Craft Room Helpers

I really need to get a start on my Christmas cards and get back to my normal level of crafting but my craft room keeps getting taken over by little helpers. 

Chilli & Pepper love climbing over all my craft bits, looking out the window and waiting to be stroked on my craft table. 

This weekend I'll tire them out and get cracking! I've also got a new bag to make too but card making will be first!

Crafty What Not's Floral Pavilion Subscription Box

A few weeks ago I received an email from Jenny from Jennysis asking if I'd like to review her new craft box, Crafty What Not's, and I jumped at the chance. I used to subscribe to Crafty Creatives but stopped after their birthday box as I like getting lots of different little bits and one or two kits rather than a box of just kits (I like doing my own thing). 

Last week my box arrived...on the same day as my iPhone 6. My sister waiting in for my phone at my flat and she was so excited when the Crafty What Nots box arrived and when I got in we opened it before my phone! 

It was refreshing to have a different sized box so you get better sized craft papers and lovely that the box had a personal feel, a bit like a friend had sent you a box of crafty presents. Everything was lovingly wrapped and there was so much attention to detail including a lovely handmade card which you could recreate yourself (I'd seen these on the Jennysis blog and thought these looked so sweet).

The theme of this box is floral pavilion but it's not overly floral in my opinion, it's very Cath Kidston.

When you open the box you have a list of what you get and an inspiration sheet which was packed with great ideas on what to make.
 
The box itself contained:

• Pattered paper/cardstock/canvas - 16 sheets of good quality thick paper/cardstock of which two of these were fabric/canvas style sheets. Some sheets had shiny accents, others were iridescent like centura pearl and lots were double sided.
• Card blanks with envelopes, two different sizes
• Flower stamp and acrylic mount
• Flower die cuts (matching the papers)
• Wooden/MDF butterflies
• Lots of gorgeous buttons
• Candi (faux legless brads - I've recently really got into these and these will be added to my collection)
• Two chalk ink pads
• Foam pads - great for use with the Candi (I don't really use small square foam pads and have so many from craft boxes but they are really useful)
• Instructions to make a handbag gift bag/box including a magnetic clasp 
• A personalised notepad (which was a lovely touch) 

I've not managed to make anything with this box so far (due to our cheeky little kittens) but I'm going to make some flowers (like the one below) with the Candi, and will be adding the buttons to my button collection and making some of the button cards on the Jennysis blog.

Each box is £12.50 plus P&P and the promise of products of at least £20 and each box will contain at least one papercraft project and other things such as jewellery making, sewing and other crafts. I think it is a good idea and the box itself is nice but I'm not sure I'd pay £12.50 for it especially when I have a lot of similar things already but it's great for people new to crafting and wanting to get a range of items to try. 

If you'd like to find out more or sign up for the boxes you can visit the Craft What Not's page here

Please note that I received this box free of charge in exchange for an honest review.

Makery - My New Favourite Craft Book!

A few weeks ago my husband and I went on holiday to Somerset and visited Bath (my favourite place). While walking around Bath (well.....while walking back to the car park at Waitrose from the Roman Baths) we went down Northumberland Place, and stopped for a little rest (walking around Bath with Muscular Dystrophy gets tiring). While having a little rest I suddenly got a boost of energy after seeing a craft shop in the distance....The Makery Emporium! 

The shop has a table in the middle with bowls full of buttons which draws you in. The shop stocks crafing 'ingredients' and has lots of lovely fabrics, ribbon, washi tapes and lots of other bits to make fabricy crafty projects. The shop is small but perfect as you can see everything easily. I brought some little metal heart tags to add to jewellery and craft projects. I wish they had a shop nearer to me as they do small quantities of things so if you want one button to cover with fabric you can buy just that, or just one button.

We went back to the holiday cottage and I searched online for craft shops in Bath to find out the name of the shop to tell my Mum and found that they also have a workshop where they do craft workshops on things such as lampshade making, cushion making and many other crafts. My Mum and I are definitely thinking of planning a trip to Bath at some point and doing one of these workshops (any excuse to go to Bath). 

When I got back home I found that The Makery had a book coming out and was really interested as I love making things especially on my sewing machine. I then found that my Mum and Dad were going to Bath the same week the book was being released and my Mum kindly phoned up and ordered me a copy to pick up when she was in Bath. I'm so glad I preordered mine as The Makery were on Dragons Den the week of the book launch which lead to a huge rush on the book. When pre-ordering the book from The Makery were offering a free gift of ribbon, however when my Mum picked up my book it didn't come with any but she was offered a fat quarter of fabric and chose a lovely blue fabric with strawberries on (very Cath Kidston-esq). I actually prefer this to ribbon but no idea what to use it for as it's so nice and don't want to jump into any projects and use it all up.

I got the book earlier this week and it is amazing. It covers a wide range of crafts and has lots of lovely projects from glasses cases and jewellery to floor rugs and slippers. The crafts in this book range from knitting, machine sewing, crochet, paper craft and even a shrink plastic project.

The best thing about this book is that it comes with full size patterns in the back of the book - no need to photocopy and enlarge or download and print out on reems of paper (like some other craft/sewing books), all you need is some tracing paper or similar (I used some parchment paper I had hanging around for one of the projects).

The instructions are easy to follow and the book suggests alterations you can make and more ideas, such as on the fabric keyrings the designs used are initials with an alphabet included on the pattern sheet however they suggest looking for other alphabets or designs and suggest a larger seam allowance when using other designs which is really helpful.

I made a 'L' keyring for my sister with some off cuts of fabric I had in my fabric stash. I did also try and make a 'S' for myself but my attempt was rubbish as I sewed it incorrectly but will be trying again and taking my time and ensuring I sew it correctly (it was my fault, not the books). I changed the design of the 'L' slightly as the image in the book was of a lower case L which I thought looked more like an 'I' so I added the bottom line in. It was a really quick and easy pattern to follow for the L and I'm going to try and make a hedgehog shapped keyring next with some brown tweed type material I have.

This book is great for someone either new to crafting or who wants to widen their crafting skills as it doesn't repeat skills so if you can't crochet or knit (or don't want to, as it has tutorials in the back for crochet and knitting) you are not going to find there are lots of things you can't make. It's much better than wanting to try a craft, buying a book solely on that skill then finding you can't pick it up and then the book ends up gathering dust on the bookshelf.

I'm looking forward to making the bag and coasters in the next and really want to make the double knitted rug. 

Amazon lets you see some example pages from the book so go and check it out at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Makery-Over-Projects-Home-Wear/dp/1845337042/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

I really wish they had a store nearer to me (although you can buy online) so I could go to all the Workshops. If I had a craft shop it would be just like this!

Happy Crafty Saturday!

Just having a little break for some lunch and then back in the study for a bit more crafting this afternoon.

Today I've started to make a 'new home' card for my Brother-in-Law as he is getting his flat soon and I just couldn't think of a manly card to make him but then had an idea while eating my peanut butter covered bagel this morning.......SHRINK PLASTIC!!!! I've made a little doodly house and cut out 'new home' in the shrink plastic too. As the house was quite big (1/2 A4 before shrinking) it stuck to itself while shrinking and after burning my fingers trying to sort it I gave up and started another one but this time dusted it with talc which prevented it from sticking and I now have a perfect shrunken house!

I'm also making some birthday cards this afternoon for birthdays coming up and.....a first for me......using crafting CD's to print out bits for some cards too!

I recently brought two CDs from Fee J (you may know her from Jammi Panda which has been on Create and Craft TV). I purchased Magical Dreams:

A cute CD ROM full of amazing, colourful full of Unicorns, Angels and Moonbeams that will bring your card making & scrapbooking to life. Decoupage & embellishments sheets teamed together with coordinating backing papers and inserts in landscape & portrait orientaitions, t bag tiles, 3D frames, coordinating png ribbons, bows, lace borders and alphabets, plus a whole host of assorted toppers for your crafting pleasure.


And I purchased Love Be Mine

An amazing CD Rom, Cute quirky characters, teamed with some generic papers and embellishments that coordinate with the characters, perfect for creating a host of Romantic cards for Romantic occasions like Valentines Day, Engagement, Weddings even just cutsie friendship cards and more. Great for cardmaking and scrapbooking.

If you want to purchase either CD pop over to http://www.feej.co.uk the CD's can be used on both Macs and PCs and you can print straight from the disk, nothing to install and no need to use a crafting programme! 

I still also have my Hedgehog Gardens Adventures CD which I've not printed from yet either! I've got my Nenah cards at the ready....just have to sort out the printer as I think the inks have dried up a bit from not being used!

Have a lovely weekend!

 

My First Craft Card Makes

I recently found this photo of some of the first cards I made after taking up card making. These were made in the days between my birthday on 9th April, and my wedding on 12th April this year. My husbands (then fiance's) family brought me a few card making kits which were lovely as it took my mind off of worrying about wedding plans! (and shut me up about talking about the wedding and annoying Lee)

A lot has changed since then, not just my last name! I moved my crafting from the kitchen table (pictured above) into the study after I started taking over the living room...boxes full of Crafty bits under the chair in the living room, Big Shot at the side of the sofa and cutting mat up against the other side of the sofa! My sewing machine and box still lives in the living room but that's hidden away.

Once I've tidied the study up after Christmas, and hopefully get more storage, I will post some photos of the study/craft room.

I'm also hoping to get the Ultimate Pro from Crafters Companion so I can craft away from the study if I want to (and let Lee play his guitars in the study)

Quick little make - box using pretty patterned paper and new paper trimmer

This is a little box which I made using the papers from a kit I got last month. I made it really to test out my new Purple Cow trimmer and guillotine. It is currently housing the Christmas embellishments from Let's Make Cards. (the celotape is not attached to the box, just used it in the picture to show the edging round the bottom of the box

First make with my Crafty Creatives Box Using The Wooden Bunting #CCbox2

While making my nautical bracelet I had an idea for the wooden bunting triangles. I have some scraps of Cath Kidston material and some gingham scraps so I decided to cover my triangles in material and once dry will use my Marianne Design cupcake dies or flower dies to put material or paper designs on the front.

 

To begin with I took one triangle and put a layer of Copydex on one side of the triangle

 

Next I put the material over the glued triangle and smoothed the material out. It may be worth ironing creased material first to ensure a smooth finish. Be prepared to get sticky fingers as the glue will come through a little.

 

 I then turned the triangle over and glued round the edges

To ensure smooth corners I tucked each corner in and then applied more glue. As you can see this was a scrap bit of material but you could cut your material so it has straight lines.

Next I folded in the sides and smoothed down (again its very messy so be warned and have a cloth on standby to clean off any glue on your fingers so you don't get it everywhere)

And ta-da, 1 completed material covered triangle

I did two more triangles in different material (the flower material is Cath Kidston) and left to dry. 

At the weekend I'll get the Sizzix out and put a design on them. As you can see the triangles had holes drilled in so they could be hung and once the glue has dried I will put the material though to make the holes again.

Very pleased with these as I had a moment of inspiration! Not sure where they will go but they look very pretty

My Snow White Stamp Arrived!

While looking in the In2Crafting blog I saw a few years ago someone made a snow white card with a really cute stamp and I went on the hunt to find one myself!

This morning a parcel from Norway arrived and I've been stamping and colouring ever since!

How cool is this stamp!

A quick trip to my local craft store turned into two visits!

I went to visit my local craft store yesterday, In2Crafting in Wickford, Essex, for a few bits for my Christmas cards. I'm not making my Christmas cards just yet but wanted to get the design finalised so I know what I'm doing (and don't end up buying more and more Christmas dies when I won't be using them). 

I went with my sister and brought some textured brown card for my reindeer's body (the rough design was just white card coloured with promarkers), sequin dots for his nose, card blanks, Marianne Designs dies (Merry Christmas and Seasons Greetings), and some other little bits. We came back home then remembered we wanted some card toppers and also remembered seeing some Christmas toppers which I was wishing I'd brought.....so we went back!

I love In2Crafting as their items are really well priced, it's not too big there and the staff are always on hand to help if you need assistance. I'd had my eye on the Marianne Designs Merry Christmas set but was looking at paying nearly £8 for them, but in the store they were just under £7!

Must now use what I've brought and not go on a spending spree again! (even though my second visit cost me only £4). 

I do still need some other Christmas dies for my parents Christmas cards and for my sisters cards but I'm waiting until we find something we really like rather than just buy things for the sake of it.

Having just searched for In2Crafting online, I've just found they have a blog! Why not head over and pay them a visit http://in2crafting.blogspot.co.uk/

Crafting Adhesives - Updated

I've only recently started crafting, starting with my wedding invites which I started making around Christmas time and I started off with using glue sticks, foam pads and doubles-sided tape.

Foam pads are great for sticking card toppers on cards and decoupage but I always end up with the little square of backing paper getting everywhere! Also I've found that if I have just coloured in a die cut, I have to wait for it to completely dry or the tabs don't seem to stick.

Glue sticks are ok (ie like the pritt stick type) but I find that I need to have a bit of paper under so that I can go over the sides if not the paper/card does not stick down properly and also the sticks seem to dry to quick and don't stick down properly onto cards.

Double-sided tape was my favourite but it doesn't seem to permanently hold and also gets stuck to scissors really easily.

I then went onto trying tacky glue from Hobbycraft. I brought this for when I was making cardboard camera stands for our wedding (which we put business cards in asking people to upload their photos to flickr). This glue is good but does take a bit of time to dry or drys really quickly when you don't want it to. I also find that as it's wet, it makes the card/paper curl which can be really annoying.  I suppose it would help if I got a glue spreader, not just squeezing a little on the thing I want to stick.

Recently while watching QVC craft shows and Ideal World Create and Craft, they seem to use roller glue a lot. I have thought about signing up to the Ideal World Create and Craft Club, and saw they did these glue rollers, but I have problems with items coming via couriers rather than Royal Mail as they can't get to our postbox to leave a 'sorry you were out' card, or they can't re-deliver for weeks. I ended up buying a 'Stick It' permanent adhesive roller via eBay for just under £2. It came yesterday and I've used it on a few cards and while packaging up the die cutters I sold on eBay. It is very easy to use and not messy (unless to slip and end up gluing the wrong thing, or the table instead, and then its a bit hard to remove).

I'm looking to possible buy the gel glue tubes next which I've seen on Create and Craft. These look like a great mess-free alternative to the foam pads as they can give a bit of height from what I've seen and would also be easier to use on more intricate cut outs where the foam pads are too big. Until then I think I'll mostly be using my roller for big items and tiny dots of tacky PVA for more fiddly items.

Update...

Have given in and am purchasing silicone glue! I've found 1 Create & Craft tube with nozzle from eBay and will see how it goes before buying more. I've seen many people moan about the smell of these glues and there are odour free ones on the market but will see how this one is (ie if it gives me a migraine it's going in the bin). For £1 it's not bad.

The roller glue worked great for packing up eBay sells and attaching the printable postage (a first time trying that too). It doesn't seem to like my cards much though as I am currently using textured cards, not smooth ones.

My First Makes on my Sizzix Big Shot

I received my Sizzix Big Shot on Wednesday morning, but unfortunately had lots to do so didn't get to play with it until later in the day for a short while, but had a proper play with it yesterday morning.

I brought a second hand Big Shot on eBay with some die cutters included. The one thing I would say is to be careful when buying Sizzlets second hand, or as part of a bundle as the ones I got were not smooth on the spongey background so left a pattern on the pieces I cut so they weren't smooth. This isn't a biggy though as the Sizzlets were a nappy pin and a bouquet of flowers (which are a bit abstract....you can't really tell what they are).

At the same time as buying the Big Shot I brought 2 Marianne Designs die cutter sets, a cupcake and a flower (shown above). With these I made the below cutouts.

It was only while showing my husband these that he said he thought that the cupcake would have the patterns on as shown on the dies. I was a bit confused to but after looking online found that I needed an embossing mat for these type of dies and purchased one from ebay. It came yesterday and I'm getting much better results now! Just have to remember to cut first and THEN emboss as I did it the other way, forgetting it wouldn't cut it out and had to then fiddle getting the paper and die to line up. The embossing mat I purchased was £8 and does not need extra card to thicken the 'sandwich' up so it's much easier to use.

You may notice in the background of the photo a very heavily used cutting mat. The Big Shot I purchased came with 3 cutting mats, 2 heavily used and 1 new mat. This was due to one of the ladies original mats shattering so she brought a new set and just used one new one and an old one. I have purchased another set of mats as the old ones look like they're going to break at any moment, but I did pick up a great tip online. I found that it was hard to lay the dies and card easily on the mats before cutting as both plates were warped, but a video online said to use a new mat on the bottom and never to use it on the top as the bottom plate will then not warp and also not get scratched! This means the mats/plates will last much longer.

I also received my GlossyBox yesterday and after packing away my items, I used the packaging to make the below flower!

The pale pink back petals are from the information card, the smaller petals are from the tissue paper the items are wrapped in, and the GlossyBox logo button was from the information card. (I was still using two warped plates/cutting mats, so the card slipped while going through the Big Shot so it wasn't perfectly in line).

I am going to have a massive Big Shot day over the Jubilee Bank Holiday I think! I purchased another die yesterday of a hedgehog, and holographic and glitter card from Home Bargains (79p for 16 holographic sheets and 79p for 6 glitter sheets!).

Now off to make Sunday dinner! Not sure I really want to in this heat but it'll be nice once cooked.