New Class Dates!!

Our new class dates for January have just gone on the website!  We've got an exciting year of classes planned and we also have a great new venue which is very close to Little Claire Towers and we'll provide you with more details when you book classes.

Our first day of classes will be on Saturday 14 January and we will be running two classes which will both run in the morning and afternoon so you can choose the time that suits you.

Our first class will use the beautiful Butterfly Tree stamp set which you can find here on the website.  It's a versatile set suitable for lots of different occasions and we'll be giving you lots of ideas and inspiration.

Our second class is called "Made for Men" and (as you might have guessed!!) is all about making cards for men - probably the most difficult cards to make!  We'll be using a brand new collection of stamps from Red Gingham and you'll be the first in the world to use them!!

Class times are:

9.00am to 12.00pm

1.00pm to 4.00pm

Each class costs £20 but if you book places on both, there's a special offer price of £35!!  You'll also be able to shop during the day too!

We also have classes planned for 25 February and 10 March - watch this space for further details!

On Saturday 28 April we'll be hosting another 'Day with Little Claire'.  If you didn't come to the last one in September click here to see what went on and some of the cards we made!  There will be three classes during the day, each lasting two hours and the tutors will be three of our talented Design Team members.  You'll need to bring your own lunch but we'll provide tea and coffee plus everyone who attends will receive a free goody bag! It's going to be a great day and definitely a date not to be missed!  The cost is £49.

If you're interested in any of the classes, please phone us on 0151 342 5715 to book your place.

And now for some cards from our Red Gingham Swirly Whirlies class which Helen N has been running for the past two weekends:

First, a card made using Little Tammy and one of the matching sentiments from the matching Super Six Sentiments set:

Next, one made with the Owl Family set and also some of our Glitter Sparkle sheet:

Then a decoupaged card made with the Cats stamp:



This card uses Little Harry plus another sentiment stamp:

And this one uses the little Tortoise:

And finally, a card made with the Poppies stamp:

We hope you enjoyed these cards and don't forget to book on our classes for next year!!

Let's Create Shop Demo and Birmingham Paper Crafts

It's a busy weekend ahead for the Little Claire team!

Steve will be at Jo Channon's shop Let's Create in Coningsby to launch the Little Claire range and will demoing throughout the day.  He'll be making cards with the new 'Cutie Patootie' range and also 'Ever So Lovely' and 'Butterfly Tree'. 

Let's Create is celebrating its first birthday with celebrations all weekend including refreshments all day and a prize draw!  The shop address is:

Let's Create

119 High Street

Coningsby

LN4 4RF

Here's a sneak peek of the cards he'll be demoing:



We'll also be at the Excalibur Paper Craft Fair in Birmingham - it's being held tomorrow (26 November) at the National Motorcycle Museum which is in Coventry Road, Bickenhill.  You can find more details here on the Excalibur website.

Finally, back at home we also have a class on Saturday morning - you'll be able to see the cards from the class next week and we'll also be giving more details of the new classes just added to the website for next year.  If you want to see some more details, click here to go to the classes section of the website.

Warmest Winter Wishes ....

Today's blog project comes from Design Team member Donna who has made a gorgeous card using our 'Winter House' stamp set.

And here's what you'll need to make the card:

Christmas House stamp set and Good Morning Robin stamp

15.5cm card blank cut down the front at 10cm (Donnas has punched a fancy edge along hers)

Matting - 15.3cm square and 15.3cm by 7cm

Patterned paper - 15cm square and15cm by 6.7cm

White card (for image) 9cm by 11.7cm and matting card 9.7cm by 12.4cm

Sentiment (from Christmas House set) cut with Spellbinders die and scallop circle cut using matting card

Ribbon and embellishments

Glitter

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Promarkers

And here's what you need to do:

1. Stick down the matting and patterned paper on to the inside and front of the card, adding ribbon at this stage to achieve a neat finish.

2. Stamp and colour image.  Add glitter.  Stick on to mat.  Stamp sentiment, add glitter and stick on to mat.

3. Stick Christmas House image on to card front as shown so it overhangs 1/2cm - NB only put double sided tape or glue on the top half of the image.

4. Decorate and embellish - Donna has used the little bird house from the Good Morning Robin stamp.

Doesn't that look gorgeous?!  It's a really effective way to use the stamps and would make a lovely Christmas card for someone special.

Don't forget to leave us a comment to let us know what you think.

Little Claire Classes!

Many thanks to Beryl for sending us this lovely photo from one of the Little Claire classes she hosted recently - the photo shows the lucky winner of the raffle prize of Little Claire goodies!

We also had another class here yesterday at Little Claire Towers - "One Stamp, Five Ways".  The ladies who came to the class made five cards using our gorgeous and very versatile "Single Flower" stamp.

First of all, we made a 'single layer' card using score boards to create embossed lines on the front of the card and some of the Bling self adhesive gems:

Next we did some paper piecing using one of the tag cards:

Next some masking:

And some decoupage using two stamped layers:

And finally, a little desk calendar:

We have another class tomorrow using the new Swirly Whirlies and lots more classes planned for the new year so watch this space for more details!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

It's Thursday again and time for another lovely blog project!  This week we've got an easel card made by Helen N using one of our Christmas stamps called "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" which you can find here on the website.

Here's what you'll need to make the card:

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year stamp

Red Gingham Christmas Text stamps

Wild Pansy Bazzill Card

Purple Christmas Scrolls paper

White stamping card

Glitter Sparkle Sheets

Silver paper

Bling self adhesive stones

Circle and die cut circles Nestabilities dies

And this is what you need to do:

1. Cut a piece of Bazzill card measuring 30cm by10cm and fold this in two.  Open it out again and lay it in front of you.  Cut away 3cm at each side of the fold line so your card looks like the photo below.

2. Fold the front narrower panel in half again to form the front part of the easel.

3. Stamp the tree on to the white card and then cut the panel to 11cm by 5cm.  Colour the image using Promarkers - colours are shown in the photo below.

4. Cut a piece of the glitter sparkle sheet to roughly the same size and stick this over the entire image.  Trim the excess glitter film off the four sides.

5. Attach the image panel on to a piece of silver paper measuring 5.5cm by 11cm and then on to a piece of the purple scrolls paper measuing 6.5cm by 12cm and finally a piece of the Bazzill card measuring 7cm by 13cm.  This piece will form the top of the easel.

6. On the inside base of the card stick a piece of silver paper measuring 14.5cm by 9.5cm and fix this to the base and then a piece of the purple scrolls paper measuring 14cm by 9cm on top of that.

7. Stamp the sentiment on to white card and then die cut using the circle die.  Die cut a piece of the Bazzill card using the scallop circle die and put this on the base using foam pads - this will form the 'stopper' for the easel.

8. Add the self adhesive gems to the four corners of the base card and the front panel as shown in the photo

We hope you like this card!  Don't forget to leave us a comment to let us know what you think!!



Announcing the Winner of our First Blog Hop!!

(card made by Donna)

A big thank you to everyone who took part in our first ever Little Claire blog hop!

The correct answer was SENTIMENT and our lucky winner of a full set of the Swirly Whirlies is:

SHEILA

And here's what Sheila said in her comment here on the Little Claire blog:

"Loving all of those fab new stamps so off to try to decipher the letters I have found - stumped so far tho!"

Congratulations, Sheila!  Please e-mail helen@littleclaire.co.uk with your postal address and we'll get your stamps sent out to you.

Little Claire Monthly Challenge # 15 - 'Shaped Cards'

Thank you for all of your wonderful entries last month, for our 'Christmas' challenge last month, we had a record number of entries.

The winner of Challenge # 14 is :

Karen (# 194)

Well done Karen! Please contact helen@littleclaire.co.uk and she will forward your prize onto you.

Our top three are :

Judy (# 218)
Helen (# 159)
Susan (# 83)

Well done! Please take the blinkie from the side bar for your blogs.

This month our theme is 'Shaped Cards'. You don't have to use a Little Claire image to enter our challenge, but if you do, you will qualify for our top three blinkie. Anyway, all shapes are welcome, just great creative and have fun!

Our prize this month is as below:

To our Design Team cards, they have been busy creating cards in all shapes and sizes. They have all used Little Claire images, all available to purchase via the shop. Enjoy all of the inspiration below :

Donna using 'Cutie Patootie' - 'Little Girl' and 'Tag' Sentiment



Gaynor using 'Poinsettia Cluster'.



Georgina using 'Good Morning Robin' image and Red Gingham Sentiment



Heike using 'Cutie Patootie' - 'Little Girl'.



Heidi has used 'Swirly Whirlie' - 'Cats' and Red Gingham Sentiment

Helen N using 'Flower Pitcher' image.

Helen R has used 'Good Morning Robin' image and Red Gingham Sentiment

Louise has used 'Tag' card and 'Blossom Fairy' Image.

Another from Louise using 'Tag' card and 'Shep' image

To enter the challenge, there are a few rules to follow :

•You DO NOT need to use a Little Claire stamp to qualify for the prize draw
•However, only those using Little Claire stamps will qualify for a Top 3 badge
•You may enter the challenge UP TO 3 TIMES ONLY PLEASE and you may combine with other challenges
•You must follow the challenge theme and NO BACKLINKING please, new cards only
•Please provide a link to our blog in your post
•Please leave a link (via link below) to your actual card, not just to your blog
•The challenge will close at 6pm on Friday, 9th December 2011, the winner/top three will be announced on Saturday 10th December 2011 along with Challenge # 16.

Good luck and have fun crafting!

The Little Claire Team

xxxxx

Friday Fun Day and a Special Offer!!

Here's some inspiration for everyone for the end of the week!  Today we're sharing some gorgeous cards made by Design Team member Donna when she was demoing recently at one of the shows.

First of all, there are three cards made with our 'Ever So Lovely' stamp.  The first one (above) uses lovely pastel colours and also one of the stamps from our 'Claire's Sentiments' set as the 'stopper' for the easel.

This next beautiful card uses part of the image (so that it fits within the circle) and one of the die cut sentiments as the 'stopper on the card.

Finally, a really pretty card which uses just the little bird house from the stamp and also one of the new tag sentiment stamps from the "Little Beauties" set - perfect for adding a finishing touch to all your projects!

Next we have some goodies made using the 'Good Morning Robin' stamp.  First of all, a beautiful gift bag complete with matching gift tag:

And next a lovely card made with the same stamp:

We'd love it if you could leave us a comment to let us know what you think of the cards!

This weekend we'll be at the Sincerely Yours Show at Taunton so please come and say hello if you're there. 

Finally, a very special offer for Friday Fun Day!  The Good Morning Robin stamp used in the last two items and the Ever So Lovely stamp used in the first three projects both normally retail at £5.50 (plus P&P of £1) but if you phone us before 5.00pm today quoting this blog post, you can buy each of them for the special price of £4.50 (plus P&P of £1)!!

Cutie Patootie Buckle Card

It's time for another weekly blog project and Design Team member Heidi has designed a 'Buckle' card. Heidi has used one of the gorgeous new 'Cutie Patootie' images, this little couple are called 'Bert & Mary', Boy & Girl on a Swing. The sentiment is one from a new collection called 'Super Six', great little sentiments, which all mix and match with Little Claire stamps.

Items needed to make this card :


Cutie Patootie - Boy & Girl on a Swing
Sentiment set - Super Six Set
Pink Bazzill Cardstock
My Mind's Eye Paper - So Sophie
Martha Stewart Doily Lace Punch
Nestibility Die -
Circle Punch
Tattered Rose Distress Ink Pad
Pink Card Candy
Double sided tape
Momentoe Black Ink Pad
Promarkers : Dusky Rose, Tan, Caramel, Satin, Vanilla, Cool Grey 4 & Ice Grey 1



(1) Stamp image onto a white card square and colour in with Promarkers. Cut away 5 x 13.5cms of the white card blank and put to one side. With the distress ink and some 'Cut and Dry' foam, ink around the edges of the white cardstock and leave to dry. Cut pink card into these sizes : 13.5 x 8.5cms, 13.5 x 13.5cms & 9.5 x 4.5cms. Then cut paper, sized at : 13 x 8xcms, 13 x 13cms and 9 x 4cms.

(2) With the white oblong, make a fold at 10cm and then mat and layer card & paper on to larger area. Layer up card and papers onto card using double sided tape, this makes your buckle. Cut through the layers, making an oblong shaped cut on the left hand side of the card, at 4 and 5cm from the edge, this makes your buckle loop.

(3) Using a die cutting machine, cut out nestie shapes, one in pink card, one in paper and then the image, using the smaller shape. Mat and layer together.



(4) Placing the buckle underneath the layers, stick buckle down and then layers on top. Punch out circle and mat and layer the sentiment, stick to right hand side of buckle.

(5) Attach doily edge to flap of card. Add card candy to top of card. Place your buckle inside loop.

We hope you have enjoyed our project - leave us a comment to let us know what you think!