Update etc

Hi Everyone

I just wanted to let you all know why there have been no new posts on here since late last year.

I know some of you are aware of my ongoing health issues but some followers might not be so I thought I should add a quick update to let you know what was going on.

Although I'm doing this I'm not going into full details of my health problems because this is after-all a craft blog but I felt I owed you all some sort of explanation as to why I have not added anything for over 5 months.

For over ten years now I have been suffering from chronic abdominal pains that cause me to have to take very large doses of extremely strong painkillers, on a good day the pains are somewhat bearable with the medication but I am never pain free and on a bad day, which is most of the time currently, then the pains are debilitating. To give you a little idea of it imagine feeling like you are having labour pains 24/7 and that's not on a really bad day. On top of that I suffered a painful industrial injury to my back 17 years that causes not only pain but also limits mobility and have constant pain in my knees that also causes mobility problems too!! Urggh!!! On top of the health issues the medications that I have to take cause their own problems and side effects that can make me feel worse rather than better :( Although all these issues are ongoing I have found that these last few months have been the worst so far and have just felt like I didn't have it in me to craft or blog.

I do feel bad that I had promised you all some tutorials prior to this but I hope you can understand that if I have to suddenly stop posting without any notice it's not that I don't want to it's only ever because my health is making it too difficult for me. I hate letting people down and I hate the way these problems rule my life but I cannot do anything to change the situation, believe me if I could I would as I don't like not being able to create when I want to especially as crafting is one of the few things the takes my mind off all these problems - as it does for many other crafters.

I am not doing this update to look for sympathy, I just felt that as you all take the time to stop by just in-case I have added something new that I owed you some sort of explanation over everything, at the moment I'm not sure how soon I will start posting regularly again as I'm still going through a really bad patch that unfortunately has been made worse by recent exploratory procedures at the hospital but as soon as I have something new to share with you all I will post it. However at present everything I have done has been blogged and I haven't created anything new since my last post but I do have a few projects that are in need of finishing that I will endeavour to try and complete as soon as I can and then share with you all.

Whilst I'm writing this I would also like to say a huge thank you to everyone that has emailed me during my absence to see if I was doing okay or to let me know they were thinking of me, I have read every message and I truly do appreciate them all and I apologise for not responding but I just wasn't well enough to sit and answer then otherwise I would have.

Once again thank you for all your support, you are truly the best

Hope to speak with you again soon

Crafty hugs Donna xxx

Quick Update

Hi Everyone

I just wanted to let you all know why I’ve not added any posts the last couple of days as I had promised.

I’m actually in the middle of filming a bunch of tutorials for things that I’ve had requests for and as you can imagine they take time to film and then edit so hopefully I should be able to start uploading them in the next few days.

So far I’ve made a start on the most requested ones, of which the most requested is how I use copic markers, then what papers etc do I use and where do I get them in the UK. I’ve also had a lot of requests for the little dresses on the notebook I made, so that is in the editing process as is the little pockets that I make for my mini’s.

I’ve always said that I’ll try to provide anything that you ask for so if there is anything else you want to see how I do it then please feel free to either leave me a comment on here or to email me at theartofpapercrafts@gmail.com

Whilst I’m posting this I also wanted to say a huge thank you to my followers that come back regularly and read my blog, I know I’ve not been good at updating it this year and I truly do appreciate that you still come back and see what I’ve been up to!! I’m trying my hardest to post as much as I can now so if you want anything doing or covering then please feel free to say, I need the challenges to keep me posting!!!

Speak to you all again soon

Crafty hugs Donna xxx

Sweet Sassy Suzi

Hi Everyone

As promised I have another card for you today made using one of my new The Greeting Farm stamps, I have fallen in love with this make of stamps and I never thought any collection would be better that the Tilda’s from Magnolia but I think I love these even more than Tilda!!! I think part of it is that when I’m colouring I love doing faces and hair so as the TGF stamps have the larger heads it lets me play more than the Magnolias do, although I do still love Tilda too!!

For today’s card I chose to use one of the girls from The Wild Sprout collection, her name is Sassy Suzi and I managed to get her from Dies to Die for , if you like TGF stamps (or other brands!!) and you are looking for a UK website then please give this site a go!! Not only are their prices fab but their service is brill, I have placed two orders with them and they both arrived next day!! Plus because my postage was less than I paid Tracy refunded some of it!! What more can you ask for!!! Tracy is so lovely and has even offered to add my blog address to her blog!! (you can get to her blog if you click on her name above)

Anyway on to the card!!

As I mentioned above for this card I used Sassy Suzi from the Wild Sprout collection and I coloured her with my Copic Ciao markers. The backing papers for this card are from the Floral stack by Diecuts with a View and the card used behind the paper was cut with a scallop edge using Fiskars Cloud scissors (this card is also DCWV) The base card is from Do-crafts and to finish off the card I added some ribbon from my stash and some faux pearls also from my stash.

Here is a closer look at Sassy Suzi!! Isn’t she adorable!!

To colour her I used the following copic ciao markers

Skin – E50, E00, E21, E11, R20 (B05 for the eyes)

Hair – Y15, Y17, YR16, E35

Clothes etc – R85, R59, YG63, YG67, G99, R00, R02, R05

The image was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink on Premium Ultra Smooth White Cardstock from Sir Stampalot and Sassy Suzi was bought from Dies to Die For

I would really love to know what you think of this card!! Also if you have any requests for cards, projects or tutorials then please feel free to either leave me a comment or email me at theartofpapercrafts@gmail.com anytime!!

I hope to be back tomorrow with something else for you but not sure what yet!! Thanks as always for stopping by, it truly means alot to me!!

Crafty hugs Donna xxx

Dressy Ebony!

Hi Everyone

So today I thought I would share a card I made with you as this year I’ve not added many to my blog. I guess I haven’t added many because unless I’m working on Design Team’s I don’t make that many so I’ve not had them to show you. Whoever I recently got some new The Greeting Farm Digi stamps and Rubber stamps and have been playing with them and my copics so I thought I would start making them into cards to share with you.

Today’s card uses one of the Digi Stamps that you can purchase from The Greeting Farm website.

This particular digi is Dressy Ebony although quite a few people do use her as Alice from the Twilight series. As I mentioned before she is coloured with my copic markers and was printed on Premium Ultra Smooth White Cardstock from Sir Stampalot. The papers on the card are from Die Cuts with a View and I added some bling that I coloured black with my copics and some grosgrain ribbon.

To colour Ebony I used the following colours of Copics

Skin – E50, E00, E21, R20 (B05 for eyes)

Hair – E49, E47, E37, E35

Clothes/Headband – 100, C7, C5, C3, R59, R37, R35

She was printed On Premium Ultra Smooth Cardstock using Kodak printer.

I would love to know what you think of her!!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope to be back tomorrow with a rubber stamped image from The Greeting farm

Crafty hugs Donna xxx

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Here is the mini envelope out of the pocket.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Here is the card detached from the page

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.

Here is the card with four of the flaps opened.

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.

Here is a closer look at the tags.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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,

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.

Here is the mini book untied.

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.

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.

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

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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!

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

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

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

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!

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

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!!

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

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

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

This is the tag that I made for Jacqueline

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

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