WOYWW

Well this is the first time i have taken part in this, and i,m a bit ashamed to say that this was my desk last night, and it is still like it now. Thats the pleasure of having a craft room, you can shut the door and leave things out to tidy up later. Which i do intend on doing, after i have made a few more of the card you see on the desk and below. I really like how it has turned out. It was inspired by one of my favourite designers, Dawn Mcvey, in Cards magazine.I changed it slightly, but i do have to say i am loving the kraft card stock cut into cards. I will be making a fair few with this card i can tell you.

This is the card i made last night. Kraft cardstock, white card, blue cardstock cut into thin strips then punched with the Fiskars Effervescent punch, a cirle punched from kraft card, and a swiss dotted piece of white card which i then cut out butterflys with my spellbinders die. I have to say that i like this card and am thinking about making a few sets of cards for friends for christmas, maybe the same cards with different sentiments on them. maybe??? And yes i know, talking about christmas again, but i have to start early as i work in a large school and have many friends who i like to send handmade cards to, and make presents for a few too, also it gets very busy at work with the pupils christmas makes, christmas fair,etc.

Taking a break from christmas gift planning i ventured into my garden with my small camera to see what i could find. Well i very nearly stepped on this beauty, picture a bit hazy sorry.

I have been looking around other blogs lately and have been inspired to start to use my sewing machine again. Now don't get excited i haven't actually used it yet, i just have lots of ideas and have seen lots of beautiful material, i would love to make a quilt to cozy up on the sofa with. So the search for lush material and easy pattern resumes, wish me luck!!!

tfl

katharine

Well i've made a good start.

Well as the title suggests i have made a start on my christmas cards. I had made some boo bears up already and after buying the winter set in which you get a die that cuts out the hat and scarf, i cut some out and attached them to some of the bears . I think they look really cute and quite christmassy too.

Here is a close up of the cards, i also used the embossing folder to make the word joy. I also swiss dotted a background for the card.

This card was made after i had some inspiration from Dawn Mcveys blog on how to make these flowers, i just changed the colours to resemble a pointsettia. I have also made similiar cards with other colour flowers.

This card is my take on a design in a mag called creativity life, i think. I used my christmas papers that are left over from last year, and used a stamp from my stash. I like this card and think i may make a few more, as i do like to make a few of the same card.

I am enjoying making cards at the moment, especially christmas ones, as there is no pressure to get them finished yet, so i am going to try to make a few a day.

Also to use up my christmas stash left over from last year, as i have been looking at the new releases for this year and i need to make space for some new christmas stash.

I am also thinking about making a travel journal, i have seen a few on blogs and i love ali e's style, so i may be able to do this, this year. I need to get a move on with it as we go on holiday on the 1st August.

Well i am off to make more cards and bash around a few ideas for a travel album.

tfl katharine

long time no blog post...........

Well i have'nt blogged for what seems like an age. I have been in hospital, having my gall bladder removed, three weeks today. I did not have a very good time of it, to say the least and i won't go into detail, except to say that i was kept in hospital longer than expected and that i do not want to go into hospital again for quite some time.
I have had the last three weeks off work to recover and now i am off work for the summer holidays, so i shall be spending plenty of time in my craft room.
Last week i ventured out to Pickleberry Papercrafts and spent a very pleasurable hour and a half talking to Jane Dean and her friend Helen, so funny and nice to have a bit of a laugh. I am going to make some sock bunnies, see Janes blog to see what these are.

I have started to make some, wait for it.........christmas cards. YES christmas cards, only because if i dont start now i will never get them all made and end up not sending out handmade ones, which i try to do every year. I did manage it two years ago, so i think make an early start. We'll see!!!!
tfl kath x

Looking for bargains at a bootfair aint always easy!!!!

Lets start with a layout that i made last night-in between watching britians got talent- i have had this idea in my head for awhile and really enjoyed making up the layout. I have been more adventurous these days and have actually been scrapping myself. I have also had the idea to do a album based on this patteren paper with lists of tens, ten books i have read, ten films i love,ten people that have inspired me, you get the idea right? I am thinking whether to do it 12 x 12 or smaller, only ideas at the mo, also what to call it?? Ten things!! Things always come in tens!! Top ten!! I will have to think more but i have written down my ideas in my journal, which i have made myself do lately as i forget ideas so quickly.
Well today i was up and in the shower at 7.00 am, madness i know but i can't lay in bed once i have woken up- i get a headache if i do this- so up and at em!!
We were at the first bootfair by 9.ooam and it was really big and really busy, too busy. You could hardly walk down the aisles without either bumping into someone, or waiting to get past people, which may i add that quite a few people did not feel the need to do this, they just pushed past or jumped infront of you, to which i loudly say " excuse me works wonders you know"!!
It was so busy it put me off looking for any nice things to go in my craft room, i am on the look out for an object that i cannot remember the name of, i have seen it on lots of american blogs lately with people using them to display cards on them, they are small round metal, with spikes pointing upwards, its flat on the bottom. I am not sure what it is called but i wonder if anyone out there knows- any help please!!!
We left that bootfair with two strawberry plants, sorry forgot to take pic of them.
Well next we went to another smaller bootfair, the photo of my goodies is last,So i will show you these first, i saw this love heart bird and thought it would look cute in my craft room, £2.99

Next onto poundland for some cheap goodies, shaped post it notes and heart shaped blings, one pound each you can't go wrong. I thought the post its would look quite cute when doodled around the edge.

Now when i saw these felt stickers i nearly whoop whooped for joy right there in the shop, whilst regaining my self i quickly stashed 3 packets into my basket, mmmmmm look good with lots of ranges of pattern paper thats out at the moment.

Now this little lot cost me the almighty price of ......wait for it...............£1.40. Even i can't believe it, well i can really but you know what i mean!!!

The book is a Victoria Plum Annual which i bought to rip out the pictures to use on scrapbook pages....= 20p

The owl trivets set of four i got for ...50p, i have a fondness ( some may say obsession ) for owls, mostly cute ones and these will go superbly with my large one that is the same, see a full set now.

The two rolls of ribbon, one has birds on it, the other has leaves i got for .........30p.

The pink bowl which i thought looked cute i got for .....20p.

The butterfly small pictures, which i thought were old cards from cigarette boxes are actually transfers, no matter they are gonna look so gorge on cards and layouts, i love them, and i got these beauties, all 66 of them for...............20p.

Well i am so glad we went to the smaller bootfair too, i think i will make that one my first port of call next time. I have had a good day at the bootfairs. I don't go to them to hunt out anything i just love to see what people are getting rid of and if i see something i like i will pay what the people are asking for that item. I think it is a good way of recycling, emptying out your loft or garage and making a bit of money, and also for getting a few bargains.

Well i will be off to my craft room now to have a play with my new and old stash,

tfl

katharine

It's Saturday so that must mean shopping...right?

Firstly a visit to my local scrapbook shop, i haven't been there in a couple of weeks and was pleasantly surprised to see some new things that i just happened to buy...oh goodness how did that happen. Some lovely papers,mmmm kraft one of my faves at the mo. I can see some cards being made with these and a layout .

Now then when i was this set of papers from Graffic 45 i fell in lurve!! I can see a mini album being made with these papers. I have noticed that cherries are a bit of a fave at the mo on other papers, reminds self to order some october afternoon, so i bought these .

When i saw the cherry sizzix die reduced to £1.99 i had to buy it to go with my papers and then saw a set of stamps , also with a cherry in for £2.35 i bagged them too. I am loving go create dies too, even though you only get 4 dies compared to the spellbinders sets where you get 6 they are only £12.99, and are great for what i want to do with them. I got the set of ovals and scalloped ovals.

Now this is what i am really excited about, the fact that i managed to get the cutting plates and spacer for the border dies in my lss, and then spotted the border dies. Well hello to you, you little pretties, you are coming home with me.They are lovely and i am going to go and play with these very soon.I also got an alphabet die to, i am very surprised that you get a whole alphs on one of these dies and am looking forward to using it today. These dies are £11.73 and in my eyes thats good.

Next i went into Hythe, a little town near the sea, also where i work, and had a look around the second hand shops. I found this bowl and paid £2.50 for it, i can see it in my craft room holding something pretty, like ribbons etc.

I also got this lazy susan, i have one of these already in my craft room with my amm tote on it with all my tools in, i bought this one so i can have another bag of tools/ stash on a turntable. £2.00= bargain.

BARGAIN ALERT.......
Now these are my real bargain of the day, i have had my eye out for some of these for awhile-i have a craft project in mind -i couldn't see any anywhere, until today. I went into a new second hand shop and saw these on sale for the almighty price of............................................75P. Well i did not hang about and paid for them quick smart. I used to do embroidery so know how expensive these can be.
Well that's all for now, i may post again later with any cards or layouts i do.

tfl

katharine

Border punches .......oh how i love thee.

This is the state of my desk after an afternoon in my craft room making cards, i have had a lovely time getting inspiration from my new cards trends mag and having a play with my lovely new stash.

I worked out how to make shaped cards, with my go create dies, i folded a card and then put it over the edge of the die and ran it through the cuttlebug, voila a shaped card.....i am so pleased with them i have cut out quite a few of them.

Here's a few i made today, i used a flower gem that is a magnet, can't remember where i got these from, i found them in a drawer today, i like the effect though.

I am liking this one quite alot, i am loving the colours.I doodled stitches around the edge of the frame, never really done this before and liked it.

I made two of these, this is very nearly the same as the one in card trends, but obviously different stash, i love this new mag.I used my lushly lush lush swiss dots embossing folder to emboss the frame,which i cut out using my new spellbinders dies...frames 4, which by the way I LOVE,I am thinking of subbing to this mag, but not quite sure yet, will have to unsubscribe to others first.

Oh how i love these little beuties, oh i am in love with border punches, so so nice.I love the effects you can get with them, and borders have never looked so good.

I am still debating what to make for the staff in my class, i still think a notebook will be the best option, but i am open to new ideas, but am going to have to make one to see if i like the idea, so thats what i am off to do in a bit, before BGT is on tv tonight, i am so loving this show, i can't wait to see Aiden the little dancer, he's on tonight so looking forward to that.

tfl

katharine

It's one thing after another...............................

A close up of the frame, i managed to get the distressed look after painting it by literally kicking it around my garden, i have gravel in my garden so it didn't take long to achieve this affect.

The finished frame. love it, love it.

These are the cards i made for a friend that i work with that celebrated her fiftyieth birthday.

Well by that title i mean my health, which at the moment seems to be being affected by anything that is going, i now have an eye infection. Its red, bloodshot, sore and weeping, like all the time.It started on saturday after i had been out stash shoping ( not shopping again i hear you cry) yes- my new go-to-shop is Pickleberry Papercrafts. Anyway, eye is sore and i can't get to the dr until at least Tuesday or Wednesday, i really don't want to have to go to the walk in centre at the hospital, but if it gets worse that's where i'll be.....................................

Onto better things, whilst at Pickleberry i was hoping to ask Kate a few questions about how Jane Dean made her notice board, i had the same frame and was going to use it for another project but got swayed to the idea of Jane's frame, anyway i was just about to ask Kate and Jane walked into the shop, i didn't realise that Jane was in her studio. I went into Jane's studio-again- and asked her a few questions about the frame, what she used for the backing, how she fixed the brads through the wadding, how many layers of wadding she used, and Jane was so helpfull, even to the point of giving me some of the material she used in her frame- i had a different material but this is so perfect, and Jane also gave me a pot of the paint she used to paint the frame, so i was amazingly happy and can't thank Jane enough- thankyou Jane- i will email her a picture of said frame. So i came home and began painting, in between painting coats of paint i attached the wadding to the backing- i used cardboard and six layers of wadding. I then attached the braid into place, i only had 5 metres so i had to pace it out a bit more to make sure i had enough.i couldn't fix it into place with brads- this is where i could have given up on the project and walked away from it, but instead i had a cup of tea and left it for awile.I went back to it a bit later, and whilst sitting amongst the remnants of braid etc, i had an idea using buttons. I secured the button with embroidery thread and pushed it through to the back of the frame, then secured it with gaffa tape. I used loads of gaffa tape to secure the backing of this frame.

Well i love how the finished frame looks and now have got to just decide where to put it, in my craft room or kitchen, it will probably go in my craft room as i love it so much, thanks to Jane Dean for the inspiration, material and paint.

On another note i made a book for a friend- see post below- called she, here are a few pics, and she loved it, and phoned me after i had to leave it in her classroom, to say she loved it and it made her cry- in a good way, i love to make things for people and love it more so when they like or love what they receive.