I'm a happy Hooker!!!

As some of you know, I've been off work for about 4 weeks now. Somehow I haven't felt in the mood for doing anything papery at all while I've been off. I've only made about 3 bits of jewellery too. The creative input needed for two of my favourite hobbies has somehow eluded me, but I hope when I get back on track I will feel inspired once again.
However, I have had something to keep me occupied. I've been learning to crochet. It's been satisfying my need for creativity without straining my brain! I did a sampler piece of a few different stitch types, then made this gift bag for a friend. I made the body of the bag using a few of the basic stitches, then a scalloped edge taken from the beginner's book I had bought, and a flower pattern that I found online.

I love the simplicity of crochet: once you have learned a few stitches, all patterns and designs are pretty much a variation of these. You can take it anywhere, just a ball of wool and a hook are needed, you can pick it up and put it down, and it doesn't take over the whole living room like certain other hobbies of mine!
Also, as any crafter knows, its fun to make things that are small and pretty! I'm hoping that I can make some cute flower embellishments, to use in scrapping and even jewellery making. I love taking different craft elements and fusing them into something unique.

Hats Off!

First I'd like to say how much fun this was. When I was at uni I'd make stuff like this often and wear it too (mini top hat=goth fashion staple!) I didn't have all the papercraft resources then that I do now so I was really able to experiment here.
 I've used quite a bit of Tim Holtz idea-ology here: grungeboard keyhole, key and wings, tissue tape and type charm. I've also used Papermania textured cardstock, chain and mini penny farthing charm from hobbycraft, and 7gypsies mini key.

When I first saw the type charms (they come with letter stickers) I thought they would make great mini pocket watches, and I've finally found a project to use it for. They would look great on a charm bracelet or as a pendant too.
The body of the hat was made from an old Lush pot, to give a funky inverted shape, and the base a fine corrugated card, which I found to be quite malleable. I covered with the brown cardstock, then sanded it (white core cardstock is useful here as it brings out the texture) I then covered all the edges and 2 grungeboard wings with tissue tape, and used antique linen distress ink to accent. I covered the key and keyhole with brown then metallic paint for a rusty look.
I thought about the normal netting/veiling you can get on these mini hats, but I only had black net, so I decided to try and utilise the chain that i'd made the charm from for a pretty effect. I just made holes in the brim, opened up a few chain links and used them to attach the main length of chain.

This piece is going in for the Grungy Monday 37 challenge, to create a piece of wearable art.
Thanks Linda for a great challenge!!!

Also, this will be my feb monthly make

Two Girly Cards

This is the kind of girly I can cope with - no fluffy bunnies or anything too cutesy! I'm sharing a couple of cards- one quick, one that took a bit longer. The more time-consuming one, I made last year. It was the first one I made with my Tim Holtz birdcage die- now a firm favourite. Though I made it before I started blogging, I was always in the habit of snapping my favourite cards in case I wanted to go back for inspiration later. Sometimes its hard to give them away! But obviously as this one was personalised, it wasn't too hard to part with.
I actually used a freebie paper from a magazine for the background. You never know when they might come in handy so I never throw them away (who am I kidding? I never throw anything away!) So I used the TH birdcage and vintage market alphabet dies, the bird and letters are cut from the First Edition desert blooms paper stack. The hanging charms and flower are from Making Memories. A lot of input from my trusty promarkers, especially the Coral.

The second card was a cutting-and-piecing quickie for the 52-week card challenge. The paper is all from the DCWV 8x8 Street Lace stack. I love the lace and net look of these papers, very vibrant but a little bit saucy and naughty. The stack also has green, turquoise and cream papers as well as the pink, all have the black lace theme going on. I'll definitely be using this stack up quick! My black versacolor inkpad got a workout too, and my fingers were pretty sore after all that cutting!

Monthly Makes for January

I've been relatively productive this month, taking part in scrapping and card challenges on the UKS forums. I also decided to join in the Monthly Make for 2012 on the Felt Fairy's blog (see badge at the bottom of my blog). This month I have made my first ever ATCs, for a swap, and a card that I can now put up because the person I sent it to should have got it by now!

ATCs represented a completely new challenge for me: being creative in such a small space. When I scrap, I tend to leave space rather than fill pages up too much, but being able to fit everything I wanted onto a little card was a challenge for sure. I made a series of 6, entitled "Secrets in Lace", and 5 have been swapped; I kept the first one as I thought it might be nice to hang on to my first ever ATC. I'd be happy to make one-offs or more series if anyone wants to do a swap, just let me know.

 This card was really fun to make, it came out more like a scrapbook layout than some of my cards, but it was for a lovely friend so I wanted to spend a bit more time on it, hence I've used more techniques, more layers than I usually would: inking, stamping, die-cutting, collage. I liked the contrast of the girlie pastel dress and bunting against the aged feel of the stamped background.
Now I'm on a roll with my cardmaking I'm starting to enjoy it more, like I used to when I first started. I think taking inspiration from scrapping has really helped so I'll try and keep up with the 52 card challenge for the rest of the year!!

Kitschy Kitchen

Recipe album kit by Melissa Francis: Kitschy Kitchen...the name says it all!

I found this cute kit in my stash after having bought it ages ago- typical me! And as my favourite recipes are mostly scribbled on scraps of paper and chucked in a kitchen drawer I thought it was about time I did something about it. 

As well as the album, I’d bought some of the coordinating bits: tags, cardstock stickers and extra recipe cards: they definitely added a little something. As an experienced crafter I felt afterwards that I could have easily made this album up myself with a couple of D-rings, some chipboard and a few papers, which would have been cheaper and given me more creative freedom (the covers come already printed), but I like how it turned out and that’s the main thing! 

I added some of my own ribbon, a frame sticker and a paper doily to the album to personalise it more. I’m not usually one for kits, but this one was fast and fun so maybe I’ll try a few more…

Scrap-Happy!

 I've always been into papercrafts, but started scrapbooking in earnest about a year ago. Due to time constraints, I haven’t managed to complete that many layouts, but I've had real fun putting pages together, preserving photos in a way that will be lovely to look back on in years to come! The two layouts here are from photos about 4 years old but scrapped at the end of 2011. I have included vintage styling in both, but the effect is completely different! 

With neutral colours and lots of stamping and distress inking, the Mad as a Hatter layout looks like an old piece. There is hidden journalling and another photo behind the main picture: I love to include interactive elements in pages. On both pages I've used Graphic 45 and Tim Holtz products. Both brands are great for vintage-look/ distressed-look pages, Graphic 45 producing exquisite papers, and Tim Holtz specialising in altered art products. I wanted a dramatic look for the Love Story layout, so while the page elements are still mainly in a neutral colour, a black textured background was used, with red accents to compliment the photo. I've also included some mushy journalling about my friends in the photo!

I didn’t want to fill up my posts with product and technical info, but if anyone would like information about the specific products or techniques used, I’m happy to share. Also, this is the first time I've photographed my scrapbook pages, so I'm still getting used to that and the photography isn't great! Still, you get the idea. Now I’m off to think up some scrappy ideas for the collection of Graphic 45 papers I bought recently, gorgeously entitled Steampunk Debutante!