New 2022 Workshop: Hues of Happiness on the 4th of September

 

Hello everyone, I'm back!

I've joined Stampin' Up! again. I've been thinking about it for a while and when I saw this summer's Sale-A-Bration joining offer I couldn't resist any longer. On top of a great deal (£130 of product for just £99 incl. shipping and a Business Starter Set) you now also get the Making Plans Planner Kit, 3 Notebooks and Stamp Set for free. And who doesn't love a cute planner? I know I do.

So as soon as it came in, I started planning my first workshop: Sunday September 4th from 10.00 - 12.30 we'll be creating 2 cards and a decorated frame with the Hues of Happiness Suite. This suite is just the perfect, happy, all-rounder with foliage and blooms in bright rainbow colours. There's a versatile stamp set with matching dies as well as beautiful 12 x 12 patterned papers. I ordered this collection in my Starter Kit and it is stunning!

I've found a new location to hold my events, it's one of my favourite places in Portishead: Shanicatti Shakes. They look like a quirky English tearoom with porcelain tea cups and tea pots with cosies. They do amazing cakes and of course...shakes:-) I'm so chuffed that they were up for me holding events at their tearoom.

Send me an email at sgortzak@yahoo.co.uk if you'd like to join us. Costs are £ 20 incl. materials and drinks. You are encouraged to bring your own craft tools but don't worry if you haven't got any, there will be tools to use. All abilities are welcome: beginner, enthusiast and paper addicts, I've got you covered:-)

If you'd like to order the whole product suite before the workshop than the workshop is FREE for you. If you buy it after the workshop you'll get a credit towards another workshop. 

Hope to see you there!

Sonja

New Class: Sail Away Papercrafting

Papercrafting Class

In July we will be taking to the Sea! We'll be making a naval themed home decor item and 2 cards using the fabulous Sail Away with Me Product Suite.

Price for this class is £20 and includes all materials to make the home decor piece plus a Stampin' Up! Sail Away Memories and More card pack (56 preprinted cards in assorted sizes plus stickers).

Coffee, tea and water will be provided and basic craft tools are available for use.

Location: Avon Way Hall, Portishead (south west of Bristol)

We start at 10 and finish 13.00. Wheelchairs access and plenty of parking available.

To sign up please email Sonja Gortzak at sgortzak@yahoo.co.uk

Come Stamp With Me: Colourful Cards Workshop in Portishead

It is with a lot of excitement and some trepidation that I'm sharing with you that I have booked my first workshop in the UK:

Sunday June 16th

Avon Way Hall in Portishead, North Somerset. Just south of Bristol.

It's a Papercrafting Workshop where we will be making 2 cards and 1 decorated notebook in a relaxed and fun atmosphere. Open to new and experienced crafters. We will be using a range of stamping and colouring techniques.

All materials for making the projects are included.

Coffee, tea and water will be provided.

We will start at 10.30 and finish at 12.45

Costs £12.50 incl. materials and drinks.

Plenty of parking space available and an access ramp.

Sign up by sending an email to sgortzak@yahoo.co.uk

Going all white with the Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies

"I'm dreaming of a white christmas...", who isn't hey? But changes of getting that are very small in western Europe! Luckily us crafters can create our own white christmas using the most basic of crafty supplies: white cardstock. I found the inspiration for this with another demonstrator: Charlet Mallett from the US, and I loved it so much I just had to try it.

I used the Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies, a die set with matching stamp set that is sooo versatile. You can use it to decorate and embellish so many of your projects:

To make this card you need to die cut a whole lot of the pine cones. There are 3 different versions, I cut  about 8 of each. Then you need to get yourself of sharp pair of scissors and some (mini) Stampin' Dimensionals. Use the scissors to cut the dimensionals into very tiny bits when still on the backing paper. Then attach them to the back of the pine cones in such a way that you cannot see them. You then start placing them on your card base in a random order making sure that some of them stick out over the sides, carefully trim those.

Add a sentiment and some coloured embellishments and you are done.

Thanks for visiting and let me know how you get on, I'd love to hear from you.

Sonja

You Rock My World: A Mixed Media Rock And Roll Explosion

So, how's that for a title eh? Well it is not very far off though. The number of media I used on this card is quite astounding: Watercolour, Cosmic Shimmer Sprays, Tonic Studios Embellishment Mousses, Brushos, Distress Inks, Embossing Powders and probably some more I can't remember:-) Lots and lots of layers to create a one of a kind card for my husband of 10 years.

So here's how I did it:

Knowing I was going to use many different wet mediums I started with an A3 piece of cold pressed water colour paper. I had sprayed it with Cosmic Shimmer Mist and watered down Tonic Studios Embellishment Mousses to create a shimmery water resistent base. I then cut two A5 sized pieces out of the middle and washi taped them down to my glass craft mat.
And then I took out my little Oxo tin of Brushos...

Brushos are small tubs of pigment powder. First I wet the page using a spray bottle of water and then I sprinkeld the brushos on. I have pierced a few holes in the lids of mine so I can sprinkle them rather than tip them onto my page. A little goes a long way. After I put them on I sprayed some more water on thill the colours started to flow.

I made sure I got some very vibrant and full colour on my pages before I took out a heat gun to dry it. To make sure it fully dried I then put my craft mat with paper taped to it in my trusty cardboard box that I usually use for spraying in:-)

After they had dried you could see the Cosmic Shimmer and embellishment Mousse splatters coming through the brusho layer. Really cool!

Next up I put some "hidden symbols" in using stamps, clear embossing powders and a heat tool. I used a Marianne Designs stamp of some Amsterdam Canal Houses (where we met and got married) and my recent purchase: a stamp of Clevedon Pier (close to where we now live).

When the heat embossing was set I broke ot my Distress Inks in Pine Needle, Chipped Sapphire and finally Black Soot to start covering the bright colours and create a Galaxy look. If you look closely you can see the heat embossed images coming through:-)

 I used the other piece to do some die cutting. I cut a bunch of Tonic Studios Dies: the Postal Type Lower Case Alphabet, the Rococo Music Electrical Guitar, Rococo Petite Musical Note and the Rococo Music Perfect Harmony. I also die cut the Stampin' Up! Swirly Scribbles Die and a small X-Cut Geometric Heart. 







For some of them I used black glitter card to make them stand out.

I matted the numbers on some black glitter card as well so they would stand out against the colourful background better.

And then it was a matter of assembling all the pieces. I laid out several arrangements and took pictures on my smartphone of each one so I could see whoch I liked and then start glueing everything on using the picture as a guide.

This was the present I had gotten him: An aluminium guitar pick that says: "10 years later I still pick you" S ❤ C  26-10-07. I found the pick on Etsy: Savage Moons, and the jewellery box at a charity shop and they gave it to me for free:-)

My husband was really happy with his gift and his card. And that makes me happy:-)

I'll be posting again soon with my first Christmas card. Have you started on your christmas cards yet?

x

Sonja

Win and Tonic: It's autumn!

One of this month's Win and Tonic themes is "Autumn colour" and as this is one of my favourite colour combinations it was easy to come up with a project:

I used a sketch I had found in Scrapbook and Cards magazine. I have a subscription to the paper version but you can read the electronic version online for free:-) It's full of card making and scrapbooking inspiration.

It was a pretty quick card to make so I actually made 2 in the same crafting session. I got to use a brand new Tonic product: Craft Perfect Striped Baker's Twine. This baker's twine will match the Craft Oerfect Cardstock and I used Espresso Brown on this card. I put some glue on the ends of the twin to keep them from unravelling.

For the finishing details I put little dots of Nuvo Drops on. These drops come in many colours and you can lots of different things with them but I use them mainly as a cost effective alternative to enamel dots:-)

For a chance of winning some great Tonic Crafty goodies head on over to the Win and Tonic blog and check out all the catergories you could enter in. Or just go and have a look for a lovely array of inspiration for your next crafting session.

Have fun!

Win and tonic Challenge May: Awesome Awesome Awesome

It's Win and Tonic time again peeps! And I am so excited about the Product Theme this month: Any Nuvo Product! Nuvo products are Tonic's colour media: markers, embossing powders, embellishment mousse and...glitter and glimmer!

I decided to have a play with the fabulous Glimmer Pastes. I die cut the Rococo Sneakers Die several times from white cardstock and stacked them on top of each other. Then I put some white cardstock behind it and carefully filled the empty space with Glimmer Paste in Pink Opal and Amethyst Purple. When that was dry I die cut one more sneaker from gold glitter paper and put it on top.

To make the actual card I used one of the Tonic Craft Perfect Foiled Card Blanks as a base and added a strip of turqoise dotted paper at the bottom. I die cut the word Awesome from the Miniature Moments - Awesome, Cool & Sweet die set and used a coloured in flower from the Delicate Detail Floral Flourish Stamp Set.

I hope you are inspired to make something too. Go and check out the Win and Tonic Blog to see what the other DT-members have made and what this month's price is:-)

This month these are you choices:

Colour - neutrals ie creams, taupes etc
Technique - stenciling with your dies
Product - any Nuvo product
Theme - open theme so any occasionInternational Entries also qualify!




Happy Crafting!

Love,  Sonja

Thankful Thoughts for the Colouring Challenge

Hi everyone!

My entry for the Pinkies Colouring Challenge is open for voting together with lots of other beautiful colouring techniques. Please visit Michelle's blog to vote for your Top 3 by clicking the heart in the Top right corner.

http://www.michellelast.co.uk/2016/10/pinkies-colouring-challenge.html

I thought I'd share these Thank You cards with you:

I made them for our Pinkies Team Challenge over at Michelle Last's blog. The theme of the challenge was:

COLOURING

One of the ways I like to colour in my stamps is by using sponge daubers:

For these cards I picked three colours that blend nicely: Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie and Melon Mambo. I then applied them (lightest tot darkest colour) to the Thank You So Much stamp from the Thankful Thoughts set:

Then you "breath" on them to moisten them a bit and stamp! Mat onto Gold Foil Sheet and adhere to your card base with some dimensionals. That's it. Fun and simple! I hope you have a go yourself.

All products used for this project can be found in my shop. Just click on the 'Shop Now' Banner at the top.

Alternatively you can also e-mail me your order at sgortzak@yahoo.co.uk

My offer to refund you your P&P for orders placed over € 60/£50 with me is valid until Dec. 31st 2016. After you have placed and paid for your order just send me an e-mail: sgortzak@yahoo.co.uk

I can sell to any European country where Stampin' Up! is active: United Kingdom, The Netherlands, France, Germany and Austria. If you are in the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia or New Zealand you can contact a local demonstrator and they will be happy to help you.

Vintage Leaves - Like leaves on a tree the ideas are plentiful

One of the great things about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is that as soon as you join you become part of a great group of crafty ladies (and some gents even!). And they all love crafting just as much as you. And they are always up for sharing their knowledge with you. So when I moved to Portishead from Amsterdam one of the first things I did was to see what demonstrators there were in the Bristol area and get to know them. One of these lovely ladies, Jan from Plentiful Crafting,  has been so good about letting me join all of her Coffee 'n Card sessions so I got to meet some more crafty peeps in the area and I got to learn some new things.

Last Saturday I went to a full day card making workshop at The Home Crafters in Yate Shopping Center. This wonderful crafty place is full of hand made items from an array of crafts men and women. We were there to make Autumn Cards. And Jan had prepared 6 different cards for us to make and they were all different and all stunning so I thought I would share them with you here so you too could be inspired to make a whole stack of Autumn cards:

This first one is simple elegance and I love the colours we used. We stamped the Vintage Leaves stamps in Delightful Dijon, Bermuda Bay and Tangerine Tango on some Very Vanilla cardstock and matted that onto an Early Espresso card base. Finishing it off with a small sentiment and some enamel shapes.

This colurful beauty used one of the Stampin' Up!'s eldest still available stamp set: Lovely as a Tree. We stamped just oak leave in several different colours on some Very Vanilla cardstock. Matting that on a piece of Garden Green cardstock which is then mounted on a Delightful Dijon base. Finishing it off with a sentiment on an oval die cut from the Layering Ovals Framelits. Colours used here were Garden Green, Delightful Dijon, Sweet Sugarplum and Tangerine Tango.

Thirdly we made a card using the Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. Doing a bit of sponging in Crumb Cake to bring out the tree trunks. Then stamping some small leaves from Lovely as a Tree and decorating with some wood veneer pieces. I have not added a sentiment yet. Not sure whom I will send this to.

Now this just looks so very chic! And it really only uses two colours: Crumb Cake and Delightful Dijon. We started by stamping the Vintage Leaves in Crumb Cake onto the middle Crumb Cake panel and also stamping one leave in Crumb Cake and one in Delightful Dijon to then run through a die cutting machine using the Leaflets Framelits. Adhered the Crumb Cake panel to a piece of Delightful Dijon and tied some lace and some ribbon across the front of them. We stamped a sentiment on some Very Vanilla and adhered it to the right half of the front panel making sure you could still see a little bit of the Crumb Cake panel peeking out. And then adhered the die cut leaves and added a bow on top. Full diclosure: that piece of ribbon was tied into a knot and then put onto the leaves, we tried tying it around the stems but that just doesn't look so good:-)

And just when I thought it couldn't get any better we were making this card! Don't you just love the vibrant colours set off against the dark background? I do! So to make this yourself you first stamp the Hardwood background stamp onto some Crumb Cake cardstock using Tip Top Taupe ink. You then sponge the edges with Crumb Cake. You then stamp the Vintage Leaves on Rose Red, Daffodil Delight and Old Olive Card stock and cut them out the Leaflets Framelits dies. Stamp a sentiment on top of the Hardwood background in Chocolat Chip ink and attach the leaves down the side.

So Jan totally saved the best for last. This wood panel card is just stunning! It takes a bit of time to make but I reckon it's worth it. You start by embossing a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock with the Brick Wall Embossing Folder. You then take a sponge dauber and sponge some Early Espresso Ink onto some of the vertical seams between the bricks. You then get out your Aquapainter and some Sahara Sand Ink and start covering your entire piece of cardstock with a watery layer of Sahara Ink. This then needs to fully dry. So in the mean time you can stamp and die cut your Vintage Leaves and sentiment. When your background is dry you stamp the Hardwood Background stamp onto it using Early Espresso Ink. Then adhere the leaves and sentiment using some dimensionals. 

So how about that for a great day of crafting? If you'd like to do this some time please go to Jan's Facebook page: Plentiful Crafting and check out all here events. I know there is another full day of Christmas Card making at The Home Crafters scheduled for next month. And there will be a Coffee and Card at the Chief Trading Post in Bristol this coming Wednesday. I love going there as well.

Main products used:

Hardwood Background Stamp

Vintage Leaves Stamp Set

Leaflets Framelits Dies

Lovely as a Tree

My offer to refund you your P&P for orders placed over € 60/£50 with me is valid until Dec. 31st 2016. After you have placed and paid for your order just send me an e-mail: sgortzak@yahoo.co.uk

Alternatively you can also e-mail me your order at sgortzak@yahoo.co.uk

You can find all supplies and more in my Stampin' Up! webshop, just click on the 'Shop Now' Banner at the top.

I can sell to any European country where Stampin' Up! is active: United Kingdom, The Netherlands, France, Germany and Austria. If you are in the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia or New Zealand you can contact a local demonstrator and they will be happy to help you.

Getting sidetracked by a scarecrow - Cookie Cutter Halloween Stamp set and Punch

So last week I decided to get cracking on Halloween Treats. I had checked with one of the neighbours and YES they do Halloween here. I then checked how many kids would come by... 50! So let's not leave this till the last minute and break out my new Cookie Cutter Halloween Stamp set and the matching Cookie Cutter Punch:

 This set has 4 cute gingerbread shaped "characters": A skeleton, a mummy, Dracula jr and....a scarecrow. And it is this scarecrown that got me totally side tracked. I just had to colour him in and then I just had to make some cards with him:-)

I used my Stampin' Write Markers to colour him in. These are dual tipped markers in the same colours as the Stampin' Up! dye inks and match the cardstock perfectly. I did a version on Whisper White (below) and one on Crumb Cake cardstock. I like both but I think the Crumb Cake background gives it just that little bit more of "scarecrow" feel if I imagine that they are made from old burlap bags:-)

And now I still have to make those Halloween treats:-) Wish me luck...and focus:-)

Anybody else doing handmade Halloween Treats? Let me know what you're doing. I'd love to hear.

xxx

Sonja

Vintage Leaves and Serene Scenery Paper Stack - Match Made in Heaven?

You may remember that I was determined to use up my Serene Scenery Paper Stack (see this blogpost from August) and I am happy to report I have found another good match! Last week after I had been making my Hardwood Maple Leave card. I had die cut quite a few different leaves and had stamped them as well but didn't use them for that project so they were lying on my craft desk when I said down to make some Project Life cards with the Serene Scenery Paper Stack. Only I never got around to Project Life because I realized I could do something fab if I combined one of the papers from the Serene Scenery Paper Stack with my die cut Vintage Leaves:

Love how this turned out. The multi-coloured leaves were made by sponging different colours of ink onto my Vintage Leaves stamps using sponge daubers. I love how daubers give a light layer of colour and you get a  gradual blend of colours. I made sure to start with the lighter colours first and green last so I wouldn't get any dark Garden Green in my Delightful Dijon:-)

Supplies used:

You can find all supplies and more in my Stampin' Up! webshop: http://tinyurl.com/shopsonjagortzak

My offer to refund you your P&P for orders placed over € 60/£50 with me is valid until Dec. 31st 2016. After you have placed and paid for your order just send me an e-mail: sgortzak@yahoo.co.uk

Alternatively you can also e-mail me your order at sgortzak@yahoo.co.uk

I can sell to any European country where Stampin' Up! is active: United Kingdom, The Netherlands, France, Germany and Austria. If you are in the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia or New Zealand you can contact a local demonstrator and they will be happy to help you.

Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper Sale this entire October

So what a start to the Month! First we have the 5-day World Card Making Day Offers and then we also have this great Designer Series Paper Sale for the entire month of October:

So you can pick four of these eight packs of gorgeous Designer Series Paper for the price of three is a great bargain! And you can order 4 of the same and get enough patterned paper for all your Christmas cards. But maybe you'd rather get different ones. It's up to you. And....you can also double or triple up. There is no limit to how many you order.

And you may want to share your paper packs with a crafty friend so you can get an even better deal. It's all up to you.

And be sure to combine this offer with the World Card Making Day offers so you safe on P&P. Should your order with me reach £ 50/€ 60 then I will refund your shipping costs*. So you get an even better deal. Irrisistable really:-) So head on over to the webshop and get yourself some crafty deals. 

Much love,

Sonja

*I can sell to any European country where Stampin' Up! is active: United Kingdom, The Netherlands, France, Germany and Austria. If you are in the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia or New Zealand you can contact a local demonstrator and they will be happy to help you.

Stampin' Up! Leaves Framelits Autumnal Window Birthday Card

Hello Autumn!

My favourite season of the year. And I have a simple and chic card for you using one of the Leaves Framelits dies and the Hardwood background stamp:

To re-create this card you start by making the background: Sponge Delightful Dijon, Pumpkin Pie and Rose Red inks onto a Thick Whisper White cardstock base. (I use a wedge of the Stampin Sponges.) You then stamp the Hardwood background stamp over the background in Cherry Cobbler. You then take a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock just a little bit shorter (5 mm) than your card base and die cut the maple leave from the Leaves Framelits die set. Make sure you center your die cut and cut it from the top 3/4 of your card stock. Then stamp your sentiment at the bottom in Cherry Cobbler. Seperate the sentiment from the die cut and adhere to the background using lots of dimensionals:-) Be sure to leave a little gap between top and bottom for the background to peep through.

The sentiment came from the Wetlands stamp set. I really love the font, don't you?

I have entered this card into Take it, Make it Challenge at one of my fave craft Magazines: Craft Stamper. Always so full of good stuff!

Supplies used:

 

You can find all supplies and more in my Stampin' Up! webshop: http://tinyurl.com/shopsonjagortzak

My offer to refund you your P&P for orders placed with me for over € 60/£50 is valid until Dec. 31st 2016. After you have placed and paid for your order just send me an e-mail: sgortzak@yahoo.co.uk

Alternatively you can also e-mail me your order at sgortzak@yahoo.co.uk

I can sell to any European country where Stampin' Up! is active: United Kingdom, The Netherlands, France, Germany and Austria. If you are in the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia or New Zealand you can contact a local demonstrator and they will be happy to help you.