Letterpress Love!

Hi there again!

Ooo I must have come over all funny - two posts in as many days!

Today I've been busy working on projects using beatufiul origami flowers for the May issue of docrafts Creativity Magazine, and gorgeous though they are, the numerous folds, petals and flowers needed have made my fingers sore!

Also the products I need to get ready for the demonstrations at the Stitch and Craft show at Olympia have arrived, so in the evenings next week I shall be cutting and prepping to make sure I'm ready. Can you tell I was a girl guide?! My best friend Sheila Halliwell will be there running card making workshops, with Beckie Dreyer, and Becky James holding Scrapbooking and Jewellery sessions. Phill Martin will also be joining me this year, so there's bound to be laughs galore!

As everything I'm doing at the moment is for something or another, I thought I would show you a card I did probably this time last year for the Letterpress show on Create and Craft. I LOVED prepping for this show, as I LOVE the Letterpress!

Usually with the Letterpress you would use Letterpress paper (which is actually like watercolour paper, thick and almost cushioned) but here I used the letterpress plate onto core'dinations cardstock in a similar colour to the printing ink. I also used a different letterpress plate with no ink applied onto white letterpress paper to give a naked embossed effect, before matting onto turquoise and silver cardstock. The forever friends die cut embellishment finishes the card.

Anyhoo, will I be here tomorrow? Your guess is as good as mine! I'm taking Joe to the cinema tomorrow to see 'Gnome and Juliet', then on to the seaside for a real freshly cooked doughnut. Yum!

Thanks for stopping by - have a great evening!

Butterfly Summer Love

Hi there everyone!

Goodness, hasn't the weather been gorgeous today? Well it has where I live so I hope you've had the same luck. Having said that it was been a little too hot for me, I could have just done with a little breeze every now and again. I've had three showers today - good job we don't have a power shower, more like a dribble shower, but it did the job at keeping me fresh! And a hot day would not be complete without a calippo...yum!

Tonight I have a card for you that I have made to raise money for our local community, and also the charity I support. I'm holding a stall at the local summer fete, Woottonstock {get it? - very clever don't you think!}. It's been held in the village for years now, and it's a great success. There are lots of little stalls, plus support from the police, neighbourhood watch, and fire service - they come with their fire engine and let people sit in the fire engine and have a go with the hoses...very popular with the ladies of the village - in fact many children have been hurt under the stampede of hormonal women. You think I'm joking...

Then in the evening, we all gather in the pub's beer garden and a couple of bands play till it gets dark, and there's also a Bar Be Q - a lovely end to a lovely day.

As well as having a stall at the fete, I also have to make a cake for 'guess the weight competition' on the neighbourhood watch stall, David (my hubby) is a neighbourhood watch coordinator and this is our contribution, as well as our time. I have suggested that he makes a cake for the stall, but he quite rightly said that it may weigh three stones if he did, so I think we better stick to me making it!

Goodness, I can waffle! So, onto my card.

I made this card with scraps of card from the Forever Friends Pink Parfait collection, and the blue polkadot paper I think is from the Forever Friends Christmas collection of papers. I think, because sometimes it's hard to tell with scraps! I ♥ using scraps, it's one of my most favourite things to do. It gives me such a feeling of well-being. One day I plan to use everything in my craft room before buying anymore, which I should achieve when I turn 565 years old.

The butterfly is that gorgeous punch from X cut. I just LOVE it! It's so versatile, and the pearl heart is another item from my stash. The scalloped border is from the xcut border punch, which I embellished with irridescent shimmer dots. I'm sorry, I cannot for the life of me remember which stamp set the greeting is from, however I have used brown ink to colour. If anyone knows the whereabout of this sentiment, please don't have nightmares, do get in touch.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great evening!

As promised!

WoW! I know... I can hardly believe it myself - I said I would be back with a card, and I am! Okay, are you alright after your fainting attack - I thought I heard a thud!

But there has to be a confession somewhere in this post doesn't there? I didn't actually make this card last night. I popped around to a friend's house for a quick chat and a brew last night, and it turned into a fish and chip supper with a glass of white zinfandel (which is actually rose - go figure!). So when I got back home about 9pm, I didn't feel like cracking open the inks and reaching for my papers - the sleep monster had me in his grasp. So I had a cuppa and after browsing through Facebook (seriously, I think I have an addiction - you can find me under Clare Docrafts Curd - original, don't you think?) off I went up the golden staircase to Bedfordshire.

So, THIS card is actually a card I made for the Forever Friends CD rom launch on Ideal World. I also used it as a demo card on a couple of the hours too. So, confession over, in any case I hope you like it. Photo is a bit wonky - no I didn't take it after a glass of wine!


If I remember correctly, the image, greeting and paper is from the Wedding section, and the green leaf paper (one of my absolute faves!) is from the Everyday section. I inked up the edges of each peice of paper with brown ink to create some definition, and added a faux stitching to the leaf paper. You can't really see it, but I also added Anita's 3D clear gloss finish to the wheels and lights of the car too. LOVE that stuff! The ribbon is from the Papermania Heather Capsule Collection.

Anyhoo, that's all for tonight - off to Am Dram in about 15 minutes for the first time in three weeks, darling!

Love, Clare x

More Friends Forever!

Here are some more cards from the Forever Friends TSV. All of these cards have been made by the wonderful and extremely talented Sheila Halliwell. Enjoy!


Here Sheila has used decoupage from the Forever Friends Everyday Kit, and before fixing all the layers, she has inked the edges using a pink fluid chalk ink. She has also used chalks to emphasise the parcels on the embossed card blank, also included in the kit.


This card also features the embossed cards from the kit, and Sheila has again brought out the detailed embossing of this card by using chalks and the fine tip of a purple brush marker. The top of the card has been removed, purple cardstock added to the inside of the card. A frame has been created by punching out small daisies and layering them to the underside of the front of the card. Coloured image and border stickers have been added and finally doodling used to finish the card.

On this beautiful card Sheila has cut a circle from the front of an identical patterned card blank using scalloped edged scissors and layered it using 3D foam pads on top of another, adding for flowers as an embellishment (saving the card left over to use elsewhere of course!). The bear with the present from the Everyday kit has been stamped using black ink and coloured with Papermania watercolour markers. Then latte glittter flocking from the embellishment kit has been added to the bear using a fine tipped glue pen. This gives a gorgeous subtle sparkly finish! (I will try and get a close up shot for you so you can see how gorgeous the glitter flocking is!)

Sheila has used a patterned card blank for the base of this gorgeous card, and I just love the glitter cardstock from the everyday kit too! A cardstock sticker has been fixed to the centre of the card using 3D foam pads and brads have been added to the kit to finish the card off perfectly.

For this lovely card, Sheila has used clever matting and layering, using cardstock from the everyday kit to create a card with lots of interest. A decoupaged image of bear carrying gifts is the main focus of the card, with pattened paper in a positive and negative design bringing the card together. An outline sticker greeting has been added to the card, and ribbon and brads have been added to the card to finish.

Thanks for visiting - more cards coming soon!

Love, Clare x

Friends Forever

Phew, it's a busy household here at Lemon Curd Towers! Just finished my projects for the next Do Crafts Creativity! Magazine, and thought I would get my act together and get snapping the projects that were featured on the Forever friends TSV on QVC a couple of weeks ago. I've had a few e-mails about the cards, so I hope this helps you all. I will be putting a few cards on at a time, as there are over 50 cards and other projects.

Some of these cards have been made by other Designers, namely Sheila Halliwell, Beckie Dreyer and Jill Thornton. Where this is the case I have labelled the cards, as without their help and their amazing cards there would be alot less cards featured in the kit. we have such a short space of time to make the cards, so these people are superstars at pulling out all the stops!


Sheila made this card using the Everyday Kit, it's a very quick yet effective card using Decoupage, a pre patterned card blank and a greeting. Great for when you've forgotten a card for someone and need to make a card quickly!

This one is by me! I made this on air as a very simple card. It's simple a patterned card blank, with one of the elements stickers from the Everyday Kit. A self adhesive greeting finishes the card. I also put a party popper in the bears hand to get him ready for partying!

Finally (for now anyway), this is also one I made using a card blank from the card blank kit, and elements from the Everyday Kit. I simply cut out around the top half of the circle with a craft knife, then fixed pink glitter card to the inside for a contrasting look. I stuck an elements sticker to the circle and I'm not sure whether my camera has picked it up properly, but I have also fixed a line of gorgeous irridescent shimmer dots to the bottom line of embossed circles.

Well, that's it for now. Don't forget to pop back soon for more cards from the Forever Friends TSV!

Love, Clare x

What's Going On!

I really can't believe it's been so long since I last posted, so much has happened since then. I have had my computer sorted (Domestic and General came up trumps and gave me the contact details of another repairer who was able to sort it out over the phone), and off I went to QVC and back home again on Friday for the Papermania hour which was tiring but great fun!

Now I'm busy prepping for the demo weekend at the Glitter Pot! I'm so looking forward to it I can't tell you. I'll get to see Paula Pascual again (even though I saw her on Friday!), and I'll get to shop at one of the most amazing Craft stores in the UK! I'll be demonstrating (amongst other things) an exclusive Daisy and Dandelion stamp set, only available at the Glitter Pot (photo to follow), as well as my range of stamps and the Forever Friends Range. It would be really great if you could come along, and do say hello if you can make it!

I've also got to do my cards for Clare's Corner of the Do Crafts Creativity! Magazine and also the workshop using the fantastic new Quickutz Silhouette SD. I've had a bit of a play with this little baby, and I absolutely love it! I could fill a magazine just with this machine!

Anyhoo, better get on. Hope you're all well and enjoying this gorgeous weather we're having.

Love, Clare x

Oh My Lordy Goodness!

I've just finished three days of hard labour at DO HO (Do Crafts head office) and it's been wonderful! Dan and I have filmed 6 videos of the week, and I've caught up with everyone and the crafting goss. We even made sure we fitted in bowling too! I think nearly all the head office entered into a bowling tournament and we took up seven lanes of the bowling alley. I was put with the sales team as they were short of a person, and had heard how spectacular(ly awful) I am at bowling! despite the handicap of me, we came second, however the warehouse team were the triumphant winners. It was great to spend time again with some of the Territory managers that I haven't seen since the Do crafts Roadshow last year. They are an amazing bunch of people who are great fun to be around.

We were still filming at 6pm tonight, so I decided to stay in Bournemouth for another night, rather than end up sitting on the motorway for hours on end in the expected bank holiday traffic. Also my journey home takes at least 5 hours normally, so I didn't relish the thought of setting off home so late. Anyhoo, I wanted to share some cards with you that I created using the Forever Friends Easter Surprise Decoupage pack , plus a few other choice embellishments and papers. The first three cards and ATC are featured on the Do Crafts website here.

I think this is one of my favourite decoupage images from the pack. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to make it into a square design. Then I knew I wanted to put the deep lilac colouring with chocolate brown, and the rest is history. Don't you just want a bite! The instructions for the card is here where you can also see the card in greater detail by hovering over the image.

Look at those gorgeous daffodils and how the shy little bear is hiding behind them! Oh, he is just sooo cute! I added a little (or a lot!) of red to this card as I didn't want to just keep using the obligatory green and yellow for a spring card. I think the red filigree paper by Doodlebug also lifts the card somewhat. I cut the greeting to make almost a feature of the sentiment, and added thread to the buttons too. The instructions and a zoomed image can be found here. This little bunny has a basketful of quacking fun! I have coloured paper flowers with ink to match the card and added punched circles to the flowers too! Instructions etc can be found here.

I made this ATC with left overs from the 'Bunches of Love' decoupage, and a spare greeting. I don't normally do ATC, but wanted to get the very most out of the Easter decoupage kit. The instructions etc are here.

The following cards are Just for You!

I 'borrowed' some papers from the Papermania Spring Burst collection to add to the Forever Friends decoupage. The scalloped border around the bear was made using a heart punch, with the top of the heart used as the scallop bit. I also added some Papermania Element flowers and lime green satin ribbon - yummy!
I used papers from the Anita's essentials pack for this card. I also added a little gold glitter glue to the centre of the tulip and cut up one of the greeting panels.

lastly, this was a really quick and easy card, made with whatever I had left. I also added a sticker from the Easter three packs. I also sanded the core'dinations cardstock. A simple card just to cheer someones day.

Well, I hope you like them. Off to bed now for a few hours of snooze-aroonie before setting off back to home an an Easter weekend. Have a great break everyone!

Love, Clare x

New Baby Card - Heffalump Style!

My friend had a baby on Saturday! Congratulations Caroline and Mike! They probably won't be reading this, seeing as they are unaware of the blogging instinct in me, and especially not with a new baby around, but you never know. They had a baby boy, Thomas Michael, another son to go with Adam, which at this precise moment in time is Joseph's unconditional, love him to death Best Friend. Till next week. You know what they're like.

I don't have much baby stuff around, so I found these heffalump stickers (they used to be Josephs before I 'stole' them out of the bottom of his craft box {evil laugh}, and anyway it's not technically stealing, 'cos I bought them, so there.) and combined them with papers from the Cute and Cuddly set from Forever Friends and an old rub on from a sheet that I've had for ages and cost about a squillion pounds (or there abouts). A bit of a ribbon and a few buttons and voila! It's finished.

Hope she likes it! Can't wait to go round and have a squeeze of the baby and revel in the knowledge that I can give him back when he cries. Yippee!

Love, Clare x

I can't 'bear' to be without you!

Sorry I have not posted for a good few days. I was away at the weekend at my Mum and Dad's and now I'm down in Dorset filming some Video's of the Week and doing a few other things.

I have made this card in celebration of St.Valentine's Day! It was just so easy to make, and probably the quickest card I have made in a long time too! I love making cards that take time, enoying the process and hopefully the final result.

I created the frame around the main image by punching out 7 flowers from red core'dinations cardstock. I stuck them to the underside of the circle. easy peasy and effective!

It's under New Projects over on the Do Crafts Website if you need more details about the products used, or how it's made. You can also comment here too, and it would be lovely to know what you think.

Love, Clare x

A Labour of Love for David's Birthday!

It's David's Birthday today! He's 36, and as he says closer to 40 than 30 now. I'm sure he won't mind me telling you. Happy Birthday David, I love you!

I made this card in celebration of his Birthday. I only made it yesterday as I'm not very good at making cards for a real occasion. I'm much better at doing what I want, as my mood takes me, and then fitting them to an occasion.

Have you ever made a card, and changed your mind about a thousand times, and that's before you have even stuck anything down? This was the case for this Labour of Love. The layout must have been moved around umpteen times before the final composition was decided, then I stuck down the spotty panel before deciding that I wanted to wrap string around it. So off it came, and string was applied.

Then I coloured the bear and didn't like how dark it was, but I was happy with the belt and the tool box so I cut them out and started again. I used vivid inks applied to a non-porous surface for a change to my whispers pens. I was so happy when Do Crafts started distributing them, as I live using them in so many different ways! I also tried using the chalk inks in this way too, and it worked and still gave a chalky appearance. I'm still not happy with the watercolouring of the bear though (a bit too dark for my liking), but David loves his card so I suppose that's all that matters.

For the greeting I wanted it to look a bit grungy, so after I had inked it up I pressed my ruler edge into the ink to create lines. I think it turned out pretty well! I really hope you like it as much as David does.

Supplies for the card

Papers: Anita's Essential A5 paper Stack; Core'dinations Cardstock in black and burgundy; Papermania Cardstock in Latte, black A6 card blank. Stamps: Forever Friends; Happy Birthday taken from the Anita's Ferrari Wooden stamp. Inks: Vivid inks in Inky blue, Brown, Coffee Bean, Color Box Chalk ink in warm red; Colorbox Pigment Ink in Dragonfly Black; Heat it up! Clear embossing Powder; Anita's Acrylic paint in Metallic Silver; Embellishments: String; Papermania Silver Brads.

We are going to a hotel for a couple of nights starting today, as David also has his New Year Ball on Saturday night, so I'm really looking forward to relaxing in style.

See you soon, Love, Clare x

Once upon a Christmas Advent

It was my turn to have a card on the Christmas Forever Friends Advent Calendar yesterday, so I thought I would also post it here. If you would like a list of supplies and a step by step ofhow I made the card, you can get it here. If you go to the home page of the Do Crafts website, there's a banner on the right hand side about the calendar, click on it and you will be taken straight there. Alternatively, click here. That's easier isn't it! Then you have to find the date hidden withing the picture and click on it, this will take you to an exclusive project not available anywhere else on the Do Crafts site at the moment. You can't access future dates, but if you've missed any days you can click and have a look at those. There are some lovely projects on there at the moment, including this one by Beckie Drayer (this is today's).

Why not go over there and check it out now!

Love, Clare x

As Cute as Cute can Be!

So sorry I've neglected my blog and therefore your visits. I'm back now from Dorset, and promise to do my best never to nelect you again. I'm going to be very busy over the next few days (who isn't at this time of year?) but I will try and make time to visit daily.

Now if your fighting that Christmassy feeling, take a look at this!



Have you seen the new banner on the home page of the Do Crafts website? It's titled the Magic Christmas Star. Click on it, and you'll be taken to a Christmas wonderland featuring the Forever Friends bear masquerading as Father Christmas! It's the most lovely thing that I've seen so far this Chrstmas,and it's definately got me feeling festive. There's also screen savers and wall paper for your computer, and you can even send animated e-cards!

I wholeheartedly recommend you go and have a look, and climb into your own Winter Wonderland! Click here to find out more!


Love Clare x

Season's Greetings Snowman

Good Morning All!

I'm feeling a bit bleery eyed this morning, as I'm working away from home at the moment (I'm with my husband in Wales who's working, and I've taken over the car with my crafting paraphernalia). We went out for a meal with some colleagues who have become our friends, and as you may know one drink can lead to another, and before you know it, it's 1.30 am and you're still talking! I didn't have alot to drink, but even one glass of wine can be too much for me now, so two is sheer over indulgence.

I just wanted to share a card with you that I did for Sharon's sketch challenge on the Let's Get Stamping forum on Craft Bubble, and I thought this Forever Friends stamp would be perfect! I just love the little snowman, you would not want him to melt, would you!

I created the scalloped frame around the image by punching out hearts from core'dinations cardstock and sticking them to the back of the panel. So easy but so effective. I decoupaged the bear, but shaped the card before sticking down.

Here are the deets of the supplies

Stamps: Forever friends christmas set greeting from Papermania clear stamps.
Paper: Forever Friends Christmas snow.
Ink and Colour: Color box black pigment, Whispers Strokes markers
Accessories: Papermania Sparkling Trims in red, core'dinations cardstock, clear embossing powder, Papermania glitter flocking in white. white pen.

I really hope you like it!

Love, Clare x