Wednesday 27 March 2013

Three Lovely Little Beach Huts

Only a very short post from me this evening. I really must try to have a break from all the altered projects I am making , or I will forget how to make cards - lol. But I just couldn't resist decorating another fabulous  MDF kit designed by those clever Candy Box Crafts guys (and available from by Pink Tulip).
 
The Everyday Moments paper collection by Teresa Collins was simply perfect for this project. The muted yellow and blues toned beautifully with the cream and navy and conjured up lots of happy seaside memories from when I was a young girl.
 
I used three push pins (that were coloured with a Midnight Blue Promaker) to make door handles and added a co-ordinating Craftwork Cards Candi to make the door knobs. The door decorations came from a sheet of Matching Teresa Collins 3d stickers and a little pale blue Ric-Rac was added around the door frames.
 
Hope you like it - Happy Crafting xx


Tuesday 19 March 2013

Distress Ink Storage

Over the past few weeks, I have been growing more and more frustrated with the way I have been  storing my TH Distress Inks. I had two boring plastic storage tubs on a shelf, and could never remember which tub stored which colours (it must be sign I  am getting old).
 

So you can imagine how happy I was when I walked into Pink Tulip, my lovely local craft shop and discovered that they are now selling self assembly Distress Ink storage kits. I am sure that everyone at Pink Tulip has psychic powers as they always seem to know what I want, without me having to say a word. The fabulous kits are designed and produced by Candy Box Crafts (two extremely talented craftsmen) here in the UK. (link to their website on the right of this blog). The kits are made from quality MDF and have been specially designed to fit Distress Inks and Adirondack style inks perfectly.


The kits all come with full instructions and fit together like a dream, due to the precision laser cutting of all the pieces.
 
The Distress Ink kit holds 40 ink pads and the Adirondack kit holds 32 ink pads. The size of finished storage kit is approx 16.5 inches wide, by 7 inches tall, by 3.25 inches deep and they have two small keyholes in the back so that they can be wall mounted. Both kits are the same overall size so are easily stackable. (Price of each kit is £14.95 - plus £2.50 P&P if you don't live local to the shop)
As I said earlier, the kits fit together beautifully due to the precision laser cutting of all the pieces and are simply glued together with PVA wood glue. As I have all 48 current Distress Inks, I bought two Distress Ink kits, and adapted the second one slightly so that it holds the rest of my Distress inks along with my small collection of Memento/Versamark & Adirondack ink pads. I have uploaded a few piccies below so you can see how I decorated them: 

 
 
 
I kept the decoration quite simple, I used white acrylic paint to cover the exposed edges, then used a couple of sheets of Prima 12 x12 paper from the fabulous new "Hello Pastel" Collection, to decorate the sides and the top. I left the back of the units blank as the back will be hidden once wall mounted. But if you plan to have a free standing unit, then there is nothing to stop you decorating the back too. 
 





As you can see I even have room to store a few blender tools and a few more ink pads, when I get the urge to buy some more. I am really pleased with my new storage and wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone. Pink Tulip are now offering mail order on their kits. If you click on the link on the right of my blog it will take you to their website. If you then click on "New Products" you will find details of all the fabulous kits they have on offer. If you can't see the kit you want, then please feel free to give them a call or send them an email as they will be more than happy to assist you.
Happy Crafting xx
 

 
                                                                                            

Tuesday 12 March 2013

DCWV - Mariposa Collection Mini Album

While having one of my regular sort outs I came across a half used 5 x 7 DCWV Mariposa collection card stack. I still can't bear to cut into my 12 x12 version but decided to use up the 5 x 7 and make a mini album. I'm not quite sure if it is finished as yet .... but here are a few pictures of what I have done so far .... hope you like it!

 
 
  



      
 

Wednesday 6 March 2013

Graphic 45 - BirdSong Collection


 
 
Those that know me, will already be aware that I am a huge Graphic 45 fan. I bought the Bird Song collection a while ago and have finally got around to making my first mini album (9 x 6) with it. It was a bit scary, as I almost didn't want to cut into any of the beautiful papers ... anyway having been totally inspired by Clare Charvill who is one of the amazing design team members for Graphic 45, I took a deep breath and came up with this ......... hope you like it, Happy Crafting. xx
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Tuesday 5 March 2013

Alphabet Challenge - Letter M

 
It's challenge time once again over at the Craft Barn, this time it is the letter M, but the word had to come from the MA to ME section of the dictionary. I chose the word: Map. I also used a few inks on a couple of old map pages - picked the Lake District maps as it's one of my favourite places to visit.

Monday 4 March 2013

Fabulous Shoes ...

Yesterday I did something I thought I would never do ... I bought my first ever crafting cd rom "Fabulous Shoes" by Katy Sue Designs.
 
 Having seen the cards on display at a crafting event I attended yesterday. I felt I just had to buy it.
 
Now I know there are crafting purists out there, who will say that crafting cd's are not real crafting, well, I simply don't care ... I love all of the stunning images on the cd, they come coloured or plain so that you can colour your own, there are toppers of different shapes and sizes, decoupage sheets, matching papers, additional embellishments and templates for some lovely cards and model shoes. I have had great fun making the first card and can't wait to make the rest ... (I have a friend who adores shoes so am going to make her a selection of cards & notelets.)
 
 I will post some more photos once I have made them - Happy Crafting xx 
 


 

 

 
 


Sunday 3 March 2013

Stix 2 - Die-cuts, Foils, Glitter, Adhesive and Sparkly Acetate

This week I received a bumper selection of new products from Stix 2: die cut flowers, sparkly acetate sheets, double sided adhesive sheets, glue sticks, glue dots, iridescent glitter and a fab pen storage bag (to list but a few)
 
I used the die cut flowers, foils, sparkly acetate sheets and a selection of adhesives to make the arrangement shown below. The flower die cuts were covered in the new range of funky Stix 2 foils. The centres of the flowers were made with my (pink) Stix 2 glue gun, which once cooled were coloured with mica powders and attached to the flowers with Stix 2 glue dots. I used the sparkly adhesive acetate sheet to make extra petals and also covered a piece of black card in it, to disguise the jar the flowers are sitting in.
 
 
These roses were made using 3 of the Stix 2 flower die cuts (for each rose) and cutting and rolling the petals into shape. The edges of the petals were lightly covered in tacky glue and then dipped into the iridescent glitter to add a touch of sparkle. The foliage was die cut using a Memory Box die.


This arangement is my favorites as it is so cheery. The flower die cuts were coloured with Promarkers and then just folded and glued into the shape of daffodils and narsicus. I used some of the sparkly adhesive acetate on the orange petals of the narsisus and a touch of orange stickles in the centres. On all of the arrangements I used fresh green crushed glass glitter from Stampendous to disguise the grey florists foam that the flowers were pushed into to keep them in place.



Hope you like them as much as me. Happy Crafting xx