A Second You Tube Video- Some Inkpads & Heat embossing.

Well, I finally got round to a second video, this time about the New Oxides I got today, and a bit about heat embossing in general. That took three attempts.lol.
 Still trying to get a Triple Stamping one I'm happy with, but we fixed the camera shake & odd blurry shot problem, so that should help a lot.
 This one covers using Oxides on Black card, which is my main reason for buying them.

The Oxides that arrived today, I'm not buying them all, just the colours that really grab me.

How a different mix of inks and embossing powders can change the look of heat embossing,

and how to use a clear embossing pad, such as Versamark, and a dye based inkpad, to allow you to heat emboss with a dye ink colour.

I  said at the end that I'll try to do a video using some of the inkpads that don't often crop up in videos, such as the Brilliance Pearlescent.

As you can see, I have a huge number of inkpads, and a number of different brands. Some retired, some still available, and quite a number of these I've had for ten years or more.






So, here is the video, I hope you enjoy, and if there is anything you'd like me to do, then please leave me a message either here or in the comments below the video.

WOYWW #477

Ok, so I'm going to say it. It's too darned hot! It's been so long since we've had a proper summer here in the UK, we can't cope with it. Fortunately, it wasn't totally scorching on Sunday, but it was still a hot day at Farnborough Airshow. We had a fantastic day, and would definitely go again. Some pics at the end of this post.
 Linking up with Head Desker Julia at The Stamping Ground, for this weeks desk fest.
 Little bit of crafting done, I've actually been trying to do a You Tube video making a triple stamped card, so now have half a dozen cards, but no video! Once or twice I hadn't turned the recording on, then I had desk shake that we've had to fix, so I'll be having another go later on.

Still, if nothing else, I'm upping my card stash,lol.
     

















I bought this set of ICraft Alpha dies a while ago, and decided today to take them out of the box, and get them onto magnetic sheets. This is the Upper Case, there is a Lower Case available, which I didn't get, and a Numeric set, which I also got. While laying them out, I discovered that I'm missing the letter 'R' from it, so I've messaged Oyster Crafts ( where I got them from), and asked for help. They are a really good size, 2" tall, so ideal for the Eclipse technique, for one thing.


 Something I think worth a mention, you may know there was a court case going on between the creator of the MISTI, and Tonic/Tim Holtz over their platform.
Apparently it has now been settled, and Tonic will stop selling the two current iterations of the Platform in the USA, Canada & Mexico. It also sounds as though the two companies intend to collaborate on the next version. Tonic will still be selling it in the rest of the world, but as the USA & North & South America, would be I think their biggest market, and if they are intending to launch a joint version, I won't be surprised if eventually it gets retired altogether. So if anyone is considering the purchase, I really wouldn't wait too long.

The Airbus A350, which is one size down from the A380, and is one of the Aircraft that we make fasteners for.
 All was good, nothing fell off!

The amazing Harrier Jump Jet. Seeing an aircraft this size hovering in front of you, and turning round on the spot is spectacular. It just doesn't seem possible that something that size should be able to do that.

I got to get up close & personal with my Dream Machine, the AH-64.

Better known as the Apache Helicopter Gunship.

I had a poster of one of these on my wall for years,lol.

I'm a real fan of helicopters in general, and this one in particular.

That scene from Apocalypse Now, where they come in over the sea to the sound of The Ride of the Valkyries!

Unfortunately, you could only get inside by climbing up the footholds on the side, and that wasn't happening!



We also got to go inside a Super Hercules Transport Plane, and a Chinook, all courtesy of the USAF.









And finally.......................

WOYWW #476.

Isn't it crazy how fast these weeks are flying past? Seems like only yesterday we were linking up at The Stamping Ground for last weeks WOYWW.

 There has been a little crafting- I cut a batch of cardstock to make some Triple Stamping cards, and have finished one so far.

Had a bit of a nightmare figuring out the dimensions, but got it sorted eventually. I had them written down- somewhere- but no idea where they are now.






In other news, I bought myself a new present- a Silhouette Portrait 2 digital die cutter.

 Went with this model as it's A4, so sits perfectly where my old one used to go.
 I also used the opportunity to have a go at a You Tube video with the unboxing (below).

 So far, we've discovered that the fluorescent lights in my craft room cause a flicker to be picked up by the camera, so while I've got good daylight I'm ok, but as the light gets less into Autumn & Winter, we need to figure another solution. Anyone doing You Tube videos who has an answer, I'd be really grateful.
 Last week Twiglet mentioned a Craft Fair being held in their area, and after looking it up on Google maps, I discovered it was only about an hour and a quarter away, so we had a day out on Saturday to meet Annie(Wipso), Jo(Twiglet) and Tilly Tea Dance.

Jo, Annie & her Hubby on the left, and I'm standing behind Max (Tilly Tea Dance), who is Jo's daughter, and who makes the most amazing wet felted/embroidered pictures/brooches/ pendants, as well as teaching the subject too.

Needless to say, I fully intended to buy one for the wall in my Craft room- then Hubby decided I needed a couple of small ones too to go either side. Lack of symmetry sends him twitchy, lol.

I also bought a Brooch to pin on my backpack, and another of the little sheepy pictures for my DIL's birthday present.
They really are fabulous- I love the sheep!

We had a fab afternoon, we spent a couple of hours with Annie & Hubby over lunch, just chatting away.
This is the wonderful thing about meeting WOYWWers- you are chatting like the old friends you are right from the word go.

Lots of different crafts to see, but this little guy wasn't a craft, he was part of the display from a Photographer taking Disney Princess type photos of youngsters.

 
This gigantic dragonfly was at the entrance to the Leisure centre, which also had a lovely cafe and a garden centre on the site.

As it was such a gloriously sunny day, the sunlight through the wings was beautiful.

 


Did someone say Garden Centre?lol.
 I'd actually had plans all week to visit a local one  on Saturday, as I'd removed some of the stragglier plants from the planters, so wanted something to replace them with.
 They had a nice selection here, so that was two birds with one stone.




We are having another day out this weekend, this time to Farnborough Airshow. As we work in the Aerospace Fastener Industry, our company always gets some reduced cost  tickets, which they hold a draw for, for all those interested. And Doug won one of the pairs of tickets,so thats what we'll be doing on Sunday.

And finally......................................


 

Unboxing the Silhouette Portrait 2.

Right then, after much trial & error- mainly user error!-, I've done my first You Tube video.
I bought myself a new digital cutting machine, the Silhouette Portrait 2.

So here is my unboxing video. Not very exciting, lol, but I'm just sort of testing the recording out.

WOYWW #475

Well, I've been struggling to craft this week, I admit. My craft room gets really, really hot- it's in full sun for most of the day. Like being in a sauna, and I hate being that unbearably hot. I had cards to do for the Christmas Card Challenge, and like an idiot, I would decide to heat emboss in this weather, wouldn't I?

Lots of heat embossed sentiments, and then the sentiment & the matt layer were die cut.
 The ones on the far left are a Spellbinders die, Lacy Squares.

This one is the Stitched Rectangle die I bought a while ago from The Works.

These are a Spellbinders die- Labels 4, in two sizes, large & small. The two sets give you a narrower border when combined.

Same die set, just a swap in the orientation.


The actual cards are in the post below, and I'll blog the making later in the week.

I'm still being good and making use of embossing folders!

I've got a few Embossed backgrounds left, and a few of the toppers too.

The only purchase this week, a box of 40 sponge daubers.









And last week I forgot my 'and finally', so here it is back..............................


Leaving my link at Julias place, The Stamping Ground. If you've not joined in with this blog hop, which we do every Wednesday, baring our desks to the world, then go along and add your link. We'd love to come and visit with you.

Christmas Card Club Challenge #14- White on White/smidge of colour

Well, I'm sorry to be running so late, but my craft room is unbearably hot😱 It gets full sun from about 11.00am onwards, and it's like a greenhouse in there. And we all know fans and papercrafts do not play nicely together! I've taken the liberty of combining Christines challenge this fortnight, with another I missed due to holidays- Carols' Sentiment as the Focus' theme.
 I've used a lot of my Christmas embossing folders again- and made 19 cards!

 For my 'smidge of colour', I used gold, silver, red & green embossing powder, and matted that onto matching foil card.
This sentiment is from  a Hobby Art set called Winter Wishes. The red embossing powder is by WOW, called Primary Burgundy Red.
 The green is an old one, called Moonglow two-toned Embossing Powder, and this green is called Fiddlehead Fern & Green Blue.

                           

The die used for the shapes is the same in both these cards, just a different orientation. Its from Spellbinders, and is called Labels 4, in two sizes, large & small.
 The two separate sets combined give you a smaller border than just using one of them.


This sentiment stamp is by Circa Design,XM-VS-62.
The embossing powders are the same in all the cards. The gold & silver detail powders are both by Stampendous.

                                        
Another sentiment from Circa Design, XM-VS-13.
 Matted this time onto card die cut with a Stitched Rectangle die set I bought from The Works.









Yet another Circa Design stamp,XM-VS-10. Some were die cut with the Spellbinders Large Labels, some with the Stitched Rectangles. All the matt pieces were cut with the Stitched Rectangles, as the largest Labels die was used to cut out the sentiment.













And the final group, this stamp is from the Hobby Art set, and the die is Spellbinders Lacy Squares. I've had this for ages, but it's the first time I've gotten round to using it.

WOYWW #474

Hi folks, isn't this weather incredible? I mean, us Brits haven't seen this much sun for more years than I care to remember. Not doing a lot for mojo though- makes you feel very can't be asked.
Leave your link over at Julias place, The Stamping Ground, and we'll be round for a visit. 
 However, I did finally get all my ATC's corralled into pockets in a 3 ring binder.
And I have one more year than I thought, I've been swapping them since Birthday number 4.

 A quick pic of one page from each year.


Year 5

6th Birthday

7th.



Came across lots of names that I haven't seen on the list for a long time too.

our 8th Birthday swap

















And finally this years swap. So next year we hit double figures!

This page in particular brings back memories of a lovely WOYWWer, who is sadly no longer with us. The card in the centre right is from Janet Fairythoughts, back on the 4th birthday celebration. That was the first WOYWW crop we went to as well.

So not only are these gorgeous artworks to celebrate our blog hops anniversaries, they give us permanent reminders and memories too.

Found this set of Alpha stamps on my travels on Monday. A place called Flying Tiger, and cost £3.

I found a box of die cut Poinsettia flowers I hadn't put together, so I got those done, and added seed beads to the centres.
Easy to just grab now for Christmas cards.












While I was doing the last bunch of Christmas cards, I found some really tiny- maybe about a centimetre across- Poinsettia flowers that some one must have sent me in Happy mail. They were with some really small Deer.
  One was this size, one a tiny bit bigger. If anyone knows what die set/ punch was used for them, I'd love to know.

 So that's all the crafting that's happened.










Doug spent Sunday in the garden building some trellis. A few weeks ago, we decided we wanted a couple of fan trellis for the fence. Went to B&Q, and had a look. HOW MUCH!
 He realised he could buy a couple of packs of wood- which ended up making 2 trellis, and leaving enough for half of a third, for less than the cost of a single fan trellis.


So, he was building some more, but bigger, for a Passion Flower we have planted. Yes, I know they get enormous, but we have 150 foot of fence down that side of the garden, so I think we're good.

These are the result, and for the same cost as one single panel, but this way he could build them to fit the fence better.

And the Passion Flower is clearly happy with it, as today it opened it's first flower.

 This yellow plant is a herb, Rue, which does amazingly well every year, despite getting cut down almost to the ground every winter.
These are all in the small front garden.

 A Lavender bush also doing well. I was a bit worried it wouldn't do so well this year, as normally I cut it back in Sept/Oct, but couldn't risk any gardening that time last year, so it didn't get done till Spring.

Troughs full of Violas, Pansies,Lobelia and Petunias.















 A big round planter with Violas, Lobelia, a Fuchsia and a Pelargonium.

This Pale Pink Cabbage Rose is a climber, and on the kitchen wall. It's called Spirit of Freedom. The flowers are huge, and really densely packed with petals.

And a window box & hanging basket, also on the kitchen wall.

A gift from Julia on the window sill! It normally lives on the patio table, but that's down at the moment, while Doug was building, and also so he can pressure wash the decking to paint it.