Category Archives: papercrafting

It’s Hunkydory Goody Bag time

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Last week was Hunkydory Fest, with lots of great fun live shows as well as some extra special festival prices and the best part of any festival – the goody bag!

For £20 they guarantee at least £50 worth of products, and like their larger goody boxes, these include new products, not just old stock. So what did I get?

I did order some of the card blanks, so I could get free delivery and every order got a festival wrist band too.

There were a few small items in the bag, including some glue and a pack of glue dots. Then a fantastic background stamp set and a lovely roll of diamond sparkles gem stones (Aurora Borealis). I’m not a big stamper, but these stamps look really useful so I must have a go at doing more than stamping a few sentiments. The gems will be really useful. Finally for the smaller items, there was the little square book of Vintage Journeys. This is a matt finish pad of 20 different images (6 of each) and they are gorgeous. Lots of reminders of holidays past – Rome and Paris, as well as some lovely vintage images of campervans and cameras. This is definitely one I need to start crafting with. This little pile alone would cost over £20, so all the rest of the bag is essentially FREE!!!

Hunkydory are well known for their topper sets and there were a few included here. The Swan Lake and Sit Back & Relax are from the Topper Favourites range. I think both of these will be useful for family and friend’s cards.

Next were the Just married topper set (including 2 pieces of patterned and foiled cardstock) and the deco-large – Go Ape. I have the full deco-large kit with this in, but I’m ok having it duplicated. I think it’s a fab image (although at a push I might have preferred the red panda!)

These are another decoupage sheet of a princess tiara and a butterfly – not really my style, but I’m sure there will be someone out there who likes these images. But I love the bicycle stepper card and this will be fun to make.

Finally came a collection of cardstock, both shimmer glitter card in lavender and a full collection of pearl patterned card. I didn’t have any of these in my stash already, but I do have other collections of the patterned card packs and they are great for backgrounds.

So all-in-all I’m pretty happy with this little lot. It’s a goody bag and you have to be willing to take the chance with what you get. Whilst I wouldn’t necessarily have bought some of the items, it does mean I go outside my comfort zone with some of them and I get to have a try of something new (stepper card). I have seen a few bag openings on the internet and there have been a few quite like this bag, but not everything is the same. The people who ordered more than one bag do seem to have got a good mix of things, although all are along the same lines. In my opinion it’s worth the risk in what you get because the products are of great quality and it’s a nice surprise to get in the post (and who doesn’t want that once in a while?!)

Time to get on with some actual crafting as I have a few things coming up in the next couple of weeks.

Happy crafting

x

(Parkrun was Clarence, time 49:18 – it’s a mud bath!)

Hunkydory Orders

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After my ‘no spend’ decision going to pot after less than a day, I thought I’d catch you all up on the other recent Hunkydory orders that have arrived in the last couple of weeks.

First up was an order from the sale. I was after a stock up on some mirri card as I’ve been without any full sheets of rainbow mirri for some considerable time. As the price was too good to miss, I added in some gold too – I use it all the time these days and only have a couple of A4 sheets left.

As the paperpads were half price, I added in this shades of browns and greys. It’s a colour selection I didn’t already have and I think it will go nicely with some of the animals, wood and more masculine themes I have in my stash.

I then went a bit mad on inserts and papers sets as they were great value (reduced from £9.99 down to £1.99). I don’t actually have all the corresponding kits for these, but I do have some of the little books and even so, the papers are so lovely, they will work in their own right.

Finally for this order were a few essentials – isn’t everything essential though really?! And who doesn’t need a spider web stencil?! It was so lovely I just couldn’t resist it.

My other order was from their Club birthday event and included the new set of Delightful Die-cuts which covers sports, birthdays and music. These will be so very useful for all the pop-up boxes I make and it means the image quality will be better than having to print out from the internet. I’ve also picked up the most recent club gift bundle – Moonlit Moments. The colours of this kit are so vibrant I can’t wait to find an event to make use of them. I’m not sure why I didn’t take pictures from this order, but I’m sure they will pop up on some makes soon.

I do love the quality of Hunkydory products, they really are lovely to work with and last a long time too. I’ve had to place an order during their current Hunkydory Fest, just so that I can get the limited edition wristband (it would be rude not to) and that’s including one of their festival goody bags – I can’t wait to see what I get in that one.

Happy crafting

x

(No Parkrun last week – had a lie-in instead)

Shaped card crafting

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It’s been a few weeks since I last wrote, I’m really starting to wonder where the time goes these days. The joys of middle age have been working their magic again – lethargy, brain fog and lack of focus!

Anyway, I’m here currently back in school covering the office for a few hours while the staff have some academy conversion training! Fingers crossed it’s quiet as it’s pouring down outside. I an hoping to catch up with some of the staff here as it’s been quite a while due to all the lockdowns and me leaving the lunchtime rota.

So what else have I been up to crafting wise? Well, Easter came and went quickly. It was great to be able to spend it with my family and after the holidays were cancelled due to craftykid testing positive for Covid (had to happen at some point I suppose). No symptoms and both me and my husband remained negative. In spite of the very boring school holidays we managed a celebratory trip to Hebden Bridge once she tested negative and I arranged a couple of egg hunts, one at home and one at my Mum’s for my nephews. I was really proud of the one I did at home as I wrote a poem of clues based on the nursery rhyme ‘Round and round the garden’.

Crafting wise I’ve been making lots of cards for us at home and some lovely local orders too. Over the last couple of years, I’ve really enjoyed making different shaped cards. I started making handbag cards several years ago, but I have tried to enhance them recently with more elaborate papers and gems as well as paper flowers.

So I thought I’d have a go at some more shaped cards. My Dad plays golf, so this golf bag card was an ideal format for him. I invested in a collection of plaid papers and they work brilliantly for these cards.

My next attempt ay a shaped card was at the request of a friend wanting a shoe for her niece’s 21st birthday. This was a little more tricky as I had to get the proportions of the shoe and the heel so it looked right as a shoe, but also sturdy enough to stand up. It took a few goes to get the basic shape and then it was a simple (?) case of picking the papers and decorations.

I plumped for a sophisticated elegant look using a collection from Papermania – Midnight Blush. It gives such a soft look , I just wish I could walk in a pair of heels that high!

Well, that’s about all for now. Time to work on some ideas for more shaped cards I think!

Happy crafting

K x

January Birthdays

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January and February are busy months for birthdays and anniversaries for us. So the beginning of the year is always taken up with family crafting. This year I’ve decided to have a real go at using up some of the numerous card-making kits I’ve bought over the years and see what I can come up with.

The great things is that all the people celebrating are of different generations and have totally different likes.

I started off with my in-laws. I was inspired by a visit to see the Flying Scotsman on our local steam railway and made this card for my Father-in-Law using a Hunkydory kit.

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I followed this with a card for my Mother-in-Law, using another Hunkydory kit, this time the little book of birthdays. Such lovely designs and I just couldn’t help adding some die cut butterflies!

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Next it’s my nephew’s first birthday. So not a card he would appreciate so much as one for his parents! I was given a set of balloon dies and some number dies for Christmas which was perfect for this occasion. This is a great card for using up offcuts of papers.

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I’ve also made cards for my Brother-in-Law, Sister-in-Law and my husbands Best man. The little book of birthdays and male images have been a great investment here!

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Finally for now is my other nephew’s fifth birthday in a couple of weeks time. He’s mad about Star Wars at the moment, so I made him a spaceman card. I hope he likes it.

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Well it’s time to get back to desk, I have my Mum’s birthday and Mum and Dad’s 45th wedding anniversary to make for, as well as Valentine’s Day!

Happy crafting
x

Christmas Cracker Cards

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This year I have decided to get going with my Christmas cards a little earlier than usual. I made some poinsettia cracker cards from kraft card a couple of years ago and really loved the idea, so I thought I’d expand on it for my cards this year.

So I’ve been delving into my Christmas crafting box to see what I have in there. It’s amazing how much stuff I have accumulated and completely forgotten I have! It was nice to have a plan for a change though, so I was looking for ideas for making and decorating crackers.

I found some kraft card DL card blanks so started with those and decided to use up some of the craftwork cards kits I have purchased over the last few years.  The paper and card quality is fabulous and I loved the more muted colours in these kits. I also used some of the paper bows to add detail on the sides of the toppers, it was great to make some of them up and mix them with the papers.

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It was nice to make different cards for change, using sentiments as the main focal point of the card instead of images. Having made this I was eager to make some more in a slightly different style, so I made some little owls again. This time using some papermania Christmas papers and mixing the designs up has given some interesting effects. The colours here are a little more contemporary than the first set, but equally as stunning I think. I toyed with some options for the bows, using bakers twine or ribbon, but as I wanted to co-ordinate I decided to make the bows myself using the leftovers of the matching papers.

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This has now started a bit of a production line of different styles of cracker cards and really got my imagination going, out came the stamps, dies and papercrafting kits. I have a fairly large paper and card collection which have been saved for a ‘special occasion’, but I thought it’s time to start using some and I made some of my own card blanks as well. The patterned card makes a great backing for some handcut toppers too. I really love poinsettias at Christmas and making them up in different colours is great fun.

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I’ve been a fan of the Hunkdory cardkits for some time and have loads of them. The cardstock is so gorgeous though that I’ve always wondered what to do with it to make the most of the images. Now I’ve found a way of using some of the cardstock. So I’ve gone for some traditional images and as a compromise, there are some cute animals and some contemporary images too. There is such a great choice of colours too, ranging from very cool and crisp to the warm and cosy. I could just snuggle up by the fire with the little cat on the cushion!

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Finally I found this gorgeous Christmas kit. I have no idea where it came from but the colours are just gorgeous.

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The joy of making my own Christmas cards is that although the overall design is very similar, each one is individual. Once I’ve used up each paper design that’s it!

I will be taking all of these cards along to the Ramsbottom Pre-Christmas Craft Fair on Saturday 31st October, so they will be for sale. If you are in the area, it would be great to se you.

Happy crafting
x

Holiday Hama Beads!

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This week has been a big week for crafting, as the weather hasn’t been all that great. We had an afternoon with one of my daughters friends and she loves to do arts and crafts. So I managed to teach two 6 year olds to finger knit! I keep finding little strings of knitting all round the house now.   We also had a go at some French knitting, but that was a bit awkward for them to hold, so I ended up doing most of that one.

Anyway, we also have my husbands birthday coming up very soon and we had to do some serious making this week in preparation!  Out came the making box and the kitchen table was soon lost under piles of paper, funky foam, feathers and glitter!

This first creation is a desert island jigsaw for her friend to do.  The pieces are all leaves for a palm tree in the centre of the desert island.  She drew all the palm leaves and then very carefully cut them out.  I really like the little boat sailing into the picture, but I’m not quite sure what the tulip is doing in the sea!

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Her next creation is a rather fantastic card / picture for her Dad’s birthday next week.  She used loads of different ideas, and spent a lot of time using stencils and cutting out the birds, leaves and heart.  She also made her own envelope for a little letter!  I was pretty impressed with all the ideas she had and her attention to detail.  It’s such a jolly little picture with all the birds singing and a smiley sunshine – apparently the leaves have been blown off the tree and are slowing drifting to the ground.

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Next she wanted to have a go at some decoupage! Typically she couldn’t choose something simple for her first attempt. No sign of any die-cut sheets here! She found a set of Scooby Doo images we bought her quite a while ago and had a good effort cutting out each image, then ‘pinching’ my 3d foam tape to layer them up!

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What was great about this was that her friend saw one of the images she had created and she had to explain how she had done it for her!

Later this week we had a really bad weather day, so we got out the hama beads and while I was finishing off some projects, she set to work on some new creations for me to iron! This one took some time! She wanted to make some bunting, and then decided to add in a magician, complete with magic hat, wand and rabbit,  We also have the sun, moon and a magic star sparkle.  To complete the scene we have the always required dragonfly and some minecraft slime!!! This was a completely single-handed creation and took the best part of an afternoon. I love the imagination that’s gone into this and how she thought about all the little details with the stripes on the hat for the ribbon and the wand has white tips too. Brilliant!

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It’s such a shame the scene is so long as it was quite hard to get a good picture of. Here’s some of the smaller creations she also made. The seahorse is a template provided, but the butterfly is her own work, using a heart shaped board.

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I’m waiting for some more creepy crawlies to find their way into the makes over the rest of the holidays, as she’s taken a real love to snails in the garden! Eugh!

Happy crafting
x

Summer’s arrived!

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Well I should have been recovering from my gallbladder operation this week, but after spending an entire day in a waiting room, it was cancelled.  So, after calming down I have been crafting to keep my mind occupied.

With the weather having taken a turn for the better too over the last few days, I’ve been able to do some crafting outside.  I’m afraid my knitting needles and crochet hooks have been set aside as my hands get too hot in the sun, so it’s been papercrafting all the way this week.

I’ve been thinking about different motifs to add to my cards and I’ve decided to make some owls.  I haven’t really explored this idea, short of knitting an owl last year and using a card kit to make some cards, but it’s been on my list of ideas for a little while.  Having been watching ‘Springwatch‘ on TV I have become a bit obsessed with wildlife and the owls seemed like the ideal way to bring wildlife into my crafting.

As I said I get a bit hot when knitting in the sunshine, and sewing isn’t one of my passions, but I do like the look of papercrafting with faux stitching.  I looked through my huge stash of papers and found some lovely vintage florals from Craftseller magazine and using some Creative Crafting World templates, I’ve put together a few owls.

P1020160I have half a braincell thinking about my card entry for this years Bury Show and I think I might use this owl for something different this year.  Maybe an owl shaped card?!

I’ve also made some little owls which I think I’m going to put on the thank you cards for my daughter’s teachers this year. I might even make some little felt owls to add to keyrings.  I shall see how much time I actually have before I commit to that one.  It might be apples as I have a few already made up.

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It hasn’t been just owls though, I’ve also made some little birds which I love making using up scraps of my favourite papers.  These really lend themselves to kraft card too.

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These birds have ben very popular with my daughter and she is very happy with her pens and pencils, designing her own.

So my craft space has been quite ornithological (easy for some to say) this week. Just shows you never know what will inspire you to craft!

Happy crafting
x