Come rain or shine

Canvas Art

2011-03-18T07:55:00.000Z

I made this hinged mini canvas Triptych for my daughter who loves to dance. I used some of the techniques I found on the Tim Holtz Journey DVD.

Supplies Used

4 x 4 prepared canvas
Distress Inks
Versamark
Copper embossing powder
Grungepaper die cut with Tim Holtz Bigz dies and pre cut grungeboard shapes
Glossy accents
Charm
Flower made from fantasy fibre cut with tattered floral Bigz die
2 Small hinges
Beeswax

Technique

Sponge various colours of distress paint over the canvas including the edges. Wet a sponge but don't wring out and blend the colour over the canvas
lightly touch Versamark to the edges and heat emboss with copper powder to give a distress look
Brush with melted Beeswax all over to give a nice covering
colour the embellishments and coat with glossy accents, leave to dry - sprinkle with glitter or sparkle dust if you want at this stage
join the pieces with tiny hinges before you attach the embellishments
use Glossy accents to stick on the elements, flowers and charms
Display

You could always join the pieces with chain or similar and have them hanging down for a piece of wall art. Hope you like this it was fun to do x

Birds in cages

2011-03-14T11:24:00.005Z

The flowers are wired together to make a swag to drape over the cage. The bird inside is grungeboard which has been triple embossed to give it more substance. I used shrink plastic to make some smaller birds and buttterflies, drawn freehand and then I used glossy accents to make them shiny. I hung some charms and keys and also used the Tim Holtz birdcage die to make some tiny shrink plastic birdcages.

Configuration boxes. Painted with acrylic paint mixed with pearl lustre to give it a nice shine.

A frame with flowers and charm, Tim Holtz accents. Metal adhesive tape covers the box joins as I don't yet have any tissue tape. I made another swag of flowers for the top. I am still deciding whether to put the feet on or leave it to hang on the wall. The birdcages are charms and a necklace that I got online.
Ornamental border from grungepaper cut on the Cricut using the new Ornamental Iron Cart, inked and glossy accents.
Tiny birdbath is from a dolls house furniture collection.

I have gone a bit mad on the birdcage theme. It all started with a little cage for nightlights that I got in the charity shop. Then I went shopping and got some of the new Tim Holtz Configuration Boxes an dies that just came out.

Ornamental Iron

2011-03-14T11:14:00.003Z

I got my new Cricut Cart today called Ornamental Iron. It's amazing and I can see it getting a lot of use.

I couldn't resist making a book of some of the items the cart cuts for my own reference as the overlay is a bit small to see what your getting in some cases. I used my bind it all, some metal for the cover and a lot of hardware elements to finish it off.

The first card was for a friend who was going into hospital for surgery. I used the arch as a flower arbour and embellished with flowers and vines.

The second card is for my Mum for Mothers Day on a similar theme.

Noah's Birthday

2011-03-14T10:53:00.004Z

I went with a dinosaur theme for the party, most little boys like dinosaurs. This is his card, A3 It's cut with the Cricut Paperdolls cart .

My feeble attempt at a caveman :-(

I couldn't decide which cake I liked best so he had four!!

I saw these on the Martha Stewart site and adore the idea of little piggies and lambs cupcakes

I can't believe my Grandson is 3!! Where did that time go to. He is the joy of my life and I had a gret time getting his party ready. I wanted to share some images of the Card, food and birthday cake. we had a fantastic time, lots of games and a finale of fireworks. Quote of the day which he said to his Great Granma, my mum, was " isn't this food fantastic, but I don't like it" Bless him he is going through a stage with food :-( I spoilt his favourite Salmon Mousse by garnishing it with cress, he doesn't "do" green food...lol

Last minute Christmas stuff

2010-12-14T07:25:00.009Z

I had such a hit with these last year I made some more for the friends who missed out last year. They are easy to do once you have gathered all the provisions you need. They look impressive but are a good gift as you can do them to whatever budget your pocket allows.

You need the following to make them-

Christmas (or other) Mugs
Candy canes
chocolate drink sachets
chocolate coins and sweets
Spoons (found these cute santa ones so added them)
tissue paper
good heavy cardstock for the boxes
cellophane - florists or online
ribbons, tags and pipe cleaners make excellent ties

for the box to package them Christmas - up some boxes you already have or use a simple base pattern HERE

I think I am being renamed the "Cellophane Queen" as its my favourite choice of paper to wrap gifts as it looks so festive and impressive :-)

Wrapped finished gifts

Tags made using my Cricut using the Snowfriends and Winter Woodland cartridges
Baby choices, sadly I couldn't get Christmas "sippy" cups and substituted Christmas bootees, gloves and toys for the drink sachets

My crafty head seems to be returning thank goodness and I need it to as I plan to develop my classes and tutorials for next year, what I planned for this house move all along. The dedicated craft room for classes remains a distant dream but I will use the resources I have and try to get started. Its nearly the end of another year, where has the time gone too? Its not been the best of years, what with the recession, a list of health issues etc. I won't be sorry to see a new one.

10 days to go :-) xx

Chocolate Chip Cookies in Baskets

2010-10-26T20:16:00.002+01:00

Placed in decorated cellophane bags, I also placed them in zip-locks to keep them fresh till I give them away.

Made these for the older kids!! who can resist chocolate biscuits, worth making them just for the wonderful smell the house is infused with after the baking :-)

Recipe - makes about 30 (depending on size)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

9oz plain flour

3 oz Cocoa powder

8 oz margarine (block/hard)

4 oz caster sugar

4 oz light brown sugar

1/4 cup of milk

chocolate chips

sprinkles

Blend the sugar and margarine till well creamed, add the milk and blend again. Mix in the flour, cocoa and chocolate chips. Place teaspoons of mixture well spaced on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake 10-12 mins Gas 4 180 c/350 f

Cool on the trays. Melt chocolate and spread on each biscuit and sprinkle with Halloween colour sprinkles. Bag when they are totally cold.

enjoy xx

Halloween baskets and Toffee Apples

2010-10-25T23:42:00.009+01:00

I made these to hand out over Halloween. The are really easy, I designed them with my cricut but you could do it by hand or with a cutter. It is a circle as large as you can cut from a 12" x 12" piece of paper, draw a small circle in the centre and then use a cup, sellotape roll etc to mark a rounded line from the outer edge of the inner circle to the outer edge of the big cirle at even spaces round the shape. Cut along these lines, the inner circle represents the base of the basket so don't cut inside of it. ***look at the bottom of this post to see the cut file photo, it may help you understand these instructions with a visual aid to look at.***

Cut them out of pattern paper for the outside and plain card this makes the inside. Fill with some shredded cellophane and lots of sweets. Wrap the whole thing in a large piece of cellophave and secure with a ribbin bow and a tag.
Bring each section round so the point is inside and punch a small hole and secure with a brad, work round till you have the basket base.

Cut 2 strips of paper 12" long and about 1 1/2" wide. On one strip use an edge punch both sides to make a fancy strip, I used Martha Stewarts Drippy Goo punch as it looks like blood! then secure this to the plain piece. Attach each end to the basket again with brads. I cut some Halloween shapes, Bats, Cats and Pumkins to cover the brads but you don't have to.

The finished gift

Now for the toffee apples, mine are simple just sugar and patience! Prepare the apples by washing and drying well. Put the sticks in but don't push to far you don't want them poking out the top. Place on a baking sheet on a piece of lightly oiled parchment paper. Now your ready to make the toffee.

Put a load of sugar into a pan (about 1/2 a pound for 6 apples) it will depend on the size of the apples so no precise measures here. Put it onto a medium heat and wait, shake and tilt the pan occasionally so the sugar does not burn. DO NOT STIR WITH A SPOON. First you will get a lumpy look like this

as it begins to turn you will see lumps plus some nice caramel beginning to form, remember NO stirring!!

In about 20 mins it will all be dissolved and the toffee is ready to use, it looks like this. Turn off the heat but leave pan on the stove

Take an apple at a time and dip it into the caramel twisting it till its covered, allow excess to drain back into the saucepan and them place the apple onto the oiled paper. Leave to cool, about 5 mins then wrap in cellophane and secure with ribbon and a tag

Left over toffee can be poured over some nuts, when cool break into pieces and put into bags

I also tried some on bananas but it didn't work, the bananas won't hold the toffee and you end up with a mess :-( still tasted good though :-)
Use stamps to make some tags for your apples

Use small card bags filled with mini marshmallows and decorated with stickers to put in your baskets

Baskets crammed with goodies

Wrap them in lots of cellophane and tie, all ready for a lucky child to take home
I made a few cards to send as well. I used my Cuttlebug, papers, stickers and ribbon to make these.
Cute spider sliders, for my Grandson Noah and Baby George

The cut file is listed below (hope this works)

n.b. If you use this file please hide semi circle contours as shown in this picture (the small half moons) right click them and choose hide selected contour. The curved lines need a little extra cutting in places.

Halloween Basket Cut file

Autumn Craft Fair is here

2010-09-24T19:45:00.006+01:00

So after months of work my friend and I are finally ready for the Fair on Saturday. We have beaded for England and now have a nice selection to offer on the two days of this event. I took a few photo's of some of it set up on the "dry run" If I have time I will take some more tomorrow at the event of the final table before we start.

We decided on the name "Poppycrafts" as we love poppies - the flowers, her cat is called poppy and we love to craft...simples!!! :-)

Things we have made include, Charm bracelets, memory wire necklaces, bracelets and rings, Thong necklaces, beaded snowflakes, wine glass charms, key and phone charms and lots more.

Lets hope the sun shines to bring people out to shop. xx

New Baby

2010-09-12T21:37:00.005+01:00

We also had a new arrival to the family this week. My partner’s nephew and his wife had a new baby girl so it gave me the chance to have a go at a Nappy (Daiper) Cake and Wreath for them as a gift. These are so much fun to make and you can find instructions very easily if you “Google” it

For the Cake, I used new born size nappies rolled and placed inside a ring of card which I made with my Cricut. I cut using Storybook Font as its just so pretty for a new baby girl. I cut the name out of one piece and matted it onto another colour then stuck the letters in the gaps in a contrast paper. I cut some ducks and bootess with the New Arrival Cart and used a lot of ribbon to dress it up.

I found sticky foam tape was strong enough to hold it together without spoiling the nappies so they can still be used.

Bibs, flannels,bootees, a hat, spoons and a teddy complete the decoration. The base is a standard 9” cake board. If you want to wrap it in cellophane you can get it in most florists who are happy to sell you a couple of metres and I also used a florist pull bow to finish.

The Wreath is also made with nappies. Open them and wrap them over a foam/polystyrene ring then tie the top of each one with ribbon to hold it. Work round till you have filled the ring. I placed a teether in the centre and spoons, mittens etc also tied on with ribbon. The stork is from New Arrival Cart cut at 9” on the Cricut from Sparkly Sweet Paper by K and Co as are the ducks. I used small pieces of foam tape again to assemble it and made a ribbon loop to hang it on the nursery wall.

The card is made from Sparkly Sweet papers by K and Co layered with silver mirror card. The pram and words are from Celebrations and New Arrival Cricut carts and I used a border punch for the edge. A butterfly finishes it off. I cut some tiny prams to go inside for the insert.

Thanks for looking

Birthday and more

2010-09-12T21:34:00.002+01:00

Well it’s been a busy 2 weeks for me, my birthday, my nephew and his girlfriend’s, my sisters 25^th Silver Wedding Anniversary and Mum and Dad’s Wedding Anniversary. Can’t believe I forgot to take a photo of the cards I made for them all. Here is the one I did remember

My sister’s anniversary card

Basic Grey papers and my Cricut to cut out the wording and glasses, same for my nephews birthday card.

Exam congrats

2010-08-26T16:30:00.002+01:00

Well its been a while but I was asked to make a couple of cards for some very clever youngsters who just did very well in their exams. Here is the result :-) I used my Cricut, after cleaning off the dust!! and Alphalicious cart for the lettering, Basic Grey and cardstock and an edge punch to make these cards. A few gems finished them off.

I have not been idle though, my friend and I are having a table at a local craft event and we have been busy doing mainly jewellery items so I will be posting some of the finished items here some time soon. We have made inexpensive things which will hopefully make nice "stocking gifts", sorry but its not long now till its Christmas again :-( We have made a selection of hair adornments, bracelets, necklaces and charm bracelets and a few other things too. We aimed to make them to suit all pockets financially so I hope its a successful day.

TFL

Guitar Card

2010-05-05T06:33:00.005+01:00

Hi, well its now May where is this year going to!! The month of birthdays is here, in our family its a nonstop round of cards and cakes in May with my partner, daughter, sister etc, all having birthdays and being considerate enough to be within a few days of each other :-( plus those of other friends.... I long for good weather so we can have a "do" outdoors and the kids can make as much mess as they like. True to form the rain has started this week and will no doubt continue till the day after I need it to be fine. Enough gibbering, here's a card for my "OH", a wanna be "Eric Clapton" man (or any other great guitarist)

Card stock:

Rusty Pickles - Brass Knuckles - Jam Session RP807, its black with the guitar and swirl in silver mirror finish, hard to see in the photo
Glitz double sided 12" x 12" paper- Angst Guitars - A2972. www.glitzitnow.com
Guitars cut from grey Core'dinations 12" x 12" cardstock

How handy when they have the details on a little strip..lol and how good that I managed to find them amongst my paper stash as I bought them some time ago :-)

Guitars inside cut with Indie Art Cricut cartridge on the Cricut Expression
clear sheet music stamp and greeting stamp
Distress Ink Faded Jeans for the edges of the cut-out guitars
Sakura glaze pen (greeting inside)
Silver embossing powder
Copper metal corner embellishments
green fine wire to make the strings ( badly !!) would use cotton it would be tighter and look better if I did one again.
double sided tape

Its such a basic card I will not insult you with instructions. Hope you like it
xxx

Inspired

2010-04-15T21:55:00.003+01:00

I was inspired to try this by the article in Craft Stamper this month by Sue Roddis. My friend had the stamps which she kindly brought round for us to play with and we got messy and had a lot of fun with this little idea. I have made a few changes but thats what its all about.

I used reinkers dropped onto paper and swished about for my background paper, then discovered that it wouldn't dry so added clear embossing powder and heated it and I loved th texture and effect this happy accident cased. I plaited coloured wire for the legs and added beads and a Tim Holtz clock hand to the clock face. The little papier mache boxes are painted with paint dabbers and then covered with glossy accents for a little shine xx

Butterflies and Pansy's

2010-04-13T19:39:00.004+01:00

A few more of the butterfly cards and just to show that it can work for a man I made this one. I like the copper foil card , it has a leaf design on and fits the card well. I do have more greeting stamps but I just like this one at the moment as it suits a lot of occasions.

This Pansy stamp is a multi part one which I got the other week and haven't had time to use yet. I used some paper I made a while ago with Cosmic shimmer sprays and it worked very well. I think the next ones I shall emboss with powder as the design will pop a little more.

Easter Decorations

2010-03-31T20:17:00.004+01:00

Two very simple cards using the Butterfly Die, nestabilities and some pretty papers. I used 3 of the cut butterflies to give some depth and movement. Effective die but but they were a pain to cut out as you have to keep poking all the bits out of the metal die :-(

(click the photo's for a closer look)

Last years Easter twig tree with more of the butterflies added. I used a paperclip stuck to the back to make the hanger to put them on the tree. The pot was just a bucket decorated, Forsythia twigs painted with acrylic paint, egg shapes stuck to the pot, shredded yellow tissue round the base and some fluffy chickens on that and some bought eggs and decorations. You could add chocolate Easter eggs if you like them!!

Also in the photo is my gold-leafed Goose egg and a chicken shaped card. The template for that was in last years Easter edition of Crafts Beautiful, I expect you can still download it from their website.

Award

2010-03-31T10:50:00.003+01:00

Thanks for this award its very nice to have viewers who appreciate you enough to do this.

This one is from Lena you can find her blog here

http://lenascreations.blogspot.com/

Nature altered book

2010-03-30T17:12:00.009+01:00

Items used:

Grunge board and grunge paper including Grunge board nature shapes, swirls and letters

Distress inks, stickles and glossy accents

micro beads, glitter and embossing powders

vintage sheet music and stamps

metal accents and hardware, chain and keys

Bare Board shaped book

Assorted clear and rubber stamps

Flowers

Vellum quotes

Tags and string

This has been a work in progress for a while but its now done, just for the fun of making it no other reason. Hope you like it xx

Easter Mini Tree

2010-03-29T19:08:00.004+01:00

I made this for my friend for Easter hope she likes it.

I used acrylic paint to colour some wire then bent it into shape, added some fine wire and swirled the ends to hang the eggs on the tree. Coloured sand with acrylic paint and pva glue so it would set hard, placed this into a shot glass, positioned the wire and allowed to set. I cut 3 layers of the butterfly with a die I have and stuck to the front to finish this present. I also put a couple of gems on the ends of the antenna

Card, Garden dividers and plant sticks

2010-03-11T12:49:00.004Z

This is mum card. Iused a stamp from C Dee's of a Hibisus, its embossed with clear over black ink and coloured with copics stamped several times and decoupaged. The papers are from a pack I just got can't think of the name right now but they are lovely and have glitter and embossing on. I also used foil card which has been embossed in the cuttlebug and cut with a nestability die, small pearls finish off round the scalloped edge. The word mum is made with grunge board letter painted with mica H20 paints

I made these to go inside the box for mum. The plant sticks are coffee stirrers with fruit buttons stuck on painted with Dabbers and then crackle glaze applied after (not showing yet in these pics) The dividers are from an office stationer and stamped with distress inks and coloured using a water brush to distribute the ink. O'k so she won't be growing pineapples but they look jolly :-)

Another Soap Box

2010-03-09T19:16:00.003Z

Ok so you can say my mojo is returning :-) 3 posts in one day!! I love these empty washing powder boxes as they are sturdy and handy for all sorts of storage. This one is a box to keep packets of garden seeds in, again for my Mum.

I gave it a coat of acrylic paint first and allowed to dry. Then I raided some nice magazines for flower and fruit pictures to decoupage onto the box. I used Marvy Medium to glue on the torn pictures and after I painted it all over as a "glaze come varnish". I thought torn edges gave a better effect. Then I ran an ink pad over the edges to darken them. Add a lock and handle on the top, a chain with charms, from Tom Holtz elements range for Altered Art, the charms a strawberry and leaves are from a jewellery bead shop.. I stamped the word garden on card and glued it on under a piece of acrylic, again from the Tim Holtz elements range.

** Allow plenty of time for the Marvy Gloss to dry, leave it open in a warm place, preferably over night as you don't want it to glue shut and ruin your work.

TFL

"Fozzberge"

2010-03-09T18:53:00.003Z

Excuse the pun but my Goose Fozz layed me these amazing eggs so its not a Faberge Egg its a Fozzberge !! ..lol I had to do something with these other than just eat them so I blew the insides (made a magnificent sponge with those) and cleaned the shells to craft with. The photo is Fozz's egg next to an extra large chicken egg (also from my girls) in all they weigh in at about 9 ounces!

If you want to try this you can get Goose eggs at most farmers markets for about a pound each, plus you get to make a nice cake with the insides as 1 egg is enough for a decent size Victoria Sandwich cake.

You need to make a hole at either endof the egg one slightly larger than the other, I used a poky tool. Using a piece of wire, poke inside to break the membrane of the yolk. Then over a bowl to catch the egg blow very hard at the smaller end and get out all the egg. This takes a while but its not to bad. Submerge the empty shell in a bowl of warm soapy water and swill it out till the water comes clean. It will always have a slightly milky look but as long as its not yellow it will be fine. Then stand in a glass over kitchen paper in a warm place to dry for about a day.

Coat the egg with a layer of Gesso (or white acrylic paint will do) then when its dry paint again with some Marvy medium, this is like glue but goes tacky so makes good "size" for glueing the gold leaf on. Rub it all over with the gold leaf and polish it with a brush or just by rubbing it in your hands.

I used some ribbon stuck on with double sided tape and secured at the top with a drop of Glossy Accents. Then decorate with sequins, pearls etc as you wish. I used a large pearl beed secured with a long head pin poked through into the egg shell and a dab of glossy accents to secure it, then surrounded it with smaller pearls also glued with glossy accents and a few gems down the sides onto the ribbon. I had these gold napkin rings which make a perfect stand to display it but I intend to make a box as its for my Mum for Easter.

** Point to note, I tried to use clear versamark and emboss it but it came off, something to do with the porus nature of the shell I think. The paint worked best but I am sure if you did a base coat something like Cosmic shimmer paints or powders would give a nice effect. If you can't get a Goose egg you could use a duck or chicken egg but the result of course will be smaller and more fragile as a goose shell is very hard.

Grungepaper notebook holder

2010-03-04T16:28:00.005Z

I made a little shopping list note holder for my mum to put in her mothers day bag. It was simple to do but useful for her I hope.

I used grungepaper as its soft and flexible like leather and softens with use unlike card which would fall apart. I basically cut a piece of grungepaper to the size of the pad height plus a little overlap and x 3 lengthwise as I want it to be a fold round wallet, you also need a strip to make the strap for the cover to slip under to hold it closed. I used paint dabbers (distress pads work as well) and covered the whole piece and the strip both sides. Then I ran it through the cuttlebug to give it a texture design. I dragged a clear embossing pad over the design and brushed it with perfect pearls (any mica powder would do though) to highlight areas of it.

Owls

2010-02-24T17:34:00.003Z

Playing with some Dawn Bibby Owl stamps today I made these cards. I would add more images but I am having serious problems with my internet right now which is making everything a long drawn out process. The papers are from the Docrafts goodie bag and coredinations cardstock used throughout.

QVC

2010-02-23T18:09:00.003Z

I borrowed this shot of Tim from his blog hope he forgives me for that!!

I am not a fan of shopping channels anymore as I get carried away so tend just not to watch :-( BUT today the mighty great and wonderful Tim Holtz is on QVC with his new book and some great ranger goodies so it would have been rude not to tunein. Maybe he can give me back my mojo!! Bonus I will get a signed photo of him with my order, worth buying it just for that.
Keep calling who knows there may be some craft again soon! :-( Sorry about the lack of posts lately xx

Leap year birthday or not!!

2010-02-12T16:19:00.003Z

Huge thanks to Tracey at Kraft Crazy f or the RAK, a big bag of Froggie goodies which came in so handy for my partners nieces' birthday card. Well I was told she was a Leap Year baby then after I made the card OH told me she was "nearly" a Leap baby!!! Men. Still I think she will still like it I just changed the words a bit.

The papers are K & Co Acropus to Zelephant "Frogs" frog , Stamp by Dovecraft Pepper and Friends "Bathtime", brad, ribbon and coredinations cardstock. Coloured with Copic pens.

tfl xxx

on my Soap box

2010-02-12T16:16:00.002Z

I needed a pot for some markers so I covered this little washing soap tablet box with K & Co papers and an embellishment took 10 mins max and it works a treat. So never throw those boxes away they come in so handy :-) xx

Jotter holder

2010-02-11T16:30:00.002Z

Sorry for the absense but I am gradually getting a bit more inspired to craft again. I made this for my niece for Uni hope she finds it handy. Covered chipboard, K & Co papers and ribbon and brads made this simple but I hope useful gift.

Scrapbook pages

2010-01-29T14:27:00.002Z

I apologise for the lack of posts lately but I am not really in the mood for craft due to personal issues. I did do a little scrapbooking this week as it was all in a box waiting for me to put it together so little brain power was needed. This is my dear departed Billcat, he sadly died a couple of years ago so it was hard to make this then but although I miss him still its getting a little easier. He was such a lovely boy and he was so photogenic. I hope you like him and the pages I have made. The album and papers are K & Co its only an 8 x 8 size so not to hard to work with. The frames were cut with my Cricut a while ago so I foget which carts but I think Plantin Schoolbook. xx

Honey and Hugs

2010-01-20T11:39:00.006Z

Oh how sweet is this new paper range from Papermania, I adore it its just so cute. A real bright item to bring in the Spring and maybe get my mojo back a little which is sadly lacking right now. Its snowing again, will it ever end I ask, give me some sun and let me get outside for a while I am so S.A.D at the moment :-(

Anyway enough of that and here I made some cards and a couple of Star Albums, the smaller was using the strips left over but would be a good Brag Book size for mini photos to carry in your handbag. They are left quite plain at the moment so there is room for the photo's

The Star instructions are HERE but you can make it any size to suit your papers which is how I made this one. The papers are 8" x 8" so I cut the Plain card at 10" x 6, 9 1/2" x 5 1.2" and pattern paper at 8" x 5" If you work them out that each size is a 1/2" smaller width and length it seems to work fine.

I used the clear stamps that match the paper and some of the stickers to embellish it and ribbons. The book plates to write photo descriptions are Nellie Snellen dies used with the Cuttlebug and yes I have used some peel offs!! made a couple of cards with it too.I

Valentine Cards & Mini Books

2010-01-14T21:11:00.007Z

I apologise for my lack of posts here lately, I sort of ran out of steam after the holidays :-( I am alsoadmitting to a new addiction to an online game and seem to be spending far to much time playing it :-( But the good side is I used it for inspiration to make a little book to record things in that I need to watch when playing. Its called Farmville for those who may have played it and this book is to record my crops in so I don't forget to harvest them on time :-( see I told you I was addicted!! I used my Cricut for the animals and words an the bind-it all to put it together. This is Kanban card with matching acetate over the top for the covers (not showing very wel in the picturel) I designed and printed the inserts on my PC
I also made a few of these cards which are very fast to make. I designed the cut fileon my Cricut of 2 hearts welded with a rectangle to make the shape. I cut one in card and one in Heart printed acetate tied it with ribbon to hold it together rather than glue which always seems to show through and added a few embellishments. Paper is Papermania from last yar with the matching acetates. Hard to photo clear products but I think the idea shows fairly well.

I will try to get back up to speed here soon. Thanks for coming today xxx

Valentine Cards

2010-01-07T19:07:00.001Z

Just sharing these cards I made yesterday, no instructions just photo's xxx

Valentine Tag Book & cards

2010-01-07T16:22:00.007Z

Found.. one chipboard tag book so I altered it a bit for a Valentines pressie. I inked it all over the pages and edges with ink I am not to careful as I want a slightly distressed look, I did all the inner pages too
Then I cut some frames and plates from Papermania's new pad of special papers with a Nellie Snellen Die and the cuttlebug
I used some wire and tiny buttons again from the new Papermania selection, inside the ppackage is an inner to hold the buttons in place so I used this as a bubble to put some hearts in for the cover. I put a few drops of alcohol ink thinner and cranberry ink inside and swirled it around to cover then put a vinyl sticker in and some hearts and used Diamond glaze to glue it on the cover.

I used the wire to make the buttons swirly
These are the vinyls used to decorate the book throughout (and the finished heart)
Some of the stamps I used are the NEW Forever Friends Valentine set, I also used some other love/heart theme stamps including the free stamp from this months Craft Stamper magazine
I put ribbon through the spine and added some metal hearts, a key and a tiny bottle with some hearts put inside. Add some string with another key to each half to tie it all closed. Total time a couple of hours on and off plus drying and this is it. thanks for looking

Snow and more snow

2010-01-06T11:21:00.003Z

Well down here is Wiltshire we don't get a lot of this thank goodness but we got it big last night :-(. My parents have had to put up with it in Surrey for nearly a month now. Its pretty to look at but it was cold seeing to the animals and carrying buckets of water for them. Good chance and excuse to catch up on some cards I thinkThe Village from our hill
A small part of the garden
Fizz trying to eat it!!!
Fozz showing her best side for this photo :-)
And Satori loves it especially playing Snowballs, she still can't quite work out where they go when I throw them for her though...lol

Noahs 2

2010-01-04T17:24:00.004Z

I don't know where the time goes to Noah is 2 on Sunday!! I made this for him as Monkeys are one of his favourites. I used my Cricut, Animal Kingdom, Plantin Schoolbook and Alphalicious. I cut the palm trees and coconuts are ovals pulled into a longer shape with the DS software. I have also fringed the leaves (palm fronds) to make them stick out a bit like real tatty cocnut trees really are. This is made on A3 card for a nice big card and the edge is done with a Martha Stewart punch oh and some google eyes. Thanks for looking xxx

New Years Eve

2009-12-31T17:44:00.003Z

I have just finished putting the table together for tonights Dinner Party. I have the crackers, Menu's and napkin rings I made this week . I used a tall glass vase with gold sand in the bottom and stars and a candle for the centre piece and sprinkled more of the gold stars around for a festive look. I spent an hour pressing that cloth :-( it still looks creased!!

Wishing you all a Happy Safe New Years Eve whatever your doing
xx

Thankyou Cards

2009-12-29T20:24:00.003Z

Lord its so good to have some Me time after the madness of Christmas, I am all on my own here for a few days and I intend to make the most of it!! No cooking for me till Thursday night I am on snack food...lol

I made these quickly today after a 5 hour session getting my craft room in order :-( everything seems to get dumped there when people come round but its looking great now and I will be able to find my papers etc. When your doing lots of crafting like at Christmas you seem to just put stuff anywhere instead of away properly and boy did I pay the price today :-(

These are using a variety of papers and card, Cricut and carts "New Arrival" & "Plantin" plus lots of Prima flowers and a bit of ribbon. Nice and easy as I have a lot of thankyou's to get out and I like to get it done sooner rather than later as I think it is rude to wait.

I am off for a nice hot well earned bath now.. bye

New Year Menu * Napkins

2009-12-29T11:24:00.002Z

New Year Eve we are having friends round for dinner so I wanted to make some things to enhance the table. I used mirror card to cut these on the Cricut, the only thing is it looks smudged :-( a downside of mirror card which is why I rarely use it. Anyway here they are.

The Menu cards - "Plantin Schoolbook" and "Stretch your imagination" for the champagne glass. I used the offcuts and some cut from red to get the contrast features and the extra glasses to put onto the napkin rings. I printed the inserts on my PC in "Word" using "Curlz" font. There is some sequin waste behind the cut out to look like champagne bubbles and tiny ribbon bows for the napkin rings.

2010 Calendar

2009-12-28T16:42:00.006Z

Unusual that I didn't get a shop bought calendar this year but thats good as I can make my own. I never do as I expect one so it made a nice change to be able to personalise it and not forget any birthdays this year, hopefully.

I had a planner last year of Forever Friends Bears and didn't want to throw away all those lovely images. So I cut them out with a nestabilty Die, used a selection of pastel papers and cardstock and embellishments from my stash to make this calendar. I printed my own calender sheets using word adding regular dates, birthdays, anniversaries etc. I coloured the background in Word as well to match the colour theme and just used it all in a very random manner which took no time at all. I am more pleased with this than some of the things I spend ages planning I think its quite effective. I only used 6 sheets and made them double sided and bound them on the Bind-it all. I saved the hanger from the old calendar to thread though the binding and thats it.

Whoops forgot to add that the lettering for the months is done on the Cricut, welded the letters in Design Studio using the Alphalicious font. I put double sided glue paper on the back before cutting to make them easy to stick as I just had to peel them off the backing :-)

No craft just fun

2009-12-25T07:46:00.003Z

Satori is joining in and Santa bought her a new tuggie toy and ears :-)

I am winning on the cooking front

2009-12-24T14:56:00.003Z

Well I am cracking on with the preperations, all the veg is done, trimmings for the Turkey, Gammon all roasted and the trifle done. I used edible glitter and cherries to decotate it very festive :-) I can't wait to have the gammon for dinner tonight I am starving, done all this cooking and not had a thing yet :-(

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T08:54:00.004Z

Well its finallly arrived and we are on the final countdown. All those days and weeks of work and planning have come together to make our Christmas'ses. We have stuck, cut and baked for our lives and tomorrow it will all be gone :-)

To all the followers and visitors to my blog, I want to thank you for your support this year, for thinking my place is worth visiting and for all the lovely comments I have been given on my work. I hope I can inspire and share more with you in the year to come and look forward to seeing you here again.

All that remains before the big day is for me to say that I wish you all
A Very Merry, Peaceful and Wonderful Christmas
and
A happy Safe New Year
God Bless
xxx
Sandra

Gingerbread Cricut House + recipe

2009-12-22T08:48:00.007Z

Winter woodland houses would make a brilliant pattern for these, you might need to cut it then enlarge the cut to make a better size house though. I borrowed this picture of the one above as I haven't made one yet but as my grandson is coming over today we might give it a go :-)

Gingerbread recipe (make biscuits with it too)

300g butter
125g caster sugar
125g brown sugar
225g treacle, or golden syrup
725g plain flour Bicarbonate of soda
3 tsp ground Ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon

'glue' icing

2 egg whites
500g icing sugar

hundreds and thousands
chocolate buttons
dolly mixtures, silver balls, etc

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/Gas 4. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
Melt the butter, caster sugar, brown sugar and treacle in a large saucepan.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon together, add the melted butter and sugar mixture and stir well until it comes together like sticky dough.

wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

roll out the dough to 1/2" thick and cut out the pieces until you have a front and back wall, two side walls and two roof panels.

Carefully move onto baking trays and bake for 12 – 15 minutes. Remove the trays from the oven and allow stand for a few minutes to firm up. Cut out a door on the front wall and windows on the side walls and reserve the cut-out pieces for later. Place on a wire rack for a few minutes

Received with enthusiasm

2009-12-22T08:19:00.002Z

What a lovely day I had out giving the gifts I made and seeing my parents to exchange gifts. They were all recieved with enthusiasm so thats nice, made it worth the time and effort I put in. I am going to get better organised for next year though buying containers and jars as that was a bit fraught this year.

I had to leave to get home as heavy snow was making it bad to travel and I skidded my car into a fence but no damage thanks goodness. My poor parents had to get back to Surrey, which should be a 50 minute journey, unfortunately due to snow and ice it ended up taking them 5 hours . Thankfully they arrived safe and sound so it ended fine. Why are parents so stuborn I asked them to stay over and drive back today but they wouldn't listen :-(

Have a good day and if your weather is bad stay home and drink chocolate!!! :-)

Best gift ever - New Baby Due

2009-12-21T09:08:00.002Z

I am so pleased to hear I am to be a Nanna again my daughter had her scan yesterday and all is well. Here it is baby No2 due about June I think

2009-12-20T17:48:00.005Z

And finally the biscuits that's the giftbags complete now. I haven't made a brilliant job of the icing and the Edible Cake Glitter is a bit big but that's all you can buy, still they look quite Christmassy. I saved a collection of boxes and containers for these to keep them fresh.

Recipe for German Spice Biscuits, we always used to go to the German Christmas Markets at this time of year and I got this with a traditional German Christmas biscuit cutter I bought. I suggest a double quantity to get enough but they are so easy and tasty its no loss to have to many :-)

4oz Plain Flour
2oz Caster Sugar
1/2 teasp Mixed spice **I have been asked by an American lady what this is, its a mix of cinnamon, numeg etc premixed in a jar. I think Pumkin Pie Spice mix is a similar thing with mostly the same spices in
3 oz Butter

Blend in processor or by hand to make a dough and roll out. Cook Gas 3 160C 325F for 20 mins. Leave to cool for a minute before putting on a rack to get cold. Decorate as you like.
See EASY

Parcelled Up Sweets & Recipes

2009-12-19T15:51:00.004Z

Here are my sweets packaged up and ready to go in the giftbags just got to finish the cookies and I am "good to go".

Chocolate Fudge - EASY

5 oz butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 can condensed milk
5 oz plain chocolate broken into squares
28oz (large box) icing sugar, sifted

Method

Place the butter in a large bowl and beat in the vanilla extract and condensed milk.

Place the chocolate squares in a bowl and set it over a pan of barely simmering water. Leave it to melt, remove from the heat and stir with a wooden spoon.

Allow the chocolate to cool and then beat it in, gradually, to the butter mixture. Beat in the icing sugar, a little at a time. When it has all been incorporated you should end up with a soft, dough-like mixture. (I did it in the food processor as its easier than elbow grease)

Line a 20 x 30 cm shallow baking tin with baking parchment paper. Press the mixture into the tin, ensuring that the surface is even. Using the tip of a sharp knife, mark the fudge into about 80 pieces and then place it in the fridge for at least 4 hours to set.

When the fudge has set, use the edges of the paper to lift it from the tin on to a large chopping board and cut it into the marked pieces. Wrap the fudge to give as gifts.

Makes loads to give and sample :-)

** found this one on the Good Food Channel tried another but it was a failure :-( it is a smooth texture not crumbly like some fudge but it tastes great, nice and creamy. Keep it in a cool place though as it has fresh cream in and eat asap!! as if you could resist :-)

Florentines

12 oz of a mixture of the following, leave out what you don't like and add more of what you do :-)
some cherries quartered try to use multicolour ones,(red dark red, yellow and green),

chopped nuts - almonds, macadamia, walnuts, pecans mixed peel finely chopped plus

1 oz chopped angelica if you like
4 oz butter
4 oz caster sugar
2tbsp double cream
4oz plain chocolate (milk if you prefer it) and a little white to drizzle over again of you want to as it looks good

Line several sheets with parchement or greaseproof paper, they spread out a bit, so leave room Oven on Gas 4 or 180 C/350F Melt the butter and add sugar then boil for 1 minute remove from the heat and add everythingelse ( apart from the chocolate) and stir it up
Place small rounds on the sheets squash down to flatten a bit and bake for about 8-10 mins. Neaten them up by pushing in the edges with a knife while they are still warm if they are miss-shaped so that they are round.
Melt the chocolate and dip them in on one side and leave to harden then drizzle with the white chocolate if your doing that bit.
White chocolate takes a bit longer to set so wait before packaging them up.

**taken from an old Mrs Beetons cookbook my nan gave me

Yummy... diet recipes will be needed after New Year!! xx

Christmas Chutney Recipe

2009-12-18T08:23:00.003Z

Ok so its fast easy and ready to eat with no waiting (it will improve with time though if you want to wait) but its only got a 6 month shelf life...as if it would stay round that long its gorgeous in cheese sandwiches :-) You need to keep it in the fridge when opened. I am a bit of a chuck it in cook so measurements don't happen much in this recipe!! If you want a guide for American weight try this converter but I think you will manage without it ;-)

Ingredients- 3 large cooking (about 2 lb) and 5 eating apples (about 1lb) cored and chopped (don't bother peeling) 2 large onions or 3 medium chopped, 1-2 teaspoons of ginger or an inch of fresh grated/chopped small, 1 teaspoon peppercorns, 1 lb white regular sugar, 1/2 pint white or cider vinegar,

Fruit - either 1 lb fresh cranberries - possibly a slightly sharper result or
1/2 cranberries 1/2 dried dates - sweeter chutney
or dried cranberries soaked in boiling water to plump (drain off water before using) I have added a variety to try,

*If you use dried cranberries it will not have such a pink colour but tastes as good. Put everything but the cranberries in a pan and slowly heat till the sugar has melted the bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer till its thickened and there is no fluid left in the pan. Add the cranberries and cook 10 Min's more till they have softened but not burst apart.

**If using dried fruit put it in at the beginning

Put it into sterilised jars, wrap and use. Don't forget put it in the fridge once its been opened, keeps for 6 months in the pantry unopened.

Hope you like it :-)

Preserves for neighbour gifts

2009-12-17T19:34:00.004Z

I Christmass'ed up some of the preserves I made in the Autumn to go in gift bags for my neighbours and friends. The ribbons are in fact red but the light makes them look orange :-( Also I made some bag fold over closures for the homemade sweets I made today to go in as well. I just have the biscuits to make and that's my gift baking finished. I hope if the sweets are set to photo them to post here tomorrow. Thanks for looking :-)
xx

Failure :-(

2009-12-17T08:20:00.002Z

I made chocolate fudge for christmas presents last night and it will not set :-( I used a sugar thermometer but its still wrong, how annoying especially as it tastes wonderful, but you need to eat it with a spoon!!! ahh its a hard life will have to eat this and make another ..
Have a good day, its only ONE week to go .....ahhhhhhhhh :-)

Birthday and Christmas Gift Card Holders

2009-12-15T19:30:00.007Z

This is a card I made for my niece as its her birthday just after Christmas so I needed to get it done as she is going away and it had to be ready for her. The bear is a free stamp from a magazine which is really for Christmas but I cut off the robin part (kept it of course) and it left the bear in a hat which is also good for birthdays. I used some of the fantasy fibre sheet I made the other day cut on the Cuttlebug with a frame die (can't remember the name of these) and made it into an easel card.

Then I made a gift card holder for the token (shame I got Christmas one) the instructions of the fold for this are further down this post. I used K &Co speciality stack of occasions papers. Nestabilities die for the circles and Just Rite stamps for the border, the sentiment was with the bear stamp. This is a 2 pocket giftcard so I made a tag with a greeting as well.

I also made her a choker with metal ribbon and a beaded clasp I got and a little box for it to go in.

This is the Christmas version of the giftcard holder for my dad's tokens, book tokens are still the old fashioned kind not cards so I made it bigger so they would fit. Supplies as above with Christmas papers from the stack and chenille fibres

So to make the card holders - take a rectangle of paper, I used 12" x 9" as I needed it to be larger, if making for a smaller gift card you need it to be 6" x 8", use double sided to get the alternate pattern for the stripe effect.

Fold it in half length ways then width ways

Now fold the top corner in by about 2" for the small version larger for the bigger one and the bottom corner folds in to the folded line going up the centre of the paper. The small triangle goes to the back and the large to the front like this
Glue down the smaller triangle, this will be hidden but you want it to be stuck then put glue where I have shown and stick it there as well. Its a bit hard to describe so play with the fold so you can see where the glue needs to be or watch this video to see it being done

You can see how the alternate colour will be here
Glue the last section and there are your 2 pockets.
I hope you can understand that but if not the video makes it much clearer, thanks to "Stampfest" who posted that on You tube.

Christmas Crackers

2009-12-14T11:29:00.006Z

OK so homemade crackers seems a bit obsessive but you can make them so personal by doing it yourself and they are easy. I sourced the cellophane and snaps from Ebay but I have seen them in pound shops and cellophane in florists, cardboard tubes from wrapping paper (bit more hygienic than loo roll middles!! ) Tags, stickers, tissue, a perforating blade to make them easier to pull if you have one, gifts, chocolate jokes and hats, ribbon to tie and d/s tape. I found some cool light up balloons to put in for the kids too. I have used a layer of tissue and a layer of cellophane but you could just use paper, Here's the stuff I usedgather the bits for the cracker and wrap in tissue, easier to add it now than later and pop into the tube with the snap
put some d/s tape either end of the snap to secure it to the paper, leave an equal amount showing each end of the tube
Perforate the paper (if doing that) so that the perforation will come at the end of the tube at one end. Put your paper and cellophane under ensuriing the perforation is in the right place and roll it up
secure the end with more d/s tape
tie with a ribbon and trim of any excess so its neat (bottom half of this picture)
Et Voila one cracker.... see how easy was that :-)
Hot Chocolate Christmas Mug, yes another one but I think these make such cool stocking fillers
This is the box for it my nice easy folded side one INSTRUCTIONS HERE
Wrapped in cellophane and a tag, plus some of the crackers :-)

Stocking Filler or Tree Decoration

2009-12-14T08:38:00.006Z

A little idea for a stocking filler or to hang on the tree. You can make them in any colour, I did white sugar mice that are a UK tradition. I tried them in paper and felt but felt works best as its more pliable for the ears. I have also attempted to design a CUT FILE for the Cricut but I haven't tested it, you may like to have a go with that. Its using Plantin Schoolbook but I am sure you could use George if you have that (I don't, sorry)

Here's a screen shot to follow if you want to try making your own or you can download mine from the Media fire link above. You can use it to make a paper pattern unless you can cut fabric on your Cricut, I have never tried that yet.
This is the paper pattern I cut freehand. The 2 little slits are to thread the ear strip through and I coloured the inside slightly to make them look pink, not to sure that really shows up in the photo's. You can thread them onto a pencil or candy cane which gives the effect of the tail.Push the ears up through the body either side so you have a loop underneath to thread your pencil or cane through.

Hope you like them
xx

Tiny boxes

2009-12-13T17:07:00.003Z

More tiny boxes filled with nice goodies for Christmas, see my earlier post for how to make these.

For the card, the image and message under are Buzz Craft stamps watercoloured. NOEL is from a sheet of Forever Friends diecuts and the ribbon is from an online shop.

Snowman cards

2009-12-12T17:43:00.004Z

I think these Snowmen look a bit scary. They are from the new embossing folders byCrafts Two, very similar to Cuttlebug folders. I made these 3 cards but I don't like the Snowmen so won't make any more of them :-(

Last minute extras

2009-12-10T23:40:00.006Z

Fancy beer glasses for the guys
Candles and smellie's for the girlie's
The last minute gift for stockings or "popper inners", I made a few of these gift boxes wrapped with cellophane as its so festive and filled them with inexpensive bits and bobs. There are fancy pint glasses with sweeties in for the guys and candles and smellies for the girls. I add a candy cane to the tag and some fancy thread to complete the look.

I used some fantasy fibres and glitter to make some glittery papers and then cut the cards on my Cricut using the centre point feature, embossed them in the Cuttlebug and hung the cut outs in the aperture that I had created. I backed the baubles with the film papers, which are see through.
Here are the cards I made. Also a few more Forever Friends cards as I love that little bear and also these easel cards. After all we always find a person sends a card who we forgot to add to the list and then there are the others who slip by, like the garage man who does a sterling job on your car, the postman, ours is a treasure, etc etc. So I made a few extra cards to put their "Christmas Drinking vouchers" in, that's cash in case your wondering! So I expect I shall be needing a few of these before the weeks out.

11.000

2009-12-10T11:51:00.002Z

*****
WOW I just hit the 11,000 mark of hits made to my site. Thanks to all who are calling here
Merry Christmas
Sandra
xxx
*******

2009-12-10T07:38:00.004Z

WHY DID THE GOLFER TAKE 2 PAIRS OF TROUSERS

***********

IN CASE HE GOT A HOLE IN ONE

Joke 2

2009-12-09T07:22:00.002Z

What did the grape say when the elephant stepped on it?

*************

Nothing. It just let out a little wine.

Cracker Joke

2009-12-08T07:39:00.003Z

WHAT DO YOU GET IF YOU CROSS A SNOWMAN AND A SHARK

*************

FROSTBITE

Garlands Up and then down :-(

2009-12-07T22:40:00.004Z

I was pleased with this once it was up over the fireplace (hideous and in need of replacing though it is) and then disaster!!! 2 of the pieces came unstuck and slid down between the wall and the bricks. Short of knocking the fireplace out (much needed) they are gone forever :-( I would make some more to fix it but thise were the only sheets of that paper I had. Ahh well never mind, thems the breaks sent to try us...

This is the village in place in the porch and the other garland on the window. All I need now is for the dog to knock that flying off its table !!...lol

Finishing touches

2009-12-07T22:22:00.005Z

Its the final countdown now so time to put together some finishing touches to presents you have made. Boxes are essentials for those little extras to go in. Here in my previous post is a good easy way to make some, the folded corner as opposed to the cut one makes for a slightly stronger box.

I got these cute clear baubles and flat photo Christmas Tree ornaments, (I made some last year) as a keepsake of Noah as he grows to add to my tree each year. You can put 2 photo's in each so as the turn you see 2 different pictures. In the baubles I added some Christmas confetti and I have written the date on the back of the photo's too. Great for the family and Grandma's as a stocking filler.

Chrisrmas Scene Finished

2009-12-03T19:32:00.005Z

O'k so the perspective is a bit out but its quite jolly, someone made some huge snowmen..lol

So Instructions, well it would be a bit involved to type it all up but hopefully these might give some ideas :-)

The Cricut is used throughout. I used a piece of packing card for the base and covered it with cotton wool.

The houses, snowmen & 3D trees are from Winter Woodland. The poinsettia and candy canes are from Joys of the Season

The background trees, large reindeer in the background and the sleigh are from "Solutions Christmas" Cart

Lots of glue and glitter, Martha Stewart Goo punch for the snow layered on the roofs, windows and doors, stickles for the glitter on the snow. Kay & Co for the Christmas lights on the sleigh and the small trees on the houses, gingerbread men and other candy canes. Papermania Christmas Stack of cardstock.

Its all just assembled as usual and made into the scene, I haven't stuck it to the board as the cotton wool will probably need replacing next year if it survives my Grandson over the holidays :-) , its bound to gather some dust and its a bit hard to polish cotton wool !! Hope you like it xxx This is the other garland which I put together yesterday but didn't get time to post as we had power cuts due to thunder storms so I had no PC or lights for hours :-( Its made with Winter Woodland letters, assorted pattern papers and nestabilities scalloped ovals and some more glitter and gold organza ribbon.

Christmas Scene

2009-12-03T14:07:00.006Z

I have made a start on the scene for my front entry porch. So far we have trees, houses and snowmen. Keep watching for the end product
TFLxxx

Christmas Makeover

2009-12-02T08:48:00.002Z

Decided to play around with the site today, I actually think its easier to see things with the links etc on the right but if you don't agree I will go back to the old settings. Blinged it up a bit, well it is Christmas
Have a good day
xxx

Merry Christmas Garland

2009-11-30T16:59:00.005Z

Well with the cards all ready to go I thought Iwould have a go at some decorative things for the house. I decided on a garland first for the front porch where I always have an extra tree and I wanted something for the wall there.

Paper - My Minds Eye - Wondeful Winter Glittered Stack
Papermania - Christmas Textured Plain Cardstock Stack
Cricut Cartridges - Winter Woodland and When its Cold Outside

I did not add anything more as the papers do it all and I love the look just as it is.

Letters cut at 3"
Snowflakes cut at 4 1/4"
Cut File

Holy decorated ribbon was just from a Christmas Wrapping section instore

Place Settings and Friends Cards

2009-11-29T18:25:00.010Z

I wanted to make some of the cups like Donna had done on Cricut forums but not as cards so I designed a cut file to make them into place names and menu cards. I hope you like them. I have not done them to suit a table theme as they will be for tea-time so a variety of colours suit, with the Christmas Crackers it makes a more fun table, had they been for dinner I would have made them the same to co-ordinate with my table,

I made them with a tab and slot so it would make them stand better. The menu ones have the work cut from the front layer for the names I did cut out letters and stuck them on after. Here is the CUT FILE if you want to have a go with the pattern I made.

The papers are Dovecraft, I added some pompoms to look like marshmallows on some of them and used glitter and flakes for "sprinkles". The menu ones have a printed menu inside made in "MS Word" and cut out

I have finished my cards but I couldn't resist making a few more just in case I forgot anyone, its always good to have some spares. The papers are Forever Friends with matching Double Sided card stock, some mirror board and punched snowflakes. I used a free embossing board gift from a magazine to make the greetings.

Insomnia Cards!

2009-11-26T15:18:00.006Z

Well as usual I was up at "stupid o'clock" so I got all the housework done, washing, cleaning, chickens fed, dishwasher on and was done by 10am so I had time to get down to some more card making :-) here is what I managed to get done today. I did a few peojects last night but I can't post them as they are for the girls at Crafty Coffee morning and it might give the surprise away :-(

O'k so I cut too many of these but I had to use them up I love these little people and I am so glad I have the PK face stamps
Dashing through the snow!! these little chaps are having fun on the reindeer :-) Glamour Dust glitter does not photograph well :-(

Some more Easle ( stand up) cardsm using some pine cones cut last year and the deer. Holly printed card by papermania and vellum quotes
Card as before with Buzzcraft decoupage topper of the cute little bear, I have this stamp too which I really must get round to using!! Fiskars Holly border punch and Forever Friends backing papers

Similar but with a scallop border punch (not fiskars)
O'k thats it today then I am off to see the Christmas Lights being turned on with my Nieces and my Sister tonight. Grand Christmas doo with Carols singers, music and snow machine!! and hopefully some fireworks, hope they are as good as last year. Christmas is so close now ahhhhhh

Easle Cards

2009-11-25T22:47:00.003Z

I like this design so had to give them a try today. They are really easy and have a lot of scope. I used up some leftover bits to make these but will make some more with better papers now I know the ropes with them
TFL
xx

Finished Advent Calender

2009-11-25T14:20:00.005Z

I am posting the finished Advent Calender as finally the extra embellishments have arrived. I ordered them from one company but they never got here so had to re-order from another one :-(

I have used Eskimo Kisses Chipboards to match the papers to finish it. I haven't added much more as I didn't want to add ribbons which would get dusty over time and the chipboards are delightful enough as they are. All I have added is a few gems for sparkle. The handles were made with beads and fine wire, and the numbers cut on my cricut. This was a kit advent but I am sure you could make it from scratch on the cricut. Details in the previous post

Hope you like it

Here is a few tags I made also last night for my parcels, cut with Nestabilities, Cricut and Cuttlebug and embossed and glittered

Christmas Wrapping

2009-11-24T09:00:00.003Z

A quick way to dress up your homemade preserves for stocking fillers. I cut 2 circles from tissue and one from decorated celophane, attach using a rubberband. Tie round with some pipecleaners and maybe a tag. Handcut some holly leaves from mirror card and emboss veins, glue to the top and add some pompoms for the berries.

Merry Christmouse !

2009-11-23T22:17:00.003Z

These are all I managed today as I had a very poorly car and spent most of the day ferrying back and forth to the garage getting it fixed. Pleased to report my Fantastic "Little" man has now fixed it for me and at a reasonable cost too !!

The mouse is from Animal Kingdom, chenille wool for the snow, K and Co papers, JOTS for the lacy tree, I think and Snowfriends for the other cards. Iused Holographic foils on the trees for a change to make them shimmer.

Meowry Christmas

2009-11-22T22:37:00.007Z

Quick card for today, cut on the Cricut with Animal Kingdom, Plantin and a couple of others. For a cat loving friend :-)
Hope you like it

WOW

2009-11-21T09:12:00.004Z

WOW thank you all so much for visiting my blog. I can't believe I have had over 10,000 visits I am so glad you like it here and hope you continue to call over
xx
Sandra

Winter Warmer Present

2009-11-20T19:53:00.003Z

Take these:
Christmas Decorated bowls and mugs, Designer heavy weight Christmas cardstock, I used Making Memories glitter card, lots of chocolate, sweets, candy canes and Hot chocolate drink powder. Some Christmas patterned cellophane, lots of tissue paper, ribbon and chenille pipe cleaners.

Make a box base with the card stock and cut a piece of thick card for the inside to help support the weight of the china. Place the bowl and mug with tissue between for protection. Fill with the goodies and wrap in the cellophane gathering it up and tie the top off with ribbon.

Print off a chocolate poem and attach to the inside of the tag. Attach the tag with a chenille pipe cleaner. Easy, effective and yummy :-)

Poems from the internet are as follows:

If your day is cold and gloomy

And you have no place to go

Snuggle up with treats

Nibble on these sweets

And your day will start to glow

(that one's by Me!!)

********

Was told you've been real good this year.
Always glad to hear it
With freezing weather drawing near,
you'll need to warm the spirit.

So here's a little snowman soup
complete with stirring stick.
Add hot water, sip it slow.
It's sure to do the trick

***********

A little cup of cocoa,
i'm sending your way,
for you to sip and enjoy,
on some cold lonely day.

As you sip this cocoa,
it's warmth will warm your heart.
Just like our friendship warmed mine,
right from the very start.

********

When the weather outside is frightful,
snowman soup can be delightful.
May it warm your spirit and your soul.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

When you feel a chill or 'burrrrrr',
use the peppermint stick to stir.
Add hot water and sip it slow.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Snow Friend Carol singers

2009-11-19T22:43:00.006Z

I had to make this one of the friends as Carol Singers. When I saw this cart I sat and made a list of all the Christmas Themed things I could have the friends doing and I am working my way through it!!

I have a cut file for this HERE.

I used Snow Friends, Paper Dolls, and a few other carts to get the elements needed for it. If you right click any part of the cut file it will tell you the cart. I used the right click remove feature to take the cut face lines off and used Peachy Keen stamps instead. I had to trim the bodies a little for the dress (surplus) to fit and made a little ruff for the neck by just folding a strip of paper concertina style. The small lanterns are part of the" sign" on paper dolls and a "crook" also paper dolls I trimmed both and stuck them together with a little yellow for the light and some very fine strips to make the lantern windows. I found the music notes on Joys of the season. The greeting is from a vellum stack torn and inked. I think the street lamp and trees ares JOTS and the background is stamped and embossed with white powder, the stamp is crafty individuals snowflakes.

I used a border punch for the gold edge not sure by whom but Fiskars Threading Water is similar.

Hope you like it
xx

Snow Friends tags and card

2009-11-18T22:06:00.004Z

Snow Friends having a Snowball fight :-) I put one on a strip of acetate to look like its being thrown bit hard to see in the photo's though. They are having a great time. We don't really use the phrase "Happy Holidays" in the UK I know but it just seemed to fit with this card. These mini pompons are just made for these cards, I need lots more!! The little person at the back looks like he has a fur coat on...lol

These are some gift tags I made with my new Cricut cart today, a nice easy project for a lazy day. I cut them at 5" and added chenile wool for fur and mini pompons for the Hats and bobbles. The faces are Peachy Keen stamps in case you don't know them!

Some very simple tags cut from 3 colours of Mirror card and layered up, very quick and easy to do, images from Doodlecharms
A couple more little people waiting to go onto cards tomorrow, such happy chappies :-)

A "ME" Day

2009-11-17T22:40:00.006Z

Been looking forward to one of these for a while now so I made the most of it today. I managed to get some Christmas presents finished and a few cards using my new Cricut cartidges.

I did these candles as stocking fillers for family and friends and I can't believe just how easy they are once you get the hang of keeping the paper wrap tight to stop wrinkles forming. I used a variety of stamps old and new including the New Kanban ones I bought recently and the soldier one given to me by Jane Nestorenko a few years ago at a demonstration. I just adore these German Soldier's and have lots of handmade ones bought abroad at the Christmas Markets on my tree each year.

They are done by stamping onto tissue paper (the least shiny side) and colouring in with markers etc then cut round fairly close to the image, place on your candle, hold firmly using a strip of baking parchment or greaseproof paper so you have a bunch to hold a a handle and heat gently with a heat gun till you see it go clear. Do not overheat or the candle will drip and get messy.

I tried a different technique for the last one. I cut a snowflake from double sided adhesive paper with my Cricut Cart and then peeled the backing from one side and rubbed this surface with gold flakes, remove the other backing paper and stuck it to the candle and then using waxed paper heated it again to coat the outside and seal it to the candle.
These are made with the double sided adhesive paper as before in a previous post and glittered or micro beaded. I have stamped and embossed some backgrounds and used Nestie's and stamps for the sentiments
Finally a few more Tri-Shutter Cards that I finished from he other day :-) Thanks for calling over today, xxx

New Limited Edition Cricut Carts

2009-11-16T20:30:00.004Z

I finally got my new Cricut Cartridges, they are 3 limited edition Christmas carts, When its Cold Outside, Snow Friends and Very Merry Tags. I haven't had that much time to play yet but I cut a few of the images and made them up into these cards.

The first is from When its cold outside which is all Snowflakes and some make up onto 3d Flakes but I haven't tried any of those yet. This one is a basic flake cut from gold mat and mirror card and layered with a few gems.

This one is lovely with lots of Reindeer heads around it, which is something a bit different cut from mat silver and pink glitter card on backing paper from Eskimo Kisses and sprinkled with more glitter.

This adorable little chap is from Snow Friends and he is just so cute, he has a lot more on the cart just like him and lady snow people too. I added a pompom for a snowball on his hat and used Sakura white pen to make the stripe and dots. Paper is Eskimo Kisses again. I used chenille wool to make the snow at the bottom.

This is cut from the cart called "Christmas" from double sided adhesive paper. I cut it then stuck it to the card, removed the other paper side to reveal the glue and sprinkled with micro beads and glitter to fill any gaps. The nowflakes are punched from DS paper and done the same way. I am goig to try it with some other images but I found that anything too detailed was'nt so good. I am going to have a try with some of the less detailed Snowflakes from the new cart. (click to see any picture larger)
tfl
xx

Noah's gone Buggy :-)

2009-11-14T22:22:00.005Z

Noah's first ever Christmas Cards, great use of colour and stickers Mr Holtz eat your heart out :-)
My adorable Grandson loves to play with Nanna's "Stuff" ...lol he is quite taken with the Cuttlebug and has his own set of dies, the train, animals and a few others. he isn't quite doing the paper piecing yet but I am sure it won't be long. At the moment he seems to prefer to eat the glue stick!! I can see a new Tim Holt in the making .

He is doing very well and has made his first 3 Christmas Cards, way to go little man :)
xx

Mastered them finally

2009-11-14T12:26:00.006Z

Well due to galeforce winds I got no sleep last night but I did get some cards made. Due to home disruption I have had little crafting time so needed to make the most of it :-)

I love this cut for cards and finally got it right. These are all made using precious scraps of Basic Grey paper and its worked out fairly well

Sorry this post is so short but I am being interupted so no time to write more :-(
xx

More folded cards

2009-11-09T21:54:00.005Z

Every year I buy far too many stamps with a Chrstmas theme and each year one set will become my favourite. Well this year these have taken my fancy more than any other sets I have bought. Here are a few more of the cards I have made with this fabulous collection. I have used copics to add a hint of colour. In some of the blue ones I have coloured the silver holographic card with stazon to bring it more into the colour theme.

I have been playing with my photo package again too for the edge effects :-) ...lol

Quick card 2nd Birthday

2009-11-08T22:08:00.006Z

Life is a little busy right now but I managed to grab some time to make this for my partners Godson who is 2 this week. Its cut with the cricut and several carts, papers by K and Co and Papermania

Folded Album and Fab New Stamps

2009-11-06T07:54:00.007Z

I love this fold its just so easy and makes the most delightful mini books cards and albums. This is for my mum to put some Christmas Photo's of Noah in, my Grandson her Great Grandson!!

I saw these stamps advertised and demonstrated and I think they are just amazing. You get outer edges and inner circles which fit onto a special stamp block and with the ability to mix and match you get a fabulous selection per pack. This has 4 outers and 4 inners which gives 16 different options, now that great value for money. They are from Once upon a stamp called Just Rite find them here. The beauty of them is that apart from those features they are also designed to fit your Nestabilities, how cool is that. They stamp beautifully, wonderful clear images with fine lines and some fantastic sentiments too. Check them out.I went for a large set which includes the quality wooden stamp block and another set of the same size to go with it as it works out cheaper that was to get the wooden blocks. You will be seeing them on a few projects that are coming up. Gosh they need to give me a job with this advertisment I have done!! no I don't work for them, honest I just think they are great quality stamps :-) The stamped images are from the extra set I bought and coloured lightly with Copics ready for a card project.

Magnetic Nestabilities folder

2009-11-03T20:50:00.006Z

This little folder is a quick project I made today to store my Nesties in.

The magnet is from my Xyron Creative station but you can buy magnet sheets lots of places now quite cheaply if you look around. CD/DVD pockets from a record store, Card, papers and glue.

Cut 2 covers from mount board (or any thick card) at 6" x 6" and cover with your chosen paper
cut strips of firm card to make the spines at 5" x 1 3/4" and stick one to the back of each plastic folder, I used ultra sticky tape.
Bind with your bind it all or use rings (you can add more pages easier that way if needed) I like the bound option.
Make a strip of folded paper (for strength) and use brads to attach this to the front as a closure
Make another strip to fix from back to front which will slide under the closure to keep the book closed as shown and attach with brads
Cut pieces of magnet sheet at 5"x5" and put your nesties on and put in the pockets
Add decoration as you wish and thats it :-)

Any questions please feel free to ask and I will be happy to help :-)

Fold frame mini book

2009-11-03T20:33:00.004Z

I love the fold that makes these, unfortunately its hard to talk you through but it was featured on You Tube here.

I used the Blonde Moments papers again for this little project

Advent Calendar to be continued!!

2009-11-03T10:06:00.005Z

I have made a start on this Advent Drawer Ornament but I am waiting for my order of Basic Grey embellishments to finish it, I will photo it when they arrive and I finally finish it, but here it is for now.

I used Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses and a sheets from another Basic Grey set (think its from Fruitcake or Wassail but not too sure) , don't you just love the names of their stuff!! I think this collection is just adorable. The kit is by Clever Cut and very easy to make, its a nice sturdy finish too so will last for years when its done. They are a fab price too so much cheaper than others I have seen advertised. Its just a shame their posting times are so long at present they quote 3 weeks to arrive but they may be faster than that if they have caught up :-(

I twisted some coloured wire to make the handles and added a bead as I wanted something a bit different to just adding a brad. I need to add some embellishments to the top and sides and the numbers on the drawers and then it will be done. Hope you like it.

Something a bit different !!

2009-10-28T18:55:00.004Z

As you may have noticed I found the edge tool to frame my photo's, its given them a nice Christmas feel :-) I just can't work out why it loses one of the edges on some, ahh well I will work it out at some point.

Well these cards are completely different to anything I have made before. I saw these papers and just loved them. They are by Blonde Moments, maybe what I was having when I bought them lol. They are such bright colours and funky images. I think they would work well as "men" cards (well apart from maybe the pink snowman) as they are not to "pretty" and in a strange way suited to the boys. The stamps for the snowman card by the way are by Paper Artsy and work so well with these papers. Apart from some plain cardstock everything else is from the paper stack.

Let me know what you think about them.
xxx

Decoration Tags thingies :-)

2009-10-28T12:42:00.005Z

Cut an assortment of circles with nestabilities or other scallop circle punch. Cut to the centre of 4 of the circles. glue the flap under to make a 3 sided shape as shown and glue this 4 together sides to sides
Cut 2 large circles and 2 smaller circles in half and make them into cone shapes then glue them inside each other to make each quarter, like this

now add ds tape to the back add some ribbon and cover with another circle to finish it or make another and glue them back to back to make a ball shaped one

For the mini cone version flat one sided, cut 5 small circles in half and make cones as before. Glue 6 to a base circle to make the bottom layer than add 3 more above them and attach ribbon as before Here are some others I have made

Christmas Lantern Gift Box

2009-10-28T09:35:00.004Z

This is the Lantern pattern from the Trimcraft website magazine. The instrucions are all on there. I actually enlarged it on my copier to make a larger lantern. I thought it would make some good gift boxes stuffed with sweeties or smellies :-) I used nestabilities to cut the window, if you fold each piece it is thin enough to fit in the Cuttlebug and you can cut 2 windows at a time (depending on the paper thickness) I also cut the acetate for behind the windows but a thinner one will cut through through better than the one I used.

I used K & Co papers from the seasonal double sided stack and papermania for the blue one. The tag is from the co-ordinating tin of tags and embellishments.

I wanted to use the leftover papers and nestie circles so rather than a plain tag I made these one sided and full circle baubles. They could be hung on the tree after.

I will go and do some pictures and post how to make them here shortly so please call back if you would like to see that :-) thanks for calling