Valentine's Day is almost here

It's a cold morning today so I thought that I would sew one of the new Felt Heart kits that I have just added to the Craft Fairy web site.

This kit is the pink heart kit and it is made up of lots of our beautiful Crat Fairy products.

So. I'm sure that you want to get started on your project.

Get your kit here:

Decorated Felt Heart Kit

This is what you will need to do.

The heart is decorated before it is sewn together.

Start by sewing a length of the heart ribbon in a diagonal across one side of the felt heart. Don't worry if the ribbon is a bit too long as you can trim it later.

Now sew on the buttons as seen.

Next sew on the beads. I sewed them on randomly. You can add more if you want. There are plenty of beads in the pack.

Take a length of ribbon and fold it into a loop. Pin the loop to the inside of the felt heart.

Now, using the white embroidery thread, sew the heart together. I used blanket stitch. Make sure that you sew the blanket stitch through the ribbon loop as this will hold it in place.

When you have sewn about three quarters of the heart, fill it with some stuffing until you are happy that it is bouncy enough. Not too full though.

Finish sewing the heart together. remembering to remove any pins. 

You have a heart. Perfect for a little girl's room.  

Hearts in Lilac Felt

I hope that I'm not the only one to become obsessed with making a whole load of variations on a theme.   My current obsession is these felt hearts. My daughter said that she really liked them so that was me convinced and I was off. So here's today's heart in lilac this time.

I made it slightly different from the last one so compare them and see what I mean.

  

Make a gift box - tutorial

In the last post I gave you a video on how to decorate gift boxes, and this one is on how o make them. It should have been the other way around really but that's femail logic for you.

So this post is on

How to make small gift boxes

It's a video tutorial again so I hope that you enjoy and learn and make lots of boxes.



Get your supplies from

www.craftfairy.co.uk

Enjoy and please let me see the boxes.

Christmas Pressie Idea

I bet that you're all stuck for Christmas presents. Well, think no longer as here is a quick and easy gift that you can make yourself. The cost to you will be small but the thanks and appreciation will be huge.

To make this bag you will need:

Small NATURAL JUTE Shopper 250 x 110 x 290mm
Garden Pastels Assorted Buttons approx, 50g - You will have anought left over to make more bags
Celadon Grosgrain Ribbon, 3m x 9mm Again lots left over
Celadon Double Faced Satin Ribbon, 5m x 3mm and again
Double sided tape

Lay your bag flat on a worksurface. About 6cm up from the bottom seam  put a strip of double sided tape.
Now use 3mm tape and put a few strips at random heights vertically down the bag front as seen in the picture.
Stick your ribbon to all of the double sided tape.
Using double sided tap again, stick buttons to the bag.
For added security, sew the buttons into place.

Poppies for Remembrance

Christmas preparations are well underway and I am surrounded by red, green and some gold. So I thought that I would keep the Christmas colours going for a while with this green, red and cream card. It is also almost November Remembrance Sunday so this card is perfect for that too.
.

The stamp is from Stampinback and available here.
The ribbon is available here.
The buttons here
The sentiment here

To make this card you will need to stamp out the poppy on to a piece of watercolour paper or even hammer card. I used Stazon in Stone Grey to do this. Colour in the image.
Stamp out the saying and mount with red card.
Use some scrapbook paper to cover the base card and leave a thin margin all around the edge.
Use double sided tape to stick the ribbon to the card.
Mount the stamped poppy onto a piece of red card and stick onto the base card with foam pads. This will give it height.
Stick the sentiment and the buttons to the card and you're finished.

For my Demo at Dandie Crafts

On the 13th October, I will be demoing at Dandie Crafts on the Treforest Trading Estate.

So I am busily making cards to demo on the day. This is the first one that I came up with as I was specifically asked to demo ribbon weaving. I hope that you like it and will come along to look, learn and chat.

I will post the other things that I will demo as I make them so keep on checking back with me.

Bags of Fun

I've decided to go back to my recent obsession of sewing and I've decorated another bag. I wanted something quick and simple that would also be effective and have everyone asking. 'Where did you buy that bag?'

I hope that this fits the bill on all counts.
To make the bag, get the Summer bag kit from Craft Fairy.

Simply take:
1 jute bag, this one measures   Jute bag size 250x100x280mm
I piece of 6mm apple green ribbon
1 piece of flower ribbon 23mm wide
Some buttons from the summer flower pack
needle and green thread.

First make your flowers
Cut three lengths of ribbon in varying lengths and sew to front of bag. I used a couching stitch
Sew your ribbon flowers to the top of each length of ribbon.
Sew a button to the center of each ribbon flower and swing your bag. as it is now ready to use.

How to Decorate a Fabric Bag

Don't you just love it when something turns out right? Well, I do at least, and this latest bag is a 'just right' for me.

The kit is available from Craft Fairy at an offer price until the 25th March.

Everything can be bought separately if you would prefer.

To be honest this bag is simplicity itself to make.

Attached the green ribbon to the bag with Bondaweb. Occasionally put in a loop to look like leaves.

Attach the pink flower ribbon over the bottom of the flower stalks with Bondaweb.

Sew the buttons in place and the bag is done. How easy is that?

OK .... alert:

You can use double sided tape too.

Cupcake Hair Bows

In my last blog entry, I showed you the new cupcake ribbons that have just arrived here with us at Craft Fairy. This time I am going to be far more proactive (don't you just love that word) and show you a simple bow project.

I've put in a picture right away as I always find it annoying if you have to wait until the very end until you find out what it is. 

So, to make this bow you will need:

Cupcakes on Pink grosgrain ribbon 16mm wide

Brown grosgrain ribbon 16mm wide

a button from the flowers button pack

Strong thread

a needle

Double sided tape.

C

Cut two 24cm pieces of 16mm brown ribbon 

Cut two 24cm pieces of 16mm pink ribbon 

Put a piece of double sided tape in the centre of each of the 4 pieces of ribbon. Make sure to put it on the wrong side of the cupcake ribbon.

When you've done this, remove the covering from the double sided ribbon and fold the outer edges to the centres that they touch and are held in place by the tape. 

Sick all 4 pieces as shown in the picture above. 

Cross the two pieces of brown grosgrain as shown and sew the two pieces together with a running stitch. 

Pull the thread tight and loop it around the ribbons so that they bunch up in the centre. Repeat this stage with the cupcake ribbon.   

Now, sew the cupcake ribbon onto the brown ribbon and finish with a button in the centre. You can add a pin or a barrette to the back if you like.

A different colour for a change

I've managed to stay away from pink again today as I had this beautiful designer paper that I think looks rather like a chackered tablecloth. I picked up the colours of the cloth to colour in the fairy which is from the Baking Fairy set of stamps by Craft Fairy.


I've entered this card in the Craft Your Passion challenge for buttons.

Glamour Girl 4?

At least I think that it's 4 in the series that I'm doing at the moment. Luckily a challenge has been thrown down at Phindy's Place for distressing so I've decided to go with that as it stops me from using pink.
I've also entered it in the Create for Fun challenge week 02.
Do You Stack Up? Cute as a button.

Delightful Challenge Buttons


I've used distressed papers and a pointillism image which gives a really good vintage/faded image. The browns and greys add to the distressed feel too.

The stamp is from the Glamour Girls sheet from Time to Stamp and can be bought here.
The ribbon here.

The flowers here.

Pink Party Fairy

I woke up early this morning and so I decided to see what challenges lay in store for me. When I first saw this challenge recipe on Creative Inspirations challenge - 93, I must admit that I thought that it was beyond me and what I had in my stash, but.....I have done it!

CHALLENGE 93 - RECIPE!

This week we want to see you include ALL of the following on your work :

4 PAPERS

3 FLOWERS

2 RIBBONS

1 BUTTON

Just in case anyone is counting, there are 3 patterned papers and one plain one.
I used the sketch from Sunday Sketch and Stamp, Claire's Sketch 44, for the layout as this inspired me to set everything out well.
If you want to make sometning similar then you will be able to get the stamp here,
the flowers here, the ribbon here.

This card is also entered in the Stamping Royalty challenge 53.

Happy crafting

Glamour in Pink and Black

I think that I'm on a roll with the Glamour Girls Stamps from Time to Stamp so I've made another one that is a bit on the dramatic side. I've noticed that pink and black is a very popular colour combo at the craft fairy so I've decided to go with this for the latest card. I just love the way that the stamp seems to have a sheen especially on the nylons. I bet that some of my younger readers don't even know what they are. Guesses in the comments would be fun.

You can get this wonderful stamp here.
The ribbon here

I've entered this in the Secret Crafter's Challenge 115, Buttons and Bows.
Happy crafting.

Forgotten Stamps

Sometimes a much loved stamp gets forgotten in the jumble that is my stamp collection and it can emerge in a much needed tidy up. This beautiful glamour girl is one of those lost treasures. I've done somrthing different with her today as I've used lots of elements that I don't usually associate with a glamourous figure, gingham being one of those.


If you really love this stamp you can get the stamp here.
The gingham ribbon here.
As I chose the colours that are in the Colour Create challenge 61 - Pink, red and white it is entered in that today.

Poppy Card for the New Year

Well, Christmas may be over but the year goes on and I thought that I would keep the Christmas colours going for a while with this green, red and cream card. The poppy is always a popular flower and it lends itself so well to this colour theme too.

The stamp is from Stampinback and available here.
The ribbon is available here.
The sentiment is from I Brake for Stamps and is available here.

I've entered this in the Craft Your Passion Challenge 38.

Crafty Ann's Challenge blog anything goes.

City Crafter challenge blog. Stamp it out.

Little Red wagon, Leftovers

Happy crafting

Calling all gardeners.

I bet that this awful weather has upset a lot of would be gardeners. The cold has frozen the earth and stopped them all from going outside to get on with the winter work. To compensate for that I’ve made this humorous card for the gardeners in your life. Go on, give them a laugh.

To make the card you will need:
Big Daddy stamp from I Brake for Stamps. This can be bought here at Craft Fairy.
Art and Graphic pens to colour up the stamp.
A selection of papers to layer up the card
Foam pads to stick on the layers
Glue
Grosgrain ribbon which is available form Craft Fairy
Eazi-score board for making the perfect crease on your card.

I'm entering this card in the Sketch Saturday challenge. So wish me luck.

Snowman and Holly for Christmas

Over the last couple of years it seems that Christmas has been geting colder and there have been far more snowmen around so the theme for this year's Christmas cards has to be: Snowman and Holly.
I decided to make it with some of the new ribbon that arrived with Craft Fairy last week.



To make this card you will need:

Snowman with checkered scarf rubber stamp from the Merry Stamper range on the Craft Fairy site.
Holly leaves
Candy Cane Christmas ribbon
Art and Graphic pens by Zig, Kuretake in colours 29 and 50
Some vintage Doodlebug paper : Jolly Holly stripe
Kuretake Calligraphy pen in silver for the border of the image and the card.
Stazon in Stone grey
14 cm x 14 cm base card in white plus extra for the stamped image
Foam pads
glue
Double sided tape

To make the card
Stamp (with Stazon), and colour your image on a spare piece of white card.
Edge the card with the silver calligraphy pen
Stick a piece of Christmas paper onto the bottom of your card.
Tie an esy bow in the ribbon and use the double sided tape to attach it to the card.
Attach the image and the holly leaves to the card with foam pads. Attahc a button to the holly leaves.
Draw a dot dash pattern on the edgeof the card as seen.
As an extra advantage I decide to enter it into the let it snow, Simon Says Challenge and the Paper Take Weekly challenge for Cut it Out.

Read My Lips Lucille

I just had to make a card out of this fabulous stamp, Read my Lips Lucille. I've had her for a while, but I really wanted a good saying to go with her. I found the one that I've added here and neadless to say, I'm over the moon. The stamp is on sale at my Craft Fairy site and it is made by the wonderful Della from I Brake for Stamps. Her Humerous Senior range is the original and the best too.

What you will need:
1 base card, 140mm x 140mm
Contrasting card for layering
Read my Lips Lucille stamp
Zig Kuretake tut pens in colours: 207 (for skin), 56, 23, 49
A button for the corner
A saying.
Feel free to copy the one that I've used. I printed it out on the computer, cut it out and layered it up.
16mm scarlet satin ribbon for the centre of the card.

I really didn't think that this lady needed my usual pinks so I went for no nonsense colours, but because it is nearly Christmas I added some reds too.

Ribbon Flower Tutorial 2

Well! The response to my last flower tutorial was huge so it's spurred me on to do another one and as we have just added fabulous satin dot ribbons to the Craft Fairy site this was an opportunity to use them too.

So above, is the finished flower and now I'm sure that you all want to see how I made it.

First you will need to assemble your ingredients:

On my table I had:
4 strips of hot pink satin swiss dot ribbon each measuring 15 cm.
A few buttons. I hadn't yet decided which ones to use. You will need one bigger than the other though.
Cotton
A needle. Use a sharp one.
Start your flower by putting some glue on one end of the ribbon:

Fold it to the centre add glue to the other end and fold that to the centre too. Your ribbon should overlap and form a loop that the glue holds together in the centre.



Once you've done this you can layer up the pieces as seen in the picture below and now you're almost ready to sew them together.

I played around with the buttons that I had on the table and I finally chose a pink and a green button as I liked the way that they looked.
You need to be aware that you are sewing a lot of layers of ribbon together so that's why you will need a sharp needle. I started by sewing just two pieces together to get the position right.


Now layer up the pieces and sew together. Add your buttons and sew together and your flower is ready to go...

Ribbon Flower Tutorial

As many of you may know, we sell lots of ribbon at Craft Fairy and I have now learnt not to be amazed when customers ask me... What can I do with ribbon? So to help out those who don't know, here is my latest tutorial.


Gingham Ribbon flower:

1. You will need a 10 inch length of ribbon. I used this black and white gingham. You will need at least 23 mm ribbon for this to work. Ribbon available from Craft Fairy.
   
2. Thread in your chosen colour. I used white but red would be quite nice if you have red on your card or page.
3. Two buttons, one slightly bigger than the other.

Now comes the fun part:

Thread your needle and with small stitches, stich along one edge of the ribbon.

When you get to the end of the ribbon, pull the thread to make the ribbon into the sort of cartwheel shape that you can see in the picckie.

Sew the ribbon together at the back... No one wants to see tacking stitches.

Now sew the bigger button on first and then when it's secure sew the smaller button on top.
There we are, ready to be used.