Admin notice

Hello crafty friends, this post today is to make you aware that the law about data protection (GDPR) begins today and as a result I have added a page to my blog explaining what this means and how it affects you when you visit this blog or leave a comment on this blog. I just want to add that I never share information (personal or other wise) left on this blog with third parties but of course third parties are free to read any comments that may be left. I do really appreciate that any one would be interested enough to read or leave a comment on my blog so please keep doing so, it means such a lot to me.
If however you do not wish to receive my blog any more please leave a comment to say as much and I will remove you from my mailing list.

Now that's the legal red tape done and I would just like to say a BIG thank you to my fellow blogger friend Marianne Fisher for letting me copy the legal terms from her blog which is Mariannes Craft Room and well worth a visit.

 

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I am very busy at the moment with DT work and have just finished some cards which are to feature in the Simply Cards and Papercraft magazine which will be on sale on 26th July. I have also got some new dies to play with from Crafters Companion and stamps from Little Claire so my bank holiday is going to be spent mostly in the craft room. I am so excited to be going to the Oyster Paper Crafts show and demo day on Sunday so I will try to take some photos to post on here. I love paper craft shows because the sample cards on display are really good for inspiration and to see the products demonstrated is fabulous, however the down side is it costs me a fortune.

A busy end to April

I feel like I`m a bit late to the party but after my friend on the Crafters Companion DT had a crafty clear out and sold some of her stash I have become aware of crafting de clutter sites on FB. I haven't bought any thing from these sites yet but what a fantastic idea to organize your craft stash and make a bit of money for your next purchase.
Any how as I mentioned my friend was selling off her unloved stash and I bought this rather cute Penny Black Hedgehog stamp from her and I knew straight away who was going to receive the card I made with it.

 

I made this simple little card for Stuart who had his birthday last Thursday.

 

The Hedgie stamp as I mentioned is a wood mounted Penny Black stamp and the sentiment is a much loved and used Woodware clear cling stamp. I coloured the image using water pens, distress inks and a fine tip water brush. The bakers twine is thick  bakers twine.

 

Poor Stuart doesn't always get a home made card from me and I felt really guilty last year when he was 70 and I didn`t have time to make his card and just stuck the numbers on a shop bought one.

 

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It was my birthday on Sunday and although Stu and me are only three days apart with our birthdays we are eighteen years apart with our age, but age is just a number and aren`t all men just boys at heart. I received some fantastic hand made cards from my family and I will show them to you when I`ve had time to photograph them. I got a voucher from my eldest sister and have just been online and bought another set of Brushos. I do love my Brushos but I felt a bit limited with the colours I already had, so when the new box arrives I cant wait to have a play.

 

 

Its a bit wishi washi today

Hello crafty friends, It`s national stationery week (yes there is such a thing) and I was asked by Crafters Companion to make a washi tape box as part of this event.

 

 

This is the box that I made and you can find details of how to make it yourself including a template and even free downloadable digi papers on the Crafters Companion blog, sadly you will have to provide the washi tape. 

With a friend and a cuppa you could put the world to rights

This is a card that I have made for a very good friend who has her birthday on May the 4th (be with you), and yes that is how I remember it. My friend and me love to go out for tea and a cake so this image is just right for us, I think I am the one in the hat. It`s a side stepper card using the template from my previous post "cupboard love" and I do think that this template is a really useful size.

The stamp is an old fave from Lilly of the Valley called "coffee break". I know they have stopped selling their rubber stamps but this image is still available as a digi download which in a way is better because you get it straight away. I used watercolour pens and a water brush and distress inks with a water brush to colour the image.

The backing papers are NitWit "Hydrangeas too" downloadable backing papers which I printed onto Hobbycraft 300gsm A4 premium card (I also used this card to make the base card).

The large sentiment is from the Crafters Companion, Hollie Hobby, time for tea stamp set and I used a die from the X Cut, large tags & plates dies to cut the shape. The two small tag sentiments are made using Lilly of the Valley, digi stamp set 24.

I finished the whole thing off by making a box for the card and I have to say that using the Big Score from Crafters Companion makes any box a complete doddle to do. The top of the box was made using Crafters Companion, create a card, "floral bouquet" die.



Cupboard love

This is my final card for the Little Claire Hochanda show (today at 2pm) and it is a side stepper card. I put off making side stepper cards as I thought they were really complicated to do, but once you have seen one it all makes sense as they are very easy to make and a bit different as I haven't seen anything like them in the shops.

 

To begin making the card you need to cut the side stepper card from a sheet of A4 300gsm card. The template below gives you the measurements and then all you need to do is trim the right hand side down to size once you know how big your sentiment will be. I found the instructions for making a side stepper card on YouTube and then I simply adapted the measurements to fit this stamp.

 

 

The stamped image is coloured using water colour pencils and as I have mentioned in previous posts I find these good to use on smaller detailed colouring in projects.

 

The backing papers are Nit Wit papers from 8" x 8" paper pads "pastel dreams" and "country meadow".

 

The first part of the sentiment comes with the stamp but I didn't think this was enough to fill the space on the card so I wrote "and the secret ingredient is love" in my graphics program and printed it out onto good quality mat print paper, then I stamped the sentiment above it.

 

I hope you have a go at a stepper card (they really are fun to make).

 

 

 

 

 

It`s TIME for mixed media

This altered art card is another one that I have made for the Little Claire show on Hochanda tomorrow. As the stamp is all about clocks I wanted to make the background look like an old plastered wall where the lats had been exposed.

 

This card is built up in layers and first of all I ripped down some corrugated cardboard to expose the inside and then I ripped it to the size I wanted (run around the edge of the cardboard with a water brush to get the cardboard wet and then gently tear).

 

I stuck the corrugated card to a piece of backing card with PVA glue and allowed it to completely dry.

Next came the colouring in and I did this by applying a layer of gesso all over the corrugated card and on to the backing card, once dry I added a muddy coloured emulsion paint but still leaving the gesso exposed in areas. I further shaded using various distress inks and I stamped a script lettering around the edges using one of the distress inks. I added Ranger crackle glaze to areas of the wall and when it was dry I shaded it with distress ink. The little mouse footprints were stamped where I could find a space although if I were to make this card again I don't think I would add these. Finally I shaded around the edge of the piece of card with black distress ink.

 

The stamped image was stamped onto copy paper and coloured in using water colour. I tore around the edge of the image using a water brush to mark the line of the tear as with the corrugated card and then I shaded the edges with distress ink.

 

The little cogs were cut using the embellishment part of the Crafters Companion "timepiece easel" dies.

 

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I went back to work yesterday and was stuck in a baking hot kitchen on the warmest day of the year so far, I thought I was going to melt as we are not allowed fans or open doors to cause a breeze.

 I ordered some new wellies which arrived yesterday whilst I was at work and they are purple and fabulous. I had to get some new wellies because on Monday I went next door to get some horse manure and my neighbour took me across the field to the miden saying how boggy it was and to be careful where I put my foot. Sure enough as soon as we got there I lost my wellie in a massive puddle and then put my foot down knee deep into very very soggy horse muck (yuck). Ian my neighbour rescued my wellie after he had stopped laughing and after we loaded up the wheel barrow I walked back across the field with my soggy foot in my soggy wellie making farting noises. I decided to throw my old wellies out as they would never smell the same again.

 

 

 

Out of my comfort zone

I`m sharing something a bit different with you today, some construction. I have made all of these gift boxes using the Crafters Companion "big score" score board, big score DVDs and new A3 card which is launching today on Hochanda at 6pm as a one day special.



Accordian file

Cut down wine box

Self closing pouch

 

Twist tea light box

Chocolate box

 

what was used:

Crafters Companion Big Score board

Crafters Companion "the big score video project DVD"

Crafters Companion "the big score advanced projects DVD"

 

I was a bit nervous about making these boxes at first as I`ve never attempted any thing so complex but using the big score board and DVDs it was easy. The card is amazing and just the thing for construction projects as it folds beautifully, doesn`t crack and is just the right weight, not to mention the gorgeous shabby chic designs. Unfortunately I can`t give you any templates or tips on how to make these boxes but all the details are on the DVDs "the big score video project DVD" and "the big score advanced projects DVD". Of course you could just buy the beautiful card and make projects of your own or projects found on YouTube and Pinterest. I would just add that I like to use Collall tacky glue to glue the boxes together as this is super strong and doesn't take long to dry, nobody wants a gift box to fall apart once you`ve put all that work into making it.