Thursday 30 December 2010

Christmas

I know most of you will be tired of the word by now. Me too. The holidays are a time of joyful stress and semi fulfilled expectations. For me personally it's even more bittersweet as my birthday is on Christmas day. Being born on that day is rather special, there is something rather magical about it, but it has it's down sides. The obvious that most people think of first is the presents. Growing up the birthday presents are a highlight of any child's year, and so are Christmas gifts. If you have them both on the same day, well, let's just say it is a long year without presents! My parents were pretty good at making sure that I had two separate presents and most of my family did (and do still) too, so I can't really complain about that. Since I have been married, some years have been great, others rather disappointing, due completely to my extreme like/dislike feature.
No, the birthday presents was not that big of an issue. The big one was not to be free to do what I want(ed). Christmas is a family time. Everyone has plans with their families so even if I was free to do whatever I pleased, growing up I would very rarely have anyone to share it with.
This year we were home for Christmas in the uk. We had plans to go to Canada but we didn't at the end because of the flight prices. Maybe next year!
Yes, Christmas is bittersweet for me. I love what it is and sometimes I find myself happier at the prospect that during the actual holidays. But the food, specially when we are at my mums house, never disappoints me.


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Tuesday 21 December 2010

Receiving Christmas Cards


I love receiving Christmas. Yesterday I got one from one of my favourite people, Lindsay Mason, that just left me in awe of her talent. Such a beautiful artwork. Of course, another of my favorite, Julie Hickey, was the first card that I got, as Julie is probably the most organized person I know. She may disagree with me, but in truth she is!


This little lot of Christmas cards can be done fairly fast and without too much expense, a perfect combination for me when it comes to Christmas cards. The beauty of the embossing folders captivates me. A simple card just looks so much better with some embossed plain card.

Monday 20 December 2010

More variations on a theme


This time the main card is formed of two pieces of card, a green and a red one.
I used a Ek Success edge punch for the green piece.
The message, once again, is Large Christmas and Filled With Flowers.

Sunday 19 December 2010





Simplicity. Enjoying the snow, indoors as much as outdoors. It is cozy in our living room, Omar has the main couch, Wasabi is lounging on the armchair and I am seating on the floor ( on top of a thin futon though!). Good times.

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Saturday 18 December 2010

Someone enjoys the fire

With the snow outside, it is a perfect day to have some fire and enjoy each others company.




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Friday 17 December 2010

Pantone Colour of the Year


This is Pantone's Colour of the Year 2011. I rather like it. As soon as i saw it -Fabrizio told me that it was out- it looked familiar. Oh, yes, my website colours are a subdued version of the colour on the picture above.
I rather like that.

Thursday 16 December 2010

More indecision


Another portrait/ landscape card, although being a square card it is not really a question of either rather than being a tent card like bellow (with the score line on the top) or a regular card (with the score line on the left side). At the end I decided to go with the traditional way, the above one.

Monday 13 December 2010

Bits and pieces


I think you can see a common thread through most of my years Christmas cards, that thread is actually double thread. The obvious one being using the same message as a focal point, the large circle from Large Christmas and the flowers and leaves from Filled with flowers (Versafine ink pads: Crimson Red, Spanish Moss, Vintage Sepia).
The second common thread, less obvious, it is the fact that I am using left over pieces of patterned paper, cards and using any of my large cardstock stash, meaning that I haven't bought any card specifically to make the cards. The patterned papers are this years, so strictly speaking they are not left overs, but I bought them and used them for some projects -articles mainly- so what I am using now are left overs.


By the way, if you are looking for Christmas crafty presents or for craft bargains, check out the offers from Dawn Bibby's shop here.

Friday 10 December 2010

Different


This one is a bit different from the ones before. I used two tags (using Tim Holtz Sizzix Tag die) and joined them on the back, emboss the front and decorated it with images from the Large Christmas, Joyful Bubbles and Christmas Messages (inside). I used Deep Lagoon Versafine for the darker ink and Summer sky Memento for the softer blue.

Wednesday 8 December 2010

Portrait or Landscape


Well, I really like this little Christmas card, but I am not sure which orientation is the right one. You tell me!

Monday 6 December 2010

Making my Christmas cards


Making the cards for my Christmas list is one of the highlights of my paper crafting year. That is what I first started doing so many years ago in Spain, that is what is a non negational thing: I don't send any Christmas card that I haven't done myself. However I tend to wait for the last minute before I make them because I always wait to see all the new products out there.


On Saturday I started to make the bulk of them. I apply to myself few rules, the most important one use whatever cardstock I already have. I allow myself to buy stamps and dies, but I safe the money on the cardstock department.


This is one of the cards I did. Using leftovers in papers (Jovial, from Basic Grey) and card, doing some patchwork and then the message from Large Christmas and Filled with Flowers.

Friday 3 December 2010

Die cutting and stamps


One of my favorite card dies from Sizzix (Ornate card) plus my stamps makes a really great combination for me. 
We are still snowbound, still about 13" or 14" of snow in the back garden, but funily enough I don't feel like doing much. Omar has been working from home, so he interrupts my routine a lot, and Wasabi is a bit bored at home as he does not like too much the snow.

Thursday 2 December 2010

Crescent Tag Card


The snow keeps falling outside so it is the perfect time to crack on my Christmas cards, but truth be told, I really just want to play in the snow. There is about 13" last time I measure it. Not bad!


Anyway, this card I made a couple of months ago for Crafts Beautiful magazine, I think it was the November issue that went on sale in October. Anyway, features my following stamps sets: Joyful Bubbles, Christmas Messages, Filled With flowers (the little dots). The die I used is the Super crescent Sizzix Tag.

Monday 29 November 2010

Vamos Rafa!

Yes, he didn't win last night. I know, I was there at the O2. To be honest, when Omar got us tickets to the final a month or so ago I did not expect at all to see Rafa in the final. Nadal had never made the final at ATV World Tour Finals, as it is a indoor hard court, the worst surface for him. So I was not expecting him to win at all.


Federer was almost always the better player throughout out the match, so many effortless shots, you could see Nadal exhausted from Saturday's semifinal against Murray. At least Rafa manage to win the second set, which all in all was a good result for him. And although I am a bit sad that he didn't win, the truth is that for a tennis fan like myself to be able to have witness on court a Nadal-Federer match on a final is something that is truly unforgettable. Not many sports have such a good role models like this two guys, I am glad I am a tennis fan.


Watching him loose yesterday is even more inspiring to me than when he wins. I often have said that what I most admire in Rafa is not his formidable tennis -which I also do admire- but his amazing attitude, in victory or in defeat. We often celebrate excellency and natural talent, and forget that the effort to overcome our own flaws should be even more appreciated. The desire to improve, to do things better and to not let small or big failures in the way of becoming a better player and person is something that we should all practice. 


So, thank you Rafa.


Vamos Rafa!

Saturday 27 November 2010

More stamping Christmas cards


This one was also part of the article I did recently (las month's issue I believe) for Crafts Beautiful. I used just the Large Christmas set and two ink pads, for the light blue i used memento Summer Sky and for the darker one Versafine Deep Lagoon. 
The circle in the middle was punched out using a 2" circle punch. 
I finished it off with 3mm self adhesive pearls.

Friday 26 November 2010

More Oh La La


A simpler card, but still, I like it a lot!
All products from Craftwork Cards.

Thursday 25 November 2010

Modern Christmas


This card was on the cover of crafts Beautiful last month. Is one of my favorites. I love the colours which was an inspiration from my admired Jennifer Mcguire. The background was stamped repeatedly with one of the border from Dotty Borders, the message is from Essential Christmas and the flowers from Filled with flowers.


All materials available from Sir Stampalot.


I am not doing much creative these days, but I am hoping that inspiration will struck soon as I need to do all my Christmas cards yet.
Have you done yours?

Tuesday 23 November 2010

An evening to remember



Anyone who knows me, even a little bit, will know my admiration for Rafael Nadal. I have followed his matches since he was part of the Cup davis final in 2004. Well, truth is I have never seen him in person in real life.
But yesterday, Omar got tickets to go and see him play at the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2. When I got there Omar greeted me with a "I am sorry, there has been a mistake and we don't have tickets!" To say that I was upset is an understatement, so I decided to walk towards the Fan area thinking there must be pictures and stuff like that. What I did not expect was the practice courts to be in plain sight for anyone to see. When I saw a multitude on one of the courts, I asked who was practicing and they said Rafa. I thought to myself, well If Rafa is about 10 metres from me there is simply no way that I am not going to see him from the first line. So, since I am very short I navigated to front row. There were about 5 meters between Rafa and myself. 



I understood there and then how people feel about certain singers or bands, when they faint just at the sight of them. Rafa oozes charisma in an earthy kind of way. His uncle Toni (his coach) was there as was the rest of the team as well as Spain Davis Cup team captain Albert Costa.
At that point, I could not have care less about getting the tickets to see the match. I Had seen my beloved Rafa quite close and hitting some balls, what else could top that? But Omar and his friends manage to get some at the last minute and, after a lovely dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, we got to watch the match between Rafa and Roddick from almost the rooftop. The match is played on a indoor hard court which is famously the most difficult type for Rafa, last year he didn't manage to even win a set in three matches, so my expectations were low.




The first set didn't go too well for Rafa, neither did the first few games of the second. But soon enough Rafa picked up and went on to win the second and third set and of course the match. 




I shout quite a lot of Vamos Rafa! among other things, clapped a lot and got off my feet in several occassions.



It was, by all accounts, a fantastic evening.


Vamos Rafa!

Monday 22 November 2010

Back to normal

I will be honest as I always try to be. When it comes to the life of a completely freelance craft demonstrator standards regarding hospitality are neither high nor low. Usually we demonstrators are very well treated and we are always looked after in terms of drinks and lunch breaks. Thing is that after five years of being a freelance demonstrator I have never been better looked after than at SirStampalot by Janice and Andy last Saturday. Equally good yes, once or twice, but never better. All the ladies who came to the demo were truly lovely, very kind.


When I got there, I was really impressed that they had a wall with all my stamps on the wall with little labels on the top with the information about punches sizes and coordinating stamp sets. Bellow the stamps, there were displayed all the coordinating punches. I mean, wow! It is very easy to be a good demonstrator when a shop makes so much effort for you and the products you are using.


Besides, it is one of the few shops that stock everything I like to use. Sizzix dies, check. EkSuccess punches, check. Martha Stewart punches, check. Nestabilities, check. Glue Gel, check. Hero Arts stamps, check. Fine tip PVA bottle, check. Versafine and memento pads, check. Trust me, at the end of the day I was thinking to myself there is no way that they have all my essentials, there must be something they don't stock. But thing is, Janice and Andy do stock all the products that I like to use.


It was my last demonstration for the year, and it was such a lovely day that has given me a new lease of creativity and feel really inspired.




By the way, I got in the post today the latest issue of Cardmaking & Papercraft. And voila, my two Christmas cards are on the cover. It is always a thrill when it happens. 


After almost two weeks, yesterday I felt 98% human again. That flu! It really was bad. Now, I am still coughing and sneezing but not as bad as last week.

Saturday 20 November 2010

Julie's cards

Just wanted to share a few cards that my super talented friend Julie has made using my stamps.
Click here for some Christmas cards, here for some simple flowers ones, and here for the filled with flowers cards that Julie Hickey has made. they are really beautiful.

Friday 19 November 2010

Another Oh La La



A lot of layers in this card which is unusual for me. But I like it.


By the way, tomorrow, saturday I will be demonstrating at Sir Stampalot.

Thursday 18 November 2010

Oh La La


Finally I am out of bed. I thought it was a cold then it developed into the flu. Nasty.
Anyway, i=I am hoping to resume normal activity on the blog from today, but no promises.

This card I made for Craftwork Cards a few months ago using their lovely Oh La La range.

Now, I need to do a million jobs today, so I better do them.

Friday 12 November 2010

Still in bed

Well, so it is. I am still in bed sick. I have reach the conclusion that I must have some mild form of flu. All the symptoms are there. So I cancel tomorrows demo which is extremely unfortunate, I was really looking forward to that. Why, oh why I always get I'll when I have loads of things planned out?
My sincere apologies to the people at grafton projects and also anyone who was planning on coming to see the demo.




Just as small sample of the simple and quick cards you can make using my Christmas stamps and a couple of punches, I made this card for a workshop. I used Large Christmas set, Martha Stewart snowflake punch plus a Fiskars border punch.

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Thursday 11 November 2010

Resting

It seems that after I have been exposed to the public for longer than a couple of days the inevitable conclusion is for me to get sick. Not seriously, but still with sore throat, congested chest, aching bones and massive headache. As I work from home during the week is easy for me to rest a bit, so that was my plan, but by Tuesday evening I started to feel really bad, so I decided that Wednesday and today I should be in bed. My mum always said that rest is the best cure for colds and flu. So that is my excuse for this week lack of posting.
Now, for the weekend. Well, I am off to the Grafton projects, check the link on the left hand side, to demonstrate my latest stamps. Always exciting to do that.
And, of course I haven't forgotten about last week hobby crafts show. As I mentioned I had a really good time.
One of things I really enjoyed -among others- was to actually see in the flesh one of tim Holtz alterations machines manufactured by sizzix.



I had seen it on the Internet, but honestly it looks so much better and it feels even better in real life. It is definitely going on my wish list.
Other stands that I enjoyed were the wow embossing powders, where Marion Emberson -fellow stamp designer for personal impressions- and the lovely Amanda Fletcher were teaching and demonstrating. I have mentioned their embossing powders before, truth is I am much more in love than I was already. They make so many different ones, all lovely colours and finishes. And the make a proper white bright one which is perfect as the ones that I used to have always were a bit too off white for my liking. The tinsel ones are to die for too.
Anyway, I better rest a bit more. You know posting in the blog is exhausting! (just joking!)

Monday 8 November 2010


I am beyond tired but really, really happy on how everything went at the Fiskars workshops that I taught at Hobbycrafts show (NEC, Birmingham). As I was teaching workshops all day long for four days my voice is a little husky, something I don't has ever happened to me before.
Traffic was good last night so I got home in good time, there are plenty of things to do so I don't have much time to spare. I will post the card that I taught in the forthcoming days. For the moment I leave you with this simple card i made for one of my classes at the Glitter Pot. It was all about making the most of a single (actually half) patterned sheet of paper. The message is from Large christmas and the flower is from Filled with flowers.

Saturday 6 November 2010

So, I hoped I could have posted every night. But truth be told when I got to my hotel room each night I was beyond exhausted so, shower and sleep was necessary. But anyway I am having a fabulous time, really! Everyone is been so nice at my workshops for fiskars that it has made me to fall again in love with teaching. People have been so kind and thoughtful that have made my days to pass flying by.

Wednesday 3 November 2010


Another version of the card I posted last 19th of October, simple but ideal for bacth christmas card making.
Today I am off to the NEC to teach workshops for Fiskars at the Hobbycrafts show. That means that I won't be able to post cards until Sunday evening. But I may post some photos of the show. We will see!


The gold edge I did using a gold Krylon pen. It is actually one of the first card making techniques I learnt in this country. It was at workshop with Katie at The Craft Barn, Lingfield.


Stamp: Joyful Bubbles
Die: Styled labels, Tim Holtz for Sizzix

Sunday 31 October 2010

Quick Christmas card




Again a simple card, quick and easy for those who need to make Christmas cards in short amounts of time.



Paper: Imaginisce
Sentiment: Christmas Messages.

Friday 29 October 2010

Workshops, Articles, more workshops...

Look at this month's Crafts Beautiful!


Although it is not the first time that my cards make the front cover but it is always exciting, plus it is the first time that my stamps do, so I am over the moon. It features Dotty Borders, Filled with Flowers and Christmas Essentials stamps sets. 


Yesterday was my last workshop at The Glitter Pot for this year. I decided last month to take a small break of two months or so to recharge my teaching batteries. I really enjoyed yesterday, but teaching is very exhausting for me not only physically but also creatively, as I put quite a lot of pressure on myself to come up with new ideas all the time.


This is one of the 9 -yes, nine!- cards that we did yesterday. A simple cards perfect for those who like minimalism and Martha Stewart punches.
Anyway, I hope to be back to teaching my monthly workshops next year with renewed enthusiasm.

Wednesday 27 October 2010

A little card


I made this one card last month demonstrating die cutting. Hence, a few things are not perfect. But I really like the general idea.


I used Sizzix dies for it, the Super Crescent Tag and the Sizzlits Snowflakes.
The message outside is from my Christmas Essential clear stamp set and the one inside is from the Christmas Messages one.

Monday 25 October 2010

Back home

Last week I went for a few days in Mallorca -Majorca, I just prefer the Spanish/Catalan spelling!- which was a lovely break. I enjoyed the warmer temperatures -not by much, mind you!-, the lovely food and, of course, the company, my family and friends. Although I do have quite a lot of good friends here in England, I do miss terribly my friends in Spain. They are mostly University friends so we talk endlessly about, well just about everything.


The downside is that I haven't been making cards for over a week so I don't have much to share in terms of papercraft.



But I don't think I have shared the inside of a card that I posted  days ago (bellow). The inside is one of those easy pop up mechanisms that I like so much, this time I used as a pop up element a die cut new Nestability shape, the Beaded circles. I believe I used the second largest die to cut plain white smooth card and I stamped one of the circle sentiments from my Large Christmas set. then I stamped one of the two steps flowers from the Filled with flowers set to create an image that resembles a poinsettia. Finally I stamped the dots onto the beaded edges of the circle using the single dot that is on the Filled with Flowers set.




Thursday 21 October 2010

Vellum Lace


I have been a fan of stamping white on vellum for a long time. I just don't do it often enough.
This card was supposed to go in a magazine that never saw the light. Love that large Hero Arts stamp.

Wednesday 20 October 2010

Just beacuse


This week I don't think I will be able to post much. But I will try to share some past cards that I don't think I have featured yet on the blog.
This one, for instance, was from the Patchwork article I did for Card Making and Papercraft a couple of issues ago.

Tuesday 19 October 2010


A quick and easy Joy card using die cutting elements, Embossing folders and a Tim Holtz label.

Sunday 17 October 2010

Over the edge...


This one card I made for an article on Over the edge cards. I really like this one. I think a version of this one will be making the Christmas list.

Saturday 16 October 2010

Just a quick post to let you know that the stamps should be now back in stock in most shops as they are in stock at the wholesaler.
This are some of the shops that sells them online:


The Glitter Pot
The Craft Barn
Sirstampalot
Crafty Charlie
That's Crafty
Crafts U Love



Thursday 14 October 2010

Joy


This week has been a weird one. I didn't feel very good on Monday, Tuesday was even worst. (Nothing serious, food related.) Wednesday I still felt a bit sick but it allowed me to follow the rescue of the miners. Now, that it is a joyous story. 


I am feeling still a bit funny, so I don't really have anything really to say. Just share the photos of this very simple card, outside and inside.


Clear Stamps sets: Joyful Bubbles and Christmas Messages.

Tuesday 12 October 2010

Snowflakes



Not much to share today. Just need to do some paperwork and general stuff.But I thought that I could share this card I did a few weeks ago. It is a very simple card made using the Large christmas set and Joyful Bubbles as the snowflakes from each set are the same pattern although different sizes. The inks I used were Memento Summer Sky (the soft blue) and Versafine Deep Lagoon.

Sunday 10 October 2010

Relaxing and fixing things


Today Omar and I we are taking it easy relaxing at home and doing some small jobs around the house. Between chores, I realized that i didn't post anything yesterdey either so I am taking a small break to do a post.
As I mentioned on Friday, yesterday I was demonstrating at Stampaddicts which turn up to be even better than expected. Vicky and Sarah are lovely and so are all their customers, they all really make me feel welcomed and at home. Also, I allowed my self to purchase some items that I fell in love with. 
The Scor it Large was one of them. I have been wanting one of them for a long time but I wasn't sure it was for me until yesterday when I used during the day to score a few samples. It is phenomenal. What it is the stand out feature that makes it different from other scoring tools is the rubber base that makes the paper/card not to slide hence enabling you to create perfectly perpendicular score lines. Also the fact that the scoring mechanism is not a groove but a metal mountain makes it perfect for those that can be heavy handed like myself and go through the paper with a bone folder.
I did this card a few months ago for a new magazine that unfortunately never saw the light. I was honestly sadden that this magazine dint make it into print as it was such a good concept. 
The flowers are a background Cling stamp from Hero Arts colored with Copics. The message is one of my Mixed Sentiments on top of a Circle Tag.
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