The Wonders of Letraset SAFMAT

Front view.

What a beautiful morning! The sun is shining, the sky is blue, I just sat on the decking of our caravan for a cuppa in my pjs and it is so peaceful and quiet.............bliss! And the best bit is, we are here for the next 8 days too :D

This morning I am thrilled to be bringing you news of a wonderful product I have been lucky enough to have the chance to try, courtesy of this week's sponsor at THE CRAFTY PAD.  In fact, we have TWO prizes up for grabs this week...



Letraset 5-pack 'Spring' Promarkers



Winner's Choice of 3 digi stamps



So, what are the products we used this week............? Letraset SAFMAT & LETRATAC. Here is a little info on both:

1) SAFMAT

Ideal for use on paper and card - just print, cut out and stick

Safmat is a highly transparent, self-adhesive film for use with your printer. It enables you to create your own unique text and graphics for applying onto almost any smooth surface. Ideal for scrapbook pages, homemade greetings cards, wedding invites, technical drawings, packaging mockups...

Safmat is the perfect solution for applying printed designs onto materials that wouldn’t normally go through a desktop printer. eg heavyweight card, acetate, large 3D objects...

Commercial designers and students use Safmat for creating realistic product and packaging mockups. It’s also popular in many crafts and creative leisure pastimes. No other product gives the same result - it’s like creating a unique, fully personalised transfer.

Safmat is acid free for archival longevity. It’s an excellent versatile solution for Scrap Booking, Card Making and many other craft activities. Anywhere it’s useful to apply personalised printed phrases and images.

2) LETRATAC

The unique solution to all your adhesive requirements. LetraTac is acid free and only goes where you want it.

LetraTac Sheets work by transferring a layer of dry adhesive dots to the back of your work. Simply position and rub down.

Sheets of repositionable and acid-free adhesive - the no-mess solution for all your adhesive needs. LetraTac adhesive is quick, clean and easy to use, completely eliminating the mess and harm caused by spray adhesives. LetraTac won't gum-up sensitive computer equipment and will keep your work space free from dangerous airborne contaminants. Ideal for professional mounting, presentation, archival display, photography, card making, scrapbooking, collages, papercrafts, and just about anywhere you need to stick one thing to another.

It is completely repositionable while forming a firm bond with most art surfaces. Any excess material can be rubbed off with an eraser.

Dry adhesive is available in A3, A4 and A5 packs.

Use together with LetraTac Super for a complete solution to all your adhesive requirements.



 I altered a canndle! It's the first time I've done this, and I was thrilled with the result.....What WONDERFUL stuff the Safmat is! I have used Butterflies with verse and borders from The Crafty Pad Designs and I changed the colours inn Word, using the lovely Leesa's tutorial which you can view HERE. I then printed it out onto the SAFMAT and cut around the individual images and verse.

Left side view.

 I positioned the verse first, then added the butterflies around it. I added a gem to each butterfly.



Right side view.

The scribble flowers DP is a freebie and was also printed onto the Safmat. It stuck to the candle like a dream, and then I added some tiny flower brads to enhance it. (see pic below.)



Base of the candle.



 Then, onto the LETRATAC.....I used it to stick the ribbon and raffia onto the candle.....so quick, easy and effective!

To finish, I added a small charm to the top of the candle on two jump-rings.

Goodness, I nearly forgot to mention our theme for this week!

'SOMETHING CLEAR.'

We want you to use something clear on your project, such as acetate or Safmat. The DT have made some brilliant projects this week, so please pop over to the challenge blog and get some inspiration.

Challenges I am entering this week:

• Crafts 4 Eternity #30 - Anything but a Card.
• Paper Play wk30 - In the Garden.
• Digital Tuesday #121 - Garden with things with wings.
• Try it on Tuesday - Alter a Gift.
• Crafty Cardmakers #50 - Butterflies.
• Cardmad Fairy #13 - Oh So Girly!
• PolkaDoodles wk 30 - English Country Garden.
• Art Impressions Stamps #26 - Inspiration from Nature.
• Paper Pretties - No Markers.
• Everybody Art #152 - Garden.

For more info on the Letraset products, please visit the Letraset website HERE.

Getting Ready for the Holidays BLOG HOP at MPS

Happy Saturday everyone, and welcome to my page on the Michelle Perkett Studios 'Getting Ready for the Holidays' Blog Hop!

If you are following the hop in order, you should have arrived here from Michelle H's blog (Scrapweaver.) If not, don't worry, here's a list of everyone taking part, from start to finish:

• Michelle Perkett – http://www.michelleperkett.blogspot.com/
• Pauline - http://www.paulineguttrey.blogspot.com/
• Irene – http://www.itsallinthecards.blogspot.com/
• Karen - http://www.karensdigi.blogspot.com/
• Barbara – http://www.my-crafty-world.blogspot.com/
• Sharon – http://www.sharonshowcase.blogspot.com/
• Rhonda – http://www.bluepoohbear753.blogspot.com/
• Abby – http://www.abbyscreations.blogspot.com/
• Shelley – http://www.shelleyscreations.blogspot.com/
• Mama Bear – http://www.mamabearstonichscraftspot.blogspot.com/
• Andrea – http://www.andreasscraps.com/
• Jenn – http://www.stampinangeljenn.blogspot.com/
• Lydia – http://www.scrappenbylydia.blogspot.com/
• Maria – http://www.joyfulstamper.blogspot.com/
• Wendy – http://www.wendypslittlecorneroftheworld.blogspot.com/
• Anne – http://www.annescardchallenges.blogspot.com/
• Michelle H – http://www.scrapweaver.blogspot.com/
• Aqualeiga – http://www.aqualeigasescape.blogspot.com/ (that's me!)
• Rene – http://www.craftlane.blogspot.com/
• Mari – http://www.trailsofpaper.blogspot.com/
• Challenge blog – http://www.michelleperkettstudio.blogspot.com/

Now, the theme for the hop is 'getting ready for the holidays' and I know lots of cardmakers are already lovingly making their Christmas cards, and I've seen so many fab creations out there in the challenges. But for the hop, we are happy to see cards from ANY holiday....including your Back to School creations as well as Halloween or Thanksgiving, its your choice, whatever your favourite holiday is!

For my card, I chose......Back to School. This September will see an exciting new start for all 3 of my littlies....the oldest starts at Secondary school (he's 11yrs) my daughter goes into her last year at infant school (she's 6yrs) and my youngest starts school for the first time.....he is going to the local school for children with Special Needs (he is Autistic,)  and we are so pleased that he has received the necessary funding to be able to attend the school where we feel his needs will be best met. He is 4yrs.

I've made this card for my daughter, who is following in her mummy's footsteps and LOVES getting crafty with me! In fact, she saw me colouring this image and insisted on doing one of her own at the same time....with MY Promarkers too!

The delightful image is called Mary Margaret, and was a freebie from a while back. She has been coloured with Promarkers and cut out with a nestie.

I used an apple shape for the sentiment....a good luck wish for her 1st day back at school; they've only just finished for the holidays and she's already looking forward to going back again! The font is Sunshine Poppy.

I made some flowers to match the DP, with card candy centres, and I added a green gem to each scallop

 around the card front. I finished off by tying an organza ribbon-bow.

So, now it's time to continue on the hop, and next you need to visit Renee's Blog. Hope you have lots of fun and find plenty of inspiration along the way! Thanks to the mermaids for welcoming me to join in with the hop, I've had a blast!

I am going to enter this card into a couple of challenges:

• Simon Says Stamp & Show - Anything Goes.
• I Love Promarkers #76 - Anything Goes.
• Digi Doodle Shop's Best #69 - Anything Goes.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone!

Summer's FINALLY Here!

It looks as if Summer might FINALLY be here, and there are lots of Summer/Beach-themed challenges out there, including one of my faves....MICHELLE PERKETT STUDIOS....'Let's Go To The Beach! I used 3 of Michelle's images to make my card: Olive, Leilani and a freebie, Lydia, all of whom can be found in Michelle's Etsy shop or on her challenge blog.

I coloured the images with Promarkers and added some sand beneath their feet. I chalked the background, although you can't really see that in the picture. The DP is Papermania Masculine range and the cardstock is Bazzill. I cut some flowers and added card candy to the centres. The navy ones were the right colour, but the light blue and orange ones began life as white ones, I coloured them with my Promarkers to match the DP.

I will enter my card into the following challenges:

• Crafting for All Seasons #6 - Beach/Ocean.
• I Love Promarkers #76 - Anything Goes.
• Craftroom Challenge #5 - Summer Holidays.
• The Pink Elephant #109 - Fun in the Sun!
• Paper Sundaes - Beachy.
• CYDA #25 - Summertime.
• ECP #43 - The Summer.

And don't forget, this Saturday is the HOLIDAY BLOG HOP at MPS too......please come and join the fun!

Thanks for popping in!

Using Your Scraps

Hi all,

here to share a little corner bookmark I've made using up some of my scraps! We're all the same, have WAY too much stash, yet we just can't seem to part with all those little bits of leftovers from our projects! (eyes roll!!) Well, my lovely cyber buddy Deborah Lauder who is the owner and designer over at CRAFTY STASH has set a fab theme for this month's competition......use your scraps!

There are fab prizes up for grabs, and everyone who enters gets a free download for taking part! Yay!

As some of you will know, I am a huge fan of the corner bookmark (yes, it's true!) and they are the PERFECT way to use up your scraps but still make something adorable and useful. Here's mine...

Now, I will admit that the image is NOT a scrap, but was so adorable I had to use it.....but I PROMISE that everything else IS indeed from bits n pieces left over from my cardmaking.....and therefore made from SCRAPS.

The image is cut with a nestie and coloured with Promarkers. I inked the edges too.



The back of the bookmark....the join and ribbon are covered with matching DP.

And just to show you how to use the bookmark....

...simply slide it over the corner of the page you want to save.

You still have time (JUST!) to join in with the competition, it's open until midnight on July 31st.

I've given this one to my 6 year old daughter, who has just started her summer holidays from school, and is poorly, so I wanted to cheer her up a little.

I am going to be cheeky and enter a couple of other challenges too.....

• I Love Promarkers #76 - Anything Goes.
• Clear it Out! (Use old Supplies) - Anything Goes.
• Stamps & Fun=Creativity #57 - No sentiment/words.
• Corrosive Challenge #126 - All About Kids.

Thanks for popping in, hope to see you soon!

SHAKE IT!! Down at the Beach!

* UPDATE* My card made Top 3 at Incy Wincy!

Happy Hump-Day folks, and what better to get you through the day than a brand new challenge over at FOR FUN.

This week, in the hope that we are going to see some summery weather (don't hold your breath though...) we want to see your

BEACH/SAND

creations! Yes, beach scenes, and even better, we want to see some sand! The wonderful PAPER SHELTER, who are offering a $15.00 voucher to spend in their online shop.

The DT were given a selection of fabby images to work with, and here's what I came up with:

It's a shaker card, made with real sand from the beach opposite where we have our caravan in Kent! I used the pre-coloured image and matched the colours to those. I cut a frame out of Kraft card, added the acetate, shaker-tape and some sand collected from the beautiful beach we are lucky enough to have just opposite our caravan. I added some wavey peel-offs too.

The matting/layering is Bazzill card and MME DPs, which I tore and inked to give a more rustic feel. The shells are also collected from the beach.

I added some garden twine (I thought it looked a bit 'beachy') and a tibetan silver anchor charm. I made the sentiment on the computer.

I really hope you can join us this week, and with such a wonderful prize up for grabs, you'd be mad not to!

I am going to enter the following challenges:

• Incy Wincy Designs #104 - Shaker Cards.
• The Pink Elephant #109 - Fun in the Sun.
• Paper Sundaes #79 - Beachy or summer.
• CYDA #25 - Summertime.
• Crazy 4 Challenges #97 - Make a Shaker Card.
• Creations by Gill M #12 - Beach Scene.
• ECP #43 - Summertime.
• Daring Cardmakers - Wish You Were Here.
• Crafty Sprouts - Shaker card.

Don't forget to check out the awesome DT creations this week over at the FOR FUN challenge blog.

Thanks for looking!

'Toucan' Play at That Game!!!

Eyes Roll!!!! Yes, a poor attempt at a joke, but hey, what d'you expect for a Monday!! Lol!

As I was doing a little blog-hopping this morning, I realised it had been a while since I joined in with a challenge over at THE PAPER SHELTER, so, despite the long list of 'must-do' tasks, I set about putting that right! I also had a look for a sketch to follow, and found this one #65 from Sunday Sketch & Stamp.

The theme at The Paper Shelter this week is #23 the colour Green. Here's my card:

I have used the fab image from TPS called 'Tucan.' My papers are digital...from a range of sources. The digi stamp is pre-coloured, sponged over with green ink and cut out with a nestie.

Where the bunting hangs on the sketch, I have created my own style of bunting, made from leaves! I hand-cut each one, and edged in ink, then hung them from a piece of garden twine, attached with green paperclips each side.

The sentiment is a die-cut one from Craftworks and reads 'May all Your Wishes Come True.'

The whole card is actually much GREENER than it appears in ther photos.....Not sure why but I just couldn't get the lighting right for this one :-/

I am entering the following challenges:

• The Paper Shelter #23 GREEN.
• Sunday Sketch & Stamp #65 - Sketch.
• DYSU #29 - Wings.

Thanks for popping in, I do love it when I get visitors!!

Emboss it!

Gooooooooooooooood Morning crafty peeps! Happy Sunday to you all, I do hope the sun is shining wherever you are.....it is here, Yay!!

Lots of wonderful entries last week over at THE CRAFTY PAD, thank you so much for playing along. Don't forget to pop over and see if you are a winner or made it into our top 3!

This week, we want to see...

EMBOSSING (HEAT OR DRY)

...on your projects. We have the fab CRAFTY SENTIMENTS as our sponsor this week, with a choice of 3 digis from their online shop.

The DT have all worked with some of Debbie's latest fab designs....mainly Beach Hut, but also the sentiment, Life's a Beach. Check out all of the wonderful summer/beach digis HERE. 

Here's my card:

I have created a row of 3 beach huts (I just removed the seagull and beach ball from 2 of them so it didn't look weird!) I coloured them of course with Promarkers and edged with blue ink. The DP reminded me of deckchair fabric!

I sponged pale blue ink as a background and gave the beach a kind of shingle effect.

Onto the embossing.....I wanted to gold emboss using my powder and heat gun....BUT....I couldn't find the embossing powder ANYWHERE, sooooo, I went with dry embossing using one of my Cuttlebug folders....dots. Then I rubbed ink over the embossed dots to accentuate them.

I used the senti where the sun would be, and mounted it onto a piece of yellow embossed card.

I had some anchor charms in my stash which suited the theme, so I tied on some garden twine (I reckon it suited the look of the card,) and secured the charm with a brad.

As always, the rest of the DT have excelled themselves, so don't forget to check out their work when you enter your creation over at THE CRAFTY PAD this week!

I thought I'd enter my card into a few challenges out there this week:

• Tuesday Throwdown #58 - Something Metallic (my anchor charm.)

• City Crafter #66 - It's a SHORE Thing!/Beach.
• Paper Pretties - Embossing.
• Little Miss Muffet #14 - Summer.
• Off the Wall Craftiness #57 - Beach.
• Fairy Tale #20 - Summer Sun Sunshine.
• Fairy Fun Fridays #57 - On Holiday.
• ECP #43 - Summer.
• Creations by Gill M #12 - Beach Scene.
• CYDA #25 - Summertime.
• Crafty Ann's #45 - Embossing or Debossing.
• Daring Card Makers - Wish You Were Here.
• Seven Kids College Fund #26 - Texture.
• Scrapalicious #12 - Summer.

Wow! Didn't realise how many there were! Wishing you all a very happy Sunday. x

Inspired by a Song

Good Evening bloggers,

I have a card to share with you that I made for the 'Inspired by a Song' challenge at Michelle Perkett Studios this week.

 Sure you've guessed by now, but the song I chose is 'That's What Friends Are For' by Dionne Warwick. The DPs are digis, called Tempting.

I followed the Tuesday Morning Sketches sketch #103 for this week, and added some flowers to the basic sketch.

 The gorgeous image is called Juniper & Ceciia Having Tea in the Garden and is available from Michelle's Etsy shop. I coloured it with Promarkers and cut using a nestie.

 

....the sentiment is actually the song title and made using Sunshine Poppy font on the computer.

I am going to enter a couple of challenges with my card:

• Cardmadfairy's Digi Days #13 - Oh so Girly.
• Aud Sentiments #33  - Make someone Smile.
• Flutterby Wednesdays #163 - Open challenge.
• My Grafico - Anything Goes.

I was a little disappointed to discover I had lost one of my followers today......I do hope the rest of you will stay and enjoy my crafting journey with me!

2 Ribbons at FOR FUN this week!

Happy Hump Day folks! Our brand new challenge this week at FOR FUN CHALLENGES is

USE 2 RIBBONS

on your creation....it's an easy one folks, so let's see a bumper number of entries this week!

Our sponsor is once again the fabulous Di's Digis, and she is offering the lucky winner 5 digi images of their choice.....very generous I know you'll agree!

Here's my creation for this week:

It's a corner bookmark! I used one of Di's adorable images, it's called 'Have a Splash!' I'm sure you are familiar with these clever little bookmarks, but if not, it simply slips over the corner of the page you wish to save, like this:

I did a tutorial on how to make these last month, you can view the post by clicking HERE, and the tute (which I did for The Crafty Pad Designs) HERE.

The sentiment is from Create with TLC, and was one of many gorgeous and very generous freebies posted regularly. I have used a white grosgrain ribbon, and a very thin satin ribbon in raspberry pink on my bookmark.......I can't wait to see what ribbons YOU use on your creations this week!

Someone from the FOR FUN DT will pop over and check out your creation, and of course leave some well-deserved love when we do!

I am going to enter a few challenges with my bookmark...

• Anything Goes #45 - More than 1 fold.
• Deep Ocean #4 - Ribbons.
• KB Cute Monday #22 - Use a digi.
• Paper Playtime #50 - Summer.
• Pollycraft #102 - Summer Fun!
• Stamp, Scrap & Doodle - Bookmark.
• Tiffany Doodles #14 - All Creatures Great & Small.
• Glitter Geeks #6 - Under the Sea.