Flowers and butterflies

Not too much to say about this one as it is another wreath card which a friend asked me to make.  She wanted one with no sentiment so I added the lovely butterflies to the centre.

I need to sort out some of my decoupaged items to take to Prima Rosa today as my next craft fair isn't until 26th June so she may as well have some in her vintage tearooms/shop to sell for me.

 

Some new items

 Some of my latest decoupaged items.  I am enjoying making these so much and glad that people liked them so much at Saturday’s event. I am taking some into Prima Rosa tomorrow where I am hoping they will sell well.

Yesterday

 Yesterday we did an event in a church hall 5 minutes drive away from home. It was only for two hours yet I took the most I have taken so far this year! I saw it advertised on Facebook so asked if I could have a stall. They were selling plants, second hand books, refreshments and myself and another lady selling crafts. It was well supported and the people were very friendly.

My new decoupaged items were much admired and a group of three ladies were intrigued as to how I make them. One of them took my card and said she would be contacting me as they make great presents. I sold the lilac vase to somebody wanting a new home present.

I can’t resist books and although I have about 50 to read bought a couple there. We were home by 12.30 and had a relaxing afternoon before collecting friends to go out for a meal and a show at the theatre.

Today we are planning to do some tidying in the garden as the weather should be dry though only 12 degrees. Still we prefer that to the heat.

Caravans

 I have been busy with so many crafts lately. I recently finished a small cross stitch which I need to make into a card for a friend. I have been cardmaking and doing some more decoupaged items.

I bought some things in Crafty Ribbons sale including a couple of packs of felt caravans to make, the materials and templates are in the packs, I just had to add thread and some gingham ribbon for hanging as they are meant to be keyrings or handbag charms. I think they are too big for that so wanted to make them into hanging ornaments. I thought they would make a cute gift for anyone with a caravan. 

I showed them on Facebook and a friend bought one immediately for her caravan.

 Crafty Ribbons sale has some great savings. I bought some felt packs to make Christmas decorations, felt packs, lace offcuts and some grosgrain ribbon. Free postage if you spend £15 too.

Dave

I was asked to make a Father's Day card for somebody who likes beer and sport.  I remembered I have this coloured Birthday squares image from Pink Gem and thought it would be perfect. I used Mr Mister papers and fussy cut the rosette and tags adding some small buttons.

 

Time for a wreath card

Another commissioned card and another wreath.  I haven't made one for a while and I do love making them.  I was asked for blue, turquoise and purple with a friend's sentiment.  I used lots of different Card-io stamp sets for this one.  Making the wreaths is such fun building up the flowers and leaves.  Knowing when to stop is the trick!

 

Beer and ivy

Another commissioned card today for my regular customer.  They seem to have a lot of male friends who like beer so I bought the last orders set from Car-io when I placed my last order.  I really need more inspiration for using it but thought as there are some leaves in the beer set I would team it with the ivy stencil.  I think it works ok but not over the moon with this one. Hope she likes it.

 

Andy with tablet

Thank you for your lovely comments on my hearts. I couldn't believe I sold them a few minutes after showing them on Facebook. Another friend wants a hedgehog one for her Mum. 

Janet at Pink Gem asked the former DT for ideas for new images and somebody suggested children playing with tablets so her is Andy with tablet.  I used the coloured digi for speed as I have a lot to make at the moment.  I used some old Lawn Fawn papers, Daisy Mae torn edge stitched rectangle die and a Fiskars tag punch.

We are going out for the day today, starting with a breakfast at our favourite cafe in Wroxham and the to some gardens which have lots of azaleas and rhododendrons and also a classic car show today.  We haven't been to these gardens for so many years so looking forward to it. It is so nice to see places open again and events planned for the year.

 

Hearts

 I love my new hobby and bought some more napkins and ceramic items. These are the hearts I did yesterday.  I showed them on Facebook and sold them immediately. I have made some cards too so will be sharing some soon.

Meeting friends for lunch today at a local garden centre and buying some plants. We planned to do some gardening this morning but it looks like it may rain. The garden needs it but it could wait until we have tidied the garden.

Our garden

 This morning I plan to get into the craft room and make some cards. In the meantime here are a few photos from our garden. The first roses are out and this one has huge flowers which smell amazing. 

Ready for today

I haven’t made any cards this week but have been busy making these. I am at Dunelm today with my stall inside the shop. A very new experience and no other crafters to compete with. Let’s hope Dunelm’s customers like my things.

I do like trying new crafts and I am really loving this one.

LOTV Wedding launch

Lili of the Valley are launching some lovely new Wedding stamps on May 12th.  If you are a fan you will remember their lovely Wedding couple with the groom striding it out.  They have been updated and I think look a little more grown up.

I coloured them with Copics and used some old LOTV romance and roses papers, lace from Crafty Ribbons, cheesecloth, ribbons, flowers from Wild Orchid. a LOTV sentiment and a couple of heart dies along with my Daisy Mae torn edge stitched rectangle die.

Butterflies

 

Well after the rain the sun came out yesterday so we were able to go the garden centre and then come home to redo some of our pots. The Spring plants and bulbs went in the garden and the pots are now ready for Summer. It turned really hot whilst we doing some tidying in the garden. Much warmer than forecast. I do hope we aren’t in for a hot Summer as neither of us like the heat.

I mentioned I bought a couple of ceramic butterflies at Hobbycraft. Well here they are decoupaged with some new napkins I bought on Ebay. I look for pretty napkins everywhere we go now. The garden centres are very good for them though they are packs of 20 whereas the ones on Ebay come in packs of 4. I am getting a nice collection of them. I am planning to do some more decoupaging today but first we are going out for breakfast.

New LOTV launch

This is one of the lovely new stamps from the new Lili of the valley launch of Wedding stamps coming on 12th May.  I thought it was perfect for an Anniversary card.  I coloured it with Copics and I must say I am really pleased with the way his jacket turned out.  I used a Daisy Mae torn edge stitched ocal and cut off the bottom.

The papers are First Edition Butterfly Kisses and the sentiment is an old stamp from LOTV.

Gorgeous day here yesterday. Dull and a little drizzle at the moment. Supposed to just be cloudy. We are off the garden centre this morning.

More decoupaged gifts

 

These are the decoupaged gifts I made on Monday. A white vase and two more wooden hearts. I really love the textured effect any little wrinkles on the napkins give. Having watched the videos they said the wrinkles give more texture and I agree. Once sealed they don’t look like wrinkles just a really nice feel to them.  I bought a couple of small ceramic butterflies from Hobbycraft yesterday and have lots more things I am going to revamp. I can’t wait for my napkins to arrive from Ebay.

Another snowman

I am pleased to have made another Christmas card, first one for May.  It's another Lili of the Valley snowman coloured with Copics.  I used a MFT stitched rounded corner die and my corner punch.  The paper is last year's First Edition and I added a postcard from a Bo bunny pack, some old stars from Hobbycraft and a LOTV sentiment.

I made another card yesterday which I can't share with you yet and a vase and two plaques which I decoupaged.  I have ordered some more napkins from Ebay as I can't find many pretty ones locally.  They should be here later this week so looking forward to having another play.

 

Learning a new craft

I said the other day that I was going to learn how to do another craft.  Well I have wanted to learn how to decoupage items for a long time.  So I watched some very helpful Youtube videos and yesterday I made these.  Graham was out all day so I had plenty of time to play.

The methods are nothing like I thought they would be so good job I looked at Youtube before having a go.  I started with a simple small heart and for this one you use the top layer of a napkin and paste the Mod Podge on top of the paper.  Once dry I sanded the excess off and added another coat of Mod Podge to seal.

I then moved on to the box.  I have several boxes which I previously decorated after Graham panted them.  I used ribbon, lace and flowers and they sold well.  However they don't seem to sell now so I removed all the decoration and decoupaged it. You do this with a different method using lots of pieces of torn one layer napkins.  Who knew? Well I didn't.

I then did the same thing with a large heart, block and pen/brush holder.  There are some wrinkles but the tutors on the videos said that doesn't matter as it adds to the texture.  I must admit it does give a nice crackle effect. 

I loved making these.  They took longer than I thought but were so much more enjoyable than I expected.  I'm sure my technique will improve too.

Graham is out driving the rescue boat at the powerboat racing again today so a cardmaking day is planned.