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

Alphabet Challenge - Letter H

 Totally out of my comfort zone with this!  Not only did I play with my Dylusions, I also used a mask and some Perfect Pearl Mists (which are not that clear on the photo) ... am trying to be more adventurous with the Craft Barn challenge, but must say I am finding it really hard!

Little Surprise for the ATC Swap Group

I am looking after a small ATC Swap Group on Facebook, There are 13 members including myself  and the official swap begins in March. But as a little surprise for all the member I have made ATC's that I have sent out as a little welcome the group for this year.

I used some new crafty stash that I treated myself to from Stampin Up (my first ever  SU purchases) I used a heart embossing folder, a heart stamp, a heart die and the with love stamp that was a free gift with a magazine a while back. The backing paper was distressed with Victorian Velvet and everything was simply matted and layered onto the ATC.

 

My first venture into the world of SU!

As some of you may know I recently discovered Pinterest and a few weeks back I came across some stunning cards made with a hexagonal embossing folder by Stamping Up. I have resisted purchasing crafty items from SU until now, but I fell totally in love with this embossing folder. I placed an order through a lovely Face book friend and a few days later I received an envelope crammed with crafty goodness! Finally go around to playing with the embossing folder this evening and made this card.

 

I embossed some card stock in different shades of yellow and cut the hexagons out, and then stuck them to the white embossed card stock to resemble honey in a hive. I then stamped and coloured some bee images with a gold promarker and added a generous amount of glossy accents. While they were drying I used a memory box alphabet die to cut out the letters for the word "Believe" and hey presto a card was born xx

Alphabet Challenge - Letter E

Have had such a busy weekend craft-wise, that I didn't spend as much time as I would have liked on my alphabet challenge this time.

Simply found a lot of eye pictures, coloured them in and added glossy accents also added a photo of my eye. I will try harder next time Craft Barn ... I promise!!