CRAFTY CAKES

We celebrated our Ruby Wedding Anniversary this year.  It has been the most amazing forty years, with so many marvelous happenings all the way through.  So to mark the event we had a party with all the family.  I needed something special for the cake and when I saw this .gsd pattern for a card here Thyme Graphics I knew it would be perfect!

 

However my efforts were totally upstaged by the cake made for us by The Tiddlers. Decorated by five year old Beth and supervised by Ben (three). It was just spectacular!   

We have achieved many things in our forty years together but our most spectacular successes must be our two talented & beautiful daughters and two of the most wonderful grandchildren we could have been blessed with. sigh......... ;0)

By the way, Thyme graphics have some fantastic cutting files.  It's well worth having a look!

KEYS TO SUCCESS!

I've been experimenting with the idea of keys as cards just lately, starting with these cuties.

They really do make an unusual card, either stand alone or as a topper.  The difficulty I have is that because they are double sided, when you come to print them out, unless you have a flatbed printer like my age old Epson, the keys come out offset. doh!

I'll have to see about a fix for that - something else to keep me attached to my computer for a few minutes. This is a standing joke in the family.  I only have to say 'It'll only take a minute' & everyone settles down for the long haul - I do tend to get a bit sidetracked occasionally :0)

Moving On

As my blog name has been hijacked by another blogger, I've decided the best way forward is to start over. So you will now be directed to my new blog - Sheila's Super Duper Crafty Corner.  Hopefully I will have better luck with that one :0) See you there

If you are not re-directed please click on the attached link www.sheilassuperdupercraftycorner.blogspot.com

Cake with a difference

Over the years we have found that having a traditional birthday or wedding cake doesn't always fit in with the plans for the day.  On Robin's 60th Birthday, it was going to be a bit tricky cutting cake and handing it out - always a very messy operation at the best of times, usually ending up with lots of crumbs and a napkin full of squashed mixed fruit! So we went to plan B which has worked wonderfully in the past, and had 'The Cake with a Difference', this not actually being 'cake' at all.  I made up little gold boxes,with Robins and Birthday greetings printed on the sides, filled them with sweeties (really nice ones, the sort you don't want to part with) and arranged them in the shape of a 60 on a HUGE board.  The whole thing was a great success, everyone had a little box of sweets and I'm pleased to say that there wasn't a crumb or soggy napkin to be seen - RESULT! Definately two thumbs up for that one.

More Albums to view

I have quite a collection of beautiful crocheted ornaments, wedding good luck gifts and christmas ornaments now, which you can view in the album below. They look spectacular, particularly in their customised boxes and a personalised greeting. They make a unique gift for a special day!

CROCHET ORNAMENTS & WEDDING GIFTS ALBUM

TO VIEW EXAMPLES OF CARDS AND CRAFTS PLEASE CLICK ON THE ALBUMS BELOW WHICH WILL TAKE YOU TO PICASA WHERE YOU CAN SEE DETAILED PICTURES AND INFORMATION ABOUT THE ITEMS

KIDDY CARDS ALBUM

Ducky Rocking Card for All Occasions!

This card was made for my daughter Paula on her last birthday and although she's grown up (?) she still loves to get cute cards - so this one fitted the bill perfectly.

How cute is this little duck with hovering butterfly

Looks cute from the back as well!

Pink Paisley Card for Triplets

This Card is sooo cute and can be made in blue if you wanted it for baby boys - well, actually any colour you like.

Pink Father Christmas!

Last Christmas I wanted to do something special for The Tiddlers in the way of advent calendars, and saw just the thing in a book by Sandra Lounsbury-Foose.  She really does come up with spectacular ideas with very clear templates that are so achievable.  Anyway as I needed 50 for the calendars I decided to make one up on the computer to which I could add the numbers and make in different colours (Beth has to have a pink Father Christmas - of course!!).  They printed out really well, but did take a while to cut out.  I  have since got a Craft Robo which would have made life so much easier.  Each of the Father Christmases has moving arms and legs and had a sweetie stuck inside with a glue dot for easy removal and we hung them up with little pegs (well out of the way for safety.  25 chockies all at once is not good for the system we have discovered!)

Beth's had to be pink - of course!

Good old Ben goes with the traditional

Branching out

Having had a fair bit of success with the bells, I've now started to branch out into other crocheted items.  The fans turned out particularly well and have been requested by friends for bridal good luck gifts.  Again I had a few hours of brain twisting to get the boxes to fit and look professional.  I've had several attempts that looked good but either didn't stay together for very long, (see picture) or didn't stay shut properly, but eventually I hit gold and am so pleased with the final product.

Thread Crochet Wedding Bells

My most recent passion is for thread crochet ornaments.  Years ago, when we were in Bosham on the south coast, I peeped into a craft gallery and saw some crochet bells and little animals.  They were so beautifully made, that that was it - I had to have a go!  So I looked round for patterns - not a chance - they are like gold dust.  Eventually, I found just what I needed and got cracking.  At the time you could get fabric stiffener called Stiffy from almost any craft shop, which did the job perfectly.  However, you don't seem to be able to buy it over here anymore so, after trying starch, PVA glue and everything else I could think of to stiffen the material and having disasterous results, I gave up making them.

However, last year I discovered that Evostick Wood Glue (blue bottle for outside use) is just the job.  It dries clear and very hard.  Perfect, I was off again. :0)

Crochet Wedding Bell & presentation box

So this is what I made for my friends wedding.  I also had a wonderful time designing a box to put it in.  Oh, the joy of being a crafter, it keeps me quiet for hours!

Being brave and jumping in!

So.... How to start!  I've been thinking and thinking and thinking about this for months.  The family are fed up to the eye teeth with me banging on about starting a blog and so now I've knuckled under and got going, but as I said - how to start.

I love crafts - all crafts - and have been making things ever since I could hold a pencil and a pair of scissors.  My Great Aunty, bless her, took me in hand when I was a tot and showed me how to crochet and knit and since then, I've never looked back, hence my name Knitting Nanna.  But I'm also addicted to papercraft.  Card making, box making, toy making, origami - anything I can do with paper, card and a bit of glue.  My house is full - absolutely bulging - with every craft material imaginable and machines to work with them. The family are used to me saying 'I'll just pop and get this done - it won't take a second' and then being gone for hours, sometimes days!

Over the years people have often said 'How do you make that' or ' Where can I get the bits to make so and so' or just plain 'Help! it's all gone wrong, how can I fix it?' so hopefully this blog will give me a chance to share some of my craftmaking ideas, where to find things in England, as you invariably find that the makings can only be purchased in America, and how to get out of some tight crafty situations!

Right - I've started.  BIG SIGH!!!  Not so bad after all.