More Xmas Cards for 2017

These  5 x5 cards were made with a Tonic die, (really sorry I cant remember the name of it!) and a few more buttons from my stash.

And so the Xmas 2017 preparations begin

I am back on a mission to use up as much of my stash as I can, and this time it was my buttons I turned to.

These 5 x5 cards were made using buttons from my stash, a very affordable stamp (£1) and 4 x 4 paper pad from the Range.

I also managed to use up a few of the HUGE stash of peel offs I have amassed over the years!

Set of Cards for a Cat Lover

I spotted a set of cat stickers in the Range a few weeks back (£1 for a sheet) and knew they would make a perfect set of cards  for a friend of mine that adores cats.

The 5 x5 cards are the simplest I have ever made, just a sticker matted/layered onto some white (and then black card stock.)

I'm back!

After a long absence, I am back in blogging mode!

I'm starting off with a set of 7 x7 cards made with the Die'sire Create A Card Tea Party die.
These are such an intricate die I was a little nervous to cut them out, but having recently purchased a Gemini I need not have worried - the die cut perfectly in a single pass!

The white die cuts were simply matted onto a selection 6 x 6 Capsule Element papers from the Papermania and white card stock. Liquid Pearls in White Opal was used to highlight the centre of some of the flowers and Stardust Stickles was used on the edges of the card stock.

Hope you like them as much as I do!

Mini Bath Bomb Gift Box Tutorial

Forgive me readers, it has been months since I last uploaded a blog ...  so here is a quick photo tutorial to show you how to make a gift box for those mini bath bombs you can get these days, The box in this tutorial will hold 3 mini bath bombs .

1. Take a piece of card stock that measures 4 7/8 inches by 5 1/4 inches. Along the shorter side score at 1 1/8, ,2 1/4, 3 3/8 and 4 1/2 inches

2. Along the longer side, score at 1 1/8, 4 1/8 and 5 1/4 inches

3) remove the two small section as shown below

4) Cut 4 pieces of patterned paper 2 7/8 by 1 inch and 2 pieces 1 inch square

 5) Attach the long paper strips to the cardstock as shown

6) Using an punch or a die, cut out a small aperture in the bottom section

7) place glue (or red line tape) on the narrow tab and stick the sides of your box together

8) seal one end of your box (with glue or strong tape) put your 3 bath bombs inside your box

9) seal the other end of your box, and attached the small squares of decorative paper

10) Decorate however you like

Country View Crafts Challenge - Spring

The Country View Crafts Challenge theme for April 2016  is "Spring". This is entry number 1.

I used a selection of die cut flower shapes and fashioned them into daffodils and narcissi. The stems were made from wooden bbq skewers covered in green florists tape. I used florist foam pushed into an old candle jar to make a small vase and decorated it in striped paper and added a simple bow.

Country View Craft Challenge - Industrial

The Country View Crafts Challenge theme for March 2016  is "Industrial". This is entry number 1

I used a mdf (working) clock kit from Candy Box Crafts and covered it in brick effect paper from Kaisercraft.I then went to town with lots of industrial looking metal and die cut embellishments.The faux copper piping was made from some large drinking straws painted with Indigo Blue copper paint. Was really pleased with how this turned out, not my usual style at all! 

Country View Crafts Challenge - Make Your Own Background Entry 2

The CVC Challenge theme for February 2016  is "Make Your Own Background". Entry  2

This 6 x6 card was made using the marbling technique and some Visible Image stamps.

Country View Crafts Challenge - Make Your Own Background

The CVC Challenge theme for February 2016  is "Make Your Own Background". Entry 1

This 6 x6 card was made using various masks, Dylusion Spray inks with some fabulous stamps by Lavinia Stamps.

Candy Box Crafts - Castle Keep Money Boxes

I've had a lovely crafty weekend, decorating a couple of Castle Keep Money Boxes by those very talented guys at Candy Box Crafts.

These money box kits come in flat packed kit form and are made from mdf, in the UK (about 10 mins drive away from my house in Evesham), The kits come with instructions and fit together using the simple slot and tab method. It is a great little project for both young and old, and would make an excellent gift either decorated or in kit form.

The kit includes a plastic stopper for the base making the removal of any money really easy. The size of the money box is approximately 175mm x 102mm x 102 mm or for those in "old money" lol - 7.5 inches by 3.5 inches by 3.5 inches.

After assembling and gluing the kits together I began the fun of decorating them.

For the Pink Keep, I gave it a couple of coats of PaperArtsy's  acrylic paint in Candy Floss. I then glued some brick wall cardboard pieces  to the walls to give the keep a stone effect. These pieces were painted with the same paint and then Stardust Stickles was applied over the top. I added small dots of  perfect pearls around the door and windows Then finally I added some strips of adhesive pearls by Creative Expressions around the top and bottom perimeters.

For the Silver/Grey Keep, I used something completely different and something I had never used in my crafting before - FISH TANK GRAVEL.

I carefully glued individual pieces around the door and window frames  and allowed them to dry in place before covering the rest of the keep in gravel,  

After allowing the gravel and glue to dry thoroughly, I gave it if gave it a couple of coats of Indigo Blue's acrylic paint in Vodka Martini which again gave a very effective stone effect. 

Then for a bit of fun I added a small shield with the CBC logo on it, 

I can definitely imagine myself living in the girlie pink one as I have always wanted to be a Princess and I can imagine Roy from CBC living in the Silver Grey one, creating lots of wonderful kits for us all to play with. Hope you like them, please feel free to leave me a comment as I love to read them. - Happy Crafting.