Introducing a brand new craft range....

....Pepper and Friends

Seriously cute cardmaking and scrapbooking range exclusive to Trimcraft now available to pre order from Kay Dees Crafts.

26 different product lines which all co-ordinate beautifully together.

Paper packs are available in 3 different sizes and also include a 12 x 12 double sided paper pack too.

There are 8 different wooden stamps of Pepper and his Friends including Nap Time shown here:

Clear stamps, ribbon stickers, brads, chipboard shapes, cards and envelopes and also fantastic value glitter stickers complete this exciting range.

Described by Trimcraft:

Pepper is a dog that like to have fun: cute but delightfully scruffy with a look of mischief in his eyes. pepper has a whole bunch of garden friends but he is undoubtedly the star of the show. Pepper and Friends has something for everyone, young and old, and every character has been produced specifically for the craft market.

Happy Crafting!

Using embossing powder with rubber stamps

Use an ink pad suitable for embossing to ink up your stamp. Rather than pressing the stamp onto the ink pad, use the ink pad and lightly press it around the stamp.








Some Pigment ink is also suitable as it takes a little while to dry giving the embossing powder time to stick.

Stamp your design. Do not rock the stamp as this will cause shadows on your image. If your paper or card sticks to the stamp hold it with one hand and lift your stamp straight up, don’t try to tilt it first and ‘peel‘ it off the paper.

Place your stamped design onto a craft tray or sheet of paper and sprinkle the embossing powder on whilst still wet. Tap off any excess powder into the craft tray or sheet of paper. This can then be returned to the jar for reuse on another craft project.

Heat your design to activate the powder using a heat gun. Keep the gun moving with circular movements so you do not overheat one spot leading to uneven results.

The design will become raised and shiny. This should take about 30 seconds.

Tips

Embossing powder can stick to areas on card that you have touched with your fingers so it is a good idea to wipe the card with an anti-static pad or talcum powder before you begin.

Make sure you give your powder a good shake before using, particularly with twinkle powders as the embossing powder and ‘glitter‘ tend to separate when they settle giving very patchy results.

If you are embossing a black outline it is better to use black ink and clear powder to stop the powder marking any non-image areas.

Use a small paint brush to remove any excess/unwanted powder before you start to heat.

Warm your heat gun for a couple of seconds before starting to use…don’t hold it too close or you will scorch your paper/card and possibly your fingers too. Also be careful what surface your stamped image is resting on as you could damage it with the heat.

If using pigment ink on glossy paper or vellum you must use embossing powder and a heat tool to dry the ink

Try clipping your stamped image onto a clipboard lined with tin foil to reflect the heat back - this gives much quicker and more even embossing results.

Links to products shown:

Vibrance Ink pad - Black
Stamps Away Embossing Powder Collection - Bright
Dovecraft Crafters Tidy Tray
Dovecraft Crafters Heat Tool 
Sticky Fingers Twinkle Embossing Powder


Happy Crafting!

Embossing Powders and Fresh Chalk

We are very busy at Kay Dees Crafts but we have still found time to source some new products following customer requests.

We now carry embossing powders from Sticky Fingers, Stamps Away and soon to be added pots from Hampton Art too.

We also have some new Fresh craft chalks from Studio G

These Fresh Chalks come in 6 different colourways with 4 co-ordinated shades in each pack.

The last of our competitions from this year is soon to close - this time we have a selection of Red Hot Bed Christmas stamps and templates on offer. Competition closes midnight 7th December!

Until next time Happy Crafting!

Smirk Christmas Sale!

It's almost Christmas! Where has this year gone?

As we get into the Christmas spirit here at Kay Dees Crafts, we are currently offering 15% off Smirk Christmas products - excluding the wooden stamp range.

We have had 2 lucky winners so far in our Christmas competitions. The current competition for a Bumper value pack of Christmas cardmaking goodies runs until the 30th November. Surprisingly we have had LOTS of wrong answers so far!

Our Christmas and New Year break is being planned but the weather may sadly influence our usual destination in the Lake District. My heart goes out to all the people affected by the terrible flooding and I hope that the waters recede quickly and that further rain holds off.

We were quite surprised at the massive price jump for accomodation this year so we have decided to hire a transit van instead. I will most definately miss the real fire of a cottage but I am sure we will find many local 'inns' with roaring fires to sit beside instead. However it is not too late for us to cancel the van booking if anyone can point us in the direction of a cottage with realistic prices that will accept the dogs!

Until next time

Happy Crafting!

Oh Happy Day!

Royal Mail strikes have been called off!

This is fantastic news for us here at Kay Dees Crafts, and also for you our buyers. Business can now get back to usual in the run up to Christmas.

I don’t know if there are many people like me, but I detest shopping - particularly at this time of year. Shopping on the internet has made it a much more enjoyable experience where you can browse at leisure, without doing your hair, sat comfortable with a cup of coffee. No argy bargy over the last Terrys chocolate orange, no damaged ankles and a lot less stress too!

The past couple of months have been difficult with intermittent mail services but I am sure Royal Mail workers will clear the backlog quickly and get back to collecting and delivering our mail with their usual speed and efficiency soon..

I wish I could thank the TUC representative for pouring oil on these troubled waters, I doubt I would be writing this blog entry without him.

If my hips could manage it I would be doing a jig right now!

Oh Happy Day indeed!

Karen