I don't know if you follow Kath at http://kath-allthatglitter.blogspot.co.uk/ (she makes really gorgeous cards) but she currently has a giveaway on her blog of some distress inks:
I for one am definitely signing up for this as who wouldn't want to be in with the chance of winning Tim's Summer distress ink set?!!! You have until Saturday 30th June 8pm (BST I assume) to sign up[ for this so what are you waiting for? Go get over there!!!
I'm off to sign in right now, but before I go, I'll leave you with a a little look at the kits I am currently working with. Firstly, this is the newest one (so will take second place on the to do list!) in the Project 365 set from Digilicious Designs:
But, ooh, it is full of so many goodies, I am itching to get started on this. But first, I have to finish with this totally cool kit from Aimee Harrison Design Studios and Snickerdoodle Designs:
I love this kit too, but the only problem is I keep changing my mind about what to do with it! I think I have narrowed it down now so am hoping to get it finished later this week, subject to work.
Unfortunately, it is almost the end of the month so I am on a massive catch up to make sure I get enough work out today and tomorrow to ensure I get paid by the end of the week and so can pay my bills.....life would be so much easier if I could just spend all day crafting and messing around on the internet instead of working ;).
Oh well, better get back to the grindstone I suppose, so hope you have a lovely evening, whatever you are doing.
Happy scrapping!
So, as I said earlier, I spent yesterday crafting as I had been given this scrumptious kit to work with:
Don't you just love those birds? They are so adorable and the colours in the kit are gorgeous. And guess what? It is actually on sale at the moment too so why not hop over to The Studio and take a look?
The preview is linked to the shop too, to make life easier for you ;)!
Anyhow, the bundle has some beautiful clusters in so I decided to use these to make a set of cards in a gift box. All I did was create a blank A4 image in Photoshop then use the guides in Photoshop to split the image so that I could print off 8 cards from one sheet of A4 cardstock. I used the clusters in the kit to make these:
The only thing I added was the text underneath each image - so quick and easy to do!
I then made envelopes for each card as I didn't have any small enough in my stash. Now I have a Martha Stewart scoring board and this comes with an added triangle bit (the envelope tool) that you slot on top of the board in order to score diagonally:
The envelope tool fits in the corner and has measurements and scoring guides for different sizes of card, but didn't, unfortunately, have one for an A7 card (which is what I had made) so, after much playing around with scraps of A4 I finally managed to work out that I needed a ^" by 6" piece of paper,which needed to be scored at 2" and 2.75" on the diagonal like this:
You then need to cut out the diagonal cross over patches like this:
And then fold it over to make the envelopes:
All that remains is to create the box and I made a template so you can see the measurements and scorelines:
If I have done this right, you should be able to click on it and save it to your hard drive, or open in another webpage and then save.
Print this on a sheet of A4 (8.3" by 11.7") card stock , then after cutting, scoring and trimming you end up with this:
Of course, the above photo was taken before I cut out the middle flaps (you just can't get the staff, can you?!!!). This is how it should have looked:
I actually rounded the flaps as you can see from the bottom of the above photo (I took the photo before I rounded the top flaps though.....oh well, I did round them once I realised!). I then used extra strong double sided tape on the flaps but on the inside of the box, not the outside.
On the front of the box, double sided tape was added to the small flaps:
It was then a case of carefully sticking the box together, trying to make sure everything was stuck at a right angle:
I then added ribbon to the back and front, but to help cover this up, added at the back a plain piece of cardstock from one of the digital papers in the kit. The card stock was stuck down over the ribbon, which was also stick to the card box using double sided tape.
For the front of the box, I added one of the clusters from the kit and some of the birds to create this:
And this is the finished article:
And here's the inside:
Happy scrapping!
Well, it is a wet and windy Sunday afternoon, so what better way to spend it than crafting? I'm sat here at my computer, Jasmine tea in the pot next to me, a film on the screen and blogger open!
So, what have I been up to recently? Well the main thing that has happened recently is the trip to Manchester to see Coldplay and oh, were they amazing! Firstly, Etihad Stadium was just sooo big! I've never been in anything that size, not being a football fan, so was amazed at just how big it was:
Pretty impressive, huh?
We missed the support acts due to having some wonderful Italian food at Carluccio's (their spaghetti carbonara is to die for!) so we didn't have to wait long for Coldplay to come on.
So, as you can see from the first photo, we were some way away from the stage (and there were masses of people higher than us as well!). This obviously called for my zoom lens, and oh, boy, I took some photos! A lot of them were just slightly off, a little but blurry as, to be honest, my zoom lens weighs a ton and without a tripod, it is so easy to move the camera whilst taking a shot. However, here is one of the better shots:
Not bad, eh? Mind you, since you don't know how many photos I took, you can't see how many rubbish ones there were ;)!
And the previous day, I actually managed to work out how to use the video on my camera. I've only had my camera a couple of years, so it's not taken me long! So, this is Coldplay in action:
You will have to excuse the shaking, like I said, that zoom lens is heavy! Mind you, the practice did me good as look what I managed to capture last Sunday flying over Cosford:
I think the Red Arrows are amazing and it is wonderful to be able to see them. Just look at how close they get:
There were only 7 planes there instead of the usual 9, but they were a joy to watch. then look at what came later:
And yes, that photo is the right way round, the helicopter was flying upside down! Don't ask me what type is was (Apache?) - when my youngest son asked me what one of the earlier helicopters was, my answer was "a yellow one"!
Then this has to be an amazing shot (modesty is one of my gifts!):
I mean, how fast was that flying? Just look at the whatever it is, the slipstream or whatever (I'm sure there must be some technical term or other for it!) on the wings, amazing, eh?!!!
Well, that was how I spent last Sunday and the weekend before. Yesterday I was crafting, and I will be back shortly with a tutorial to show you what I made.
Well, after becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator in April, I have finally managed to get my Stampin' Up! blog up and running Stampin' Heaven....and about time too, I hear you say! It's just that life is oh so busy and it is a case of trying to find the time to fit everything in...... I still need to work on the blog, so if you do go take a look, please watch out for all the dust as I change things around and add bits and pieces over the coming days ;)
Still, better later than never and I have made my first post showing the samples I made for the Leeds Regional Training Day in May. I made these:
and these:
and this:
Full details can be found here :).
It's a big today today....I'm off to Manchester in a couple of hours to see Coldplay in concert at the Etihad Stadium tonight!!!! This is a combined Christmas and birthday present from my eldest son, who has spoiled me rotten! to say I am excited is a definite understatement. Unfortunately, before I go, I do have to run a payroll....no rest for the wicked, eh? Here's a little taster of what I am looking forward to:
Mind you, I can't see anything like that actually happening on stage tonight!
My daughter and I went to see Coldplay at the NIA a couple of years ago - that time it was a Christmas present from her! I didn't take my camera then, but I am definitely taking it now so watch this space as I shall post some photos when I get back (provided Coldplay are more than just blurry ants as we have seats really high up)!
Sadly, we have had two deaths in our church recently, one was a lovely man who had a fall and was too weak to recover, and the other was the mother of our treasurer. These are the cards I made for the families:
Really simple cards but very effective, don't you think?
Oh well, time for me to go pack now as want to get to the hotel early this afternoon and meet up with my son before we go out for a meal and then Coldplay!!!!
I have my camera ready, I have actually worked out how to use the video function on it (I'm planning on making video tutorials soon ;) and have already had a trial run last night). My main worries are whether the band will be too far away for me to see properly and even with my telephoto lens, I may end up with blurry photos :(. Plus, most importantly of all, will my camera batteries last out? I'm taking the spare, just in case, but taking video eats the camera battery and space on the SD card....
Oh well, I know it will be good, whether I get any decent photos or not.
Whatever you are doing this weekend, have a good one!
Finally, after spending most of the afternoon blogging, and sorting out photos, etc for previews and so on. I can get the last lot posted! I still reckon it takes longer to post details of the things I make with digital kits than it actually does to make them!
This is a collaboration kit from Aimee Harrison Design Studios, Digilicious Desgins and Snips and Snails Designs:
It has some absolutely gorgeous papers in it and can be used for all sorts of things, not just camping. Plus it is on sale at The Studio at the moment (I've linked the preview to the shop), which makes it even more attractive ;).
Anyhow, since this is a kit is all about spending time in the great outdoors, the one thing you do need in the outdoors is a backpack. So here is my take on this absolutely essential item:
The backpack is actually a mini album. the small front pocket at the front holds two envelope type pockets for tags, notes, etc, and the album pages are inside the backpack:
It looks really lovely in real life, not that I am being totally immodest or anything (!!!) but don't you just love it when something works out to be much better than you thought it would?
It only took a couple of hours this morning to make this as it was so quick and simple. I have Deena Perreault to thank for this too, as the template and tutorial for this can be found here.
Anyway, boosted by the speed of completion of this album, I decided to tackle a birdhouse, because obviously, if you are outdoors, that is something else you are going to want to have to hand!
You will have to excuse the gaping hole at the top of the roof. I didn't notice the gap until I had completed all the photographs and previews and to be honest, it took so long to do all of those I just couldn't face the thought of starting this one over again. I know, shockingly lazy of me but well, it is a bank holiday after all and I am in holiday mode;).
The roof was made from a striped paper in the kit. I cut two pieces to fit (one slightly shorter than the other) and used a Fiskars scalloped edge punch on the edges. The flowers were made using Woodware punches and I added the gems. The feathers are from my stash (I would have had to be some kind of cutting out superstar if they were printed out from the kit!!!).
Anyhow, it does give you an idea of what you can make with this kit. How completely different items from the same kit - how economical is that?!!!!
Why not give it a go yourself? If you do make anything hybrid from this kit (or any other for that matter), I would love to see what you come up with.
Happy scrapping!
Well, last weekend we had absolutely glorious weather (of course, it wasn't a Bank Holiday weekend!) and I just happened to be in Plymouth collecting our daughter from Uni as she has now finished for the year (part timer!).
I arrived late Friday evening just after midnight to discover the inner door to the flat had blown shut in the wind and she was locked out..... Well, after finding out the step ladders were too short to allow her bf to climb in through the bedroom window (her room is on the first floor) and then having her try to hunt in the garden for another pair of ladders only to trip over a step in the process and graze both her knees, we discovered that the lock to the inner door could be jiggled. the only problem was, there was a metal plate in front of it which prevented you being able to jiggle enough to get the door open. However, one trip by her bf to his house to collect a variety of screwdrivers later, my daughter then unscrewed the metal plate whilst I held the torch so she could see what she was doing (of course, being a student flat they had not replaced the light bulbs downstairs when they went...sigh!) and then bf sprised the door open whilst she jiggled the lock. Fun and games all round, but at least we got in. I really didn't fancy sleeping on the floor or in the car until we could get hold of the landlady!
So, the weather then being as lovely as it was, we went to Lydford Gorge on the Saturday and these are a few photos (I won't bore you with all of the several hundred photos I took!):
I love the effects you can get just by changing some of the settings on the camera!
Don't we just have the most beautiful countryside?
All in all, we had a great day out and I know I for one came back exhausted!
We woke the next morning to torrential rain so of course, we decided that the weather was definitely going to improve and we were going out no matter what! So off to Buckfast Abbey we went!
Brilliant blue skies!
A trip to the Orchard garden:
Then a gentle stroll around the grounds:
Yet another day when I ended up exhausted!
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