Translate

Sunday 20 November 2016

A Peek a Boo Flip Card and a bit of a life update

Hello crafty peeps and welcome to my crafty nook! Wow I can't believe its been more than two weeks since my last blog post, I'm really sorry I've not posted more regularly but as usual life has got in the way and although I have been crafting I haven't found the time to actually blog about it. I seem to be spending a lot of my time on the phone to Practical Publishing at the moment trying to get my subscriptions for craft magazines sorted out. Ever since they stopped publishing Simply Homemade magazine I've had problems with my subscriptions, it's a long complicated and probably boring story so I'm not going to get into it here but I'm in the process of setting up yet another direct debit for Papercraft Essentials magazine using a hard copy of the Direct Debit Mandate in the hope that it actually works seeing as though doing it via the subscription line (telephone) isn't working. It's a bit annoying because it means my quarterly subscription price is increasing but on the bright side I will be getting a new subbie gift. I'll be enclosing a strongly worded letter explaining that if I don't receive the magazine when it is due (they keep turning up late or not at all!) then I'll be forced to cancel all my subscriptions with them and as there are around 5 from that company, it's a significant amount of business they'll be losing. As much as I love my craft magazines, I can't cope with the stress of trying to actually get the copies I've paid for and it's detrimental to my mental well-being (I actually cried when I got off the phone on Friday because the customer care advisor was so unhelpful!) and I'd rather go without them then continue the way things have been for the past four months.

Other bits of news I'm STILL trying to get my entry in for the Papercraft Magazines Designer of The Year 2016, the deadline is 13th of December so I've only got a few weeks to get it made and sent off. Ironically the competition is run by Practical Publishing which may have something to do with my comp craft block - I think that I've got a subconscious mental block making me reluctant to actually make two cards and a project because I'm not happy with Practical Publishing and I'm 'punishing' them! Lol I could just be procrastinating as usual though. Things aren't helped by the fact that unlike previous years, you can't send a self addressed returns box to get you your items back so I'm not wanting to make something I really love and lavish my precious time and crafty resources on if it's just going to end up in the bin - it's not like they are being donated to charity either like the last competition (winners still haven't been announced!) because you have to put your details on the back of each item which makes it an even bigger waste. It's getting to the point when I'm wondering if I should even bother entering especially as I've so many other crafty projects needing my time (Christmas is a-coming!) How are your crafty Christmas plans going?

Anyway enough of my woes and life lets get onto the important things - crafting! I recently watched a Youtube tutorial by Meg Loven for a peek a boo flip card which I really wanted to make. I didn't have a 2" punch only a 1 1/2" punch so mine's not quite the same as Meg's but I really love how it turned out. Here is a link to Meg's tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V54wCQtZsY4  - there is no point me re-doing the work that Meg has done so concisely on her video so I'll just share the supplies I used after the photos of the card.









 
The papers were from a DoCrafts Birthday party A4 Paper collection and the star and pink 'twirls' are stamps taken from a Sara Signature stamp set, the Happy Birthday banner is a Die-mond stamp and die set again from Crafter's Companion and the Happy Birthday that's revealed when the card is opened also came from the first stamp set but was masked off as it's actually sandwiched between a cake and it's stand. I used Brilliance ink for the star and 'twirl' stamping and Memento Tuxedo black ink for everything else. The 3D balloons were die cut using a free die from a magazine. I left the inside lower right panel blank for my message.

This card is for my lovely friend Jean who celebrates her birthday next weekend. I really hope she likes it. We are at a wedding next weekend so my mum is cat and flat sitting for us, it's also my sister-in-law's birthday so I need to make cards for both occasions, luckily I've been super organised this year and have had Sue's birthday present for a couple of months which I just need to wrap. I also want to give the flat a pre-maternal visit cleaning blitz. I readily admit that cleaning takes second place to crafting, reading, watching paint dry etc etc just because by its very nature it is tedious and never ending (especially with a blind husband who has enough sight to watch box sets (admittedly very close to the tv screen) but not enough to clean the toilet etc) and our flat is rarely "visitor ready"  but I have been trying a lot harder recently (since our boiler was inspected as a matter of fact) to keep on top of things and though it's kind of a waste of time straightening the lounge before I go to bed at the moment because it's a test series which starts at 4am (which is why I'm writing this at 2am - I need to wake Chris up at 4am so sleep is pointless for me until after that) and Chris never leaves the lounge the way he finds it, I do make sure the kitchen is decent before I sleep. Phew that was a long sentence and here was I promising not to bore you again with life stuff! I suppose my point is don't be surprised if this is the last blog post of November as I have a very busy week ahead and lots to prepare before December busyness starts in a week or two. I might just shock myself by being super organised and blogging in advance with a scheduled post going up next weekend featuring the wedding card but don't expect it as I'd hate to disappoint you *wink*.

Well this has been a very long post, well done if you've made it to the end. As always if you have any questions then please leave them in the usual places and don't forget to check out Meg Loven on Youtube. My next kinetic card challenge is to make a Twist and pop card (have a look on YT for an idea of what one is) I've been fascinated with this style of card for a few months but most tutorials are either confusing or in imperial measurements which need scorelines in 1/8" increments which is really hard to do on a Hougie Board because the inches side goes up in half inches and the metric side is in metric and they don't always line up perfectly. Still I enjoy a challenge especially ones I set myself. Hopefully I'll have a twist and pop card ready to share with you in a week or so and until next time - keep crafting!

Love and crafty hugs,

Sarah xxx

No comments:

Post a Comment

I value your feedback and questions about this blog so please leave me a comment - let's spread the crafty love...

Sarah xxx