Tag Archives: Create

Wreck This Journal #1

Posted on July 30, 2015 | 2 comments

Can’t promise this will be a regular thing, but I want to start doing my Keri Smith Wreck This Journal a bit more and share the results on here. Here’s my first few pages – of mixed success!

Ouchy!

Totally gave myself RSI after this.

Sweary words written in glitter gel pens. Classy.

http://www.toomanyws.com

You can’t really see the colours very well, but I floated the book on a bath bomb and now it smells (appropriately enough) lush.

The cold never bothered me anyway!

If you have any similar post, please leave me links – I’d love to ~~steal your ideas~~ see them!

2 Comments

Posted in Create, Home

Tagged Art, Create, Creative, Drawing, Journal, Wreck This Journal

#HillarysCrafternoon with Joe Blogs

Posted on March 9, 2015 | 1 comment

#HillarysCrafternoon with Joe Blogs

Last weekend I headed up to Birmingham’s Custard Factory to spend the afternoon doing some crafting courtesy of Hillary’s Blinds with Joe Blogs and The Crafty Hen. Using fabric from the new range at Hillary’s we were shown a couple of beginner’s sewing projects.

#HillarysCrafternoon with Joe Blogs

First up were some notebook covers. I selected a bold blue and white patterned fabric, as I liked the painterly quality of the print. The project itself was really simple – a few folds, couple of stitches, some hot glue for the button detailing and you’re done. Now most bloggers love their stationery so this project definitely appealed and it had the benefit of inspiring confidence in our crafting abilities.

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#HillarysCrafternoon with Joe Blogs

The next project was a bit trickier. This time we were making a stuffed bird. I choose a yellow leaf pattern for this (I think it’s called Isra Linden) and a contrasting grey geometric pattern for the belly. Mine frayed a bit when I was stuffing it but I’m happy to call that one ‘feather detailing’. I don’t think I’ll be joining the leagues of master toy makers any time soon, but it’s good enough to become a cat toy! The kitten hasn’t managed to undo all the stitching yet so I’ll take that as a win.

#HillarysCrafternoon with Joe Blogs Photo courtesy of Joe Blogs

At the end of the day we were able to take our craft projects home with us (with instructions if we wanted to DIY at home again) along with a really cute tote bag made from Hillary’s materials – mine is the red version of my notebook fabric – and some other goodies.

It was a really fun day and superbly organised by Joe Blogs. The tutors from The Crafty Hen were really friendly and happy to help crafters at all levels of skill. Big thanks to everyone and to Hillary’s for having us. Alongside the Birmingham crafternoon they also hosted events in Cardiff, Newcastle and Glasgow and you can read all about their adventures on their blog here.

1 Comment

Posted in DIY, Home, See & Do

Tagged Birmingham, Bloggers, Craft, Crafternoon, Create, DIY, Event, See & Do, Stationery

Animal Banners

Posted on August 6, 2014 | 5 comments

Shark Banner

Shark banner – really wish I had made the banner a gas cannister!

Narwhal Banner

Narwhal banner – the fabric banner works better here.

Nowadays whenever I draw or paint anything I feel like I’ve made a massive accomplishment, even if it’s a silly drawing like the ones above. The will to draw strikes me often but I never have the crucial spark of inspiration. I love having the pencil in my hand, but no lines will flow. It’s a bit frustrating, you can imagine.

I wanted to make myself a banner for this here blog and on Twitter, so the shark is a starting point. I love sharks but it’s not exactly relevant to anything I write about. Also, I didn’t take into account the dimensions – oops. But I enjoyed painting it, and I think it looks OK. David asked me to do a narwhal for him so I duly obliged.

Send me some inspiration, tell me an animal to paint. They don’t have to be water-dwelling, though they’re my faves!

5 Comments

Posted in Create, Home

Tagged Animal, Art, Artwork, Create, Drawing, Illustration, Painting

Lucky Dip Club | DIY Washi Flags

Posted on June 10, 2014 | Leave a comment

Lucky Dip Club DIY Washi Flags

Earlier today I showed you what I received in my Lucky Dip Club box. One of the items was a DIY kit to make mini washi tape flags. It included the cocktails sticks and the green fabric washi tape in the above picture as well as an example flag and some instructions.

The instructions are fairly straightforward so I’m gonna let the images do the talking…

It took me about fifteen minutes to make all 15. So this is a DIY craft that literally takes one minute. And look how cute they look as cupcake decorations:

Thank you to Lucky Dip Club for giving me the motivation and inspiration to get my craft on!

Blurb Instagram Book | #FMSPhotoADay 2013

Posted on January 21, 2014 | 7 comments

Blurb Instagram Book cover Today I wanted to show off my Instagram book from Blurb. One of the things I wanted to do from my 30 Before 30 list was to complete the Fat Mum Slim 2013 Photo a Day Challenge and to have a book made of my pictures. Well, gold star for me, as i’ve just done it!

I used the Blurb Instagram book service. It signs you into your Instagram account and then opens a Bookify dashboard to allow you to compile your book. I found it a little tricky at first but once I had a play around with the settings I eventually got the hang of it. It took me around 3 hours in total, including the faffing about at the beginning.

Blurb Instagram book Keeping my pictures in date order, I decided to go with a square, 4-a-page layout with the odd single page photos. I think that this looks really effective. There were lots of choices, including for the images to fill the whole page, but I liked the borders. It leaves the option on going in and adding details like date or prompt name later if I decide to. Just like an old-fashioned photo album.

Blurb Instagram Book I then laid out the front cover (is three photos of myself on the front a bit vain?), and added the book title to the spine. Lastly, I choose the format of the book, going for a hardback book with no dust cover and premium matte paper. The finished book has 101 pages and cost £35.77 including postage. Pretty good deal I felt! It arrived within 10 days which was a lot quicker than I expected.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Overall, I really happy with my little book. The photos look great, considering the fact that Instagram is fairly low-res, and the finish of the book is great. I would definitely order from Blurb again and would happily recommend them if you were thinking of having a photo book printed.