More catch-up, Cameo/Robo freebies, and blog candy!

Here I am again, playing catch-up with blogging my crafty creations.  The more I blog, the more I remember the completed projects tucked away in the various cwtchy corners of my overcrowded home!  It seems I can either blog or create...

This little book is made of chipboard from packaging, covered in velvet paper ( Me LOOOVE!) and lined with marbled paper ( by my fair hands – I adore this technique!), and finished off with Tim Holtz hardware.

The seahorse on this slide mailer is made of polymer clay, using the faux ivory recipe – you can find it here -  with foiling glue blodged on (technical term) after it was cooked and gilding flakes applied.

( I live by the sea – I can see the Bristol Channel from my living room window – so the sea does seem to creep into a lot of what I do, somehow….)
Now, having attracted your attention with the promise of Blog Candy, I am offering this rather chunky ATC in a shameless attempt to attract comments and followers!

If you’d like this ATC, which features Ultra-thick embossing, please follow me (if you don’t already do so) and leave a comment.  On Saturday 5 May I will choose a lucky winner. (I will be VERY SAD (sob, sob!) if no-one likes it so I am very nervous right now…please comment...please (makes puppy-dog eyes)...)

Cameo/Craft Robo files

I’ve set up a separate page for these.  I’ve added a couple more – I will be uploading pics of projects made using them – but wanted to get the files out there.  The Dissolving Card is proving quite popular and I am working on the circular version – watch this space!  I’ve also just uploaded two “Cut and fold”  lacé style files - a circle and a panel- that you might like.

Anniversary card

Ssh, don't tell my husband - here's a sneaky peek at the anniversary card I've made for him.  Designed with the Silhouette Studio software and cut on the Cameo.

If you'd like a copy of the file you can download it from here.

Well, that was unexpected!

I set out to reproduce Tim Holtz’s tag for March (you can see it here) only somewhere along the line it went a bit wrong….

Because the woodgrain stamp I used wasn’t big enough to cover the stamp in one go I needed to do more than one stamp.  The stamp is wood-mounted (from Hero Arts) I couldn’t see where to line it up.  I do own a stamp positioner but forgot about it (I very rarely use it) so guessed where the join would be.  It wasn’t my finest hour.  However, as a crafter I dislike waste I thought I’d cover the join with a bit of bakers’ twine. 

And at that point the tag went from pretty butterflies to Wild West.

This is how it turned out…

Rubber stamps are from Creative Impressions coloured in with Promarkers.   

Dissolving card–Silhouette cutting file

A couple of years ago I posted my (rather garbled) instructions as to how to make a dissolving card. You can find them by going back through the blog posts, but here are the pictures again to remind you-



I’m not the world’s most accurate with a blade (the number of bits I’ve gouged out of rulers – even metal ones – you wouldn’t believe!) so my Silhouette Cameo (upgrade from my Robo) is a boon and a blessing.  I’ve been busy converting some of the templates for kinetic cards into Silhouette format and thought I’d share.

See how to assemble a dissolving picture card

Click here for the Dissolving Card Silhouette Studio file and here for the frame.  Hope you like!

Lady Ermintrude’s Portmanteau

Have I mentioned Lady Ermintrude?  Lady E (Ermintrude Duffryn-Felix,  that is) is my Steampunk alter-ego.  She’s a plucky gel, ready to pop off with her husband, Major Tom Felix, for a spot of dinosaur-hunting in the Forgotten Valley or for a jaunt in the Nautilus with Capt. Nemo.

(Are you worried about me yet?  I am.)

Anyway, this is Lady E’s trunk in miniature.  It’s adapted from a pattern that I bought from Following The Paper Trail.  It’s intended to hold mini albums and very clear instructions for making them are included.  Well worth the money. 

 

Lady E keeps her jewellery in the top of the trunk (and I keep my Tim Holtz Distress Stains in the bottom – we have an arrangement about sharing).  This necklace was inspired by a voyage on the Nautilus..

Tim Holtz sprocket gears and an octopus pendant found in Hobbycraft feature in this piece.  Actually, I’m thinking of adding some gorgeous peacock-blue AB crystals between the sprockets….mmmm….

All blogged out for a bit…see you soon…

Little House for a Fairy!

Lucky, lucky me got a Silhouette Cameo for  Christmas, an upgrade from my Craft Robo.  I never really got to grips with the Robo – it was a real faff to get it to cut anything other than paper.  The Cameo, however, is BRILLIANT.  I cut the little bird house out of Papermania Kraft card at the first attempt ( if you’re interested, it was blade depth 3, speed 9, thickness 25). 

I covered it with paper from my stash and mounted on a Wendy Vecchi Artparts spool, also covered with paper from the stash,  and enhanced with an Artparts leaf, some beads and dangly bits from the jewellery making stash, and finished off with the Ferro’d fabric flower (well, I had to use it somewhere). A few feathers and a Tim Holtz adage tag and it’s a des-res for a passing Fairy to move into and grant some wishes….

 

And while I’m speaking of Artparts…

My first project with them was this key hook thingy.

I think it was very brave of me to actually USE them and not just add them to my stash… (my PRECIOUS….)

Dragons

I’m still getting caught up on blogging my craft projects.  Here are some polymer clay dragons inspired by Christi Friesen, who makes the COOLEST things out of polymer clay!

 

To see Christi’s work, click here

While I remember, I haven’t blogged my scrapbooks but you’re welcome to view them here