Love is in the air <3

With Valentine's Day on the horizon, I thought I'd share a few sweet treats with you! I created three little projects for Creative Stamping issue 39, using the FREE Truly Scrumptious stamp set. This fabulous issue went on sale 26th January and is jam-packed with cool ideas from a talented design team.

For these projects I used basic paper-piecing techniques using the Pebbles My Funny Valentine paper pad and masked the sentiments to create custom greetings.



This cute sweetie gift box started its life as a paper cup, which is a quick and easy solution - I just cheated because I'm not one for templates! hehe 
I made the cute pompom from baker's twine and added a simple die-cut tag :)


If you want to get your hands on this issue of Creative Stamping click here! There are so many cool ideas in this magazine, and at £7.99 it's amazing value for money.


Happy Valentine's Day to you all! <3

N x

Well hello there,

It's about time I started racking up some 2017 blog posts, I can't believe how the year is already running away from me!

Late last year I went on a little adventure to London with my colleague and friend Amy Thomas [Editor of Love Sewing magazine] to visit  DSI London - which is a place of dreams! I dabble in sewing, studied Photography at Uni and am obsessed with Strictly Come Dancing, so it was a dream come true when Amy invited me along to be a part of the day.

DSI London have the mammoth task of creating the costumes week after week for Strictly, as well as providing outfits for the dance world internationally! The amazing team create ensembles from scratch in a matter of days, they share a wealth of knowledge and work like clockwork to deliver.


I had the best day, it's nice to get out of the office once in a while! My photography skills could do with a bit of polish, but it did the job!


The best bit about the entire experience is that I send my Grandma a copy and she called to tell me how proud she is. Coming from the woman who taught me how to sew and helped my creativity blossom, that meant a lot. <3


If you want to read the full article, issue 34 of Love Sewing is available here and comes with a beautiful FREE Annabelle dress pattern.

Once I have my craft room up and running I plan to make myself some new outfits / start with alterations and see how I go! 

N x
Hello blogworld!

Where the heck has January gone already? I feel like I blinked and half the month is gone! Which isn't a bad this because it means that I have lots cards I have to share with you! Hooray!

I'm lucky enough to be feature in issue 142 of Papercraft Essentials, showcasing a selection of cards inspired by the Pantone colour of the Year, which is... * drum roll *..... Greenery!

I was very happy when I first saw the colour, not only is it a beautiful shade of green, but it's a bold statement and a reminder about how we need to start thinking about nature. Pantone believe that the zesty yellow-green shade evokes the first days of spring and envelopes the notion to breathe, reinvigorate and appreciate the great outdoors. As Pantone is such an influential presence in the design industry, it's only a matter of time before the colour filters into all aspects of design! It's time ring the great outdoors, indoors! Or just actually go outside more... :)

With that said, I was inspired to 'go green' and create some clean & simple designs of my own which I feel do the shade justice - here's a sneak peek! To see more you can purchase the issue here.






Until next time! N x



HNY!

Another year has passed, no doubt it will take me until March to realise that I'm still writing 2016! On a personal note, it's been a very turbulent year, but it was also the year that I married my sweetheart and I made the effort to push myself creatively with this blog. Over 70 posts later and here we are! I thought I'd mark the occasion with a post which showcases my favourite places / events from 2016.
Snowy January
My snowy commute
 Rockabilly hen do
Wedding venue
The big day
Paradise Island, Cuba

Clitheroe for the Boucher wedding
Manchester Cat Cafe!

Grasmere, The Lakes


I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, but I will say that there are lots of exciting changes in my life in place for 2017 so life can only get sweeter! AND I've been inspired to sew [from binge-watching Project Runway], so expect to see more of that on my blog.

Stay tuned :)
N x
Ah, Boxing Day...

A day made for sitting back, putting your feet up and digesting food... and with that comes the perfect opportunity to blog about bits and bobs! I've neglected to blog about our Halloween costumes [which feels like forever ago!] And if you haven't guessed already, we chose a Ghostbusters theme! After seeing the new movie, I felt inspired to do something pop culture and relevant and to pay tribute to the original franchise. I'm not good enough a costume maker to create detailed outfits which are true to either film, If I'm honest they are more like Blue Peter Pritt Stick quick-fix, but hey ho, they held together for the night! Here are just a few final details :)


So, it's worth mentioning that this Ghostbusters 'crew' consists of three members, myself [Mrs Stay Puft] and David [husband] & Simon [wife] as my arch rival Ghostbusters!

Me and Simon set out to complete the Ghostbuster jumpsuits first, which involved a cheeky eBay purchase, neon fabric from Abakhan and Simon was able to source the iconic badges online. We managed to put these bits together in a fun wine-fuelled evening [whilst David played on his PS4 - Go team! haha] We also created hand-embroidered name tags to give the outfits a personal touch.

The backpack involved a beer box, various other upcycled containers and gauges and knobs stolen from an old cooker! A hot-glue gun, a lick of black paint and a length of tubing later, and et voila! You have yourself a Proton Pack! :)


Doesn't it look glamorous on my ironing board? We then adhered the finished box onto a small grey backpack from Decathalon [only £2.49 - bargain!]



So, creating Mrs Stay Puft was no mean feat, if you're aware of the character - you'll know that it's essentially a huge marshmellow man... not so flattering! I decided early on that I'd go for volume in the skirt and opt for a sailor girl, cosplay vibe! I handmade the tutu with the tying method, which involves knotting narrow lengths of netting onto a piece of ribbon and packing them tightly together. I vastly underestimated how much netting I needed - all in all I think I used 10m! Luckily white netting is standard so it all co-ordinated. Here's a little piccie of me in my livingroom with the finished tutu! [note, I'm so bloody thrifty that I've since transformed the tutu into two mini fairy tutus for my little cousins]


The lovely Editor of Love Sewing, Amy Thomas was kind enough to lend me the sailor bib, which I sported over a white t-shirt dress. I die-cut the letters for the belt using white felt which a self adhesive sheet on the back.


I'm most proud of the teeny weeny hat I made, which was very last minute! It involved covering a strip of pliable card with blue material, stuffing it with carved foam. I covered the foam with white felt before securing the band around the edge and sewed a covered button through the centre. A few finishing touches later [PUFT lettering & a ribbon] it was good to go! Here's the collection together, with the finished ensemble, I donned a cheap white wig, some big pants [to try and cover my modesty] and white Doc Marten heels. 


Showtime! Here's my beloved with his outfit... I'd call him anytime ;)


My boys, giddy with excitement! They wear it so well! <3


Here we are together, in the spotlight!


And here's me, rocking the full volume of that epic tutu! I love this outfit and can't wait to throw myself into more handmade upcyled creations in the future - maybe next time I wont just wait till Halloween!


I hope you enjoyed a little bit of a change from cardmaking, I sure did!

N x

Greetings,

With Christmas nearly upon us, I thought it time to share a pair of card designs I concocted this year! The beauty of Christmas cards is that you're essentially batch-making, so once you've decided / set up the elements you're good to go! I made 25 in total, which took 3 hours tops? I do think I cheated a little bit... but I'll let you be the judge of that!


Ever the budget-savvy crafter, I used low costing materials to achieve a clean-&-simple-meets-elegant-bling look. The snowflakes are die-cut from cheeky wallpaper samples I got from B&Q [they must be sick of me wondering in and out for freebies!] and because I'm cheap and didn't want to use self adhesive shapes for each die-cut - I decided to use my sewing machine to secure the snowflakes to the card front. Another option was spray glue, but I find that it can be quite messy. I sewed the sentiment banner too... I would like to point out that I did it for the shabby-chic aesthetic too - honestly. The cardstock is leftover from my wedding, and the border is everyday Christmas metallic ribbon [from IKEA] which I adhered with double-sided tape.



My sewing machine threw a bit of a hissy-fit every now and then as the layers where quite thick but we got through it together! Thats the Christmas spirit! <3

I hope you like my festive contribution, and I hope the recipients liked them too :)

N xxxx

Good tidings to one and all!

Christmas is nearly upon us, and I'm happy to report that I'm feeling the festive spirit! It's hard to believe that I started this blog as my 2016's New Years resolution and that 70+ posts later, here we are. I haven't posted as much as I'd like to, but I'm so happy that I've created a platform which I can continue to grow creatively. I also have a few bits of very exciting news to share in the New Year which I know will push my growth and creativity in 2017! All will be revealed... in January!

But for now, I'm happy to share a selection of wintry cards which I made for Die-cutting Essentials issue 17, featuring the free Stardust stamp and die set which I actually had a hand in designing! I'm proud of my uber-bling creations which I think work for everyday occasion too.




This issue is on sale now and can be found here :)


I hope you like my makes! I have plenty more to share.. so stay tuned!

N x