No crafting today ...

... instead I went hunting for a new tap.  Not the most thrilling of jobs and also not very successful.  All I want is a lovely new kitchen tap that has an extendable hose, so that I can reach the corners of the drainer, in an nice antique brass finish.  No such luck.  As far as I can see, I can only get this type of tap in stainless steel or chrome.  And the price - anyone would think they were made of gold!  So I'm going to stick with my current tap - until I win the lottery and have a complete redesign!!  Well, I can dream, can't I?

I've been finalising numbers for my Stampin' Up! party on Saturday, should be a reasonably good turnout.  I've been keeping an eye on Splitcoaststampers for new stamps and things that might be in the new UK catalogue.  One of my favourite sets, which I saw well over a year ago, is the Fifth Avenue Florals - a wonderful rose outline stamp along with two further flowers and some words.  But it wasn't in the 2009 catalogue - so here's hoping it'll be in 2010.  There are others, but I'll just have to be patient!! 

I like to try out different techniques - and in 2008 I used gilding flakes for the first time.  I'd watched a demo by Dawn Bibby and thought the effect was stunning.  So I decided to make a Valentine card for Jonathan.

In my stash of peeloffs (of which I have far too many, and must reorganise) I found a beautiful black heart which I wanted to use as the focus of the card.  There are various methods that can be used to achieve this effect.  For the heart above I used a piece of double sided adhesive sheet, then I removed the top protective layer and carefully placed on the black peeloff.  Next I added some of my gilding flakes (a mixture of red, gold and silver) and rubbed with a toothbrush to burnish the flakes into place and remove any excess.  I worked over a large box to catch the excess - I don't waste anything.  I wanted a simple but striking background, so ran some red mirri card through my bug - I used the Love Language set, and rounded the corners of the card.  I used the same set for the hearts and words - these were done in shiny black mirri card.  Finally I added a strip of black ribbon.  I'm still pleased with this card.

Reviewing my cards - I realise that I have already done some cards in the one layer style favoured by Susan Raihala of Simplicity.  I used the Fantasy Tree stamp by Penny Black for several Christmas cards.  I followed some layouts that had been featured in one of the craft magazines (sorry, can't remember which one).  I was very pleased with the result.

That's all for tonight.  I'll be back again tomorrow.