It's a Creative World

12 days of Christmas - A Cup of Festive Cheer!

Well, good morning everyone, and welcome to the next installment of our 12 Days of Christmas special!

(If you've only just joined us, scroll down for the previous posts in this series - They're visions of crafty loveliness that you won't want to miss!)

My post was inspired by a lady at my last crop, who was using templates for her card bases - I know that I often overlook templates, thinking my creations need to be terribly detailed and very complex, when they can provide such a great starting point!

So, using a mug template that Jackie had downloaded from the internet, I made little gifts for friends and neighbours!

A cute mug, with a hot chocolate sachet (actually, a very posh one with marshmallows included... I bought one for display purposes, and one for me to "try"...!), PLUS a candy cane and gingerbread men (well, it IS Christmas...!)

Here's a little close-up of the decorations, and little gingies:

 

The template is available for download from here, and I hope that you all find a little time to have a go - not just for this occasion, but also for others. I've made one, for example, as a coffee mug for  friend that I don't get to see very often, and included a cappuccino sachet. Hopefully, when she gets the card, we'll enjoy a good phonecall adn drink our frothy coffees together :)

Merry Christmas, with all the love and blessings it brings to you and yours,

Leanne xxx

www.beautifulimpressions.co.uk

www.craftaholicleanie.co.uk

A Hand-Bag?

Leanne here - Happy Saturday!

Ok, so this post is more about the importance of being organised, rather than Earnest, but I hope you still find it useful :)

A couple of years ago, whilst rediscovering my passion for knitting, I was growing frustrated with my ball of yarn getting mucky, getting pulled by other needles and hooks in my bag, being chased by the cat, or tangling around someone's foot. I decided that a pair of bamboo bag handles (free with a magazine!) would sit nicely on my wrist, and found an intarsia pattern to use up scraps of dk and two-ply, along wth some unbleached cotton for a lining... Here it is in use with a lovely lace shawl (more on that another day...!):

What do you think? I can carry it around with me by folding it into a handbag, and knit standing, sitting, anywhere, with my stitch markers conveniently to hand and my pattern safe inside! I'll link to my Ravelry project here, for you to see.

Sometimes the best little inventions are borne of necessity, so have a think about a gap in your practical life that needs filling, and post us a pic or link when you're done-'We would love to see how our efforts free inspire you :)

That's all from me- Thanks for stopping by, and please do check out the other weekend posts for even more inspiration!

Leanne xxx

www.beautifulimpressions.co.uk

www.craftaholicleanie.co.uk

 

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Scraptastic Scraplifting!

Welcome to Friday! Leanne here, and I hope that you're all enjoying the start of your weekend, and maybe settling down to do some crafting :)

But sometimes, no matter how ready we are, and how badly we want to create, it just doesn't happen. Mojo deserts us. And for those times, there's CASEing. That's a term I've only learned since joining the SU sisterhood, but a concept that we are all familiar with: Copy And Share Everything!

That was my problem recently, I wanted to make a wedding layout with clusters of embellishments and, whilst musing on what I'd do, I bought my first magazine in over 12 months (honest, I've been so good, sticking to my free Pinterest!). I flicked through and immediately saw the perfect layout- great colours, composition, vintage but not too grungy... And I decided that I could spend hours wondering how to do my own, or I could just give myself permission to make myself one just like it. So I did, using as many scraps as I could, stamping my own paper, and drawing on my Thickers!

Here's the original, a gorgeous creation by Emilie Chamel, on page 40 of Scrap365 Aug/Sept:

And here's my effort- What do you think?!

So go ahead.

Give credit where it's due, and then shamelessly recreate somebody else's masterpiece. Why not? It's a ready thought-out project, planned, measured, and composed. You don't have to think, work out a colour scheme, or a title. Just go with what's there! And I promise it will either leave you with a finished item to be proud of, and a sated creative appetite, OR - even better - it might just kick-start your creative juices! You may end up with something nothing like the original, but that doesn't matter; Like sketches and challenges, let them inspire you into creation. And don't forget to thank your muse, and let them know how they have inspired you, because it'll mean a lot to them :)

Thank you for stopping by to see me; Do check back tomorrow and Sunday for our offerings, and link back if you CASE them so we can come heap glowing praise :)

Leanne xxx

 

www.beautifulimpressions.co.uk

www.craftaholicleanie.co.uk

 

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Summer Days

Eleanor back, with some bright and cheery mini book pages; these are approx 6in by 5.5in, before binding.

(I did trim that overlong tag tie! It looks ridiculously leggy and unkempt)

A closer look at that front cover, on which I glued 3mm flatback (non sticky) pearls, all 84 of them. That took some dexterity and patience, and I was beginning to wonder how I could still call these pages 'clean and simple', but the pleasure of the recipient made the effort worthwhile. 

Cheerio

x

Tooth Fairy time!

The time has come for the tooth fairy to start visiting our house again. Rosa (that's her name) has collected Emma's first tooth and will return it to me when she has removed the magic,so I need somewhere to store these little treasure!! Enter an old Altoids tin that has lurked in my stash for some time.

 I wanted a magical little place so have filled the tin with pva beads and a delicate little blossom.

Once it has dried it gives me a lovely sparly base to store the teeth!

.

I've decorated the lid with buttons and various embellishmentsand a little stamping.

Now I have a lovely little trinket box for Emma to open one day and marvel at how tiny her little teeth were, although I;m going to be doing it myself  until then!

Hope the sun is shining for you,

 

Lau xx

Part 2 Starbook Tutorial

Hello, Eleanor here with that starbook tutorial I promised you.

If you've never made one, or seen one made, it can be tricky to see quite how to put one together, so I've written some instructions, based on the way I was shown by a lovely girl at a papercraft retreat. Lots of photos, but I hope you can follow the steps.

If you have a paper collection in mind, great, if not, then choose some contrasting or co-ordinating cardstock to begin with, then bring out that big box of patterned paper scraps you have tucked away.

For the basis of the pages you will need 3 colours of cardstock (these may vary in later photos, but the sizes won't) and assorted patterned card/stiff paper:

Each piece, once cut to size, needs to be scored as follows (my scoreboard is imperial and I worked in metric, so I just measured and made a little pencil mark where I needed to score)

For now, set the single largest piece (14.5 x 30 cms) aside. Take the five pieces of 14.5 x 29 and construct as follows, folding with right sides together:

Lay a second folded piece exactly down onto the first, pressing on sticky edge to secure.

Continue with the remaining 3 pieces.

Now add the second layer of 5 pages, sized 14.5 x 27 cms, as follows, again folding the right side inwards:

Now take your patterned sheets, the ones you cut 14.5 x 25 cms, these are the ones you embellish, adding photos or leaving spaces for them if it's a gift. This is how I did mine:

And finally, the fifth page spread and the longer cover:

Now to put those pretties in:

Finally, time to add the cover, so close up the star shape with your blank card at front and back. Now take the cover, score an additional line 1cm either side of the central fold to allow for the bulk of the pages and add the closure as follows:

Run another strip of glue-tape down the whole edge. Place your centre pages onto the cover, wrong sides together, press to secure.

All done.

Here's another version:

Any questions, or if anything isn't clear, please shout, and I'll respond in the week.

Cheerio

x

 

 

 

 

Quick and easy gift bag

Happy Sunday! I hope you are all enjoying a relaxing, crafty weekend.

Todays project is a quick and easy gift bag made from an A3 sheet of paper.

I much prefer to give a gift in a gift bag than wrap it in paper, mainly because they are reusable, which is why I never write on the tag, lol.

They can be quite expensive, so with a room full of stash I thought I would have a go at making one. There are quite a few templates on line, but the basic principle is that you need a front and back, sides, a strip to join and a bottom.
I used my A3 sheet landscape and made the back and front 5.5", the sides 2.5" and the joining strip 0.5". I then measured 2.5" from the bottom of the paper to make the width of the bottom of the bag. Score all the lines rather than drawing them with a pencil.

I scored a triangle and seam line on the side pieces so that it folds in. I used double sided tape to put it all together.
And that's the basic bag made. Now all that's left is to decorate and as always this is the fun part. If you're making a few to keep in the cupboard for emergencies you can just stick a sheet of patterned paper to the front with a tag, but if it's for a specific birthday you could even decorate the front like a birthday card to really personalise it.

I've done a little template, but please note that the drawing is NOT to scale, and the measurements are for an A3 sheet of paper. Download Gift bag template

I hope you have a go at making a few gift bags and please don't forget to link to your projects in the comments so we can go have a little look :)

Have a great day! Caz xx

Flower power

Do you ever want to scrap photo that just don't need patterned paper- but kind of do?? I had the flower ones all ready to scrap and just didn't have paper that did them justice. So it's not a new idea but just one I keep forgetting is really good. Making your own patterned paper with plain cardstock that has a core.

There are some gorgeous ones with contrast cores but I kept it plain with just a hint of pattern. If you haven't done it yourself, a flower shape underneath and a liberal sanding make just enough difference to the page to stop it being too simple.

TFL!

Laura xx

You Are Cordially Invited...

Hello bloggers! Happy Friday!

It's so good to be back, thank you all for popping by for our Easter Eggstravaganza (see what I did there? lol) and now we are all keyed up with creative inspiration that we want to share!

My post for today is to show how crafty projects can change and develop as they are created... And my example is a wedding invitation I created for a friend. She went through any vaguely wedding-like stash, and came up with a vintage teaparty theme and the following colour scheme- this is my first of three variations:

She took it, said she didn't need any more, and that was that... Ever had a customer that did that? I didn't believe it either, and I got a text a few days later saying she wanted to tweak it. Which is fine, it's her wedding and she can have whatever she likes, within budget :)

She wanted to change the one large cup for 3 smaller ones, rearrange the flags into bunting, and add a Swahili greeting (her sweetheart is from Zanzibar), and finally came up with this:

Unfortunately time has not been on our side, so I couldn't hand stamp them all... Which led to her selecting some digital elements, and me printing the main body of the invite before embellishing it with scraps of die-cut card and some subtle satin ribbon (plus a little bling, as she wanted some glam, but not glitter offload!)

It served as a good reminder to me to let go of creative control, and give the customer what they want - and also that any crafting project can change from initial conception to physical manifestation.

So grab a sketch, and veer off it, or design a card and end up with a key ring... Creativity is born of change!

Thanks for stopping by, come again tomorrow, when the girls will have another little something for your weekend,

Leanne x

www.beautifulimpressions.co.uk

www.craftaholicleanie.co.uk

 

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CRAFTernoon Tea, Anyone?

Well hello there, it's been a while since I last saw you- do come in and rest a while, perhaps a cup of tea? I've some lovely chocolates to go with it, in this cute little box I decorated...

Why thank you, you're too kind! It was just some strips and stickers from an old scrapbooking kit, great for for using up scraps of stash... Sorry? Yes, I know there's only one egg in it... It came like that, ok? ;)

Quick change of subject- Do you like crochet? I've been working on a couple of bunny motifs (I don't normally do cutesy, but these are the right side of kitsch for my taste):

My favourite is the first, but I can't find the pattern so am having to do it by eye- but the second has lots of free motif patterns on her blog... Plus, if i make it in brown and red, and add antlers, I could make a Rudolph garland for Christmas! Actually, for more inspiration on crochet motifs, there's an awesome little Pinterest board here worth a look too :)

Back to food, I have to get a wriggle on with my carrots for the kids... Yours don't like veg? Oh, don't worry, they'll love these (and isn't it cool how they're displayed?):

How do you make them? I'm glad you asked ;) You need some strong double sided tape, a paper crimper (not essential), a strip of green paper, and a rectangle of orange card or patterned paper...

First, lay double sided tape along both short ends and one long end of the orange rectangle, and remove all the backing- I know! Trust me :) Roll into a long tube, using the tape from the long side to secure the edge.
Next, flatten one end of the tube. The tape will hold it shut, but if you run about a centimetre/half inch of it through the paper crimper, it'll create a really good seal.
Fill about two thirds with goodies (not vegetables!), fringe your green paper, and keep ready for the next step.
Then, start to flatten the other end PERPENDICULAR to the first one i.e. the OPPOSITE way, so if you looked from above it would look like an X but before you have sealed it completely, insert the green fringed paper, to provide the carrot greenery, and run through the crimper again to seal.
Oh, you're welcome! They're just so quick and easy I thought you'd like to give them a go :) Great for children to make, or parties!

Well, I'd best be off, lots of Easter prep... I still have nest cakes to make, Simnel to sort, an Easter tree to decorate... And I'm sure you're busy too!

Oh, go on then, you can have that last egg... But only if you promise to come back later to meet a new teamie, and then drop in tomorrow and see the rest of the girls- They've really missed you! 

Pasg Hapus, cyfeillion!
(Happy Easter, friends! That's the Welsh in me)

See you soon,
Leanne

www.beautifulimpressions.co.uk
www.craftaholicleanie.co.uk