You did It!

Today's mid week special are cards made from Kanban toppers "You did it!" collection.  These images are in monochrome.  As they are celebration cards I have married some of the toppers up with my Diesire edgeable dies.

I  think this first one is my favourite as I like the stars being used as a cut out revealing the background paper from the inside of the card.  I lay the stars down on my craft mat to line them up then stuck tape across them so that I knew I had them in alignment before I positioned them on the card to cut out.






















This next one I printed the wording onto 120 gsm paper which is lovely and smooth and quite a thick enough weight for using for this purpose.

These are my Diesire edgeable dies.  I just cut them and didn't emboss afterwards just in case it was tricky to get the die off afterwards.  Again, I used some stars to add interest to the card.

For the last card I made this a 7x5 card as I needed the height of the card for the edgeable star.  A small red bow was all this card required to finish it off.

I am really pleased with how the edgeables turned out on these cards and work really well for celebration cards.

Sorry you're leaving

Again, the colour theme is mustard yellow and blue as this is still part of the Kanban Well wishes & Celebration collection of cards and goes with the toppers.

I used the Spellbinders Label 42 die for one of the toppers which I cut out using Foundation cardstock.  This is really the best cardstock you can use for cutting out with your dies.

Enjoy xxx

Mini Albums

I am posting a mid week special today based on mini albums that I have created using my Cameo Silhouette as an implement for designing and cutting them out.  But first, let's start at the beginning and explain how this came about.  

I had been looking into the world of mini albums as I offered to make one for a friend to give to his wife as a 40th wedding anniversary gift.  The idea being that he could fill it with treasured memories of their journey through life together.  

I had made one once before and had thought I would do the same design but realised I hadn't a clue how I had made it.  A little help was needed so I started looking through different pinned mini albums on Pinterest.  I realised there are so many different ways to make albums that I could be amused for months trying these all out!

Below was my first creation, made last year some time.  It has pockets and tags and a photo fitted between a folded piece of cardstock which makes a nice frame for the image.

 My search lead me to this design that was blogged about on Kirsten's website.  I particularly liked the fact that she had a very clear instructions and a great diagram to follow.

The design looked simple enough as it was made from one piece of A4 card but I thought, what if I wanted to make more than one, shouldn't I try and make this design in my Cameo Silhouette?  So this is where I began drawing out the design using my Cameo Silhouette software.  My first version needed a slight moderation to the design but after a tweak here and there, I was happy with it.  It is a very cute size but only large enough for passport photos.  However, since I took the time to create it in the Cameo Silhouette, I now can replicate it a wee bit quicker when I want to make up another!

I then wanted to try another design and came across this blog by Miss Fancy Pants.  I think this design was more like the one I had originally created.  Again though it would have made a similar size album so I got to thinking about how I could make my album slightly bigger.

I took the concept of Miss Fancy Pant's album and designed mine to have slightly larger pages.  I started with a sheet of cardstock measuring 12"x12" and cut it down to exactly 30cm square.  This gave me the possibility of dividing it up into 12 panels instead of 16 by dividing the 30cm by 3 giving me 10cm by 7.5 cm panels.  I marked out where my vertical folds needed to be then I folded the sheet in half and then into quarters so I had 4 panels to concertina fold.  

Next I needed two horizontal cuts.  On the first horizontal line I cut across the first 3 panels only, leaving the 4th panel intact.  Then I worked on the second horizontal line, this time from right to left.  Again, only cutting as far as the end of the 3rd panel leaving the 4th panel intact. Then came the concertina folds to create the book.    I have since created this design in my software which didn't take very long at all.

I followed Miss Fancy Pant's idea on making the cover.  I used some mountboard and cut this just over half a centimeter larger than the concertina card on all 4 sides. 

Next I covered the mountboard with cardstock.  There is a trick to successfully covering the board as some folds simply don't work well but I found a way that left my corners nice and square.  First I cut my cardstock an inch large then the mountboard to give a generous overhang.  Then I stuck the mountboard in the centre of the cardstock.  When dried, I creased the card around all four sides of the board.  Then folded the bottom edge over followed by the one to its left or right.  I made a pencilled cutting mark at the point where the card crosses over each other and drew a diagonal line down to the bottom point of the corner of the mountboard.  This became my cutting line that is visible on the outside.  I cut away the excess then folded it back for a second whilst I marked where to cut away the excess on the inside that isn't visible.  Trimming this off got rid of the bulk and made a nice neat corner when glued down.  Repeat this by turning your work around and starting again on the bottom piece and the remaining side panel.  

I then positioned some ribbon on the insides of the two panels.  There is no need to adhere this past the point that the album will be stuck down.  Doing so makes it looks unsightly as I have learned!  Red liner tape is very strong and is a good choice of glue for this bit of the project.  When deciding on the length of your ribbon ensure you leave plenty of ribbon to tie the bow on your album. 

Now I was ready to glue the album cover and pages together.  The warning here is you need to ensure you leave enough room for these panels to not obstruct each other when the album is opened out flat.  Do one side first.  I used Collall glue as it forgiving and so you can ensure you have everything nicely lined up before the glue goes off.    I put my album directly in the centre of the cover and waited for it to dry.  Then I turned my attention to the other panel and glued this in place.  

After this all that was left is decorating the inside of the album and sticking in printed photos.  


I have decorated my book using papers from Heartfelt creations.  I just so happened to have some paper that had panels that worked with the album.

Well Done, you passed

These cards were very quick to make up as I decided to keep them simple.  I particularly liked the mustard yellow and blue papers that came with this collection from the Well Wishes & Celebrations Kanban Cardkit.

Again, I made these 6x6 as it is easy to store them in boxes with lids.

With Thanks

These Vintage Bird toppers are absolutely beautiful from the Kanban Well Wishes & Celebrations card collection.  They have enough detail to demand they sat on an almost simple and plain background so as not to detract from their beauty.  

They are quite large toppers and I am no fan of making A5 cards because they are harder to store so I opted to use my 7x5 cardstock.

Next job was sourcing the background papers.  Something almost plan but with some detail was my thought.  I have the Kanban pretty in lace collection and found the colour papers were a perfect match for using with these toppers.

I used this Spellbinders die to mount the toppers onto.  It is one of my favourite dies as it seems to work with a lot of toppers although I did have to slightly trim the edge of the topper so that it was a perfect fit.  I have a Pebeo wide tip silver marker and I used this to go around the edge of topper to give it a better look.

Here are my finished cards.

New Home

With these beautiful pastel shades and very modern looking toppers it was important to me that I kept the look fresh and summery.  

I searched through my collection of dies trying to find ones that were the right size to mount the toppers onto and the best match I had was this lovely Spellbinders die called Labels 42. 

I am really found of this die despite the fact the card won't release easily from the die after I have embossed it!  I think we all have some dies like this in our collection don't we?  It might have saved me some time if I could have found my easy release paper I have for these issues but my craft room is so overstuffed with products that I have no chance of finding it!  

Having adhered the toppers on to the background mounts (label 42 die cuts) my next job was to decide what size card I was going to make and what I was going to mount the toppers onto.  As I said before, I was after a fresh modern feel to my cards so I looked through my stash of cards and envelopes and came across these some polka dot cards.  A sense of joy swept over me as I knew these were going to look and feel modern when I had made them up.

These are the results, hope you enjoy xxx

New Home

I have a collection of Well Wishes and Celebrations cards to make from a Kanban Kit and so over the next month or two I shall be posting bit size posts of themed cards from this collection.

I am going to start with these pretty little cards.  They were a while in the design stage because I just couldn't envisage how I wanted them to look.  I had hoped I would find some inspiration on Pinterest  to alleviate my creative block but there wasn't much to go on.  Perhaps it was because I have been on a break from making cards for the last year and needed to find my mojo once again.   

The first time I laid eyes on this pretty paper I knew this would be the place to start.  I really adore the red polka dot and floral background papers and toppers.  There were enough elements in the kit to make three cards.

I don't think the next one is quite complete.  I may add an overlay on the small polka dot panel.  I often add more to my cards at the time I thinking about the sentiments to go inside.  

This was quite a small oval shaped topper so I used a 5x7 inch card.  Again, I think this just needs a new home sentiment to finish it off.

This is the first batch from the Well Wishes and Celebrations card kit.  Look out for more inspiration over the coming weeks.

Delft Tulips Needle Case

Having a few weeks off work has given me the opportunity to have a good old clear out of the craft room and also complete some of those "unfinished projects".  

Indeed I believe I began working on this needle case over the Christmas period then simply put it away and forgot about it!  At least that was until yesterday when I re-discovered it and decided it was high time I completed the project. 

It holds my tapestry and embroidery needles very nicely including some extra large ones for sewing in ends when crocheting.

Slouch Bag

I wear my Very Berry handmade slouch bag with pride since it was one I made for myself.  It was made to fit on the back of my wheelchair and has been admired by my fellow wheelchair companions.  It certainly adds something to what is a rather dull looking chair.

A friend who also admired my bag asked if I could make one for her daughter and since I enjoyed making my own I thought why not!

I decided I would go down a hook size on this project so worked on a size 3mm hook.  I didn't realise that it would actually use more yarn in the process so I ran out of purple yarn which I used for the base of the bag and instead, finished the top half in the pink.

Another change I made was to get some bag handles instead of creating my own.  I thought this would stop the bag sagging and it does work brilliantly.

Let's see what you think.

The Mabel Blanket

Little did I know when I picked up my crochet hook last summer, whilst recovering from a hip replacement surgery, that I would be making blankets still.  Although, I haven't abandoned card making completely, the joy of crocheting seems to have resurrected itself and I find it a much easier hobby to do from a wheelchair. 

Working in monochrome is something new to me when making blankets as they are often worked in bright and cheerful colours and often with leftover yarn.  However, in this instance I wanted to make a blanket that would compliment another one already made so I chose a blanket and white theme.  

I scoured the internet for ideas and came across the Mabel Blanket on a website called Meghan Makes Do. I was immediately drawn to this design because the granny squares are laid out as diamonds and the sides are filled with triangles.  It is a free pattern so if you are interested in having a go yourself hop over to Meghan's website and download the pattern here.

This blanket was really easy to do and I took less than 3 months to make it.  

I joined the seams with a needle joining the right sides together and sewing through through the back loops only.  This illustration is based on the right sides facing together and loops that are meeting are not illustrated.  I have just drawn the back loops that I have sewn through and the method I used to ensure a strong seam.

Here is the end result:

and a close up:

Well Ben, I hope you like your blanket!