible start to the day today though - a van veered my car on to the other side of the road.  This was on a main road but thankfully it was clear in the other direction.  It was so scary and I was shaking afterwards.  I've decided I'm buying a dash cam as driving is becoming increasingly hazardous.

Anyway, there's a lovey Christmas theme challenge just begun on the Daring Cardmakers - Natural, Gold and White.  I must admit initially I found it hard as I just had sooooo many ideas going on but settled on this one!

Earlier on in the week I was lucky enough to win a Papermill Direct prize draw and so I used the kraft card from that on my design.  I also used a newly purchased Stitched Sentiment & Scallped Frame Die from Time for Tea Designs which you can find HERE and it fits perfectly on a 6" x 4" card blank.  So many of the scallped frames are the American A2 size.  I also have a 10% off code so if you want to order the die set then you can use code T4TSHABNEEZ10.

The Merry Christmas sentiment die is a freebie Crafter's Companion one and the snowflakes are from the Trimcraft Simply Creative Range.  To finish, I added some Tonic Nuvo drops to add a little texture.  I hope you'll join in with the challenge and you can see more inspiration HERE.

I'm very much looking forward to this weekend as my current cycle of demos are over and tomorrow we are going to celebrate our neighbours' Ruby Wedding Anniversary with them.  The husband has organised a surprise for his wife and has ended up hiring an entire restaurant!

Have a wonderful weekend whatever you do and see you again soon,

Shabneez

Products Used:

Papermill Direct Kraft Card

Time for Tea Sentimen & Scalloped Frame Die Set

Darice Glitter Prints Paper

Simply Creative Snowflakes

Crafters Companion Sentiment Die

Tonic Nuvo Drops 

Everything else from my stash

Christmas Songs & Carols - Daring Cardmakers DT

Happy Friday!

The Daring Cardmakers have a 'Christmas Songs & Carols' themed challenge starting today and I just had to use Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on my creation.  The song brings back a lot of memories as I recall my brother being about 5 years old and singing it at the top of his voice everyday as it was part of a school assembly.

My Rudolph has a bell for a nose and it has had many compliments from the lovely people that have come to my recent Trimcraft demos.  Rudolph is a Simply Creative die, a Trimcraft range which is at the cheap end of the market.  I've added silver glitter glue to the eyes.

I hope that you'll join in with this fun challenge and you can find the link and more information HERE.

I am very much looking forward to this weekend as we are getting together with family on Saturday and I have my final demo of the season for Trimcraft on Sunday at The Range in Enfield.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Shabneez

Products Used:

Simply Creative Reindeer Die

Simply Creative Sentiment Merry Christmas Die

Paper Addicts Magical Stories Paper Pad

Dovecraft A4 Glitter Card

Dovecraft Coloured Card

Dovecraft Basics Bells

Dovecraft Basics Pom Poms

Simply Creative Gems

Everything else from my stash

Penguins! - Tubby Craft DT Tutorial

Happy Wednesday!

Midweek already and I've happily blitzed the cleaning ready to get some crafting done.  My kind of day!

I'm sharing a quick tutorial on creating Christmas cards using the Penguin Love stamp set together with a couple of the latest Tubby Craft stencils.   These would be good to make in batches so you could make your backgrounds in one go and stamp, colour and cut out your penguins another time.   

To begin, I stamped both my images on watercolour paper and then used the Tubby Craft inks with a water brush to colour them in.  I fussy cut them out ready to use on my cards.

For my first card I decided to give some texture to the inked background and I did this by using a foam pad through the stencil.  I dabbed it as I didn't want a smooth look.  I wanted an icy cold look.

I used 3 shades of blue and then stamped some snowflakes on top.  My stencilled background was then matted onto a plain white card blank and I added one of the fussy cut images together with my stamped sentiment.

For my second card I used 3 bright colours through the stencil but I masked off part of it as I wanted a clear area for my penguin.

Within the clear area I stamped a couple of very cute hearts from the same set.  I die cut a strip and stamped the sentiment to finish.

I have some images ready coloured so I will definitely make a few more backgrounds to go with them which'll mean I can assemble them all in one go!

See you on Friday!

Shabneez

Products Used:

Tubby Craft Penguin Love Stamp Set

Tubby Craft Stencils 02 and 04

Tubby Craft Dye Inks in Raspberry, Aqua Blue, Jet Black, Sapphire Blue, Imperial Red, Pink, Mustard Yellow, Chinese Blue and Lead Grey

Everything else from my stash

Baubles & Bows - Daring Cardmakers DT

Happy Friday!

You'll be pleased to know I've had a much better week and getting back on track again.  This also means I've been able to get crafting again which makes me happy.  The icing on the cake this week was receiving a Flourpot (a cake in the form of a very realistic potted plant) from my husband which was a lovely gesture and cheered me up no end.  After all, who doesn't like cake?!

The Daring Cardmakers would like to see Baubles & Bows on your creations today.  I really enjoyed this challenge and you can see a lot more inspiration from the Design Team HERE.

My card is one I created at one of my recent Trimcraft Christmas demos and is a gatefold card using the Dovecraft Christmas Tales collection.  I have used decoupage elements for the centre which has a bow on the wreath to which I have added a gem.  The baubles are all fussy cut from the papers and stuck on.  I have added a strip of washi tape to the bottom of my card to finish.

More information on the Challenge here:

Speaking of my Trimcraft Christmas demos, I now have two left.  This Sunday I am at The Range in Harlow and next week I will be in Enfield.

I hope you have a good weekend, whatever you do!

See you next week,
Shabneez

Products Used:
Dovecraft Christmas Tales Paper Pad
Dovecraft Christmas Tales Decoupage Pad
Simply Creative Gems
Dovecraft Washi Tape
Everything else from my stash

November Elemental Challenge - Daring Cardmakers DT

Happy November!

It's been a really tough week emotionally.  You know the saying 'it doesn't rain put pour'? Well sadly that's how it's been but I have faith that things can only get better.

Anyhow, enough with the doom and gloom, the November elemental challenge has begun over on the Daring Cardmakers and it's enough to put a smile on anyone's face!

For my card, I've used a Couture Creations die set to create a wintery scene together with the Darice Glitter Prints, and to finish a Craftwork Cards sentiment.  I must admit gap cards are a favourite of mine as you can do so much with them!

This is the image from which you need to pick any 3 or more elements.  I've chosen the word 'SNOW', the colours and the scene.  What will you use?  I'd love to see and you can join in HERE.

I will be demonstrating Christmas crafts using the new Trimcraft collections at The Range in Romford this Sunday and I'll be in Harlow next week.  Hope you can join me!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Shabneez

Products Used:

Couture Creations Dies

Craftwork Cards Sentiment

Darice Glitter Prints

Dovecraft Magic & Sparkle Paper Pad

Everything else from my stash

Stencil Shading - Tubby Craft DT

Happy Monday!

We have another week of half term (lucky us) and we're off to see my parents which makes us all very happy!

In my latest Tubby Craft DT box I received a variety of stencils and I picked one to showcase today using my distress inks.

For my first card I used distress inks diagonally across the stencil and blended the colours.  Then I heat embossed the sentiment and made a banner before sticking it across the side of the card.

For my second card I started off with the lightest ink colour and covered the who of the stencil then I added colours on specific parts of the stencil.  I went over parts of the image with irridescent glitter glue and added die cut borders to either side to finish.

I hope you have a great week and hope to see you again later in the week.

Shabneez 

Products Used:

Tubby Craft Stencil TS01

Tubby Craft Bright Days Stamp Set

Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Dovecraft Glitter Glue

Sizzix Border Die

Ranger White Embossing Powder

Versamark Ink Pad

Make It Spooky! - Daring Cardmakers DT

Happy Friday!

Half term is in full swing and we are having a lot of fun.  We have a couple of things booked for this afternoon but I am in the office for a couple of hours this morning before we head out.

It's my turn to host the Daring Cardmakers challenge and being as it's nearing Halloween I have gone with a spooky theme or if you have nothing Halloween related in your stash then how about using Halloween colours?

My distress inks came out again as I can't stop playing with them and once I created a spooky background I used a stencil to add a few stars.  The rest of my card is all die cuts and I arranged them to make a scene.

I thought the bats were rather cute and to add a little fun I didn't stick their wings down to make them look as thought they were flying.  You can see more inspiration from the Design Team HERE and I hope you'll join in.

If you happen to be in Watford this weekend I will be demonstrating at The Range there this Sunday from 11am and I'll be in Romford next Sunday.  

Have a wonderful weekend,

Shabneez

Products Used:

Sizzix Halloween Die Set

Sweet Dixie Halloween Word Die Set

Tim Holtz Distress Inks

CrafTangles Stars Stencil 

Everything else from my stash

Back To Black - Daring Cardmakers DT

Happy Friday!

I've had a good week and am all set for half term - I can't wait as we've some fun stuff planned.  Just hope it stays dry.......

The Daring Cardmakers are hosting a very interesting challenge this week.  Svenja has asked us to use black as a main colour or as a distinctive element on our creations.

This was a tough one for me and I had to have a big think.  Then I got the idea in my head that I wanted to go for a silhouette coupled with the use of distress inks.  I don't hink I will ever tire of playing with distress ink combinations and the magic that happens when you add water.  I went on to heat emboss the stamped image to give a beautiful glossy effect.

After die cutting an aperture to frame my creation, I used an embossing folder to add texture.  I think it works well, don't you?  You can see a lot more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team HERE and I hope you'll join in!

My Trimcraft Christmas demos are continuing and I am going to be at The Range in St Albans this Sunday so please come and say hello if you're around.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Shabneez

Products Used:
Tim Holtz Distress Inks
Stampin Up Embossing Folder
Ranger Black Embossing Powder
Versamark Ink Pad
Sweet Dixie Fairy Mushrooms Stamp Set
Everything else from my stash

Layered Floral Cards - Tubby Craft DT

Happy Weekend!

As promised I'm back with a couple of cards made using the Tubby Craft Camelia Layered Flower stamp set.  With the weather getting a little miserable I thought I'd make a bright and colourful set of cards using the vibrant Tubby Craft inks to cheer myself up!

For my first card I've gone with a clean and simple look using Tubby Craft inks to stamp, concentrating on the bottom right hand corner of the card.

I finished off the card by matting onto a yellow background and adding a heat embossed sentiment from the same stamp set.

My next card happened a little by accident.  I was testing out colour combinations with sets of inks while layering and I decided I to use them all on a card.  I fussy cut the small flowers out and arranged them on a half cut wreath die.

I spattered gold shimmer spray on the patterned paper to form my background and stuck on the wreath and flowers.  To finish, I added a glitter die cut happy birthday sentiment.

Have a great weekend!

Shabneez

Supplies Used:

Tubby Craft Camelia Layered Flower Stamp Set

Tubby Craft Dye Ink - Imperial Red

Tubby Craft Dye Ink - Lemon Yellow

Tubby Craft Dye Ink - Chocolate Brown

Tubby Craft Dye Ink - Tangy Orange

Tubby Craft Dye Ink - Lawn Green

Tubby Craft Dye Ink - Mustard Yellow

Tubby Craft Dye Ink - Olive Green

Heidi Swapp Color Shine

Dovecraft Happy Birthday Die

Sizzix Pretty Wreath Die

Everything else from my stash

Use Up Your Scraps - Daring Cardmakers DT

Happy Friday!

How has your week been?  I've had a challenging week, basically there aren't enough hours in a day and I'm learning I have to let go and do what I can.  So long as my deadlines are met of course!  I have a man down today - always sad when they're not bouncing around but hopefully he'll be better after some rest over the weekend.

The Daring Cardmakers are encouraging us to use up scraps this week with their latest challenge.  I always end up with lots of scraps when I craft and this happens more at my demos so I'm showing you one way I use them up!

Scraps are perfect for making impossible cards as you need smaller pieces that you wouldn't normally use on other cards and they don't have to be the same design either.

I have used the Paper Addicts Magical Stories paper pad for my impossible card and added some Dovecraft Washi Tape, a mini glitter envelope and a Merry Chrismas die.  I've kept it simple so the papers are highlighted on the card.

Speaking of Trimcraft Christmas Demos, I am at The Range in Stevenage this Sunday and St Albans next week.  The impossible card in various sizes has been going down very well so far with both new and advanced crafters alike.

You can find a lot of examples using scraps by my fellow DT members HERE and I hope you'll join in with this challenge and use up your scraps!

See you again tomorrow!

Shabneez

Products Used:

Paper Addicts Magical Stories Paper Pad

Simply Creative Merry Christmas Die

Dovecraft Christmas Washi Tape Pack

Dovecraft Glitter Envelopes

Everything else from my stash

Autumn! - DCM October Elemental Challenge

Happy October!

I do love this time of year, the changing colours on the trees and it all just feels so much cosier even though it's getting colder outside of course!  This leads me on to the latest Daring Cardmakers challenge which has a very autumnal feel to it.

I think I've managed autumn on a card here - ha!   I inked the background papers, die cut a wreath and leaves on which I blended distress inks.  I added a spray of water on the leaves to get the desired effect.

To finish, I added twine and nuvo drops together with a sentiment.  

In order to join in with this challenge all you have to do is to pick at least 3 elements from the photo above.  I chose the colours, leaves and wood for my creation. 

Have a great weekend and if you are anywhere near Aylesbury I will be at The Range there from 11am on Sunday with another Trimcraft Christmas Demo.

Shabneez

Products Used:

Sizzix Pretty Wreath Die

Dovecraft Leaf Die

Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Aged Mahogany, Tumbled Glass, Wild Homey and Brushed Corduroy

Tonic Nuvo Crystal Drops in Pale Gold

First Edition Sweet Nothings Paper Pad

Everything else from my stash

Spotlight on Florals Tutorial - Tubby Craft DT

Happy Monday!

I'm back!  How was your weekend? I was busy demonstrating the new Trimcraft Christmas products yesterday which was very enjoyable and in fact I have another couple of months of demos coming up.

I'm up on the Tubby Craft blog with a tutorial on the spotlight technique today.  This technique is used to emphasise particular areas of a card and I've shown two different ways this can be done using the Wishes with Magnolia stamp set.

To begin, I took the stamp set and positioned the stamps individually before stamping with my stamp platform.  I then used a couple of circular dies and die cut areas from the image I created.

I am drawn to colour pencils at the moment so I used my Chameleon pencils to colour in the images within the circles.

For my second card, I decided to stamp using a different composition of the stamps and use only one die.  This time I wanted the focus to be on the flowers around the spotlight so I coloured in the images around the die cut circle.

I've a jammed packed week ahead so I must get on and I hope you have a good week!

See you again soon!

Shabneez 

Products Used:

Tubby Craft Wishes with Magnolia Stamp Set

Tubby Craft Dye Ink – Jet Black

Nesting Dies - Circle and Tag

Chameleon Pencils

Everything else from my stash

World Tourism Day - Daring Cardmakers Challenge

Happy Friday!

Oh what a week it's been!  I have a mountain of work and my holiday is definitely a distant memory - ha!

It's my turn to set the challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers today and I have chosen a theme based on World Tourism Day.  I didn't even know it existed but Google is pretty good isn't it?!  It's role is to raise awareness of international tourism.  So I thought what better way of aiding tourism than by showing off creations which make us think of other countries.

Bet you can't guess my country?!! Ha!  I actually had a commission to do which tied in well to the challenge so a bit of a win, win.

I do hope you'll join in with the challenge especially after seeing  all the wonderful creations by my fellow team mates HERE.

My Trimcraft Christmas demos start this week and here's a list of where I'll be for the next couple of months:
29 September - The Range Hemel Hempstead
6 October - The Range Aylesbury
13 October - The Range Stevenage
20 October - The Range St Albans
27 October - The Range Watford
3 November - The Range Romford
10 November - The Range Harlow
17 November - The Range Enfield

I do hope you can join me!
Shabneez

Products Used:
Hunkydory Pad
First Edition Numbers
Everything else from my stash

Got Your Number - Daring Cardmakers DT

Happy Friday!

I think all the running around has caught up with me as I'm under the weather with a cold.  Hopefully a rest on Sunday will help get me back on track again though.

Ruth has set the challenge on the Daring Cardmakers this week and she wants to see numbers on your cards as both her children celebrate birthdays this month.

I decided to go for a masculine card this time and used paper piecing with a die to create this:

In fact it's all dies on this other than the cardstock.  A fun card to make!

You can see lots more inspiration from my fellow DT members HERE and I hope you'll join in with this fun challenge.

Have a great weekend!
Shabneez

Products Used:
First Edition Number Dies
Tonic Sneaker Die
Tim Holtz Sentiment Die
Simply Creative Paper Pad
Everything else from my stash