More new products!

Let's carry on with my dash around the halls of the NEC trade show. I just snapped whatever took my fancy, and stuff I thought you would like to see...

Craftwork Cards weren't exhibiting, but their products were displayed by a few suppliers. Isn't this layout striking?

As always, DCWV had their dramatic paper dresses on show - I am sure I saw this one at CHA in LA two years ago! It's travelled very well, no creases, perhaps I should switch to paper clothes.....

 and who would think that this peacock was made of paper.....

I have to say that this next dress was a total miss for me, it looks like something from 100 years ago, and yet it just missed on vintage - I appreciated the workmanship of its creation, but instead of thinking 'what a gorgeous vintage dress', I thought 'good grief, I wouldn't be seen dead in that.....' the fact that I was seriously musing about wearing a dress made from cardstock says a lot about how effective they look!

I'll be back tomorrow with the last of the show photos - hope you are enjoying them x

More Stitches at the NEC

Sissix always have lovely displays at craft fairs, and this one at the NEC was just gorgeous, all full of sugar almond colours, and such great ideas......

I think this next card is one of my all time favourites, I just love the embossed clouds, with multi coloured strips of paper coming from them that were curled at the edges. Gorgeous!

and a little pail filled with paper flowers and candy........

The next photos are a company called Frankly Sweet, they make cutters that make tiny shoes and bags out of icing,  and the samples looked far to good too eat, they were adorable. I could imagine a birthday cake for Kiki decorated with the cute sneakers.....

all of the above were made with these cutters...I had to drag myself away, I don't have time for another hobby....

This next booth is a UK company as well....

all the above were made with these chipboard kits - I loved the little houses and the samples they made...

Another company flying the flag for the UK, they have come up with this thin mesh that is strips of gems, so you could cut a piece and use it like a ribbon for real bling. I had visions of cutting a flower aperture and filling the back with some of this stuff, bling heaven.. 

Now I really wanted to try some of the stuff on the next booth....

I know someone else who would love this stuff, my friend Anne. I didn't get all the technical details, but from what I could see, it's some sort of stuff in a bottle (I told you I didn't get the technical details!) that moulds to any fabric, so the samples below were made from netting, burlap, denim, scraps of fabric..., left to dry, then the whole thing is brushed with more stuff, a powder and you end up with works of art like this. I am seriously tempted.... 

This next one is made from a chunk of polystyrene.......my favourite

Phew, a picture heavy post today, I'll be back tomorrow with a lot more to show you. If you have time for a bit of blog hopping, I would really like it if you could pop over to the Letraset blog to see my post today, and leave a comment if you have time x

Stitches at the NEC

I had a lovely but quick visit to the trade show at the NEC. My first stop was the Polkadoodles stand, where a rather weary Mr. Doodles was holding the fort on his own - no sign of Mrs Doodles. Still, it gave me time to look at the gorgeous samples........

I loved this canvas, made by fellow DT member Dee Paramour......

 Next I wandered over to the Fiskars stand, and there was Mrs Doodles (Nikky Hall) chatting away and watching a demo of the Fiskars fuse by my old pal Kath Stewart. Two birds with one stone! 

I played 'spot the Kath' cards on the Fiskars stand, her style is very distinctive, love it....

Next I had to get a photo of Crafty Bob (Crafts U Love) for my pals back in Florida who are great fans of that website. Is Bob a person? No idea, but I was told that the large stuffed object in the corner was Bob, so I gave him a kiss from Bev in Florida, the nice sales director thought it was very funny and is putting a photo on the Crafts U love newsletter.........

Then over to the La Pashe booth, where my Letraset team mate Jak Heath was working.....

We have never actually met face to face before - this photo shows us catching up with the gossip!

and a sneaky peek at some of the new releases which will be available in a couple of months, I loved this trio of card players on a swing card.....

the flip side shows that the guys are losing!

Loads more photos of lovely samples and products to share with you tomorrow..

A Flutterby of Butterflies

 The problem with cardmaking at this time of year is that by the time you have finished, the light has gone, so this card has a strange blue hue, in reality it is very white. I punched some butterflies from white cardstock, then punched the card into scallop circles, and added some pattern paper behind the butterflies. I used my favourite get well sentiment stamp and drew a couple of lines with a fine tip black liner pen. It called for more butterflies so I cut a little flock (what IS the collective noun for butterflies? Is it a flight of butterflies? Too lazy to check....) with a Memory Box die,  and dotted some gems around. 

Edited to say my pal Anne tells me it's a swarm or a rabble of butterflies. A rabble? Who thought of that, peaceful little butterflies fluttering about and they get called a rabble?

There hasn't been much of a chance to play with paper for the past few days, I'm afraid that Mike is still suffering greatly from nerve pain in his back, and it seems to have been a round of surgery visits, pharmacy visits and hospital visits. He went for a blood test today, the hospital is only 50 yards from our house, but of course he can't walk much at the moment. So I dropped him off at the entrance, the room where they take blood is just by the door,  and promised to be close by to pick him up. Hollow laughter, there wasn't a parking space in the place, so I drove around the block seventeen times (yes, I counted), to see him staggering out almost on his knees - the haematology lab had been moved to the other side of the hospital, quite a walk from the original place. It took a couple of cups of restorative tea before we could have a laugh about it.......

Today though, I am sneaking away for an hour or two to make a quick visit to the Stitches show at the NEC, this is the big trade fair for the UK, the equivalent of CHA or Frankfurt. Quite a few of my pals will be there, and I promise to take my camera to let you see all the latest goodies on offer

The winners are......

Finally I can announce the winners, all picked by random.org. I actually took photos of the screens with the numbers on, but with seven names to announce it was getting horrible messy on here, and I am tired and want to go to bed! (It's 
1 AM as I write this....)

So here we go......

DAY 1 - SKIN TONE PROMARKERS  WON BY SANDRA COLLIS

DAY 2 - PASTEL FLEXMARKERS WON BY DARLA HAVERSTOCK

DAY 3 - VIBRANT FLEXMARKERS WON BY DENISE BRYANT

DAY FOUR - MID TONE FLEXMARKERS WON BY T K WATSON

DAY FIVE - NEUTRAL TONES WON BY IS FROM SPAIN

DAY 6 - RICH TONES FLEXMARKERS WON BY LOOPY LOU

DAY SEVEN - ASSORTED FLEXMARKERS WON BY PAMELA ROMERO

Congratulations to you all, can you all email me with your full address please
and I will get your sets in the mail to you, enjoy....

I hope everyone has a wonderfully romantic Valentines day, showered with roses and gorgeous gifts - if that's what floats your boat. Everyone else, have a great day and relax in some comfy slippers with some chocolates and a good book. 

See you tomorrow when it's business as usual with a project or two...

Last Chance....

Last giveaway day today, not a set this time, but five flexmarkers, all brand new - they are duplicates of ones in my collection. So the winner will get:
Sunflower
Soft Green
Marsh Green
Storm Blue
Dusky Pink

Just leave your names under this post.......you know the drill.... I will leave this open until midnight UK time tonight, that's 7 P.M EST, so don't be late. I'll put the winners names here on Wednesday

No card from me today, but I am sharing something that has been keeping me very busy, my newly revamped bedroom with my much loved furniture that I couldn't bear to leave behind in the Florida house....For some reason the headboard looks a bit white in the photo, the wood is all cream

I did all the decorating, so you can see why there hasn't been a lot of time for cardmaking in the past couple of weeks! Painty fingers instead of inky fingers for a change.  I do love the way the furniture has fitted in so well, and love the colours I chose, its very restful, still some finishing bits to do but overall, it's done ....what do you think?

See you tomorrow with the winners names x

Rich Tones Flexmarkers

Todays prize is a set of six rich tone Flexmarkers. The winner will get:

Cardinal red

Moss

Surf Blue

Navy Blue

Red violet

Vermillion

leave your name under this post, all the winners will be picked on Wednesday morning and posted here on Wednesday

Carol asked a good question yesterday. She said:

Now, I have a question about the markers ... I have never tried them before (I failed miserably with the gamsal and colored pencils, so I have been hesitant to try the markers) ... anyway, would one of these 6 pack of markers be enough to play with to tell if you would really like them or not? Even if there is no "blendy" pen to help blend the colours together? Is there anough color variation in a six pack to honestly give you a nice example of how the pens can give an image a pop of color and enhance the overall look?

As you can see, I do want to try them, but don't want to invest a huge amount if it ends up being something that doesn't appeal to me. I admit being a bit skeptical and wonder if a 6-pack of neutrals (like these grays) would leave me feeling a bit flat. Is this a good investment for a first time user that wants to "try" them?

You raise some good points Carol. Firstly, with alcohol inks, you don't need a blender to blend the colours together, unlike pencils and gamsol. You blend by using similar tones of the same colour, adding darker shades for shadow and depth, then blending with a lighter shade. There are loads of you tube tutorials out there, and a few in the tutorials section at the top of this page, which will help you understand what I mean. The flexmarkers I have been giving away this week are really sets to help fill your colour range, rather than blending sets, (apart from the neutral set that was yesterday's prize). I would urge anyone hesitant, to go to the Letraset site and look at some of the sets available at rock bottom prices, some of the sets of six Flexmarkers work out at about £1 a pen - that's only $1.55, and you get free shipping if your order is over $33 or £20.(try and get together with a friend to do a combined order if you don't want to spend $33.   If you are not from the UK, click on the flag at the top right hand corner of the page to get prices in your currency. There are some great sets to get your collection started - as a quick guide, I would say go with the pastel colours to grow your skills until you are more confident about using the darker colours . You can mix and match ProMarkers and Flexmarkers - the only difference is the nib. Click on the image below to see what's available 

On to todays card, which I half made back in Florida, intending to leave it for the buyers of our house. I lost it in the rush, so gave them a general sort of best wishes card (along with a bottle of champagne) to wish them well. Of course the half finished card has appeared like magic out of one of the boxes. All I had to do was add the sentiment - someone, somewhere among our friends will be moving house at some stage!

Papers and images were printed out from the Double Sprinkles of Kraft CD by Polkadoodles - now there's another bargain for you. All the truly gorgeous CD roms, with hundreds of images and papers on each one, are on sale at the moment for £9.99 AND you get free shipping worldwide for orders over £10 

I'll be back tomorrow with the last six Flexmarkers. Don't forget, leave your name under every post offering the markers, good luck again x

Neutral tones.....

Today's giveaway is a pack of six neutral flexmarkers. With alcohol markers, it's amazing how versatile these neutrals can be - they can be used for hair, to add depth to coloured clothing, to add shadows around an image. The winner will get:

Cool Grey 1

Cool Grey 2

Cool Grey 3

Cool Grey 4

Cool Grey 5

Black

Want to colour black clothes or hair? This set will fit the bill. All you have to do is leave your name under this post, and a winner will be drawn and announced on Wednesday. If you haven't already done so, scroll down and leave your name on all the posts this week and then you will be entered in all the draws  

Here's my last Valentine, a quickie that I will send to one of the littlest boys. 

I am always glad to finish an 'event' and move on to the next thing. In the UK, it will be Mothering Sunday, which falls in March, totally different to the US Mothers Day....I wonder why that is, Fathers Day is the same in both countries. 

Thanks for all your good wishes, Mike is getting better, much more slowly than he would like, but at least there is a light at the end of this particular tunnel now

I told you that I had a marathon unpacking frenzy on Tuesday, getting rid of most of the boxes. I was left with three - they have taken me four days, and I am still wandering about helplessly looking for somewhere to put yet another pile of stuff - yes, the difficult boxes are the ones that I hurled all the last minute crafting stuff into - too good/useful to throw away, not important enough to warrant a prime position in the crafty cupboard (think of grungepaper and you will understand instantly what I mean). My problem is that I see something online that someone very clever has done amazing things with, and it instantly becomes something I cannot live without. I scour Ebay and Amazon for the best price, wait excitedly for the parcel to arrive, then mess with it for an hour or so. The result is never as good as the inspirational project I saw, so into a drawer it goes, never to be seen again (until I move from one continent to another!) Things that fall into this category are those glimmer mist spray things, perfect pearls powders, embossing paste (boy, did I regret buying that - it took a week to get it off my hands....), and my personal nemesis, the aforementioned grungepaper. Please don't tell me how wonderful the stuff it - I know the theory, I could probably get a PhD on the subject, I have watched the saintly Tim Holtz ad infinitum - nothing helps, in my hands it still looks like an old cardboard box that a puppy chewed......

Come back tomorrow to see which Flexmarker set I am giving away (I suppose I could include a pack of grunge, that would solve one problem.......)