Concertina Folder & redesign

Hi Crafters

As mentioned in my April Blog, I have made a great folder from the Crafters Companion Kit.
It uses the A3 Scoreboard and A3 card that was in the kit.

It went together really easy after watcing the DVD, and I thought the folders were so useful.
You could use them to hold cards you have made according to the style, i.e stamping, die-cut, pop-out etc
Or file your cards according to celebration: Birthday, Anniversary, Thank You

Or you could use them as a recipe folder, ideas folder, photograph holder, Christmas organiser etc.

Having made a couple, and many of the other projects using the A3 card, I started to think about the A3 card I have in stock, which is limited. I can buy more, although pretty card in A3 size is not easy to find, and anyway I have a lot of 12 x 12 pads that I could do with using. So I redesigned the project using 12 x 12 stock 

The results were great and now I am able to use the 12 x 12 stash of card in the cupboard.

I have decided to make some kits to sell. The Crafters Companion Card is great quality and so I use this for the kit itself but the added bonus for the buyer is I give the instructions to make more using 12 x 12 card so anyone buying the kit can make more for friends and family.

Here are the two folders together

The pink/peach folder is made from the Crafters Companion A3 card, while the black & cream version is made from 12 x 12 card from First Edition.

The kits will be available on Ebay & Etsy shortly

Or check out Crafters Companion on Hochanda if you want to make one yourself without waiting for a kit.

Small Fabric Storage Basket

Hi Crafters

Back to sewing this week
I have seen several versions of these cute little storage baskets as well as the larger ones that are all the rage in home stores, and often thought about making them

So 1 set out and made a pattern from a demo on YouTube. I did not like the idea of using stiffening on the small baskets and so used felt as a lining. This has the advantage of giving firmness without weight, can be washed (gently) and makes a great pin cusion if using the basket for sewing items 

 My only error in this first journey was to pick a Christmas fabric, I was to quick to select and thought I had chosen a pattern that was all year around, however on completion of the baskets I noticed gingerbread men and reindeer in the print.

Still that aside I am very pleased with the results and have added them to my Ebay listing and Etsy Store 

They make great Desk Tidies

Makeup Storage baskets 

Sewing storage for all you bits and bobs 

They are also addictive, so I am sure I will making lots more.

Large Self Closing Pouch

Hi Crafters

I have made the self-closing pouch before with instructions from You Tube, it was a long time ago and I am sorry I cannot remember who's videao I used. 

I then purchased a die to cut small boxes and this is very pretty, but only big enough to hold 6 chocolates, or a piece of jewellery.

The Crafters Companion A3 Scoreboard allows you to make a lovely large pouch, that measure 8" wide and 10" high, and is big enough to hold a scarf or body lotions etc

It is relatively straight forward to make and a great item to have ready to use for a last minut gift etc.

The Crafters Companion pouch is made from 1 sheet of A3, but I have managed to redesign it and make it from 2 pieces of 12 x 12, again I am very happy with the result.

You are up to date with my Crafters Companion Scoreboard makes.

I am so pleased with my purchase and have been converted. The only downside is the selection of A3 card available. Crafters Companion are the only card stacks I have seen that have pretty prints, but half of their designs are now out of stock, so I have to hope that when I finish the 2 pads I have, they have either got the previous ones back in stock or designed some new. There is only one CHristmas pad showing on their website and I cannot say I like the designs that much, lets hope there are more for 2018, or I will be using white card and papers. 

Sorry did I mention Christmas in April. 

The Concertina Folder

Hi Crafters 

From my previous post you will know I made a concertina folder from the Crafters Companion A3 Scoreboard and pad purchased a couple of weeks ago. I am still enjoying the board, so it was a great investment.

The concertina folder was the first item I made having watched the DVD. It was simple and straightforward to make with the kit I had purchased and the finished item was lovely, I will be selling them at my next Craft Fayre that s for sure.

However having produced them from the A3 card I got to thinking about all the 12 x 12 card stashes I had and decided to redesign the folder using 12 x 12 card 

I am very pleased with the result. It is big enough to hold photographs, receipts, recipe cards etc so will be a useful tidy in hte kitchen or craft room.

This has a ribbon tie, whereas the larger ones I make have a magnetic clasp or string ties. The finished folder measure 7" wideand 6.5" high 

As you can see the Crafters Companion kit has kept me busy and crafting happily for 10 days so far.

Faceted Pillow Box (Large)

Hi Crafters

Another project from the Crafters Companion DVD
I saw this and had to try it out as the finished product is fascinatingly different from anything I have done before.

It took several tries with scrap card first. In fact I had 2 false starts before getting it right and then scrapped the third and made a fourth, in good quality card. I use the colourful and cheap 12 x 12 pads from the 'Range' to do trials as they cost £3.99 for a 24 sheet double sided pad, so perfect for this.
The downside of the pads is the quality means they crack on hte scored lines.

The good news with this project is that it uses 2 pieces of card 11.5" square so instead of using my precious A3 card I can use my 12 x 12 pads

As you can see this is a real showpiece

I would say you need to have some experience of card crafting to make this work as I not only  printed the instructions I had to revisit the DVD to see where I had gone wrong.

Having said that this, I then managed to redesign the box for a smaller version with 2, 8 x 8 pieces of card and this is a more practical size, which I will probably use quite a lot.

Even more pojects to follow

Lovely Gift WIne Box

Hi Crafters

If you read my last post you will have seen my enthusiasm for the Crafters Companion Score Board and videos.

Here is the Gift Wine Box as promised 

It still needs decorating, and a tag, but you get the gist

Okay so this looks like any other box you make but wait a minute!

This box has a lining making it stronger and better equiped to hold the precious bottle of wine. I would definately use this if I was giving some wine and needed something to gift it. As this takes 3 pieces of A3 card the minimum cost to make it is around £1.50, and woudl therefore need to sell for £4.50 to be practical. If making for craft shows I will probably sew wine bags. as these will probably sell better for the price point.

Would definately recommend the Crafters Companion Scoreboard.

More posts coming up on items made using the board. 

Crafters Companion A3 Score Board

Hi Crafters

I was flicking throigh the craft channels the other evening, as you do, when I came across a deal for the Crafters Conmpanion Score Board. Now anyone who reads this blog or has been to a craft day with me will know I love the the Fiskars cutter as it has the ability to cut and score with the one tool, but the presetnation was good and so I followed the programme for a while.

Needless to say I was hooked, not only did they have the A3 score board but 2 pretty A3 pads and 2 DVD's giving ideas on using the board. The price by buying the bundle was £45 if purchased seperately £75. I do not usually buy DVD's, I have been crafting a long time and can usually work out how to make an item and that's part of the fun but Sara from Crafters Companion demonstrates very well and the samples are always enticing. I decided to treat myself and popped in an order, which came today.

OMG I love it. Unlike my ususal approach I decided to watch a DVD first and this meant that having watched how a couple of items were made I felt confident having a go myself. Usually I would use unwanted card and paper to trial a new item but made my first project with the Score Board from the A3 card in the bundle. The card is very pretty and double sided and well worth buying for the projects shown. It took just 1hr to make a concertina file, the only slight criticism I have is the fasteners used on the project were not demonstrated, having used a magnetic clip which was a little heavy for the item, it took me another hour to find out what and how to make the string ties used on file demonstrated. The bad news  was I could not buy the item in question, the good news is I can make it and have all the tools to make and fasten it onto the next file.

This purchase has been a bit of an epiphany for me. In the past I have been reluctant to buy kits when I have similar tools available to use and can make do with the card and papers I already have. But these projects have been so straight forward and finished so nicely that I can see the value of having an A3 board and A3 quality card to do the job. So it would seem you can teach an old dog new tricks.

When I have time I will post a picture of the file I made, but not tonight as I want to make the wine box. 
Dee