Paper Stars

Hello again, dear friends!

Only 5 days to go!!!  

I've been making paper stars (Froebel stars) galore this month!  I learnt to make them a few years ago.  And, every December since then, I've made a stack.  They're so easy to make - and SO addictive!!!

Here are some of this year's batch.....

I'm going to attach strings to them, and hang them on our tree.

For these ones, I found a kit (from Rico Design - here). The paper strips come ready-cut, which cuts out the boring bit of the process.

I had good intentions to write a tutorial on making Froebel stars this year..... but it didn't happen, I'm afraid.  Sorry!  It's on my list of 'must-write posts' for 2015.....

I hope your Christmas preparations are going well (and that all your shopping - and crafting - is done and dusted)!

Until next time.....

Carly

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Christening Papercut

Oh dear!  I've done it again - almost a whole month with no blog post.  I just can't get it together at the moment!

Today, I wanted to do a little show-and-tell about a special christening present I made.

A few weekends ago, we flew back to England for a couple of days.  We had a VERY important (and VERY lovely) job to do..... Our best friends had asked us to be Godparents to their beautiful baby daughter. 

So we had to come up with an idea for a christening gift idea and - of course - it was going to have to be something 'Crafted by Carly'.

I'd already made little Amelia a quilt (which you can see here), a couple of dresses (here and here), a hat (here), and a soft toy (which I forgot to post about).  So what to make for this occasion???

In the end, I decided to make a papercut.  And here it is.....

It took a long time to draw and cut, but I was really pleased with how it turned out.  

Well, that's it for today.  

I've finished off (and photographed) a few baby bits and bobs for our own little one lately.  So, hopefully, it won't be too long before I post again.  Well, that's my intention anyway!  We'll see.....

Carly

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Works-in-Progress

After taking a way-too-long blogging break over Christmas, I'm finding it quite challenging to get back into a routine of posting regularly.  

One of the issues is that I just haven't had many finished projects to show you lately.  I've been doing quite a lot of crafting (sewing, crochet AND paper-crafting).  But all of the things I'm working on at the moment are taking a while to complete.  

So, in the meantime, until I have a proper show-and-tell ready for posting, here are some clues as to what I've been up to.....

(making stacks of colourful Froebel stars)

(sewing lots of triangles together)

(working on a giant crocheted granny square)

I wonder which of these projects I'll manage to complete first.....

I'll let you know, of course!

Carly

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Birthday Candle Cards

It was my sister's birthday last month, and my mom's birthday last week.  I wanted to make cards for them both.  So I did what I always do when I'm seeking inspiration - visited Pinterest! 

I saw a card with a birthday candle on it.  The style of the card wasn't really 'me', but it gave me an idea. And here's what I came up with.....

For my SISTER:

And for my MOM:

I got to use buttons, pretty papers, ribbons, and my letter stamps - so many of my FAVOURITE things..... to make birthday cards for my two FAVOURITE ladies!!!

Carly

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Three Handmade Baby Cards

One of my crafty resolutions for 2013 was to make more (and buy less) greetings cards.  So far, I’ve made a wedding card, an engagement card, an anniversary card, a Fathers’ Day card, a Mothers’ Day card, several birthday cards and (dare I mention the ‘C’ word yet).....  a fair few Christmas cards.  

I’ve also made some baby cards – 3 to be exact!  And all for the same baby!!!  As you may have guessed from the photos in my post about the blanket I made for our best friends’ baby (you can see it here if you missed it), they chose not to find out whether they were going to have a boy or a girl.  So, in preparation for either eventuality (and an ‘extra’ one for added choice when the time came), I made 3 cards.....

In the end, when I found out that the baby was a girl, I plumped for the pink one of course!

Which is your favourite?

Carly

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My Handmade Wedding Gift

As promised last time, today's post is going to be about the wedding pressie I made for my friend.   

I’ve mentioned in a few older posts that I’ve tried a bit of papercutting before – and that’s what I decided to do for the wedding gift. 

My previous attempts at papercutting had all been from pre-prepared outlines.  But, for this one, I wanted to design something myself.  What a job that was!!!  I’d seen some pretty things online, and got some ideas from here and there.  But I wanted to add some personal touches.

Drawing is definitely NOT one of my strong points, and I think I must have drawn it out at least 25 times before I was reasonably happy with what I had.  I found a picture of the gatehouse of the venue, and tried to incorporate it into the design.  I’d heard that the gardens were a special feature of the place too, so I put in a tree and some grass and flowers.  I also knew that the mother of the bride had been busy making lots of bunting for the occasion – so I put in some of that too! And, of course, I included a bride and groom.

The cutting out took AGES as well – and was extremely fiddly!  But that was the fun bit!!!  Here it is as a work-in progress.

  

And here’s the finished thing.

I have to say that I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. And, luckily, the bride loved it.  PHEW!!!

Now I need to get sorting through photos to show you what else we did in the holidays.....  See you soon!

Carly

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Engagement Card

When I was at school, I had a friend called Kate.  She was my best mate all through secondary school, and we got up to plenty of mischief (and giggles) together.  A few years after we moved to Germany, Kate moved to Australia.  And we hadn’t seen each other since then.  BUT (along with her Aussie boyfriend), she paid a visit to her parents in the UK a few weeks ago, and decided to combine this with a little tour of Europe – including Düsseldorf.  Yippeeeee!!!

We had SUCH a fun weekend together!  It felt like we were 16 again – and, as it happens, we’re both still just as silly high spirited as we were back then.  Unfortunately, we were so excited about our get-together that we completely forgot to take any photos of our adventures (otherwise I would have shared some with you).

Just before they came to stay with us, Kate’s boyfriend proposed to her (all romantic and proper – in Paris).  A great opportunity for a bit more card-making!  This time, I got the buttons out.  And here’s what I did with them.....

  

I was really pleased with how it turned out, and I think I see more card-making in my crafty crystal ball!

If you’re after ideas for handmade cards, by the way, Pinterest has heaps!!!  Is it just me, or does anyone else believe that Pinterest was invented solely to sneakily steal away hours upon hours of our time without us realising it?!?  Once I get started on there, Simon has to prise the laptop out of my hands by force when my eyes start to turn square!

Off to Pinterest now, then.....

Carly

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Handmade Fathers' Day Card

Happy (British) Fathers' Day to all the Dads out there!  And an extra-special happy Fathers' Day to the best dad of them all - mine (of course..... well, I think so)!

I've been really good so far this year in working on my aim of making more (and buying less) greetings cards.  But, so far, I haven't made any cards for men.  Making for men is difficult, don't you think?

So, I decided to challenge myself to make a Father's Day card.  And here's what I came up with.....

  

I hope he's going to like it.....

And, because I know he reads this (that's how brilliant a dad he is)......

HAVE A GREAT DAY, DAD!!!  LOVE YOU!!!

Carly

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A Birthday Present for a Kniting Friend

Last week, a good friend of ours turned 40.  I'd bought a couple of little gifts to package up for her, but I wanted to MAKE her something too.  While browsing on Ravelry, I found just the the thing to knit for a friend who knits - a teeny, tiny sweater-in-progress brooch.....

..... knitted on a pair of snapped-in-half toothpicks!!!

I found the pattern here.

Of course, I had to make her a card too.  And I couldn't resist making ANOTHER paper and buttons bunting card.....

..... just in a different colour (you can see the red - ruby wedding - version here).

Happy birthday, dear Saffron, happy birthday to you!!!  

Carly

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Bunting and Buttons Card

Today’s my parents’ 40^th (ruby) wedding anniversary. 

CONGRATULATIONS, Mom and Dad!  I hope you’re having a wonderful day!!!  xxx

I wanted to make them a special card, but couldn’t decide what to put on it.  Lots of the ideas I found while searching the internet were a bit old-fashioned – and not really my mom and dad!  My mom had said that she really loved the Mothers’ Day ‘bunting’ card I’d sent her (you can see it here if you missed that post).  So, I decided to do something similar.  Then on good-old Pinterest, I found a card with paper bunting SEWN on (here).  I LOVED it, and decided to do something similar, but with ruby-red flags and......  buttons!!!

Here it is:

I loved sewing on to the card.  I thought it’d be tricky, and the card might get marked or dented from my sewing machine.  But it was actually really easy, and worked really well.  I love how the little stitches looked – and think it gave the card more interest and texture.  It’s definitely a technique I’ll be using on cards again in the future!

Happy Sunday, dear friends!

Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Carly

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Easter Bunny Bunting Tutorial

This year, I wanted to add a little something to my collection of Easter decorations, and decided that some sort of bunting (for the kitchen) was the way to go.  I wasn’t sure whether to go for eggs or bunnies, but plumped for bunnies in the end (maybe I’ll do some egg bunting next year). 

I searched the internet for ages, looking for a bunny template (of which there are thousands) that was quite tall, but thin enough to fit on some strips of backing paper that I wanted to use.  In the end, I just made up my own (to fit my paper).  You could use my template, or find a different shape by doing a Google search.

So, here goes with the tutorial.....

Things you'll need:

• Bunny template pdf (printed on to thick paper or card)
• Pretty papers or card
• Tiny buttons
• Scissors
• Craft knife
• A pencil
• A length of ribbon (mine was about 2m long)
• Needle and thread (or glue)

What to do:

1.  Print out the template (on card, if you can) and cut it out.

2.  Draw around the template on the back of some pretty card (or thick paper).  Cut out the bunny shape.

3.  Cut out lots of bunnies, in different colours and patterns, until you have a nice little bunny family (I made 10).

4.  Stick on some buttons to make your bunnies’ eyes (maybe steer clear of red – I used some red buttons and these bunnies look a bit evil - see a few photos below).

5.  Using a craft knife, cut two parallel lines going down either side of the bunnies’ necks (this sounds a bit brutal, but the bunnies won’t feel a thing).  The lines should be about an inch apart, and slightly longer than the width of your ribbon (so that you’ll be able to thread the ribbon through the holes easily).

6.  Make a loop at each end of your ribbon.  I sewed mine, but I guess glue would do the trick just as well (and in a quarter of the time).

7.  Now comes the fun bit..... arrange your bunnies in a row, and thread them on to the ribbon.  Space them out evenly.

8.  Hang them up, using the little loops you made at either end, and..... tadaaaaaaa!!!  Bonnie bunny bunting, just in time for Easter!!!

  

What have you been crafting to decorate your house for Easter???

Carly

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