Love these new Acrylic paints....

A picture I painted whilst at the Westpoint Craft Show.

Iv'e been off to the Westpoint Craft Show in Exeter and had a go with some new Acrylic paints that stay wet longer than the average Acrylic paints. You can also spritz the paper to keep it wet whilst you are working with the paints which is great as I like to "fiddle" with the picture whilst I'm painting.  These new paints work a little like oil paints which I also love.

Approximately 10 of us joined the Painting Workshop and we all sat round in a horseshoe shape whilst we tried out the paints and copied the artist who demonstrated how to paint the picture. I coudn't resist buying some of these as they give you the ability to use them like watercolours or oil paints. I think I could be persuaded to keep painting with Acrylics in future. 

Iv'e also been card-making again and trying out some new Sparkle medium I purchased from Imagination Crafts - this sparkle medium can be used with stencils or on it's own to create backgrounds etc.

You place your stencil over the cardstock and tape it down with low tack masking tape then spread on the sparkle medium through the gaps - I used a palette knife to do this.

When you have covered all of the gaps, peel off the stencil and you are left with the stencil image which then needs to dry before putting onto your chosen background card.
I inked up my background papers first so that I had the background all ready to go before applying the paste/medium.

The flowers were the Big Bloomers range from DoCrafts whick I inked in various colours - this card can be seen on my Gallery on the DoCrafts website. Just click the word "Gallery" to see my creations. I am regularly updating my DoCrafts Gallery so please go over and take a look now and again for more crafty creations.

Glow in the Dark Dragonfly Wall-hanging





This Dragonfly was made using the Sheena Douglass stamps and Wow Embossing Powders "Glow in the Dark" and makes this wall- hanging a little bit unusual and different from the norm.





The background is scrunched up Co-Ordinations cardstock which I  then embossed and a gold gilding rubbed over the top.  The Dragonfly is from the Sheena Douglass set of silhouette stamps.  I stamped the Dragonfly twice, firstly onto vellum then added mica powders. I then restamped it again onto dark cardstock and added three layers of Glow in the Dark WoW Embossing Powder so that the body then glows when placed in the dark.  Both images were coloured with inks and mica powders.

The vellum wings were cut out and then added on top of the cardstock Dragonfly and  to add dimension,  flowers and embellishments were also added to give depth to the piece.

The Glow in the Dark powders can be used for a variety of things not just card-making but also things around the house - key fobs for instance (one for hubby there I think as he's always losing his keys) and with Halloween coming up then the opportunities to use this powder are endless. Try it out and have fun........... 

"Spooky" Halloween Card for WoW Embossing Powders

This "Spooky" Halloween card was made for "WoW" Embossing Powders and is showing on the WoW  blog from 19th September.

I am a member of the "WoW" Design Team and every month create something new from their lovely Embossing Powders, which this month include "Glow in the Dark" powder. They also have pearlised powders, Flocks, Puffs as well as Glitters and mixes of colours. A beautiful range especially if you, like me, like to "experiment".

This "Glow in the Dark" Embossing Powder is fantastic for all your Halloween cards. If you take this card into the light, then into the dark the windows on the church and faces on the pumpkins will glow. WoW's pearlescent powders also have a glow to them which adds to the shine of the moon  in this card. Iv'e also added chalks to create the moon's glow-effect around the outside. For full instructions go to the WoW blog.

The blog is full of ideas on how to create all sorts of crafts from Embossing Powders. WoW will also be at the NEC with Demo's and Workshops for you to have a go at Embossing yourself. 

Sheena Douglass Silhouette stamps -Butterfly card.



 I'm being very naughty and am having a play with the new Sheena Douglass range of Silhouette stamps when I should be making samples for my next Demo.  I love these stamps - they are my kind of "thing" where you can add images to build landscapes or just use the images on their own.

They work well with all sorts of backgrounds too.
Iv'e used a Butterfly stamp on Vellum for this card and distressed the background papers using foils, embossing powders and inks.

I must, must, must go now and start making my samples for my next DeoCafts Demo's this weekend. I'm at  Trelawney Garden Centre in Barnstaple  on Saturday with Scrapbooking and craft techniques , and Trago Mills, Newton Abbot on Sunday with Card-Making and Jewellery.  Hope to see you there if you can make it.

What a lovely surprise I had....

I was totally surprised and very touched at my Demo on Saturday in Wellington at Buy and Save by a customer presenting me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers for all the help, support and patience I had shown her and other customers at my Demonstrations.

Thank you so much Jenny and Tina (the Manager) for keeping it a secret. You really did make my day as they say.


What a lovely gesture. I didn't realise that customers appreciated my demo's so much.

What a lovely, lovely surprise - the flowers are absolutely beautiful.

Inspired by a pair of curtains - Yes curtains......

As anyone who knows me well, I get inspiration from anywhere and everywhere.

I mostly get my inspiration from Nature which is almost a religion for me - but this time, whilst holding a Painting Workshop, I was inspired by the curtains hanging in the Workshop Hall. Yes really.....

The curtains had a host of autumn colours, and as I love trees, leaves and scenes, I was inspired to create a quick canvas to use as a wall-hanging using the ideas taken from the curtains and the lovely colours.  I'm a "Jack of all Crafty Trades" but master of none and love any kind of painting, card-making and all other crafts. You name it and I have probably tried it.

Iv'e been a bit naughty lately and purchased some of Sheena Douglass's silhouette stamps from Create and Craft.

Although I design my own range of stamps already I couldn't resist the lovely silhouette stamps that Sheena had produced so reached deep down into my crafty pocket and now I can't wait for Mr Postie to deliver them to my door so I can have a play and experiment to see what I can come up with.

My own range of stamps are dusted off too so watch this space for more scenic views and something a bit different using my (and Sheena's) stamps. I may use them to compliment one another too which will be interesting. Sheena's trees will go so well with my landscape backgrounds.  To see more of my crafty images please go to My Gallery on my website.

The next time you are out and about, take some time to really look around you.  Get down close to the grass and you will wonder at the beautiful complexity of a simple daisy.  Pick up a handful of pebbles, wet them or varnish them to reveal the wonderful colours.  We all need to take time to not just look at things but actually see them. Enjoy.....