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.

Stampin’ Up Bird Punch Card

My new Stampin’ Up Bird Punch has arrived,  it’s just so beautiful. I’ve wanted it desperately since Lisa showed it to me in a a preview brochure.

This is my first play with it, I’ve kept it very simple, I am not sure it really needs the pearls or if they are in the right place.  …. the handwriting is mine.

I am going to set aside an afternoon when all I do is try to come up with lots of other ideas on how to use it.

I can’t believe the beautiful punches that you can get now, when I started crafting they were very basic, I just wonder what other fantastic ideas we will see in the coming years.

For Stampin’ Up products check out my mate Lisa’s blog http://stampincraftfairy.blogspot.com/

Stampin' Up Bird Punch

My friend Lisa is offering 20 copies of the new Stampin Up mini catalogue on her Stampin Up Blog http://stampincraftfairy.blogspot.com/ – I can’t wait to get hold of my copy as I am desperate to get one of the new two step bird punches!

A Voyage of Discovery Or My Stamping Is Pants!

I have been experimenting with one of  my “free” Stampin’ Up stamp sets I had from their Sale-a-Bration 2010 promotion earlier this year.

This is my first try with a very small elephant stamp. I used Whisper pens straight onto the stamp and to be honest the resulting colour and finish  wasn’t very successful.  I should have used my “proper” ink pads – but I was only really playing.

I stamped the ear in black, cut it out and glued it on to the elephant  – but I am not sure about that either.

It’s all very “not right” – colours, mat and layering, size, the only thing that is right is the lovely elephant stamp.I really need to go back to the drawing board …….

I also played with the cup cake from the same set, another lovely stamp – but again I have failed to get it to look right – I think it’s the pink – a colour I always seem to have a great deal of difficulty in matching!

There is a Stampin’ Up link to my friend Lisa in the sidebar – for more information on Stampin’ Up products.

Easter Bunny Treat Bags

How cute is this?  I have 26 more to make for a colleague at work, to give to her class at Easter.

To make life a little more difficult for myself, the bag is exactly the same on the other side – yes, I am quite, quite mad!

The idea came to me because I wanted to put four bunnies (from Marks & Spencers) in a bag, but they were all squashed up, and didn’t look very pretty!

The card inside the packet measures 3cm x 2.5cm and the flower stickers are left over from Accessorize packs with a bit of doodling.

Easter Ladybird Treat Box

I can’t promise a lot of Easter ideas as I am not good with pastels and bunnies!

….. And you wouldn’t believe how many attempts I have made to get this box to look right, colours, materials, positioning, embellishments, every which way I did it, it looked pants!

However I was determined to get it right, especially when the Tesco Express in our village was selling off the Valentine ladybirds at half price (50p) and I had got erm,…. several nets of them! It’s Ok, the sell by date is in May, so no one will go down with food poisoning!

The box is made using my Sizzix Bigz XL Shaker Box Die.
 

And the embellishments were made using various punches, including my trusty Stampin’ Up scallop and plain circle punches. The small circle of gingham in the centre of the flower was made using the silver single hole punch.

The wooden ladybird came from e-bay and the handwriting and doodling is mine.

Not bunnies and Easter eggs I know, but I thought that ladybirds would be something different and very Spring like.

Hodge Podge of a Card

This was a weird card to make as it sort of snowballed into something completely different from what I had in mind.

I was trying to use up some of the printed panels I had leftover from yesterday using my Stampin’ Up Fresh Cuts stamp.

I added another panel using a Hero Arts stamp – Thanks (G2679) which is of a dictionary definition of the word “thanks” and matted it on gold.

Next came a flower made from Prima Flowers, Hydrangea, Apricot Medley.  This is the first time I have ever used Prima Flowers, they were a gift about three years ago, and whenever I have tried to use them they have never looked right.  The brad is from Papermania.

The black corners looked like they were missing something, so I found a very small Chinese stamp and stamped it in gold.  I then scattered a few Preciosa crystals here and there.

I thought I was finished but as I took photo the middle dictionary panel just didn’t look right, it was missing something.  I tried another flower but that was too  overwhelming.

Then I spied the I Ching coins I had on my desk for another project, with a little black ribbon threaded through them they filled the gap.

This is quite a different style for me, I think all the blog hopping I have been doing recently and seeing other peoples styles has rubbed off on me a bit.
After I wrote this post I fiddled some more ………….

And tried the design in purple …..

…… I also added “flourish” above the flower, using another smaller stamp from the set. I think the design is finally finished!

Stamped Butterfly Cards

The stamp used in this card is part of a set from Stampin’ Up called Fresh Cuts (£18.95) bought for me by my daughter, for my birthday.

I printed it onto a cream patterned paper, and then rubbed a brown blending chalk over it, followed by Stampin’ Up  dazzling diamonds glitter for a bit of texture and sparkle. I wasn’t sure how the glitter would come out,  it could have been the combination of the black ink and the glue pen, but instead of drying clear, it came out a blue/teal colour which added extra colour I hadn’t expected.

I was so pleased with the effect and how easy the stamp was to use I experimented a bit more …..

You may recognise that the butterfly is from the Primark necklace I bought a couple of weeks ago.

For more details of the stamp set, click onto the Stampin’ Up link in the side bar.

I think my favourite is the first one, on olive green card.

I added a few bronze stars to this card – not sure if I really need them.
If I put all the cards together in a box it would make a lovely notelet gift set.

Lisa’s Brilliant Idea - Valentines Treat Bag!

Lisa is my best crafty mate, we go craft and moochy shopping together whenever we can and The Hobbycrafts Show at the NEC every November, last year we even managed to sneak into a trade fair!

We both bought these chocolate tokens from Home Bargains, but we weren’t too keen on the naff sentiments on them.

I will leave Lisa to explain and get full credit  ………. click on this link to go to her blog

This is my version of her inspired idea!