Christmas in July

I'm absolutely shattered after yesterday's marathon Christmas in July extravaganza at The Papeterie. Just want to say thankyou to everyone who popped in to see Kath, myself and The Papeterie gang... Charlotte, Rachel and Alanna
I thought I'd share some more of my samples... today I'm sharing some Xmas Sassy's from Sugar Nellie

 Image: Secret Santa from Sugar Nellie, coloured with promarkers and glamour dust
papers are Martha Stewart, MS snowflakes punched from papermania glittered vellum, adhesive pearls from stash, nestabilities


I'd like to enter her into...
Sweet Stampin' - Xmas in July
Fussy n Fancy - Xmas in July

Image: Puppy Love from Sugar Nellie, coloured with promarkers, white card from The Papeterie, embossed with cuttlebug snowflake EF, MS patterned paper, spellbinders snowflake covered in glamour dust

here's her close-up... (for the blonde hair I used Cinnamon, Tan and Buttercup)

I'd like to enter her into
The Sugar Bowl - Kiki's sketch
Crafty Catz - Xmas in July

Christmas in July in Aberdeen

Christmas has come early to Aberdeen and today Charlotte at The Papeterie has organised something very special.
If you are anywhere near Aberdeen today then it is definitely worth a wee detour, Kath Stewart will be demonstrating the new Hero Arts Xmas stamps in the morning and then teaching THE most gorgeous Xmas Configurations box class in the afternoon. I'll be demonstrating Promarkers with their ultra-fine nibs, the new Xmas Gorjuss stamps, Sugar Nellie stamps, some clever techniques with Spellbinders dies and the Grand Calibur and maybe some more new products.
Charlotte has some fantastic special offers in-store to celebrate the launch of Christmas crafting too, so there really isn't any excuse not to come.
Here are a couple of Gorjuss samples I've made...

 Image: Fox Gloves, Gorjuss stamp coloured with promarkers and plenty of glamour dust.
Papermania kraft cardstock and white cardstock from The Papeterie
Grand nestabilities and nestabilities

I'd like to enter my brown GG into...
Fabulous Friday - Circles
Simon Says Stamp - shaped cards

 Image: Snowman with Scarf, Gorjuss stamp coloured with promarkers and plenty of glamour dust
Finnish star made with Martha Stewart papers, snowflakes are MS punched from Papermania glittered vellum

I'd like to enter my snowman into 

Crafty Creations - Xmas in July

Papercraft Star - anything goes

Image: Toadstools, Gorjuss stamps... coloured with promarkers

white and red card from The Papeterie, Hero Arts envelope pattern stamped with Memento ink, Hero Arts greeting, ribbon from stash

I'd like to enter her into

I Love Promarkers - anything goes

Craft Your Passion - Xmas in July

Stampavie Demo Pt 2

I'm back with another 2 samples from my demo last Saturday, but before I show you them I just wanted to remind you all of the Xmas in July extravaganza at The Papeterie this Saturday, believe me when I say, you do not want to miss this..... the amazing Kath Stewart will be demonstrating the new Hero Arts Xmas stamps in the morning and teaching a fantastic xmas configurations box class in the afternoon - not sure if there are any spaces left or not. I'll be demonstrating the new Xmas Gorjuss Girls stamps, Sugar Nellie stamps, Promarkers with the new ultra-fine nibs and some Spellbinders Nestabilities techniques. AND Charlotte has some fantastic offers on Xmas goodies ALL DAY. If you can travel to Aberdeen, then you MUST pop in.
So here's my first card...

 Image: Marguerite taking Ruben for a walk from Stampavie (Sarah Kay) coloured with promarkers (definitely needed the ultra fine nibs for this one)
Papers are Basic Grey - Green At Heart, brown card from The Papeterie, green cord from stash.

 I'd like to enter her into...
Sweet Stampin' - fashion
Crafty Catz - no pink or blue
Stampin' for the Weekend - paws for thought

Image: Fairy Kiki from Stampavie (Mo Manning) coloured with promarkers (glamour dust on wings)

Kanban gingham cardstock, black cardstock from The Papeterie, labels 16 nestabilities, Fiskars flower punch and bracket border punch, PI sentiment and Ranger enamel accents for the flower centres

I'd like to enter her into....
Come & Get It Challenge - MYO Flowers
Corrosive Challenge - all about kids
Moving Along With The Times - cute & cuddly with a punch


Just want to thank all those who noticed yesterday was my 1 year anniversary of giving up smoking - it has been a whole year since I had a cigarette and quite honestly I amazed myself. All my friends thought I would be the last person to ever give up, but I did it and I'm so chuffed. So my next project is to lose all the weight I put on by stopping smoking lol

Stampavie Demo Pt 1

Oh where does the time go? I haven't blogged in a wee while, the last week has gone by in a bit of a blur - and the next couple of weeks are going to be the same.
So what have I been up to? well this Saturday past I was demo-ing Stampavie stamps and promarkers with ultra-fine nibs and teaching a class at The Papeterie. So I thought I'd share a couple of samples today and a couple more tomorrow. I must apologise for the glare on some of the pics, I had already bagged them up before I remembered to take pictures.
This is the first stamp I chose - and the reason is, it reminds me of Princess Pepsi...

 Image: Spring has Sprung from Stampavie (the Laurence Collection), coloured with promarkers
white card from The Papeterie, embossed with cuttlebug swiss dots and Tim Holtz Rays texture fades folders. Kraft cardstock from Papermania, MS border punch and nestabilities

thanks to the ultra-fine nibs for the promarkers, I can now colour all the fine detail on stamps like these.
I'd like to enter this one into:
Diecut Dreams Challenge - 4 Legged Animals
Hooked On Craft Challenge - Cute and Cuddly
Stamp With Fun - Friends
Fab n Funky - animal magic


I don't know about you, but the hardest cards to make, in my opinion are ones for teenage boys. Now I don't suppose they would think my sentiment is particularly clever, but I hope that they would like this card...

 Image: Paul Texting from Stampavie (Mo Manning), coloured with promarkers
Papers are all MME Lime Twist - Out of The Blue, black card from The Papeterie, letters are Kaisercraft, buttons and twine from stash

I'd like to enter my texting teen into...
Fabulous Friday Challenge - buttons
Totally Papercrafts - One for the boys
My Mums Craft Shop - For A Teen


Today is my baby's birthday, she's 5! ok I know that's no longer a baby really, but she's my youngest and will always be my baby. She's had a terrific day and got thoroughly spoiled. Nana and granda were round with my nephew Kyle and of course there was the obligatory cake.
So here's a few pics of Faith's day...

More Ultra Fine Nibs Tips

Now that I've had more time to play around with these fantastic new Ultra Fine Nibs for the Letraset Promarkers, I've come across some hints and tips that I thought I'd pass on.


Now, one question I'm asked a lot about these new tips is "do I need a nib for every pen?" well there's not a straight-forward answer to that one..... Letraset recommend that you use 1 nib for 1 pen, and if you only have a few promarkers then that's great, but for those of us who have more than just a few then that's quite a lot of  nibs we're going to have to buy. So here is my solution to save a little money and/or space out those nib purchases.... I work from dark to light when I'm colouring, and most of the time (although there are exceptions to this rule) the smaller areas that need colouring would be the areas I would be colouring with my darkest shade of whichever colour family I am using at the time.
For instance, if I was colouring brunette hair, I would be using Walnut, Cocoa, Cinnamon, Tan and Almond (Walnut is my darkest shade here). I would probably be using Walnut at the roots, behind the head and at the tips - which are most likely to be the fiddliest areas to colour. So working on this theory it would be quite cost-effective to buy nibs for (for instance) 1 dark brown, 1 dark pink, 1 dark blue, 1 dark green  etc etc or whichever colour combinations you use most.
It is possible to swap your nibs around on different pens - however you need to be aware that you'll have to scribble a little with the nib to flush the old colour from the nib and to let the new colour wick through - my advice would be to stick to the same colour family though.


So what else can these Ultra Fine Nibs do? well, for those of you who use your blender pen to introduce a bit of texture in your colouring then think of the possibilities with a fine nib - here are a few examples...

 I have roughly coloured the dragon's skin with Olive and Pear Greens (Image is Draco the dragon from Whiff of Joy)

I used the normal bullet tip of the blender pen to create texture on the upper, lighter area by simply touching the nib to the paper for a second and repeating this all over. I then clicked the Ultra Fine Nib over the bullet tip of the blender pen, waited a few seconds for the blender fluid to flow and then repeated the touching of the tip to the paper on the belly area- you can see that the dots are far smaller and finer.
You could use your blender pen with ultra fine nib to create loads of different effects - give it a try, and I'd love to see how you get on. Why not try wee lines, doodles or patterns?


The nibs are also ideal for doodling, faux-stitching, writing etc, you are now no longer restricted to using just a black fine-liner, you can have any colour you wish :)

Calling all crafters in the Central Belt & NE Scotland

I am so excited to be able to share some news with you, for all those of you in the Central Belt that have been disappointed that you're too far away to come to one of my demos, well......

I will be demonstrating promarkers and their ultra-fine nibs at Hobbycraft, Edinburgh on Saturday 6th August. It would be great to meet as many of you that can manage along on the day - I'll be there between 12 noon and 4pm.
Click here to see the store info, map and directions.

And if you're in the Aberdeen area I'll be demo-ing Stampavie stamps with promarkers and the ultra-fine nibs on Saturday 23rd July from 10.30 - 1pm with a class from 1.30pm, call 01224 807223 to book your place at The Papeterie
And I'll be demo-ing alongside the fabulous Kath Stewart at the Papeterie the following week - Saturday 30th July for their Christmas in July Extravaganza, we'd love to see you.
I'll be using the new Gorjuss Xmas stamps, Sugar Nellies, Promarkers and Spellbinders dies. Kath is demonstrating Hero Arts Xmas stamps and there will be loads of special offers on to kick start your christmas crafting :)

Ultra-Fine Nibs Winners

Well, we didn't reach 50 entries - but I'm in a good mood and it's a gloriously sunny day so I'm going to give away 3 packs of ultra fine nibs anyway.

So each of you lucky ladies will be getting a pack of 3 nibs each, all you have to do is email me your address and I'll get them off in the post to you.

1. Shell Shearer

2. Suze Bain

3. LorraineM

Please email me before Monday - any prize not claimed by noon on Monday 18th July will be redrawn


I'll be posting some candy soon to celebrate reaching 100k hits - so it'll be a big one.
Scroll down to see info on Krista's tote giveaway.

Krista's Tote-ally Gorgeous Giveaway

TGIF!!
Just want to give you all a heads up - Krista, the fabulously talented creator of the Simply Sassy stamps at Sugar Nellie, and all-round gorgeous girl is giving away 2 of her spanking new tote bags. Let me tell you, there is not a whole lot that I wouldn't do to get my hands on either of them - although I have to say that the one with Amelia on it has to be my favourite.

Fancy winning one? then pop over to Krista's blog now and get your entries in.
Have a great weekend :)

Thank You & A Give Away

This post is a sticky, please scroll down for more recent posts :)


I just wanted to do a quick post to say a big thank you to all of you who took the time to critique my first video tut. If you haven't seen it yet, it's here. You are all so kind and you've eased my mind about my clarity of speech and accent. So, I will be making some more videos for you - although you may have to bear with me a little while, Graham goes offshore tomorrow and he's my editor/producer/director and does all the whizz-kid type stuff with it. I just plonk the camera on the tripod next to me and press record lol


So what kind of things would you like me to do video tuts on? Marianne has already suggested black hair, so that'll be first on my list - I know a lot of people struggle with this. So how would you like a little incentive? Ok I'll be giving away a few packs of the brand new Ultra-Fine nibs from Letraset which click onto the bullet nib end of your promarkers. The number of packs I give away will depend on the number of suggestions I get - will update you as it goes along.

If you haven't seen these nibs in action, then click here to read my review.

 To be in the draw to win a pack of 3 Ultra Fine Nibs for your promarkers, all you have to do is leave a suggestion - what would you like me to demonstrate in a video tutorial?
Please feel free to spread the word about this giveaway, the more entries, the more packs I will give away. ** I will give 3 packs away if we reach 50 entries, and 1 pack for every 25 comments after that**
The closing date is Friday 15th July at noon GMT

Promarker Storage - version 3

Hi again, I've made a great discovery and now that I've checked it out (on your behalf of course) I can share it with you... I've been trying to find an affordable solution for storing promarkers. Now I am a very very lucky girl and have 2 complete sets of promarkers, 1 set that comes with me to demonstrations and classes and another set that stays at home for my personal use. 
Up until now the second set has been in a big cardboard box until I found a suitable desktop storage solution, but today I have found the answer!

You can buy this here. It's being sold as storage for Touché  markers, but it works for Promarkers, Trias and probably other types of markers too. And the best bit, in my opinion the price is £12 + VAT + p&p - fabulous value for money.
Now that I have it in my possession I can tell you that it's very sturdy, the outer carcass is 12mm thick mdf with removable partitions. You can of course decorate it to suit your craft space too 
- I will get round to this eventually.


So here's what it looks like with promarkers in-situ (as well as a few sneaky trias)

As you can see, it's plenty deep enough for the promarkers, and even with the ultra-fine nibs fitted, they wouldn't jut out very far.
Just hope I have time soon to decorate it :) 

My First Video Tut

At long last, I have actually got my behind in gear and had a go at a video tutorial. I've kept it short, sweet and simple just until I get the hang of it.

I have stamped "number 1 fan"from Sugar Nellie with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, onto Stampin' Up whisper white card stock and I am using the following promarkers: Burnt Orange, Coral, Sunkissed Pink, Blush, Walnut, Cocoa, Cinnamon, Tan and Almond.

Sorry about the wee bit of wobbling, think the camera must be pretty sensitive - I did have it on a tripod. And I also need to apologise for my voice - please let me know if you can understand what I'm saying, I don't think I have an accent but I've been told I really do lol

I would appreciate all comments and suggestions, don't worry, I'm not afraid of constructive criticism. So are you ready?....

featured on the Letraset Blog here