Ok it's September I can officially start my Christmas planning!. Don't panic it won't be to heavy to start with but this year I will be making every Christmas card I send! Plus as many presents as I can. I've said it before and I'll say it again please come back nearer the time if you can't face it now. Let's start Now I've said before about gathering up supplies. I will talk to you more about how you can make your Christmas cards so if your new to card making please keep an eye on this section as I take you through some of the options for your card making. Today I just want to focus on the extras. Well officially we call them embellishments and it may seam odd that is how I am starting but honistly a few simple embellishments can really take your kit made card or hand stamped card up a level or two. I genuinely think that it's much more fun to add a splash of sparkle or a jingly bell. So I would urge you to purchase just a few if you can. Colour wise now for me it's got to be red or gold but I still do like a little white and blue. As we look into what's available you will see that nearly all the companies have papers that have matching embellishments so whilst that's great it can sometimes work out expensive but it takes the guess work out. Now if you don't know what colours you are going to need then I would advise you to go for gold and silver as both can be used all year round without to much worry. What to buy? Ribbon or twine is must. Twine being more versatile in my opinion and possibly cheaper. Sentiments Even if you buy a kit with sentiments you will almost certainly need more! You could use stamps, peel offs or dies. washi tape is very on trend at the moment and great for adding a decorative edge. Buttons You know I love buttons honistly you can make a Christmas card with just buttons I will cover that in the coming weeks. As you can see above I have gems, bells, doilies and glitter. Please don't go out and buy everything. Firstly check we what you have already and just add one or two elements. I am going to be making a lot of cards and I want to show you new products and different options available to you so I need a good mixture. Plus I'm not finished I still need some gold thread, red washi tape and a Christmas die sentiment. One point to remember is that it's ok to make everyone exactly the same card. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that and I will be looking at that soon. Lastly if your on a budget or unsure of weather you want to get into card making or not. Let me tell you it's possible to make your Christmas cards from a magazine freebie. Magazines You already know I love my magazines and this time of year it gets a whole lot worse! I really have to restrain myself. Fear not lucky you as I'll be checking them out regularly and telling you if it's worth you buying one or not. If your not a Papercrafter fear not I'll be making other Christmas craft but you will need to keep checking back to find out more.
Thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend.
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A little Christmas planning Ok so it's months before Christmas some of you will be rolling your eyes and screaming it's too early !. My reply get of this part of my blog! I'm only talking about supplies and buying things in so you are ready. So if you can't cope with it yet come back nearer to Christmas. Now if your a crafter you will know the craft channels and magazine's are full of Christmas goodies as the big brands start to bring out their new products which is always so exciting!,not just because I love Christmas but it's always great to see new products . Why so early? Well for most craft sellers its the busiest time of the year they need far more stock and it takes so much time to make things. For instance if the average card takes me an hour and I want to send 30 Christmas cards that could be 30 hours!. I do have friends who will make 100 Christmas cards for one customer. Luckily I don't have a craft business anymore and it makes Christmas much more enjoyable for me. So all I really want to say is start getting a few little bits now. Like what? Ribbon in red and white. Yep just plain organza ribbon in red and white. The reason is you can use red and white all year round, it's cheap and as much as I love patterned ribbon it's much harder to match it up. Twine If you come across twine in white, red or green at a good price then snap it up! Gems, Buttons and Embellishments Any of the above in good red silver or white are bound to come In useful. Card If you can find Christmas coloured cardstock then grab it. A trial run Yep I decided to make a couple of cards after I had ordered a Christmas card set. I'm so glad I did because despite ordering a docrafts pack of Christmas goodies I quickly found out I could do with a few new supplies. If you want to make your own Christmas cards you can either use a kit which hopefully will include sentiments and card toppers or you could choose some dies to make your cards or use stamps or a mix of all!.
Check what every your buying has versatility. Don't worry I will be taking you through some of my favourite choices in September. So for now check out docrafts, create and craftand, the works plus a little heads up I've seen the new Stampin Up! Autumn catalogue wow is all I will say!. So I'll leave you with a few pics. Check back in September. Xxxx Welcome back, the schools finish today and I am so pleased. Yep I am running behind and I haven't achieved all I had hoped but that's ok. Next week sees me enjoying Christmas with my children, so at some point I will share with you what we are up to. So as promised Christmas in my home and I was as we unpacked amazed at how much I had made myself!. Lets start with the tree. This is the last year we get out our 12 year old fake tree as next year we are opting for a real one, (something I am super excited about). ![]() I made so many of the items on my tree, I promise next year I will share some videos of how to make some of these items with you. The book case gets an update with a mix of decorations Other little touches around the house. Well I actually took out some photos, I wanted to keep a little of our Christmas secret.
Christmas decorations are something you collect, something that grows with you. Some you will keep forever as they hold memories of a treasured moment, others we quickly grow old off and discard. What I loved when I unpacked this year was the amount of decorations I had purchased at Craft fairs made by friends and they will always remind me of my time selling as Nanny Buttons Crafts. I haven't shared my children's trees. I still have so much more I would like to add to my collection, but it takes time and that is something we all struggle with. I did count my wreaths and it came in at a massive 8 Christmas themed Wreaths, I would like to think that would grow, I sadly haven't finished my crochet Wreath but I have a project for next year now don't I. So even if its just a tree or you go all out at Christmas, make it Unique to you and add something handmade this year, take care best wishes from Lucy xxxx Well hello, welcome to my new once a week post. Its crazy this time of year and I was planning on showing you how I do decorate at Christmas but I'm not finished yet so do keep an eye out for that post. Well you may have seen from the picture above my Wreath. Last year I tried to make a wreath with lots of bits and bobs. It failed I got cross and wasted a good few hours and shoved it in a bag. Yep I found the bag got it all out again and this my try. Well I'm not 100% happy with it but ill show you how I did it. Start with a wire base, you can get these in the florist for couple of pounds, I wrapped string around mine to give my items something extra to hold to. I have used pine cones, dried whole oranges, dried orange segments, nuts dried, cinnamon and seeds. Using florists wire wrap around the pine cones in the middle and then wrap around the wire base. You may want to lay them around to get an even placement before you start to fill. The same with the oranges and the cinnamon. Fill in any gaps with the glue gun and small nuts. Weather prof?, probably not, I'm almost certain to try again next year although you can buy versions cheap now perhaps I will buy one and snazz it up a little!. So I took a visit to out local Craft fair, Somerset Crafters in Midsomer Norton which runs along side the farmers market. It was lovely if not a little windy and I'm so glad we have it now at the 1st Saturday of the month. I couldn't resists this cheer little chubby ginger bread man which I picked up from a lady who I hadn't seen before, sadly she didn't have any thing on the product to say who she was, how ever he just fitted perfectly into this wreath I made last year. If you want to put a Wreath like this outside you can spray it with a waterproof spray designed for fabric. This Wreath is a large base simply wrapped in red lace and glued together, with wooden and plastic embellishments. You can pick up embellishments in your local craft shop usually £2 worth would do a wreath likes this. So some pictures of what else I have been making so far. 2 files from the silhouette store and a £1 chalk board. A £1 jar Filled with sweets £2 and some of my Stampin Up tags plus some candy cane ribbon and we have a super cute gift. So am I hoping my friend doesn't read my blog today but its a small risk, this took 4 attempts and should have been so simple!, but you can buy Vinyl stickers so you could easily make your own, now to make a box for it.
Well you can see it's been a busy week and next week looks like it could be worse! I still have a wreath to make as a present and some more vinyl to do. Thank you ever so much for taking the time to read my blog, I am always so frilled when see my stats, I do hope I have perhaps inspired you, just a tad. I honestly believe in the therapy of Craft. I will leave you with a picture of the most delish if not a little clumsy looking home made mince pies. Enjoy the run up to Christmas xxxx Christmas is big in my house, it was when I was growing up, a tree full of glitz, crepe paper twisted celling decorations, balloons and a musical church that I would spend ages looking at. But more than the trimmings it was a time when we all got together. My Dad worked long hours and both my two eldest siblings would be at work so time together was just wonderful I love it and still do, it cant start soon enough in my house. In the past I have tried to make sure we had lots of craft activites, stories and christmasy moments. This year we have our new Advent trees. Now I cant imagine not having several of these in the house I bet your the same So what's going in our advent tree?, well these are a few of the ideas I have had so far, they are not going in the box until the night before to allow me to change them as needed.
These aren't in order, you just write them out onto some paper and pop them in when it suits the day.
Most activities are generally things we would be doing but its nice for children to wake up and find out what they day holds. If its crafty or of interest then I will share it with you. Yep It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......................... Well a few months ago I was lucky to find two of these advent trees for just £5 each. I have looked around and its usually about £15 for a blank advent tree so I was so lucky. I knew I wanted a white and red one and I had to try a green one too. As my hubby is a paint sprayer no way was he going to let me paint these by hand although I would have. We used a white primer and a green spray pain from Hallfords which cost £13 for both and we needed both. I would have used some paint samples to keep costs low but it was quicker and dried really quick too. Once they are dry add your numbers, if your handy with a paint brush you could paint them on, I used Vinyl stickers which I cut on my cameo but I also had some Anita's crafts stickers in silver that I used. If your buying vinyl numbers remember you will need a few packs to be sure to have all the numbers you need. they cost about £1 a pack. Getting them straight is not easy! Then using my trusty glue gun I began to stick Christmas buttons, wooden figures, gems some vinyl snow flakes the choice is yours, you can as mad as you like or keep it really simple. Next was to find a star, you have to have a star on the top your tree!. So in the end I went for do crafts Create Christmas Wooden Shapes and I had to buy to packs at £2.50 each but now we have some extra shapes to decorate so my children will love these. I used used silver Wilson and newtson Acrylic paint to cover the stars and then Stampin Up dazzling details silver sparkle to add a bit of sparkle to the centre and edge of the stars These have been fun to make, I'm drawn to the red and white, but the green one is more fun with its sweet little wooden shapes.
Would I make one again?, well they are a costly make if you have to buy the bases at full price. I looked in the high street and found a white version with gold letters for £60 from Cox & Cox, Lakeland has a wooden house for £39.99, The Contemporary Home has a wooden nutcracker for £25 which is lovely. If your making it with your children (this could be great for teens!,) you will have something you will remember making and get out every year. So watch out for my blog on what I am putting in mine. Take care xxx Its been a crazy busy week and as a mum I have been really busy. The children have heaps of homework, I have a lot going on and you can tell Christmas is on the way. So whilst in Sainsburys, these decorate your own ginger bread biscuits caught my eye. Now ready cooked and supplied with icing this is so easy, they just decorated them with the supplies they give you. It took a little while the girls enjoyed making them and it was a much needed easy activity for just a bit of fun, my only issues is the snowflakes are a little hard. We will be cooking our own over the next few weeks and I have a new tool in my kitchen soon to help me, I will reveal more in the near future!. Whilst we are on the topic of food this year we are going to be making our star Christmas tree. I think we have had this set from Lakeland a few years now. We have yet to make the full size version we usually make lots of smaller ones. This set is still available and at just £4.98 I think its worth a shot. I will share the results with you soon. Talking of Lakeland I will paying it a visit this weekend its so full of lovely ideas for Christmas, lets hope its not too tempting. Lastly I thought I would share Jessica's blanket with you.
I started this believing I was just making a very pink blanket, she then changed her mind and requested a rainbow blanket. So the stripes are going downwards I would rather they were going across but unless I make it really big its going to have to stay like this. I don't have time to change it now, not if I am going to get it done before Christmas. I am still amazed I have learned a new skill that can make something useful rather than just decorative!, but I still have limited skills perhaps that should be something to work on next year? Who knows. This weekend I would like to have all 3 balls used up on this blanket and I'm only really able to work on it in the evenings, ahh well nothing like a challenge!. Id love to hear from you, what are you up to, I'm always amazed and greatfull to see so many of you taking a peek at my page. I would love to have some comments, share with me what your Crafting. Come back soon. xxx Today me and my youngest Elle-May spent an hour and a half making Christmas Cards. Elle-Mays Cards My Cards She is learning quick and its lovely spending time together.
Why not spend a little time Crafting. xxxx For me it just has to be buttons especially at Christmas and yes its only November but some projects can take a while so we best get started. Button Christmas Tree Now I have made these before but usually I would go traditional with green and red but I just wondered what a pastel colour would like. I have to say I am please with the results. What do you need. A polystyrene Cone £1.30 local craft shop Bobble headed pins £1.50 for 50 local craft shop. Papermania pastel buttons £2.50 This one is actually very simple. Start at the bottom with the largest buttons and simply pin them in place. You can use two buttons together if you like. The papermania buttons have a really good variety of sizes in them. Its a lot quicker and easier to use as many big buttons as you can, but as you get close to the top you will need the smaller ones. This one took me about an hour and cost around £5 to make, you might have some old buttons you could use so it could work out a lot less.
Enjoy xxxxx How many times have you needed a card for a birthday and had to go out and buy one?, what's worse is when you forget and end up in a supermarket paying a small fortune for a card you probably don't even like, well that's the point of my 1st home made Christmas gift. Simply a box of my cards. If you have just started making cards then this is great for you. Use a simple cereal box cut in half cover with some pretty paper or make one like me. Then simply fill with your handmade cards. xxxxx |
AuthorHello I am Lucy and I just love Christmas, join me as I make mine. xxx Archives
August 2016
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