What’s On My Desk Wednesday

I am working on Valentines and Easter ideas at the moment!

The white mug is on the desk because I bought three porcelain pens in red, green and black with a gift voucher I had for Christmas. I want to see how easy/hard it is to put  a design on it.  I think I will keep it very simple, red hearts  for Valentines Day.

The box of bits is a bit of a challenge to myself.  I have so much stuff that I have put a selection of stickers in the box and am going to try and use as many as I can on cards and projects this week. As you can see there is a variety of hearts …….so expect plenty of heart cards in the next week or so!

End of Term Gift for Teachers

I know this is really, really early to be thinking about the end of the summer term, but I am always on the look out for interesting sweets that can be used for projects and it might help to give others a hint of an idea too……..

These are foam ice creams and cost 10p each. 
The bag topperes are made using my Bigshot and Nestabilities Labels Set 9 and Stampin' Up scalloped and plain circle punches.

Sometimes it isn’t the cost of a “Thank You” gift that is important, it’s the thought put into the “Thank You”

Two Cards With One Stone …..

My sister in law asked me to make three cards for my niece Emily's 17th Birthday on behalf of various relatives, this is the first, the other two will be featured in the next week or so.  For this one I have gone for a very plain, elegant look, using only ivory card and flat back pearls.

I cut the letters out on my Quickutz Silhouette, which is a brilliant tool, but I don’t use it half as much as I should, despite having a monthly download subscription with Quickutz.

The flowers are made using a medium daisy punch.


This is my punch drawer,  What a mess! 

When I had pushed the letters out for the first card I was left with a stencil type frame, it seemed such a shame to throw it away, so I put patterned paper from a K & Co Christmas Cheer Mat Pad behind the cut outs and  then mat and layered the frame on a matching burgundy paper, yellow flat backed gems complete the effect. This is the card I will give my neice, so in fact she will have 4 of my cards for her birthday!!  Bet she wishes someone would go into Clintons!

I didn’t pay £4.99 for the pad …. far too expensive, I got it for half price from Gardenlands sale, much better! The flat back gems are from Anitas's, about £2.99 for a wheel of assorted colours.

Beatles Card

I am still doing the occasional personalised card as it’s sometimes very hard to say no to really nice people!

So, this is a card I made for a lovely bloke at work for his wife’s 60th birthday.

I found a cartoon of the Beatles as I thought it would give the card a more contemporary feel, printed it off and then added  simple decoupage layers for extra dimension.

I used Anita’s 3D clear gloss finish to the hair, shoes and drum kit, again for dimension and texture.

The hearts are punched out  of a matching blue bazzill paper

The wording took a little while to come up with , I looked up a list of Beatles songs and chose the most apt two.

Pictures of Ironbridge

I have been blog hopping and everyone seems to have added their snowy pictures to their blogs.  Who am I to be different?  Yesterday we went to Ironbridge, Shropshire which is about 15 miles away.  It was so beautiful and eerie, as you could hear the ice sheets on the river crackle and creek when they bumped into each other.

Plain and Simple Thank You Card

I love the simplicity of using all white but it’s a devil to photograph!

I’ve used my Sizzix Boutique Embosser to emboss this Quickutz embossing die on white card. I’ve then cut around the edges and mounted it on a foam backed pad for added dimension..

To finish, I’ve added a little Hero Arts hologram glitter and a clear flat back gem.

Pirate Diary

My sister took a pack of Brownies for a Pirate Weekend last November and asked if I could make her a Pirate Diary.  She had a template amongst her itinerary and I worked round that, fiddle farting as I went along.

I used my Bind It All, which was very trial and error as originally the skull was more rounded.

 

I would have liked to have made the back cover in one piece, but the Bind It All couldn’t take it, but by edging the skull and crossbones with thin black lines I think I have got away with it!

The eyes, nose, mouth were cut from black card and stuck down.

If I were to make another diary/notebook I think would use a brown Kraft paper for the inside pages to give it an older, more antique look and then outline the pages with unsteady thin black lines. Perhaps a few pirate stickers artistically placed here and there might look good too.

Dodgy Eyed Cat Card

No one will probably notice until I point it out, but this cat has got a decidedly dodgy eye!

I have made this for one of the girls at work who is mad about cats.  The cat is a resin embellishment from a packet of 4 I got from a rotary display unit in a garden centre craft shop. They cost about £1.49 a pack which I reckon is pretty good value.

The backing paper is from a DCWV Pet Stack, mat and layered in my usual way with faux stitching doodles round the edges..

The paw prints are punchies from a paw punch.  I have had it for years but it is so useful for filling in the odd space or adding a finishing touch.  It is brilliant as it can be used for either cat or dog cards.

Sometimes I Do Big Stuff!

My job mostly involves admin for my departments, but sometimes I am let loose on the odd display board!

Toast-ally Mad! - Post-It Note Holder

This is such a daft idea, it’s a small Post-It Note fridge magnet!

I can’t claim that it’s my idea, just my paper version of a something I saw while Googling.
 

I’ve printed off two pictures of a slice of toast,  the first one I have stuck onto a firm piece of card, the second I have layered on top with foam pads to give a bit of dimension.

I have then stuck on a small block of post it notes and a strip of self adhesive magnet on the back.

I am thinking that the Post It block could also be cheese ......... so I might have a go with a cracker tomorrow!!!!

Any other ideas welcome .....

Crackers Idea

I couldn’t resist having another fiddle fart about ……..

What’s On My Desk Wednesday

I got this "what not" stand on Saturday from a second hand stall on Bridgnorth Market for £4, I couldn’t resist it.  I am going to paint it the same colour as my craft room (magnolia) and put even more of my treasures on it!!!

Also on my desk is this mini kilner jar. I got a box of 8 from the Range, for about £6.99. I think they are originally for spices but I want to do something “cute” with them …… it’s on my desk so that  I will keep looking at it and hopefully inspiration will eventually hit me!  I want to put a fairy in it … something like that …….

The playing cards are on my desk as I have a Valentines idea brewing……. 

I have just filled my lovely pink pencil case with all my “posh” fountain pens.  I used to use them all the time a few years ago and then got out of the habit, so one of my New Year’s Resoloutions is to use them again as they make you writing look so good.

You may have spotted my reading glasses too.  I have so many pairs (because I am always putting them down) – 1.50 strength, usually from Primark or Poundshops, the fancier the better – these ones are zebra print!  I wear strong contact lenses but I am finding for close up work I need an extra boost.  The best ones I have ever had had “diamonds” on a leopard print frame, from Liverpool Docks.  I loved them so much, but the “diamonds” fell out quite quickly.  They were only about £2.99 and I am constantly on the look out for more!

Embossed Thank You Card

I used my Sizzix Boutique Embossing Machine and the flower embossing die that came with it to make this simple “Thank You” card.

I’ve filled in the petals of the flowers with Hero Arts hologram glitter and added a purple flat back gem to the centres.

Dr. Who Card

I made this card just before Christmas for, quite obviously a Dr Who fan.

I printed the pictures, cut them out and decoupaged them very simply, i.e. The Doctor’s coat and the planets.

I added a bit of Anita’s 3D clear gloss finish to the planets and Tardis.  Finishing touches are a smidgen of Hero Arts hologram glitter and small pale blue stars.

Glass Bead Bracelets

This is what I have been fiddling with while I've been watching festive tele!

I have made these bracelets to put away in case there are any craft fayres in the New Year that I am asked to have a stall at. This will be a new venture for me so I want to make sure I have a good stock.

The camera is merciless and I have just noticed a few ends that need trimming before I put them in display bags!

The beads are from assorted sets from Hobbycraft costing about £5 - 6 each  and are threaded on the transparent elastic thread.

The jewellery stand was a gift from my daughter from Convent Garden in September. If you Google "bird tree jewellery stand" in images it does come up, but I am afraid only in black, but I don't see why you couldn't  spray paint it, if you didn't fancy black.

Last Minute Magnetic Fridge Calendars

Aghh, I remembered I had a packet of unused calendar tabs in one of my drawers and that if I didn’t do anything with them quick they would be of no use.

So this is what I came up with, I made a couple of each design

I covered blank beer mats with American Crafts paper from their “Kids” range. I’ve had  the wooden embellishments and mini bulldogs clips for years, and as I am on a New Year’s economy drive I am dead chuffed I have used them at last.

I have stuck a magnetic strip on the back of each calendar.
I got the mini bulldog clips in assorted colours from E-bay quite a while ago but I have found these  (pink)) which are available at the moment (02.01.10). The gentleman also has red ones which would be ideal for Valentine projects - in fact while I was there I got me a box!