Day 3 - My new sewing machine!!

This year I really want to get more into my sewing. At the end of last year, my very basic machine decided to break down, and it gave me the impetus to finally invest in a much better machine. So, I am now the proud owner of a Janome. It has plenty of decorative stitches - but what clinched it for me was that it came with an extension table, and a package of quilting presser feet - including a walking foot, free motion embroidery foot, 1/4" foot, and a ditch foot! Plenty enough to keep me going. 

Today's image is one of the first things I have made with my new machine. The cushion was for my youngest niece for Christmas. She loves pink, so this will go well in her bedroom.

The block pattern is called Card Trick - and I used the instructions from McCall's Quilting. The finished block size was a little too small to make the size cushion cover I wanted, so I used an app called QuiltSandwich which has a little function on it whereby you can put in the finished sized squares, and it tells you the size of the half and quarter triangles to cut! Very useful! The fabric is from a fat quarter pack from Hobbycraft - with plain pink cotton used for the envelope style back. I used some of my new fancy stitches to quilt the cushion front onto thin 2oz polyester wadding - with a plain white cotton backing. 

I have made very simple square patchwork cushions before - so this was a step up for me. But what I am most happy about is the corners. I didn't like the way I ended up with very pointy corners before, so I found information on Craftsy (How to Sew Perfectly Plump Throw Pillow Covers) on how to avoid this. And I think it was fairly successful.

Back tomorrow!!
Cxxx  

Day 2 of the Crafty Image a Day!!

Well, I've made it to day 2. As I mentioned yesterday, in order to be able to keep this up for a year, I am going to need to use photos which will include things other than just competed projects - hence the "Crafty Images" title! 

On their FB page today, Crafter's Companion is looking for you to share images of craft related presents you had for Christmas, so I thought this would be ideal for my 2nd image. 

This is the gorgeous vintage-style, cantilever sewing box my stepdaughter gave me for Christmas. I really want to do more sewing this year, and being organised always helps me to achieve more! So this is a great start!! All the little things in the top sections were already there - making it look really pretty!!

I've already started adding some of my haberdashery items and notions - and the little lids open too for more space! It looks right at home with all my other crafting stash!!

In taking these photos, I realised that I don't have a sheet of white card large enough for taking pictures of bigger items. Will have to try to sort that out!! But, I did use another of my crafty presents when taking these photos - a fab daylight floor lamp that I can move and angle over my workspace!! Brilliant for front lighting the sewing box today!!

Well, will be back tomorrow for Day 3.  Thanks for popping in to have a look!! If you are not already a follower of my blog, then please feel free to do so. You can follow by email, bloglovin or google - all three can be accessed by the icons on the right hand side of the blog. Alternately, you can follow me on Facebook where I will also be showing my daily images - my page is called Papercraft By Carole. I will also be setting up a Pinterest board on my existing page (Papercraft By Carole) called 2016 A Crafty Image A Day, and tweeting each image on @pcbcarole.

Cxxxxx

The start of another year!!

I have just about managed to get my first blog of the year done and posted on the first day of the month. Better than last year!! Looking back at last year's first blog, I find that once again I have run Bournemouth parkrun on New Year's day - and once again found it a struggle having partaken of lots of good food and alcohol over the festive period!! It was, however a PB for that particular course by over a 1 minute - but still nearly 2 minutes slower than my PB set towards the end of last year.

I mentioned in that blog that I knew the year was going to be difficult - and it was!! Dad passed away at the beginning of February after losing his battle with cancer. And I the happiness jar that I was so determined I would fill has stood empty all year. 

As for the targets I set - well I managed those!! I ran my first ever 10K after 10 months of training, raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support. And I had a fabulous paddleboarding season - despite some dodgy weather - with a wonderful bunch of people!! 

Crafting wise, I was determined not to get stressed over it - and to do what I wanted more. Well, at the beginning of the year, what with everything going on with Dad, all my commitments just seemed to much - I became very stressed - and I came close to giving it all up!! But things calmed down, and I reassessed. I decided to step down from the Challenge based teams I was on, but kept my commitment to Crafter's Companion - a decision I have not regretted. 

So - onto this year!! What do I want to achieve this year? Well, there are several things!! I want to run my first trail 10K, I want to be able to run 10 miles, and I want to run 5K in under 33 minutes!! 

Craftwise, I hope to continue my Design Team work for Crafter's Companion, make cards for my friends and family, do more sewing, and just enjoy creating stuff!!

My OH is considering blogging an image a day for the year - he did it a couple of years ago and is going to have another go this year. I would like to think I could blog a craft photo (not necessarily of a completed project) every day - but I'm not sure I will so that's one we'll just have to wait until next year to see if I manage!! 

Anyway - just in case - here's my first one!! This was made for my Mum's birthday using Crafter's Companion Vintage Floral CD.

I used the image and papers from the CD, along with dark green card to create this one!! The letters are cut with Die'sire 1" Decorative alphabet dies.

I look forward to spending the next year with you - and thank you for all your support in reading and commenting on my blog last year. 

Cxxx

An Untraditional Traditional Christmas Card

Back this morning with another Christmas card. This time, one made using a topper from an old Kanban kit - no idea of the name of the sheet. It's a very traditional image - with very untraditional colours.

For the base, and for matting and layerin, I used Papermill Teal card along with some gold mirror card - have to admit Christmas is the only time I seem to use mirror card these days. The paper is from a Crafter's Companion CD - but I have to confess to not being sure which one - maybe Vintage Christmas. And finally the greeting is Die'sire Essentials Only Words - all finished off with some gold ribbon and pearls.

Cxxx

Party Paws Christmas!

Afternoon - I can finally start sharing some of the Christmas cards I have made this year. The majority of my cards were made with remnants of Kanban card kits - of which I still seem to have many!! But the one I am sharing today is from the fab Party Paws Christmas CD from Crafter's Companion. This was for one of my nieces - and uses a Topper companion printed at full size, combined with co-ordinating papers, on an 8x8 card.

I kept it really simple with just the name (cut using Die'sire 1" Decorative Alphabet), a little bit of glitter glue and some pearls.

Cxxx 

Halcyon Days Cat

Good morning!! Thought I'd get in early today before I head off out later this morning. Another birthday card - will hopefully start the Christmas cards tomorrow! 

This one is from Crafter's Companion Halcyon Days CD - from which I took the image in the form of a Card Companion. I used some pink Bazzil card for matting and layering - and added some ribbon, paper flowers and pearls. The letters are cut with Die'sire 1" Alphabet.

I have had a recent surge in like in my FB page, so if you'd like to follow me over there, the page name is Papercraft By Carole. I'm also on Pinterest, and Twitter with the same name. And over on the right are a couple of ways to follow my blog - email, Bloglovin etc.

Thank you for popping by.

Cxxx

Not a Christmas Card!!

A very good evening to you!! Well, it's been pretty much a whole month since I last blogged. I have felt a little bogged down with needing to get ready for Christmas - and not really having any enthusiasm to do anything about it. So it's been pretty much an avoidance of doing anything. But today, I finally finished making my Christmas cards - and posted the majority off. Because no-one has received them yet, I can't post pics - so instead, I am sharing a birthday card I made for a friend of mine.

I used Crafter's Companion Kimono CD for the papers and image - and one of the dies from the Kimono collection to cut out the peacock. I made the base card with dark blue card - and matted and layered with white card. A little organza bow and pearl flower embellishment finished it all off.

Will try to blog more frequently - have quite a few things to share - so hopefully will be back soon.

Cxxx