The dog and the piggy-bank

Yesterday, my mum and I had a really lovely day together. It was the first in a long time that I actually felt well enough to leave the house so we went to Hobbycraft to spend the gift vouchers I got for my birthday - thanks Lizzie and Louise! I bought some card making papers and attachments and some chocolate making pieces. We also bought some Decopatch because my mum said she wanted to try it - so we spent the afternoon Decopatching!

My dog before Decopatch

 I actually bought a mannequin to decorate and give to my mum as a gift (and one for myself) but I thought since I bought this dog ages ago I
should do that first!

Mum's piggy-bank before Decopatch

In case you don't know; with Decopatch you take the item that you want to cover (either a papier mache type structure like we did or something else, like a folder, cupboard - it can be done on just about anything really!), tear of chunks of decorative paper and glue them on. It's as simple as that!

My dog - finished! 

Finished letters

As I finished my dog before my Mum finished her piggy-bank, I thought I'd start on something else I bought ages ago: my "DREAM" letters. I decided to decorate them in different purple papers to go in my bedroom. Was actually really hard to do the letters and I don't think they came out as well as they dog did, but still; they've got my individual style and flair?! I think I'll paint a rectangular piece of wood in a light pastel colour to stick the letters to.



This is my mum's first finished decopatch project - I'm very impressed, aren't you?!

Musical piggy!

My next Decopatch project will be the mannequins. I think my mum enjoyed her day of Decopatch so hopefully she'll do it again!

New and Exciting Craft Goodies !! =D

Those of you who know me well will know I've been having a tough time lately, so I thought a little pick me up was well overdue.

Cue: the DANGER CHANNEL!! (aka Create and Craft)

I watched one show by My Craft Studio and was the most inspired than I have been in a long while so I invested in some goodies!

2 tier cake carrier from Kitchen Craft - holds 24 cupcakes. You can even swing it from side to side and the cakes will survive - raises the chances of survival after I've driven them somewhere!

Fine crystal glitter in a range of colours (from My Craft Studio) and Quickie glue pens.

Tiny gemstones - in multicoloured and silver. Also comes with applicator tweezers and glue.

My Craft Studio 6th Anniversary Edition CD ROM Set

(Top to Bottom; left to right) All About Boys, Fairy Land (not part of the set - I just liked it!), Music and Dreams, Digistamp Delights, Elegant Ladies, Precious Paintings, Woodland Wonders, Treasured Teddies, All About Lace, Flourishing Florals and Bright and Breezy

I really liked the CD Rom set because not only does it give you a wide range of toppers, backgrounds, sentiments and embellishments but it also allows you to change the colours and build the elements up on the screen - it's a complete design package. I haven't actually tried it yet, but I'm looking forward to experimenting and seeing what I can create! I think the quickie glue pens will be really easy to use and will allow me to use glitter more effectively (any excuse for a bit of glitter!!)

If you have a birthday coming up, or know someone who is, leave a comment below and you never know - I might make you a card! =P

Happy birthday Nanny!

Over the summer holidays when I was looking through my collection of World of Cross Stitching magazines, I found a design for a card that I thought would be perfect for my Nanny's birthday this year.

The design came from issue 202 and didn't take that long for me to sew. I started on Friday night and finished it Saturday lunchtime. It was fun to stitch and it looks really effective - I think my Nanny will like it!

 

Today, I took a trip to Hobbycraft with my mum to get the finishing touches for the actual card. I bought the aperture and matching envelope, some ribbon and a matching bow. After I put it all together, this was the finished result:

Have a lovely day

Inside message tag

 To make the ribbon detailing oon the front, I cut two pieces of ribbon and glued them down the sides, and then added a pre-made ribbon in the corner. To make the message tag, I used a label punch in two sizes to cut the cream and purple paper. Then, I stamped "Happy birthday" onto the cream using black Memento ink. I used foam pads to stick the cream tag to the purple and added pearl gems and ribbon.

Final touch!