That's Life

Bright and Beautiful

2012-01-27T17:39:00.000Z

It's been another busy week but it's been fun and what I love about all the creations that I'm making at the moment, is the diversity of the challenges that are set before me...one day, I'll be in my element getting inky with all of Lord Timmie's gorgeous products, the next I'll be working with fabulous stamps from wonderful companies and then, I get to play with gorgeous, quality papers and products from my favourite companies, Kaisercraft and of course, Craftwork Cards. It's a hard life but someone has to do it... lol!!!

As you all know, I've been playing with lots of Craftwork Cards products lately, as I was lucky enough to be asked to make samples for the recent shows on QVC, be a part of their recent TSV and last but not least make some samples for CHA, which I will show you all next week. But today, I'm sharing some more of the cards from the QVC shows, using the Sweet Meadow kit and I thought these were the perfect pretty "springlike" cards to cheer up the dull days that we're having at the moment.

I hope you liked today's share and thanks for stopping by to take a look at what I've made...I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, whatever you're up to. I'll be around later tonight, whilst watching the Big Brother Final, to see all your lovely creations.

Bye for now!

Love Emma xxx

Vintage Blooms

2012-01-25T17:07:00.000Z

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Another quickie post from me today...lots of things to do and so little time! In fact, just think of headless chickens and you'll know what life at Chez Williams' is like, at the moment! LOL.

Anyway, whilst I try and find some calm amongst the storm...I thought I'd show you another couple of the samples that I made for the Craftwork Cards, QVC shows using the fab Shabby Vintage collection of products. I hope you like them...

Time for me to fly and head back to the pile of paper, inks and die cuts that I seem to be disappearing under!

I'll be around to see all your blogs later tonight and thanks for popping by to see my latest post.

See you soon and bye for now!

Love Emma xxx

Stars and Stripes

2012-01-23T17:53:00.001Z

Have you ever had one of those days, where you work on something all day long, only to think at the end of it, 'why didn't I scrap this at 11:00 this morning instead of persevering?'. Saturday was exactly like that for me...I worked on a project for a whole day, knowing that there was something not quite right and getting more and more frustrated by the minute, "trying" to get it right. In the end, I finally decided to give up but was so frustrated to have lost a whole day!! So today, I came back to the drawing board and managed to start again and finish the whole project in two hours!!! It's funny how things work out, isn't it?!?

Anyway, enough about my tales of crafting woe and time to share my post for today...I hope you like it.

This card was a card that I made for one of the Craftwork Cards shows on QVC, last week. I had some beautiful papers left over from the Shabby Vintage kit, featuring maps of the USA and lots of Stars and Stripes Candi ~ so, there was only one thing that came to mind and here it is...

It wasn't the easiest of cards to photograph but I had a really good try, as I wanted to capture all the detail.

Everything that you see on this card is available from Craftwork Cards and QVC.

So, that's the first of the cards and I'll be back with plenty more during the week.

Before I head off into kitchen to cook dinner, I just wanted to say a big thank you to the very lovely, Zoe who left this award for me on her blog. I was over the moon with it and felt very humbled by her extremely kind words about my work.

Okey dokey, time for me to go...thanks for popping by to look at my little creation of the day and I will be round to take a peek at all your lovely works of art, later tonight when I get to sit down with a cuppa!

See you soon and bye for now!

Love Emma xxx

Wishes

2012-01-21T10:37:00.001Z

I really don't know where this week has gone but it's definitely flown...as always, and I'm sure that I'm starting to sound like a broken record by now but I've been very busy. On top of all that, I've also got the added problems of my re-occuring shoulder injury, which has decided to come to plague me just when I need it least and a serious case of internet gremlins. I've been in touch with my ISP and after a lengthy phone conversation, I came away with absolutely 'ziltch' and I STILL have huge sections of my day, without a connection...grrr!!!!!

Anyway, time away from the internet is time well spent because it means I can create, and yep, I've done that with a vengeance. I've been lucky enough to be asked to make lots of lovely things for CHA, then there's the magazine projects and last but not least, I've been working with some gorgeous new products from QVC...the only problem is, I can't show anyone yet but as soon as I can, I will.

In the meantime, and in true Blue Peter style...here's one I made earlier, I hope you like it!! :)

This card was made for QVC and it was made using Glossy Accents, which I love!! This product has to be one of the most useful things in my crafy stash, there's just so much you can do with it...definitely, a dessert island fave!!

Okey dokey, time for me to fly...I'll be around later to visit all your blogs and see what you've been up to. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I will see you all next week.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Love Emma xxx

Nothing Is Impossible

2012-01-19T21:46:00.001Z

A bit of a late post for me tonight but I've been run off my feet all day and as I sit down to watch Masterchef, I thought I'd just pop on to say hello and to thank everyone for all their support for Craftwork Cards and their recent TSV on QVC. Julie, Sue and the Craftwork Cards team did us all proud and the TSV itself was something that I was so honoured to be a part of...I was over the moon to be asked and it was so hard keeping the secret but I hope that you all enjoy the Recipe Cards Binder and all the "recipes" that Julie, myself and all the other wonderful designers created for you!

Before I go, I just want to let you all know that it's already time for a new challenge over at Sarah Hurley's Challenge Blog and this fortnight's challenge is:

ALL ABOUT ME!

If you head on over to the blog, then you can get all the details and see what fabulous creations the DT have come up with.

..and this is my creation...I hope you like it!!

This scrapbook layout is all about my favourite actress, Audrey Hepburn and one of her famous quotes and a few words that I live by...

"Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'!"

The decorative paper is from Sarah's Wonderland CD and I added some of my handmade paper blossoms.

Okey dokey, time to watch the end of Masterchef, with a nice cup of tea.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your evening and see you soon!

Love Emma

xxx

Shimmer

2012-01-18T00:01:00.003Z

Hi everyone!!

It's time for my share over at The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog and here's a little peek at what you'll see if you head on over there!!

Don't forget that there's still a huge 15% off Perfect Pearls Mists at The Artistic Stamper and it's definitely an offer that shouldn't be missed because these mists are just gorgeous!!!

Hope you like what I've made and I can't wait to hear what your comments!!

See you soon.

Love Emma xxx

Give Thanks

2012-01-16T17:52:00.001Z

It's a very quick hello from me today but I wanted to let you all know, that tonight is the night that all Craftwork Cards fans have been waiting for...

Yes, the time has finally arrived and when the clock strikes midnight and a new day dawns, there will be a new TSV on QVC and it's one that you won't want to miss!! So please, tune in to all the shows throughout tomorrow and cheer on the lovely and very talented, Julie Hickey who will be demonstrating lots of new and exciting items...and if you look very closely, there might even be one or two of my cards somewhere along the line!!!

In the meantime, here's some cards that I made for QVC, using a gorgeous Teresa Collins set of papers and die cuts. This set is in clearance but if you're really quick there might be some left.

Okey dokey, I'm off to cook some dinner, then it's back to the craft room!!

I'll be around to have a look at your blogs later but hope you all have a lovely evening.

Bye for now and see you soon!

Love Emma xxx

Midnight at the Oasis

2012-01-13T18:13:00.000Z

Well, it's the end of a very busy week but I managed to finish everything I set out to do and now, I can't wait for the clock to strike midnight, on Monday and for a new day and a new TSV, to start over at QVC!!! My lips are sealed until then but I'm sure it will be worth the wait for you all...

In the meantime, I thought you might like to see another card that I made for the recent Clarity Stamp shows, last weekend!!

I hope you like it....

I just loved the perspective trees and the silhouette of the lady dipping her toes into the water and I really hope I've done the lovely designs the justice they deserved!! The gorgeous shaped card blank is from Craftwork Cards.

The following cards also appeared on the shows but I made these samples quite a while ago, some of you might remember them but for all my newer followers out there...enjoy!!!

Well, that's about it for me for today...I have a craft room full of new stash that has just arrived and needs to be found a home!!

I'll be around to visit all your blogs, later this evening.

Bye for now!

Love Emma

xxx

Carnival

2012-01-11T16:10:00.000Z

Well, the last few days have been very, VERY busy...but then again, when isn't it in the life of Emma?? lol. At the moment, I'm having a race against time to get some exciting projects finished by the end of the week and you will be able to see what I've been up to, on QVC next week!! Stay tuned for programme times and more information...

I'm also now able to unveil my other big news...*drumroll*...as some of you are probably aware, the lovely Hels Sheridan recently left The Artistic Stamper Creative Team. Hels has been the Creative Team Co-Ordinator over on the blog for quite a while and has done an absolutely fabulous job and when Hels left, I was thrilled to be asked by Jennie to take on this position and I want to say a HUGE thank you to Jennie for trusting me to take over and I really hope I will do both her, and the wonderful girls on the team, all the credit they deserve! If you can, I hope you will all join us for the monthly challenges and as I learn the ropes, give me some moral support!! :)

So, last but never least...*counts to ten and breathes*....

...here's my card share for today ~ I hope you like it!!!

This was another card that I made for the Clarity shows, from last weekend and used the smaller of the masks from the stamp set, together with the harlequin pattern stamp. The embossed background is created using the most gorgeous embossing folder from Couture Creations and I have a feeling that this will be featuring in a lot of my cards, over the coming weeks.

So, that's about it for me for today...I will be around later to visit all your blogs and see all your fabulous work...I'm just a little slower these days. LOL!!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look at what I've made...I really do appreciate all the love and support that you continually show.

See you soon.

Love Emma xxx

The Masked Ball

2012-01-09T14:16:00.000Z

As many of you already know, Barbara was back on our screens yesterday with the most stunning range of stamps and some of you have already seen my samples and left me some lovely comments...which made my day but as always, after the shows, I'm going to post all the cards I made and show you lots of close up photos, so you can see all the detail!!

So, here's the first of those posts and I have to admit, I just LOVE this stamp...it's just SO me!!! I adore the whole theme of masquerade balls, mardi gras and carnival, so I had a lot of fun bringing these stamps to life and I hope you like what I've made!!

The stamp was coloured with a combination of alcohol pens, metallic markers and Kuretake's gorgeous Wink of Stella pens. I added small adhesive pearls onto the image and then, everything else that I used on this card, is available from Clarity Stamp.

Right, time for me to fly, as it's going to be a busy week for me and I've got lots and LOTS of things to do!!!

I'll be around to visit all your blogs, asap...probably when I sit down with a cuppa tonight.

Thank you for stopping by to take a look and for taking the time to leave all your lovely comments.

See you soon and bye for now!

Love Emma xxx

Off With Her head

2012-01-08T00:01:00.013Z

Hi everyone!!

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend.

It's that time of the month again for my latest post over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog and this is just a little sneaky peek of what you will find if you head on over there and if you love Alice In Wonderland, you will adore the stamp that I used on my project.

On this little creation, I wanted to create the scene where the Queen was spraying the roses and I hope I've captured that in my piece!! :)

Bye for now and see you tomorrow with some Clarity Stamp shares that I made for Barbara's shows that will be on Create and Craft, this morning.

Love Emma

xxx

Vintage Sew

2012-01-06T11:49:00.000Z

My second post of the day...now, this is a first!! :)

I was going to post yesterday but unfortunately the atrocious weather caused me major problems ~ phone lines, electricity and internet problems all contributed to making things just a little tricky but I survived the horrendous winds, which to be honest were quite scary at times and hopefully, everyone is safe and the worst is over.

Before I share today's post, I just wanted to say a big hello to my new followers...*waves*!! I'm so happy to see new faces and hope you enjoy the ride, that is my life!! lol.

I also wanted to say thank you for all the lovely comments that you left on my last post. You all have the knack of making me smile wide and Katina, if I do get that call from Lord Holtz...are you still up for the position of my PA??? LOL!!!

Okey dokey...back to my post and another card that I made for Kuretake to launch their new Kuretake Online shop. I hope you like it....

Once again, this project was all about the gorgeous Basically Bare products and I used one of the canvas hearts from Basically Bare, together with the sewing machine from the Vintage Sew Embellishment set. I painted the chipboard with Eco Green Acrylic paint, then distressed the edges to give a real vintage feel to the card. The buttons are also from Basically Bare, painted and covered with Glossy Accents.

I used Art and Twin Graphic Pens to colour the Tim Holtz stamped image and ribbons and fibres from Kuretake to complete the card.

Right, time for a cuppa before I start the work, work and MORE work!!

I'll be visiting all your blogs later to catch up on what you've been up to!!

Bye for now!

Love Emma

xxx

Sarah Hurley Challenge ~ Giving Thanks

2012-01-06T11:48:00.000Z

Hi everyone!!

Just to let you all know that it's that time already ... it's time for a new challenge over on the Sarah Hurley Challenge Blog and this fortnight, it's all about:

GIVING THANKS / THANK YOU

If you click HERE you will see all the fab creations and lots of wonderful inspiration from the rest of the DT, including this card that I made, using some of the gorgeous papers from Sarah's Tinseltown cd, together with some Tim Holtz dies. I hope you like it!!

I really hope you can join in with the challenge and we can't wait to see what you make!

Sarah also has some very exciting news to share with you all and if you missed her announcement, you can read all about it HERE!!

Bye for now!

Love Emma

xxx

Always Follow Your Heart

2012-01-04T14:46:00.000Z

Is it me, or is time flying again?? I can't believe how quickly the holidays disappeared, I only blinked and it was over but it's now time for a new year and even though my crafty mojo seems to think it's still on holiday, I have begun working on new projects and, I have also got something a little bit exciting in the pipeline!! More about that very soon...

But in the meantime, whilst I'm working on lots of new exciting things, I thought that over the next few days I'd show you a few of my projects that I made at the end of 2011. Starting with this one... I hope you like it!

Some of you might have seen the adverts in some of the crafting mags advertising Kuretake's new online shop and as part of their DT, I was lucky enough to get to work with some fab goodies from Basically Bare, together with all the gorgeous inky products from Kuretake themselves. This card is one of those featured in the adverts and uses a few of the items from Basically Bare.

I used Kuretake's Alcohol Ink on the acrylic buttons and the Art and Graphic Twin pens on the background die cut. I also inked up a my Tim Holtz and Andy Skinner stamps with them and then stamped directly onto card.

Thanks for taking the time to pop over to my blog and take a look and, thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post ~ they were all appreciated.

I'll be around to visit all your blogs later today, when I get to finally sit down with a cuppa.

Bye for now and see you tomorrow!

Love Emma

xxx

The Artistic Stamper Challenge ~ Vintage

2012-01-01T11:22:00.000Z

Happy New Year!!!

I can't believe how the last week has flown but I had a wonderful Christmas, eaten WAY too much, gained what feels like a stone in weight and last night we welcomed in another year that I hope will bring health and happiness to us all!!

I also have to admit that I did sneak into the craft room...I know, I know...I said it was going to be a rest over the holidays but I had some new toys to play with and my new Timmie dies and Grand Calibur kept calling my name!!!

I also found a little bit of time to make this for the new challenge over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog and this month is a fab challenge and it's all about:

VINTAGE

I really hope you like the piece that I've made using some fab stamps and dies from The Artistic Stamper. Also this month, there is massive sale at the store and there's also 15% off all Perfect Pearls Mists. So, if you're looking for some new goodies to add to your crafty stash, then now's the time to do it!

Also, should you need any more inspiration to get involved in this month's challenge, then there's plenty of gorgeous designs and artwork from the whole team over on the blog.

Well, I'd better go...there's tidying up to be done and more chocolate to eat!! I'll be the size of a house by the time I've worked my way through it all but between you and me, I'm not complaining! lol.

I'll be around to see all your blogs, asap and once again, thank you for all your support throughout 2011...here's to a wonderful creative 2012!!!!!

See you soon and bye for now!

Love Emma xxx

Sneaky Peek

2011-12-29T00:01:00.016Z

Hi everyone!

Just popping by to let you all know that it's my turn over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog and here's a sneaky peek of my last post of 2011! If you click HERE you can see lots more of my project and find out how I made it!!

I hope you like it, just as much as I loved making it!

Don't forget that right up until the end of December, you'll be able to get a FREE stamp with every order that you place at The Artistic Stamper.

Bye for now and thanks for popping by to see my latest creation!

Love Emma xxx

Colours of the Rainbow

2011-12-28T10:35:00.000Z

Just a quick post from me today because I wanted to let you all know that there is a fab Today's Special Value, over on QVC today ~ 100 sheets of Bazzill Basics 12" x 12" Cardstock ~ but you'll have to be quick, as it's selling fast.

There is so much that you will NEED this card for and here are some of my projects that I made using this quality cardstock.

A couple of scrapbooking pages, made from a background of the cardstock, which you can use with your dies and punches.

A little mini book of "Creative Thoughts", made up with the cardstock and papers. I then stamped some of my favourite Tim Holtz quotes and added some embellishments.

A few cards using the cardstock, together with some gorgeous Prima stamps. I used the cardstock as a base card blank, and also for matting and layering.

So, that's about it from me for today and I really hope you like the projects I've made. I'm off to watch, and spot some more of my card projects throughout the day.

Hope you all have a fabulous Wednesday!!

Bye for now.

Love Emma

xxx

My Favourites...

2011-12-27T15:21:00.002Z

Hi everyone!!

Hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas and I hope that Santa was good to you all and bought you exactly what you wanted. I was a very lucky girl and found a Grand Calibur, my favourite Tom Ford perfume, a Butler and Wilson bracelet, gorgeous art books and copious amounts of yummy chocolate in my stocking.

At the moment, I'm having a little rest before the onslaught of the next batch of cardmaking, eating way too much food and just enjoying the festive season but I thought I'd just pop on to say hello to you all and as always at this time of year, share my favourite cards that I've made throughout the year. I hope you enjoy my little review of the year and agree with the cards and projects that I've chosen!!

So, here we go....

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

As I've looked back over the year, I can't believe how many cards I've made and what I've achieved in 2011...it's definitely been a rollercoaster and I've got so many good memories. The highlights of the year, have been the wonderful DT's that I've been lucky enough to be asked to join, working alongside some of the most fabulous card designers and of course, seeing the fruition of all that hard work as it's appeared on TV and in the magazines!!

A sample I made for a Clarity Stamp live show on German TV.

Just a couple of the many, MANY cards I've made getting an airing on QVC with the lovely Amy and Charlie.

A few more cards for QVC ~ item 591282

And finally, I was over the moon to see my card project make the cover of the Christmas issue of Making Cards Magazine.

So, that's it from me for today...thank you for all your Christmas messages.

I will try and get around to visiting all your blogs tonight!

See you soon.

Love Emma

xxx

Christmas Countdown ~ Day Six ~ Happy Christmas!!

2011-12-24T09:00:00.028Z

Well, it's finally here! There were moments that I didn't think I would ever get ready on time but I have and I even managed to blog every day this week!! *phew*

...and here's my final post of my mini Christmas countdown ~ a very special Christmas card to all my friends and followers of this blog, to say...

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!

All the stamps are from Clarity Stamp, the background created with Distress Ink and the stunning images coloured with Promarkers.

So, as I sign off for Christmas and a little rest, all that's left for me to say is...

Thank you to everyone who has left such lovely comments here on the blog, watched my samples as they've appeared on TV and supported me, and my work throughout 2011 ~ I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and a very, very happy 2012!!!

Enjoy every minute of the holiday season and see you very soon!!!

Lots of Love, Emma xxx

Christmas Countdown ~ Day Five

2011-12-23T09:00:00.046Z

Phew, this week is flying and I can't believe that this is already my penultimate post of my mini Christmas countdown!! Yay, I actually made it - lol!!! I didn't know I was so organized... hee hee!!!

This set of cards was another one that I made for Making Cards and was the set that gave me my first main magazine cover which I was absolutely over the moon about.

The set features Craftwork Cards', Warren and Friends and for these I wanted to try and create lots of different card shapes. So, there's some fab card blanks from the Which Craft? Be Creativ range, together with lots of scoring, folding and a easel card where you can write a hidden message. I also want to say a big thank you to Sue, Julie and the rest of the team at Craftwork Cards for all your support throughout 2011!!

I'm off to do some last minute bits and pieces for Christmas but thanks for stopping by at this really busy time of year to see what I've been up to!!!

See you tomorrow for my final share and something special for all my followers and friends!!

Bye for now!

Love Emma xxx

Blue Christmas Countdown ~ Day Four

2011-12-22T09:00:00.005Z

Ooo, I'm getting excited now...Christmas is only days away and I love this time of year!! The bustling shops, the Christmas songs and all the wonderful smells of Christmas food being cooked and wafting through the house.

I'm still keeping to my promise of my Christmas countdown all this week, which was adventurous but hey ho, I never make life easy on myself!!! LOL.

So, time for day four and today's post...I hope you like it!

This card was just one of the many samples that I've made since I joined the team at QVC and was made using the Ranger Core'dinations Distress Pad. I added some more Tim Holtz products to complete the card and as the finishing touch, added a huge floral, die cut from music paper and some seam binding.

Hope you all have a lovely day and I'll be round to visit all your blogs, later!!

Time to head to the kitchen and do some more baking!!

See you tomorrow and thanks for popping by to take a look at what I've made!

Love Emma xxx

Christmas Countdown ~ Day Three

2011-12-21T09:00:00.031Z

Well, it's already day three of my countdown to Christmas and today's share is all about a Winter Wonderland! I adored the colours and images in this set, I thought they were really retro in their feel and I hope you like them too...

Some of you might have seen this set of cards, as they were featured in Making Cards Magazine in November but I thought it would be nice to show you them here, and show all the details that sometimes you can't see in the magazine.

The papers and chipboard shapes are from My Mind's Eye and I also used Spellbinders dies throughout the set. This stepper card was definitely a feat of engineering...it took me ages to get the balance right, so that it didn't all topple over and look as if I had a drunken reindeer in my wonderland!!!!

So, day three is done and dusted and now for the rest of my day ~ I'm thinking it might be a visit to M&S to buy some delicious food treats for Christmas!! Am I dreading it??? Just a little...lol!!!

Hope you're all having a wonderful week and that you're slowly getting through those "to-do" lists!

Thank you for your continued support and for leaving comments at this busy time of year ~ see you tomorrow for day 4!!

Love Emma xxx

Christmas Countdown ~ Day Two

2011-12-20T09:00:00.040Z

Good morning!

Well, it's already day two of my Christmas countdown and another busy day ahead at Chez Williams'!! Yesterday, I managed to get some cooking done, the presents wrapped and "tried" to tidy the craft room. The latter might be a losing battle to get done before Christmas though, as it kinda resembles something that a bomb has hit!! *sigh*

Oh well, what's not done...can have the door firmly shut on it!!!!!

In the meantime, here's todays share and I hope you like them...

This set of Gorjuss cards were made and featured in the December issue of Making Cards Magazine. The first features my "shadow box frame card" and I used My Mind's Eye Christmas papers throughout. I used Promarkers to colour the images and all the seam binding is from The Ribbon Girl.

Right, time for me to go, muster up some strength and do some cleaning!!

See you tomorrow with day 3!!

Love Emma xxx

Christmas Countdown ~ Day One

2011-12-19T08:30:00.064Z

Morning everyone!!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!!

Well, here we are...the final countdown, only six days to go until Christmas Day!! My preparation is slowly coming together and after finishing a big magazine project at the weekend, I can now finally relax and think...IT"S CHRISTMAS!!

This week, my adventurous plan is to post every day and have a little Christmas countdown here on the blog!! Lol, hmm, I know...I really don't make life easy for myself and I know that this is a busy time for everyone but I hope you'll be able to pop along to see all my Christmas makes and samples that have been keeping me so busy over the last few months...

...and here's my first share and my favourite ~ I made this over the weekend and I really hope you like it!!

I'd just like to say a big thank you, to the lovely Paula at Which Craft? for these fabulous crackers...as soon as they landed on my doorstep, I was so excited by them because they were something really different to work with and it was so nice to be able to spend a couple of hours doing something for myself, something that was totally ~ me!!!

Once again, and as you can probably see ~ there's a lot of Tim Holtz products going on here, grungepaper, die cuts, tissue tape, etc....etc....etc!! I must admit to get that deer standing proud, all on his own free will, was a real patience tester but it was so worth it in the end!! The designer papers are from My Mind's Eye and the decorative pin, from The Ribbon Girl.

So, that's the first of my Christmas countdown posts...and if all goes to plan, I'll be back tomorrow with another one!

Hope you all have a lovely week.

Bye for now.

Love Emma xxx

Entered in the following challenges:

Charisma Cardz Challenges ~ Last Min Xmas Makes

Snow is Falling...

2011-12-18T00:01:00.002Z

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend.

It's that time again, for me to share my latest creation over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog and don't forget that right up until the end of this month, with every order you make at The Artistic Stamper, you will receive a free stamp!!!

So, if you'd like to see more of my creation in detail, then pop on over to the blog and you will be able to see lots of photos, together with all the details of how I made it!!

Bye for now!

Love Emma

xxx

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

2011-12-15T17:43:00.002Z

Well, it's Thursday already and I'm not sure who it is that keeps stealing time but I really wish they wouldn't...I need all the minutes I can get, at the moment!! lol.

I hope that everyone is well and that you're now making some sort of headway in your Christmas preparations!! I'm managing to slowly work through the "to-do" list but unfortunately, due to my crazy work schedule, there was one thing that I didn't manage to do and that was to make my own Christmas cards. I just want to apologise now to everyone who might have been expecting something handmade ~ I did try but time was never on my side...so, next year, I'm starting in January!! lol.

However, I did manage to make one card...a special card for my parents and this is it...I hope you like it!!

As you can all see, there's lots of Tim Holtz goodies been used to make this...the Kraft Resist Paper Stack, Tattered Florals die, Tattered Pine Cones die, Winter Wonder die, stamps, Texture Fades, Movers and Shapers, Rock Candy Distress Stickles...*takes a breath*...oh my, the list goes on but as you all know by now, I do love my Timmie products and seeing as I wasn't able to join in with the 12 Tags of Christmas this year, I thought I'd see how many products I can cram onto one card instead!! heehee...

In fact, I think the only products that aren't Tim Holtz, are the beautiful red fibres that I used on the snowman's scarf, which are from Kuretake and some adhesive pearls, to highlight the centres of the snowflake.

So, that's it from me for today...I hope you all have the most wonderful evening and I'll be around later to see all your blogs!!

Bye for now!

Love Emma

xxx

Entered in the following challenges:

Joanna Sheen ~ Christmas Wishes

Sarah Hurley Challenge 56

2011-12-15T17:30:00.003Z

Hi everyone!!

Just to let you all know that it's already time for a new challenge to start over on the Sarah Hurley Challenge Blog and the theme for this fortnight is all about...

COLOURING!!

There's a great prize up for grabs and we're very lucky to be sponsored by LIMITED RUNS DIGIS.

The challenge is open until midnight, January 1st and if you want to join in then all the details are here and if you're looking for any inspiration, then you can check out all the DT's fabulous creations whilst you're there, including my make featuring one of the lovely snowman images.

Hope you can join us and we're all looking forward to seeing your makes.

See you soon.

Love Emma

xxx

Santa's Key

2011-12-13T14:11:00.000Z

Hello everyone!

Hope you've all survived the atrocious weather that we had last night. The rain poured through our solid wood front door. Not sure where it was all coming from as we couldn't find any cracks, etc., that it could leak through but all night we were putting down towels to mop up the pools of water that kept gathering. Other than that, we're all safe, just have to give the battered wreath, that was in pride of place on the door, a little makeover!!

Some of you might have seen that Kuretake are holding an advent countdown over on their blog and every day, there has been a fab tutorial from one of the DT and today, it's my turn. Here's what I made, using lots of Kuretake products, together with some Basically Bare items. If you click HERE, then you can see full details of how I made it and what I used!!

I hope you enjoyed this little creation...I thought it was a little bit of fun and if you haven't got a chimney, then Santa needs some way of delivering those presents!! lol.

Before I go, in my last post, I mentioned that I had the BEST recipe for Cranberry Sauce and there were some requests for the recipe...so, especially for you ~ here it is!! If you do make it, I'd love to know what you think of it...you will have to drop me a line to let me know!! :)

Spiced Cranberry Sauce with Port and Orange

350g fresh cranberries

225g sugar

150ml orange juice

finely grated rind of 1 orange

75ml water

45ml port

1 cinnamon stick

Serves 6-8

Place all the ingredients in a pan over moderate heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick and serve.

Can be served hot or made in advance and served chilled.

Well, time for me to get back to work...I think I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel ~ JUST!
haha!!

Thanks for popping in to see what I've been making and taking the time to leave a comment!
Bye for now!
Love Emma
xxx

By The Light Of The Silvery Moon...

2011-12-11T18:32:00.000Z

Another weekend gone and that means, only one more weekend 'til Christmas...eek!!!!!!!!!

Well, it's been another busy one for me, but I did achieve a few things...I managed to get my hair cut and restyled and I actually made the cranberry sauce ready for Christmas dinner. If anyone needs a wonderful cranberry sauce recipe, then let me know...in my opinion, I have the best!!

Other than that, I've been trying to locate my missing mojo, which I am in desperate need of, as I'm in the middle of a HUGE project with a deadline of yesterday...if you see it having fun at a Christmas party, tell it to come back ASAP!!! lol....

Anyway, here is the final card from my Clarity shares...I hope you like it!!

Hope you all have a lovely, relaxing evening and for those who are watching ~ enjoy The X-Factor final!! Keeping my fingers crossed for Marcus to win!!!

Bye for now!

Love Emma

xxx

There's No Place Like Home

2011-12-09T16:28:00.001Z

This morning I decided to go Christmas shopping and I think everyone had the same idea because it was heaving out there!!! I love Christmas and I love the feel of the excitement of searching and buying presents for my friends and family but this was crazy!!! So, I've decided that from now until Christmas, other than Tesco and M&S for the last food shop, it's QVC and mail order for me!! I am going NOWHERE!! hee hee...

Anyway, I'm now home, exhausted but with a million and one things to do, so...it's a quick post from me to show you the penultimate cards that I made for the Clarity shows ~ I hope you like them!

The background paper of this card is all hand punched using the fab new All Over The Page Punches from Martha Stewart. It had just arrived in the post when I started to make this card and I thought the effect that it gave was so pretty and worked so well with the image. Hope you do too...

The next sample is one that I made using the "HOME" set of stamps. Because I'm a little bit of a fan of The Wizard of Oz, I just had to include the yellow brick road on this card and call its "There's no place like home". I also included a little bit of gingham in the handmade flowers and bow, as a homage to Dorothy's dress. lol...

So, that's all from me for today...time to unpack all the bags and catch up with emails.

See you tomorrow with the final share of Clarity.

Bye for now ~ happy Friday and hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Love Emma xxx

Holly

2011-12-08T00:01:00.002Z

Hello!!

Can you believe that it's already my turn to share my creation over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog? Time is flying!

This month, with every order you place at The Artistic Stamper you will receive a gorgeous FREE stamp, isn't that fab?

Here's a little glimpse of what I've made, using one of those stamps but if you want to see this creation in it's entirety, then click ~ HERE.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look and bye for now!

Love Emma

xxx

Reach for the Sky

2011-12-06T20:40:00.000Z

Hope everyone has had a lovely day and that your Christmas preparations are now well under way!

Me? I'm still panicking just a little bit but *keeps repeating*...keep calm and carry on, keep calm and carry on...and I will do, with a smile on my face, Christmas songs playing and the smell of Christmas wafting through the house from some gorgeous Yankee Candles.

Now, back to today and my Clarity share...here they are, I hope you like them.

The first card using this set of stamps is all about winter and I hope I captured the feel of a snow covered ground, an icy cold chill in the air and a visit from Jack Frost.

If you look closely, there's a slight twinkle on the trees to emulate those gorgeous frosty mornings, just like the ones we've woken up to over the last few days.

The second card, using exactly the same set of stamps is all about spring. The trees have yet to be covered in leaves but the sun is shining and just coming up over the hills and the grass is just starting to grow.

These are some of my very favourite stamps from Clarity and I hope that I've showed you some of the versatility in them.

Right, time for me to collapse on the sofa after a long and busy day!

Thank you, as always for all your lovely comments and for taking the time to leave them at this time of year. I truly appreciate each and every single word.

Bye for now and see you tomorrow!

Love Emma xxx

Happiness, Forever

2011-12-05T17:58:00.001Z

So, another day has whizzed by and isn't it chilly out there!?! I hear the weather men are predicting a white Christmas, there again they say that nearly every year and then I'm eating Christmas dinner with the sun shining through the window, like a summer's day. But if the icy chill in the air continues like this, I think they might be right!

It's been busy, busy, busy today so, it's a quick share from me and another couple of my Clarity samples that I made for the shows at the weekend. Hope you like them...

This card uses the Clarice Cliff inspired sunbeam, that I used on a previous card for the Clarity Stamps Pick Of The Week, earlier in the year. When this particular stamp set arrived, I just thought this technique would look so good against the silhouettes of the image and the vine.

The second of today's cards is using one of the corner stamps and just building up a pattern with it to create this gorgeous background effect. I also thought that the red, black and cream colourway would work really well on this card. The "forever" stamp, that I mounted onto a Spellbinder die cut comes from a previous set of Clarity stamps and can be bought here.

Before I go, just wanted to let you know that there is a new Sarah Hurley Challenge started HERE. This fortnight's challenge is all about

CHRISTMAS

and is sponsored by Letraset. The winner will receive a set of Spring Promarkers, which will be perfect for all that colouring in the new year!!

Unfortunately due to a massive amount of work, I was unable to take part in the challenge but the rest of the DT have made some wonderful samples over on the blog to inspire you.

See you tomorrow with some more samples from Clarity!

Bye for now.

Love Emma xxx

Three Wise Men

2011-12-04T20:38:00.001Z

Hi everyone!!

Hope you've all had a wonderful weekend and starting to enjoy the Christmas countdown. Phew, it's been a busy one for me. So far, the Christmas tree is in pride of place, (pics will follow, soon) I've actually bought a few presents and last but never least, made lots of lists and been checking them twice. Other than that, I've got deadlines to meet and quite a few cards to finish ~ magazine work beckons, DT and freelance work needs the final touches and a few commissions have to be finished. Then, hopefully it's finito and time for me to enjoy my favourite time of year...

In the meantime, I'm sure that you've all been watching the final live Clarity shows of this year on Create and Craft and seen a few of the cards that I made. I was over the moon to Barbara talk about my work...she is such a lovely lady and very kind friend and it means a lot to hear those words from her.

As always, and work schedule permitting, I'll be showing all the cards here, throughout this week...and here is the first of my shares. I hope you like it...

The background is created using various colours of Distress Inks, blended together and gradually built up to give me an effect that I'm finally happy with and once that's done, I stamped the silhouettes of the nativity scene, star and the three wise men directly onto the background. I really wanted to let the artwork and stamps do the talking, it's all too easy to throw everything at a card but sometimes, I believe you need to be restrained ~ so, I purposely kept the rest of the card understated in it's style. Just a few matts and layers of co-ordinating card.

So, that's about it for today's share and I'll be back tomorrow *fingers crossed* with my next card.

Thank you so much for taking the time to come and have a look at my little creation.

Bye for now!

Love Emma

xxx

Driving Home For Christmas

2011-12-01T15:59:00.000Z

Hi everyone!!

Another quick post from me, today...but "Happy December 1st" to you all and seeing as I still haven't got any preparations under way for Christmas, can I panic NOW?? lol.

Anyway, today is the start of a brand new challenge over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog and this month it's all about CHRISTMAS!!

I hope you will try and join in and if you need any inspiration, then click here to see what the DT have been making to give you some inspiration.

...and this is what I made ~ I hope you like it!

All the products and stamps that I've used to make this card, including the fab new Tattered Pine Cone die, are all available to buy from The Artistic Stamper and this month you get the wonderful snowflakes stamps that I've used on the background, FREE with any order. Click here for details.

Time for me to go but I'll be visiting your blogs later tonight, to catch up on all your creations.

Bye for now and enjoy the rest of the day!

Love Emma

xxx

Tick Tock

2011-11-29T00:01:00.004Z

Hi everyone!!

Well, I think November flew by quicker than any other month this year and of course, now that we're at the end of the month, it means that it's my time to share over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog.

If you think that this sneaky peek looks interesting, then you can see my creation in it's entirety over on the blog, here!

I hope you like it...

Thank you for taking the time to look and comment, especially at this time of year when we are all so busy but all your lovely kind words mean the world to me!

Bye for now and see you soon!

Love Emma

xxx

"He Knows If You've Been Good Or Bad"...

2011-11-27T17:59:00.001Z

Hello!!

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend but hasn't it gone far too quickly? I've been working away all weekend and haven't had a minute to think but tonight, there's a roast in the oven, complete with all the trimmings and a glass of wine that is shouting "drink me"!! It's what a Sunday is all about....

But before I rush off to the kitchen to check on things, here is today's post and it's the final piece to my little trio of Tis The Season creations ~ the tag!! I hope you like it...

I thought it would be nice to show three different ideas using Kaisercraft's, Tis The Season collection and I love making these tags, at the moment. It's amazing how much you can cram onto one little tag...

Throughout all the pieces that I've made, I used Tim's Rosette die to make these little decorative stacks, finishing them all off with my bottle top embellishment. I think my favourite piece on this has to be the rub on of Father Christmas, it is just a gorgeous image and the quality of these rub on's are fabulous.

The tag was die cut with Tim's Alterations die and I added some little chipboard snowflakes that I painted with acrylic paint and covered in Rock Candy Distress Stickles. Other than that, everything else that you see on this piece is from Kaisercraft and can be bought from Merly Impressions.

Time for me to check on the roast!!

I'll be visiting all your blogs later tonight when I sit down with "I'm A Celebrity...".

Bye for now and thanks for taking the time to come and look at what I've been up to!!

Enjoy your evening, everyone!

Love Emma

xxx

Box of Treats

2011-11-24T16:55:00.001Z

Hi everyone ~ and HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all my followers in the USA!!

Hope you're all doing ok and having a lovely Thursday!! Once again, hasn't this week flown? Crikey...it's now only one week to go before I get to open the first window on my advent calendar. Now, I know you might think I'm a little old for one but in my opinion, you're never too old for the things you enjoy and come the 1st December, I've always loved the countdown to Christmas. This year might be a little bit more frantic than others but I'm still going to have fun every single day that I open a window on that calendar.

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my last post and today, I'm following on from that with a matching box using some more of those stunning papers from Kaisercraft, and here it is ~ I hope you like it!!

As in the previous post, the papers are all available from Merly Impressions. Also, if you do love Kaisercraft products as much as I do but you're still looking for some more inspiration, then my lovely friend Chrissy has lots of stunning projects over on the Merly Impressions Blog. Make sure you check it out...

To complete the box, I painted the whole of the outside with Antique Gold acrylic paint and then covered the outside and inside, with some of the Tis The Season papers. I then cut out one of the images of Santa and added a Tim Holtz Fragment piece over it. I attached that to the front of the box, added some Tis The Season Rub Ons on the sides, some seam binding and another of those little rosette stacks with the beer bottle top embellishment.

Finally I added some adhesive pearls on the sides and that's about it!!!

I hope these pictures do all the products justice because it was so hard to photograph all the elements but I think you can just about see everything.

Time for me to bid you farewell for now and I'll be round to visit all your blogs when I collapse in front of the TV tonight!!

Bye for now!

Emma xxx

*Edit*

I have noticed that the links to Merly Impressions aren't working at the moment but they are correct, so keep trying and I'm sure everything will be back to normal soon!

A Good Night To All...

2011-11-21T17:52:00.002Z

Hi everyone!!

Now, I don't want to panic anyone and if you don't want a shock ~ please do not click, HERE!!

Did you click? Are you now panicking as much as I am? How did this happen? LOL. Usually by now, I am so well prepared but I haven't got one single present, no Christmas food, no cards and NO Michael Buble Christmas CD! Eek...this is not good, not good at all...if anyone wants to be Emma's Little Helper, there is a vacancy right here but hurry, time is running out!! hehe...

As you might have guessed, it's been another busy week at Chez Williams' and I'm slowly ticking off some of the jobs but in amongst all the hard work and nose to the grindstone there was one little thing that lit up this girl's face...

☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟

Those few little words made Emma, a very happy girl!! It's the little things in life that make me so happy!

So, back to business and I think it's time to share a card...I hope you like it!

These stunning papers that I used on this card are from the Tis The Season collection by Kaisercraft and can all be bought from the fab Merly Impressions. If you still haven't popped over there, then you must, the service is second to none and you will love all the gorgeous products they have to offer.

I layered up a selection of the papers and slightly distressed and tore the edges. Next, I used Tim's "to die for" Evergreen Bough Winter Seasonal Distress Ink on my handmade paper flowers and holly leaves and added a spritz of Cosmic Shimmer over the top. I then combined them with the die cut rosettes, made from some more of the Tis The Season papers and a bottle top embellishment, that I made from an old beer bottle top, some of the decorative paper and a generous covering of Glossy Accents.

Thank you so much for taking the time to come and have a look at my creations and thank you for all the comments that you leave, here and on all the other blogs that I share my work on.

Hope you all have a wonderful evening.

Bye for now.

Love Emma

xxx

Imagine

2011-11-18T00:01:00.001Z

Good morning everyone!!

It's my turn again, to share my little creation over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog and just to whet your appetite of what you will see when you get over there...here's a sneaky peek!!

Don't forget that this month, there's a massive 20% off all Distress Stains, so if you're dying to have a play or want to stock up on some more, click here!

Thank you for taking the time to look and I really hope you like what I've made!

Bye for now and hope you all have a lovely day!

Love Emma

xxx

Santa Claus Is Coming...

2011-11-17T12:00:00.024Z

Hi everyone. Hope you're all having a wonderful week.

I'm just dropping by to let you all know that there's a new challenge starting today over at the Sarah Hurley Challenge Blog and the theme for this fortnight is:

BUTTONS

All we want you to do is use buttons somewhere on your creations and we can't wait to see what you create and if you should need any inspiration, then here's my card that I've made. You can also see all the fab projects over on the blog that the rest of the DT have come up with.

To make this card, I used papers and elements from Sarah's fab Tinseltown CD and made a handmade rose with the papers, added some Baker's Twine around the postcards and popped on a few buttons, some punched holly leaves and finally stamped a message onto the postcards.

So, that's it from me for today and I really hope if you have time to join in, you will ~ it would be lovely to see some familiar faces!

Bye for now!

Love Emma

xxx

Blue Bird

2011-11-15T12:38:00.000Z

Afternoon everyone and can anyone tell me, where did the morning go?

It's just a quick post from me today, I seem to have a list of "things to do", longer than my arm and every time I manage to cross one thing off that list, another two replace it!! lol.

So, as promised, today is the second of those Clarity shares featuring that beautiful JOY stamp and this one is all about a beautiful Autumn day, when the skies are blue, the sun is shining and the birds are singing their happy tunes...I hope you like it!

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my last Clarity card and even though I've said it a million and one times before, it really does mean so much to know that you appreciate my work and that you enjoy seeing all the samples that I've made for Barbara on TV! I love the fact that you can pick mine out...it makes my day!! :)

Thanks again for all your continued support!!

I'll be visiting all your blogs later to see what you've all been up to!

Bye for now...

Love Emma

xxx

Birdsong

2011-11-13T14:47:00.001Z

Hi everyone!!

I can't believe that it's been nearly a week since I last posted, if I didn't know better I think someone pressed the fast-forward button on my life and this is the first chance I've had to put the brakes on it!! lol... It's been a crazy week in the life of Emma, I've had huge connection problems with my ISP, a re-occurence of an old neck problem that since a bad fall in my teens, unfortunately comes back to plague me from time to time but in between it all...I've also been crafting away and can't wait to show you all the creations that I've been making!

I'm sure that all you avid Clarity fans, know that Barbara Gray has been on Create & Craft, this weekend and even though the DT was given a little break this month and didn't have to work on any new samples, we did find the time to make some for the "In The Classroom" shows and this is the first of mine ~ I hope you like it!

It features the gorgeous JOY stamp, together with the music score and the little bird! I purposely wanted to keep this card really simple in the style but still make a statement and showcase the beautiful stamps. Sometimes, I think if you throw too much at a card, it can all get lost when they're shown on TV and the viewer doesn't know where to look first.

The only embellishments that I added was a ribbon, a little Candi and some die cuts from Tim Holtz's Autumn Gatherings die, covered in Rock Candy Distress Stickles, for the icy feel of winter branches.

So, that's about it for this card and tomorrow, I'll be back to show you the other one!

Before I go, I just wanted to mention that the new Making Cards Magazine is now in the shops and I'm a little bit excited to see another of my cards on the cover. It's always such a fab feeling...and if you want to see more of what I made using the stunning Gorjuss Christmas stamps, then there's lots more inside!! Also, if you're still looking for inspiration for all those Christmas cards, don't forget that the Making Cards Christmas Special is also, out now and this year, it's all about a traditional Christmas!

I'll be round to peek at your blogs and catch up on all your lovely creations, in a while!!

Bye for now and Happy Sunday!

Love Emma

xxx

Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This...

2011-11-08T00:01:00.002Z

Hi everyone!!

It's already that time of the month for my share over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog and here's a little sneaky peek of what you'll find if you head on over there.

I hope you like what I've made and if you feel inspired by that inky background that I made using the fab Distress Stains, then head on over to The Artistic Stamper where you'll find all the Distress Stains on offer for this month.

Thank you for taking the time to look and comment ~ it means the world to me!

See you soon.

Love Emma

The Sewing Room

2011-11-07T10:10:00.000Z

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a lovely, relaxing weekend...

I can't believe that we're already in the second week of November and someone actually told me over the weekend, it's only 50 sleeps until Christmas!!! Eek, I haven't even thought about Christmas, which is VERY rare for lil ol' organised me. I really do think that this year, and I apologise now for what you are about to hear and please forgive me but I think my friends might be receiving, *put your hands over your ears for this next bit ~ lol*...shop bought cards!!! I know, it's a sin but I can't see a gap in my schedule to even think about making them, let alone actually getting down to making them. Ho hum, it's a good job I love what I do, isn't it?!? hehe...

Anyway, I am determined to do some Christmas shopping soon and I will get down to all the Christmas baking, that's a quintessential part of my run up to the big day and a must do in our house. Santa doesn't know how good he's got it with all his little elves helping him...maybe I could borrow one or two.... *thinks* LOL

Now, back to today and my share... I hope you like it!!

By now, I hope that some of you have visited the newly launched Kuretake Shop and had a browse around. Isn't it fab? As I mentioned before, all the DT have been busy over the last couple of months using Basically Bare products from the shop and this is another of my pieces that I made ~ The Sewing Room Door Hanger.

If you haven't ever seen Basically Bare, then it's well worth checking out ~ it's fab and not just for altered art, it's for all types of craft!! If you have bought some, let me know, I'd love to see what you make.

Everything that I used to make this door hanger, excluding the backing paper is available from Kuretake.

Thanks for dropping by and taking a look at my little creation. I really do appreciate all your comments and each and every one of them make me smile, including the lovely Maggie's comment about one of my projects not having any handmade flowers...hehe, I do make some cards without flowers, not many but just a few!!

See you soon everyone and have a wonderful day!!

Love Emma

xxx

Christmas is Coming...

2011-11-03T14:46:00.000Z

Just dropping by to let you know that another two weeks have flown by and yup, it's that time again for another fab challenge over on Sarah Hurley's Challenge blog and this fortnight's challenge is...

"USE MORE THAN TWO IMAGES"

If you hop over to Sarah's Challenge blog, you can find all the details and also get some wonderful inspiration from the DT and this is what I've made ~ I hope you like it!

I added a few Spellbinders diecuts, ribbons and some Candi from Craftwork Cards to complete this card but all the papers and the elements come from Sarah's fabulous new cd, which you can buy HERE. The cd itself includes over 1500 printable images, so if you're stuck for Christmas card ideas, this will be the perfect present to yourself!

...and speaking about presents to oneself...look what came through my letter box this morning!!! *big smiles and excited handclaps* Yes, I admit they accidently fell into my basket, well that's my story and I'm sticking to it ~ but I'm sure I can find a good and very loving home for them!! lol

I'll be back soon with some more Kuretake makes featuring Basically Bare, which you can purchase together with lots of other goodies, from Kuretake's newly launched shop!! If you missed my first project, using the wonderful Basically Bare goodies, scroll down to the post below!!

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your day and thank you for taking a look at what I've been up to, today!!

I'll be round to see all your creations, asap!!

Love Emma

xxx

Fashion Statement

2011-11-02T12:12:00.000Z

Hello again!

So far, it's actually quite a nice day here in London. It's chilly but there's a few rays of autumnal sun and I've actually managed to get some washing out on the line and, best of all ~ it's drying!!

Anyway, yesterday I hinted at something exciting happening over at Kuretake and I can now reveal exactly what that is...it's the new Kuretake Shop.

You can now buy all your gorgeous Kuretake products direct from the shop and it gets better because they are also distributors for the fab Basically Bare! How cool is that?

Over the last month, the DT have been busy working away with these products and today, I'm showing you just one of the items that I made ~ I hope you like it!!

For this project, I made my own shadow box and combined the Basically Bare items, together with Kuretake products for the finished creation.

I used Tim's Tissue Tape around the edge of the box and coloured it with Art and Graphic Twin Pens. The background on the inside of the box is all coloured with a wash of ink from the pens and then using them directly onto the stamp and stamping the image and quote, which is from a set of stamps by Wendy Vecchi.

On the dress, I used Fabricolor pens to create the little polka dots, together with some lace from my own crafty stash! The ribbons and fibres, all come from Kuretake too!!

Keep watching this space and all the other DT members blogs, for lots more ideas, (including a few tutorials from some of us), of what you can do with these fab products and don't forget to check out the shop!!!

Enjoy the rest of your day!

See you tomorrow!

Love Emma

xxx

P.S. Don't forget about the Craftwork Cards Blog Candy ~ all the details are in the post below!

Craftwork Cards "MUST HAVE" Blog Candy

2011-11-02T11:15:00.001Z

I just wanted to let you all know about some fab blog candy that is being given away over on the Craftwork Cards blog, right now!!

And look at what you could win ~ a Tim Holtz District Market Tote bag!!!

☟☟☟☟☟

*swoons*

All you have to do is pop on over to the blog and leave a comment to the following question:

"What is your favourite crafting product you've bought this year?"

You have until 7th November to enter and GOOD LUCK everyone!!

See you later with another post!!

Love Emma

A Bird's Eye View!

2011-11-01T17:00:00.000Z

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Tuesday!!

I'm feeling a little better today and just wanted to say a big thank you, for all your lovely get well messages. It really does make you feel all warm inside to know that I've met such wonderful, caring people and made such good friends through the world of craft and blogland!!

Today is the start of a new challenge over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog and this month's challenge is all about BACKGROUNDS and as the Mabel Lucie Attwell artist on the team, I couldn't resist choosing another of those gorgeous images for my little creation ~ I hope you like it!!

I used various Distress Inks on a Ranger tag before stamping the background with several background stamps, inked up with Distress Stains. The Mabel Lucie Attwell image was stamped onto a separate piece of card, coloured, cut out and then layered onto the tag. Finally, the "Fun" and "Laughter" words, taken from the "Into Each Day..." stamp were added, together with some seam binding and buttons.

If you want to join in with all this inky fun then, head on over to the blog, where you can also see all the other wonderful creations from the DT. Also, this month you can get a 15% discount on all the fabby Distress Stains and throughout the month there will be plenty of inspiration from the whole team!!

I'll be back tomorrow with something exciting from Kuretake, so make sure you watch this space.

See you then and hope you all have a wonderful evening!

Love Emma

xxx

The Curious Case of Annabelle Franks...

2011-10-31T12:45:00.000Z

Hope you all had a lovely weekend ~ I'm still suffering from this lurgy that seems to be going around at the moment and now, it looks as if I've spread the germs and my whole family have come down with it too!! Oops...as you can imagine, I'm not "little miss popular"! Oh dear....

In between sneezing, coughing and spluttering...I am still trying to get all my crafting jobs done but it's not easy but as always, I will get there ~ the fighting spirit of the Williams' will be victorious!!! :)

But in the meantime, here's a little something that I made earlier... "be afraid, be very afraid"!!!!!! LOL.

Once again, the backing papers and chipboard domino die cuts, are all from the 13th Hour collection from Kaisercraft and can be bought from the fab Merly Impressions. The title of this post, is actually from the backing papers. If you look closely you can just see the headline, which sets the scene for what came next.... *spooky*...

I added lots of chipboard die cuts of my own ~ the dress form, gothic boo, bats and 31 are of course, all from "Lord Tim Holtz" and the wings are from a gorgeous Sizzix die that I just couldn't resist. I painted all the chipboard with Eco Green paint. On the wings, I added a layer of PVA glue, let it dry and then painted over it with white paint to give this stunning crackled effect and on the dress form, I overstamped with one of the 13th Hour stamps.

As on previous posts, I made up the 3D rose and dipped it into UTEE.

As a final touch and to complete my artwork, I added a little phial, which I dropped some red pepper alcohol ink into.

So, I hope you liked my spooky little creation!!

For all those who are going to be celebrating Halloween tonight ~ be safe and have fun and for all those who aren't ~ have a lovely evening, whatever you may be doing!

See you soon!

Love Emma

xxx

Deep In Thought...

2011-10-29T00:01:00.005+01:00

Hi everyone and happy weekend!

It's my turn again over at The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog, doesn't time fly when you're having fun?? But today is my final share of the month and here's a sneaky peek of what I've made. If you head on over to the blog, you can see my creation in it's entirety...I hope you like it!!

Don't forget that you can still get all the Background stamps that the Creative Team have been using on all their fabulous posts, throughout October and until the end of this month, they still have a 25% discount! Click here for details.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and thank you for all your well wishes and messages, you made me feel so much better!

See you soon with another post!!

Love Emma xxx

Number 13 ~ lucky for some!!

2011-10-27T17:16:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone!

Hope you're all doing ok and having a lovely week. Me? I had a great productive start to the week but now, everything has ground to a halt as I've succumbed to the flu and been feeling under the weather for the last couple of days!! So today, I've spent it sitting on the sofa, plying myself with soup and let me just say, this soup from New Covent Garden is delish...if you love pumpkin, then you will want to taste this. It's nearly as good as my Mum's homemade and perfect for Halloween.

Which leads my very nicely to my post for today ~ I hope you like it!!

Once again, all the gorgeous 13th Hour, Kaisercraft products and stamps, that I used on this card are available from Merly Impressions, I just added some Spellbinders and Tim Holtz die cuts, (it wouldn't be a card without a die cut or two from me...hehe), some vintage ribbon and last but not least, another handmade flower, die cut using a PaperArtsy Grunge Flower die and dipped into UTEE, to give that enameled look.

I also thought that Tim's "31" Alteration die was perfect for this paper collection, I just used it as "13" instead!!!

I stamped all the images onto the card, before running it through a die cutting machine using, yes ~ that man again, one of Tim's Texture Fades, embossing folders to give the raised spiders web in the corner.

Quite a lot of distressing is all that was needed to complete it and a generous smothering of Rock Candy Distress Stickles to give a shimmer to the rose.

Time for me to head back to the land of Channel 4, afternoon TV and I'll try to get around to visiting all your blogs, to see your lovely creations!!

See you soon!!

Love Emma

xxx

Spooktacular

2011-10-24T18:01:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone and hope you've all had a fabulous start to your week.

It's hard to believe that we are in the final week of October...dark nights are drawing in, the clocks go back at the weekend...eek, Christmas is coming too quickly!! Once Halloween and Bonfire Night is over...it will be the final countdown and at the moment, I am by no means ready!! Can someone tell Santa I might need an extension... lol

Oh well, what's not done this year, will have to remain that way and I'm sure that Christmas will be fabulous with or without the chutney, or the Christmas cake, maturing for six weeks. hehe...

But back to today and of course, it's Halloween next week and I thought it would be nice to count down with some "spooktacular" projects ~ and here's the first, I hope you like it!!

The basic shape of the door hanger is covered in one of the papers from the 13th Hour collection by Kaisercraft, which is available from Merly Impressions. I then die cut some chipboard using a selection of Tim Holtz's Alterations dies, the skull and bats, the leaf and twig and of course the birdcage and wings. I then painted them with black Eco Green acrylic paint. The wings have a coat of PaperArtsy's Fresco Finish Metallic Acrylic Glaze over them to give a shimmery effect.

I added some Glossy Accents and Rock Candy Distress Stickles, to the rose.

As final touches I added some seam binding, a message from one of Tim's stamp sets and a little bird from the 13th Hour chipboard shapes.

Before I go, just to let you know that the Making Cards Christmas Special is out very soon and it's all about a traditional Christmas and there's one or two of my projects in there too!! I even have one on the cover...that's it on the bottom right!! Yay...

Well, I'd better be going but I'll be around later to visit all your blogs and see what you've been up to.

Bye for now and have a lovely evening!

Love Emma

xxx

Lights, Camera ~ Action!

2011-10-23T16:52:00.000+01:00

The weekend is flying by again but as promised...here are the other two cards to complete the Velvet Ensemble set that I made for Making Cards Magazine...I hope you like them!!!

As with my previous post, these card were all about layering the papers and just building up the card...I just loved those piano keys from the Opera sheet of paper and together with the chipboard shapes, they made the perfect combination and I just had to place that gorgeous lady, to make it look as if she was running along the keys.

I made the final card to complete the trio and to show that this set was all about, good old fashioned ~ music, cinema and dance and I hope that I managed to capture this bygone era with these cards.

If you love Kaisercraft products as much as I do, then you must visit Merly Impressions as they have the BEST range of products that you could ever want. You will definitely be spoilt for choice and I would like to say a BIG thank you to Chrissy for giving me the opportunity to work with all these gorgeous goodies. xx

Time for me to go...there is food to be cooked and a lot of TV to be watched tonight!!

See you soon with some spooky creations that I made especially for Halloween!

Have a lovely Sunday evening, everyone.

Love Emma

xxx

Velvet Ensemble

2011-10-22T10:19:00.000+01:00

Good morning everyone and happy weekend!

So, what's everyone up to this weekend? It's a beautiful, autumnal sunny day here in London, so...I thought I might make the most of it, head to the park and take a few photos and of course, maybe have a coffee and pastry along the way. Then once I'm home, it will be crafting all the way...

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post, it's always lovely to see all my friends and followers and read your kind words.

Today, I'm sharing one of the cards from a recent magazine feature that I did in Making Cards which were made using some gorgeous Kaisercraft products from Merly Impressions. There was so much detail to these cards that I thought it would be nice to take some close-up photos and share them with you all, I hope you like it...

The gorgeous papers that I used are from the Velvet Ensemble collection and they are "to die for". As always, with all Kaisercraft products you have beautiful quality in everything that they produced but what I loved about this collection was the richness of the colours and the overall look that they gave to the finished product!

As you can see from the photos, I think I used just about every element I could from this collection, the paper blooms, stamps, chipboard, of course the papers...the list goes on. Even that gorgeous pelmet on the top of the card was taken from a piece of their paper. To be honest, it was sacrilege to cut up, it was that beautiful!!!

So, tomorrow I'll be back with the other cards from this magazine feature and then, next week I plan to show you all my Halloween projects, which I've been in my element making because I LOVE Halloween and these use some more STUNNING Kaisercraft products, called 13th Hour!!

Have a lovely Saturday and see you tomorrow!

Love Emma

xxx

So Red The Rose

2011-10-20T18:53:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone and a big hello to my new followers!! Hope you'll come and say hi and looking forward to getting to know you and I also have to say a big, BIG thank you to everyone who commented here on my blog and over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog...I have read all your lovely comments and I know I do say this all the time but it's true...they mean the world to me!!

I can't believe how cold it's been, last night I was freezing in bed and this morning, there was frost!!! I hope this doesn't mean that were going to have another icy winter...don't get me wrong, I LOVE the snow but only if I don't have to leave the house. If you all you little snowflakes do decide to visit again this winter...please come for Christmas!! That would be wonderful.... lol

So, back to the here and now and today is a new challenge and a fab prize to be won, over on Sarah Hurley's Challenge Blog and challenge 52 is all about MISTING. Here's what I've made for the challenge...hope you like it!

If you head on over to the blog, you can see all the wonderful inky creations from the rest of the DT, using the misting technique and if you feel inspired, you can win a prize

I used elements and papers from Sarah's Wonderland CD, which I layered onto the corrugated cardboard tag, die cut using the Tim Holtz Alterations die from Sizzix. I stamped the Alice quote from an Alice In Wonderland stamp set that I already own and the clock is from a Tim Holtz set, which I stamped and then added Glossy Accents to. Then came the handmade paper flower and the misting...this gorgeous rich red colour was achieved using Sarah's Ink Sprays in Poppy Red and Pumpkin. I adhered this to the rest of my tag, added some seam binding from The Ribbon Girl and finally, added a decorative pin through the message.

Hope you all have a lovely evening and once the dinner and washing up is all done, I'll be around to comment on all your creations!

See you soon!

Love Emma

xxx

Autumn Gatherings

2011-10-18T00:01:00.003+01:00

Hi everyone!!
Today, is my turn to post over at The Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog and here's a sneaky peek of what you can see if you head on over there!

Don't forget that all the stamps that I used to create this piece are currently on offer, HERE...with a HUGE 25% discount and you can find them at The Artistic Stamper, together with lots of other goodies to tempt you!!

So, I really hope you like what I've created and thank you for all the comments that you left on my previous post over on their blog. It was lovely to see so many of my friends and familiar faces.... xx

Hope you all have a wonderful day!!

See you soon!

Love Emma xxx

Let's Face The Music...

2011-10-17T16:29:00.001+01:00

Happy Monday, everyone!! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend...but isn't it FRREEZZING out there!! I've finally had to give in to putting the central heating on and breaking out my boots and winter coat!!!

So, once I got over the cold temperatures that have finally hit us, my weekend was full of deadlines and craft but I managed to meet them all, which at times seemed like an impossible task but I did it and I'm so pleased with the creations I've made!! Can't wait to show you all...

But back to today and I thought it would be nice to share one of the cards that I made for a recent QVC show featuring Perfect Pearls. I hope you like it...

The 3D rose is made out of Grungepaper which I misted from a Mini Mister, with a mixture of Distress Ink Reinker in Victorian Velvet, to which I added some of the Perfect Pearls, topped up with water, given a good shake and then misted over the die cut flower petals.

When the rose is completely dry from the Perfect Pearls mixture, I then made it up and using the Perfect Medium pad, lightly brushed the surface before dusting on some more of the Perfect Pearls mica powder.

Finally, I adhered the grungepaper rose to the background, which I made using a combination of a music score stampand a Tim Holtz flourish stamp. I added some die cut flourishes and leaves and then matted it onto some gorgeous script paper from my crafty stash.

Thank you all for your lovely comments about my magazine projects in Making Cards. I can't tell you what a buzz I had from walking into WHSmith today and seeing it there on the shelves!! Can you tell I'm still just a little excited?!?

hehe

Hope you all have a lovely evening and stay warm!!

See you tomorrow with another post and something I can't wait for you all to see!!

Love Emma

xxx

Celebration Time...

2011-10-13T17:57:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone!

Hope you're all having a lovely week and for fear of sounding like a broken record, I won't even mention that time has once again...FLOWN!!! It has though, hasn't it? hehe!

Anyway today, I'm really rather excited and want to share my excitement with you all...and the reason is, the new issue of Making Cards Magazine is in the shops, now and...*drum roll*...I'm the cover girl!!! *claps hands excitedly* Yes, that's my Warren Christmas card on the cover!!!!

☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟

.....and *more excited handclaps*...those are also my cards in the bottom left hand corner which I made with the guest designers papers...and, because I'm on a bit of a roll...*more excitement* I've got another project in there too!! *phew*. I want to apologise now, if it sounds like *Emma overload* but I am just so chuffed and I think it would be rude not to celebrate with a glass of wine!! Care to join me?.... lol

But before the start of my little celebrations....here's some more cards that I made using Frosty and his friends!! For more DT inspiration, you can check out some more cards here and don't forget that there's a brand new Project of the Month over at Craftwork Cards which is absolutely~STUNNING. It's a must have collection called Shabby Vintage.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look at my lil creations ~ I hope you like them!!

Time for me to start rattling those pots and pans but before I go...*waves* a big hello to all my new followers, please come and say hi...I don't bite! :D
Hope you all have a lovely evening and I'll be around to see all your lovely blogs, later!!
See you soon!
Love Emma
xxx

Frosty's Little Friend...

2011-10-11T16:48:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone!! Hope you've all had a fabulous start to your week. So far, mine has been another busy one but I'm working on lots of exciting new cards and projects and as always, I can't wait to share them with you all!!

But for today, here's a couple of cards that I made earlier in the month and they feature, Frosty, and of course his friends from Craftwork Cards....this is an absolutely adorable collection of papers, flowers, Candi, messages and Frosty and Friends die cuts that you can colour yourself with whatever pens and in whatever colours you choose.

I hope you like what I made...

On these cards, I used Promarker pens and added Spellbinders die cuts and punched holly leaves to accentuate the images. If you look very closely at this little penguins goggles...you can see that I used Glossy Accents on them, to make them more realistic.

The bauble is made from the Spellbinder Heirloom Ornament die and I did a bit of paper folding to create the 3D effect. Once again, I added some die cuts and coloured the image with Promarkers.

As finishing touches, I added some seam binding from The Ribbon Girl, to the bauble, some Rock Candy Distress Stickles and some Ranger Liquid Pearls for the snow effect.

I'll be back soon to show you the other cards that I made using Frosty and his friends, later in the week!

Hope you all have wonderful evenings and I will be around to comment on all your blogs, asap!! I apologise now, if I've missed any of your posts since the weekend, I will try and catch up with them all but my internet connection isn't perfect at the moment and I've been having trouble connecting!!

See you soon and happy creating!

Love Emma

xxx

A Creative Journey

2011-10-08T09:00:00.003+01:00

Hi everyone!! Hope you're all looking forward to a fabulous weekend.

Today, I'm so excited to be sharing my first post as a member of The Artistic Stamper Creative Team and, here's a sneaky peek of what I've made...

If you'd like to see the full inky glory of this project then pop over to their blog and you can see it there, together with how I made it! I really hope you like it and if you love the stamps as much as I did ... they are on special offer this month, with a huge 25% discount. Click here for more about them...

I'll be back next week with lots more creative shares!!

Have a fabulous weekend and don't forget Downton Abbey tomorrow night ~ I've got my place on the sofa booked, already! :)

Love Emma

xxx

A Wise Old Owl

2011-10-07T18:19:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone!!

It's Friday and it's time to share my final (and my favourite) card from the Clarity shows that were on last weekend!!

I really don't think this gorgeous little owl needs any introduction, so all I will say is...I hope you like what I created!!!

When this collection of stamps arrived and I opened up the envelope, it was love at first sight when I saw the owl stamp. The detail and his little face is just gorgeous, and combined with the quote and the beautiful oak, which you can stamp in so many different ways, (I chose to stamp and create a frame to surround my owl) just made the perfect set. Once again, I created the background with Distress Inks and coloured the image with Promarkers.

The die cuts are all created using Spellbinders dies and I added some paper flowers as a finishing touch!

Time for me to head off into the kitchen and try and create something wonderful for dinner!!

I'll be around later to visit all your blogs and comment on your lovely creations which always make me ooh & aah!!

Thanks for stopping by to look at my final card from Clarity!

See you soon and have a fabulous weekend!

Love Emma

xxx

Halloween Horrors ~ Sarah Hurley Challenge

2011-10-06T20:50:00.000+01:00

Evening all!!!

Hope you've all had a fabulous day and that you're now relaxing and enjoying the rest of your evening!!

Tomorrow, I'll be back with my final cards from the Clarity shows that were on last weekend and as always, I've saved my favourite card for last!! I'm sure if you watched any of the shows, you'll know exactly which one it is...

But the reason that there's no Clarity card is because today is the start of a brand new challenge over on Sarah Hurley's Challenge Blog and we would love you to all come and join us for "HALLOWEEN HORRORS".

This challenge is sponsored by DERWENT and the lucky winner will win a prize from Derwent themselves, a set of 24 Coloursoft Pencils (Sarah's favourite colouring pencils!) in a wooden presentation box. The DT have done a fabulous job to inspire you all with their creations and if you're still in need of something to kickstart your mojo...here's what I made ~ I hope you like it!!!

I made a table centrepiece from an old beer bottle and if you look closely, there's actually little witches flying on their broomsticks, all around the neck of the bottle. I used Sarah's papers and the adage ticket, from the Vintage Halloween Digi Kit to create the label, rosettes and tag around the bottle neck, together with lots of different Tim Holtz Alterations die cuts and a Spellbinder one, thrown in for good measure!! I finally added some paper roses on wire stems and some twine around the bottle neck to complete my 'potion bottle"!!!

Thanks for stopping by and for taking the time to look at my little creation.

See you all tomorrow!!

Love Emma

xxx

A Room With A View...

2011-10-05T19:09:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone!!

...hmm, how did it get to be Wednesday?? I only blinked and here we are again...at this rate, Christmas will be here in no time and either I will have to start making all my cards NOW or I will be visiting John Lewis!!

It's been another busy day in Chez Williams, lots of crafting, lots of goodies and lots of fun!! Oh and did anyone see Amy on QVC today? Wonderful shows, as always and fab samples by the team and yay, I had some cards shown too and with my favourite presenter, Charlie Brooks. I was very excited to hear my name, it's always a good feeling, and to hear it on QVC ~ *big smile*!!

So, coming back down to earth...here's my Clarity share for today and I hope you like them.

I really loved working on these cards, it was something a bit different and I loved building up these room scenes. I think it bought out the Kelly Hoppen in me and I was particularly pleased with this card...I want a room like this and I'd love a glittery chandelier like that!! lol

Once again, both of the backgrounds to these cards were made using Distress Inks and if you look closely, the mirror is an actual...mirror! I used mirror card, not foil to make it and you can actually see yourself in it. I added Glossy Accents around the frame for some dimension and as a finishing touch, a huge flower in the corner.

Thank you for stopping by and taking the time out of your busy schedules to take a look. It's always hugely appreciated and I love all your comments...they mean the world!

I'll be back tomorrow with some more lil creations and I'll be visiting your blogs later tonight to see what you've all been up to!

See you tomorrow.

Love Emma

xxx

P.S. Before I love you and leave you, I just wanted to let you all know about a new magazine that I think you will love. It's called MAKING CAKES AND BAKES and it's bought to you by the same fab team that put together Making Cards Magazine and many more. If you love all thing torturous and sweet then it's definitely a "must buy" magazine and I know that I will be buying one as soon as it hits the shelves.

xxx

In An English Country Garden...

2011-10-04T19:06:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone!!

Hope you're all doing ok and it's a flying visit from me today...had a few internet issues and I'm racing against time to get this posted before my ISP decides to call it a night on me again!!

...and here is my Clarity share for today, I hope you like it!!

I adored this month's set of stamps and loved working with all the wrought iron designs, especially the "boudoir set" which I thought was stunning and I'll be sharing my card, later this week. But this is the garden set featuring the gorgeous bench, tree and kite and to be honest, I wanted to keep it exactly in the manner of how it was designed...as an English country garden. Somewhere you can sit, read a book, hear the birds singing their songs and just relax under the blue skies....

The background of this image was once again made by blending Distress Inks together to build up all the detail, even the little patio was made using DI's. I then stamped and coloured the images with Promarkers and all I can say is thank you, Letraset for inventing those fine nibs...they were wonderful for all this detail!! Now, I just need more...one for every colour I own! lol

okey dokey, time for me to disappear and if my ISP does behave itself, I will be back later to visit your blogs and comment on all your lovely creations.

See you tomorrow!!

Love Emma

xxx

P.S. If you haven't already seen the Frosty Project of the Month from Craftwork Cards ~ why not? lol

It is so cute and features the adorable Frosty and Friends and will be perfect for all your Christmas cards ~ check out Craftwork Cards blog and the inspiration gallery to see all the DT's projects and to see a sneaky peek of what I made with it and will be showing you all, in detail - next week!

xxx

The Age Of Jazz

2011-10-03T18:48:00.000+01:00

Hope everyone had a good weekend and enjoyed the sunshine! Me? I'm still recovering from the sight of Robbie Williams' grand entrance on The X-Factor on Saturday night!! Oh my!!! *thinks and takes a moment to recover as I fan myself* lol!!

Of course, that wasn't the only thing that was on the TV over the weekend because Barbara Gray was also back on our screens with some lovely new stamps and of course, throughout this week, as always, I will show you my samples that I made for the show. I really hope you enjoy taking a peek into the crafty life of Emma...

...and here's the first of my shares from The Classroom shows.

When I first saw this vase, it just cried out "Clarice Cliff" to me and so I headed for the craftroom and inspired by some of her patterns and 1920's designs, I created "The Age of Jazz".

The second card is showing how the vase can be masked to make a collection of vases. I also used the masking technique to add the bunch of flowers to the vase in the centre and to also add the crackle effect to the vases themselves. It's amazing what you can do with a "Post-It" note!! I added some die cut flourishes and a handmade flower as the finishing touches.

So, thank you for stopping by and taking a look at my first Clarity shares, tomorrow I'll be back with some more lil creations and then, the crafty roundabout is about to start again and Chez Williams will be taken over with lots of new goodies to create with!!

Have a wonderful evening and I'll be around after dinner to comment on all your lovely creations!

See you tomorrow!

Love Emma

xxx

Exciting News From The Artistic Stamper...

2011-10-01T11:06:00.002+01:00

Can you believe it's October already? Well, by the glorious weather that we're having at the moment, it's hard to believe I know but I think we all know that Autumn will be well and truly here sooner than later and to be honest, it's one of my favourite times of year, so I can't wait!!!

So because today is the 1st October that means I can finally unveil my next bit of exciting news and that is... I've been asked to join the Creative Team at The Artistic Stamper and I am so excited to be part of this fab team of wonderful designers who I've admired for so long. Believe me with all the wonderful stamps and products that they have to tempt you with ~ I am in my inky element!!

Today, is the start of a new challenge over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog and the theme is AUTUMN COLOURS and we would love you to join us!!!

Here's my little creation for the challenge and I hope you like it...

I stamped the Mabel Lucie Attwell, Rainy Day image, together with one of the fab new word stamps ~ Happy!! I then used my new and shiny Tim Holtz Autumn Gatherings Decorative strip die to die cut the leaves and foliage and coloured them with Distress Inks. I added a couple of the mini rosettes, once again using one of Tim's dies, added some vintage ribbon, then arranged and mounted it all on some paper from my crafty stash.

Thanks for taking the time to look and there's lots more lovely inspiration from the other members of the team, here!! Please, come and join in the fun and if you visit the The Artistic Stamper store, there's a huge 25% of all the new journalling and background stamps!!

And if you haven't got enough inspiration from all that, here's a couple of photos that I took in my garden on a beautiful Autumnal day..

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the sunshine, thank you for all the lovely comments about my YouTube debut with Barbara that I shared on my last post! xx

See you next week with more shares from Clarity!!

Love Emma

xxx

Getting Messy

2011-09-30T16:51:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone!!! Happy Friday...

This is getting silly now, these weeks are just flying by and I can't believe how quickly they're going!! I'm really not sure where this week has gone but whoever stole it, I wish you'd give me just a little bit of it back... lol

Thankfully, this week has been a bit less busy, which has meant that I've had some breathing space and some thinking time, ready for the next crafting onslaught that is about to begin.

But before that happens, here's my share for today and I hope you like it...

I made this card for a recent Kuretake show on Create and Craft, it's just one of a few which I will show you over the coming week or two. If you love getting messy with alcohol inks and Kuretake do some fab alcohol inks, then you will love this technique which is actually one that was featured a while back on a Dawn Bibby DVD and uses, shaving foam. You basically just apply drops of the ink into a tray of foam, give it a gentle swirl and then place a piece of glossy card over the ink and foam. What you'll reveal when you remove the foam from your card is this fabulous marbling effect.

The quote I've used, is obviously one of Lord Tim's and the roses are made from some Craftwork Cards papers. I finally added some die cut foliage leaves.

Before I go, it's been a week where I've caught up with some crafty friends which is always nice. Yesterday, I had a lovely lunch in London with Vicky. I had a great time at Ally Pally with Kim and Sarah and of course, I caught up with Julie and Sue from Craftwork Cards, which is always fab! And I also managed to catch up with Barbara Gray and unbeknown to me, it was actually caught on film which for someone as camera shy as myself...you can imagine the reaction when I saw it! LOL I just wish I'd have known, I'd have done my make up and hair!! hehe...

But here it is and I thought it would be nice to share it with you all...hope you enjoy and I'll be the one cringing in the corner! ;)

Don't forget that Barbara is back on our screens this weekend and I'll see you very soon!

Love Emma

xxx

Thriller Night...

2011-09-27T18:11:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone and hope you're having a wonderful week, so far!!

First of all, I'd like to say a bit thank you to everyone who left comments on all my Clarity cards...THANK YOU!!! :) Of course, Barbara is back on our screens again at the weekend, so there will be a lot more cards to show you next week, after the shows and there's some lovely new designs to watch out for. I also be sharing some cards that I made for some shows Barb is doing, this week in Germany and those samples are some that I'm especially pleased with!!

But before all that, I thought I'd share something a little different and here it is...my Halloween Invitations!!! I hope you like it...

I made these invites using some fab papers from a Sarah Hurley Digi Kit which is available for you to download, here. I chose to use papers from the Vintage Halloween Digi Kit but check out the Whimsy Halloween kit, too!! And, if that doesn't satisfy your Halloween Crafting needs, take a look at this. Sarah has designed a gorgeous set of digi stamps and you can grab yourself a free one, plus more characters to go with her!! *phew*

As for this creation, I combined the papers with a Timmie die cut tag and yes, I could not resist the lure of the new Tim Holtz Alterations Dies that have just been released and they seemed to find their way into my basket!! But look at them, aren't they just to die for?? lol The wings are die cut from a Sizzix die and I added final touches of vintage seam binding and rosettes!

Well, it's time for me to head to the kitchen and put my Nigella head on but before I go, a lot of people asked me what I bought from Ally Pally and because I don't want to disappoint...here's the stash!!!!

I'll be round after dinner to comment on all your lovely creations.

Have a fabulous evening.

See you soon.

Love Emma

xxx

Birds Flying High...

2011-09-25T20:42:00.000+01:00

So finally here we are, my final samples from the POTW, Clarity shows and after all the hard work that went into them, I think I can honestly say ~ it was worth it, because I felt so honoured when these cards were shown and I heard what Barbara had to say about my work...thank you Barb, so much for everything you said and thank you, Leonie for what you said...you know that without your help and encouragement, this blog and these cards would not be here now.

So, the final two cards and I hope you like them...

Both of these cards feature the now "famous" water spotting technique on the backgrounds which were once again, both made with various blends of Distress Inks. The "Noel" card was just crying out for the music score from "The First Noel" and I spent hours on Google trying to find the perfect one for the background but I did and the whole card went to plan!!

The next card features The Partridge and the Pear Tree stamps that were the first stamps that I ever had to work with when I first joined the DT and it was that card that Barbara was inspired by to make her own to feature in the demo. This was the card that I made then and the one that started the journey...

...and this is the card that I made this time around, one year on!!

Hope you enjoyed every card that I made and didn't get too bored with them all!! hehe...

See you in the week and I can finally share my latest bit of news, so watch this space!

Bye for now!

Love Emma

xxx

King of the Castle

2011-09-24T19:35:00.000+01:00

Happy Saturday, everyone!!

Hope you've all had a wonderful day, I'm finally home from Ally Pally with bags full of goodies that I can't wait to play with. Pictures coming soon.... :)

I had a fab day out and it was so lovely to catch up with so many of my friends and I just wanted to say a big hello to any of the ClarityStamp customers, who gave me such an overwhelming reception when I was introduced to you by Barbara...thank you so much, you made this girl very happy!! I hope you found your way to my blog and that you will enjoy all my posts!! :)

So, as promised, here's my Clarity cards for today...I hope you like them!

Both of these cards feature the gorgeous Eilean Donan Castle stamp but I've used it in different ways on each of them. The card above has all the stamps from the kit and includes the castle, the bridge that links to the castle and the trees. The second card features just the castle, standing alone surrounded by nothing but space, which I thought worked so well. The backgrounds are all made using Distress Inks.

Right, time for me to love you all and leave you...yes, it's Saturday night and that means one thing ~ Gary Barlow will soon be gracing our TV screens and I cannot miss it!! *squeals*

See you all tomorrow with the final two cards from Clarity!

Have a great evening.

Love Emma

xxx