Christmas Wrapping: Presents..

Hey,

Earlier in the week I showed you the awesome tags that I made, for the gifts that need to leave before I leave for London.

Here are the gifts that they went on.

Pretty simple, just brown paper and twine, so that the tags pop.

On the reverse they are secured with bright, fun washi tape.

Cx

Badges - A tutorial

Happy Valentine's Day!! Time to give Hubby his challenging winning card :)

Before I get into the tutorial, I thought I would share a picture of the cookies I made Hubby for VDay...As you can see from the cutter they were going to be Cows (for some reason I have a Cow cookie cutter and circles and that is it?!)

Unfortunately due to the soft nature of the dough - which is yummy and easy and the recipe is here, they came out like this...

Is it just me or do they look like slightly deformed Cats?! Anyway it's the thought that counts and they taste good! Just be glad I didn't take a picture of them iced and with sprinkles...they look like road kill :)

WOYWW was good fun yesterday, I managed to get around quite a few of the blogs and saw some really great things. You will be happy to hear that the little heart card I showed you yesterday has gone to my Dad..my Ma was here yesterday and took it with her to give to him..

Yesterday I mentioned that I have been making badges for kids birthday's. You saw the badges on my desk and as promised here is the tutorial.

The main photo is of a finished badge attached to a card.

Step 1 - things you will need

A piece of foam, a digital stamp - mine is by Bugaboo Stamps (or design of your choice), x2 dies that nest (or punches), a safety pin, some pens for colouring and glitter glue.

Step 2 - Cutting

Using your dies or punches - cut a piece of foam using the biggest die. Then using the smaller die cut out your stamp.

Step 3 - Colouring

Colour your stamp, using colours that contrast with the foam and your card.

Step 4 - Assemble the badge

Poke x2 holes in the foam and attach your safety pin. Add glue or tape to your finished stamp and affix to the front of the foam.

Step 5 - Finishing touches

Now add some glitter glue for some sparkle...voila! Badge

These are super easy and fun to make, the fun bit is making the card that the badge goes on :) I affixed my badge to the card using double sided foam tape.

Enjoy.

Cx

p.s feel free to share the tutorial, but please link back to this post and / or credit me.

Random Ideas..

So my first few days off have been fun, I've managed to pack in quite a lot!! I also managed to Skype with my friend Michelle who recently moved to Hawaii from Seattle!

I've also been making all kinds of random things, I've been thinking about being off for so long that I now have lots of ideas in my head...

The main photo today is of this month's free gift - when people by something from my site, I like to throw in a freebie, it's easy to do and not very expensive.

This month, I am giving customers x4 mini thank you cards. Made using x3 punches, round, scalloped oval and JT's butterfly. I stamped the sentiment and voila! freebies are ready.

I've also just started making a clock...random I know, but on my fave cheapo craft site, they had the clock faces and the mechanisims for £1 each?! It would be rude not to buy those and have a go.

The photo below shows the clock face and the paper I have cut to decorate it. I am planning on cutting butterflies out of the gold paper (also shown) and using them to indicate 12, 3, 6 and 9.

Pretty nifty eh? I think I'll give this one to my Ma.

I also made this bespoke Valentine's card -

My friend's boyf sent me a text asking for a special card for her. For some reason I really wanted to use a raunchy stamp for this card..Finally an excuse to buy a Kenny K stamp! This stamp is from the Krash Kittenz range and she's called Penny Pitstop. The background is a Pink Petticoat paper. I'm really pleased with the end result, I hope my friend and the boyf are too :)

Cx

Christmas has exploded in my room!

Ha ha, not quite, but I've attached a picture of the drying area in my craft room and I think you can see there is quite alot going on! There is also a picture of one of the cards on the shelf, close-up!

I have hit the 300 card mark with the Christmas cards - so yay for me, but there is still a long way to go - gotta hit 500 before November the 6th.

I have a reason for this. If I have 500 cards (= 50 sets) and I sell a reasonable amount on Nov 6th, then I will only have to make a small amount to cover my work sales and the Nov 28th fair! Logical right?

I am finally loving the wooden Christmas decorations, they have been a bit of trial and error to be honest and I am still not 100% in love, but I can be a bit like this about the things I make, I get a bit insecure! Especially if they have taken awhile to get right!

The felt Christmas decorations are my fave, as I get to use felt, hand sew and use my button collection.

I have been pleasantly surprised by how much I've enjoyed the Christmas crafting this year and I think that I owe that to my fellow crafters and their handy tips - start early, pace yourself, take a break - wise words indeed.

On a slightly different note I noticed last night that one of our cats is covered in glitter! She did run off with a rather expensive Magenta Stickles a couple of weeks ago, so I am assuming this is why!

Whilst I am mentioning Stickles, I have to say, I thought they were going to be an expensive waste of money, but they have brought me only joy! I love using them, they add so much to my projects and are easy to use and best of all seem to go a long way. Papermania have brought out some similar products this year for Christmas and they are a cheap alternative to Stickles and ok, but not as good.

Lastly a bit shout out to Pam at Chicks of a Feather - who left me a really sweet message a few weeks ago, I totally love her blog, it's an inspiration.

Cx

Christmas Crafts!

1. Christmas Stocking

So it's a bit strange that in August I am starting to make things for Christmas, but I learnt a valuable lesson this time round. It's better to start making the things I want to sell sooner rather than later. It means my items are better quality - as I am not rushed, I also get more time to experiment with new techniques and ideas.

I've been looking around for ideas for Christmas, as I want to make things for the Leicester Craft fair, but also as Christmas gifts.

I have been giving boxes of cards, scarves, etc for awhile now and I will still be giving cards - but I think people would appreciate a different gift.

I also am trying to convince Hubby to let me have a Christmas Tree this year and so will be making Christmas Tree decorations for us and to sell.

Here are a few pics of the things I'm going to try and make.

2. Baubles

1.Christmas stockings
2. Baubles - using clear plastic balls, that I can either decorate the outside, put pretty things (ribbon, etc) inside or turn them into little stocking fillers, with a brooch, or some homemade sweets

3. Christmas decorations - this pic is of little wooden trees, that you can paint and embellish, I am going to try out other shapes - stars, balls, snowmen

4. Clutch bags

4. Clutch bags - these little bags are from lushlee, they are the cutest thing ever and have totally inspired me to give clutch bags another go (it was a disaster last time). I love the lushlee site and spend far too much time drooling over all the lovely things


 5. Table runners/napkins/coasters/placemats - I made some of these for a friend last year and I think they make great gifts, good use of oddments too for the coasters. The pic here is of a gorgeous set made out of white pebbles by Viva Terra - I love them, I will NOT be making out of stone - how much time do you think I have?!

6. Cushions

5. Table runners/placemats

6 - Cushions - I've made cushions for my home, my Mother and a friend, so think I'm ready to branch out. The pic is from CinnamonLime, I met the maker of all their products at the Craft Market on Saturday and I was inspired by her work.

Anyway, this should give you some ideas too and some lovely new sites to check out.

Cx

I love scarves!

Hello!

Hope it's hot enough for you - it's very hot here in London. I am going to spend the day loafing around in my Ma's garden, awaiting the return of hubby from Cornwall.

Scarves are of the items that I make and sell lots of. They are quite straight forward to make and I like to experiment with different types of fabric.

Both my Ma and my Mother-in-Law, like scarves make out of jersey!

I on the otherhand, quite like satins and chiffons - today's pic is me wearing one of my own creations made from a really beautiful super shiny satin.

Everywhere I go, I always keep my eyes peeled for a couple of metres of fabric that will make nice scarves, I restrict myself to 2-3 scarves per piece of fabric, depending on the size of the fabric. I do this, because then the scarves become 'limited editions', which lots of people like. I also restrict myself, as my fabric 'stash' is fast outgrowing my storage system and I am sure hubby is going to start selling it on eBay if I buy too much more!

I will post a couple of pictures next week of 2 of my friends wearing their fave scarves that they have purchased from me, it's really nice to see people in my creations.

I love to give scarves as gifts, but this Christmas I think I'm going to have to come up with another gift idea for the ladies, as most of my friends and family are proud owners of several of my scarves!

Cx

July is gonna be busy!

So I am back from my holibobs in Cornwall, brief but fun!

I took some awesome pics whilst away and once I have sorted them out, I'll post a few up for you to see.

I've suddenly realised that July is going to be a busy month, as I am doing a craft fair on 7th Aug (hence today's pic) and I had a quick peek through my stock and realised that I need to get myself behind my sewing machine for about 2 weeks!! Oops!

No matter, I love to sew and I have spent tonight cutting out pieces for scarves and make-up bags, I've finished a whole batch of brooches and so I'm feeling pretty relaxed about it all. However I always say that, then 2 days before the fair (much to my Hubby's dismay) I panic that I don't have enough stock and stay up for 2 nights straight sewing my socks off!

Do you remember in my first post, I mentioned that I am making a Union Jack baby quilt? Well I started cutting the fabric tonight and it looks yummy, I am very excited. I'll take some pics, once the pieces are all cut out, so you can follow it's progress.

I guess I should say goodnight as it's the wrong side of midnight and I have a day job to do!

Cx

Weddings, Fabric and Baby Quilts

Hello!

I am very excited about my first post on my shiny new blog.

I spent the weekend at a lovely country Wedding in Leicestershire, which gave me the opportunity to indulge my love of fabric with a small trip to the fabric stalls at the market.

If you have never been to Leicester market, I really would advise that you try to at some point, the fabric stalls are great and the stall holders are really knowledgeable and helpful, but the fresh produce sold in the market is great too.

Anyway, I had a perfectly valid reason for visiting the market, as I am about to start making a baby quilt for a friend. He has made a special request for a quilt that has the Union Jack on it, but in the Cypriot flag colours (white, olive and orange), to reflect the new arrival's heritage! It's a bit of a departure for me, but I think it should come out quite well and I will post pics when it's complete.

The pic here (which is not great I'm afraid, but I'm working on that!) is of a quilt that I made earlier in the year.

Cx