A Weekend Away ….. Recharging The batteries

I’ve just got back from a weekend in Dawlish Warren, a chance to recharge my very depleted batteries, eat and drink all the wrong things and embrace the sound and smell of the sea ….. I took a few pictures trying to be all arty-farty ….. but I’m a bit disappointed by the results …. but I thought I would share them with you anyway …..

As I took this picture of some pebbles on the beach  I noticed a “heart shaped” one in the bottom right of the shot ….

Hmmmm thought I …..

…… and tried a couple of things with it.

I also couldn’t resist getting a shot of these beach huts…..

…… or these groins (if you’ll pardon the expression ……)

And this sign just made me laugh …..

Knitted Baby Booties

Remember the baby booties I fancied doing last week? Well I’ve done them!  They were so simple and look about half an hour each to knit and about ten minutes to sew up. 

Left plain they are quite cute, and originally I was going to put a button on the front to shush them up, but when I found the crocheted flowers amongst the bits in my button box, I just had to use them as they were perfect.

You can find the pattern here:- http://www.bernat.com/pattern.php?PID=4189&cps=21191

With my first pair successfully completed I am now thinking of variations on them, including a few pairs in various sizes in red for Christmas with suitably cute embellishments on the front. Hmmmmmm.

A Little Bird Told Me Cards

These cards all measure 17.5cms x 8.5cm and are made using white linen effect card.

A whole set of cards today, using a variety of pastel gingham and striped paper strips from Handy Hippo and bubble bird stickers from The Range.  I got nine cards from the packet of stickers which is pretty good going as I think they were about 99p a pack.

The flower borders were part of a present from Dianne in Florida, I love them so much, it was hard to start using them!

The sentiment is handwritten by me, which I thought it could cover all sorts of circumstances occasions.

30th Birthday Newspaper Card

This card is A5 in size and is made using white linen effect card.

This card was made for a colleague, who plays football for numerous teams and just doesn’t look or act her age.  Her image is made up of two simple decoupage layers and I’ve used Ranger Glossy Accents to go over the blue icing on the cake and her birthday badges.  Done and dusted!

Flower Patchwork Card

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

I’m not sure about this card, perhaps there is too much going on with the patchwork panel at the back?  I’ve used papers from my 6ins x 6ins Boofle paper pack (£5.00) and a Martha Stewart doily.

I just love this paper pack so much, the proportion of the patterns are just perfect for the size of cards and embellishments I use, and there isn’t one design I don’t like, which has to be the biggest bonus ever!

Hoppy Birthday Tags

These tags each measure 7.5cm x 3.5cm and are made using children’s wooden dominoes.

I have had these metal frogs forever  and have finally used them all up on these tags.  They were a bit fiddly to glue so I used E6000 glue (as recommended by Marc) because it really does stick materials like metal down well, and a little goes a very long way.

Not a lot to them really!

Diamond Jubilee Crafts - Union Jack Sour Cream Boxes/Lucky Dip Favours

Marc gave me this idea for either a kids Diamond Jubilee Lucky Dip or party favours. 

I created my own A4 sheet in Publisher after  finding a shabby chic style Union Jack image, which I resized,  then copied and pasted to create a pattern in Publisher. Next I saved it as a jpeg (picture/image)  so that I could use it for other projects to keep the pattern in proportion. A little long winded and fiddle farty but it works for me.

To show you how to make the box I have copied the pictures and instructions I  put together for the humbug carton I made a couple of Christmas’s ago to save repeating myself.

First I cut a 8in x 5ins oblong from my patterned paper and applied double sided tap down as illustrated in the photo above.

With patterned side facing outwards I rolled the paper to form a cylinder.

And then flattened the bottom end, where the double sided tape had also been put -  (see below)

To complete the box I squeezed it together in the opposite direction to the bottom of the bag (I hope that makes sense) to form the boxes triangular shape.

With the box almost complete I put in a sealed bag of red, white and blue bonbons to go with the theme.Then I  sealed the end with glue, which I held in place with a couple of paperclips until the glue was dry.

The finishing touches were made by  trimming  the bottom and top edges with pinking shears.

I know my instructions are not perfect so have a look at youtube or : -http://www.ehow.com/how_8224188_make-sour-cream-favor-box.html#ixzz1rHXNqDrH

Docrafts Boofle Cardstock Stickers And Papers

I don’t usually go a bundle on character cards but I do love Boofle, in fact I have him on my keyring. As soon as I saw the Docrafts Boofle range I thought he is sooooo popular I should make a whole pile of cards for work, so I nipped into Hobbycraft and got two packs of the cardstock stickers (£2.50 each) and a 6ins x 6ins paper pack (£5.00)  ….. and now I am hooked!

I have mixed and matched the stickers and papers with other embellishments I already had like glitter photo corners from Paper Cellar and Craftwork Cards die cut circle birthday messages as well as a few tiny buttons.

For once, for me, less is definitely not more!!  I’ve piled on the bits and pieces and faux stitched everything to an inch of it’s life, adding Ranger Glossy accents to Boofles nose, the large buttons and flowers.

From two packets of cardstock stickers and one 6ins x 6ins pack of paper I have managed to make twenty one cards …… not a bad return for my money, and all I have left are a few scraps of paper, that I can easily  use in another project. Dead chuffed!

There are too many cards to show you in one go, so I hope you don’t mind me spreading over a few of posts in the coming months.

What’s Been On My Knitting Needles ……

It’s been ages since I have knitted anything of a garment type nature, dish clothes and scarves seem to have dominated my knitting needles of late. But with a spate of babies at work I decided to attempt something a little more complicated and found this very simple but stylish pattern free from this site http://www.bernat.com/pattern.php?PID=4147&cps=21191 and I love that you can print it off in PDF form  http://www.bernat.com/data/pattern/pdf/Bernat_KW530167_07_kn_pullover.en_US.pdf

I chose to knit it in this a soft grey because it would be suitable for either a  boy or  girl (I detest lemons and pale greens!) and it would match with almost any other colour.

The site is well worth a look. I already have my eye on knitting these adorable booties to go with the jumper,  but I might add a little button on them to zhuzh them up!

Watch this space ……

Simple Bird Card–Thanks To Dianne

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

I’ve been desperate to use all my lovely treasure from Diane and with two weeks of Easter holiday laying before me …. I have no better excuse!

Along with the Martha Stewart Tags and Making Memories metal flowers I have also used my Stampin’Up bird punch. Nothing fancy I know, and I can see where I can add more and improve it, but this is the first time I have used a doily on any of my cards ….. I am just so behind with the trends!

Happy Easter And A Huge Thank You To A Special New Friend

OMG I have a real life Michaels bag of my very own!

In my two years or so blogging I have made some truly lovely friends, and recently I have got to know Dianne who lives in Florida  through the comments she leaves on my other blog “Mums Monkey” – one day I just had a spooky feeling that I should send her a monkey of her own (Christopher)….. that spooky feeling was “right” …. and since then we have e-mailed on a regular basis …. but this Easter she has totally overwhelmed me with her kindness.

As we have been getting to know each other I have told Dianne how I dream of one day going to the USA, taking with me the most  mahooosive empty suitcase I can get through,  so I can shop till I drop, and then some in Michaels ……. !!!

And this week Dianne has overwhelmed me again with the most wonderful parcel of embellishments from Michaels, I was so overcome, that when I opened up her box I just looked at them, in silence, stroking each and every packet in turn.

What do you say to such kindness and thought?

I can’t believe the Urban Chic and Bead Landing charms and will be wearing them very very soon.  And as for the glittered blossom branches, I don’t think I will ever be able to use them, they are so lovely, BUT I know I MUST!

These Martha Stewart labels and tags are something different for me …. I have a few ideas already as to what to do with them and see a slight change in style ahead.

And as for these monkeys …… what can I say, gorgeous!!

But best of all I LOVE my bag, I will use it carefully and then after a while put it away ready for the day when I actually walk into a Michaels, bag akimbo  telling anyone who will listen how I got it. Thank you Dianne you are a VERY SPECIAL lady and it’s people like you and Marc, Jan The Fan, Di and Mr D who keep my brain whirring, thinking up more mischief and mayhem for “The Boys” to incur - xxx THANK YOU xxx

http://www.michaels.com/

Oh .... and I almost forgot …….

I used some of the papers, ribbons, stickers etc. from Dianne’s  Easter parcel for “The Boys” to make this page in my Smashbook – unwrapping each and every small parcel this morning was such a magical experience for  them (and me)!!!!!

Dragonfly Card

Given the choice on a card I much prefer dragonflies to butterflies, I don’t know why. … All the scallop punched squares are made using papers from My Mind’s Eye Stella and Rose 6” x 6” stacks, my very favourite papers of all time!

 
The small brass dragonflies came from e-bay.

Winnie The Pooh Card

This card measures 4.25 ins x 6.5ins and is made using white linen effect paper.

My apologies, this is a card that I made ages ago, but I have moved it around in the blog scheduling every time I have made, what I thought was something more interesting! There are no real card making skills here whatsoever, it was just a matter of a bit of mat and layering on some cloud effect paper and then plonking the stickers on top, very less is more.

With money being tight,  a  crafty bargain is only a bargain when I can use the items almost straight away, making a set of cards quickly and getting them in my box at work as soon as I can, done and dusted, as was the case with these stickers........

..... they are by Jolees Boutique and cost £1 for 3 packs, which wasn't too bad , as I think they usually sell for over £2 a pack and almost everyone loves Winnie the Pooh.

Hedgehog Birthday Card

This card measures 4ins x 4ins and is made using white linen effect card.

I used stickers that were free in an Docrafts Creativity magazine last year with scraps of gingham paper, faux stitching and a handwritten sentiment.

Simples!

Daisy Card

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

I’ve used part of Stampin’Up Fresh Cuts stamp set to make the background for this card and then have coloured it with Plaid blending chalks, a little ink round the edges and a touch of Hero Arts micro hologram glitter

I’ve then added a paper daisy,(I can’t remember where I got them from, but wish I could get some more as they are quite realistic),  a tiny brass insect charm and some flat backed pearls. Done!