So, how was it for you?....

Your weekend that is!... What did you think of the Olympic opening ceremony..? Was it worth staying up for? The answer, in our household and from all of our customers I spoke to over the weekend, was a resounding YES!!!... What a way to put the GREAT back into Great Britain.....

Amongst many, many highlights for me was the transition from a green and pleasant land

into the industrial revolution

into the digital age..

The lighting of the flame... Genius, unique, beautiful!!!

But it was when this lot came into the stadium that did it for me.... And the reception they received!! Who says the British are quiet and reserved!!! I didn't manage to get any crafting done over the weekend as it was Club Members Weekend and we were too busy.. But I did prep something last week for Today's post..

So, here it is... And if you fancy giving it or something similar a go, here's a step by step...

To start off with, I placed a piece of 290gsm card stock onto my Grand Calibur base plate

and then placed a piece of 160gsm card stock directly on top.

Then added my chosen cutting die,

followed by my tan mat

and then completed the "sandwich" with my Grand Calibur Embossing plate and then passed it through my Grand Calibur machine.

What you will notice is that the die cuts into the 160gsm piece of card stock but only leaves an impression in the 290gsm card. Which is what creates the finished effect.

Carry on positioning the die around the two pieces of card stock and passing it through your machine until you have created your pattern.. Remove the 160gsm card stock and take a look at what has been created on the 290gsm card stock.

I know, not much to see here,

but with the addition of some Ink!!

Notice how the detail of the die has been transferred onto the card stock, without being cut. Faux embossed I guess!

I matt and layered the image onto some complementary card stock

before glazing each of the images with Glossy Accents

which brought them to life even more....

Finishing the project off with my sentiment.. It's quite a simple technique but the possibilities are endless and really give a new lease of life to some of your dies... Go on, give it a go and see what you can come up with... Thanks for checking us out, see you soon. Andy.

Let the games begin....

Today's the day folks.. 7 Years in the planning.. The eyes of the world descend on our great Capital city tonight for the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games.. I for one will be glued to my plasma screen at 9 O'clock to watch what has been billed as an opening ceremony to match any other (except Beijing 2008!).

Good Luck Team GB.... Today's project has a very, and I do mean very, tenuous Olympic link...

Tenuous in the fact that each of the cards has been made in the colours of the Olympic rings... So we have one in Blue,

Black,

Red,

Gold/Yellow

and Green

Oh and one for luck in White, just because!....

Pretty simple Crimbo cards and perhaps work better in some colour ways that others, but I just fancied joining in with the Olympic spirit.. Love it or hate it, it's ganna be here for a while... Enjoy the ceremony tonight folks.. Thanks for checking us out, see you soon.. Andy.

Where do you get yours?

...Inspiration that is!... This was a simple little pic I took outside the shop yesterday morning!!

The bunting has been up since the Jubilee celebrations back in June and is set to stay at least until after the Olympics.. The thing is, it used to be RED, White and Blue. But I think with all of the rain we have had recently and now this wonderful warm sunshine, the Red has been washed, or bleached away!! Leaving a lovely Blue and White contrast against the clear Blue Sky... So, this is what inspired me for today's project...

And where will you get your next bit of inspo from? Thanks for checking us out and have a great day.. See you soon. Andy..

My moment of glory....

Hi Guys... My moment of Glory!!

Well, really this is as near as I am going to get to being an Olympian... And YES it is real! But, alas it was not me who was performing the leg of Olympic Tourch relay as it passed though Essex... But at least I can say I held it... See you soon.. Andy..

Sunshine on a.....

Well, "SUNNY day" actually.. Hi guy's.. That was not the original title for today's post.. But, for most of us here in the south of the UK, its ganna be "Scorchio" for the next few days.. See, I did put a little sunshine in my suitcase and brought it all the way home with me....

So, here is today's little offering.. A nice little project for any of your friends who really brighten up your day, just for being who they are!! I have several "nut, nut" friends who, if they weren’t who they were then they probably wouldn't be half as much fun!! It's been absolutely ages since I have done a little bit of colouring in.. I guess it's weird how we all go through stages of "milking" a particular crafting technique until something else comes along to attract our attention and then we move on.. I suppose that's what makes the crafting world go around and also why we all love it sooooo much.. You just can't get bored with it!!!

So, here is my first image.. Coloured in using my wonderful Copic pens and then glazed with Glossy Accents.

Once the image had dried, I trimmed it to size and then mounted it on to a piece of card stock which had been cut out using the Personal Impressions/Spellbinders Die; Reversed Scallop Rectangles (CPI-004).

This, in turn was mounted onto my prepared base card

and the project was finished off with a "rather apt" sentiment.... Right, a few bit's and bob's to finish off this morning for Club Members Weekend, which starts this Friday BTW, and then the rest of the day is all mine... It's too nice to be inside; some alfresco crafting may be... We'll see.. Enjoy your day whatever you're up to. Thanks for checking us out. See you soon. Andy.

A little bit of masking...

Hi guy's.. Just a quick and simple card today, just to help me get back into the swing of things...

I'm sure you'll understand that after a holiday of lazing around in the sun, it takes some getting used to to get back into a "normal" routine again!!

I started this project off by stamping my image using Aquamarine Archival Ink. I love this Tree stamp, but for this particular project I didn't want the base part of the tree.

So, I cut the bottom away to use as a mask.

Placing it over the bottom of my stamp

and then inking up my image again.

So that this time when I stamp it I only get the part of the stamp that I want... Now, I said it was going to be quick and simple, and if you are prepping your own Christmas cards, you'll appreciate that quick, simple and effective is the way to go for, shall we say, your everyday random Christmas cards... This will, hopefully, leave some time nearer Christmas for your extra special family and friend ones.....

So, the stamped image was mounted onto my prepared base card with the addition of some Stickles Glitter Glue

and some jimmy Gems to fill in the spaces in the corners... Love this Aquamarine colour as it gives this card such a clean crisp fresh feel.. bbbbrrrrrr...

I also gave it a go in a slightly warmer colour way.. Creating the base card in the same way as before.

But, as I didn't have any Dark Blue Gems at hand, I coloured some Clear ones with a Copic Pen to tie them into the project.

You could also do this with your Pro Marker Pens... Oh, the possibilities...!

So, there we go.. Another 2 Crimbo cards to add to the pile.... Thanks for checking us out. Have a great weekend... See you soon.. Andy..

I'm Back....

Hi gang.. Well, if you've been wondering why there have been no blog updates recently? It's because I took myself off on a little, and dare I say it, "much needed" hollywangles...

Just got back from wonderful Gran Canaria..

Whilst those of your here in the UK were suffering with the rain, I have to admit the weather in Gran Canaria just got hotter,

and hotter

and hotter

until it hit scorchio!! But, I'm back now. Batteries all fully recharged and ready to get some crafting done.. So watch this space... Oh, and the best part of coming home....

"Nuff said" mwah.. God I missed her!!! See you all soon.. Andy...