Handmade Christmas Market 28 November 2015

This coming Saturday 28 November, we are holding a Handmade Christmas Market so if you are in the Bristol (UK) area we would love to see you.  We have some lovely stalls and even a pop up photo studio!  More details on our Facebook page.

Hello - it's been a while!

I thought I had better pop on to say hi and show that I am still alive and kicking!  I don't know where the time has gone this year.  Since I got back from India in June the time has whizzed past and now we are nearly into November and I fly out to India again on 1 December!

I have not done much crafting as I have been working and have to be up early to get the bus to town and then by the time I get home I am usually really tired.

I have also been organising a Christmas Market again at my local church hall - not sure that I will have much to sell there this year!

I have made a few bits though so will just post some photos of those for now!!

I will blog properly soon!

Bye for now!

Papier Mache Bowl

Well hello!

I am blogging after quite some time!  When I came back from India at the end of June I didn't really have anything to blog about and I haven't been feeling very creative so had not made anything much either!

Recently, I've been thinking about what to make for Christmas this year and have made a few things.  I am flying out to Goa on 1 December for 3 months so won't really need to do much this year but I will make up some things to take out as gifts for friends.

One thing I have made are these large gingerbread men to hang from the door.  They are quite a bit bigger than my usual tree decoration ones and look lovely hung on doors.  I am going to personalise them with a tag like the one in the photo below.

I've also made some more of the tags I used on the gingerbread men and put Christmas words on them.  They are quite a nice little size to add onto gifts.

I've also made some more little fox brooches which are cute.

I have been getting messy this week doing a papier mache bowl.  I started making the bowl as something to do with my 7 year old niece but she lost interest after about 5 minutes!!  Anyway, as I had already started it, I thought I may as well complete the project!!  It was messy work and pretty time consuming but I love the end result.  I haven't done papier mache since I was a kid!  

The bowl is around 14cm in diameter.  It is quite solid and has a good weight to it as well.  I am looking around the house for a larger bowl now so that I can make a fruit bowl!

That's it for now!

Goodbye Goa

I came to Goa for 2 weeks to catch up with old friends that I have not seen for 12 years!  I spent many years splitting my time between the Uk and Goa.  Usually, I came to escape the cold British winters and would spent approx 6 months a year in Goa.

During that time I made alot of friends and although I am in contact with some of them on Facebook I thought it was high time to pay a visit and catch up with them again.

So, my 2 weeks has come to an end and tomorrow I will fly back to Bombay to stay with my friends until 19 June.  I feel very sad to say goodbye to my Goa friends but I am hoping that maybe next year I can come again for longer.

It's extremely hot here right now as India is experiencing a heatwave.  In some states people have died due to heat related problems.  Luckily for me I have an air con room.

The monsoons will start soon but I will be long gone by then.

So I say goodbye to Goa but know that this time I will return soon :)

Salam Bombay!

Hi everyone.  I've been a bad blogger lately mainly because I have not been up to much!! 

Last week I flew out of the UK and I am currently in Bombay sweating my butt off in 36 degrees.  I am here until 19 June and plan to go to Goa as well.  So instead of crafty posts you may get some of my trip.

I am visiting friends and catching up after several years so enjoying meeting everyone again.

Here is the Bombay sunset from the other night.

Easter Bunny Box

I saw this wonderful box tutorial by Linda Parker today and just had to make it!  You can find Linda's tutorial here.

It's made using the envelope punchboard and a selection of punches although I used dies for some of the shapes as I didn't have the punches!

Here is my finished bunny box

Pop along and watch Linda's video and have a go at making one yourself!

Curvy Keepsake Sheep Treat Box with Tutorial

Today, I have made another curvy keepsake box, this one is a sheep.  There are many ideas for this on Pinterest and I liked the one done here and used it a base but of course I did some things differently and used a mixture of Stampin up punches and EK Success punches and a small spellbinders flower die.

Here is my finished box

He reminds me of Shaun the Sheep!!

This one was more fiddly to make than the owl that I showed you yesterday.  I've done a tutorial to hopefully show you how I made the sheep design.

To start you will need to make a white curvy keepsake box using the cutting die from Stampin Up.  Make sure you curl the sides with your bone tool.

These are the all of the bits that you will need to make the sheep treat box.  I did cut another very small black circle which is not on the photo as I decided to add a nose at the end!

For the front body part I punched out a white scalloped circle and embossed it using Swiss Dots embossing folder.  I used a small Spellbinders flower die and cut out 3 in white card for the fleecy bit on top of the head, I also embossed these to give some texture.

The head was made by punching out a 3.5cm square in black card - I used my corner chomper to round one of the corners and then cut the opposite corner off completely.

The ears were made using the wing from the Build a Bird punch from Stampin Up.

The eyes need to be smaller than the ones I made for the owl box so you will need to find 2 different sized small circle punches or dies.

Lastly, for the legs I used the Word Window punch from Stampin up and cut it in black card which I then cut in half.

To start take the legs and stick them towards the bottom of one of the panels which has the loop top.

Now take the scalloped white circle and using your bone tool gently curl it so that it has a nice curve to it.  Now add glue on the back of one half and on the other half stick a few foam pads to lift it slightly.  You will need to hold this down for a minute or so to make sure the glue sets.

Next comes the face, position this where you want it, not too high as you still have to add the fleecy bits on top of the head!

Position the ears and put glue on the back of the top section only and stick to the box.

Take the 3 small flower shapes and stick them at the top of the head.

You are ready to put the eyes on now - decide where you want them and stick with glue.  Now when I got to this stage I decided my sheep needed a nose so cut a small black circle of card and stuck it on!

Taadaa!!  You now have your finished sheep curvy keepsake treat box!  Cute isn't he!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Curvy Keepsake Owl Treat Boxes with Tutorial

I am back with another creation using Stampin Up's Curvy Keepsake die.  This is the most versatile die I have ever owned as you can make so many different styles of boxes with it!! 

Look at these gorgeously, cute owl boxes I made!!  I'm in love with them!!  There are many different versions on Pinterest and this is what I have come up with.

Would you like to know how to make them?

You will need the Curvy Keepsake Die from Stampin Up but for everything else you can improvise!

So the die itself looks like this - you need to cut 2 pieces out for your basic box.

The other components that you will need

Wings - I used a scalloped edge oval die from Spellbinders

Eyes - I used a small flowery shape for the white part of the eyeball (you can just about see them in the pic).  For the iris, I used a small circle (from my Sizzix Owl die as I didn't have a punch this size!) and for the pupil I used a smaller circle punch (Hobbycraft)

Chest - I used a small x-cut circle die and some patterned designer paper

Beak - I used the beak from my Sizzix Owl die and cut it down to a triangle to make it abit smaller

Feet - these were made from punching out flowers using the Stampin Up Petite Petals punch.

Once you have cut out your 2 Curvy Keepsake diecut,s you need to fold where marked by the die and then take you bone folder and curl each part inwards to give it shape.

You then need to stick the 2 base parts together.  I use Impex Original Hi-Tac All Purpose Very Sticky glue as it is a favourite of mine as it sticks well and is strong.

Now take the circle of designer paper and cut the top of it off so that you have a straight edge.  You can hold the circle against the side of the box which has the loopy handles on to see how much you need to remove.

Decide which side of the box you would like to be the front (loopy handles side is your front) and then stick the patterned paper onto the box with the straight edge right up to the bottom edge of the box. 

Next you stick on the beak

Now we come to the wings - you need to fold over a small bit at the top of each wing.

For the eyes stick the black circle onto the coloured (iris part) circle and with a white gel pen mark on the black circle.  You then stick this onto the white eyeball part of the eye - see pic below. (sorry light was not great when I took pics!)

Take the wings and with your bone folder curl each wing outwards.

Position the wings and put your glue on the bit that you have folded over and underneath this little folded tab.  Stick a wing each side, taking care not to put them too high up as otherwise they will interfere with the opening and closing of the box.  you will need to hold each wing in place for a few minutes until the glue sets.

Now all that is left to do is add the feet.  Position them so that they are equally spaced and then apply glue to 2 of the petals and then stick underneath so that only the 3 unglued petals are showing.

This is the Petite Petals punch from Stampin Up that I used. 

 

Your owl treat box is now finished and ready for you to oooh and ahhh over!!

Hope this is easy to follow but if you have any questions, just ask and I will try to help!

If you want to find out more about the Stampin Up products used in this tutorial my friend Tracey George would be happy to help you and you can find her here.  If you click on the 'Contact Me' button on her website and let her know what you are interested in, she will let you know if there are any special offers on!

Thanks for popping in!

Edited** Customer Service from EK Success

Just to update people on my problem with an EK Success punch that had been going on for some time.  I finally managed to resolve it with EK and they have sent out replacements to me which I have received today.

My faith has been restored in them now and I will continue to buy their products and enjoy using them!

Cute Bunny Treat Boxes for Easter Using Stampin Up's Curvy Keepsake Die

Hi - I'm into making boxes at the moment!  Good thing Easter is just around the corner.

Today, I wanted to show you this fabulously, versatile box die from Stampin Up called the Curvy Keepsake Box.  It is a thinlits die set comprising of the main box die along with some tags.

You need to cut 2 of the box panels and then you simply stick them together so that you have the same sides facing each other.  The basic box is cute but looks even nicer when decorated.

With help of punches and dies, you can make up all sorts of designs.  Have a look on Pinterest, it is full of them!  I have set a board up decdicated to Curvey Keepsake ideas - you can find it here.

I liked this tutorial so have based mine on it - it is from Sam at Sam's Sentiments.

Here are the ones that I made

I used Spellbinders ovals for the ears as I don't have any oval punches!

I filled them with 10 of the little chocolate eggs from Lidl.  I had to get some more yesterday as I had eaten some of the last lot!!!  They were still on offer £2 for 2 bags or £1.29 a pack.

I love these little boxes and I am sure I will be making some more designs soon.

If you are in the UK, the die can be purchased from my friend Tracey George here.

Thanks for stopping by!