What’s On My Desk Wednesday

This is very, very sad but I have been on constant Tesco Chocolate Ladybird alert for weeks now!  I had almost given up when my mate Lisa text to say she’d got some. Woo hooooooo.

Tonight I went into the village Tesco Express and there they were beckoning me to buy them!

This year they are filled with caramel (last year they were solid chocolate), they cost £1.04 for a net of 13 with a sell by date of May 2010,  not long for chocolate really.  So both Lisa and I are mindful that if we want any for Easter, we will have to stock up now, because once Valentines Day has gone, we won’t be able to get anymore.

So that’s my weekend planned - with boxes and bags of love bugs to make.

STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS

If you have a Dunelm Mill near you, it might be worth popping in, a friend at work popped by my office with a bulging bag of bargains, including My Minds Eye paper packs 99p, My Minds Eye decoupage pad £1.99, Dress It Up Buttons 49p pack, xmas ribbons 37p pack, A5 pads of Xmas glitter paper 49p, small card blanks 49p …… etc.

To answer Mandy's question:-  I  give a lot of sweetie bags to friends and family as presents at special times like Valentines Day, birthdays, end of term or just because presents .........
I also have a box in the staffroom with all my latest makes for people to dip into.

Another Primark Necklace Card

I was in a quandary about this necklace, I love the design  and have worn it once, but it didn’t sit quite right on my not too swan like neck …….

So yes, I have taken it apart …. it cost £3.00 and I reckon I will get at least 6 cards out of it.

However, as the flowers are not all the same size or style I  will have to vary the size and design of cards accordingly.

The paper I have uses on these  cards  is from Craft House and is called  Allsorts.

I have 8 flowers left over – hopefully, inspiration on how to use them will come to me during the coming week.

Card Candy Heart

This is a new sort of embellishment for me, Card Candy from Craftwork Cards.  I received a packet in a swop and they have been on my pin board for months, but then last night I had a brain wave ……. and this is the result.

I drew a heart faintly on the card first as a guide and then just stuck the candy on willy nilly, so the sizes and the colours are completely random,  I picked them up and stuck them down with no fiddle farting!

 

For a subtler softer effect I have used an ivory linen card with gold matting instead of my usual white and silver.

Three Little Birds

How cute are these birds?

….. And guess where these stickers came from? Assessorize!  They are new stock and  I nearly missed them, as they were tucked up behind some other bits and pieces.  They cost £1.75 and hopefully I will get at least 6 cards from one packet.

I have made the branch using three punchies made with the punch below , bought at The Hobbycrafts Show  in November.



The card took just a few minutes to make.



Thank you all again for your lovely comments - I was having a little chuckle to myself and thought I could offer a shopping trip with me as blog candy!

Believe it or not I don't shop a lot!  I just shop fast and furious and can scan shelves for crafty stuff in seconds!  My favourite place for shopping has got to be Manchester Paperchase - last time I went, I was in there for almost 2 hours and  still went back again after I had been round the other shops!  Manchester is my once a year October treat with my sister, I just love it.

Gingham Squares with Hearts

 
I use this 9 square pattern a lot on my cards as it is especiallly good when using small stickers and punches.

I don’t think I need tell you how I have made them as the pictures tell the story.

The centre square is set on foam pads for extra dimension.

The puffy stickers are from Accessorize. I have had the small scalloped square punch for years, I think Paperchase sell a lever punch that is almost the same. Dovecraft make boy and girl punches very similar to, if not the same as mine.

To answer Chris G's question in comments - all my dotted lines/faux stitching are done free hand.  I like to use the thinnest fine liner pen I can find (005) and just go for it, if it does go a bit wibbly wobbly it just adds to the charm.

Keep going on this post as I have added another one below ......

What’s In The Shops Saturday!

I can’t promise that this is a post I will do every week but everyone seemed to love my shopping goodies the other week, so I hope to add an extra post on the days when I spot  something of a crafty nature when I am out  and about.

Yesterday my friend and I popped to Sainsbury’s and I found these sticker packs on the girls jewellery stand.

They cost £1.50 a packet, and I reckon I can get least 4 cards from each pack if I use my 9 square design.  I wish there were a few more of the cake with the candle on as that would make a brilliant centre piece to each card.

I am off to Penkridge Market in a little while, I wonder what I will find there …….

When I made these heart things the other night I was so excited, but then thought, what the hell can I do with them! Then it came to me, fridge magnets! 

Winnie The Pooh Card

I love the punch I have used for this card.

 

I have only ever seen this punch once and I bought it! This is going back about 15 years ago at an Education Show at the NEC.  I don’t know the maker, but it says Disney on the bottom.

I can’t say it is the easiest punch to use, as the detail is very fine and paper gets very easily tangled up in it when punching.

I have punched out the design in metallic gold paper and trimmed the edges to get an even square, then backed it on to a very subtle metallic effect card in a rich red colour.  The centre square is mounted on  foam pads for extra dimension.

Just Fiddling

Yesterday I had a few things on my desk for “WOMDW”, and last night as there was nothing on the tele, (I ALWAYS forget there is no Coronation Street on a Wednesday now!) I had a play………

I thought I would try covering one of the wooden heart embellishment badges I had made  ….. I used a scrap of paper from my K & Co Christmas Cheer Mat Pad, sticking  and varnishing it with Modge Podge for outdoors. I am dead chuffed with this first attempt – it’s sort of rustic. I plan to make some more at the weekend, taking a bit more time and care with the finish (as this was an  experiment I rushed it a bit).

 

The heart pebbles are another experiment I tried after seeing the technique used somewhere a little while ago.

I covered the back of the pebble with Anita’s 3D Clear Gloss Finish, stuck on a heart shape to match, cut from the Christmas Cheer Pad, and then covered with another layer of the Anita’s – and that’s it!

With the red pebble I did exactly the same thing but just used a small silver foil punched heart on the back.

I am not sure what I am going to do with the pebble yet, …… I am thinking perhaps I could add a looped thread when I lay the paper down so that it is secured within the Anita’s and then it could be hung as a decoration??????

Bee Mine

These bees are made from round humbugs/mints

 

I have used punched hearts for the wings with a touch of Hero Arts micro glitter and two googley eyes.



Then put three in a sweetie bag



Tools used: Stampin Up scallop circle and circle punch, Nestabilities label die and heart punch.



A lone bee on a box that could be filled with a couple more mints or foil wrapped heart shaped chocolates.

Playing Card Valentines

This is an idea I have adapted from a Martha Stewart Valentine project.

I have covered the back of a “hearts” playing card with a textured paper and then added a Valentine word on the back, but you could also put:- I’m Betting You’ll Be My Valentine,  We’re Two of a Kind, You Suit Me, You are Ace, King of My Heart,  Queen of My Heart etc.

I have then placed the card in a 63 x 93mm glassine envelope (available from E-bay)

And sealed it down with a glittery self adhesive heart.



Done!

What’s On My Desk Wednesday

I try to tidy my desk each evening after I have finished fiddling, because time is short and I don’t want have to tidy up before I can get cracking  again when I get home from work the following day (if that makes sense).

So I tend to leave a few things out that I can think about during the day and then tackle when I get home.

Packs of 4 sweetie jars are now in Poundworld in Wolverhampton – that’s 25p each – brilliant.  I am thinking of making a few “Birthday Bean” jars.

You will see that the white mug is still on my desk from the other week, still waiting to be painted and it has now been joined by a bean tin that I am hoping to turn into a new pen holder with the aid of my crop-o-dile.

I have put very small brooch fasteners on these wooden heart and star embellishments.  Its very tempting to stick something else on them but I am going to leave them plain and see how they go.

These glass hearts were a bit of an indulgence at £2.50, but I have some tiny weeny organza bags that I can just fit one in with a little handwritten note for friends on Valentines Day …… watch this space …….

Shopping …… I have an hour for lunch, in that time I can just get in and out of  Wolverhampton on the 501 bus, and then blitz Poundland and Poundworld once a week.  On a Friday I finish at 4.30  so I get a bit longer after work!  Just call me “flash” !!!!!