Wow, we've had a great response to the "It's Cool to be Square" Teaser this week! As promised I have a second square card to post for the second week of the Teaser. As you can see I've used the same Tanda Stamp (and general method) as last week but the colours are different. I was looking for a Victorian feel with this card hence the sepia tones (Adirondack, Cabin Fever), lacy edges (Martha Stewart punch) and general busyness of the design.

Well I think things will be a little quiet blogwise at my end for the next few days...mum and dad arrive tomorrow so I can see that I will not be able to get anywhere near a computer until next week!

Have a fabulous Christmas everyone, and I hope Santa fills your stockings with lots of lovely stash!!

Keep warm
Sue
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It's Cool To Be Square!

Hello there, it's my turn to do the Tanda Teaser again this week. Because we are so close to Christmas and as things have been a bit quiet lately, Wendy and I agreed that this weeks teaser would last for two weeks to give you more of a chance to join in. I thought I would keep things really simple to help too! So this week's teaser is to make a square card.

For my card I covered a square card with paper printed from the Artylicious Decadent Brocade CD Rom as my base. The main image (from Tanda Christmas Set 2)was stamped in Archival Black ink onto thick glossy card stock that I had previously brayered using Adirondack Winter Sky. Once dry I smeared Versamark Dazzle frost over the image and then triple embossed with clear embossing powder, giving a subtle shimmer. This was then cut out and matted and layered with silver mirror card and white mulberry paper. The tag was made using the same brayered glossy card and stamped and embossed with Tapestry holly leaves and berries. The card was then finished with silver and grey fibres and ribbons.

I hope to get the chance to post another card for this teaser next week...time permitting...but if I don't...I just want to wish you all a very Happy Christmas!

Sue
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Nice and Narrow, the new Tanda Teaser

Hello again....another week closer to Christmas....where has this year gone?! I'm going to have to be quick with this post...as I have far too much to do atm!!!

My card is narrow...I hope you think it nice....but it isn't tall..sorry Wendy..narrow and broad would probably be a better description....never mind it's done now!

The stamps are all Tanda...you saw the sledgers a few posts back. I've stamped the images using Adirondack Winter Sky and as before the sledgers have been coloured using the warm grey Promarkers. The stamped images have been matted onto copper coloured card and then onto paper printed from the Artylicious Decadent Brocade CD Rom. Before sticking everything down the edges were distressed with Colorbox Chalk Inks then I punched two holes and inserted copper eyelets before threading a piece of ribbon though to finish the card.

I hope you enjoy the teaser!
Sue
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Get In Step!

Hi there fellow crafters. It's my turn this week to set the Tanda Teaser and I thought we could do something fun this week. On my blog hopping sorties I have noticed lots of step cards and side step cards recently! So I thought it would be fun to challenge everyone to make a step card of some description this week.

For those of you who haven't made one before they are quite simple to make....here's a little calculation and diagram to help you......



Please click on the diagram to see it more clearly.
















For my step card I used papers from the Artylicious Season's Greetings CD rom. I ran a square piece of heavy duty acetate through my Wizard in the snowflakes cuttlebug folder to make the background. I stamped 4 Klimt swirly trees onto dark grey card and then embossed them in silver embossing powder, these were then painted with interference paints. While these were drying I stamped the Klimt border across the horizontal steps and embossed them with silver embossing powder. Once dry the trees were cut out and attached as shown in the photo.



Side step cards are also fun to do...see my instructions here....again using a 27cm piece of card. To get the best results with this type of card, I would recommend using a craft knife to score the card and to cut out the side step.

If you keep checking www.craftstamperblogspot, you should see a side step card that I've made in the next week or so....

I hope you find time to join in with our Teaser this week!

Bye for now and enjoy!
Sue
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Musical Christmas

It's Wendy's turn to set the Tanda Teaser this week. She has decided to go for a musical theme, so the subject of the card should be a Christmas carol or have music somewhere on the card. For my card I used the first day of Christmas as my theme, although I am now having second thoughts....Is this a carol or just a Christmas song?...I'm really not sure. Well no time to do another now, so it will have to do.

For my card I stamped the pear tree, in olive green Impress dye ink, onto a piece of paper printed from the Artylicious Decadent Brocade CD Rom. I then heat embossed the pears in gold ep. I tore a strip of vellum that I had printed with the verse in green to match the ink. Using a Versamark pen I picked out the pears and embossed them with gold ep. The pear was stamped onto vellum and embossed in gold ep before being coloured using UsArt Quest paints. The partridge was stamped and embossed in gold ep on brown card and then coloured with UsArt Quest interference paints. Pear and Partridge stamps come from the Tanda Partridge Set 1 (mini).

The base card was stamped using the tree and distressed in the same ink. The tags were cut out using Spellbinders' dies, these were embossed in a Cuttlebug embossing folder before being distressed with the same ink as I used for the tree.

Well I think that just about wraps it up. Hope you all find time to join in this week!

Sue
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Tanda Teaser "Winter Sports"

This week's Tanda Teaser is called Winter Sports....I fell in love with a certain Tanda stamp but it was a little bit too tiny....no worries...Andrew resized it..(see Tanda blog for details)...so here we go...and I used some of my stash from the NEC...how smug am I feeling!

I stamped the boys using Adirondack winter sky and then set it aside to dry...once dry..I used my promarkers (NEC purchase!!)..in WARM grey 1 - 5 to colour the image. I trimmed this and matted and layered with metallic copper and beige card.

The next layer was white card...I swirled a bit of ink, from Adirondack winter sky pad, around using a stencil brush to take the white away, then I stamped foliage and cones using Tapestry stamps from Holly Border and Pine Branch Border sets (foliage and cones in Adirondack winter sky, berries in Impress Poppy Red. The edges were then punched with my new Martha Stewart punch (I'm so glad I managed to get this at the NEC!)

This was again layered onto a piece of paper printed from the Artylicious Decadent Brocade CD Rom and then onto the base card.

The bow was stitched with gold embroidery thread...I really must do a step by step to do these bows...they are perfect every time!...watch this space.

I hope that you can find time to join in with the teaser...

Sue
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Lilac and Lemon

Evening all, just had a busy, busy week! Also the internet connection in the playroom has been playing up so that means that my eldest is constantly hogging this computer, chatting on MSN, facebook and checking her Youtube feedback...well that's my excuse for not blogging here for ages!

I just managed to sneak on here while my eldest was otherwise occupied and I'm currently claiming squatters rights!

So here we go...Wendy's Tanda Teaser this week is a colour challenge, Lilac and Lemon. Not a colour combo that I'm particularly comfortable with, although I realised too late the my anniversary card for my husband would have fitted the bill. I've been a bit naughty this week and haven't actually used any Tanda stamps, I promise to use Tanda stamps for the next few week's teasers though!

For my card I used "Choose" by Leanne Ellis. I coloured the image with Copic markers and just added a bit of dimension to the hanging hearts with Glossy Accents. The image was layered up onto papers from the Artylicious Decadent Brocade CD Rom.

Since I last blogged I went to the NEC with my friend and have to admit to a few purchases....I can't believe that I went to a craft show and ended up buying a saute pan..how sad am I?! The pan was very expensive, but it is brilliant, guaranteed for life and totally non stick no matter how badly it's treated! Perfect for this household where everything gets scoured and normal non stick pans last about 2 seconds! I did buy a few crafty bits as well, a Martha Stewart punch that I've been after for ages, a few stamps and some paints.

Well I'd better go and check on the girls....

Bye for now,
Sue

Metallize!

This week it was my turn to set the Tanda Teaser and so I decided that as so many of my forum friends had been playing with TSS recently it was high time that I opened my tools and metal and had a go myself. Hubby's birthday was also a bit of an incentive to make another mini card (his first car was a red mini with white stripes) and I thought that the acrylic paint and precious metal paint that I bought at Artisan would be perfect for the job.

First I stamped Linda Luckin's mini in black stazon onto my TSS metal. I then used quite a sharp tool to trace the outline so that I could see the image from the reverse. I then turned the metal over and used the tools to puff out the image so that it really popped. When this was done I turned it back to the right side and then debossed the floor so that it would co-ordinate with the grey pearlised card used to mount the image. I used one of the embossing wheels to frame the image and then out came the paints. First I painted around the mini in black acrylic and then I wiped it away so that some of the black was left behind. Then I painted the bodywork of the mini with crimson precious metal colour. Not having any special tape to attach my metal to the card I used 4 brads instead, matting and layering with red pearlised card and the metal sheet effect grey pearlised card.

I hope that you find time to join in with our challenge over on the Tanda Blog and Wendy and I look forward to seeing your artwork over the next week.

Sue
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Kind Thoughts

Wendy has set the Tanda Teaser this week, and she has chosen "Kind Thoughts" as the theme. I bought the angel Gorjuss girl a while ago and thought that it would work perfectly for this challenge.

The card is based on a Craft Stamper sketch challenge from a while ago and uses papers from the new Artylicious cd rom Decadent Brocade. I stamped the image in black impress and then coloured it using the cool grey promarkers. I started with the palest grey first and worked my way up to the darkest shade. The Sentiment is from Tanda Christian Set 1 that I have embossed, in a cuttlebug folder, after stamping.


Sue
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Tanda Teaser Tick Tock!

This week's Teaser has a time theme....the clocks go back on Sunday and clocks and watches seem to be so popular at the moment.

For my sample card I made the background using distress inks and clock stamps from Stampin' up. The main image on the card was stamped in Stazon using the watch stamp from Tanda background set 1. This was stamped onto a tomato puree tube (I ran it thought the wizard first to get it completely flat) and then cut it out and embossed it using ten seconds studio tools.

My Stash form the Artisan Show

Sorry guys I've been a bit busy what with starting my new job and visiting Artisan at the weekend. The feedback about the show has been good, several people commented that they preferred it to the NEC which was nice to hear.

The high point of the show for me was meeting the wonderful Leandra Franich. I managed to sneak myself in to her workshop. Leandra showed us how to make fabulous metallic look beads using the ferro texture paints, acrylics, glimmer mists and precious metal paints. First of all we had to coat the beads with a smooth layer of ferro paint, this was then stamped into and left to dry. While they were drying we smeared more ferro paint onto chipboard tags and stamped into it to get more texture.
The tags were for us to practice using the acrylic paints/precious metal paints and glimmer mists until were happy with the resulting colours so that we could then decorate the beads in the same way. I chose to do my fav colours blue/green and copper. Once the beads had dried we made them into ear rings...my eldest daughter has just had her ears pierced and has been eyeing them up and pleading!

The photos don't do these justice as in real life they are very rich and shimmery. The workshop really inspired me to make something for my desk at work...so if you keep checking the Craft Stamper blog over the next few weeks you might just see what I made. There won't be any peeking here until then though!

So what did I buy...well obviously some Steel ferro, Copper croco, acrylic (black, sage and tropical water) and precious metal paints (blue azure and copper)! Then I got a couple of mdf blanks to paint them on, some more beads (teardrop shape this time) and the paperartsy stamps that I had on my wish list...and a few more to be honest! I also managed to get hold of some grungepaper and cut and dry foam, I've been itching to have a play with this since seeing the patchwork bag in craft stamper...I have another project in mind though..watch this space. Then finally but not at all least I found some beautiful stamps from Chapel Road Artstamps. Sue if you're reading this....you now have a stamping shop "Snazzys" just behind the Renault building in Swindon....she stocks these lovely stamps and loads and loads of inkpads...oh I forgot to mention I bought a few of those too!

There were a few things on my wish list that I didn't manage to find so I will just have to go to the NEC as well....LOL!

The next Tanda Teaser is....."Russet and Gold"

We have got a little out of sync this week as Wendy has asked me to post the teaser this week, if all is well, she hopes to be able to post her challenge next week instead. So this week I have set a colour challenge...the leaves are just starting to turn here and we will soon be in for a display of russets and golds, so I decided to choose this as my colour challenge. I had an anniversary card and a wedding card to make this week so I have designed them with the colour challenge in mind. Both cards began in the same way, namely I stamped and embossed the main image from TandaStamps in clear ep on russet, pearlised card stock. Using the darkest gold interference paint in the USArt Quest pallet I painted the inside of the hearts and then I used the paler gold interference paint for the rest of the image. (Unfortunately interference paints do not photograph particularly well, the pale gold looks silver in these photos!). Both stamped images cut out, then matted and layered with gold and bronze card.



For the anniversary card I stamped a swirlly flourish stamp from Art Impressions (available from Sir Stamp a Lot) all over a DL sized card made out of the pearlised russet cardstock. I then brushed the stamped image with brilliant gold pearl-Ex and fixed it with hairspray. The edges of the card were also dusted with Pearl-Ex. The sentiment was stamped in the same way as the main panel, edged with copper krylon and affixed with brads.





For the Wedding card I used the same matting and layering but this time I used a cream DL card. I stamped and dusted Pearl-Ex as before but used my Klimt swirly borders down each side of the main panel. Again the sentiment was stamped and painted in the same was as before.

I hope that you will find time to enter the teaser on the Tanda blog this week and look forward to seeing all your lovely artwork!

Suex

New Job, New Stamps and Z is for Zebras!

First let me apologise, this might be a bit of a long post...I've been busy this week and this is the first chance I've had to update my blog. Some of you who follow the Tanda forum will know that I had a job interview recently and that I got the job. This was my first week. So what's the job you may ask.....only Editorial Assistant working on Craft Stamper Magazine...my favourite magazine!! Everyday is like Christmas, boxes of lovely, lovely artwork arrive and just have to be opened. I have to say the contributors are really talented! For obvious reasons I cannot tell what I have seen, but trust me, there are some real treats in store over the next few months!



My other big news is that Andrew has launched my new stamp sets over on www.tandastamps.com

Town, Village and Garden Elements are all A6 size and Architectural Elements is A5. Originally designed with the craze of making and trading houses last year in mind, the sets work well together for a lot of different occasions too. This card was made using a sentiment from the Garden Elements set and the doors, brick border, and topiary from the Architectural Elements set. Feel free to click on the picture to see it in more detail. Other samples can be seen in my gallery over in the Design Team Album on the Tanda website....Andrew and Tanya have elevated me!


And finally....we've reached the end of the alphabet this week. I wonder what Linda will think of next to keep us all busy!

For my Z atc, I used the group of Zebras from the safari judikins cube on the background. The Z was stamped in black stazon using a Tanda stripes stamp and then triple embossed with clear embossing powder.

So now the set is complete I just need to work out how I'm going to frame it up and which little nephew is going to get it!

This is what the total set looks like at the moment.......


Click on the piccy for a larger view.

Got to go now...I'm off to the Artisan show at the weekend so I need to write my shopping list!

Sue
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Y is for Yo-Yo

This week we have got to Y in Linda's alphabet challenge. With hindsight I probably could have done Y for yellow, but as these atc's are going to end up on the wall in a little boy's room I thought yo-yo might be more appropriate.

The yo-yo stamp was a custom stamp by Tanda, I stamped 3 yo-yos using the masking technique and then coloured them with copic markers. The Y was coloured in pale blue colourbox chalk ink and then I used the Tanda polka dot stamp in wisteria colourbox chalk ink. I distressed the edges of the Y with the wisteria ink and then triple embossed it.

Sue
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Tanda Teaser 117 - "Text It!"

Another week has gone by and it's my turn to set the Tanda Teaser this week...so I've gone for something a bit hip....my daughter is really into texting her mates and book text seems to be pretty big in card making atm...so the Tanda teaser this week is "Text It!" I saw a really great tutorial over on splitcoasters ,over here,

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/results/7a7c6a8c87d3843c6d5e11bf6ea8fcf7/


This gave me the inspiration for my card....

For my card I stamped the text stamp from Tanda Valentine set 1 repeatedly in black stazon on text and graphics card from Staples (I still cannot bring myself to rip up actual books!). This was then covered with a couple of layers of gesso and allowed to dry. Once dry I stamped Jane Daffern's romance stamp in versamark and heat embossed with clear ep. I swiped yellow and lilac colour box chalk inks over the image and then removed the clear ep using copier paper and a hot iron. I cut the image out and matted it, using tiny lilac heart shaped brads, with gold card and a layer of acetate over the top..the acetate gives the card a professional finish and works really well with this technique. The finished card is an anniversary card for DH....It's our anniversary on Thursday..so I hope he's not reading my blog!!!

Whilst, to keep things simple, the challenge is to use text (not just a sentiment) on your card...I hope you try out this technique as it is really fun to do!

Have fun!
Sue
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X is for Xmas!

Linda's alphabet challenge has now reached X....and I'm afraid that the only X that I could think of using my existing stamps was Xmas! So I coloured my chipboard X with green colour box chalk ink and triple embossed it. The background stamp is from the After the Gifts set of stamps by rubbadubbadoo. You cannot really see it in the picture, but it has given the atc a distressed look. The foliage stamps around the edge were from a Tapestry set (stamped with VersaColor ink pads) and the tag was cut using a spellbinders die and coloured with a copic marker.

Just two more letters to go...

Sue
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In the Wild

This week is Wendy's turn to set the teaser and she has decided to set a "Wild" one....well I've been really, really busy with samples for some new stamps that Tanda will be launching soon, and some projects for Katy Fox, at Craft Stamper, so my card for this week's Teaser had to be a really quick one...

I can't believe how quick this was...just one impression with the Zebra stamp from the Judikin's cube, matted on a black mat (embossed in a cuttlebug folder), matted on white card (stamped with Stripes from Tanda background set 2 in black archival ink) set on a black 14cm x 14cm card and finished off with a black ribbon....simple or what!

I hope you all find time to join in with the teaser!

Sue
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Ooops, almost missed W is for Web!

Wow Linda that two weeks went quick! My atc is W for Web, The web is a Tanda stamp, I cannot remember where the spider came from. The card is coloured with copics and the W was coloured using colourbox chalk inks before being stamped in black stazon and then triple embossed.

Got to dash...I'm making samples for Andrew at Tanda this weekend.....he has some more stamps coming out soon so watch this space....can't wait to show you what I've been upto!

ttfn
Sue

Monochrome Madness!

Hi there....sorry things have been a bit quiet around here lately...just a bit busy with family stuff..etc...etc...

Anyway enough of the excuses! This week it is my turn to set the Tanda Teaser and this week I've decided to do monochrome....not a good time for me...another sympathy card I'm afraid..but I'm hoping that Tanda followers can produce some monochrome stuff in colours other than black and white to cheer me up!

Looking forward to your take on the Teaser!
Sue
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Tanda Teaser - Holiday Fun!

Hi there, it's Wendy's turn to set the Tanda Teaser this week over on the Tanda Blog and this week she has chosen the theme "Holiday Fun". For those of us with children of school age this week sees the end of the summer holidays, but I guess some of you, without school age kids, will be jetting off to warmer/drier climes and making the most of lower fares! May I wish you Bon Voyage!

My card this week uses a stamp from Tanda advert plate 3 and the wish you were here stamp from Tanda Postage set 1. The main image was stamped in Black archival ink and then water coloured using the works pearlised paints. The background was made using the nautilus stamp by Clarity stamped repeatedly in weathered wood. These have then been water coloured with a little pearlised paint and then hi lighted with stickles. The shells were found on the beach a couple of years ago.

I hope that you will find time to join us over on the Tanda Blog and forum, and that you enjoy this challenge!
Sue
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Tanda Teaser - Floral Fantasy!

I'm keeping it simple this week over on the Tanda Blog, so I hope that lots of you will join in with the teaser! I made this card for my Mum and Dad's wedding anniversary today. So just in case they are reading this...."Happy Anniversary"....I believe that it is also Lesley and Ed's wedding anniversary today too....so "Happy Anniversary" to you too!!!!

The card itself is very simple, just stamped in Archival ink and then watercoloured. The "flower" centers were then dabbed with stickles and the whole thing layered up with card cut using nestibilities. The Dogwood stamp is from Tanda Stamps Flower set 1.

I hope that you will find time to join in with our fun over on the Tanda Blog and Tanda Forum!
Sue
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V is for Van

As a child of the 60's and having trendy daughters who think that VW Camper Vans are really cool, I couldn't resist this flower power inspired atc! The camper van stamp is by Inkadinkado and the flowers and dotty circles are by Stamp'in Up. The Van, V and label were all coloured with Copic markers. The paper flowers were spray inked and painted in a pearlised medium to give a bit of shimmer. The flower stamps on the background were painted with glossy accents and then sprinkled with glitter.



Enjoy
Sue
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Tanda Teaser - Gatefold Cards

Wendy's teaser this week is to make a gatefold card. Sorry Andrew this isn't using Tanda stamps....I'm still trying to catch up with the garden etc....everything went wild while we were away and it's taking a while to get it all back under control!


I made this card for one of my nieces, she hasn't had it yet but, as she is still very very young, I don't think that she will be visiting my blog anytime soon so it should be safe to blog it! The stamps are from Judikins. The stage curtains were hand drawn and painted using H2O's. The dancers were stamped in purple StazOn and then water coloured using the Works pearlised watercolours.

Enjoy
Sue
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U is for Umbrella

Not far to go now...I cannot believe that we are already up to U! I guess that this is pretty apt considering the weather this summer! The raindrops and the umbrella are custom stamps from Tanda. The atc has been coloured with copic markers and then the raindrops were filled with glossy accents with a tiny bit of glitter. The U was coloured using colourbox chalks and then triple embossed, dark blue glitter was dropped into the hot ep at the last minute.

Sue
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Tanda Teaser - Tag It!

This week's Tanda Teaser is to use a Tag somewhere on your card. As I have been away/rather busy over the last month or so, I have decided to do a "here's one I did earlier" card. You can tell I grew up with Blue Peter!

I used the Artylicious, Butterfly Bliss CD to print the double sided background for the card. The front of the card was made using an image from TandaStamps Advert Plate 4. I stamped this in black StazOn onto very heavy weight white card and then watercoloured it. I punched holes in the corners and then fixed the watercolour with acrylic varnish before triple embossing the image so that it looked like one of those old fashioned signs.




For the inside of the tri-fold I used various stamps. For the tags I used the Tanda Travel stamp set 1 and Postage set 1. The other stamps on this side are from PSX and Sir Stamp-a-Lot.

I hope you enjoy this week's Teaser!
Sue
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T is for Tree

For this week's letter I have used a tree stamp from Crafty Individuals. The background was painted first using my old watercolours. The tree was then stamped over the colour wash in black impress. The hedge at the bottom was stamped using the tips of the branches down the edge of the tree.








The chipboard T was coloured using colour box chalk inks and then triple embossed with clear ep. A tiny bit of orange glitter was dropped onto the hot ep and then on the final heating I dropped some metal leaves into the ep. The leaves were punched out of a coke can that I had annealed in the flames of my gas hob. A little bit of fun recycling going on there!

enjoy!
Sue
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Forever Friends!

It's Wendy's turn to set the challenge this week and I'm not at home! If you read this at the correct time it means I've managed to find an internet cafe in Turkey! I'm writing my blog posts before I go and saving them as drafts so that I can publish them when I am on holiday. From my experience last year I couldn't read the Greek blogger so I thought if I was a little organised before I go, I would just need to click on the orange button to post....I hope it works!

After everything that has been going on over the last couple of months I am now a little behind with the teasers and I have to admit that this is one I did earlier, quite a bit earlier. The card uses one of my fav PSX stamps and is coloured with pearlised watercolours from the Works.

The saying just reminded my that my mum introduced me to her "old friend" the other day and the emphasis was very much on the old. I said that she must be a very good friend, not realising that the lady was actually 92....she didn't look a day over 60! She sounds like a truly amazing woman, having survived the Holocaust and getting a Phd in Physics, in those days women didn't ususally get to study Physics! Truly a remarkable lady!

I hope to catch up with you all when I get back from my Hols!
Sue
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And So We Come to S is for Spider

When I first saw the stamps by Lavinia, at the NEC back in November of last year, I fell in love with them and you can be sure that I will be collecting them in the future.

For my S is for Spider atc I have used the tiny slender mushrooms and the weeping willow leaves from Lavinia stamped in Stampin' Up basic grey. The grasses are from Sir Stamp-a-Lot and the spider is a little custom stamp from Andrew at Tanda. The image has been coloured using copic markers. The chipboard S was coloured with colourbox chalk ink and triple embossed with a tiny bit of glitter.

The set is coming together well now and I'm really pleased with how it's looking. Here's the set so far......




Enjoy!
Sue
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Tanda Teaser - Here Come the Celts!

I've had a set of Tanda Celtic stamps for some time now that I hadn't used, so I thought I should finally christen them! Consequently I have set the challenge, this week, to use a Celtic design or motive somewhere on your card. My card is based on the sketch from the July edition of Craft Stamper. I thought that the circles could be celtic shields and hence the starting point for my card.

The main circle was embossed in clear ep on olive green pearlised card, I then brushed over the image with gold interference paint so that the ep acted as a resist, this was then layered up with bronze metalic card and gold card cut using nesties. The two smaller circles where again cut out with nesties, but this time I used a brass stencil in my wizard to emboss a celtic design on to the bronze card. These circles where then punched and held together with a brassy brad to look like the centre of a shield.

The base of the card consists of a square of olive green pearlised card that I stamped with versamark and then dusted with gold Pearl-Ex. The quote was something I found somewhere on the internet. I think the words fit the celtic theme beautifully as many of the celtic knot designs have no beginning and no end.

I hope you all enjoy the challenge!

Sue
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R is for Rabbit

Can you believe it, another week has gone by already! We are now up to the letter R in Linda's alphabet challenge, so I couldn't resist using my rabbit stamp from my Tanda Baby and Toddler set.

The rabbit and atc background have been coloured using Copic markers. The chipboard R has been coloured and stamped using colourbox chalk inks and then triple embossed with clear ep. The edge of the atc was distressed using colourbox chalk inks too.

Enjoy
Sue
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Easy Elegance!

Hello again, I just got back from Mum's, Dad is doing well! The Doctors are very pleased about how the remaining kidney is coping with working alone which is good news. When I phoned this morning she said that he was being allowed home today. The only problem is that the Hospital have lost his hearing aid and his glasses, so he is not a happy camper! I'm just hoping that they can be found as it took 2 years to get him the hearing aid and he is rather fed up with not being able to see very well!

Well onto happier things, Wendy has posted this week's Tanda Teaser. The Teaser is called Easy Elegance, this made me think of an elegant lady stamp to be found on Tanda's retro ladies set 2. My card was stamped in fawn impress and heat embossed with clear before being water coloured using the Works pearlised watercolours and H2O's. The image was layered with gold card and SU card cut out with nestability dies.

Q is for Queen!

Well, what can I say, having done a playing card K is for King, I had to do a playing card Q is for Queen! The Queen stamp was custom made by Andrew at Tanda...the hearts, she had to be the Queen of Hearts, are from my Tanda baby set. The image was stamped and heat embossed with silver ep then coloured with H2O's. The Q was coloured with colourbox chalk inks and triple embossed with some glitter sprinkled on at the last moment. A bit of Krylon pen was used to do the edges just to finish it off.

Probably a bit too PINK for you Linda! Must introduce the boys (haven't decided which set of nephews are going to get this yet) to their feminine side. Have concerns already about my brother's eldest, Oliver...My brother just sent over a picture of Oliver helping him to make window jams....little does Oliver know that these are designed to stop him climbing out of the windows...as per his cousin (my youngest) who was caught half way out of a tiny window on the second storey at my mums! Luckily a neighbour knocked on the door to tell us that there was a small child hanging out of the upstairs window!!

enjoy
Sue
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Tanda Teaser, There Be Dragons!

This week's Tanda teaser is to make a card with a magical theme....This week sees the launch of the new Harry Potter film so I thought that this might be a good week for dragons, unicorns, wizards, and all things magical. Today also sees one of my nephew's 4th Birthday so I thought that this would be the perfect card for him! Happy Birthday Ollie by the way!

For my card I've used the large dragon from the Tanda Dragons and Fantasy set 4 and the knight from the Tanda Medieval Knights set 1.




I had the idea for this card back when Wendy set the Z fold card challenge and thought that the large dragon would work really well across two panels of the Z fold card. I made a little template for the ramparts to form the top of the card. The mortar between the stones is sakura pen. The Dragon was stamped in versamark and heat embossed in gold ep before being painted in interference paints. To give the castle the appearance of being a little neglected I stamped some tiny vines (Sir Stamp-a-lot) and heat embossed them with green interference ep. The knight was stamped onto white card with a black ancient page ink pad and a colour wash was then added.

Hope you find time to join in with the teaser....I told you to keep you dragons stoked Zoe!

Enjoy
Sue
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Vintage Pictures

On Sunday the family came over and we and opened up fil's box of photos. It took all afternoon and some of the evening to go through them all. We now have piles of photos all over the place....one pile to go to family in Canada, mil took her pile, one pile for us and one pile to be copied.

In amongst the photos I found two rather lovely photos. I think they are both of the same lady and judging from the fashion and hairstyle I am guessing that they date back to the 1920's. The wedding photo has "Auntie Laura and Uncle Sam" written on the back so I am thinking that they were probably fil's aunt and uncle, but I'm not sure if that's his mum's side or his dad's side. Maybe an interesting little family history project for my youngest daughter over the summer holidays.


Sue
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All Wrapped up!

DD2 is off to a birthday party tonight...so we've been hunting for the perfect pressie! Luckily DD2 worked out what her friend's favorite colour is and so we went through my stock of jewellery to see if there was anything she liked! DD2 found a necklace, ear rings and a key ring in the required shade of green. All I had to do was make a pretty presentation box and wrap them all up. I remembered that I had some lime green card, but when I found it, it was far too flimsy to make a box....On to plan B then....I decided that I would punch flowers out of the green card and use them to decorate a box made out of chocolate brown card..I had a few sheets of that and it was nice heavy weight card, perfect for box making! Result!


I cut two pieces of brown card so that one was slightly smaller than the other and stamped a floral flourish, from Laxmi Design, in a green colourbox chalk diagonally across the bigger piece as this was to become the top. This gave an effect similar to a watermark, but with just a little hint of green. My new stampin' up flower punch then came into its own....it's shape co-ordinated very well with the flower flourish.




I also punched some smaller flowers using another punch...I forget the name...I distressed the edges of the petals with the chalk ink and then put them all together on the box using a little green flower brad.




















I had some chocolate off cuts left over from making the box, so I used them to make the gift tag.....



















Then I thought....what to wrap it all in...I know I've got a bit of lime green raffia lying about somewhere, and some brown paper....DD1 is so into brown paper at the moment for her art and graphics course work so I thought it must be fashionable!..So I took a little brown paper and my Laxmi stamp and made some personalised wrapping paper!








I just hope she likes her pressie!
Sue
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