My Apologies – More Blogger Problems!

Aghhhhhh, seems that I have just got over the disappearing picture problem when Blogger and Blogger Blogs have had even more problems, this time being off air for over 30 hours and daily posts due in that time not published!  As I have also been away for the weekend I was powerless to do anything about it …. so I apologise for the days that there were no posts ….. and I have rescheduled them for the next few days so you don't miss anything!!!. Aghhh

Flowers and Butterflies Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using an ivory linen effect card.

Another less is more card today ….. I’ve used   of which  little wooden butterfly embellishments,  which come from a pack from Craft for Celebrations, (C2016),  8 birds and 8 butterflies  for £1.49, available from Hobbycraft. 

The layered flowers are made by using two different sizes of daisy punches. The finishing touches  the butterflies and flowers is made with a tiny flat backed pearls.

docrafts Royal Wedding Card

In case you’re interested and I haven’t droned on too much, docrafts have announced the winners of the Royal Wedding Card Challenge.

http://www.docrafts.com/article/RoyalWeddingCardCompetitionWinners/AID664

Primark Bag – Monsoon Test

I got a small piece of material and drew a couple patches using the felt pens I used ….. and yes, the colours ran to high heaven, as I had expected, but that was a full on, soaking comparable to a monsoon!  So, not a bag for the Wolverhampton rainy season or for putting my wet swimming trunks in …… just a bit of fun ….. but next time, ….. though the colours are not usually as pretty, I would use proper fabric pens!

Little Bird Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using an ivory linen effect card.

 

A very less is more card today ….. I’ve used a stamp from the StampinUp Fresh Cuts set (111 634 - £18.89), the proportions of which are perfect for the little wooden bird embellishment,  which comes from a pack from Craft for Celebrations, (C2016),  8 birds and 8 butterflies  for £1.49, available from Hobbycraft. 

The card is finished with a few small flat backed pearls amongst the leaves and a tiny clear gem for the birds eye.

Popcorn Favour Boxes

A friend asked me to make some little gift boxes for her daughters 16th birthday sleepover, she quite liked the thought of a popcorn box, but also loved the Martha Stewart Monarch Butterfly punchies she had seen me use on another project.

I’ve used my Sizzix Bigz XL Takeout Box  Cat. No. 655420, for the project, which couldn’t be easier to put together.

I’ve printed the card using a free striped digi download design from http://www.scrapbookscrapbook.com/

I printed off five sets of the girls names, and cut them out using the smallest Nestabilities Label No. 4 I had, then layered them on red card.  To make the boxes individual and an extra special memento of the party, I put one girls name on the top of the box, and then added the other four friends names round the sides (I hope that makes sense).

The boxes are finished off with a Martha Stewart butterfly on the top and one of the sides. Done and dusted!

I'm The Second Runner Up - Does That Mean Third????

Oh my life ….. I was second runner up in the DoCrafts Royal Wedding Card Competition!!  I’ve just checked my e-mail and this was waiting for me in my inbox …….

CONGRATULATIONS

Your card has been unanimously voted the Second Runner Up in our Royal Wedding Card Competition!

We were really impressed by the incredibly high standard of cards that were uploaded to the gallery, most notably all those we shortlisted.

We would very much like to feature your card in the July edition of our Creativity magazine

We will be announcing the winner as well as the first and second runners up in the newsletter this week and will be including a feature page link from the 'News' section on the website homepage to also announce this.

Congratulations again and thank you so much for sharing your card with us and the docrafts community.

Warmest regards and have a lovely day

Nicci

Altered Marks and Spencer Bag

For this project I’ve used a large felt shopper from M & S, bought a while ago for about £4, felt flowers and leaves cut on my Big Shot using Tim Holtz Tattered Florals and Tattered Leaves dies and clear flat backed gems.

I’m not too sure about this. I wish I had restricted the colours a little more. I used almost every colour in my felt bag and once the first couple of flowers were stuck on there was no going back!  The bag is a bright fuchsia pink and a devil to match up, so by using a whole swash of colour I thought it wouldn’t be so noticeable that they didn’t actually match!

I’ve used a mixture of glue gun, pva and Bostick to stick everything in place.  I have a feeling this (like my Primark bag on Monday) may only be a fair weather bag …. I’m not sure how it would stand up to the rigours of rain and hail stones ….. and I think I will only  do “gentile lady type shopping’ with it, and not the spuds, savoy cabbage and washing powder variety!

Beaded Tealight Holder

I have had a spray can of Plasti-kote glass frosting in my craftroom cupboard for at least two years now …. another victim of one my many unfulfilled ideas …. until now!

I got a smallish mint sauce jar and stuck self adhesive stars all over it before giving it two coats of the frosting with my fingers firmly crossed, that it worked, it did!  I peeled off the stars very carefully and was thrilled with the results.

Don’t ask me how I made the beaded hanger …. wire and wire tools are a mystery to me, but somehow I did it with lots of wire twisting!! Not perfect I know, but it’ll do me.

I Just Love This ….

I just love finding quirky bits and pieces for my Craft Room.  I found it in my local florist costing £5.99 and before I knew it, it was in my bag …. they also had versions with 3 and 6 bottles ……. please …..someone hold me back!

Altered Primark Bag

This is undoubtedly my finest “too much time on your hands” project. Who in their right minds, other than me, would colour in this bag while watching Britain’s Got Talent on Saturday night??!!!

Primark have quite a few nice shopper type bag designs at the moment, priced at £1.50 each, I just wish they didn’t have Primark printed down the sides! As soon as I saw this lace effect print bag I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

I’ve only used ordinary Stampin’ Up pens to colour it in (both sides, yes I am quite mad!), so I think it will only be a fair weather bag, however if it did get wet and the colours ran, I think it could take on a different and probably more interesting effect. The gems are stuck on with fabric glue but to be honest I am sure a few will drop off when I use it.

 

…… But at £1.50, it’s just a bit of fun and it kept me out of trouble!!!

I'm going to do a sample swatch and soak it to see if the colours run and will then let you know the results  .... I don't want to be responsible for spoilt bags all over the country!!

Crafty Individuals Stamped Tree Card

This card measures 14.5cms x 11cms and is made using white linen effect card and Crafty Individuals Stamp C1-280

I have visited the uncomfortable realms (for me) of stamping  to make this card.  The stamp is from Craft Individuals and I just couldn’t resist it, every time I look at it I see something new, it’s so quirky, and could be used for so many people and occasions. It’s also very me, and I would love to get a card like this.

I’ve kept everything really, really simple, all I’ve added is a tiny flat backed red heart and some other tiny red gems in the centre of the flowers and in the cocktail glasses, plus a few gold coloured gems in the (sun) flower at the top. It was a devil to get the image printed just right, but worth it in the end.

Very Plain Card

This card is SO plain and simple.  It is A5 in size and made using an ivory linen effect card.  It’s hard to see the colours clearly  but the centre panel is a wine coloured leather effect card mat and layered on gold mirror card.  The font used is Parisian BT size 48 and finally the ribbon is from East of India. Simples!

Knitted Dishcloths

Remember the 4 balls of craft cotton I got for £2.50 from a carboot the other week?  Well, I’ve managed to knit 10 dishcloths out of them with about 12 inches of yarn left! 

I cast on 25 stitches on (old size) 4 needles, and knit 26 rows.  Each cloth measures  20cms x 20cms and took me about an hour to knit. They really are brilliant to use and I am hoping that they last a lot longer that “bought” cloths. 

 

I did sew in one of my knitting labels on one, but that’s a bit “precious”!

Instead I have made double sides tags on printable matte canvas and can’t believe how professional they look.  It’s the first time I’ve used the canvas in my printer and it’s brilliant! I’m dead chuffed with myself.

Apparently this is a big thing in the US and there are whole sites dedicated to dishcloth patterns like http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory/dishcloths.php

As my sister is oft to say …. “You have far too much time on your hands!”

Exciting News – Do Crafts Royal Wedding Card Competition

I had an e-mail yesterday ….. it said
“CONGRATULATIONS....

Your Royal Wedding Card has been shortlisted in our search for an overall winner!

From all the entries we’ve received, we have selected just a small handful of those that will go through to the final judging stage where the winning card, that will be featured both on our website and in a future issue of Creativity Magazine, will be selected.”

I very rarely enter competitions or challenges so you can imagine how excited I am!

Wedding Card

 

Making cards to order can be a bit scary because some people have a very clear idea of what they want when they ask me.

The lady who wanted this card was very exact, she knew what she wanted written on the front and on both sides of the insert …..

The bride and groom is a download from Quickutz Silhouette, but  I shortened the arms and intertwined them to fit the card blank better.

The flowers are made using a variety of punches with clear flat backed gems in the centre.

The font I have used on the front and inside is Papyrus.

Bank Holiday Car Boot Bargain

After my woodworm ridden table (now clear and waiting for me to do something with) I am sure I saw my husband wince as I bought this box back to the car on Monday after we had been carbooting!

It was only £2.  The inside needs lining and perhaps staining …..

 

And I am tempted to fill the panels on the sides with lovely papers …… but I’m still thinking about it. 

Scrap‘N Easel Review – UK Premiere

Do you remember a week or so ago when I said that I’d received an e-mail from Marlo L Letterle, owner of ContainYa Crafts and creator of the new Scrap’n Easel, asking if I would like to review it?

I didn’t have to think long about it, of course I said yes and now it has finally arrived! I am overwhelmed and honoured that I am the first person in the UK to have and to use one!  And …… oh my life, am I impressed, and I’m not just saying that, this piece of kit is really going to change the way I work when I make my cards, I just hope I can describe it and its capabilities well enough to do it justice.

I have cheated a little and have copied the information about the Easel directly from it’s website so that I can be sure all the details are correct and as the Marlo intended.

Scrap's Easel is a Magnetic, Portfolio Style, Double Paper Craft Easel.  You receive 16 super strong neodymium magnets and a magnetic ruler with your Scrap'n Easel.  Imagine!  Work on Two Pages At The Same Time!  A perfect work angle and two 12"x12" removable grids!  Removable because when you flip Scrap'n Easel over it becomes a "Display Piece" to display your newly created items or use it to take photographs of your work!  We don't need those lovely grid lines when in display mode or when photographing!  Scrap'n Easel also holds about a half inch of 12"x12" paper.  Just lay the paper in and close!  Velcro tab closure too!  Weighs about 4 pounds.  Made In The USA!!

Initially I was worried about the size of the Easel, two 12 x 12 sides seemed huge to a cardmaker like me,  especially as I work on one desk and my paper cutter is on and off my it all the time, but I found that I could angle the Easel perfectly out of the way, and its weight meant that it stands firm and the items placed on it cannot be displaced easily.

Elements for a project are held in place by magnets, they are fantastic, they are unbelievably strong … I really put them to the test on the project below as I needed to keep several large plastic toy tools in place.

They really do hold everything in place and just don’t budge, plus the Easel was big enough to hold all the papers I wanted to use in such a way that I could see how they worked altogether, at an angle and from a distance, as well as up close

Above - Scrap’n Easel in working position.

I was also curious to see how easy it would be for me to write and/or doodle on a card in a slanting position, something I have never done before, again, it’s brilliant.  I tend to press down quite heavily and the Easel just doesn’t move and took all the weight I put onto it.  I also loved the way that when I was doing some faux stitching the magnet was so powerful that I could move the card round smoothly as I worked and there was no fear of the card or my pen slipping.

To prove the point I made a short video, I was holding the camera with one hand and writing with the other, that’s how secure it is! (Please excuse my horrid fingernails, I am a terrible nail biter and that isn't peeling skin on my fingers ..... it's peeling PVA!)

As you know, I have been having terrible problems taking good pictures of my cards for ages, the Easel is the answer to all my prayers .

Above – Scrap’n Easel in display mode.

I just remove the plastic grid and replace it with the background of my choice

I can now photograph a card at any angle perfectly each and every time.  I usually take pictures of my cards from directly above and  have struggled with lighting and shadows ….. well that’s a thing of the past!! After using the Easel for only a short time I would buy it for this one feature alone.

  

When I am not sure if a card is right, I usually put it on the window sill to ponder,  now I can leave it on the Easel, on my desk, and when I come into the room it really hits you and anything that doesn’t look quite right is easily spotted and sorted!

I am not really a scrapbooker, but I’ve put together a group of items so that you can see how easy it is to build up a layout. You can work on two pages at the same time or use one side to keep your pieces (even really small pieces) safe until you need them.  What Marlo stresses in particular in all her information is that the angle at which you work when using the Easel eliminates the need to stand up to see your work (something I must do 5/6 times when I am working on a card), it makes it possible to sit comfortably and still be able to view your work clearly, how brilliant is that?

As well as having two moveable plastic grids the Easel also comes with a flexible magnetic ruler, which as great for me especially as I do a lot of free handwriting which  needs to be equally spaced and level.

I know I have not covered every feature of the Scrap’n Easel,  so I would really recommend that you click on the link below and watch Marlo’s videos as a back up to this review http://www.cricutcartridgestorage.com/videos.htm

and http://www.containyacrafts.com/

I am so full of praise for the Scrap’n Easel, but to be honest the proof of the pudding will be if I  keep it on my desk and continue to use it on a daily basis, which I fully intend to do,  for this reason, I am going to come back and review it again in a months time, which I hope would further validate my opinions in this review.

www.CricutCartridgeStorage.com
www.ScrapnToteBlog.com

Caution: Scrap’n Easel comes with 16 small magnets, which if swallowed can cause serious infections and death, therefore it is vital that they should be kept out of the reach of small children and pets.