Creative April

Hello there,

I hope you're well today.

If you've popped by my blog before you'll know that I make cards and dabble in sewing.....and that I love to bake cakes.....to be honest I love dabbling in all kinds of crafts. I've tried jewelry making, candle making and both knitting and crochet previously. I love the challenge of taking raw materials and turning them into something new.....and have plenty of craft materials and books to prove this!

So, I decided to set myself a little challenge in April....I decided that I would try and make or bake something new every day of April. I would try and keep things spontaneous by not planning every craft out, but I would also try and learn some new skills along my way.

It's day 10 of creative April now and it's been a fun month so far - I've made some simple projects and tried some new techniques out too. From felt brooches and fabric flowers, to a fruit bowl made with Mod Podge and hole punch circles (or whatever they are called!) to a fab cat tent made with an old t-shirt, some cardboard and two coathangers!

Here are some of my makes so far.....

Day 1 - Zipper pouch

Day 2 - felt cat brooch

Day 4 - 20 minute skirt with elasticated waist

Day 9 - Cat tent! 

Day 10 - fruit bowl made of hole punch circles

I have twenty more days to go in April and I'm looking forward to trying more crafts and learning new techniques, as well as practising some old ones. I'll be posting more posts during the month, sharing my crafting adventures!

If anyone has any craft project suggestions I'd love to hear them - leave me a comment below!

Thanks for popping by today,

Wedgie xxx

A little elegance....

Hello there,

I hope you're having a tea-riffic day!

I have a little project for you today which features two of my favourite things....tea and teacups! I saw this project in a craft magazine and since it included a little bit of sewing as well as card making (my two favourite crafting activities) I thought I would give it a try....

The card is basically an elegant teacup and a little teabag......but here is the cool thing.....you can remove the teabag from the card and use it as a bookmark.....

The teacup is made of patterned papers and is fixed on the card using 3D sticky pads, which creates a little pocket. I've opted for an art deco backing paper for the teacup, which I think is perfect for an elegant teacup.

The teabag is then made out of acetate and little gold stars.....so cute! The tag is made out of card and string and is stitched into place as you sew up the teabag. Using my sewing machine to do this took no time at all, but creates a really cute little bookmark. It was great to be able to use both my card making skills and sewing skills on one project.

I have included my tea themed sentiment on the inside of the card and carried on the gold star theme....

I liked the design so much that I decided to make another one with a slightly more rustic feel....

I am going to enter this card in the following challenges:

Cupcake Inspirations - elegance

Crafty Sentiments - anything goes

Lemon Shortbread - anything goes

Through the Craft Room Door - anything goes

Pop by all of these fab blogs to see some gorgeous DT cards!

If you fancy taking a peek at some more teacups and some scrummy cake why not pop by my afternoon tea blog.....

Tea With Me and Friends

Thank you for popping by today,

Wedgie xxx

Becca's Famous Friend.....

....that's me!! Ha, ha!

Morning everyone...hope you're all well and not too chilly in this new bout of wintery weather. Well, Becca is one of my best friends and she declared last night that I am her famour friend after I told her my latest news. Take a little peek at this.....

This is the new Papercraft Inspiration magazine....it's out in the shops next week, I'm a subscriber so I get it a little earlier (fab perk!!).

Anyway, back in December I'd made a couple of cards inspired by some of their pages, I was quite pleased with the results so I sent them into the magazine and wrote them a little note about enjoying their magazine. I also put them my blog. I then promptly forgot all about it!

Imagine my surprise yesterday as I flicked through the pages and saw my cards staring back at me! How cool! If you look at the magazine page, mine are the collection of three cards on the right hand side! To say I am a little chuffed is an understatement - what a buzz to see my own work in print!

Anyway, thats enough showing off from me today - I am just so pleased I had to share!!

No new cards this morning, but I'm sure there will be some either later today or first thing tomorrow. In the meantime I hope you have a fab day whatever you're doing!

Thanks for stopping by,
Wedgie Xxx

Wedding Wishes

Morning All, I'm going to be at the boyfriend's all weekend, with no internet access so I thought I'd get another card on my blog this morning before heading into the office. If you scroll down my blog you'll see that yesterday's entry was made quite late at night....I'd promised myself that I'd go to bed once I'd finished.....did I?? No I didn't!! I went shopping!!!

I found this fab blog called Bee Crafty where they have the cutest digi images to buy and download, and I couldn't help myself! You should take a peek at the gorgeous images they have on offer, click here to visit their blog. I got a couple of images and wanted to use one straight away!! What am I like?? Anyway, here is the card I created from my digi image:

I downloaded several images, but this one fits in with their current challenge, they want to see a romantic theme, and I think by using these lovely pastel colours I've given my card a lovely romantic theme. I've used plain and coloured papers, along with some of my gorgeous glitter glue. The DT over at Bee Crafty have used various other images in their cards, all gorgeous....take a peek here.

The gorgeous layout that I've used for this card has actually come from another challenge, over at the Truly Scrumptious blog they have given us this sketch as their current challenge. I've been using a lot of square cards for sketch layouts recently, so it was nice to work with a different shape. Check out the fab DT designs here.

Anyway, I think I better get a wriggle on....work is calling. I've been a bit naughty this morning.....I had sugar on my toast! Ha, ha! An awful habit I picked up in my teens and occassional revisit! Naughty but nice I think is the phrase!!

Thanks for paying me a visit today, hope you have a fab Friday!
Wedgie xxx

Weird experience.....

......I have been stuck at my boyfriend's for most of this week...stranded by all the white stuff!! I have been cut off from the internet and separated from my craft stash (I knew I needed to refill the goodies that I keep at his, but I kept forgetting!!). I have had the last chapter of a book and daytime TV to keep me going! My knee is still not happy at the moment, so I had to stay indoors!! It has been a slightly depressing week, and I thought that come today when I was reunited with all my crafting items that I would be rearing to go.

Image my disappointment to realise that my heart's just not in it today!

Its one of those days.....I've pottered around doing not much really, and half heartedly trying to make cards. Its a bit weird to be honest! I'm blaming the snow (and my dodgy knee), I just want to curl up in bed and try and keep warm....or I want to stuff my face with comfort food all day! Neither of these things are particularly productive though!

Anyway, thats my moaning out of the way......I have managed to make one card that is worthy of sharing....and it fits in with a couple of card challenges which always makes me happy!

Over on Cute Card Thursday they have a challenge called "All New!" and they want to see cards with a new theme.....I opted for the new stash option and used a new present topper that I have been given for Christmas (part of a set). The DT have come up with some fab examples to inspire you: http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.com/2010/01/challenge-94-all-new.html

The layout I have used for this card comes from Mina at Truly Scrumptious Challenges. Its the first time I have visited this blog and I love it! Check out the DT examples for this challenge: http://trulyscrumptiouschallenges.blogspot.com/2010/01/challenge-23_05.html. As well as the layout they gave an extra optional challege of using pink, green and black as the colour scheme......not sure what happened...I seem to have missed the green out! Whoops!

For the card I used a black and white funky flowers backing paper, along with some bring pink card squares. I then used two circles - the bottom one is a hatched vellum and that is topped with a circle of handmade paper. I added the present topper and some little flowers for a girlie touch!

I'm hoping that tomorrow I will get my mojo back and will be maling cards all day...but for now I think I hear my bed calling!

Just before I go....one last thing....HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHEREE! Hope you had a fab day Hun! xx

Thanks for stopping by,
Wedgie xxx

I'm a card making weirdo!

Morning everyone - I've made an overnight discovery.....I think I might just need a doctor's opinion, but I'm pretty sure that I might be obsessed with crafting!! After I posted last night and did some Tweeting, I then found myself hunting for more card challenges to do....thinking to myself that I'd write them down and complete them over the next week.......then I found one that I really liked.....and you guessed it.....I started making the card!! It was 11:30pm and there I was in my PJs making another card! I'm mad! The central heating was cooling down, my cosy bed was calling out to me....I couldn't feel my toes....and yet I carried on making away! What a weirdo!

Anyway, I'm pleased to share with you my latest make, which was design to fit in with the card challenge over at the Caardvarks blog - since my success with the last sketch card I decided to challenge myself and make another...luckily thats the challenge: http://caardvarks.blogspot.com/2010/01/happy-new-year.html The sketch was a nice simple one and the DT have produced amazing cards - each one so different, but all using the same sketch in one way or another - take a peek!

I've followed their sketch exactly, using a pre-printed Papermania card for the green backing, I then layered a piece of plain blue paper on top. I created the scalloped edge by cutting by hand (hence the little wonky look!). I've used mini flowers with a Papermania gem in the centre and tiny buttons as the embellishments, and a pre-printed sentiment which I cut to size. Finally I used some trusty glitter glue to make the little lines (slightly wonky once again!).

Anyway, just a short post this morning...but watch this space...there are plenty more card challenges out there for me to get stuck into!

Hope you have a good day and thanks for stopping by.
Wedgie xxx

New Year's Resolutions??

Morning all - see I told you I love having time off from work...here I am again....and yes I have been crafting again!! First of all though I've been thinking about resolutions....New Year Resolutions to be precise. At this time of year magazines, telly, friends and family are all asking what resolutions we'll be making for the coming year....I always rack my brain and come up with the same old ones that I never keep....stop biting my nails, get fit etc, etc!

This year I've decided to make a couple that I can keep.....I want to go to places that I've never been to, those places that I always think I'd like to visit but that I never have time to go to....I want to go to the Tate Modern and see what all the fuss is about and I want to experience a ballet (Becca would you like to join me on this one??). There are loads more places, but thats a good start. Its not necessarily about me-time, I'm happy to enjoy my experiences with others, its more about actually making time to do the things that I enjoy.

My final resolution is a big one - I'm going to start believeing in myself and my abilities.....I enjoy card making and love sharing my makes with everyone and I've always said I want to set up a small business selling them, but I've never actually got around to doing it - there is always something holding me back. Hopefully this resolution will help me with this little dream....watch this space!

Right, I'll stop rambling now and show you my latest makes...thats if you're still reading and didn't switch off in the last two paragraphs!!

I've really enjoyed making these cards, and have turned to my collection of old craft magazines for inspiration. My favourite magazine and the one I subscribe to is PaperCraft Inspirations - always full of great ideas!

The first card features a guitar, crafted out of blue and yellow paper. I created my sentiment on the computer, highlighted it using more yellow paper and I added music notes as a backing.

The second card is another one that could be given to boys as well as girls (no pink paper or glitter for a change!). I've created a game console controller from white and grey paper, along with some coloured dots for the buttons. Again, I used my trusty computer to create the sentiment.

The final two are directly inspired by the pages of PaperCraft Inspirations (Jan 2010 issue). The flowers are created from pink and green paper and I've added a little glitter to this one (couldn't resist!). Mum thinks these aren't delicate enough, but I like them!

I've created a London scene for the last one - my imitation Big Ben is again made out of coloured paper and lots of glue! The bus has been attached using 3D adhesive pads, giving a little depth to the card.

I enjoy creating cards like this, using paper to create images rather than using pre-made embellishments. There is something very satisfying about the process. You may not get it right first time, but try again, as when you get it right you'll be really pleased with yourself!

Anyway, this is probably my last blog of 2009 - thanks for joining me and I hope to see you again in 2010!

Happy New Year!

Wedgie xxx

Merry Christmas!

So, its Christmas Eve...it's 11am....and I'm still sat on my sister's sofa in my PJs! Ha, ha! For once I've got Christmas Eve off work and I'm not running around making last minute purchases! There is no wrapping to be done...well maybe one of two pressies need a little attention...but on the whole I'm done! Last night I had a fab evening with my sister Lorna and her hubbie Jim, and my two friends Becca and Anika - we ate lots of really naughty food, drank bellinis and watched Elf (a wheeler sister tradition!). I'm now waiting for my boyfriend to pick me up....so in the meantime I thought I'd share one of my last pressies that I made.....

......I can't tell you who this is for because she might click on and see it before she opens it and that would not be good! All I can say is this gift will result in a mini shopping spree.....

On the outside I have used some pretty Papermania paper, and a lovely new stamp I've bought. I've never been that good with stamps, but I've been practicing and I think I'm getting the hang of it. I've coloured the image and added some buttons to the outside as well. I love buttons at the moment, they are appearing on a lot of my cards. I love all the colours and different shapes they come in, and I think they give a fab new dimension to the cards.

When you open the card you find the actual pressie...in this case a lovely £20 note....but you could put anything in the little pocket really. I've used the same plain papers from the front to make the pocket and added a little glamour with some black glitter glue (weird purchase I made one day, but I love it!).

This last minute make actually manages to fit in with the Secret Crafters Saturday Challenge.....as they are asking for last minute gift projects! I love the varied designs from the DT, all so gorgeous....take a peek here:


http://thesecretcraftersaturdaychallenge.blogspot.com/2009/12/challenge-63.html

Anyway, hopefully the lucky person who finds this under their tree will be very happy! 

I want to wish everyone who stops by my blog a very Happy Christmas wherever you are, I hope you have a 
wonderful time. Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings and I hope you like my cards!

Enjoy,
Wedgie xx

Candy Corns!

Time for a cheeky card challenge before bed I think!

I've just visited Cute Card Thursday and this week they want a sweet treat...they've asked for our sweet/candy projects. I love the DT examples....all very cute: http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.com/2009/10/challenge-83-candy-corns.html

So, I put my thinking cap on and tried to think sweet thoughts...not sure whether I'm hungry or simply obsessed with cupcakes, but thats what sprung to mind! So, here is my card....not technically a sweet, but I hope thats ok.....I can guarantee everyone that my cupcakes are always a sweet treat!

As you can see I am back to my true girlie self after a couple of challenges where pink didn't feature....but I don't think you can feature cupcakes without a little pink!!

I like this card as its very simple to make, with a pink patterned background, the sentiment is printed on white backing paper and then the little cupcakes are made out of scraps of paper that I had on my craft desk. I finished it off with little metallic buttons for the cherries. Simple but effective!

Enjoy!
Wedgie xx

Feeling Paw-ley?

I've been on a bit of a craft shopping spree recently and bought loads of new bits and pieces on the internet. I've been waiting patiently for everything to arrive and yesterday the wait was over!

I was so taken by some very cute puppy toppers that I bought on EBay that I got crafting straight away and came up with the following.....

These really cute little puppies come from Theresa who has a shop on EBay called Cardtoppings. You get 24 little toppers, printed on quality card, each one measuring 8cm x 8cm...there are six different designs in this set. I think they go perfectly with my get well sentiments!

I've used various papers to make bright and cheerful get well cards, trying to create something to make the poorly person smile!

Theresa has all sorts of other designs in her shop, all very cute and worth a look!

Enjoy!

Wedgie xx

Boo! Spook Fest Time!

Halloween will soon be upon us, and Cute Card Thursday has got us celebrating early as they want to see our spooky cards or projects. There are pumpkins, witches and a little vampire all featuring on the DT cards this week - all very cute...take a peek: http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.com/2009/10/challenge-82-spook-fest.html

Well I've managed to steer away from pink for yet another week to join in the fun...I did however manage to sneak in a little purple....

I have put this together using my craft box that I keep at my boyfriend's place and to be honest I'm amazed I managed to make anything as my supplies were really low. Note to self....I need a little shopping trip...woo hoo!

Anyway, I've used scraps of paper and a little bit of sticky ribbon as the background, my pumpkin friend and the word BOO! are attached using sticky pads to add some depth.

I've never made a halloween card before and I really enjoyed this challenge.

Enjoy!
Wedgie xx

More Challenges!

The sea air has obviously been invigorating!! I've got the urge to do a couple more challenges before bedtime!!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and therefore we have been asked to "think pink" over at 3 Clovers Thursday Challenge #33! http://threecloversdesigns.blogspot.com/2009/10/3-clover-thursday-challenge-33.html. I'm good at pink....its pretty, girlie and I love it! In fact loads of my cards feature this delightful colour! Meanwhile at High Hopes Challenge 47 they want us to pile on the layers with their challenge - Lotsa Layers! http://highhopesstamps.blogspot.com/2009/10/high-hopes-challenge-47-lotsa-layers.html.

So, I decided to combine these two lovely challeges and came up with this little card. Girlie and pink, with several layers...this card can be used for any occassion!

I'm a little new to this layering lark.....I usually leave that to my winter wardrobe! However, I really enjoyed making this card - trying out the different pinks that I've got in my stash, hunting out the perfect piece of ribbon and using my flower punches. Great fun!

This is also the first time that I've combined two challenges, hopefully it's worked out well and I've covered both briefs!



Hope you enjoy!
Wedgie xxx

Celebrate with Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge!

Evening all - hope you all had a fab weekend. I've been visiting my aunty down in Bognor Regis with my sister...and yes, we didn't break the tradition...we went paddling in the sea! It was a tad bit cold to say the least, but we couldn't visit the seaside and not dip our toes in the sea!!

Anyway, its time to celebrate and say a big happy blogoversary to the lovely ladies at the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge: http://thesecretcraftersaturdaychallenge.blogspot.com/2009/10/challenge-52.html To celebrate they want to see projects involving a celebration...so I put my thinking cap on and came up with this....

I wanted a slightly different celebration rather than the usual Birthdays or anniversaries, and when I was thinking about the things I have celebrated in the past I remembered passing my driving test. I was a rather nervous driver to start with and although my driving was good my nerves always seemed to get the better of me....I finally passed on my third test (fourth if you include the test that the car failed because of a dodgy indicator but I don't like to count that one!!) and I was sooooo pleased. I actaully wanted to kiss the tester, but decided it was better not to!

Anyway, this card is to celebrate passing your driving test - whether you managed it first time or twenty-first time!!

Hope you enjoy!
Wedgie xx

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - animal antics

I love the Secret Crafter's Saturday Challenge this week....the theme is animals and the DT samples on the blog are all sooo cute: http://thesecretcraftersaturdaychallenge.blogspot.com/

I hit my card making desk striaght away, but on closer inspection it appears that I haven't got that many aninmal resources in my stash! However I did come across this fab little cow.

I decided to stay as girlie as ever (will I ever get sick of pink?!?) and turn my little cow into a "lovey-dovey" card, complete with little hearts! Ahhh!

Anyway, I hope you like this week's card.....I'm looking forward to next week's challenge already...roll on Saturday!!

Wedgie xx

Ding Dong! Christmas is coming!

Afternoon all....I used to despite those people who started thinking about Christmas as early as September...they always seem so organised (and to be honest I was probably jealous!). But look what has happened...somehow I have become one of them! On Friday evening I spent a lovely couple of hours creating designs for this Christmas.....I didn't go as far as digging out my Christmas CDs...but I did have fun going through my Christmas stash!

Anyway, as you'll see I've decided to stick with what I know best and my first Christmas cards are just as girlie as all my other cards.....here are the first four that I came up with....what do you think?

I've never really used ribbon on cards before, but I like how it looks on these cards, so I might try adding it to more. I also like the glitter highlighting on the berries....again, another technique that I haven't really used much. I think Santa needs to put in an appearance somewhere, and of course Rudolph...not forgetting penguins, candy canes and of course piles of pressies!

Anyway, hope you enjoy......

Wedgie xx

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge 79 Buzz Off!

So, I've just spent a challenging couple of hours at my first ever dress making / sewing class...the tutor is lovely, the ladies are all very friendly and encouraging....I just found the actual sewing rather difficult. In fact it took me the best part of the two hours to sew a zip into a piece of fabric...plus the finished result has rather a lot of wonky stitches on it!! Oh well, what better way to relax then to find myself a card challenge to take part in........

The Cute Card Thursday Challenge this week is entitled "Buzz Off!"....    http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.com/2009/09/challenge-79-buzz-off.html ......but the lovely ladies are not being rude...no they simply want projects that use a black / yellow combo....which reminded me of one of my favourite Valentine Cards from this year..... Bee Mine!

A really simple card design, made cute with the wobbly eyes on the bee...it proved very popular with my friends and work colleagues! I hope you all enjoy!

Wedgie xx

One For the Girls!

Ok, I know I just posted, but I've been surfing the blog world and came across a challenge I couldn't resist...mainly because most of my cards always seem to end up girlie! I really struggle to make any masculin cards, not sure why....but instead of dwelling on this potential shortcoming...I embrace my girlie nature!

Anyway...the challenge is from the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge (Challenge 50)...its one for the girls...any card as long as its girl themed! http://thesecretcraftersaturdaychallenge.blogspot.com/ Great challenge...especially if you like pink and fluffy....which I do!

So, here is my little entry......I hope you like it! Pink, sparkly and a pair of shoes...what more could a girl ask for??

Wedgie xx

Life's a beach!

So, back in August the boyfriend and I took our annual trip to Newquay.....I love it down there and don't think I will ever tire of the amazing sea air and the views that take my breath away....I always take a million photos! And this year was no exception!

As well as trying to improve my surfing skills (ha, ha!), we ate a lot and generally relaxed...we both needed a holiday and it was a lovely break. On the last morning before we were due to come home I decided to cook my darling boyf a sausage sarnie for breakfast (aren't i lovely?!)...to cut a long story short I manged to burn my hand quite badly....I'm never going to fry a sausage again...it was so painful!

Anyway, the boyfriend (once he knew I was ok) decided he wanted to go surfing....the burn was so bad I couldn't actually put my wetsuit on...so instead of hitting the waves I followed him down to the beach and wandered about. After bending my sister's ear on the phone for ages (sorry Lorna!) I decided to turn my attentions back to the beach and my camera...and came up with the following card designs:

It took some time to get the writing right in the soft sand, the tide didn't want to play my game and kept washing my words away before I was ready, plus you can see my foot print in one of the cards....but I think it was worth it in the end!

                                                                                         Wedgie x

Likes, Dislikes and cars!

Hello there all my cyber friends....I realise that I haven't exactly been a very good blogger recently...but here I am re-energised after my holidays and ready to get blogging again!

As well as a new project I've been working on, I thought I'd tell you a little more about me....my likes and dislikes to be precise....since I'm trying to be more optomistic I'll begin with my likes....I love my wonderful boyfriend (always late and dirty, but I love him just the same)......I love coffee (but only the good stuff)....I love reading trashy novels (just finished I Heart New York - fab book)....I love my friends and wouldn't be without them.....I love basking in the sunshine (controversial I know, but I can't help it).....I love chocolate.....I love romantic comedies....I love my Mazda Eunos (its red and shiny).....of course I love my family (they put up with me after all).....I love crafting and learning new skills...and I love talking and giggling!

The things I'm not so keen on in life include mushrooms (I can't stand the texture, that goes for steak too)...also not keen on people with bad manners or worse still no manners at all.....I'm not a fan of the song YMCA (and I'm not sure why everyone loves it sooo much).....I hate liquorice.......traffic jams also upset me! There is probably more but I won't bore you today.

I'm quite excited about my latest project....I've been refining my car card making skills and I'm quite impressed....here are some of the results.....

The detail isn't quite right yet, but practice makes perfect and the comments I've had from friends and family has been very positive. I'm aiming to be able to provide people with personalised cards, complete with the make and model, the correct colour (or as close as possible) and number plate. Its early days, but wanted to show off!

Anyway, thats about all for now...I'll be back soon with some more cards...watch this space!

Wedgie xx

Beep! Beep!

So, I finally managed to get some crafty content on here! I've decided to dedicate this post to my love of card making, a passion which I've had for the last four or five years.

I first discovered just how much I enjoyed creating cards after a really bad car boot sale! I was selling things from my flat as I needed to downsize, and I hadn't done very well. Not sure why the people of Wimbledon didn't fancy my old fashion mistakes or my old Tom & Jerry videos - but I didn't really sell much. In fact I only made £30 out of the whole morning and I had to take my friend out to lunch to say thank you for standing with me in the freezing cold! Still, I had £30 and so I decided to spend it on something completley different. After looking around the shops I decided that card making was the way to go and invested in some of the basics.

And once I started I couldn't stop!

I've never been particularly arty and I can't draw very well, but I do enjoy putting things together. I have to admit a lot of my cards are very girlie...the sparkly the better I say! I am inspired by things I see and things I hear. I just love having the ability to make people personalised cards, something special that they can't find in the shops! If someone gives me an idea I'll try and make it - anything really......it doesn't always work, but I have fun trying!

So here are a couple of my creations, I'd love to hear your thoughts.......