Wednesday 30 July 2014

You Make Me Happy

Hi again.
Another of my recent purchases was this cute set of Hello Sunshine die cut shapes by Pink Paislee. Yum. Lots to play with here.  For my card today, I layered up some of the shapes onto one of the cool acetate tags, added a bit of stitching and some Lawn Fawn twine, then adhered it to some Lawn Fawn striped paper. Quickest card ever. :)
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The 'Smile' tab is also from the Pink Paislee set. So cute.
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Just a quick post today - I hope your skies are blue and not grey! 
Bye for now.
x
Supplies

Monday 28 July 2014

Hello - I Love You

I finally got a chance to play with some new goodies today, and boy did I have fun. I wanted this panda stamp set from Mama Elephant the moment I saw it, and it did not disappoint. I adore it.
For my card, I paired the cute panda with awesome Dymo style stickers from Cosmo Cricket and patterned paper from Lawn Fawn's Let's Polka pad. Both these products have also been on my wish list for ages… I am so happy to finally have them. :)
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I gave my little panda a sparkly heart to hold and stitched him a little bit of ground to stand on. You know I can't resist a bit of sewing. :)
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I think this stamp set might be one of my favourite sets EVER. Can't wait to try out some more of them.
Bye for now.
Supplies

Saturday 26 July 2014

Lucy Recommends - Post 3

OK - so I got back from vacation to find that someone (Hi Hannah!) had left a comment on one of my recent posts asking about some glitter cardstock. So, I thought it made sense (and would be fun) to do a quick review. 
First, let me state here that I love glitter. I don't care if I get glitter all over the house… I regularly find it in my girls' hair, in the bath, in the car… and that's how I roll. :)
However, I know that lots of fellow cardmakers do not like it. So for all of you - I hope this helps.

I chose three glitter card stocks that I own to compare - Doodlebug Sugar Coated Card, my nearest craft store's own brand, and DCWV Glitter Cardstock Stacks. These opinions are all my own - and they are honest.
First up, the Doodlebug card. I love this card - it's super heavyweight, comes in lots of yummy colours that coordinate with all the Doodlebug embellies, and it works brilliantly in the Silhouette and Cuttlebug. But it does shed. Quite a bit.
I did a little test for you - I ran my finger quite firmly over the card and this was the result:
(Please ignore my wonky cut fingernail!!!!! I am no Kristina Werner when it comes to nail care...)
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Not much - but definitely enough if you don't love glitter...
When I use this card I do find that there are bits of glitter everywhere… and there's lots of residue in the box in which I store it. For me, this is not a problem. But if you don't like glitter so much then this is not the product for you.

My next experiment was with the own brand card. I got mine from a British craft store called Hobbycraft. It's the biggest craft store chain in the UK. I bought their own brand metallic coloured glitter card. And I'm sad to say that it's not very good… the plus side - it was very inexpensive, but there is a reason for this. It is SUPER flaky. Glitter everywhere… and it is not very smooth either. The online description does warn that some glitter may be loose (nice to see an honest product description!) - and my finger test proves it:
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I am sad to say I will not be buying this one again, and certainly not using it in my machinery…

Finally, DCWV. Now in my opinion this is the bees knees of glitter cardstock. Just look:
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Literally no flakes. And I tried the test three times.
The DCWV card comes in lots of different shades - I have the gorgeous neutrals (the silver in this is simply delicious), the beautiful Jewels, and the fun Brights.
    
The Brights collection is currently my favourite so I thought I'd share a closer peek…
You get 6 colours of card in the pad, and 3 pieces of each colour. Here they are in a bit more detail from different angles:
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Really, truly delicious. Without the mess. :)
So, I got busy and made a little card set to show you how gorgeous the Brights pad really is.
I used Paper Smooches Rainbow Wise die and stamps from Simon Says Stamp's From Us stamp set.
Here are some instructions:
First, die cut the rainbow from all 6 colours of glitter card in the pad. 
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Tip: die cut the rainbows from the top part of the card where the hole is. This will save your precious card from getting used up too quickly. :)
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Separate out the rainbows into their pieces.
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Die cut the rainbow again from three pieces of white card and discard the white rainbow shapes. Stamp the sentiments. TIP: I found it useful to draw faint pencil lines under my rainbows to help stamp my sentiments straight.
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Adhere the die cut white card to a notecard.
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Make sure there is plenty of adhesive behind the die cut rainbow.DSC_0498
Finally, slot the rainbow pieces into place. 
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And voila - 3 cards for the price of 1. And you could actually make 6 and avoid any waste!
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OK - so there you have it. Some reviews and recommendations for you, AND a card set!
Phew. That's a lot for a very hot Saturday. We're melting in England at the moment!  (This country is not built for heatwaves…) :)
OK - have a fab weekend!
Bye for now.
Supplies

Friday 18 July 2014

You're so Cool

Hello. 
Today I have one more card to share with you that I created with Simon Says Stamp's awesome August Card Kit. This is a bright one!!
For this card, I made life complicated for myself… rather than colouring my lollies, I actually stamped them on one of the cool sheets of Bo Bunny rainbow paper in the kit and cut each colour out separately… (I am not sure why… I think I have a fussy cutting addiction…maybe I need help).
The background was also stamped - tone on tone with Sunshine Ink on the Sunshine cardstock included in the kit. I added some DCWV glitter paper to my card base for some sparkle. :)
You're so Cool
And my lollies are super shiny thanks to generous amounts of Glossy Accents. Oh how I love GA.
You're so Cool
Another awesome kit from SSS - I really recommend these kits, they are such good value for money!
Right - I am off. 
Back in a week - it's vacation time.
Byeeeee.
Supplies

Thursday 17 July 2014

Happy Happy Birthday

Hello, and happy Thursday. It's NEARLY the weekend - YAY!!!
I have another card to share today created with Simon Says Stamp's August Card Kit. I love the Ice Cream Dream stamp set and wanted to try and get more from the stamps, so decided to turn the ice cream cone into a fun birthday banner. Did it work do you think??
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I added a stamp from last month's Card Kit stamp set too for a bit of extra happy. :) And more of those awesome Frames dies. And more of my Winsor and Newton Watercolours too. Oh, and this kit contains a piece of Tim Holtz watercolor card… and I am SO glad it did. Hands down it is the best water-colour paper I have used. And I've ordered lots more!
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OK - one more card to share tomorrow, then it's a blog-cation again as I am going on a REAL vacation!! Yay!
Bye for now.
Supplies