Where the hell is Matt?

This is completely non craft related but loads of fun. My husband told me to search the above phrase up on YouTube and there are loads of possible videos. I clicked on the first one and this is what it was....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY

How cool is that.... and what a lucky guy to have been able to visit all those places and danced with all those people. I am going to check out some more of his videos :)

12 Tags of Christmas

Well for another year Tim Holtz is doing his brilliant 12 Tags of Christmas. Full of great ideas and inspiration. I can't believe he makes the tags the night before he posts them, such a lot of work but with 55,000 views on the first day it shows how popular they are. Here are images of his first two tags.

His blog can be found at www.timholtz.typepad.com for full step by step instructions.

Something to get those grey cells working!

I have a friend who sends me lots of e-mails with funny pictures, stories and jokes in. Some are very rude but every so often I get ones which I really like. I enjoy word puzzles so this was right up my street. I didn't get the answer to this one I had to cheat and look but like so many things once I knew it was obvious! See if you can work it out....

See if you can figure out what these seven words all have in common?

1. Banana
2. Dresser
3. Grammar
4. Potato
5. Revive
6. Uneven
7. Assess

 

If you want to know the answer scroll down...

Answer:
In all of the words listed, if you take the first letter, place it at the end of the word, and then spell the word backwards, it will be the same word.

Christmas Decoration

Each year I like to make a Christmas Decoration to add to our collection. This year I came across instructions for the bauble below. It is really easy to make although a little time consuming. The first one I made I used double sided tape to hold it together and it didn't. This second one uses the BRILLIANT Art Institute glue which holds it no problem. I am going to have a go at making some more with more contrasting colours to see how that looks (on to the to do list!)

Christmas Card Time!

As Christmas draws closer we are starting to get ready here at Cre8tive. Our November card class was completely Christmas but with a slightly different colour scheme. For Christmas I pretty much always stick to green and red with either white or gold or silver. Somehow these colours are Christmas to me. However I wanted to try something a bit different this month so the colour scheme was the ever popular kraft, red and then white. I really like the combination, what do you think?

 

Products used: 

Kraft Card Bazzill

Kraft Corrugated Card

Traditional Messages Wood Mounted Stamps

EK Success Snowflake Punch

Two Tone Red Ribbon

Merry Christmas Clear Stamp Set

Stickles Glitter Glue

1" Circle Punch

White Pen

Paper Piercer

Basic Grey November & December POTM kits

The latest Basic Grey kits are in and contain some seriously scrummy stash. I am absolutely loving the flowers in the Black Tie kit (I have looked at them closely and I can't quite work out how they are made, they are layers of papery loveliness!) and the metal flowers in the Picadilly kit are rather lovely too. If you have subscribed to the kits I will be sending out an e-mail tomorrow or Wednesday asking for payment. If you don't want to know what the pages look like then look away now!!

UKScrappers Blog Hop

Welcome to the Cre8tive blog and our first ever Blog Hop...if you are participating in the UKS blog hop, you probably came here from Crafty Templates , welcome to our little corner of the web. 

Please comment at the end using your UKS username  for a chance to win a UKS prize and if you like what you see we would love it if you followed our blog. Don't forget to check out UKS to see the full list of links and info on the prizes! In addition we are offering a 10% discount for today only so enter the code UKS-HOP at the checkout on our site www.cre8tiveonline.co.uk to get the discount on your order. 

Right so on to our project... At the moment my recipes are stored in an old exercise book that is splattered with cake mix and is looking decidedly dog eared! I have been looking for a box to turn into a recipe box and when I came across this pine chest I knew it would be perfect. I like pretty but I also like practical so because it is going to be in a kitchen I wanted to make it wipe-downable so I have kept the decoration flat and the surface will be sealed and the recipe cards themselves will be laminated so they to will be protected too. I have also organised a recipe swap for our next crop on 26th November so please check back to see what lovely recipes people come up with.

The first step is to choose the papers you want to cover your box. I used this picture as inspiration for my colours.

Cut strips from your papers in random thickness's. Lay the strips of paper in the order that you like ready to stick to your box.

To stick the strips on your box you need to use an adhesive like decoupage glue or the Ranger glue and seal. Using a foam brush to apply the glue you need to make sure that the strip is covered in glue right to the edges so that when you stick the strips down they are not going to peel up at the edges. For the first strip cover in glue and then use the catch as a guide for the angle to stick as in the picture.

Trim off the pieces that are hanging off the edge of the lid and keep the bottom one as you will need this to stick to the front of your box shortly. (the part with the white on in the image above).

My second strip is cut to 3cm wide which fitted perfectly over the catch. Using the piece you have saved from the step above use it as a guide to cut the angle for where your 3cm strip will meet the bottom of the lid. Keep the section cut off the 3cm strip as you will need this later as well.

Stick your strip down trimming off the bottom corner to go to the left of your catch as in the image below.

The fiddly bit is cutting around the catch but the glue actually makes this easier. Because the paper becomes more pliable when the glue is applied you can use a pokey tool to gently 'draw' around the catch (see the image below). This indicates where you will need to cut and you can then peel the strip back just enough to cut the marked area with your scissors and then re-stick the trimmed piece around the catch.

Shut your box and stick the two strips you saved earlier to continue on the line of the strips on the front of the box. Again you will need to trim around the catch.

Continue adding your strips in the same way all across your box (I left the ends of the box blank but you could decorate these as well if you wanted to). Once you have used one of each of the strips you laid out earlier you can repeat the pattern.You will need to do the same over the hinges at the back as you did with the catch at the front.

To finish the outside of the box cut a scalloped circle from white card using the Woodware 3 1/2" punch. Cut a strip of black card 4cm wide and then trim off a triangle from each end to make a banner. Die cut 'Recipes' and stick to the banner. Your box is now ready to seal.

For the inserts for your box you will need to cut black card to 18cm x 11cm for each of your main dividers and then white card 23cm x 18cm for your sub-dividers. So I did ...
Starters (black)
-Soups (white)
Mains (black)
-Fish (white)
-Meat (white)
-Vegetarian (white)
-Pasta (white)
-International (white)
Puddings (black)
-Hot (white)
-Cold (white)
Baking (black)
-Cakes (white)
-Biscuits (white)

I decided to add a little decoration to my main dividers to tie in with the box so each one had the top corners rounded and 2 strips of paper going the other way to the box. I stuck them in random places on the front but used the first one to line up the angle of the strips as below. They then had a banner with a die cut title stuck to them as on the lid of the box.

The white card is going to be made into pockets to hold your recipes so you need to score at 11cm, 11.5cm and 12cm. I used the brilliant Hougie Board.

Once scored fold as in the image below and corder round the corners. Add a banner with a title for each pocket.

Again to line up the banners place them next to each other as below. Note the banners are near the top of the dividers so they can be seen more easily when looking in the box.

I hope you like our project and that some of you will give it a go, let us know if you do. I have left links in the instructions above for the products used. Don't forget to take advantage of the 10% discount and please do follow us if you can.

And finally your directions onwards...the next blog to hop on to after ours is Creative Craft World. Bon voyage! 

October Cre8tive Cards

I've been meaning to post images from the last Cre8tive Cards class for a while but I have been caught up with my new improved office, come craft room. In fact I have been sanding and filling so much that I have given myself tendonitis! The room is completed I just have to sort all the stuff now (the fun bit)!

So here are the cards from a couple of weeks ago. Firstly we made a star card. It was a bit time consuming to decorate but well worth the effort for the finished effect. I think it would look amazing hung by ribbon.

I have wanted to make a pinwheel card for ages so I decided to make one for the class. The greeting was printed from the computer which I like to do if I want a greeting that I haven't got a stamp for. It would be fun to make a card where the pinwheel actually spins too!

The third card was a card for using up all those scraps of paper. We used neutral creams and browns but the card looks great with a mix of all sorts of colours too :)

And finally, our first Christmas card of the year. I saw the template for this Christmas card on the Internet and thought it was great so we used it in the class. I think Christmas cards need to be quick but effective and I definitely think this card falls into that category!

Retreat Weekend

I had a lovely time at the Littlegreen retreat last weekend despite having a bad arm which meant unloading the boxes was slower going than normal. I always love going to retreats with the shop as once I am set up I can relax and get some scrapping done myself. I was sitting next to Sarah who managed to do 6 layouts I think it was on Saturday alone and I only did 2 over the whole weekend. I do have excuses though!! The shop was very busy :) and I had to pack up on Sunday morning as I had to get back to look after the kids as Dave is away :( I know talking a lot had a little to do with me not getting much done too :) Here are the two pages I did complete.

This page is all about how my eldest son pointed with his middle finger when he was tiny just like his Grandad Colin. I wonder what else the boys have inherited from the family? I know both Jez and Dave twiddle their hair!

This second page is my youngest playing the snare drum at his school show in 2010. The whole class performed the John Barnes rap as part of the World Cup Fever show and Alex drummed along which he was very proud of.

A Cheeky Card or two!

At the July card class I was a little concerned that some of the ladies might have taken offence at this first card, but thankfully they all took it in good humour. After the class I thought of a different greeting to go on the front.... I rearly love you! You can use the template to cut the bottom cheeks part of the card in patterned paper instead to make a bikini but I really couldn't think of a greeting for a bikini card! If you think of one let me know!

 For our special fold card we made a clutch purse card which looks really cute and is great for giving gift cards as you can make a little pocket inside like a real clutch purse! Not only did we make the card but we also made the flower from scratch! You can see a close up of the flower here. It is a little time consuming to make and takes a while to dry but it does look so good that I think it's worth it.

We made two cards following our sketch and this is definitely my favourite. We made the butterflies using alcohol inks and acetate and had a nifty little technique to enable the underneath wings to show. The butterfly antenna are made from flower stamen too.

 Here is our second card from the sketch. Nice and quick and easy.

This next card was to go with our occasions cards and is of course to celebrate the birth of a little boy. Change the colours for an easy baby girl card. Can you work out how we made the foot? It's not a stamp!

I hope you like the sneak peak of the cards. If you like any of these or any previous months cards you can purchase the instructions for individual cards for £2 each. Just let me know which one(s) you want and once payment is sorted I'll e-mail through the instructions.

Leaving Gift

At the end of last term the deputy head left my sons school. She had been there for 10 years so all the time I have been there. I was asked by one of the teachers if I could make her a book that the children could all leave a message in for her. So I got my thinking cap on and came up with a tag book to hold nearly 200 tags! Two of the other mums from school spent a morning with me secreted in one of the classrooms making the pages ready for the tags (thank you so much Clare and Jeanette). I then borrowed my mother in laws sewing machine and stitched all the pockets down for added strength. Added some stamping and the class names, made a cover and put it all together. Simples! I was really pleased with the rainbow effect to tie in with the theme of fair seas and following winds with each class having a different colour fibre to tie their tags. I was also really pleased with the stab binding and the ribbon closure which went all down the right hand side to make sure the tags didn't fall out. Unfortunately I can't show pictures of the inside because it contains pictures of the children but here are some images of the outside.

 

 

Kanzashi Flowers

For our class at the crop on Saturday we used a paper that did most of the work for us when it came to making a lovely page, the paper had a title for us as well as a cute banner and some lovely glitter for an added touch of glamour. So the main technique for our class was something a little bit different. We used ribbon to make Kanzashi Flowers. If you want to have a go you can find a video on YouTube showing how to make them here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaVb1-CoKUk) although we made 8 petals rather than 5. The ribbon has a gold side and a silver side both of which went beautifully with the paper. Here are some of the lovely layouts the ladies made (I just love the fact that they have made the layouts their own).

Here is my layout with a photo of my middle son celebrating his 11th birthday (sorry the photograph of him didn't come out too well!)

 This is Bobby's page and as you can see she used an oval cutter to shape her photo. Don't the wedding photos go really well on the page?

 Here is Carols page. She cut a scalloped circle with her Nestabilities which addes a lovely effect to the edge of the photo.

 Here is Glendas page and another oval to emphasise her granddaughter on her 18th birthday.

 Joy has made her own little red roses and used a red photo mount to go with her photo and has left a much larger section of the ribbon showing under her photo which really helps balance her page as she had a much smaller photo to use.

 Sue has grouped 3 photos together to tell the story of her father-in-laws 70th birthday

If any of the other ladies who did the class want to e-mail through photos of their pages I will happily add them to the blog :)

Funcrops

On Saturday I went to West Sussex for Sue's Littlegreen crop. We had a lovely day catching up and doing a bit of crafting too. I worked on an old Basic Grey page of the month kit which is very nearly finished, just need to add some stars! I'll hopefully finish it tonight, children willing! On Sunday I went to the Funcrops in Abingdon (near Oxford). This did mean a manic weekend but also meant I didn't have to unpack and repack the car, I just left it all packed ready to go Sunday morning. Sunday morning it was wet, wet, wet... I had a lovely day scrapping and meeting up with  the ladies again. Here are some of the projects they were working on during the day.