HI Crafters
Well it has been a busy week and like many crafters out there, there was a last minute rush to make the card for hubby before the big day. I did manage it though, just in time and with new dies that arrived in the week.
A lovely pop-up card
The dimensions for this card had to be altered from the basic pop-up card to hold the die cuts used
Made with cream and silver-grey card the four dies all give winter scenes
I have 4 other dies that are suitable for everyday card and will be making a couple of different designs with them in the new year.
Happy New Year to you all
Dee
Hi Crafters
I recently went to Denman with friends from my WI to do a course on Mosaics
It was great fun, the tutor was very good and I was pleasantly surprised at my finished item
We had an introductory hour on the first evening, after dinner, and I had already decided to try making a specific item rather than cover a base board. Little did I realise how much work this would give me, but the challenge was worthwhile, I had help from Liz the tutor and managed to cut all the glass, tiles and place the embellishments to complete the board the next day, leaving the last morning to grout.
Hey Presto! I have a new number plaque for my house.
Liz has a shop on Etsy where you can purchase small kits to make mosaic butterflies, seahorses, snails, dragonflies etc
the shop is "lilyMosaicsByLis" at www.etsy.com/uk
Or visit her website at www.lily-mosaics.co.uk
Super gifts for crafty friends and family.
There were four of us from our institute and we had such a good time we have booked to do silver clay jewellery, next year.
Dee
Hi Crafters
We all love to recycle our Christmas cards as they are often very pretty and just too pretty to throw away.
After following the 'Posh Paper Lady' on YouTube, I have been inspired to do a workshop on the 18th January at Pawlett Village Hall
9.30 - 1pm
I have so many lovely ideas to use those pretty cards and much more that cutting them into tags.
Gift Bags and boxes from the Posh Paper Lady, some adaptions and some new ideas of my own
The cost for the morning is just £5
Anyone interested please contact me for more information and a booking form
But be quick it is filling up fast.
Dee
Hi Crafters
I recently showed you an origami star dish that I had made, and mentioned in the post that a lid could be made to fit the dish.
Another visit to YouTube and hey presto here is version 2 of the lovely little dish.
They are so darned cute I made a couple more
The two at the back have been made from 8" squares whilst the little one in the front is a 6" square
The pink and gold box on the left I have made a paper bead for the lid so it has been made using just one piece of double sided 12 x 12.
I will show you the open dish
As you can see there is a reasonable amount of space in the little pot and would be great for easter gifts and chocolates, so I think I am going to make this at Pawlett WI for the April meeting.
Dee
Hi Crafters
Just a quick post today to show you the Reindeer Choir cards we made at Craft Club last night
I saw these on Pinterest and made some myself and then the group decided to make them.
They are a basic Teepee card dressed with antlers and open mouth. I had to design the open book, and hands, as I could see them in some of the pictures but could find no instructions.
You can use any oval dies of suitable size and some of the antlers are flower branch dies.
Thank you to Angela for taking the pictures and sending them to me.
Dee
Hi Crafters
So here we are in November already and Christmas Craft Fair season begins.
The main reason for so few blogs in October was my preparation for the Craft Fairs I do.
My first is on 9th November at Nailsea and I love this fair. It is well attended and with a great variety of crafts on offer. It runs all day over 3 halls at the Methodist CHurch.
I am nearly ready. As in previous fairs, this year I am trying some new items as well as regular paper crafts. I try new items cautiously, if it is a new papercraft with a relatively small price tag and uses craft items already in my stash I may make 10-15 or whatever looks presentable on the table. If the item is larger and uses additional craft items that have to be purchased I will may 5-6. This is the number of Christmas Wreaths I have made to take to Nailsea. I have made some lovely wreaths using a metal ring that can be recycled next year. Some are covered in burlap ribbon and some in wire edged Christmas ribbons before decorating.
I had thought about taking wreaths to craft fairs before but was not sure how to present them, I ususally see them mounted on a back panel but I have nothing like this, however I have bought myself a wreath stand and am really pleased with the look and height as it will sit well on the table.
I can display a couple of wreaths at a time which is fine as anyone interested can then see what else is available and the display will not overshadow the other items on the table.
My next problem was the actual sale. If I sold one, what do I put it in. I could buy some carrier bags but the bags large enough to take the wreaths are made of plastic and I am trying to promote more natural crafts, as well as recycled so plastic bags did not compliment the theme. I therefore spent this morning making large carrier bags from ends of rolls of wallpaper and oddments of ribbon and cord from my stash.
I am now set to present my 6 Wreaths at the Fair.
During November I will write about the items I have made and then in December I will give a report on what worked and what didn't. Many of the crafters that so generously share their makes on YouTube do series on Craft Fair items and will also share the successes and less favoured items, so if you are thinking of selling at a fair in the next year it is well worth doing dome homework and checking out what is currently popular. A large chunk of trade is lost to me as I make very few items for children. I do not have any so do not know the market and steer clear of trying to make for them.
I do make items suitable for teacher gifts and stokcing filler and this year have made some delicious Elf Stockings for Chocolate lovers.
Good luck to all of you taking part in Craft fairs for the holiday season, I would love to hear how you get on
Dee
Hi Crafters
Following on my previous post here is a gift bag made from 2 Christmas cards, in a similar way to the box.
The finished gift bag measures 15cm wide and 16cm tall with a 8.5cm gusset, so will hold quite a lot
It would be suitable for a number of items including makeup, toiletries, breakfast gift bag etc.
Ideal for Teachers gifts, friends and neighbours, and shows some thought and effort has gone into the gift process.
Again this idea came from a similar item demonstrated on Posh Paper Lady blog, where you can get the layout and scoring required to put your 2 cards together together for the base gift bag. I have added some green tissue paper to go with the card and used some scrap card from my stash to make the handles.
Here is the gift bag alongside a second box I made with another 2 cards from the card set and in this box I have added 10 cards made using more of the cards and envelopes from the kit.
I will be collecting Christmas cards to recycle and both of these projects can be used to recycle your Christmas cards received this year, by simply choosing 2 cards the same size that go together and lining the card with some pretty papers from your stash. Check back in January to see how I can get on with this idea and for fuller tutorials.
Why not subscribe to my blog by hitting the follow button at the top of the page. It is free, and you can check in for more inspiration and general chit chat on crafting and ideas for craft fair projects.
Happy Crafting
Dee
