Hey Everyone
I don't know about you but I keep thinking today is Monday, I have completely lost a day!!
What a smashing afternoon it has turned out to be, quite different from this morning when I had to actually towel dry one of my cats, much to his disdain. Why do animals never understand that what we humans do is for the best.
Well I spent the afternoon finishing off those Christmas cards, as you can probably tell I take ages to do anything as I get distracted very easily, if its not the animals, its housework and most recently a great wee group on Facebook called "Crafty Chicks" what a great bunch of gals, full of creative genius and who just love to share, exactly what crafting should be about.
Today, I thought I would share with you the tools that I just cant be without when making cards, obviously there are so many more than this but this is the very basic;
A good quality guillotine, this one is X-cut,
Craft knife and spare sharp blades,
A self healing mat(this one is in terrible condition but I do have a new one which was purchased from a lovely lady who hadn't used it, bargain me thinks!),
A sharp pair of scissors, I am always losing mine to the other half etc so I have many pairs dotted about the place, it is best to have one pair for card and one pair for cutting sticky things like double sided sticky tape,
Pencil, I hate pencil sharpeners so I have a refillable Parker one and its fab, you get great sharp clean lines,
I also have here a circle cutter which I picked up from "The Works" for a couple of pound and I use it all the time, even though I have a Cricut, sometimes its not worth sticking it on for just one or two circles,
Finally a ruler, I'm not really one for measuring but its good for straight lines or for putting a cross on the back of paper to mark the middle for the circle cutter.
They are the real basic's, then if you really get into it, things like a heat gun for embossing(making things look like they have a lovely shiny glossy finish buy applying powder and melting it), a grand calibur for paper embossing and die cutting(putting relief on the paper, if you want to see what can be done with this machine and the dies then pop onto Particraft's blog and see the stunning cards that can be made), embossing boards for putting the creases in cards and envelopes, a light box for hand embossing if you don't have a grand calibur or tracing templates, a cricut for cutting really detailed shapes in paper, card or fabric.
These are the finished cards which are now tucked away in a box till closer the time when Christmas crafting actually starts!! They look so much better in real life, the pictures don't do them justice, the gems are sparkly, the red bows are furry & padded and the backing papers are embossed, some sparkly and some just have the most lovely pictures.
I have just put the Fiskars away again as I am frustrated that I cannot use them properly, I need a masterclass!! Going to cut some felt and fabric tomorrow and have a go at making some flower brooches, I have some amazing vintage buttons that I can use as centres which were purchased from Seeded - vintage buttons & haberdashery, Alexsis is on Facebook and also Etsy.
In saying that though, I may also start a new painting, I have no idea what to get up to. However, one thing I do know is that I am having an early night tonight and that is why the blog is early :)
Have a great night crafting everyone
Amanda x
