Merry Christmas

O.K., so it's a little early but Christmas always starts early once I get my 0ctober/November copy of Let's Make Cards as the magazine includes card making kits with plenty of options for making Christmas cards.

In the latest issues readers also got a Christmas tree stamp.  I'm not very good at stamping, but I am getting pretty good at hiding all of my mistakes with some cleverly placed glitter.

The kits are designed by Sally Moret, and they look fantastic.  Inside you'll find plenty of suggestions for card making, but I am trying to stop being so lazy and come up with at least some ideas of my own.  Along with the components from the kit, I've also used some of my own embellishments just to make my cards look different.

You'll find my version of "Festive Hearts" here.

These are the cards I've made so far, and there are plenty more to come.  The yellow card featured first will soon be winging its way to Australia.

Let's Make Cards Magazine

At the weekend I finally managed to find time to sit down with my latest issue of Let's Make Cards magazine.

I love looking through the various designs and through all of the different ideas that can be made with the free kits.

Usually, I just copy the designs but I am trying to get more creative and come up with my own designs and ideas.

I'm still putting together some cards from this month's kit but in the meanwhile, this is my version of festive hearts.

My latest card designs

A few months ago I never imaged that I be making my own card designs but the positive comments I've got from friends and family have encouraged me so now I am working on a range of designs which I hope I can get some of the greeting cards manufacturers interested in.

The designs I've created are versatile so can be used in many forms such as materials, backing papers and craft stamps.  Here's some of my designs.  Some of them are hand drawn, others are from pictures I've taken.  I think you can guess which are which!. *

*All designs/photographs on this page are my work and I retain the copyright to them.  They cannot be reproduced or reused without my written permission.

When scans go wrong

I tried to scan some photographs into my computer last week.  Most of them went fine but once I got to the photograph of some pansies, it just wouldn't scan them.  I don't know what happened as I didn't do anything different with the picture.

After several attempts, I did end up with a distorted version of them which I actually liked the look of some I'm calling them "Abstract Pansies" and selling the picture as cards, posters, journals etc.

I'm also working on a line of other designs, which I hope will scan in better than the pansies did but has made a good journal cover.

Happy Easter!

It'll be Easter soon so I've been using it as an excuse to buy more craft materials  to make Easter cards.  Although I've made cards in the past, I've not made them from scratch and I often used the designs from craft magazines as inspiration.

With these cards, I've made them myself from a kit I brought on eBay.  I like the way they've worked out so far and I'm going to be making plenty more.

My favourite is the Bunny!

My first handmade chocolates

OK, so I’ve chosen the really easy way to make chocolates by buying some cooking chocolate and some chocolate moulds but I want to get used to the tempering and handling the mixture first.

You can use a bain-marie to heat the chocolate over the stove or you can just add some water to a saucepan, add the chocolate to a bowl and top and let the chocolate melt that way.  Alternatively, you could just melt it in a microwave but I didn’t want to heat it too quickly.

Once melted, you can pour the melted into the moulds; I used heart shaped silicone moulds and then left them in the fridge for an hour or so. (I had to wrestle with it a bit to get the chocolates out after wards).

I’m pleased with the results so far and just need to work on getting the backs of the chocolate a bit smoother (some of them are a bit too full of lumps and bumps) so with the next batch, I’ll let them cool for a bit before smoothing them out.

My first soaps

In the past few weeks I've been trying my hand at soapmaking.  At the moment I'm just using melt and pour soap while I get used to working with it and with the moulds.  I've noticed a book on Amazon about making your own melt and pour base so this is what I'm going to do next and then I will be able to say I've made them from scratch.

I've been experimenting with different colours and fragrances.  The colours I've come across are limited but you can use them to make different shades, for example, a few drops of blue soap colouring will make a turquoise colour while using more will make a deep-blue colour.

I'm using what I know about aromatherapy and hopefully putting that to good use.  I'm using lavender/chamomile to make relaxing soaps, geranium and ylang ylang to make uplifting soaps, lemon and orange to make refreshing soaps and eucalyptus and peppermint for if you've got a cold or you need to clear your head.

After heating the soap, you can mix in the colours and then the oils.  The soaps take about an hour to set and smell divine.

The Craft Business Handbook by Alison McNicol

I've spent the last few months buying supplies, learning new craft techniques and revisiting old ones, making soaps, cards, lip balms, and learning to use a sewing machine.  Next, I want to start to run it as a business rather than just selling to family and friends.

I recently brought The Craft Business Handbook by Alison McNichol.  This book is one of the most useful and inspiring books I've brought recently, and I've brought a lot of them. 

Divided into nine chapters, the book covers everything from setting up a business, developing a brand, selling online, using social media and promoting yourself.  The case studies - all people who have themselves started from scratch - is inspirational to a beginner.

The book is available from Amazon.

Quick recipe to make your own lip balms

You can make your own lip balms quickly and easily with just a few simple ingredients.  Lip balm recipes vary but I've gone with the most basic of recipes which makes a firmer balm.  You could also add essential oils to it as it cools such as ginger to make a muscle rub balm (more about those later).

Ingredients You'll Need

Cosmetic grade beeswax
Shea Butter
Vitamin E oil

I don't use quantities, I just melt a few pellets in a saucepan and then add some more until I have a reasonable amount.  I then add in the Shea butter and stir in until it melts.  Once I've done that, then I add the Vitamin E and stir them in.  That's it.  You just pour it into empty lip balm pots or you can buy empty lip balm pots from eBay which is where I brought all of my ingredients.

For a fuller description on how to make lip balms you can visit:

http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-make-lip-balms

Using 'paint' to make backing papers and designs

If you have a Microsoft computer then you likely have a paint programme included on it which can be used to make backing papers for cards and other designs.

I find it useful for creating my own unique designs and you don't need to be artistic to use it - I'm certainly not.

Using the paint brush takes a bit of getting used to but with a few short cuts, you can creative colourful, eye catching designs. With paint, you have the options of choosing shapes such as hearts and stars and the option to block colour the shapes and the background. Once you've got used to the different options and how to use them, it takes minutes to do.

The designs made in paint can be printed off and the colours look good even on ordinary print paper.

If you have any tips for using paint to create designs then please let me know.

My first attempt at card making...

...in I don't know how long.  Years ago I used to make cards, cushions and other craft items and sell them in the run up to Christmas at local fairs.  A while ago I thought I'd would give it another go.

I used to make cards with pressed flowers and these used to sell well but I'm making them differently this time around and I've started by using card making kits and the kits that come with magazines just to get into it again.

I'm one of these people that can't seem to cut in a straight line so I've got a paper trimmer to get around that and make them look neater and I've brought a bone folder to make the edges crisper and more defined.

So far, I'm enjoying every minute of it, and it will be quite some time before I need to worry about buying Birthday or Christmas cards given the amount of craft materials I have.