What's up Doc?

Hi again everyone!

Sorry I haven't been postnig recently, had a minor op on my toe last week and haven't been able to think of what to write since. It did, however, give me some time off work which I had to fill with something, so I filled it with crafting.

There's a local craft fair next weekend that I just so happen to have booked the day off work for, since it's the day after a wedding I'm going to, so my sister and I thought we'd try and book a stall. Well, I tried emailing a week ago and got no response so mum called the number on the panflet for it and spoke to the mayor. Apparently she was really nice and we've now got a stall booked for us.

So since last night, I've been frantically trying to make some stock. I've already got a little bag full of elasticated bracelets I've made in the past and I added a few more this week, as well as those, I've made a few clay pendants and earrings which I'll post soon, I need to get some decent pictures first.

These two cards here are some I made earlier in the week and I've got some cards I've posted previously that I can take as stock, but I only managed to make another three last night.

I don't really have many different toppers and things at the moment, so I checked the angel policy for the Gorjuss range by Docrafts (I love it so much, I wish I could afford to buy loads of their stuff) and I'm glad that I'll be able to make some really cute cards using their characters to sell.

I'm a good girl, I check the law.

Other than that, this week has been pretty quiet since I've been stuck indoors most of the time. My boyfriend came over and set up my new PC though, so my work area now has more space and is a lot more comfortable for me to actually work at and I've also made some more cards for that competition I mentioned before. Another month and I might be able to post them on here, until then you'll all have to make do with pictures of the stock I'm working on. I hope you like it all though!

Until next time!

Birthday Blues

Hi again folks!

This week I want to share with you a little set I made for a friend who loves cosplaying and dressing up, as well as the humble moose.

This lovely lady was stuck in hospital recently and was only just released on her birthday, so I sent her a card and a piece of original art on an ATC of her wearing the Faun make-up she came up with recently.

The card features a quick paper-pieced and decoupaged moose that I sketched the outline for, since I didn't have long to make a card, this was the best way I could think of finding a method of including a moose.

Hope you like it! Until next time!

Seeing Stars

Hi guys, sorry I haven't been posting a whole lot lately, I've been busy with work and making things that unfortunately, I'm not letting myself show anyone yet. I'm working on some cards for a competition, you see.

However, I did have a lovely little surprise yesterday when I bought the new issue (64) of Papaercrafter magazine...

The thought process when I saw this on my break at work was actually quite amusing. I'm surprised it took me as long as it did to figure out what was happening as well. "That card's familiar. Wait. That's my card. That's my name. That's my name on my card. My card is in a magazine. My card. Is in. A magazine... I won how much?!!!"

So I'm feeling a little bit more confident about my cardmaking skills and I'm really excited to get my prizes and have a little rummage. I spy a really cute mermaid stamp that I'm sure I will use tonnes.

Until next time!

Cosplay is crafting too

Hi everyone! For those of you that know me, it will come as no surprise to you that I like to cosplay, for those of you that don't, I want to introduce you to this unique crafting outlet that appeals to me so much.

I have always been a big fan of books, comics, cartoons, TV shows and movies. What can I say? I love pop-culture. So when I discovered cosplay at my first convention, I fell in love with it. People dress up as their favourite characters and attend conventions where they meet other people dressed up as their favourite characters, you make new friends, you discuss the shows, photographers get to practice on some really fun models and you don't even look like you're a weirdo if you go in costume, because pretty much half the people going are in costume.

My first cosplay was Raven from Teen Titans in 2011. I found a leotard, some really thick tights, a pair of boots, a wig on eBay and some purple fabric and then I was off. I was really absolutely no good at sewing whatsoever back then, so my mum made the cape for me and she helped me with the belt and badges. We pulled it off in time for an event at my local comic book store and I felt really happy when people recognised the character I was portraying.

Since I had so much fun cosplaying my favourite character from one of my favourite superhero cartoons, I wanted to improve it the next year so that I could debut it at an official convention.

This time I made the red and gold jewels from Premo clay and attached them to a gold chain, it didn't work very well since they were heavy and some of them fell off half way through the day, so I had to figure out how to hide the little lumps of clay stuck to the chain from the lenses of peoples' cameras when they asked me for photos. But overall, the costume went down really well and people seemed to like it. Not only that but I had a lot of fun playing Raven for a day at an actual con. I also bought some purple boots and a black turtleneck which I cut up and wore under the leotard as well as making some purple gloves, which made the costume a little more accurate to the show, since Raven has two of the gems on her hands, below purple cuffs. I even had a friend help me cut the wig into a better shape.

I've cosplayed a couple of other characters since but Raven is still the most fun I've had so far. So I've decided to improve her again for MCM expo in October 2013.

I posted this image on my personal Facebook page in my Cosplay Progress photo album and a lot of my cosplaying and nerdy friends seem really excited that I'm going to be doing this one again.

Apparently I really look the part when I cosplay her. But this time, I want to make the whole thing myself.

The leotard, turtleneck and wig are still usable and because they're parts I don't want to replace, since I styled the wig myself anyway and the leotard would be too difficult for a novice like me to make, there's really no point in changing those parts of the costume. I'm happy with them and they look right, so I'll be keeping them.

The things I do want to remake are the belt, brooch, gloves, boots and cape. It's a lot of work to do before October but I've found and bought all the items I need and have already started work on the belt, which I found in a charity shop for less than £2.

Following a tutorial that I found online, I'm making the gold bases for the red gems out of air-drying clay molded around sections of this belt, and then making the gems separately from red Premo before attaching them using a hot glue gun. Before I attach the gems the belt and air-dry clay will be spray-painted gold (and the clay sanded until smooth). I've also made the bases for the brooch and hand gems in the same fashion.

Once the belt is finished I'll be making boot covers for a pair of cheap shoes I found on sale in Tesco for £4, so that they look like Raven's boots.

I'll be making the boot covers from the same fabric as the cape, which I've found a simple pattern for online (made by another cosplayer). The fabric I chose is also much more of a blue purple, which is more accurate to the show. I've found some cut-offs from the turtleneck that I'm going to use to remake the gloves in the right colour and then hopefully everything will look a lot better!

Sorry it was such a long post today, I'm just really excited about cosplaying this character again and there's a lot of craft work that goes into making a cosplay, so I hope it's been interesting for you to learn a little bit about the cosplaying world.

I am by no means a fantastic cosplayer, I barely even make my own cosplays, and there are some incredible people out there who make absolutely amazing costumes just for the sheer fun of it so I hope if you like the idea of cosplaying you'll look it up a bit more because there are some fantastic techniques people use when making their costumes that you could probably use for inspiration in other crafts as well.

Until next time!

Please and Thank You!

Hi everyone, today's entry is something a teeny bit different. It's not a card I made purely because I found some items I liked in my stash. I'm entering a challenge today. This card was made for the "Thank You" challenge over on The Cutie Pie Challenge Blog. So it shan't be a very long entry.

I used my cutest stamp for this card and coloured it with my Spectrum Noir pens, which I absolutely adore, before trimming it and planning a card around it. I added doilies, floral patterns and ribbon for an extra cute and girly touch. I hope you like it!

Until next time!

What's new pussy cat?!

Hi guys! As I said yesterday, I've got another "set" of cards to share with you today, featuring kitty cats!

I don't know about all of you, but I am most definitely a cat person. I grew up with cats, there has never been a point in my life when I have lived in a home that hasn't had a cat. And I like that. Some people prefer dogs, and that's fine too but to me, cats will always have a very special place in my heart, they know when you're sad and they comfort you, they can tell when you're ill so they stick by your side and help you stay warm in bed (however long they need to), and they know when you're happy and always try to join in.

That's what I love about cats. They might go out and do their own thing without you. They might only hang around on a cold or wet day. They won't stay by your side all the time like dogs, but they're always there if you need them and they never go that far away.

Also, nothing beats a purring hot-water bottle on a rainy day!

So these cards were really nice for me to make. I kept them simple, and close to home. I love nothing more than finding little paw-prints here and there. Obviously I'm a little peeved if I find them on important documents, but for the most part, it's seeing them across the easy-clean surfaces like my desk, the kitchen floor and the best ones are the little trails they leave behind on snowy mornings in winter.

I hope you like them, until next time!

Peas in a pod

Hi again followers!

Every now and then I like to make sets of cards, because I can make several in a short amount of time. I say short but I normally add quite a bit of detail, so I get all the pieces ready first and then just stick everything down, it's the prep work that takes all the time.

Anyway, while I was clearing through my stash to tidy my storage, and get rid of things I honestly don't think I'll ever use (those items have now been donated to the "family" craft stash in our little store room, so they haven't gone far, in fact my mum will probably end up using it all eventually), I found a bunch of decoupage sheets that I'd forgotten I even had.

And they were really lovely. So I spent some time building up the decoupages and then planning cards around them. I had one sheet with three different ladies on that I'm sharing with you today, and then a couple of sheets with cats on that I'll share with you next time.

I'm trying not to buy any more stash now until I've used the majority of what I have, otherwise I don't think I'll ever remember to use some of these really nice products I have hidden away. Including presents I've received and free gifts from magazines. Some of my absolute favourite papers have come free with magazines, including the ones I've used in these cards here. So it just goes to show, you don't have to spend a lot of money to get some really good products.

These papers came with an issue of Cardmaking and Papercraft Magazine and I absolutely love them. They're so feminine and girly and I really like the subtle colours, so they were a lot of fun to play with.

I hope you like the cards. I certainly enjoyed making them!

Until next time!

Practice makes perfect...

Hi again! Today I'm going to share with you my second attempt at quilling. I was feeling a bit more confident when I made this card, so the design was a little more complicated. I went with bright, girly colours this time because my last card was quite masculine and I wanted to try making something a bit more feminine using the quilling technique.

I think I am already starting to improve, but I definitely want to keep practicing and do more and more complicated projects. I've seen so many things that have already given me the inspiration to try and get even better at quilling, so that I can have even more fun with it in the future.

It's so much more simple than I thought it would be and really anyone can do it, I picked it up so quickly that I'm surprised I haven't tried it before, so if you're feeling apprehensive about giving it a go, don't worry yourself about it, just try it and have fun with it, because it's really wonderful to see what you've been able to create by the end of it.

I hope you like the card, I still have lots more to share with you when I have the time to write more posts!

Until next time!

Quillin' Time

Hi everyone, I've already got a bit of backlog with my posts because I don't really want to do more than one post each day, and I don't want to write walls of text about multiple projects in each post. So since I've been a busy bee lately and have a few cards to share with you already, I'm going to get started now.

A few days ago I bought the latest issue (63) of Papercrafter Magazine because I find the kits that come with it quite fun to challenge myself with. But when I found out it came with a quilling tool and strips I was thrilled, because I've always wanted to try quilling but had no idea how and didn't have the tool anyway. With the simple instructions in the magazine for the basic shapes you can make, I was able to suss out how to use the technique within about an hour or so and then I just had to make a card.

This was the result, and I'm really happy with it. I decided to keep things simple and only use quilling for part of the main feature on the card, instead of the whole thing, mainly because I didn't want to bite of more than I was able to chew. I used the papers that came with the free kit and assembled them with co-ordinating card stock. I was disappointed that I didn't have any regular dark blue card stock but it turned out okay because the metallic card I had went brilliantly with the ribbon in the kit.

I really enjoyed using quilling and plan to hone my skills and work on some bigger quilling projects in the future. I'll get a bit more practice first though.

Hope you like the card! Until next time!

Welcome to my World

Hi, my name is Beckit, and this blog is going to follow my crafting and artistic activity. You can also find me on Facebook and Tumblr where I post things a bit more frequently if you like my work or just want to know what I'm up to.

I have a day job, but I feel much more at ease when I'm at my desk at home, in front of my computer with my music playing and something fun to make.

As an introduction to me, I want to share with you my workspace. I spent the whole day today rearranging all of my craft storage, and now that it's all more easily accessible from my work area, I'm hoping I'll be able to do a lot more of it in my free time.

I spent hours emptying this unit, sorting what I wanted to keep or what could be recycled and what had to be binned, but when it was completely gutted and lay bare in front of me (I even emptied that little chest of drawers completely to replace everything in it with nicely organised craft supplies) I knew just where I wanted everything to go.

I had all these storage boxes with my supplies in, but none of it was organised, so I decided to use them a bit differently and I ended up not having to spend a single penny on my new storage system. Instead of using the boxes as just boxes I removed the lids from all of my small and medium sized boxes and gave them new life as trays. The medium sized lids are perfect trays for toppers, papers and card stock, but the smaller ones are wonderful for inks, acrylic blocks and smaller items, which tucked in nicely next to my medium trays. I only used one of the lids from my Larger storage boxes (not shown here) and that's now acting as a tray for all my pens, resting atop my paint and bead boxes in the shelf just under my desk to the right of my chair.

The small drawers on top of the unit now store (from left to right, top to bottom) miscellaneous small beads, glitters and embossing powders, self adhesive gems, miscellaneous large beads, sentiments and alphabets, and finally in the bottom drawer I have all my scraps.

I used my three small boxes as pots instead and they contain chipboards, stickers and then various embellishments.

On the bottom shelf of my unit, I've only used one of my medium sized boxes to store all of my card blanks and packaging for postage, to the side of that I have food containers that used to be filled with brads and such, now I'm saving them for clays. The brads have been organised into smaller bead boxes behind them. My large bead box is now occupied by all of my buttons.

The only thing I struggled with really were ribbons. I wasn't sure how I was going to store them at all. Until I came across a nice long piece of wired ribbon, that felt pretty strong, in with all my clutter. So I tied one end to one of the metal bars/handles of the unit, threaded my ribbons onto it, after finding most of them already on spools and tying the rest around a spare one, and then tied the other end in another neat bow. Which turned out to not only be a really practical way of storing them, but a really cute one too.

Overall, I'm happy with how I've managed to organise myself, and I hope my solutions give you some ideas if you're struggling with space as well, I don't have a lot of space on or around my desk, so I really try to make the most of it, as I'm sure you all do. Anyway, I hope I helped in some way.

I don't know how often I'll be writing this blog but I'll try to be as interesting and as helpful as I can and I love to chat about crafts, so feel free to message me via my Facebook page or Tumblr, I'll try and get back to any messages as soon as I can.

Until next time!