Christmas presents

I've been pretty busy today, after I decided that all Christmas presents this year (apart from the kids') are going to be handmade. These are a couple of the things I came up with - there will be more, but they'll be done another day!





So, the first two started life as beer mats! I was having trouble finding the coasters that a lot of the US craft sites sell; I had chipboard squares, but they weren't thick enough and they were way too big, so I bought about 100 beer mats for about £2 on eBay and this is the result. Pretty cute IMO!



This was a plain untreated photo frame from Wilkinsons - you get 3 for £1 so a pretty good deal. They're not as wide as I would've liked though. Anyway, I painted it - I mixed the colour to match some of the text on the paper - then used 2 matching DCWV papers to cover it. I left a couple of millimeters so that you could still see the pink around the edge of the frame, and finished it off with some ribbon.

I'm off to paint some blocks for yet more presents!

Thank-you cards

Well, I've finally got some cards made! Cory's been to stay with Nanny and Grandad overnight, so I made the most of the spare time.... I should really have been ironing, but I had to do thank you cards from Jack. His birthday was a week ago and I haven't sent them out yet... oops!

Here they are:


DCWV dotty, cream and blue papers, Dovecraft ribbon, 3" scallop punch, quilled butterfly


DCWV pink, brown and striped papers, American Crafts ELEMENTS ribbon, 'thank you' peel offs


Sandylion 'Butterflies' paper, Dovecraft ribbon, 3"scallop punch

I'm really into paper and ribbons at the moment, so thought I would give the stamping a rest for while. Although I am just about to put in an order for some Gina K sets, so watch this space! And I like the scallop punches so I'm on the lookout for some of those in different shapes and sizes, too.

Right, I'm off to make some picture frames out of some beer mats (pics to follow...)

Happy Birthday!

Today was Jack's 1st birthday, and we had a brilliant day! He had a really good day, and he and Cory really enjoyed themselves... they even loved the fireworks - we weren't sure whether they would or not, but Jack laughed the whole time. So cute!

I finally got his card done at about 10 o'clock last night - my stamping skills seemed to disappear and it just wouldn't do what I wanted it to do! Still, here it is:



Now, normally I make all of our birthday cakes, but since finding a fab shop we've decided that we will all have our cakes from here in future. This one is completely chocolate - chocolate sponge, chocolate filling and look at all that chocolate on top! And all those little animals in between the pieces.... needless to say, it didn't last long!!!



What I need to do now is digiscrap the photos... only I can't! My computer had to be completely rebooted and I have nothing on here. No programs, or at least none that I like using, and I lost everything except for my family photos which luckily I am totally obsessive about backing up on disc. So, now I need to go over to DSP and download/buy loads of new stuff! But for the time being here's the birthday boy (with Dad) enjoying one of his presents.



Oh and Do Crafts have a half-price sale on See-D's stamps at the moment ('while stocks last'), I'm off to choose mine!

Sorting, sorting

Another old card for you today, as I still haven't done anything new! I've been sorting out my craft room so I have more room for Cory when he wants to do his thing. He's really getting into crafty things which is great, but it means twice as much mess so I've had to get a bigger table and rearrange the room around it!

So, as I mentioned this card is quite an old one, but a technique that I really enjoyed doing. It's actually a lot easier than it looks, especially as this one used a printed image, peel offs and a couple of brads. That's it! I got the idea from here and there are some really great ones in the gallery there. I used Word to size up the image and used the quote 'Birthdays are like flowers; the passing time brings forth the most beautiful blooms' which I laid over the top. The peel offs are coloured using these pens, as are the brads.



My blocks from Opitec have arrived, so I will hopefully get some of those done in the next few days, will post them when they are done, along with Jack's birthday card which I really need to finish by Tuesday!

Christmas is coming!

First up, apologies for lack of blog entries... I haven't done much craft stuff at all the last few days. There's just been too much going on - don'tcha just hate it when life gets in the way of crafting?! I've been busy getting things ready for Jack's 1st birthday next week - where did that year go? - and I'll post his card when the paint's dry.


But for now you'll have to make do with these cute Christmas decorations. I've seen so many that various craft-blogging people have done and I thought I'd have a go.


I used a Woodware 3 inch scalloped circle punch on various DCWV papers. You can use more or less pieces, but I think 8 works quite well. You could also use a smaller punch - I used the 3 inch size because it's the only one I have!





The deccie on the left has 10 pieces, but I think it's a bit cramped. The one in the middle has 8, and the last one has 7 - I know, I know... it was supposed to be 8 but Cory decided he needed to cut one of them in half and it was the last of that paper! That last one makes all the difference!

Proof that I will alter ANYTHING!

Here's a jam jar that I just couldn't throw away - as if I don't have enough junk already! I just used a strip of DCWV paper, a couple of lengths of ribbon and a tag, et voila! Took all of 5 minutes. Still, it does look kinda cute....



Right, I'm off to look for more stuff to stash!

Cute Gift!

Here's what I came up with when I was asked to do a 'new baby' card for my cousin... I know, not exactly a card, but I'd come across the template for the shoe at http://www.bydonovan.com/ and was desperate to try it out! (unfortunately the site was lost and is being rebuilt from scratch, but check it out when it's done, cos there are some brilliant templates for all sorts of things). I had the baby toppers anyway so made a simple card that's roughly A6 size, and used one on the side of the box. The box itself was guesswork with regards to measurements, and the top has a panel cut out - it's acetate and vellum in the gap, with a peel off to finish.



I still haven't managed to get started on Christmas cards, I just can't seem to get 'inspired'! But I have just bought loads of craft goodies so once they arrive I'll - hopefully - be coming up with ingenious ways to alter them.

Better get cracking on the Christmas cards so I have plenty of time to play!