And the winner is....

The winner of my blog candy is no 16

midnight stamper said...

love the variation on the easel card theme. the stamps are lovely too !

November 8, 2009 11:52 PM

Congratulations, please contact me with your address and I will send your prize to you

BLog Candy : Last Chance

This the last call for my blog candy
All you have to do to enter is post a comment on the blog candy post which you can find

HERE

The candy is open until I announce the winner.

I will announce the winner some time tomorrow.

New Mabel Lucie attwell stamps

If you visit the Artistic Stamper blog you will see the new Mabel Lucie Atwell stamps. I was lucky enough to receive these pre-release, and have had a quick play with them.

I used "care to dance" to make this tag card

"nature's little helper" to make this acetate card


and "Holly" to make this canvas back decoration, from a tiny canvas. (The mounted holly is from the same stamp.)

All other stamps used are also by the Artistic Stamper

Gingersnap Monochrome : blue moon card

The theme this week at Gingersnap Creations is Monochrome
I went for shades of blue throughout the front of my card, with a little surprise, as I have used double sided card, the inside of the card is brown.
All the paper and card is from the Paper Temptress (this month's sponsor at Gingersnap)
I used
double sided card
Blue sparkle card
heavyweight Vellum
White glossy card

The image is from the Stampsmith.

Quick Christmas card

I made this quick chrsitmas card using a santa stamp from the artistic stamper

forever friends: Glitter

This week at the forever friends challenge We challenge you to use Glitter on your forever friends creation.

I have used the stamp that came free on the current issue of Docrafts Creativity magazine. I have used glitteron the crown(applied over Quickie glue pen), a strip of glitter (applied over double sided tape)and red glitter card!

very glittery!!

Paracord bracelet

Post four of today, and probably the last one!! (but no promises)

Have you ever been in a tricky situation, where you think, "hmmm what I need to get me out of this is about 3 metres of strong cord"?

no?

oh well you are obviously not a 10 year old boy then!!

As soon as I saw these bracelets on Calvin's blog I immediatly knew I would have to make one for my eldest son. The idea is that in an emergency situation (such as the finding the perfect tree from which to hang a rope swing) you can unravel the bracelet and use the parachute cord.

I immediatly got onto ebay and ordered 100ft of desert camo parachute cord, and 10 10mm curved buckles.

I got the instructions from here
I ordered my cord from here
and my buckles from here

I thoroughly recommend these sellers. They both provided excellent service.

I liked these bracelets so much that the one shown is actually one I made for myself. so next time I am in that survival situation, I'll be just fine!!

Crochet Sheep and other woolly business!

This is post three of today, and it just gets weirder!!
maybe if I explain, it will help.

My favourite yarn shop, Baa Ram Ewe, have decided to have a knitted nativity (a Knitivity, perhaps?) and I have offered to make a sheep. Of course to be different, mine is crocheted!!

I just hope it's the right size, I have photographed it on my hand to give some idea of size. I did not use a pattern to make this, but made it up as I went along, using the principles of amigurumi.

In other Baa Ram Ewe news, Verity has started selling kits to make my mug cosies, which apparently attract a lot of interest. How cool is that?
Verity sent me one of the kits. I love this wool!


And finally in knitting news. I have finally finished this waistcoat for MEEEEEEEE! I hardly ever make anything for myself so this was a real treat and I love it. knitted in Rowan Pure wool Aran, it's so snuggly to wear. (excuse the rubbish picture)

Carol's tiles

And about time too!!!
This is post two today.

Carol stumped me with this round of the collaborative challenge.

No colour theme at all.......

so where to start?
I let these brand new "clock" stamp plates from PaperArtsy inspire me and went a bit wild with the colour!
I hope she likes them.

wedding card

Prepare for a busy blogging day , this is post one of four. I was going to do one long post, but decided to split them as I know some people are more interested in knitting some in cardmaking, etc.
So post one is cardmaking.
The Paper Temptress is kindly sponsoring the gingersnap challenges this month, and as part of the the design team wer given the opportunity to try out some of the delisious papers and card.

On this card I have stamped the stampsmith image onto Ultra high glossy card, which has been mounted onto laser silver lustre (silver), mounted onto a card made from Sparkle Noir ( a lovely black card with a subtle shimmer), and wrapped with heavy weight clear vellum. (gorgeous quality vellum)

I have attached the vellum with white ribbon, added touches of white flower soft to the image, and stamped the wording on the front with white ink

created by hand : remembrance

for the Created by Hand Challenge

tag easel card and blog candy

As a celebration of joining the Artistic Stamper Design team, I have a little giveaway of the 3 stamp sets pictured below. I have used stamps from all of these plates to make this easel style tag cag.

I am including the card in with the prize.

All you have to do to take part is leave a comment on this post, and I will use a random number generator to pick one winner on 23rd november. The giveaway is open to anybody.

Good Luck!

World radiography day

Just a shout out to all the radiographers out there, on World Radiography Day.
I am very proud to be a radiographer, I honestly think it is one of the most interesting careers there is. I have been in radiography for almost 20 years and still love my job.

brum brum

Yesterday I received my first creative team package from The Artistc Stamper, and I couldn't wait to play.
I've used 4 stamps to make this little brum brum card:
Jolly Day out by Mabel Lucie Atwell
flower from flower power sheet, and gingham background
lines from simple swirls sheet

gingersnap challenge : cosy home

This month the challenges at Gingersnap are being sponsored by the Paper Temptress. The Design Team were each given the opportunity to choose 10 sheets of card/paper to use in this month's challenges.

Amongst my choices was this wonderful double sided card, which I thought worked perfectly with the cosy home theme as it is red on one side and orange on the other.
This card is amazing quality, perfect for a base card. I've emphasised the doubled sided colour by tearing the aperture. The house (from PaperArtsy) is also stamped onto the card, and coloured with whispers marker.

As you can see the card also takes embossing well.

I also used a thin strip of the laser gold glossy lustre and ran this through a dymo labeller for the embossed words.

I finished this pyramid card with a gold ribbon and a battery operated tea light, fo a truly cosy feel

forever friends sketch challenge

This week at the forever friends challenge we have a sketch challenge for you.

sunday stampers: snowmen

After seeing Paula's fabulous easel card, I had to have a go, so I decided to take part in sunday stampers snowman challenge, using this PaperArtsy snowman that I have become very fond of. I also used some more of the fabulous Spring and sprout papers from Paperartsy. The two patterns are the two sides of one sheet of paper. I have sanded the edges of the piece on the front.The ribbon is also from PaperArtsy!
I finished the card with some ultrafine glitter on the snow that is falling, and a button.

More support for the Hallowe'en apostrophe

And who is going to argue with J.K.Rowling?

man card

I'm sure I saw a challenge this week for "moustaches" but now I can't remember for the life of me where it was, so I have gone with Crazy Amigo's "Men" Challenge instead.

(EDIT: it turns out the Moustache challenge is Mixed Media Monday, Thanks Jo!)

All stamps are by PaperArtsy.
The background is done with distress inks and perfect pearls.

Gingersnap thankfulness challenge

This week's Challenge at Gingersnap is the final week of Cornish Heritage farms month. I received this horse and rider stamp which is a new release from Cornish.
I stamped it with walnut stain distress ink onto cream card, then used a wet paint brush to pull the colour from the image to create shading. This stamp worked brilliantly with this technique and I love the effect. I finished the card with raffia, a skeleton leaf and mulberry paper to tie in with "using items from nature" that has been the overall theme for this month at gingersnap.

A PaperArtsy Wonderland

This week the theme at winter wonderland is open, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to play with the new PaperArtsy christmas papers, along with the fabulous PaperArtsy snowman. Even the ribbons and letters are from PaperArtsy.
I love these new papers, they are double sides and both sides are gorgeous. in fact the two patterns you can see on this card are from the two sides of the same sheet and I think they work together so well

I finished the card with some of the wonderful new polar white flower soft, which I think is going to be finding its way onto most of my Christmas cards this year

The Artistic Stamper : Creative Team Announcement

YES!!! I'm pleased to say that I am on the new Creative Team for The Artistic Stamper

Along with the following talented artists
Chris
Jacqui
Jo
Julie
Lorraine
Rachel

You can see the announcement on The Artistic Stamper blog

I'm really looking forward to getting my first stamps to play with. The Artistic stamper does some fantastic backgrounds, but it's not just stamps....

Hallowe'en : note the apostrophe!

If you know me well, you will know that I am on a personal mission to "stop the drop" of the apostrophe in the English usage of Hallowe'en. I won't rant too much about it. I know language evolves, but I think it just looks so ancient and beautiful with the apostrophe, why lose it? It's not like it is used that much throughout the year.

So please, just for me,
use the apostrophe!

Anyway, back to business, I have made this card for Wednesday Stamper.
This is the first time I have tried this diamond fold style of card, and it was much easier than I expected, and I just made it from a strip of A4 card. The witch is from The Stampsmith, and is the witch from the Wizard of Oz plate. The detail on the left hand side is a scrap of lace.

I have included a couple of extra photos to show the detail of the fold, in case you are not familiar with the style of fold.

Forever Friends Christmas

This week at the Forever Friends Challenge, we challenge you to make Christmas goodies with your forever friends images. Don't be put off if you don't have any specifically Christmas images, use the images that you do have in a Christmassy way.

I used the heart bear stamp and added a christmas background stamp from PaperArtsy and a hat from Inka.

I also added quite a bit of glitter, but it just doesn't show that well on the photgraphs.

There's snow business like "Jo" business

Excuse the corny title, but I couldn't resist some pun on the two Joannes on the Gingersnap team working together!!

Jo Capper-Sandon and I, both received the swirling snowflakes stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms (due for release October 16, 2009). We thought it would be fun to have a play and come up with some ideas for using the stamp in different ways. We decided to each make three quick projects using it as a background, a main focus stamp and as an accent. We didn't see each others work until we were finished. It's always great fun to see how someone else interprets a brief, and uses the stamps.

Here are my cards:
For the item showing the stamp as a main focus, I stamped with versamark and used perfect pearls on pink card.


For the background item, I stamped with distress ink onto cream card to make a tag shaped card, using a collage image from Go Make Something.


For the accent piece, I used a bit of scrap leftover from the first card and also cut out an individual snowflake stamped in black, which is highlighted with crackle accents. The main image is from Hearts in Touch (watch out for more from them on Gingersnap), and has been embellished with white flower soft.



You can see the full post here

And you must go check out Jo's creations here.

brads and royalty

The challenge at gingersnap creations this week is to use brads. The challenge is sponsored by Cornish Heritage Farms, and I have used the swirling snowflakes stamp due for release this friday to make my card. I stamped this large stamp onto white card with clear sparkle embossing powder, then coloured with distress inks. I then cut this piece into 6 small pieces to make quick and simple cards for christmas.
Cornish Heritage Farms are generously offering a prize of the "Royal Birthday" stamp set to one lucky participant.
I'm lucky enough to be able to show you a sneak preview of this set on this card which I have made for the Crazy Amigos challenge, knots and buttons

3 challenges before breakfast!!

I have made this piece for 3 challenges
sunday stampers- Circles
inchy by inch - time
mixed media monday - pink

The watch stamp is by non-sequitur, the words are invoke arts and the circles are PaperArtsy

I'm adding another picture as I have now turned this tag into a card as I wanted to send it to a very special lady who has recently had some very good news!

For Carrie

Not my usual style, but I thought carrie would like this image (Inka), and the colours sort of followed and then the paperartsy stamped flowers just happened. hopefully she liked it anyway!
even more unusually for me I also decorated the inside of this card.
While I had the flower stamp out, I also made a very quick gift tag (not for Carrie).

gingersnap creations : harvest theme

This is something I made for the gingersnap Harvest theme. I didn't really have any harvesty stamps, so I went with a leaf theme and made a "harvest candle holder"

forever friends: Autumn colours

This week at the forever friends challenge we challenge you to use Autumn colours

TGiF: the colour white

The theme at TGif is the colour white. I was really pleased about this as I have recently purchased this broderie anglais effect white backing paper and the fab new polar white flower soft. I used them with the gorgeous soft image from the stampsmith, and I have also posted this card on the stampsmith blog.
I hope you can see the effect of the flower soft.




I have also used the flower soft on this card made using products from PaperArtsy. The stamp is from a winter wonderland plate, the paper is from the brand new rum and raisn pack, which is gorgeous (one of those packs which you don't want to cut into, but luckily you get four of each sheet, and they are double sided). Even the lovely ribbon is from PaperArtsy

paperbag studios hallowe'en

I have made this for the hallowe'en challenge at Paperbag studios. It's a bagelope (ie a bag made from an envelope. The stamp is of course by paperbag studios, the stencil is a wall art stencil from a DIY shop.

gingersnap extra challenge

September has five wednesdays so Gingersnap have done an extra challenge for this week, the challenge is to combine two or more of the previous challenges (there is a list)

I combined
GC18 happiness
GC13 tags
GC16 ribbons
GC24 stars

The challenge is once again being sponsored by the stampsmith so I have chosen to use a stampsmith image from the oh baby plate. There is a beautiful stampsmith stamp to be won, so go take part!!

inchie masterboard technique

On the Gingersnap blog there is a turtorial for a really easy inchie masterboard technique.
Here's my version
I stamped A4 white card all over with stamps from PaperArtsy


I inked this in stripes with distress inks (which I spritsed with water to blend a little)


I cut the card into strips and then used an inchie punch to make the squares. To complete the card I added words, a starfish punched shape and some black raffia.

angel

Made with stamps by Paperarsty
wings from winter wonderland plate 1
girl and background from xmas plate 1
halo, part of ink and the dog mini 56
and letters from words plate 2
I am entering this for theme thursday's writing theme for the background writing.

I have also used some of the paperartsy stamps with this I brake for stamps skateboarder. I used crackle accents over the name, I hope you can see the effect

mini mittens

I am making these little mitten christmas decorations to sell at the school "christmas shopping evening" I hope they sell!!!
here's the patten:
I use three double pointed needles: 3.25 mm and double knit yarn.
cast on 18 stitches
k1p1 rib for 6 rows
k8 kfb k1 kfb k to end
purl 1 row
K8 kfb k1 kfb k to end
slip first 7 stitches onto needle 1, next 8 onto needle 2, last 7 onto needle 1
on middle 8 stitches, join new yarn (I work from middle and outside of ball at same time) k 5 rounds as though you are making an i-cord, then k2tog accross, sew through 4 stitches and fasten off
go back to needle one, purl across, picking up and purling 2 stitches at thumb.
continue in st-st until there are a total of 14 rows of st st
last row, k1 sl1 k1 psso, k2 k2tog, k2 sl1 k1 psso, k2 k2tog k1
sew through remaining stitches and sew seam.

embellish as required.

You can also find my pattern on the Favecrafts website here
and here is a picture of 49 of the decorations all ready for the sale.

little hats

I was really pleased to see that Innocent Smoothies and Sainsbury's are teaming up again to raise funds for Help the Aged. In these difficult financial times it's encouraging to see that companies can still think of others.
But someone has to knit the little hats, so here are my first few. They've said that they don't have to have bobbles this year, so I decided to add buttons to mine. I love making these they are so quick, use up tiny leftovers of wool and you get the lovely feeling you get when you are doing someting selfless.
I encourage you to make a few, the link for more info is in my sidebar.

gingersnap creations/stampsmith challenge: stars

The Gingersnap creations challenge site are teaming up with The Stampsmith again this week with the theme "stars". We are still in movie month on gingersnap, so I used this image of the good witch from the stampsmith's wizard of oz plate, to make this tag.

So make your star themed art and post your link on the gingersnap blog for the chance to win a Stampsmith stamp

Forever friends:fancy folds

This week at the forever friends challenge, we are challenging you to use "fancy folds", you could fold your card in a different way, or maybe use folds and pleats on your card

gingersnap creations: black white and silver

This week at gingersnap the theme is black white and silver, it's still movie month and the challenge is being sponsored by the Stampsmith again. so I made my DT piece to fit in with all of this.

last day!

don't forget to check out the last day of PaperArtsy's 12 days of christmas. I can't believe it's over already, it went so quickly

forever friends: black, white and another colour

At the forever friends blog this week, we challenge you to use black white and another colour. I chose this deep red (which is a coredinations card, so I ripped it to show the core colour as well, is that cheating?)
I was going to stamp a message at the bottom of this card, but I haven't decided what I'm going to use it for yet.

happy "eye-surgery"!!

you can't find cards for that from Hallmark (or maybe you can, I don't honestly know)
Anyway, my friend is having laser treatment tomorrow, and although I know it's now really commonplace, I think she is exceptionally brave.
My friend is Not A Crafting Person (yes it deserves capitals) but she has a bit of a thing for basic grey papers. Also note the bubble stickers, they reminded me of contact lenses, which she won't need anymore, and the tiny text? well hopefully she should be able to read that alot easier too!!

All stamps are by PaperArtsy

I am entering this for the "open" theme on wednesday stamper (let's face it, it wouldn't fit any other theme!!)

... I was saturday surprise has a "parts of the body" theme...how perfect is that!

PaperArtsy 12 days of christmas- day 7

and it's a Jo-day! Pieces from 3 designers called Jo! Jo Firth-Young, Jo Capper-Sandon and me!
And remember you can win stamps. I'm pretty sure that this is the last piece of mine for the 12 days, but I'd sort of forgotten this one, so who knows!!!

what a DT day!!

where do I start?

Well today is my day again on the Paperartsy blog and I got to play with my favourite sheet from the new PaperArtsy christmas stamps. This fairy is adorable. Check out the paperartsy blog to see all the ways I used the stamps.
And don't forget, there's stamps to be won over there!





Also my stampsmith DT and gingersnap creations DT work combine, as The stampsmith is sponsoring the blingy challenge at gingersnap creations this week and I made this card with The best shoes in the world from the Wizard of oz plate.
So go take part in the Gingersnap challenges, there's stamps to be won there as well!

Forever friends : wrap it up

This week we challenge you with a gift wrap theme, your could make a tag, a gift box, a gift card holder or maybe just a card with a gift theme. I decided to decorate a small envelope to attach to a gift to hold a gift receipt.

Day 4: Paperartsy 12 days of christmas

More christmas delights to be seen on the PaperArtsy blog. Today features Jo Capper-Sandon, and there is this vintage tag from me.
Don't forget: there's a giveaway too!!

bird card which was meant to be a tag.

I originally started making this for the tag it on challenge which is "up, up and away", but somewhere along the way I forgot that was making a tag and it turned into a card. The stamp is from The Artistic Stamper. The background is done using the technique Jo showed in this month's craft stamper. I have used real dried flowers on this card so I have attached it to the back of the acetate with eyelets to protect them.
I am also sending this in for the current Art Raffle theme.

Don't forget it's Day three of PaperArtsy's 12 day of christmas with lots of samples and a giveaway, don't miss out!

On the second day of christmas..

....my stamping was featured on the Paperartsy blog.

I worked with the fabulous plate 2 from the new nut and meg range.

I have 4 pieces featured today so if you want to see them please go take a look, and there are stamps to be won.

PaperArtsy 12 days of Christmas

Starting today the PaperArtsy Blog is celebrating 12 days of christmas featuring their new nut and meg christmas stamps, and some old favourites, with loads of inspiring samples made by the Design Team.
There are also giveaways of the new stamps, so don't miss out!!

(keep a special eye out for Days 2 and 6!!!!)

Penny's Tiles

The latest in our collaborative two inch tile project. Penny chose orange/hot colours with blue highlights.
all stamps are Crafty Individuals

my latest knitting project....

...is to master Entrelac. It's going well!

Stampsmith month on Gingersnap Creations

This month The Stampsmith are teaming up with Gingersnap Creations to bring you a series of challenges where you can win Stampsmith products.
I have the enormous honour of being on both The Stampsmith and Gingersnap Design teams, so here is the piece that I made for the first of these challenges with the theme "movie stars" using an image from the Stampsmith's "kiss me you fool" plate.

Forever friends: eyelets/brads

This week at the forever friends challenge, we challenge you to use eyelets or brads on your forever friends piece. I decided to make a faux eyelet mae from a cicle punches piece of text paper, hole punched to look like a paper eyelet.
The other stamps on my Tag are all PaperArtsy

I am also entering this for Mixed Media Monday's stitches theme, as the black zig-zag is real stitching.

sunday postcard art : Fish

I made this quick postcard (6x4) for Sunday Postcard Art, using this little fishing boy mini from PaperArtsy, the other stamps are all from a paperarsty frames plate

Gingersnap DT announcement

I'm proud to announce that I have been selected to be on the Gingersnap Creations Design team for the next six months, Along with this list of very talented artists and crafters.

Jo Capper-Sandon
Debby Boltman
Elina Koutsouradi
Laura Lidell
Hels Sheridan
Erika Taylor
Jean Franks Beck
Paula Whittaker
Lynn Stevens

Check out the gingersnap blog for more information.

Somewhere over the rainbow

The theme at Wednesday stamper is dogs. I decided to use this image of dorothy and toto from The Stampsmith, to decorate a notebook. I hand drew the rainbow again.
(is it just me or does toto remind you of Spit the dog?)

I am also entering this as a second piece or Gingersnap's rainbow colours challange.

Cupcake Teacosy

My sister asked me to knit a cupcake teacosy for her. I couldn't find any patterns that I liked so I made one up. I really hope she likes it (she better had, I'm not making another)
My teapot has a really flat spout, so doesn't really show it off, I'm hoping it will look much better on my sister's teapot.

Forever Friends a sketch challenge

This week on the Forever Friends Challenge we have a sketch challenge for you. I combined mine with a comission I had to make a baby boy card for a baby with an unusual name.

GC20: Color Challenge - The Rainbow

When I saw the new colour challange at Gingersnap Creations was "the rainbow" I decided I wanted to draw a childlike rainbow picture. (I love how children draw rainbows). I then used stamps from the artistic stamper for the butterfly and quote.

What is it with pens?

It seems like everytime I go to the supermarket I buy a packet of ballpoint pens, yet when I need them they've all disappeared!!

So I thought I'd make a pen jar, using one of the new minis from Paperartsy. I also thought this would make a nice "back to school" project so made it in colours that my son, who is just about to start secondary school, might like.

I've stayed with the stationery theme and used ordinary lined paper, a letter stencil (although the smaller letters are a PaperArtsy stamp). I have also embellished with blue staples from a fab little stapler kit that Jo bought me from Tesco.

I love using Jars, as I often think they are too nice to throw out. I recycle my glass, of course, but I prefer to "upcycle"

gingersnap challanges 17 and 19

I made this tiny little chipboard tag for two of the current gingersnap challenges
citrus and chipboard. I used citrussy distress inks and a tiny chipboard tag . The stamps are all Paperartsy and the image is an inchie image from Inka, which shows you just how small this is. I think I might attach a magnet to the back and use it on my notice board, as it is so substantial.

This week's forever friends challenge: not a card

This week at the forever friends challenge we challenge you to make anything other than a card.
I made an easy gift box. I am looking forward to seeing everyone's creations

groovy baby!

I have made this ATC for TMTA's Flower Power theme, Wednesday stamper's Paisley theme and for the stampsmith blog.
The paisley stamps are from a stamps away set, that I have had for ages

make mine a mug of chocolate cake!!

You know how it is when your kids want something cakey, and you don't have anything in? Well we found this fantastic recipe HERE. The best thing about it is all the measurements are tablespoons, so the kids can easily do it themselves. It makes enough for two, but would you share??
I have copied the recipe here

Saw this recipe and have tried it - very quick and pretty good very quick cake! I found 1 cake enough for 2 people when I made it with SR flour.

Just need this recipe and a mug and a microwave!

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons chocolate chips

splash vanilla or other flavoring - try peppermint or cinnamon!

Technique

• Add all of the dry ingredients to the mug and mix.
  
• Add the egg and combine well. It gets pretty pasty at the point.
  
• Stir in milk and oil.
  
• Add chocolate chips* and splash of vanilla. Stir well.
  *if you don't have chocolate chips, try a broken up candy bar - I can't stress how much this amps the awesomeness of your cake
• Microwave for 3 minutes in a 1000w oven, or 4 minutes in a 700w oven.
  It will start to crown over the top of the mug. Don't panic! It will collapse once the heat stops
• Enjoy! (OK wait for it to cool down a bit) Yummy hot or cold!

Saturday's workout

The theme at Saturday's workout is textured paint. I made this ATC using some of the new PaperArtsy Ink and the dog minis (49, 56 and 57), combined with some older paperartsy stamps. I textured the paint by stamping into slightly wet paint, which lifted some of the paint away.

Have Book, Will Travel : a crochet project

I designed this bag yesterday, with the sole purpose of carrying a book. I absolutely always have a book on the go, so I wanted a bag to carry it in. This is a really easy design for a beginner and can be adapted easily to any size, using any yarn and hook.
First start with a granny square (there are plenty of instructions on how to make these on the internet) make it the width that you want your bag to be. Along one side of the square, pick up the stitches and make a row of trebles (UK) or doubles (US). Continue rows of trebles until the piece is about 1/2 " shorter than you want the bag to be, then do two rows of double crochet (UK) or single crochet (US).
Make another identical piece. place wrong sides together (although they don't really have a right and wrong side) and join the sides with double crochet (UK) and then go back over in crab stitch this gives a fancy edge for very little effort.

At one of the edges pick up 7 stitches for handle, and double crochet (UK) over these stitches until the handle is long enough. The handle WILL stretch, so make sure you allow for this in the length. I have designed mine as an across the body bag. When long enough, join to the other edge.

You could easily line this bag with a simple bag lining, but I have left mine unlined, in the market bag style. You could also easily add a loop and button fastening.

My project is now featured on the FaveCrafts website, here.

craft stamper

The next issue of Craft Stamper is out on friday and I have made a little box for storing the freebie stamps that come with the mag, which is featured in the readers section.
All the measurements and instructions are in the mag.
I'm really pleased that it's inspired a couple of people as there are all ready a couple of these boxes featured on blogs:
Chicken Licken
Nikki
If any one else makes one, I'd love to see it.

TMTA friendship

I made this for the TMTA theme using an image from the Stampsmith

little cushion

Our theme at forever friends challenge tomorrow is stitching: real, faux, doodled, stamped, whatever....

I chose to actually sew something, and made a lttle cushion. I actually thought this would make a nice lavender sachet, but didn't have any dried laveder, so it's stuffed with toy stuffing instead.
I was also inspired by theme thursday's 4x4 theme, and this is a 4x4 cushion.

PaperArtsy birdhouse

This is made with one of the new PaperArtsy minis. I thought the image called for something bright and funky.
I am entering this for Crazy Amigo's free theme, there's a prize to win!!

winter wonderland

The theme that the winter wonderland challange, is winter wonderland!!
I made this using a stampsmith image, the music image is by river city rubber works and the words are by Paperartsy.
I have coloured the image with coloursoft pencils and blended with sansodor

saturday's workout and secret crafter

The Saturday's Workout challenge is peeled paint backgrounds. Which I have done using two shades of green acrylic paint. I have made this ATC using the sketch from The secret Crafter challenge. The main image is from the stampsmith's "Isn't she Lovely" plate. so I am featuring it on the stampsmith blog.

altered chip fork!!!!!

This is one of those pieces that makes you question your sanity. I saw the theme at one powerful hour was maps, and I remembered that I had a blackpool map on a sheet of stamps from stampattack. I also remembered I had some of these wooden chip forks that I picked up one day because I thought they had "potential". These chip forks just shout "day at the british seaside" to me, so I went with a daytrip theme to make this tag. This will also be a second entry for wednesday stamper's "taking a ride" theme.
(the map is stamped onto the fork)

Now what I need to know is are these wooden chip forks a peculiarly British thing?

stamp something

The stamp something challenge is butterflies, bugs or other winged things. so I made this card using a stampsmith image, which I have also put on the stampsmith blog.

I felt this image was just crying out for a caption!

The bee is from a seeDs set, and the letters are studio g.

a few challenges..

I decided to see if I could combine the challanges for ready steady stamp:
Wednesday stamper (Ride) and Tag it on (time flies). I'm pretty sure this piece satisfies all of them!
The main image is by Inka, the clock is non-sequitur and the quote is from Paperbag studios

less is only more when more is no good

I made this ATC for the Kings and Queens theme at TMTA. I often like to make quite simple pieces but I got a bit carried away on this one, so I felt I had to fit the quote on somewhere, so I used some shrink plastic to squeeze it in. As I was so determined to use this quote I am also entering this for TGiF's word theme, and theme thursday's ATC theme
All the stamps are from PaperArtsy

forever friends: a sketch challenge

We have another sketch challenge on the Forever Friends Blog this week. Why not pop over and have a look.
I used the sketch to make a tag for a baby.

saturday's workout: shadow box

The theme at saturdays workout is to make a canvas back shrine, or shadow box. I love canvas back shrines, but just didn't have one to fit the images I wanted to use, so I made a "cheat" shadow box using 3d foam. All the images, paper and ribbon (except for the french text) are by PaperArtsy

crochet bees

I will let you draw your own conclusions about the state of my mental health!!

ready steady stamp

another new challange, ready steady stamp. At first I didn't think this was for me as there are so many rules


and on top of that "NO CUTE ALLOWED"
now I actually think this cat is pretty cute, but as the challenge actually states they like PaperArtsy, I think I'll get away with it.

The background circles (which I have used for the faux batik) are also by PaperArtsy. I have mounted the bunting piece onto an acetate card

(I think I may have got the faux batik wrong as it was supposed to be done on text paper, but I didn't do too bad)

TMTA and wednesday stamper

The Wednesday stamper theme is dream and the TMTA theme is the moon, so I have combined them to make this ATC with a stampsmith Image, which I have also featured on the stampsmith blog

I am also sneaking this onto the created by hand, stars and moon theme

Happy 21st birthday Forever Friends (and a mild case of beanie addiction)

This week at the Forever Friends Challenge we are celebrating the 21st anniversary of forever friends, with a celebration theme. We also have a little giveaway.

And on an unrelated issue




I can't stop knitting beanie hats now. I love the fact that I can just pick up a 50g ball of wool that I just like the look of and there will be enough to make a hat. The first hat is from Sirdars crofter DK which magically knits up like fair isle, and feels beautiful. The second is from knit picks and was sent to me by the gorgeous Marie Greene. I am also making the same hat in the opposite colourway, with what I have left over.

theme thursday stripes

The theme at at theme thursday is stripes. I have just received this brand new mini stamp from PaperArtsy which I thought was just perfect for the theme. The background stamps are also Paperartsy. The rocks are BasicGrey paper, the back ground card is coredinations, and the image is coloured with whispers pens.


While on the subject of stripes, I am now over my fear of knitting beanie hats and I made this one for my son's teacher (as a sort of joke after she asked me to knit all those hats for the play, but also because I thought she's like it- which she did!) it is knitted in Noro silk garden, A little extravagant, but as you only need one ball, it gave me a chance to knit with a fabulous yarn and make a lovely present: win-win

cute and colourful

The theme at wednesday stamper is colourful. The date stamp and bird are snag'em stamps, the message on the front is from Inka and the stamps inside are "assorted" I thought the pink and yellow combo was quite colourful!

violin card

My eldest son is leaving primary school this week (obviously I had him very young ;) ) and I wanted to make a card for his violin teacher, so I used this lovely image from the stampsmith. I see the lots to do theme is collage. I think most of what I do could be described as collage, so I am entering this for that theme.
I have also put it on the stampsmith blog



also this week at the forever friends challenge we have the theme pink and blue and a flower or two, and this is the card I made for that.

Inchy by Inch - Guest host

This week I am the guest host on the Inchy by Inch challenge blog, which you may have seen featured in this month's craft stamper magazine.
I chose my theme as "text". I hope lots of people take part.
My Inchie uses a stamp from the stampsmith so I am also featuring it on the stampsmith blog.

I have also used a little bit of flower soft on this piece

theme thursday and forever friends

The theme at theme thursday this week is pink and brown, which coincidentally is nearly the same as our theme at Forever Friends, which is Pink and brown and flowers. So here is the tag I made for this week.

inchie mobile phone charm

I've made this piece for 3 challenges, firstly, UK art raffle is back with the theme summer, what could be more summery than the rose fairy? (from Crafters companion), secondly, Created by hand's theme is Inchies, so I made a shrink plastic inchie (I had to do the "shrink plastic ruler" thing first). Then I realised that TMTA's theme is in the garden, which this fit perfectly, however it's not an ATC, no problem. I just mounted it on an ATC size card, (me? cheat? of course!)
The image is coloured with distress inks and perfect pearls

buildings inchie

just a quick inchie for the inchy by inch challenge. stamps and papers are by PaperArtsy

WInter wonderland - Christmas past

The theme at Winter wonderland challenge, is christmas past. So I immediatly thought, vintage and distressed and made this really easy tag, using all PaperArtsy stamps (Xmas plate 4 and Ancestors plate 2) and distress inks and powders.

A very long post!!

Had a good crafting day today, my fingers are covered in ink and glue to prove it.
First of all I have made a card for TGIF, where the theme is apples pears and peaches.



Then I have made a baby card, using the mother and baby klimt image. I have, however cropped it to remove the "nipular" area, so as not to offend anyone! I have included a close up of this to show the silver highlights. The heart says "made with love" very appropriate for a baby card, don't you think. The blue edging to this is actually a cover up, it was going to be a really simple card but then I dropped some bue ink on it, so I made a feature of it



next is another skate card, seriosly I don't know what I would do without these stamps. This one is for Ben (hence the giant B)

And finally, here is a coaster card, I have made for the PaperArtsy DT. (because I have had a pile of coasters given to me) All the stamps, paper and ribbons are from PaperArtsy

Craft Stamper is out today

And I have taken part in the stamping contrasts article again. This time we had the rose flower fairy sheet from crafters companion, so of course I had to make a jar fairy! ( I do have a bit of a thing about jars). For the second piece I decorated a cheap clip frame. My favourite thing about this piece his how I did the wings on vellum.
I've included a couple of sneak peek pictures here, but you'll need to get the mag to see them in there entirety and to see what other people did with the same stamps.

I also have an inchie cube in the article written by Carol

TMTA look into a face

Three posts in one day, well that should see me good for a few days!
I couldn't resist TMTA's theme of "look into a face". I had to use one of these adorable babies from the ooh baby plate from the stampsmith.
(I am also putting this on the stampsmith blog)

mixed media monday: playful dolls

The theme at Mixed Media Monday is playful dolls. I decided to use this lovely stampsmith image from the Thank heaven for little girls plate. The thing about the MMM challenge is it encourages me to try yo use other media, apart from just paper and card, so in this case I have gone for fabric and buttons, with a touch of sewing

I am also uploading this to the stampsmith blog

forever friends sketch

We have a sketch challenge again for you over on the forever friends challenge. I used it to make a birthday card for a party my son was going to

Quick Knit along project

The wonderful Marie Greene has a little knit along project on her blog for a dream pillow, but she showed me another way to use it as a bag, so I knitted one up. I love the stitch pattern, it's so easy to follow when you get the hang of it.

I have entered this for the secret crafter "pretty packaging" challenge, I hope knitting counts!!

Homer Simpson Scarecrow

See this is why I needed the doughnuts! Our village has a scarecrow hunt, with models and scarecrows dotted around the village for people to find. The theme this year is America as we are holding it on the 4th July. Now I don't want any of my american readers to take offense. I do not think Americans are all like the Simpsons, I just really really love the show!

Crocheted doughnuts!!!

Why? you might ask. Well, that will become apparent in a future post. I needed a doughnut for something else I was making, so I found this adorable pattern on lion brand. I only needed to make one, but they are as addictive as real doughnuts and I ended up making four!! I tweaked the pattern slightly and the sprinkles (or "hundreds and thousands" as we Brits call them) are sewn with embroidery thread.
The only practical use I can think of for these is pin cushions, but wouldn't they be the best pincushions ever?

Christmas already?

Well, it's always christmas at the Christmas challenge blog, where the theme this week is a blue Christmas. I made this gift box, using all stamps from PaperArtsy. The box is made from just one plain card blank.
I have used versafine deep lagoon for the images, and distress faded jeans for the background.