💖HOW TO MAKE A QUICK SCRAPS💖VALENTINES DAY CARD💖PLUS 20% DISCOUNT FOR CRAFTSTASH USING DROP OF SUNSHINE CODE BELOW

Hello Crafty Friends

Here is a project that is right on time for you to make a card for that special person in your life.

In todays video I’m making a really easy card suitable for Valentines Day or any special occasion, using the coloured scraps of card that most of us save, saying we’ll use them for something! Instead of using my plain card scraps, I picked out all my sparkly, glitter, shimmer, mirri card in red, black and pink and came up with a very simple design that would suit anyone. You can always change the pink hearts for another red or black if you prefer.

It is a really straight forward card with step by step audio instructions including some tips and tricks. I hope this gives you some inspiration for your card making, let me know what you think. Thank you for popping over to my blog, don’t forget to subscribe if you’d like to see more of my tutorials.

Will you have a go?

Until next time 👋

SuziChoclat xx

🔴 CRAFTSTASH DISCOUNT CODE & LINK FROM DROP OF SUNSHINE ☀️

CRAFTSTASH has offered Marta (Drop of Sunshine) her very first discount code for 20% OFF on their exclusive brands’ products, this includes: TEXTURES, CARD MAKING MAGIC, SIMPLY MADE CRAFTS, APPLE BLOSSOM, DAISY MAE DESIGNS, PAPER DISCOVERY, PRETTY QUICK AND CREATIVE CRAFT PRODUCTS!!!!

USE CODE “DROP20” AND CLICK ON THE LINK:

UK: https://tidd.ly/3AyHYvz

US: https://tidd.ly/3H5Tgdc

( not including CraftStash, PSOC or Made To Surprise; Offer Ends 31 January 2022)

LIST OF SUPPLIES I USED

A4 250gsm white card to make card base 6″ x 6″ OR a ready made white card base

6″ x 6″ square piece of white card 6″ x 6″ square

APPLE BLOSSOM embossing folder EFOB0060 Lattice Hearts – All occasion collection

DEW DROP – Versamagic multi surface chalk ink in Red Magic colour

COLLALL All Purpose Glue Red, Pink and Black scraps of Chunky Glitter, Mirriand plain card stock

COLLALL Strass glue

CREATIVE Stitched Nestables Hearts die set – two centre dies

SIMPLY MADE CRAFTS By Helen Griffin Love and Laughter A4 stamp set – sentiment and birds stamp

One x 6″ x 6″ DOVECRAFT card insert with scalloped edges

1/4″ double sided adhesive tape

SIZZIX Big Shot die machine

TIM HOLTZ small guillotine

MY LINKS

FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/462400895211722

Blog: https://taliswood.wordpress.com/my-craft-blog/

CraftWorld: https://craftworld.com/u/SuziChoclat/user/profile/home

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/suzichoclat/suzichoclat-taliswood-touch-my-designs-and-makes/

Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsksQmdHT665l_WWfLRzE9Q/

#cardmaking, #craftstash, #glitter, #handmadecards, #papercraft, #scraps, #valentines-card, #videotutorial

‼️How to REALLY personalise a card ‼️

Hello Crafty Friends

Today I’m showing you how I REALLY personalised a card for a 60th Birthday.

I am so very excited to share this info with you, my card has been featured in the December CraftWorld Digi magazine 6 and Featured Crafter of The Week in January 2022.

I had a request to make a special 60th birthday card with a walking theme for a man.

To make it personal I asked some things about hubby Paul and the sort of things she would like included in the card. Walking boots, sign post, a pint of beer and puppy Jasper dragging his blanket out of his bed seemed a great request! So I set to designing a card with my head buzzing with so many ideas.

I chose a special fold of card that had a section I could stand two people looking over towards a scene of Pauls favourite holiday walking place Keswick, and lots of sections to place things that were personal to Paul. This is what I came up with. The front of the card features the signpost Janet asked for with Keswick pointing towards a 5”x7” scene I hand painted on the 3rd part of the card. The walking boots are the brand of boot Paul wears. I found them on the internet and coloured them to match his boots including the brand label on the boot. The rucksack is also the same colour as Paul’s and the brand as boots. Coming out of the top of the rucksack are two bottles of beer which are removable.

The couples clothes and hairstyle are made to resemble the colours of Paul and Janet’s and puppy is a Black Tri Border Collie/Kelpie just like Jasper. As the card opens out there is a pint glass of beer, a champagne bucket with bottles and two glasses and Jasper pulling his blanket out of his bed along with an K sign of Keswick.

The third part of the card features the scene of Keswick. I started off pencil drawing the sort of scene I wanted. Then using a mixture of a few outline stamps for the trees and lots of free hand painting using ink pads rather than paints, the scene finally appeared. It took many hours to get to the stage of being happy with what I had produced. I am no artist but was really pleased with the outcome of the scene design and over the moon when I showed it to a crafty friend and she said it’s Keswick without me telling her !!!

The front and back of the tri fold card is covered in travel related papers. Finally I made a wrap for the card and stamped the front panel with a big Happy Birthday, dog paws and made some bunting. The wrap seals closed with a Velcro dot. Below is a video of the completed card including progress shots from beginning to end. Really loved the challenge of creating this very special card

In my video I talk you through everything, hope it gives you some inspiration when you next need to make a personalised birthday card. Whatever the theme, take time to find out lots about the person the card is for. You will be amazed at how stunned they are when they see a card that is all about them 💖

Enjoy watching how I created the card and let me know your thoughts. Would you make something like this? I’d love to see any personalised cards you make after watching my video. Links are below the video.

Until next time

👋

SuziChoclat xx

MY LINKS

SuziChoclat Crafts FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/462400895211722

Blog: https://taliswood.wordpress.com/my-craft-blog/

CraftWorld: https://craftworld.com/u/SuziChoclat/user/profile/home

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/suzichoclat/suzichoclat-taliswood-touch-my-designs-and-makes/

Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsksQmdHT665l_WWfLRzE9Q/

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LINK TO SAM CALCOTT MIXED UP CRAFT TUTURIAL for all measurements and card base instructions

https://mixedupcraft.com/2020/05/03/e…

#any-occasion, #cardmaking, #handmadecards, #personalised-cards, #special-cards, #videotutorial

A great big thank you

A great big thank you to everyone who came along to the Premiere of my first blog hop last night ❤️❤️ it was really exciting, we all had a great time hope you did too.

For those who weren’t able to be there on Saturday, the videos are all now available to watch in a playlist, just click on Marta’s video below and then the words YouTube at the bottom of her screen and you will go straight to the play list. This makes it much easier to find all 5 videos if you want to enter the giveaway for one of Marta’s beautiful Box of Sunshine 1 😃 The rules for entry are at the end of each video. Good Luck if you enter 🍀🍀

We all gained some new subscribers which was fabulous, but best of all were the lovely comments left appreciating the 5 projects we had created with the contents of Marta’s box ❤️❤️ thank you to everyone 😊 xxx

Enjoy your day, the sun is shining, happy crafting 😁

Until next time

👋

SuziChoclat xx

#blog-hop, #box-of-sunshine, #cardmaking, #youtube

My First Craft Blog Hop and☀️Giveaway☀️

Welcome to my first Craft Blog Hop run by Marta Debicka of Drop of Sunshine 😍😍

There are 5 videos, all are 10 minutes or less, please join us for 50 minutes of inspirational crafting streamed right into your home. Grab a cuppa and take a seat 😃

Someone has to win the ☀️ Box of Sunshine ☀️ cardmaking set … and it could be you 🤞🍀🤞🍀

All the blog hop links are in the drop out description box under each of the videos. Here is my video to get you started. To enter the giveaway you need to watch, like, comment and subscribe on each of the 5 channels. I’ll pop a video of the Box of Sunshine below so you can see what is up for the GIVEAWAY.

Look forward to see you all over on YouTube.
Have a watch of the video below to see all the contents of the ‘Box of Sunshine’ you could win. Good Luck to you all 🤞🍀🤞🍀 Giveaway closes on 31 January 2022 and is open internationally so all welcome.

Until next time

👋

SuziChoclat xxx

#blog-hop, #drop-of-sunshine, #giveaway, #shaker-card

A Fun Doggy Card Made For A Friends Birthday

A FUN DOGGY CARD MADE FOR A FRIENDS BIRTHDAY

Like me, my friend Deb is passionate about her border collie dogs so I made a fun card of her 3 dogs rounding up a very grumpy sheep!
The background grass, blue sky and sunshine was created with distress inks blended on to white card stock with a foam blending tool and then chopped up to fit the tri fold base card sections leaving an 1/8th ” white border.

I stamped the dogs, sheep and butterflies on to white cardstock, then coloured them with Promarkers. A little gold pen was added for the tri colour markings on the dogs and then fussy cut out with my scissors. The butterfly wings were covered with glossy accents to give them some dimension, a little fold in the middle and then looked like they were fluttering.

At this point I was ready to put the card together. I used Collall glue to add the background to the card base to give it a bit more strength. With foam tape I added the sheep in the middle section and a dog on each panel to look like they were rounding up the grumpy sheep 😁 A few little clumps of grass were added around the scene also on foam tape.

The bees were stamped directly onto the background, coloured and the wings covered with glossy accents to give some dimension. The butterflies were added directly to the card with a little quick grab pva glue.

The banner at the very top was fussy cut off a piece of paper I had in my stash and added in swoops along with a silver glitter wooden 60. A sentiment from the doggy stamp set was added across the centre top with two tone colours to match the background.

There is a panel to write a message to the recipient on the back of the centre panel along with a Happy Birthday stamped sentiment which finished the card off nicely.

My friend really loved her card, hope you do too and if you are a crafter it gives you some ideas and inspiration for your own card making ❤️

It would be lovely if you leave me a like or a comment with your thoughts. Thank you for stopping by.

Until next time

👋

SuziChoclat xx

My apologies

My apologies I haven’t updated my blog in a few months. I have been concentrating on setting up other social media platforms and will shortly copy over a lot of new posts. Thank you for your patience, SuziChoclat xx

Hello Crafty friends

👀 L O O K 👀 HOW EASY A Scan N Cut makes fussy cutting!!

Are you the proud owner of a Scan N Cut machine? Do you use it with confidence or is it packed away in a cupboard as you don’t quite know what to do with it? Let me know in the comments.

This is the first video in a collection of short tutorials where I will be showing you how to use your machine in your everyday cardmaking. I have quite a few things in mind that I can show you how to do but I’d really like to know what topics you’d like me to cover.

Let’s work as a team so you can learn what you can do with your fabulous Scan N Cut. Just remember I need to be able to do the tutorial in under 30 mins so no grand projects just yet.

Be brave and let me know, I’m already looking forward to reading your ideas.

Todays tutorial is about fussy cutting these images out on your Scan N Cut

Like this

Your Scan N Cut can do so many clever things, however a lot of crafters are led to buy one just to fussy cut images or stamps. So there wasn’t a better topic I could start this collection of videos with.

There are many reasons why crafters may find it difficult to fussy cut with scissors. It may be because of arthritic hands, because we cannot cut a straight line or another reason. Many just think life is too short to waste loads of time cutting out with scissors and while your Scan N Cut is merrily cutting out, you can be doing another part of your crafting or go and make a cuppa!

Talking about a cuppa, hope you’ve got one as the video is ready to start when you hit play below.

Above is a close up so you can see the pencil lines I said I had to do in the video. One was around the top edge of the feather as the end was too light for the scanner to pick up. The other was to join the F to the R to ensure the word friend was cut as one word. If I hadnt have done the line the machine would have cut up between those two letters. I like to use a pencil on coloured image like this as it can easily be rubbed out once cut.

What I’d use in stamped images will be in another tutorial 😉
So that’s it for today, don’t forget to let me know what you’d like me to do a quick tutorial on in the comments here or on my SuziChoclat YouTube channel https://youtu.be/CgkEFC4hdfU after you’ve watched the tutorial.

Thank you for visiting my blog today, I’d be grateful if you’d give me a 👍

Until next time

SuziChoclat xx

#fussy-cutting, #scan-n-cut

Fancy making Foamiran Flowers?

Attended a fabulous live craft-a-long with Drop of Sunshine this evening, learning how to make flowers out of foamiran for my card making.

Quite chuffed with my first flower and bud 🌸what do you think?

To watch Marta’s the tutorial click here https://fb.watch/v/2WFSpgVyg/

I will be practicing to improve my technique as it was rather hit or miss ☺️will be back with more flowers soon.

Thank you for popping in to look at my post today.

Until next time 🖐

SuziChoclst xx

#foamiran-flowers

Is it just me?

Not something that I’d normally post about, this blog post I’m sharing has a great introduction to something we don’t normally talk about publicly.

Sharing for two reasons, 1/ It is very well written and 2/ I could almost have written #zebrapsych’s post myself!!

Suffering from the same Hypermobility condition and long term UTI’s, it’s not ‘just you’ or ‘just me’ , I’m learning there are more and more of us Zebra’s in the same situation.

Luckily I have been referred to a Urologist, who I feel is listening to my wonky body. Now trying a combination of medication and vitamins as a preventative. Fingers crossed 🤞

Does this resonate with you or someone you know, if so do pass it on x

Zebra Psych

The start of Sarah Ramey’s book, Her Lady’s Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness, begins with a warning to the reader:

“Dear Reader,

There may exist a graceful and elegant way to begin one’s gynecological and colorectal memoir, but it never does spring to mind.”

As well as setting the scene for Ramey’s humourous, candid and frank account of many years of illness that is to follow, it tells us more than that. It alerts the reader this is what is to come: specific and detailed accounts of complex medical experiences of intimate and rarely spoken parts of the body, certainly not when these parts of the body go wrong. The overriding message: this is embarrassing, I have had to overcome a great deal to share so much publicly, let alone publish a whole damn book about it. We are taught, and quickly learn, that these are not things to share…

View original post 2,647 more words

Come and support me swim 22 miles English Channel Distance Challenge for Aspire 🏊🏻‍♀️🏊🏻‍♀️

Hello everyone

It’s time to swim the 22 miles English Channel distance again 🎉🥳🎈

I’m back swimming after a very long enforced break during the lockdowns. Now to get swim fit again! I’ll be swimming the challenge this year at a local private pool as my usual pool is still closed from the Covid restrictions, it’s only 12m long so involves a lot of turning 😂😂

Progress posts will start here on my blog and on my Swimming Facebook page soon.

I have just opened my 2021 JustGiving page and recorded my first swimming sessions on my Aspire timeline. I’m currently 3rd in the leaderboard on the Aspire Channel Swim Challenge website.

However you can support me I will be truly grateful ❤️

If it is by way of comments, likes or shares that would be fabulous, I’ll need your help to get me through the 22 miles there and then hopefully another 22 miles back.

If you have a few £££’s or pennies to spare, please consider clicking here to go over to my JustGiving page or the ‘LEARN MORE’ button at the top of my Facebook page to DONATE to Aspire.

They are a National Charity and work tirelessly supporting people with spinal injury. We will both be ever grateful for your support ❤️ It gets harder every year to find people to sponsor me or donate.

PRIZES 🎁 – There will be a few simple events this year, like raffles or an auction for whatever prizes I can get my hands on 😃😃😃 plus I will have some of my wonderful #SuziChoclat handmade cards and projects up for grabs too.

As you may know in 2012 my vertebrae slipped severely squashing my spinal cord and spinal nerves. I had to have major surgery fusing and putting in rods and screws to hold the vertebrae in place. After a very long rehabilitation I was very lucky to get away with just damaged spinal nerves. But in 2015 I again needed another major back surgery, since then my life has changed totally and swimming is the only exercise I can do without too much pain.

Then in September 2020 I was diagnosed with HSD (Hypermobile Spectrum Disorder, possibly hEDS). This is a college disorder which makes the ligaments all over my whole body far too loose to hold my joints in place. They often slip out of line, sublux or dislocate causing awful pain. I also have Fibromyalgia, early onset osteoarthritis in most of my major joints, Raynauds and a host of other conditions that all come with HSD/hEDS 🙁

🏊🏻‍♀️🏊🏻‍♀️🏊🏻‍♀️🏊🏻‍♀️ So for the 4th year I’m taking on the Aspire Channel Swim 2021, swimming the distance of the English Channel to raise money for the National charity Aspire. So far in 2017, 2018 & 2019 I’ve completed the challenge each year, been a leaderboard winner plus raised over £5,300, which I am so very proud of.

Every four hours someone is paralysed by Spinal Cord Injury and Aspire provides the essential equipment, advice and housing that spinal cord injured people need to live their lives independently. This is a big challenge, but the more I raise, the more of a difference I’ll make, so please be generous!

If you’d like to read more about my health, the reasons this cause is so close to my heart and my previous years Aspire Channel Distance Swim progress you can have a look at my swimming blog link below. While you’re here why not scroll down and have a look at some of my handmade cards and projects on the SuziChoclat Craft page . This will give you an idea of what could be up for grabs in a raffle or auction 😃😃

https://taliswood.wordpress.com/my-swimming-blog/

Thank you for taking the time coming over to my Aspire Channel Distance swim blog for 2021.

Until next time 👋 xx

#aspire-fundraising, #channel-distance-swim, #spinal-cord-injury, #swimming

It’s time to start the Channel Distance Swim again 🏊🏻‍♀️🏊🏻‍♀️🏊🏻‍♀️

Hello everyone, it’s a long time since I last posted about swimming and fundraising for the National charity Aspire. They work tirelessly supporting those with spinal injury, a cause very close to my heart as you may know.

Do hope some of my blog followers get see this post, please would you all do me a favour and give this post a like and say hello in a comment below 😃 any help you can give me would be brilliant ❤️

I’ve been back swimming for about a month now gradually building the lenghts up and will be posting again later with more details of this years Aspire channel swim and my 2021 JustGiving page.

I understand money is short but this is not all about raising funds, it’s also about me asking you for support to get me through the 22 miles distance to France and the 22 miles back.

There will be a few simple events this year, like raffles or an auction for whatever prizes I can get my hands on 😃😃😃 plus I will have some of my wonderful #SuziChoclat handmade cards and projects up for grabs too.

So please leave me a quick comment below before you carry on scrolling so I know I’m not just chatting with myself 😂😂😂

Looking forward to hearing from you all xx

Much love Suzi 💕🏊🏻‍♀️💕🎉💕🏊🏻‍♀️💕🏊🏻‍♀️💕🎈

#aspire-fundraising, #channel-distance-swim, #spinal-cord-injury, #swimming

YOU MUST TRY THIS ~ Make this amazing heart with just embossing powders! Part 2

Hello Crafty Friends

I’m back again with a Part 2 to the video I posted yesterday showing how I made a gorgeous Mixed Media heart. In that video I offered to make a tutorial showing the process I followed to make the gleaming base of the heart. Well, I received a request from a lovely lady called Wendy (or @Grandmaw on CraftWorld), so I kept to my word and here it is!

Have you got lots of embossing powders in your stash that you hardly use? Well, this is for you …

This tutorial is for any beginner crafters, those new to Mixed Media or You if you’ve bought lots of embossing powders but don’t know what to do with them or never seem to use them.

Today I’m showing the actual process step by step creating the wonderful base, just as I explained in the AWESOME Green Mixed Media Heart tutorial. I have left the embossing process part of this tutorial as recorded and not sped up any of it purely so you can see exactly how much powders I have used and see how the molten coloured embossing powders merge and sink together as they are layered up to create a beautiful clear glass / resin type surface.

If you don’t have any pre cut grey board shapes or grey board to cut your own, try sticking together a few layers of cereal box or similar with strong glue and then cut your shape.

If you don’t have any acrylic paint or gesso try covering your cardboard with a sheet of white paper stuck on with strong glue. I haven’t tried this but might be worth a go?

You can also reheat the surface if you leave too long in between layers (as I did while explaining). This will cut out having to dab with embossing ink.

Thank you for spending some time with me today watching this tutorial, I really appreciate your support in growing my channel. As always if you have any questions or feedback please leave them in the comments.

Until next time, take care 👋

SuziChoclat xx

#embossing-powders, #mixed-media-heart, #wall-art

WOW ~ Use Embossing powders how you’ve never used them before

Hello Crafty friends

You’re going to LOVE seeing how I make this gorgeous mixed media heart in the video tutorial below, isn’t it just awesome!!

Get out whatever colour embossing powders you choose to use along with a pot of clear embossing powder. If you haven’t got the products I use it doesn’t matter.

Sort through any bits and bobs you have collected in the bottom of drawers, not necessarily craft stash, this could be old or broken jewellery, keys, chains, buttons. Mixed media is just that, so use whatever you have at home. It will all be covered with colour to match your project. If you have some stencils and texture paste or similar you can also use that.

If you don’t have a grey board pre cut shape as I did, you can make your own out of layers of cereal or washing powder box or similar. Just cut two or three shapes and use a strong glue to stick them together on top of each other. You can either paint as I did with some acrylic paint or use some gesso or ink.

Choose whatever colour goes with your embossing powders (I chose white), or cover with a plain sheet of paper or card top and bottom so you have a lovely smooth surface to start with. Remember to use strong glue if you do this as there will be a lot of heat when you melt the embossing powders. Colour the edges of your shape with a felt or marker pen or whatever you have in your stash to match the top and bottom of your shape and your base will be ready.

If you have any questions just pop them in the comments box below.

This is a new journey for me too, only my second piece of this type of art but I’m always happy to share what I have already learnt along the way.

Hope it’s got your crafty brain whirring and you take some inspiration from my video or pick up something you didn’t already know.

Since making the above video I received a request to show the actual process of layering up and melting the embossing powders so I have now made a separate video tutorial showing how I create the embossed base. Why not pop over to see the magic happen …

https://taliswood.wordpress.com/2021/04/28/you-must-try-this-part-2-using-embossing-powders-like-youve-never-used-them-before/

Until next time 👋

Take care and stay safe

SuziChoclat xx

#embossing-powders, #mixed-media-heart

AWESOME – Dragonfly Mixed Media Heart

Hello Crafty Friends

This is the first Mixed Media piece of art

for me!!

I’ve been wanting to make a mixed media piece of art for a while but just didnt know where to start so have been keeping my eye out for a tutorial that I really liked. I have only watched a couple that caught my eye but didn’t really make me want to have a go until a couple weeks ago when I watched my dear friend Marta aka Drop of Sunshine doing her very first Craft-a-Long live on CraftWorld. If you haven’t seen any of Martas make you really must go and find her over on her YouTube channel, Facebook group or Craft World under Drop of Sunshine. She makes awesome projects, so inspirational!

Marta showed how you could use all sorts of crafty stash that you’d use for a handmade card to make a large mixed media heart. Wow, I loved it and ideas for my own piece started whirring around in my head!!

So I was out of the starting blocks, yay

Marta had used a large heart shaped canvas as a base which I didn’t have, so used the next best thing in my stash a little grey board heart.

I then painted my heart with a coat of gold Gesso.

Please ignore the circle that is another project I’ll link HERE Making a drinks coaster.

This is the result after three coats. It looks really smooth and even which is what I was looking for. You may wish to have the surface left uneven for your project, do whatever you prefer.

So the base is prepared, now to add the embellishments to the top.

I wanted a dragonfly to be the centre of my piece, so found a suitable sized stamp from a set my crafty friend Elizabeth sent me. I really love this set but haven’t used it yet, like such a lot of our crafty stash it was time to get it out and christen it lol… Sound familiar?? I also used another stamp from the same set, the one on the left of the picture above.

I will continue the process steps here…

In the meantime a short video of me talking, explaning and showing you through the whole process has now uploaded to my SuziChoclat YouTube channel. To watch how I put this awesome heart together and hear my thoughts as a first timer doing a piece of mixed media click on the video below.

My apologies for the quality of the picture, it is slightly blurry but hope you stick with me and watch all the way through. There are some fabulously clear still shots at the beginning and end. I have learnt my lesson and will check carefully after I have recorded next time!!!

As always if you have any questions or feedback for me please leave a comment below or under the YouTube video. If you prefer to contact me privately you can do this by clicking on ‘Send me a private message’ at the top of the page or in the menu bar.

If you like what you have read and watched today please consider following my blog and subscribing to my YouTube channel, then you won’t miss any new posts or tutorials I add in the future.

Thank you for spending some time with me today, I really appreciate your support as I try to grow my social media channels.

Until next time

Take care and look after yourselves

SuziChoclat xx

#dragonfly, #heart, #mixed-media

Making some fun pull up puppy and kitten cards

Hello crafty friends

Hope you are all keeping safe and well .

Being a ‘crazy dog lady’ that I am, I recently bought a great new puppy collection of stamps, dies and papers from the Made to Surprise range by Sam Calcott. The quality of the collection is fabulous, the stamps are so crisp when used with Versafine black onyx ink and the dies cut really well with one pass.

I’ve been having a play colouring all the stamps with my new Arteza coloured pencils, oh wow they are amazing! So soft and blend so well.

This is the outcome of all my stamping, die cutting, colouring and inking, an interactive card where Berties girlfriend Betsy pops up out of the kennel as you pull up the red rosette 😍 This card was made for a lovely friend to help cheer her up. I coloured Bertie from a picture of him and created Betsy.

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In Sam’s new collection she also has some kitten stamps and dies. As I don’t have many cat stamps I also bought the kitten set and recently made a card for another lovely friend who has a black and white cat. So meet Joey and his girlfriend Jorja 💕

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I haven’t made a video tutorial of these fabulous cards as Sam has so many over on her Mixed Up Craft YouTube channel that you can watch and follow. But if you have any questions about anything I have used or done on my cards please feel free to leave a comment below or send me a private message.

I love sharing my makes with you, hope you like seeing them as much as I enjoy making them. If you would like me to showcase a specific technique or card fold etc just let me know, I would love to give it a go for you.

Until next time my friends 👋

Take care and look after yourselves

SuziChoclat xx

#colouring, #die-cutting, #kitten, #puppy, #stamping

Making a drinks coaster

Hello Crafty friends, thought I’d pop in today and do a quick post about what I have been up to over the last few days. I’ve been making a drinks coaster using the ‘Stained Glass Window’ technique shown in my last card video tutorial.

I loved the card so much, thought I’d try a coaster using the same technique 😃

Here are some step by step pictures and instructions from the beginning, showing the greyboard pre-cut circle I used through to the finished project. If you would like to watch a video of this technique, click on the ‘Stained Glass Window’ technique link above.

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You will need:
A Grey Board shape of your choice (approx.3mm thick)
Gesso (colour of your choice)
Paint brush
Card (I used white)
Die (your choice)
Double sided adhesive (sheet or tape)
5 or 6 Fine or Ultra Fine coloured Glitters (colours of your choice)
Heatproof/Waterproof clear varnish (I used Rustins)

OPTIONAL: Something to seal your die cut if you have cut in white or a pale colour to stop it discolouring, like seal and glaze, decoupage glue, clear Gesso or clear embossing powder or similar). See my notes in final step for more details.

Please ignore the heart in the picture, that is for a future project.

STEP 1

Seal the grey board shape with 3 coats of your chosen colour of Gesso all over, including the edges and back of the coaster. Take care to coat smoothly and allow to dry in between coats. Gesso dries very quickly, mine probably took about 10 minutes between coats.

STEP 2

When you are happy that your shape is totally covered and dry, check to see if there are any rough edges. If there are you may wish to gently file them down with an emery board (used for nails). If the grey board is showing through in any place, give it another coat.

STEP 3

Run the die you will be using for your ‘stained window’ look through your die machine using whatever colour card you have chosen. Intricate dies may need to be run through your machine a few times before you get a clean cut. Trim your die to fit the coaster size you have. I chose to leave the same distance border at top, bottom and sides. My die was only this wide when I had cut away the frame, so I cut the length to match the side borders allowing it to be equal all around.

TIP: You may need to use a piece of card or folded paper on top of the die as a shim to help get more pressure in your machine to get a clean cut. Ideally, if you have a metal shim use that. If you are struggling with a certain area of an intricate die, try sticking a few little strips of washi tape or similar over that particular part of the metal die. When you run through your machine, the added tape creates thickness at that point which will mean more pressure to cut.

STEP 4

You now need to cut a circle, or whatever shape your coaster is, of double sided adhesive to perfectly fit the shape. I used a circle cutter to cut from a sheet of adhesive, you could use a circle die if you have one to exactly match the size of your coaster. Alternatively, you could place your shape on top of the adhesive sheet, trace around it with a pen or pencil and cut out with sharp scissors.

TIP: If you do not have double sided adhesive sheets, you can use double sided adhesive tape instead. You will need to lay your prepared coaster, right side up on your desk and cover the top of it with strips of tape. When doing this, ensure that you do not leave any gaps, a slight overlap is better than a gap. Then carefully cut very closely to the edge around your coated grey board shape.

STEP 5

If you are using double sided adhesive sheet: Before you take off the covering layer from your shape, lay the die cut on the top and make sure you know exactly where it is going to lay. I like to get a picture of the border size in my minds eye, (if your die goes right to all edges you can skip this).

Take the die cut off the top of the adhesive shape, peel back about an inch of the covering sheet from the top and fold downwards. Then lay your die cut where you want it to start. DO NOT remove the whole of the covering sheet all at once or you may end up sticking your die cut in the wrong place as it is very sticky. Once you are happy you have it laying straight and it lays down the shape exactly where you want it to be, lift the bottom of your die up and slowly pull the folded down covering sheet end down. Press down the die little by little as you pull until you have the whole thing in place. Don’t throw the covering sheet away as you will need it for the next steps.

TIP: If you are using double sided adhesive tape: Lay your coaster shape so that the adhesive tape is laying from side to side (horizontal), not up and down (vertical). Follow the instructions above removing one strip of tape at a time from the top down.

STEP 6

Now you need to place the adhesive shape and die on to the top side of your gesso coated grey board shape. As you did in the last step, peel an inch of the adhesive covering sheet back and fold downwards. Using the covering sheet you removed from the other side, press the adhesive and die in place at the very edge of your coaster. This will stop your fingers sticking to the adhesive and also stop the oils from your fingers getting onto the adhesive and making it less sticky.

Once the top edge is stuck, check the rest of the die will lay exactly to the shape of your coaster. Take your time and ensure you don’t reveal too much adhesive at a time. Gently hold up the die cut and pull the folded covering sheet edge underneath, downwards, a little at a time. As you did in the last step, smooth the die into place as you go, using the covering sheet. Ensure you press firmly in place all the way around the edges and in the middle especially around the shape of your die cut.

PICTURE TO COME

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STEP 7

You are now ready to create the stained glass window look by covering your die cut coaster with the different coloured glitters you have chosen.

To see how I do this, check out my video tutorial here

If you don’t have the means to play a video, I will do my best to explain.

Choose 5 or 6 different coloured glitters (or as many as you have) that go together. Depending on what size pots or tubes they are in, you may need to use a little spatula, pointed knife end, teaspoon handle or similar to sprinkle the glitters into the places you want them to go. I find using a little plastic craft spatula, one I use for spreading texture paste, is the perfect size. You can always add more glitter but once you have dropped it on to the adhesive you cannot remove it so again go slowly and sprinkle small amounts from the tube, pot or spatula.

Once you have dropped some glitter in the die cut on your coaster, rub it in with your finger tip and polish in to the sticky backghround. If you don’t like the feel of glitter or don’t want to use your finger, you can use a piece of the covering sheet you removed from the double sided adhesive earlier to polish the glitter into the adhesive. Continue doing this until you have filled all the die and any outside borders with glitter. Give it one last polish with your finger if you can to check there are no sticky spots you haven’t covered.

TIP: You don’t have to be too specific where you sprinkle your glitter as it looks really nice when you mix the colours together. Sometimes if you try to hard to be specific with the areas you put a certain colour, I find it can look too defined. So just have fun and glitter away.

STEP 8

Once you are happy that you have covered your coaster fully (you cannot feel any adhesive spots when you rub your fingers over the top of your die), you can now seal the coaster. ** See below for more info.

When the sealer is dry, coat the coaster with a few layers of heatproof/waterproof clear varnish, drying thoroughly in a warm room between each coat. I did 5 coats of varnish on the one pictured above which covered the depth of the die cut and so the top surface was totally smooth and shiny and I could not feel the die cut edges. I recommend that you do enough coats to make your coaster feel the same.

** The picture above was the very first coaster I did with this technique, I didn’t seal the white die cut before I coated in clear heatproof/waterproof varnish and wish I had. I think this will only matter if you are using white or pale card for your die cut. Sealing it first will stop the white or pale colour cardstock from slightly discolouring and going greyish where the edges of the card has absorbed the varnish.

I am in the process of making another coaster with this sealing step so will let you know how it goes. I plan to try a couple of coats of some decoupage glue/sealer or clear embossing powder as I have those in my stash. I have also thought that Nuvo crystal glaze could work, as would a recommendation I’ve had from one of my CraftWorld friends Lucyanne, who said she uses clear Gesso. Any product along these lines should work.

Having looked up what clear Gesso is made of, it appears it is PVA glue and some type of powder like cornflour or talcuum powder so if neither of the products I mention above work, then I will make myself some clear Gesso 😉

The finished coaster

What do you think, have you done anything like this before? Would love to know what you used.

As always if you have any questions or feedback I would love to hear from you. You can either leave a public comment by tapping the ‘Reply’ button below or send me a private message by tapping the ‘send a message’ tab at the very top of the page or in the side menu.

If you like what you have seen, please give me a like or consider tapping on the ‘Follow’ button at the top of the page on a tablet or pc or below the menu if you are on on a phone.

Until next time, enjoy the sunshine 👋

SuziChoclat xx

#coaster, #glitter, #gold-gesso, #handmadecrafts, #pretty-quick-die

You’ll LOVE this card making technique

Hello Crafty friends

You’ll LOVE this card making technique

Join me today for a card making tutorial using what I have called the ‘Stained Glass Window’ technique. I learnt this technique from Ann Colman at her Crafty Cardmaking class a couple of years ago.

I have also made a drinks coaster using this same technique.

It’s really easy to create so why don’t you click play and craft along with me?

You’ll need:

1/ A large die with outer frame

2/ Die cutting machine

3/ Different coloured glitters

4/ White and black card stock (or two colours of your choice)

5/ Guillotine or scissors/craft knife and ruler

6/ Double sided adhesive sheet or tape

7/ Some wet glue

LET’S GO …

Will you try this technique? Would love to know how you get on if you do, leave me a comment and let me know. If you like what you see please like, comment and follow me here on my blog.

As always if you have any questions please feel free to ask in the comments below by clicking on ‘Reply’ or send me a private message. I love helping people learn.

Thank you for popping in, hope you enjoyed what you found.

Until next time 👋

SuziChoclat xx

#any-occasion, #cardmaking, #die-cutting, #glitter, #handmadecards, #handmadecrafts, #stained-glass-window-technique, #videotutorial

Come with me and make some cards with kitchen foil!

Hello crafty friends

Today I am experimenting with kitchen tinfoil – yes you heard me right!

Have a look at the video below and see what I got up to playing around with some of my stash PLUS follow a tutorial of making one card from start to finish. It was a total experiment as I have never done this technique before. I show the bits that went wrong and how I recovered them so as not to chuck them in the bin.

Thank you for your support stopping by to watch today, I really do appreciate it.

If you like what you see please don’t forget to like, comment and follow me here on my blog to see my next tutorial or or step-by-step project. It would be lovely to hear your thoughts, please leave them below by hitting the reply button. Have you seen this before? Are you going to try this technique? And if you have any questions, just ask 🙂

My CraftWorld profile Join me over on CraftWorld, it’s FREE. You just need an email address and a handle to register – my handle is SuziChoclat.

My YouTube channel Should you wish to you can also subcribe to my YouTube channel and hit the notification bell so you know when I post my next tutorial.

My Pinterest page See lots of pictutres etc. of my makes over there.

Until next time 👋

SuziChoclat xx

#cardmaking, #embossing-folders, #handmadecards, #handmadecrafts, #kitchen-foil, #promarkers

Learn how to make this fancy fold card base ~ NO DIES REQUIRED ~

Hello Crafty friends

Hope you’ve all had a lovely start to your week. We are living in some very challenging times at present. Please do take as much care as you can and follow the Covid rules and guidance. I lost a dear friend to it last weekend so I’ve been feeling very sad that I will never be able to laugh, craft and have fun with her again. Life is very precious, protect it like you would the most valuable thing in the world ~ as it is.

Thank you so much for taking some time to come over to watch my tutorial today. Please give me a like or leave a comment to let me know you’ve popped in today. It will cheer me up to know what you think.

Impress your friends and family by making them a Birthday, Anniversary, Thank you, Hello or any other type of card with this base, it is very versatile.

In the video below I show you how to make a 10′ x 6″ fancy fold card base that folds to fit in a 6″ x 6″ envelope. You can decorate and embellish however you wish, with whatever card, papers, stamps, inks or toppers you have in your stash … I show 4 examples to give you some ideas and inspiration.

If you like what you see today and are inspired enough to have a go at making this card base, please come back and let me know in the comments.

Click on the picture above to watch the tutorial.

Click on template picture above to watch a short video of the TEMPLATE MEASUREMENTS and Explanation of the cut and score lines and the matts and layers

Picture of Template measurements, matts and layers required

If you find the tutorial of interest and would like to be notified of my future blog posts, just click the ‘Follow’ button in the right side panel on a PC or tablet or in menu on a phone. You then don’t miss being notified of my future makes. It is in different places on different devices, any trouble finding it just send me a private message on the ‘Send Me a message’ page. Share with crafty friends too 😃

I am trying to grow my YouTube channel too, I’d love you to subscribe by hitting the subscribe button below the tutorial when you are watching or the one at the very end of the video. Remember to click the bell icon then you will get a notification whenever I add a new video tutorial.

Thank you for spending some time with me today, I really do value your support.

Take care and stay safe and until next time 👋

SuziChoclat xx

#any-occasion, #cardmaking, #christmas, #fancy-folds, #handmadecards, #handmadecrafts, #no-dies, #template, #videotutorial

Tutorial on Faux Letterpress technique using freebies from Creative Stamping issue 90 (Dec20)

Hello my crafty friends

Thank you so much for taking some time to come over to watch my tutorial today. Please give me a like or leave a comment to let me know you’ve popped in today. It will cheer me up to know what you think.

Today I’m sharing a tutorial which shows you how I make some Christmas cards using the Faux Letterpress (inked embossing folder) technique (shown below) as well as masking a stamped image to create an outside shape. You can use any embossing folder and any stamped image for any occasion.

Inked embossing folder technique result

Todays tutorial is about 40 minutes long so grab a cuppa or I’d love you to craft along with me if you have the free Christmas stamp, stencil and mask set from issue 90 of Creative Stamping or any similar products.

I’m making two different styles of the same card in quite a few different colours, one is using the Christmas tree sentiment stamp and mask (below left) and the other with the stags head sentiment stamp and mask (below right).

• 

  Christmas Tree

• 

  Stags Head

I also show some pictures of three tri fold tower style card I made with the giant stags head with embedded scene from the same free stamp set. I have pictured one of them below and recorded a video of how to make the tri fold tower style of card base with all the measurements, tips and tricks HERE . You can then decorate as you wish for any occasion.

Tri Fold Tower style card

Looking forward to growing my channel this year so I’d love it if you would Follow my blog (by hitting the Follow button on the right of this article) or hit the Subscribe button (below the video) while watching on YouTube. You then won’t miss any new tutorials/content that I bring out in the future 🙂

Until next time

SuziChoclat xx

***This video has taken me longer than I thought to edit and upload because our internet has been soooo slow recently plus I’ve had shoulder surgery. So please accept my belated Christmas and New Year wishes I mention. Looking forward to better times in 2021for us all. Happy Crafting xx

Click on the picture to watch the tutorial

#any-occasion, #cardmaking, #christmas, #creative-stamping-issue-90, #faux-letterpress-technique, #handmadecards, #handmadecrafts, #inked-embossing-folder, #videotutorial