29 November 2016

Poinsettias Demonstration at the Sarah Hurley LIVE! Event

Happy Tuesday!

A couple of weeks ago I was given the opportunity to demo at the Sarah Hurley Live! event in Loughton and I've finally got around to blogging about it!


Aren't poinsettia on trend at the moment? They're popping up everywhere. I think this time of year they raise their heads anyway, but a little more so this year. So, no points for guessing what I decided to demo - Poinsettias with a Ferrero Rocher centre! 


I used a free SVG file to to make the poinsettias and I must convey a huge thank you to Sarah's Team for their help towards my demo.

I curled the leaves with a pencil and gave an option of glitter glue and/or metallic inks for the edges because you know I love a bit of sparkle, especially on a festive make.  A Ferrero Rocher was placed in the centre but you could just as easily use a battery operated tea light if you wanted.

I showed how you could use multiple poinsettias and build them into a wreath which could be put on your door or as a table decoration as shown blow.


The event was extremely well organised from the onset with Sarah and her Team welcoming guests and available for questions throughout the day.  Breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea was welcomed by all.

The talks were both interesting and thought provoking.  I was particularly inspired by the 'Making it in the Craft Industry' discussion with a panel of experts who gave some sound advice and tips.  Sarah's talks - 'My Story' and '25 Mad, Bad and Crazy Hilarious Things That Have Happened to Me in the Business'! gave me an insight into Sarah's hectic life and her personal journey through the crafting industry.  

I very much enjoyed the networking element of the day.  I met a lot of talented crafters from all areas of the crafting industry.  As a bonus, I met one of my fellow Sarah Hurley Community Design Team members, Loti Bradley, who is pictured second from the left in the photo above.

There were some fabulous competitions and prizes offered throughout the day.  I was fortunate to win a book called 'Lean In' by Sheryl Sandberg (chief operating officer of Facebook) about empowering women to achieve their full potential.  This will be the book for January in Sarah's Book Club so look out for my review!

Needless to say, I'm already looking forward to the next Sarah Huley event!




25 November 2016

Holiday Tag And Humans - Daring Cardmakers Challenge

Happy Friday!

A beautiful sunny start to the day. I've got my 4 year old's Christmas play to go to this afternoon. When I asked him what character he would be playing, he replied "a human"!!!! Wonder if it was a choice between humans and aliens?! It seems early for a Christmas play to me but I think there are a lot of festive activities to fit in before the end of term.

On to my inspirational tag for the Daring Card Makers Challenge this week. It's the second of the 'Step Away From The Cards' challenges, the first being bags and boxes a couple of weeks ago. This time it's creating gift tags.


I used a ready made tag with an aperture I had in my stash and used the Sizzix dies I got in the sale a couple of months ago. At the time I thought I'd spent too much (as you do) but they're worth it as I've used them a lot (that's my justification in any case!).

To embellish the tag I used felt in 2 different colours for the holly which I die cut and added painted wooden berries.  A little bling on the snowflakes and twine completed it. Both the lime green and white are glitter card although you can't see from the photo as well.

I hope that you'll join in with the challenge here and see the other creations made by the Design Team.

Enjoy your weekend,
Shabneez

Products Used:
Sizzix Happy Holidays Thinlits
Sizzix Debi Potter Thinlits
Docrafts Bare Basics Tag
DCWV Glitter Stack
Everything else from my stash

18 November 2016

Let It Snow! - Christmas Song or Carol DCM Challenge

Happy Friday!

It was a sunny but chilly start to the day here in Essex. I don't mind the cold so much if the sun is out. Sunshine is magic - makes me happy :)  We even had a few flakes of snow in the afternoon.

On to the latest challenge at the Daring Cardmakers! This week's challenge is to draw inspiration from a Christmas song or carol. The song I chose is an old one by Frank Sinatra - Let it Snow. Thing is, I can't get it out of my head! It happens when I walk into a shop sometimes and I hear something playing in the background.


For my inspirational card I've used the Trimcraft Dear Santa range by Helz Cuppleditch for the background paper, doily and stamp set. I've coloured the stamped image with First Edition markers and added glitter glue to the snowflakes and ground on the image.

You can see the fabulous cards the rest of the Design Team have come up to inspire you further here!

Enjoy your weekend,
Shabneez

Products Used:
Trimcraft Dear Santa paper pad
Trimcraft Dear Santa gems
Trimcraft Dear Santa doilies
Trimcraft Dear Santa clear stamps
Trimcraft Basics Twine
Dovecraft Glitter Glue
First Edition Markers
Stix 2 Anything Tape and Glue Pen







11 November 2016

Step Away From The Cards (Bags and Boxes) - DCM Challenge

Happy Friday!

I'm still getting over the Sarah Hurley Live! event yesterday. It was packed full of information, inspiration, networking and creativity.  I was fortunate enough to demonstrate there as part of the Sarah Hurley Community.

On to this week's theme for the DCM Challenge which is 'Step Away From The Cards'.  We were asked to make/decorate gift bags or boxes.


I actually needed to decorate a box for a gift I'd bought my sister in law. I used washi tape in 2 contrasting colours to create a central border and topped with a die cut butterfly. I cut the butterfly in both plain cardstock and some foiled velum. To embellish I used a little twine and a flower. It was a quick and easy way to transform a plain box.

You can see the wonderful creations by the Team here. I hope you'll join in!

Shabneez xxx

Products Used:
Sizzix Butterfly Die Set
Dovecraft Washi Tape
Everything else from my stash




04 November 2016

November Elemental Inspiration - Daring Cardmakers Challenge

Happy November!

I'm back as Guest Designer on the Daring Cardmakers blog.  This week's challenge is an inspirational one for November that can be found here.  The elements I used were colours, textures and tree.  I love vibrant colours so this challenge inspired me to create this:


I used the inverted image from a new Sizzix die in gold and backed it with turquoise glitter, purple embossed and pink pearlised card.

I couldn't find an appropriate sentiment and it got me thinking, does a card need a sentiment? You can clearly see this is a Christmas Card so I went without and I'll be doing a lot more cards without sentiments too!

My other current love at the moment is non traditional colours for Christmas cards........

Thank you for taking the time to read my post and your comments are always appreciated.

Shabneez xxx

Products used:
DCWV Glitter card
Sizzix Christmas Tree and Snowflake Thinlits
Sizzix Embossing Folder
Docrafts Glittered Snowflakes
Everything else from my stash