This weeks crafty makes

I got the wedding invitations finished and just need to make a start on the evening ones now but all is going well.  The new Cameo is excellent.  I can now see how much the other one was a struggle.  The cards that previously were taking 20 minutes each to cut are now taking only 10.  I've been able to change the blade setting from a 6 down to a 3 and up the speed from 2 to 6 without the card getting all chewed up.

Yesterday I had the sewing machine out so I made a ring pillow.  It is approx 30cm square in satin look polyester with a big diamante buckle threaded onto some net and little bows to hold the rings.

I have also been knitting.  Over the weekend I managed 1 1/2 of the fronts of the hoodie I started last October.  It will no longer fit the wee girl I was making it for but i'll stick it on etsy when i'm finished.

I bought the sweetest little bird buttons on ebay

They were from a UK seller and were very reasonably priced.  Just need to find a project to use them on now.

A good friend became a granny this week so will do a card for both her and the new parents. Found some lovely cutting files in theSilhouette Store. I think I will do a onsie card for the parents and i'm not sure yet what i'll do for the proud Granny.

Happy Crafting!

Wedding Invitations and Favours

Now my Cameo is back I can get cracking on with the wedding invites and favours.  To make up for a lost month I designed different evening invitations.  I used the frame for the wedding invitations, did a print and cut on the Cameo with it set to no cut and put their initials and date on the front.  This design was originally for the order of service cards.

I don't know yet whether or not they will like them but 50 of these should only take a week.  I still have the problem of having to wait 4-5 hours for the ink to dry and i don't have the space to have more than 5 drying at one time.  I'll know not to use pearlescent card next time.

I also made 20 favour boxes for my daughters wedding in June.  These are also done on pearlescent card but i've had no drying problems with these.

The pattern is vintage cars with "Just Married" on the back and little hearts.  The ribbon is white organza secured with a glue dot and a pearlised lilac ribbon slider to finish.  Each box contains 2 mini packets of "love hearts" sweets.
These boxes were very quick and easy to make.  I will certainly do them again.  The cutting file was from the Silhouette Store and is called Christmas Gift Box.  I deleted the Christmas tree and made the box a little smaller so 2 would fit on an A4 page.
I have also made some Jasmine Essential Oil handmade soaps with just a sprinkling of jasmine flowers.  The base for these was an sls free Olive Oil melt and pour and I also added a little Vitamin E.

I finished off the organza bags by adding one of the ribbon sliders to each.  With hindsight I should probably have coloured these lilac to match the theme but I left them uncoloured as so many people have allergies to various things.

I still have 13 of my nephew's wedding invitations to make and the 50 evening ones if they want them.  I also have 40 evening invitations and some table decorations to do for my daughter.  Hopefully they will all be finished with time to spare.

Got my Cameo back :)

Yesterday the postie brought a brand new Cameo to replace my faulty one.  I now have it all set up again and managed 8 wedding invitations that had previously been printed but not cut.
Lots of projects lined up to do now its back

This weeks crafting

This week I have been mostly knitting.  I have a few unfinished projects I would like to get finished and I have been concentrating on these.  The first is a purple and lilac striped hoodie that was originally for my friends granddaughter.  I have spent so long on it that it is probably too wee by now.  I have been doing it on metal needles and the difference in weight between them and bamboo is really noticeable. I found my fingers were getting sore and swollen after only an hour.  I have completed the back and two sleeves so far.

OH wants some lightweight loose bedsocks.  However, I can only do socks from a pattern and so far they have been too tight or not big enough.  I started a pair with 4ply sock yarn but after doing the cuff and heel I decided they were much too thin and if walked on the would disintegrate. So back to the drawing board.

I took a break from knitting to make some girls jewellery.

Monster High stud earrings

two sets of earrings, ring and hair clips.  The first with sparkly Mickey Mouse shapes

and the second with sparkly bows

I also made one card this week.  It is not for anyone in particular so i may list it for sale

thats it so far this week.  Happy crafting!

Been too busy to craft!

Had a hectic fortnight as work has being getting done on my house but (finally!) finished my daughter, Ami's hooded scarf that was supposed to be for Christmas.  In the end it took 8 balls at £2.99 each.  I would have been cheaper buying one.  There are pockets at the ends of the scarf.

The yarn is King Cole Splash.  Colour Embers.  It is a self patterning yarn which I used doubled on 9mm needles.  I had to scroll through each ball to get the colours to line up.  There was some yarn left over so i made a matching pair of hand warmers

Mandi, my niece, and I went to Homebase to buy paint and whilst there we spotted a lovely wine glass in the sale.  Only one left so she asked me to put her name on it

I still think i'm smudging the letters but Mandi liked it (or so she said).  Also did a Tea Money jar for the Thursday Group

Got the Debbi Moore Twilight Queen cd and made a couple of Gothic themed cards.  The one below is my favourite.  I echoed the skull and clock design with a pair of removable charms that could be put on a necklace or bracelet.  I'm going to try to sell this one on eBid Link Here

This morning I picked up a knitting and crochet magazine in the charity shop and it has some lovely baby, and a cute girls bag patterns in it so that will probably be my next craft project.

Back to Knitting

My Silhouette Cameo is not working properly on print and cut so i phoned and was told to return it and it will take around a month to return it! However I have a few half knitted projects that I have to finish so i'll just get on with that meantime.
The first is a baby hat that i've accidentally knitted all on 3.75mm needles instead of changing to 4's after the rib.  This has made it quite dense so will be lovely and warm.  The original pattern had intarsia but my arthritis is playing up and my hands were too sore to do all the twisting so I knitted it plain.  I think it looks quite good as it is. Click here to buy

The second item i've done this week was a kit from one of my knitting magazines with a slip stitch pattern that I liked the effect of.  They call it a craft bag but with its lovely sunset colours I think it would make a great handbag. Now on sale on eBid.

Although I made and listed lots of Valentines Cards I only managed to sell 2.  I just don't see why more people don't buy their cards online when they are cheaper (and nicer I think) than shop bought cards and you can have them personalised free.  Like Moonpig I offer to put your message inside and send direct to the recipient but still they don't sell well.  I wonder what I am doing wrong.

This is the 2 that did sell

The one above went in the monthly charity auctions and raised £2.25 for the Thursday Group (a mental health charity I support)

I think I will start on Mother's Day and Easter cards next.  Have to go back to making ordinary cards without using the cameo but that might be fun for a change.

I am also knitting a hooded scarf for my daughter that was supposed to be for Christmas but I ran out of yarn.  It has taken 8 balls so far as i'm knitting it doubled on 9mm needles but hope to finish it by the weekend.

All Work & No Play...

Went through to my desk at 10am with the idea of doing


a couple of invitations before breakfast.  Various disasters occurred and another 3 sheets of expensive card ruined.  Took a break and went to post some items and when i came back I wanted to make a gift tag for my daughter's birthday.
Rather than start anew I decided to rummage through my saved offcuts to see if I could find anything suitable.  5 hours later I had amassed a pile of tags, though mostly Christmas.

Think i'll list them at just 99p since they were mostly all leftover bits from kits and magazines.

Made a couple of cards too

this is from one of the Debbi Moore Designs cd.  Greece I think but could be Rome. It is now on eBid, Link Here

This is for my friend Jessie whose husband is very ill