Crafty As L

It’s time for the new Stampin’ Up! catalogue and I’m sad to say that a lot of my favourites are out 😞  Two of my faves are the First Frost stamp set and coordinating Frosted Bouquet dies.  Whilst these will be disappearing from the catalogue, they’ll not be leaving my personal collection any time soon.  There are two cards on the post this week, the second one was inspired by the liner of the first! Just goes to show that inspiration comes from all sorts of places. First, I stamped and die cut a selection of flower and leaf images and heat embossed the sentiment on a pretty label punch. I repeat stamped the thistle image on a Mint Macaron card front and dry embossed with the Layered Leaves.  At this point, I realised that the card base wouldn’t be sturdy enough so I cut it down to make the front panel of my card. The next job was to arrange the flowers and foliage elements around the sentiment to create my focal image. I stamped the liner and envelope by stamp...

To celebrate VE Day earlier this month, I wanted to put up some bunting even though we were not doing any actual celebrations.  I went to get the bunting from storage and realised that my Mum-in-law still has it – she has it on permanent loan for WI purposes!  Since I didn’t view bunting collection as being a critical journey during lockdown, I set about making some more.  As I wanted a patriotic look, I rifled through my fabric collection and pulled out all fabrics that had red, white or blue in them - most were offcuts from clothing or other sewing projects – and set to work.  First job is to make a cardboard template for the flag size.  You can make the flags whatever size you like - mine were 6” x 7½”.  I also cut out a 2” cardboard spacer although you can put the flags next to each other if you prefer.  After drawing around the flags, I cut them out using pinking shears, which have a zig-zag edge so prevent the fabric from fraying.  I cut t...

  There are lots of rainbows around at the moment, not the meteorological kind but ones created to celebrate the work of the NHS during the pandemic.  This made me think of doing a rainbow-themed card for my blog this week.  I used the leaf cluster from Rooted in Nature as my feature image whilst the large sentiment from the same set was the focal point. To begin, I stamped the sentiment just left of centre. Next, I stamped the leaf image seven times, changing between the rainbow colours each time. Since I had decided to use a Pacific Point card base, I decorated the liner and envelope with the leaves stamped in the same colour. To complete the card, the front panel was mounted on a black layer before being adhered to the card base.

In last week’s briefing regarding the new rules that may apply coming out of lockdown in the UK, Boris hinted that face coverings will be the way to go.  There are a few mask designs online and I tried out a few.  The Olsen mask is a widely available free download and there’s another variation at www.craftpassion.com. After making up one of each, I combined the two to get my preferred fit and function.  The masks have a filter pocket where an additional layer of protection can be inserted.  I’m using Henry Hoover vacuum bags which are made from 3 layers of spun polypropylene.  I’m showing two masks as I’m generally making these in pairs: one to wash and one to wear.  Hygiene is still key to preventing the spread of this virus, as is social distancing when possible. Important note: it is vital to remove the nose wire and filter before washing – those bits of wire won’t do your washing machine any good at all! Disclaimer.  These masks are not medically...

  Poppies are synonymous with remembrance so are a perfect image for a card, the very reason of which is to let someone know you’re thinking of them.  Whilst I made this a condolence card for my Mum to give to her friend who had lost her husband, it is also suitable for a birthday or thank you card. To begin, I cut two stitched rectangles and stamped, then embossed in silver, the single poppy image and the sentiment.  The image was then coloured with pencils. Whilst I had the stamp out, I partially stamped the image again using Smoky Slate on the envelope and liner.  I usually stamp these in the bottom right corner but because of the direction of the flower, I thought the left-hand side suited it better. The Scripty folder provided the dry embossing and then I stuck a length of Tear ‘n’ Tape on to adhere my ribbon.  I always get ribbon wonky so I used the grid paper to help line it up. After sticking on my ribbon, I glued the embossed layer to a Smoky Sla...