Happy but tired...

Got home tonight at 8pm after spending the day with Marlene at the Hobbycraft Show in the NEC.....we had a great time meeting up with like minded crafters....Hi Carole, Dawny, Sonia, Karen & Cheryl. Carole & Marlene have some pictures so will post them when I have some copies.

The highlight of the day...after meeting all these lovely ladies was being able to buy Magnolia stamps....in the flesh from Magnolia. For the first time ever they had a stand at a UK craft show. Anyway I was explaining to John from Magnolia that I had been unable to order the club kit from the site and how I had tried for three weeks with no luck, and that it was the first kit in one year that I had not been able to order. He then chatted to his wife and he offered to send the stamps to me today from Sweden if I paid in cash at the show.....so now a set is winging it's way to me. This really made my day as I was gutted after seeing the pics. Another great thing about the Magnolia stand was the fact they had a show exclusive.....mini stamps. These are about a third of the size of the regular stamps, and will only be available to buy at the show (for those going....look at the two baskets right in front of the till....) I will stamp some comparisons tomorrow to show you...

I have also been lucky enough to get a set of the new hAnglar & stAnglar club kit, thanks to a very kind friend in Sweden....Thank you for the beaming smile I have on my face....you know who you are..... :0)

I got lots of lovely bits including some really cute bear dies from Go Kreate.....so very darling....will have to look for some more now.

I am now exhausted but happy, and will be having a relatively early night...well for me anyway.

Tomorrow I will be back with another card using my DT stamps from ww.dreams2stamp.de

Tilda & Friends ATC Challenge "Hearts"

This week over on the Tilda and Friends ATC Challege blog we have a theme of "Hearts"....come on what did you expect, it is Valentine's this week. For my ATC I have used a couple of the Magnolia Love Collection 2009. I have coloured Tilda & the Cupcake with Distress Inks using the following colours...
Tattered Rose (Skin & Cupcake Icing)
Walnut Stain (Hair & Cupcake)
Worn Lipstick (Dress)
Peeled Paint (Socks & Cupcake Wrapper)
Fired Brick (Hearts & Bow)
The background are some scraps from a Basic Grey "Bittersweet" 6x6 paper pad, the sentiment part was done using an Inkadinkado stamps and to finish off I have added a heart pin with a piece of Stampin' Up ribbons and a "made with love" heart charm. For sparkle I added some Sakura clear glitter gel pen to Tilda's hair and some Stickles "diamond" glitter to her wings.

So why not hop on over to the Tilda and Friends ATC Blog and join in the fun......a link is to the right.

Thanks for all the concerned comments about my sore tush....feeling better today, and fingers crossed I may be able to stay upright today.

Hugs

Masking Technique Tutorial

It seems a few people wanted a step-by-step on the masking technique, and while I am no expert, I wanted to share my love for this technique with everyone.

So step one is to stamp two images the same.

Step two is to cut out one of the images. Cut very close the the outer line, the closer the better, but don't cut through.

Step three is to use a craft knife to cut any parts between the shoes and legs that you cannot get to with scissors

Step four, you should now have two images one cut and the other still on the cardstock

Step five is to attach the cut out image to the one still on the cardstock with repo Herma (or similar brand) Step six attach the image over the topStep seven is to take the background stamp that you want to use and ink it up.
Step eight is to stamp the background over the top of the covered image
Step nine is to remove the mask from the original stamped image
Step ten, now you have removed the mask you are done...colour your images as usual
See it is as easy as that, there is no real mystery. If I can master this technique, trust me, anyone can. I hope you have found the tutorial helpful, and if you have any other questions...let me know. One thing to remember is that it is important to pick the right image to mask. One with lots of intricate edges will be harder to cut and the results may not be as good...depending on the quality of your cutting...so pick an image with a clean silhouette.

Oh no...it's the final countdown....

Now, if you are sad like me you can hear BonJovi singing in your head...LOL

So this morning I have the final Karen Russell interactive class. Her first class yesterday was AMAZING. As she was talking at the beginning of the class she was welling up with emotion when she was talking about her kids....it bought tears to my eyes.....she is most certainly one of the most inspirational scrappers I have ever met, and her pages are stunning, and the journalling....well it's gets ya. I am so glad that when I saw her name on the list of teachers, I jumped straight in and booked, honest to god, if you ever see her name on a teaching list in this country....FORGET THE COST, FORGET EVERYTHING ELSE....JUST BOOK IT.
Anyway, been having a FAB time, Amy and her Hubby and Parents have done an amazing job, and I definately want to sign up for next years event.

So finally, here is a pretty for you to look at. I made this in the morning before I came here on Friday. Was my first time stamping with this stamp. She is of course Ballerina Tilda by Magnolia. The sentiment stamp is by SeeDee's, the papers are Basic Grey "Sultry", the ribbon is from HobbyCraft and the Blossom is an old one from the now defunct L'il Davis.

So either later tonight or tomorrow I will be back with pictures of what I made....which consists so far of a 7Gypsies Tag Book, AC 8x8 album, and 6 LO's... I think there are two more to do today. The AC album needs to have a few more pics and some journalling, the tag book needs pics from this weekend, but all the other projects are completed.

Bye for now.
Caz
x