My Craft Evolution

Hiya! I'm back! I haven't been crafting at all lately, the most I've done are a couple of note card sets to give my friendly neighbours for Christmas. But I was just sitting here and thinking...
Thinking and reflecting on how my crafting style has evolved over these past few years. I have been crafting for as long as I can remember. The earliest memory I have is back in the days of Doordarshan (a nationally broadcast channel in India), exclusively, before all the 50,000 channels on cable TV existed! There was something called 'afternoon transmission' (pretty self explanatory, huh?) and sometimes it had craft demonstrations. I would watch it in awe and want to make the 'wall hanging' or a card that they'd show. I didn't have any fancy crafting tools then. I would scour the house for clever substitutes and have fun making, well, something :-)
I think I was probably six or seven years old. I realised early that I had a passion for crafts. (I think I get it from both my grandmas.) I remember the time I cut up my mum's beaded necklace and stuck the beads on to some sheets of paper from my notebook and marvelled at my lovely creation! Mum didn't seem so pleased though *wink*.
Anyway, so over the years, as I grew into a bubbly teenager and then into a confident young woman, I clearly knew I was the 'crafty' kind (surely someone who loves paper and scissors, not the wily kinds!). My friends had labelled me 'creative' :-) I slowly started enjoying buying bits 'n' bobs for my craft. Something that has grown into a sort of obsession now! But, like I said before, I was walking down memory lane and it was heart warming to trace a kind of 'craft evolution', so to speak. Of course, I'm not highly evolved or anything now, but I've come a long way! And one thing I've realised is that while your ideas and design sense are an important part of being 'crafty', the right tools and accessories are a vital element too, oh most certainly yes! I say so because I know how I used to make cards and such before, and although they had the heart warming handmade feel to them, they were not really very professional or very neatly finished. But today, with so many clever crafting tools, creating projects with a nice finished look is such a breeze, while still retaining that handmade look, mind you :-) I mean, rubber stamps, paper trimmers, scorers, tape adhesives, etc etc etc! And my heart swells with joy as I look at my 'half-a-craft-room' that has grown from just a clearing on my table years ago. Thanks to husby darling who has been so tolerant of me abusing his credit card one too many times :-)
Hmmm...so what was the point of this post, by the way? I don't know, really! Well, maybe thankful for some of the tools that I have and can't possibly think of sitting down to work on a project without them. So my list of 'The absolute Crafting Basics' -

1. Paper trimmer (with a cutting and scoring blade)
2. Bone folder
3. Good quality tape runner adhesive, double sided tape and a strong multipurpose glue
4. A good collection of stamps (rubber and/or clear) - some basic images and phrases will do for starters and then if you're an obsessive woman like me, you'll get hooked on to buying  stamps by the dozen!
5. Good quality ink pads and markers/pencils
6. A huge self healing mat to use as a work surface

And then, of course, there are the other things like an embossing and die cutting tool, a heat gun, distressing tool, various kinds of specialty ink pads and such.
Speaking of which, I have my eyes on some items...husby are you reading? *batting eyelashes*

• The yummy, gorgeous Silhouette! Sigh...
• Copic markers and distress inks
• The amazing Bind it All

I'm sure I'll keep adding to that list! We're a crazy bunch, we crafters. Husby always jokes about how crazy I am about paper and stuff. Maybe I should shock him with a 'Honey, I'd like a diamond ring' for a change :-)
But, all said and done, I don't want to sound greedy, I'm so thankful for what I have to work with now. Now if I could just find some time to craft...sigh!

Our Precious Little Bundle!

So I'm still alive! Sleepless nights aside, the arrival of our little baby girl, Sia, has changed our lives forever! She is such a blessing :-) We've been having a wild roller coaster ride since September 28! But we love every moment of it, diaper changes and burping sessions included :-)

I don't know when I'll be able to get back to crafting yet, although I miss it terribly. But for the moment, I'm content looking at my baby's face as she flashes those gorgeous to-die-for smiles when she's asleep :-)

Happy crafting!

On a (short, hopefully) break!

There's a little part of me that is depressed about not being able to take time to craft and blog regularly. But only a little tiny part of me, 'cos the rest of me is beaming and waiting in anticipation to step into a beautiful new stage of life, motherhood :-)

I will be back, as soon as I practically can! Meanwhile, I try and keep my crafting passion alive by visiting other fab blogs whenever I can. I already have a bunch of exciting projects I want to try once our little baby doll arrives...

Happy Crafting!

In love with Quinn's ABCs!

I just received my Quinn's ABCs stamps from Lawn Fawn and I'm in love :) It is SUCH a great set! So many ways it can be put to use, *fun*fun*fun all the way!
I went over to Lawn Fawn's blog for some inspiration and came across the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge CFC13. Make a long card and keep it CAS, easy :) Click the picture for details.

And here's my card -

BIRTHDAY stamped (Quinn's ABCs), cut out and popped on to foam dots. Easy as that! CAS cards are super cool, super fun and super easy. Got to love them!

Happy crafting!

One Layer Cards haven't been this fun!

Stamp once, stamp twice, stamp all over and voila! You have a super simple and super cute one layer card. And if you love colouring, this is a treat :)

 

I'd been itching to ink up the Anya stamp and the Robot stamp. This was so much fun!

I think this is a clever technique to create colourful cards in a jiffy. Great as card sets for gifts. They're so versatile. Love the idea! I also like how this has made me look at all my stamps in a whole new perspective. I'm now overwhelmed with how many several ways one stamp can be used :) So stare at your stamps a wee bit longer and get the creativity flowing!

Happy crafting!

What little boys like

I just finished whipping up a batch of 'cards for little boys'. It was a recent order from a client, Megan Kate Tregilgas, who owns a charming little shop in Willoughby, Sydney.

I was all smiles when I first visited her store. It's so colourful 'n' pretty. The shop holds an eclectic mix of accessories, stationery, gifts, homeware, baby 'n' kids stuff - you just have to see it for yourself. Most of the products are exclusively crafted by artists around Australia. You'll find The Craft Angel's handmade creations on the shelves too :-) So if you live in Sydney, or if you're visiting, do drop in at the Megan Kate Emporium in Willoughby where some cute 'n' interesting purchase is a sure find :-)                                                               Like this adorable little giraffe we picked up for our little bun in the oven :-)

Okay, so about the cards for little boys...I was immediately thinking of dinosaurs, space crafts and robots :-) And Megan also suggested a 'farm animals theme', which works great for children's cards. So here are some cards I made -

I didn't make any with the space or robot theme. But I did have fun making these simple yet cute cards with a set of super cute graphics -

So much fun! You can see I clearly get very excited about crafting :-)

I think I'll end this post here, after the heavy overload of pictures!
Back soon with more projects.
Until then, happy crafting!

Celebrate Raksha Bandhan the Handmade Way...

Send your love and wishes to your brother this Raksha Bandhan with these simple 'n' elegant handmade cards and rakhis.

 To buy, please send an email to thecraftangel@gmail.com with your full postal address and your preferred payment method.

 

Card Description: 4x6, blank on the inside for your personal message, comes with a plain white envelope, sealed in a clear bag.

Rakhi: Made with colourful yarn, beads and sequin.

Price: 1 card + 1 rakhi + postage (within Sydney, local) = $5 (I will combine postage if you're buying more than one set)

Payment: PayPal or Direct Deposit

(please see contact details on top to buy)

Please note: As these are completely handmade, colour combinations may vary according to availability of supplies.

Wishing you all a bright and colourful day!

A Bout of Crafting!

Here I am again! Considering the slow trickle of posts, I can see how I might have given you all the impression of me being a lazy, uncommitted and inconsistent blogger. Well, it's not all wrong...part of it is true. However, (excuses, excuses) there is a reason for my sluggish behaviour though and it's a sweet little reason :-)
Here are some cards I made recently, now let's see if you can guess 'the' reason -

Yes! Our little bundle of joy will be here in September!

The mommy-to-be-ride hasn't been all fun. Nasty nausea took over the first trimester, that clearly meant no crafting activities :( The second trimester was a soothing relief. The joy of pregnancy actually kicked in - the glow, feeling special, the works :-) And now, in my third trimester, I'm constantly exhausted! But I do enjoy spending time crafting. It soothes me and keeps me occupied so I don't go white with anxiety about the coming times. All in all, pregnancy is beautiful! I'm now looking forward to meeting our little girl. I can already imagine bonding with her on those crafty afternoons :-)

Happy crafting!

Put on Your Party Hats!

One of my fave stamp companies Amber Ink. is turning ONE! They're having a fun party! So hop on aboard and join the fun!

Here's what I made. Okay, so I did go a little overboard with the colourful party hats :)

 

Happy crafting!

A Makeover!

I'm running out of space to hoard my numerous empty jars 'n' bottles! Husby darling is quite accustomed to the sight of a couple of glass bottles soaking in warm soapy water in the sink every few days, LOL! I just can't help it, those jars look too good to be thrown away after having served their original purpose loyally - mostly jams, sauces and juice :) And they're so pretty too, so many different interesting shapes and sizes! So I religiously give them a good scrubbing, get rid of all the stickers and icky sticky stuff and stow them away with a firm belief that they'll be put to some good use soon.

And today was the day :) I picked one little (jam) jar and decided to give it a makeover. Nothing fancy and garish, just some simple dressing up. Take a look -

 

You could fill it up with some candy...

or some buttons for a crafty friend :)

Or just about anything - homemade hot chocolate mix, cookie mix, etc.

What a fun way to make a quick 'n' easy gift with that special 'handmade' touch!

So next time you scoop out the last spoon of jam, stop, remember, clean and stow away!

Happy crafting!

Delight!

Hey there! Don't you just love it when you discover a stamp, hidden away in your stash, neglected because it is dominated by the ones you claim to be your favourites and tend to use very often? Well I do! And it was an absolute delight to find this gorgeous silhouette stamp, sitting pretty in the last page of my clear stamps' folder :) I wonder why I never used it all this while, gosh! In all my excitement, I made this chic 'n' trendy card set -

It was quite a challenge to get a crisp image though...since it is a silhouette. I actually stamped twice to get a 'full' solid image. But I'm quite happy with the way these turned out :)

And now, it's like a light bulb moment. I plan NOT to buy any MORE stamps and make full and better use of the ones I have, LOL!

Happy crafting!

Another Mini Album

I'm back with another interesting scrapbooking project. It's a mini album made from envelopes, how cool is that? I found the idea at Following the Paper Trail. Love!

Each 'page' is actually an envelope, so fun! I haven't made the inserts yet, but that's easy breezy. I've used a 6x6 paper pad with shabby chic prints. Didn't venture into much in the embellishment department...kept the pages very, very simple so there's enough space for pictures or journaling. But if the envelopes were bigger, then I'd have more space to spare for embellishments and borders and such. That's the best part about this album, any size envelopes would work. Hmmm...I'm jotting down a pack of 6x6 square envelopes on my 'to buy' list :)

Hope you try this cool little project. Have fun!

Happy crafting!

Scrapbooking: Mini Album

My fascination for mini albums started a while ago when I stumbled upon a tutorial for 'toilet paper roll' mini album. It was just too good an idea to resist! I saw several other similar ones and then I HAD to try it myself. And once I made a couple, I was hooked :) Then there were the 'paper bag/lunch bag' mini albums. Oh they're so cool too! I made a couple of those as well, they're so much fun. And now, just the other day I found this tutorial for a cool 'pouch mini album'. Awesome stuff! I made one right away...

The colours I've used for this project are mainly purple and pink. I love these pattern papers... they're from a pack I bought from Kmart long ago, I finally got to play with them. The pictures don't show the true colours though, this looks so much brighter IRL.
 

I didn't have 6x6 chipboard, so I just used the backing card from the paper pack. It's quite sturdy, sort of like lightweight chipboard itself. I simply had to cover it with the same pretty paper. Works like a charm!

There are six pouches in this mini album for which I used three sheets of 12x12 card stock in shades of purple and four sheets of 12x12 pattern paper for the matting layers.
 

 I made the inserts with plain white card stock.

 Added three binder rings to hold everything together, then some pretty ribbon in coordinating colours and very simple embellishments and voila! My super cute mini album is ready!

 Mini albums can be made in so many possible colours, sizes and themes and are wonderful as little handmade gifts to give away or make a set for your own photos and memorabilia. I'm definitely stricken :)

Happy crafting!

I'm back...finally!

Hello there! I finally decided I need to get back to blogging :) It's been way too long!

I had most of my craft stuff stowed away as we needed to clear out some space for family who were visiting. We couldn't let the poor things unpack and sleep amidst glue, glitter and loads of paper, could we? So with that went my mojo, all packed and out of the way :( How I missed crafting!
And then, eventually, I did pull out things from their hiding, one by one, but then I had a lot of things on my mind, had a lot of sorting out to do and so...not crafting, not taking pictures and not blogging wasn't really that hard. In fact it seemed like an easier option then. So days went by, and then weeks and then months! Although, I did manage to occasionally take some time and play with my stamps 'n' paper. And I did some shopping too :)

So here I am! Back to regular blogging (hopefully).

I thought I'd share with you the things I've been upto the past couple of weeks...

First up, I finally, FINALLY, organised my crafting space! Before, everything would be strewn across my table and I somehow managed to put my projects together in the 6x6 clear space I had, LOL! But now, thanks to husby darling who got me some much needed storage solutions, everything is now neatly tucked away in drawers, boxes, shelves and baskets. That way, I have more elbow space on my table.

I got these gorgeous pattern paper packs, yum!

 a pack of 12x12 pattern papers from Spotlight

I bought this lovely K&Co paper pad from this Etsy store

And then, these are some altered note pads I worked on today. They were so much fun!

 

Whew! Feels so good to be back :)

I think I've done well enough for the grand 'come-back post'! Will leave you with these for now and will be back with more news and more crafty things to share :)

Until then, happy crafting!

What's up?

The Craft Angel seems to be on an extended holiday!
Got to get back to work soon :)

Hope the new year started off well for you.

Happy crafting!