Stamp-a-faire Mini Book Challenge

Back again with another post for Stamp-a-faire Mini book challenge.

It was really hard to pick just one for today. I wanted to do them all.  Finally  I picked  the one by Betsy Veldman using the Card Base-ics die.  I am always astonished by the beauty of Betsy's work.

On our little runs up and down the road to Brittas we bought these lovely strawberries and new potatoes fresh from the farm.  Hey the little run around was worth it just for them. We have just had a lovely BBQ dinner so I have plenty of strength now to keep going. Will I last it till the middle of the night to complete all the challenges.  Pop back and see !

Do you like the ribbon. I saw it in a market a couple of weeks ago in Italy. Just had to get it.

Last nights s'mores. I am going to make a couple more tonight if I get a chance to take a break. They were gorgeous.



Happy Saturday crafting with Papertrey Ink and Stamp-a-faire 2012.

 A little cottage down by the bridge.

 Road signs in Ireland dont always make a lot of sense but if you follow them you'll get there sometime, somehow !

 The beach last night lovely and quiet.  We took this lovely photo of  The little local shop that sells almost everything. It is where I got to spend my pocket money as a kid on sweet and icecreams.   A piece of my childhood....

 All set out  and ready in one of the tiny bedrooms in the mobile home.  Huh ! Read on....

We had a lovely trip to Wicklow yesterday afternoon. No heavy traffic, lovely sunshine and the promise of a lovely weekend. The journey took less than an hour and after a quick unpack of the car we went for walk to enjoy the weather and took some photos.  Later  I laid out all my bits and bobs on one of the beds in one of the tiny bedrooms ready for today.

After a nice cup of tea we tested the broadband strength and it looked promising. However trying to view videos was a challenge to say the least. I was able to tune into and post on the meet and greet thread on the forum and then to link to my blog. However it was very difficult to see the videos. I got to see Nichole's opening and the beginning of Melissa Philips but then it stopped and it looked like it would take forever to download. I was happy to stay and just use the blog posts but hubby pressed me to come back home and enjoy all the festivities in full.  With a lot of laughter we packed the car again this morning and drove back home.  Why or why can't I ever take the easy road......

Anyway now that I'm settled again I'm having the time of my life at Stamp-a-faire. The tutorials and videos are out of this world. The effort and hard work put into the event by everyone at Papertrey Ink really shows. Thank you all so much.

This is my card from the Make-n-take

Thank you Nichole for a wonderful tutorial. You made everything so straight forward and simple. I really enjoyed taking part in this. I just love this stamp set.

and this is my entry for the Ribbon Techniques Challenge

Can you see the little camp badge ?

Friends and family will  tell you I have a real thing for notebooks. I could n't tell you how many I have made since I first saw them on michellewooderson's blog. I was very happy to partake in Michelle's ribbon tutorial  today. I have been a great fan of her work and am very grateful for all the wonderful inspiration over the past years. Thank you Michelle.

All packed and ready for Stamp-a-faire 2012 with Papertrey Ink

 Summer time is good for me. Lots of free time to chill out and craft just for the fun of it.  The craft fair items are given a back seat as I try to learn new skills and techniques. Last Christmas I got a beautiful sewing machine and I have had a great time tackling many projects. This doll which I finished  this week is one of them. Is n't she lovely. She is called Tilda Flowergarden. She comes as a kit and is designed by the very talented   Tone Finnanger   Such beautiful  fabric designs ! Do you like her necklace ?  Hush don't tell anyone. I had no patience I had  to have a little go of the new die. More about that on Saturday !

In the top photo the doll is sitting on my packed bag ready for  Stamp-a-faire . Last year I travelled to Cincinnati to attend the event. It was a very special time in my life and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment. I had  a brilliant time. This year it is a special online event available for everyone. Pop over to Nichole Heady's blog to join in the amazing events. I cant wait. I am so looking forward to it.  As my sons are away on scout camp in Scotland, my hubby and I are heading to Brittas Bay, Co. Wicklow to our holiday home and keeping our fingers crossed that I get a good internet connection. If not I'm coming straight back home !

Life in Brittas Bay is very easy and laid back. A perfect place to be.

 

Wishing all my Papertrey Ink buddies a  Happy Stamp-a-faire weekend.  Happy crafting. 

Make it Monday Challenge with Papertrey Ink- Puffed Fabric Accents

The fastest card I have ever made. A half an hour ! Though if you saw the state of my craft room after just one card. You would think I had made 50.  I had tidied up yesterday and was enjoying the nice tidy desk. Did n't last long. Ah well it was fun.

I made it as part of the Papertrey Ink Make it Monday Challenge

Supplies:

Cardstock, button, twine, die, stamp, ink - Papertrey Ink
Card base from stash
Pro markers
Royal coat dimensional Magic
Staples from stash
Fabric and foam (which you cannot see) from stash

More Tilda by Panduro Hobby - Christmas House and Flowergarden - projects

I spotted these wall rack coat hangers in a local discount store at a reasonable cost and decided to alter some with paper from the lovely TILDA Christmas House and Flowergarden range. The papers are great quality and the designs go well with my plans for my stall display at the Christmas fairs this year. I was pretty pleased with results so carried on making 34 of them. I made a couple of boy racks using paper from K and Company - Rough and Tumble line. The racks cost me 1.50 euro  each and I hope to sell them for approx 8 euro each for charity. Will let you know how I do in December !

For my CRAFT FAIR IDEA followers - some samples and tutorial below.

While I enjoy pottering  away on crafting projects I also like to improve my computer skills. I was inspired by the layout of a tutorial given on Nichole Heady's Papertrey ink blog to go and teach myself how to prepare the layouts below. Though I think I need a bit longer to learn how to take better photos. Bare with me it might be a while ! 

Supplies:

Patterned paper by Tilda (Panduro Hobby) Christmas House and Flowergarden ranges,

Mod Podge - gloss

Pink ribbon from stash

Go Kreate label die

Farrow and Ball emulsion paints

Papertrey Ink May Blog Hop Challenge

The inspiration  for this challenge was from the following photo

A little sprinkling of alyssum flowers.

Thanks for stopping by !

Shabby Chic Fabric Notice Boards

   

I spotted a fabric notice board in a shopping mall in Dubai costing approx 20 euro. Looking a little closer I could see it looked as if I could make something similar for the next craft fairs. I already had a nice stash of fabrics, batting,  ribbons. I knew there was a staple gun in the work shed. All I needed was a piece of light wood for the backing. Looking around the house I hit upon the idea of using an artists canvas board. They are pretty reasonable to buy and are light weight. This turned out to be a  really quick and easy project to make. With a little embellishment it makes an ideal stocking filler for the Christmas fairs.

 

 I started by cutting a piece of batting to the size of the canvas and attached it to the top of the canvas with a small piece of double sided adhesive tape in each corner.

I then placed it upside down on a piece of fabric(wrong side up) big enough for each side to fold over the edges and tuck under the wooden frame.

 I then started by stapling the fabric to the frame, pulling it tight.

 When I had attached the four sides. I tided up the corners by cutting a small amount off each corner so that I could tuck the fabric under neat and tidy.

 I then turned in over and laid out the ribbons in a suitable pattern. Make sure you cut the ribbons long enough to tuck under at the back.  You can use as many rows as you like.

 The ribbons were attached with long straight sewing pins to keep them in place while I turned the frame over again and stapled the ribbons to the back tucking the ribbon edges under the frame too.

That's it. All it needs is a button or buttons depending on your preference. I could have used brads but that would have increased my cost base for each of the notice boards plus I like the idea of clipping notes on with paper clips or the altered pegs.

The tags I made using a tag template I had and I embellished with scraps of  papers from the  Tilda range (Flower garden and Christmas House) and added glittered stickers from Making Memories FA LA LA. The pegs I painted with acrylic pink paint and covered with scraps again from the above Tilda line.

The floral fabric and the pink one with red polka dots are from the Rosalie range in Ikea. The other red and white fabrics are from a local fabric shop.