Saturday 5 November 2016

Sorry for being M.I.A. but lots going on..

My gosh a week has past since I last posted, where has the week gone?
I have been working hard this week despite ongoing issues with my health (pain management is a bit of a problem at the moment) but I have done my best to over come the hurdles best way I know how.

Anyway this week I worked on my project('s) from Xanderous Crafty Stash (I will share the other one here 21st November )
I also had to step in an make a bag charm mini notebook as part of a swap on Scrimpys Community and Swap Group, I agreed to be an angel swap which meant if anyone couldnt fulfill their swap for any reason, I would step in and take their place so NO-ONE would be left without a swap.
I also designed some small gift card holders which I did film a video on and I think they are so cute, perfect for birthdays or christmas.

This week also brought me a huge heartache that after all the turmoil and tribulations that my talented and wonderful friend Amanda has put up with over the past 3 yrs since she launched Scrimpys Lace Closet she has decided to stop selling lace and products as a general sale, she is now only going to be selling kits and occasional items when she sees fit, it really saddens me that this lovely lady has had to do this but I 100% understand and support her decision, and am fortunate enough to have gotten to know her before she launched Scrimpys and I will be there for many many years to come, she is just a beautiful person inside and out and I am so blessed to have her in my life and to call her a friend x 
The upside to her closing her wee shop is that she is now going to focus on Stampin Up and make that her top priority (craft wise) which is so exciting, baring in mind that 12months ago this lady couldn't craft with paper at all barely, so it is lovely to watch her flourish and to grow in confidence in her new venture.

Sad part for me is ever video she shows a new product I immediately think "I need that" not good haha x

But anyway back to the matter in hand and let you see my project for Xanderous Crafty Stash,
I chose to decorate a Small Letter Rack kindly gifted to Naomi from Lou at Fernli Designs to offer the design team to show case all her beautiful metal embellishments.
I absolutely loved making this project it just was so rewarding and helped loads with giving me ideas on how to best decorate it x

So I started out building the letter rack using just PVA glue it is always best to build first with these projects as the paper and paints etc can obstruct the pieces fitting together nicely.
I then added dark paper from my stash on all the surfaces to give it a vintage styled look, I then took my old gold inka gold and buffed it on all the sides and edges to give it that almost gilded worn look of old furniture. next I pulled out my goodies from Naomi and started to work out where I wanted things to go.
I knew instantly that one of the drawer handles was being added to the drawer.
I then chose the rounded filigree metal bits to bend over the edge and give it a look of a divider and it worked perfectly and exactly how I envisioned. I had to use round nose pliers to make sure that the folds were tight enough and then stuck them on the project using E600 adhesive, my go to adhesive when working with metal bits as it assures that they are not just going to fall off.
I then took my charm that says never never give up, which is so me, even on my worst days where my mental health is dragging me down I make sure that I achieve something that day even if it is just an ATC to show my depression that I won that day not it, may sound silly to people who havent suffered depression but for me it is my way of making sure that each day I make the day count.
I added that on the side of the organizer by punching a hole using my crop a dile and threading through a bit of brown and white bakers twine to attach the charm I needed the bakers twine for a reason.
I then took a dowling rod and cut it to around 5.5" and coloured it using Walnut Stain distress ink
and used the bakers twine to keep the rod stationery at the side and not let it slip about too much as I then added my bakers twine bobbin on to that dowel to have it handy on my craft desk.
lastly I wanted to add feet to give the letter rack just a little bit more height and more substance I had perfect feet in my stash that naomi has got in stock, but when adding them initially I realized that they were going to stop my drawer opening, so back to the drawing board as I tried to work out how to overcome that problem and I found the solution, I simply cut out tiny triangles of card and popped them on the feet where the underside of the rack was going so that the card gave that tiny slither of extra height and let the drawer open freely result.
So I added them with my E600 and was delighted with the final look, I have took lots of pictures at different angles for you to see it in all its glory.
I absolutely loved this project and am so pleased how it turned out with the goodies from Xanderous and the rack from Fernli it is just wonderful.









I also made a little altered tub which I decorated and then used the small 4mm bronze flatbacks from Xanderous to decorate and give me a little bit more storage on my rack. it is shown better in the video


Bits I used from the store




4mm Bronze Flatbacks (will add link once added to store)

and lastly here are the small gift card holders I designed



Top one is female and bottom is male steered design.

And then I made some small roses using dies I had in my stash after being inspired by Amanda

and lastly I made this card mug inspired by our lovely Mel, who is also on Pootles Design Team for this month please pop over to Mels Blog and check out her recent projects they are so good.


So hopefully be back soon with some more new projects to share with you all until then Happy Crafting xxx

Love Always Karen








2 comments:

  1. Karian you have done an amazing job on the letter rack and great use of the Xanderous Crafty Stash metal embellishments ... I love how youhave folded them over the edges ..... and a GENIOUS idea with the rob for the bakers twin ..... LOVE the whole thing xxxx
    Tina xxx

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    1. Thank you Tina x I absolutely loved working on this project it was just brilliant and loads of lovely embellishments to work with it was hard not to make something superb x feel free to scrap lift any of my ideas hunni x sharing is caring ;) x thanks for commenting Lots of Love and Hugs Karen xxx

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