What’s In My Shopping Bag Wednesday.

I can’t resist a bargain … and this Wednesday most of my goodies have come from Primark.

Both the bangle and beanie hat were 10p each!  I’m going to sew a few pretty mother of pearl buttons on the brim of the hat. and  cover the bangle with either Decopatch papers or strips of Kath Kithson gift wrap (if it goes on smoothly) that I have and then perhaps a few flat backed gems

 

It was the wooden hearts attracted me to this £2.50 necklace, I think they are too chunky for cards, but will make lovely gift tags, key rings or Christmas decorations when split up, but first I may wear it for a while.

This set of Dr Who stickers and four Darlek badges were 30p from the rummage box in paper shop across the road. I am thrilled, as my daughter is Dr Who mad and these will be ideal for her birthday card in a couple of weeks time.

And finally, this Piece of Cake decoupage pad by Dovecraft was £6.99, not a bargain, but as anything with cupcakes disappears faster than I can make it, I just had to have it! The cupcakes are quite big, and I should be able  to make at least twenty four cards from the pad. I’ve already put all the cakes together, I just need to cut some card blanks and work out a design to use them on.

Needlecase – Mark One

I never know whether to post projects that I have made but am not 100% happy with ….. then I thought why not, it's not like you are going to bump into me in Poundland or Primark and say "Oi Fiddle, saw what you did on your blog today and it was pants!!!!"
So today I am going to show you a needlecase I made ever so quickly, while the idea was buzzing about in my head and bearing in mind that sewing (like stamping) isn’t really my thing!

The idea came from a Stampin’ Up felt flower set, too lovely to be put on a card, so I got some felt that was as close a match as I could find, with the idea of making a (some) needlecase(s).

 

I made some templates and cut out the felt......



...... and then  used my old Singer sewing machine on the first attempt, it looked rubbish and ended up in the bin!

I then decided to do some running stitches round the edges, on the front panel and to secure the inside by hand.

I added very small mother of pearl buttons to the flower centres.

This first attempt is very crude, well out of my comfort zone and done in about half an hour …. but this prototype will now sit on my desk begging me to do it again, but with a little rethinking and a lot more care.

Paper Roses and Pearl Pins

Last week I said I was going to try and use paper roses and pins on a card a bit like I had seen on other blogs ….

This is what I came up with, warts and all, it’s very, very plain and simple.  Other cards I have seen have used lace and fancy borders etc. but I thought I had better try to walk before I ran with the idea.

As I have used cream and gold card I painted the silver of the pin with a permanent green marker pen so it blended in more. I sort of think the pin should be pushed in a little further in, but it’s not too bad for a first attempt.

Gymnastics Card

I made this card for a little girl who is potty about gymnastics.

I apologise, because I can’t remember the brand of the background paper, but the stickers are from Mrs Grossman.  I used three strips of self adhesive ribbon across the card, placing four stickers on each row and making sure that either the gymnasts hands or feet were positioned approximately in the middle of them.

Stampin’ Up Birthday Cake Card

This is card made using a stamp from the Happy Moments stamp set from Stampin’ Up.

I’ve kept things very simple,  I am just thrilled that when I use a stamp it doesn’t splodge and smudge everywhere. Planning anything too fancy always seems to end in disaster.

I’ve done the basic in colouring, using  the fine tip end of my Whisper pens, adding tiny weenie gems from a nail decorating set from Poundland, for embellishing the fine detail.

I have then mat and layered the design on  pale pink gingham paper  and silver foil card.

Stamping – Top Tips

In answer to one of the comments left today about advice  for a newcomer to stamping, most regular readers know that stamping doesn’t come easy to me, especially when I see what other people produce for their blogs.

I keep things VERY simple,  almost always using a black Staz On ink pad because I have found it gives me the best results and dries very quickly, I then I do the  minimum of colouring in with Whisper or Pro Marker pens.

I usually stamp my chosen  design on Papermill linen card several times until I am happy with the result and then cut round it, to mat and layer – I don’t have the courage to stamp directly on a card blank.

As my friend Lisa is a Stampin Up Rep I tend to buy most of my stamps from her now and I have to say they do stamp like a dream.

Out of My Comfort Zone.

This is my version of a card I saw on http://craftworkcards.blogspot.com/ and loved .

I have used papers from the Hampstead Collection from Docrafts/Papermania, basically because I was lazy and knew that they already matched perfectly!

The large flowers are made using my Retro Flower Whale of a Punch.

It’s really funny but I am just not confident in using more than one backing paper on a design, hopefully when I have more time in the summer it’s something I intend to really work on.

I also want to have a go at using pins and flowers like these …now that’s really out of my comfort zone!

Nappy Days – Baby Card

These safety pin buttons are leftovers from a bumper pack I got going back to the days of Alan and Barry on Create and Craft. 

All I have done is add a small clear flat back gem to each pin and a handwritten sentiment.

What’s In My Shopping Bag Wednesday! 2 Posts for the Price of 1 Today

After the Budget, will Poundland become “£1.20 Land”? Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it!

A quick trip to Poundland in my lunch break yesterday yielded these goodies.  I have been waiting for these photo frames to be restocked after I saw an idea in a magazine using something similar …… I am going to spray/paint them cream for a shabby chic look and add a few flower embellishments …. sounds pants at the moment …. but we shall see when I put my thoughts into action.

….. And two packets of large puffy foam stickers, I have put a pair of scissors in the first picture so you can gauge the size.  I don’t make large A4 cards, but my friend Lisa does, they would be brilliant on them or as embellishments on a Bind It All book cover or 12 x 12 scrapbook pages.

What’s On My Desk Wednesday

I am trying to economise as I seem to have had made a few expensive purchases this month …. so to get a shopping “fix” I  have been over to the local papershop, where the gentleman takes off the free gifts from the unsold comics and sells them for 30p each, there are some real treasures if you rummage around enough!

I got this tool kit to embellish some of my sweetie filled toolboxes – five men's embellishments for 30p? Brilliant!

And this 30p bargain was even better than I anticipated when I opened the box.  I thought the pieces would be flat and the cars printed on them, but I found that there were little foam cars stuck on the strips of road ….

 
So, I made a tiny gift box for learner driver who has just passed their driving test …… I’ll put a few car shaped sweeties inside the box to follow the theme through.

The L plates are table confetti.

I know it’s daft but its cute as well!

I have a couple more ideas for these “dominoes”,  I just need the time!

Scrabble Keying

I am showing you this idea warts and all, it’s my first attempt and it needs a bit of fine tuning, but you will get the gist.

I’ve used Papermania scrabble tiles bought in a sale ages ago.

I made a base for the letters using a strong card, but realised it wouldn’t be strong enough, so added another two layers, glueing them all together, putting a small silver bail between the layers to attach a ball chain.

I then covered the tiles with Anita’s 3D gloss finish. To stop the layers of card showing I have gone round the sides with a permanent black marker pen.

This is my prototype, the gloss finish is too thick and uneven – mostly due to my impatience!  Now I know that the idea will work, I will make a few more, but next time will take more care and time!

Puppy Dog Bithday Cards

I love the comic cartoon affect of this card, though that wasn’t my intention when I put these cards together.

The first card I made only had one square, but it looked a little lost and empty – that’s when I decided to try four square pattern as well.

I am a devil for small stickers, I see how cute they are and before I know it they are in my basket, BUT they always pose a problem when it comes to using them, they almost never look right on a card when I try to use one on its own.

These stickers are lovely as they have a fuzzy texture – they cost 99p for a pack of eight assorted puppies and bones, so not brilliant value when using four on a card.

The Cat Sat On The Mat Birthday Card

 

This is the last of some wooden cat embellishments I had from Mad About Cards a while ago.

I’ve repeated the gingham in the cats scarf in the mat and layering.

And added this tiny mouse button on the tab as an extra cute touch.

If You’re Out Shopping Today …..

…… have a look in WH Smith, as my daughter found these little beauties for just 20p a pack in boxes filled with all sorts of things in the Wolverhampton branch.

Button Covered Notice Board

Sorry about the wet glue, I am always a bit too eager to get things photographed.

I have too many buttons and have decided that I must use them ......  most of these came from the craft section of Home Bargains, for no more than £1 a bag.

All I have done is cover the frame of a Poundland notice board with them using a strong PVA glue.

When I had covered the frame once I added a few more buttons on top to give it a bit more depth.  I think I will keep the board somewhere safe and use it as one of my Christmas/New Year makes.

Handbag Birthday Card

This is a card I made for my nieces best friend Jessica, who is mad about bags.

I used a digi scrapbook download set  from Scrappin Doodles (sets cost about $1.99, I’m not sure what that is in English money)  It’s a brilliant site for digi sets, easy to use, and especially useful  when I am really stuck for just the right embellishment.

I used Publisher to set up the design, putting in three shelves first, then adding the handbags, keeping the design symmetrical.  Once I was happy, I printed the design three times.  One was for the base and mat and layered on black paper.  the other two sets were cut out and very simply decoupaged, i.e the main bag shape and then the bag flap. To complete the card I added a few gems and three tags saying “Reserved for Jessica” for a personal touch.

I added two side pieces of black dotty paper and three clear gems to make the design flow across the card

Little Birds In A Tree Birthday Card

Birds are so in at the moment – these puffy stickers are from Paperchase (£1 a pack). At first I wasn’t too keen on them, but, then I thought of marrying them up with this beautiful tree download from Quickutz Silhouette.

Lifting them from the carrier sheet was a nightmare, very fiddle farty!

But I am really pleased with the end result and have already got other ideas for things to hang on or put in the tree.