Free stamp makes - Oriental Blossom

The Oriental Blossom stamp we featured in October seems to have been one of our most popular - appearing all over your blogs in various guises!

Check out this gorgeous work featuring the stamp emailed to me by Christine Middleton - isn't it fabulous? Christine says: "It is a decorative hanger and uses Dyan Reaveley's Blonde Moments papers, a piece of embossed wallpaper, some downloaded images from a cd, a bottle top and an old metal coathanger."

I hope you enjoy it. Please keep them coming. I've more to show you in the coming weeks.

Thanks to everyone for visiting and leaving your kind comments. I won't be around over the weekend as I'm up in Harrogate, but here's a little something to keep you going. If I get up to 40 followers by Monday, I'll randomly pick a follower to get a little bit of Christmas candy from Crafty Individuals.

Have a fun weekend!

Katy x

Where did you get that hat? (Part 3)

Sorry I've been a bad blogger this week - very busy making stuff for the magazine, which I can't show you yet. I've been playing with our Feb cover mount which has been designed by Dyan of Art from the Heart/Blonde Moments. Speaking of which, I am off to a retreat at Art from the Heart at the weekend. Am sooooooooo excited - if you've never been taught by Dyan you are missing a treat - the woman is a whirlwind of energy and sooooo funny! More news on my return.
Anyway, I did have time to make a really simple card using a photograph as a centrepiece. I’ve made this for my other half for Christmas, so I’ve used a little black for a more masculine colour-scheme.

Ingredients:
High Hopes Santa hat stamp
Fancy Pants alphabet stamps
Making Memories magnetic alphabet stamps
Hero Arts holly background stamp
White, red and silver card
Black glitter card
Silver Brilliance ink

1 Stamp a panel of white card with the holly stamp using silver ink. Heat set.
2 Cut out your photo and mat onto silver card, then black glitter card. Stamp, colour and cut out the Santa hat and add it to the photo. Add to stamped panel. Stick to a red card blank.
3 Using the masking technique, stamp the word ‘Paws’ so that the letters overlap. Stamp the word santa onto a scrap of red card. Die cut a star from black glitter card and stick the word santa on the top. Cut out the word ‘paws’ and stick below the matted photo.

That’s it! Very quick and simple.

See you soon,
Katy x

Introducing....

We have three - yes three! - talented new artists appearing in the January issue of Craft Stamper magazine. Their styles are quite different but they are all very gifted designers and I am delighted to welcome them to the CS family.

Check out their blogs to see some of their lovely work and (hopefully) whet your appetite for what's to come in the next issue :).

Sharon Neill's Blog

Lana George's Blog

Cath Wilson's Blog

See you soon,
Katy

Advent Calendar / Jan sneak peek

I've made this advent calendar with our next cover mount stamp, which will be yours if you purchase the January issue of Craft Stamper! It's a poinsettia stamp designed for us by those wonderful folks at PaperArtsy.

I don't always get time to make something for myself, but I rather liked this advent calendar idea, which I found at the Bubbly Funk website - take a look at their tutorial for the instructions.

The whole thing is made of 24 matchboxes, a couple of squares of chipboard and the free stamp which has been stamped onto patterned paper and layered (I've used it stamped in gold on the white squares as a subtle background too).

My drawers are covered with strips of paper which has been tone-on-tone stamped and then punched with my beloved Threading Water punch (believe me - you NEED this punch!!!). I've also added wee loops of metallic red thread to each drawer to enable them to be opened easily.

Not only is it pretty, it can be reused year after year and I can put any treats I like into the drawers.

I lurve this poinsettia stamp - hope you do too!

Katy x

ETA - just filled this with sweeties - mini Cadbury's chocs are a perfect fit ;).

ATC swap

My ATC swap with Kim is complete and here is the very gorgeous (very pink!) ATC she sent me. Isn't it just lovely?

See Kim's blog here. Do pop over - she does make rather nice cards.

I'll pop another Xmas ATC up for swap when the Jan issue comes out :).

Hope you're having a cool weekend.

Katy x

Have you been to Dan's place?

If you haven't seen Dan's blog 'My Crafty Life' check it out here.

He offers a freebie download each Saturday, plus very useful video tutorials showing stampy techniques.

Enjoy!
Katy x

Fed up of Christmas cards?

Me too, so here's something I made with a new Penny Black stamp I got at the NEC from Sir Stampalot called 'Portraits'. It's three sketchy flowers and it's rather lovely :).

This card is my usual simple style - I repeat stamped the image onto pale blue card and coloured the flowers with Twinkling H20s. The painted panel and greeting were both matted and layered onto yellow card and silver mirri card. And that's it!

See you soon. Have a fun weekend.

Katy x

PS - poll (on the right) is up for just three more days. Thanks to all who have taken the time to join in.