New Home

I've been very busy over the past week or so and today Kris and I are off to visit my Mum in her new home......
It will be strange for me not having her just 'down the road' anymore, but I am so happy for her.
This house with a little love and inspiration will become a wonderful home for her.
So what better way to spend Mothers day, than with my Mum...... helping her sort things out.

This is the card I made for her as her new home card....

 and a few close ups for you.....

Whatever you are doing today - have a great day.
Happy crafting
Nikki x

WOW! House

It's my turn to post today over on the WOW! blog and this month our theme is wood...
So, I got my thinking cap on and this is what I came up with....

I had so much fun creating this project.....
You can see the shopping list over on the WOW! site.
We would love you to join in with us if you have the time.
Have a very crafty weekend, thanks for stopping by.
Nikki x

Spritzing

One of my favourite products at the moment are the Do Crafts Artiste Spritzing Inks...... loving them!!!!
They come in a range of colours and are so easy to use.
Here are a few projects that I have made up using them.

 For this one, once I had fixed the ribbons in place I used the end of the spray like a dropper and just dropped some of the ink over the card.

 There are two techniques with this one...... first of all I die cut a parenthesis and lay it on top of my card - then I spritzed over the whole card. While the ink was still wet I removed the parenthesis (and kept it for another project..... Once the card was dry, I spritzed some ink into the corner and then used a straw to blow the ink (just like when you were little and you did it with poster paint)..... this gave me the branch effect....

This one is working on a die cut.... so first of all I spritzed purple, then I did the branch technique (as explained above), then I re spritzed with white - the white is brilliant for star backgrounds.....

The spritzing inks also give life to canvas and flowers. Great for alphabets, borders and embellishments....

I'd love to see what you have done with the links so make sure you leave a link to your spritz projects in the comments here and I'll pop on over and take a look.

Happy crafting
Nikki x

Thank yous on a #docraftsmonday

Hi there, another weekend has flown by far too fast.... and that can mean only one thing....
It's a Do Crafts Monday day again......
This is the day that over on Twitter or Facebook everyone posts a pic to show everyone what crafty thing they have be up to..... all you need to do is #docraftsmonday it and then we will know you've joined in and the people at Do Crafts Towers will pop on over and take a look.

Here are the projects I wanted to share with you today....... I have been busy making up a set of thank you cards - well, it's always nice to say thank you so they are handy to have in my card box.

 I love these little owl stamps...... (and I know the one with the dummy isn't a thank you card..... but it was far too cute to leave out! lol)
Here are a few close ups for you....

What crafty things have you been up to?
Back soon with more to show you x
Happy crafting..

Nikki x

Not a card

Today I wanted to show you a something special that I created.....
It's a sweet dreams jar...... I grew up with a fairy bell that every night my grandad would ring with us - this would keep the nightmares away and let us have good dreams.
I have so many wonderful memories of my grandad, he was such a wonderful man. He inspired this project.

I have been busy with card making and some other bits too - lots to show you when I can.
I hope you like my jar.....
Enjoy the sunshine x
Happy crafting
Nikki x

With Love

Hi there..... what a week - I don't think my feet touched the ground....
Been busy with work and work oh and a little bit more work.... all of which left not a lot of time for crafting..... (insert massive sad face here!)....
Sooooo today, I am locked away in the craft cave, wearing fleecy pjs (not sure why I feel the need to share that.... but I do!)......
So what time is it?..... Must be craft o'clock!!!!!!
Here is the card I wanted to share with you today ....

and of course a couple of little close ups for you.....

I'll be back soon with loads more to show you - I hope you have a crafty filled day too xxx
Happy crafting
Nikki x

Crafting Cafe challenge and mini hop

Over on the Crafting Cafe blog there is a new challenge - this month the theme is Clean and Simple. You can create any kind of project that you like, it just needs to be clean and simple.
There is a fabby prize of 4 digis on offer too!
And if you are a member of the Crafting Cafe group on facebook (if not then why not! lol - you can come on over and join us any time, everyone is very friendly) then you will see that we are having a fun little blog hop over there...... just hopping around each others blogs this weekend and leaving some love.... just because we can! lol

Now on the Cafe blog I get to do the launch post........ and this is what i created for my inspiration post for March........ (using the digis provided by our fabby sponsor Lindsay from LEJ Designs).

http://lejdesignsdigistamps.blogspot.co.uk/

We would love to see what you create on our theme....
Happy crafting
Nikki x

Roses from scraps

As you will know I love adding the little quilled roses onto my cards and projects.
I have been asked at many demos to do a tutorial and it's been on my to do list for a while.... yesterday one of my cards had them on it and I got lots of messages asking me to tell them how to make them (I do love it when you interact with me about the blog projects. Feel free to let me know if there are any tutorials that you would like me to do)......
So here it is.....
I love to use these punches when creating my flowers. These are xcut.
You can use dies as well. The papers I am using here are the Creativity Club downloads for members (I love these)...
But I am always making these from all my scraps.

Sorry about the blue hint to the photos, the lighting is terrible today, but I really wanted to get the tutorial done for you. I'll retake them another day.
So - get yourself a good pile of circles and scalloped circles.

Once you have made a few, you won't need to draw the spiral. I have just drawn it on to show you where I am going to cut. So cut a spiral into the circle, make it thicker rather than thinner. The thinner you make it the harder it is to work with.

I tend to do quite a few all at once, any spares from your project can go into a box and are then ready for you whenever you want one.

I am using a quilling tool here as I find it much easier but you can just roll them by hand. Start at the thin outside edge and roll towards the centre. Follow the inside line that you cut.

This is what is will look like when it is finished. The body of the rose sits on the centre. This is were you add the glue.
I use a hot glue gun as it's quick and easy and it sets right away.

 A few I made earlier.

Let me know how you get on.... they are nice and easy and great fun to make.
Enjoy...
Happy crafting
Nikki x

Do Crafts Monday

If you are on Facebook or Twitter, you might have seen the hashtag #docraftsmonday....
It's where people who like a Do Crafts product, show everyone a pic of what they have made with it....
Pop on over and have a look - or why don't you take part.... just upload a picture onto Do Crafts page and add the hashtag.

My photos for this #docraftsmonday are projects that have been made using the latest downloads from Do Crafts for their Creativity members...... Are you a member of the club? - make sure you check out the downloads section if you are.... fabby range of templates, papers, images and a lot more.

Here are the cards I made using the 1 & 2 Spring Green collections ......

A little clean and simple card to start.....

With this one I have built up the layered flower to add dimension.

I thought I would do something a little different with the layers, here I have used the layers to create a pebble background.

And for my last card I got out the spritz inks for the background and then used the papers to create the roses. The very sparkly centres are created by adding a large drop of silver glitter glue. 

Whatever you are doing today - have fun!
Happy crafting
Nikki x

Happy birthday to Kris

My little boy turns 24 today!!!

How on Earth did that happen!!!!
I am so proud of my son - he has grown into a wonderful, kind, considerate young man who is a joy to be around.
This is his birthday card from me.....

 

 I love the Wellington range - hopefully Do Crafts do more of this at some point...... 

Gonna spend the day with Kris doing whatever he wants... so must dash.....

Hope your day is fun.

Happy crafting

Nikki x