It's a Creative World

Crafter's Birthday Cake

Hi Lynne here.

I have just celebrated a birthday and I wanted to share with you the cake my friend Yaz made for me.  It is absolutely beautiful and I was so touched that she took the time to make it for me.  Her 7 year old daughter helped with the decorating.

We are both scrapbookers, so Yaz took photos at each stage.

Some icing she bought coloured and some she coloured herself

shaping the buttons

adding the holes

first buttons on the cake

The finished cake after sharing:)

I've been truly spoilt this year, thanks to all my wonderful family and friends.

So if you're looking for cake ideas for a crafty friend try this.  You needn't cover the whole cake, you could do the top or a cluster of button flowers.

 

Make the most of your bonus day, I certainly will.

 

Lynne x

Getting Bigger!

Well I'm still crocheting and my projects are getting bigger- not me although I do seem to spend a LOT of time sitting with my hook in my hand!

First up inspired by Lucy at Attic24 I decided to get some Rico Essentials DK yarn and knit up a stash bag:

It was a large project and took about a week (which is an age for me!!) but I really enjoyed going round in Double Crochet (that's Treble in UK crochet speak!) as it builds up quickly and it was easy to get into a rhythm!

Lucy's Blog and Pattern for the bag are HERE

I made some flowers for the bag and had fun looking up crochet flower patterns I used this lovely pattern HERE

Here are some of the links I found on my travels looking for crochet flower patterns:

Crochet Flowers and Leaves

Lucy's Teeny Flowers

Frilly Flowers

Crochet Flowers & Leaves by Lucy

Lucy's Attic24 blog is a great source of inspiration to me, I am really enjoying reading her posts and soaking up her words of wisdom! She has a great eye for colour and luckily for those of us who are colour challenged ( I do manage to choose EVENTUALLY!!!!) she has provided us with lists of yarn types and colours that she has used and liked!

Well that's my little bit for now, next time I'll have piccies of my latest Attic24 project which I've so nearly finished and again it's a biggie!!

Happy Crafting!

Love,

GlitteryKatie xXXXx

To die for...!

It’s Monday and it’s my turn to post today! I thought I might let you into a secret… I love die cutting – I love the fact that’s so versatile and that you can cut the same image again and again (it makes birthday invitations a doddle!) I tend to use three main types of manufacturer though there are lots to choose from. I tend to use Sizzix the most as I use a lot of Tim Holtz dies and for me these are the most reasonable financially as I use them so much. I cut a variety of materials with these dies, including fabric! I also use Cuttlebug as I have a ‘thing’ for alphabets! These are thinner dies which I generally just cut paper with. Spellbinders are also well used and PaperArtsy make dies which are very similar and fit their stamps perfectly.I have yet to really use the embossing function of Spellbinder dies but I have seen the amazing results that others get. I have two diecutting machines (I know, greedy right?!) my original Cuttlebug that I use for Cuttlebug and Spellbinder dies and a wonderful Vagabond that I used for everything else.  Of course once you start buying dies you also then buy the embossing folders that the manufacturers make! I did show you on an earlier post (here) that I like to use embossing folders!

Once you have a die cutting machine there are three main ways to use your image. The first is to use the shape you cut out, the second is to use that shape as a mask and the third is to use the ‘waste’ left behind as a mask! So not only is it pretty cool at creating an image, nothing need be wasted! Now that is music to my ears! How do you use your dies? What are your favourites and why? I’d love to know! Have a great week,

Gabrielle

ps - the 'die cuts' was cut using Tim Holtz's brand spanking new Word Play die - told you I loved alpahbets!

 

Mini make

Good evening everyone

 

First I must apologise for my post being late in the day, I really must get the hang of the scheduler on this blog, so, I am sorry, I do hope you like what I have to share.

 

This is a little mini box and book inspired by the immensely talented Laura Dennison, you can check out her blog HERE .

 

 

The box is created from cardstock and covered in patterned paper.

 

I have also decorated the back of the box, the larger background butterfly is a chipboard shape embossed with shabby embossing powder in blue.

 

I have tied my tiny little tags up with seam binding, they all slip inside the little box.

To give you an idea how teeny tiny the project is I have placed it next to a regular sized reinking bottle.

 

And, here are the tags in a little more detail. Each one was coloured with distress inks and then overstamped with various designs and textures. I then added a little crackle paint here and there before raiding my embellishment drawers for some pretties.

 

The backs have been inked and stamped in a similar manner to the fronts and then a quote added as a finishing touch.

 

This little project was one Nicki shared with me and some friends last tuesday. We have a little group that gets together to craft. Each week we take it in turns to find and share a project, we share our stamps, tools and embellishments and of course copious amounts of coffee, snacks and laughter. 

 

Happy crafting

Much love

Tracey xxx

Paper flowers

Today we are re-visiting a post from 4 years ago; it's as relevant and fun today as it was then!

Rebecca Sower is one of my all time heros when it comes to creative genius!! She has an eye for design and her scrapbook pages are awesome.  Scrapbooking lifes little MOMENTS, is a well read book in my house!

These paper flowers are inspired by Rebecca.....

All you need to make them are a few circles of patterned paper (great way to use up scraps!), some buttons, craft wire and florist wire.

Oh and some wire cutters and craft pliers come in handy too :)

You can see Rebeccas tutorial on making the little wire bits here!

I crumpled and inked my paper circles, then layered them before making a hole in the centre with a thick needle.
Thread the wire through the hole and wind it around the florist wire (or kebab stick) stems.
A twist in the stem makes the 'leaf'.

They are so simple to make, and the best bit is they last forever :)

haPPy tueSDAy!!
Caz
xx

My First Shutter Card

Hi there, Doda here. Thought I'd share my first attempt at a shutter card with you. Now I've made one, I am sure there are going to be plenty to follow.

All the embellishments on this card are punched with Tonic Studios punches. Making a shutter card certainly gives you more surfaces to decorate. 

They make the perfect card to send to someone special.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it might be once I had worked out that you divide the width of the whole card into thirds and the outer two thirds by half. 

Here is an idea of the measurements I used. (Click to enlarge the image)

Then it is just a matter of folding. It doesn't take rocket science to work it out, but if you are struggling here's a link to a tutorial here.

And while I'm here...I mentioned Tonic Studios paper punches...check out the giveaway on their blog right now if you'd like a chance to win some lovely paper punches :-)

Doda x

Layout & Card.

Some of my friends know I'm not into 'Vintage' style paper crafts .... I love what others do but I personally miss using lots of colours. I can deal with Retro as this is quite the opposite :)

 I do however dabble in Vintage every now & then & today I'm showing you a card & Layout .  I drew the anchor on the layout and cut it out of patterned paper, The Hearts are punched & then inked using a stencil. The card was my Husbands Valentines card but it could be used for other occasions.

Hope you like x Jayne x

Vintage boxes

Hi Debbie here with a really quick and easy project.

These were plain and wooden,I covered the base with a mixture of colours using babywipes and cheap watercolour paints from the pound shop.

I  used decopatch glue with a few sewing patterns from magazines and pages from books and a couple of stamps to finish the boxes off.

There are some fabulous ephemera websites online I found the cotton reel images on FLIKR. The great thing is that until I find lots of things to put in them, they all stack inside eachother.

Debbie x

Stitches NEC Birmingham

This weekend just gone I was very, very lucky to be invited to a Tim Holtz workshop hosted by Personal Impressions.  It was on Saturday before the annual trade show "Stitches" opened at the NEC Birmingham.  So with great excitement I packed my bags and headed off very early Saturday morning to catch my flight to Birmingham.  I met up with a fella demonstrator Susan for tea and a chat as we waited for the class to open.

We were not disappointed Tim Holtz is a great teacher and I love his products....but what you really want to see....is what we made.

Isn't it fab.  We used a lot of his new products but my favourite had to be these;

Distress markers.

They all coordinate with all other Tim Holtz Ranger product inks and are water based with a brush nib for colouring and a fine plastic nib for journalling.  There is even a white!  Oh I will have to get myself some of these beauties when they arrive next month...mmm...now where did I put my watercolour paper?

Whilst wandering around the show yesterday I took a few more pictures of items I liked....new trends and new products.  I could waffle on here all day!  I won't as you may loose the will to live...but if you are interested pop over here for more information.

Happy crafting,

Erika

Inspired By Nature...

Ok, I know this sounds a little cliched - but I just discovered Pinterest, and with it some stunning nature photographs, which I thought could be interpreted by many to mean so much:

What do these inspire in you?

Thoughts, feelings, emotions that you need to release?

Scrapbook or art journal pages, cards, textile items?

Recipes, full of taste and texture?

I'm a romantic at heart, and always like to look for meaning in everything, but in this case I didn't have to delve too far.  I'm already planning a colourful cushion, soul-searching journal page, and a knitted shawl - but could you guess which one was inspired by which image? :)

If you want to check out other things I find as I (no doubt) lose myself in Pinterest, please feel free to follow me here, and I'll happily reciprocate - whatever your taste or style, I can't wait to see whast inspires YOU.

Leanne x