My Crafty Life

     I've been Ebay shopping again and grabbed another couple of bargains.     Another couple of CDs. The first is a Crafyers Companion Vintage Glorals CD. The papers are stunning, and each design comes in several colours, then there are co ordinating papers, embossed papers, flowers, bows and postcards. I think it is perfect for my Memory Books, but will make some beautiful cards as well.     The second CD is American Frantier by Joanna Sheen. I remember wanting this when it was first released but for some reason not getting it. It was a very good bargain at only £2.99. Its full of Toppers of life on the frontier. Lots of Native American images as well which is good. They all have matching papers. There is also a 3D Template section which allows you to make items such as a cowboy boot, and a dream catcher. Im really looking forward to using this one. Something for everyone. I think it will be good to make for men with, but also for women.

    I am a huge fan of Ciao Bella Papers. An amazing Italian paper company, with an very ethical ethos. All of their papers are original art works and all are stunning. I own several collections, and I am never quite sure which is my favorite.      This album was made using The Greatest Show collection and following a tutorial by Scrap and Create on YouTube. The papers were stunning to look at and amazing quality. Fantastic colours, and so cheerful. I will follow tutorials by Scrap and Create again as it was easy to follow. I hope you like the result as much as I do. I thought you might like a closer look at the paper pack. believe me it is one you need in your collection.

    I made this beautiful Gothic Curio Shelf using cutting files by Cutting Craftorium. It was quite easy to make and is made with recycled greyboard. The decoration papers are from Imagination Crafts. I am happy with the way it turned out.     I have decided to concentrate on Gothic Pieces in my Etsy Shop, so this is a good start.

I had a delivery from aliexpress the other day This is a tub of multicoloured micro beads. Im awning to use them in my mixed media work. These little spiders are adorable. When I saw them I just could not resist. I think they are just going to look stunning on my projects. Finally a big bag of Halloween charms. How cute are these. I am going to use these on Memory Books I think. More of the charms. Cute little Kitty Cats.

I have done my first video tutorial. It is a little shake as I was quite nervous, but im hoping rhe more I do the better controle I will have over my nerves. I have plans for a lot more tutorials so wish me luck.

I recently took part in a mixed media swap in the Everything Crafty Facebook Page. Mixed Media work is quite a new thing to me. I am really enjoying it. Its messy, but you know messy is good. This is the piece I sent to Jean my swap partner. I loved doing this piece, Ancient Egypt is a favorite subject of mine, especially the life of Ramses II. That's him In the top left corner. Well I hope that Jean likes it. This beautiful piece of mixed media work is the one I received from Jean. Its very pretty. I shall put it out every Christmas and will always think of Jean and my first Mixed Media Swap.

For many years I have been a great fan of Magik Graphics. Gotby little me loves Sue's CDroms because they are so different. A few weeks ago Sue announced she was going to do a trial craft box and see what the response was. She was inundated with enquiries about it. I'm sure its going to be a regular thing now. I did an unboxing video on YouTube  Magik Graphics Craft Box Its rhe first video I have done so my apogee for it being a little wonky. I hope ypu find the contents of the box as good as I did. I cant wait to get started with it.  

Today is my Sister in laws birthday. I made this card for her. I am a great fan of digital crafting and the beautiful papers and toppers I used for this card came from the first Hunkydory usb. It even had a matching insert. The only thing I added was the white base card, and a little bit of mirror card.

    I had to go to town today so I popped into the works. I like to call in when I can and see what crafty bargains I can pick up. There are 15 sheets in this pack of A4 Craft Card, and hasxa weight of 260gsm. Its a bargain at only £1. There were only 4 packs left on the shelf so I thought I better get them all. This tub of iridescent glitter was also £1. I have had this before and its lovely fine glitter. An absolute must have bargain. My final bargain of the day was this glitter ribbon. Each roll has 2 metres of ribbon on it and cost £1 per roll. These were the only colours available. Now I have all of these crafty bargains I better get moving and make something with them.

    As you know I do a lot of digital crafting. Choosing the right paper to print on is a bit of a challenge. I have tried many different papers over the years, somecwith good results and some not so good.     I found Navigator paper by chance when I was shopping in my local Wilko. Navigator Paper is a Super Smooth paper with a weight of 120gm. It is I think the best paper I have used. As soon as you get it out of the packet you can feel the quality. Its just feels so nice. Now I use it for just about everything. I print all of my backing papers onto it, and I even find it good enough to print my decoupage onto. Imagine my delight when I found a box of 8 half ream packets on Amazon. It cost a little over £25 it is almost half the price it would have cost to buy individual packets.

   I have developed a huge passion for making Memory Books. I dont know why it just gives me great satisfaction to make them. I have seen a lot on social media asking about making 12x22 Memory Books.     I have decided to make a 12 x12 Memory Book myself. This is the paper I am going to use, and black card to go with it has arrived today. I am going to video the process of making the album and posting it on YouTube. I am expecting to fo a page everyday, so it may take a while. I'll let ypu know when the tutorials are ready on YouTube.