The countdown to Christmas and pictures of my box!

As promised I want to show you a few pictures of something I have made recently, I have decorated this box to be given as a present, the box is from Ikea. I am only responsible for the decorating and not for the stunning piece of stitching that adorns the top.





I lined all the drawers out using papers to match the colour of ink I used and added a length of tape measure along the bottom as this will be used as a sewing box.





I used a set of Rubber Stamp Tapestry peg stamps along with a set of flourish stamps by Rhonna farrer to make up the design. I then used a brown pen to add the small branches and added pearls to the finished design.



A few close up pictures of the hardanger used on the top

The hardanger was designed by a very talented lady called Colly who has an online shop which you should go and have a look at.

I used small wooden reel to make handles for the drawers which I painted and stamped to match the box.

I have orders for 2 more of these, the first one is for Colly and I am going to start this one today so hopefully I will have pictures of that one next week.

Well I am now on the countdown to Christmas, as you all know I do have a few grandchildren to cater for but I am not making for all of them this year so that should make Christmas a little easier.

So far I have 4 patchwork quilts to make, these are for the babies that hadn't been born when I made the last lot of quilts. I also have 3 pencil boxes to make like those I made last year, these are for the little ones who have just started school this year. I also have a few orders to get finished for other people so this will no doubt keep me out of trouble for a little while.

Hope to be back tomorrow with pictures of a few more bits I have made, off to do some chores as I will be going to see my Son at some point today as it is his birthday

Happy Birthday Dean! x x x

1 Card for 4 Challenges- Happy Birthday Joshua!

I needed to make a card for my Grandson's birthday to take for his party today and although I didn't start out to cover so many challenges it just sort of happened that way.

To start with I followed this sketch from Mojo Monday because it works with my image, I did sort of change it round a bit but all the elements are still there.


Next my card fits with the challenge over at The Pink Elephant who have a recipe challenge this week.

Recipe Challenge
for this recipe you must use:
3 buttons, 2 layers and 1 sentiment
Please feel free to interpret the 2 layers anyway you like.

Then it also fits with the challenge at the Creative Card Crew as their challenge is Child's Play, they want to see cards for Children.

Lastly it is also for the challenge on dare You 2 Digi Stamp whose challenge is Ribbons but you must also use a digital stamp on your project.

OK so here is my card




It follows the sketch on Mojo Monday

It follows the recipe on The Pink Elephant

It follows the theme on The Creative Card Crew

and it also qualifies for the theme on Dare You 2 Digi Stamp

and it is for a very Sweet little boy for his 1st Birthday along with these party bags I have made for him



They are all quite plain except for Joshua's- his is the one at the front - I decided as the guests were mostly pre-school age I would make them colourful rather than fancy

That's this one out the way so now I have to try and make a Sonic the Hedgehog card for another Grandson's birthday

Back later!

Paper Blooms and Allsorts Challenges

I dont know about anyone else but I have been having problems getting onto some blogs in the last couple of days and one of them is Paper Blooms.

The challenge on Paper Blooms this week is to use Red, White and Blue and it doesnt have to be Patriotic.

I also wanted to enter the challenge on a new Blog called Allsorts and this is their very 1st challenge.

The theme this week is SWEETS however you would like to interpret it, and you can make any thing you like!

So for both challenges I made this

It is a box bag and I thought we could use them for my Grandson's 1st Birthday party as goodie bags for his guests. As he is only 1 he doesnt need large bags to give out so I thought these would be ideal.



What do you think?

Happy Dance and another Post Pals Tin

On my blog I have comment moderation switched on as in the past I have had some dodgy comments left, nothing to do with crafting I can tell you, so in the morning when I get up I sometimes have comments to approve.

This morning was no exception but imagine my surprise when I found out I had made the Top 5 at Card patterns for this card

This card is a winner twice over as it was also for my DIL from my Stepson for their Wedding Anniversary, boy I am so happy with this one!!

Ok finished with the showing off now!

I wanted to show you another Tin I have decorated for a Child at Post Pals

This is for a little Girl called Seren who is nearly 8, I wanted to do girly but a little more grown up, I love it and I hope Seren does too.

Its not much but there is a few goodies inside for her as well, today I am making another for her Brother Dylan.

Thanks for looking and take a trip over to Post Pals and send someone a card today, it will make a child smile!

365 Cards - Day 76 - Four Corners

I wanted to get this card made this morning before I went to work as I know my Daughter and her children always come on a Friday after school so I knew I would be pushed for time. Needless to say I didn't get it made hence another late posting.

The card is for the challenge over at 365 Cards who want us to only add embellishments to the 4 corners, this was quite a tough challenge as I wanted to add more to this card but couldn't as then it wouldn't have followed the rules.

This sort of a double challenge as this card is for my DIL from my Son for their Anniversary, he picked the Colour combo, Papers, sentiment in fact he picked out early everything he wanted to go on it
.

Card - white
Matting Black Bazzill
Papers - DCWV
Pearls are fom my stash

3 Challenges and a gift for Post Pals

I have managed to start the projects that I wanted to make to send onto a few of the children at Post Pals. If you haven't heard about Post Pals they are an organisation who help children with life threatening illnesses. Go take a look at the site for all the details.

So last week I made some cards and posted them on here saying I would post them onto 2 of the children on Post Pals and that I was going to re vamp some Baby Milk tins to fill with gifts and send with the cards, since then I have found another 2 children to post to and have made a start on the tins.

Here is the first one



The tin was covered with paper from The English Paper Co. that I thought matched the Dinosaur theme, I used the green to cover the tin and added a border of the Brown to mimic the ground, the Dino itself is actually fabric that I have cut out of a length I bought not so long ago. I glued it onto thin card and then re-cut it, I glued it onto the tin using PVA glue.

Once the tin was covered I punched a hole each side to add a handle. The handle is just made from a length of binding attached using DST and a brad.



D is for Dinosaur, so I cut a D out on my cricut at 4" and glued it to the other side of the tin, added the dots using 3D paint and although you cant see them clearly there is 2 Dinosaur buttons, one either side.



The lid was the hardest bit to work out, it is made form really flexable plastic but it is white which didnt go with my theme so I have sanded the edges and then swiped it with my Dk. Borwn Satzon pad, I hope it stays on!

I cut a 4" circle in DK. Brown Bazzill and another in the Brown Paper to match, the Bazzill circle was first attached using 3D foam pads as the top is recessed the top circle was stuch with DST, to make sure it is secure I have added 4 Brads to help hold it in place.

I intend to put the little Boys name onto the top as well but will do that later.

OK so which challenges!

1st is for the challenge over at Cupcake crafts who want something for a Man or a Boy so this is for a Boy so it fits with their challenge but it isnt a card so I ma not sure it will be ok.

2nd is for Papertake Weekly who want to see Animals, is a Dinosaur an Animal? I think it is. Papertake weekly also have a bit on their blog this week about Post Pals.

3rd is for the ABC challenge which is N for not a card and this isnt a card!

Just need to fill it with some gifts and it can be posted.

I will be back later with the next one completed I hope!

365 Cards - Day 71 - Super Sketchy Sunday

Well it has been another hectic day in my house today, my DIL Marie who made the wall hanging with me last weekend returned today to make another project only this time she brought her friend Gemma with her. They had bought some canvases from town and wanted me to help them to decorate them, easy I hear you say.........



... ok easy enough,but there was 2 of them and both complete novices so it took nearly all morning to sort their photo's out before we could make a start and then all afternoon to complete the canvases but they were both pleased the end result... I hope!!!


Here is the one Gemma altered




A fun Family themed canvas


Here is Marie's, this was made as a present for her Hubby for their Wedding Anniversary on Tuesday. Marie's has photos from their wedding.






I was really pleased with how they turned out and hope that both ladies enjoyed altering their canvases.

Whilst the 2 ladies were busy making their canvases my other DIL Tracey arrived and she spent some time making her Hubby's Wedding Anniversary card whilst she was here, her anniversary is a week on Tuesday.


Here is the card Tracey made with a little help from me!!!





Well Marie wants to come back with Gemma to make something else and they have another friend that wants to come too, looks like I am now giving lessons so maybe I should pursue this and make it more of a regular thing and see who else may be interested locally in coming along.


All afternoon my Hubby and our 2 Sons were safely tucked away watching the football and looking after the kids while I was trying to teach the girls how to complete their projects and make a start on cooking a Sunday Roast dinner, once they had finished I cooked dinner for 11 of us so needless to say I am a little tired tonight.

After dinner I made a start on cutting the bits needed to make 12 Invitation card for my GS 2nd birthday party so it is a good job I made my challenge card this morning before everyone arrived.


The challenge on 365 Cards today was a sketch and here it is



Here is my card





and the inside





On this card I have used some of the stamps I won on Jak Heaths blog, Crafters kitchen a few weeks ago, I stamped the flower onto white card and then onto another piece and cut that out to 3D on top. I used the leaf stamp to add detail aroung the flower. I used part of the large stamp to create a border which I cut round before adding it to the card. I have added a tied ribbon from which hangs a charm.

This card is also being entered for the challenge on Paper Blooms . This week we are thinking about that special woman (or women) that touch our life in a special way, whether this is your mom or a very close friend we want you to make a project that you'll be sure to give her to let her know how special she is to you.

All I have left to do now is make 2 Wedding Anniversary cards for our 2 Sons for their wives, one for this Tuesday and one for next Tuesday and thats me done for the day, maybe I will leave them until the morning and go off to my bed!

Well I do hope this all makes sense as I am so tired it may be a little strange in places but before I close I would like to wish all of the Mum's out there a Happy Mothers Day.





PS. I have had a lovely comment left from Post Pals saying they thought the card I made yesterday was lovely and that I should send this onto a child also, so that is what I shall do with it, it looks like I was possibly the only one who hated it in the end.

Another car Boot find revamped!

I love car boot sales and I try to make it every Sunday to our local one. It always surprises me the rubbish that some people take to sell at a car boot sale but you do get some good items if you look for them and get there early.

You know what they say 'One mans trash is another mans treasure'

Well here is the other little treasure I found last time I went, I bought this and the wooden chest I posted yesterday for 50p each!

The inside is just an empty box so I decided to make it into a Key Cupboard.

Here is what it looks like now

At first this said country cottage to me but then I decided to go for a more funky look. I wanted to use this digi paper as it has a small pattern on it, it is a Free Download from Shabby Princess called Express Yourself so I took my colours from the paper.

Using my Acrylic paints I painted the window frame White and then mixed the colours to match the paper and painted the rest of the box Blue. The window box was painted in the same Chocolate Truffle I painted the chest in yesterday.

I cut a piece of the paper to fit the back of the box and then stuck a piece of wood that had been painted Chocolate and cut to size to the back of the box to screw the hooks into.

Originally I was going to try and make curtains for the inside of the window but I remembered I had some off cuts from my vertical blinds so I cut 2 lengths into 2cm strips and fixed them to the inside of the window allowing 4 lengths for each side, I tried the blinds shut but thought they looked better open so you can see into the box. I added a trim to the top and bottom cut from Bazzill using my MS punch.

Here is a closer view, you can see the blinds better in this picture

I printed the Flower paper from the same range and cut out the flowers and using strips of card, some 3D foam pads I made the flowery window box display.

I am really pleased with how this turned out and I think I already have a buyer for this one!

Hopefully I will find more treasure next Sunday when I go again

Hope you like it

I have had a busy day, another Long post!!!!!

As I have already told you all I didn't achieve very much yesterday but I think I have made up for it today.


I have had this little wooden crib knocking around the house for a couple of years now and never quite knew what to do with it until today. The crib measures just 4" high, 4" wide and 6" long, it looks bigger in the photo!




Well I finally decided to do something with it and this is how it looks now

I painted the crib using Laura Ashley paint in Ivory, I also used Laura Ashley Peony to paint the small side rails. I took my Rubber Stamp tapestry Stamps and my SU Certainly Celery, Rose, Perfect Plum and Pale Plum inks to stamp the design.

I then decided to make a small acrylic album to go in it and as it only measures 2.25" x 4.5" I filled it with Baby Girl Poems that I printed onto vellum.

The front cover complete with pram charm.


First 2 pages

Next 2 pages


Last 2 pages

The back cover which I have made to look like a patchwork quilt



The album inside the crib

I am not sure if this will be a gift for someone at work or go in my collection for the Baby shop

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I then decided it was time to look at today's challenge on 365 Cards and today it is Day 64 - Super Sketch Sunday

Here is today's sketch

I had a project in mind and as soon as I saw the challenge on Colour Create I knew I was going to combine the 2 challenges.

The challenge on Colour Create has been chosen by Mina using this picture as inspiration and the colours Red, Cream and Chocolate with the added option of using ribbon.

Yummy isn't it?

Well here is my card for the challenge on 365 cards

For my card I cut a card base at 4" x 3.5" out of Bazzill Java so it would fit inside the box, I used a scrap of the same PP from Creative Imaginations and a length of ribbon to cut across the design. I stamped the swirl with my Rhonna farrer stamps using Dk. Brown stazon and added the 3 pearls. I finished the design by adding the Red Flower threaded with the Brown Mother of pearl Button.

I then started my project for the Colour Create challenge.

I bought this little box at the car boot sale for 50p a few weeks ago, it was just plain wood so here is what I have done with it using the colours from Colour Create and the Sketch from 365 Cards

I painted the outside of the box with Chocolate Truffle mat emulsion ( it looks Black in the photo but it is a rich chocolate brown) I then cut the PP to fit diagonally across the box lid, the PP is from a collection that I bought a while ago by Creative Imaginations.

I used my Rhonna farrer stamps to stamp the swirls and added the pearls, I used a length of rather luscious Cream braid to follow the line of the paper, this is my ribbon.

This PP is called cream lines and has a scalloped edge which I cut so it was along both the bottom and left side of the lid, I used the holes in the scallops to attach buttons by stitching them in a line using Linen thread and the holes as a guide.

The inside of the box has been painted using Laura Ashley Ivory paint and has another piece of the PP stuck to the bottom of the inside of the box.

The box with gift card inside

I think this would make a lovely Jewelry box for someone.

Well that's all form me today but I am not at work tomorrow so maybe I will get time to play some more.

Hope you like my projects, if you do please leave me a comment, I really appreciate them