PEEL-OFF STICKERS for special occasions!

This weeks demo in JAPONICA on Peel-Offs came in very handy for me as I needed to make 2 cards for very special occasions!    So here is a card for Jane -my very best friend has just moved -so she will probably see this before Mr Postie delivers it!  Happy New Home Jane!

I used black Peel -off stickers (Francoise Collection - Woodware) and painted it with Pearl-Exe pallettes.  Some items are cut out and mounted onto card using 3-d foam pads to create my "street".  I hope Jane likes it and will be very contented in her new "pad".

My next special occasion was a Diamond Wedding anniversary. Some very dear friends of ours Stuart & Shelagh celebrated on Sunday at Courtlands in Lympstone with all their friends and family!  We had a wonderful day...and were fed royally too.  We wish the Happy Couple many more years together too.  Bless you both.
Here is my card for them - I used Jane Gills Bubbles Peel-off sticker in silver and added lots of sparkly bits.  The blue area is Pearl Ex paint - adding a luxurious touch to the fnished card.  The border has some sparkly flourishes over it - and  I added a personal greeting inside.

PEEL-OFFS are so under rated -but some very classy cards can be made using them with a little ingenuity.   

Jans shading with pencils

This weeks FREE demo in JAPONICA was all about shading with pencils ...and Peel-Off stickers.  Some stickers with larger spaces to colour-in can be a bit dauntng - so here are some tips on how to get the best results using this shading technique.

TOP TIP no 1 - Really rub on the back of the Peel-Off to stick it down well, so the pencils tip does not shift it!
TOP TIP no 2 - Choose your colours well 2-3 shades.
TOP TIP no 3 - Use good quality pencils as they blend better.  (I use Sakura Bruynzeel -all available at JAPONICA -boxed sets or sold  inidividually - 48 fab colours that blend really well)

3 colours used for this one - red, peach and brown!

Pink and Magenta for the next one...

Start at tip of flower - using a strong colour - and "feather" the colour down the area.  Use the same colour at opposite end of shape (or use a 2nd colour if wanting to use 3 colours total).  Then add another colour to the central area -shading over the 1st (and 2nd) colour -to blend - you will get an interesting shaded area of colour!
I hope you like these simple cards.  I have tried to show you quite an assortment of colours that have shaded well together.   The colours I used are all labelled on the samples in store. 

Blue, grey and white for the Elelgant dress...

and then Lavender and Pastel pink with an orange background for this neat flower..

Time for Tea!

Hello - I have been suffering from lack of Summer sun - like everyone - so Mr JAPONICA and I went to Turkey for a week and it was very hot -over 40 degrees!  On our return my Thursday demonstration in JAPONICA was to be Summer Scenes - how depressing in the rain?  Anyway...so I thought I would cheer everyone up with a Summer Tea Time theme.  If you can't have sun, then get the cakes out I say!   So I used A stamp set from Hobby Art -"Tea-Time" and ran amok with pretty papers, coloured pencils and Glossy accent.   And the best bit - no calories!!

There are so many lovely stamps in this set I was spoilt for choice.

I used a  1" Scalloped circle punch for these 3 cakes.

I used pretty paper on the table runner and co-ordinated the colour of my cupcakes to match.





The words in the set make a lovely background message

They look delicious don't you think -suitable for any age from 3 to 103!