Tuesday 29 October 2013

***NEW*** Top 5 Tuesdays!!!

 
Top 5 Instagramers
 
New to the blog this week I am introducing top five Tuesdays! Each Tuesday I will bring you my top five of something. This week is my top five Instagramers! Below are my favourite people to follow and a little bit about what they have to offer!
 
No. 5

 
At Number five is an childhood friend of mine Samantha Challenger. (aka Sammy) Sammy's Instagram is full of fashion and beauty. Perfect for a busy mum like myself! She is also an amazing blogger and blogs a huge variety of fashion and beauty, Testing lots of product and sharing her view on them.  http://instagram.com/sammycx http://www.myladyboudoir.blogspot.com/
 
No.4

 
At number four is Mummybird. Claire Mumford is a mum of three who makes beautiful jewellery. Claire's instagram is always full of pretty things! You can find her on Instagram here http://instagram.com/mummybird and she also has an Etzy page http://www.mummybirdpretties.etsy.com/ where you can purchase lots of her jewellery.
 
No.3

 
At number three is Gaze of Dolls. Take a look into Louise Williams whimsical world of wonderful whales! I have purchased postcards and stickers from Louise's amazing collection on Etzy. Not only did they arrive super fast but they are fantastic quality and the designs are all original and a little different! You can find her here  http://instagram.com/gazeofdolls on Instagram and take a look at her etzy page here http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/gazeofdolls.
 
No.2

 
 
At number two is Polkadots and Petticoats. I love love love Jackies Instagram and I have purchaced a few things from her online store. Recently I brought a super cute bunny night light for my little girls Christmas stocking! She sells the most beautiful items from dresses to scarves to home items. All at a great price and beautiful packaging! http://instagram.com/polkadotsandpetticoats buy at http://www.polkadotsandpetticoats.co.uk/
 
No.1

  
 As a massive card maker and paper crafter my number one has to be Graphic45! I have so many graphic 45 products! But the papers are my favourite. The graphic45 Instagram page is always full of tons of inspiration for me. Check out their instagram here http://instagram.com/graphic45.

 
Hope you enjoyed the first Top 5 Tuesday! More next week!




 

Monday 28 October 2013

CCBox16 - Paper Bead Necklace Tutorial...


Inside this months CCBox we received two colours of admission tickets. Straight away I knew these would be perfect for paper beads! The Crafty Creatives team sent me blue and orange, I also got blue and pink in my box, what colours did you get???
 
Once you have learnt this easy technique you will be making beads out of any paper you can find!

 

 
What You Will Need

Your Crafty Creative admission tickets.

Clear nail polish or PVA glue.

Leather cord or ribbon (I used leather cord which you can find here http://www.beadsdirect.co.uk/)
 
Cocktail sticks.


Strong double sided tape (I have used affixit super sticky tape which you can find here http://www.affixitcraft.co.uk/)
     
    Step One
     
     
     
    First of all take a cocktail stick and start to wrap one of the admission tickets around it.
     
    Step Two
     
     
     
    Once you get about half way down the ticket put some double sided tape on it (or PVA) and continue to roll it up to the end. Hold for about thirty seconds to a minute depending on what adhesive you have chosen.
     
    Step Three
     
     
     
    Next coat your bead in clear nail polish to seal it. You could also use PVA for this bit too. The stix2 we got in this months box would be perfect.
     
    Step Four
     
     
     
    Now to thread your beads onto your necklace. First thread a bead onto your chosen cord/ribbon.
     
    Step Five
     
     
    To thread your second bead push one end of the cord from left to right through your second bead, and the other end of the cord from right to left through your second bead. Pull the cord tight so they sit snug on top of each other. Repeat this with as many beads as you wish. You have now formed a pendant!
     
    Finish
     
     
    That's it your done! The rest of your cord becomes the necklace. You can either tie the ends or add a clasp or sliding knot to finish it. You could also make matching earrings or a bracelet! Check out my Instagram over the next few days for more paper bead ideas!
     
     
     
     
     
     

Saturday 26 October 2013

CCBox16 - Circus Cake Topper Tutorial...

Circus Cake Topper Tutorial

Octobers CCbox brings us a fantastic circus stamp set! There are two fabulous sets... which one did you get?
 
 

The great thing about this tutorial is that once you have grasped the basics you can get as creative as you like!
 
 
 

To start this is what you will need...


Your Crafty Creatives Circus stamp set (set 1 or set 2)
 
Black stamping ink. I have used Dovecraft premium pigment ink in jet black.
 
Cocktail sticks
 
Double sided tape
 
White and red card (colours are your choice, white is always easy to stamp on and red reminds me of the circus!)
 
Craft knife, pencil and ruler to measure and cut out your circles. (I cheated and used my cutting machine to do this. You could also use a punch.) Pre cut all your circles before you start. I made mine 2" for the white and 2 1/2" for the red but you could make any size you liked. You will need twice as many white as you will red.
Step one



First of all take one of the smaller circles and using double sided tape adhere it to one of your larger circles. Repeat this with all of your circles.

Step Two



Take your choice of stamps and using the ink stamp them onto the circles. I have used circus set 1. I stamped this frame...


...and then i stamped a super cute animal in the centre. I used a different stamp for the centre for each topper so that they were all slightly different.


Step Three



Next you need to attatch the sticks. Take some double sided tape and stick one coctail stick to each of your backing circles.

 

Finally press onto the back of your circles that have the stamped images on.

Your Finished

 



Your finished! These are so simple to make and great for kids parties! Below you can see other items i have made using the stamps and even matching party ideas!

 
 













 

 

 

 


CCBox16... The Circus Box!


This months box is the Circus Box! The art card by Luke Spooner (who also created last years Gothic art card) has to be one of my favorites! You can check out more of his work at www.carrionhouse.com 



The box has come when the Circus is actually in my town! My Son is going on Sunday so he was also excited to see what was inside this months CCBox too! 

So what's in this months box...

•CCKit - This months kit is to make a animal pendant necklace! 


My kit came with a gorilla... What did you get? 


•Stripped buttons - I am a button hoarder and I love the buttons we received this month and they will be featuring on a card soon!

•Circus stamp box - I am a papercrafter so this was perfect for me and my favorite item I have received of all 16 boxes so far! 


•String of purple glass beads - these are beautiful! Purple is my favorite colour and I think these will probably end up as a bracelet!

•Masquerade pendants - my sister is an amazing singer and she loves the theatre so these are going onto a makeup bag I am making her for Christmas!

•Set of admission tickets - I have lots if ideas for these! 

•Craft papers - The craft papers we receive from Crafty Creatives are always such great quality. Perfect for cardmaking! 

•Suggested extra kit - This month we also received an extra kit to make your own vintage circus coasters! 


Image transfer is great fun and can be used in so many ways! Check out the CCBlog for a guide on how to image transfer. 


This months box was extra exciting for me as last month I was chosen by the Crafty Creatives team to join them in their creativeness and become a Crafty Creatives Callaborator! 

Crafty Creatives sent me a few of the items from CCBox16 early so that I could create tutorials for you all! (How exciting is that!) The first one will be featured on my blog today and then I shall post more tutorials through the week too! Please feel free to ask question if you get stuck on anything or need any advice. I hope you all enjoy the tutorials I had lots of fun creating them for you all! 

I'd also like to thank the Crafty Creatives team for choosing me to be part of such a creative and friendly team! 

Enjoy! You can also follow me on Instagram. I post lots of my CCmakes on here. Also #ccbox16 #craftycreatives on Instagram to see some extremely talented subscribers!