Believe me when I say...

...I have honestly never made any shaker cards before. Why? Because I came to the card making party late! As you all know, (well anyone that pops by for the occasional visit does and even if you're all too shy to leave a comment or two my visitor counter keeps going up and it's not me bumping it up!) I am first and foremost a lover of scrapbooking and minibooks. But, when I started doing product demonstrations I thought I really should brush up on some cardmaking skills so, here's why I arrived at shaker cards. I'm really enjoying them too - it's a really cute way of making a card a bit more interesting and interactive and well they are a novelty aren't they!! Anyway you guys know all that already - it's just taken a while to dawn on me so, without further ado, here are some shaker cards I have made over the past week...

Floral confetti 

Stork and clouds - Xcut Baby Set dies

Xcut hexagon dies

A little polaroid style frame

I really enjoyed keeping these cards quite simple - that way it's all about the shaker! Lol! Remember, less is more! Heehee!
I hope you like them and I that I have reminded you of the joy of shaker cards! Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Go and get the sequins and beads out and get shaker making!
Happy crafting!
Jacqui xxx

A quick catch up with scrapbooking...

So far this month, I've spent most of my creative time making cards mainly because of my DoCrafts demo, but now the dust has settled on that one and normality has resumed I felt I needed to return to what I love best, so, inspired and motivated by photos that have been kicking around Craft Central (my corner of our family room in our basement) for goodness knows how long, I got stuck in and rustled up these two 12x12s! First one up is a LO featuring our old cat Stanley. He's been gone at least seven or eight years now but his legend definitely lives on...
So, I reckon demoing all the Geometric range for DoCrafts this year so far has worked its way into my thought process because I felt compelled to design a diecut panel in a similar style for the background on this page. I really like the way this sort of thing breaks up blocks of colour and adds interest and the shapes - triangles, matched Stanley's spiky personality perfectly! I love my silhouette dearly and most layouts I do now usually have some form of custom-made diecut thing happening on them somewhere.

These studs are from The Works - just cut off what you need and adhere!

Wooden word embellishment also from The Works!

I started by spritzing the dark grey cardstock with Artiste Spritzing Ink - I love this product! The one I used is Black Gold and it has lots of gold pigment in it making it really iridescent and interesting, especially on textured cardstock. Next I added some smudges of paint but it was too contrasty so I went over it with the spritz ink again. The die cut was stuck down but first I cut out some gold triangles to show through in a few random places and tie in with the spritzing ink. The patterned papers were then stuck down - mainly scraps from my leftovers box, and lastly my favourite bit - the embellishing!!! I have to say, sometimes The Works really comes up trumps for cheap goodies and this is true here. During a recent visit there I came across packets of wooden bits and pieces - the "awesome" sentiment being one from one of these and a sheet of silver spiky studs that can be snipped off and used individually or rows, in fact you could even try making a word up with them!


Next up is a layout using another photo from a trip we had to St Andrews when the girls were still very young. Now, I recently tackled a LO about this trip using the Papermania Geometric Neon range but this time I used random scraps from my leftovers box using little pops of neon to add a bit of contrast. Underneath the "BEACH" part of the title I added a bit of yellow fringe paper which seems to be a bit of a trend if the things I've been looking at recently are anything to go by. This completed page will go in Millie's scrapbook. I feel I have to keep things even when it comes to scrapping trips for posterity - I wouldn't want them squabbling over who had what in their scrapbooks...

Spritzing ink, gold sequins and adhesive pearls give the LO texture!

Thankyou for stopping by and having a look! Feel free to leave a comment - don't be shy! 

Lots of crafty love,

Jak xxx

Kitchen cupboard card tutorial for you...Yay!

Hi Crafty peeps!

I'm demoing for DoCrafts at The Range in Dundee tomorrow - here's one of the cards I'll be making - time permitting(!!!), showcasing the A4 Ultimate Paper Pack Country Life range! It's super easy to make - I hope you like it!

1. Cut an A4 sheet of sturdy kraft cardstock in half and fold one piece to make your card base.

2. Die cut or freehand the bottom of the card to give it legs – this is the base layer for your cupboard card.

3. Cut a Back PANEL from kraft measuring 120 x 98 mm. then cut 2 drawers – 90x 22mm.

4. Next, cut the top cupboard part – 178 x 56mm. Make a fold 44mm from the edge at each side of this piece. These flaps will be the cupboard doors.

5. Make an aperture in each door (– I left a 7mm border) and cut 2 pieces of acetate for windows. Stick these to the inside of your cupboard doors.

6. Find an image or stamp one of your own for inside your top cupboard. 

7. Distress the edges of all your kraft pieces with brown ink.

8. Decorate your drawers with paper pieces to look like linen/napkins are sticking out.

9. Stick your card layers together - Back panel first, drawers, then top cupboard. Add pearl gems/dots for handles. Done!

Another box of goodies delivered...

So, not only am I demoing the Country Life range, Papermania have also produced a new addition to their Geometric range, this time its been teamed with tones of brown and is called Geometric Mocha! There's also a modern take on decoupage with a cute little photographic style party pooch! Here's what I found in the box...

A mix of Geometric Mocha, more Country Life and decoupage.

I got cracking with the Geometric Mocha and it was great to have a change in styles - both collections come from very different angles which makes things interesting for me and that I don't just keep making the same card time and time again. So I started making a no nonesense straight from the range card and a design which is key sample featured in the DoCrafts Creativity mag and will also be part of my demo next weekend.

MY version of the mag sample - straight out the packet!

I couldn't help adding in a teeny bit of colour to compliment!

As I got more into the Mocha range I felt I needed to supplement the brown-ness with a bit of colour which really helped with the whole brown theme and brought focus to the cards.

with pink!

Lovely with coral pink!

This card hides a diecut sentiment inside. I really enjoyed adding colour into the range and found I got a bit more carried away, lol!(Not like me hahaha!)

Pow!!! Colour pop!!!

Bunting and small Alphas diecut with the X-cut range of Mini Dies, larger caps are X-cut Wedding Alphas

Naturally, I ended up with a rainbow of colours which show the versatility of this kit. It really can be used straight out the packet or pimped up a bit with a splash of colour!

As you can see, I've been busy this week! My favourite bits of the Geo Mocha kit have been the lovely sheets of vellum - those are really lush and can be used for all sorts and the letter stickers as used on the ALWAYS part of the Love Always card are really handy and have no white border round them which makes them sit better and not look so clumsy when you use them as part of your design.

I've really enjoyed making up my demos and hope you have enjoyed a sample of how they can be used!

Thanks for looking - enjoy your crafty day!

Jak xxx

A quick post of some country Life makes...

Hi everyone!
This morning's post is a quickie! I'm going to let you have a sneak peak at one or two samples I have been making from this new range!
First off is an 8x8 layout. This range has a lovely rustic feel and the papers have a beautiful tactile linen texture to them! As you can see they work well in scrapbooking and are ideal for adorning your more rural endevours lol!

The range also features a wooden block stamp set. Here I've used the bee. I stamped in black and added a bit of yellow pencil to colour their stripes. Cute!

On this one the little bees are attached with acetate so they hover!! Fun!!

This one features some hexagonal die cuts! Quick and easy!

And this one features a sweet little pinwheel made from 2 layers cut from a small die
stuck back to back.

Today I contacted the store I'm demonstrating in next week only to find that they are expecting Easter cards as they are promoting a lot of Easter craft supplies this month. So it looks like I'm gonna be busy with plan B this week adapting my designs to have a more seasonal theme. Better get cracking (lol! See what I did there...)!!!
Have lots of crafty fun this weekend!
Jak xxx