Hunkydory Christmas Collection

When you make a lot of cards as I do, hoping that you may sell a few at the occasional craft fair, buying sheets of card with matching toppers, sentiments etc is a quick and easy way to build up your collections.  

Over the last few years I have brought many a kit from companies like Kanban and more recently Hunkydory.  Hunkydory have wonderful themed collections. The trouble with buying kits such as these is that you either need a lot of time to construct these cards or a pair of helping hands. Sharing with other members of the family or friends is an ideal way to use these kits especially when there is the promise of making lots of cards from the kits.  Take for example the Christmas Collection I purchased from Hunkydory earlier in the summer.  Well this promised me well over 100 cards for my investment.  Now that's a lot of cards and it isn't any wonder I haven't finished making them yet.

The Christmas Collection consisted of 4 Christmas kits combined into one amazing offer.  Hard to resist when you gotta start somewhere!  Well nearly three months on and I have made up three sets out of the four.  I think I will stop there though as I want to move on to something different.  

Let me know what you think of the Magical Christmas Cards, A Stylish Season

Whispers and Wishes

I am building up a small arsenal of CDs which encompass everything you need to make complete collections of cards and a lot more besides.

Some of my favourites are from My Craft Studio. My Craft Studio is a purpose built graphics program which has been designed by crafters for crafters.  The program gives you the ability to easily change colours and sizes, making you the designer in your own home.  

I would like to share with you some cards I have made using the Whispers and Wishes CD.

These designs are created exclusively for My Craft Studio by renowned artist Lisa Fox.  Wishes and Whispers includes unique fairies, printable handmade papers, notepads, 3D flowers, cupcake wraps, party invitations, cards, backgrounds, toppers and much more.  

Let me know if you also think they are as enchanting as I do.

Pixie Land

If you ever need some craft inspiration then look no further than the Debbie Moore Designs Craft Magazine.  I have already shared with you some of my Shabby Chic Garden Projects but I was distracted by a recent purchase of Issue 13.    This issue features a beautiful Old Venice Collection with 20 Free papers and a Free CD called Pixie Land.    It was the images from the CD that inspired the making of the following cards.

This is a C6 card, quite small but nevertheless "packs a real punch".  I love the strong green colour and the finishing touches of a peeloff used around the diamond shape topper.

I have made an 8x8 card here and printed the background paper on to Glossy Card Stock.

And finally, this card is a 7x5 and I have used some blue vellum to add a bit of interest.  As vellum is translucent I have placed buttons over the areas where I glued the vellum to the backing paper.  Again, a lovely strong blue colour.

Parchment Craft #1

Considering I have spent the last week at home on my hols, I don't know how I didn't find time to write on my blog!  I almost achieved it in so far as putting my thoughts together in my head but that was as far as it actually went.  Despite being at home I found there were other jobs needing my attention including some book keeping for the wheelchair dance group I help run.  We have reached the end of our financial year so the Accounts needed balancing.  Who needs a CSE in maths when Excel can do the maths for you!    Anyway some of the things I planned to do will sit and wait for another occasion.  One thing is for sure I will never run out of crafty things to do.

Whilst on my hols I attended the Stitch, Sew and Hobbycraft event at Westpoint in Exeter. I got to meet Barbara Grey who often runs workshops on Create and Craft TV and I purchased even more of her wonderful Clarity Stamps. Barbara is appearing on Create & Craft TV this Saturday 12th October between 11.00-13.00 to do her “In the classroom” show and then again on Sunday 13th 09.00-11.00, "Stamping with Clarity". I shall be crafting along with you Barbara. I was so thrilled to meet Barbara and show her some of my artwork that I had made during her "live" on air classroom. I also got to meet a few other presenters from other shows but sadly not Debbie Moore.

Whilst at the show I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a short workshop to get me started in Parchment Craft.    Experiencing a fall back in the spring, I had a spell in hospital and whilst there felt bereft from my crafting materials.  I decided then, that I needed a portable hobby.  I had previously been drawn to Parchment Craft when watching Tina Cox on the Create & Craft Show make lovely Christmas Cards.  I had got as far as purchasing her patterns but needed a little encouragement to get me started.   The workshop was very useful and I was able to purchase some grids to get me started.  It seems easy enough to do but does involve close up work so I may need to invest in some magnifying clip on glasses to make it a little easier to see what I am doing. 

I made this card last week which I am really pleased with.  I haven’t finished it off because I haven’t decided on how best to write the sentiment.

Let me know what you think of my first attempt!

Sew much fun

I enjoy a broad range of hobbies which is why I call myself Crafty Tash.  In my younger days I used to do a lot of dressmaking as it was difficult to buy off the peg clothes that fitted well.  My biggest success was making my own wedding dress and my bridesmaid and page-boy outfits.  I also made silk waistcoats for my husband to be and his best man, Ian his brother.  Looking back, it was a mammoth task but I felt I needed something to do to fill the 18 months leading up to the big day.  I hired the assistance of a seamstress to adjust my dress pattern so that the fitting would be perfect and it was.  It was a wonderful day followed by a three week honeymoon in America.  We borrowed a video camera and I just kept smiling the entire three weeks.

Sewing is taking a bit of a revival and back in the New Year I took the opportunity of updating my sewing machine.  It has come out on a few occasions but I haven’t fully utilised it yet. I made a cute owl very recently having received a free pattern and fabric from my Homemaker magazine.  

Hobbies can be expensive if you invest in everything you need, maybe use it once or never finish what you started due to lack of knowledge or skill. 

Here is a hobby that I guarantee you will enjoy – making felt Christmas decorations.  I have purchased this Felt Christmas Decorations book by Corinne Lapierre and it consists of 20 projects.  It is available from Amazon for £3.74.  

You will need access to a photocopier because the patterns need enlarging by 200%.  I have made all these Christmas decorations in four evenings!  I hope to sell these on my stall in November.  My favourite is the owl.  I shan't stop until I run out of felt!  Let me know what you think of them.

The Happy Couple

I had seen a great offer on Create and Craft this evening, a collection of Tonic Bird Dies, dies to dies for!  I have one or two flower punches from Tonic Studios and invested recently in a Christmas Cracker Die which is fab so I know the quality is good.  I visited Tonic's website for the first time and saw some great cards that had been pinned.    When I do this it invariably leads me from one blog site to another until I stopped when I came across one with a challenge to use dies or punches over 6 months old.  This inspired me to make another version of a card I have tried before using my Spellbinder dies.  I shall enter it into the challenge "Oldie but a goodie Challenge" so keep your fingers crossed for me because the prize is some fantastic dies by Tonic Studios. 

Having a good old "nose" around on other people's blogs is inspirational and I have been surprised by the number of entrants to craft challenges.  At last an outlet for my crafting activities!

The Happy Couple card made using a few Spellbinder flower dies and embellished with gems.  The flowers have been adhered onto an acetate background.    

Shed talk!

Being able to make your own cards can be quite handy considering I have two friends with Birthday's this week. One of my youngest friends is having her 18th and Phil and I are going to help her celebrate this at the Oriental City Restaurant in Pinhoe, Exeter.  It is really fitting as this week we have a celebration of our own.  It's our 20th Wedding Anniversary!  

Whilst looking up wedding anniversaries on the internet I discovered that the traditional theme of celebration is Chinese so there you go!  The modern theme is platinum and emeralds. I have always wanted to own an emerald ring, hint, hint!

I have enjoyed making an anniversary card for my darling husband using a new DVD Rom that was only delivered on Saturday.  The DVD Rom contains exclusive artwork by the world renowned artist Pollyanna Pickering who draws and paints British Wildlife.   

 As you can see I did a little bit of teabag folding and stamped the background of my card with my latest edition of leaf stamps by Clarity.

Meanwhile, I promised you a shed!  Again, the inspiration came from Debbie Moore's Garden Bookazine and I filled the shelves with stamped out pots etc from the miniature range of Clarity stamps I have.

Plant a garden, water your soul

It's been nice to sit down for an hour and get out my crafting materials and just relax and make another card.  It is the first this week!

I had a busy evening yesterday as Tuesdays I teach wheelchair dancing to a group of disabled people in Exeter so Wednesdays are my chill out evenings.  

Since my fall back in May I haven't been driving but last evening felt a good time to get back behind the wheel.  The traffic wasn't busy and the pre-nerves I had felt melted away as soon as I turned the engine over.

I was so proud of one of my dancers last evening.  She is a student from the West of England College in Exeter who educate and care for young people with visual impairments and complex needs.  Last evening she attended without the support of her carers and did remarkably well unsupported. The best I can do with British Sign Language is a handful of words and finger spell but between us we got by.

Anyway, I hope you like my latest card offering from the Debbie Moore Bookazine.  The sentiment is stamped using a Clarity stamp I have from a garden set.  I plan to make a garden shed card next so watch this space!

Time flies by too fast!

Ever wished that weekends were longer?  Mine is flying past and I also feel disappointed that I didn't find time to write a new post on my blog over the last week. I was busy preparing for my stall at the Exminster Market which took place yesterday.  It was good fun and I saw friends old and new.  Sales went well although I did feel it could have been busier.  I sold lots of cards including the two I made from Debbie Moore's Garden Bookazine which were recent posts.  I also sold a couple of my Beatrice Potter box cards, a bracelet I had made from Polymer Clay and some packs of my handmade buttons.  There were a good range of items for sale including homemade cakes, fudge, soaps and fish. 

Instead of getting down and crafting today, as well as doing the housework, I have busy sorting out the Christmas cards I have been making all summer long.  Looking back, it did seem rather strange to be adhering snowy acetate onto the fronts of my cards whilst we were enjoying a very pleasant summer. 

Some final touches were needed to some of the cards, including finding matching envelopes and cello bags and then the photography. Each card I make I like to take a photo off, upload it onto my PC and then give it a unique ID reference number. Why you wonder, well, if I note this reference number down when it is sold, I can move the photo into a "sold" album and I can see which cards have been popular or not as the case may be.    I do have one or two collections which have been non sellers!

Of the hundred or so cards I have made over the summer, there are two collections which are my favourite.  One is the Barkley Christmas Papercrafting CD-Rom from Crafter's Companion and the other, the stamp set from Sheena Douglass - A Little Bit Festive.  

I am going to sign off now leaving you with a some cards I have made with Sheena's stamps.  Do let me know what you think of them and thank you for stopping by.

In the classroom

The first weekend in every month is reserved for the classroom.  It is an opportunity for me to try new techniques and improve existing crafting skills.  In the classroom with Barbara Grey appears on the Create & Craft TV channel 36. This weekend Barbara got out the Gelli Plate which is used for mono printing and demonstrated how you could combine the art of stamping with acrylic paints.    I followed along but I am not ready to share my efforts with you yet!    

If you are intrigued to know what you can do with this Gelli Plate then I recommend you watch one of Andy Skinner's video's on You Tube.  I have shared a quick link to it - "Deco art Traditions and Gelli Plates... a match made in Heaven!" 


Meanwhile, I had a go at something I am more akin to, stamping and brayering and here is the results.  

I was quite pleased considering I was following Barbara's workshop whilst it was being broadcast live.    

Both the Nativity scene and the jigsaw set were purchased from Clarity Stamps  as well as the lettering.  

Now I have had a go at the techniques, I may work on these designs.

Flower Pot

It may not be a catchy title but when you see the image, you won't help but smile!

This is another card I enjoyed making from Debbie Moore's Shabby Chic Garden Bookazine.  It took a bit of patience from me as I needed to wait for my Pinflair Glue Gel to dry but my patience was finally rewarded once it was complete.  

This was also my first go at using Print Magic by Debbie Moore.  It is an ultra fine embossing powder that I sprinkled onto the flowers and set with a heat gun.  I have had this product for months but not yet used it.  I recently saw Debbie using it on C&C TV and thought, I must have a go at using this.  

I admit to also having a collection of Debbie Moore bookazines still untouched.  They are like a keepsake item really, full of ideas, papers and toppers.   Now that I have started using the Garden Bookazine I may well have to indulge myself and buy another copy just to admire it.

You are probably interested in knowing how the flowers are held up.  I have used silver plated copper wire 0.80mm which I curled around a knitting needle (15cm length) before inserting it into a pierced hole on the fold of the card.  I then glued it in place and waiting for that to dry before gluing the flower heads in place.  

The card would benefit from a sentiment such as "Get Well Soon" but since I haven't decided who to give it to, I will wait before I do this.

Let me know what you think and if you would like to make one yourself, then grab a copy of this wonderful Garden Bookazine by Debbie Moore.

Easel Card

I couldn’t wait for this Garden Bookazine from Debbie Moore to arrive.  From the moment I glimpsed the contents of it, whilst watching Create & Craft TV, I knew I would love all the elements inside.  The colours are warm, yet soft and work so well together.  I've discovered some great ideas using different card styles and decided my first project would be a double easel card.  Instructions come with the free CD but this is how I made it.

I used an A5 card and laid it out in front of me in landscape mode.  I then marked the center position of the card along its longest edge and cut to the fold of the card.  Since my A5 card is 21cm in length I made a cut line mark at 10.5cm. This produced two equal halves on the front half of the card.  

I then needed to cut off some surplus card in order to have the two pieces square in shape.  I therefore measured 10.5cm from the fold line to the edge of the card and marked my cutting line (You can just make out the hatched markings showing the area to be cut away). This left me with two squares measuring 10.5cm.

I then scored each of these two halves from the point where the cut meets the fold to the outer corners to create triangles.  Tip: Ensure you place the folding line from the center to the outer edges on both halves otherwise the toppers will be facing away from each other once you have put a crease in your fold.  Fortunately I got this right on the first attempt!  

I used the papers provided in the bookazine to back the card and then decorated with the topper and sentiment.  The flowers were made from scraps of leftover paper with the use of my punches.   I wish I had made the hat 3 dimensional now but hey, there is always another occasion since I have a permanent supply of toppers and matching papers on the CD. 

 Thanks Debbie, I am really pleased with the end result.  

Aspirations

I was thinking the other day how nice it would be to become a member of a design team and have a chance to play around with all the latest new stamps and products.   Then by happy coincidence I stumbled upon an ad for new design team members wanted by Creative Expressions.   

Although the closing date is Friday 16th September and I don't have a cat in hell's chance of being organised by then, I did realize that I will require an active following on a blog and/or social media and post at least once a week.  Another reason to get blogging I thought!  I liked the fact that previous experience on a design team wasn't necessary as they are looking for people with real passion for crafting and I think I have this in bucket loads.

Motivation

This month I decided, as a member of Crafter's Companion to enter their monthly challenge. The August challenge is Animals and since I have just been working with their Barkley Christmas Papercrafting CD I had just finished a card I felt worthy of entering.  Whilst trying to upload my image I realized that all the entries had been linked via member's own blog sites which made me more determined than ever to complete the setting up of my blog page. So this this morning I started out refreshing the look I started out with.  I feel much happier with it now and determined to start blogging away.  I welcome any hints and tips from readers of my blog because it is still work in progress but now to the fun bit.    Here is a card I made.

I printed the image onto pearlescent card stock which gave it a lovely finish and suited the softness of the image.  I recently purchased some Embossalicious embossing folders (Christmas themed) from Crafter's Companion and used the one with the stars for the background.  The flowers, leaves and mistletoe have been cut using my latest dies from Tattered Lace which are Winter and Festive Florals.  I have used them a lot since purchasing them.  They cut so easily and have been my "bestest" buy this month.

Is it really that simple to set up a blog?  Well maybe once you tried 101 variations of an appropriate name for your blog site and finally get the green light that no one else has thought of it.  A quick change of fonts from Times New Roman to Arial and I am blogging away!  Does anyone actually like Times New Roman?  Personally, I can't stand it.  

Hang on a minute, this wasn't the name I choose for my Blog.  I must have already starting setting one up and abandoned the whole process through boredom and general frustration.

Okay, next challenge, the page looks lifeless, not at all like I expected.  I read somewhere that I could change this at anytime.  Time to investigate improving the overall look of my page.  I'll be back once I made my blog look a little more inviting!