Exploding Boxes

Hi Crafters

Had another play with the exploding boxes for my workshop
This has been made from a 12 x 12 piece of card and decorated with coordinating papers
The corners have been cut into hearts by hand but if you own an automatic cutting machine you could use that. I am still happy to pencil around a template and cut out by hand

The workshop is at the end of October and I have a magic exploding box this one and a Christmas themed box to give ideas along with the instructions for the two sizes.

The craft days are great fun and I enjoy sharing my enthusiasm for card crafting and flowers, they are also an opportunity to get back to basics with stamping, embossing, die cutting and shaping cards for special occasions.

The centre boxes give an opportunity to  add a treat or present

They can be made as a stack as this example shows or a taller box as shown below

Here's one I have made for my husband on the occasion of our 40th anniversary

I will probably add some chocolates from Hotel Chocolate Shh it's a secret  

 

 

Happy Crafting

Dee

Flower Centres as Gift Embellishments

Hi Crafters

This lovely weather has resulted in limited crafting while I make the most of the sunshine.

So I thought I would just show you an alternative use for the flower centres I made for my large flowers

The examples below are quick to make (now I use scissors instead of a cutting machine) and very eye-catching.

This Time A Very Large Flower

Hi Crafters

Well back to paper crafting and yet more flowers

This time it a very large background flower. Saw it on YouTube by a lady called Pearls craft, and loved the centre so had to give it a go.

On the video she said she sold the flower templates but I cannot find where, as I like several of her flower designs.

I made the centre and as they worked out well I made a petal template myself and finished the flower.

What do you think??

I love it, just do not have anywhere to store it, so it will probably go to the next car boot, in the hopes it will inspire someone else.

 

Jeanine's Art Dies

Hi Crafters

At the Taunton Show I purchased a die from Jeanine's Art, (they were on the Oyster Stamps stand)
and I said I would let you see the results, so here it is

I found it relatively simple to cut, it is intricate so required several runs though the machine, but then tidied up with my pokey tool quite easily. I thought it was worth the effort as this was a very straight forward card. What do you think?
Once I had cut the design I layered onto a scalloped card and added some sparkle to the ends of the stars and a poinsettia  to add colour.

I have since purchased a couple of other dies as I liked it so much and the dies are good value.

Recycling clothes into flowers

Sorting out the wardrobe and found an old pair of culottes/shorts that are old and now too big, hurrah.

A bit old for the charity shop so I cut them into strips to make flowers.
When I sit down in the evening I will sew some flowers from the scrap fabric and pop them into my box for decorating my craft items .

I enjoy checking out new styles of flowers to make on you tube and learning how to make different leaves from ribbon.

Here are some of the end results.

Hope they inspire you to recycle

New Stash at Basement prices

Hi Crafters

Today I had a delivery from EveryCraftsaPound

Needless to say not every craft is a pound but there are many bargains to be had from this company.

If you make particular items and do particular projects it is probably not for you, But doing workshops means I need lots of everything so this company is great. You do need to spend £40 to get free postage, but the delivery, packaging and service is excellent.

The items are named goods so for example I purchased a First Edition 12 x 12 stack of papers for £5.99 when it would normally retail at £15.99.

The £1 items included sets of Santoro stamps, small dies, and some really lovely sets of ribbon 6 reels of 1 metre. The ribbon would normally retail at minimum of £4 and the stamp sets probably more.

The one thing I would caution is that new items are added Thursday/Friday and if they are great deals they sell out very quickly so if you want it, do not hesitate.

I quickly worked out that the parcel today was approximately £130 worth of goodies for £41 so I am a happy crafter.

Check out the website at www.everycraftsapound.co.uk

Dee

More Toilet Tissue Flowers

Hi Crafters

Having made a floral display from toilet tissue,(see previous post), I got to thinking about other uses and how it would be helpful to be able to make last minute corsages if you forgot to order one for a special occasion.

Using a carnation style and rose style flower I put together a floral pin/corsage. It needed some foliage and colour and although slightly cheating I thought it probable that everyone had some greenery available either in the garden, hedgerow nearly or from a houseplant, so cut 2 stems of foliage from a plant pot in the garden to finish it.

I would be happy to wear the result, so we have another use for toilet tissue flowers.

 

 

New Use for Toilet Tissue

Hi Crafters

Following on from my decision to do more workshops and demo's, I came across new flowers made from, yes you've guessed it, toilet tissue.

I had to give it a try as it looked do-able and effective, and it was. I was surprised at how well the bouquet came together. The YouTube video showed 6 styles of blossoms and flowers and I added the chrysanthemum making 7 in total.
To make the display below took 22 stems, and about 5 hours in total from start to finish, considering this was my first try, I can expect to speed up a little.

It is not without some cost as you need flower wires and tape, and some oasis to do the display, but this is considerably cheaper and longer lasting. Needless to say this has been added to my list of demo's.
I would love some comments if you have any

Happy crafting

Dee

Craft Show Taunton

Hi Crafters

Today was the Taunton Sincerely Yours show, it is actually in North Petherton off junction 24 of M5, and has been showing there for a couple of years.

It is unusual to have the show in August, and I only hope this does not mean we will only get one a year as previously we have had one in April/May time and one in November

The show appears to be getting smaller, although stalls are larger. Each visit I tell myself I need nothing but end up spending more than intended, although always happy with my purchases.

First 2 minutes inside and the first stall was Oyster Stamps. I love this seller as they have Heartfelt stamps and dies which are superb for flowers, and I treated myself to the Cascading Fuchsia, which I have been thinking about for some time but always end up buying more practical stamps and die sets. The problem with the fuchsia it really is 3D and will easily be squished in storage. I also bought a new make for me 'Jeanine's Art' die, this was quite fancy and reasonably priced, I thought, at £10
I am going to try this as soon as I finish this post as it looks a wow die.

Next and more practically I purchased some red card for Christmas, some fine glue bottles and a pack of two ink blenders.

I checked out the many stamps available, but did not succumb, I do not know why, because there were so many on offer and some lovely collections, I think with stamps I have to have a project in mind. for some reason it seems more important to have a use for the stamp before purchasing, whereas dies I just have to like them.

Next it was Jelly Bean stall lots of lovely items for a £1 or 11 for £10. Being a frugal crafter this was heaven and I bought gems, ribbon, more card and tape pens, some really lovely bargains.

As always I ran into some other lovely crafters and we chatted mid purchase. They were inspiring and gave me some ideas for future crafting, so hopefully long may the craft shows continue. I guess as long as we all go and spend our money they will be able to continue to come to a town near you.

Back soon with some of my makes
Dee

Night Skies and 3D Cards

Hi Crafters

I have been updating the portfolio and saw that 3D cards were lacking. I had an idea, a card I first made many years ago with a pop-out centre and then a dangly item in the middle, so I looked around for some ideas and what I finished up with was very different.

Using an 8 x 8 scalloped card base, 1 cut a 7" layer to go on top
From this I cut a 5" circle
Then placed this on the base card, masked the outside edges and used my inks to colour the circle with a mixture of blues and a little purple
Next I added glitter glue sports for night-sky stars
Then cut a couple of trees and reindeer with my dies 
Under the circle I placed 2 pieces of card with wavy lines and slid the trees in between
more glitter glue was added to the hills and tree edges for snow
And the reindeer was layered and added to the front

As usual when trying something for the first time I made 2
The second one was even simpler with just one die cut scene, and which I like just as much so this is one of the designs I will use at Christmas  

 

 

This night-sky could be used for other greetings and would be lovely for a fairy silhouette, this has gone into my portfolio for workshops.

 

Are All Dies Made Equal

Hi Crafters

Here is a question I am sure you have all asked over the past 6-10years. Are all dies made equal.
In other words are higher priced dies better
How much do you pay for the design
Do they all work the same

Well here is my own research into dies and their uses

Sometimes price is not everything. I have bought a large number of dies from China and these dies work well in my BigShot. There have been some great little dies but what you cannot get at this cheap price is the create a card style die, for that you need the makes that are working hard to give crafters a complete package to produce their paper crafts, such as Tonic, Xcut or Die'SIre.  But they are great for making  toppers and embellishments and to add to your stash from time to time

I am what you would call a frugal crafter and shop around for my items (not always the best way if you have a particular project you want to do) however it suits my style of crafting. So it is not very often I want to pay for a particular design. I will look at what is currently being sold and ask myself if I have a die that will do the job, albeit with a different finish.
However there are some times when a design or look of a die just shouts BUY ME, and you have to have it. In which case all you can do is shop around for the best price and get the die to use as soon as possible.

Then there is the use of the die. Do you want a die that cuts easily, or that cuts multiple products. Some of my dies I want to cut thin leather, or fabrics and for this work I find myself reverting to the Original Sizzix dies that do the job perfectly, the Sizzix thins may have fancier cuts but the original dies are made with a cutting wire that will tackle the heavier jobs, and I would not be without a selection of these in my stash. I know I am going to have to pay for them but they are worth it, and if I look after them they should last a lifetime or at least a long long time.
Some makes seem to cut really well, whilst some need a pokey tool and a great deal of patience. This will have something to do with the machine you are using, but you will get a personal preference, and whilst I have many different makes in my stash, I find myself using Tonic, Sizzix and Marianne Dies the most.

So there we have it. In a nutshell; there are different dies for different jobs, like most crafters there are times I just HAVE to HAVE a certain die, and then there are other-times where a bargain fits my needs, and fixes the desire to buy more for my stash.

I would recommend that you look through your dies regularly and make sure they are stored well, and also destash those dies you have not used over the last year. These dies can be swapped with friends or sold to make cash to buy new, as new crafting goodies often bring new ideas to the crafter. 

Workshop October

IS IT TOO SOON TO MENTION CHRISTMAS

Hello Crafters

Well is it!

Craft shows have had Christmas in July, and companies are bringing out all the Christmas designs now in the run up to autumn.

So when do you start your Christmas list?

Are you a last minute maker?
Do you  make pledges each year to make a number of cards each month or do you like to use the card making process to get you in the mood for the big event.

Either way once September is here crafters should really have an idea of what and how much they want to produce.

By October designs should be decided, earlier if you are making to sell.
Leaving October and November for the actual  making

During the big craft room tidy up I sorted stamps and dies into themes separating Christmas items ready for use. I have already decided on Christmas card designs for selling and now just have to agree designs for family and friends

Its like Christmas when you gather all the dies and stamps together and see all the things you already have in your stash or things you had forgotten you had.
I am thinking I need to do some stamping to use my new Tonic stamp mat, but then I see dies that I would like to play with so the designs are not final yet.

I will get back to you all when they are.

One of the workshops I am running is for a Christmas Wreath so at least that is one thing sorted.

What's next for me in the crafting world

Hi Crafters

No posts for a couple of weeks and that is because I am struggling for inspiration.
We all go through these periods when new ideas are not coming as easily.
I tried looking at You Tube and the craft channels but it did not seem to help.

So I resorted to another tidy up of the craft room.

This helped to focus where I want to go with my crafting. I began to think,
what do I like doing with my crafting?
what craft courses are there out there that I might like?
if I make more how am I going to sell it?
Where do I sell now and why?

My conclusions surprised me! 

I like attending and holding workshops
I like to keep my hand in making cards and trying new designs
I like to attend and mix with other crafters at Craft Fairs

So I have booked a couple of workshops to attend in the autumn and I have arranged a couple of workshops to run myself
I have tried a monthly market (the jury is still out on that one)
I am booking a couple of Christmas Fairs
and I shall continue to make cards and sell them at WI

With this in mind I then spent some time working on a type of portfolio to show what I make, what workshops I can run and what demonstrations I can offer.
Maybe this will be a new start but either way I have at last got my mojo back.

Oh and I forgot to mention I tried a new process

 

Glue Gun Art
It is fun and I like the results so far
I have added this to my demo list

Dee