Crafty As L

Is it me or is the run up to Christmas going at break-neck speed this year?   I’ve barely even started my Christmas shopping and suddenly there’s only 10 days to go.   Aaargh!! I’ve not made any cards this week but I have been creative none the less. We had an extension done last year and moved our lounge to the other side of the wall.   The log burner then needed to be moved so we got the builders back to turn the fireplace around. Luckily, they managed to get the granite hearth pieces out whole and they were re-laid on the other side.   When it was in the other room, the fireplace was lined with brick but I’m not a big fan so took the opportunity to change that.   After the fireplace was dry lined with fireboard, Mr L and I then tiled it with porcelain tiles.   It was Mr L’s first experience with tiling so he was on the tile cutter whilst I was doing the sticking! After the grouting was complete, I filled the holes around the edges, sanded and painted...

  It’s been a hectic week in the Lowe household.   I finally recovered from my lurgy on Tuesday so have had some energy to do stuff, which is good as lots needed doing!   Our building work will come to fruition next week when the carpets are fitted but beforehand, there’s still some decorating to do.   Mr L has been painting like mad whilst I’ve been poorly so I finally got around to wallpapering the feature walls.   This is my craft room so far – I love it! I’m really looking forward to getting in there and getting organised. I also had a crafty morning with my sister and a friend, making our Christmas wreaths.   Mine turned out to be a bit of a monster this time but there was so much lovely foliage to choose from! My friend’s husband also came around and he and Mr L chatted about space stuff and Dave had the honour of being a cat bed for Dill, which he loved. Do you like Dave's blanket? I made it for him for Christmas a few years ago. So, it’s just ...

Well, it’s been feeling very festive this week, what with the extended period of very cold weather and the occasional snow flurry and our visit to the local garden centre to see the reindeer.   They were called Rupert and Ronnie; I think this one is Ronnie. I also have finally finished Mrs Claus - it’s only taken me 3 years!!!   This is another pattern by the very talented Larissa at mmmcrafts .   My Mrs Claus hangs a bit wonky on account of the massive ball of mistletoe she’s carrying! Anyhow, she’s now reunited with Mr Claus on the tree. Finally, I got some quality crafting time with my sister and my friend when we made our door wreaths.   I went for a natural theme this year.   My quick crafting this week has been to make some tags.   I sometimes make a special tag for birthday gifts, particularly if I want one to match the card.   However, for Christmas presents, where the tag’s just going to get thrown away in the jumble of paper, I just wan...

Well, here we are at Christmas already!  It really seems to have come around quickly this year.  Firstly, this week, I’d like to share some exciting news with you:  I won a competition on Craftworld.com last month!  The competition was a colour themed challenge for a Valentine’s card and the prize was a full page in Simply Cards and Papercraft magazine, issue 225.  The card I entered was  this one I made for Mr L a couple of years ago and I was chuffed to bits to be chosen.  Here’s a snap of the page in the magazine. Now onto my card for this week, although it’s actually three cards.  Our friends have a flock of Icelandic sheep so I try to do sheep themed cards for them for Christmas.  For the 2019 card, I used Clearly Besotted Feeling Sheepish and added some Santa hats, using Lawn Fawn Tiny Gift Box Holiday Hats dies. The 2020 offering used the bagpipe wielding sheep from Penny Black 12 Days of Christmas on craft card. ...

As part of my rehab following my surgery at the end of last month, I have to walk short distances a couple of times daily.  We’re fortunate enough to live close to a country park so it’s been lovely seeing the hedgerows change over the past few weeks and it inspired me to create an autumn wreath for the front door. The rose hips have been stunning and abundant this year.  There are about 4 or 5 bushes along this path.  This photo doesn’t do it justice but they look fabulous! I collected a few rose hips, teasels and some grass and weed heads during one of my walks and then collected some leylandii and eucalyptus prunings from our garden for the base foliage. To form the wreath, I gathered bunches of foliage together… …and then wired them onto the frame, ensuring the next bunch overlaps the base of the previous bunch. Lastly, I added the pinecones and teasels, wiring them in to the wreath with some floristry wire. I’m really ple...

Today is remembrance Sunday in the UK.  Since I’m stuck at home recovering from surgery, I’ve not needed a poppy to wear.  I saw a crochet poppy wreath kit on a website (it was sold out) so thought instead of a personal poppy, I could make a wreath for the front door.  After searching for a pattern, I bought one and then ended up following a YouTube tutorial instead as I preferred the shape of the flower.  To begin, I crocheted the centre in black with 12 dc into a magic ring, and then added some gold glass beads into the front loops. Next was to crochet the petals.  These are simply made by making 3 dc into the back loops of 3 stitches, turning, ch2 then 2dc in each of the 9 stitches of the previous round.   This is repeated 3 more times. To form the poppy, the tail from the petal is fed through to the back at the start point of the adjacent petal.  The ends are simply tied together in a few knots on the reverse to secure. ...

  The idea for a pinecone wreath card has been rumbling around my mind for a while and I finally got around to trying it out.  I used some of the £1 stamps from Lavinia to create this with a Stampin’ Up! sentiment. To begin, I lightly drew a circle for a guide and then stamped the pinecone repeatedly, changing the angles.  I used Versafine Clair ink in Pinecone as it’s waterproof and I planned to colour over the top later. The next layer was using the mini-holly stamp and Rainforest ink. I then used the sycamore seed stamp as mistletoe, again in Rainforest ink.  After the inks were dry, I used some water-based brown ink pressed onto my block and the Wink Of Stella pen to colour in the pinecones and add some shimmer. I coloured in the berries and then topped them with red Nuvo glitter drops to them.  I added some white Nuvo drops for mistletoe berries too along with a few green dots around the wreath. The panel was edged by dra...