Crafty As L

  Here we are at the end of the 4 th week of lockdown in the UK and it’s presented me with a few firsts.  My first new experience was to cut Mr L’s hair! Now, I’ve never cut anyone’s hair before but I’ve watched our hairdresser cut Mr L’s hair many times.  She makes it look so easy.  It isn’t!  It took me a while but we got there in the end and Mr L still has both ears! My second ‘first’ was to attempt to make naan breads.  I’d made my favourite dhal recipe when I noticed a naan bread recipe in the same book and, since we had all the ingredients, I though I’d have a bash.  They were not quite like the restaurant ones but were delicious nonetheless. My third ‘first’ was an introduction to a technique called Inlaid Embossing.  Amanda (from Inspiring Inkin’) showed this on her Facebook crafting group this week and it looked interesting. To begin, I used the ½”, ¾” and 1” circle punches to cut a mix of circles in 3 coordinating colours. These w...

Sadly, two of my friends have lost their Dads in the past couple of weeks, one of those being due to Covid-19.  The casualty figures are harrowing but it really brings it home when it affects people you care for.  So, my post this week is dedicated to Dads, wherever they may be. The love and thought that goes into any handmade card is magnified in a condolence card.  I find them difficult to design but soothing to make.  For this week’s card, I used Rooted in Nature and the ever-useful Peaceful Moments for the sentiment. To begin, I used masks and sponge daubers to create a sun and mountains for my background on Very Vanilla. I stamped the tall tree several times using my Stamparatus to ensure a solid impression.  The tree needed grounding so, using another mask, I sponge daubed Early Espresso at the base of the tree.  The panel was cut out using one of the stitched rectangle dies. One of my favourite stamps in the set, the skeleton leaf, was used for...

As we approach the end of week 3 of lockdown, I thought a ‘thinking of you’ card might be appropriate to send to those you can’t visit at the moment.  I know you can telephone and Facetime etc. to speak, but sometimes a handmade card means a lot.  The monochrome colour scheme for this card makes it suitable for masculine or sympathy cards too so makes the stamp set, Stampin’ Up! High Tide, really versatile. To begin, I stamped my images in Night of Navy ink on Whisper White card. Whilst I waited for my image to dry, I cut a scalloped square of navy card and then used the frame to decide where I wanted my focal image and drew around the inside of the frame. I cut out the square using my trimmer and then mounted the cut-out section onto the navy scalloped square. I stamped some images on the liner and the envelope. The front was mounted onto a Night of Navy card base and I used dimensionals to pop up the focal segment.  The sentiment is from Peaceful Moments. La...

I hope this blog post finds you healthy and well.  It’s approaching the end of lockdown week 2 here in the UK but I fully expect that the lockdown will be extended as sadly, the number of Coronavirus deaths is still rising.  I am quite enjoying the enforced staying at home time (in between my shifts) as I can do things as and when I feel like it, taking as long as I want as I don’t have to fit them around other engagements.  My lovely Pilates teacher has taken her classes online too, which I am very pleased about!  I am trying to concentrate on the things I can do, rather than the things I can’t, to stay positive in these strange times.  For example, my hair is getting rather long but I was considering a style change anyway so this gives me a head start – no pun intended! It was whilst I was out sowing carrots in the veg patch that the idea for this card came to me.  Our soil is quite stony so we grow carrots in a large container filled with sieved soil....