70th birthday book

Hello there

Here's a 'birthday book' I was asked to make for a friend; so yes, I could call it a commission which makes it sound ever so grand and official. She had the exact colours in mind and we talked about a few options/ideas for such a book for her mum but in the end I was just asked to stick to the black and gold theme album and after asking, I realised that swirls were more her mum's 'thing' than geometric shapes, so off I went a creating.

This may sound simple to many of you but I'm not a fan of either colour, so I don't have a big stock, to say the least. Thankfully I'd had plenty of warning, so I had time for shopping.

The text on the front is from the Winter Woodland cartridge and that mat is from the Mini books cartridge with the holes cut off the ends. I've used that mat shape several times inside the book too, along with some other shapes and sizes but only about 3 different ones or I felt it would be too unconnected. 

There's a swirl on every page too, which is from the Home decor cartridge -'border2'.

 As black and gold aren't reknowned for being good to write on, I decided to add a matt cream coloured fancy shape on each page, which is from the Cricutcraftroom basics digital cartridge (accent); for the journalling to go on. I do hope that they make notes of who each person in the photos are and what their link to her mum is, as they may know now but in the future her kids won't necessarily have a clue as to who they are.

I really hope that she likes it. I'm a tiny bit concerned that the album is so thick now that it doesn't close easily and it hasn't even got photos in it yet but that's why it closes with a ribbon. I also had the idea that it will make a lovely display item. You could stand it up and have about 3 pages ajar at a time, to tempt your attention to it and you could change those pages every now and again. That's much better than it being stuck in a cupboard and never looked at, as it'll be full of people who have played a part in her life.

The presentation bag

Pricing it was hard but I looked on Folksy at some and they ranged from £25 and all that was done was the front was decorated, down to £9.99, so I'm happy I gave her a very competitive price for all the work I did inside it too. I'll see what her reaction is; by the time this is posted, she'll have it, so fingers crossed! It's all part of the learning process I'm going through. I'm glad it doesn't need to be mailed though, as it's quite heavy,  especially with the new Royal Mail charges recently.The postage will make it more expensive for selling albums like it on Folksy but that's the price you pay for internet shopping. Talking of which, you can probably tell that my mind is racing with the idea of selling these on Folksy. We'll see. I'd have to make a range of colours to show what's possible, as people often need leading into these things, as they don't know what can be done.

Take care out there

For my next trick

Hello there

If you read my last post (if you haven't then I can recommend a course of action, which includes clicking here :-)  ) you might remember that I said I wasn't going to blog about the making of my Christmas cards. That is still in theory correct but I've made a box for a pack of Christmas cards I'm making for a raffle at work. So the theme is Christmas but this post is about the box making, not the cards.

Phew! Wonder if I'll get away with that? :-)

The box containing the cards and envelopes I made



At first I just got an A3 sheet of white card and laid it under my set of 10 cards and envelopes. I fiddled and faffed around, trying to picture how to cut the card to make it into a box. I then laid the cards flat on the A3 card and starting drawing and scoring lines and then actually cutting lines.

This is what I ended up with after cutting a window for acetate in the front of the box:


I made two errors with scoring lines and the card isn't the best in the world but I'm extremely pleased with it as my first try. It's for a raffle prize at work, so I think it makes an absolute bargain for a 50p ticket. If it was for a customer, I'd use better card and ensure no mistakes were made.

I do love this 'engineering' type project. Not only do I love crafting for the creative expression it allows me but also because it stimulates my brain and makes me think ideas through to completion.

Then on I went to decorate. I die-cut the same images as I'd used on the cards. I inked up the box's edges and put the acetate in before glueing it together.







The life saver product of this project was the roll of velcro dots I found in my sewing box, which are exactly what I wanted to keep the lid closed, yet openable loads of times.




So, the morale of the post is; if you ever need a box for anything, get in there, mess about, trial and error and you'll be so pleased with yourself for doing so. I know there are templates you can buy and ideas online but when you're making a custom sized box, this is the best way to do it and once you've done one, you've got the ideas for making more.

Take care out there

5000

Hello there

Today might be the day that I reach the 5000th read of my blog; as I type this post, my figures state that 4997 reads have happened. I wasn't even sure I could keep it going, when I first started it out. Now I find that I can't blog about everything I make, as it just takes up too much time away from crafting. I love that I have reached various people 5000 times though. I often despair that not many people comment on my blog but everyone is different and maybe doesn't have enough time to comment on everything they read, which is true of me too of course. As long as the inspiration or the instruction is provided, then I feel this blog is worth it. Do feel free to comment as much as you like though. You won't like every project I do but perhaps a constructive comment is required or just a ' I just nipped by to say hi and tfs'.

This blog helps give me focus at times and even provides time frames, as I tell myself that I must finish a project so that I can do another blog post. That is brilliant as it moves me forward with a stronger impetus, if I'm perhaps feeling a bit lazy or my mojo has 'upped sticks' and left me.

My blog is also good as a memory jogger of things I've created. Sometimes I like to spend a short time flicking through some of my old work and either thinking 'wow, wasn't that great?' or sometimes I think, 'mmm, Diane you could've done better there'.

This year for my Christmas cards, I'm not going to do a post per card I make. I'll just do one post and provide a collage of some of the cards I make. If you see a snippet of something you like the look of though, please do ask me for more details and I'll provide those. This is just a different sort of post, so that I'm trying to keep my blog 'alive' so to speak and not always be the same layout. That's why I occasionally do a video of my projects, so that you can watch that instead of just looking at photos. Variety is the spice of life, as they say :-)
Here's a taster:

Since I've also done the bare essentials of opening a Folksy store, I'm hoping this site can now be used as a background for people wanting to buy any of my projects. This will show them some of the other items I've created and perhaps give them ideas of things they'd like me to make for them. A little bit of my personality should come across as well and hopefully that will appeal to some folk.

My blog is quite important to me now and I've learnt and am still learning various skills whilst doing it, so it's helping me grow as a person too and definitely as a crafter. I love looking at other people's blogs and their marvellous work, so for me to think that I ocassionally help people in the same way, is a lovely feeling for me. Using technology to have a positive impact on people.

Keep on enjoying this blog and of course,

take care out there

Advent tree project

Hello there

Here's a new type of project for me. A week or so ago I showed you the pack I had bought on a little shopping spree I had in Crabapplecrafts in Frodsham. This is the result of my labours.

It's been quite a learning curve in many respects and it's taken me a, what feels like, long time but that's only because I've only had the opportunity to dedicate short bursts of time to do it. I would love to be able to sell them but since the base unit cost £20 basically and then the time it's taken to make it, I'd have to sell it for about £35 minimum, which I'm not sure would be popular. It wouldn't take me so long next time, as I can learn from the mistakes I made and develop speedier methods of construction. I might put it on my Folksy shop and see if anything happens.

I didn't have the right acrylic paint colours I wanted. I dealt with this issue by over painting the internal shelves in brisk white strokes to try to 'vintagafy' it - crazy word but I like it!
I used a make-up brush which came in a Christmas cracker one year. I don't wear make-up, so I'm glad I decided to actually keep the set and have put it to use.

I used a gorgeous silk art card for the shadow of the numbers, which was a mistake as plain black would've been fine as you can barely see it.

I think I must've closed the sections in together too tightly as I had trouble placing the 'roof' hexagonal piece on whilst letting the drawers close properly. I combatted that issue by glueing 3D foam tape in the exact centre of the top, so as to raise it high enough for the drawers to fit in. The gorgeous bobbly cord I had bought for the project, worked brilliantly to cover the slight gap left between the cone roof and the top tiny drawers.

I've made a video again for you to see a few of the stages of construction. I've found much better/appropriate music for this video, so hopefully you'll enjoy watching it more. Go to here if you want to make Christmas videos and add free from copyright music to go along with it.

 

 

I've been looking at a whole pile of Tando product related projects, so you'll be seeing loads more in the future. Watch this space!

 

Take care out there.