Cleaning Out The Cave And Tutorials

I've spent today trying to get organised in my little corner of the livi...*cough* crafty cave.

I've sorted all my card stock out and found a place for everything to go...sort of.

I've also made a little holder for my unused glue sticks...

Problem was, sorting them all out just made me want to make more things, and catch up with filming a couple of tutorials I've been meaning to do for days now.

I yet again had a battle with Youtube, I'm please to say after two hours, I won!

and now shouldn't have any more problems uploading my videos.

Touch wood.

So this is only a short post today, mainly to tell you about my good sort out, and the two new videos which are below 

Glue gun Jelly sweet/candy style heart embellishments

Glue gun Pirate Coin Embellsihments

Tomorrow I'm going to try sorting out some more thrifty crafting ideas

XOXO

ATC's OOO ARRRRRHHHHH

I mentioned in my first blog post about the crafts I used to do before giving it up.

One of the things I used to make were Artist Trading Cards, a trend that had been revived from the 19th Century.

The fact that artists couldn't afford to do big paintings, and the fact that they were too big to cart around was a big issue for them. To help them promote their talents many of them started to create small pieces of art on the back of playing cards and other small bits of card.

These were known as Artist Trading cards, and were a more simpler way to get their work out there, they would hand them out to people, or show them to the well off, with the hopes of being asked to commission a work of art.

A few years ago, this trend was revived by crafters around the world, This time though, they were being swapped and gifted to others for fun.

When I used to make them, there weren't many others around me, for me to trade with.

Since then the internet is being used far more with Social media sites, popping up all over the place. 

I am a member of a facebook group (the link is at the side as card making tips.)

I made a friend in there-the lady I blogged about swapping with) and she has posted an ATC, tonight, that she made. It quickly inspired me to make my first one in about five years.

I wanted to centre it around an embellishment that I had made yesterday, It was a coin, made with my glue gun (of course) a penny and gold embossing powder. I heated it back up today, with my heat tool, and then pressed into it a stamp, nothing fancy, as it needed to look old. I inked the stamp with black ink and pressed it into the wet coin. It gave me the desired effect that I was hoping for. As soon as I had done this, I knew I wanted my trading card to look old and distressed. This then morphed into a Pirates of the Carribean theme, so I created two different colour paper feathers, and added some black stamping to the background, as well as doing a little bit of matting and layering under my embellishments.

This was the ATC I made tonight, after seening my friends post

I feel like there will be many more of these in the pipeline, as they're sooooo addictive to make.

 I find that, sometimes, I really want to craft, but I don't necessarily want to make a card. These are perfect makes for such occassions. 

At least now I have somewhere I can find others to swap with, even if it's through the post.

If you haven't yet had a go at these little gems of delight, then please do. You won't be sorry.

I'd love to see them too, so hit me up over on instagram 

at #lindsiloolabell79

and I'm also on google+ and pinterest 

XOXO

Glue Gun Tangfastic

Those that follow this blog will know that over this past week, I have been playing with my glue gun, and seeing what sort of things I could make with it. 

The Jelly tots were a roaring success and my mind started to race with other ideas and all the possibilities that came with them.

These were what started it all

My Glue Gun Jelly Tots, for those who haven't seen them.

And this is the 'how to' Tutorial

They were so easy to make, that I started to wonder if things could be made on a slightly larger scale. My worry was how to keep the glue from drying too quickly, before I'd finished what I wanted to do.

Then I realised that my Crafter's heat tool would re-warm the glue and allow me more time to work with it.

It worked a treat. 

I have since been able to create various sweety/candy embellishments. All of which have seen me receive requests on facebook, for more tutorials. 

The first one of these new embellishments were some Haribo style, non edible, sour cherries

As well as the cherries, I had a go at the sour dummys/pacifiers too, but have not had time to do a tutorial on these, so that is on my agenda for tomorrow

Tomorrow, I will also upload the pictures of some other glue gun embellishments, that I made with normal glitter, and other things like pearls and love hearts. I also made some flat bauble embellishments that I plan to use to make a Christmas card from.

For now though, it's clocking off time for me. I really need to try and get some sleep.

While I'm off dreaming, please feel free to leave me a comment, if you've found my tutorials useful.

Don't forget, I'm over on instagram 

at #lindsiloolabell79

I'm on pinterest and there's, of course, my Youtube channel.

And I'm now on Google+ too.

Goodnight 

and 

XOXO 

Odds and Sods Round up

Well, I've been a blogger for nearly one full week. and have had more page visits 

than I expected to get, 

so think I'm in it for the long haul. It's been a brilliant first week with plenty for me to sink my teeth in to, and crack on with. 

I've had such a good time writing about it too. 

I think the highlight though, was posting my Jelly Tot idea over on the card making tips group, on facebook. Not only was I inundated with notifications of over a thousand likes, I was also encouraged to do a video tutorial to help people understand how to make them. Then to actually upload it to Youtube was kind of surreal, especially when my youngest daughter, thought it would be good to stream it over to the TV...

It was strange to say the least.

I've made new crafting friends and even done a swap with one of them, well, I can't actually post her swap items until after the weekend, but they will be in the post first thing on Monday morning.

It's not any big elaborate swap, just a few bits. A die cutter is still out of my means at the moment, so my lovely friend sent me some die cut shapes, embossed card and some stamped images for me to colour in. I've bundled her up some of my jelly tots and a copy of some of my digi's that I designed; I hope she likes them.

I've also had a Lady pay me to make her one hundred of my Jelly Tots, They went in the post to her yesterday evening, so she will have either got them today, or maybe in the morning.

This was a card I made, using some of the die cut 

flowers my friend sent me...

And one of my digi designs, printed off and coloured in with Promarkers.

I stuck it onto one of the embossed bits, that she sent, and did some basic matting and layering and added a stamped greeting with one of my £1 stamps, from The Range and some tartan ribbon.

I have more videos in the pipeline too, again, using a glue gun and different glitters to create some rather cute little embellishments. But I'm having a problem at the moment, trying to edit them before publishing them.

I hope you've enjoyed following my small doses of drabble, on my crafting adventures this week, and hope you'll come join me for more.

Oh and I guess I should confess, My crafty Cave is really nothing more than a corner of my living room, and quite tiny really.

But then we have to make the best of what we've got in this world, don't we? 

Feel free to leave me a comment below, letting me know what you've thought of my posts this past week, and/or what sort of things you would like to see me blog about.

Check out my Youtube Channel, the link is in the sidebar to the right of the page. There's only one Video on at present, but there will be more coming up within the next week or so, once I get to grips with Youtube, that is.

Also if you want you can follow me over on instagram

at #lindsiloolabell79

And I'm on pinterest and Google+ too

XOXO

Barnsley Bath Bombs

Along my crafting journey I have 

tried more than a few different 

ones from time to time. 

About a month ago I had my first go 

at attempting to make homemade bath bombs.

I found what I thought was a good recipe 

on the holy grail, that is pinterest, 

and eagerly bought all the ingredients to have a go.

It was hit and miss as to how they turned out.

 I'd either get the mix too dry,

 and they'd crumble up, 

or I'd get the mix to what I thought was too wet.

I felt like I couldn't win.

But I've kept on doing some now and again. 

A friend asked me to make her some

 spar hampers up that she could give to

 her friends and family as Christmas gifts, 

so I had another bash today.

I was convinced that I had the mix wrong, 

so added a little bit more bicarbonate of soda, 

and a little more cornflour. 

More than the 2 bicarb/1 cornflour/1 citric acid 

ratio's that the recipe required.

 In truth I played around with it until 

I got the desired effect. 

By having the mix a little damper than my previous attempts,

 I found it worked so much better. 

It stayed compacted and as a whole bomb, 

rather than the two halves I had tended to be left with,

in my other attempts.

So perseverance does pay off.

I molded them using some of those clear baubles,

 the kind that splits in two so you can add a photo or some treats.

I used lavender and strawberry scents 

and added a little bit of cake decorating, 

confetti type stuff for a bit of sweet detail.

I was sooooooo pleased with how they turned out.

My sixteen year old daughter managed

 to haggle with me to let her have

 a spare one for her bath tonight. 

Thank's to Zoe Sugg and her Lush bath Bomb hauls, 

my daughter is now obsessed with the 

pleasantly smelly, orbs of bath time loveliness. 

Needless to say, 

the fact that I have been making 

some at home has gone down a storm, 

especially as she hasn't had to pay the 

extortionate price tags of the more expensive 'brands'.

I had to go check out the fizz factor when she added it to her bath, and was very pleased with how much effervescing occurred.


link to fizzy footage

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152372170553597&l=5720993154683073143

Hampers, made for my friend 

I'm hoping my friend likes the hampers 

I have made up for her, but only time will tell

If you've liked this post then give it a like 

and leave a comment if you feel you'd like to.

Don't forget to look me up over 

on instagram at #lindsiloolabell79

And maybe subscribe to my youtube channel, 

which is linked in the side bar of this page.

Please bare in mind though, 

that I'm new to all this youtube video malarky 

and have yet to get to grips with editing and all that shiz.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

XOXO

Tat To Terrific

I was looking for something earlier on today 

when I came across a lid for a 

Douwe Egbert's coffee jar.

 It's only the small kind, 

from one of the flavored varieties, 

however the larger ones will work fab too. 

You might think it's a strange thing to come 

across in a drawer, 

but I had a spell at recycling wax and making new candles, 

so I kept the jar and lid, 

with the intention of using it for that purpose. 

I believe I did actually use the jar part, 

but for some reason, kept the lid. 

That's when I thought of a good use for it, 

seeing as I'm all for frugality and thrifty crafting.

It turned out to be the perfect size to 

accommodate some of my smaller clear stamps,

 the kind that naturally cling to a smooth surface.

Armed with my stamps and an ink pad, 

I put my theory to the test.

They have the slightest lip to the edge, 

but it didn't interfere with the image transfer at all.

Douwe Egbert's coffee jar, lid, stamping block.

I also made some promarker daubers, 

by using the little replacement pads,

 the ones you have under things that could potentially

scratch your surfaces.

I stuck the little foam pads on the lids of my markers,

inked them up with that colour, and dobbed it onto 

card to create cute little polka dots.

And the bonus now is, I get to see the true shade of the pens,

so I can choose which one I need better!

WIN WIN

Promarker Daubers  

If you like my  ideas, or just want to share your work

Tag me over on instagram

at #lindsiloolabell79

or in the comments below.

XOXO

Odd Bit of Tat...Could Be a Gold Mine of Inspiration

Have you ever been cleaning up, picked 

something up and had a 'Ooooh' moment?

This happened to me a couple of weeks ago. 

For some reason there was some of those 

annoying bits of cardboard, 

that are always left when you buy something new. 

I was just about to toss it out with the rest of it, 

when I stopped in my tracks and thought 'oooooooh,

 I could use that!'. 

Those of you that have read my other posts

 know that I don't own a die cutting system. 

Certain shapes are hard to achieve without one, 

such as ellipses, and circles.

 Yes there are punches and things like the

 Fiskars shape cutters. 

But seeing as I have had to start from scratch,

 building my stash back up, means I haven't yet got such things.

I cut around the shape the best I could until I was 

left with what I wanted.

An ellipse.

I Thought I  had got myself something to use, 

simply to draw around and cut out.

But I got so much more!

This little piece of cardboard became 

my measuring tool for designing some of 

my digi images, 

and was the base template for their heads, 

as well as being a fantastic stencil.

One of my Gigi Images, using my bit of scrap 

card as a template for the heads

So I decided to see how many ways I could use 

this new crafting tool while making a card

I used it as a stencil to edge the card,

 as well as my makeshift stamp 

(which is all for another post)

I also utilised it to mat and layer, 

as well as the use of it to create the digi I used.

Other techniques included torn edges and inking, 

using promarkers instead of ink pads

finished card

This then made me think about other 

ways of utilising what I have.

Card making is such a versatile craft. 

There are so many styles of card and there 

is no wrong ways to do it really.

So I had a go at incorporating the art of 

Zentagle, 

and a simple addition of a colour accent.

I drew out a couple of basic shapes and lines

Then started doodling in the spaces I had created

Before cutting out the two red hearts

 and adding them with foam pads to add a 

little bit of dimension.

The simple sentiment was added to finish it of

If you've liked this post then give it a like 

and don't forget to share your ideas

 and and pictures with me over on instagram 

at #lindsiloolabell79

And leave a comment...you know...If you want to 

XOXO