Birthday cupcakes

I saw a version of this card about a year ago on Monica's blog here and I instantly loved it and bookmarked it for a future occasion. I had no idea it would take me a year to make it!

I changed the colour scheme here to use Certainly Celery, Pretty In Pink and Bashful blue cardstocks and inks. I stamped the birthday cupcake first and cut those elements out so that I could see how much room I needed, and then I stamped the 'girl' from the alphabet stamps onto white card, leaving enough space for the cake to go in place of the 'i' with the candle.

I used the border punch along the bottom, the gold cord around the Bashful Blue cardstock and some other decorative edge scissors for variation on the blue card. I just love how simple the Stampin' Up! stamps are and how clear they stamp onto white card - it's a lovely design so thanks to Monica for sharing it in the first place!

Baby Sock Cupcakes!

I went to a babyshower last weekend and I was looking for something new to make - we always like to be creative with our gifts and I wanted to do something new.

Another friend of mine gave me the idea of cupcakes made out of baby socks - she had seen these in the shops and made some herself thanks to tutorials on you tube. So I set about doing the same!

The only problem is - it is nearly impossible to find neutral coloured socks other than white! I really needed some colour for this to work, and finally managed to find some green and yellow socks in Debenhams. I luckily had green and yellow spotted cupcakes to match - perfect!

There are a few different ways of doing these, and you can do them with things other than socks too, but here is the video on you tube which I watched to learn how to do it:

Have a go - these are really fun!

More cupcake baby sock photographs!

Here'a a couple more photographs of the baby socks post above this one - blogger wouldn't let me add them for some reason! the original post was here

More rocky road for birthdays

I haven't made another wonderful batch of this rocky road - this is in fact some that I packaged up and gave away some time ago, I just haven't shared it with you yet. I shared the rocky road packaged up in a similar way which said 'So happy for you' which was for my friend who is pregnant, this time I made this for my friend's birthday.

As before, I cut the rocky road into small pieces and put them into a small cellophane bag (I actually used the bags I put my cards in to sell!). I then cut and folded over a piece of Whisper White stampin up card ready for the topper. I stamped the sentiment (stampin up stamp) in purple (this is an old retired stampin up colour - sorry!) and then the birthday candle stamp - also from Stampin' Up in the pink (another retired colour!). Such simple gifts I can't wait to make these for Christmas!

Apparently my friend's husband claimed this was some of the best chocolate he's ever tasted!

Father's Day card

So - a tad late in posting this inspiration but - a Father's Day card that needed to be quick - as always!

But all of the cards I make can easily be made for any other theme, occasion or with another colour scheme and I have a feeling I'll be doing similar very soon! I've used the new Square Lattice embossing folder in the Big Shot machine to 'crinkle' the background blue Stampin Up card - I love this one for male cards, and the spotty embossing die for female cards. I've then used some of the natural twine around it - again this is a must have for your cards for men!

The sticker was an old one that I had from a long time ago. There's so many wonderful products in the mini catalogue that I haven't managed to use properly yet - it's criminal! I challenge you to make this card for another occasion and then send me a link - just substitute the sticker for another or a stamped image.

Selling crafty bits on ebay

I am selling a few crafty bits, along with some other items, on ebay this week. If you are interested in the following you can click on the links... hoping to shift lots more this way too it's just time consuming!

Animal themed papers and embellishments: here

A pack of 50 Artist Trading Cards - blank, assorted colours - here

A blank 12x12 thin boxed canvas - I have about eight of these to sell if anyone wants them for a class etc! here

A souvenir biscuit tin (not craft related, I know!) here

A brand new Dulwich Designs jewellery box - here

A new Marks and Spencers glass photoframe - here

And... a high backed fireside chair! Here

There are some other bits but they aren't crafty either so I won't share!

How To Make Bunting

My friend Rachel has made friends with her sewing machine lately and has been making lots of lovely things. She even took a course by Miss Maker here in London - she runs lots of different courses and makes bespoke items too. Take a look!

The bunting that she made was with the Hungry Caterpillar fabric which she bought from ebay - isn't it cute? She was able to hang it around the garden for a child's birthday.

Here's a close up of the fabric she used -

Want to know how to make the lovely bunting? She has kindly offered me her instructions to share with you on here - so send me a link if you have a go at making some yourself!

From Rachel:

The material was Hungry Caterpillar 'Encore food' 18" by 22". I bought it via a seller on ebay but I googled and quite a few people sell it too.

I created a triangle template which was 9" by 7".

Materials I used were:

tape measure
fiskars rotary cutter
cutting board
Hungry Caterpillar material (as above)
Red material (actually used a pillow case)
Blue material used about same amount as half a pillow case
Pencil
Pins
Sewing machine
White cotton
Scissors
9m bias binding

1) I cut as many triangles as I could from the hungry caterpillar material and again from the red and blue material making sure to note which way the pattern ran.

2) I pinned the HC material and red wrong side to each other, sewed a running stitch around the edge, leaving a two inch gap at the top of the triangle. I then snipped the corners of the triangle off and turned it the right way through using the gap. I then pushed the points of the triangle out using the pencil, before closing the gap using the sewing machine.

3) To make the HC material go further, each triangle was backed with red or blue fabric. This means the whole thing is reversible too. This was enough material to make two long strings of bunting.

4) I then laid out the triangles onto the bias binding (9m is enough for two strings). I positioned them so there was a 9" gap between them on the line, then pinned the triangles inside each bias binding and used the sewing machine to sew it in.

Voila!

Wedding Dress Shopping

One of the most exciting things about planning a wedding has to be (for the bride) choosing a wedding dress! I had plenty of time to plan mine so I could take my time, and as my friend is getting married the same kind of time next year, we both went to visit this lovely little shop in Danbury - The Bespoke Wardrobe. (These pictures are theirs)

I tried lots of different styles on and found a dress that I loved there!

It's a really pretty boutique with lovely decor - I know all of you crafty friends are going to love the birdcage on the table - isn't it funny how the trends we see in crafts are extended right across fashion, decor and almost everywhere else?

My friend actually had birdcages as the centrepiece for her wedding a couple of years ago and they are still very trendy.

Such a pretty shop!

Hol-i-day

I'm back from a lovely week away in Portugal so among other reason's that's kept me quiet! I wasn't organised enough to schedule any crafty posts while I was away but we went to spend a week in Carvoeiro, in Portugal, and stayed in this lovely little villa which had our own pool.

The weather was lovely, it was very relaxing and peaceful and we had our own pool which was just lovely.

We went out and about in our hire car to different towns for dinner, this was Vilamoura Marina which was very nice.

We cooked a BBQ at our villa another night which was also very nice. Just a great week away really!

I shall come back to posting some wedding inspiration ideas I think soon - it is time to share the fun that is weddings with you all, especially as so much of it is creative!

Just before we went away I went wedding dress shopping with my sisters - and bought my dress! Which is just so exciting, it's such a big part of it and I love the dress I have chosen, as you can imagine.

Until next time...