Christmas is just around the corner! ~ WOYWW#443

Hi  crafters

Happy WOYWW day!

You'd better watch out

You'd better not cry

You'd better not pout

I'm telling you why ...

It's December in 2 days and things are getting crazy in LittleMissK Land! Nowhere near ready and getting pretty antsy now to get my craft room back, but hurrah ... the plumber is coming next week!

Last week I spoke about my Santa Wreath and I have photos to share but first - what's on my work table this week?

I'm experimenting with paper decorations! I came across an old blog from 2009 via Pinterest for paper bells and was intrigued. Very easy to make and I love them! I also experimented making a rosette star. I intend having a small tree in my craft room and want to decorate it with Papercraft goodies. I'll create a video for next week

 So, my wreath came together nicely. Here's a pic I used for my Pinterest (hence the logo)

I also have a dark shot so you can see the lights better 

And here's the video. I did say in the video that my wreath ring was 12" circumference, when in fact it was 12" diameter! Oh and apologies for the number of times I use the word "so" .... apparently every body has a word they use a lot and I guess mines "so" .... so, hope you enjoy 

Love, Peace & Happiness

Karen xx

These are the lights I bought:

Micro 20 LEDs Warm White Lights 3.5 Feet Silver Ultra Thin String Wire for Decration, 8 Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JFWFDZ0?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

Gotta love inky fingers!

Today I spent some time making the swap cards for next month's ABC of Christmas for UKPC (FB group). Cant share them yet, but will blog them once they're sent.

It's my son-in-laws birthday next month so decided to get ahead and made his card. He is a very clever young man who is currently building an extension to their house by himself (other than having electricians and plumbers in to certify his work). He's just  completed a huge shower room, part of the extension.

Anyway, I thought he might like the Wood Textures paper I used on his card. I went a bit crazy with the stamping, but I'm sure he'll love it 😊

So, after all that stamping today, I have very inky fingers now!









Love, Peace & Happiness
Karen x

A Whole Lot Of Nothing! - WOYWW#442

Whats on my workdesk today? Not much. I had a flurry of activity Monday and yesterday but today I have to work so this will be a very short post!

 My desk is showing my next project which will have to wait a day or two. I'm going to attempt a Christmas wreath. It'll be different to the usual green foliage though and I will share more next week I promise!

Other projects this week were birthday cards and my swap to a fellow crafter over on UKPC (UK Paper Crafters) run by the lovely BJ who is also a WOYWWer here.

The swap theme was "Three's" so I made a trifold card and added elements of three including three sentiments, three stamped snowflakes and clusters of stamped mini triangles (they have three sides!)

To go along with the Three theme were the birthday cards. Funny coincidence that my sister, bro-i-law and nephew all have birthdays within three days of each other!

I'd like to send a big thank you to Shaz who joined me this week. A fellow WOYWWer who is definitely worth a visit!

So that's it for this week.

Love, Peace and Happiness always
Karen xx

ADVENT (WOYWW #441)

Hi Crafters

This week I am in full crafting mode preparing for a one2one crafting session with my lovely hairdresser Michelle. She was so keen after our last lesson (way back in September), that she immediately booked another one so she could learn how to make gift boxes. She had a couple of ideas recently for what she'd like to make - one of which I had already thought of and prepped for! Great minds, eh!!

Anyway, todays WOYWW is my advent calendar - still under construction, but it'll be finished by the end of today

Although technically not on my desk when this was taken, Its back there now. This was just to get a nice pic of it without all the background clutter.







So, the advent calendar. This time last year, i would never have guessed I'd be measuring out card and making such things! I was a strictly cards person, but after experimenting I've decided I like all things 3D too.

I used a 5" x 6 1/2" piece of card
scored on long edge at 1 1/2"; 3"; 4 1/2"; 6"
on short edge scored at 1 1/2"; 3", 4 1/2"

Folded and pressed, then cut away as shown.

Added some DSP and added Fast Fuse adhesive to flap at side of card

I have to say, this Fuse stuff is the bees knees for attaching card together! It sticks instantly and is as strong as wet glue. For the rest of the project I used my Tombow glue, which I love. You hardly need any to glue together. I found a box of 10 of them on Amazon so have enough to last for ages now.

Anyway, back to the boxes. I glued the base together as shown, pressing down inside to make sure it was stuck.

24 little boxes!

Next I made tiny finger holes to be able to open the boxes easily. I used a 1/2" circle punch for this. I also made a small matching groove in the box front

I've glued the boxes in strips as follows: 
Base row 3 boxes, then 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 to creat e a tree shape. I haven't glued the rows together as yet




So there you go - What's On Your Work-desk Wednesday? An advent calendar ... 
well almost!

Love, Peace & Happiness

Karen xx

Teeny Tiny Chocolate Favours

Hello crafty folk,

Today I'm showing how I made the little swaps for the extended team I belong to Julies Jems. I'll be meeting them for the first time at the weekend when I go to Stampin Ups Onstage event in Solihull. 

Normally, I sit at my current craft desk - aka the dining room table - but I wanted to get on with the gluing while my dad was visiting on Sunday, so I sat in the lounge with a tray on my lap. 

I used Fresh Fig and Tranquil Tide, I love those two colours.

To make:

Cut card to 5 1/4" x 3" 

With long side at top of score board, score at 3/4", 2 1/4", 3" and 4 1/2" 

Turn and score at 3/4" along both long edges

Using the Layering Squares Framelits, cut 2 scallop squares (1 3/4") for each box

Using Eastern Medallions Thinlets, cut shape for top of each box

Using More Than Chocolate stamp set and Versamark ink, stamp sentiment on the top, and gold embossing powder.

I filled my boxes with Elizabeth Shaw mint chocolate, you can fit two in each box. I made 25 boxes so bought three of the £1 boxes from B&M. I have loads left over - yum!

Love, peace & Happiness

Karen xx

A Christmas Candle ~ WOYWW~440

Hello crafty folk,

Today has been a series of "firsts" - my first decorated candle, my first visit to the WOYWW community and my first go at editing a video. That's for another blog post though, so if you're interested - watch this space!!

I have great plans for a Crafty Christmas .... provided my craft room is finished in time. Its currently a building site, and has been so since back in August when I first packed everything away, allowing my husband the room to make a few changes in there before completely redecorating. He is a slow DIYer and we've both had a lot of other things which have deterred us from getting the room done. To give him his due, dear hubby has removed a 'built in' cupboard, given me flash new chrome electric sockets and redecorated which was no easy task with the colours that were in there before! So for now, I craft on our dining room table. I have brought a lot of my supplies downstairs so the dining room is a bit of a no-go area.

Anyway, so to my first photo showing said table in all its crafty glory!

I thought I'd better make a start on those Crafty Christmas presents, so today its a practise run at decorating candles. I used a fir tree stamp and a sentiment from another stamp set (both from Stampin Up). I'd watched a few YouTube tutorials some time back and for my first attempt I was quite pleased.

I stamped the tree first, then the sentiment either side.

I used some white tissue paper to stamp onto, then cut out the tree leaving a very small border all way round. Placed it on the candle, then wrapped baking paper round tautly before using my heat gun to gently soften the candle enough for the tissue paper to adhere to the wax.

A word of warning, its best to try and grip the baking paper round the back of the candle. I didn't at first and it got very hot, very quickly!

If you look very closely, you can see where I slightly overheated the bottom of the candle on the right of the tree. Its a learning process, so hopefully my next attempt will be better.

So there you have it, a Christmas Candle.

As with all candles, if you try this at home make sure not to leave a candle burning unattended. I have no idea what will happen to the tissue paper as the candle melts, I'm hoping it'll melt down inside so the tissue paper doesn't touch the flame itself

As ever - Love, Peace & Happiness

Karen x

Materials used:

Lovely As A Tree - Stampin Up

Star Of Light - Stampin Up

Garden Green ink - Stampin Up

Cherry Cobbler ink - Stampin Up

Heat Gun

Tissue paper

Baking Paper (not greaseproof)

Cocoa Matchbooks

Hi all

Its been a very difficult summer craft-wise. My crafting space is still under construction. My wonderful hubby is doing his best to get the room completed after work, thank goodness the painting has been finished now the dark nights are in. He's currently working on the electrics side so I am more than happy for him to take his time and be SAFE!

In the meantime, I've been very busy making my swaps for Onstage which happens in just under 2 weeks time. It's my first time and I'm very excited to be going!

Stampin Up! hold these events twice a year (April & November) to introduce new products and give demonstrators a chance to get together. They encourage people to make swaps to share, but there's no rule to say you have to. I've made 30 so looking forward to meeting lots of new people to swap with.

My swaps are Cocoa Match-books. I wanted to make use of the cocoa sachets I squirrelled away while on holiday in the summer. 

You can get two match-books from a sheet of card stock. 

You'll need a piece of card - cut to 4" x 11"
Score this at 4 3/4" x 10"

A piece of DSP (Designer Series Paper) measuring 4" x 3 3/4"

• Fold score lines and sharpen creases.
• Decorate top flap and stick on DSP (toward bottom of cover).
• Punch holes in top with choc sachet inside - take care not to punch holes into sachet, but rather into the sealed top part.
• Make up tag to put inside match-book.
• Guide ribbon through the holes ensuring tag is attached. Tie in a bow and trim any frayed edges
• Add any embellishments you like 

Rhyme: 

"A little cup of cocoa

I'm sending round your way

And hoping you'll enjoy it

On a cold and wintry day"

Ingredients:
Cherry Cobbler 144646
Garden Green 108605
Whisper White card 106549 
Very Vanilla 106550
Be Merry DSP 144111
Christmas Around the World DSP 144629
Cherry Cobbler Ink 126966
Garden Green 126973
Basic Black Ink 140931
Sahara Sand 126976
Soft Suede Ink 126978
Christmas Pines photopolymer stamp set143049
Hug in a Mug photopolymer stamp set
Double Stitched Ribbon in Cherry Cobbler 144117

Tools:
Scalloped Tag Topper Punch 133324
Pretty Label Punch 143715
Tombow glue 110755

Nearly completed, just two more to finish off once I get some more ribbon!

Love, Peace & Happiness
Karen x

Twist & Pop Card

After a hard days work, its lovely to sit and share a few crafty moments. This evening its my dads birthday card. Its not until next week, so just as well he doesn't 'follow' me!

Here goes ....

My dad likes to make cards too, and at 83 he does a pretty  good job of them! I know when he receives this, he's going to want to know how it was put together, so maybe I'll introduce him to Crafty LittleMissK!

Cut an A4 sheet of card in half lengthways, then score at 5 7/8"

Take a 2nd piece of card measuring 10" x 3 1/2" and score at 2 1/2", 5" and 7 1/2". Fold with the middle score line as a 'mountain' fold

Take a 3rd piece of card measuring 8" x 3 1/2" and score at 1 3/4" on short edge. Place marks at 2 1/4" and 5 3/4" on both long edges. Score diagonally to form a cross as shown below

Fold to form an 'arrow' shape as in photo below. Use strong adhesive tape on front and back of 'arrow'

Lay the arrow centrally on your open card (I used a ruler to check), remove the adhesive, fold card over and press well. Turn the card over and repeat. You should end up with ....

Place the 2nd piece of card (W shape) on top of the mechanism, ensuring the mountain fold is in the middle. Keep the outer flaps closed at this stage.

Add strong adhesive tape to the lower outer area only - see photo, then open flap and press down to adhere. Repeat on the other side, but add the adhesive to the upper area only

Your card should now look like this ...

Using contrasting coloured card, cut 4 panels measuring 2 1/4" x 3 1/4" 

Decorate and add to card as shown

Cut 2 panels measuring 3 7/8" x 3 7/8"

Decorate and then add to areas above and below the central mechanism

Finally decorate the front of the card. I matted 2 layers as follows

3 7/8" x 5 1/2"

3 5/8" x 5 1/4"

That's about it! Just time for a quick video clip of the card in action

All my supplies are from Stampin Up! Some are sadly now retired, like the Starburst Stamps and matching Starburst Edgelets. All card stock and ink colours are current

Love, Peace & Happiness

Karen x

Boxing Lessons!

I recently had a one2one crafting session with an old friend who is also my hairdresser, Michelle! A couple of years back she started "something new each month" following a long term illness. I approached Michelle to see if she'd like one of her new experiences to be craft related - yes please was the answer, as long as it related to her then passion - cupcakes!

Unfortunately, due to circumstance beyond our control, I had to postpone, so out came the diaries to rebook. The day finally arrived this week. I'm in the middle of having my new craft space redecorated, so crafting has been kept to a minimum. But I managed to dig out some supplies to create some pretty samples for Michelle.

 I had a mixture of current and retired supplies, but made sure Michelle knew the retired items couldn't be ordered any more. I asked her which samples she would like to make herself and she chose three - the gift bag, lip balm gift box and jumbo tea light gift box.

We had a lovely afternoon creating these goodies.

Looking forward to our next crafty day. More info on the making of these items soon

K xxx

65th Birthday Card

I had a male birthday card to make, didn't particularly want to use High Tide or Nailed It (retired) so where to go for inspiration? ..... Pinterest! I liked the style of a few cards, so combined them all and created this card using elements from four stamp sets - Number of Years, Colourful Seasons, Happy Birthday Gorgeous .... and yes, a little bit of High Tide!

I started by masking off the edges of a piece of Whisper White card and gently sponging a variety of blues and pinks.
I then added the sandy area and grasses.
This was followed by the autumnal leaves, the numbers and text stamps.
Lastly I added the adironak chairs. I've owned a pink one myself for a few years which is where I got some of my inspiration (here in the UK retirement age is 65 and I thought the chairs indicated relaxation).

Originally, the card had been all white but once I'd finished, I realised I'd created the card front upside-down! So cut off the front, bringing in a couple of the colours from the stamping and matted on Tangerine Tango before finally using Soft Sky as the card base.

K

Rich Razzleberry

This card is a CASE from Linda Hardwick who created the original in Sahara Sand and Whisper White (you can find her instructions on You Tube)

My card came from the Brights Collection as that's the only card I have with matching dsp!

I also used a sentiment from Avant Garden which can be obtained at the moment from the Sale-a-Bration leaflet with a qualifying £45 order (exc p&p) from SU. 

The dsp was coated in Wink of Stella (clear) to add a shine.

Supplies:

Rich Razzleberry

Whisper White

Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies

Petite Petals stamp set 

Petite Petals punch

Wink of Stella

Avant Garden stamp set

First I cut out the card base in Whisper White 11"x 4½"

In Whisper White you also need 5"x 3¾";  2¾"x 2¾";  2¾" x 1"

In Rich Razzleberry you will need 5¼" x 4";  3" x 3";  3"x 1¼" plus a 2" stitched circle 

In DSP you will need 2½" x ¾";  2½" x 2½";  plus a 1½" stitched circle 

a small ribbon bow

sentiment stamp of your choice

The card is simple enough to make up, and looks lovely. I shall be making more of these once I have more colours to choose from.

Happy Crafting!

Colours

I've been missing in action for a couple of weeks while I concentrated on my other hobby - knitting! But this week I'm back at my craft table playing with some new things from Stampin Up!

My lovely Upline, Anne Williams, sent me a parcel of goodies when I first joined the SU family including a cello bag of colour samples showing all the colours SU do. I was so pleased as this way I can see at a glance what colours I fancy working with next.

So they didn't get ruined, I've laminated them all this afternoon and then separated them into colour families, connecting them with small book rings. A larger book ring holds them all together so I can refer to them easily.

Of course, its nearly time for the new In Colour selection to come out for 2017-19, so will be adding another bunch to the ring and hopefully not pulling too many off if they decide to retire any.

Happy Crafting!

My First Time!

Hi and welcome to my first blog as a Stampin Up! Demonstrator. I'm very slowly building up a supply of goodies to be able to show how versatile Stampin Up! craft items can be. First up a gift box with a funky closure.


I followed a You Tube tutorial by Sam Hammond (aka Pootles) and her instructions were easy to follow..... .https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyFwC9Rd6Q4&t=25s
As I gain more confidence I shall endeavour to create my own goodies.

The box was made using Bermuda Bay and Whisper White card stock. The ink was Bermuda Bay as was the DSP (Double Sided Paper)! The stamp image on the tiny letter is from Sealed With Love and the teeny tiny envelope from the Love Notes Framelits

Think I've covered everything. I love the top on this box and there is deceptively plenty of room inside.

Happy Crafting!