CRAFTS BY CHRIS

Hello - I'm back for not for long!!

2012-02-03T07:58:00.000-08:00

Hello to anyone who happens to stumble upon my blog. It has been quite a while since my last blog, but I never seem to have the time to spend blogging. My sister-in-law keeps on at me to get blogging again so here it is.

Anyway I am going on holiday to see my son who lives in Australia and have done a birthday card for him so thought I would post it along with a few others I have made recently. I will try my very best when I get back to blog 3 times a week.

IN THE PINK!

2011-07-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

My ladies also managed to get another card done within the 2 hour class - even after chatting! Here it is.

LOVELY LILAC

2011-07-25T08:25:00.000-07:00

My crafting ladies have been this morning and one lady asked me to do an anniversary card in lilac colours. She was thrilled with the result.

Christmas in July

2011-07-14T07:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I have succombed and made my first Christmas card this year! I do like the buckle card and thought it woulf be good to make a Christmas card that was a bit different. I think it worked out well.

Sailing Boat

2011-07-13T07:28:00.000-07:00

It is a relatives 60th birthday on 18th July. He used to go sailing a lot and lives very near the River Severn so I thought this little boat stamp from Stampin Up would be ideal.

BEAUTIFUL BAGS

2011-07-13T07:24:00.001-07:00

I also make jewellery, more for my own pleasure, but sometimes I make a necklace or earrings for a gift. It is nice to put it in something special rather than an ordinary box, so after seeing a few styles of gift bags on the internet I mixed a few together and made this.

LARGE DAISY

2011-07-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

Arty-farty angle - teardrop z-card

Hi everyone- I know it is a while since I posted but really I live a very boring life! Anyhow, as you know, my sister-in-law and I get together most Wednesdays for a bit of crafting and a chat. Here is what we came up with today.

Birthday Wishes

2011-06-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

A quick card using a flower that I had made earlier.

Owl bookmark

2011-05-27T02:24:00.000-07:00

Following on the theme of bookmarks (and owls) I adapted the kusadami flower bookmark to make this owl one.

Kusadama Flower Bookmark

2011-05-27T02:17:00.000-07:00

My sis-in-law came yesterday and she showed me a bookmark she had made following the instructions from Sandy Ang. You can check out here blog http://angsandy.blogspot.com/2010/09/kusudama-flowers.html.
Here is my version of it

Owl fridge magnets

2011-05-27T02:01:00.000-07:00

The owl punch and stamp set from Stampin Up are just brilliant! There are so many things you can do with them. Recently a friend gave me some magnetic sheeting which was thin enough to punch so obviously fridge magnets came to mind. I showed them to my sis-in-law and she decided to make one on a Christmas theme. I think it's really cute! (sorry the pic is a bit blurred!)

Gift bags

2011-05-25T01:20:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law, Kate showed me a project from her blog on how to make a small gift bag using 6" square paper. I played about because I wanted something a little bigger and basically as long as your paper is square and is divisable by 3 you can make it any size you like. I made my larger one using 12" square paper.

Getting ready for Christmas

2011-05-23T12:51:00.000-07:00

After Anna had gone home I was still in the mood for a bit more crafting so had a go at a tutrial I saw on Splitcoast stampers for this 'box in a bag'. The bottom is part of a box, then it is covered with design paper. A nice presentaion for a small gift!

A Friend Popped By

2011-05-23T12:22:00.000-07:00

This afternoon a customer (and I think by now a friend) came round to do a spot of crafting using Stampin Up goodies of course. Anna made 2 cards in the time that it took me to make 1! - Mine is the anniversary card so it took a little extra time because I used the stamp-a-ma-jig to position all the little pieces from 'All in the Family' It is for some friends of ours who have 3 cats - 2 ginger toms and a ptetty brown and white female so I couldn't resist putting them on the card.

Anna CASED a couple of cards from the mini catalogue but used colours from the Regals family. She love all the dark, rich colours in this family and I think they are fast becoming her favourite. Anna has her own blog czlled 'Paper Pixels' and you can follow the link This afternoon a customer (and I think by now a friend) came round to do a spot of crafting using Stampin Up goodies of course. Anna made 2 cards in the time that it took me to make 1! - Mine is the anniversary card so it took a little extra time because I used the stamp-a-ma-jig to position all the little pieces from 'All in the Family' It is for some friends of ours who have 3 cats - 2 ginger toms and a ptetty brown and white female so I couldn't resist putting them on the card.

Anna CASED a couple of cards from the mini catalogue but used colours from the Regals family. She love all the dark, rich colours in this family and I think they are fast becoming her favourite. Anna has her own blog czlled 'Paper Pixels' and you can follow the link here

Green Wedding Card

2011-05-03T03:14:00.001-07:00

My daughter is a bridesmaid on Saturday for a friend she was at university with. The bridesmaids dresses are green! (Ithought it was unlucky to wear green at a wedding? risking it a bit!) Anyway I thought I would incorporate green in the card. It is cased a little from Julie Kettlewell's, but hey we all need inspiration. Hope she has a great day anyway and that the sun shines for her.

Black and White

2011-05-03T03:06:00.000-07:00

Lots of my ladies like the black and white theme, so I will be doing s few for my classes. Here is one I did last night (as there was absolutely nothing on telly!) I should have used stampin up ribbon but I likes the sheerness of this organza and I felt it need to be black. Have decided to try the white SU ribbon and colour it black with an ink pad for my next attempt.

RICHARD

2011-04-27T11:55:00.000-07:00

My son, Richard, lives in Australia and it tears at my heart to know that he is so far away. We do try to see him once a year but, for me, that is nowhere near enough. I miss him so. Just to show I was thinking of him I sent him this card which I made using my new motorbike stamp from Stampin Up. He used to have a green 'ninja' bike and so I thought I would colour it green.

ANITA'S RETIREMENT CARD FOR ANITA

2011-04-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

My friend came over this afternoon for a crafting session. She wanted to make a retirement card for her friend Anita, (SHE IS ALSO CALLED ANITA). We decide on the stamp set 'Cheers to You'. to say she is a beginner I think she did an absolutley fabulous job. I am sure her friend will appreciate her efforts.

We also both made a baby card for new arrivals to be. Mine is the baby girl one shown here. Anita's was very similar but in blues and I forgot to take a photo before she went home!!

OWL PUNCH

2011-04-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

Well - everyone who IS anyone has been longingly awaiting the arrival of the owl punch from Stampin Up. - If you need to get hold of one send me an email with your details and I will get back to you.

I showed it my ladies at class and they were ooing and aahhing about it all lesson. As it is nearing Easter we made a little bird house to put chocolate mini eggs in and put the owl at the side. We also made a couple of book marks using the owl punch. This was great for one of my ladies as she is Brown Owl at Brownies. Guess whose shopping list the punch went on!

ENVELOPE BAG

2011-04-18T10:59:00.000-07:00

Last week I was showing my new card class ladies how to make a bag using a brown paper envelope. I used the 'very vintage' ink roller from SU, using soft suede. Made the flower using the butterfly punch and spritzing with water. If you want to know how to make the bag please leave a comment and I will publish instructions. Thanks

RUBY WEDDING CARD

2011-04-18T09:29:00.000-07:00

On Sunday it was our friends Ruby Wedding anniversary. They live in Australia now and have done for the last 35 years or so but were married at Wentworth Church, near Rotherham, Yorkshire. David is a Yorkshire lad born and bred and Wendy is a true Australian. They met in Austrlia when David was in the Navy and the rest, as they say, is history.

They decided that they would like to come back to Wentworth to celebrate their Ruby Wedding day and organised a bar-b-que at the Rockingham Arms in Wentworth for family and friends. It was a lovely evening. One lady even came all the way from Argentina for the celebrations!

I made this card especially for the occasion. I even made the flower by using 3 butterfly shapes from the SU butterfly punch, inking the edges, spritzing with water and scrunching up. The centre I made using ribbon and folding it into a rose shape. The background was run through the big shot using the new embossing folders from Stampin Up. I hope they like it and I hope you do too.

Thank you

2011-04-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

I have made this thank you card for a new customer. She has ordered the vintage vogue stamps set, pretty in pink and early espresso ink pads so I thought I would use that combination to maybe give her some inspiration.

Vintage Vogue

2011-03-23T07:39:00.000-07:00

Today my SIL, Kate came over to do our weekly crafting get together. Whilst having a restless nights sleep a couple of nights ago I tried to think of a design for our card this week. As I have said before I really love the Vintage Vogue set, so of course that was where my thoughts ended up. The first one I made was with the 3D flower made from 3 images, cut and stuck together. The second one I decided to make with the one large image and then I wanted to do one in spring colours. I am please with how they all turned out. If you want to see my SIL's versions go to Kate's blog

Sale a bration freebie stamps

2011-03-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

A couple of ladies managed to get the free set of 'Sweet Summer' stamps from the sale-a-bration event and as they are beginners at crafting I thought I would give them some inspiration. I saw these cards made up on Julie's blog and really liked the fresh colours so thought I would CASE them. If you want to see any more cards from Julie check out the link at Julie's blog

Vintage Vogue

2011-03-18T11:14:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday I went to my Sister-in-law's to do a spot of crafting. I particularly liked the card she had made for her Sisters birthday and a variation of a sympathy card she had made. I thought I would like to make one but I don't have the same stamp set do decided to use vintage vogue (my favourite stamp set at the moment - it is so versatile and classy). If you want to check out the other versions follow the link to to Kate's Krafts at http://kraftsbykatemartin.blogspot.com. I intend to make this a few times using different colours as I think it will be suitable for Mothers Day (pink) or Easter (yellow)

GLAMOUR SHOES

2011-03-05T09:28:00.000-08:00

I was asked to make a card for a 30 year old who loves shoes. As Stampin Up don't do shoes (yet - maybe sometime in the future?) I decided to use some peel off which I have had for ages and designer papers from my stash. I have used the punches from SU to make the square plaque and circle sentiment.

BELATED BIRTHDAY

2011-03-01T08:49:00.000-08:00

It was my friednds birthday on 4th Feb (yes, 4th FEB!) and I forgot to send her a card. I got the inspiration of this one from Monica's blog. It uses the wings from the Bird on a Branch punch to make the petals of the flowers. I enjoyed making this and hope that my friend will forgive me for being a month late in sending her card!

Art farty angle

MONDAY MORNING

2011-02-21T08:58:00.000-08:00

It is my origainal Ladies Craft Morning today. We have been running for about 4/5 years now and I told them that they are moving up to the Intermediate class - they weren't impressed! (they mainly come for the company and a cuppa!) Anyway I have got them on to using the Stamp-a-ma-jig from Stampin up and they were quite impressed. They made the beer mug card (below) and also made a start on the Vintage Vogue/Bird on a branch puch card. I made this to show one of the ladies that you can make leaves from the wing punch aswell as the smaller leaves.

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

2011-02-19T13:28:00.001-08:00

Recently I took some card samples in to the gym where I go to show the ladies (and try to drum up some business). Yesterday I was asked to do an anniversary card to include a picture so here is the card I produced - hope you like it.

AND THERE'S MORE

2011-02-18T08:52:00.000-08:00

It is my son Richard's birthday tomorrow so I made him a card with a theme which is very close to his heart - alcohol! (he will be 33 though, and I do like to think that he drinks responsibly - well I can THINK that he does!) His card is on my sister-in -law's blog http://kraftsbykatemartin.blogspot.com/ but here is another version which I have made for my class of ladies to make on Monday. Original version cased from Julie's blog.

PUNCH BUNCH OWL

2011-02-17T05:13:00.000-08:00

After making the owl card with the design paper from the brights pack (which I got with my starter set on signing up to Stampin Up) I decided to make one which was definately more for a man. I used papers from the Sweet Pea paper stack which sadly is no longer available. Hope you like it.

I'm Back!

2011-02-16T07:49:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. Well it has taken some time but here I am again.
I have renewed my enthusiasm for crafting by joining 'STAMPIN UP'. It is a fantastic company which sell a great range of crafting products for beginners and the experienced crafter alike. I love working with everything in their catalogue. It is all brilliant quality, where the colours co-ordinate and mix and match together. If you are interested in finding out more about why I love Stampin Up so much leave a comment on my blog.

To give me a head start I visited Jo Dumbelton's blog where I found inspiration for the cards below. I love the colours. They are so vibrant. Thanks Jo.

Ladies craft morning

2010-05-10T07:40:00.000-07:00

This morning we made a tissue holder - just to have a change from cardmaking (although we did have time to make a card aswell). The ladies enjoyed this and all made a great finished product. We stamped the background main body of the holder using 2 stamps and 2 different colours of ink. We used a lovely contrasting patterned paper for the closure and made a medallion as a feature on the front. All products used were stamping up.

The card we made was using 7 gypsies patterned paper, ribbon and card stock from my stash. The butterfly medalion was made with SU stamps and punches.

Ruby

2010-05-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

For a special little girl who was 2 on 5th May. Her Mum and Dad took her to Knowsley safari park for the day so the animal card was just the ticket! Stamped background using animal stamps from Stamping UP and the giraffe was made using various shaped punches from S U.

Sympathy

2010-05-10T07:31:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, recently, a friend of mine's Mum passed away. She was in hospital for a short time and in the end her passing was peaceful. I felt I wanted to send a nice card to my friend so here it is.

2010-05-06T00:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a link for you to win some superb candy - a pink cuttlebug! Follow the link to enter. good Luck! http://create4fun.blogspot.com/2010/05/50000-visitors.html
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ckKLovVoJYs/S-B_9opIAYI/AAAAAAAABdI/TLYdDiE7w0A/s1600/Pink_Cuttlebug.jpg

2010-04-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

At this week's card class we made 3 cards! Surprising, considering the amount of chattering that goes on! We even had a little break to celebrate the fact that one of the ladies had returned to class after a few weeks break as she had been in hospital, so we had cake with our coffee this week......... very nice too! The cards are 'simple but effective' but more to the point they all enjoyed making them.

2010-04-27T09:16:00.000-07:00

My friend's daughter moved into her first house at the weekend with her partner so I thought I would send her a card. I made the main body of the card about 3 weeks ago at a Stamping Up class at the Beauchief Hotel in Sheffield (where a good time was had by all!). Because I already had the correspnding cardstock I was able to do a New Home disc for the top left. I think it looks nice - hope you do too!

Stamping Up

2010-04-21T03:02:00.000-07:00

Just in case anyone is not familiar with Stamping Up, my Sister-in-Law is a Demonstrator for the company. They have lots of good quality products which can only be bought through a Demonstrator. I really love working with them. If you would like to check out the products and get some ideas check out my Sister-in-Law's blog http://www.kraftsbykatemartin.blogspot.com/ Enjoy!

2010-04-21T02:52:00.000-07:00

Hello again. Every 2 weeks on Monday mornings I run a card making class for 4 ladies. They are all senior citizens and are all very young at heart. They enjoy coming not only for the crafting but for the social aswell. (we have a cuppa and a chat while we craft). Here are the cards we made this week. They are a version of 'Stamping Up one sheet wonder' but to make it easier for them I had already cut the white card to size so all they had to do was make sure they stamped off the edge od the card. The first and last cards are the same - just different orientation. Hope you like them.

2010-04-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

Here's another card I made yesterday. It is for my daughter's boyfriend whose birthday is next week. They bought a camper van at the end of last summer and are eager to take it on it's first outing which will be on May day bank hol. I have blanked out the number plate (for obvious reasons) but on the card I have actually put their number on by using Word and cutting it to fit. The colour of the van is similar to theirs aswell. I hope he likes it!

2010-04-07T08:20:00.000-07:00

My neighbour had a baby boy last week so I made this card for them. It has a bit of a modern twist to it by using the brown colours with the blue and I added a metal pram charm to dangle.

Phew! - that was hard work!

2010-04-07T07:59:00.000-07:00

Well my sister-in law has been today. We get together most Wednesdays for a Craft session, but more than that we enjoy each other's company, have a bit of lunch and a gossip.

Today I also called on her expertise with blogging to ask a few questions about customising and linking sites and pictures. My head is spinning but I think I get the idea! Hopfully now I will be posting a lot more pictures of cards that I make and any other snippits of useful (or otherwise) information. I posted one whist she was here but now I will have a solo run and see how I manage to put a few more on. Here goes!

Kate's birthday card

2010-04-07T07:12:00.001-07:00

This is a photo of a card I made for my sister-in-law for her birthday last year!

2009-09-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

Here is my first attempt at creating a blog and I did it just especially to enter a competion for Simon Says Stamps. They are so lovely I thought it was well worth the effort to try to win one of the lovely stamps. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

The draw is open to all. The draw will take place on Sunday evening at 10pm UK time. Heidi from Simon Says Stamp will mail the lucky winner their prize. Don't forget, this is a weekly draw sponsored by Simon Says Stamp