Card-Making on the Cheap - Bakers twine

Soooo... I reckon it's about time for another Card-Making on the Cheap post, don't you? ;) Now, I just LOVE this nifty little trick! It may be because...
a) I am completely BROKE at the moment, and this is FREE for me! (I have the supplies needed on hand already)
b) It's Suuuuper-Easy! and...
c) It's really useful!

"Come on, just tell us what it is already!" I hear you cry. Well... Ta-da! Here it is!   :)

DIY Bakers Twine! 

This really is GENIUS, and Baker's Twine looks so fab on cards, this has gotta be one of my most favourite Card-Making tricks ever! :) Go here for the how-to (It's Sooo easy, you could knock out a whole ball of baker's twine in a half-hour - Great project for in front of a movie or your fave TV show!) Have a look at the cards she uses it on, or go here for more uber-cute inspiration! Isn't that "Orange" card fab!? 




OK,  if you are active in the "blogosphere" in any way, you've probably seen this tut before. It. is. EVERYWHERE! Therefore, I feel I'm cheating a bit because most people probably already knew about it. If you didn't, then great! But if you did, then here's another site I've found:
It's called The Counterfeit Kit Challenge, and basically, they rip off  those gorgeous, but super-expensive Scrapbooking kits! They're usually made for FREE, as participants use embellishments, papers, and stickers they already own, plus freebie downloads, and tutorials on how to make cute embellishments. Like I said, it's geared towards scrabooking, but the embellishments and printables can easily be altered to use on cards! Visit the tutorial section to pick up some awesome tips on making your own embellishments, while saving yourself a wackload of cash! Have Fun! S xx

Perfection!

 Hello!
Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I've been lazy busy! ;) Anyway, I decided I'd share some cards I made a while ago, not for any particular reason! I found the idea for this >> card on Making Handmade Cards. I liked the idea of using a fabric Yo-yo on a card, and the tutorial for distressing paper (Rub the blade of a scissors along the edge of the paper.) I now use that tip allll the time!

Then, I was making another card (the bottom one), when I thought, Hmmm, this could really use that Fabric Yo-yo embellishment. I didn't want to make it again, so I ripped it off the first card and used in my new one. Looking at them now,  the yo-yo was a bit small on the first one, a little bit lost, but I'm not 100% sure about the second one either! I guess I'll always be a perfectionist! And don't worry, the now-bare-except for a piece of distressed spotty paper (I took the ribbon off too) got re-used on another card!
Lesson: Don't be afraid to swap things in, change them around, So what if it's not perfect?!  :)  S xx

Inspired Ideas- and a short Rant!

Hi!

 Beautiful, re-purposed tins. See what I mean?!

So I'll hope you'll forgive me for being a bit late on this one! I've just found this absolutely gorgeous and totally inspiring online magazine, Inspired Ideas. It. is. Amazing! You can buy the current issue, but before you do that, set aside a few hours (or days!) to go through the archives and past issues. Start with the very first one and keep going up. If you don't have the patience, fine, but I'm telling you, you're missing out!

The first issues are all quite short, 5 or 6 pages, but they're amazing! (Have I said that already?!) I don't know what I love most - The GORGEOUS craft projects in each issue (The instructions open in new tabs so you can come back to them all later) or even the "blank" pages - no words or writing, just inspirational pictures of ribbons, trims, buttons and general vintage awesomeness, usually colour-coordinated - totally inspiring! Then there's the cute projects in each issue for a "creativity journal." The idea is that you make them all, and then compile them in your journal, which will soon be filled with craft inspiration, so you'll never be stuck for  ideas again! I loved this so much I'm starting my own creativity journal. I'm going to start with their projects and work from there.

 Gorgeous embellished notebooks!

I think what I love most about it, actually, is the fact that it has literally inspired me to just... create. Not to be afraid of wasting expensive supplies, or messing up, or wasting my time, not worrying about measurements and exact details. To go back to the kind of -for want of a MUCH better word- naive crafts I did years ago, with just some paper, glitter and my hands. Good and all as fancy tutorials and modern crafts are, I think this where I belong. Call me old-fashioned, call me nostalgic, but I love them! Don't get me wrong, I still like modern-day crafts - I sewed an envelope pillowcase for myself just today- but lately I had been feeling kind of creatively depressed. I'd see an idea, think oh, that's cute, but just not have the motivation to actually do it.

And I think that's what this mag has done. Kick-started me back to thinking up my OWN original ideas, instead of following long tutorials all the time. But the projects featured are faaar from dated! Gold leaf pen anyone?! The ideas are original, beautiful, classic, and encourage you to think creatively, to change them and alter them. Remember, the earth without art is just eh. ;)  S xx  

I'm Back! (& a card!)

Hi!
I'm back!

I had a great time and bought far too many crafting and card-making supplies (more on that soon enough!)

Anyway, this is just a quick post to show you this card I made a while ago, but never got round to uploading. Sorry it's sideways, I have no idea how to turn it around! If anyone does know, please leave a comment below! (I'm a complete beginner at all this!) Also, the picture quality is terrible. I'd like to blame my camera, but I'm pretty sure it's me and my <non-existent> photography skills. Oh well, enough complaining, here it is.

It was a Congratulations card for my aunt who had gotten a new job. I used a kit I have with mini clothes-hangers to make a suit, shoes and handbags (all very business like!) and then used handmade (by me!) paper flowers and a cute bumble-bee sticker to brighten it up. (Are you getting a pain in your neck from staring at it yet?!)  The greeting I made online, using this super-cool website called Spell with Flikr. It does what it says on the (metaphorical) tin, and you can spell anything you want and then print it off for.... <catchphrase-alert!> FREE! Yay!  :)  That's all folks,  Hope you liked my card!  S xx

Back Soon!

Hi there!
I just popped in to say I'm going away :), so there won't be any posts for a while. If you're looking for craft or DIY projects, free printables, kid's crafts or decorating ideas while I'm gone, check out my Pinterest boards! There should be enough there to keep you going, and normal posting should resume in about 2 weeks! :) See you then! S xx

*Cue pictures of awesome things you are mising out on unless you check out my Pinterest*