Freebie Friday.... Competition sponsored by Lucy Farfort!!!!

Its competition time! I have decided to run a few competitions on my blog! Every Friday has now become Freebie Friday! For my first ever competition i have the pleasure of being sponsored by Lucy Farfort! For those of you who receive the Crafty Creatives box each month, she was the CCBox7 (woodland) feature artist on the art card. The amazing prize, donated by Lucy, is an A5 mounted print of her fantastic illustration Robot Love! (see slow for pictures!) for those of you who don't know who Lucy is below is a little information about her. Please pop over to her website/twitter/Facebook etc and have look at her amazing work!

Lucy is a Newcastle based, freelance illustrator who enjoys story-telling through her work and creating images that people can get lost in.
Much of her inspiration is drawn from natural landscapes and animals which both feature heavily in her work.
All her illustrations begin as a freehand pencil drawings, which are hand traced in black fine-liner and transferred to a computer where colour, texture and pattern are added.

Over the years she's produced work for logos, web banners/buttons, magazines, posters, greetings cards and children's books.
Lucy sells her work as prints online and from a few North East based shops. Her illustration portfolio and shop can be found here - http://www.lucyshappyplace.com/

She's always open to new commissions so if you'd like to get in touch with her you can email lucy@lucyshappyplace.com You can also keep updated on her latest ventures in illustrating on Facebook (facebook.com/LucyFarfortIllustrator), Twitter (@lucyfarfort) or via her blog lucyfarfort.blogspot.com

How to enter...

1. Follow my blog
2. Visit http://folksy.com/shops/lucyfarfort or http://www.etsy.com/shop/LucysHappyPlace and comment on this post about your favourite piece of Lucy's work.
3. Lucy will then pick her favourite comment as the winner!

Good luck! The competition will run until tuesday and the winner will be posted on thursday. Below is a picture of the winners prize an A5 print of Robot Love! My favourite illustration of Lucy's!

Birthday card...

Just made this card for my step dads birthday on Friday. I used the Chronology set from papermania. I love the sentiment! The range is perfect for men, and to be honest I usually struggle with all my male cards but this one was made so easy with the new papermania range.

Bobby Pin rescue!!!

So... This morning I go to pin my hair and I have the usual problem! NOT A PIN IN SIGHT! So today I went and purchased some new pins. This time so that I don't lose them, or have to spend half an hour looking for a few, I have made them their own special box! Plus I up-cycled! The box used to be a cotton bud box but now is the home of all my pins! I love it that much I think I'm going to make more of them for all the other bits and bobs in my dresser!

Crafty purchases...

Today i went to my local craft shop! Initially just to get some more double sided tape and my son an acrylic block for his animal stamps. But... As usual I got sucked in... AND... They had a sale!!!! I got some real bargains! I am a bit (when I say bit I really mean hugely) addicted to stamping and I got quite a few today! I also brought the Do Crafts goody bag. I love these and I nearly always buy them each time they come out because they are such value for money. This one was jam packed with so much but my favourite has to be the cogs!
I hope you enjoy the pictures and the quick card I made with some of the items out the goody bag.

Sew Pretty... Free stamps and papers with Cardmaking and Papercraft!

I subscribe to a few magazine, as most of you probably do, so I don't really buy any craft magazines from the shops. But when I saw this stamp set free with Cardmaking and Papercraft I just couldn't resist! Below are just a few of the cards I made with the beautiful free fabric style papers and stamp set. And I even subscribed to the magazine too! I love having craft magazines to hand for inspiration (and a good read on my coffee break!) I've even been in a few of them! Hope you enjoy the pics!

Pretty papers...

Sometimes papers are just so pretty that I don't want to cover them up with embellishments! I have made a few cards here with just a few strips of my favourite papers from My Minds Eye and Graphic 45. Everyone who receives them loves them! Great for any occasion from a simple hello to a thank you or good luck! I sometimes stamp a small sentiment on the centre but these ones I have just left blank. Quick and easy to make, so even if you are in a rush or forget, you can have a beautiful card in minutes! Check out these papers and many more at www.mymindseye.com and www.g45papers.com

Card made with the CCBox 7 Kit...

I am so pleased with this and I shall be making lots more with my kit! Beings as valentines day is just around the corner I though it was a great idea to put it on a card!

More needle felting...

I loved the kit so much I had a look on pinterest for some inspiration (check out the crafty creatives pinterest board for woodland where I have pinned what I found) I found a great idea where you use a cookie cutter (I used a heart) and fill it with the fibres and then start felting. It worked lovely and I am so please with the result! I also added some of my own wool into the felt and it has given it a lovely pattern. Now what to do with them????

CCBOX 7 kit... Needle felting....

So... I had a go at the cc box 7 kit and I'm addicted already! I'd never tried needle felting before but with the help of the crafty creatives you tube video and instruction sheet (and two attempts!) I felted a leaf! I got the orange colours and they look great, I would like the green as well so might pop over to the crafty creatives trading post on Facebook and see if I can pick these up too! Once it's dry I plan on stitching over it too and maybe adding a few beads but I couldn't wait to post the result! I would love to see any of your felting creations so please email me them and if I get enough I will do a small feature on them all! X

Winter scenes... Brrrrr!

Thought you might all enjoy a few of the photographs I took in the park today. It was so beautiful I couldn't resists a few snaps!

Crafty Creatives Box 7!!!

It's that time again! And the first box of 2013 doesn't disappoint! The theme is WOODLAND. It is absolutely jam packed and once I took all the contents out I couldn't fit it back in! We have been so spoilt this month! There is no way you could get all of this months box for £10!

As usual I shall give you all a run down of all the items in this months box...

• Art card by Lucy -
www.LucysHappyPlace.com I adore the art card this month with the little family of foxes!
• CC kit -
This month the kit is amazing! I have always wanted to try felting and can't wait to get stuck in! Although I have to say I am pretty clumsy and the needle is a bit on the scary side for me!
• Toadstool beads -
Would be great on a bracelet or a mobile?
• Wooden leaf buttons -
I am a huge button fan and have a tendency to hoard them! These will def be featuring on one of my cards.
• skeleton leaves -
So so beautiful and the crafty creatives idea for these is decoupage so I shall be trying that this month too!
• 5 leaf pendants -
I am hoping to make a pair of earrings with these.
• owl fabric -
I have a friend who loves owls so I shall be thinking of something to make for her with this months fabric
• Flower soft -
I already have a quite a few pots of flower soft and it's a great product to work with. I love the colour the crafty creatives team have chose and I don't have these so will make a great addition to my craft collection!
• Fox beads -
How cute are these! Not sure what I am going to make with these yet...
• Owl pendant -
Again my friend would LOVE this so I am thinking of making her a necklace with him!
• 3 birch hearts -
Perfect for a valentines card for my hubby!
• Pine cone -
Not sure if I will make something with this or pop it in my glass vase in my kitchen window with the other items me and my son have collected over autumn/winter.

Wow! This box was full! Check out the crafty creatives pinterest page for ideas and inspiration from me and the girls from the CC pinterest pinners :) http://pinterest.com/craftycreatives/

As usual I shall post my makes for you all to see... I have a feeling this months box is going to keep me busy! Dare I say my fave so far? (I seem to be saying this every month!)

Hope you enjoy the pictures! Sign up at www.craftycreatives.com (just £10 a month plus p&p) check them out on twitter @craftycreatives #CCbox7

Happy crafting and thanks for reading :)
xxxxxx

Happy New Year!

I have been so busy over the Holidays that I haven't had a chance to post! Just wanted to wish you all a very happy 2013 and hope you all had a lovely Christmas! Thought I'd share a few pics from my amazing Christmas. Watch this space as I'll be crafting very soon.... X