A new layout

Hi

It's back to school today so off to do some packing- and hopefully pick up everything of mine that is littered around the house!

I want to share a layout I made over this holiday. I love kraft paper so really enjoyed making this layout. The lace effect background is hand cut and was really easy to do. Inspiration came from here.

These are some of my favourite october afternoon papers that have featured on several layouts- apologies!

Hope you have all had a lovely week- posts may be a bit here and there from now on what with school computers! Thanks for stopping by

Loves xxxx

DIY notebook

Hi all.

Hope you are all having a lovely week. I want to share a little make with you today. Three of my friends are getting confirmed at school next half of term. I wanted to make them each something little just to celebrate the day.

This is a really simple style of notebook. The book is based on plain pieces of cardstock and small envelopes. The envelopes were 3.5x6 inches so I cut out four pieces of cardstock that size with one side scalloped to add a pretty touch.

I then alternated the book with an envelope and a piece of cardstock. The front covers were made with card slightly larger than the pages. I covered these in my favourite patterned papers and a strip of contrasting paper on the left. I also added the recipients initials.

I punched four holes in every page and front cover, then using a simple lacing technique with handmade braid, I laced the books. (i'm sure there is a more effective binding technique, but this worked just fine for me!!)

The next step was the best bit-filling the pages. As it was a book to celebrate a confirmation, I pasted Bible verses on the blank sides of each piece of cardstock, leaving the patterned side plain. Each envelope was labeled and filled with something.

This is such an easy style of book to make and looks lovely and neat! I am tempted to make others and fill them with photos and memorabilia!

What have you been up to recently?

Thanks for stopping by

Abi xxxx

DIY fabric bangles

Hi

Today I want to share a quick make. At the moment there are loads of pretty fabric covered bangles in the shops. I bought one a few days back in our local fairtrade shop. Looking at it, I figured it really wouldn't be that tricky to make. So...

1. take your bangle. I used some old ones of my mums which she didn't like but you could just as easily buy cheap ones from a charity shop or supermarket. Its best to choose bangles that are smooth for ease of covering!

2. Cut out a strip of fabric. I used patterened fabric. I cut a strip just under a metre and about an inch wide.

3. Start winding around the bangle. Don't worry too much about the loose end, try and tuck it under the first fold. The key is to wrap tightly and keep the fabric smooth.

4. Wrap all the way around, once you meet the beginning tuck the ends under each other and secure it with a dab of strong glue.

5. These do tend to fray and I can't really work out a way to stop this unless you hemmed it, which would make it much harder to wrap. Hey ho! Also remember that the bangle will be tighter with the added material so get one that is roomy to start with!

(the bangle in the middle is the one I bought, the other two are made by moi!)

Thanks for stopping by

Loves xxx

Creative endevours

Hi All

Back home for half term. Its' lovely to be back and have lie-ins! It's also nice not to have too much work so I have plenty of time for scrapping and other crafty projects.

Speaking of which I have a few to share with you. Yesterday the boys of the household went out to look at a few cars in the showrooms whilst me and my mum sat down to make a new skirt! A rather steryotypical afternoon then!

There is a lovely material shop near to school which I visit in term time and stock up on pretty material. My Mum is a genius at making up patterns and has taught me a lot. I wanted a skirt that was high waisted with a fixed waistband and buttons down the front. It was very simple to make and took only a couple of hours, the longest bit to do being the hem! (mum insists that I hand sew it!)

So..this is the finished result. I love how it turned out. The material is so pretty- almost a liberty print. It came with a contrasting panel so I used this to make the waistband and cover the buttons.

 My next project was to make a cowl. I have seen loads of these in the shops and after a bit of close examining I figured they wouldn't be very difficult to knit. I chose a lovely chunky wool and size 10 needles. It was so simple. I cast on around 110 stiches and then knitted in garter stitch till I was happy with the height. I joined the two ends by sewing and voila! A lovely warm cowl for those chilly days!

What have you all been up to other the weekend?

Thanks for stopping by

Loves xxx

Spring Ball

Hi All

Back from a manic week of coursework and rowing. It's been a lot of fun though! This weekend was our annual spring Ball. There is always a large amount of drama surrounding it, not least because the girls get asked to go to a ball with a guy! Thankfully I didn't have too much to worry about there!

The theme was a red carpet affair so plently of baloons and little mini oscars given out as awards! The evening was made up of a meal and a party. The music was great and there was a sweet chill out area for when my legs got a little bit tired!

As usual I took plenty of pictures both on the SLR and on my lomo which I need to get developed. The lighting in our school however is never that good so a bit of editing was in order!

A ball wouldn't be the same without the picture of the boy and I all dressed up!

I just love the expression on the boys face!

This pair were just adorable. Don't they look gorgeous?!

The brother and I! Mum needed a picture of us all dressed up together!

And I'll leave you with a picture of this handsome man.

What have you all been up to this weekend?

Thanks for stopping by.

Loves xxxx

Diary DIY

Hi All

Just back from a lovely leave out weekend at home. It was great to just chill after the last few manic weeks of revision and exam. The exam in case you are wondering went well. Cross fingers I get a good enough mark though!

It was so nice to be able to scrap the last few days without being interupted with work! I also had a lovely new box of scrapbook supplies waiting!

I have been wanting a diary for some time now. One, to keep me on track and two as a place to keep those important pieces of paper. However hard I searched though, there were never any nice ones. So, I bit the bullet and decided to create my own. It actually was very straightforward, with the added bonus that I could make my diary how I wanted it to be ! I started it with February (yes it would have been a better project for the new year!) all the way up to the end of the school year.

So.. How to make it.

1. Take your choice of notebook. I found this lovely square black one in my local craft store. It has nice thick pages and a hard cover. I  guess for added craftiness you could make your own!

I then covered the front with a mini patchwork. Very simple. Cut squares and rectangles out of material and sew them together so they fit the cover. Neaten the patchwork quilt with bias binding and then stick on with very strong glue. I also added letter stickers to mine.

Sorry, the colours have turned out a bit strange! I wanted the cover to be soft but also strong and wearable.

2. Decide what your page layout is going to be. I decided on the days monday to saturday with three per page. I also created a side column  so I could write a bible verse or note.

I wanted my diary to be nice and neat so drew in the lines for each day but printed out the days and then cut and stuck them in. Fiddly but worth it!

3.I wanted my diary to have a bit of scrappy loveliness so I left a blank page at the start of every month so I could have a nice header.

You can decorate this anyway you want. My only rule was not to use too many bulky embellishments as then it is difficult to write.

4. I wanted my diary to serve more than just the purpose of keeping track of the days. I created this note section at the back with blank pages so I can jot down things wherever I am.

5.Right at the back I added two small bull dog clips which hold lots of mini photos.

6.Finally, I decorated the inside covers with strips of my lomo contact sheet. I think it adds a little quirky touch!

All in all it was very simple to make and really good fun. Almost too nice to write in now! ha ha!

Hope you have all had a good weekend. Thanks for stopping by!

Loves xxxx

Crafty room

Hi

I'm sorry, I went a bit AWOL! Start of term is always manic and getting back into a routine takes some getting used to after wakes up at 10am in the holidays!

So the term started pretty well. Thrown back into work with a vengance! I have an exam in 9 days time so am revising for that. It is an A2 rather than a re-sit so hopefully if I get a good enough mark that is one less to do in the summer. Cross fingers!

My favourite sport rowing has started this term which is fab! It has rained non stop since we have been back though so the river is very very high. Not much chance of actually coxing then! Instead I help with coaching new rowers, practicing calls on ergo tests and basically being miss motivator!

So... I thought I would post a few pictures of my home touches in my room. Some I made at home, some I made at school. When you are boarding its really important to try and make school feel as homely as possible. As I can't do much crafting at school, I figured I could just fill my room with pretty crafty stuff...

At the end of last term I got really into making these origami peace cranes. They are very easy and very addictive. They would probably look better in pretty scrapbook paper but that was not on hand! i strung them together with cotton and hang them up to float in the breeze by my window. There is a great tutorial here.

I showed these flowers a few posts back. They are so simple to make by layering up circles of paper and then scrunching them. I put a brad through each one and then twisted them around this beautiful twill measuring tape. They hang off my bookshelf.

My creative outlet at school is knitting, This chunky wool is so lovely. I am trying to make a cowl to wear as the weather stays cool. Its knitted on huge needles so should be finished reasonably quickly!

Little touches that make my room mine! I thought just briefly I would also share my latest purchase..

They were a bargin at £10! I bought them for my spring ball (which isn't actually in the spring!) to go with this which was also in the sale...

That is as much as a clue as I am giving now! You will have to wait for the night to see full pictures of the boy and I all dressed in our finery!

Hope you have all had a lovely week. Thanks for stopping by!

Loves xxxx