Floating on a cloud

Here is one of the little cards that I made at the demo yesterday.
It's very simple to create the cloud background - just use a scrap of paper and some ink.....
I'll do a quick tutorial on it very soon.

Until then, here is the card...

The stamp is one of the new ones from Do Crafts - check them out at your local stockist...
Happy Sunday to you all, I'm off to watch some Surprise, Surprise..... I love that programme, although I always end up in tears.

Nikki x

You are my sunshine...

Do Crafts for a while now have been bringing out lots of soft crafting materials, so there are different types of material etc to go with the ranges they launch.
Now I have used them to make toys and bags etc but this time I wanted to do something different with them, this time I wanted to show all our traditional papercrafters that you can design and create with the material as if it was paper on a lot of projects - the material gives your project a very tactile approach though. I love it!
I had so much fun creating this project last night that I got a bit carried away and didn't go to bed until 2am! But I think it was worth every minute....
Here is the canvas that I created, it's an 8x8...

 And here are some close ups for you to see.......

I love the finished project.... I will take it to my demos for the rest of this loop so that you can see it if you are there.
Have a go at creating something with fabric, I'd love to see what you come up with - and if you use Do Crafts fabrics, make sure you pop on over to their facebook page and share it with them as well.

Whatever you are up to today, have a great day.......
Nikki x

Hot...hot...hot

Like a typical Scot.... this heat is just making me wilt.... I love the rain and would love to see some right now!
It's far to hot for my liking at the moment...
At least when the weather is cold, you can always add an extra layer - there's only so much you can take of before you get arrested! lol
So with all the heat it seems really strange to be demoing Christmas cards...
They did go down very well at the demos over the weekend.
A massive thank you to those of you who came along to see me over the weekend. It's always lovely to see you all.
Here are some of my samples that I wanted to share with you today,

 

 

Tonight I am finishing off making a few pairs of earrings with friendly plastic - I love working with that stuff.... next year I hope to take part in a class or workshop weekend about it to learn even more....
I will share the photos of them when they are finished and with the person that they are for.

Back to work for me..... happy crafting x

Nikki x

It's new loop time....

Over at Do Crafts the new launch and new demo loop has begun.
So all over the UK and Ireland there are designers with heads down coming up with some creative yummyness to share with you at the demos and across blog land.
This loop sees that start of the Christmas launches....... well there are only 173 days to go you know!
There is something for everyone though as this loop also sees the launch of Tilly Daydream - she is an all season kind of a gal so not just for Christmas...
I have been really busy prepping for my two demos this week, make sure you pop in and say hi if you are in the area!
Friday I will be in Inkspot Hamilton - Lyn and I will be demoing there all day (Beckie and Lyn will be demoing on the Saturday too).
Saturday I will be in Millers in Glasgow.
On to the couple of cards I wanted to show you today...

Here is a card using some of the Papermania Christmas in the country range.

 A little close up for you .....

This card uses the Tilly Daydream range

 The little Tilly embellishment is actually from the packaging ...

Today my task is to get everything I want to take into my kit bag - it's an early start tomorrow.....
Hopefully the rain we have today will not be here tomorrow.

Have a great day, whatever you are doing.
Happy crafting
Nikki x

Ahoy there.....

This was a very popular card at my demos in the last loop..

 The little knot on the card is called a sailors knot - it's easy to do when you know how.... so I will get around to doing a tutorial for you if you want one. Just let me know....

Today I am getting creative with the new goody box from Do Crafts - Christmas is a coming!
Have a great crafty day - I hope your weather is better than ours..

Mind you, the rain pouring outside means it's a perfect crafting day inside!
Nikki x

Shades of one

I challenged some ladies last month to get creative with shades of one colour to create a card...... this is what i created to help them get inspired.
I love making these tiny owls - and they are perfect just to pop into an aperture.

 A couple of close ups for you .....

I love this embossing folder, it's a Do Crafts one. In fact everything on the card is Do Crafts..... lol
The layout for this card is so easy to adapt and could be used for any theme....
6 months today until Christmas...... maybe I will make some Christmas cards up using the same layout.

Out and about today and then work tonight - it's the All Stars end of term BBQ.... looking forward to that one.

Have a fab day, whatever you are doing.
Nikki x

My demo desk

I am often asked by people who can't attend demos what my desk looks like at a demo....... (referring to the mess I think! lol).
So I thought I would do you a little blog post on one of my demo desks.
Now each demo is different.... at some you have loads of space and you might even have another table for samples - this is rare though...
Sometimes I have done my demo from a table the size of and A4 piece of paper.... now that one was a challenge.... but I did it!
The table I am showing you today is from the demo that I did in Inkspot in Hamilton a few weeks ago...

This was a card making demo that included some bead work and some pc demos too - it's amazing how much you can pack into 2 days of demos....
Here are a couple of close ups of a few of the projects....

What creative things have you been up to over the past few days?
I am working on some more tutorials at the moment that will hopefully be ready to share with you all very soon.
I'm off to Do Crafts land in the morning...... I might even try and do a blog post on my travels......
Back soon.....

Nikki x

More for the boys

Well the rain certainly has fallen over the past 24 hours - sunbathing weather one day the next downpour.... It's just weird weather here at the moment..... perfect days for crafting though!
Here are the cards that I wanted to share with you today...

The first one is using the capsule collection from Do Crafts - spots and stripes, brights.
I have used some of the papers, ribbons and large buttons.
I put some coffee packets in the pocket as I was staying in a hotel and thought they worked quite well. But you could use the pocket for a girft card, voucher or cheque if you want to.

The second card uses some of the Do Crafts 'Home to nest' range.
I love the colour palate of this range - soft colours that are perfect for the male cards we can all struggle with but also great for the very popular vintage style.

As you can see here it goes really well with kraft card too.

Today is the WAY picnic (Widowed and Young) and the weather has not been kind, so we are moving it indoors - never let it be said that a bit of rain keeps our spirit down!
Have a great day, whatever you are doing.

Happy crafting
Nikki x

Ahoy there!

This has been such a popular range from Do Crafts - people at my demos are loving it for those male cards where people can get stuck.....
Here are a few of the cards I made with it...

It's a great range to be able to give a modern look or vintage look to.
I will make some more this week, as I have a demo in Kelso to prep for and I'll share them with you as soon as I can.

Off to clear my desk and have a tidy up as I promise a few people I would do a blog post all about where I craft...... the deal is though, if I show you mine then you have to show me yours!

Have a fab day.
Happy crafting
Nikki x

Lazy like Sunday mornings...

Hmm...... it's nice to have a morning where you can snuggle up in a warm bed and lie for just a little bit, listening to the world outside and not having to jump up right away because there are a million things you should be doing....
Well there are a million things I could be doing, but today...... today they can just wait a while....

Here are the cards that I wanted to show you today.
These are some more from my demo box, so if you happened to be out and about at demos with me over the last two months - here, as promised, are the pics.....

This first one is from the Gorjuss range.... nice and simple done in black and white. This was my take on one from the magazine. It's a great card to do in just a few minutes, so perfect for any birthday you might have forgotten. It;s also great if you are new to stamping and a bit worried about colouring in.

The little Forever Friends bears have been popular this loop too. I think I love the almost hand drawn look that they have, it's very soft.
You can see how much sparkle you get from out adhesive stones..... look at the blur it caused! (I must get around to using the photo tent I now have!)

This card was very popular for those customers who are looking for a design for a mans card. I used the little building die from the All aboard kinetic die - there really are a lot of little dies in that set!
Layered them onto some orange card and then added the string bow detail before fixing it into position on the card.... simples....

Of to get creative now...... be back soon x

Nikki x

Blue skies

Wow - the sun is out and there is a lovely blue sky here at the moment.
Don't you think it's great when the sun comes out - it fills you with energy and makes everything seem better.
Here are the cards that I wanted to show you today,
The first one uses the plane die from the kinetic set in the All Aboard range. There is also a couple of cloud dies in the set, so I used them too. The background has been put on with some 3d foam pads to give extra shadow to the clouds.

 I think this stamp is one of my favourite from the Gorjuss range. She is coloured in with water colour pencils. The writing detail on the paperchain is there when you stamp it - very cool! It's a great detail that has been very popular with people put and about at my demos.

 This little chap is the owl stamp from Papermania. He's an urban stamp.
I have to admit, even though I love owls, this little chap took some getting used to for me. I think it's because of the bits around his eyes........ He was well loved at the demos though..... did you buy him? If you did let me know - send me a link to your project and I'll pop on over and visit.

Today I have to finish a couple of cards this morning and then it's off to work for me. An extra shift....... lol
Back tomorrow with some more cards to show you though, till then,

Happy crafting
Nikki x

2 days in a row....

well that's the beauty of being able to schedule the post really...... so as you read this... I wrote it yesterday! lol
Hopefully the wind will have died down and the sun will be out... lol
Here are the cards that I wanted to share with you today, more from the last loop of demos that I have just finished.
The first one I used the All Abroad stamp then I triple embossed it.
I put an x on it to mark the treasure spot..

 This card is a kinetic card as both the plane and ship move around the globe.
I used the new kinetic die for this one - it's very easy to use and will go through any die cutting machine.

 I created this card as a means to getting rid of all my scraps that I had left over - this one was popular at the demos as anyone at any stage in their crafting journey can do it..... simples!

 Again, using all my scraps and a circle punch, it's the new Forever Friends range..

This weekend I get to colour in! I do love to colour in...
I have been sent some wonderful digi images to work with - watch this space to see what I create....
I love it when people give you some amazing products to work with..

Be back soon x
Nikki

Back again...

How is it that you turn around and another week has just disappeared!
Time just seems to run away from me these days....
Today, I wanted to show you some of my dmeo samples from the last loop...... I will schedule a post for tomorrow too with some more...
I have lots I want to show you so will put them up over the next week - that will keep the posts shorter than a library! lol
The first one is made using the Gorjuss range.... the flowers are created using the Forever Friends papers.

 This one is made using the craft tape onto a square of white card. This has then been put onto the card blank with 3d foam pads to give it some more height.
It's a simple card but it was very popular at the demos - great for that oops I forgot a card for??? and I need one now...

 This one is using the butterfly stamp. Again a simple but very popular card.

 The papers here are Forever Friends, then there is the fabby bird stamp (I can see me using this time and time again!). The bird cage is an x-cut die that is in the die range.

I've unpacked my kit and have a week of catching up with some orders - today the task is to get creative with some jewellery.

Happy crafting xxx
Nikki x

Tick tick tick...

Time just seems to be flying in this year.
Today I have spent quite a lot of time making a special card that I needed for this weekend - I can't share it with you yet, but as soon as I can, then I will! lol (look out for my post on Sunday).
For the crafty makes today, I wanted to share with you some more of my demo cards from the last loop -

All 3 of these cards have been created using some of the dies that Do Crafts have brought to you - i have a fantastic collection of these building now.
(and just wait til you see the ones that they have heading your way over the next year!!!!)....
I will be showing you some more projects with the build a scene dies over the next week or so.... I love all the things you can do with them.....
If you have created any projects with them, leave me a link in the comments section - I would love to see what you have created.

Be back soon with some more projects to show you...

Nikki x

Birthday scraps

Hi everyone...
I had a wonderful demo this weekend at Letham Crafts, I always love to visit their shop.
It's an amazing Aladdins cave full to the rafters with all the crafty goodness that you could imagine.
Here are a couple of cards I made using up some scraps of paper.... I really like these cards and think I will make some more with my scraps....

Are you on Facebook? If you are I have a page - you can find it over here.....
I'd love it if you stopped by and said hello!

I'm off to put away some more of my kit... not long now until the new one arrives..... exciting times...
I love when this next kit arrives - it normally comes on my birthday, so is just like getting an extra prezzie!

Back soon with some more to show you,

Till then, happy crafting...
Nikki x