Last Day.. and Only One More Day!

 

Before I start on today's card duo... important announcements...

Last day to claim your Bonus Days coupon codes that were emailed to you for your eligible July orders...

And only one more day until the new Autumn Winter catalogue is live... yay! So much to excite...

Come back tomorrow for the release of the online pdf version... or email me here if you want a hard copy ... and yours has not yet arrived in the post from me... or if you would like me to be your demonstrator (UK only)!

So back to the card... this is the other card we made at the last Monthly Training... and the Z Fold one was shared yesterday...

A simple little gatefold card using the Merry Music papers (coming tomorrow!) and the Carols of Christmas bundle. Die cut scalloped and plain Layering Circles for the greeting panel...  Gold embossing ... along with Crumb Cake (deer  and cardstock) and Pool Party (snowflakes)... Finished off with the lovely Soft Sky Classic Weave ribbon...

Carols of Christmas & Merry Music papers

Back to Carols of Christmas today... available in clear mount and wood mount...

Remember this set... this is on early release from the Autumn Winter catalogue and available now... just so you can get ahead with your Christmas card making...

So I thought it high time I shared a lovely Z Fold card using the set...

And this also includes another Sneak Peek for you... as the papers are from the Merry Music Speciality papers (available soon... from 1st September)

A few more musical papers being shown in the shot below...  along with some other lovely products that I will introduce you too later!! Can you spot why I am up my Christmas happy street....

This is a project we made at our last Monthly Training using papers Julie had brought back from her Thailand Incentive Trip... so lovely to get to use something before anyone else.

Though I will be in trouble when Julie spots my mistake... she lovingly selected the Deck The Halls music paper for this card... and I stuck it on the wrong way round... oops!

And for those of you need a further quick reminder on this lovely stamp set and dies... here you go...

Foil Frenzy DVD Gift Box

Back to another Foil Frenzy papers & Happy Birthday Gorgeous project...

These papers really do lend themselves to gift packaging and simple fancy fold cards as they are just that more robust... as well as decorative ... and therefore don't need layers to stiffen or fancy everything up!

Great sized box to share today... perfect for fitting a DVD or a photopolymer/clear mount stamp case in!!

This is another project that we made at our last Quarterly Training ... the box decoration being CASED from the catalogue... but Julie's own box design ...

I just changed the greeting on the tag so that it was all shiny too... as it is just cut from another of the Foil Frenzy papers...

Recipe
A4 Card Berry Burst 29.5 x 19cm (Scored 2.5cm on all 4 sides & LANDSCAPE 5cm from each side)
12x12 Foil Frenzy Paper 27.7 x 22.2cm (Scored 2 & 4 cm on all 4 sides)

Floral Sentiments - Subtle Colour on Neutrals...

Just realised I didn't share this card with you when I posted my series of Floral Sentiments cards earlier in the year...

This was a simpler more straightforward version of this one... and I think I decided that I had posted a few cards that looked quite similar... so I resisted to post at the time... and then I forgot! But this was actually one of my favourites of my makes.... clean & simple with just a bit of subtle colour!

Embossing and colouring details here...

Quilted Christmas Suite... coming soon...

Introducing the Quilted Christmas Suite... another Sneak Peek from the up and coming Autumn Winter Catalogue for you... available to order from 1st September... a fabulous suite of products including a set of stamps and dies separately or as a two-part bundle with 10% off...

Lovely set of dies and stamps... including the 8 point star -  that my quilting and "everything-has-to-be-uniform-eyed" friends are going to love!! And not just for Christmas!

Imagine being able to gift something lovely to your friends for Christmas and all year round using your quilting skills and stamp & cut a matching card and tag too...

The dies can be used for cutting your fabric too... though some materials (eg loose felt) will need a piece of paper over the top to help the dies cut more cleanly through the fabric...

And to finish the Suite... a 6" square Quilt Top Embossing Folder , the Quilted Christmas 6" square paper stack in mainly Real Red and Garden Green, gorgeous Stitched Felt Embellishments (trees, stars and holly) and 1/4" Quilted Christmas multi-coloured ribbon too

Click here (or on the picture below) for a video showing you the various elements in the Quilted Christmas Suite... and a project tutorial too! Lovely...

Smitten Mittens coming soon...

Introducing Smitten Mittens... another Sneak Peek from the new Autumn Winter aka Holidays aka Christmas Catalogue for you... available from 1st September... in photopolymer... as a bundle (with 10% off) or as the stamp set or dies separately...

So first a few projects to share... hot off the press...

And here are the dies...

And click here for a video showing these stamps and dies in action...

I think this will be a very popular bundle... Different sizes of mittens for all types and sizes of crafty projects!! And I know the single mitten punch etc from yesteryear was really popular... and that there were lots of people that regretted not buying them when they could... 

Petal Garden & Coffee Cafe Kitchen Table Bench Fold Card

Thought I would give you a break from Christmas and the Navy & White color combination today! 

And a quick share today... but a Fancy Fold for you as it is Fancy Fold Friday after all!  So a Bench Fold Card using both Coffee Cafe and Petal Garden papers ...

More details on the card decoration here... and/or click HERE to go and order the tutorial (s)... though please note there isn't a specific Kitchen Table one...

And a quick update on Joe and the knee op! Long day yesterday... huge bandage!!... but all went OK and he seems to be getting about reasonably OK when needs be... and the medication seems to be keeping the pain manageable so far- which was the bit I was most worried about for him... Plus he seems to be enjoying the shouts of Mum or Dad when he needs something!!!!

The Simplest of Them All... Hearts & Hometown #8

Finishing off the series (as made so far) with the simplest of them all.... definitely one for the glitter and shine lovers!

But before I start...  please think "Get Better Quick" vibes for my son today!! Yes it is finally Knee Op Day... we have had to wait a long time for this cruciate ligament repair! 11 months since it was damaged... Just hope everything has healed and he is walking normally by the time he goes to uni in 4 weeks time... how much nagging will there be about his physio programme....

So back to the card... die cut house panel in Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper... harder to cut through than standard card but worth it! 

I place the die cut face down over the up turned glimmer paper ... roll through twice... then I turn over the paper and the die intact and roll through twice again... as I do find that the turnover does make a big difference to the standard of the cut...

Note that the Glimmer panel is narrower than the Night of Navy panel...

Glimmer panel stuck in place... 

Smoke trails stamped in Whisper White craft ink... 

Greeting white embossed to finish...

Joy to the World... Hearts & Hometown #7

Decided I should keep my makes using the Hearts Come Home and Hometown Greetings dies altogether on the blog after all... so another CAS card for you today...

White emboss resist sleigh & smoke then Night of Navy brayered night sky

Straightforward die cut front white panel with Smoky Slate stamped and hand cut house added... note that the front panel is the same width as my night sky panel...

Night of Navy stamped greeting... oh I do like a large greeting!

Finished off with plenty of Dazzling Diamonds glitter over Tombow glue on the roofs, trees, snowman and horizon...

Simples...

And a little tip for you... the white embossed smoke trail & Santa's sleigh were simply positioned by laying the die cut houses temporarily over the white panel for my night sky, stamping the trail & sleigh in Versamark... then heating to melt. Finished off with plenty of Sponge Brayer action. 

I do find that the Sponge Brayers give me an easier and neater (as less hard lines/streaks)  finish than the old rubber version... though I do have to brayer over more times to build up the depth of colour as in this case... 

WOW! 8 year Blog-A-Versary of The Craft Spa...

Another Anniversary! Must be a week for them....

I really can't believe that I have been scrawling away and sharing my creative soul on this blog for 8 years now... though the first 4 years or so were a bit more ad-hoc!

Hopefully I have brought you all some inspiration, some new ideas, a few tutorials you have used... and a laugh or two... usually at my expense!

And I just want to say a big thank you for your support and encouragement of my crafty endeavours - without you none of this would get written and shared!

Though I will admit to life being very busy at present as the household prepares for my son's cruciate ligament knee operation this week , 7-14 days of crutch mobility... and then university in 4 weeks time... so I will apologise in advance should my daily scheduling not happen quite as you are used to!!

But do bear with me... as once he is gone... I will have more time to spend on creating and sharing! I might even start to do some extra things you wouldn't expect!! Could be a new chapter if all goes to plan...

Tri Fold Hometown Greetings card #6

Remember this Tri Fold card from 2 years ago... Well I had to make another with my new -very favourite- Hometown Greetings houses dies didn't I!! 

Front layer finished off with silver foil behind the church and house to the right... though that was a bit tricker than first envisaged!!

A just Score, Fold, Cut and Go card... tutorial here if you fancy a go... Though I did pop this one onto a Night of Navy card blank I happened to have laying around...

And did I share the Hearts Come Home & Hometown Greetings video with you!? Well just in case I didn't... here you go... click on the pic...

Now I might just have something different for you tomorrow!! Though I do still have more Hearts Come Home projects to come at some point as I had such a good creating session with them!! Think I made 10 designs in total with a few more ready to assemble... 

Simply Coloured Hearts Come Home!! #5

Now this is one of the simpler ones with Hearts Come Home and Hometown Greetings... but one that had my ladies jumping for glee looking at the display from across the room!

Die cut houses border quickly watercoloured with a blender pen and ink... Spot the details...

The Smoky Slate roof on the white house...

The pop of the red doors (by marker direct for those)...

And the texture on the tree... which unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of... but I used short strokes of my blender pen with Garden Green ink to get a layered effect going down the tree... looks quite lifelike!

Popped onto a Night of Navy mat and finished off with a Whisper White smoke trail and a Tombow and Dazzling Diamonds glitter snow line underneath

And an admittance... this card will have to be made again... as I had a major boob... the house on the right was supposed to be the same Smoky Slate as the house on the left ... but
(a) I picked up my Aquapainter by mistake and
(b) I was using the scrap paper that I had been sponging lots of Pear Pizzazz on for my Dino Rama scene...
(c) I didn't realise until just now

So the house ended up as a funny shade of green grey! Good job it really doesn't take very long to make..