Tutorial: Die-cut card

Hello all!

Yes! This is a tutorial! On a Monday even! I have my act together this week haha!

So recently I wanted to make a simple, yet meaningful card, and decided upon this die-cut option, featuring beautiful vintage craft supplies sourced from Lisa's Craft Shoppe (I also featured her lovely supplies earlier, in this notebook tutorial. Find her links at the bottom of this post). Have a go, and share your beautiful cards with us!

 You will need:

2x blank cards

Pencil

Glue

Cut-outs, stickers etc

Craft knife/scalpel

Cutting board

On one of the cards, trace what you want to cut out in pencil. Here I have chosen the words 'Thank you', and modeled them from a font on the computer.

Now be careful here! Using the  cutting board and scalpel, cut out your tracings. The sharper your scalpel is, the better it will come out.

On the other card, stick down your background. You don't have to cover the entire card, but just make sure that you cover the areas which will be exposed by the die cuts. I have used vintage bits and pieces from Lisa's Craft Shoppe

Then line up the cards, and stick the cut one on top of the covered one. And you are done! Simple, yet thoughtful :)

You can find Lisa's Craft Shoppe on Etsy, Facebook and Twitter. Go check her out!

Another DIY notebook tutorial!

Hey all!

Its finally happening! I'm posting a craft tutorial (hehe).

Now those close to me know how much I LOVE stationery... particularly any paper products, and notebooks are my favourite thing to personalise.

Over time I have found various ways to put my own mark on notebooks, one of which I shared with you back here. Now here is another, slightly easier and less time-consuming tutorial, which I hope you do enjoy!

You will need:

A ring bound notebook

Background paper (I have used vintage book paper)

Stencil

Permanent marker

Scissors and craft scalpel (I left them out of the pic, sorry!)

Modge podge or craft sealant (You can use my home-made sealant from this post)

Firstly gently loosen the ring binding and remove the cover. Be careful to not bend the ring binding too much out of shape.

Glue selected backing paper onto the cover, ensuring that it is the right way up for when you reattach it! Then trim around.

Position the stencil you wish to use where you want it, and colour in with a permanent marker.

Ta Da!

Seal the cover with the craft sealant.

Using the craft scalpel, carefully carve out each of the binding holes.

Finally, reattach to the notebook (the right way up!) and enjoy! A beautiful, personalised notebook has been created!

I hope you do enjoy this tutorial, and let me know what you think, or what you would like to see next. Cheers!

Tutorial - DIY hand-bound notebook

Hey all!

The inspiration for the tutorial this week came after receiving a lovely vintage supply kit from Lisa, over at Lisa's Craft Shoppe! I mean, what idea doesn't come to mind when you open up this package:

Anyway... :D

I searched around for a notebook tutorial, but ended up creating my own. Keep reading for the how-to!

Materials:

Two pieces of cardstock (I honestly just cut a blank card in half!)

The paper you wish to bind, cut to the size of the cardstock, plus one scrap piece

Bits and pieces to decorate... as mentioned earlier, my notebook features vintage ephemera from Lisa's Craft Shoppe

Glue

Scissors

Craft sealant - either Modge Podge, or make your own (click here for the tutorial)

A thick, strong needle, like a binding needle

Twine or thread

Ruler

Pencil

Here we go!

Step One

Start gluing the decorations onto a piece of cardstock... don't worry about bits hanging off the edge... you can clean those up later...

Well, now haha. Trim off the excess bits.

Step Two
Cover this with the sealant and allow to dry (it will dry clear, I promise!). Repeat with a few coats. The more coats, the glossier it is!

Step Three

On the scrap piece of paper, draw up a binding template. You can use whatever measurements you wish - I ruled the puncture points 1 centimetre in and in 1 centimetre intervals.

Step Four

Use this template to puncture the binding on all of your pieces of paper and cardstock.

Step Five

Time to start binding! First, secure the pages with a peg or clip, with the two pieces of cardstock as the covers.Using the twine and needle, use a stitch of your choice to bind the pages. I used a running stitch, which doubles back on itself, however, blanket stitches also look really good. Check out this pinterest board for some good book-binding tutorials.

Step Six

When you have bound the notebook, you are done! Well, almost, haha. Just need to tie off and trim the twine, finishing by applying glue to the knot for security. NOW you are finished!

 TA DA! Anyway, I must say a MASSIVE thank you to Lisa and her supplies for the inspiration for this project! Keep watching this space for more tutorials featuring these cuties!

You can check out Lisa's Etsy shop here and her Facebook page here.

Also, remember to let me know how you go! I would love to see your own notebooks and inspirations!

Tutorial: cheap and easy home made craft sealant/modge podge

Hey there!

Any craft project can always benefit from a few coats of sealant, for protection and a glossy finish. However, commercially available craft sealant, such as Modge Podge, can be rather expensive!

The good news is that it is incredibly easy and cheap to make your own! I promise it won't cost you any more than $5 MAX!

You will need:

PVA glue

Water

Container

Stirrer

All you need to do is mix 3 parts PVA to 1 part warm water and it's done! Store in an airtight container to ensure it doesn't dry out.

What's your best craft trick? I would love to hear them!

Easy and cute sewing patterns - My Funny Buddy

Hey!

I know I have been a touch inactive over the past two weeks or so, but I'm back and I want to show you what I have been working on!

I was contacted by the lovely Lucy, owner of My Funny Buddy, asking if I would like to trial her patterns... of course I said yes! After a bit of browsing, I came across the T-Rex and Dog Pillow designs...

As a novice behind a sewing machine, I was a touch nervous about how the finished toys would turn out. However, there was no need to fear! The digital files I received were abound with all the necessary information, from fabric choices, to mini tutorials of stitches, to definitions of technical terms, all written in common language, making it as easy as possible!

Before I knew it, I had finished with these two little cuties!

T-Rex:

Dog Pillow:

Aren't they adorable?! They have both settled in nicely in my bed with my Big Ted :D

So if you are interested in producing hand made and heartfelt Christmas presents, or adding to your own stuffed toy collection, I strongly recommend My Funny Buddy patterns! Check out Lucy's designs on her website and Etsy shop, or head over and join her on Facebook!

Let me know how you go! I envisage these soft toys slowly amassing in their own army! Haha.

Tutorial: Watermelon Greeting Card!

Hey there!

Today I shall run you through a very simple watermelon greeting card tutorial, which produces cute and fun results!

You will need:

- blank card

- green and white paper

- pink patterned paper

- glue and scissors

- pencil and black marker

- message

- mounting foam

1. Cut the blank card into a semi circle shape, with the straight edge at the card's fold.

2. Cover this semi circle with green paper.

 

3. Glue down a smaller semi circle of white, and then again with the patterned paper, so it looks like this:

4. Colour in a few black seeds with the marker, randomly and across the pink part of your watermelon.

 5. Stick on your message with mounting foam and voila! A watermelon greeting card!