Summer Holiday Crafts - day 3

Today we had another go at a craft we tried last summer - Wet Felting. Readers of my blog may remember the felt beads we made last year. This year through Pinterest I found  some super little felt turtles on the Yours 'til Niagra Falls blog, and as Lara is a fan of turtles I thought she would like to try making some.


We used some Merino Wool Rovings bought for just under a fiver on Ebay and some scraps of felt.

We took some of the wool and wound it into ball about 1.5" round. 


We then took a tiny bit of liquid soap and some hot water and started to roll the felt ball in our hands - like you would roll a ball of play dough.

We continued doing this, rinsing the ball and our hands under the hot water from time to time and gradually the ball became thicker and smaller.

 Once the balls were fairly hard we then started rinsing the balls in cold water too. This had the effect of shocking the wool and made it shrink even smaller until we had a small hard ball of felt.

The balls were then cut in half to make turtle shells and put on a tray outside in the sunshine to dry.

Once the shells had dried we cut bodies from felt scraps and glued the shells on top. We should have embroidered their eyes but instead decided to just mark them with a Promarker pen. 

Our 16 finished turtles. A few of the shells weren't perfect but they still look sweet.

Summer Holiday Crafts - day 2

Today's summer holiday craft was a jewellery project. A few months ago I bought a Shambala Bracelet kit online and so today Lara had a go at making it.


She struggled at first to follow the instructions, but after checking a video on You Tube she quickly got the hang of it.

The finished bracelet.

She enjoyed making the bracelet so much and hasn't taken it off since finishing it so I've ordered another kit (all blue) so she can make one again some time .... and perhaps I might get to make one too.


( Linda has asked where I ordered the bracelet kits from - I ordered from Bijoux By Me. 2 kits currently cost £7 + p&p in their summer sale.)   

Summer Holiday Crafts - day 1

Last summer Lara and I had a summer of craft. Most days during the school summer holidays we made, created and crafted all sorts of handmade goodies. Of course Lara remembered this and so has been asking me almost daily in the lead up to this years summer holiday to 'do more craft'.


So, not wanting to disappoint (and with the help of Pinterest) I have a few projects up my sleeve for the coming weeks.


Today's inspiration came from Marthaafterhours.blogspot.com . I love the chicken army on the blog and thought Lara would too. So after scouring the Internet for instructions on how to make the chicken beanbags and with a few left over scraps of fabric, a bag of split peas, some wadding, buttons and some felt we set about creating our own chickens.

Lara decided that she should make 4 chickens to spell out her name. Cute!

Scrapology - July Card Challenge

Today is card challenge day on Scrapology. Marion Emberson of Sugar & Spice Crafts has set this months challenge which is to get out your embossing powders and heat gun and create a card using HEAT EMBOSSING.

Heat embossing isn't something have done often so this challenge really was a challenge to me! Instead of embossing a stamped image I decided I would use embossing powders to emboss a die cut shape.

I found a butterfly which I had cut sometime ago using a friend's Marianne Creatables Butterfly die. I inked the butterfly quite heavily with a Versamark ink pad and then embossed it with black powder. The powder gave the butterfly a shiny almost plastic appearance. 

I printed a Word Art quote from 'Create with TLC' onto white card and after matting this on black card mounted the quote and the butterfly onto a card blank covered with black card and paper from October Afternoon's 'Fly a Kite' collection. I finished the card with Heidi Swapp small flower jewels, black ribbon and a diamante ribbon buckle from Mei Flowers.

Please pop over to Scrapology to see the rest of the Design Teams cards and hopefully you'll feel inspired to take part in the challenge.

Olympic Torch Relay

Today we braved the wet weather to go and see the Olympic Torch Relay go through our nearby town of Letchworth Garden City. It was VERY wet and umbrellas were the order of the day but we waited patiently with all the other people who had gathered to see the torch pass by. Instead of going into the town centre we chose to stand on a quieter residential part of the route and got a clear road side view.

Before the main event there was a convoy of Relay Partner Vehicles: 

Coca-Cola

Samsung

and Lloyds TSB

There were lots of police cars and motor cycles - all high fiving the spectators as they drove past. When the rain got really heavy this poor chap had to stop in the middle of the road and in front of the many people watching to put his waterproofs on. Have you ever seen a policeman try to quickly put tight waterproof trousers on over the top of his regular trousers in front of a crowd of people laughing and cheering at him? Poor chap gave a bow at the end to a round of applause.

There were also the many  BMW Olympic Torch Relay support cars and the Coaches carrying all the torch bearers for the day and the support staff.

Finally, and more of less on time, the torch passed by being carried by John Harris who was nominated for coaching sport in schools and clubs. By the time he passed by it was absolutely pouring with rain (as you can see from this photo) but he still had a smile on his face and was waving at the crowd as he ran by.

Despite the rain it was a good morning and we were glad we made the effort to go and watch.

Scrapology Layout Challenge - Y is for Yarn

Thanks to anyone who crossed their fingers yesterday for the dance competition. Unfortunately Lara's school didn't win but they had a fun day and their performance was great. Such wonderful memories created. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

This month on Scrapology, the team chose a stunning layout by Gabrielle Polloco as it's inspiration and challenge readers to also take inspiration from the layout and incorporate YARN in their layout.

I decided to scrapbook a photo of my youngest son taken 8 years ago whilst we were strawberry picking. 

I used patterned papers from Simple Stories 100 Days of Summer Collection as well as a jounalling card, title strip and cardstock stickers also from the collection. The 'PYO Sweet & Juicy Strawberries' picture was downloaded from the internet and I think it co-ordinated with the Simple Stories papers perfectly. For my yarn I pulled some threads from a piece of hessian and used this to make some bunting, tie on a button and also to tie the title strip to the layout. To add some dimension to the layout the title strip was mounted on 3D foam and I cut the cloud from the strip and mounted this on some more foam. 

My layout is very different from Gabrielle's original layout and probably more like the sketch which is also available as inspiration.

Gabrilelle's layout .................

............. and the sketch.

Once again there will be a fabulous prize for the challenge winner so hop on over to Scrapology and join in the fun.

Dance Make Your Move

Please cross your fingers for my daughter today. Last weekend her little village school competed in the Red Cross 'Dance Make Your Move' dance competition. They won their heat and today they are competing in the Regional Finals. If they manage to win today it means that in 2 weeks they will be off to the O2 for the National Final.

My New Car

I have become a really sloooooow scrapbooker. This layout was started in April and has only just been finished! It was almost finished in April but has been sat staring at me ever since. I felt it needed something else and it wasn't until this week after I added some chevrons that I could finally say it was finished. Still not entirely happy with it but its done and I am putting it away.

I used Doodlebug Crushed Velvet Patterned Cardstock, Bazzill Cardstock, a page torn from an outdated road atlas (shhh don't tell DH!), road signs and journal boxes printed from the internet and self adhesive gems. The chevrons and title were cut on the Craftrobo.

Thank you My Minds Eye

Today I am a happy bunny!


A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to win a giveaway on the My Minds Eye Blog and it arrived today all the way from America.


I had been told I'd won a 'collection pack' of my choice (I chose 'Sunny Side Up') and was expecting a paper pack. Imagine my surprise and excitement this morning when this lot turned up! The complete product line.

As well as 12 x 12 papers there are TWO 6 x 6 paper pads, 1 12 x 12 sheets of die cuts accents, 1 12 x 12 sheet of chipboard accents,  a pack of decorative brads and a pack of layered stickers. I'm in heaven!

My Minds Eye have always been one of my favourite manufacturers but after this generous gift they are now firmly placed at the top of my list. Thank you My Minds Eye.

Scrapology - June Card Challenge

Today is Card Challenge Day on Scrapology and this month Hels Sheridan has challenged the design team and blog readers to 'Make it Vintage'

My card was inspired by a vintage image I downloaded from the Internet. 

I added the image to a tag which I had already covered in script paper and then decorated the tag with an assortment of butterflies, ribbon and lace and a sentiment printed on the computer. Machine stitching was also added to add some interest.

The tag was then put onto a 6x6 square card to which I had added a sheet of papers from Websters Pages. The card was finished off with buttons, faux pearls and more machine stitching.

The challenge will run until the 15th July, so pop on over to Scrapology and check out the details.

Awww , who says romance is dead?

I saw a link to this video on May Flaum's blog and  after watching it I just had to post it here. Enjoy.

Scrapology Layout Challenge - W is for White Space

Today is new Challenge Day on Scrapology and this month we scraplifted a great layout by Rô Phillipsen which was based on a sketch from Pagemaps. The layout featured White Space so that is the featured technique. 


I choose to use some very old photos of Lara taken when she was only about 18 months old and was very interested in some Sunflowers I had bought.

I used Bazzill Cardstock and patterned papers from Echo Park's 'Life if Good' and 'A Walk in the Park' collections. The leaves were cut on the Craft Robo and the sunflower seed packet was downloaded and printed from the internet. I also added a few buttons and the pre-made sunflower embelishments came as part of a kit I bought from QVC years ago.

Here is Rô's original layout ............

........... and the Pagemaps sketch.

Please do go and visit Scrapology and see the rest of the teams layouts and  perhaps join in the challenge. Just use the sketch to create a layout with some white space. 

Happy Birthday Lynn

I made this little birthday card for my friend Lynn's birthday this week. I used a Craftwork Cards scallop edge card and papers from a 'Me to You' paper pad. The image is a Lili of the Valley Die Cut image, the organza flowers and lace are from Mei Flowers and the pearls from The Hobby House.  

I actually think I may have slipped up with this card. As I was making it I suddenly thought 'I'm sure I've used these flowers with a similar image before' and when I checked I realised when I made Lynn's card last year I used a Lili of the Valley image and the very same flowers. Sorry Lynn. I'll try and come up with something more original next year. 

Medieval Make Believe

Last month whist at the retreat I put together this layout using photos of my daughter taken a few years ago at Framlingham Castle in Suffolk. Well, I put about 90% of the layout together and have been tinkering with it ever since.

I used papers from My Minds Eye (Wood), Crate Paper (Pink) and October Afternoon (Music). I also used more scraps of My Minds Eye paper to make the bunting and the concertina/rosette  flowers. The flags were made by gluing some of the bunting to wooden cocktail sticks which were topped with a pearl bead. I added some flat back pearls and perfect pearls to add extra detail.

The hardest part about this layout was the title. My crafty friends had many suggestions for titles but in the end I settled for 'Medieval Make Believe' which I cut on the Craft Robo. 


Oops, just realised one of the pearls from the top of the flags is missing. Must have fallen off during photographing the layout. Off to find another. 

Scrapology - May Card Challenge

Today a new card challenge has been set on Scrapology. The challenge has been set by design team member Sue and the challenge is to create a card featuring a Mythical Creature. I chose to create my card using a pre-coloured digital stamp called Dragon's Birthday from The Paper Shelter.

I used papers from a DCWV stack and Echo Park, sentiment from Craftwork Cards, Bakers Twine and some felt stars bought ages ago from Paperchase. 

Please do pop on over to Scrapology and join in the challenge - there's a lovely prize up for grabs! 

Diamond Jubilee Cake

Every weekend Lara brings a piece of homework home to complete before the following Wednesday, but this term in the lead up to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics the format has changed. The whole school are learning instead about London and have been given a whole list of homework tasks from which each child can choose one to complete each week. For example one week Lara chose to make a model of something to do with London (she made a red double decker bus), the next week she did a PowerPoint presentation about Buckingham Palace and last week she created a London word search. This week she decided to 'bake a cake to celebrate the Jubilee'.


I wonder whether when the teachers set that task they were anticipating the number of children who would rise to the challenge and just how many cakes would be taken into school! Every week it seems that at least two children have taken in a cake - which the teacher has cut up and to the children's delight let them eat.


Inspired by the Rainbow Cake I made last month for Christopher's birthday, Lara decided to make a red, white and blue Jubilee Cake. Apart from putting the cake tins in and out of the oven and tipping the cake out of the tins she made it all herself with me just telling her what to do. She can even recite the recipe from memory now!


Here's the finished cake complete with flags printed from the internet........

......... and here's the portion that came home after the class had had their fill.

It certainly was a VERY BRIGHT cake and we may have to make another one in a few weeks time for the Jubilee Weekend!

Scrapology Layout Challenge - C is for Charms

 Yesterday was new challenge day on Scrapology and this month the challenge is to use Charms in your layout and also take inspiration from a lovely layout by Karola Witczak.

For my layout I decided to rescrap a photo of Lara taken in 2005.

I used papers from Scenic Route and My Little Shoebox and made some handmade flowers inspired by a Pinterest pin.

The flowers were made by layering varying sizes of die cut flowers (cut on the Craft Robo) with 3D foam. Before layering them I sanded the edged slightly and curled them. A button was glued in the centre of each layered flower

My charms were Doodlebug acrylic charms.

Here's Karola's original layout ...........

.............. and Lynn's sketch.

Pop on over to Scrapology to have a look at all the design team layouts and perhaps take part int he challenge yourself.

Carry on Nursing

A slightly unusual layout from me today. Apart from a tiny little strip of patterned paper at the bottom of this layout I only used card stock. I really love patterned paper and so to use so little on this layout is quite rare for me.

The photo collage was made in Picasa and I cut various nursing bits and pieces on the Craft Robo as embelishments. The title was made from BasicGrey stickers and the strip of stripe paper at the bottom was, I think, from Bella Press.

Lovely

This layout was made using the gorgeous My Minds Eye Follow Your Heart Be Happy paper collection and is a scraplift of a layout by Susan Goetter. I absolutely LOVE this collection and really enjoyed putting the layout together using one of my favourite photos of Lara.

As well as papers from the Follow Your Heart Be Happy collection I used Bazzill Cardstock, My Minds Eye Laundry Line Rub Ons, Clear Plastic Buttons, Butterflies printed form the Swirlydoos website and title lettering cut on the Craft Robo.

The hexagons were cut from the patterned paper and paper and I used a black pen to doodle faux stitching round the edges.

Hunstanton Rocks

Another layout for last weeks Scrapbooking weekend using photos from a trip to Hunstanton, Norfolk in 2009.

I used a real mixture of papers for this layout - Scenic Route Grafton (Orange), BasicGrey Ambrosia (white), BasicGrey Marrakech (green) and My Little Shoebox (Ledger). I also used Bazzill cardstock, BasicGrey lettering , an MME die cut Calendar journalling card and a few buttons. The photo collage was created in Piccasa.

Tux

Not wanting to show favouritism towards Millie the Puppy, todays layout is of Tux, our 2 year old cat. The photos were taken last year in the garden and the layout was inspired by Candice Greenway's gorgeous animal layouts.

I used papers from My Mind's Eye Coastal Collection. The photo of the layout doesn't do the papers justice as they are really beautiful and very glittery ... oh and I've had them unused for at least 3 years. The only embelishments I used were a sticker from a packet of 7Gypsies 97% Complete Stickers and a small round chipboard accent from  Prima.  

I'm Sticking With You

Today's layout is of my puppy Millie. She just loves to chew on a stick and I snapped these photos last month when she was doing just that.

I used Simple Stories Year.o.Graphy paper and apart from adding a few stickers down the side from a packet of 7Gypsies 97% Complete Stickers , some very old re-coloured K & Co Title Stickers, a scalloped circle punched from another sheet of Simple Stories paper  and journalling on a transparency I added nothing else. These Simple Stories papers don't need lots of embelishing and are too nice to cover up.

Winter Wipeout

Another layout today from my weekend away called 'Winter Wipeout'. I am making a concerted effort to make more multi-photo layouts and for this layout I used 3 photos of Wayne & Lara playing in the snow earlier this year. The layout was probably subconsciously inspired by Canadian scrapper Stephanie Klauck's layouts.

I am also trying to 'Stash Bust' and use old and new papers from various manufacturers. For this layout I used papers from SEI (white spot background), 3 Bugs in a Rug (blue spot), Cosmo Cricket (snowflake) and My Little Shoe Box (blue square). The snowflake border which is stickled and embelished with adhesive gems was punched using a Martha Steward punch that I borrowed from Linda (Thanks Linda - I love that punch and must get one myself). The large glittery snowflakes were from a pack of Colorbox Doo Dads, the title lettering is made from American Crafts Thickers and the pom pom trim at the bottom is from Maya Road. As an after thought I also added some very old Doodlebug rub-on stitches.

Gorgeous Gifts

Today rather than show you another layout I thought I would show you some of the beautiful handmade gifts I received from my friends last weekend at our weekend crop. We traditionally give each other little gifts and  I am always amazed at how creative people are.

Anita gave me this gorgeous beaded keyring. My photo doesn't do it justice - it is stunning in real life.

Linda gave this jar of embelishments. I have to admit when I received it I thought the flower on the jar was a sticker but having read Linda's blog I now know that she actually stamped and painted them. How cool is that!

Lynn decorated some flip flops for everyone. I can't wait for some nice dry, sunny weather so i can wear them but at the moment it's very wet and very cold here.

Sue decorated large pegs with papers and blossoms and pins ........... and they were so, so pretty. This makes me smile every time I look at it.

I gave everyone some pencils which I had made with the name of our crop on them as a souvenir of the weekend. I bundled these up with a bar of chocolate and wrapped them in punched paper and friendship printed ribbon.

I also received some lovely sweets and chocolates (mostly eaten now!) and stash and other generous gifts from other friends . Thanks you everyone. You are all so thoughtful.

Time For Tea

Last weekend I spent a lovely few days with friends scrapbooking at our annual Blossoms Weekend Crop. We had a really good time and as well as chatting and eating and laughing and generally enjoying the company we were very creative and put together lots and lots of cards and scrapbook pages.

This was one of my pages - Time For Tea

I used patterned papers from My little Shoebox (pink spot) and Scenic Route (yellow print). The journalling was also printed on a scrap of Scenic Route Ledger paper and the stack of tea cups were cut on my Craft Robo from more scraps of Scenic Route paper using a shape downloaded from the Silhouette online store. The title was cut on the Craft Robo too, mounted on 3D foam to raise it and was finished off with a  self adhesive gem to dot the i.

PS I'm loving the new look Blogger and really like the new post editor. Look at that huge picture!