Hi Folks.  Hope you all have had a lovely week and are looking forward to the weekend.  The weather here in Northern Ireland has been fair to middling.  Thankfully the snow has stayed away so far.  I'm afraid when the snow comes I hibernate until it goes away. Lovely to look at through the window but not to go out in, and thankfully I have retired so don't have to go out unless I want to.
As you can see from this blog I have been crafting with vintage and altered art but I have just found a company called Stampin'Up.  Now I know all you crafters will already know about them, but as I have never really been into stamping because any cards etc that I have seen the images have all been coloured in and blended for light and shade etc and as my colouring in well let's just say my grandson could do a better job.  Now with Stampin'Up I can stamp (without colouring in) using their different coloured ink pads which co-ordinate with their cardstock, punches if necessary, and if an image requires colour their beautiful blendabilities pens and markers are all I require.  The blendability pens come in sets of three of the same colour.  So you have light, medium, dark all in the one colour.
The names of their inks and papers are so imaginative, Crisp Cantaloupe, a beautiful pink/peach colour, Coastal Cabana reminds you of the sea on a beautiful day, Pistachio Pudding a lovely ice-cream, Baked Brown Sugar sounds very Jamaican holiday, Strawberry Slush a lovely cool drink.  See very imaginative and their Designer Series Paper is just the same, makes you want to just gather them all up and start crafting.  I have three demonstrators that I follow, Papercraft Button who is my Stampin'Up Agent who I order from.  She is a very clever lady she makes the most wonderful 3D projects and the thing about the demonstrators is that they work out all the paper sizes, dimensions, where to cut and where to stick, they are great for a cluts like me who can't work out 2 + 2.  Seriously they are wonderful and as I am someone who learns by seeing (I make a great forger) they are the best.


This is a project that Elaine taught me.  It is ans Expander File/Card Organizer.
Now the card stock and paper, ribbon etc are from my own stash as I haven't got all the Stampin'Up Products I would need to make this and I couldn't wait to try to see if I could make it.
If you click on to Papercraft Button and go to her blog or You Tube channel you will see her making this

The measurements and materials are listed below:

Cardstock/DSP required

2 pieces of card for the front and back @ 8 1/4" x 5 3/4"
2 pieces of Designer Series Paper for front and back @ 8" x 5 1/2"
1 piece of card for the base @ 8 1/4" x 4 1/2"
4 pieces of card for internal pockets @ 8 1/8" x 4 1/8"
2 pieces of card for side concertina @ 10" x 4 1/8"
2 pieces of card for ribbon panel @ 5 1/2" x 1 1/2"
2 pieces of DSP for ribbon panel @ 5 1/4" x 1 1/4"
Two lengths of ribbon @ 12" each

The picture below shows you Papercraft Button  version in blue and how it looks in the inside ( also how it looks when down by a professional).  Although I didn't do too bad with mine.  I use it to store my cards when I make them ready to be sent out . This is a lovely exercise in crafting and can be done by a newbie crafter or an experienced one.  Also if you go to Elaines blog everything is there for you also there is a link to her shop if you want to buy any materials.   That is all for today and thank you for stopping by.  Theo.

 

Inspiration for this card came from Pinterest.


The base card is from plain card from my stash and measures  41/4" x 51/2"
The second layer measures 4" x 51/4" and is punched with a Decorative Label punch.
With the piece of card punched out with label the insert is computer generated in brown ink for a softer look and stuck down behind the aperture.  Flowers are stamped with the Petite Petals Stamp Set and inked with Crisp Cantaloupe.  The pearls are Basic Pearls from Stampin'Up.


Supplies from Stampin'Up:

Punch:                       Decorative Label, Petite Petals
Stamp Set:                 Petite Petals
Ink:                            Crisp Cantaloupe
Embellishments:        Basic Pearls
.

Inspiration for this card I got on Pinterest

It is made with plain white card from my own stash.  Top layer has been punched out with a Decorative Label Punch and the insert stamped in Baked Brown Sugar ink.  Stamp is from my own stash.  Leaves and scrolls are diecuts and the beautiful butterfly is from my friend Sam Hirst at Samaflora on Facebook.  The four pearls are from Stampin'Up.


Supplies from Stampin'Up:-

Punch:          Decorative Label.
Ink:               Baked Brown Sugar
Embellishments:     Basic Pearls.

Other:         Butterfly from Samaflora
Leaves:       Spellbinders Floral Dies
Scroll (small):     Joycrafts
Scroll (large):      Free in magazine

Inspiration for this card I got from Pinterest.

The base is made from white card from my own stash, with a mat of Marina Mist Cardstock and a top mat of plain white card.  Flowers are Petite Petals stamped in Coastal Cabana and punched out with a Petite Petal punch.  Saying is computer generated.  Bottom saying has been punched out with a Word Window Punch.

Supplies from Stampin'Up:-

Cardstock:     Marina Mist
Stamp Set:     Petite Petals
Ink:                Coastal Cabana
Punches:        Word Window, Petite Petals
Embellishments: Basic Rhinestones

Hope you like it.




                                                                                                                         

Hi Folks.  I have just started this blog and to be frank I really don't know what I am doing,but here goes.  I just thought I would let you see some of the things I have made over the last year.  This is a pair of book-ends I made from a tutorial by Anna at  anna's paper creations    She is a wonderful teacher.  They are made with chipboard.  I have added lace, ribbons and Wild Orchid Crafts flowers.  The little bottle is filled with gold beads and there is a little pen nib.  There are little hanging charms and the pearl flowers I made from silk ribbon.  The streamers are lace and seam binding.  The little drawers open and you can keep little bits and pieces in them.  They are big enough to hold a corner bookmark. 

My next project was altering a bottle which I bought in Ikea.  I made my own texture paste and covered the bottle.  I then daubed the paste with pink acrylic paint when dried I added crocheted lace, flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts and some pearl string.  Hope you like it I certainly loved making it.  This I learnt from Wendy at lolly dolly  crafts

This one is something I really wanted to do.  I had seen so many on Youtube and I wanted to give it a go.  This originally was a purple teapot, cup and saucer, unfortunately it had a bit of a mishap and lost the handle of the cup.  So I decided it was a good candidate for altering.  As I have a passion for lace the more fancy the better I had great fun doing this.  First I painted all the items with pink acrylic paint.  Then I covered the saucer first with two crocheted doillies.  The cup was then covered in cream muslin and various different laces.  The teapot I was really able to enjoy myself with.  The body was covered with the cream muslin, then various lace trims and a handmade flower on the front with feathers and pearl strands. The handle and spout were trimmed with diamond bling.  Unfortunately I can't remember the video I saw this on, it may have been Sacrafters, not sure.

This is a book made from pink material and covered in laces and trims.  The picture is surrounded with a beige crochet trim and a peach/pink rose trim.  The ribbon is a lovely peach picot trim and the pearl buttons are from Wild Orchid Crafts, and ta-da...  Inside are handmade stick-pins.  These are made from beads from old necklaces with spacers in between.  The actual pearl pins I got from WOC.  I would like to thank Fiona Jennings Jennings644/Youtube for her wonderful tutorials which got me on the track for making anything vintage.  She is a wonderful, generous lady both with her time and her products.

This project I learnt from Claire Charvill at www.MyCreativeSpirit.com.  She makes the most wonderful 3D objects and she makes everything seem so easy and indeed if you follow her instructions step-by-step they are easy.  This is a box project.  It is made from chipboard and decorated with papers I got free in a craft magazine.  The rose is a handmade felt rose and paper leaves and ribbon.  The decoupage around the outside and inside all came with the free papers.  When you take the lid off...  Inside is a candle which you can decorate with whatever you like.

Finally this little project I made for last Christmas.  It is an old novel which I folded all the page in half and used as a type of filofax for my Christmas cards, then when Christmas was over I decorated it with a flower arrangement and it now sits on my hall table.

That is all I have for you today.  I hope you have enjoyed this blog, even with it being my first attempt.  Thank you for stopping by.    Theo.