Beau Chateau accessories

The Beau Chateau Stampin' Up! fabric is my favourite. Ok, ok; one of my favourites.

It's all vintage and shabby and chic and cute and I've made several things with it already. For our team training I went all out with the accessories.

Firstly - I glammed up a pinny!



I made the basic pinny at the Knitting & Stitching Show last year, but never got round to finishing it off. Eleven months on, it is now all stitched and being worn with pride!



On the pocket I did some Big Shot flowers and a scrunched up strip to make a flower.





And some more Big Shot Fun Flowers. I edged it with the Victoria Crochet Trim and some netting.



Mummy Julie took this pic of me.



I also rustled up this bow which I stitched on to a hair clip. I made my own fabric button with cover buttons.



Here it is in situ (thanks again to Julie for taking the pic).



And finally, a brooch using the Fun Flowers die on the Big Shot.



I made two flowers of each size and added in some Seam Binding Ribbon, Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon and Victoria Crochet Trim.



Next on my to-do list with this fabric is a necklace.

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A big load of Big Shot cards

Well, I have made it back for a quick blog again!

Not sure where I'm up to with letting you know about my life, but I have just moved house, so that has been providing me with much stress and hassle the past few weeks. And little time for crafting.

But I have had to make a few new cards, and the Big Shot came in very useful for saving me time!



I managed to make these four very quickly. Well, once I had dug everything out and stopped faffing about!

I have also mastered the art of making more of one of the same card at each time - economies of scale and all that!



Here I used the Fun Flowers die, which is simply marvellous. They are a really good size so you can use them as the main focal point. They're also perfect for brooches from fabric or felt.



And the Beautiful Wings Embosslit makes the sweetest little butterflies!

I teamed the butterflies and flowers with Springtim Vintage DSP, and added the Top Note die embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots folder for added dimension without taking away from the main focus.

Weekend is here again already, and this time I'm off to our Buns & Roses WI 80s party tonight, and the Embroiderers Guild meeting tomorrow. Then I shall attempt to chill out and watch the racing!

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Surprise blog candy reveal

Time for my Birthday Surprise Blog Candy reveal! I know the lucky winner Veronica has received the goodies now, so I can safely share some pics!

First up is a pouch made with a mobile phone or MP3 player in mind. Fortunately, it fits Veronica's new phone just right! I made this at our Buns & Roses meeting last week using some new fabric that we got from Leeds Kirkgate Market. I just love it!



The back is plain felt and I added the little bit from the edge of the fabric where they check the printing lines up and the colours are right (there is a technical name for it but I forgot!)



Next up a Suffolk puff brooch. Veronica told me she likes autumn colours and this fabric with the leaves was just right!



I used a Stampin' Up! button and ribbon here too. These are so quick and easy to make. Well, unless you keep snapping your thread!

The third item was a cross stitch bookmark. Veronica likes to read crime novels, so I though this would save her hunting around for clues on where she's up to!



The charts were from a magazine and I just put them together on an aida band and added the wording. I made the tassle from gold thread and finished the back off with a piece of felt (handmade by Hayley).



Here's Sherlock Holmes peeking through the keyhole!

Finally, a meander book using the Springtime Vintage DSP.



I went with the lovely blue flower piece and decorated the front using Striped Grosgrain Ribbon and some other random bits in a similar green, and the Fun Flowers and Timesless Type Alphabet dies on my Big Shot.



The little pockets inside each have a tag in for a few words of wisdom.

I loved making all these and I'm glad Veronica enjoyed receiving them! I might even do another blog candy in the future!

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Thank you flowers

It's always nice to say thank you, and even better if you do it with flowers.

So to say thank you to the ladies I met at Denman College earlier this month I made some hanging tag decorations using the Fun Flowers die on the Big Shot.



I used all sorts of different DSP and colours of cardstock, embossing some bits then sticking the three flowers together and adding ribbon for hanging.



Here are all the colour options.

The best thing about paper flowers is you don't need to water them, which is good for me, as my plants always seem to die!

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Scrapbooking with Helen

Yesterday Helen came round to get started on her first ever scrapbook so we had a good play, despite my lack of concentration and ability to think coherently because of a stupid cold.

Helen had ordered lots of bits at my Stampin' Up! workshop last week to do an album about her trip to Liverpool with friends. As she hasn't done any scrapbooking before I suggested we get together for a couple of hours to get her started.

We began by choosing a couple of pictures for the first page. The ones we went for are of Helen and a friend having hot chocolate in a yummy cafe. The colours were very funky - brown and yellow, and the cafe had big yellow flowers so we incorporated those. Luckily Helen had been well prepared and got some leaflets from the cafe so we used those as well.



We used a nuetral background and DSP from the Regals stack. The flowers were made using the Fun Flowers die on the Big Shot in coordinating colour card and DSP, and we also embossed some of them. A few buttons, a flower brad, the title and pic from the leaflets and a piece of chipboard Helen had found somewhere and we were done!



Here's Helen looking pleased with her first scrapbook page, and rightly so!

The second page we did featured a few of the Liverpool sights. The Anglican and Roman Catholic Cathedrals and the statue of Queen Victoria. The greys and greens worked well together in the card and DSP, and again, a piece of patterned paper Helen had bought in Whitby. The cartoon images across the bottom are from a sticker book Helen bought in Liverpool - always thinking ahead!



It is titled Did you know ... as the pics were taken on a sightseeing tour of Liverpool. The guide had explained that the Anglican Cathedral was built by a Roman Catholic, and vice versa! So I learnt something as well!

After that we were done in so we nipped out for a buffet and I spent the rest of the evening trying to fight of this damn cold by doing housework!

I'm just going to have to battle through it as I have many things to do, as always, and not enough hours in the day.

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Stampin' Up! Mini Catalogue workshop

Last night I held my Mini Catalogue launch workshop. Big thanks to all my good friends for coming along - I hope you had lots of crafty fun!

Despite being called Stampin' Up! we didn't do any stamping! So it was just Up!, as Hayley pointed out!

Our focus was the Big Shot and the fab range of dies and embossing options. We had lots of play time and the girls all made some fab cards.

Here is my sample card.



I used the Fun Flowers die, Square Lattice embossing folder, Swirls Scribbles die and Timeless Type Alphabet dies with the Springtime Vintage DSP.

These all make for lots of texture and interest, without taking ages to make or being overly fussy or complicated.



Here's a close up so you can see the different elements.

Of course, everyone made their card differently, as we used bits of the Springtime Vintage DSP and several colour combinations. And the alphabet meant personalised cards are really quick.

I forgot to take pics, but Maria put her husband's name on for their wedding anniversary today, Alex made her's as a wedding card for friends with their initials, Kylie's was for her nanna, Sam put her own name on and Helen stuck with just saying Hi. Hayley was awkward as usual and didn't finish hers off but took it home to add some other bits!

I've just managed to tidy up the living room and packed most of my stuff away now!

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A pair of Big Shot cards

For today's cards we go back to the Big Shot. Honestly, I don't know how I lived without this awesome die cutting machine!

These were sent to my mum as part of her recent order, and although I made them separately, it turns out they will be going to a lovely couple who have been family friends forever. Uncle Pez, who isn't really an uncle just a close friend of my dads since they were younger, and his wife Julie, are the lucky recipients!



For Julie's card I used the Fun Flowers and Leaves #2 Dies. I ran one of the leaves through the Big Shot again on the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder for added texture. I punched a hole in the middle of the flower and poked through a bit of curled up Seam Binding.

A bit of inking around the note card, and some ruffled Pear Pizzazz Seam Binding Ribbon finished it all off nicely.



And for Pez's card, we have beer! The background strips were created with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder. It probably would have looked alright if they were just flat pieces of cardstock, but the embossing really gives it the wow factor and turns a simple card into something special.

The beer is from the Cheers To You set and a few strips of ribbon brings it all together.

I actually prepped the Big Shot bits of these cards during the Stampin' Up! Regional Training Tour in March. More perks of the job!

Come back tomorrow for some cards using the Clearly For You set.

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