Try Something New .....

Yipeee its that time again, when I'm offically allowed to craft.

Dont you know I've commitments to the Besties group to keep... well thats my story and I'm sticking to it. So I crept away from the festive activities and got to play with my Christmas presents, But I'm happy to share and heres what I came up with

 The first photo shows the 'collection'. The card was really my original intention but as I was working on it, the tiny bag and doll idea developed, actually it was fun to do too - Hope you like them

I was lucky enough to recently purchase a diecut machine- Yes its a significant investment but I just love it. It has been used alot in this weeks post.  I chose this Bestie image beacuse of the HUGE eyes and gorgeous flowers. Lilac cardstock was embossed, Using my watercolour pencils I toned the Bestie flowers with the card. Using my Tonic punches and stamp set - I created the lily and again coloured it with the pencils.Using two of my new dies - I added a second flower and the border

 I think maybe in this photo its easier to see the flowers and dies used.

                                     

This is a just for fun post, I coloured using my waterclour pencils img106 which is really only the head of a Bestie. I gave her a body, dress and every glamour girl needs a bag

I had been given some pipe cleaners by a friend and I thought they might make a suitable body for this. Again using the diecut machine- I cut a scalloped edged circle on very light material (netting) and made that into the dress. I cut a tiny hole in the centre of the dress pushed the pipecleaner through and stitched it into place, Using double-sided tape and a blob of glue, I stuck the head to the pipecleaner.

To make the bag I used the diecut machine, Xcut embossing folder, Joy and Xcut dies. I took some photos as I was going along ( I thought they might be helpful.)

I cut out some card, very roughly as you can see. Two pieces for each of the sides, the shorter rectangle for the handle of the bag, and the longer strip for the join between the two sides. This needs to be approx. the same width as the handle but with extra allowed on each side as it will be scored and attached to the front and back of the bag 

 Using the dies, I ran each of the sides and the handle through the Xcut machine.

 Placed the sections in the embossing folder Note as as the folder wasn't long enough, the longer piece had to be put through twice

Next the middle section was scored ( photo is a bit blurred but hope you get the idea)  

 Rather than use a rule- I measured the length of the embossed square and scored the 'centre piece' at appropriate points, bent the card, and did the same along the bottom and other side.

 Using double-sided tape, It was stuck in place

 Double sided tape was then put on the open side and the second 'square' was stuck down

 To attach the handle to the bag I cheated a little bit, two tabs were made as shown above. I snipped the center column at each end of the handle, slipped the tabs through and stuck them together with double sided tape

Doing it this way - saved me having to measure things exactly , it allowed a bit of wiggle room when attaching the handle to the bag. 

 The handle was attached by placing the double sided tape on the outside of each of the tabs, Then placed inside the bag to keep it neat.

 Once created - then the embellishments can be added as required. I kept it rather simple as I just loved the tiny butterflies and very sweet tiny flower, Thanks to Gill for these dies  :) They were coloured with watercolour markers 

 Thank you for stopping by today and I hope the above instructions were clear.
To see what the other Besties Design Team members have created - check out http://mybestiesuk.blogspot.ie/

Wishing you all peace health and happiness for 2014 and hope you'll stop by again soon. 

Christmas cards

These are a few of the cards I made this year

They were similiar - yet different, each is a 3 fold card. on opening each section a small surprise is waiting 

On opening the final flap - a pocket was revealed that contained, small, postable, festive favours that were suitable for each of the receipents, a couple of examples; individual sachets of drinking choclate, small chocolate elf shaped lollipop, jewellery, tiny calendars, bookmarks- the possibilities are endless. Just ensure that the contents are allowable by each of the countries postal and customs services (I know Australia and New Zealand dont allow foodstuff)



Having said all that - these were made well in advance, posted at the beginning of Decemeber and yet I know some of them still haven't been delivered- am bitterly disappointed :(

Christmas Projects ....

Hello there... I know its been a while, its not like I haven't been creating- I just haven't blogged  but I thought better late than never, I'll show you a couple of the things I did for family and friends this Christmas

First off - I spotted some candy canes in one of the local supermarkets, I liked the idea of them, but felt that in the box they looked rather ordinary so this is what I came up with.

I grouped them together in 3's, Using my Tonic punches and stamps - I made the poinsettias ( had so much fun with these that they featured alot on my Christmas creations!!!) I then cut tag sized pieces of card, stamped and coloured them, attached the flowers, punched a small hole in the corner of each and fed  some check ribbon through which was then wound around the trio of candy canes. A simple, cute and inexpensive alternative to a Christmas card.

This photo isn't great  but another of the 'creations' was using similar ideas, however instead of the candy canes - I used a kilner jar as a starting point.... 

Purchased this in the kitchen section of one of the larger department stores, filled with savoury cheese biscuits, attached a felt gingerbread man decoration, stamped a tag with this gorgeous little penguin. Ribbon, poinsettia and polka-dot paper finished off the festive feel

Jingle Bells Blog Hop

Hello everyone and welcome to the MY BESTIES UK  blog hop, for the season that’s in it ‘Jingle Bells’ is the chosen theme

If you are blog-hopping by now you will have seen what some of the other very talented design team members have created.

Here is my creation

I had the idea of making some Christmas decorations.

I started with the tree, I picked slightly unconventional Christmas colours … but they all worked together (or so I thought). I put a little pocket at the bottom of the tree for the my Bestie digi, which I printed, coloured, laminated, punched it and attached a string for hanging. So really you get two decorations in one.  

Thank you for stopping by. Please feel free to leave a comment, I’d love to read what you think- especially if you liked it. I'd also like to take this opportunity to wish you a very Happy Christmas


Next on the hop is Michelle so go on,  pop over and see what she has created, you know you want to.

 Dont forget you can still win our normal blog candy challenge prizes of

Challenge Prizes!
The Winner - You will receive 3 Besties digi stamps of your choice from the ones used on the previous challenge 
1st runner up - You will receive 2 Besties digi stamps of your choice from the ones used on the previous challenge 
2nd runner up  - You will receive 1 Bestie digi stamp of your choice from the ones used on the previous challenge
and there is more freebies on offer too as if you take part in the blog hop, follow the line up, leave comments on all the blogs then you could win 5 digis as a prize. Check back on the main UK besties blog in .... days time after the hop to find out if your the lucky winner. good luck

Gill (DT co-ordinator) - http://creationsbygillm.blogspot.co.uk/
Donna - http://kraftyscot.blogspot.co.uk/
Jan - http://jaybescraftybitz.blogspot.co.uk/
Anita - http://ab5474-8kidsandstillfindtimetocraft.blogspot.co.uk/
Carol - http://silverpaws1957.blogspot.co.uk/...
Pixie - http://pixieflutterbycreates.blogspot.co.uk/
Michelle - http://zmumzcreates.blogspot.co.uk/
Wendy - http://lollydollycrafts.blogspot.co.uk/

The thrill of the open road...

Ok so I got a little carried away - but I really liked the image ( IMG066 from the Besties range)
I printed the image and coloured it using my water colour pencils. Using my craft knife and cutting mat, carefully cut out a slot in a piece of card, that would become the front of the card. I stamped it up using various tree and flower stamps, in a variety of delicate colours.
  A tab was made using a small strip of card that was fed through the slot in the stamped front, the digi attached using double sided tape. This allows the car to move backwards and forwards along the card. To finish it off some 'Dimensional Magic' was added to her sunglasses and the car headlights to extra depth and texture. This girl is now ready for the wind through her hair as she hits the open road.

                          For more Bestie creations check out  http://mybestiesuk.blogspot.ie/ 

'Just' a card using Besties Image, Spots and Stripes

My first official blog for the Besties Group. This is IMG066, coloured with my water-colour pencils, some dotty paper, a stripe of pink, some pale pink gems, a polka dot ribbon and a punched butterfly that I layered.
Quite frequently it is said to me 'but what do you do after the event with it - afterall its JUST a card'  So with that in mind - I thought  how could I make a more lasting 'useful' card?
 For the eagle-eyed among you, you may have noticed a ribbon attached to digi. After colouring it, I turned it to the back and added a little detail, lamenated it, punched it, added the ribbon and using sticky backed velcro I attached it to the card. So now I've created a little travel tag that can be hung from a case or bag. Its a little twist on 'JUST' a card......

To see the other Besties Design Team creations - check out http://mybestiesuk.blogspot.ie/

New Arrival

Sorry I've been neglecting my blog - Note to self must do better in the future

This card is obviously for a new baby. As I dont have all the fancy machinery to cut out the shapes - I traced around an old CD and used it as the basis for the pram, cutting out a quarter in order to give it the final shape.
Using a piece of grey polkadot paper and my hougie board to create the fan shape as the hood for the pram. I made 4 white circular shapes and 4 slightly smaller pink ones that I put dots on to give the appearance of buttons. The pink circles were layered-up using sticky pads- these were put on the front and back of the card as wheels.
Finally I stamped a tiny 'For you' tag and made a pretty double bow to finish it all off.

Receipe for happiness

This was lots of fun to do - An oval shaped shallow tin (with card supplied.)
 It was created as a Christmas present for a friend who loved cooking- extensive research for suitable receipes was required :) Once found, they were printed, glued to the card and decorated, mainly using penny black stamps, water colour markers and tiny embellishments from my stash. I sourced mini gingerbread man cutter and atached it via a co-ordinated ribbon .

I cant take credit for the finished biscuits but I did play my part in quality control - well... it would have been rude not to.

Exploding Box

This was my first attempt at an exploding box.... Made from a 12x12 sheet of card, there are lots of templates available on the internet, but for this I scored at 4 and 8 inches, turned the sheet 45 degrees and scored again at 4 and 8 inches (it reminded me of  a grid for Xs & Os)  Cut off the 4 corner squares so you're  left with a shape that looks like + sign. Each 'side' measures 4'' x 4''. Repeated this procedure  twice more, reducing the size of the squares to 3.5'' and 3''. Then the fun bit of decorating began....

As this was for a special birthday - I printed out the age,  laminated it and used it as a focal point for the centre of the box. To decorate the squares - I used a combination of photos ( I photocopied those so as not to ruin the originals), details and events from their life were recorded here too - Options are endless, all it takes is a little imagination

Buttons, Bows and Butterflies

For this card - Firstly I punched one edge of the polkadot paper and I used my hougie board to crease it. The top was made from a scrap of cardstock and joined to the skirt with doublesided tape. Satin ribbon, with a fabric flower and co-ordinated pink brad helped to hold it all in place. Tiny polkadot buttons were added. A combination of punched butterflies completed the look.

Anyone for a cuddle???

Meet Wellington - this cuddly bear stamp would melt even the hardest of hearts.

This is an easel card, the image stamped and coloured with pencils. I used check paper for the background, co-ordinated it with a rosette flower made from scraps and embellished with brads, foam and fabric flowers

My very first blog

So after some persuasion, alot of help and encouragemet - I've finally taken a step into the scary world of blogging

For my first project - I'd like to share a simple double pocket card that I created, great for vouchers , bookmarks and gift tags

I used : Tonic butterfly punch, Penny Black stamps, Various bits and pieces from my stash