A girl thing

This is another Guest Designer project that I thought would make a crafty gift. The outside is made from a couple of coasters. Inside there's a calculator, and a mini organiser - both are attached with Velcro so that they can be removed. The book had a pocket to contain a book of stamps or a itunes/giftcard; the pages have been stamped with a calendar to keep track of important dates and at the back, there's a pad of sticky notes.
I bought the calculator for 60p from Wilkinsons, and the coloured Velcro is from a pack of cable ties bought at......Home Bargains (where else!)









For those who asked, I think the calendar stamp I'm using is by either Autumn Leaves or October Afternoon, but I'm afraid I can't remember which as I've had them a while.

Card Caddy

I got the idea for this project from my team member on UKS; Fiona is making cards for her daughters school fair, and someone suggested to her that a pack of cards aimed at men would sell well. I ran with the idea, and came up with a caddy to store 6 cards, envelopes, stamps, pen and an organiser. The organiser is divided into the months so that significant dates can be added, the pages are pockets so that the recipient can add receipts or whatever, and at the back is a section of plain paper for notes.

Halloween

I thought I'd share some of the pics we took this weekend. Molly had a friend over for a bit of a party, and we all dressed up - even Maggie! The girls were hyped up on sugar by the end and boy did they crash the next day.

Autumn Bliss Calendar

I made this calendar project as part of my Guest Designer work for Craft Island. The papers are the new range called Autumn Bliss by Little Yellow Bicycle. I thought it would be nice to be able to still use the calendar when the year is through, so I designed it so that the calendar pages are removable, photographs can then be added to the pages to make a freestanding flip album.

You'll need a pack of 10 coasters and 12 pieces of acetate cut to the same size as the coasters.

Cover both sides of all the coasters with a selection of patterned and plain cardstock (the beauty of using double sided papers is that you get twice the number of designs!)

Use Stazon to stamp a calendar onto the 12 acetates. Punch holes in the top of all the coasters and the acetates. Snip from the edge into the hole made by the bind it all on all the acetates so that once the year is through, they can be removed.

Assemble the book - cover, then January acetate, first page, February acetate, March acetate, second page etc end with two coasters to form the stand. Bind

Take the final coaster, score and fold in half.

Use strong double sided tape to stick the bottom edges of the folded coaster between the two stand coasters.

All being well, your calendar should stand on its own. Decorate the front cover and enjoy!

Three Go Up a Mountain

When Ray was last on holiday, he told me he was planning to go up Snowdon in October, weather permitting; well today was the day. He took the dogs as well - they were really excited to be going a walk - little did they know! Apparently the walk is a lot more difficult than when we did it a few years ago, as the path is being 'improved'. I can't say I'm falling over myself to see what he means, it was hard enough last time.

The Usual Suspects

Last night, I finished my witch's cat; as I've done each one, they've been lined up on the radiator, looking like a police line up! Molly asked me what I was going to call the witch, as she thinks it looks just like John McCririck - I hadn't seen the resemblance until then, but it really tickled us. I was going to call her Slack Alice but I think John McCririck will probably stick.

Bliss

Last week, Molly brought home a little notebook from Guides, although it's just a regular notebook, the fastening was interesting, and gave me a bit of an idea and an opportunity to make use of my giant eyelet set! Said set was something I HAD to have a couple of years ago, but has been woefully under used.

The papers are from the latest release by Crate - Bliss, they're a lovely mix of retro prints in pinks, greens and neuturals - yummy!