Calling all crafters!

I was sat looking through some of the things I've created over the years and remembering how I love to 'potch' with things when I discovered a small box with some of my favourite rubber stamps in that I'd kept back from the cull.  It got me to thinking, maybe its time to start something a bit fun for 2012, so, calling all crafters - would you like to be involved in a 2012 ATC swap?

For those of you not in the know, ATC's are Artists Trading Cards which are miniature works of art or stamping projects, collages, whatever you want them to be. There are only two rules, they must measure 2 ½” x 3 ½” and should not be sold, only exchanged for other cards.

Artists usually make a set of cards on a similar theme, they are called series. The artist records the name of the set on the back of each card, signs and dates it and allocates a number to show how many were made and what number each card is in the sequence, for example 1/6, 2/6 etc. Single unique cards are called originals and sets of identical cards are called editions.

ATC’s can be made from plain cardstock or by altering poker playing cards (standard playing cards are not the right size) or trading cards such as Pokemon, Yu Gi Oh etc. Any media can be used but they need to be sturdy enough to survive the mail and not too thick so that they can be stored easily.  You can see some lovely examples on the internet, unfortunately I was only able to find pictures of 1 I'd previously made (and we are going back years here!)

I am proposing a monthly swap with each month having a theme (maybe bi-monthly if we think that would be better?) so all the crafters involved and up with a lovely set of artwork for 2012 and something to get them creating!

So, what do you think? Interested in taking part? I'd love to hear from you!

Happy crafting!

xx

I made that!

So, as Royal Fail have still yet to deliver anything I've ordered in the last 5 days and I still need to make a craft 'to do' list I thought I'd have a look back over the last 12 months at what I'd actually made (and remembered to take pics of!) and see what I could recall :)

OK, starting when the snow was down a year ago and I was busy creating something fabulous for the derby wife to wear on Christmas day - we are both all about handmade and to make this even more bargainous the fabric for this was found in the remnants bin at the local fabric store!  We had so much fun making this, I'd made one of these previously totally out of gingham fabric (so retro eh!) and to be honest I'm probably going to make another, its one of my favourite styles!

From there I went on to discover macarons.  Tricky little buggers that they are, my first batch totally stuck to the paper and some turned out the size of the saucer!  However I am not one to easily be defeated and after another bash they turned out beautifully!  ok I make them in some really weird combos (thai curry anyone?) but they are really yummy!

After that, I'd re-ignited my love affair with baking and decided to attempt to get a new business off the ground.  Unfortunately it wasn't to be, however it did lead to some fab creations! 

Including a big 'birthday present' cake and Pirate and Princess cupcakes for Cardiff based roller derby team Tiger Bay Brawlers that went down a treat :)

To be fair, I didn't do much crafting over the summer months, I was a bit busy co-founding the Valleys Roller Dolls, however I did make these rather fabulous helmet panties (if anyone's interested I'll do a tutorial on them, just let me know!)

Now things have settled down a bit I've started again and, well, you've seen what most of I've been upto since!  Oh, I did try my hand at knitting again - I now have vowed to only knit with either chunky wool or that fab frilly stuff, I don't have the patience to do anything else! 

Just a last pic I wanted to share as it is so beautiful! I hadn't made a hair adornment in a while but when I do make them I like them to look classic!  And so I give you 'Margot'  

Well, I hope I've inspired you to go and create something, anything! Don't be afraid of making mistakes, half the fun is in the creative journey 

Happy Crafting! 

Podsock Tutorial

Ya didn't think it was coming did ya? eh? eh? Hehe well its not an overly complicated post but a nice easy tutorial for a Sunday evening that can be completed in very little time! I've made these for both myself and my youngest firstly as a little bit of protection and secondly so I can find the damn thing when I put it down!!  Have to thank the Mr for the tutorial name too "ooh it looks like a little podsock!" 

Off we go then! You will need

• felt
• template
• Needle
• Embroidery Thread
• Scissors

First of all cut out your pieces, you will need 2 of each of the back and front template pieces (I know there's only one template but the back is just the front piece without the windows cut out!)  I've done mine in contrasting colours but you feel free to have fun with it.

Put the two front pieces together and blanket stitch around the windows and the top only as my dodgy arrow on the pic shows! (Yes I know mine already has the back on and sewn all around but I forgot to take a pic, sorry!)

Put the two front and the two back pieces together and blanket stitch all around the edge (except for the top back piece which only needs sewing at the top!) Don't forget to leave a small gap at the bottom for the headphones jack plug!

And there you have it! a little felt podsock for your iPod to nestle in.

Its easy enough to make a template for your own version if you don't own the little squat version like me, simply draw around it, add a little extra around the edge for the stitching and, well, I'm sure you get it.

Happy crafting! 

yeah, yeah, yeah....

You got me! I *still* haven't posted up the promised tutorial - it will be up tonight without fail! Ok, happy? Phew!


To be fair, its only because there's been so many exciting things happening here - I decided that maybe it would be a good idea to finally do something with the two years of college/uni training I did and actually do some pattern drafting/designing! HA! Betcha didn't know I could do that did ya!  I can't reveal much at the moment as I'm working on something I'm hoping to release for 2012, nothing too fancy but its a babystep and babysteps lead to bigger bits of awesome!


I need to go and get more coffee now, after partying with my roller derby team last night I'm a little worse for wear and want to make sure the pics for the tutorial come out in focus!!


See ya in a bit ;) 

Catching up!

Morning!! Apologies for being AWOL these past few days, have been busy with crafty pursuits, public transport round trips to pick up my new skates and catching the dreaded cold I'd managed to avoid til the other half came down with it! 


So, to bring you up to date - I've finally managed to get my head around opening an Etsy store (not that hard I hear you say, yes yes, but I wanted to make sure everything was just right) and although I only have 4 items on there I am very pleased with my little creations - I like poking a bit of fun at 'big brands' and alot of what I do is for my own amusement, hopefully it'll amuse others too, who knows!  If you fancy a peek at what I've been upto my little shop can be found here 

I also tried my hand at fudge making for the first time (as you can see) - I'm determined to crack it! My first batch was Vanilla and I adapted a recipe my ladybrother Gina had given to me.  It didn't turn out too badly,  ok it's a bit grainy but I'm sure the boys will demolish it when they get home later lol.  I've decided I really need to crack it as I found a fab christmas pudding fudge recipe on The Pink Whisk blog that I thought would make a lovely gift for family.  I'm trying to handmake as many gifts as I can this year, whether they'll be appreciated is another matter lol.  


For those of you who've liked my little tutorials so far, thank you! Don't worry I'm working on a new one, the first attempt didn't come out quite right so it's back to the drawing board and it'll be ready in about a day or so :) 


Til next time - happy crafting!