Love is like a butterfly, as soft and gentle as a sigh . . .

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Before I get to talking about card making ….  I’m sorry about the invite above saying: ‘Follow my blog with Bloglovin’ … I had to insert a bit of computer code into a new post order to ‘claim my blog‘. I’m not really sure why I need to claim my blog, but I noticed some other bloggers have done this so, in order to find out what it’s all about, I registered with Bloglovin. Will see what’s so exciting about it.  You can ignore it … you don’t have to click to follow me on there – unless you want to, of course.

There are cards for every sort of occasion and every type of person, (or personality) and I sat for 20 minutes trying to decide on what sort of card I was going to make for a relatives 89th Birthday.  I’ve made her cards  (Birthday, Christmas etc) for a few years, but I felt that she needed something different this year.  Not so fussy, but still with something going on.  Hmm… something with butterflies I think.

I knew I had a little kit which made up two jars of either butterflies or sweeties so I went in search of them among the box of Hunkydory stuffs.  I’d forgotten how pretty they were and the moment I saw them I knew that I’d make her one of these.

In ‘kit’ form this is what you get:

The pink jar is the sweet jar, and the blue, as you saw at the head of this post, is the butterfly jar.  But … there’s nothing to say that you can’t mix them up and swap butterflies for sweets.

Now … I have a bit of a problem in making ‘kit cards’.  I ALWAYS feel like I’ve cheated and let the whole crafting community down.  I don’t know why I feel like that, I just do.  But, I know that there very much is a place for kits and also know my relative will love this card.  It’s very ‘her’.

You begin by popping out the ‘front’ central part of the jar, and then cutting some clear acetate  to match the shape of the ‘hole’ in the front of the jar, you then fix that to the inside of the card front.

showing the rear of the card and the acetate fitted and fixed to the front of the jar.

It’s when you get to this point in the making that you need to stop and think about how you’re going to write the card out when it’s made.  Yup… you need to do that now before you fix any of the butterflies into the jar, because once fixed in place, you’ll have a difficult time trying to write on the back of the card.

The reason the card has that 3D effect is because of the roundedness of the front.  And that happens because the front is cut slightly bigger than the back. So once you’ve fixed the butterflies into the inside of the jar you then fix that card (jar) front in place.  If you scroll up to the photo of the unmade kits, you’ll notice that on the one edge of the card front, there’s a little flap.  That little flap allows you to adhere the front to the back … but because the card front is too big it ’rounds out’ and so gives the jar it’s shape.  (The use of craft clamps comes into use for this part).

This is the finished card as far as the kit is concerned, however you can then add your own touches to it to make it yours.

I added some deep pink with white dots ribbon ‘ties’ which I made (look like bows but not bows), and a silver metal, dangly charm fixed onto a large white paperclip,   which had a little more of the ribbon looped onto the top of it,  which I attached it to the back of the card so that the charm was dangling down next to the hand-written message.

I totally forgot to take a photo of the extra touches until it was packaged and sealed inside its postal box so you’ll just have to imagine the end result.  [sigh…  I’d be terribly dangerous if I had a brain]

And, as they say, that was it!  VOILA!  It’s an easy to put together card, the majority of the time is taken up with trimming off the little ‘tabs’ from where the die cuts were still attached to the cardstock.  Other than that it’s a simple card to make.  But looks so pretty when made.

As I was putting this card together I kept singing the theme song to a lovely, gentle sitcom, called Butterflies,  which was made and shown on the BBC, here in the UK,  between 1978 to 1983, and if I find it showing now, I’ll actually sit and watch it, just to be reminded of a more gentle time.  The theme tune is the Dolly Parton song Butterflies, but for this programme it was recorded by a singer called Clare Torry, and I think this may have been because Ms Torry had a little softer and more gentle tone to her voice.

It’s only 38 seconds long, so I share it with you here:

If I’ve got an earworm I think I should share it with everyone so that you can have it too.  I was taught that it’s nice to share.  [grins]

Have a beautiful Wednesday, whatever you’re doing.  Thank you for coming and having a coffee with me, I love having your company.

Sending my love,  from here in my corner to you in yours.

 

 

The Cobweborium Recommendation of the Week: TONIC!

I was doing a little ‘housework’ on the blog here and realised that I haven’t done a ‘recommendation’ for simply ages.  So here I am putting that right with something I’ve just begun using (last week).

I ran out of my usual tacky glue (by Collall) – which didn’t bother me because I knew I had some more on my supplies shelf.  Except …  when I reached to get my other bottle, it wasn’t there.  I’d obviously already used it and forgotten.  tsk tsk.

An urgent dash to The Range (a store in the UK which sells practically everything, including crafty supplies) to get some more,  but when I got there, they had none.  Both Mr. Cobs and I searched the shelves but there was none to be found.  However Mr. Cobs found something else . . . Tonic Tacky Glue.  I looked at it, umming and ahing,  and in the end I decided I had nothing to lose, so bought a bottle to try it.

I’ve now been using it for a week and I can confidently, whole heartedly,  recommend it.  It’s an absolutely brilliant paper and card crafters glue.  It has a really great, very quick grab time, and you really don’t need much glue to form a great bond.

The bottle was ready to use – so none of that tricky guess-work about cutting the end off the nib;  and, when you come to use it,  the hole is tiny,  BUT  don’t be tempted to make a bigger hole until you’ve tested it for a few days,  and then you’ll see exactly how little glue you actually need to do the jobs you need it to do.  Just a scrape of glue is all you need.  Literally, a scrape.

I like this glue so much that I know I’ll be buying and using more of this, and I can see it even replacing double-sided tape for a lot of my card making, (when matting and layering).  It grabs and it sticks, really well.

I’ve so far tried it on felt, wool, wood, plastic, paper and card, and it’s coped really well with all these things.

Tonic Craft Tacky Glue.  If you want to try it out in small first, The Range sell the smallest bottle for just 99p.  I bought the next size up, (which I think was double the size) for £1.99 – which makes it £2.00 cheaper than my normal brand of tacky glue.  NB … The Range is where I bought it from – but other crafty outlets are available, and you can even buy this on the internet in various places.

 a note:  I’m not paid to make recommendations and I haven’t been given any products to act as payment, or to encourage me to recommend them.  I will only recommend a craft product which I’ve actually tried and use myself, and found to be a great success in my own craft projects.

This recommendation is based only upon my own use of this product.  However … if you yourself already use this Tonic Craft Tacky Glue, then please do share your own experiences by posting them in a comment, and letting everyone else reading hear your own experiences with it.  Hearing from others helps us crafters to form an opinion, and I’m all for crafters helping crafters where they can!

(You can post a comment by scrolling to the top of this post to find the title … then drag your mouse just to the right of the title and you’ll see a little grey speech bubble which will turn deep red when you hover your cursor over it.  Click it and you can then find all the comments and the comment box.)

Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday ~

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A ~ K.I.S.S. ~ Card … about Friends

I’ve been trying to K.I.S.S my cards over the past few weeks. No not  ‘Kiss’ – as in ‘kiss on your cheek’.  K.I.S.S.   Right now you might be saying  “What the heck is K.I.S.S.?”  . . . .  K.I.S.S.  is short for:  ‘Keep It Simple Stupid’.

I’m a bit of a lover of embellishments and falderals.  I love those extra little happy touches.  But the problem with these things is that it adds so much depth to a card which means having to make deeper boxes for them, and then that adds to the cost of posting them and … well I told myself that I had to try harder at making cards which were less ‘deep’.  I  challenged myself to make  K.I.S.S. cards.

As you can see from this card –  I failed slightly.  I ‘had’ to add a butterfly to it.  Forgive me … I needed some sparkle and joy.  But this butterfly, although on the large(ish) size, it isn’t actually that deep, so it still fits inside a regular envelope! (although … I’d add a little layer of either bubble wrap or line the envelope with extra card to protect it).

This was an incredibly easy to make card.  Here’s what I used:

The stamps all came from ‘Emily’s Garden’ collection from Card-io Majestix Stamps.

Card-io Stamps are such versatile stamps and you can make so much from them, for all sorts of things from Tags to large cards to Scrapbooking,  for all through the year or for a particular time of year such as Christmas.  (I’ll do a post just about Card-io Stamps at some point as I’d love you to ‘meet’ them.).

I chose colours of stamp pads, and got to work.

Using a 6×6″ white scored card, I masked off a section of the card which would be wide enough for the ‘rub on’ sentiment I’d chosen to fix to the card.

Although I have masking tape, I’ve never got great results when I’ve masked off on cards, and have found that it can pull off sections of card stock.  So I now use Washi Tape. (hence the roll of green Washi that you can see in the photo).

Once masked off I then stamp the leaves and ferns – in the green ink pads I’ve chosen.  Wiping my stamp off between changing colours, using a baby wipe.  Then do the same with the flowers (only using the other colours you’ve chosen for the flowers) – again wiping the flower stamps between colour changes.

 

Once done remove the Washi Tape carefully – and the next bit is optional:  Using a Micron pen, I butt my ruler up against the stamping and draw a thin line along it on both sides.  But – again – this is optional.

Add your sentiment – either a die cut or rub on, or sticker,  and Voila!  You can finish the card right there.  Or you can be like me and go on to add a little something extra to make it yours.

This was so SO close to being a K.I.S.S. card.  I was almost there.  I shall try harder next time.

Well that’s me done and dusted.  🙂

I trust that you’re going to have an excellent Wednesday.  If a gremlin gets into your day then just mentally show it the door and be done with it.  It’s just a day … really doesn’t matter what it’s called,   you just have to make the decision that it’s going to be a good one.

Sending oodles of love and squishes to your corner from mine…

Hints, tips and part 2 of the ‘Guide to Stamping’.

Hello again! 🙂

Yesterday we went through the Rules (there aren’t any) and Guidelines for getting better images when stamping.  We learned the importance of a mouse mat.  We stamped the same image a few times.  We stamped it in different colours too and saw what a difference that made to the end result stamped image.  We chatted about stamping an image in different colours all at once.  And we did a bit of colouring of images once they’d been stamped,  using a rainbow selection of coloured stamped pads.

Today we’re going to move on to something a bit more fearful.  Sorry.  I meant to say …Fearfully Easy.  An impressive bit of stamp magic which, if you don’t know about these types of stamps yet, you’ll be surprised about.

A blog I follow ( PaperPuff ) summed up these particular stamps beautifully when she herself tried them for the first time a few weeks ago.  She called them the stamps of the Three ‘Oh’s.  smiling to myself here because I knew what she was talking about and she’s right. They really are  Three Oh’s.  You’ll see why …    Shall we begin?  Seatbelts on…  handbags on the floor ….  Let’s go!

These are Altenew Stamps.  I’ve blogged about them before, but this time I’m talking about them because I think anyone who’s having a problem with their stamping should absolutely have this set (or one of their other sets)  in their ‘armoury’.

There are a couple of brands of stamps which allow me to put together a ‘story’, in stamped images, in different ways.  Even if I use the exact same stamps over and over, I can actually still make one-off cards – each of them totally different from the last. 

These two brands are: 

• Card-io Stamps  – which I adore, these are available direct from Card-io themselves,  (their name is a clickable link which will open in a new window) ... 
• and . . .  the fairly recently introduced into this country:  Altenew Stamps.  You can now buy quite a selection of the Altenew Stamps from various places which you can find on the web.  Google ‘Altenew’ and it will give you suppliers.  (I use ‘My Mums Craft Shop’ and have had only great service from them – but shop around.  You may find a supplier close to where you live.).

For this ‘play around’, I’m going to use the Altenew Stamps, Vintage Rose collection, shown in the last photograph.

Some of the Altenew stamps come in big sets,  like the set in the photo above, but within that set is a collection of smaller ‘groups’.  In this set, each group makes one rose for you,  in different shapes and sizes, and there also different sets of leaves, again, different shapes and sizes.

In this photo I’ve tried to show you how I pick out each group that I’m going to use, and I pop them down in their group (in lines – top row is the large rose, middle row is the medium rose & bottom row is the small stamp) so that I don’t have to keep peeling them off the carrier sheet.

I’ve chosen to stamp a larger rose.  The particular stamped image I’m going to stamp has 3 different stamps just to make one rose.  In some ‘groups’ of the larger set, there may be 4 stamps to make just one image.  Keep reading, it’s not as difficult or as scary as it sounds….  🙂

One Stamp.  One pale yellow colour stamp pad.  The combination of which gives us . . .   a  frankly underwhelming image.  . . . . .  ‘Oh’ – number one!

You stamp the palest colour first.  The paler colour of the roses tones.  I’ve chosen the Yellow set of cubes from the Altenew Pads here – but if you have a selection of tones in the same colour way eg:  four different shades of red/pink, or blue, or green etc etc, then you don’t have to buy the stamp pads just to use the stamps.

Then, using the second rose stamp in the group and the next colour,which is slightly darker than the first pale colour.  . . .    ‘Ohh!’  – number 2.

As I mentioned above –  In some sizes of roses there will be three stamps, in others there will be four.  (Hence the reason that the Altenew mini cubes come in sets of four).

Mmmm.. what’s happened here then??  (I hear you ask)…   well, I want to show you OH! number three, but I wanted to make sure that it impresses you in such a way that you really do ‘get it’.  I’ve covered up the finished Large and Medium sized roses which I’ve already completed, and this last rose, the small one, is at that ‘second stamp’ stage …

That small rose has now had its 3rd colour from the stamp pads, but you can’t really see what I’m trying to show you about how these stamps will make you look like the Stamping Expert of the Year.  Let’s continue and see where this goes …

This time I’ve covered up all three roses.  But … I’ve added some leaves on vines.

If you’re going to ‘build’ a picture with these stamps – in this case a rose,  – you have to start with what’s in the foreground and then follow it up with whats in the background.  But in order to do this you complete each section at a time, but then cover up that section so that you don’t stamp over it and spoil what you’ve done.  As you can see in the photograph above, as I’m stamping the leaves and vines, some of the leaf/vine stamp is actually stamping onto the ‘covers’,  –  so, imagine the mess they would be making on the roses if I hadn’t covered up the work I’d already done.  (If this sounds complicated, don’t fret.  It’s honestly not … as you’ll see …..)….

Now the leaves in the photograph are fine and groovy, but … they don’t have any shadows, or veins to the leaves…..  so let’s pop some in.

I’ve stamped in the veins and shadows … but I’ve purposely ‘missed’ the right places on the leaves by just ‘off center’  with the stamp.  This ‘miss’ is a prolem that can happen to all of us at some time, so don’t beat yourself up or trash what you’ve worked hard on.   It’s not the end of the world.  Like I showed you yesterday, in part one of this guide, you can ‘paint’ with your stamp pads!  So this can be put right really quite easily.  Stamp the ink pad on your glass mat (or plate, saucer etc) and then dip your paint brush into a little water, but take off as much of the water as possible but leaving the bristles damp enough to ‘mix’ into the inky blob and then ‘smudge’ & paint the already (miss)stamped bit.  Then simply ‘paint’ the veins of the leaves just a little  ….. practise this a little on scap card.  You’ll soon get the hang of it.

No gaps between leaves and veins now.  So … are you ready to look at the roses? . . .

The third ‘Ohhh!’  . . . You can see how masking off the roses means that the vines and leaves don’t make a mess of the images you’ve already stamped.

 

So .. let’s stamp the other corner of the card in the same way …

 

I’ve stamped a group of 4 roses in the bottom left corner, so that you can see that even though two of the roses are the same, they look different because the stamped images have all been turned around and stamped differently. and the leaves are all different – even though they’re the same!

Shall we make a sentiment for this card?

In this photo I’ve stamped that same word in three differently places.  The top image I stamped on my glass mat.  The middle image I stamped on my desk top.  (That’s not the light giving that effect … that’s a missing part of the image.  And finally … the bottom ‘Amazing’ was stamped using the mouse mat, copy paper and then card sandwich.  You can see that the mouse mat really does make a difference.

If you don’t have a sentiment which says what you want to say, simply bring in other stamps, stamp them on scrap card and then use them together.

I’ve cut out the stamped sentiments then mounted them on some narrow foam tape and place them on the card.  The foam tape gives a little dimension to the card.

I’ve taken three photographs of this finished card, in different lights, so that you can get a reasonable idea of the brightness of the stamped colours which the stamp pads provide.

Lights full on, so that it’s heaps brighter.

Some bunnies wanted to say bye-bye!

These stamps really are easy to use, and I highly recommend them – for new stampers and stampers who have been stamping for years.  They really are such a great addition to your stamps.

Phew ... well that’s where we end on our hints and tips Guide to Stamping.  If there is anything I haven’t mentioned that you hoped I would, then please tell me in a comment and I’ll do my very best to help.  I’m not an expert.  I’m a crafter, like you, and these are things that I’ve found work for me, and after a plea asking for some help, I made this ‘Guide’ to help a fabulous lady, Mrs. P, but I’m also hoping that it might help someone else along the way too.

Thank you so much for visiting and having a coffee with me.  I love your company, as you know, and  the fact that you visit really does mean the world to me.  So thank you for coming.

May your Tuesday be filled with love and smiles.  Sending crafty hugs and oodles of  l ❤ve  ~  till next time …

 

 

 

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How could I have forgotten that I loved Anna?

I wanted to make a special card for someone who is such a really lovely person, but I wanted to make it in a way that perhaps she hadn’t seen from me before so I sat and I puzzled over it until my brain got sore and then ….  I spotted a box on a shelf in my craft room and DING!  A big exclamation mark appeared over my head!

I’ve had some Anna Griffin die cuts in a box for quite some time, and, well, you know how it is, you make something, and then another thing, then another, and then you decide that you want a change so you pop things back on the shelf and, over time, they kind of get forgotten.  Well that’s what happened with the Anna Griffin die-cuts.

I sat in my craft room chair and opened the box (feeling a little like Pandora), and it was right at that moment a light inside my brain shone like a Christmas Angel.  “Ohhh dearest die cuts, how could I have forgotten about you, my darlings?  You are perfection” I said lovingly to the die cuts – like some weirdo.

So … I made a card with them!  Other than this (wordy) introduction, there’s not much to say about this card because it kind of tells its own story as you look at the photos, so without further ado …  may I present …  Flowers for my Friend …. [round of applause can be heard as the curtain goes up  …   stops halfway,  . . .  a whirring, grinding noise can be heard,  but then   . . .   with a bit of fiddling,  up it finally rises] . .

I had to hold the card in one of those big peg things,   that’s what you can just see at the bottom there.  It’s not my fingers, ’cause those are fatter than that peg. {snigger}

The outside of the card is a pretty card but it’s also pretty ‘normal’.  However … it’s the inside where the action is, for this card is meant to be displayed open.

When you open the card there’s a lot more going on than you might think from the outside.  {kind of like my good self … only in my case there’s a lot less going on than you hope for}

As you move the card around you get to see different things which you might not have noticed before .

Ta daaaah!  Like magic!  You can now see how the individual layers of how the card works.

Looking from the other side

Slightly blurry in places.  The camera has a self focusing thing and wanted to focus on those pansies.  In the end I gave up fighting with it and let it do whatever it darn well liked, because it wasn’t going to let me win.

And a final look at the front again, just incase you’ve forgotten what it looked like …

See … told you it wasn’t my fingers holding the card! {pulls out tongue and waggles it}

And that’s all there is to it!

Ok … let’s get down and dirty now …

The HEAT.  The TEMPERATURE HERE IS ALL WRONG.  IT’S TOO,  TOOOOOOOO  HOT!!  I feel dirty all the time and I don’t like dirty.   Mr. Cobs thinks I’ve developed one of those OCD things  … I keep washing my hands, and arms, right up to the elbows, because it’s such horrid, sticky weather.

Now don’t get me wrong…  I’m not complaining about the Summer, nor the fabulous Sunshine. But surely there is no need to roast a Cobweb in this unseemly fashion?

I’m sat here with the ceiling fan on at full throttle.  I have a large desk top fan on the coffee table, doing its gentle wave, back and forth, like the Queen waving from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.  And … I have a large air coolant machine, (which is darned noisy but worth the noise) in the hallway, facing into the living room, so that all my fur pals can keep cool.

Our living room, and leading halfway into the hallway, looks like the aftermath of a murder scene right now.  Four bodies are waiting for forensic Science to come and put white tape around them,  take swabs, and hairs and … whatever else they do in those white J-Cloth suits which they wear.  

Three Cats and one rather rotund Dog,  who has a big, chubby pink belly which I like to blow raspberries on because it makes her wriggle and snuff,  (but enough of my peccadilloes),  are all  looking, for all intents and purposes, like dead things.  I’d love to take a photo, but the minute I turn the darn thing on these four all know that little noise which the camera makes and they all sit up to see what the divil I’m up to now.  So I won’t photograph them, I’ll leave them to rest, because they need it.  If I’m too hot and I only have three items of clothing on, then these wonderful creatures are way hotter because they’re all wearing fur coats!

Oh look at me rambling on.  It’s the heat.  It’s addled that one last remaining brain cell.  I shall shut up – except to say …  Have a wonderful Wednesday.  Do something nice for someone else today.  Give them one of your smiles.  Tell someone you’ve never met before, that they look pretty/handsome/striking/attractive   .. anything nice. Lovely.  Anything to bring them joy.  By doing so, I promise you’ll get far more joy in return.  Go on.  Do something nice for someone else today.  I dares ya!

Have a  blessed day my friends.  Thank you for coming to share a coffee with me round the kitchen table.    Heaps of love  to you and yours ~

 

 

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Just for You … with Altenew

I will pop the TV on to take a gander at Create and Craft (UK) now and again when I’m crafting up a storm in the craft room, and sometimes spot things that I’ve not seen before. This happened recently when they were showing some new stamps called ‘Altenew’.  A lady was on-screen demonstrating these new stamps (new to me) which I’d not seen before so I watched to see what they were.

If you’ve ever stamped with Card-io stamps then these are very much similar to those – although they’re bigger.  But the idea is the same, being that you use a variety of stamps in order to build up a unique picture or scene.  The postage and packaging charges push the prices up of anything bought on C&C so I looked around on the internet to see if I could find the stamps anywhere else at a cheaper price, and as luck would have it I found a small craft shop not far from where I live, called My Mums Craft Shop  ~  link: www.mymumscraftshop.co.uk  ~ who sell Altenew stamps.  They didn’t have the stamps I wanted in stock one the day I phoned, but they were waiting for a delivery, and the (really lovely) lady on the phone told me that they would be there within about ten days, after they’d made it through customs in our country, so I asked to be notified when the stamps were available for sale, and as promised I was emailed just over a week later.  (I can’t quite remember how much this craft shop charges for postage and packaging, but I know it impressed me and I vowed that I’d shop there again).

At the same time as buying a selection of the stamps I also bought two sets of Altenew stamp cubes.  And this post is how I got on with the stamps and stamp pads on my first use and sharing the card I made using the stamps.

I wanted to play with the Vintage Roses stamps, so decided that I’d just do some happy stamping to start with, in order to get a feel for the stamps and see how well the ink pads worked.  The following four photos are images stamped onto some scrap card out of my scrap drawer.  I perhaps should have chosen something a little better, as the ink wanted to bleed on this card, hence the smudgy outlines of the different colours.  But .. I was only playing so wasn’t overly bothered  ….

This ‘2 rose’ image was made using (for each stamp) 4 different stamps.  If we just look at the bigger of the two roses – you might just be able to see that there are actually  4 colours used.  Very pale pink;  a rosy pink;  a deep pink with a tad of purple added;  and finally an almost vintage style red.  All these different colours go onto 4 totally different stamps, (one colour per stamp) which will, when stamped, make up all the layers of the petals of the rose, and add the shadows and hi-lights.

I added a third rose, a rose bud and some leaves, all stamped with Altenew stamps in the same Vintage Roses stamp set.

Same stamps, this time using a selection of 4 different blue inks – from the Altenew Stamp Cubes.

The same roses –  only this time in Yellow.

By this time I’d got the idea, so decided to make a card and this card was the result:

Card made using papers from the Floral Muse range from Dovecraft plus  a sentiment “Just for You” from the same Floral Muse range,  and stamped images using the Altenew Vintage Roses.

I stamped the rose images a few times, so that I could fussy cut them and create a 3D decoupaged image of the roses, building up certain parts more than others, in order to give it the right ‘feel’.

Taken from an angle so that you could see the ‘layers’ of the 3D decoupaged roses.  If you look carefully you’ll just about be able to see the little foam pads between the layers.

I carefully dragged a glue pen around the rose petals and over some parts of the leaves, and sprinkled them with glitter dust, to give them a magical twinkle.

The Butterfly was stamped using an image from a set of stamps in the Floral Muse range, by Dovecraft.  I stamped it using a quick dry fluid chalk ink pad in a colour called ‘Rusty Bucket’.

The wide, pink Organza ribbon was wrapped all the way around the front of the card so that it continued onto the inside.  Added to the top of the ribbon inside was a sentiment stamp using the same ‘Rusty Bucket’ chalk fluid ink pad, – the sentiment stamp is from a small collection made by Jayne Nestorenko.

It needed a box, because I feared that the roses would get crushed in the post, as this one is going to the other side of the world, so a box was called for…

I made up a white 6×6″ box, but then sprayed it using some Lindys Stamp Gang sprays in two different colours, which matched the papers on the card really well.  I stamped another rose and some leaves this time using a different set of Altenew rose stamps, and once I’d cut the images out, I attached them to the top of the box – only this time the rose and leaves are flat against the box lid so making wrapping and posting easier and safer.

After using these new stamps, how do I feel about them?   Well actually I quite like them.  They give me the opportunity to make something unique and to make it personal, and gear it towards the person I’m making it for.  And … it stops all that fiddling about trying to get different colours of ink onto different parts of a stamp.  With this design it makes everything simple!

The ink cubes …  well the colours are nice…  and they’re VERY juicy, but to be brutally honest I did question if they perhaps had been used before.  The edges of the stamp pads were a bit ragged, as if they were old(ish).  After using them I concluded that they were so juicy they couldn’t possibly be old because they weren’t dried out at all, but I was disappointed on how ragged they were around the edges of the pad bit of the ink pad.  However .. they worked in the right way and they did what they said they’d do on the pot.

The blue roses were made using the Altenew Stamp Cubes.  The Red (pinky) roses and Yellow roses were made using Dew Drops ink pads in four different colours, and all the leaves were stamped using Dew Drops.  So if you have the colours already I think I’d say that you can use your own colours of pads – but make sure you have the right amount of different shades so that you can make the rose … or any other of the stamps which Altenew make.  (and they make quite a lot!)

May I just take a moment to say that I haven’t been paid money or given any crafting goodies for sharing my experience of Altenew Stamps or Stamp Ink Cubes.  Neither have I been encouraged, paid money, nor promised products or discounts to share my experience of the craft shop where I found the stamps I bought.  I don’t work for either of these companies.  I’m just a crafter who’s happy to share experiences with other crafters in order to make our crafty lives happy. 

I’ve really enjoyed playing with these stamps and like the card I made for my friend.  I think she’ll like it too.  There’s nothing so lovely as receiving a hand-made card from someone.

Well, Summer seems to have arrived – although we did have some spectacular thunder and lightning storms a couple of days ago, which scared me half to death and had two of my cats hiding under the furniture, and the dog barking her head off.  It sounded like a war zone … or what I imagine a war zone to sound like.  BOOM.  BOOM! …  rumble … rummmmmmble. (rain starts)  BOOOM ~~  KerBOOM  ~~  BOOOOOM!  I darn near joined the cats under the sofa, I’m telling you!

It’s also very hot here – humid and sticky and tiring.  I keep yawning – and I actually fell asleep in the chair on Monday afternoon!  I think I need to think like the Spanish and take siestas during the summer.  Ahhhh… just the thought is making me smile.

Well, that’s me done and dusted.  I wish you a very happy Tuesday and leave you with a few words to make your smile a little wider ….

Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.

Always remember to forget
The friends that proved untrue
But never forget to remember
Those that have stuck by you.

Always remember to forget
The troubles that have passed away
But never forget to remember
The blessings that come each day.

Have a truly blessed day all.  Remember to stop at some point during your day and smile as you make a memory.

Heaps of love and Cobwebby squidges . . .

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Playing with Polyfilla!

I know that you can get very good texture pastes for crafting, but they come at a price.  I’ve never before bothered about crafting with these texture pastes as it just didn’t feel like my cup of tea (so to speak), but recently I’ve had the urge to have a go.  And so I did.  Only .. not with crafters texture paste.  A few days ago Mr. Cobs had to visit B&Q (other DIY outlets are available), and I asked him if he would get me some Polyfilla.  After looking at me with a very suspicious head to the side and squinting his eyes look, I explained that I wanted to use it in crafting, on some cardstock, using some stencils, so I needed “the fine, ready mixed stuff please”.

Bless his heart, he didn’t just bring me back the required tube of Polyfilla, but also a special scrapery type tool to help me get a smooth ‘pass’ with the creamy Polyfilla.

I chose a stencil – a metal Jellyfish stencil by Dreamweaver – for my first ‘have a go’.

I have to admit that I did question as to whether I was being a bit over-ambitious, but I pushed that thought to the back of my mind and ploughed on with hope ever-present in my brave heart.

It was a little bit fiddly when I dragged the Polyfilla over the stencil as there were a few parts which just hadn’t ‘taken up’ the gungy stuff, so I got down and dirty and scooped some excess ‘filla off the scraper then promptly blobbed it back onto the scraper again in just the right place and dragged it carefully over the spots that had ‘missed’ first time round, and VOILA … the gaps were filled.

Jellyfish

I wish that I hadn’t been quite so excited when I removed the stencil, for I would have taken a photograph of the piece at that point.  Sadly my excitement dragged me on and I got busy with my mica powders.  I used three different colours of Mica.

I’m kind of glad that I worked so quickly because the Polyfilla was REALLY quick to dry.  It says on the tube that it will dry in around 60 minutes.  But … this is a really thin coat which I applied to the card,  and add to that: the card is porous,  so it takes up the moisture in the ‘filla very quickly and so it dries faster.

The image was only just damp by the time I’d got the tops off my Micas and began to sprinkle and drop colours where I wanted them to be.  I left this project alone then for half an hour – just to make sure, then took it outside and huffed and puffed the Mica off the card and onto the garden. (It now looks like a fairy has flown by out there. lol)   I stood there in the garden with eyes as wide as saucers saying (quietly and gently) a long drawn out “Oooooooooooohhhhh!“.

Back to the craft room  … I had an idea and wished that I’d have thought of it before I began: …

I’ve recently invested in some Lindy’s Stamp Gang products and wanted to spray the background with one of the Starburst sprays (in a blue colour called Azure Sea Asters).  These are the most magical, incredible shimmery sprays, and each of them has a two toned colour to it.  (I’ve only had these products for a short time but I’m so impressed with them.  I also have some of their embossing powders and the colours are amazing!)

I’ve tried to capture the colours by changing camera angles but haven’t managed terribly well.  This is another shot of the Jellyfish, with the flash on.

I’ve found that if you tilt your computer screen back and forth slightly, you may be able to see some of the colours in a darker or lighter shade.

The products I used for creating the Jellyfish are shown below:

Filled with creative excitement I had to make something else with the Polyfilla  ….

Fairy Seedhead Homes

This time I planned it a little more carefully and used my Lindy’s Stamp Gang Starburst Sprays on my cardstock first.  They don’t take long at all to dry and are delicate colours when dried.

Using a Sweet Poppy stencil, I got to work on my second ‘go’ with Polyfilla.  This one was a little more tricky.  There are some tight corners and slight space/gaps in the stencil which meant that the ‘filla had a job fitting through adequately to actually stick to the page.  I did my best at filling the holes and gaps, but when I removed the stencil some of the Polyfilla came away with it.  The spaces were so tight.

Undeterred I continued with my Mica Powders.

Once the Polyfilla was dry I used a grey and a dark brown very fine liner pens and carefully ‘drew’ in the shadows of this stencilled picture so that I could ‘add’ the details which were missing.  Once this was done you didn’t notice that the filla wasn’t actually there.

The products used for this project are pictured below (minus the Mica Powders, which I forgot to include)

Products used for the Fairy Seedhead Home project (minus the Mica Powders which I forgot to photograph!)

I’m not sure at the moment what I’m going to use these two projects for, maybe a card, maybe part of a scrapbook page…  but when I’ve made what-ever it is, I’ll be sure to share it/them with you.

Oh … I forgot to say …  I finished them both off with a little bit of Rub ‘n Buff in Gold.  Just to bring a little zing to them and highlight them a little, and also to add a little bit of a ‘puff of magic’ to the tops of the seed heads.

Well that’s me done and dusted.  If there’s anything I’ve forgotten to say or anything you need to know more about please just ask.  I really don’t mind sharing information about anything crafty I’ve done.

I’ll leave you with the Jellyfish so that you can think of cool sea waters, lapping around you as you stand up to your shoulders in the most incredible blue sea water, with the heat of the sun playing around your shoulders.  You turn to see a waiter standing on the water’s edge with a long cool drink on a tray, and you hear the tinkling of the ice on the glass.  Oh, I forgot to say that you’re a beautiful size 6 or 8 (British size) and as you walk out of the sea, you’re dressed in that same bikini which Ursula Andress wore in the James Bond movie Dr. No – only you look even better because …. well .. because you do!

And now you’re in that wonderful state of relaxation and fantasy, I shall leave you with these words….

Have a wonderful and truly blessed rest of your day my friends.  Sending love and creative hugs from me here in my corner of the world to you there in yours. 

 

To capture a Fairy in a Jar . . .

To capture a Fairy in a Jar ...  you simply have to be gentle and kind, and want to capture her (or him) with all your heart.

I originally found a photograph of a fairy in a jar on Pinterest. I fell in love with it instantly and literally stopped everything I was doing and got all the supplies out on my desk and began to make my own jar ready to capture my fairy, right there and then.

I’ll warn you now that this blog post is photo heavy.  I totally forgot to take pictures at each stage of the make, simply because I was SO into making it.  But I’ve taken a photograph from all angles of the finished fairy in my jar, so that you can see it all around and even on top, and I’ve taken photo’s in sunlight from the window in my craft room,  at dusk in my craftroom and even in the house in the darkness – at night-time, with all the lights off.   So here goes, dear reader.  Get ready for lots of photos ….

My Captured Fairy in a Jar with the lid off.  But she didn’t want to escape!  She preferred to gaze at her star and make wishes!

Showing the left hand side of the Fairy in a Jar.  You can see the grass which the Fairy is sitting in.

The right hand side of the Fairy Jar.

The back of the Fairy Jar ~ created by Cobwebs.

looking at the jar with the lid in place, from above.

I chose to keep the lid of the jar, as I wanted to have a choice of how it was displayed (lid on/lid off).  My original idea was to have the lid on during the daytime when the Tea lights weren’t alight, and leave the lid off at night when the lights were switched on.  But I actually love it both ways.

I did, at first, decorate the glass lid with white cotton fabric (like shirt fabric), which I tied on with string around the  knob on the top.  (It was glued in place).  I decorated it with buttons and flowers.  However, when I stood back to look at it, I wondered if I’d like it better if I’d have done the same thing on the lid as I’d done to the jar itself.  I lived with it for a couple of days, then stripped the cotton off, scrubbed it clean again and decorated it to match the jar.  And …. I love it like that!

The Fairy Jar without the Tea Lights lit and no flash from the camera, just lit by the light from the window.

Lit only by the light from the window.

Showing the Tea Lights inside.

You should only use battery operated Tea Lights inside a Fairy Jar.  That’s so important that I’m going to say it again:  YOU SHOULD ONLY USE BATTERY OPERATED TEA LIGHTS IN A FAIRY JAR!  This is because you’ve glued paper and or card to the inside of the jar.  Paper/Card and Candles DON’T MIX WELL  – unless you want to start a FIRE!  We don’t want any accidents … so please don’t even try out a candle inside the jar.  Please, please buy battery operated Tea Lights for your version of a Fairy Jar. You don’t have to put three in if you don’t want to.  One works … Two makes things twinkle brighter, and three, for some reason, makes Fairy Wings seem to flutter just a little.  Why is that, I wonder?  It must be Fairy magic!

Even with no lights on an only the sunlight from the window to light it in order to take the photos, the Fairy Jar still looks incredible.

Another view of the Jar from above, so that you can see it without any light other than that from the window.  Still looks lovely, doesn’t it!

My wonderful little Grandson comes to visit at the weekend and we have him for about 5/6 hours to give mum and dad a little free time to do stuff.  When he came last weekend, I introduced him to the “Fairy Shadow I caught in a Jar!”  …  I didn’t want him to hear me say I actually caught a Fairy in a jar, because … well, he knows me to be kind and loving, and anyone who’s kind and loving most certainly doesn’t catch a Fairy and stuff them into a jar!  So I explained that I’d caught a Fairy’s shadow.  That sounded much nicer, more gentle, more kind and loving.

I didn’t think he’d be over-impressed, after all it was just a Fairy, and the big thing in his life was CARS!  – however he was awestruck!  I came in from my craft room, carrying the already lit and lidded jar really carefully, and I whispered to him that he had to:  “be very quiet and careful because I’ve captured a Fairy Shadow in a Jar!”  ….  I placed the jar down on the coffee table so that he could see it.  His little face was a picture.  He got down on the floor and perched his chin on the coffee table and gazed, . . .  and his eyes grew to the size of saucers!  There was so much magic showing on his face and in his eyes.  So much ‘awesomeness’ (I don’t think that’s a word,  I think I made it up for the purpose of explaining – lol).  He looked at it for ages.  Then, moving quietly around the coffee table – he examined it carefully from all angles.  All of a sudden  … he slowly lifted his arm,  and with one finger he delicately reached out and  v.e.r.y.  gently  touched  the side of the Fairy  Jar,  almost as if he wasn’t sure if what he thought he was looking at, was actuall really, really there!   Thankfully …  I managed to capture that very moment on my camera . . .

My Grandson – aka ‘The Funshine of my Life’ – was incredulous.  He couldn’t believe what he was seeing with his own eyes.

I was totally thrilled to pieces that he liked it.  Everybody else could hate it if they wanted to,  but the fact that he liked it, was so impressed and so awestruck by it meant the absolute world to me.

I was so engrossed in the making of this Fairy Jar that, as I said previously,  I totally forgot to take photographs of each step of the making.  However …  I’ve got something better than my explanations.  A video, which you’ll find at the end of this post.

I enjoyed making this so so much.  It was fun from the start to the end.  I was going to give it away,  but, once it was made  …  I fell head over heels in love with it and couldn’t part with it.

In the video which you’re about to watch  …  White tissue is used in the making.  I however used a VERY PALE pink tissue in this project (above)  and as you can see, it worked perfectly – as you can see from the photos.  But it was simply a matter of choice.  I have a selection of tissue colours.  Something about the pale pink called to me, and I found my hands reaching for it.  So … don’t feel you have to follow the instructions to the letter.  If there’s something you want to do which will make a fairy jar yours and yours alone, then do it!  If you want to use  …red tissue then do so!  Blue tissue to make it look icy?  Go ahead!  Oh – and do post some photo’s on your blog, and then come back here and let me know so that I don’t miss your fairy, because I’d love to see more of these.  I’m already planning another one and I’ve just today found a wonderful jar in the shed which will work brilliantly!

Edit 29/6/16 – to Add:-   There is  NEW  FAIRY  JAR,  complete with photographs of how it was made,   here:  https://thecobweboriumemporium.wordpress.com/2016/06/27/a-fairy-captured-in-a-fairy-jar/    . . . .  It will open in another window for you. ~ Cobs.

 

If, after watching the video, there’s anything that you want to ask about the Fairy Jar In the photographs above, which I may have forgotten to mention, then please feel free to ask in a comment here and I’ll answer you within 24 hours.  One thing I think I haven’t mentioned is that the glitter I used on the outside of the jar was a chunky glitter, not the fine stuff, which I mixed a little card makers ‘snow’ into it, just to add that ‘frosted’ look to the whole thing.

So,  that’s me done and dusted for another beautiful day.  It’s been a little windy around here the last few days.  But thankfully we were not ‘hit’, other than a few branches in our garden came tumbling down – but nothing structurally was hit, so I’d call that blessed.

I hope you too have a truly blessed day.  Remember to stop and enjoy life – even for just a moment, and in that moment be thankful for all you too are blessed with.

Sending love ~

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Easter Blessings

Since it’s Easter, I thought I’d share a little 5×5 card I made for a neighbour.

Not many people I know send Easter cards anymore – which is a shame as it’s such a lovely custom and a wonderful opportunity to share a loving ‘wish’, caring thought or just to say I love you.  Something to show you care.  My neighbour is such a lovely lady,  and a true blessing to have in our lives so I wanted to make her a card for Easter.   I decided on a clean, simple design, but with enough of a difference to make it handmade, rather than shop bought.

I die cut two crosses.  One in a filigree lace type of cut, and the other a solid cross, in plain, pale lilac.  I chose a gentle yellow colour which kind of had a hint of mustard, for the background.

Next, I typed out the words Easter Blessings on the computer using Photoshop, and found a font I liked, then I duplicated the typed layer, making the front layered words to be a darker lilac sort of purple, and the duplicate layer of words, behind, in a paler lilac.  I printed it out on white card, then die cut it, then used the same shape of die only in a larger size, and die cut a lilac mat for the sentiment.

I went back to work on the lacey cross, and popped it into a spray box (old cardboard box) and sprayed it with some spray adhesive, leaving it to dry a little – so that I could cover the cross in silver leaf.

TIP … If you dust your hands with a little baby talc before you use silver any colour of leaf, it will help to stop it from sticking to your hands.

I glued the silver leafed cross to the plain lilac cross so that you could see the lilac through the cut out parts. And while it dried,  I added the sentiment to the front of the card.

I wanted to make the cross stand a little proud of the card – as if it was puffed up,   somehow raised in the centre.  So I added foam dots to the central area of the back, but used permanent glue dots to the very edges – so that it gave that padded out look which I was trying to achieve.

I left the inside totally plain so that I could write the ‘To’ / ‘From’ and also had enough room to add a hand written message.

On the back …

Stamped using two stamps, both of which came free with a magazine a handful of weeks ago.  They work really well and I’m thrilled to bits with them!

Finally, on the flap of the envelope ….

It was really difficult to try and show the shimmery effect of the silver leaf on the cross and found that none of the photos I’d taken really did it justice, but I’ve lightened this next photo to try and show how it lights up in parts and kind of shimmers.

Happy Easter everyone.  I wish you a peace filled,  care free,  very blessed day.

Heaps of love …

A great big Thank You – from a big friendly giant!

Morning/afternoon/evening –  all you lovely readers!  (And those who don’t feel that lovely but really are very lovely indeed!)

I’m here and I’m still crafting … but I’ve had to back track on a project. [insert sad face here].  My much-loved Grandson began his new ‘big school’ this week, and the teacher had given all these little ones (on their visit to the new school a couple of months ago), a little bucket, which she asked them to fill with ‘stuff’ related to things that happened during the summer weeks before they started school.

My daughter (his mummy) doesn’t get out as much as she’d like to, due to a medical problem which can keep her not exactly house bound, but it doesn’t allow her the sort of freedom to come and go as much as you and I have and so I guessed that filling the bucket might be somewhat of a problem.  So because of this I came up with the idea of making a little book/album and fill it with photo’s and mementoes of things that my Grandson did with us, his Grammy and Grandad, in the summer before big school. (Grammy and Grandad memories added to Mummy and Daddy memories would make up a selection of great memories for my Grandson to share at school).   And making & recording memories is what’s been keeping me busy for the last few weeks.  I’ve had tons of little things to do with this much-loved Grand-baby of mine (yes, I know he’s not ‘mine’, I have to share him with Mr. Cobs, and his Mummy and Daddy, and his other Grandparents, and his aunty and cousins ….and… and … on and on!,  but when he’s with me he’s all mine).

It was a fabulous little book and I was so pleased with the way it was coming together.  I’d planned that all the memories and photographs were going to be on large tags, which slotted into pockets which I’d built inside the book.  I showed the book to my little grandson a couple of weeks ago and he loved it.  It didn’t have the pictures in it at the time, I’d kept those to one side, but just wanted to show him the book – and I had the devil of a job getting the book back off him!  He wanted to keep it and take it home.  lol.  Oh! I’ve just thought! …  I perhaps should have told you that this darling, adorable little boy, who is just four and a half years old and the most incredible little chap who’s so easy to love,  was born with Cerebral Palsy.  It has affected his walking to some extent, and also left him a little behind educationally.  His understanding is about 18 to 24 months behind children of the same age as he is.

• I’m aware of how careful we should all be of our little ones, so instead of giving you his name, we’ll just call him little H here on the ‘net.
  

I’d almost finished the tag book, apart from a couple of photo’s and fixing a couple of feathers and an Oak leaf in place, when it turned out that his mommy decided that she didn’t want to use this book after all. [insert miserable face here].

I was at a loss about what to do with the tag book – it wasn’t at all big enough to use as a mini album, and I couldn’t make it bigger as the book itself was ‘made’ in full.  So after a couple of days of looking at it and trying to come up with ideas,  I decided that rather than lose the beautiful memories we’d made during the summer, I thought the best thing I could do was to de-construct it, and then build a proper mini album, and use what I had,  in a way which would make it feel like it had only ever been like it was in its new ‘form’.  So this is what’s keeping me busy and stopping me from keeping my blog up to date!  (Sorry about that.  Life!).

But … I thought I’d take this opportunity to share something I put together for this little chap (well, for his mum and daddy to be precise) – which was a Thank You card to all his nursery school teachers.

I had a Big Friendly Giant decoupage card – ‘un-constructed’ – in my stash for ages and never made it up.  And, well,  … I had a couple of days where I’d totally lost my mojo,  so I thought I’d get the mojo juices running by making up the découpage card.  Crafting something was better than just sitting there looking at my desk.

All the things needed to make up one card,  came inside this  ↑  handy wallet/envelope, from the makers of DoCrafts.

And this  ↑   is what it looks like when you unpack the contents of the wallet/envelope

It was easy as melting chocolate with a heat gun, to put together.  Just layer it all up.  So I did … and loved it when it was made, and just as I was popping the last element in place, the phone rang … it was my daughter on the phone.  We chatted for a while then I said that I’d made this card …..  and she said she needed a card to thank everyone at the Nursery School.  She’d got cards for the teachers who had the most to do with little H, but she wanted one bigger card for a general Thank You, to everyone.

I looked at the BFG card and had an idea.  I could turn this card into a thank you card easy peasy.  So I did.

If you click on this photograph  ↑  it will open up into a much bigger picture so that you can see it and all its layers.  But … it’s not quite finished, so remember to click back to see the finished article.

I cut some flag bunting using a die, in four colours of gingham card:  Biscuit;  Baby Blue, Teal Blue and Pink, and mixed up the colours so that the bunting was a combination of all four colours.   I die cut some alphabet letters to spell out the words ‘Thank You’, which I then mounted onto the flags and finally added some buttons, blue ribbon (to be the ‘book mark’) and a little card rosette with a button at the centre, for the top of the front.

And that, as they say, was all there was to it.  But I loved the way it turned out.  Just shows you that you can change a découpage card ‘kit’ to make it fit the occasion you want it to fit.

So … that’s me talked out, now it’s over to you.  What have you been up to?  Done anything nice that you want to share?  Been somewhere lovely?  Or just want to have a general chat?  I’m in favour of anything you want to say.  Say it in a comment below and I promise to answer.

In the mean time …  Have a truly blessed day.

Sending love ~