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