Sisters of Craft - VERY FIRST 'ANYTHING GOES' blog

Good morning  and for my first Sisters of Craft Blog - I decided to  show you something completely different from paper crafting .... well we did say anything goes.

If you're in or around the early teens or slightly before age group you are probably well aware of the fashion for rubber band jewellery. If you,  like me and (ahem...) 'a little' older these might be new to you. I'll start by saying there are loads of ways and endless patterns that you can make with these. I used a crochet hook ( but also possible to use a loom, fork or just your fingers) and my pattern is a fishtail. Google and UTube are a great source of information and make things very clear. That said -  I'll have a go at explaining how I did it  

I started by picking my colours, getting the crochet hook and the little S hook that is used as a clasp to hold the ends together. Obviously the length of the bracelet will determine how many bands you require.

Take one of the bands and feed it through the S hook, so it now looks like the number 8

(sorry the picture is a bit fuzzy)

Put the hook through both loops, as shown above

Take 2 bands, one of each colour and pull them through both loops

Make sure that the bands match, in this case purple as the inside ones and pink as the outer, (as shown) 

The next band, has to match the INNER band on the hook - in this case purple

I pulled it through, straightened it all up on the hook, ( i found it easier to do it this way as it ensured that the tension was right and everything was even and straight)

As you look at the picture, I removed the purple loop from the end nearest the hook, picked up the outer bands ie the pink ones, obviously I started with the pink loop on the rightside, followed by the one on the left side, finally put the purple loop back on the hook, so the pink bands become the inner bands,  it now looks as shown above  

Each time a band is added ensure it is the colour of the inner band,  then in turn it  becomes the outer colour ,  pick up the opposite colour band so that it then becomes the inner one - hope that makes sense

Keep repeating the pattern to the desired length

On the last band, feed both loops into the end of the S hook , as the bands are elasticated- theres no need to keep opening the clasp- they stretch over the hand.

As i said previously  there are tonnes of patterns and variations on this, I have used them for attaching charms to bags and phones - they are sturdy and hardwearing but also bright and cheerful.  And so concludes my first blog for Sisters of Craft - hope you found it useful

Thanks for stopping by and it would be nice to see you back again soon  :)

Its OWL about attitude

 Originally this was supposed to be part of a challenge but for a variety of reasons it never made it that far. Still I thought as it was a little different that I'd like to share it with you anyway .

I  know owls are very popular at the moment, so took this Bestie image, one that might be more associated with pink, girly and pretty - I changed it into something a bit more masculine, darker and hopefully fun. I purposely did this to show the versatility of the digi-stamps and to prove that imagintaion is really the only limitation when it comes to creating.

For my inspiration I looked at some of the posters for the film Terminator

  

    Once I got started on it - I ran wild ... it was so much FUN. I printed the digi a couple of times , googled leather look backgrounds, printed it off, grabbed some cooking foil and lots of sticky pads. Using the leather look paper I made a jacket with stand up collar, Cut separate wings, covered them with the same paper and used the pads to attach them to the body

  Using some cooking foil, I cut out the head, layered the very distinctive Besties eyes over it, Cut out the 'terminator' glasses and layered them over the face also.

 Then to keep it like the original  poster, again using google I  found a text that was similiar to that used on the posters,  printed it off . Put some thin red stripes behind the owl and softened the whole look with the addition of the black bow. That FAMOUS line (with a slight play on spellings!!! ) keeps the card open

   Hope you like my take on this- Just on a personal level, this will be my last post including the Besties Images, but a massive thank you to Gill and the original team for letting me be part of it and I wish the new guys lots of luck.I guess in this case Arnie wasn't correct as I wont be back  



Craft for the Craic ...Spring\ Easter Theme

This months theme was Spring or Easter. For me the first of the daffodils is a sign of longer days and sunnier climates ... well I can live in hope. And since i seem to torture and kill all attempts at growing them- I thought this might be the safer option. Using my tonic punch and stamp set, I created these- very little paper is actually required and its a fun way to use up scraps.

 

I punched out the individual petals, using the side of my pokey tool I added a bit of shape to them by putting a crease on one side, turned them over and creased the other side at slight angles.  The centres were punches, shaped and layered

For the stems and leaves - I had green and brown striped paper that I cut up, creased and glued into postion, using foam pads on the back of the flowers they were attached to the card

  

Thanks for dropping by and hope you get some inspiration from this  :)

My Besties UK Challenge & Blog Hop - For Mum

Today we have a new challenge and blog hop launching today at MY BESTIES UK and this time its in the theme of  FOR MUM.... or as we say around here 'For Mam'

This little cutie was my inspiration - I thought she'd look adorable peeping out through a bouquet of flowers. Coloured with watercolour pencils, a little glitter added to the tip of her wings for a bit of glamour

I mounted her on a coffee stirrer and put her in among a half dozen tulips contained in a watercan 

 Not sure where got the template  for the watering can as it was hidden among the files on the laptop. To make the tulips I found a very easy to follow tutorial on line and have added the link :    http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Full-Paper-Tulip

Each side of the watering can has a different added detail including layered up flowers that were made from a combination of punches and dies and no project would be complete without a bow and a butterfly

If you are hopping with us then please follow the hop links below to continue with the next project.
We have 5 digis on offer as a prize so to be eligible you need to hop and comment on all the participants blogs. You will be sent 5 halloween related digis as your prize.

You can still take part in the challenge theme too and be eligible for the blog challenge candy too - we look forward to seeing your creations.
Challenge Prizes!
The Winner -  will receive 3 Besties digi stamps of your choice from the ones used on the previous challenge 
1st runner up -  will receive 2 Besties digi stamps of your choice from the ones used on the previous challenge 
2nd runner up  -  will receive 1 Bestie digi stamp of your choice from the ones used on the previous challenge 

Blog hop Line up: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/
Jenny - http://fizzymonkeycards.blogspot.co.uk/

Good luck if you are taking part in the Hop. Thanks for stopping by, and now I really think you should visit Michelles and Jenny blogs  - you know you want to

MY BESTIES UK CHALLENGE - FLOWER POWER

IMG213 - Swinging on a Star

 This months Bestie challenge  was flower power - I took IMG213 (Swinging on a Star) and I actually cropped out the star before I printed it.

 I took an A4 sheet of black card diecut it and embossed the righthand side of it, I then trimmed a yellow A4 sheet to use as an insert and die cut it also. My Bestie image was coloured using water colour pencils and trimmed to allow the image to appear as though swinging freely.

I took some co-ordinated yellow paper stamped and layered up the sun flower as the main flower image .

Finally I punched out the large butterfly and the tiny flowers, I inked the edges of each with various shades of browns and yellows and arranged them on the card

Craft for the Craic - Something Green

                                                                                                                                                                                   This months challenge was to create something green - I decided to create a matchbox book and yes I cheated, I used a large matchbox as my starting point, made a cover for it from stiff card which was then covered in a soft green patterned paper. For the sides of the 'book'  I searched online for some images of the side views of books. I then printed it off the image, trimmed it accordingly and glued it to the sides. I stamped and die cut the 'Wish' sentiment, die cut the tiny butterflies for pink tissue and finished it off with a green ribbon and tiny butterfly bead. Inside the cover the book has a 1st page

Insert of the book\ box opens- to reveal a wool doll book- mark. 

 Below are some photos that show how the doll was made ( Many of you may already know how but there maybe some who need a reminder). I started with a piece of card that was 4.5 inches long - this makes a doll thats approx. 4"   Wind the wool around the card as shown 

 Repeat until the 'doll' is about the correct width ( thats a personal decision)

 Slip the card out

 Wind the wool around the centre

  And tighten it

 Measure about 1/4 way down the shank and wind the wool around tightly - at this stage head and body have been created

 I feed the scissors through the wool, pulled it to straighten it out and tidy it up

 This part can be a bit fiddley - wool needs to wound around the top of the head ( about half way down the head) this allows for the hair

 At this stage, take the piece of card, wind the wool around it,ensure its slightly less that the amount used for the body - this can be used to make the arms

 Again wind some wool arond the middle

 I used the point of the scissorsto make a gap in the body

 Feed the arms through, as shown below

 Wind some wool around the end of each arm to create the hands, and  trim the ends so they no longer form loops but are free ended. This creates hair, hands and a skirt.

 If a girl doll is required leave as shown above and finish off by adding facial features, If a boy doll is required split the 'skirt' in two equal parts and wind the wool around each leg to create the feet

 For the boy doll I glued googley eyes and stitched a mouth, For the girl doll all the facial features were stitched. To finish off - I brushed the tufts, it fluffs them out and gives it a softer feel  

I think these a cute simple project to do with smaller members of the family- they can be made in various sizes, pop a pin on the back and use as a brooch, put a loop or chain out of them and attach them to bags or keyrings, Vary the colours and use them as team mascots. Just have fun with them