An interview with......

Morning everyone! Welcome to a drab Wednesday morning here in Doncaster! 

Today, I wanted to share my very first 'An interview with.....' post.  I've had this idea in my head to try to introduce you to some great crafters I've met on my travels with Docrafts. 

The very first victim interviewee is a new demonstrator with Docrafts. I met this person very briefly in passing a while ago down at Head Office, and let me tell you she has the most beautiful daughter! Her hair is amazing. And with such a wonderful mum as a role model she won't go far wrong!

So.. onto my post, and the very first interview... so here you go. I hope you enjoy my post today. Please leave your feedback, and of course, if you want to feature on my new Wednesday Wonders, just let me know by emailing joaustin22@aol.com and tell me a little bit about you. 

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An interview with .....  Katie Skilton... 

From a young age I loved to create things.  I still have memories of keeping all the foil from my Easter Eggs to make something special!  At secondary school I hated art, I couldn't draw and so avoided anything arty!  When it came to taking my options I chose RE over art, although this had more to do with the young, welsh, rugby playing teacher as anything else!

After I had my first daughter I found I needed something to keep me busy.  It started with me turning a photograph album into a scrapbook, although at that time I had no idea what scrapbooking was!  This came later when I purchased my first crafting magazine.  I started to make some Easter cards and from there I was hooked!

I started making cards to order and before I knew it I was so busy with orders.  Then in 2007 my life took and unexpected turn and my marriage ended, along with that I stopped crafting!  Whatever it was that gave my brain the power to create stopped and for about 3 years I didn't have any interest to create.  I sold lots of my crafting things and the rest went into the loft!

In 2010 I moved to South Devon.  My life was again settled and I felt the need to get all my crafting goodies back out.  Of course I needed lots of new items and over time I built these items up!

Over time I started to realise that I wanted to take my crafting to another level.  In 2011 I had my little boy.  I only took a few weeks maternity leave and was back to my job travelling around the country as a Sales & Marketing manager.  I missed my family and decided that my lifestyle had to change for the sake of my husband, 3 children and myself.  I gave up my job and had a view to pushing my craft to another level.

I applied to many design teams and started getting accepted.  Early last year I set up my blog and from there BOOM, my new career took off!  

In August 2012 I was accepted onto Docrafts Creativity Club Design Team where I have met the most wonderful and inspiring people.  A craft studio was set up in my house and I started working all hours to get my business off the ground.

Today I have my own website www.katieskiltondesign.com where I share all my crafting inspiration.  I do lots of freelance work for various crafting publications, I am a Docrafts Demonstrator and I can also be seen on Create & Craft from time to time.  I have lots of plans in the making this year and feel confident it is going to be a really exciting year. 

I have met so many amazing people along this crafting journey and feel so lucky to be doing a job I love.  I have lots of plans for this year and look forward to meeting lots more inspirational people.

I would just like to thank Jo for allowing me to write this piece on her blog.  I am truly amazed to be working alongside people like Jo.

Fancy a brew?

Hi everyone.. 

It's been a very busy day today in the Craft Room. I needed to sort and empty all my items from my shows yesterday, to make room for other items needed for projects for class! It may just need an eensy-teensy tidy up tomorrow when I venture in there, or I fear I may never uncover my desk again!!

Yes, today, it was Craft Class day. The evening I enjoy with my lovely group of wonderful ladies who come along to play create a few projects I've designed. Today we did a little heat embossing with a twist, and quite alot of die cutting using some of my favourites of the moment. 

And talking of favourites... take a look-see at this... 

It's the new Tea Party dies from Xcut and Docrafts. They. Are. Fab!!!

I have been inspired by the lovely Becky and used the postcard from the chronology range, and teamed it up with a few die cut cogs and some papers. I wasn't too sure about it to start off with, but I think it looks rather good. The Chronology range is definately growing on me - I think it's one of the ranges you need to use more and more to see it coming alive.

Here is a little close up of the cog. This is a die cut, and I've used a little technique to create the stippling effect on it. Makes it look a little more aged, dont'cha think?

Still can't convince you about the beauty of die cutting? Well, what about this one?

I have used the same dies as above to create this little wonderment, but as you can see, I've been quite selective on what bits I wanted to use. I thought I'd keep it nice, clean and simple. My favourite style.

The cupcakes were cut from the long strip and the tea cups were two seperate dies in the package. There are loads of different elements within the Build a Scene dies, I'm sure you're not going to be disappointed with any of the sets.

 A little close up of the cup. I've added a button and a gem to the front of the cup to give it a little blingy doo-dah.

The embossing folder is used as is, no inking, no nothing. The only thing I inked was the obligatory edges. I really think you need to ink the edges of these dies to get the best out of them. It just takes them to another dimension!

The colours I kept quite neutral.. soft aquas and silver greys. I combined it with kraft. {now who can go wrong with a little of the brown beauty?!}

I hope you all enjoyed the projects today. I will be sure to try and get back on again tomorrow.. after all, I will have the craft class samples to show you by then!

Take care everyone - snow if forcast for later, so stay safe!!

Happy Crafting!

Have you felted?

You know, I'm absolutely jiggered tonight... a nearly 200 mile round trip to Create and Craft in Peterborough, to bring you lots of lovely goodiness that you all bought!!!! And tonight, I've chilled out a little and had a good nosey at my Pinterest - something I don't get to do too often! 

I've even uploaded a few photos on there... **reminder to self... I need to upload more often!**

Anyway, tonight, I want to share a project I did at my demo over at the wonderful Sophies Crafts on Saturday. It was towards the end of the day, and I had a few minutes spare to run up a quick project and combine a few items they had left. 

They had a few of our nesting dies, so I used a few of them to create this project. Now, I love working with felt, and this little flower was created using a technique I shared on the Creativity Club part of the Docrafts forum a while ago. Doesn't it look wonderful?

The paper in the background is from the Chronology range of papers, and I thought it went perfectly with the  pastel colour felts. These come in packs with quite a wide array of wonderful colours in there.. I just love it. It feels so perfectly soft and fluffy. Well, it started feeling like that until I got my mitts on it!!!

Here you can see the flower in more detail. I love the mottling and distressed look of the felt when it's been treated to my butchery!!! But all in all, I love the soft distressing on this card. Now this is my sort of steampunk...

I hope you're inspired to get out your die cuts and do a little bit of crafting... I'd love to see what you've been making. So drop me a comment in my li'l old comment box and I'll pop over and share some love!

Red and White...

Evening.. how are you? I've been up in Oldham today at the great little craft shop, Sophies Crafts. Such a little goldmine of wonderment me thinks. Anyway, I had a fab day - even though the motorway was shut this morning, so I had to take a very long diversion! All the ladies who popped along were wonderful, and we had alot of fun and laughter. There was a little bit of snow around up on the hills over Saddleworth, and I took the opportunity for a quick snap. Snow eh?!

So, onto my cards, and I think I'm going to go a little red and white mad ... it seems to be my new favourite colour combination! 

I'm sharing a couple of new projects today - well I say projects.. they are just playing really with a couple of new dies I have never used!

With this card, I've used the heart dies from Xcut to cut out a plain heart from the spotty 5 inch cards from Papermania, and then layered up a scalloped cut out heart on the outside. The inside of the card was die cut with a lovely leafy die I got, and then layered with red card at the back.

Isn't the floral leafy die pretty? I finished off the card with a piece of organza ribbon tied into a large bow. I added a few gems to finish.

Onto my next card, and red and white again! This one is a die I've had for a while and never cut..... but it is so pretty and quick.

 I've used a cream card, even though it looks white on here, and then die cut the layers with cream too. I've layered up with red cardstock, and finished with a bow. The satin bow was made from Anita's wide satin. It's really tactile and soft. And it ties perfect bows. What more could you ask?!

I've cut out the couple a couple of times, and then layered up the trimmed layer onto the top of the die.

Wouldn't this make the perfect wedding card? I think so...

And onto my last project.. and again, nice and clean and simple.. just die cutting.. and again, red and white!

Now.. I couldn't decide what to do with the butterfly. I tried to add it onto the card, but it didn't stand out enough, and I didn't want to add another colour into the card. I was just mainly trying to see how this frame die cut out as I had heard it wasn't a good cutter.. but I had no problem.

Lots of little hearts and again, the floral leafy die to pop in the centre.

Here's the butterfly in more detail. Now, this is the one I cut out months ago and was having MAJOR problems with. But now, thankfully to a very kindly person on Facebook, I was sent a metal shim and it makes the job alot easier and as you can see, cuts beautifully!

I hope you like the projects today. Sorry about the red and white over load.. but it is nearly valentines day! lol.

Happy Crafting everyone.. have fun!

White on white...

Another late one from me... but I really wanted to share this little card with you before I put my head on the pillow. It's been a busy old night for me, sat in the craft room until 10pm, finishing off a few samples I need for next Monday's shows. And finally, talking to my youngest for the past couple of hours and then to lie in bed and talk to you!

I've had a really lovely couple of days craft wise, not much pressure on at the minute. There is one little thing I need to do this week, but I can't share for now.. 

But back onto yesterday, and I had a really lovely morning making a few cards just for me. Just because I could. And just because I love to play with things I've had in my box for what seems like years, and never opened the packet!!!

This was quite a simple card - I was going to say quick.. but it's anything but! - that I made yesterday. I found the spotty embossed card (I love these!!) in my kit bag, so thought I could put it to good use and keep this card white on white, which is really popular in style these days. 

 As you can see, the little car is all die cut, right down to the thread on the tyres. I just think it's amazing and it cuts so easily on the die cutting machine too. 

The hearts are from Xcut, lovely full, round bodied hearts.. just perfect as a topper for a card, or to create a wonderful range of other things of loveliness!

 

Well, whatever you're upto today, I hope you enjoy it. 

I'm getting ready and packed for a demo day over at Sophies crafts in Oldham on Saturday. (fingers crossed we won't get snowed in!)

Leave me a link to say what you're creating, and I'll be sure to come across and visit. xx

A little bit of romance...

Morning again!

This seems to be a bit of a regular occurance, posting at this time of the morning.. but yet again, can't sleep so thought I'd blog a couple of little makes. 

It doesn't really seem the right day to be getting all lovey-dovey, as my youngest has just broken up with the love of her life, and is in pieces... but as most of the makes I've done today are all of the romance kind, this is  perhaps the best of the bunch!

It's really hard when a relationship breaks down, but when it's one of your children, it hurts more doesn't it. I've been through it now with all three of them, and it doesn't get any easier. Thank goodness I'm not that age anymore. 

Oh well.... sigh.... onto today's projects. 

Firstly, last night, I finally gave into the big green bag that's been sat in the corner of the room for months, and got out the Silhouette Cameo. It's something I've always wanted since I spied a Robo, and now I have one, and never use it. But just look what I made.... 

When I got the machine, I got the free voucher for some download cuts, and I got the cupcake stand and the dress box as part of my order. Lovely aren't they? The stand is so strong too, so I think a few more of these will be being made to stand cards on!

The favour box was so easy to put together - I stuck the skirt on with foam pads for quickness, but generally I'd use silicone. I was just toooooo eager to see how it looked when it was together. I finished it off with a cross over bow and a little blitter flower.

Now I have a box, so I needed a card. And here it is.

 Now, this one wasn't done on the cameo, but I wanted to match the card to the box, so I reached for my embossing folders, die cuts and wording and off I went. I did in fact have wording that I cut with the cameo, but broke it before I stuck it down. Derr!!!

The border is so pretty and cuts so well too.. the wording is from an older Xcut die I have, and I just love the font. It's perfect for every occasion.

I reversed the embossed background to give it a flatter look as I wanted to add these couple of stunning butterflies. Again, something I found in my crafty stash and forgot I had.

Isn't it just the cutest... and the detail is amazing. And they cut no problem at all!

I will be back tomorrow with a couple more projects.. but for tonight, sleep well, and I'll be back in a few hours!!!

Flying high...

Morning everyone.. 

Sorry I didn't get a chance to upload a card last night for you all, but things went a little chatty.. lol. I had a lovely call with a very lovely lady for an hour or so, and you know, it's nice sometimes to know that you're not alone with how you feel about crafting! 

After the call, I also decided to venture into the big green bag that is holding the Silhouette Cameo I bought a while ago and was too scared to use! I've finally managed to import a graphic and cut it out, I did a name and cut that out, and I've created a little box and an image that will be going on a card later - so watch this space... it's baby steps at the minute, but I'm getting there... another few hours and I'll be running away with it and getting creative!

So, for today, I'm sharing a little card that I had on Create and Craft last week when we had the wonderful Build a Scene dies on.. this one was sooo popular. It's also popular at my demo's too, so much so that they have sold out of this one! 

The background is quite simple, just an inky glittery sky, and then the balloons made the focal point. The hilly background was cut with a pair of scissors with no particular shape... just a little uppy and downy hillys, that's all.

The details on the balloon just finish it off perfectly, and as you can see from these photos, they cut perfectly if you use the baby wipe technique I mentioned the other day. A little bit of inking just sets off the colours too.

Just look at the details on the basket... aren't they lovely? Even the tiny weights that are hanging off the basket. Just perfect! I really love the look of a textured card with these dies too, especially with the inking. I think it just finishes it off perfectly.

A little close up of the clouds on this one... I've inked with a few different colours to create a harsher sky, then glittered them. A little bit of glitz settles my magpie instinct just perfectly. lol.

And if you don't feel daring enough to go the whole hog with these fab dies, then just try something a little more restrained.....

The photo is a little fuzzy, but what I've done is cut out the balloons from black card, then added some white card underneath. I coloured with the Artiste pens to create a highlighted colour.

I hope you like the projects today. If you've been creating with these dies, leave me a note to come over and I'll share your post mine.

Happy Crafting everyone...

Finally creative...

Hello all..

Firstly, sorry for missing over the weekend, but with a demo at Craft Central last Saturday and one or two other little niggles, things have been a bit amiss.

My demo was fab. The store was fab. Customers were fab. Jackie was wonderful and entertaining as always, and our little Connie - well, quiet but lovely. I had a totally smashing day, and it went as quick as anything. The amount of customers who came to say hello, and sit and watch for a while was outstanding. Very busy indeed !! All in all, a lovely day.

On the way to lunch, we came across this cheeky little fella, who was singing his heart out a few inches away from us, so I grabbed my mobile and snapped this pic... isn't he beautiful?

On Sunday, I was doing removals... oh, and a bit of shopping! Firstly to town to buy a couple of bits we needed, then onto the removals! All my 'overflow' craft items are now safely and securely in storage and my shed is looking emptier! Just a few empty boxes to take to recycling and job done! Now, if I could only stop myself from going into a cold sweat when I think of sorting out the craft room to put some extra bits into storage.....!!!

Anyway, onto today's card, and it was one I wanted to make to send to the vets we use. As you know, we had our little Kiara put to sleep last week, and today, totally by surprise, we recieved a lovely card from the vets to express their sympathy. Now, we've been with the surgery for over 20 years and have never - in all the time we've been with them - recieved a card to say 'sorry for your loss'... but the surgery changed hands last year and the vets that have taken over are really lovely. Dewi and Andrea are so caring, and their attitude towards everything is really lovely. That extra step means something special, don't you agree?

So here's my card ..

I decided to keep the card really simple. I've stamped the image and coloured with pencils. Then it was die cut with a frame and inked clouds added to give a little background.

The card base is one of the lovely Papermania embossed cards. They are just fab for quick, easy cards.

Isn't the cat just the cutest? I've tried to colour it in the same sort of shading as Kiara was, although she didn't have a white tip to her tail. lol.

 Of course, it's obligatory that my animals always have to have flushy cheeks, so a little pink pencil and a dot or two of white gel pen fixed that pretty sharpish!

 I pierced the edges of the layer just to add a little bit of a difference, and also because I didn't want to layer up the card again, it just added decoration.

Well, I hope you like today's card.... it will be posted tomorrow when I can think of what to write inside it.

Until next time, happy Crafting... xx

Today's another day...

It sure is isn't it... so, after the upsets of yesterday, I've tried to get back on the straight and narrow with work.

I needed to get crafting and make some more samples, check lists of what stock I needed for some upcoming shows, and get my To Do list in order! Well, the latter one never got done really, but at least I kept up with what I needed to do today.

I really can't believe where this year is going! I reckon I'm getting old, and time is just starting to merge into one haha. Tomorrow is February already! Ten months to Christmas and counting..

Tonight, I want to share a little more inspiration with you for the Build a Scene dies. These are so lovely in many ways. You can use them as they are, or you can get creative and only use small sections of the designs. Each creation will be totally different - or they could all be the same. The choice is yours.

With this card below, I have used bits and bobs that I had already got in my craft room - the buttons, the glitter card, the flowers and pearls.. and added them into the card.

I only used the main balloon on this card, and kept it quite neutral, just matching the colours of the card into the balloon. I think it looks really lovely - and the glitter card just sets off the sparkly sky perfectly!

Here are a couple of close ups for you.

The blitters just add that little bit of sparkle to the balloon. This way, you can give it to a female, or just use them to create a softer look to the finished piece.

The pearls just added that little bit of bling that was missing before I added them on.

Now... the balloon die is one of those that is causing people a little controversy. Although, I don't know why really.. but they say it doesn't cut. They say they got exchanges on the faulty dies, they say that they are no good.. and why?? Because they are an intricate die that needs a little encouragement to overcome its shyness.

I am attaching a couple of videos to my blog post here, showing how I cut my dies. If any die sticks, this is what I do... out come the J-cloths and babywipes!! Honestly, baby wipes are such a god send to a crafter!!!

Enjoy the videos... I'm cutting the Hot air balloon die with the Big Shot and the Grand Calibur. I video'd the Big Shot one myself in my craft room, but the GC video is taken from last Sunday's Tool Shed program from Create and Craft. I just wanted to show how they cut on any die cutting machine.

This is the Grand Calibur video  HERE
This is the Big Shot video HERE

Thank you...

Well, it's been a few hours now since we lost our Kiara, and my mind is still playing over things. So I thought I'd do a little blog post.

I wanted to share a few cards for inspiration, from my show last weekend, but this week has taken a bit of a nosedive, and today has been horrendous with losing Kiara. However, I would like to say a very big Thank you to my buddy Tracey, who came to visit this evening. It took my mind off things and was nice to have a cuppa and a chat.

I also wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who has left me messages, mailed me and facebooked me. It means alot to me, the hubby and my son and family, who loved Kiara dearly.

So. On a brighter note, onto my card for today. And as it's a brighter note, a lovely bright card!

This sailing ship is from the Build a Scene dies. I. LOVE. IT !!!!

I think this makes the perfect card for a young lad, or lassie, and is equally suitable for children and adults alike. This card was sooooo easy to make too - and it fitted perfectly onto the front of the 8 inch square card.

 Just look at the details in the dies - the skull and cross bones, the waves, the design of the ship.. it's just extraordinary.

Now, I love this little palm tree and the island. Just amazing..

I opted to go for a lovely sunset scene with a cut circle and some stunning sun rays - everyone loves a little bit of sun don't they? I know I could certainly do with some today.

I really hope you like today's card. I'll try and get back on later to share a little bit more. Until then, you all take care, and I'll leave you with this little poem we came across at the Pet Crematorium earlier today.

Though her purr has gone forever

And her paw we cannot touch, 

still we have so many memories

of the cat we loved so much.

Her memory is our keepsake

with which we'll never part, 

God has her in his keeping

we have her in our hearts.