SPOTLIGHT

Each week we are going to have a feature on our blog with a shinning bright spotlight poised over a selection of products from our store, be they brand spanking new or old favourites we want to remind you of, they will be the stars of the Spotlight showcase!

And for the week the product is featured, it will be available to by at a special rate.

For our first showcase we have one of the great new Mo Manning stamps from Stampavie.

End of Summer is an adorable image, and can be used for so many occasions, including those sometimes awkward teenage cards ;)!

I have coloured the image with Promarkers and decorated my card with Prima flowers, Imaginisce brads and a Tag Charm.

Thanks for stopping by, Katie.

WEEKEND BLOG CANDY

Another Friday is upon us and I can hardly believe that Christmas day is just two weeks away!

I am still elbows deep in making my cards and we had a batch of great new stamp arrivals at Nutcrafters just in time to help me out.

I could not resist this beautiful stamp from Stampavie's new collection by the talented Mo Manning. 'Siku and Shiya' are the most adorable couple and perfect for Wintry themed cards, especially Christmas cards.

We are offering the chance to win this stamp as well as a set of Christmas Charms (which include the snowflake I have used on my card). This candy will only be open until Monday night, 6pm GMT, when we will pick a winner using random org. So to be in with a chance simply leave a comment below this post, and if you haven't already why not follow our blog.

Tell your friends, after all where's the fun if there is no competition!

Have a great weekend, and thanks for stopping by, Katie.

Card ingredients:

Image - Mo Manning 'Siku and Shiya'

Sentiment - The Greeting Farm 'Keep Cozy'

Assorted Christmas Charms

HOPPY SPRING

Hello, I have just enough time for a quick post before I jet off to work! Today we are sponsoring A Spoon Full of Sugar, so please be sure to pop over to their blog to have a look at this week's challenge. You can win a Super cute Rachelle Anne Miller stamp from Stampavie, the new Hoppy Spring.

I also wanted to show a card I made for my friend's Daughter, Evie. She was 3 on Friday and just loves cake and Dog's!

Odd combination maybe, but I thought the perfect stamps to use would be Tilda with Puppy and the Love Muffin, and I was right, she loved her card! (She actually has a look of cute little Tida-lol!)

Thanks for looking, Katie.

MADE WITH LOVE

Today's card is a Sarah Kay cutie pie - called 'Time for Apple Pie'! The Image has been stamped onto a white oval and water coloured.

I have used Prima DP, and added a Handmade with love charm. The other embellishments on the card are also from Prima: Ribbons, Obsession flowers and a Prima Definitions Pebble. These Pebbles are real sweet and come in lots of different styles. The Definitions Pebble I choose is 'Love' to match the charm.

The April showers have arrived here in Manchester, but we have lots of great new stamps on their way to Nutcrafters, hopefully to brighten your day!

Already in stock are some of the lovely new Rachelle Anne Miller stamps from Stampavie, including:

Also arriving later this month are new stamps from The Greeting Farm. We have the super cute Fairy stamps and some great new sets. And after flying off our shelves in unbelievable time, we have also stocked up on plenty of the stylish 'Miss Anya' sets.

Thanks for looking, Katie.

A LITTLE BIT RETRO!

Morning all, today I thought I would post a couple of cards before I jet off to work, and neither of them are mine (shock-Horror!).

First up we have the super cute 'Pretty Hat Anya' which was created by Colette. We both love the stamps from The Greeting Farm, and Col decided that she had to have One of these as soon as she saw them. We think she look a little 'Retro' in a 1920's Glamorous style!

The second card for today was another display card which was made by my Mum for yesterdays show. She chose Sarah Kay's 'Rosalie's Bicycle' from Stampavie, and again went with an older more vintage look. I think these stamps work well with this style as they have a element of 'time gone by' about them, and teamed with the Rose coloured papers and lace this card looks fab!

We would just like to say a big hello to everyone we met yesterday at the Metrodome in Barnsley, it was lovely to see some new faces and meet you all.

Thanks for looking, Katie.

WHAT A GEM!

Today we are sponsoring 'A Spoon Full of Sugar' and the challenge is to use Gems somewhere on your card. I am a total Magpie and love all things sparkly, so this is a great one for me :)

For my card I Have used the beautiful 'Rose's Garden' stamp from Stampavies Sarah Kay collection and the large gems in the middle of the flowers are Primas Centre Kisses.

The Prize you can win is a Sporty Edwin from Magnolia.

Good luck to everyone who enters and thanks for looking, Katie.

SPOONFULL OF SUGAR WINNER AND NEW ARRIVALS!

We were asked to sponsor the 'A Spoonfull Of Sugar' challenge again last week and today the winner was announced. Congratulations to Bev (http://bevscrafts.blogspot.com/) who wins the Prima embellishments (Chipboard buttons, Brads and Centre Kisses). We will get your prize in the post A.S.A.P!

We have some great new arrivals this week over at http://www.nutcrafters.com/, including some wonderful stamps from the very popular Greeting's Farm. These will include the 'Miss Anya' set, 'Princess Anya' and the 'Rock the Farm' set.

We also have more of the lovely Sarah Kay stamps from Stampavie arriving, Including Rose's Garden, First Kiss and Picnic time.

We will be sponsoring A spoonfull of Sugar again next Tuesday, so please check in to see what you could win. Congratulations to Bev again, and thank you for looking.

Katie.

TRIO OF GIFTS

It's nearly Mothers Day here in England and I have been working on a special project for my Mum. I decided to make her a co~ordinating gift set including a card, candle and mini fruit cake.
I chose Stampavie's Sarah Kay 'Spring Blossoms' stamp as my Mum loves Gardening. My colour scheme for my project was Chocolate and Blue, and I used papers, ribbons and inks in these shades so each item matched.



I made the card on a square brown base and layered it with decorative card stock. I stamped the image onto an oval of white card and coloured using water colours. I finished with Prima 'Obsessions' embossed flowers and blue and brown ribbons.


The candle was made using the tissue paper and heat gun method and again finished with the matching blue and brown ribbons.

My mini fruit cake is my favourite part of this gift and I am so pleased with how it looks.
The cake was brushed with boiled apricot jam to seal then covered with Marzipan and sugarpaste.

I left the cake to dry out for a few days (a week is ideal) so that I had a nice firm surface to stamp upon. I then inked up my stamp with black food colouring and after a few practices on spare paper, I stamped it onto my cake. I carefully coloured the images with food colours to match my other creations and piped a small shell border around to neaten it up. Again I finished with the matching blue and brown ribbons.

Using food colours instead of inks makes the cake entirely edible, but knowing my Mum she won't want to cut it!

Thanks for looking, Katie.

SPECIAL MUM

How time flies! Already its the end of February and Spring has nearly arrived (yeah!). Along with Spring, the month of March brings Mothers Day. I have been busy all week working on a few Mothers Day and Easter themed designs. Today's crafty morsel is a little gift box, designed with Mum in mind, but lets not forget Mothers day can be for Grans, Aunties and role models too!

I made the base and lid the same. Using double sided card stock, I have cut 2 large scalloped circles, and 2 long strips (one slightly wider than the other). For the base, the wider strip of card was scored, cut and glued into position. The lid was made the same way, after I had cut a window into the remaining scalloped circle. Once the sides of the lid were glued into place, I attached a piece of acetate for the window, and glued into place inside the lid.

I chose the Sarah Kay 'Spring Blossoms' stamp from Stampavie for the decoration. She is a real cutie, and the wispy - whimsical style of the image seemed perfect for Mum!

The image was stamped in black ink and water coloured to match the card stock, then cut out and stuck to the lid of the box. I finished with a co-ordinating ribbon, and just need to fill it with something tasty - maybe some chocolates!

There will be more with this wonderful stamp to come, I think I must have inked her up about a hundred times- lol!

Thanks for looking, Katie.