Recycling Christmas cards and more Christmas stuff!

Okay, when I make Christmas cards, I use last year's Christmas cards.  BUT not only do I use those, but I also use last year's Christmas crackers, hats from the crackers, and tags from the presents.  Its SO easy, simple, and sometimes you can end up making an enormous amount of cards this way.  Sometimes I save the wrapping paper if I like it so much!

I saved wrapping paper to make this card (left) for example.  I got some funky scissors and cut out three characters and the "merry christmas" greeting.  The red checkered paper at the back is also from the same wrapping paper.  The only thing I actually bought aside from the card itself here, was the gold fuzzy ribbon (vertical) right at the back.  The other two gld strips of ribbon were from presents received - so I have recycled that as well.  Because I used the funky scissors here, there is no need for any edging peel offs to finish the card off.  It looks great!  I loved this paper, and I love these cards.

The next card here (right) is a simple way of just using a gift tag from one of your presents.  The backing can either be a piece of gold card, OR the card from a Christmas cracker.  If you have some crackers which have a pattern or a texture which is quite nice, you can collect the pieces of cards after you have pulled them all, trim off the ripped pieces and flatten them by putting them in or under a heavy book for a couple of days.  When you return to make your cards, the cracker-card will be flat and easier to stick onto the card which you're making.  Easy!

The last cards here (below) are an example of making a number of your own cards just out of one.  These five cards have individual glittery trees on them, and before I cut them into five pieces, the original card displayed a line of all five trees.  Cut each one up, stick them onto your card and finish them off with the appropriate colour of peel-off edgeing.  Its SO simple.  You can either leave them with no greeting if you like minimalist style cards, or you can buy silver and gold Christmas greeting peel offs which are also just as easy to add onto your card.

Hints and Tips: This Christmas, look at your own and other people's wrapping paper.  After unwrapping, see if you can salvage some so you can use as background or foreground in your handmade Christmas Cards.  Also keep ribbon, bows, and tags.  When you pull your crackers, look at the crackers themselves.  Look at the patterns, texture and colour of the cards, and think about how you can use the card for backgrounds.  Save it all up and flatten it when you have a spare moment before you sleep off your Christmas dinner.  Collect everybody's Christmas hats, ESPECIALLY if they have gold or silver foil bits.  These can be very useful when cardmaking.  Finally, have a look at the Christmas Cards you, your relatives and friends have.  Most people don't save many of their cards and will gladly give them to you if you ask nicely! :o)

I'll post some more soon, I promise!!

Right, I know its December already and I haven't posted much...!!  Sorry!  :o.  I have been very busy doing lots of things.  But I will post a few things up on the last couple of week's run up to Christmas, I promise!  I just need to take photos of things I have made.  Yes, I have made LOTS and LOTS of Christmas cards out of last year's cards and most Christmas related items that you usually throw away, but I shall explain those later.  In the meantime, I have learnt to KNIT!!!  I have made three scarves already and I am SO incredibly addicted to it.  Wierdly, I have not knitted for an entire week, although I did actually spend £27 on wool and pretty thread the other day...! ;o/  I have to say that knitting your own stuff is very expensive.  BUT man, is it addictive and calming!  Stress-knitting......its just so nice!  Mind you, if you're doing a complicated stitch, its best not to watch TV whilst you're doing it....trust me...!!!

I have also made a couple of necklaces which I might post up here too, AND its my parent's Golden Wedding Anniversary at the end of January and I have a brilliant project lined up for that which I am planning on posting AS I create it.  I really didn't know what to get until I was browsing on the internet and I had a brilliant idea!  I didn't buy what I saw in the shop - I just had a different idea! :o)

Anyways.....I will post some things shortly, and I will try to keep up a blog at least once or twice a week if I can't manage one an evening! 

Watch this space!! 

S
xx

Home cooked Food!

Okay, so food DOES come under the category of creativity.  Or at least, it does for me anyway!  Today my boyfriend made some vegetable soup and as always it turned out delicious.  Its always different every time, because it just depends on what you put in it.  This time, he put in Leek, Onion, Parsnip, Carrot, Celery and Celeriac.  I think that was everything....!!  Anyway, it has a lovely autumnal root-vegetable sort of taste to it and there is LOADS left so its all frozen ready to eat when we are..!!! 
Anyhoo, I DISCOVERED a recipe on the internet, after reading about Walkers Sunbites on http://www.sunbites.co.uk/, looked at the recipes and discovered a Soda Bread recipe.  Last time I made bread, it was the usual stuff, I was at school, it came out black, fell out the tin and cracked a tile onthe floor.  Hmmm.  Not good!!

Anyway, THIS bread was really really easy to make, and it turned out fine.  The only thing was, it was a little moist in the centre so I think next time I sill pat if flatter on the baing sheet in the oven, and put it on the top shelf for 40 minutes (today I did it on the shelf just under the top).  I think our oven is pretty old anyway, but I shall stry that next time.  The bread is delicious, but VERY filling indeed, probably a result of using strong wholemeal flour and oatbran with buttermilk.  But its lovely, and if you decide to make it at home then I think its probably best that you just cut a couple of slices rather than try to eat a quarter of the loaf. . . . . !  Still, I think the birds enjoyed the leftovers.

The photo is of the bread and the soup, and the soup you will notice is topped with grated cheese.  You might frown at the idea but trust me - if you like cheese, and if you like soup - try it!  I also topped it off with some red cabbage sprouts which I have been growing in a jar in the kitchen - I love sprout growing!  Its really easy, and its real fast.  You can grow all sorts of sprouts all year round, you can put them on salads, soups, stir frys and they are very nitrutious.  Our favourite so far is Alfalfa.  Mmm mmMMm! :o)

Lost In Space

First of all, I must apologise in the delay of posting! I shall try to post more often now I have finished my scrapbook, which I shall also be including in this blog.

So, my brother's birthday was in August, and this is the card I created for him. I admit, I cheated by BUYING some "toppers" but I have to say that, when I saw the toppers in the store I couldn't resist buying them, as they made me think of him! He loves all things astronomy and space-related, and I thought this was quirkily appropriate.

The toppers I used were of a space-ship, and astronaut, a space-station, and I used a few star-shaped stickers of my own to add to it. First, I chose a brightly-coloured stripey paper from a pad of coloures papers (A5 size), and cut it to fit a tall card. After sticking that on as a background, I finished off the edges with peel-off silver trim.

Hints and tips: Finish off the edges with a peel-off trim BEFORE you put everything else on top - this prevents you having a very fiddly job if you leave it till the end.

After sticking the toppers on in the best arrangement I could create, I decided to stick the "3..2..1...." sticker at the bottom, finishing that off with silver trim instead of a "Happy Birthday". I thought it worked perfectly, and he loved it!

Thankyou Cards

I thought it was time to get this blog going again!

I will start off with six cards which I made to take on holiday to Canada with me, for the Bed and Breakfasts we stayed in. After I had been playing with one of my holiday scrapbooks, adding bits and pieces, I thought this was a great, simple idea. I bought a set of SIX stikers, which were spongy and glossy. I got a square card and stuck one in the middle of each card. I then simply took a black rollerball pen and drew around the edge of each sticker, which finished it of nicely - a border without a border, in effect!

I then just added a handwritten "thankyou" underneath each one.

When I got back home from holiday, it turns out that two of the places I gave these cards to had written back telling me how much they appreciated the card, and the fact it was home-made gave it such a personal touch, which they loved! Many thanks to our hosts at The Treehouse Bed and Breakfast in Vancouver, and Harvey House Bed and Breakfast in Tofino, Vancouver Island - BOTH of which I highly recommend!!

Back from holiday!

Hello everyone

I am now back from holiday and I shall start blogging my creations online again. Please be patient though, I have a "travel blog" on the go as well, and writing up 5 weeks' worth of travel journal might take a while. I may be slow to re-start....or I might find time to post a few things up at a time. I'll stick with cards for the time being, but the scrap booking will certainly get on here eventually! Happy crafting!

Siobhan x

Flutterby Butterfly

Here is a Birthday card I created for my sister in law. I used a simple purple paper from one of my packs as the background. The pink strip and square also came from a paper - one of those which has lots of detailed bits and bobs - very useful when they give the illusion of buttons, strings and ribbons as you can see on the lower strip. I edged both of these pink bits with black peel off edgeing. I used two different fabric flowers and a golden brad for the flower decoration.

The pink square has a paisley patterned vellum layered on top of it. I did this to mute the pink colours underneath so the butterfly on top would stand out more - there is also a small piece of matching vellum behind the "Happy Birthday". I cut these with wavy-edged scissors which I find fantastic! The butterfly is made of two silver and white card butterflies from a pack. I glued the white one down onto the vellum and glued the overlying silver butterflies body only to the one below, therefore being able to raise the wings in a 3-dimensional effect. The "Happy Birthday" was stuck onto black paper before laying them over the extra piece of paisley vellum.

Again I used the colours wisely. I used black edgeing and black paper behind the "Happy Birthday". The "Happy Birthday" itself is in gold which teams up with the yellow flower and its golden cente.

Hints and Tips: should you run out of edgeing at the end, you can always glue an embelishment down to hide it. I do it all the time on many cards, and this can be very useful if you want to create the illusion of ribbons running behind your main image. Just cut the bits you're going to see and stick them in the right place!

Creativity Unleashed

The first blog of creativity is a recent one, although I have many many other photos which I might post here from time to time. I guess its not that important to have everything running chronologically here, this blog is all about the things I have created. So here goes!



This Birthday card was made for my Boyfriend's sister. At home I have many, many different types of card, papers, peel-offs etc. I have so much stuff I am trying to use it all up before buying any more. Its a chalenge but I have managed to do it so far!

Anyway, as you can see, I had a background paper of srolled writing which I lined with gold peel-off edgeing. I took the blue floral card and inserted two seperate pieces of very thin copper craft wire, and swirled them round to make the flower stems. I finished them off with star shaped brads. The flowers are made of fabric, and I pur simple round brads in the centre, in the same holes as the wires. I taped all this securely on the back before sticking it down, and adding a little black peel-off edgeing on two sides.

The "Happy Birthday" peel-off was stuck on to paper from the same as that from the background piece, stuck onto black paper to make the words stand out. I was very pleased with the result and I hope she is too. My Boyfriend seemed to like it!

Introductions

Greetings to everyone!

This blog will soon start growing, as soon as I have been crafty and taken lots of photographs. I intend this blog to document and show off my creativity to anyone who wants to see it. I make jewellery and greetings cards, and I usually make scrapbooks for big, really interesting holidays outside the UK. I will try my best to keep the holiday chatter to a minimum, as I will provide a link to my "travel-blog" too.

In the meantime, this blog will try its best to stick to bead and wire jewellery with a link to my jewellery etsy shop, with some cards here and there, but no doubt a few other unrelated things might end up tagging along....!

See you soon!

Siobhan x