Happy Birthday Countdown!

Have you been following our 40 days blog hop? Well in case you haven't...we're celebrating the upcoming 40th Birthday of our very own *GUV*, with a prize challenge every single day until the day itself!

Today is day 6 {I think!}, so you're not too late to join in...and here is today's challenge...I want to see your LO's, minibooks, cards or ATC's celebrating the best thing that ever happened on your Birthday...whatever it is...a special someone coming to visit...and special present...or a super outing...I want to know what is the best Birthday you've had, and why?

Because its Challenge Saturday, you have all month to enter, by e-mailing your projects to our Guv, and posting in the comments section below. The prize will be...to win the little book I've made below *40 things that make me happy* and a selection of goodies to enable you to easily finish the book {with your own journalling and photos...you probably don't want a book recording the things that make *ME* happy, right? ;) }

You will also get a kit from the Guv, enabling you to be the next months' Guest Designer...so what are you waiting for!!!

The book I've made is bound on a BIA and all the papers are from the Fancy Pants Crush and Sweet Pea collections. I've used velvet ric rac, American crafts ribbons, a cute charm and assorted *bling*.

Do join in the fun...and I can't wait to see all your creations!! :)

have you *bagged* yourself an entry yet?

Hi everyone!

Today is my day on the 40 days blog hop, so do pop over to my blog, you just might *bag* yourself some goodies!! Good luck!!

Today's LO is another one for my sister's wedding album...its that great moment when you sign the register and use your *new* name for the first time!!

The pp's I've used for this are from the Mira, HOTP PS and Day by Day collections. I love to combine ranges, it means that your page is a one of a kind, as its pretty unlikely that anyone else will choose all the same pp's! All I've added except pp is a few dots of acrylic paint, a flower shaped charm and a length of ribbon! Easy as pie really :)

Remember to vote above...and to look out for the new challenge which will be here on saturday!

Birthday Boys!!

The men in my family all seem to be having their Birthdays at once again...they do this to me every year ;) and as the last altered wine box went down so well...I thought I'd do another one!


This one is covered in papers from the same HOTP PS Kit that I used last time (you get tons in each kits...with matching ribbons and embellishments...and they are still on at half-price!!!) All I have added here is a charm (these are currently 70% off) and 3 little brads, and a stamped message. You could easily print happy birthday on the paper before you adhere it if you don't have a suitable stamp :)

As its my other half's Birthday today I had to make him a card...and I've used the cardstock from the PS Kit as the base, added a felt bird (from the die-cut sheets here, also 20% off), two buttons and doodled a message and a border. The felt bird was originally red, but I have coloured it with fabric inks and added a dot of acrylic paint and a tiny orange bead to make it look like the blackbirds we are currently taming in the back yard :)

Thats it from me today...I hope to get out in the sunshine...for a little al fresco crafting today...whatever you are up to...enjoy!

new DT members...new challenges...are you keeping up?

Hi everyone!

Alix here, and wow its busy around here lately! Have you checked out our new DT members? Welcome to both of you :) and have you entered our monthly challenge yet? *if not...what are you waiting for...their is stash at stake here!!! lol*

Here is my latest project...altered mini-cubes. These wooden cubes are only 99p for three, which I think is a bargain...and they are little so they sit perfectly on your desk, or window sill, even on the mantel piece without taking up too much space.

I've decorated mine with pp from the HOTP PS Kits, using a glue stick. Easy. I've stamped some sides with our initials using a selection of alphabet stamps {but you could use letter stickers or a die-cutter}, and added photos of us both {me on the A cube and him on the D cube}. The other cube is stamped on each side with an ampersand or a star from the HOTP Thingamajigs stamp set. Even the other half likes these, so they must be quite cute!! lol

Project #2 today is the evening LO from my friend's recent birthday. Its called *Lets drink...PINK* and I've made it using the gorgeous Mira collection papers. Do check these papers out, they are such a fun, artistic, colourful and happy collection...perfect for all sorts of occassions.

I've also used American Crafts ribbons, red blooms, pink flower gems and some felt accents. The circle is from the die-cut felt sheets and the pink butterfly is punched from Friendly Felt...you remember how much I love this stuff, right? ;)

So there it is...my contribution for today. I hope it inspires you in some little way to get on and make a little something *NOW*

Enjoy.

:)

Happy days...

Hi everyone,

Here I am again with 2 projects both in honour of special, happy days. Firstly, a LO of the trip out Katy and I had on the morning of her birthday. And secondly, a cute idea for wrapping up a Fathers' day gift!

Lets start with the LO. Here I've used 3 of the Mira collection papers which are scrummy! They are totally on trend with all the flowers and colours and birds...there will be more projects coming up using these papers...because I just can't get enough of them!!! :) I've co-ordinated the papers here with some of the American Crafts ribbons (still on special offer), a couple of blooms, with foam spots as their centres {covered with orange glitter}. I've used a cute ribbon slider for the date and 1 of the yummy journalling cards...for...my journalling! To make the arrowhead, I simply cut the corner off a slide mount. Finally, I added a little acetate tag from one of the HOTP PS Kits.

My second project today is a decorated bottle box, for Fathers' Day. This box originally was given to my other half for Christmas with a bottle of his favourite tipple in...but now it houses a single Malt Whiskey! ;)

I covered the whole tube in one sheet of 12x12 from the HOTP PS Kits and adhered co-ordinating ribbon around both the top and the bottom (to cover the gap!) I used another of those fantastically beautiful journalling cards to make a giant gift tap and stamped *happy fathers' day* on it in Stazon.

As you can see I made an error in my stamping...stamping Bay instead of Day...*rolls eyes*...but rather than cover it up, I decided to make a feature out of my mistake and attached a smaller tag which reads *from your Dyslexic daughter-in-law*!!! I'm sure it will make him smile...jokes at my expense seem amuse most people!! lol The tag was made using one of the giant paper punches now only £5!!

That's all for now folks...have a great weekend...I'm off to SAG for some intensive scrapping and catching up with my girlfriends. So I should have lots of new ideas when I come back! :)

what do you make with cardstock?

...well...cards obviously!!! ;)

Here's one I've made for my bro-in-law. I've used a HOTP PS Kit, which makes life really easy, as everything is co-ordinated for you :) I like that...lol They are an absolute bargain at £9.50 each...you'll be amazed how much stuff you get...even an ideas booklet...just in case your mojo has taken a wander without you! I've added a slide mount {which I covered in the co-ordinating paper} and a bottle top, which was flattened in a Big Shot {I normally use a hammer, but I was at a friends' and couldn't resist trying it...so easy!!}


This card is one of those *exploding* ones, and I made it for Katy for her Birthday. My apologies for the dodgy photos...I only just got it finished before she arrived...so I had to photograph it super quickly!!! lol

The cardstock for this one is all from the Promenade Collection, which has a wonderful distressed look to it, in soft oranges, yellows and blues. It would be perfect for beachy themed LO's too. The chipboard embellies are from the same collection and I've used that yummy cake stamp again from the Lucky Dip Stamp Selection. I can't resist 3 wood mounted stamps for £1!!! Can you?
When you open the card up this is what you see, and its all tied together with a piece of ribbon.

It's a GIFT!

Have you had a good look at any of the HOTP Personal Shopper Kits? They are currently less than half price...which I have to say is practically a GIFT!!!! In honour of this...I've used some of the papers to make a birthday gift bag {fankly at this price its much cheaper than buying one...and sooo much more fun!}.

This bag is made from 3 sheets of patterned 12x12, a small section of the co-ordinating cardstock, one of the matching birthday ribbons. I've also added a couple of tiny pieces of white mini ric rac and made a co-ordinating embellishment with some UTEE and one of the stamps from the bargain priced Lucky Dip selection!!

This is the back of the bag.

and this is the side view...

Continuing my thrifty gift theme...I decided to wrap the gift itself in my favourite style, which is plain tissue and a gorgeous ribbon. (This even works with plain copy paper if your gift is small enough and it looks fabulous!) The ribbon I've used here is from the American Crafts Lucky Dip which gives you 5 fabulous ribbons in metre long lengths for a mere £1!!! So another bargain!!

I hope my friend doesn't think I'm *cheap* if she reads this post!!! lol

Drop Dead!

Hi everyone, me again {Alix} with a wee offering for your amusement and possibly inspiration.

I've really enjoyed doing this project. I've used the Drop Dead Red pp (which can be found here) and a wooden blank {you could just as easily use thick card to cut out the shape} to make a door hanger for a stroppy teenage girl. I've painted the blank with acrylic paint and used glue to attach the torn strips of pp and the skull that I cut out with scissors. I've then added the felt shapes from the Die Cut Felt Sheets. Actually the shapes I've chosen are officially the *waste* but I really liked thier quirky swirly nature so I used them anyway!


I then inked the edges in black using a permanent inkpad, added gemstones to one of the felt shapes and to the torn strips. I tied a heart charm on with some oddments of ribbon {there are a huge selection of charms here}, added a holographic flower shaped button and another piece of ribbon near the bottom and placed one spotty flower with a red gem centre at the top. And there you have it...

This is exactly the sort of thing I would have loved...and I dare say there are a few stroppy teenagers left in the world now...do you know any of them?? {I do!!!}

want to make quick cards? for any occassion?

...then this could be just the solution for you!! Our amazing Lucky Dip Stamp Offer gets you an incredible *THREE* wooden backed stamps for *£1.00*!!!! I've designed a very simple sketch to use any of the stamps to make a cute card in less than 5 minutes...are you ready? ;)

my sketch is this:

its incredibly basic...but it works...and here are the 3 cards I made with my Lucky Dip:




I've created a happy birthday card{cake stamp},
an invitation for drinks {cocktail glass stamp}
and a invitation to watch a school rugby game {ball stamp}.




What will you create? I'd love to see them so do e-mail your examples in to the gallery! :)

just a quickie from me {alix}

Hello crafters!

Life has been a bit hectic for me {and the family} lately, so I've not been around much...but as I have half an hour to myself now...I thought I'd spend it with you! :)


This is my latest project, a repurposed box {which used to contain cotton buds...how did crafters ever cope without these little beauties???}. I've embellished it with pp's, ribbon and a couple of cute charms, so its now a girlie gift box.

The papers I've used are from the lovely Siesta collection, very pretty and perfect for girlie projects. I've die cut a flower {using the Big Shot} from the same papers, and tied a thin ribbon all the way around, suspending one of the lovely heart charms, and tied a bow with a sheer ribbon from which I've suspended another charm, this one reads *glamour girl*. There are lots of gorgeous charms available in the webshop...here, and remember to stop by the Pound Stop for some bargain ribbon selections too!

Ok, that's me for today, but I hope to be back soon...and until then...*happy crafting* :)

Ta Daa...the monthly challenge starts here!!

Well hello again and welcome to the all new Monthy Challenge on Blog til you Drop!

We have decided to abandon the weekly challenges, and instead run single challenge for the whole month, to give people more time to join in! At the end of the month the DT will choose a winner and they will win...actually that is still under negotiation at CTYD HQ...but trust us...it will be good!! :)

Ok, so the first of these challenges is to *repurpose* something for your crafting. In my examples I've repurposed 2 lots of packaging {a wooden draw that contained small screws and a cotton bud pot} but you can use anything you like or have lying around waiting for a new *purpose*. Its a lot like recyling really :) A few suggestions might be bottle tops, magazine pictures, the ribbon from your Easter egg...you get the idea...

As always you can enter a card, LO, home decor item or ATC...whatever you like really...we try to be pretty inclusive to all crafters here at BTYD. Just e-mail a photo over to Beverley and leave a comment in this post so that we all know to go and check out what you've done! You can also click on the gallery icon at the top of the page and comment on other people's entries too which is fun...

To get you started here are my examples. Firstly a wall hanging {what is it with me and wall art atm!!!} that I've made from a wooden draw that contained small screws. I've painted it, lined each section with off-cuts of paper from the Coffee House collection, and then stamped some stars onto the paper using a wooden star as a stamp. Then I've added some photos, charms and buttons, and some of the amazing felt die-cuts which are available here. For my purposes I've roughed them up a bit by finger painting some paint onto the edges :) *i do love to get messy*

Then I've used my Cropadile to make holes for the sheer ribbon, and added another charm hanging at the bottom. I have to say I'm quite pleased with the end result!

My second example is very simple and uses a cardboard pot covered in stips of ribbon, and then embellished with an assortment of felt and paper flowers to give a fun, funky place to store all sorts of crafting bits and bobs!

Righty ho then, I hope I've given you something to think about...and you'll join in with the new style challenges...and I look forward to seeing all your creations!

the all new monthly challenge...

is coming...but it seems my camera is almost as poorly as my MIL atm...and its just unformatted itself...which means i've lost all my photos!!!

i'm off to take some more...but its pretty dark here now...so please bear with me!!

it will be worth the wait...*promise* :)

A family of girls...

I'm guessing you can tell that i love these Crush pp's by Fancy Pants...in fact i'm thinking Fancy Pants just might be my new favourite manufacturer...*gasps from friends and family*...and apologies to *********!!

For this LO {of my Mum and her 4 sisters} I've used the pp and the die cuts from the Crush collection, a few random buttons i had lounging in my sewing tin, and some white acrylic paint to make the raised dots and the antennae. As you can see i cut around some of the flowers to frame the photo, then layered the butterfly on top with foam pads. Do you like how i've made the body out of buttons? i thought that was quite cute!! lol

I've made some striaght horizontal lines with satin ribbon from the Lucky Dip selection, used my offcuts of pp with a large tag punch to make the title. This punch is a bargain reduced to £5!!! And so useful, as you can then make all your own tags to co-ordinate with all your favourite papers yourself...saving you another fortune on die-cut ones!! Good, huh?

Finally, I've double stamped the title to give it depth, and doodled stitching and journalled in a fine pen.

I hope you like my efforts today...and maybe...just maybe...it will inspire you to go off and make the same thing...or something completely different!! :)

TTFN,
Alix

no so *happy* scrappy...

Hi guys, its me, Alix, again!

I've been having a bit of a scrapping epiphany lately...as I look back through my albums...it seems that I only really scrap the *happy* things that happen in my life...and although I strongly believe focussing on the positive is a great thing...I do also believe that we should acknowledge the rest of life's events too; its the quickest route to acceptance I find! :)

So here I am, scrapping something that has been troubling me lately {if you're not into this...just don't read the journalling!}

To create this 6x12 LO I've used the Coffee House papers which have a lovely watery/dreamy feel to them that seemed just right for sharing some of my more intimate feelings. I've mixed them with some papers from the 12x12 lucky dip which is sold out now!! To embellish the LO, I've doodled around the entire edge of the page with a white pen and added 2 HOTP Really Big Brads which I've also doodled on.

So what do you guys think? Do you scrap only the jolly things that happen along the way? Or do you sometimes do cathartic scrapping like this?

OK, that's enough from me for today...*waves...* xxx

ps...my next LO to share is a super happy one btw :) one of my favourites in a while, actually!

and the February Winner is....

Elaine Charters!!!
Well done Elaine, we all loved your handmade dream catcher and overall card design. Remember to e-mail your postal address to the Guv so she can send out your prize! :) I hope to see you entering again next month...and come on all you shy types out there...give it a go...you might just win too!!

OK, so what else do I have to share? Well, here is a 12x12 LO of my OH and me at our engagement dinner {looking a bit hot and flustered but there you go...lol}.

The base card, the two matts and the chipboard embellishments are from the Promenade collection {one of my current faves :) } The flying embellishment is made from my left-overs from the Crush collection {papers and die-cuts} and they are tied together by inking all the edges with red chalk ink {currently 20% off...see here}. The title is stamped using an old alphabet {sorry don't even remember who its by!} but could just as easily be die-cut or made from stickers, etc. Finally, I have a useful notebook to show you. I am cognitively challenged and find life much easier if I constantly write down the things I need to do/remember...so I thought I'd make myself a cute little notebook! I've used one of the huge butterfly chipboard shapes and cut it in half to make book covers. These chipboard shapes are 30% off atm...so get them while you can!!

As you can see, I've covered the covers {so to speak} and made the pages from the Vanessa Arbuthnott papers...which are a staggering 13p each {75% off!!!}. These papers are super pretty, pale enough to write on, and at that price...cheap enough to use for a super pretty shopping list!! The book is tied together with ribbons from the Lucky Dip selections and although the satin has sold out...the organza is still available here. The embellishments on the from cover are some I made a while ago from the Friendly Felt selection...and if you still haven't tried this stuff...please do!! It is a dream to work with...looks fantastic...and is available here with 50% off !

So that is me for today...off for a lie down and a browse through a wedding magazine...its getting pretty close now!! Have a good day yourselves...and see you again soon.

xx

Bargains...bargains...and bags!

Hi all!

A couple more ideas for you today...Firstly...carrying on my butterfly bonanza from last week...I've used more of the chipboard accents to make this cute butterfly hanger for my friend's scraproom!
The shapes were covered with pp's from the 12x12 Lucky Dip, and embellished with wire wings, star shaped brads, acrylic paint dots and some glass chips I had from a fish tank!! Its all tied together with ribbon from the satin Lucky Dip! Altogether a bit of bargain from start to finish, eh? lol

My second offering today is a bag which I've embellished. I bought the bag for £2 from a local shop and thought I'd jazz it up a bit with all the sale goodies!


I've adhered ribbon from the satin Lucky Dip in 3 colours along the bottom edge, then I attached 3 of the dark Yo-Yo's with a button and some embroidery cotton and made very long stitches to make the stems. There is a super bargain bag of buttons available here if you don't have any! Then I tied some more of the satin ribbon into 3 bows and a knot...and simply glued them on! Et voila...I have a funky new cropping bag!!

I hope you like what I've done...do leave me a comment and let me know what you think...especially if you think you might a go yourself!! And keep your eyes peeled on the webshop...there is new stuff going into the sale all the time :)

Bye for now x

winged things...

Hi everyone, Alix here! Have you seen these chipboard accent packs yet? They come in allsorts of shapes and themes, but this week I've been working with the wings selection...I hope you like what I've come up with :)

This is a dragonfly shape and I've covered it with paper from the Lucky Dip 12x12 selection, overlayed with two sets of vellum wings cut from the Lucky Dip Vellum selection and then wound ribbon around a kebab stick from the Lucky Dip Satin selection! I've shaped a piece of wire for the antennae and covered the body in seed green seed beads and blue glitter {sadly you can't see it in the photo...but it really shines and sparkles!} I'm going to give this as a wand to a special little girl i know...but it would equally look good in a bunch of {dried} flowers or tucked into a plant pot...anywhere really!

This butterfly shape I've made into a badge/brooch. I simply coloured it using a soft blue inkpad and stamped onto it using some shapes from the HOTP Thingamajigs set of stamps in black ink...a word of warning tho...as you can see...the chipboard is very shiny...so don't be like me...put your shape down on a flat surface if you want to stamp without slipping about!! The centres are embellished with a dot of acrylic paint , as is the body.

This last butterfly is my favourite tho...and it was the easiest to do! Again I coloured it using an inkpad, and I made antenna and a body with wire {threaded with some little polymer clay beads I made an age ago...} This time however, I decorated the body with felt shapes...you do remember how much I love felt, don't you? These shapes are cut out of the Felt Fusion heart border strip. Self adhesive, you just trim and peel...and the job is done!

Actually, I seem to be on a bit of a butterfly kick atm...and have a yummy LO to share next time I'm up!

But for now...thanks for dropping by...and go on...have a go at a winged thing yourself!!

Well did you??

make any Valentine cards I mean? :) I did!! and a LOVE book! There is so much gorgeous stuff in the webshop atm...I am totally in love with the Fancy Pants collections...and have used the Crush option for my Valentine card and book...If you haven't checked them out yet...get over there quick...this stuff will not hang around long!!!

This card is for my OH and is made from the Crush cardstock and embellished with the Felt Fusion borders which are just delicious {there are squillions of these to choose from and they are already self adhesive so super easy to stick down!}

To go with the card, I've made a mini-album using the Bo Bunny Love chipboard album...again there are several of these to choose from and they are currently 20% off!! I've decorated mine using 4 sheets of the Crush cardstock, the co-ordinating die-cut tags, and lots of ribbon from one of the Lucky Dip bags which are only £1!!!!

Apart from this, I've added photos, penwork, inked the edges and used a heart charm {these charms are also part of a huge selection which are on a phenomenal deal atm only 90p a pack!!! I think the Guv has gone a bit mad myself...they are a crazy 70% off and they are sooo sweet...perfect for all sorts of occasions and projects!}

Finally, I've made a card for my MIL2be to give to her OH :) This uses the heart vellum from the Lucky Dip selection, another of the heart charms and some more of the ribbon from the Lucky Dip satin selection. I've made the little frame from a slide mount embossed with twinkly powder, just to add a bit of bling! lol

I have really loved working with all these products...and I would recommend them to any one...and just in case you haven't noticed...we have a Pound Stop now...where you can get some amazing bargains...do be sure and check it out! We all love stash, right?

Happy Valentines' Day...Alixxx

Challenge #27 - Make your own embellishments!

Hi everyone!

Remember the days when crafting was about *making something* out of whatever you had to hand? Well this week I've gone a bit nostalgic...and I'm putting aside all those beautiful ready made embellishments in favour of something I've made myself...

My challenge to you is to do the same! You can enter a card, a LO, an altered item or an ATC...but the embellies must be all your own work...and not *bought*, OK?

Here are some ideas to get you going:

My first card is really far down the nostalgia track...its embroidered fuschias...done with an eyelet hole punch and some HOTP sheer ribbons from the Classic Collection {plus some green which I randomly had!} The greeting is from the HOTP word fragments.


My second card is a handmade shaker box card, made from a HOTP slide mount and two little pieces of acetate left from the HOTP acetate overlay we had months ago!! I've covered a blank card and the slide mount with pp's from the Boy to Men Busy Scrappers set, added a little chunky crystal glitter to the inside and a cute charm to the outside. I've also popped an offcut of ribbon from the HOTP Citrus Embellishment set and 4 gold square brads onto the box. Finally, I've drawn around the box and written my sentiment in by hand...do you remember hand writing? lol
How about a bunch of flowers to cheer the day along? These flowers on sticks {and hearts and butterflies too :) } are in all the shops atm...and I love them! Here I'm showing how many different styles of flowers you can make from just your offcuts of pp, a felt pen and some odd brads and charms. The large brads are the HOTP Really Big Brads. You could also use, felt, buttons, bottle tops...anything you like the look of to make the centres...let your imagination go wild!

Finally, I've made and embellished a box to give my loved one his favourite biscuits in on Valentines' Day. :-x I've used the same Boys to Men pp's, a HOTP alphabet sheet, some heart shaped brads from the Cooking set of Brad Buddies and a pair of scissors! Pretty cute, huh? :)

Ok, so you've seen my examples...do join in the Challenge and let me see what you can do. Simply e-mail your entry and then comment in this post to let us all know your work of art is in the gallery to be admired.

Good luck...and remember to check back at the end of the month to see if you are Feb's Challenge Winner!!

Scrapping with scraps!!

Hi Guys,

I'm thinking that everyone is a bit skint in Jan/Feb, just like me...so I've done some projects that literally do use the last scraps of my kit, to show just what you can achieve with not much stash!!

OK...umm...no laughing please ;-p This is my first school photo and yes...I do want to run and hide now!! lol

I've used the remnants of 4 sheets of American Crafts The Goods pp's and a sheet of plain purple cardstock. I've made my own embellishments out of Friendly Felt and a couple of brads. I've journalled with a white pen, using my non-dominant hand...which is all wobbly and reminiscent of my 4 year old writing! Finally, I've stamped a huge bracket and an exclamation mark {fromt the HOTP Thingamajig stamp set} in white to tie the papers and my stylish shirt together!

Et voila...something out of *nothing.*



This little card really does use the scraps! If anyone remembers the Advent Calendar I made back in November...well the felt frame on this card is made by cutting around the waste from the title letters which I cut using a friend's Big Shot! I've embellished the frame with more felt, some butterflies, a circle and 2 different flowers all of which I punched out using regular punches. However please do be careful...in my enthusiastic jumping up and down to punch through the felt...I did break one of my punches!!! Ooooops! Finally, I added a jewel brad to the flower and inked the edges all the way around. Job done!

Finally, I've used the remnants of all those yummy sheets of Friendly Felt...did any of you notice just how much I loved this stuff!! I've made an assortment of embellishments ready for my next projects...very handy when you're in a bit of a hurry to have something ready made!

I hope you like what I've done? Do leave me a comment to let me know...and E-mail Beverley for any of these productts...apart from that...happy *scrapping*...and see you again soon! :)