Cheap kisses

So an arctic blast is hitting us today, a cold bitter wind with the very slim chance of snow. The kind of wind that makes cold, go through to the bones if not wrapped up warm. Today, like most days, i'm home but due to pain levels little will get done. So today, easter bunnies and little kisses will be my company whilst i huddle a on the sofa.

I'm currently using orphan and cheaper brands of threads. Some are unknowns and others are CXC. Some are one of those bargain bin packets, so many threads for a silly amount of money. Of course i know they aren't in anyway, shape or form up to the higher standard of the leading brands, but i'm happy to use them for cards or plastic canvas. With the price of everything going up, sometimes you have to cut back somewhere, but even with cheaper threads, you can make something wonderful. Something that will make someone smile. So today my challenge is to stitch some Easter bunnies and some eggs for cards and maybe catch up on the Gotham's i have recorded.

Happy crafting, whatever you decide to work on.

Some metallic glamour

The start of a new experiment. I've seen several cardmakers incorporating metallic charms or elements in their cards and after rooting through my crafting bits, namely the jewellery making components that i have far too much of! Anyway, the monochrome 3d design is from CraftsUPrint and the gems are Papermanias. Certain areas were highlighted using silver line peel-offs All backed on mirror card and then placed on a black card. Next came the metallic corners. Usually they are used on collars to make a statement so they are fairly lightweight and thin. I wasn't sure how i was going to stick them, but experimented with very tiny sticky fixers. The seemed to have worked brilliantly and i'm certain they add just enough glamour to this card.

The next monochrome project involved a 3d pyramid design, again from CraftsUPrint, and i've backed it with mirror card and added peel-off lines to copy the Art Deco design. All placed on a black card and then Candi added to the silver and Papermania gems added to bring together the whole feel of the card. Art Deco glamour.

Over all i am pleased with how each design worked out, and my next challenge was harder. Tomorrow is my mum's birthday, the first one since dad passed away and i knew this would be a birthday that had a lot of different meanings and feelings, for not just mum, but for all of us. Last year, on my mum's birthday, was the year that my dad was given the news, he has terminal cancer in three places. It was a day that shocked us to the core, and there was no chance of chemo , it had spread too far. So tomorrow, as you can imagine is going to be hard for my mum, for us all.

So, what was my card going to be? Now anyone who knows my mum knows, she loves the Avro Vulcan. This beautiful plane gives her goose bumps and i swear, she becomes a young teen again who's just seen her favourite pop star, but her devotion is to this bomber from days gone pass. It has the most wonderful noise as it turns in the air and i knew this subject was just what was needed for her. But where would i find the photo i was after, it had to be right, and i found it surprising on CraftsUPrint. 1 A4 sized photo of just the plane flying through the clouds. I printed out 4 times, making it smaller by using the 2on1 option on our printer . Next was

some very careful cutting, namely using my nail scissors that have just the right sharpness and curve for doing the shapes that often appear in decoupage. Slowly layered so that the plane becomes 3d was a challenge, but finally the finished picture was perfect. Backed on to a green card and put the sentiment inside, so that is she wanted she could frame the card.

The next card is by my son. Die cut flowers in a G for gran, with gems to make them extra special. A really pretty card that i'm sure my mum will adore and the added green grass is just so beautiful. I love how the grass spells out Happy Birthday. Great good kiddo!

Dreams of paper.

6 Die cut ladies, dressed for an occasion ,  a ball, a romantic dinner or school prom. Each is looking their very best, and hoping this is the happiest of times. 6 cards, with no sentiments, as yet but each i hope is magical in it's own way. The backgrounds are from CraftsUPrint.com i've printed then on ordinary paper, so they have a slightly faded quality, the lady in her dress the main focus. No faces drawn on, but that adds to the whole idea of the cards, they could be the person you are sending them too, or the dream of the young girl or lady, the hope that one day they will own a dress like this.

So right now they have no writing on, no sentiments added, whilst i decide what style or greeting to place for each design, or should they stay blank, so a message can be hand written by the sender. That is for me to figure.

 The next 4 cards are younger ladies, are they off in some wonderful city, or in an art gallery? Are they having the trip of a lifetime, or a shopping trip with friends. Each was placed on backgrounds again from CraftsUPrint and again i have printed on ordinary paper, the faded looked needed again, the ladies are the important ones, in their outfits, carefully picked for each trip. I have brought these young ladies from a seller on Ebay. Unlike the other ladies, these arrived already dressed, awaiting their adventure.  Ebay ~gingersnapz0

And the final two, ladies on the beach, enjoying a summer day, or that beach in a sunny place abroad, dressed by myself, using templates and die cuts to choose the right outfit for their day. Are the seagulls awaiting snacks when they have the ladies lunch, or are they admiring the ladies for their beauty on this sunny day? And who will they throw the ball too? All questions that appear for each card. Backgrounds again from CraftUPrint.

So what adventure are you planning with your next set of cards? What dreams can you create in paper and card, for the person to enter as they open their card? Each card must mean something, no matter how small and that personal touch is the delight that awaits every person who gets a homemade card. Happy Crafting!

Pleurisy and nocturnal crafting

Right now my son has pleurisy, the latest chest infections hitting kids, according to our gp. My son has been attached to his inhalers due to his asthma off too and the yellow goo antibiotics is the daily routine along with hugs and reassurance that everything will feel better soon. Obviously crafting has taken a back burner slightly, along with online stuff.

So tonight, i'm grabbing 5 minutes to update and to show that even when it's the small hours, a little bit of crafting does wonders to help you relax, when you been woken and have an upset child in pain or feeling tight chested. The project from Cross Stitcher i started has now been completed, now to find the right coloured felts, which i have in a box, somewhere....The colours are so cheerful and the fact only 5 colours have been used, makes it less painful on the purse strings. The added fact the design is only 9x9 meant i was able to use a spare bit of aida i had left from another project.

The next design is a mixture of designs found and some added bits by myself.
The cats are from :- http://ancsanaplo.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07.html
and the cats have personality is from
:-  Hour-Country-Cross-stitch-Susie-Steadman and the servants and border i added. I used 3 different colours of Venus threads and am quite pleased how it turned out. And being a cat owner, i often feel like a servant, the amount of times he wants the door opened a day! I swear sometimes it's a better game to him, than batting ping pong balls around.

I've also been playing with some die cut ladies and dresses. I'll show some pictures another time, but i admit part of me is feeling like a little girl again, when we used to get paper dolls to dress, surely you remember those, right? And i'm loving how something paper can look so wonderful with some little touches of gems or glitter, or just left plain and the suggested touch of elegance from the die cut it self.

But right now crafting has to been delayed to the early hours, when i know i'll be called for. Time for me to be nurse and mum again. Happy Crafting!

Crafter distractions

CrossStitcher Issue 288 arrived through my door. I got distracted and am currently working on the new design by Emma Congdon. Yes i know, where is the hedgehog..He's been sidelined again. I will finished him, after this. I hope!

I was surprised when i found i had all the colours, no need to wait till i had been able to buy the colours i needed, which is the usual issue, but as i work on this, i'm wondering if i have any felt/fabric to match the colours, as it's got me thinking wall banner type thing, to go what will be my crafting area, once the boxes have been moved and their contents re-homed. It hardly seems nearly a year we have lived here, but i guess 2014 went fast.

Yesterday i met a lovely lady called Beryl. She is a volunteer for a group that visits people and helps them for a little while, whilst they go through an difficult, or lonely time. She's a fellow crafter and she is currently stitching a cross stitch clock design, which sounds lovely, but she also was wearing a ruffle scarf, which she says are so easy, and addictive to knit. The fun was that as you knit it, it twists, and twists and it encourages you to keep going. The effect is stunning and it only uses garter stitch! She's going to show me next week. I'm looking forward to it. It was lovely to have her company, i don't really see many people these days, my online social life is also taking a back burner of late, partly due to this ear infection, which is still here, and the fact the weather has been turning so cold too.

Today will be another day of trying to get things sorted, and i must remember to take things slow too, this low pressure that is descending on us causes the pain to increase, the joys of Fibromyaglia and our cat lately is making sure when i sit anywhere, i stay, my lap his favourite haunt. He's either keeping warm, or making me rest. Either way, it's nice to have his company for a change, he's usually out hunting and getting it to fights with the local tom.

Time for me to get my son's lunchbox ready and then sit with him whilst we watch cartoons before he goes to school.

The hardest card

Not sure if this is finished, or if it needs something more. Either way this is the most emotional card i have ever made. This month i say goodbye to a man who has helped me through some of the hardest times, and he's also the man i have told everything too. He's met my son and seen my scars. He has been in my life for a very long time and he's leaving the mental health team i go to. I am beyond upset. I feel like my support network has gone right now, and with the strain on mental health and medical services, i know i can't ask for more help, when in truth i know deep down i need it.

Not sure what is ahead, but i wish him so much where ever he is going to, where his kindness and wisdom will help others and make them see how special a man he truely is. He will be sorely missed, not just by myself, but both others whom have been touched by his caring and kind voice.

Each element in this card means something.

Black/White ~ How i see the world.

Music ~ What he has told me to use to relax, or when hard times hit.

The charm ~ How's he's there on the blackest days

The leaf ~ Like a leaf on the wind, he goes where he needs to be.

The heart ~ Because he helps so many, his heart is special

The bows ~ Because he's always a gentleman.

Good luck ~ Because i wish him all the luck in the world

Thank you ~ Because there is no words to say how much i owe this man.

So today i decide what more i can say in this card, and work my way through a day closer to saying goodbye to him. 

Rare treats

A rare treat, i've been let loose into a craftshop! I had been given a gift voucher for Christmas from CCrafts and today i was allowed to have a chance to look around. For a change i had a list of what i was looking for, gems, stamps and monochrome. £14.44 later i have gained more to my stash, all of which i already have uses/plans for. The two clear stamps are both similar to more expensive ones i have seen and at £3.99 each i'm happy with them. One is musical notes and the other handwritten script. Both will make some amazing backing to a main design. Two packets of gems, of varying sizes and some black doilies! I've seen white, pastels but never black until today so i just had to get, considering i have this whole monochrome thing going on. The paper flowers i was thrilled with too, sometimes a girl just wants some flowers that aren't all pink and pastel.

I hope to use the stamps tonight, or tomorrow, depending on my son and the fact i'm fighting an ear infection still. Ever been sea sick on dry land ,anyone?

The next picture is the card i posted off today, black and purple being a friends favourite colours and i bet you can't guess her favourite animal? The backing paper is white lace printed on a black background  and some small flowers all tie this design together. Of course there are gems in the flowers. Who doesn't love a little bit of sparkle? Hopefully my friend will be delighted with it.

Anyway i'm itching to craft, i feel ink pads and my new stamps will be experimented with. Happy Crafting!

http://www.ccrafts.co.uk/

Limited

I find myself competing, something i can't ever beat. Every crafter has a limit, a limit of space, or a limit of funds or a limit of sources for their craft materials.
Right now i'm fighting both space and funds. But i'm also fighting something inside. The thoughts of my cards not being good enough. Good enough for who though? I've had good feedback from people who have received my cards but at the same time, seeing designs online, i'm seriously lacking in the creativeness department but also in the equipment area too.


My embossing is done with a Fiskars Shape Boss Mini (video below in links, found, not made by me. ) and my die cuts are bought off Ebay. Someone else has cut them out. Take the design above, a lovely lady has punched out each single flower, and then die cut each of the layers and the vase shape. I just used what sticky fixers and gems i have that i think will fit the style i'm trying to create. Each flower is put together with tweezers and the odd moment of a naughty word and retrying to get them centred correctly. then they trying to put the gem on, in the hope it won't ping across the kitchen ,where i using do my cardmaking.

Now this card is for a family member, using her favourite colours and hopefully she will be very happy, but i'm wondering am i good enough at this. No i don't have the latest gadgets and gizmos and i don't shop at the top of the list craftshops, buying the latest trending must haves, but i am using my imagination to use what i have, not what some craft mag says i must have. Don't get me wrong, i love 60% of the craft magazines out there, and papercraft and cross stitch mags fill my shelves, but i can't afford to copy or try the latest techniques. I can't just grab someone and go to the large craft store and buy every embossing powder, washi tape and die cut. At the end of the day i am a single mum with illness/disability and living of a limited income. I use what i can afford.

Of course like any crafter I have books on most craft subjects, to look for ideas, or new ways to make something from that coloured bit of card at the back of the craft shelf. But the only time i copy is when i cross stitch a chart, something i'm still trying to do with the hedgehog i started. It's been sidelined at the mo, due to issues with which is light grey and which is the off white thread? But i guess, what i am trying to say, is that you don't need the latest must haves, what you create is inside you and even with minimal bits, you can create something of beauty. Happy crafting!

Links :- Fiskars Shape Boss Mini ~ Tutorial
             Ebay ~ Punched out flowers

Monochrome

Taking a break from stitching. Only briefly, but i have been trying something new. I've noticed the price of ink for printers has gotten to silly amounts of £'s so i'm thinking black/white designs. I have found some lovely black and white backgrounds on CraftsUPrint.com and at 20p per design it's a little cheaper. I've printed them using the 4 on a page option, and so far two of the designs have worked well.
 
The first design is black 6'x6' black card with some silver mirror card under the black and white retro flower print. On the white circles i have placed a Glue Dots Magic Motifs and covered with Flock from Craft Creations. They are then placed on black circles before using sticky fixers to make them stand out from the design. Clear gems and flowers are then placed to brighten certain areas. Voila! One card.


Second card, again using a black 6'x6' card and a print off from CraftsUPrint. It reminded me of a vortex, and the lights as they rush past when at speed. A found a silver die cut motorbike, i just happened to have and coloured the front tyre with a Sharpie before adding black card in the gaps where the helmet and light was. Adding a Candi for the light finished it. The motorbike was then placed on to the vortex effect paper and placed on top of more silver mirror card. All placed on to the black card and the final finish of silver Candis.


Quite pleased how both worked out really. Have a go, sometimes the simplest ideas, really work. Happy Crafting!


Glue Dots Magic Motifs from http://www.siestaframes.com/acatalog/Magic_Motifs.html
Card and flock from http://www.craftcreations.com/
Printed backgrounds from http://www.craftsuprint.com/
Candi and Die-cuts shapes from various sellers on  http://www.ebay.co.uk/

Progress, Dilemma and Depression.

Finished...?

 Progress has been made and i'm left with a dilemma. The teddies are finished, almost. I quite like them like this, but below is what they should look like... Yes, dots are missing, or rather French Knots. Lots of them.

Now anyone who sews knows French knots, you can either do them, or you can't. I'm in the latter half, french knots are an almost mastered task, but i still mess 90% of them up, so do i do the knots, or not and just leave it as it is? Be a shame to ruin it with mistakes and messy knots, and let's face it when you mess up a french knot, you can't really unpick it!

So a dilemma stays , until i decide.

French knots...to do or not to do?

And another day is facing me, and outside it's dark and wet, and inside it's kinda swaying. My health has taken a nosedive, a long with my mood. I doubt very much i will get anything done. Standing is like being on a boat at sea, as too is sitting, and nausea is certainly no fun. And having a fall earlier has decided today for me.  Rest and nothing else.

The beginning of cuteness.

This is the start of a new project that came free with this months issue of World of Cross-Stitching. A delightfully cute hedgehog, by Margaret Sherry, holding a large bouquet of daffodils. Certainly cheerful enough when the weather is so bad. And a reminder that spring isn't so far. Most of this i did last night whilst my son has his buddy over. Half stitches, quarter stitches and backstitch, along with the normal cross stitches. It will certainly be a challenge, but worth it.

Happy Crafting!

Crafting through the pain

Last night and today has been painful. Fibro and backpain joined by earache all down the right side of my face. At points i have been close to tears, and with a dark and very wet day outside it's not been much fun. Picked up a couple of crafting mags when we went out briefly and i've also done some more stitching on my bears. As you can see they are really starting to look cute and i'm certainly enjoying seeing the changes each day. Done a little more back stitch as well, to draw out the details. Really pleased so far.

Talking cross stitching, i picked up the latest World of Cross Stitching, and the designs, well i don't know which i'd like to do first, The retro glow-in-dark space landscape is just amazing, but the Forever Friends Bears are adorable too, and the Art Deco lady, is a challenge that maybe i might just have a go at.I could go on, i really could, but i won't.


Crafting post arrived today too, in the form of the Christmas Wrinkles DVD by La Pashe. I had ordered it from Printable Heaven and wow, what a bargain, was £14-99, down to £5 and it has so many backgrounds and toppers and general fun stuff, well Christmas cards this year may well be a lot of fun to do. I'm totally thrilled and some of the pictures certainly raised a smile. My other crafty post was some charms i had ordered from TheCraftyCave. Christmas charms are on sale, and with 40% off, it was too good a bargain to miss, and now i'm pretty much sorted for Christmas crafting 2015 when it arrives, unless of course i find some other bits here and there.

As you can tell i'm into more than one craft thing, from cross stitching, to jewellery making, to papercraft/cardmaking and the odd brief attempted at knitting (garter stitch mostly) and sometimes using my sewing machine. All of them help me when my pain is bad, or when my mental health takes a turn for the worse. Even if i can't do craft, i can read about it, and some days that is pretty much it. Hope you find a craft that makes you relax, or get through tough times. I'm off stitching again. Happy Crafting!

Links :- http://www.cross-stitching.com/
         
             http://www.printableheaven.com/

             http://www.thecraftycave.co.uk/

Stitches in time

Sleeping Beauty

The 2nd of January, a day that's been busy, and painful. I did my back in moving the shopping that was delivered today. It was a big shop due to getting in the food for my son for his packed lunches. He goes back to school on Monday and i will certainly miss him but will eagerly await to hear how his day has gone. He will have much to tell his friends and teachers i'm sure. I also needed to get in the food for the fussy one, AKA the cat. He's been going through different brands lately and seeing as today was the last day on antibiotics for his tail abscess , i figure his appetite will improve now. Well i hope! As i type the sleeping beauty is snoring away and dreaming of mice and fish, judging by the whiskas twitches and padding paws. And my son is playing with lego whilst Pokemon plays on the tv.






As for crafting, i've done some more on the bears, a break from housework throughout the day, and a chance to catch up with friends online as well as look for new ideas on CraftsUPrint.com.
I admit to this site becoming one of my favourites lately and there are so many very talented and creative people, both in the designers and the crafters. It really is a lovely site.

And talking of card making, i must sort out both my aunt's and mum's cards. It's going to be difficult for them both this year, due to last year my dad, my aunt's brother was very ill, and we found out it was cancer on my mum's birthday. Valentine's Day we lost him.

Yesterday i had wanted to ring my dad, my son was reading a Thomas the Tank Engine book and i had wanted to ask my dad a question. It still feels so odd he's not here anymore, i would love to hear his voice again, even hear his trains he had in his office at home. We all miss him so much and not a day goes past when he isn't thought of.

I'm going to now do some more stitching, whilst i have the chance tonight. Happy Crafting!

Links : http://www.craftsuprint.com/

The first post of 2015!

 

 And it's a day of pj's and tv, with some brief moments of crafting. My son and I decided 2015 would be a pj day. We weren't going anywhere, and it seemed like the best idea really. Both of us were tired yesterday from look around a couple of charity shops, and then having to get some meds from Boots, then get the bread rolls and milk to last a couple of days. The shops were busy, and a lot of Christmas & New Years wishes were being heard all around town. Honestly, both of us were glad to get home, but certainly did well on the book front.

My son bought 8 books in total, using his Christmas money to get books on science, space, dinosaurs and Thomas the Tank Engine. And myself, i found a book i have been hunting for since 1998, Treasures in Cross Stitch By Jane Greenoff  (Link below article) I first saw this book, when i was just starting out on the cross stitching , it was certainly a popular book from the library, and then it was gone. Now i finally have my own copy, and the Mind charity shop gains £2 in their coffers. The other one was 2 Hour Country Cross Stitch By Susie Steadman (Link below article) Another £2 and i'm thrilled. There are so gorgeous little gems in both and they will certainly be done as soon as i can. Right now i'm still busy on the bears. As you can see both heads are now complete, and some yellow has appeared. I admit i had to unpick most of the yellow after counting 1 square wrong! I really need to concentrate on this design, those holes are so small, it needs careful counting.

Anyway, time for me to start the dinner and let my son look up some pokemon tips for his game.

We hope your 2015 is full of happiness, love and crafting

Link  (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Treasures-Cross-stitch-Jane-Greenoff/dp/0563369078)
         (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hour-Country-Cross-stitch-Susie-Steadman/dp/0806961244)