Zipper Brooch

Hi Crafters

As you all know I love to check things out on YouTube and Pinterest to see what's new.

When looking a few months ago I saw some pretty brooches made from metal zips and felt. They are bright and cheerful and made by hand. So off I went to car boots to look for zips. The first car boot I visited, I found a great stash and thrown in were some beads all for a couple of pound, so happily I came home ready to have a go at this new project.

The stitching needs to be small and even but other than that the brooch is down to your own imagination and design. You can get more inspiration on YouTube.

Here are my first attempts, I am quite pleased with them and no doubt will m ake more in the future. 

Dee

Lantern / Pull up Card

Hi Crafters

Looking around YouTube I came across this new style card

I had to try it as it is so different to anything else

It is not difficult, basic cutting and layering, plus a little stamping, but it is time consuming, so definately one for someone special

You can get good instructions from Mixed up Cards on Youtube or search 'pull up card'

Tip:
The tricky part is securing the ribbon as you have four sides in the way whilst trying to feed ribbon and glue the various layers. You may find it easier to leave one side of the centre cross unglued until the ribbon loop has been added and then finish by securing the cross piece.

This is the first card I  made in pretty pink card and flower toppers I stamped directly onto the card in a couple of sections for the greetings.

Then checking the instructions I saw the one made on You Tube had 3 layers so made the second card, also a birthday card, in these pretty shades of blue

For the Blue card I used:

2 pieces of A4 card 
1 piece of A4 silver mirra card
3 pieces of A5 paper 

These cards will fold flat to fit into a 6 x 6 envelope 

Why not have a go I would love to see the finished item 

The Blue card is available to buy on EBay 

Dee

Crafters Companion Cut & Emboss Dies

Hi Crafters

In May I went to the Taunton  'Sincerely Yours' show (actually held in North Petherton), and amongst the items purchased was a Crafters Companion Emboss and Cut die. They had a show offer and I have a couple of the Marianne emboss and cut dies that I like to use for background so decided to try one. 

What is so good about Cut and Emboss dies is they need very little else once you have layered the fancy top, and are perfect for paper flowers which I love to make.

As you can see all I have done here is take an A5 plain white card, add a piece of scrap shabby chic card with some colour and then layer with the cut & emboss die cut card. Then decorated with some flowers made from my Heartfelt Flower stamps and dies. 

Happy Crafting 
Dee

The Impossible Card

Hi Crafters 

As promised I am sharing my first makes of the 'Impossible Card'.

The first one I made was with a piece of scrap card for the base. I then looked for some coordinating decorations and stamped the greeting with matching inks. 

Then I wanted to use a white card base and decided to emboss the card before re-structuring it.

I added it to a silver metallic base to add another dimension and make it pop .

I liked this so made another 

So then I tried using my dies for the centre pop out and here is the result 

All these cards fit a 6" square envelope and fold flat to post 

I think I will use the basic design for at least 25% of my Christmas cards as they will look cute with a  robin, santa or christmas bear on hte pop up, or a scene of tress and sleigh. 

Happy Crafting 

Dee

Crafting Card Jewellery Stands

Hi Crafters

I cannot believe it has been 3 weeks since my last post.

I have not been idle during this time, more caught up in trying new ideas out.

First I have made Zipper & Felt Brooches, still perfecting them but they are very bright and cheerful, and I will post more info in the future.

Then I discovered the latest Stampin Up Card called the Impossible card. It comes from a card trick and is very easy to do and very effective, as soon as I have some photographs I will  add them to the blog.

But today I have been very busy making jewellery stands. I do one or two car boots a year often sell jewellery, not only bits and bobs I have bought but my leather and fabric brooches. It is usually a mish mash of display items and they can easiuly get lost amongst the other items on the table.

Last night I discovered a great 'make' on Pinterest and followed up today with paper, pencil, ruler and stylus to make my own template. 

I was so pleased with the result, and more ideas came to me for an earring stand, pendant and bracelet stand and brooch display boxes. I just could not seem to stop, alas I had to to make dinner, but tomorrow I am off to a car boot in Weston with my  new display goodies, and all for pennies rather than the many pounds they cost to buy. The best bit though is they fold down to store, and storage is always a problem when you make as much a I do. 

Here is the collection made today.

All the stands are made from card. You need 300 gsm plus for a great hold and after that it is relatively easy to make. Check out necklace displays on Pinterest, particularlyJewelery Making Journal, Rena  Klingenberg's friendly community where there is a free pattern. My thanks to her as the pattern is simple and effective, and can be made with a pencil, ruler and stylus (for which you can substitute a knitting needle if you are not a card crafter.

Next I made the earring stand and for this I went back to my card making techniques, simply cutting a frame from an A5 size card and stabilising it with with additional strips in the middle and base. 

The pendant/Bracelet stand is a layered base and then a strip of card fold over at both ends. The back side of the strip is taped down with extra strong tape and then the front piece is fastened with velcro tabs so they can be unstuck to stack. I have puched a hole with my crop-o-dile near the top to thread the pendant through. 

The boxes are made as simple four sided cubes with a floral circle top cut from one of my dies and added with sticky pads to raise the back up a little and allow the brooch or flower to show at a slight angle. again these will fold for storage.

Happy Crafting 

Dee

More Self-Closing Gift Boxes/Pouches

Hi Crafters 

I have been having fun with my new score board and having given away the first large Self- Closing gift box with some stationary and paperclip collection inside, I have been fervently making more.

I love making them and the concertina files so have made up packs to sell on Ebay and Etsy.

To make the postage better value I have put 2 Boxes in a pack and tried to pick feminine and masculine styles to cover all bases.

Next I am looking at my Christmas Stash to make Christmas versions of this box and the concertina file. Both can be sent with instructions to finish the construction and therefore posted and stored flat.

This is one of the combinations 

I should be ready with Christmas versions in July.  

Happy Crafting
Dee

Useful Utility Apron

Hi Crafters

Here is something for all you crafters who sell your items at craft shows and fayres

I found that when I was selling at Craft shows, it is easy to get muddled with your selling, when your stall gets busy. You have someone wanting to buy and to hand you  the money, and someone else with a question, and that is the one time you are looking for a bag to put the purchase in and change for the customer.

So I made a Utility Apron

This way I have everything at hand. Bag, scissors, ribbbon/string, sellotape, business card, telephone and money 

I can simply slip the purchase into a bag, pop in a business card and look professional in  a matter of seconds so the potential customer is not kept waiting too long. 

There are plenty of ideas on how to make the apron on Pinterest and YouTube and I have taken those ideas and made the pockets to suit my needs.

  

This one has 6 pockets altogether .

The bottom 4 are used for:

Scissors

Tape/string 

Phone 

Business cards

The bigger pockets hold money/purse and wrapping (bags and closures)

As I had enough fabric for 2 aprons, I have one for sale in my Etsy shop

These aprons have been made in 3 sections each of them lined, but I could have made them with just the main section lined if I wanted to cut the costs. This would depend on the fabric available for the project as unlined sections would need to be more robust fabric, such as curtaining, denim etc. As mine are made from new heavyweight cottton they did not require lining, but I had some finer curtain lining available so lined all the pieces, making this a solid apron.

Tip: This could easily be made from recycled materials such as old Jeans etc. 

Happy Crafting 

Dee