17th Birthday Card

I made this card for my nieces best friend Beth.

I cut the large numbers out of my Quickutz Silhouette.  It is a brilliant tool, but I don’t use it half enough, despite having a monthly download subscription for templates from Quickutz.  (I was dead chuffed recently when I managed to master print and cut on it, no mean feat).

The letters are a mishmash of two different sets of letters from American Crafts (bought from QVC).

The large flowers are made using my retro flower whale of a punch, and the smaller flowers with a similar punch. The flowers are finished off with clear flat backed gems.

I’ve Been Shopping ….

A couple of days a way from home ….. and lots of time for mooching…..
So from Paperchase ….



All £1 a packet – they are small, but ideal for when I make a card using nine small square punchies.
I am not sure what I am going to do with the Bear Hug stickers yet – they might be good on Hug in a Mug hot chocolate packs.
I want to try the butterflies on my glass pendants as they are transparent.
From Accessorize ….. at £1.75 a packet …

The dolls are soooooo sweet – and I thought the hearts in this pack would make brilliant noses for Easter Bunnies.
I couldn’t resist getting another packet of the bird stickers as I have had some new ideas on how to use them……
Then on to Primark ……..

These earrings were £2, but I got 18 embellishments from them, the photo doesn’t do justice to the very sparkly jewel in the centre.  I know its a long way off – but my immediate thought was snowflakes……

These cute sweeties are from Poundland – I think I will put two in a sweetie bag with a cute bunny topper.

This nest is from Hobbycrafts - £1.99 – aint got a clue what to do with it ….. think I might just put some blue mini eggs in it and keep it on my shelf and see what they hatch into!

This is just pure indulgence from Harriet and Dee, a shop in Chester – when/if I have a crafty stall in the summer my braclets will look lovely hanging from it. (£5)

Christening Card

My apologies, these pictures contain shots of wet glue!
 
This is a simple card to make using punchies. I think the pictures explain how I have made it.  The daisy punches are nothing special, just ones I have collected over the years.  There are three layers of petals on the large flowers and two on the smaller ones.

The font used is Papyrus in a sepia shade of brown.

I have used flat backed pearls as they give a softer and more sophisticated effect than clear gems.
When the glue is dry I like to fluff up the petals, by separating the petals and lifting them up a little

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.

HobbyCrafts Shows & Tesco Vouchers - Top Tip

Top Tip

If you are planning to go to the Hobby Crafts Show at the NEC, Birmingham in March it might be worth checking out this link:-

http://www.tesco.com/clubcard/deals/product.aspx?R=1189&bci=4294965879%7CExhibitions%20%26%20Events*29%7CNew%20Clubcard%20Deals

If you have a Tesco £2.50 Clubcard voucher you can exchange it for a token that will give you admission to the shows.  Check out link for FULL details. I am not sure if you can do it for any of the other shows around the country.

You must order your token before March 11th.

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!

What’s On My Desk Wednesday

Yes, I  know it’s all looking too tidy, but I am off for a day or two, so wanted it all neat and tidy ready to start fiddlefarting again when I get back.

The “whatnot stand” I bought for £4.00 from a second hand market a few weeks ago is back, this time painted magnolia and ready to put up on my craft room wall.

But,  much more exciting, is this box of 1 inch square glass tiles I ordered from US (I couldn’t find them anywhere in UK), so that I can make glass pendants like these.

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/glass_tile_pendant
I’ve seen lots of blogs featuring them and am desperate to have a go myself.

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.

Little Handbag Gift Boxes

I feel that this is really a bit of a cheat as there is no real crafting in this project, it’s just a matter of putting things together, to make a quick gift, using things I have already got.

The bags are wedding favor boxes from HobbyCraft, they cost £1.99 for ten, which I think is a bargain.  They come in different colours, I have two sets; brown and cream and black and white, I think they also do them in pastel pink and blue

The stickers are from The Poundshop, they have a metallic finish and come in very useful when I need an odd sticker or two, and the ribbons are just remnants, usually I would match them up very carefully, but this time the random approach has worked.

In each bag I have put four of the Asda chocolate hearts (£1.00 for 10) my sister found me last week. 

I reckon each bag has cost me no more than 35p to make (including for stickers and ribbon)  – bargain!

With Mother’s Day coming up this is a nice little idea for school fayres etc.

The Most Precious Valentine Card In The The World

Special Guest Card Maker this Valentines Day is my brother who made this card for my mum at his Special Needs Centre – no card I, (or anyone else could make) could be more precious or beautiful.

The Art of Fiddle Fart At It’s Finest – New House Card!

I surpassed myself today fiddle farting!

The houses are made using a small house punch (I think it came from Hobbycrafts) – but it wasn’t enough for me to just stick them onto a blank card, no, I had to doodle the details on each one using a very fine liner pen  and then colour them in very roughly with pale colours from my Whispers pen set!

 

….. this was after I stuck a small panel of card behind each house so I could have a door to colour in as well!

I also made the back panel using two strips of textured  paper.

To finish the card I added a few clouds in the sky using a white gel pen and a fence, using a black fine liner pen.