A double dose of craftiness .....

Things may have been quiet around here but I certainly haven't!  I've had two crafting workshop weekends in a row and learned soooooo much in the process, my head hurts (in a good way!)

The first was at Art From The Heart in Harrogate with Kaz Hall where we learned some amazing techniques, getting very inky and painty in the process and finished off the session making a fantastic album.

Here's mine and you can see just how many different techniques we were shown which I'm really looking forward to trying again at home.

Next came my 3 day textile art workshop at Oxford, courtesy of a WI bursary I won which included the residential course as well as my travelling costs.  This was with the wonderful Marilyn Pike who does classes as Rainbow Silks and her enthusiasm was inspiring.  We worked late into the evening and between the 9 participants, produced a grand total of 29 books - each a keepsake in its own right.  We even hand-dyed the pages inside and, with a bit of help, I conquered my fear of the dreaded sewing machine - yay!

Here are my books and I'm so proud of them, I can't wait to show my WI ladies next Monday.

The book cover at the back is made from crumpled magazine pages glooped (technical term) and waxed so they are as pliable as material and the button fastening covered in the same way.  The material cover on the left of the pic is made from tiny strips of fabric bonded and stitched onto a piece of denim (from an old pair of jeans) and the cover on the right is made from the leg of the same pair of jeans folded over and covered with torn strips of fabric and shiny magazine pages.  I love that one which has a pocket at the front as well as the pages stitched inside. 

I feel so priviledged to have had these two weekends of crafting heaven with such great tutors and to have made some new friends along the way.  Hope you are all well and enjoying some wonderful crafting time yourselves.  Thanks so much for popping in to see me.  Margie x

Another Index Card for a friend...

Hello fellow crafters - hope you are enjoying your weekend so far.  Its much too cold in the North East of the UK to be outside so I am playing in my craft room this afternoon.  Here's another Index Card or Skinny I made recently for a friend.  So pleased to be introduced to these by Astrid and really enjoyed making the cover for it too.

My favourite "Jane" stamp again from Oxford Impressions together with a French script stamp and a bullrush stencil with some texture paste pressed through.  I sprayed the whole thing with the gorgeous Walnut Gold glimmer mist although the sheen doesn't show up too well on the pic.  I then added the butterfly, the handmade flower and the very appropriate sentiment for my friend.  She doesn't exactly have a library but does love her books and plants!

The cover was done with the lovely Prima Romance papers and finished with some peachy seam binding to tie the whole thing together.

This is the folded holder all fastened up and ready to send

Thanks for calling in to see me today.  Hope you manage to get some crafty time in yourselves over the weekend.   Margie xx

Woo hoo - I'm in Craft Stamper!

Hello dear friends and I'm absolutely thrilled to tell you my news today!  I submitted a little dolly I made using that gorgeous free Elizabeth Bennet stamp with the September issue of Craft Stamper and they've chosen it to feature in their Over to You section on page 61.  I'm absolutely delighted as I've been a bit down lately and this has really lifted my spirits.  Here's my dolly...

and I won a gorgeous Crafty Inidividuals stamp too - even better!

I made my dolly using a TH dress form and the stamp as the face - it fitted perfectly and it was a joy to dress her up with some lace, flowers and butterflies and then give her some wings.  I wondered how to display her then found some packaging I'd kept (as you do) which made a perfect little stand for her.  Just shows - its always worth hanging on to these bits - that's my excuse anyway.

Hope you are all enjoying the Autumn colours - the weather forecast for the weekend looks good.  Thanks for popping by.  Margie x

In the pink, (ICADs sent and received ...)

Hello again dear friends - how nice to see you again.  As part of Astrid's ICAD swap, I received my first package today from the lovely Maryanne in the US and was delighted with the contents.  Hope you'll pop over to see it here on her blog and give her a quick hello while you're there.

Meanwhile, my second card and holder was received in Germany - so pleased it got there by the deadline of 11th September requested by Astrid.  Here are a few pics.  This is the front of the holder and you can see I managed to get the front fastening on the wrong side (again!)  What am I like?

 I've been using up some of my stash of gorgeous papers on these holders in a serious bid to create some space but really have hardly made a dint in them.  Does everyone else have loads of papers they hold onto for ages?  Anyway, here's the back of my folder,

I do like those JOFY stamps so much (thanks to my very kind friend Anne!) 

And lastly, my card inside the folder.  The background was done with Fresco paints then the texture added with Grungepaste through some stencils then rubbed with treasure gold - I'm getting a little more adventurous with this now.  The pink flower was decoupaged on top of the blue one I did first and didn't like but I was happy how it turned out.

Thank you so much for taking a look and thanks again to Astrid for organising the swap.  Love, Margie xx

Time to add some curves.....

Not to me you understand - no, I certainly don't need any more of them!  But I thought you might just be getting a little tired of the straight folded lines in my book art so how about a few curves for a change?

 Now as you know, I usually stamp out some images and slot them between the pages but I didn't think this design needed anything like that so I just stamped on some spare book pages and slotted them into the sides.  I really like this 3D effect which is achieved by folding the pages as before, then taking two at a time and rolling them towards the centre of the book in different directions each time, clever eh?  And no, those two books underneath aren't waiting to be folded - I couldn't bear to do that to them.  I just really liked the covers so much when I spotted them at our local collectables fair.

Here's another view from the side:

and the final one:

Thanks so much for popping in to see me - I do appreciate it and all of your lovely comments.  I'm entering this into the challenge called Hit the Books at Anything But a Card

Margie x

Astrid's ICAD swap - Part 1

Hello there my lovely followers - its great to have you here on this cool, rainy day!  I'm actually quite pleased its raining as I've been able to stay indoors and play without feeling a bit guilty!  I joined up to Astrid's ICAD swap and this is my first card and holder which has now been received so I can show it here.  The second one is on its way to Germany so will appear at a later date.  Great idea Astrid, I really enjoyed making these.

Here's the actual Index Card which is 5" x 3" so gives a bit more space than an ATC. I made mine from mountboard so I could slosh a bit more texture onto it without it buckling.  I embossed the dragonfly in gold first of all and that resisted the sprays of Dylusion Blue and White and Perfect Pearls Biscotti which gave it a lovely sheen not quite visible in the picture.  The swirl was made with grunge paste through a stencil and then rubbed with some treasure gold.  I adore that Jane stamp from the Oxford Impressions set Jane's Garden so you will see it a lot here but I liked the added texture on her dress done with some acrylic paint and squared mesh.  Tiny bees, a lovely sentiment and a brass corner to finish.  Then onto the cover:

This is the front and I don't know how I did it but each time I managed to get the opening on the wrong side!!  I must have dyslexic fingers I reckon but I was still pleased with the way it turned out.  Isn't that bird just gorgeous?  Some lovely old papers I managed to use on this and the edge was cut with a TH on the edge scroll die then rubbed with several colours of gilding wax for a metallic look.  Here's the back of the cover:

Some lovely lace with added pearls and a butterfly in recognition of my swap partner Alison who goes by the blog name of Butterfly.  I'm sure you all know her!

The inside was kept fairly simple with a little pocket to hold the card but again using those lovely papers I've had for such a long time:

And that's it.  Thanks for visiting and I hope you are having a better day weatherwise but if not, enjoying some crafting time like me.  Hugs, Margie xx

Forgotten things

Hello dear friends and welcome along to my latest DT post for Our Creative Corner.  The challenge set this month by the delightful Anne was to come up with something we'd forgotten about - a technique, a product, anything really that we hadn't used for a while.  I was rummaging through my stash looking for inspiration (as you do) when I found the instructions for a miniature book that I used to make quite often when there were weddings to go to.  I would make this for the bride and groom with a lovely old prayer inside and I'd make sure it was on the bride's plate at the reception - well everyone else has a wedding favour and this one was a special keepsake for the bride and groom.

This time though, my little book has a special message for a dear friend who is about to start chemo after two lots of surgery for breast cancer.  She is such a brave and positive person and I know she will appreciate the sentiment inside.  First of all, here's the little box I made to hold my book.  You can see how tiny it is by the 50p piece alongside.

Inside the little book the verse reads:

There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done.  

One is called Yesterday, and the other is called Tomorrow.

So Today is the right day to love,

believe, do and most of all, live

- Dalai Lama -

The cover is made from a strip of thin paper (not card as that would be too thick to fold) cut from the long side of an A4 sheet.  The width of the strip should be exactly 37mm and then, if you fold the strip into 8, each little square will be 37 x 37 mm.  Now you need to follow the directions I've scanned and reproduced at the bottom rather than me try to explain them.  I can't remember where I got this from and as it was a few years ago when I downloaded it, I'm not surprised!  I think the lady was called Janine Anderson so if you see this Janine, thank you for your inspiration.  Now, I made one little change to the instructions which I think you'll be able to see where I've altered "behind" to "in front of".  Otherwise, I hope its self-explanatory.  Have a go with plain paper before using any nice designer stuff.  I'm sure you could make a simpler cover for a miniature book but really, once you've got the hang of this one, its quite straightforward.

Once the cover is made, you can make a little book to go inside by cutting another strip of plain paper from the long side of an A4 sheet, this time just 34 mm wide.  Mark this every 30 mm into 10 and then fold it accordian style.  The last section will be slightly shorter than the rest but that doesn't matter because it won't be seen as the first and last sections will be slipped into the pockets on the inside of the cover.  You'll want to stamp or decorate your pages first though.

I like to tie my book up with ribbon fastened across the back of the cover and topped with the decorative panels on the front and back.  This tiny die and the embossing folder have been in my stash for years - more things I'd forgotten about!

I put a little square of gold crepe paper behind the die and then rubbed gold rub'n'buff round the page edges to age them a bit.  The box was given the same treatment and then topped off with one of my handmade crochet hearts using a fine cotton thread and the smallest hook I could find.

Hope you like my little book and heart topped box and I'm so pleased I found the instructions as I'd never have remembered how to make it.  Thanks so much for popping by and I hope you'll be inspired by all the lovely examples made by my teamies this month and come up with some forgotten things of your own for our challenge at Our Creative Corner.  Margie x

Instructions for miniature book cover: