Recycled Jam jar

It's been a very busy week so I haven't managed much on the crafting front. Emma, my daughter and I had some fantastic news from Docrafts this week but I'm going to keep you in suspense for a little while longer.

The only thing I have made this weekend was for Docrafts Katy's challenge this week. The inspiration this week was a photo so I decided to take the blue colour and the shoes to make a shoe fund terramundi-type pot from an empty jam jar.

Et voila . . .

I started by covering the main body of the jar with pale blue vellum. I used double-sided tape to attach things to the glass. As I had thrown away the original lid from the jar, I then made a lid from glittery Burleigh Blue Capsule Paperazzi. I reinforced the opening with card on the inside to avoid tears.  I then cover the joins on the angled part of the jar with a couple of daisy chains, ribbons and a bow from the same range. The bottom frill was Burleigh Blue 12 x 12 paper using the scalloped blade on the Woodware paper trimmer . The letters were diecut using the Xcut Smoothie alphabet and the shoes using the Quikcutz dies: both were cut from the Papermania Paperazzi and handmade papers for extra bling.

Hope you like this project and it's much cheaper than shop brought terramundis

More news and makes soon.

Peas in a Pod

I've had a busy weekend but have managed to create a few cards. Firstly I did a card for the Docraft's weekly challenge. This week it was a sketch and it took me a while to get inspired but this is what I finally came up with . . .

I started with the Craftwork Cards flowers and then managed to match in some papers from the Papermania Parkstone Pink and Burleigh Blue ranges. The LOVE was from the new Docrafts Vintage Notes range which came in their latest goody bag. I finally added  another one of those butterflies from the wedding table confetti from Dobbies, some CC candi and a few Anita's gems. Job done! I will have to wait until Tuesday to see whether it's a winner.

Today I cracked open my CC order and decided to make some cards from the Sweetpea Peas in a Pod paper and flowers pad. I started by creating 4 woven backgrounds using the spotty paper as a base. I then made up a selection of the flowers which I coated in iridescent Spray and Sparkle. I combined more of the paper with various message tags to create a series of cards for different occasions. Here they are . . .

Will I ever get bored of weaving?

I did have a minor crisis today when I realised I was almost out of Spray and Sparkle. I managed to find an offer on the manufacturer's website and whilst I was there I also joined their club. It's free to join and you get 5% off most products. You also get access to free downloads - papers and  projects with this one too.

There just aren't enough hours in the day. Back to work tomorrow . . . unless we are snowed in!

Sources of inspiration

Had  a bit of an uninspired start to the day. Wasn't feeling 100% so didn't go to the gym. I started off by finishing my card for the Craftwork cards competition - mustn't forget to send it in this month! Here's a sneak peek . . .

This is an 8 x 8 card with a white embossed frame which is edged in red chalk mounted on red paper. The recess of the frame is filled by printed kraft card with a message band and message. The mannequin is wearing a sparkly red dress and a festive ribbon shawl. All the aforementioned products from Craftwork Cards. The presents have a Papermania bow and tags and the pearls and gems are Anita's. The snowflakes were made using 2 different x-cut punches.I'm still debating with myself whether it's a bit too busy.

Next I started to go through the boxes of goodies I purchased in the CC sale. I found the birds and trees templates and thought "I'll have a go with this." After 10 minutes of starring at the template I decided to have a look at the CC gallery for inspiration and sure enough that worked. I found a lovely card to copy ... and adapted it. I used the papers from the Warren decoupage pads which were in my lucky dip bag - I couldn't believe the amount of things in the first one I ordered so I ordered another one and it was just as good and completely different. Anyway, here is the card made in my favourite colour combination . . .

This afternoon I was still struggling for inspiration until I logged on to the Docrafts website and watched the latest edition of Creativity TV. Jo Austin demonstrated how to make a neat little accordion box for storing things or to fill with cards to give as a gift. Needless to say that was all I needed as an excuse to spend the rest of the afternoon crafting. 

You need to watch episode 156 of Creativity TV to find out how to make this great box.  I have decorated mine with my favourite weaving - this time I have used the Docrafts floral downloads again. I used the Papermania Vintage Notes toppers from the latest Docrafts goody bag. This project is easy to make - the hardest part was fighting with the magnetic fasteners as the ones I have are VERY strong.
Tomorrow is now sorted as I will have to make a selection of 4 x 4 cards to fill the box. So on that note I'm off to bed so that hopefully I will wake up inspired in the morning.

Floral cards

I just love these flowers from Craftwork cards (CC). I uploaded my wreaths to my Docrafts gallery and got a lot of lovely comments from folk who obviously hadn't found the site so were impressed by my efforts. I have just ordered my new kits which are this months club project so have decided to amuse myself with something different until the arrive.

I have stayed with the flowers theme as there were several sheets of the smaller flowers in the goody bags and pads which I purchased in the CC sale. The first one was using the Candy Cane pad combined with a frame from the embossed white pad ...

First job was to make up a selection of flowers from the pad. I used the unglittered ones from the Candy Cane pad and then added "spray and sparkle" once they were layered up. I alternated flowers with raised centers with flatter ones with candi centres. The flowers are mounted on a frame from the white embossed pad which I edged with red chalk. I used a 6x6 card and double mounted a piece of gold pearlised paper and then some red paper from the pad.. I then mounted the message band and tag on to a piece of gingham paper and then stuck this in the centre of the card. I then added the frame. I stuck it flat so that the card will still go into an envelope. Finally I cut some corners from gold mirri card to finish. Although the message is generic I think this card has a distinctly Christmas feel to it.

The second card was based around the more subtly coloured flowers which came from the various CC goody bags I have brought over the last month or so.

This card is similar to the first one but I used a smaller white embossed frame which meant that I needed less flowers. I used less of the spay on the flowers this time as the background was one of the glittered bohemian papers so it was very glitttery. I blocked out the centre of the frame with a non-glittered paper from the Bohemian pad just to bring the focus back to the flowers. The butterfly is from my wedding table confetti which was chalked to match the colour scheme of the card.

The final card is my favourite. I made up some more of the flowers planning to make another frame/wreath card. When the flowers were finished I decided to try something different ...

 I punched 9 scalloped squares from the white embossed card with a flower motif. I then arranged these in a grid and added a flower to each. I used the paper from the Bohemian pad as a background and added a message tag. The final step was to add a faux stitched border.

Well I had had great fun this weekend. I could make these flowers all day so be don't surprised if they turn up in some more projects in the future. My daughter has also pinched a few and has made a lovely keepsake box which she will upload to her blog later this evening. Take a look at eatsleepandcraft.blogspot.com.

More crafty ideas next week. Until then, happy crafting. X

Two Floral Wreaths

Well that's me finished my working week. It's great being part-time ... except on pay day! Anyway had a bit of time on my hands today so I decided to have a go at the flower wreaths that I brought when I visited the show at the SECC back in October. I had seen some of the finished projects on the Craftwork Cards (CC) website and blog and felt a bit unsure as to whether my crafting skills were up to the task. However, I don't think I did too badly.

The first one was made using the Elegant flowers and papers pad. The flowers don't look very impressive when you pop them out but are easily transformed using a little shaping, layering and "Spray and Sparkle". Fortunately I have a great stash of ribbons and managed to find some matching organza to tie in. Here is the finish project.

I was so pleased with the finished project that I decided to make another one since, as you know, once I try something I like to have a few goes just to prove I've got the hang of it! I had brought some of the Very Merry Festive flowers in the CC sale - bargain at 36 for just £1.00. I layered these up in the same way, sprayed them with sparkle and then fixed them to the wreath. I like this one even better but I think that's because of the colours. What do you think?

Well that was a very satisfying days work so I'm off to do some housework now so that I can have a day out with my daughter tomorrow before she goes back to uni at the weekend.

Look forward to sharing some more creations next week.

Steampunk Fashion

Now for something completely different. I have to say that when I unpacked the new Docrafts goody bag I wasn't quite sure what to make of the new Chronology papers. Although I liked the papers I was struggling to see how I could use them. If you take a look at my previous work either in this blog or in my Docrafts gallery (aka kINGFISHER) you'll see what I mean.

After several false starts I finally managed a couple of cards to share with you. Although they are similar in some ways I think you will be able to see some development in the second one. However, we'll get to that one in a minute. Here is the first offering ...

As I haven't brought any of the Chronology range I used the Happy Days bottle tops tri-embossing folder to emboss some Black Magic Core'dinations which I then sanded for the background. I then dressed a Craftwork Cards (CC) small mannequin in a dress made from the new Chronology paper with pearl gemstone bling and a black ribbon belt. I also added some CC antique lace ribbon to the background before adding the mannequin on foam pads. The "fabric" samples are also Chronology paper pinned up with pearl gemstones. The final embellishment was a Chronology cog with a brad in the centre and then decorated with gem stones to co-ordinate with the fabric samples. The cog is also attached with a foam pad.

The second card is larger because I used the larger mannequin ...

This card is more shabby chic although it reminds me a bit of Cinderella with the tattered dress. I have used several different Chronology papers for this one for both the background and the dress. The cog embellishments have again been decorated with gems held on (hopefully) with the permanent double-sided tape. I then tied all the elements together with some gold embroidery thread. I'll leave you to decide whether it works or not.

Anyway, I'm off to go and get myself organised as I am back to work tomorrow. Blog entries might be few and far between for a while as I'll not have as much time for card making until the Easter break. That being said, I'm still waiting for my CC Sale order to arrive and I'm sure when it does I'll be burning the midnight oil to conjure up some creations with the new goodies.

Until then "Happy crafting".

A tag and an easel card

Well, I did my tidying up and found the Craftwork Cards Pink Paislee Prairie Hill Tag book kit that I hadn't got around to trying so ...

It's hard to see from the photo but I used the Spray and Sparkle aerosol on the flower. I learnt the hard way that I should have sprayed it in the back garden as the smell lingered for ages and gave everyone a headache. Oh well, the flower looks very nice. For the butterfly I inked the edge and used glitter glue for a slightly different effect..

This afternoon I downloaded the Vintage Notes papers from the Docrafts website and decided to use the daily sketch in a combined project. I made an easel card with a woven background made from strips cut from the floral downloads from a couple of weeks ago. Here's the result ...

I used a couple of smaller plain doileys raised up on foam pads to support the easel  but wish now that I had made the pink doileys on the main part of the card more obvious either by inking the edges or mounting them of a different colour. That's a couple of lessons I've learned today so my projects can only get better.

See you again soon.

Happy New Year

Well that's another year over and as usual I'm playing catch up. Made some Xmas tree themed cards with the intention of entering the Craftwork Cards (CC) competition and then my daughter went on the blog and discovered she'd won even before I'd got around to uploading mine. So here's a private viewing.

The first one has a woven background again - sorry still haven't quite got it out of my system. The trees are inverted bunting (CC) and the snow is a page in the embossed white pad (CC) which I have layered and used foam squares under the center of the top layer and glued the straight edges to give some dimension. The snowflakes are an X-cut punch with a pearl gemstone in the middle.

I liked the effect of the trees so had another go. This time I used so printed Kraft card (CC) as the background and added one of the embossed frames from the white pad (CC). I found a matching message tag in the Warren range (CC) and a bow from Papermania Portabello Road to finish the project off.

For the final one was quite similar to the first but this time I used a die cut Xmas tree.

Not sure which one I would have entered but it's a mute point now !

Having failed at that mission I returned to safe territory ... yep, you guessed ... the woven backgrounds.
This time I decided to have my first go at the flowers in the Craftwork Cards goody bags. I'd watched the video and the made it look so simple. Well, here's the result.

Had so much fun that I decided to try another one. This time using a birdhouse topper . . .

Well that's me up-to-date now. Off to tidy up all the bargains I purchased in the Craftwork Cards clearance as they will be returning to work tomorrow and hopefully all the stuff I ordered in the Boxing Day Sale will be dispatched and will arrive by the weekend.

I think my New Year's resolution is going to have to be to stop buying craft stuff as if I live to be 100 I don't think I'll use up all the stuff I already have. Not sure how long that one will last . . . watch this space :-)