Oyster Stamps Blog Hop Starts Today

Well, here we are at last, Oyster Stamps is launching its very first Blog Hop, in fact the first time the Design Members (Barbara, Linda, Martine, Pam, Paul and myself, Neet) have got together as a team.  I do hope you join in and visit each one of us as we upload our creations using our Grand Calibur and the Spellbinders Cut, Fold and Tuck Dies starting here today.

It all began with a bit of fun with our ‘boss lady’, Tracey, handing me four sets of Dies at Aintree show.  Four “Cut, Fold and Tuck” dies to do something with.  She then said she was going to challenge the team to come up with something using them.  Barbara and I chipped in and then the words “blog” and ”hop” came out into the conversation and before I knew what was happening it was taking off.

Here’s a short video to show you how these incredible dies work and a little snapshot of what I made with some of the ones I had been given to work with.  (This video went live yesterday to make sure it was working in time for the Blog Hop so it does talk about "tomorrow" which is "today".  Sorry.  Also the sound is fairly low but that is my itty bitty camera.  Please bear with me.)

Now you have marvelled at my finger nails (don’t often get them all to that length – wonder how long they will stay?) here is what I did with my dies.  It’s fun to buy more than one set of these dies as you can mix and match them - I threw mine in the air and let them land on my desk and then proceeded to make a card with a couple of them.  Now to puzzle as to which set they all belong to LOL.

It had to be a large card from me as I am always dem'ing the Grand Dies from Spellbinders so here I have used Grand Labels One and Four, CFT Angle Approach (Lg), Carnival Dream (Md) and Parisian Accents (thanks *Cindy - see link at end) for the corner pieces.

There are so many things you can do with these dies, not just restrict yourself to making cards, what about a candlestick (Spectacular Spin (L) drip tray ?  (NB please do not leave unattended when burning the candle – always take care with a naked flame or better still remove the tray when burning the candle)

A napkin ring (Floral Burst (M) to use on that table setting with the candlestick?  You could even make a placemat and put one in the corner – imagine them all in red, white and blue for a Jubilee celebration!

I used a sheet of A4 card, the Fleur de Lis border and made a place mat for my Party Setting

I even went and made a badge/rosette (Floral Burst (L) for George, one of the twins (sorry Tom, could not find your photo on my computer) which is what you could do for the kids who are having a party.  Either the child’s name or a number showing their age would be good fun and would fit in those party bags just fine.

There were so many things I wanted to make with these versatile dies – I thought a headband with one, two or three of them on the side would be rather cute, two or three brightly coloured ones on sticks to make some fun flowers.  The ideas are endless.  What can you come up with?

Once I see what the others have made I think I will get back to making more things.  Hope you do too – they are on sale here at Oyster Stamps so get them quickly as the orders will be flying off the shelves in no time.  In the meantime though, you need to follow all the wonderful talented Design Team to see what incredible makes they have all done.  Just leave a comment on every blog and at the end, 6pm Friday, 25th May, all the names of those who have commented (on ALL SIX Blogs) will go into a hat and a winner will be chosen who will receive two of the dies we have been using!

Be sure to peek in at the other DT Members  - tomorrow we are with Linda and then going on to

Sunday - Pam

Monday - Paul

Tuesday - Barbara

And ending with Martine on Wednesday.

Have fun!  And please leave us a comment to tell us what you think of our creations and our first ever blog hop!  Remember, there's going to be a lucky winner.

Links as promised:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vSpPO7o61U&feature=channel&list=UL – * Cindy Etchinaw’s You Tube video

http://www.amazingpapergrace.com/warmed-with-joy/ - Becca’s Amazing Paper Grace Blog

I Should Have Had a Clapper Board

Because this is TAKE NUMBER TEN.

When I decided to finally get around to videoing my birthday cards ("It's easier than scanning them all in" -I thought - doh!) I did not realise that I would eventually end up with "Take Ten".  I could not stop laughing when the ninth one did not take, Chas was so upset for me that he was the one stomping around.

The first one chopped the bottoms off, the second the tops went and this was repeated so many times - until the seventh take; when I had not switched on properly and I only recorded three seconds.  Take Nine ran out of time - so much for videoing!  But, not one to be daunted by set backs I tried TAKE TEN and this is it.  Worms, bugs, and all - you have got it as it is now.  No more tries.

So sit back, enjoy your cuppa and feast your eyes on the lovely hand-made cards I got this year (have included the commercial ones as I don't want people to feel left out).

A Big Thank You to all the lovely friends who sent me a birthday card!  Love you!


Special thanks to my other half who ended up tying his computer up downloading the video to You Tube to begin with - and for his patience with me.


ps - it took two tries to load this up to You Tube before it actually did it.  That was over EIGHT HOURS of loading.  This video was not meant to be - but we beat all the odds in the end.

Steampunk Album

I decided to upload my Steampunk Album via Video as I thought it would be better for you all to see.  Not sure now I have viewed it so may add some photographs.  At least I am talking you through it but a  little annoyed as my head has got on the film and I didn't want to be on at all - not in the state I am in tonight!!!

Anyway, here it is

Think I had better get some photos taken as well and then you can see it better - sorry about that - afraid Chas will not be taking over from David Lean!

Sorry about all that folks - hope you get the picture with both still and movie!

A Peek

First of all, I notice I have some new followers - thanks for visiting me and joining me.  I hope you will find some inspiration here over the next few weeks.

I thought I would let you have a peek at my Get Well Cards received over the past couple of weeks.

Unfortunately it is a bit dark to the front and you cannot see my little bear from Chloe.  I have a little grey bear with a rose in his hand and he is so cute.  This shot shows all my handmade cards and my commercial ones too but for all you handmade card peeps here is a little video presentation of the Handmade ones.

Hope you enjoyed seeing what a bunch of talented friends can produce.  I don't want to take them from out of the window I can tell you.  Wonder how long I can get away with leaving them up?

Thanks for watching!.

A Late Entry for JFF?

I fully intended doing a book for the Just for Fun Triangle Challenge this last week but I fell by the wayside and was nowhere near finished when I had to upload it to the blog for Zoe.

Because I had papers cut and ready I decided I would carry on, little did I know I would end up cutting more and more papers and making the beginnings of more and more of these books.

Here's a little video to show you what these look like and how easy they are to construct.  Before you go any further let me say that I did contact Lynne (Wilkinson aka 'Whacky Wilky') and get her permission before doing this.  What I have done is all down to her teaching skills but I cannot find her instructions anywhere - good job it is only my short term memory that fails me these days.

Just one more thing - the stamp that says "Across the Miles" is by Non Sequitur and not Paperartsy as I say on the video.  Apologies to both companies!

Hope you enjoyed this and will have a go yourself.  Remember it does not matter what the size of the paper is  - wonder if someone will have a go at a 1" x 1" one?  Or a 12" x 12" - as long as it is square it should work.  You will notice a boo boo (or two or three) in the video when I mention the sizes of paper at the end - I say 8 x 12 when in fact it should be 12 x 12 - doh!  I haven't a clue how to put writing over the top of my picture - come on, can just about manage to get a video up.

Birthday Cards at Last

At last I have got around to uploading my birthday cards on my blog.  These are the handmade ones from my friends and there is a huge selection of styles and techniques.  Each one is a beauty in its own right and the video starts with one from Chloe, my friend's little girl, aged 3.  My surrogate grandchild.

Hope you enjoy.

This is my first attempt at doing a video on my blog so apologies for any bloopers, lack of closeups etc etc but hopefully the dynamic duo (Chas and myself) will get better at it as time goes on.  Who knows what you will watch next time!