I {heart} Louise Jolley and Photoshop!

Wow! What a busy time in the Curd household at the moment! I'm busy looking through all the applications for the Clare Curd's Signature Range (CCSR), as well as starting on my cards for the may edition of the Do Crafts Creativity! Magazine and cards for future Video's of the week over on Do Crafts. I'm also hoping to go to the stitches Trade Show tomorrow with Sheila, but David has to be in work tomorrow at 6am, so it depends whether I want to go late or not go at all.

Last week, Sheila and I was down in Do Crafts land (or Dorset to you), and a busy yet fun time was had by all! Sheila did a couple of Top Tips videos, you can see the first one here, and I filmed four Video's of the week. I very kindly passed on my nasty cold to Sheila too, nothing like sharing with your friends! Get well soon, Sheils! Talking of Sheila, here's a photo that Lou (the photographer) took of Sheila and I on the last day we were there - Sheils needed a new photo of herself for the website, and I happened to sneak in and get in the picture. They can't do anything with me popping up!

Lou just sent me the photo today, and I had a little chuckle when I spotted the title she put on the image - the terrible twins - that explains us just about right!

Just incase you're wondering, Lou is a superstar because she had achieved the impossible - she has managed to save my cards that I ruined with coffee last week! Whoo hoo! And even though it must have taken her ages, she did it with a smile and alot of patience. I love you Lou - you're the best, I really appreciate everything you do!

Today, I have been out and bought a new webcam so I can start skyping Sheila again - my webcam kept crashing my computer, and some new headphones to replace the ones I smashed when I thought the bath was running over last week.

Finally, here is a card I didn't get around to posting last week, I made it with my The Greeting Farm Pretty Hat stamp set. She is just the cutest and was a pleasure to colour and work with. I also love the font used for the greeting - gorgeous! I used a sketch challenge from Mojo Monday (week 72), but didn't enter it 'cos I'm not organised enough. The pink paper is an gorgeous old Doodlebug paper, and the flowers are cut from a lush BasicGrey paper. I coloured in anya with my promarkers Love'em!

That's all for now - see ya later!

Love, Clare x

Heartfelt Sympathy

Yesterday I had my nails done to perfection ready for QVC, and very lovely they look too. I then had a dream, so should I say nightmare where all my nails started to break and were all jaggered! I suppose it's just a worry thing about everything going alright, but when I woke up this morning I actually thought it had happened, itn't it horrible when that happens! The space between reality and dreams is narrowed to non-existsnce and you just don't know whats real anymore. Luckily it only last for a minute or so, and your back to normal. But it's horrible just the same. Today's card was made as my contribution to the Pink Poison DT, and it's entitled Heartfelt Sympathy, but luckily I have no-one to send it to at this festive time. And lets hope it stays that way. However, I thought I would still share it here, as the Fancy Fleurs stamp set is gorgeous, and the images can be used for anyone who likes flowers.

I stamped the flowers with colorbox pigment ink and embossed with clear powder. I always do it this way (a coloured ink and a clear embossing powder) as I find that the image is finer, with more detail, and there are no specks of powder that escape from the outline and make the image look dirty. I think I stamped this twice and decoupaged some of the leaves and the flower heads. I coloured the flower heads with Twinkling H2O's and added some white to achieve the shading. The leaves were coloured with Whispers Pens using the watercolouring technique.

The DP's I've used are from Doodlebug, including the embossed cardstock which is called eyelets impressions cardstock. I used grey core'dinations to create the card blank, and the ribbon is Beetle Black Boutique Trims from Doodlebug. I really hope you like it. I'm sorry (again), but at the mo I don't have time to list all the supplies, but I promise, I will start doing it againg as soon as my workload lightens a little (when will that be I ask myself?!)

love to all,

Clare x

'Twas the Night before Christmas...

Just realised that I hadn't shared a couple of cards with you! How thoughtless and forgetful of me. What I thought I'd do is show one now, and one tomorrow.

I made this with the 'Pink Poison Cup of Stuff' stamp set and made the most of the Little mouse sitcking his head up from the cup! I stamped and cut it out, then cloured with my whispers Watercolour pens and attached him to the card above the lettering.

I printed the verse onto green core'dinations cardstock, and distressed the edges. The Chipboard letters are from BasicGrey. They were originally white, and I coloured then with magenta Colorbox pigment inks. The background papers are We R Memory Keepers Christmas collection. Aren't they just gorgeous!

I really hope you like it! So sorry I don't have time today to give you the full deets of the supplies used, still on with making cards for the QVC hour. Just a few more part-mde demo samples to do, then I have to check I have everything. Can you imagine the embarrasment if I'm live on air and I've forgotten something? I'm just crawling under my desk thinking about it!

Love, Clare x

Clearly a Friend

I have been dabbling again - I couldn't help myself with these gorgeous papers from BasicGrey. They are from the new Offbeat collection I just absolutley adore those colours, and together they are a knockout combination.

I started with the papers and the design came together from there. I used the Cup of Stuff stamp set again from Pink Poison - you can never get bored of this set, with such beautiful sentiments too, suitable for all sorts of occasions.

Again, I coloured the stamped image with Letraset Promarkers and then used Anita's 3D Clear Gloss to achieve the shiny raised effect. I decoupaged the flowers and the cup (but only because I'd coloured the cup and I didn't like the colour!) I added a faux stiched effect to the border of the DP by pricking holes and using a white gel pen. I tore the Montego Bay Core'dinations cardstock to reveal it's cheeky hidden core, and then stamped my sentiment with white ink and embossed with Heat it up! Seafoam White embossing powder. The little brown domed circles at teh end of the torn panel are Chocolate Drops from Craftwork Cards. They come in all sorts of different colours, and there must be hundreds in a pack for just £1.00!

The acetate I used to make the card is from Papermania - this acetate is amazing! It's so lovely and thick, it's great to use as a card base, but still folds easily with the help of a bone folder. To cover up the adhesive on the reverse of the card, another panel of card can be fixed that is the same size as the front, and a panel can be added to add any message.

Just in case you were wondering, here are the deets of the Supplies:

Stamps: Pink Poison Stamp Set: Cup of Stuff

Papers and Cardstock: BasicGrey Offbeat Collection (unexpected); Snowflake and Montego Bay Core'dinations

Colour: Colorbox black pigment ink, clear embossing powder, Colourbox Frost WhitePigment ink, Heat it up! Seafoam white embossing powder Letraset Promarkers

Accessories: Papermania plain acetate, brown twill/ribbon (think I got this from some packaging!)

Hope you like it! Thanks for visiting today.

love, Clare x

Borrow a Cup of Smiles

Hi there!

Well, how has this Sunday been for you so far? I don't know if I mentioned it Yesterday, but David and Joe went to David's Mum and Dad's to help with tiling the Kitchen, and that's no place for a crafter, right? So I stayed here and dutifully cleaned the house, making sure there was still time to craft!

I meant to have a soaky soaky bath with candles and everything, but got so carried away crafting and watching X-Factor that I forgot! (BTW, go Alexandra, her second song just stopped me in my tracks and made me cry! I know she's your typical singer and nothing different that they're looking for, but no one can take away from her that her talent stands about a billion miles forward of the other contestants). I went to bed about 12.15 with my book and a cup of tea, and woke this morning at 9.30 am, feeling more than guilty! whenever I have a Lye in, I always feel bad, like I've wasted the day or something. So then it was straight into my craft room again for another bout of heaven.

I would like to share this card with you today. I used the sketch challenge over on SCS and it was such fun to enjoy using the project without having to stress too much about the layout. Again, I did this earlier in the week, and Pink Poison's 'A Cup of Stuff' is muscling in on the action for the second time. How cute is this little man? When Joe saw this card he said "Oh how funny Mummy, a mouse in a cup!" Bless him.

When I saw the little china cup I just knew instantly which papers I wanted to use for this project. So, out I pulled BasicGrey Sugared DP (designer paper), which remind me of fine bone china, and got to work. I stamped the mouse three times, once onto Burgundy Core'dinations, once onto DP and once onto white cardstock all with black ink and heat embossed with clear powder. Then once I'd added some colour using Letraset Promarkers to the cup on the DP and the Mouse head on the white card I cut them out and layered onto the burgundy cardstock. I then distressed and added pricking to the edge of the core'dinations before mounting onto the same DP as used for the cup, and Nightfall core'dinations.

For the base of the card I used Amazon Core'dination and again distressed the surface by bending and creasing before sanding with the fantastic BasicGrey Precision file set. A little layering, a touch of ribbon and a few brads and voila! And how cute is that sentiment - Borrow a Cup of Smiles? Perfect for anyone who needs a little pick me up.

Here are a list of the supplies:

Stamps: Pink Poison stamp set 'A Cup of Stuff'.

DP (Designer Paper) and Cardstock: BasicGrey Sugared: Charming and Attractive, Core'dination in Burgundy (COR 232), Amazon (COR 142) and Nightfall (COR 256)

Accessories: Papermania large brads in Red, Organza ribbon from my stash.

Letraset Promarkers used: For Mouse: Satin, cinnamon, burnt umber, cocoa, pastel pink (for cheeks and ears.) For Cup: Maroon, olive.

Tools: Papermania Pokey tool, BasicGrey Precision filing set.

I really hope you like this card, I loved making it! Hopefully, I will be back tomorrow with another card, have a great Sunday.

love, Clare x

Love Blooms all Year Long!

Well, I've finished the hoovering and so now I have some time to craft! However, before I do, I want to share a card with you that I did a few days ago, but because my daylight lamp bulb was broken I couldn't get a good picture. Now I have a new buld, I can craft to my hearts content when it gets dark, which at the moment is the middle of the day!

I made this card using an image from a Pink Poison stamp set called `Cup of Stuff`, but for a different twist, I used the image for a Christmas card. I still think the Greeting fits for this occasion, and will be perfect to give to my husband for Christmas.

I stamped the mouse lovers three times onto white card, then coloured using Letraset Promarkers before decoupaging. This is one of my favourite techniques to use with stamps, it really makes them come to life!

Here are the deets of the supplies:

Stamps: Pink Poison Cup of Stuff Stamp Set
Papers: BasicGrey Wassail, Core`dinations
Colour: Colorbox Black Pigment ink, Letraset Promarkers
Accessories: BasicGrey Buttons (sorry, can't remember which collection), String

I really hope you like it! The BasicGret wassail Papers are just gorgeous, and the great thing is that that there are some papers in the collection that would work for all year round.

See you tomorrow for another card!

Love, Clare x

Have a 'Fairy' Merry Christmas!

What a busy weekend it has been! I finished this card on Friday night, but the days have been so dull , the light hasn't been right to take a good photograph, and also too busy too! What with catching up on cleaning, swimming lessons for Joe and food shopping, I've not stopped.

Anyhoo, this card was made for the Colour and sketch challenges over on SCS. Why not kill two brds with one stone? I've used this fantastic stamp from Pink Poison, she's called Princess Anya, but I've turned her into a fairy for this card. I used Letraset promarkers to colour her skin, hair and crown, and gave her highlights with my sakura white pen. I used sitckles on her crown and wand. I used paper from Pink Petticoat's christmas paper collection to colour her dress. It's she just a darling? I sooo enjoyed colouring her. Why don't you check out the Pink Poison blog, there are some fantastic cards on there, from extremely talented designers.

I changed the colour of the metal snowflakes by inking up with pigment ink and then embossing with holographic embossing powder.

I hope you like this card as much as I enjoyed making it. Thanks for looking,