#387

Just a quick update.
I’ve been doing plenty of drawings, still. I even finished the pages of a sketchbook, though I can always go back and fill in a few spaces.
Above is a quick drawing of my partner’s current World of Warcraft character, that’s yet to be finished.
I spent my whole afternoon scrubbing a bunch of my clear polymer stamps, so they’d be able to stick to at least the acrylic blocks. I used soap, water and a toothbrush and laid them on paper towel. I then went over them with a baby wipe, before drying them with more paper towel. They were nice and clean for a couple of minutes. By the time I tried to cling them to a laminated sheet, they were furry with dust and cat hair again. So I’ve given up that endeavour. I just need a better way than a lunch box to store them all. Maybe some double sided tape on the back. I’ve used glue dots, which tend to work ok.
I found a knitting loom today, and started making something with some chunky, net-like yarn today. It might be a bag. I have no idea yet.
I’ve also done a small amount of needle felting. I just started a simple ball to see how big I can get it this time before I give up.
At least my hands smell nice with all the soap I used.

#319

Today I tried English paper piecing. I saw a few pictures on Pinterest on how to do it, so I hand stitched a few hexagons together. It’s not as hard as it looks, but I’m not sure I’ll have the patience to make a quilt big enough for our bed. I stopped at a coaster sized patch of seven squares. This is when I sorted the hexagons, I had cut out, and decided that I need to manage the colours, otherwise I’d run out of yellows and have a bunch of pinks left at the end. I might have to pick up a few colours next pay day.
I had to go out today, leaving my sewing at home. I went to the dentist and I browsed the shops with my parents. My mum bought me two crafting magazines, on the proviso that I make something for her with them. One had a lovely Japanese style stamp set and the other had a multiple box scoring board. The lines are very confusing, all overlapping and shapes inbetween, so I’ll have to decode it before I can use it properly.
Other than this, I picked up some cute cat stickers (cat butts in one of them so funny), and some cheap geometric rubber stamps.
This week, I’m going to attempt to get at the craft room. Over the weekend I piled all of the craft supplies that had accumulated around the computer and TV, back into the room. I love my craft room, even piled high with mess and unfinished projects with nowhere to sit, walking in there relaxes me, and I often find excuses to go in there. It’s like my refuge or sanctuary. It’s mine and buzzing full of creativity. Like seeing your bed after a long day, nothing matters in this place.
But I really should clean it.

#309

“I’m going to stay up tonight. There are things in this house that aren’t covered in glue and paper,” I declared to my partner, as he was going to bed. He looked at me with amusement and left the room. I had been reading the sports pages, strip by strip, as I covered random objects with paste and last weeks local newsprint.
The end. Based on a true story.

Today found myself in a shop with money and fifteen minutes to wait, so I looked for some things I needed to get, none of which I could find. So I discovered they have a newly created teeny tiny arts and craft section. They were rather cheap and mostly aimed at kids, with a small card making rack. I picked up a few things from here. I got some stencils that were aimed at kids, but they looked rather vague for some of the complex designs that were there, and it looked like it would be fun filling in the blanks. I got the girl set and boys set, so 12 sheets in all, ranging from hearts, fairies and butterflies to monsters, cars and skulls.
I bought some cheap brushes for glue and playing around. They aren’t too bad, nice and springy with no chance of real hair used (my one stipulation on brushes.)
They had pretty clear stamps, as you can see, with large acrylic blocks. These designs will be great to use on cards, especially to emboss.
I also picked up a couple new nail polishes for gem making.
I had the thought the other day to make a paper mache bangle. I was going to use a 600ml bottle, but I couldn’t find one. While looking for something else, I came across a masking tape roll, sitting right in front if me. I covered it in alfoil and added it to my paper layer rotation.
So many layers. So little time.

#276

So, quite a few crafty things happened today.
First off, I found myself in the newsagents, looking for some inspiring supplies, maybe even look for a knitting or needle felting magazine to look at. There wasn’t much in the way of anything but scrapbooking and card making. There was one cute one with a birthday themed embossing folder, and mini stamp set to match, but it was rather specialised, so I put it back. I then found two large packaged magazines, each promising a large amount of items for a smallish amount of money, certainly less than it would have been worth for the items alone. I couldn’t decide which was better, so I bought both. This was a good decision, as the one I was thinking to put back ended up with a huge amount of gorgeous fairy stamps inside. All up, I received seven sets of stamps, four magazines, some paper, a pile of card bases, ribbon, quilling paper and tool, cutouts, rhinestones, templates and a small baggy of gold glitter. It all made me feel a little less guilty for spending the money.
I spent a large part of the day needle felting. I made some beads (small balls), balls (medium sized balls) and worked on the face of my doll (small balls on a larger ball.) I learnt a couple new things on YouTube, such as when adding detail, stab shallower, but more, so it doesn’t all just cave in on itself. Another thing I learnt was that you can wrap the wool around objects to create tubes and shapes to help build up features. I also found out what carding is (mushing various wool with brush things to make roving or a batt of wool.) I tried this in small scale with a cat hair removal brush and the jeans I was wearing. It worked ok, but since I mixed dark green and yellow, and it isn’t paint, it looks a bit mottled, but I still like it.
I’ve begun adding skin to my doll, and it looks like a diseased zombie. I used a mustard colour to add the bumps, and its peaking through in some places, which is icky. I’m worried, as the wool is already thick and getting hard to puncture, even with a fine needle, and I have a lot of work to do on the face.
I decided the other day that I wanted to make a meme about crafting upsets, and things, so I needle felted a mascot for this, I just need to photograph him. Although, now I know a bit more about making faces, he could do with some brow bones.
The five needle tool, that I spent a bunch of money on yesterday, is quite annoying. It has a safety guard that seems to limit movement, and doesn’t help stabbing injuries, unless you were to hold the needles side on (which doesn’t happen,) it had a loud piece of metal designed to keep the needles in place, but it bangs every time the needles go in. Even with five needles, it doesn’t seem to do better than one without the handle. I had to replace the fine with heavy, and add my original needle, with a lot more notches, to get it to do anything practical. Even then, there’s not a lot I can use five needles on in small scale. I should have waited, and got the three needle Clover on that I had my eyes on, but couldn’t find. It won’t go to waste, especially if I do any bigger projects. I really need to put nail polish on the ends. There is no easy way to tell each felting needle apart, and is recommended to colour code each type.
It’s so nice to be able to concentrate on craft for a while. If only I didn’t have so many projects that I’m torn between at the moment. My house is getting messy again.

#265

So… I went shopping today.
I only looked for three things, and only found one of those, but I suppose it keeps me busy and happy, so I can’t complain. A few years ago I would never have gone shopping alone, due to anxiety, so it really is retail therapy, as I’ve come such a long way from then.
First off, I got some Aida cloth. This is for a gift later in the year, so hopefully that all turns out well ;).
I got a bright paper pack on the clearance table, which is great because I had the same patterns in pastel, so I can mix them together and I knew I’ll make use of them, as I have the other pack.
I had been looking for oval dies for ages, and just when I thought all hope was lost, and I’d have to buy them online, I found them. I was lucky found them now because I designed a card for someone, that has to be made within a couple of weeks, and circles just didn’t fit right. It was hard to decide between these and stacking hexagon dies. They were lovely, but not as practical, and I knew it was just my emotions wanting them.
Other things I bought include; an A5 clipboard, kitty themed post it notes, small and useful stamps, chocolate moulds (I got for resin) that come with cute animal alfoil wrappers, a knitting themed notebook for knitting themed notes, and Christmas sentiment stickers that were on sale.
It’s probably more than I should have gotten, especially if I want to start saving for the massive craft market coming up in June, but it’s all craft supplies. The only difference is between buying them now or then.

#248

HEXAGONS!
Shopping day, as you may have noticed. I didn’t get a lot. Half because they didn’t have what I wanted, half because I got tired, half because there’s a craft market this weekend, and half because my fractions are wrong…
So, I bought my replacement big shot cutting plates. I haven’t used them yet, mainly because I heard that it’s better to use your more worn ones with the bigz dies, and save your nice, straight ones for thin metal dies. I’m not sure it matters, but it might keep them nicer for longer.
I’ve been looking online for some nice and small stamps, things that I can’t make myself, or print easily. I’ve had a hard time picking any, even in the shop, I saw some, but they were quite expensive for the few stamps that I liked in the pack. I ended up finding a stamp set in a completely different aisle to the one with the stamps in it, which was half the price, and twice as nice. It seems to be designed as a marriage set, but aren’t so strongly themed, that they could be used for a lot of things. There’s a dress that I tried colouring in red, which turned out lovely, and the diamonds will make great embellishments. There’s a bike leaning against a lamp post, which would be lovely to colour in with water colours, and banners and flourishes which I love to use.
When I went out today, I had dedication that I wanted to buy a die set. They had nothing of my interest in the die section and not even many punches to choose from. I’d given up looking, when in the fabric section of the store had the dies designed for fabric. When I first received my big shot, these weren’t released, but I was looking for a bigz die with a hexagon for making a quilt. Today I found exactly what I had been looking for. Apparently, the technique of making a quilt with hexagons is called English Paper Piecing, which I didn’t know. I’ve never been great at quilting, and hexagons might not be a great place to start, but I like a challenge.
Plus, hexagons 🙂

#241

Long time no see. I couldn’t function in the heat, and I couldn’t blog about laying on the couch watching movies with all the fans on me. Although I could draw it as a comic, I suppose.
So today was the fortnightly transfer of the shopping centres inventory into my own home day.
I mainly wanted to get a tags die, which I did. It’s a good one, coming in all the good sizes, as well as having a hole reinforcement die, which may come in handy for other projects and embellishments. While I was in the die section, I saw the hexagon die. I am in love with hexagons at the moment, and I’d seen this die online and wanted it. It’s a lot smaller than it looks in the pictures online, but it’s a bigz die, meaning that it will cut everything from paper to thick card to fabric. I can imaging hand sewing a tiny dolls quilt with the hexagons. I’d have to glue the edges to stop fraying, as they’d be too small to have a large seam.
In the cheap shop, I found some stamps. I bought a mummy, a sugar skull girl and a cameo with a frame. I’m not sure how well they’ll work, being so cheap, but they were too cute to miss. I also picked up some cheap ink. In my experience this was a bad idea, bit the price of the craft inks is so huge, that it doesn’t seem worth getting them. I don’t often use coloured inks, so I just wanted to try these out. I found using kids markers/washable water based markers on the stamps works ok if I need a colour of ink that I don’t have.
I got a new container of gold embossing powder. I found I had fun with it the other week, but all I had, was a small vial from a pack I’d gotten a while ago, and decided to get some new. They had the most beautiful blues and reds, but I didn’t think I’ll use them as much. Perhaps I’ll get the red for Christmas and go crazy with it. I’ve found embossing powder to have an expiry date, so I’ll have to write when I bought it on there. It might be the hot weather we live in. Maybe it’ll work when I get a heat gun.
I got a felt tip black calligraphy pen in 3.0mm. Usually people use the felt tips for practice and dip pens or nib pens for writing the final piece, but I’m more used to just using the felt tip. I’d love to get some pilot parallel pens, someday.
I found a packet of self adhesive labels that I can use to draw or print on. It’ll come in handy if I want to make stickers for cards and things to sell with the raspberry sheep logo on it.
I also got some cheap glue dots. I already have some, but these are slightly smaller. I wanted even smaller than that, but I guess I’ll have to buy a real brand for that. I keep meaning to get to a scrapbook shop that I found. Perhaps next week if I haven’t spent too much on the movies this weekend…

#239

I we not the local newsagents to get a new black calligraphy felt tip, but they didn’t have any, so I ended up getting myself a magazine. I’m such a sucker for butterfly stamps that I didn’t even realise how beautiful all the stamps are, especially the rose. There are some good design ideas in the magazines, even using a couple of punches and dies that I have, others adding to my crafty wish list, which is growing as we speak. One of the pages had some beautiful free digistamps, but the link they had there, their server was down. Hopefully it was temporary, as the only copy I could find was watermarked. The page was www.jellypark.co.uk, in case it comes back up, or google “jellypark digi stamps” to look at them.
I realised that I buy a whole load of girly type supplies, but don’t make many girly, florally, pink cards. Usually I specialise the card to the person, and not many people I know like that stuff, maybe three if I’m lucky. Maybe I should find another use, or make a bunch of cards for things like selling, or presents themselves. I just have so many things I want to try all at the same time, all while wanting to sort out my craft room. Unfortunately, its been so hot I haven’t had the energy for anything.
Bring on the winter- I can craft under my blankie!

#228

So…  I went shopping and got way over my carrying limit. Hope I’m not too sore tomorrow. But I did get all the cubes that I wanted for my book cases. I originally thought I’d get pink, blue and green, but they didn’t have green. I ended up with pink, blue, purple, black and white, which are all nice. They do need to be aired out, as they smell badly.
I also bought a letter die set from kaisercraft, which is nice and versatile. I was tossing up between this and a grass edge punch, but I’ll have more uses for this. I was a bit shocked to find a magnetic sheet within the packaging, without notice of it. If I had rested it on my computer, speakers or phone (anything with memory storage or magnetic parts) that could have been devastating. I know this is a common way to store them, but I’ve never bought dies that come with the magnetic sheets. Some notice would have been nice.
I got more white card. I tried looking for a hundred pack, but they only had them in every other colour. I will continue this quest another day, for now I will battle on with this small pack of 25.
I decided to get a magazine, since I haven’t bought one since before Christmas, and the stamp set that came with it was so diverse and pretty. It had a whole page with sentiments, hearts, babies, bride and groom, keys, a typewriter and more. I’m slowly getting all my stamps into a folder (as told previously) and it might go quicker bow that I have a clean desk…for now.
I found a white paint pen for cheap, which I can use for labeling dark things, or to put highlights and sparklies on images. It says they write on ceramic, so I might have to play with that later on.
As I was hobbling out the shop with my twelve boxes (so heavy!), I came across some lacy paper cupcake sleeve things. I’m not the best at baking, but I didn’t think of these for cakes. I was drawn to the butterfly pattern, but there was two for five dollars, so I found another quickly, a lattice design. Apart from just sticking these to a card, I could cut out the butterflies, or use these as stencils. I try to think of at least two uses before I buy something, and this passed that test.
I’ll just put them in the pile with all the other things to do.