Tilda – The Art of Cobwebs

A moment lasts all of a second . . .

. . . but the memory lives on forever.

I made a card based around one I saw in a magazine a few weeks ago. It was the sentiment they’d used on the card which struck me and I wrote it down in my note book, hoping to use it at some stage. I went on-line to check that this sentiment didn’t belong to a crafting company – a stamp or something like that, and it didn’t – (yay!).

I printed the sentiment and cut it out using an oval die from a set bought a while back from Tattered Lace.

The card is pretty much self-explanatory if you look at the selection of 4 photos in this post.

The papers I used are from a selection of left-over scrapbooking papers – the two different prints were originally from the same book of papers. I layered them up on top of a soft rosey pink paper to pick out the lovely pink in the roses, then onto white card.

Made on a white 6×6″ card – the front of which I scored down the centre and folded it back on itself so to give that an extra dimension to the card. The oval sentiment is mounted onto the folded front of the card.

The adornments – the roses, the star, and the Angel bunny inside the card, are all from a selection of Tilda adornments, which I’ve had for ages. I tied a bow of pink satin ribbon from my stash and . . . . Voila! That’s all there was too it!

Once I’d figured it out, and chosen the papers I wanted to use, – the actual making of the card was really quite quick.

Well … It’s Wednesday again! I’ve not liked Wednesdays very much since I was at school.

On Wednesday (when I was at school) we had:- a whole morning of Cookery. Loved Cookery! Then after lunch we had Double Geography (which I didn’t like), then a lesson of History – which I quite liked, and finally, at the end of the day, was a Double PE (physical education). Having PE at the end of the day Was. A. Nightmare!

Our [meany] PE teacher wouldn’t end the lesson until five minutes before the end of school bell rang. This meant that we had to: Get stripped off; take showers; get dried; get dressed; and get out of the door and run the length of the playground and to the bus stop, all within those five minutes, or the chances were that we’d miss the bus and have to walk home. She was a real pain and wouldn’t listen to us when we begged her to give us ten minutes instead of five, to wash, dress and get out to our bus. Hence … I hated Wednesday, and after a gazillion years of not being in school, I still have that ‘droopy mood’ feeling about the day.

What about you? Do you have any day that you don’t like very much? Or days you remember from school which you didn’t look forward to? Do tell and share with me.

Aaanyhoo ….. Wishing you a truly lovely day. May the weather be warm, may the wind be gentle, and may you get out of school in time to catch your bus!

Sending squidges from my corner to yours ~

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Tea or Coffee, my Fabulous Friend?

Personally, I’m a coffee drinker. But I’m more than happy to make you tea… or – we could go out to that lovely little tea room, here in town, where everything feels like it belongs in the 1940’s and 1950’s? There’s even a good old-fashioned Globe of the World in the window which has paled with time, and harsh sunshine. They have cakes under domes, and table cloths, and it looks kind of kitsch and is painted all lemony.

Remember those carnival type ornaments which we were told were precious (when we were little), but they were actually made of a chalk like substance and if they got chipped, you could see the white chalky ‘stuff’ inside. They have some of those there too, decorating the walls or placed around the tea shop in strategic places. (I’m not sure if they really were worth something – a genuine ‘collectible’ type of thing, – or if they were just precious because of the memories attached to them).

Or, we could go round the corner to that much-loved cottage tea room, which has a courtyard garden. It’s very lovely in there and just a little bit ‘vintage swish’ too – and we can sit in the garden if the weather is good, or inside if it’s a little chilly!

the-tearoom — OK.. so I’ve got mine, . . . *what are you going to order for yourself?*

Anyhoo . . .

I made a card asking my fabulous friend if you’d like to share a coffee, or a tea, with me… while you peruse this latest offering from the Cobweb.

The paper in the background is just so lovely. Just the right blue, with little circles made from pearly white dots, and perfect for what I needed, but I don’t know who’s paper it actually is. It was still in it’s ‘book’ – but the front cover has disappeared – leaving me without even a note! tsk tsk. The cup and saucer are Tilda. Yes indeedly doodly! None of those cheap market stall cups and saucers for you! However, I fussy cut into parts of it in order to make it what I needed it to be, then covered the original ‘picture’ of a glittered star (in the saucer) with proper glitter, in two colours to give it a little more depth.

The doilies, flowers, cotton muslin (behind the flowers) and the hat pins all came from my stash. The Pearl Strand of small, medium and large pearls which trails around the card, is by Anna-Marie Designs.

The little fabric roses (shown above) – which run along the top and the bottom of the card, actually came from The Range. I’m hoping that The Range still has these in stock (I doubt it) because I absolutely love them. They’re so soft, so pretty and so light weight. They go into envelopes easily but then pop back up again upon opening, and they don’t add any weight to posting a card either.

And that, as all the very best Magicians say, is all there was to it!

Happy Wednesday all! Monday and Tuesday just flew past and I now find myself in the middle of the week with what feels like a gazillion things which I need to do, and not enough days left in this week in which to do them! Honestly, I swear to Dog that since we moved to the seaside, someone is taking whole chunks of hours, days and sometimes even getting very cheeky and stealing a whole week out of my time, for time, apparently, flies past like it’s on the wings of a jumbo jet! Aw, enough moaning Cobs!

So … what about you.. what are you up to today? Going anywhere? Doing anything? Supposed to be doing something but want to do something else instead? Go on, tell me all about it. It’s just you and me (and a few others), and I’m not going to tell anyone!

Wishing you a truly Wonderful Wednesday. May the sun shine, if the wind blows, may it blow softly, and may you end the day with a gentle smile and the knowledge that life, even if a bit tough sometimes, is still good.

Sending you my love, and a special Cobs squidge!

A bit of Vintage, hand made – For You!

There was a supplement with my Sunday Newspaper this week which had a nicely written article about the war years, and accompanying it were some fabulous pictures of posters from the same time. They absolutely fascinated me. I was sat there, with my magnifying glass out, reading each poster with gusto. (They were all printed small size – hence the magnifying glass!)

Well they obviously had an effect on me because I sat in my craft room with just one thought… make a card which had a vintage feel about it. Something which had that wonderful romantic feel about it, but a card which could be sent even to a friend for a birthday or any other reason.

I started with my stash of card stock, looking for ditsy prints. I chose a Tilda, duck egg blue with a little flower pattern down the side, and another Tilda print from the same range, this time with teeny tiny ditsy flowers on it. They needed ‘ageing’ – so I firstly took my scalpel to them both and roughed up the edges. Then I chose two colours of dye pads and blended around the edges.

I used Memento Dye Ink Pads in Rich Cocoa and Rhubarb Stalk.

I wrapped the duck egg blue card stock with two short lengths of narrow lace, then attached it to a craft card which I’d already scored ready to make the card. (The finished card will measure 5½” square).

With the ditsy flower card stock, I curled the edges and corners by gently pulling and curling them between my index finger and thumb. I then wrapped a wider, short length of lace around the ditsy flower card stock, and fixed it to the duck egg blue, using Collall glue. (I love Collall all-purpose glue. It’s not an instant fix, it gives you just enough wiggle time – but it’s an instant fix within a minute. So if you use it – get your wiggle done asap!)

The little postcard was cut from another piece of Tilda cardstock, and I just inked around the edges (again using Rhubarb Stalk) and blended, then curled the edges and stamped ‘for you’ using a sentiment from a gorgeous little selection of stamps from the Lillibet range. Originally the sentiment read: ‘Just for you” – but I snipped the ‘Just’ off (I kept it and still use it when I need to) so that I had more options with the stamp. I then fixed it in place.

Then came the flowers…

I sorted out a little selection of paper flowers which I’ve had for … ohhh, for ever! but realised that I had no leaves of the right size so I called on an old trick I’ve used for donkeys years. I got out my tins of silk flowers and looked through them for flowers which I could cut up to make leaves. I didn’t need tons, just a handful of small and slightly bigger than small …. I then ‘dyed’ them using my ink pads:

There’s one green leaf in the photo above – which is one of a few that I dyed before I thought of taking a photograph to explain what I was doing ….. So the flower heads you see – the white and purple – are going to become leaves, using the two ink pads you see in the photo. Memento New Sprout and Bamboo Leaves.

Now – before I show you the next photo, if you try this yourself, you’ve got to HAVE FAITH.

If you try this yourself . . . You’ll think at first that you’ve completely messed up and made the worst leaves in the whole world – but give them a few minutes and they become much nicer.

Here’s what happens when you first do them . . .

Don’t they look awful? They’re too strong. Too … aw, just ‘too’! But … have faith. Put them to one side and get on with something else. Don’t keep looking at them. Just leave them alone and do something else.

While they were doing their ‘thing’, I got on with the card.

I wanted to add a little glamour – but not too much. So I decided that I’d add a very gentle twinkle to the card by using a Graph’It Glitter Ink pen, in Silver. I touched really lightly all around the distressed edges of the cardstock – VERY lightly. It left behind it the faintest twinkle, but it was enough to make it feel ‘perfect’.

I’m not sure if you can see it in the photo above, but if you click on the photo, it will open up much larger and you’ll then be able to see the faint twinkle to the distressed edges. (Don’t forget to click back again so that you come back here). You’ll also be able to see that I lightly dragged the same pen over the embroidery on the lace you see in the photo. It just gave it that teeny bit of twinkly glamour which I wanted to add to the card.

Now then . . . . Do you remember those awful, horrible looking leaves? Well this is what happened to them after a few minutes . . .

See what I mean about having faith? Those leaves are all made from petals of flowers. The larger ones in the first photo are the very petals you saw before they’d been attacked with the ink pads. I just inked them. Snipped them, and then left them alone while I did something else. Voila. Instant leaves.

The green twiggy things are Blossom Twigs from Anna Marie Designs.

The two hat pins: The one is a heart-shaped regular, but fancy, dressmaking pin, but the other, the beaded hat pin was in a little set I bought from Hobbycraft about 10 months ago, for just £2 for a set of six. (They were my bargain of the day, in the sale!)

The pink Dragonfly is one of a small selection which I’ve had in my stash for ever and ever and I can’t even remember where I got them from.

The Pink; Rose; Cream; Lilac; Blue; Red pearls which I’ve used as the centre of the flowers, and on all four corners of the card, are from a wheel of pearls made by Anita’s (I bought them from The Range – although you might be able to buy them from other places). There are literally hundreds of these little pearls, in an amazing array of colours (all colours in one wheel – and more colours than I’ve used here) for £3 (English pounds). You even get the storage wheel – imagine a grapefruit cut through the centre so that you can see all the segments – well that’s what this wheel is like, and each segment contains a different colour of pearls. It’s a totally fabulous design idea and I love the pearls. Oh .. here y’ go … I found a link: http://www.therange.co.uk/anitas-assorted-coloured-pearl-gemstone-wheel//the-range/fcp-product/67347

And that, as they say, is ‘it’! One Vintage, made For You, hand-made card.

I really like this little card. I wasn’t sure I was going to, about half way through, but I kept on with it and I’m now thrilled that I did because it’s darling. My mum would have loved this card. So .. Mum … this one’s for you!

Thank you so much for coming and staying for a while. Hope you like the card.

Much love ~

Angels come . . . bearing gifts of Pink Blancmange!

an Angel Comes . . . bringing a wobbly jelly too! (Angel by Tilda; Card by Cobwebs). — an Angel Comes . . . bringing a wobbly jelly too!
(Angel by Tilda; Card by Cobwebs)

Two cards today, all made from stash that I’ve had knocking around the craft room for A-G-E-S! In fact, so long that I’m embarrassed about it.

Angels come . . . bearing gifts of food! (Angel by Tilda; Card by Cobwebs) — Angels come . . . bearing gifts of food!
(Angel by Tilda; Card by Cobwebs)

I originally got the Tilda Angels (on two different A4 sized printed cards which had a selection of Tilda images on them), in an end of season sale at Hobbycraft – and the sheets only cost me £1, so were a bargain right from the outset.

All of the cardstock behind the Angels was all taken out of my ‘scraps’ drawer. Bits of left-over card stock from previous projects. So both of the fully made up cards actually cost just a few pennies to make.

The pink dress Angel is matt and layered firstly on some pink and white dotted card, which is layered onto of some deep purple mirror board, then onto some fabulous glitter card, and finally, everything is mounted onto to a pearlised, rich purple card. With the addition of a little pink Rayon seam binding, and some self adhesive ‘diamonds’, just to add a little twinkle, I think the card works really well.

The blue dress Angel ….

… is again matt and layered, firstly onto the same pink with white polka dots card as the Pink dress Angel, but then onto some pretty paper which is a soft white in colour and decorated with pink open hearts, then to add a little definition (and pick upon the black of the whisk in her pocket), I backed all the layers with some black card, then mounted everything onto a pearlised off white card. The addition of some more of the pink Rayon seam binding, and some Candy Dots, finished this little card off perfectly.

A final touch … a little something on the inside – a sentiment and flower.

Both of the cards were totally made from crafty stash I’ve had for ages, and so cost me virtually nothing to make.

A THURSDAY CHALLENGE:

Have a look around your crafty stash and see if you can make something(s) which will virtually cost you nothing because it’s (they’ve) been made from stash you already had. Something that you haven’t been out and bought even a single thing for!

Go on … I challenge you! 😀

If you do the ‘challenge’ – come back, make a comment here to tell me that you’ve made something and PUT A LINK TO YOUR BLOG post about the ‘thing’ or to your photograph of the ‘creation’ – then anyone who comes to read this post will see your comment and link and then visit your blog too! (and maybe even leave a comment for you too!)

Have a great day, hopefully doing something you love.

An invitation to: Tea and Cakes with Tilda

I’ve had some Tilda images knocking around my stash for about the last two years, and although I loved them (very much) I hadn’t actually done anything with them. (more I think because I didn’t want to – because if I used them, then I wouldn’t have them anymore … fellow crafters will probably ‘get’ what I mean).

But I’m trying to cut down on my stash and use up some of the things I’m hanging onto because I’m fast running out of space in the Emporium (aka ‘the craftroom’). So in an effort to at least look as if I’m cutting down, I’m using some of those Tilda images.

It’s an Easel Card, so meant to be displayed ‘open’ so that the suprise interior is on show. But when closed, the card looks like this:

The blue gingham paper was something I’ve had around the Emporium for a time, ditto the teeny tiny buttons and the padded gingham star. But the interior paper – the pink roses & polka dots – was from a pad of pretty paper which I bought about four months ago. The ‘stitching’ was all done by hand using a very fine nib pen.