Wednesday 30 October 2013

Midweek Papercraft Party (11)

It's time for a papercraft challenge again here at Handmade Harbour.  This week's challenge theme is:

Having Fun!

The winners from last week are:

Roberta and Cathy

Yay! Well done - please email wendy@handmadeharbour.co.uk with your choice of three digistamps from the Handmade Harbour store.  Also, feel free to grab the winner's badge from the left sidebar of this blog!

OK,  just in case you might like a little inspiration this week, here's what the design team have been busy doing with the Having Fun theme...



Valerie used Robin Family on a Branch digistamp, using a 3D layering technique - I love the bright colours in this card, which gives it a real sense of fun!


I know a lot of cardmakers are completely immersed in Christmas cards at the moment - so it's no surprise that we have not just one but two Christmas cards from the team this week.

Anita's card features the penguin with presents digi and the delicate colours she's used here look just delightful...



This Funky Monkey digital stamp obviously has a sense of fun as he turned up on no less than three different designers' cards this week!  Here's what  Laura did with him: 


And here's what kel did:




And here he is again courtesy of  Mary


Connie made a tag just in time for Halloween.  She says: "I found my inspiration from Angie Blom.  I met her at a crop and I recreated and added to a tag she had as a make and take. I added 2 of Wendy's stamps to this tag."

It's a gorgeous tag, isn't it?




Have you been creating anything that fits in with our Having Fun theme?  We'd love you to join in with our challenge!  The only requirement is that it's made from paper.  If you use a Handmade Harbour digital stamp you'll double your chance of being a winner, so with that in mind...



Enjoy!  The design team and I are looking forward to seeing your makes this week!




Sunday 27 October 2013

Handmade Monday 140

Hi and welcome to Handmade Monday!

I've been looking forward to this month's Craftseller magazine, not just because some of my projects made it onto the pages, but because one of those projects is very close to my heart.


This vintage-styled handbag (purse for those of you across the pond) has a very special face on the front - my lovely Grandma as a young girl.  I'm told this picture was taken sometime after the first world war - in any case it was well before my dad was born in 1928!

You may remember I blogged about making this bag a few weeks back.  It uses a nifty little fabric that you can print directly onto using your ordinary inkjet printer and the resulting printed fabric is even washable (I've not tested its washability, but the printed fabric is excellent).  I bought mine from Crafty Computer Paper - and I've since been back for more as this project has given me a bucketload of ideas!


My Grandma would have been so proud - not just because her own face was in a magazine, but because she was always very proud of all her grandchildren's achievements (no matter how small).


Also in this issue are a couple of my cards which use Craftseller's free papers.


a sleepy owl...


...and a Russian doll

If cards are your thing, you may be interested in my new Christmas digital stamps, which I've uploaded this week.  I think this robin might be my favourite...



...but I do want to get some more Christmas digis drawn and uploaded very soon.

It's over to you now for Handmade Monday.  Are you making for Christmas, or still making for Halloween?
Or maybe your mind is on something else altogether?  Tell us about it...

Friday 25 October 2013

New Digital Stamps for Christmas!

I've been busy designing some new digital stamps for Christmas, and while you can click on the link to see the Christmas range, I thought I'd give you a little preview here...


this cute little robin is waiting for Santa, with his little hat keeping his head warm and his stocking ready to be filled with exciting presents!

And here's a whole family of robins...


Christmas is a time for families, so there's another family too - this time they a snowman family (although I'm not sure snowman family is the correct terminology as one is definitely a snow woman and two are snow children!).  Whatever you want to call them, they do look cute and jolly!


If you would like to see more in the seasonal range, the Christmas digital stamps (including the images shown above) are available for immediate download from the website now.  

But I will be adding more in the next few weeks, so do pop back!

Wednesday 23 October 2013

Midweek Papercraft Party (10)

Welcome to another papercraft party!  This week's theme is Scary or Funny (or maybe both!)

Last week's winners are...

Bettina and Cheremane

Well done you two!!  Please email wendy@handmadeharbour.co.uk with your choice of three stamps from the Handmade Harbour shop and I'll send them to you.  Also, please grab the winners' badge from the left hand sidebar! Yay!!

Back to this week...

Lynne's card is Scary AND Funny! read more about it on her BLOG POST


Zoe's gone with dripping blood and spiders - definitely scary in my book!!  Pop over to her BLOG POST to read more...
Rachel used the witches at the cauldron digital stamp - and this one definitely qualifies for Scary and Funny too!  The wording reads: there are vegetarians coming over so it's eye of newt substitute...


The design team have all used images from the Halloween digital stamps page this week, which are not only seasonal but they all fit our theme this week!

Do you have Halloween on your mind this week, or have you been making something else that fits in with scary or funny?  We'd love to see, so do pop your link below and we'll visit!  Don't forget to check back next week and see if you're a lucky winner!


Tuesday 22 October 2013

A Winner!

A big thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway for the craft book New Wings for Old Things.

The winner is Giddy Aunt Lola (aka Sharon) from A Saucy Stitch.  Her blog looks quite entertaining, so I'm going back later for a good read with a cup of tea.  I love how these things (giveaways, blogs, etc) connect people!

If you aren't a lucky winner, you can still get the book over at the Air Ambulance shopping page - it would of course make a really great Christmas gift (or you could buy a copy for yourself and make your own Christmas gifts using the fab ideas in the book!).



Sunday 20 October 2013

Handmade Monday 139

Welcome to another Handmade Monday!

Well, this unruly mess of ribbon, string, paper and glue can only mean one thing...


... more cards for Craftseller magazine.  More Christmas cards, to be precise.


The cards I make for them are of course to showcase the free craft papers they give away every month, but I can never resist adding a little something to the papers when I'm making a card...


I think being able to add texture and depth is one of the really great things about handmade cards - it definitely separates the finished product from mass-produced and creates a much more luxurious feel.  Plus it's so much fun to do!

Seriously - aren't those Craftseller papers just gorgeous?

Enough of me and my cards - the full reveal will have to wait.  It's over to you now...

Friday 18 October 2013

DT Interview: Rachel

Who are you? Whereabouts in the world are you based?  What's it like in your little corner of the world?
I am Rachel Taylor I am from the UK and live in Plymouth Devon I like living in Plymouth as we are near to the sea side and also we have the lovely country side as well. Unfortunately I am about 7 hours from my family.  I blog at Blossom Cards.


When and why did you start cardmaking?  What (or who) got you started?
I have always liked making things and my mum was very crafty too. I can't remember when I started but I think it was when I was small and by my mum.  I found when my children were young how much fun it was doing crafts with them and then started to want my own business 

What do you enjoy most about designing and making a card?
How creative you can be, the fun in seeing the end result of your planning or even if it's just come together quickly. I like to try and use different techniques and shaped cards.



What do you love about digital stamps?
I love loads of things:
  1.  you can store them on a computer or a pen that goes in to your computer
  2.  you don’t have to have boxes of stamps or inks to put somewhere
  3.  you don’t need stamping blocks
  4.  you get a good image every time
  5.  you can do things like decoupage with your digi stamps
  6. you can make the image large or small and make your own backing papers
  7.  you can colour in with lots of different mediums like promarkers water colour pens, etc

How many cards do you make in an average week?
About 10 card a week 



Where do you do your crafting?  Do you have a dedicated craft room or do you take over the kitchen table?
I have taken over the dining room and also teach card making classes there now as well but soon I am having some work done on the house and will have a new craft room 

Do you ever sell the cards you make? If so, where?
I sell my cards at local craft fairs



Do you do other forms of craft too?  If so, what?
I like to make gifts and sell them, like knitted mug hugs, knitted children’s toys. I also like to make some jewellery items: hair clips, brooches, note pads, pictures and lots more  



Who are your favourite craft bloggers?
I don’t have a favourite one - I like to follow lots as you get so many ideas out in computer land
 
Finally, have you got a favourite Handmade Harbour image?
This is hard for me as I love all the images but one makes me laugh the most and it is the image that says Its always wine o' clock somewhere in the world and is in a frame and has a wine glass on it 



Thursday 17 October 2013

Book Review: Makery

This book follows on the success of Makery craft workshops and the Makery Emporium, founded by Kate Smith.  Kate has now written her first book - and very lovely it is, too!


Kate's aim is to make contemporary craft accessible to everyone, and for people to experience that sense of pride you feel having made something yourself.  I'm sure that happens a lot at her workshops, and this book extends that to a wider audience.

I love this fun fabric stag's head!


It's a lovely book to pick up and flick through for inspiration and ideas - the photography is just gorgeous and the instructions all look simple to follow.  A stockists' page tells you where to go for supplies, including the hard-to-source items.

There's even a full-size pull-out pattern sheet, which is a lovely addition.


I love that there's a mix of crafts in there, making it easier to dip into a variety of projects (although I've shown sewing projects here - maybe because that's what I'm more into - there's crochet, knitting, papercraft and more).

So many of us are confident in one craft but beginners in another and I think a book like this makes you more likely to discover something new to tickle your creative fancy!


It's published by Mitchell Beazley and available for £14.99 in paperback.  I think it would make a superb Christmas gift for a creative friend.


If you're in the UK, you can buy in on Amazon here (I don't know how long it will stay at the price of £8.10, but that sounds like a bargain to me!).  If you want to buy in the USA, here's its US Amazon page.


Wednesday 16 October 2013

Midweek Papercraft Party (9)

Hello!  It's time for another papercraft challenge and a peek at what the design team have been up to!

First though, here are last week's winners:

Pat and Elizabeth (click on their names to be taken to their winning blog post)

Congratulations on your win ladies! - if this is you, please email wendy@handmadeharbour.co.uk with your choice of three digistamps from Handmade Harbour. You can also grab the winner's badge from the left-hand sidebar to proudly display on your blog!

This week's theme is Something Pretty.  I think the vast majority of handmade cards I see on blogs would fit this theme!  The design team came up with a pretty diverse collection of very pretty cards!

I am always reluctant to leave summer behind when it comes to cooler days, dying leaves and darker nights, so this card from Laura just delighted me!  This new beach hut digital stamp was something I drew very recently on a whim, recalling our summer stay in Somerset.  We walked along the beach one day for about eight miles (yup, we were exhausted, sunburnt and really enjoyed our pub lunch at the end with a large jug of water!! We caught a steam train back, but that's inspiration for another day!) and saw a long row of adorable beach hut-style chalets at Dunster Beach.  They inspired this image - and the double easel card Laura made from my image is just awesome - look at that picket fence!  I think I want to live there...


And look - it all folds up for sending to someone special!


Valerie used the Tea Shop stamp with a little bit of some quick Zentangling/doodling/free-hand sketching around the border, which I love!  It certainly fits our pretty theme!




Connie made this adorable (and very pretty) scrapbook page using the new girl with bunting digi 



Mary went with the rose digistamp to create this gorgeous card.  I love the mix of plain white rose, red background and music sheet.  Simple but very pretty.



Have you been inspired this week?  Have you made something pretty?  Please do join in with this week's challenge by leaving us a link to your blog - just by joining in you have a chance of winning three digistamps of your choice from the Handmade Harbour store.






Tuesday 15 October 2013

Hanging Heart for Needles

I don't know about you but I find sewing needles ridiculously easy to lose.  Where do they go?


So I came up with a stupidly-easy-to-make place to stash them, which (I think) also happens to be quite pretty.

Then I hung it on the wall by my sewing machine.  It's the little heart on the right:



In case you might want to do something similar, I've put together a quick tutorial.  This is so quick to make, you could have it done in 10 minutes.  Seriously!  It was that quick to make that I forgot to take step-by-step photos, but I really don't think you'll need them.

You'll need:

Felt in two colours (I used red and pale blue)
Tape, ribbon or string (mine was recycled from something long-ago-forgotten)
Sewing thread (contrasting , mine is black)
A button (optional)

This is how to make your needle hanger:

Cut out two hearts in the backing felt (red)
Cut out one (slightly smaller) heart in the contrasting colour (pale blue)



Layer the hearts on top of each other. Stitch the three hearts together, with the raw edges of the tape/ribbon tucked in the top edge between the two backing hearts, making a loop for hanging.

To create the sketchy outlined feel, stitch three times using black thread and don't be too precise - it's the little wobbles that help create the sketchiness!



That's it, really.  You could add a button to pretty it up.


Hang it next to your sewing machine and you are more likely to remember where you stashed that needle!  In fact, if you are anything like me, this visual (and easily accessible) reminder makes it more likely that you will actually use it and not leave your needles lying around...


If you like the idea of somewhere pretty to stash your scissors, too, here's the tutorial for the heart-shaped scissor keeper just in case you missed it first time around.

Sunday 13 October 2013

Handmade Monday 138

Welcome to another Handmade Monday!


This week I had the pleasure of the company of my oldest granddaughter and we did some sewing.  Keira  absolutely loves using the sewing machine, and this little project gave her some practice in managing awkward curves!


We used the free gift that came with Craftseller - a little die-cut felt reindeer, designed to be stitched by hand.  Keira decided to keep the hand sewing to a minimum...but look, she's such a whiz on the sewing machine her hands are blurry!


She still hand stitched his eyes, nose and little felt holly trim.  He did end up with a few extra worry lines courtesy of the hand-stitched beady eyes (and some enthusiastic finishing-off stitches) but that's OK - he has every right to worry at this time of year!  


I think her Rudolf looks super - he'll look amazing on the tree this year!

What's happening in your handmade world?  Has anyone else been making tree decorations or crafting with kids?