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My altered book has a niche for keepsakes. I’ve used mine to display this altered spoon (I feel a fad coming on!)

I’ve made an altered book – the full blurb about it is on my blog but here is the first page.

The texture is the DIY stuff called Liquid Nails and it’s coloured with alcohol ink and Liquid Pearls. The image is printed on fabric (tutorial on my blog).

I’ve made a book to give to my daughter for her birthday in March.  The pictures are of us with our grandsons (who are now aged 19 and 21!).

I made the cover using velvet paper and made a frame using Ten Seconds Studio metal and moulds.

I’m quite pleased with how the cover came out, even though it did take two attempts.  I made it fold in like the scrapbook covers do.

You can view the whole book on this slideshow.

http://www.slide.com/r/yHGcCtknyz8NwsrhO9N0zsZUo9_3QhkJ?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original

 

 

Card making can be very addictive and you may soon get to the point where you are making more cards than you can use yourself. The answer is to sell some of your cards. It is unlikely that you will make much more than pin money from your cards. However, if you donate your profits to charity your customers will be more willing to pay a realistic price and you get a warm feeling from your hobby. It also gives you a good reason to buy more card making goodies. Here are some ways you could sell your cards.

1. Keep a box of hand made cards on view at home. Your visiting friends may become your customers.

2. Take a box of cards to coffee mornings. They will make an interesting talking point and your friends are likely to be your best customers.

3. If you belong to a club or society you could take a box of cards along to each meeting. This works well if you are selling your cards for charity.

4. Keep a box of cards on view at work. This will let your co-workers know that you make cards and may lead to sales and special commissions.

5. Put a “Hand made by” message on the back of your cards. This lets people know you are a card maker. It could lead to commissions from your customers’ friends.

6. Send hand made cards to your friends and relatives on their special occasions. When they thank you for the card you can mention that you also sell cards.

7. Take a table at a local event such as your child’s school fete. For these events it would be good if you could get together with a couple of craft friends and share a table. A packed display will create more interest.

8. If you have an outgoing personality you could offer to demonstrate card making to a club that you are associated with. This could lead to commissions.

9. Relatives may sell on your behalf. For example your spouse/son/daughter could take a box of cards to work. Their male colleagues would particularly appreciate the chance to buy cards for their loved ones without having to go around the shops.

10. Keep a pack of cards in your bag/car. Once your card making reputation has spread you never know when you may be asked for a card. This is particularly the case when someone has forgotten an important birthday and do not have time to get to the shops.

How do you sell your cards? Please let us know what works best for you.

Darken that Thread!

 

This was stitched with Sulky Metallic 142-7027, which is a red/green/gold variegated thread, but after I was done, it was still very difficult to read, as the thread did not contrast enough with the background.  Hmm, what to do…?  I reached for my ever trusty Sakura stardust dark red, green and gold and sort of colored the stitching according to the color already shown with the thread.  et voila! the words suddenly appeared!  The 3D is made from wrapping paper, with Diamond Glaze “dew’ on the flowers.  The font used was one I found on my PC, pricked and stitched.

This card was a commission for a wedding anniversary with red, green, black and white–whew!  That was a challenge, but the customer LOVED this card.  

 This is the piece of textile which I made in the workshop on Sunday.

 It is composed of 5 layers of different papers, some painted, some stamped, some waxed, others oiled, or fused to a piece of painted Bondaweb or organza, in order to stabilize the piece if it was  too delicate.  

We used mulberry paper, Brown paper, pieces of chiffon scarves (Polyester), encaustic wax, wax crayons and iron, stamps, acrylic or fabric paints,  embossing powder, glitter glue, a heat gun( to distress the fabric), and olive oil on scrunched magazine pages. Phew!

 

 

A design was drawn on a piece of backing Vilene, and then machine stitched (or hand stitched) through about 5 layers of the papers.  

 

 

 

 

 

   Then I cut through the first layer in one section on the front of the piece, in    the next section I cut through 2 layers to reveal a different colour paper,        Then I cut through 3 layers  in the next section, and so on through all the l    layers until I  had the effect I wanted, or near enough to it!                                              

 I hope to cover a notebook with this piece, and maybe keep it for a                record of techniques I learn or find!

 This was a piece made by another lady, and as she had used white fabric for her top layer, it shows clearly the process of cutting through each of the sections.

Grateful Heart

This card was done as a commission for a client of mine.  It all looks good, right?  So how did I ruin it?  Let this be a lesson to you and me: I lacquered it, or attempted to.  When I applied the lacquer, it warped the paper and destroyed the shaping I had applied to the image.  The above photo, BTW, was taken before I committed my grave sin!  In asking other crafters, I’ve found out that if you have a glossy paper, it really isn’t necessary to coat it at all!   So, all you other crafty folks, before applying that varnish, think twice!  As it turns out, the client loved the card anyway, I just chose not to point out the “error”!!

Not, strictly speaking, crafty but I got this verse last year on an ATC and thought it would bear repeating.

 

A Poem for Remembrance Day

“The inquisitive mind of a child”

Why are they selling poppies, Mummy?
Selling poppies in town today.
The poppies, child, are flowers of love.
For the men who marched away.

But why have they chosen a poppy, Mummy?
Why not a beautiful rose?
Because my child, men fought and died
In the fields where the poppies grow.

But why are the poppies so red, Mummy?
Why are the poppies so red?
Red is the colour of blood, my child.
The blood that our soldiers shed.

The heart of the poppy is black, Mummy.
Why does it have to be black?
Black, my child, is the symbol of grief.
For the men who never came back.

But why, Mummy are you crying so?
Your tears are giving you pain.
My tears are my fears for you my child.
For the world is forgetting again.

 

xxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

These three fashion divas are livin’ large! They are stitched from the F-A-L set found here.  They have been stitched in silver metallic on black, making them look very rich and elegant.  The stitched borders are from Joke d’Vette brass templates.  For the words, I searched my computer for a suitable font, then pierced and stitched.  Piercing was difficult because it’s hard to determine where all the holes should go.  I have even more admiration for David for his wonderful stitching designs!  This set is beautiful as cards, but could easily be matted and framed for more permanent appreciation.

a card for a chocolate lover,

I used Cuttlebug Alphabet Hippie Chic for the word Chocolate cut from scraps of holographic card, it makes use of  little bits of card that are not much use for anything else  as you can place bits over the letters that you need on the Cuttlebug Dies it is easy to see what you are doing and not   make a mistake,

I used a piece of brown Bazzil textured card for the chocolate bar,cut on the edge to look as if it had been nibbled and some gold foiled paper that actually was saved from a box of chocolates,the red wrapper was made from patterned paper,

I printed the message and matted it on some of the brown card and more holographic card.