It's a Creative World

Sew Easy Wrapping Paper Bag

Hiya all, today I am doing another sew easy post, this time its for a wrapping paper bag, you can buy these from various places, but its cheaper to make your own, and not too hard either, I made this in a couple of hours.

 

 

I started by choosing a fabric that was pretty without being too girly; I didn’t want the boys of the family to feel left out.  I cut three pieces of the fabric, the main body then two pockets, the main bag is 70x90cm, the pocket for scissors (upright) 25x35cm and the tape and ribbon pocket is 37x28cm.   You don’t need to follow these measurements, just cut pieces to a size you are happy with.

 

Then I ironed and pinned a hem around each pocket piece on all four sides of about 1cm, mitring all the corners, then sewed using a machine.

 

 

The main piece I only hemmed one edge, which will be the top, again 1 cm, once I had sewn it I turned over a larger hem of about 3cm, this will be used to thread ribbon through at the end.

 

 

I decided I wanted some lace on each of the pockets mainly to look pretty, I sewed this on the top edge of each.  I then pinned the pockets to the main piece, moving them around until I was happy with the placement, sewed each one on and also sewed down the middle of the wider pocket to give an opening for tape and one for ribbons.

 

You then need to sew the bag up, fold it right sides together and pin down the edge and bottom.  I sewed a few stitches at the top of the hem, about 1 cm, then from under the large hem at the top (so you have a hole for your ribbon).  When this is done turn it right side out and iron your seams.  Using a safety pin or large paperclip attach to ribbon and thread it through your hole at the top, you then have a draw string closure to keep all your wrapping paper clean and dust free.

 

See you all again soon

 

Trish xxx

The ultimate crafter's companion

Hi, it's Maria here and I hope that you are well and enjoying your weekend.

I have been lucky enough to get my grubby mitts on the The ultimate from Crafter's companion.  Having had a play I couldn't wait to report back to, you, our lovely readers.

This really is an amazing piece of kit and if you haven't seen it I would urge you to go and investigate.  Whether you are a card maker or a scrapbooker you will find a use for it.

It's a complete wolf in sheep's clothing as this, at first glance, simple plastic folder can .........

*  Trim your card and paper to size

*  Score your cardstock to make cards the exact size and style you want.  This is fabulous for a newbie cardmaker like me.  I was really fed up of either wasting expensive card blanks as I'd messed up the design.  Or, measuring and cutting cardstock  to the wrong size for my envelopes.

*  Score your card to make gift boxes or bigger envelopes to fit those thicker cards.

*  Make your own matching envelopes.  How lovely to line them with pretty paper from your scraps box.

  
 

* Using the embossing tool you can emboss shapes and patterns onto your cards, envelopes or boxes.  I'm a tad ham fisted and always struggled to cut a decent circle.  I found that by scoring the circle shape before cutting it out gave me a much cleaner cut.

You could even use the scoring tool and lines to get the perfect fold on your exploding boxes.  You'll need to measure your box yourself but if you want a really crisp fold it's totally worth it.

The instruction are clear and easy to follow and even a beginner like me managed aperture cards, envelopes and boxes.

 How lovely not to have to worry if you have the right size envelopes at home.  It's so simple you can make your own and you can even by the special *lick and stick* gum  if you make cards to sell.

The possibilities for the Ultimate are really only limited by your imagination.  Everything stores away in it's own compartment so it's easy and safe to transport.

The Ultimate retails at £39.99 but will soon pay for itself and it has got me using my scraps to make gift boxes, cards and envelopes.

The best bit of all is that it is designed and manufactured in the UK.  Now, you can't say that about many crafting products.

If you would like to check  out The ultimate in all it's glory just visit www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/default.asp apologies for the lack of a posh linkie dink but Typepad doesn't want to play nicely today.

I'm back on the 8th August and I'll be sharing some cards and gift boxes that I'm making for some special people.

Toodle pip

A to Z Journal - the O page

Oh my are we really on the letter O already?  

Our regular guest Willow has created another beautiful page:

The page is called 'O' is for Oak King. It is a page dedicated to the wonderful Oak King..King of the growing summer light. At Midsummer the Oak King gets defeated by the Holly King, who will reign until Midwinter, when the Oak King will rule again!

Caz

I am One of a kind :)

Di: Book of my life:

Oops, another easy one cos my life is OUTRAGEOUS as an OAP ( Old Age Pensioner). I get discount at the shops, cheap hair cuts (on special days), reduced rates on buses and insurance, AND can do what ever I please - even have PINK hair...

Lemons Book of Growing Up

I struggled with this one and after a few false starts i ended up going with Out of Sorts and documented my daughter being ill with the chicken pox.

Are you keeping up, or are you ahead of the game LOL! Lets see your pages!!!

OOPS almost forgot.....

Here are a few ideas for the letter O:

Book of me/you: Open, Opulent, Obese (aagghhh), Outrageous, Ostentatious, Obsessive, Old ...

Book of baby: Oops, Oh dear, Overtired, Observant...

Book of everyday:  Oblivious, Outing, "Oats and beans and barley O" OMG...

Occasions/ Life:  Outing, Obscure, Omnipotent (?), Occasion, OAP, Old age (Hee hee) October...

Tools and Techniques: Oops, Offcuts...

Knitting: Oops, odd...

Love from the cReative giRls X

Quick and cheap mini tag book

Hi all - Jakey here!

I'm just back from my holidays and I have hundreds of new pictures to scrap!

The first thing I made with them was this cute little mini tag book, using a kids alpha book I bought in the pound shop. As I'm feeling the pinch along with many of you, I decided to use nothing but old papers and stash I've had kicking around for ages, and I'm quite pleased with the way the book turned out considering it cost nothing to make - and was put together in a couple of hours.

Raid your old stash boxes and see what you can come up with - we'd love to see your creations :-)

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Scrapping Y'all!

xx Jakey xx

A month in my life, mid month catch up.

I hope you are all managing to do your pages daily!

I have been doing mine either last thing at night or first thing the following morning, while the thoughts are still fresh. There have been days where I really have nothing much to write about, and these days have been difficult. But then there are days where I have receipts, ticket stubs or photos to add. Um or sometimes all three!

Here are a few of those days...

On the 6th, we went to ASDA, and the movies and I added a separate page of journalling and a photo of Josh's 'grass seed in his eye' saga.

On the 13th it was our villages open gardens, so I have a page of journalling and 4 pages of photos.

And on the 15th I have my train ticket to London, a business card from the restaurant we went to for lunch, my journalling and a happy birthday!! announcement.

I doubt I would have coped with this project, had I not pre cut and punched all my pages. It's made the whole process easy and i'm really enjoying it!

And from MadDi

Well I decided to bind my book up front. MISTAKE. And as only Robert Burns, our SCOTTISH poet, could say it, “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley.” There was so much I wanted to add that I 'unbound' it and have already added loads more pages! this is some of the stuff I wanted to add:

 

My problem now of course is I will have to find a BIGGER BINDER!. I am so enjoying creating my little 'time capsule' of my life in 2008. I know that in 20 years (hopefully) I will look back and think

• "MY how cheap everything was"
• "Was I really so busy creating stuff?".
• "Oh how I remember the 'good old days'" LOL

As always thanks for visiting and haPPy creATing!!
Caz and Di
xx

A special 'Wedding Anniversary' card...

Hi folks from MadDi

"A wedding anniversary is an anniversary of the date on which a wedding took place. Married persons who regard the day of their marriage as important may mark the occasion in some special way. In the Commonwealth realms one can receive a message from the monarch for 60th, 65th, and 70th wedding anniversaries, and any wedding anniversary after that."

By the time you read this post I will be almost on holiday in the UK. One of the special occasions I have planned to attend is the 60th wedding anniversary of my friends Reg and Lily.

This is my card for Reg and Lily - no diamonds just a little bling!

 

It is based on one of my favourite designs from a previous post:

This is what I started with:

• 1 sheet of ivory cardstock
• 1 sheet of patterned paper
• Photographs of Reg and Lily for the inside of the card
• A pile of ribbon
• Florist wire and florist tape

I made some flowers by:

• Folding the ribbon
• Attatching some florist wire
• Wrapping it up with florist tape:

For the card:

• Cut the cardstock 7" by 12"
• Cut the PP 6 " by 12"
• Ink and attach the PP to the cardstock

For the vase:

• Cut 1 piece of cardstock 4 by 5 inches and 1 piece of PP 3 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches.
• Attach the PP to the cardstock and score 1 cm from each side.
• Fold back. Use this fold to attach the vase to the card. Create a 3D effect!

I used the photographs on the inside:

I think that these days it's a once in a lifetime experience to be attending a 60th wedding anniversary!!! I am truly blessed...

Thanks for visiting IACW!

Love from MadDi

 

Homely Blogs

Are you a budding Martha Stewart or maybe Anthea Turner??

Do  you love anything homely and strive to be a domestic goddess?
Well i do and i'm always blog and website hopping trying to find ideas, designs and recipes. Some of these blogs feature everything from crafting to baking, photography to Interior design.
So if you love stuff like that then have a browse through some of these websites for inspiration!
They're just a few of my favourites!

Desire to Inspire

The Wednesday Chef


At Home at Home




From Desperate to Diva

French Garden House


The Cottage


Cherry Hill Cottage


Hostess with the Mostess




My Yellow Farmhouse


Homespun Living


Country Heart and Home

I hope you enjoyed looking around some of my favourite blogs!

Have a fabulous day!

Cath xx

Flowery lamp shade

Today I thought I would share a home décor project that I made a while ago.

 

 

I bought a plain cream lampshade from a DIY store and made sure I used the right wattage bulb for the shade.

 

I made my flowers with 5 petals so cut 5 equal lengths of ribbon – the length of the ribbon will determine the size of your petal. I started by cutting a small disc of card for the base then stuck one end of ribbon onto this circle. I formed a loop with the ribbon by twisting it back on itself then stuck the free end on top of the end I had already secured. I found fabric glue to be the best to use to stick the ribbon – I used a version by UHU.

 

Once I had finished all the petals on one flower I then hid the messy centre by covering it with a large button – I stuck the buttons on with a generous  number of glue dots!

 

 

 

To make the stems and leaves I stuck lengths of green ribbon directly onto the shade using double-sided sticky tape, I stuck the tape onto the shade first then stuck the ribbon on. I then added the flower heads to the stems using glue dots.

 

 

I have been using this lamp for a good while now and the glue dots and double-sided stick tape have held out well. This lamp only has a 40W bulb in it so is ideal for a decorated shade.

It gives a really cosy feel to out dining room and I get lots of compliments!

 

Charlotte x

Recycling Jam Jars

I have a pile of empty jam jars sat on the side waiting for the day when I can pickle my own beetroots and when caz mentioned that we should do an article on recycling them I jumped up and down shouting me…me!

 

 

 

I printed out an old photo of my mum and mounted it onto card. I stamped some wings onto patterned paper and applied pink and blue glitter with my heat and stick. I painted a strip of stiff cardboard and glued it together to make a triangle. Then I adhered the triangle and wings to the back of the figure.

 

I gave the lid a couple of coats of paint and then when dry I adhered buttons to the top.

 

I cut a piece of patterned paper to size and adhered it inside the jar at the back and I adhered the figure to the base of the jam jar.

 

When everything was dry I added some seed beads and tied a velvet ribbon around the top of the jar.

 

I am really pleased how it has turned out and I think I will now do a couple more of my grandma and granddad.

 

Lemon

x

 

Hi from Caz!

 

I think recycling is a MUST DO! But I also think it's a shame to see all those interesting glass jars go off to be smashed and turned into something else.

So i've done a bit of home recycling and am turning glass jars into lanterns!

 

 

 

Using galvantised wire to make the 'frame', adding a tea light and some ribbon for a splash of colour. There are loads of ways to decorate your jar, how about a thin layer of glass paint, or add some beads to the wire.

I'll be using my new lanterns to decorate the garden on Saturday night as we celebrate my birthday with a spit roast and the company of some great friends!

 

haPPy creATing!!
Lemon and Caz
xx

Organising your paper

Hello

I hope everyone is well and staying indoors doing lots of crafting while we're having this atrocious weather!

Today i wanted to post about ways to organise your paper and card.

I know over the years i have tried many different ways and am always looking for new ideas to keep it all in pristine condition.

Do you store by manufacturer? Or by colour or pattern??

Here are some ideas to keep you all tidy!

The fabulous Artbin super satchel. I love these. Although i don't 'store' my paper and card in them i do use them for transporting to and from crops as they have a useful handle.

They are ideal for home though as they are stackable.

These great trays are by Display Dynamics are are very good.

They come in packs or you can buy singularly so you can add later. I used to have these but i didn't get on with them. It's a matter off what you like isn't it.

I know it doesn't look big enough but at 13inches wide this portable shelving system by Cropper Hopper is ideal for storing all your card and paper. You could even use the coloured drawers to store the same colour paper in and then you don't even have to label!

These fabulous cubes are available from Storage for Crafts. They can be used on there own or with the Artbins as they fit perfectly on each shelf.

Another unit from SFC. This shows you how many artbins you can fir in this storage unit. The benefit of these is that you can see exactly what you're looking for!

I absolutely love these! I have at least half a dozen of these and also some of the smaller folders that fit inside along with the dividers. Made by Cropper Hopper. If you buy the value pack as shown you get a folder plus the four smaller ones and 12 dividers, great value for money. You can fit approx 500 sheets in one of these, very versatile!

These stacker cubes are fabulous and a definite next on my wish list. They come in many different shapes and sizes to fit all areas of your scrap room.

And this is something to make you(and me!) green with envy.

This was Becky Higgins office in Ohio(she doesn't live there now) But how very very cool is it? And it's all Cropper Hopper cubes! Just shows you what you can do with a little thought(and maybe a big space!)

Don't forget to let us know what works for you. We may be able to post your ideas in the future.

Cath x