A New Range of Papers

I have recently been introduced to a new paper range by a company called Pion Design.

Pion Design is a manufacturer of high quality scrapbooking papers made in Sweden. Their unique paper collections are of a timeless design with a romantic and vintage feeling.
The standards of Pion Design are impeccable, and have been designed with attention to every little detail.

Pion Design has a true passion for paper crafting and their main goal is to provide crafters with inspiring products along with endless possibilities.

link to the Pion website:  http://piondesign.se/paper-collections/

Here are the cards I have made so far with just two of their beautiful 12 x12 papers - hope you like them xx

 

 

Graphic 45 - " Magic of Oz" Zig Zag Album

With all the fabulous new Graphic 45 collections that have been (and are soon to be) released this year, I have set myself a little challenge to try and use up some of the older collections that I have previously just sat and stroked.

So having watched yet another one of Clare Charvill's totally inspiring You Tube videos (huge congratulations by the way to Clare for making it onto the Graphic 45 DT for another year.) I decide to use up some of the Magic of Oz 12 x12 collection on this simple zigzag album. (also inspired by one of Clare's easy to follow tutorials)

I used some of the new G45 kraft tags (in regular & large) and simply changed the colour with a black Promarker - love these tags and am going to buy some more as I can see me using them a lot.

Hope you like it, it is the first zigzag style album I have made, but definitely wont be the last. Hope you enjoy looking at the photos.

Happy crafting
xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

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

 

 

                                                                                            

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!

 

 

  

      

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

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 

 

 

 

 

 



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

A Little Jar of Mojo

Are any of you like me, sometimes I can craft like mad then all of a sudden my crafting mojo completely disappears, and not even a good mooch through Pinterest or You Tube helps. Well I think I have found the answer ..... a jar full of my favourite crafting mojo ideas.

All you will need is an empty jar ( I have used a large YC jar)
and some large ice lolly sticks (or tongue depressors - box of 100 for £1.49 at Boots) a few scraps of coordinating paper and some ribbon.

To make the jar label I used a couple of Spellbinders dies (Labels 25 and Fancy Tags 2) and a Memory Box alphabet die.

Label was simply matted/layered and attached to the jar with tacky glue.

I then set about covering the sticks in paper (the sticks were half an inch wide so it was easy to cut strips to fit with my paper trimmer) I then distressed all the edges with TH Victorian Velvet Distress ink.

I then chose a few of my favourite crafty pastimes and used the Memory Box alphabet die to cut out the letters for each stick. (If you wanted to make it a little easier on yourself - you could just print the words out and glue them onto your sticks)

I then used my Crop-a-dile to punch a hole in the end of each stick.

I threaded/tied pieces of co-ordinating ribbon through the holes in the sticks and added a couple of small Magnolia tags with more ribbon around the jar.

Hey presto ... I have a jar of mojo to choose from, when my mojo goes into hiding! 

Hope you like it as much as I do - Happy Crafting xx