Handmade cards and other crafts, templates & tips

I received a present last week, this lovely book with lots of ideas for gifts and keepsakes all in cross stitch. The deal is I get to keep the book and in exchange I make a Wedding kneeler similar to this one. Not a bad swap is it? Anyway, it has to be ready in July because this is going to be someone's wedding anniversary gift so I'd better start working on it to make sure I have plenty of time.

I also received a surprise packet today from Adrian from http://www.nnairdas.blogspot.com/
A few days ago I sent her a few decoupage sheets I had and she surprised me by sending me a packet full of goodies: beautiful papers, die cut flowers and butterflies, a lovely handmade note, etc.  Can't wait to start using them as they are so gorgeous. Thank you Adrian

Yesterday I made myself a new pot holder. My old one is falling apart and I needed a new one. I'm going to make a set of 2 and this is the first one. The sewing isn't perfect, I guess I'm a little out of practice. For the inside I used squares of fleece I cut from my son's old pyjamas. Instead of throwing them away I thought I could use them as filling and they seem to do the job quite well.

The template I used is here.

Some time ago I received an order for a Birthday card. I thought about what I could do and after a walk came up with the idea of making a shaker card with a frame of small flowers but I didn't want the flowers to look flat I wanted them to have some "dimension". So this is what I came up with to make my flowers look a little more like real flowers.

1- As you can see in this photo, I used these 4 punches, 2 eyelet setters, a cutting mat and cardstock in the chosen colours and glue of course.

2- Punch out your different elements. I used the eyelet setters to cut the centres for the flowers. As you can see they are different sizes. Also, punch out your leaves and swirls.

3-Start assembling your flowers. Glue the small circles you've cut with the eyelet setters to the centre of the flowers. You'll see how the different sized circles give a different look to the punched flower.

4-Now, this is my way of giving my flowers some "dimension". Place the flowers one by one centrally on one of the holes of your cutting mat and using the back end of your embossing tool or your eyelet setter press down gently until the centre of the flower gets in the hole.

5-This is what you should get.

6-As for the swirls,this is how to can make the most of your cardstock. Punch out the swirl and then use your scissors to cut the thicker swirl left on the cardstock. This way you'll have a thinner and a thicker swirl.

Hope you enjoy this tutorial.

Things have been a little slow here. The reason is that I can't function when there's too much mess around me and so it was time for me to clean and tidy my house from top to bottom. I hope to finish this boring task this week end so that I can then start crafting again.

I plan to start working on some sewing projects I have in mind, things that I want to make for myself and also for sale. Hopefully, I'll have new things to show during next week and also some templates and ideas to share with you.

Meanwhile, here are a few cards I made this week. The one with the 2 Sunbonnet Sues is a birthday card for a friend and the two with the cute elephants are for an order I received yesterday.

Hi, I'm back. I've just uploaded some photos of my new cards which I made using my own felt cupcake appliques and also some photos of my new buttons, fabric, ribbons, etc. Have a look here.

Also, I decided it's time to start my Spring cleaning and this means, among many other things, going over my craft supplies and sorting them out.

I think that the best approach to it is to have a specific place for everything and always make sure that that's where you put your things once you've finished crafting. If you're beginning to feel overwhelmed by all your craft supplies and are not sure how to organize it here are a few suggestions based on my own experience:

- Keep all your papers in one place. I'm using an old chest-of-drawers as storage for my papers and that's where I'm keeping all my cardstock, background papers, vellum, card blanks and envelopes. I have a third drawer for my card bags, labels, templates, etc. All the templates I've printed and all my patterns and charts are in one folder, I also have another folder with sheets of paper that have already been used/cut out. Whenever, I want to use a sheet of paper I always start by looking in this folder instead of just getting a new sheet from my stacks. I also have a box where I keep all those smaller pieces of paper. This way you make the most of your resources and avoid unnecessary waste.

- If you use lots of beads like I do, then it's worth it to get some of those storage boxes with little compartments. This way you can sort out your beads by colour and size and they'll be much easier to find. The same applies to your sequins and all your smaller bits and bobs.

-Keep all your scissors, craft knifes, etc. together. The same goes for your stamps, paper punches, embossing powders, ink pads, pens, pencils, etc. And you don't really have to spend money buying boxes to store all your items. For example, I keep my stamps in one or two of those big ice cream boxes. They are stackable and very handy.

I think that the main thing to keep in mind is to specify a place for everything and always make sure that when you are tidying up you always return every single item to the place where you got them from. This will make things much easier as you know exactly where everything goes and where to find what you need.

Well, I'd better get back to my cleaning

I'm going to be away for a few days and therefore won't be posting anything during this coming week so I decided to share some links to web sites I visit regularly.

Hope they inspire you as they do me

* Background papers you can print at home

   Pastiche
   Canon

* Templates

   Chia's Rubber Stamp Art
   JersGirl's Free Templates

* RGB colours

List of codes for RGB

* Tea bag and Iris folding

   Circle of Crafters

I've been making some felt appliques to use on my cards and decided to put together a tutorial on how I make them.

See here my finished cupcakes and ice creams.

For the template click here and for the instructions read below:

1 - Choose your template and trace all the elements onto Vilene.

2 - Cut the Vilene and place on the fabric/felt you've chosen. The Vilene should have glue on one side so it sticks to the fabric/felt. Follow the instructions of the Vilene manufacturer. Usually, you just have to place the side with the glue on the fabric and iron until it sticks to the fabric.

3 - Cut on the lines you drew. If you have a sewing machine you can do a zig-zag stitch all the way around so the fabric doesn't fray or you can use the blanket stitch. I also have a tutorial on how to do the blanket stitch. To see it click here.

4 - Mount the different elements that form the applique and embellish as desired.

Hope you find this tutorial easy to follow and helpful.

Happy crafting

Sometime ago I found a tutorial on how to stamp with normal household bleach. So, here's my first card using this technique and also one of Sunbonnet Sues I made earlier in the week.

I used a thick sheet of dark green handmade paper and this is what I did:

I poured some bleach (a capful) onto a couple of kitchen paper towels and made sure the bleach was spread evenly. I used the lid of a plastic container to place the kitchen paper towels. I then prepared some scraps of paper and got my embossing heat gun ready. I took my stamp to the kitchen paper towels and stamped my scraps of paper several times always wetting the stamp in bleach in between.

When I thought the stamp was coming out OK (without missing bits) I then began stamping the handmade paper. I always took my stamp to the bleached paper towels in between each stamping.

Finally, I used my embossing heat gun to dry the bleach. This is much quicker than waiting for the bleach to dry naturally.

Some tips:

* Protect your work surface and your clothes.
* Work in a well ventilated area.
* Rinse your stamps with plenty of water as the bleach might damage the rubber.
* This technique works best with cardstock in dark colours and where the core is the same colour as the outside. I tried stamping with bleach on cardstock with a white core and it didn't work very well.

For more instructions, tips and ideas visit the Splicoaststampers site.

Last night I made 6 Sunbonnet Sues using this template. I love Sunbonnet Sue and have been collecting every single free template I find on the Internet. This time I used only paper to make my Sunbonnet Sues but you can also use fabric/felt. For embellishments you can use beads, threads, sequins, etc. You can see them in my Flickr gallery.

Also, I've been going through my card gallery on Flickr and realized that most of by cards follow a flower theme. I want to change that, not because I don't like flowers but because I think it's important to vary my designs and so I had a look in my templates folder and came up with a few new cards. To see them follow the link down the right hand side of this page called "My Works".

I used templates that are available for free on the Internet.

Yesterday me and my son made a chocolate salame. It's really easy and your children can help you as long as you supervise them, specially when melting the butter.

I do have a proper recipe somewhere but I never follow it. Here's my way of doing it:

1 - Wash your hands really well. Then get a packet of rich tea biscuits and crush them inside a big bowl.

2 - Add a few spoonfuls of chocolate powder. 3 or 4 should be enough for a packet of biscuits but it depends on how chocolaty you want it to be.

3 - Add the melted butter. About half a wooden spoon. If the butter is too hot wait a little bit before you start mixing it with your hands.

4 - Add a whole egg.

5 - Mix everything really well.

6 - You'll get something like this.

7 - See if you can mould it into a sausage shape.

8 - Cut a piece of kitchen foil and place on your work top. Place the chocolate salame in the middle of the kitchen foil.

9 - Wrap it and roll it with your hands squeazing it gently at the same time. Tap each end slightly to flatten them. You should get something like this.

10 - Place the chocolate salame still wraped up in the kitchen foil in the fridge.

This is what it looks like when you slice it.

Tips:

* You can add a little sugar to the mixture if you want to but the biscuits and the chocolate are already sweet enough so don't add too much.

*You can also add a little bit of Port, either add it to the mixture or sprinkle the kitchen foil with it before wrapping the salame.

*For birthday parties, mould the mixture into balls. Melt some chocolate and cover them and sprinkle with sugar decorations. Place in small baking cases. The children will love them.

* If you find the misture is a little too sticky, crush some more biscuits and mix well.

Enjoy

As promised, here's my tutorial on shaker cards. This type of card is great fun and not at all difficult to make.

Let's start then:

1 - To make your shaker frame you'll need to choose the type of card you're going to use. For this card I used some pink mirror card (I know it doesn't look pink on the photo but it is pink). Decide on the size you want your frame to be and cut both along the outside and then the inside.

2 - Turn it over and apply glue all the way around. Stick the acetate on top and trim.

3 - Let it dry a little and then apply foam tape or foam pads around your frame (these will give the frame some height so the shaker bits can move about). I like it to be very near the border of the inside window so the shaker bits are always visible. Make sure there are no gaps as otherwise your shaker bits might come out of the frame.

4 - Place your shaker bits (sequins, confetti, very small beads, etc.) in the middle of your card. Go back to your frame and lift just enough of the foam backing to create a sort of tab. Do this on all sides. Place the frame centrally on your card and very carefully pull the tabs and press down so it sticks to the card.

5 - Embellish as desired.

If you'd like to see some other shaker cards I made click here and here.

Have fun

A few posts ago I said I would be giving away some decoupage sheets. I've had them for some time and I'm sure I'll never use them as decoupage isn't really my thing. I find it too fiddly and that's why I'm giving them away.

I have two sets each one including one of these and one of these. If you'd like to have one of these sets I'll post them to you for free. This applies only to the UK and Europe and within the UK I'll send it by 2nd class mail.

I'll send them to the first 2 people that leave a comment on my blog saying they'd like to receive one of the sets.

Also, I've uploaded new cards to my Flickr gallery. To see them follow the link named My Works down the right hand side of this page.

I've also been experiment new techniques following some of the slipcoaststampers tutorials. The idea of stamping with bleach sounds fun and I tried it but somehow it didn't seem to work too well either because I wasn't using the right sort of card or because the stamps I have are not the most appropriate for this technique. I'll have to try that one again. One that I tried and liked the results of was the masking technique which means that I'll have to try and make some cards with this one. Here's what I did. No too bad I think for a first time try.