Creative Stitches and Hobbycraft Show

This post is well over due but then again, so are many of the soon to follow entries!

Earlier this year, I won tickets to the Creative Stitches and Hobbycrafts show over in Trafford Park. I've never actually been to a show like this before, although when I was younger my dad took me to computer fairs and my mum sometimes worked photography seminars so I kind of knew what to expect. I took my flat mate along with me (more on that later) and I think it's fair to say that a successful day was had by all. I probably more money than I should have but I got some gorgeous new stamps and a Kanban Crafts card kit (which was actually a bargain).

There was just so much there! It was amazing. I was like a child in a sweet shop and didn't know what to look at first. Luckily (or so I thought), my flat mate, Natalie is not a crafter like me so she kept me on a certain level of calm. That was until we came across the jewellery making stalls where they were letting people have a go at making a pair of earrings. I don't have my ears pierced so it wasn't of particular interest to me but Nat decided to have a go and we agreed to meet up there in an hour.

One hour (I completely lost track of time) later . . . .

I headed back to the stall to see her fully engrossed in making her earrings. I left her to her crafting and when I came back a second time, she had bought lots of kit to make her own. And so the craft bug spreads!

3D Cards: The Next Dimension

Those of you who read my last post (yes it was a month ago - sorry), you would have seen I had started dabbling in 3D cards, beginning with my easel card. Since then, I have made four more cards, using different techniques and over the next few posts, I'm going to be writing about them.

But before I go any further, credit where credit is due, I came across a great blog with tutorials for all sorts of 3D cards so if anyone is looking for some ideas, I recommend that you take a look over at Beccy's Place.

My first card was briefly mentioned in my previous post but I couldn't say any more at the time as it was going to be for my brother on receiving his A level results and getting into university, which he hadn't at the time and I didn't want to jinx it (he did really really well and is moving into his halls at Birmingham University next weekend).

I should probably explain that he is off to study music and mathematics, which explains the music notes and the numbers. This card needed tutorials from Youtube but it is very similar to the Diamond Fold Card on the aforementioned blog. 
The colours are the colours of the university and I used music patterned vellum to decorate the base. The dog stamp was from my magazine (where the original inspiration came from) and I used gold and blue stars to finish it off. I decided to go really over the top and I used wire to have springy notes, stars and numbers at the top of the card. The stamped sentiment needed my sister's opinion but felt it was appropriate for someone who is about to take their step out into the (semi-)real world. The idea was that as well as being a 'well done in your exams' card, it would also be a 'good luck at uni' card and would be something that he could take with him to put on his book shelf or desk.
You may be wondering where the message goes on a card like this? Well, it's not shown in these pictures but it is on the back of the card. The whole thing folds flat, allowing it to go into a normal envelope. A couple of things I would say, and I think I pushed this one to the limit, is make sure the folds are crisp in order for it to stand up and to make sure not to overload the diamond, again, for it to stand up. Too much weight, or not distributed enough, will stop it from standing up straight but this is something that is better shown than explained - a bit of experimentation is needed.

Easel Cards

Good Morning!

Recently I was inspired to make some Easel Cards. I had seen them before and don't get me wrong, the ones I saw looked amazing, but I felt that they weren't really my style and far to elaborate. 

However, one of the projects in the latest issue of my magazine really inspired me to have a go. I even came up with a design then and there (but that's for another time, shhh). So, Sunday afternoon saw me scouring the internet searching for how to actually make these 3D cards and after sitting through a couple of YouTube videos and finding a couple of sites, I managed to make my first ever Easel Card.

It was so simple to make and would allow me to start working my way through my massive pile of paper/card and the envelopes that are given back to me (nothing wrong with a bit of recycling here and there!). This card, as you can probably guess, is a triple easel card. I had some tall envelopes spare so I made it to fit one of those.
I cut some cardstock in half lengthways, meaning I can make two cards from one sheet of A4. Folded it in half lengthways and when I opened it up, folded on side lengthways again, so that the edge came to the middle. As this is a triple easel card, I cut to folded side into three up to the centre fold. And then all I had to do was decorate.

The only other bit you have to remember is a stopper on the base of the card which will hold the easels in place. I chose to stamp a floral image and used sticky pads to raise it up enough to hold the easels up. I've seen some where the sentiment is used as well.

I did struggle to decorate the card but that was mainly due to finding papers and embellishments that matched the cardstock I started with. In the end, I opted for some felt and paper flowers and a stamped faerie image, coloured in with pen. I'll admit I was lazy when adding the sentiment and decided to use a peel off rather than stamp on but I think the silver, along with the glitter on the flower and the tiny butterflies just finishes it off.

I also love the way that these cards just fold flat, ready to go in the envelope.

I might make a tutorial for these when I make my next Easel Card (which will be very soon).

The Craft Cube 5000

I am one of those people that can spend hours (and probably a lot of money) in shops that sell stationary and storage items. So, me making a Pinterest account last week was absolute heaven. 

As a student crafter, I have lots of stash and very little space, when I am at uni, and not much more when I am back at home (mainly due to the clutter in my room). So what I really need is a portable, small-ish storage unit that allows me to put as much of my stash as physically possible. Oh, and being a student and having little to no money, ridiculously cheap. Hmm. 

The model in it's former glory (I won't go
into details as to what it is)

So last week, as I was lying in bed about to go to sleep, I decided that I was going to actually sort out my room and organise my stash, with Pinterest being my source of inspiration. I had an old model from my first year of architecture that had no purpose but to sit on my shelf, gather dust and take up space so I resolved to use this somehow.

The following morning, several Pinterest pages at the ready (storage, craft storage, DIY storage, DIY craft storage, . . . ) I began sorting and making.

The first image of genius I found was a way of storing clear stamps . . . .using CD boxes! All you have to do it take out the interior (the actual CD part of the box) and put the stamps in. I was definitely having that idea - my stamp collection just kept building up and because all the sheets were different sizes, I had no real place to store them so they always took up lots of space. But now that I got hold of some CD cases, they are organised, compact and easy to get to.

As for my big storage project though, the first thing to do was actually get rid of the little model as I only wanted the wooden frame in order to make my box. I thought through several ideas, including just making some trays for everything to sit in. I wanted to make sure that as much of the space available was used and each section was designed to hold something specific. That way, it would be easy to find everything when I needed it as well as making the most of what was available. Already, I knew some of the things that were going to go into my box: my stamps in their new boxes, my ink pads and all my chipboard pieces.
Previously, all my chipboard shapes were in one box (the boxes used, gradually growing in size as my collection grew quicker than it shrunk!) which made for a right pain when I was either looking for something in particular or looking for inspiration. So I decided I was going to separate them and store them separately. In order to do this, I had to make some little drawers for them to sit in my frame.

I'll admit it was a little bit trick to get them to fit - with the frame being handmade as well (and being made by me, not exactly square). However, after a bit of trimming and a bit of force, I got the two draws to fit.

I went on to make a third drawer, this time to store paper and the peel off sheets that were living in my craft tote/caddy.

As for my stamps and the ink pads, the pads themselves fitted beautifully within the top of the frame and also allowed the perfect amount of space for the CD boxes to be stored next to them. I didn't have enough CD's to warrant using the whole side of the box for them so the space that was left was just right for my pens - both my Sharpies and my ProMarkers (more architecture than card making) as well as the odd gel pen and coloured pencils. The teeny tiny gap between my pens and inks allowed me to slot my stamping block in.

I had used card to turn the frame into a box but didn't want to waste the inch of space created by the frame. During my clear out, I came across several pairs of jeans that had worn away in awkward places and therefore couldn't be worn again so I cut these up and (kind of) neatening them up by hemming them, I creating pockets around the other three sides so that I could store card blanks and other bits and pieces.

The very last bit of my box was going to be a fourth drawer but was impatient to get it finished and didn't know what to actually put in it so I just left it as a shelf big enough to store some of my business-y bits - my order book, sketch book etc - although maybe in the future, I will do something with it. Who knows?

While it definitely is nowhere near shop quality - lack of wrapping paper (I ran out, ok!), my lack of ability to hem in a straight line and the tight fit of the drawers meaning I will be forever gingerly opening them so as not to break them - it is custom made for me and my craft stash. It's something that I would never be able to find in the shops and except the cost of the CD boxes and a tube of UHU, it was completely free. Not bad really then!

The finished box

Pockets made from old jeans create pockets for my card
blanks and papers as well as protect the sides

Stamp storage - my perfectly organised stamps in their
new home

From the top - ink pads, stamping block, pens and
pencils, stamps, business cards

The bottom two drawers organise my chipboard pieces,
top draw has paper and peel offs and the shelf has my
business bits

Yet Another Flop

I was going to post this on Sunday but technical difficulties got in the way and I was laptop-less until yesterday. So here it is, a little late but here non the less.

Saturday's craft fair, if you hadn't guessed from the blog title, was a bit of a fail. I was there in plenty of time and I had a nice stall set up - like many of the other stalls - there was just no one about. I even bought my pretty heart shaped fairy lights because it'll be Valentine's Day soon.

The fair did give me a couple of things to think about with my stall (the learning curve is forever . . . er . . .curving?) and luckily - and as per usual - I had my trusty sketchbook on hand to make notes.

The first thing was that I should probably invest in a rack or small shelving unit to display my cards. This way, I can play around a bit more with my stall and try different layouts. 

To go along with this was the idea that I shouldn't wrap all of my cards up and leave some of them as display cards so people can see what they look like as cards - it's all very well showing them in the plastic wrapper but having them stood up on the table also gives me more options to play around with my display.

The other idea I had is a bit bitter. It came from watching the cake stall across from manage to get about 95% of the people to go over to her stall. How? She offered free samples. Rather than waiting for people to wander over and have a look, she invited them over with the promise of free samples. Yes I am slightly bitter about this but it's a technique that obviously works so I might try by putting chocolates or sweets in a dish on my stall. Even if it fails, it gives me something to munch on during the day!

I was able to keep myself occupied at the deathly quiet fair by doing a bit of crafting - treated myself to an extra magazine this month (those damn owls got the better of my once again, this time in the form of some really cute stamps) so I got to play around with the free gift. 

I was also productive in an architecture student sense by reading some Ruskin.

I was extra good and did a bit of networking as well by taking a wander and talking to the other crafters, picking up a couple of business cards while I was at it, although I still need to take a look on Facebook.

Despite the flop of last weekend, when I was able to get back on my laptop yesterday, I was greeted by a lovely e-mail about a new maker's market happening just down the road from me at the end of the month. Obviously, I replied immediately and I already have the form to book my place. One thing that this one definitely has going for it is that it is in student central so hopefully there will be plenty of people. Handmade is SO in right now!

Card-lympics Day 12

Basketball was the event of the day and yet again, I was left to use that netting, although now that I know the trick, it was pretty easy to do. This was another paper pieced project although I added a couple of different elements. I used fine liner and ProMarker to add detail to the ball and the net backboard. I felt the card needed something to finish it off, there was a lot of blank space so I added a stamped message. 
I am actually quite pleased with this one, the bold colours make for an eye-catching design.