Diamond Anniversary

Today's good news is that I have just found my SU label stamps that I had tidied away - luckily I decided to get some quilling bits out tonight and I had stashed the stamps in with my quilling paper - no wonder I hadn't found them before.

Anyway, today's commission is for a Diamond Wedding.

After saying yes I then realised that this isn't as easy as a silver or ruby anniversary where you have a colour to play with.
This card does have rather a silver hue but hopefully enough 'diamond' sparkle too.

Stamp from Woodware (again) and one of their lovely bubble bloom range.  I stamped and embossed it with sparkly embossing powder.  I stamped the leaves again so I could cut them out and 3D them.

Some sparkly card candi added to the blooms along with diamond stickles and some gems.

Sentiment computer generated and mounted as per the main image on a couple of different silvers.  SU punched strip under this and a few more 'diamond' gems to finish.

Flower Shop

The stamp set I have used for this card was my 'must have' from the current Stampin' Up catalogue.

The set is called Flower Shop and naturally has a matching punch!

This is a 5x7" card base from Anna Marie.  I've added a cream layer which I have over stamped with lots of the flowers in the set with the SU in-colour inks for this year.

Several additional flowers stamped separately and added with 3D pad and some pearls to finish the flowers.

Some layering added in the middle and another SU label stamp/punch combo for the sentiment (this card being made before I put these label stamps in a safe place!!).

Six-sided fun

A quick play today with one of my birthday Stampin' up sets!  This is the six-sided sampler set that comes with a matching punch (of course!).

For the first card I have used baked brown sugar ink on cream card and used a selection of the stamps before punching out.

Some are stuck flat to the card, some have 3D pads underneath.

The sentiment is from another SU set and punched out.

The second card uses all the new in-color inks from SU this year.  The sentiment is from Label Something set and - of course - punched out with matching punch!

Christmas is coming!!

Every year I plan to start my Christmas cards earlier but am lucky that I am kept busy until it gets almost too late!

I haven't entirely caught up but allowed myself a small play this weekend as I've got a few stamps I have been itching to play with for ages.

Following on from yesterdays post this is another stamp from Woodware called 'Huge Santa'.
I have paper pieced all the letters, colouring with copics where they overlap (a finishing touch stolen from Francoise Read).

I have also stamped and cut out the hat, coloured with copics, added fun flock to the edge and finished with a pom pom.

I haven't made this image in to a card yet but have posted this while I mull it over!

Another tempting one for Val over at Aquarius blog who I might have encouraged to start a Woodware stash this weekend!

Huge Golf

For the birthday of a friend at work today I have used the very appropriately named 'Huge Golf' stamp from Woodware.

She has been partaking in the sport quite a lot recently and thought I would christen my new stamp which I think I will get a lot of use out of.

For the first outing I have very much 'girlied' it up by paper piecing the letters with pink and flowery paper & layering on a piece of pink card.

The 'O' was stamped on some white card that has been embossed with a swiss dots folder and I coloured the golf club and cut that out separately too & added with 3D pads.

The little sentiment is one of several in the pack too and I punched out using trusty SU punches and added a couple of little gems.

Triple layer stamping

This is a card I made for Crafty Bunch last week which I have now utilised for a Thank You card.

We did triple layer stamping which is very effective.

For this card I used cream card for the stamp layers, kraft card for the backing layers and SU baked brown sugar ink.

I've stamped one of the flowers again on a separate piece of card from the SU Flower Shop set (which I love), punched out with co-ordinating punch and added a 3D pad under it.

The sentiment is also SU and I've just added it to suit the purpose for which the card was intended.

Vintage tags

These are some vintage style gift tags I was asked to make.

The brief was to make them luggage label size which I did out of lovely Anna Marie kraft card.

I did sponge the edges a little with distress ink.
On top of the label I cut a piece of cream card, rounded the edges and distressed them with old paper and tea dye ink.

I've then used the tea dye ink to stamp one of the SU Vintage Vogue stamps around the edge.
The flower is from the same set and I have stamped this, cut out separately and added with a little sticky fixer and pearl to finish.

String added through a punched flower hole which I thought finished it rather differently.

At the seaside

And back to crafting!

This is a birthday card for my friend Jo.

The card is a lovely speckled cream which I think is from my paper mill stash.

The background images are stamped in memento london fog ink using a lovely set from inkylicious.  I have stamped, cut out and added 3D foam to the shells for some extra dimension.

The beach scene is a Michael Powell stamp from DOCrafts.  I've coloured this using pan pastels for the sky, sea and sand which I haven't really used before (funnily enough the idea for this card wasn't how it panned out at all!).  I've also used copics for the beach huts.

Many thanks to Tracy who very kindly let me borrow her Stampin' up sentiment from the label love set as I 'tidied' mine at the weekend and it is currently residing in a safe place!!  I've punched it out using the matching punch (which I do have to hand) and punched another one to layer behind for contrast and to match the layering on the main image.

Trip finale

An end to my trip today and I will get back to posting crafty things I have been up to.

On the Monday of our trip we decided to 'pop' in to Liverpool to look at both of the cathedrals.

 It is hard to understand the vastness of the Anglican Cathedral (you can see it on the view I took from the Mersey).
It is the largest cathedral in the country and the 5th largest in the world - it is very impressive and the stained glass is lovely.

They also have a lovely cafe for morning coffee, light lunches and afternoon cake it turns out!

We spent quite a while admiring the inside and a local artist had the first day of a show there which we looked at on the way out - his pen & ink drawings of the inside were amazing.

It was then only a short walk to the Metropolitan Cathedral - equally impressive yet very different.

This has the world's largest stained glass window which forms a tower on top of the building.

It is a huge open space inside which seats 3,000 people.  The next picture shows the inside from the floor to the window at the top.

Needless to say our quick visit resulted in 4.5 hrs in the car park - no idea where the time went but definitely worth visiting.

We then left Liverpool to go to Knutsford where Mum spent some time growing up.  Not that it is ever the same going back but as were passing she wanted to have a look round.

Another exhausted pair over tea that night!

And finally, we had a day at Tatton Park.
I had no idea how much there was to see there - it really is fabulous if you get the chance to visit.

This is the Italian garden viewed from the house. The gardens were lovely.  There was also a vast amount of parkland that we didn't even get to.

We had a quicker tour of the house than we usually would as were aware we needed to get back but that was lovely too - something you don't tend to associate with Tatton Park as it is generally known for its gardens and flower show.

Another lovely lunch (of course) and we eventually had to head home.

We had entered the park one way and had an option on the way out and I was so pleased I took it as a really long drive took us through the parkland we hadn't seen, past a couple of lakes and loads of fabulous deer (it took some time to get to the end of the road).

The motorway was very kind to us on the way back too and very much back in to the thick of it again now but lots of great memories.

More AGM

So, to get back to my trip!

There were some lovely regional displays again this year and it never fails to amaze how many items come over from Japan & UAE, and all of such high quality too.

We had a chance to stock up on supplies with traders, watch demonstrations, share ideas and vote in the competitions (and chat, I did spend a lot of time catching up with quilling friends from around the world!).

These are two pieces I really liked:

This is a Japanese entry that you can see won several prizes - the work in it is amazing, aside from having the idea in the first place!

This card won the greetings card competition and the Salver for excellence in quilling.

I had a slight 'discussion' with a lady next to me when I pointed out that the writing is actually made from quilling paper.  We agreed to disagree as it was so perfect it's brilliance is almost lost on a casual observation.

I should have realised at the time it was made by Wenonah Quayle from Australia who works in the finest paper - the writing and waves on this are 1mm or less, it really is rather special.

Saturday evening we had a 30th Anniversary celebration meal in the dining room then went back to the hall for prize presentations, Jane Jenkins did a very amusing look back through our publication 'Quillers Today' and the Japanese group (about 16 of them) sang two songs for us which was just brilliant.

Sunday I managed to get a place on a masterclass of hints and tips with Jane Jenkins which was not only fun but also really useful - some of these things I shall try out soon I hope.  This overran quite a lot so the rest of the day was a bit packed as I wanted to make more purchases and review all the winners in the competition room and catch a couple more demos.

I missed Diane Boden's demonstration in the morning and have to thank her for keeping her latest quilled animal creations around for showing me in the afternoon.  Another project for the future!!

After these hectic 2 days we packed up our Somerset stand and rather than putting our feet up myself & Mum popped in to the city centre for a trip on the Mersey ferry!

So, to finish for today there is a view of the Liver building (the Liver bird on the top is actually 6 metres tall which is very hard to comprehend from ground level) and a view along some of the Mersey including this and the Albert Dock, with one of the cathedrals in the background.

 

I thought I was going to fall asleep in my food over tea after this but it was definitely worth doing as it was on our 'to-do' list while away.

A Walk in the Park

A shorter than planned post today as I had more to catch up with than I thought!

I have finally got to the Quilling Guild AGM now!

I turned up early and met Anne from Torquay who has become an honorary Somerset member as numbers are even more depleted in Devon.

We were really concerned that we didn't have enough to make a display but were helped by Anne making a last minute sign with fringed flowers (isn't it great) and having some staging from the shop they used to own which gave us a little bit of height.

This is our display of crinoline ladies.  Unfortunately we are really struggling with members currently and not too many supplied a lady but we were pleased with the display in the end.

I spent most of last year building up to making things for the AGM and it was all a bit last minute again - I did make 3 ladies.  One of them had a bit of a waist problem on the day but these are my 2 others - with miniature poodles.

The first skirt I made was too large really, the second one (in purple here) had a 'hoop' structure underneath which was a bit better but by lady 3 I was more happy with the skirt but didn't have time to make any more.

Lady Lever visit

Day 2 of our trip and this picture makes the sky look a little scarier than it was I think!

This is the Palm House in the middle of the lovely Sefton Park which was within walking distance of the AGM location.

It is set in a vast green area with boating lake, stream and lovely trees.  It was quite a surprise to come across a few spaces like this in the city.  The inside was well worth a visit too.

We then had a quick walk down Lark Lane which was at the other side of the park and had been recommended for some lovely shops.

I bought a couple of goodies, we had a cuppa and got a lovely roll from a super deli for lunch so a very successful morning.

We didn't venture too far in the morning as we had a trip booked in the afternoon!

Josie Jenkins had very kindly organised a visit to the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight and nearly 60 of us went on it.

The coach trip through Liverpool and the Birkenhead Tunnel was quite interesting and Port Sunlight village was lovely.

This is a rather pretty sundial with the gallery in the background.  

It is the most attractive area with gorgeous houses, lots of trees and flowers and there are obviously some rules on how your grounds must be kept!

Myself and Mum looked in a shop where there was a walking guide taking you round all the houses of note so although we were rather tired afterwards it was so worth it to see all the history, the lovely buildings and a quick peek in the beautiful church too.

And, all of this was additional to the main reason for our visit!

Josie had arranged a private viewing of this fantastic quilled cabinet from the late 1700's in the museum.  The museum closed off the room it was in and had taken it from the glass case where you can normally view it.  It was fabulous to see.  I put this first picture in to try and give an idea of size - it puts a quilled tea caddy to shame!

          

We were split into groups of 10 to get a better look at the cabinet and as if the outside wasn't fabulous enough they then opened it up:

All the drawers have wonderful quilling on too - I think we all could of stood there for ages just admiring it.

We did manage a quick look at a couple of quilled tea caddies too which on a normal day but would of been exciting enough.

A great afternoon though and many thanks to Josie and the museum.

(sorry if the pics seem a little weirdly spaced - the actual post doesn't look the same as when I wrote it & it won't co-operate today!).

A trip away

No surprises that I didn't have time to set up some blog posts before I disappeared on a little trip taking in the Quilling AGM but now I'm back I have plenty to share over the next few days!

Last Thursday I left quite early to try & visit Speke Hall - a National Trust property near Liverpool airport that due to my agenda and it's opening hours meant Thursday was the only available time we had.

The motorways were very kind to us and we got there in time for lunch.

This is the front of the house.
The inside of the house was very interesting, as well as it looking lovely from the outside.

The house used to sit in many more acres of land than it does today - as a result the sale of land has meant the estate is surrounded by industrial estates  and means you can plane spot at Liverpool airport from the end of the garden!

The garden also backs on to the Mersey so there were lots of interesting things to see.

This is the rose garden at the back of the house.  The borders were lovely with some gorgeous hydrangeas and we spent a while admiring some butterflies on the buddleia - more than I have seen for a while.
Also had to test the 'wet nelly' which is a local speciality - a bit like a bread pudding but really moist and not too stodgy!

A pretty good start to our adventures.  I'll now sort through my pictures and find some for the next instalment!

Miniature Poodle

The craziness continues!

I have actually been doing some behind the scenes quilling for the upcoming Quilling Guild AGM at the weekend.

I shall reveal more of the story in a few days but there was a requirement for some poodles for the Somerset display.

I already have a couple made form Jane Jenkins Three-Dimensional Quilling book but (as will become clear) these were rather too large for the end purpose.

So - I embarked on making an approx. 1/3 size one (as you do)!!!

The picture doesn't really do the size justice - I shall take another pic next to some other items later in the week but this little chap is just 1.5" tall!!

Hedgehogs

Well, I had a plan to get on top of some quilling yesterday and as I was on the way out to work I suddenly saw some hedgehog pictures I was meant to have sorted!!

At the last Crafty Bunch I sat next to Michelle who had borrowed a lovely collection of Penny Black wooden stamps from Anne over at Stamps and Paper.  Michelle has a stall tomorrow at Yeovil Junction where she is raising money for Prickles Hedgehog Rescue at Cheddar.

I stamped out some of the images as I love my hedgies and said I would make her some cards for her stall.

I coloured a load of images with copics a couple of weeks ago in between everything else and for some unknown reason completely forgot about adding them to cards - lucky I did remember yesterday as they were needed for today!!

Anyway, how I had coloured my images and what came to hand first saw the way to the following:

I really enjoyed doing them and must make time to do some more!

I've just popped them round to Michelle where she was busy with Beryl colouring, cutting and finishing items off.  

Back to the quilling!
Jill

A racing birthday

A quick addition today - seem to be able to add a watermark now.  Needs a little perfecting and fine-tuning but we have passed phase 1!

This was another request for an Alonso/Ferrari 6 year old fan.

I found the background picture of Silverstone on the internet and added it to an  A5 card.

The other 2 pics were 'stolen' too but I have printed each of them twice and added the second layer with 3D foam pads to make them stand out.

Computer generated sentiment layered to finish.

Apparently it was William's favourite birthday card!