May Day Catchup

Well April flew by and was surely a month of contrasts! We did have a few sunny days for walking on the beach and even a visit to the local nature reserve.

But there have been plenty of dull, cold and wet days just right for staying in and sewing. I discovered flex frames and gave them a go. I've always wanted to make little coin purses but have been put off those snap frames as they looked rather difficult and I didn't fancy all that glueing.

The flex frame is much easier and suitable for straightforward flat purses or the boxed corner kind. I found a nice pattern in this gorgeous Japanese craft book (don't worry it's the English version).

Anyway, it seems I missed Easter altogether here on the blog but I did enjoy making a few Eastery bits and bobs when I found Manuela's Etsy shop and her cute felties. These chickens were my favourites. I managed to machine stitch them rather than hand stitching as recommended in the pattern.

Okay, I know snails aren't normally an Easter image but they were so cute I couldn't resist! Could you!

The garden has come to life again and is demanding my attention.... rather more attention than I've been able to give and there's a lot of weeding to catch up on!

The trouble with leaving the blog for a month is there is much to catch up on - I think rather more than will fit into one blog post. So I'll finish now and hopefully write a bit more later.

But one more photo from the garden. These little creatures demand feeding every day now as they are busy with courting, nest building, egg laying and brood feeding. They are costing me a small fortune but they give so much pleasure I don't begrudge them one shilling! 

Post Haste Challenge Bag

 

On the last day of the month I'm fitting in my single project for the monthly 2017 Sewing Book Challenge over on Instagram. I only managed one challenge make in February - why does this month always seem to fly by so quickly? It is only 2 days shorter than the other months!!

The Long Handled Bag pattern is from Sew Illustrated by Minki Kim and Kristin Esser and is a gift for a sister whose life has suddenly been turned upsidedown - and not in a good way. I'm hoping the cheerful print and gingham will in some way brighten the dark days she is going through at the moment - and also be useful for carrying little comfort essentials on hospital trips.

Although I used the bag pattern straight from the book I changed the surface decoration as I was bowled over by the gorgeous Stitched Rose Bag Minki blogged last week and tried a simplified version of her design. Because I wanted to get the bag finished quickly I used a patchwork "cheater print" from LECIEN I'd been hoarding for a year or so. And I had a large reel of woven braid found in a charity shop which was just the right colours and the perfect width for the handles.

I used stamps for the flower embroidery, though I didn't actually stamp on the fabric but used a light box to trace the outline image on the stamp set's acetate holding sheet straight onto the linen with a Frixon pen.

And I added a bit of colour with Copic markers - if you try this be careful to colour with the lightest touch and pale colours so as to prevent any bleeding over the stitched lines. It all came together very nicely and was finished in one day - though I have to admit rather late in the day! Now I just need to get it to the Post Office post haste!

2017 - a year for some crafty challenges?

Firstly I want to thank you, Julie, Anja, Yve and Simone, for you kind and encouraging comments on my last post. Especially as I never get round to reciprocating on your blogs, though I do visit honestly! I love you guys! :o)

As always I/we start the new year full of intention and enthusiasm, which usually fizzles out by the end of January.  However I have not made resolutions this year but have signed up for a couple of challenges. I've already mentioned Minki Kim's 2017 Pincushion Sew-a-Long and have so far notched up at least one of each design. There's still a couple of weeks before the end of January when the SAL ends and I know I won't be able to resist a few more - yes they are addictive but what do you do with a mountain of pincushions!

Another challenge I've signed up for will last a bit longer - until the end of 2017 in fact.  Like me Carla Peicheff has a shelf of craft books full of wonderful projects seldom utilised. I have to admit I've at least twice as many volumes on my shelves (well at my great age I expect I've been collecting many more years than Carla!) all of which contain at least one project I've intended to make. So the challenge is to make at least one thing from a book on that shelf each month.

And guess what, I've already made two this month!!! It helps when I have some reason for making and I'd been asked to make for a new baby.  So I dipped into Amy Sinibaldi's lovely book Sweetly Stitched Handmades and made the cute teddy bear nursery cushion and a ruffled bib.  I know only that baby is a girl named Mia so do hope these will be to the parents' taste.

There is one more challenge signed up to and its one I've made for myself.  That is NOT to buy ANY fabric, yarn, or haberdashery in 2017. If you could see my sewing room you would have a fit (sorry - I'm certainly not going to share any photos of it here or anywhere else)! Something needs to be done! So unless I absolutely have to buy something, like plain linen or interfacing or something else absolutely necessary for a particular project, I'm not going to be beguiled into buying that oh-so-pretty fabric, that bargain price yarn or anything else I covet on someone's IG feed or blog or pinterest board.

In fact I started off well in December and made all my Christmas gifts from stuff I already had in my huge stash. These makeup brush travel rolls were made for my often travelling nieces and were created from pieces from my scrap bin and braid that was used to tie sets of teatowels I'd bought at Primark earlier in the year. I did however have to buy the wooden toggle buttons. This project is from another favourite book Sew Illustrated.

Now I've got the bug I'm looking for a couple more challenges to keep me busy.  Let me know if you see a good one.

Make it Monday Clay

Just enough time this morning to join in the Papertrey Ink Make it Monday challenge.  I really like the idea of using stamps and dies to make clay embellishments and other decorative projects - I've an idea to use the technique for hanging decorations and mobiles too.  I made a few medallion shapes suitable for cards and this pumpkin image turned out the most presentable.  The Fimo clay I had in my stash had been there for at least 10 years so was not that easy to work with.  I'll need to buy more when I try this technique out again.

Anyway, I think we are all resigned to the fact that Autumn is on its way - but I say YIPEE!  I love Autumn and the run up to the festive season - surely the best time to be a crafter.  And just to be sure it really is the season of fruitfulness I picked one of the cobnuts from the bushes I have grown from nuts.  Its their first crop (ok - only 6 nuts, but that's a start), and look at the juicy kernel.  It was delicious too!

Supplies: PTI - Autumn Tags, Autumn Hills (sentiment), Limitless Layers Circles die; Wplus9 - Country Charm

Back to basics

One of my favourite bloggers Lin is a prolific card maker. Every time I visit her blog she has created another half a dozen or more beautiful cards.  She's a great one for challenges and I thought I'd join in one of her regulars this week - the CR84FN colour challenge - this one being green, blue and a neutral.  I wanted to get back to rubber stamping basics and kept to my favourite one layer style, just using a beautiful mask from Balzer Designs, some Distress Inks and a set of silhouette stamps.  Not tried this masking technique before but I like it and will definitely be using it again.  I can see another mask purchase coming on!

We trawled the charity shops in the next town yesterday and although my haul was small I was very pleased with my purchases.  I love these Kilner jars with the orange tops - so very 70s.  They don't make them now but they still surface every now and then at boot sales or in charity shops.  I also found these pretty crochet mats which I want to turn into beaded jug covers.  I like the solid star centres which will keep even the smallest fly out of the milk jug!  And my last purchase was this lovely natural linen blouse at just £1! Now that's what I call a successful shopping trip!

Card supplies: The Crafters Workshop 6x6 template mask; Stampin Up Pocket Silhouettes stamps; various Distress Inks from Tim Holtz.

Paper Patching

Another rainy day has given me a bit of time to make a card for another family birthday coming up this month.  I've made it for the Make-it-Monday challenge over at Nicole Heady's PTI blog - 'creating backgrounds from paper scraps'.

When I first started papercrafting I collected a fair amount of "designer paper" but I've never really liked it on cards.  I prefer to stamp my backgrounds.  But recently I was inspired by Kelly's lovely patchwork bee card  and I do love stitching patchwork .... so here is my paper patchwork background.  Kelly hadn't been able to find a hexagon die but I found this one from Joy Crafts - the smallest die is a perfect size for cards.  Strangely I couldn't find the dies on the Joy Crafts website - but it was available on ebay.

I left the card fairly simple as the background is so busy, and just added a birthday topper created with the Limitless Ovals dies and a sentiment from Damask Designs - both PTI.  When I laid the card out I filled the front with patches but once I'd got most of them stuck down I rather liked the effect of leaving my patchwork quilt unfinished!

Supplies:  Patterned paper from Stampin' Up

A Bunch of Challenges

There is one advantage to being 5 hours ahead of the US - when there's a challenge competition with a deadline looming we have an extra few hours in the mornings to get finished.  I'm not good at papercrafting in the evenings.... especially if its been a work day.  Knitting and crochet are much more suited to evenings by the fire and TV.  But I wanted to enter the Papertrey 5th Anniversay Day 5 challenge and late last night I could not get my card right.  However this morning I changed the card base and now its more how I envisaged it in my mind's eye.  The challenge is to pick a pin from one of the design team's boards on Pinterest as an inspiration.  I chose this pin of a project by Marie at Make and Takes. I found it on Heather Nichols' spring board. 

I also made another card for the Make-it-Monday challenge #52 as I enjoyed this technique so much.  This one was inspired by Kelly's gorgeously brilliant bouquet card - I was going to create a bunch of flowers for my pot but decided in the end to have just one large flower.  It was supposed to be a sunflower but now I think it may be a gerbera.

Three cards and three challenges in a week! That's a record for me!

Stamps: PTI Egg Hunt, Rosie Posie, Distressed Stripes (flower stem), Beautiful Blooms II (leaves), BB Gingham; Darkroom Door Gingham Background.

Make-it-Monday #52

Its months since I've joined in a challange! However I really like this week's Make it Monday video at Papertrey Ink. Erin showed us how to make an embellishment by stamping both sides of a die cut. Great idea and dead easy!

Like a few other crafters, I decided to use butterflies on my project as I've got the die to match the stamp set, and as the images are symetrical its easy to stamp both sides.  I used glue dots to shape the butterflies and added blue metalic thread for the anntenae.  Err, yes I know the sideways butterflies are insideout! - but they looked much better that way round.  I'll definitely use this technique again.

As I sit here typing the sun is shining through the narrow gap between the two houses opposite onto the little sprig of catkins I picked on a walk last week. I notice they have opened in the warmth of the room and dropped their pollen. 

You can see it here - that pale yellow dust on the rim of the glass.

Its very cold today and I fear the birds and animals will have to endure another long freezing night tonight.  I do hope they have found enough to eat during the day to get them through.  Even so, "my" birds are still picky and have ignored the pink fruit suet block I put out over a week ago.  Perhaps they don't like the colour!  Its supposed to be just what robins and blackbirds need at this time of year - but I don't think anyone has told them!  Even the Thrush has turned his beak up. 
Can you see he has upsidedown hearts on his breast!

Stamps: Papertrey Ink's Butterfly Dreams; Friends Til the End, Think Big Favorites; + Butterfly die

Make it Monday stamped background challenge

I think I've said before that I just love stamping backgrounds so this week's MIM challenge was right up my street.  I stamped this get well card for my Mum to send to a friend.  Just a short post tonight to enter the challenge.... ever the optimist!

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Supplies: Papertrey Ink Tea for Two stamp set and die, Beautiful Blooms stamp set; Distress Ink Worn Lipstick, Bundled Sage, Scattered Straw

DIY Washi Tape

Another great creative idea from Papertrey Ink's Make it Monday challenge this week - make your own Washi tape from stamps, double sided sticky tape and tissue paper. That Nichole is SO clever!

I was asked to make a 'congratulations on passing your driving test' card in a hurry this week (did no one think she would pass!!) so took the opportunity to enter the MIM challenge again. I did have a roll of 1" wide tape but its a pretty cheap make and wasn't easy to use but I'm fairly happy with the result. A roll of good quality tape would make the job easier next time I think.

And I might also have found it easier if my cat Sausage hadn't decided he wanted to sit just here in the middle of my desk! Poor Sausage lost his sight this year so he's become a little spoilt and I tend to let him do what he likes now - especially as he has to be locked in the house at night and when I'm at work to stop him getting lost or knocked down.

Supplies: Papertrey Ink: Enjoy the Ride stamp set and die; Waltzing Mouse Stamps: Off Beat Backgrounds

Letterpress success

I've recently become interested in old letterpress printing blocks as I've seen some lovely vintage images used on letterpress printed cards and stationery recently. I wondered whether I would be able to get them to print without a letterpress printing machine and as there are lots of blocks for sale on ebay for not much money, I decided to risk buying one to try it out.  So I bought this lovely old fashioned Christmas greeting and set about experimenting.

I first tried just hand printing with an ink pad and a mouse mat underneath my cardstock to make a surface with some "give".  It worked but not very well and there was no impressed effect. So I was very brave and carefully prised the metal print plate from its wooden block and set about experimenting with my Cuttlebug until I found a sandwich that worked. I also remembered reading somewhere that using Versamark on a stamp underneath the ink might give a better impression - and it did!

It doesn't show up in my photo, but the greeting is impressed into the card. I cut the print out with a tag die and added holly stamps. Then I used Old Paper Distress Ink on the edges, matted onto some red card, and cut it out.

I couldn't resist making some more cereal packet chipboard accents yesterday and added one to my tag before attaching to a Favor-It Box which had had the Papertrey impression plate treatment. As you can see I tried printing in red too and I'm not sure that I don't like that version even more than the green. I just need to work out how to get the greeting onto the inside of a Christmas card now.

This little project will be entered into the current A Passion for Papertrey challenge and its also a SECOND (good grief!!) entry for the Make-It-Monday challenge over on {Capture the Moment}.

I can't wait to find a few more suitable printing blocks to try but don't worry Hannah, if you are reading this I don't think I'll be going into the letterpress business! The process is a bit fiddly and rather hit and miss. So I'll still be looking for my letterpress goodies at Little Red Press!

Stamps: Papertrey's: Holy Jolly; Love Lives Here
Dies (all Papertrey): Favor-It Box 3; Tag Sale 1; Mat Stack 1; Love Lives Here collection
Other: Papertrey Linen & Canvas Impression Plate

October already.....

.........just where did September go!!  Two posts today as I want to fit in the October children from Children Month by Month, the old book I wrote about at the beginning of September.

Now children, please don't try burning leaves on the garden path yourselves.... this looks a very dangerous occupation and I'm sure this illustration would not be published in a children's book today!  The book comes from the stock of an old publishing house being sold on that well-known on-line auction site recently and is in mint condition. I was interested to see a printing error on this page. The stick or poker the boy is holding isn't there! Probably why the book didn't get to a book or toy shop - bad for the publishers but good for me.  Look out for the next page on 1st November - it will be here before you know it!

We've had another glorious day here in the UK. I spent most of the morning making this mobile, which I want to enter for the Papertrey Ink Make-it-Monday challenge.

That clever Erin Lincoln made some lovely chipboard accents using cutting dies and cereal packet cardboard recently and this week's challenge is to make a project using the same technique. Now I was hoping my September release goodies would have arrived by today as I had an idea for a Christmas mobile - but they haven't dropped on the doormat yet so I decided to make an Autumn mobile instead - after all it is only October!

So here it is - I've used leaf and fruit dies, 5 layers of cereal box cardboard and stamped cardstock for the fronts and backs. I found a suitable stick in the garden and tied it all together with hairy twine. I'll hang it in the window tomorrow.

Oh, and does anybody need any cooking apples! Free to a good home but must be collected - any takers!!

Stamps: Papertrey Ink's Leaf Prints, Fruit Fusion Apple and Pear plus the matching dies.
Cardboard courtesy of Dorset Cereals!

Make-it-Monday Papertrey Challenge

I haven't done a Make-it-Monday challenge before but this week's technique was something I love doing - make a background from a non-background stamp. I do this all the time - there are so many Papertrey stamps that lend themselves to making backgrounds. Here's one I haven't tried before. I've also used an excellent technique I saw Jess Larsen demonstrating - she calls it Reverse Stamping. I've often wished a stamp had a mirror image and Jess shows how you can make one. Isn't it brilliantly clever!

Looking at the card now I realise I should have started stamping the background in the middle and not on the left hand side to make it more symmetrical looking - I'll remember that next time.

Stamps: PTI - Beyond Basic Borders, Warm Happiness
Other: Tag Sale 2 die

Last Chance

We've one more chance to win a prize from Papertrey's Stamp-a-faire event - Challenge 10 has been extended until tonight. The challenge is to create a single layer card, stamping a focal point over a stamped background. As its my first free day since the event on Saturday I took some time this morning to try my luck once more.

When I first discovered Papertrey Ink (I sometimes wish I hadn't!) the only way to get my hands on the stamps was to buy used sets offered on the Splitcoast Stampers Buy/Sell thread. Wishing You was one of my first aquisitions and I haven't used it in a while but I do love the graphic style of these tulips. I've stamped them over my favourite background stamp from Tin Types. Cross your fingers for me as this is my last chance to win the Stamp-a-faire free set Iconic Images - just love that jug stamp!

Stamps: Papertrey Wishing You, Background Basics: Tin Types, Beyond Basic Borders
Ink: Distress Ink: Worn Lipstick, Bundled Sage, Antique Linen

Stamp-a-faire Challenge 5

Well I couldn't resist one more challenge even though its gone 2.00 am here in the UK and I have to be at work at 10.00 am in the morning! Challenge number 5 is to use a solid stamp to make a faux border and as I love the card Mish has made I wanted to have a go myself. As time is short I've made a very simple thankyou card using the strawberry stamp to make a pretend banner across the top. I love that the tag circle looks like a plate holding that HUGE berry - if only strawberries were that size but tasted like the tiny alpine berries I have in the garden!
Well that me done in! I'm off to bed........ night night!

Stamps: PTI Fruit Fusion: Berry, Tag-its 5
Ink: Distress Ink Worn Lipstick & Tumbled Glass
Tools: PTI Berry die

Here's one I made earlier! (Stamp-a-faire Challenge 7)

Is this cheating? My favourite stamp company Papertrey Ink is holding a Stamp-a-faire today in the US and all us PTI-holics have been invited to join in from afar by participating in 10 (yes 10!!) challenges, one to be posted every hour. Well I'd love to play along but its been a long day........ then aha! I see challenge number 7 just happens to fit in with one of the notepads I made for the craft fair I attended today. The challenge is to marry up images from two different Papertrey sets and I have to say I was really pleased with the effect I got from the gingham stamp from Bitty Blocks with the little birds from Take Three Summer.

I enjoyed the day however despite only getting 3 hours sleep last night trying to finish everything. The event wasn't very busy but the friendliness of the other crafters and the frequent trips to the tea room made up for the lack of customers. And we had a pretty wedding across the road to keep us amused.

Stamps: PTI Bitty Background Blocks; Take Three: Summer
Tools: die from Button Card Die collection
Ink: Scattered Straw Distress Ink; SU Chocolate Chip