It's a Creative World

Weekend Workout 18 - UPCYCLE/RECYCLE

After losing some weight (25lbs - so far!) I decided to take some clothes to the charity shop. However I am always having a little potter sewing so I thought I would use some fabric from the clothes rather than always buying new.  I am teaching my daughter to sew and I thought this would also be a good, cheap way for her to practice as well.

I started with my jeans...........

and we ended up with this bag.........

The new kitten loved it ..........

Let's see what you can upcycle in your house.  We will certainly be creating some more items from my jeans.  Have fun  Joy

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Hello, Eleanor here.

Joy's workout theme gave me the perfect excuse to get out the Gesso and Modpodge.  First I read some interesting thoughts, here, so that I could use the correct term.

(I discovered that I'm not upcycling, as that would be now useless products into new ones, with a greater value, neither am I recycling, as that would be making something into something completely different from the original. I suppose the tea caddy is re-purposed, but the chest of drawers is simply redecorated!   Never mind, I had a go, and enjoyed it!)

I acquired an old wooden tea caddy which didn't go with anything,  so I painted it with white Gesso

 

and covered it with scrapbooking paper. A few coats of Modpodge and it's just what I need for storing hair elastics and clips.

With the materials still out on the table, I looked around for something else to cover, and found this:

Which, by the same process involving matt white gesso and modpodge, became this:

for organising more of my dressing table clutter.

Now then, what else can I find...

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Oh those are fab projects.

Claireliz here, I have a large basket filled with things that I've saved to alter over the years, one of these was this little tin....

 

My husband bought it when it contained some toffees & then told me he'd bought them because he thought I'd like the tin for something, he was right, as it's the perfect size for those little sheets of paper you get in memo blocks & it seems that we're always scrabbling round for a bit of scrap paper (well, I am anyway)

I covered the lid of the tin with some American Crafts polka dot paper...

 

And glued some lovely strokeable ribbon around the sides of the tin...

 

To embellish the tin I used my Banana Frog Pharmacy Stamps to stamp the word Notes onto cream card, cut them out, inked the edges with Tea Dye Distress Ink, then glued them down.

 

The large cream flower was actually a ring that I picked up for 99p from The Works, I just used pliers to pull the ring part off, then glued it onto a Kraft Journaling spot (Jillibean Soup), & attached to the tin...

 

I've now filled it with paper & put it on my desk, so I can always find a piece of paper to write down those random thoughts as they occur.

C xx

The Ripple Blanket Continued...

Hi there, Claireliz here,

Last month I started to learn to crochet & decided to start making a ripple blanket to go on my 5 year old daughters' bed, I shared the beginnings of the ripple blanket in this post here.

Well 4 weeks later (with a bit of a break in between) I've now got the knack of all the stitches needed & I'm really pleased with my progress...

 

Its not perfect as I seem to have lost a few stitches from one edge over the first 3 colours of ripples, but once I've crocheted an edging onto the blanket it won't really be that noticeable, and I'm sure my daughter won't mind, and for a first attempt it's not half bad really :D

 

I still have another 7 stripes of colour to do but it shouldn't take me too long, as once I pick up the blanket, I get so absorbed in crocheting that I lose all track of time. Then it's just a case of weaving in the ends (the job I dislike most when knitting so I fugure this may be the same lol), & working out which stitches to use to crochet a straight border & fill in the peaks & troughs of the ripples. (Any advice gratefully recieved ;0D)

I'm already planning the colours & sizes for my next ripple blanket, and have a feeling several more will follow.

Thanks for stopping by.

C xx

Don't throw out the wrapping!

Hello and welcome to It's A Creative World on a Wednesday! It's Alexa here, with a very simple idea for using scrapbooking papers. Or, more truthfully, the cover sheets which come with a pack. You know the ones? Often like these, with a printed small version of the papers inside, often arranged beautifully and artistically in a co-ordinated strip - or even two, one of squares and one of rectangles if you're lucky ..

I love these. I have often lamented the fact that the miniature size of the patterns is much nicer than the larger ones inside. Then it occured to me to just trim them as a block, and use them as is. Here's the notebook I made recently for Shimelle's current class:

They're also great for little notebooks and bookmarks. I even use the little squares containing miniature versions of the tag or alphabet sheets, sometimes punching a shape for a simple (I only do simple) and very quick card:

So the next time you eagerly rip off the cellophane bag covering a pack of papers, pause a moment to study that top cover sheet - what can you make?

Thank-you for reading along, and wishing you a very happy and productive midweek!

CATERPILLAR BRACELET

Hi, Lynne here.

Alongside paper crafting I enjoy beading.  I took a class with Heather Kingsley Heath ( http://www.heatherworks.co.uk/ )
to make this bracelet.

 

You use a bead "soup",  a mixture of toning colours in assorted sizes to create it.

The hardest part was not to "organise" the beads on my needle.  It's a great way to use up odds and ends from other projects.

 

Heather has written a series of books, my favourite is Christmas Projects 

http://www.heatherworks.co.uk/epages/BT3633.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3633/Products/%22Christmas%20Decorations%22 )

It starts with simple projects and they get more complicated as you work through the book.

Do give beading a try, it's great fun and you'll never be short of matching jewellery for an outfit.

Lynne x

FOLK ART BAGS

Hello, Eleanor here.

Jayne's recent weekend workout using inspiration from Russian dolls reminded me of some fabric I bought ages ago from IKEA. Sure enough, there it was in a box in the attic, untouched. Time to make something with it, so, in nesting Russian doll style, I made a set of three bags, two of which are totes and the third, smallest, is a shoulder bag:

Don't they just shout Matryoska doll apron designs? (Uh oh, I think I need to make a pinny now!)

I used this bag method which I like as it leaves no raw edges inside to fray.

That's all for now.

x

Weekend Workout 17 - CELEBRATION

Hi everyone

Dolly here and because it is my birthday weekend I thought we’d have a bit of a celebration for our weekend workout.

I challenge you to scrap something that makes you happy, to record a celebration of some sort, to make a celebratory card. To do any sort of crafting that brings a smile to your face.

And your double challenge, should you choose to accept it, to use bunting. You gotta love that bunting. It is everywhere and features heavily on scrapping pages and cards as well as home décor.

Here are some ideas to get you motivated.

I scrapped this page of my best friend’s daughter doing what youngsters do best – just celebrating the joy of life, of being young, of endless possibilities. The bunting just adds a touch of fun and celebration.

 

This page had to have lots of bunting on it as it was a celebration in every sense of the word. It was our street party for the Royal wedding and we decked everywhere out with union jack bunting and so the page recording it had to have it too. The bunting is from Dawn Inskip's Fever Pitch kit.

 

And remember that you can make your own bunting or print out digital bunting. I made the page below with the same kit by Dawn Inskip but printed the bunting and cut it out.  I used butchers twine across the page as the 'cord' and anchored the bunting to it. Simple to do and very effective.

 
Bunting is quick and easy to make from scraps of paper and can pretty up the simplest of pages. Here I just used scraps of red papers and stuck the bunting on to the page along red wool.

 

 

 

And of course, birthdays are the perfect celebrations – so here are my two favourite little girlies each celebrating their first birthday – just 5 years apart!

 

 And finally, apologies for this being totally out of season, but bunting is great for home decor. This adorns my fireplace at Christmas.

 

So come on – celebrate with me and make some happy pages or some happy home décor or some celebratory cards.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello, Eleanor here, with a layout celebrating big sisterhood (and a wee nod to bunting in the patterned paper below the turquoise ribbon):

My daughter was so so proud to be a big sister to her tiny baby brother, and such a help to me. She took her role very seriously, and they are very close even now, although he towers over her.

I've also made some stash-busting bunting (actually it's more of a streamer) for a summer party, either to stand on a garden tea party table, or to hang in a window, or even to drape around a bush.

First of all I found a simple butterfly template online, and drew it onto some card. I then cut out my butterflies from patterned paper scraps. Cut as many as you like, an even number.

Lay them out in pairs, and glue like this:

Keep them in pairs only for now, don't glue more than 2 together at once.

Then, with all your pairs made,

Keep adding pairs on top, with the glue dots on the wing tips of the top butterfly in each pair, until you have used all of your pairs.

Now go and find somewhere to put it:

Yes, that will do nicely.

I hope IACW readers find something to celebrate this summer.

Oh, and Happy Birthday to Dolly

xxx

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Glitter by name.....

I like glitter and recently I've been going cold turkey so it was time to put this right!

The following method isn't a new one but I've NEVER used it, so it was a learning experience for me.

You will need:

Clear Acrylic (look at packaging if you don't have any in your craft cupboard)

Staz-On Ink (or any ink that will work on smooth, non- porous surfaces)

Clear glue (make sure it dries clear)

Glitter, LOTS of glitter!

A paintbrush to help tidy as you go

An understanding family!

 

First of all work somehwere where it won't matter if you dump glitter everywhere and don't wear a your best outfit!!

Set your acrylic down on a piece of paper:

I gave it a wipe over with a tack cloth first.

Next ink up your stamp and carefully stamp on the acrylic:

I like to cut my image out but you can use the whole acylic sheet as your card if you want- in this case place your stamped image carefully on your acrylic sheet.

Now FLIP YOUR STAMPED IMAGE OVER!!!

You're going to apply the glue and glitter to the back of the image-you'll see why at the end!

Start to apply the clear glue to the outer edges of your image:

TIP: start at the point furthest from you and work TOWARDS yourself. This way there is less of wiping your hand through the glue/glitter accidentally as you apply glue to another area.

Fun bit- sprinkle over the glitter, work a small area at a time, especially on a fiddly design like this:

Apply the glitter then shake off excess:

As you are working over a piece of paper (remember I mentioned that at the beginning?!) you can now tip the excess glitter back into the glitter container.

TIP: Flick the image with your finger sharply over your paper to get rid of the excess glitter (some sticks through static)

Use a soft paintbrush to sweep away the remaining excess glitter:

  So now apply glue to the next area of your design, add glitter, clear off the excess, tidy with the brush and carry on!

Your design will eventually like:

Which looks blobby and odd but if you flip over the image to the side you stamped on you will see:

The stamped lines still show over the glitter- cool eh?!

I like to leave my glittered image overnight to make sure it is completely dry before making my card.

You'll find that as it dries the glue and glitter settle more and look much neater.

Here's my card I made with a beautiful Koi Carp stamp I glittered.

I hope you have a go at this technique- it's REALLY addictive, I'm on my fourth go as I write, and as  result I'm twinkling gently , covered in a thin layer of glitter, so is the computer, my desk, the Beagles, the kids, my husband (I said you needed an understanding family!!)

Happy Crafting!
(a very) GLITTERYKatie!!!

xxx

 

Handbag albums

Hi Dolly here with a quick mini book gift idea that will take less than an hour to make. These little handbag albums are way too cute not to have a go at, and as they are so easy and so small, they could easily be made and popped into an envelope and posted instead of a card.

 

First I must make an apology as I have had the instructions for these cute little mini books for a long time and I have long since forgotten where they came from. So, if they are yours or you know whose they are, please let me know so I can give full credit. I KNOW I didn’t come up with it myself.

First print off the two templates attached here. They will each fit on A4 size.

Download Bag template 1

Download Bag template 2

Cut the main handbag template out of double sided cardstock/ paper. You will want something reasonably substantial. Fold as indicated. Ink the edges if wished.

I also like to add either faux or real stitches all round the edges for a bit of detail.

Cut the inside from a sheet of cardstock and score and fold as shown. You will need to ease the corners to pinch them in.

Cut the inside pages from the same cardstock or from the leftover patterned papers,  making them slightly smaller than the pocket shape. (shown as a shaded area on the diagram opposite.

Sew two buttons onto the handbag before assembling.

Glue the inside into the handbag

Decorate the pages as wished and add ribbon to form a handle and the closure for the bag.

 

 

 

 
Have fun.

Dolly x

Candle wax and stamping

Have you ever used candle wax? Its much cheaper than bees wax (probably not as nice lol) but a good alternative when you are experimenting.

I used precut mdf boards that were being thrown out.

I started off painting the base white and then a turquoise blue. I dripped a lit candle over the cover and the edge.

I stamped some images on the book and stamped the same image into the wax before it had set.

I went over the edges and then the whole board with silver paint.

Its not finished yet, I think it needs some Winter or snowy pictures in.

 

Debbie x

 

 

I'M STILL STAMPING

Hello, Eleanor here, with another simple stamped card using a single image multiple times.

Kraft card, edge punched, green Bazzill and plain white cardstock, Unity image stamped with SU ink, sentiment added, and tiny brown flatback pearls.

Bye for now

x