Update

Oh boy am I tired today! I have been so busy these last two days: getting up early, working and learning all day, meeting new people, making new friends and gaining so much crafty inspiration! 

Let’s just say that I now have the means, motivation and funds to explore new crafting and arty techniques and to continue to progress in the artisan business and in my final year at art college (yes, I got the job!). Woohoo! 

I’ve been given some projects to do such as decorating a box, drawing a self portrait and decoupaging a dog! So stay tuned to see how those turn out! I also have a few more blog posts to deliver as I am a little bittie behind. 

Now I’m topping up my water table and watching videos on YouTube. Over and out!

Bead and Rock Fair Haul

So I am a little bit behind in my line up of blog posts as this one should have been uploaded a week or so ago :) Anyways....

A friend and I went to a bead and gemstone fair the other weekend and, in her words, we spent a ‘small fortune’! It was incredibly fun and now I know what sort of things are there, I must start saving for next year!

So here is what I bought: 

1.  Pink gift bags with shiny gold flowers
2.  Clear plastic resealable bags
3.  Shell pendants
4.  Bargain bag of beads
5.        Resin/plastic roses
6.  Floral fabric beads
7.  Silver wire
8.       And of course, I had to buy a          mineral to add to my collection!

I’m not sure what I’m going to use the beads for yet but I just bought what I really really liked and the plastic bags and such will be useful and they were quite inexpensive. I’m pleased with everything so far. I do wish I had bought more beads but I was on a limited budget and there was too much choice!! Here are some close ups of my stash, enjoy:

How to Adorn Your Favourite Bag

To adorn your favourite bag with your favourite keyring/s (which you can change every day to match your outfit, if you so desire), you will need:

 

1)    Your favourite bag. 
2)    Your favourite keyring. 
3)    A chain bracelet, possibly a charmless bracelet, but which definitely has a clasp.

Firstly, you thread your keyring onto your bracelet.

Then you attach your bracelet to your bag and fasten.

 

Voila! You have successfully adorned your bag, making it personal, unique and interchangeable!

I love this quick and simple embellishment and do it every time I go out! 

Here are some more examples:

Interview Demonstrations

The other week I had an interview for a job. Now you might be thinking, why on earth is she talking about this on a crafty channel?? Well, it was for a job at Hobbycraft - the craftiest place on earth! It was my first proper job interview and I was very scared. The first thing we did was a group exercise where we had a box of craft materials and we had to make something in our groups which could be easily replicated into a kit for kids to make. It was. . . interesting. Did I mention we were being assessed here? Eek! Then we all had a one-to-one interview – also nerve wrecking.

But the point I’m getting to and the reason for this blog, trust me, was the demonstrations we had. Funnily enough, there was one table with a box of beads in the centre and some findings. The one I naturally headed straight for. Then on the other table there were some stamps and card. This was for embossing, something I hadn’t done before and was really excited to learn about. 

To emboss, you need stamps - any stamps and any inks. Then once you’ve stamped your design, you sprinkle what looks like silver glitter onto the ink but it’s actually embossing powder. After you’ve removed the excess, you point a heat gun at the design and watch the powder magically melt and merge with the ink to create a raised, shiny design! It was great fun! Here are my very first attempts at embossing:

Embossed designs

     Un-embossed designs...Hopefully you can see the  difference :)

Close ups:

This one didn't turn out so well. I think I should've heated it up a bit more.

 

 The next three are just stamps because the heat gun overheated and wouldn't work again! :D

  and here are the earrings I made. I'm not sure what I'll do with the oddbob beads yet...

 

Weekend Card Making

Good evening! Now commences my first official crafty blog post (hehe :D) and its going to be about card making!

The first of which is a card for a little friend of mine who was taken ill. I wanted to cheer him up with a fun, simple, and interactive card so I reused an old card about Paddington Bear. I added my own little touches and drawings which were inspired by the card and, on the opening page, I made a game for him to do. It was quite funny really because on my first attempt I drew all the lines leading to the sandwich! So it was win-win all the way! 

Second, is an anniversary card - also recycling an old card. I drew on my own lace design and glued on a matching ribbon to add a personal touch. Although it’s composed a little wonky, I think the overall design is coherent and sophisticated. What do you think?

 

Here are some older cards I’ve made.  Which one do you like best and why?

 

 (PS I found out how to change the post title! Woohoo!)