CRAFTY SAVER No 4

What a miserable weekend weather wise. Still it does allow time to craft.
I set about making a mini album from a new pad of paper, Tonic Studio Folksy Florals .

I used envelopes for the base and have completed a 6 x 6 album ( Now selling on EBay)
As the pad is an 8 x 8 pad I had a lot of strips left over.
I hate to throw anything away, but also am desperately trying to keep the desk clean.

I used some to mount a stamped tag in a patchwork style to decorate the album as the papers all matched the inside. Look closely at the centre embellishment and you will see the patchwork mounting.

 

I then realised the longer strips were perfect to make the bases of little flap top boxes and set about scoring and storing 6 kits to make the boxes

 

The box is approx 5cm square perfect for pretty gift giving, and no waste.

 

 

CRAFT SAVER No3

Hi Everyone
I am excitedly awaiting the postman at the moment having ordered some great new dies by Xcut from www.everycraftsapound.co.uk

If you do not already know this on-line company then check it out. They also show at all the big shows around the country.
They do sell many items at a pound but also a lot of clearance items such as paper pads and dies at knock down prices. I like to check in once a week to make sure I do not miss anything and that is probably why I have many many paper pads and crafty items in larges boxes in my craft room (see earlier post re Tidy Craft room).
So this time my great bargains include a Santa in the Sky Shadow Box die, Woodland Trees, and Folk alphabet set with 80% discount, I also picked up a Santoro Willow set of dies, just in time as like a couple of other sets they had sold out by the end of the afternoon.
The one thing I should mention is the p&p is £4.95, not surprising as the average purchase is heavy and bulky,also a minimum spend of £20 is required. Not great for the single purchase, but if you are not into buying in bulk like me, why not get together with friends or your craft group.

I sometimes buy doubles of what I think will be popular and sell the extras on ebay to pay for my postage, but that is more because I like dabbling than I have any business ideas. It feels great though when your craft item is free because of the sells you have made.

The service from the company is also very good.

CRAFT SAVER No2

As well as the A4 cards I bought in a clearance I bought a set of cards that were from Create and Craft. There were 32 of the original cards and envelopes but only 9 sets of decoupage made up and included in the pack. I knew that when purchasing, and originally thought I would use the cards to make pages in a scrapbook but then decided the nine cards with decoupage should be made up to sell, Done and sold. The remaining cards were pretty enough without the decoupage, so I decided to make them into sets of notelets all I needed to do to finish them off was to make the boxes to put the notelets in and I would have two sets of 8 notelets and envelopes to sell.

And here are the decorated boxes, which will go to my next craft sale.

TO ALL THE CRAFTY CRAFTERS OUT THERE

If you are like me an like a bargain every now and then get out to the high street and in to your local Poundland.
There where you normally go to look at the crafty bitz you will find they are selling A5 Paper pads for,( yes you have guessed it) a pound.
These may not be a recognised name but quite pretty papers and useful for backgrounds or die cutting.
They did have some Trimcraft pads in the store with matching embellishments but as the 6 x 6 pads had 24 pieces I did not think them such a good buy.
I could not wait to try these papers out

Not finished by a long shot but here is the first scrapbook from one of the books
this measures 6" wide and 7" long and will eventually have pull out pages from the envelope storage as well as the main pages

The whole scrapbook will be made from one pad 4 envelopes and one landscape A4 card. It should have approximately 18 sides for photographs plus a couple of storage areas for tags tickets etc

I bought several A4 cards in a clearance on ebay as I had a eureka moment and realised they made great boxes and anything else you would usually make from A4 card, although I struggle to know what greeting cards to make from them.  They also make great outside covers for these  mini albums 

The envelopes then make gift bags. 

Any other money saving tips for crafting please leave me message as I would love to hear them.

CARD & GIFT COMBINATIONS

I sometimes make cards that also have a gift attached and thee are particularly good for craft sales
My last make were for jewellery and ended up being white on white card to set off the jewellery
This is a 6" square white card with an onyx  and silver pendant.

The card can then be boxed and voila gift and card all sorted

RECYCLING ENVELOPES

Looking for inspiration on You Tube I came across some lovely gift bags made using recycled envelopes
I remember making them before and had another go in a lunch break one day
These really are quick and easy to make and useful if you make items to sell and want some individual and original gift bags for your items.

A great way of recycling  envelopes that come through the door every day.

For a more bohemian look use magazine pages to cover the envelopes
For a shabby chic look - old wallpaper or craft papers
for a modern smart look - wrapping paper

Simply cover both sides of the envelope
cut across the top to make the smart edge
you can use craft sissors for a fluted edge
score 2cm down both sides and the bottom edge fold both ways
push flat the bottom of the envelope - you will get a pointy triangle each end, squeeze these flat fold in and glue to the base
fold the sides to finish the box shape, punch holes in the top for the ribbon/string/hessian handles
add a piece of tissue to finish

This one is finished off from pages of an old WI magazine the angle of the tram on the picture makes it difficult to see the shape of the bag but its such a bright lively picture making the gift bag unique, with the added bonus of being recycled materials.

ZIG ZAG Card for something different

I was looking at different shaped cards and remembered the Zigzag card so thought I would have a go. They have come on so much nowadays and with punched edges or borders look even better

I like the result but the double zigzag looks even more interesting so perhaps I will try that next.
The flowers are made using some blossoms from the Santoro Mirabelle range, I have the papers blossoms, charms and pearls in the range.

The wording on the front is from a Die sire word die: Wishing You Everything Wonderful

CATCH UP SUNDAY

Hi
I have not posted all week, back to work and times runs away. But I have been crafting in between tidying my desk (at home that is).
I also had some lovely deliveries from the postman this week.
When you are a crafter and ebayer the postman is a bit like Santa
I had a great selection of Tonic dies bought in the sale from Crafty Devils Papercraft, www.craftydevilspapercraft.co.uk
Some super dies and stamp sets available
Then came beautiful gems purchased on ebay and some metallic card stock from another ebay seller

Here is a card using one of the dies and the metallic card stock on the outside of this gatefold card

 
And another showing the lovely gems

Like most crafters sometimes you must have the latest items but often I am happy to add to my stash in sale time.

I have also nearly completed a couple of mini albums
One is a 6 x 6 with storage sleeves and pocket on the inside flaps with 9 pages for photographs
This I have made with Christmas papers and it is going to called "First Christmas" It could be babies first Christmas or a couples first Christmas and just needs the front decorations

The other is another mini but the larger version with bound pages. This I have been decorating the pages ready to sell.

I will post pictures when completed.