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About Me

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Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom
Hi, my name is Donna. I'm married and I have two lovely daughters. I have been a papercraft addict for over 15 years and love trying new things!! and sharing them with others!! If you have any questions, ideas or suggestions for this blog then please feel free to email me at the address below - Thanks for visiting, Crafty hugs Donna xx

Contact Me

Please feel free to email me at - theartofpapercrafts@gmail.com

My Youtube channel is - TheArtofPapercrafts

Thursday 30 September 2010

Book for Robyn

Hi Everyone

I’m so sorry that I’ve not posted anything since the mini series but my youngest daughter has been sick and as a mum I have to put her first even if that means neglecting my blog.

Thanks for all the lovely comments about the mini, I was overwhelmed by them!!

Today I wanted to share with you a book that I decorated for my sweet friend Robyn, she is amazingly talented in her own right so please check out her blog HERE Robyn had left me a lovely comment on the idea’s book I made for myself so I knew I had to do one for her too. There is also a video of the finished book on my YouTube channel which can be found HERE

So here is the book I made for her

039 To cover the book I used some papers from Hot off the Press that I glued down with pva, once that had dried I sanded all the edges and inked them with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink and sealed the outer covers with Sparkle Mod Podge and the inner covers with Acrylic Decorators Varnish so that the papers were protected. I then coloured some pearl beading with Lettuce Alcohol ink and glued them to the crochet trims and then glued them all to the book. I took some chipboard letters and glittered them, once dry I sealed the glitter with Anita’s 3D Glaze. For the top part of the book I took a Magnolia image and coloured it with my copics, I chose this image because Robyn has been growing sunflowers in her garden this summer. To finish the book I added some silk and paper flowers and as I don’t have any prima bling flourishes I glued on individual bling stones to make my own.

042

To colour the Magnolia image I used the following copic markers

Hair – E33, YR23, YR20

Skin – E50, E00, E21, R20

Clothes – YR04, Y38, Y17, YG00. YG03, YG06, C1, C3, E49, E47, E43

Flower – YR04, Y38, Y17, E37, E35, E33, YG67, YG63

Shadows – W5, W3, W1, BV31

The paper I used was Cryogen White Hi Pearl from Craft Creations in the UK or Paper Temptress in the US

I would love to know what you think of the book!!

I hope to be back tomorrow with something made using the stamps that I just received!! My first The Greeting Farm ones!!! If you are after this range of stamps in the UK the the best prices I’ve found are from Dies to Die for and Quixotic Paperie but not only are their prices fab so is the P&P and the delivery was next day!! So please check them out!!

Thanks again for stopping by!!

Crafty hugs Donna xxx

Friday 17 September 2010

K & Company Mini Album for a Special Friend Part Three

Hi Everyone

Thanks for the comments I personally received about this mini, they mean a lot to me and once my friend receives the mini I’ll try to let you all know what she thinks of it.

As previously mentioned in the first parts there are video’s of this mini that can be found on my YouTube channel, my channel can be found HERE

So here are the next pages from this mini

019 For this page I covered the lunchbag with another of the designs from the collection and then sprayed it with Antique Brass glimmer mist. I then made a two card slider envelope and covered it with further papers from the collection, finally I added some prima flower, some with bling in the centre and the larger ones with brads so that I could add some cording for the closure. (If you would like to know how to make the slider envelope then please either leave me a comment on here or email me and I’ll try to get it done for you) You can see the slider in action on the YouTube video.

021

As with all the previous pages I covered the bag with paper and then sprayed it with Old Lace glimmer mist, I then took a coordinating paper and torn the corner to make a pocket for the page and inked the torn edge with Rusty Hinge distress ink, to decorate the pocket I added some 3D butterfly stickers and a text sticker from the K & Company collection. For a place for photo’s I took a mini envelope and sealed it shut then I used the Tim Holtz Alterations Brackets On The Edge Die to cut the top off, covered it with paper and inked with Rusty Hinge distress ink then tied some organza ribbon around it. I then took two pieces of card and cut to fit the envelope and cut the same edge on the top, I added a strip of paper and inked the edges and stamped the journaling spot with Rusty Hinge distress ink. Finally I added a bling butterfly to the envelope for added decoration.

022

Here is the mini envelope out of the pocket.

023

For the bag base I covered it with paper and sprayed it with Old Lace glimmer mist, I then tied some trim around it and added a Tim Holtz Trinket pin and a charm. For the photo’s I took a tag sticker and adhered it to a piece of folded card and added crystal lacquer to the butterfly and stamped a journaling spot on the back with pumpkin spice versamagic.

024

Here is a closer look at the tag out from behind the trim

025

As with the previous set of bag bases I adhered them so that they made a pocket and then made some tags for it. I covered them with papers and inked the edges with Rusty Hinge distress ink and stamped the journaling spot with Hint of Pesto Versamagic.

027

For this side of the flap I did the same as the other side but used a different sticker for the card.

028

For this page I covered it with paper and sprayed it with Old Lace glimmer mist. I then made a four fold card and added papers and stamped some journaling spots with Hint of Pesto versamagic. I also inked all the edges with Forest Moss distress ink, finally I took a sticker from the same K & Company collection and stuck it to some paper, cut it out and added crystal lacquer to the butterfly, then once dry I added it to the folded card. To add the card to the page I used a spring clip that I also added paper to.

029

Here is the card detached from the page

030

Again to start the page I covered it with paper and sprayed it with creme de cocoa glimmer mist. I then made a eight flap photo and journaling card and covered some of the flaps with papers. I didn’t add any journaling spots so that my friend can decide where she would like them. Finally I inked the edges with Night Sky versamagic ink and added a butterfly sticker to the front.

031

Here is the card with four of the flaps opened.

032

As with all the pages I covered the bag with paper and sprayed the page with Creme de cocoa glimmer mist. I then took some coordinating paper and cut a decorative edge with the Tim Holtz Alterations Ornate on the edge die and added an epoxy sticker from the K & Company collection and a 3D butterfly sticker. To add to the pocket I made three ticket tags, I inked the edges and stamped the journaling spot with Night Sky versamagic ink, for two of the tags I added a butterfly sticker from the collection and for the final tag I added a Hot off the Press butterfly brad.

033

Here is a closer look at the tags.

034

After I covered the page with paper and sprayed it with Pearl glimer mist I cut a photo mat with a Nellie Snellen multi die then inked it with versamark and embossed it a couple of times with glitter ultra thick embossing enamel. I then added it to the page but made sure the I only stuck it in the corners so that I could add some little handmade tags behind as a place for journaling. Finally I added some Prima flowers with bling in the centre and sprayed a Tom Holtz adage ticket with Meadow Lush cosmic shimmer mist and attached it with a spiral paperclip.

035

Here you can see one of the two tags a little better.

036

For the final small flap I did the same as the inside of the first flap, covered it with paper and sprayed it with pearl glimmer mist, then made a library pocket and a folded photo & journaling card that I covered with paper and ink and stamped with Stormy Sky distress ink. To finish the pocket I added a 3D sticker from the K & Company collection. I then adhered the finished pages to the book cover.

037

Here is the little photo card out of it’s pocket.

038

So here is one final look at the finished mini from the side so that you can see the fibres and charms.

I would love to know what you think of this mini, I am usually not 100% happy with anything I make but this is one of the first ever projects that I’ve done that I’m really happy with!! The only thing is the I’m really nervous about what my friend will think of it as she is one amazingly talented crafter!!!!!!!!!

Thanks as always for stopping by! I truly do appreciate the fact that you choose to come and stop by my little blog. Speak to you again soon

Crafty hugs Donna xxx

Wednesday 15 September 2010

K & Company Mini Album for a Special Friend Part Two

Hi Everyone

I’m really sorry that I’m a couple of days late getting this next part of the mini album posted but I came down with one of the worse migraines I’ve ever had Sunday afternoon and whilst it’s now starting to clear I’ve been unable to look at a computer monitor for the past two days. In all honesty I should have done all the posts at the same time and scheduled them but it didn’t occur to me at the time.

So now I’d like to get on with sharing the mini I’ve just completed for my friend, again I’m sorry that it’s in so many parts but I wanted her to have as much room for photo’s as possible even if it is a mini album. If you would like to see the YouTube video’s of this mini then you can find part one HERE and part two HERE

So here are the next set of pages

010 I covered this page with paper from the collection and then sprayed it with pearl glimmer mist. Then I took two mini envelopes to make the pockets and added some coordinating papers, then I made a folded photo mount for the larger pocket and two tags for the smaller pocket. I used small pieces of the paper that I punched with a woodware border punch on the tags and added a butterfly sticker to the top, I inked all the edges with forest moss distress ink and stamped a journaling spot on the back. Finally I added some butterfly ribbon to the small pocket for decoration.

011 Here you can see the tags out of the pocket along with the folded photo mount.

012 For the base of the mini lunch bag page I covered it with paper from the collection and then made a pocket from matching paper that I added a border to with a woodware punch, I then sprayed the page with pearl glimmer mist. I made a tag and covered it with the same paper as the page and then stamped a journaling spot on the back and inked the edges with forest moss distress ink. Finally I added an epoxy sticker from the K & Company collection to the pocket.

013 When I attached the two bag bases together I made a pocket and the made two tags to go into it. The tags are stamped with butterflies from a Royal and Langnickle set using perfect medium and then dusted with perfect peals as was the journaling spots on the backs,

014 For this page I covered it with paper from the collection and sprayed it with pearl glimmer mist, I then made a fold out photo and journaling book that I added some papers to and then inked the edges and stamped the journaling spots with distress ink in rusty hinge. I then tied it closed with ribbon and adhered it to the page.

015 Here is the mini book untied.

016 For this page I really liked the paper so I kept it really simple by just spraying it with pearl glimmer mist and then adding one of the stickers from the collection that I stuck to some paper, cut out and painted with a mixture of pearl medium and crystal lacquer.

017 This page was covered with more papers from the collection and then I added a torn paper corner pocket to the page and sprayed it with Antique Brass glimmer mist. I made a folded card for photo’s and journaling and used a corner chomper for decoration. I inked the edges and stamped the Autumn Leaves journaling spots with Stormy Sky distress ink and finally I added some rub-ons to the pocket.

018 Here is the card out of the pocket.

Well that is all the pages for today’s post. I hope to be back tomorrow with another collection. Thanks again for taking the time to stop by my blog I truly do appreciate it.

Crafty hugs Donna xxx

Sunday 12 September 2010

K & Company Mini Album for a Special Friend Part One

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend!! It’s lovely and sunny here on the south coast of the UK today which is nice for September!!

Today I wanted to start sharing with you a mini album that I have just finished making for a very special friend. She doesn’t know about it so I can’t say who it is for but she means so much to me and I really hope that she likes her little gift. I have also filmed the mini album and you can find the first part HERE on YouTube.

As there are a large amount of photos to be able to show the mini properly I’m going to do them over the next few days, so here are the first set of pictures:

001 This is the mini album closed up using some ball chain, the papers are from a K & Company collection from about 5 years ago that were designed by Elizabeth Brownd, they are called Garden Collage and Antique Botanicals. I used two pages from a US Michaels chipboard mini for the front & back cover and added an extra piece of spare chipboard for the spine. Once the papers were attached I sanded all the edges and distressed them with Stormy Sky and Chipped sapphire distress ink and then I mod podged them with the Sparkle Mod Podge. To finish the cover I added some feathers and silk flowers and leaf.

002

I added a binding ring to the spine and tied on some fibres and some of matching ribbons to the ones used inside the mini, then added a swivel clasp and some charms to finish it off.

004

For the inside cover I used an envelope to make a pocket and inked the edges with Versamagic in Night Sky. I made some matching tags for photo mats and journaling using coordinating papers,I stamped them with some journaling stamps from an Autumn Leaves set and some butterflies from a set by Royal and Langnickle using distress ink in stormy sky and forest moss and the used the same colours to ink all the edges.

005

For the inside pages of the mini I used small paper lunch bags and I inked all of them with distress ink in stormy sky and made matching tags to put on the paper bags to add extra space for photo’s (can be seen in the video), I left the first small flap undecorated so that my friend can put on there whatever she likes.

006

For this small flap I made a library pocket and a small booklet from the papers in the collection for photos and journaling, again I used a Studio G journaling stamp and distress ink in stormy sky for the stamping and inking the edges. I also sprayed it all with Glimmer mist in Antique Lace

006

For this page I made a pocket from a torn piece of patterned paper and inked the edge with stormy sky, then I used some stickers for decoration. I made a fold out photo and journaling book from the papers and stamped with Autumn Leaves journaling stamps using rusty hinge distress ink. Page also sprayed with glimmer mist in Antique Lace

007

008

For this page I made a pocket from the paper collection and used a woodware border punch to add a design and a quickutz die to make the nameplate that I added mini eyelets to. I made some tags for the pocket and stamped them with Perfect medium and a Aututmn Leaves stamp then used perfect pearls over the top and added a journaling spot to the backs.

009

For this page I took a white felt frame and sprayed it with Lily Pad glimmer mist, then I took some white card and sprayed that with Twilight glimmer mist. I stuck the frame to the cardstock and cut it out, added some rhinestones to the frames flowers and then added some acetate to the centre and finally glued it to the page with foam tape but left one edge unsealed so that a photo can be slipped in. The page background was also sprayed with creme de cocoa glimmer mist.

So there are the first few pages of the mini and the cover, I would love to know what you think. I’ll be back tomorrow with the next set of pages, speak to you again then!!

Crafty hugs Donna xxx

Saturday 11 September 2010

April Swap Tag from Cheryl

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all going to have a super weekend and that you all get a chance to ‘play’

So today is the final tag from the April swap and it’s from Cheryl who lives in Bedford, IN, USA. Like with Kim, Cheryl was also a part of the March swap and like with Kim I adored her March tag I never thought that she would outdo herself for April, but she did and again her tag is stunning!!#

So here is the tag she made for me!

cheryl april 2010

Isn’t it adorable!!! I love this tag so much and again like with Kim I feel extremely proud to be the owner of two of Cheryl’s tags!! If you would like to see more of her work then you can find her blog HERE

So that is all the tags from April’s swap – I feel so lucky to have each of them and also sad that there are no more swaps that I know of Internationally to take part in. As always thanks for stopping by and I hope to have more for you soon

Crafty hugs Donna xxx

Friday 10 September 2010

April Swap Tag from Kim

Hi Everyone

So how are all the mum’s enjoying the kids being back at school!!! It’s been great having a little bit a quiet during the day but i do have to admit the I’m starting to miss having them about!! Whether I’ll feel the same by Sunday afternoon is another matter LOL!! All kidding aside they are good girls really!!

Anyways today I wanted to share with you another of the tags that I received for the April tag swap. Today’s tag is from Kim, who lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA . I had Kim in the same group as me for the March swap and I was amazed at her tag for that month but her April tag is amazing!!

Here is the tag she sent to me

kim april 2010

So what do you think?? I adore it so much and feel extremely lucky to be the proud owner of two of Kim’s tags!! If you would like to see more of Kim’s work the you can find her blog HERE

Thanks again for stopping by and I hope to see you again tomorrow for the final April swap tag.

Crafty hugs Donna xxx

Thursday 9 September 2010

April Swap Tag from Jacqueline

Hi Everyone

So I’ve managed to get today’s post done at I decent time of the day!! I’m so very sorry but yesterday!! the time just got away from me and it was nearly midnight before I knew it!

Today I would like to share with you another of the beautiful tags I received from the April Tag swap that was organised by Louise through her blog. Today’s tag was kindly made for me by Jacqueline, who is from The Netherlands! I adore this tag so much

Here is the tag she made for me!

jacqueline april 2010

Isn’t it a wonderful creation!!! Like everything I get sent I will treasure this tag always!!!

Once again thanks for stopping by and I hope to be back tomorrow with the third tag from Aprils swap.

Crafty hugs Donna xxx

Wednesday 8 September 2010

April Swap Tag from Natalie

Hi Everyone

Sorry for posting this so late in the day but I’ve been busy all day and then all evening I was helping my two girls with homework.

Today I would like to share with you the beautiful tag that I received from Natalie in the April Tag Swap that was organised by Louise on her blog. Natalie lives in Belgium and her work is stunning!!

Here is the tag that I am now very proud to own!!

natalie april 2010

I cannot believe just how beautiful this tag is!! I will treasure it for ever!!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to get the post for tomorrows tag done a bit earlier in the day!!

Crafty hugs Donna xxx

Tuesday 7 September 2010

Tags I made for the April Swap for My Huckleberry Finn

Hi Everyone

Yes I know it’s months ago but as you all know by now the first part of this year was very hard for me and posting all the projects I made wasn’t always possible. The tags I would like to share with you today were for the April swap that used to be run by Louise through her blog but I believe it has stopped now. They were sent out on time but for some reason I forgot to add them onto here!!

The theme for April was flowers, as usual for my swap tags I used the same layout design for each partner but I used different colours on each so that they were slightly individual. Here are the tags that I came up with

for cheryl april 2010

This is the one that I made for Cheryl who was also one of my tag swap partners for the March swap.

for Jacqueline april 2010

This is the tag that I made for Jacqueline

for kim april 2010

This is the tag that was made for Kim who was also one of my tag swap partners for March.

for natalie april 2010

Finally this is the tag that was made for Natalie.

I also filmed the tags to explain what I did when making them, so here is the video

I really do enjoy making the tags and miss being part of the monthly swap. I would love to be part of another one but I’ve not yet found another international one to take part in L Perhaps I might have to think of starting one myself!!

I would really love to know what you think of my swap tags and I will be showing you the beautiful tags that I received from the swap over the next few days. Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog, I really do appreciate it!! Speak to you again tomorrow!!

Crafty hugs Donna xxx

Monday 6 September 2010

Tag and goodies from Jules!!

Hi Everyone

You may remember that I shared a tag with you last week that I had made for my friend Jules, well today I wanted to share with you the tag that I received from her!!

Like all the ladies I’ve met through my blog and youtube Jules is amazingly sweet and also amazingly talented!!! We have a few things in common that are also not craft related and it’s so wonderful to have someone to talk to that know exactly how I feel!! She is so supportive and I truly treasure our friendship!!

This is the tag that I received from her

tag from jules

I adore this tag so much!!! She also made me a beautiful postcard so here is a picture of that too!!

postcard from jules

Isn’t it beautiful!! Unfortunately it’s not easy to see the tag or postcard properly in the pictures so I do have a youtube video of them along with the surprise goodies she sent me!!! Here is the video!!

I was so touched by everything she sent me and will be eternally grateful for knowing her!! I would love to know what you think of everything!!

Well that’s it for today, I do have a few other things for you so hopefully I’ll get those posted in the next few days. Thanks for stopping by!!

Crafty hugs Donna xxx

Sunday 5 September 2010

Gift from my Sweet Friend Claudia

Hi Everyone

I bet you thought I’d got better at using my blog for the end of August but then nothing again for a week!! In my defence I’ve been really busy with the girls and getting everything ready for the start of the new school year on Monday and also that day will be my dear darling hubbies 40th birthday!!! – He has been fretting for the past couple of years about being forty so I don’t know what he will be like that day!! Also if he’s this bad over turning forty what’s it going to be like in ten years when he hits fifty!!!

Anyways with all that going on I’ve not been able to do any real crafting – although I do have a few projects part done that I’m hoping to finish early next week and then I can share them, so I thought I would show you a few things that I have received in the past several months but not had a chance to blog properly. Today I wanted to share with you a absolutely beautiful name sign that was made for me by my wonderful sweet friend Claudia. I’ve actually had this since April and I did show it in a youtube video but for some reason I didn’t post it!! It sits in my craft area in our bedroom and I adore it but it also makes me a little sad now to know that we won’t be seeing any future beautiful creations from her. For those of you that don’t know Claudia (66msclaudia on youtube) she suddenly and very unexpectedly lost her husband in July this year!! Claudia has six wonderful children and was a stay at home mum so to help her family she has decided to sell all her craft supplies, she has video’s on her youtube channel of the things she is selling if any of you are interested!! (If you happen to stop by Claudia, I love you sweetie!!) Anyways back to the beautiful sign she made me!!

namesign from claudia Well!!! Isn’t it beautiful!!! I love it so much and will treasure it forever!!!

Well that’s it for today, I hope to be back tomorrow with a few other items I’ve received. Thanks for stopping by!

Crafty hugs Donna xxx

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