My Crafty Life

I started to make greeting cards after I injured my back at work. I was stuck at home hopping through the TV channels when I came upon Create and Craft. I watched the demonstrations and was inspired enough to give it a go. My first cards were very simple. I think (and hope) I have improve since then. It was through my card making I discovered my love of digital crafting. This selection of cards were made using a Debbi Moore cdrom  This card was made using a Hunkydory kit. The card blank was cut using my scan and cut I hope I have showed you that everyone can make cards. Give it a go. Start with something simple. You'll soon be making cards like a boss.

We have always liked to get out and about for a good walk with our dog Star. The pandemic put a hold on that for a while. The world is slowly going back to some kind of normal and so today we went for a walk in the woods The woods we walked in ate Beamish Woods only a 10 minute drive ftom our house. Looks like this tree may have suffered from a lightening strike at sometime in the past. Star was loving all of the new sniffs. She had great fun I spotted this nest in a tree. I'm sure it is to big to be a crows nest. Dave thought it might be some kind of raptor nest. So long as it's not the Volocoraptor type I'm OK with that There were lots of diffetent twisty paths to go along I was getting a bit worried about what might be following us as this is like a scene straight put of Jurassic Park. Bit of a splash about before we headed home. We had a lovely walk  but it did make me realise that lockdown has done me no favours, and I am now very overweight and very unfit. When we got...

My 84 year old mother has recently moved into a care home. She has been making her own greeting cards for many years, but can't manage them anymore. When she moved she told me to take her card making supplies home. I think I am going to have to reorganise my craftroom to accommodate it all. There is absolutely loads of stuff. A lot of it brand new in unopened packets. Every crafter knows to get ahead of the game you need to be making for Christmas now. Every year I aim to be ready in time and always end up making my family and friends cards at the last minute. This is one of the unopened kits I found at my mother's house. I think it came from the works. It's a very nice little kit. There is enough to make 12 cards. There are 12 sheets in the pad and each sheet has all the die cut elements to make one card. They are very easy to put together and are very pretty. As you can see they are lovely little cards. I think I am likely to use them to give to work colleagues this year....

I have been a subscriber of this magazine for many years now. I have to say it is my favorite craft magazine on the market at the minute The new issue has a lovely little Peony Panel Die. Not only will it be nice on cards, I think it will look good on the top of a box. There is an article inside showing how to use the free die. As you can see there are some very pretty examples. Thete is also a link for some downloadable complimentary papers. I'm a great fan of digital crafting so I think this is an exellent idea. There is a hints and tips page to help ypu get the most from your die. Lots of crafty adds. We have  a caravan of our own so I think I will look for this die and decorate like our own caravan. At the end there is a preview of what is in the next edition of the magazine. A sneak peak of the free die for next month.

I am taking part in this market which is being hosted by The Gothic Bazzare over on Facebook. It would be great if you could join us. There are some amazing artisans taking part. Hope to see you there

A quick sneak peak of a new album I am working. Itscquite a big album at A4 in size. The papersxare again by Magik Graphics. This collection is from an exclusive cdrom that came in the last Mystery Box, which was Witch Themed.

Following on from my scan and cut post on Monday. I thought I wouldxshow you what I did with one of the card blanks I cut. I cut this shutter card blank on my scan and cut. When folded flat the card will fit in an 8 inch square envelope. I chose a Hunkydory kit that I had in my stash. I started by cutting a square of card to fit the centre panel, leaving a small border around the card. Next I chose a topper that sat nicely in the middle. The topper has a gold edge which makes it look as if it has been matted onto mirri card. I chose a contrasting card for the side panels. The gold foiling pulls it together with the topper. I chose another contrasting card for these panels. I thought the border framed the topper nicely. I completed the panels with a green card in a similar colour to the card with the blue borders. The final addition to the card was a little sentiment in the same shape as the topper. A very pretty card for any occasion.

I have had my Scan and cut cm900 for about 3 years now. I have to admit that when I first got it I was a little bit apprehensive. I wasn't really sure what I could do with it. Now I use it for just about everything. Some of the first usb's I purchased were the Tatteted Lace Shaped Cards usb's. They contain a good range of fancy shaped card blanks, and at the time I was predominantly a card maker so it seemed like a good place to start. This basic decorative card was the first I cut. I cut the size it came on the USB, but now I know I can cut it in any size I like that will fit on my cutting mat. I don't know about you but I find cutting and folding stepper cards by hand a bit difficult. I always get in a knot. I cut this decorative Edged stepper card in a few minutes on my scan and cut. I could not have cut this decorative edge without my scan and cut. Of course I can also cut all of the mats and layers to decorate the card with. You don't even have to cut plain car...

This a walk through video of a Memory Book I have been working on for a while. Its an 8x8in album. The papers I have used are from The Magik Graphics cdrom Curiosities. I love this cdrom all of the designs on it are absolutly perfect for me.  I think I will be making more Memory books using this cdrom.