Sad News

I just didn't know what to do ...... but in the end I have decided that I would tell you that on Thursday Andy - The Duke died ..... I am still fuctioning in shock mode ...and we are all devastated.  He was at work and just keeled over with a massive embolism to his lung. I have been told that it was instant and he would have felt nothing and that gives us all comfort. 
Blog posts will continue as I am scheduled for weeks ahead and its really too much work cancel them ..... so enjoy.
There is no need to leave a comment ..... just embrace this and every day because you just don't know what might be coming to bite you on the bum !! xxxxxxx

Mini Jotter Calendar Fridge Magnet

I’m still playing with the magnets sent to me by Jonathan at First4Magnets.

I wanted to try to make a jotter fridge magnet after finding a pack of ten 10cms x 7.5cm  notebooks in  Poundland. All I have done is cover over the front  with some self adhesive blue and green DCWV papers to make the front a little more substantial  adding a little decorative border to brighten it up. Then I thought why not add a calendar tab as well, never a bad thing to have on the fridge and low and behold it fit perfectly across the front.

I’ve added a neodymium magnet to the back, and boy does it have some pull, this is one fridge magnet that won’t get knocked off!

http://www.first4magnets.com/f301n---10mm-dia-x-5mm-thick-x-32mm-csink-neodymium-magnet---2kg-pull-north-x10-b17y-25-p.asp

This is an idea I want to develop further,  later on in the year when I will be looking for ideas for calendars to give as small “fairing” Christmas presents, especially as I think I may have done my coaster/beer mat calendars to death!

http://www.first4magnets.com/

Diamond Jubilee Crafts - Docrafts Hanging Heart

I have seen these paper heart decorations in the past and loved their shabby chic appearance but have never attempted to make one so when I saw that there were instructions on pages 94-95 in Issue 33 of the May Edition of Docrafts Creativity Magazine (£2.95) I was determined to have a go, especially as there was a free sheet of A4 Docrafts Portobello papers included to make them with (as well as a set of Portobello Road stamps)

I'll have to admit that I found the instructions a bit confusing, but there again I am easily confused .....  so once I got the gist of what to do, I, to quote Frank Sinatra, "Did it my way!"

As per the instructions I cut three pairs of strips of my chosen Portobello patterns in 5cm widths and then cut them down to make pairs 22cm, 18cm, and 14cm long. 

I then scored each strip down the middle and folded them in half  ..... (but, if I were to repeat this project again  I would definitely use double sided paper). The next step was to make a teardrop shape from each strip.

I then layered the teardrops inside one another to make one half of the heart, gluing them at the bottom and holding everything together with a small bulldog clip. I then repeated this for the other side  

When both sides were dry I put a loop of ribbon between the two halves and glued both sides together again using a clip to keep it all from falling apart while they dried. I also punched a small hole through all the layers at the bottom, putting a small brad through to further secure the joining of the two halves. As a finishing touch I added a rather large jewel, which I am not sure I really like.

I will definitely have another go at making more hearts probably nearer Christmas, making them into a garland like the original magazine article.

Original Article by Julie Kirk in Docrafts Creativity Issue 33 May 2012 

21st Newspaper Card

Take no notice of the date on this card.  I make so many newspaper cards throughout  the year that I am trying to spread them out by just posting one a month, so you don’t get bored of them.

The “Exclusive”, “21 Today” and the candle picture are made up of a double layer of the images to add dimension. I’ve then added Ranger Glossy Accents to the candles and 21, Stampin’Up Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the flames and DecoArt  Glistening Snow-Writer for the icing plus a few scattered silver stars.  Done and dusted!

Card Using DoCrafts Boofle A4 Decoupage Sheet

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using a white linen effect hand cut blank.

I am such a fan of Boofle, at last I can make cards using a character that I actually like and that is current with what is popular in the shops at the moment, brilliant.

An A4 pack decoupage pack (£2.00)  containing two sheets is enough to make six cards, which gives me a good return for my money. I am not the greatest fan of decoupage, but because of the character and simplicity I can be swayed now and again, and more importantly these sort of cards are always very popular in my box at work.

Because I had only have scraps left from my 6ins x 6ins paper pack I have made my own version of the Boofle patchwork backgrounds, to which I have added faux stitching, which stays with the Boofle theme.

Bluebird Gift Card

This card measures 3ins x 3ins and was made using a Papermania card blank.

This is only a tiny card, suitable for putting with a gift I thought,  but I’m not too sure if I should have tried to age it now using a touch of colouring chalk as it looks a bit grubby! Hmmmm, perhaps I need to try it again with a subtle patterned blue paper.

The music paper is from the Papermania Bookprint A5 pad.

Father’s Day Cards - 17th June

Both these cards measure 5ins x 5ins and are made with hand cut blanks using white linen effect card.

Dianne sent me this pack of Jolee’s Boutique stickers all the way for Florida, I was loathe to use them as they satisfy my great need for all things tiny, but what’s the point in them being left unused, in a drawer, so I made myself use them …..

The little tools are just so exquisite!

I’ve teamed them up with scraps from an A4 sheet of Kanban Wooden Fence card and matching papers plus a smattering of small silver brads.

Elizabeth Shaw Mints Meet Angry Birds!

Do you remember when I found a blog written by Debbie Naylor that blew me away …. especially with her very simple instructions for making the red Angry Bird.

Well, Debbie’s  idea spurred me on transferring the idea  to using with Elizabeth Shaw mints.

So I gathered my various punches to adapt the idea …… as I didn’t have all of the same ones as Debbie, but the basic circle shape is made with a Stampin’Up 1 3/4 punch.

and started to punch, stick and put them together.

This is when I started to doubt the end result…!

Here they reminded me of mad fish! (now there’s and idea ……)

And finally it is the beaks and eyebrows that finally make the character!  I am thinking that these sweets would go down very well at a boys birthday party …… now all I need to do is work out how to make the other characters!!

Diamond Jubilee Crafts - Jubilee Pinwheels in Pots

Nothing fancy here today, just a bit of cheap and cheerful Jubilee frippery as we have decided to decorate our office at work to celebrate the Jubilee but on a tight budget ……

…. So one of my colleagues has been consuming vast quantities of Batchelors Pasta Pot Shots in order that I can fill them with union jack pinwheels ……

…. the download of which I found on the website below

http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk/download/pinwheels.htm

I know I could have cut my pinwheels a little better, but it’s only a bit of fun!

Plus this useful Diamond Jubilee pack:-http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk/download/diamond_jubilee_pack.htm

Paperchase Domed Heart Stickers

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using a hand cut blank using white linen effect card

These domed stickers are from Paperchase and cost £2 per pack. There are one or two small hearts in each dome which jiggle about, so it would have been rude not to buy them!

Rather than keep everything dead straight, as is my usual want,  I’ve set everything off at a jaunty angle on a background of Bazzill paper squares,  which I think has worked out quite nicely.

Patchwork Bird Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using a hand cut white linen card blank

Nothing fancy today.  I’ve just made a central panel for the card using scraps from my Boofle 6ins x 6ins paper pack, a felt bird and flower embellishment (from Michaels), a bit of punched foliage and some faux stitching for good measure. Done and dusted!

New - The Wellington Papercrafts Range

I quite like the new Wellington range from Docrafts, I don’t do many men's cards because, to be honest most of the designs/embellishments are pants …. the themes are boring and just don’t inspire me, so I tend not to bother.

However there is something about Wellington ……. for these two cards I have used the Wellington A4 die cut decoupage 2 pack – Time Out from which you can  make four cards for £2.00, so that’s not too bad either!

http://www.docrafts.com/articleviewer.aspx?articleId=1073&articleTitle=TheWellingtonPapercraftRange

Big Eyed Cat Card

This card is A5 is size and is made with a hand cut blank of linen effect white card.

I don’t make many individual cards for children so this was a bit of a change for me, it was for a colleague and the brief was …. second birthday, loves cats and tactile!

The cat was a clip art image and with a bit of computer wizardry I managed to change the colours from browns to pinks, which I then enlarged, copying and printing it several times, so that I could make simple decoupage layers.

There were lots of fiddlyfarty finishing touches to do after putting the background mat and layering on the card blank like making separate sections for the wording using a variety of self adhesive letters, adding micro glitter to the darker pink parts of the cat and Ranger Glossy Accents to the nose and ears, plus embellishments of humungous eyes, a matching ribbon and a couple of charms.  I guess in all this card took me about two hours to put together.

Oh Dear!

Please bear with me .... our computer has gone down again and fingers crossed that our man can fix it or at least salvage a few of the more important files on it..... 

Fortunately I have a good few FiddleFart posts scheduled and I have the use of a laptop ..... but I have lost Livewriter which I have always relied on heavily as I have never got on well with working directly in Blogger. However to further exasperate the situation Blogger has now introduced a new interface which again I have resisted until now from using, as it seems even harder to use. Now I have no choice but to use it and it's a nightmare, especially when inserting pictures, because for some reason Blogger automatically rotates some pictures so they are the wrong way round and it's so hard to work out a way to put them right in a post .... as a result a simple post that usually takes 15 to 30 minutes is taking a an awful lot longer, and that is time I don't really have. I shall however persevere and see if what happens in the next few weeks.

Off To Do Their GCSE’s

The girls I have worked with for the past year helping in their Food Technology lessons have now gone on exam leave to prepare for their GCSE’s, so to mark their last lesson we feasted greatly on pizza and I made them each a small ‘Good Luck’ card and embroidered badge.

The cards measure 3ins x 3ins which I covered with a cookery themed paper called Bake Off by Flair Designs.  The tiny paper plates were a find on e-bay and the cup cakes were from Sainsbury’s children's department a while ago.

The badges are made using my faithful Bandai Badge It and an old embroidered table cloth that I found at a card boot sale for £2.

Docrafts Boofle Cardstock Stickers And Matching Papers

A couple of weeks ago I showed you the first of a set of cards I made using Docrafts new Boofle range of stickers and papers, which I adore, and judging by the way my box at work emptied, everyone else does too!

Amongst the 6ins x 6ins paper pack there were two sheets of a patchwork (I wish there had been more) which included all the patterns in the pack, I managed to eight centre panels for my cards from these. When they were all used up I decided I wanted to continue with the patchwork theme and made up my own panels (as above) using four of the patterned papers, which I mat and layered on silver card.

I got twenty one cards from two packets of cardstock stickers and one 6 x 6 ins pack of paper with only a few scraps of paper left, and I was not “mean” with the papers, it became a bit of a challenge to use as much of the paper pad as I could.

My only tiny criticism of the cardstock pack is that I wish there were just a few more stemmed flower embellishments for Boofle to hold or to fill in the odd space.

….. this is so funny coming from the woman who usually moans about having too many bitty things that she can’t use on a sticker sheet!

Although I have used the same range of papers and embellishments it’s amazing to see how the different combinations can make the cards look quite different.

Angry Bird Birthday Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using a hand cut blank using a white linen effect card.

My brother loves Angry Birds, but I don’t have a clue,  so I did some Googling, and all I can say there are some very, very clever people out there, because I found a blog written by Debbie Naylor  and I was blown away …. especially when I found her very simple instructions for making one of the Angry Birds

http://unfrogettablestamping.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/01/angry-bird-punch-art.html

Have a look, Debbie has such lovely ideas, she’s really spurred me to look at more Punch Art ideas, that perhaps I can transfer to using with Elizabeth Shaw mints. 

I also found another punched Angry Bird template on Michelle’s blog, which I just had to have a go at, very quickly, to put on the envelope for my brothers card.

http://inspirationink.typepad.com/inspiration-ink/2012/03/march-punch-art-class-follow-up.html  - BRILLIANT!