Easter Daffodil Boxket

Here is my Easter boxket! I used Nitwits graphics yet again. This time I decided to glue the handle to the lid as I couldn't make my mind up whether to have it as box or a basket - so I did both! The only thing is that if I pick it up with the handle, the whole lid comes off!

More Easter creations to come!

A Tisket a tasket, is it a box or is it a basket? It's a Boxket!

I was in the middle of designing a new Easter basket, when I had the idea of making a lid as well, so there was a choice of having a box or a basket. The problem was whether to call it a box or a basket, so the "Boxket" was born!

These two are made using my favourite graphics again from Nitwits and I'm still in the process of making some Easter themed ones.

These would be perfect to hold small Mother's Day gifts!

I forgot to get a photo of the pink one with the lid on before I glued the handle on. The pink satin ribbon and bow I added from my stash really looks great, even if I do say so myself!

Typewriter Gift Boxes

I made my own version of a typewriter gift box, a pink one and a lilac one. They are quite easy to assemble. The main box is at the back (that the lid sits on), then a keyboard shaped box, then a small spacebar box right in front.

The graphics and background papers I used for these are from Nitwits. In fact these two graphic collections are my favourites and I tend to use them a lot!

Thanks for looking!

Romany Caravan Gift Boxes

I made a couple of gorgeous gift boxes from an idea by Tara Brown. They look absolutely stunning in real life!

Tara has the template for free on her site, but it's wpc file which is of no use to me so I made my own template, and also an extra piece for a lid which the canopy is glued onto.

I used heavy card stock for mine, but if you use chipboard they would be great for kids to play with, and maybe make some furniture to fit inside?

I have plenty of ideas for other colourways, so I may end up with a fleet before long!

Je t'aime typewriter box

I just had to post this gorgeous gift box by Tara Brown. It's really stunning! I'm in awe of some of Tara's other paprcrafting projects.

Bookbinding Notebooks

I found some great bookbinding tutorials on Damask Love so I had a go at bookbinding and created my own notepad. Very pleased with the results! I decorated the notepad with some of my handmade paper and decided to make some bookmarks to go with it. My matchbook notepads (I made earlier) looked a bit bare so I added a couple of little hearts and bling.

And as you can see, I got my silhouette working again! I actually figured out how to weld the flowers and birdie to make the cut-out for the bookmark. Cute!

I'm thinking this might make a lovely gift set. The matchbook notepads would be great as wedding favours too.

More notepads in the pipeline...

Handmade Paper Matchbook Notepad

My latest mini handmade paper project! I've actually made something from my handmade paper! Eeek! The matchbook itself  is made from my lavender paper, and the paper sheets from cyclus (which I love). Instead of stapling the booklet together I punched holes in and tied with a piece of twine. I think they look quite cute! Perfect size for popping into your handbag.

I remember when I was a kid I use to go to the printers at the bottom of our road and spend my pocket money on little notepads that the printer made from off-cuts. There was nothing really special about them, they came in all sorts of different colours and sizes and were just glued together on one side - a bit like post-it notes. But this was long before post-it notes came on the scene, and the paper was a bit thicker too. I never wrote or drew on those notepads, it would have been sacrilege! I  kept them in my bedroom, just to look at and feel the smoothness of the paper.

I suppose I have that same feeling again about making something from my handmade paper as I don't want to "spoil" it! But I am going to force myself to make things from it, after all that's why I made it in the first place isn't it?

More notepads are in the pipeline, and maybe I'll try my hand at bookbinding.

Mum's Birthday Card

I finished Mum's Birthday card using some of my handmade rose petal paper. I know she isn't into rustic, recycled shabby chic or anything shabby, so I trimmed my petal paper to give it neat edges and added two of my heart paper casts. I'm quite pleased with the result and I hope Mum is too!

My paper casts turned out great! I wondered if I might have problems getting them out of the mould, but they just popped out with no trouble.

Now on to my next project, thanks for visiting!

New Year's Resolution 2015

Crikey I can't believe it's been nearly 3 years since I posted on this blog! So I'm making my new year resolution to post more (eeek!)

What crafty things have I been up to the past 3 years? Well, I've been making more digital card designs and resources, and I've rejoined Crafts-U-Print as a designer. To see what's "new" please click on the links on the left in My Digital Designs Stores.

I bought myself a Silhouette Cameo a few months ago, but I'm still getting to grips with it. Haven't really got much to show for the 3 mats and 2 blades that I've gone through already. Seems to be a bit of an expensive hobby to be honest and I wish I hadn't wasted my money on it. Can't do anything with it right now as my last blade broke just before Christmas. Luckily I just managed to finish some notelet sets that were Christmas gifts.

I've also just taken up papermaking!!! I really can't believe I've only just tried this craft, it's sooo simple!

So here is a photo of my first batch of handmade lavender paper. Hope you like it :-)

I'm planning on making some cards with it and will post my finished creations up.

Crab Apple Grove

My sister has finally made her presence on the internet and has just created her first blog, Crab Apple Grove where she will display her gorgeous handmade cards. She really isn't into computers and has a lot to learn (so I'm displaying a few of her cards here).

Her gorgeous cards are 100% hand made and are for sale at craftybob.com

There are lots more to follow!