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Tuesday 31 May 2011

Birthday Box!

Good evening all!!

Fairly nice day here today, sun is shining but still very windy :0)

Ive still got tons of stuff to do and don't seem to be getting anywhere with my 'to-do' list but did mamange to make this gift box for my mums birthday at the weekend.
I have not managed to buy the top note die so had to improvise with a fancy embossing folder for my top and bottom.


Along with the  scroll effect around the edges the little flower looks fab and love the effect of the ribbon through the petals, topped off with a gem for the centre and a happy birthday...just got to figure out how to get her present in there with the same lovely effect???
Well thats it from me today...short and sweet sorry!

Take care

Karyn xx

Thursday 26 May 2011

little bit of everything!!

hi crafters hope all well
Its been a busy week for me...physically and mentally so not much crafting done (apart from wedding invitations and i cant show you those just yet ) these are a few things i made at the weekend as had a bit of tidy up in crafty room and found these lovely toppers/papers...the one below with cute owls...father and son for ian for Fathers day!!

lovely bird topper and SU card that compliments very well for a birthday/anniversary card

I love these...sooo much! i have to make some more the trouble is finding sweets that fit in the tubes and as i take my 'work' seriously am having to buy all sorts os sweeties and if they dont fit its such a shame to waste dont you think :0)
 these have mini marshmallows in at the moment and are lovely as gifts...have tons of ideas of what to go in them so keep checking for these posts!!

i also took inspiration from my Su mum Jules with the lolly stick bookmarks...again lots of ideas for variations on these just need to find a little time to craft.

I did find these fab googly eyes at the craft shop and if you look closely they have eyeshadow on and do them in all sorts of colours and sizes for your projects
Well thats it from me as i said its been a tough week as ive had big decisions to make...i have decided to leave my current job and handed my notice in yesterday so leave June 24th, jobhunting here i come!!

thats it from me

take care

Karyn xx

Saturday 21 May 2011

well more stationary sets from me today as knew there were other people out there who still do the 'old fashioned' handwritten letters :)

had a few requests for these and am trying to stock up ready for a craft fayre coming up soon!!

This one is for me mum, springtime vintage papers again along with always artichoke crd and crumb cake seam binding, I added the just believe stamp as always tht something to a project.


I decorated very simply on the inside and again springtime vintage DS papers on the pen to tie it all together!
 Added the just believe stamp to the papers too for added extra along with some ruffled seam binding


She requested two so did a yellowy/orange version too and hope she likes them.

Anyway I did make some decorated test tubes with sweeties in but unfortunatly my little lad got to them before i could take a photo and demolished them...sweetie addict (like his mum!!) so they will have to wait till another day to post.

ill leave it here for tonight, we are going out for the day tomorrow so looking forward to some family time

take care

karyn xx

Tuesday 17 May 2011

Birthday for mum

Well despite an earlier start than would of liked this morning...ben full of beans at silly oclock!! And on my day off too, i did manage to get a bit of crafting done. Had a bit of a clear out in my craft room and found lots of stuff that havent even used yet...probably impulse buys in the Jan sale as alot of it still boxed so had a play with allsorts :0)

Anyway its my mums birthday in a couple of weeks and i returned to old faithful just believe set along with my springtime vintage papers and extra flowers from the itty bitty stamp set

I was a bit unsure of what i was aiming for but am very pleased with the end result and even attempted a double bow in crumb cake seam binding...love the stuff!!



obviously i had to make one for mum from her grandson and he helped me to 'roll' out the flowers using the big shot...shows just how easy it is to use as even a 2 year old can do it :)

Used sweet and sour DS papers along with blushing bride and pink pirouete and stamped 'nan' using schoolbook serif in crumb cake.

I found the base cards in my craft room so thought id use those, i think they were from craftwork cards not 100% though and still got lots of sorting out to do when find the time.

thats all for me today

take care

karyn xx

Sunday 15 May 2011

Stationary set

Another post for tonight too is my little project...I love writing letters and have many penpals across the globe but always struggle to find nice stationary! until now when I took matters into my own hands and made my own :0)

The papers are SU of course and made this one very girly with pink pirouette and so saffron, the little typewriter is a Pink petticoat download and soo cute!!

Inside we have the same PP design on the papers along with envelopes and even a pen which has so saffron DSP inside to match the rest of the folder :)
I was going to tie it with ribbon but forgot to stick the ribbon under the matting and layering so opted for a little velcro flap to keep everything safe.

Please let me know what you think as am thinking of doing a batch for a craft fayre in the future...there must be other people out there who still like to send/receive handwritten letters :-D

thats all from me anyhow had busy ay with hopusework, crafting and even managed to cook us a lovely sunday roast so a well deserved cuppa and feet up is due

take care

karyn xx

milk carton

Good evening all

A few people have asked how i made the milk carton in my christmas come early post so here goes...

Take an A4 piece of card and score the long side at 7,14,21 and 28cm then score the short side at 2cm, 7cm and 17cm as shown below


Then cut the bottom corner that you dont need off as shown in the picture below and fold all your score lines.

cut the bottom upto the crossing scoreline and apply glue to the flaps as shown with the black lines...hopefully you can see them!

And the side lines too
 Step the bottom flaps and stick together pressing firmly to secure as you go along


You should end up with something that looks like this...I have stamped a design on mine to jazz it up a bit. 

Push both sides gently together and pinch the top together as shown before punching holes in the top 2cm and securing with ribbon or twine


You can decorate the outside how you like and add tags etc

I have made these before with different measurements to make a smaller version to hold say a cupcake or something but browsing on blogs i f ound the instructions above on the lovely Sarah Jane's blog who adjusted the measurements so the finished item is tall enough to put some mini toiletries in for a gift or even some perfume so big thankyou to SJ :0)

Thursday 12 May 2011

happy birthday

Morning all!

quick post today as Ben still ill and not feeling great myself...we are going to have a lazy day in bed and get better hopefully :-(

My Mum requested a birthday card for her friend and as i'm loving the springtime vintage papers and they happened to be on my workspace table made sense to use them :0)
I added a flouirsh with my retired SAB sweet summer and 3D'd (if thats a word??) the flowers around the corner of the sentiment from Afterthoughts hostess level 1 ( free with a workshop totalling £150+) all stamped with marina mist and concord crush.


Close up of the lovely little flowers and even added tiny pearls to the stems of the flowers but you cant quite see that on this picture sorry!!

I am sure my mums friend will love as my mum did.

thats it from me for now, back to bed

take care

karyn xx

Tuesday 10 May 2011

pillow box gifts

Good morning all, hope everyone well :0)

I made more of these little pillow box gift boxes for a friend at work, she requested the colours of purple and gold-ie... so used so saffron and perfect plum with a hint of pink pirouette, decorative label punch on the top for the decoration and a little ribbon...simples!!


Heres a close up of one of them finished and even added names to the top for the decoration which were stamped in same colours with schoolbook serif alphabet.

Here they are together and they are lovely, they were very much appreciated by the lady i made them for :0) and i think i will be certainly making some more!
Am hoping to get some crafting in today but not sure as my little boy is sick...poor lil man! hopefully he feels better soon
all from me for now
take care

Karyn xx

Saturday 7 May 2011

Christmas come early!

Well Christmas came early to my house today along with the first of my monthly Xmas club! The challenge to make at least 3 cards and a gift bag/box/carrier each month till December so we are well on our way ready for the festive season :0)

To make the kits go further we opted for basic Kraft card base cards and envelopes and it was amazing how much we had left...certainly could of made many more cards ( and will do another day ) but just ran out of time!!

 Basics of the kit included Whisper white card, jolly holidays DS papers, old olive, real red and cherry cobbler cardstock, Perfect Punches and Contempo Christmas stamp sets.
 I embossed some of the backgrounds with my new square lattice embossing folder that only arrived yesterday and i love it sooo much...makes your papers look like fabric without even trying :-)

 We also made a gorgeous milk carton gift box from a single sheet of A4 card and very simpple to make but so effective...i would love to receive this as a gift let alone with something inside it, but then am i the only one who gets excited playing with paper...surely not!!??!

 Last but by no means the least i had a go at this gorgeous mini handbag as featured on my fellow Jem Sarah Jane's blog, such a talented lady and i love the way it turned out, sooo very cute

well thats all from me today, such a busy day am going to chill and put my feet up for a little while.

Take care

Karyn xx

Thursday 5 May 2011

Good Luck!!

Hello and hope all is well with everyone today...weather a bit miserable today but never mind!!
i've had a very crafty day with projects and even some baking thrown in just for a laugh...me and Ben made carrot cakes and choc chunk cookies...yummmy!!

Made this card for a girl at work who leaves tomorrow for pastures new...her favorite colour is pink if you did not guess right away :0)

I used blushing bride, melon mambo,pink pirouette and regal rose along with my big shot to make the 'daisy/gerbera' depending on how you see it and perfect polka dots, topped off with a sprinkling of basic pearls and voila! hope she likes it although will be a sad day tomoz :-(

 The fancy flatbow ( one of mummy jules specialities) is non SU ribbon that did match perfectly funnily enough!

I also made her a couple of little pillow boxes containing handcream and nail varnish (handcream is essential for dental nurses and the nail varnish is for when she's off duty and can glam up) nothing special but the thought counts and am sure Clare will appreciate it!!
 I secured them together and topped with decorative label punch and some bling to set off the sentiment
well thats all from me for today...Ben is fighting sleep so got to go settle him down

take care and thans for stopping by

Karyn xx

Monday 2 May 2011

Good morning all hope you have a lovely sunny day as we are having here :0)

busy day yesterday with errands, delivering orders, traffic problems i didnt get as much as id wanted done...also had to put my 'vet nurse' head on trying to help a dog that had been hit by a car...poor thing so by the time i had gotten home really was not in the mood for crafting although am hoping to make up for that today!! fingers crossed.

Well i made this with my gorgeous Springtime Vintage DS papers ( soooo love them) as a wedding card for a friend in Holland who gets married this month, I was intending to put chipboard letters on in the couples initials but am not 100% on his name ( sorry Tanja) but am pleased with the result and of course used my new big shot to make the flowers on the front topped with a button.

 I love this pillow box die sooo much that was the first thing i made when ripped open my big shot box, sooo cute and am loving wild wasabi and pink pirouette too. These would be lovely as wedding favours as well as 'just because they are so cute' gift boxes :0)


i topped it off with a little ribbon, flower accent stamp and a designer button as well as embossing with perfect polka dots and i love it!

well as i said am hoping to get some crafting done today so off to finish all my chores before i get started, hope you all have a lovely day wherever you are and whatever you are doing

Take care

karyn xx