I can't bee-lieve it's almost Christmas

A while ago I set a challenge for Joanne Wardle to make a Christmas card using the Medium Bee with Small Bee on the Side stamp Jo designed for Stampotique Originals and this is the festive result.


Jo also had a play and produced "We Bee Kings". I am really enjoying these stamps getting new leases of life at Christmas and will be raiding my own stash for inspiration next year.

Helen Chilton has been in the gift making mood. This wood block features the Pink Paislee Parisian Anthology stamps and Helen has done an online class on how to make it.

This will be my last post before Christmas so I do hope you all have a fabulous time, that the weather does not cause any more disrupution (yes we are under a white blanket again!) and that peace and joy reigns all round.

A Very Merry Christmas to you

Moira

Slides are About

Having spent 2 weeks now sliding about in snow and ice it's rather refreshing to see a different kind of slide. Here Helen Chilton has made some delicious ornaments for the Christmas Tree using Memory Glass, Old St Nick stamp and Glitz papers. The full instructions to make them are in our online classes "Stamped Projects" section.
















We also have a great online class, again by Helen, on making this wonderful Tag Book using the Artisitc Outpost "Oz Collage" stamps.

Hope you are all staying warm in this arctic weather and having fun with all your Christmas preparations.

Snowy Days

Here at Happy Daze towers we are, literally, knee deep in snow, very beautiful and very Christmassy. Helen Chilton, as you can see, has also been in the Christmas mood making cards using non Christmas stamps. Greetings uses "Home" by Artistic Outpost and "Winter Tree" uses "The Outpost" stamp plate also by Artistic Outpost. Helen says: " although this stamp isn’t from a Christmas plate, by choosing your colours carefully and adding a bit of bling, you get a really seasonal feel!"

Jewellery Box and Sticky Winner

Sitting here typing all I can see out of the window is snow, snow, snow, and with Christmas Day just 4 weeks away ot feels very festive. I am knee deep in card and gift making so was wonderfully inspired by this fabulous jewelry box made by Louise Crosbie, especially as she has shared the instructions so we can all have a go, jusy click here to go ot the online class.

Louise has also been reviewing The Ultimate glue and this is what she says:

I sell my crafts on Folksy so I need to be 100% certain items I glue on to my altered art are going to stay on and not be rattling around loose in the packaging on arrival at the home of the buyer. I have had trouble with glues and metal objects. Glossy accents and Bostik are the two adhesives i was using. glossy accents are a little temperamental about what it will adhere to and if its going to hold. and Bostik does that "stringy" thing where it leaves a trail from the glued object all the way back to the tube and over anything you passed the tube over. so i often spend time picking the stringy web of glue back off... So, how would The Ulimate fair?

Here are the types of test I did on this box with the glue.
1) I attached the Tim Holtz Ornamental Plate on top, a reasonably large surface being attached to another large surface. so maybe an easy test but still an important one. a heavy ornate item on my textured surface. It passed with flying coulours, thats not coming off even if I want it to.
2) attaching the filigree teardrops. these items have next to no surface touching the box. they are hollow so its literally just the rims that i could add the glue to. they too are stuck fast ( and i have picked and poked and prodded.
3) my main test i think. I wanted to dangle a chain from the box but i didnt want to get a drill out and start trying to figure out what to attach it to, so, i simply added a small blob of glue at each end and attached it by one link... just ONE link of chain pressed in to the glue at either end and left to dry. its now there for life ... I put two crystals over the links and those are also bonded fast. I also attached the Foundation Feet with the glue.
4) it dried in 100% clear and it was thick enough straight from the bottle to hold things in place quickly, so you dont have to sit holding it till it got tacky.

So is there a down side? Well there are a couple of small niggles that are not to do with bonding power.
1) the nozzle has a very large opening so you are not in control of the amount of glue from it. I overcame this by squeezing some glue in to a bottle lid and used a glue brush (old paint brush) to paint the glue on to the smaller items or thin items.
2) the glue is very thick o again its better to apply it with something other than the nozzle supplied.

I guess the ultimate test for me is... Would I sell items I had used this glue on and feel confident they will not disappoint the buyer? YES I would and will. maybe not on absolutely everything but I have confidence in this glues holding power and versatility

So now, drum roll please as we announce the winner, drawn out of a hat, of a bottle of this amazing glue all to herself it is Netty! Well done and please drop me an email to info@happy-daze.net with your addreess so I can get it in the post to you. Happy Crafting Moira

The Ultimate Arrives!

A while ago Vanessa Banks told me about Crafters Pick "The Ultimate" glue and I got excited. Like many crafters I have searched for that one glue that will do pretty well any job, you know "one glue to bind things and forever bind them!" and when I tried it I was hooked so at last we have it in stock. This stuff looks like, and behaves like, PVA but it sticks pretty well anything to anything and it stays stuck - metal, plastic, wood, ceramics, oh and er paper and card! Even the lovely people at Ten Second Studio use it with their metal. We have a bottle to give away this week all you need do is leave a comment and go in our random draw. Draw closes Friday 27 November.












These Layouts have been made using papers from the Sweetness range by Pink Paislee. Deckchair Days has been made by queen of all things shabby Ruth Phillps, an the other features my DH and one of our dogs Paddy.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas

Yes I know I'm sorry but as fireworks explode all around this evening we must face the fact that we are now in the run up to the Christmas period. Personally I love it, seeing friends and family, laughing together, remembering the year, knowing that once Christmas is over the nights start to draw out again as we head towards Spring. I try very hard to make cards and gifts all through the year to keep me busy and try and prevent having a huge amount to make in a rush! And as you can see Louise Crosbie has been busy doing the same, these lovely Christmassy items would cheer any house on a cold winter's day. The full detials of how to make the Gift Box can even be found in our Altered Projects online clases section. Louise has used the Lost Coast "Praying Angel" stamp as well as the Catslife Press "Most Wonderful Time" stamp.



It is my lovely husband's birthday this weekend so I'm celebrating by offering 20% off the new Websters Pages ranges - Waiting for Santa, Sweet Season, Hollywood Vogue and WonderFall. The offer runs out on Monday 8 November.

And finally - drum roll please - our winnder of the £20 Gift Voucher for joining our Customer Blog Roll is Sue of Sue the Iron Blog. Congratulations and the Voucher is on it's way to you. I woukd love to know how your blog got that name Sue.

Happy Bonfire Night everyone, hope you have a good one and a safe one

Moira

Neverland, Santa and Gift Voucher

Artistic Outpost have a new stamp plate out "Oz Collage" featurung images from the Wizard of Oz and to celebrate Helen Chilton has been busy with the Artistic Outpost stamp plate "Neverland" and a Big and Juicy inkpad! If you pop along to the Gallery you can see lots of new projects in the New Additions section including several from Helen using these iconic stamps and in the online glasses a tutorial to make this card.


This lovely Layout comes from Vanessa Banks who has finally given in and set up a Blog. Welcome to blogland Vanessa. For this layout Vanessa has used Websters Pages papers from the "Waiting for Santa" collection and this shows how versatile these papers are and how they don't need to be used just for Christmas projects. Vanessa glimmer misted corrugated cardboard and cut out the roses from the Waiting for Santa Die Cut sheet to create corners, added prima buds and flowers also used a Waiting for Santa journaling card - love and happiness.

If you would like to have your blog listed on our Design Team Blog and you haven't yet told us, please do as there are just a few days left to be entered into our £20 Gift Voucher draw, which closes on 5th November. Send your Blog address to info@happy-daze.net. You can still be added to the Blogroll after 5th November, but the Gift Voucher draw will close then.

So a very Happy Hallowe'en to everyone from us all at the Happy Daze DT, and have a wonderfully spooky time.

Hallowe'en Cube and £20 Gift Voucher

This spooky ornamnent has been made by the delightful Louise Crosbie using Blankboard Cubes, Distress inks and assorted Hallowe'en stamps. It makes a great seasonal decoration and was quick to make.

Would you like to have you Blog added to our DT Blog Customer Blog Roll? Just send your blog address to - info@happy-daze.net - and we will add it to the Blog Roll and place all blogs in a draw to win a £20 Happy Daze Gift Voucher, simples!

Camera Love

Ruth Philps has made this layout using My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Union Square papers. Tjese lovely ppaers combine vintage images and glitter accents.

On Portabello Road

Vanessa Banks has been making Layouts using the My Mind's Eye Portabello Road papers. This one uses the papers along with Prima flowers and bling swirls, some heat embossing, glitter, a load of inking and sewing. There are two more Layouts using these papers in the New Additions section of our Gallery.

Lost and Found

Vanessa Banks has been playing with the new My Mind's Eye Lost and Found papers - Union Square. There are more layouts by Vanessa and Ruth Phillps using this gorgeous paper in our Gallery.

First Ballet Lesson

Ruth Phillps has made this gorgeous Layout using Prima Annalee Papers. Full instructions for making this LO can be found in our online classes.


This is another LO using those Prima papers. Don't they match that dress wonderfully well!

I think I 'm going Batty

Three big boxes of new stamps designed by Jo Capper-Sandon, and by Penney / Torrente for Stampotique Originals have arrived and are safely unpacked, phew! To celebrate Jo has made this rather spooky card for us. She used:

Batty - but cruelly chopped of his little legs!
Sun, Moon, Clouds
Twinkle Bat
Tree

She used Distress Inks Bundles Sage, Stormy Sky and Weathered Wood along with Memento Tuxedo Black to create the night effect, stamping is also in Memento Tuxedo Black with touches of Adirondack Willow and Versamagic Thatched Straw. Copics were used to colour the tree, and a white pen also came in very handy dotted all over the place!

Memory Box by Joanne Wardle

Joanne altered a Square Shadow Box to make this baby Memory Box to hold objects from her youngest son's birth. There is a picture of his feet, a copy of the birth announcement, his hospital band and a champagne cork. To make the Memory Box Joanne painted the lid with acrylic paints (blue and white) with a sponge, then over stamped it with Scrolls Work's Background Words stamp. She then made a lining out of thin white card stamped with background words using pumice stone distress ink. Next Joanne made holes in the top of the box with a crop-a-dile and added string to hang, and finally added some photo corners to hold the photograph.

Life Stories

These two lovely layouts are by Vanessa Banks and she has created a great vintage feel using the My Mind s Eye Life Stories 1 and 2 paper ranges with stamps, glimmer mists and bling.

We have 2 new ranges from My Minds Eye - Union Square and Portobello Road as well as two new lines from Prima Fairy Flora and Annalee all great for a vintage or shabby chic look

Wishing Bottle

Louise Crosbie has altered this gorgeous bottle using "Praying Angel" from Lost Coast Designs. She has written up the full details of how to make the bottle for our online classes section.

We are now taking pre-orders for the new stamps designed by Jo Capper-Sandon fror Stampotique Originals as well as those by Daniel Torrente and Jill Penney. Order now, pay when we receive them in September.