This layout was inspired by one of Jen Gallacher‘s recent layouts which featured a layout based on four blocks, and i thought it was pretty cool. Check out her layout here at two peas (video).

For once I started with the papers and designed the page with no idea of which photo to add. It felt a little weird because I don’t normally work that way, but it’s good to push yourself outside of your comfort zones sometimes.

In parts it was a little freeing, but when it came to adding a photo I found the frustration kicking in as I had to trim my photo much more than I wanted to in order to make it fit, but im sure you probably couldn’t tell that from looking.

Did you spy the journaling card which I chopped up and added? This is one of the free downloadable journaling cards which I made for this Thanksgiving Project. I cut out the bracket shape and used this as a stand alone embellishment in the bottom right quadrant then used the rest of the card for writing my journaling on the top right section. You can still download these journaling cards if you are wanting to get your hands on them. Here’s how

All you need to do is to click on the sign up tab at the top and become a free member. This will give you access to all the free digital downloadable elements. Be sure to also sign up to our newsletter so that we can let you know when new stuff is available. Also, all newsletter subscribers are automatically entered into any competitions we run on Hungry Heffy Crafts. Great, huh?

The middle section was a bit of an experiment. It started life as a piece of stripy paper – i used a craft knife to cut in between the stripes, but left a couple of inches uncut which is the section on the left under the button. Leaving this section untouched made it easier to stick to the layout and also easier to create the waves in the thin pieces of paper. The little arrows are left overs which i cut at a 45 degree angle in order to make the pointy-bracket shape.

I also got to use up some old supplies – these chipboard starburst shapes have been in the stash for well over three years i think! I have absolutely no idea where they came from, who made them or how they managed to find their way into my chipboard drawer. heehee.

Thanks for stopping by.

Here’s another little notecard made from a few bits of scraps. Some times it’s amazing to see what you can create from the little pieces of papers that could have easily landed in the bin.

My usual recipe is ‘scrap + ribbon + button = cute’.

I think it works!

X

So confession time. This card was actually for a girl, but i thought that is would work well for a boy too.

This is a ‘congratulations, you passed your driving test’ card built primarily with stamps. I picked out a few stamp sets from my stash which had cars and a driving theme, and tried to build a picture in my head. Its important to do some proper planning whenever making a one layer card because you have to start at the top and work backwards using masks – i used post it notes to mask over the stamped area.

I chose a word stamp from this Gas Hogs stamp set from Sassafras and repeated it over the bottom section of the card to make a patterned paper effect.

When I was finished stamping, i felt that it was missing something (perhaps i just missed a little bit of colour) so i punched some hearts out of scraps of scrapbook paper and adhered these with a glue pen.

Thanks for stopping by, I have a few layouts to share soon so come back to me soooooooon.x

When Mum and Dad were visiting a little while back, we went shopping in London and I wanted to replenish my summer wardrobe a little. I’ve been feeling in the mood for more day dresses recently you see. I tried on LOADS, but only came home with a few. The problem was that many of the dresses in shops these days are SUPER short. I’m not really in the habit of flashing my knickers at every Tom, Dick and Harry in the street so this meant that my choice was limited. I usually end up buying a dress that could be worn over leggings or thick tights (but in the summer I rarely want to be wearing thick tights, do i?). I picked up two stripy dresses, one red and the other navy. Nothing overly special, but i thought they were cute, albeit a bit plain. So i decided to experiment with the navy dress, and add a little sunshine to it, whilst at the same time adding length to keep my modesty in check! Below is a photo tutorial (which means its a long post..sorry guys). I hope you can follow along. Disclaimer: I am NOT by any means a professional seamstress, but i like to play with my sewing machine every now and again. It’s a bit messy in bits, but I don’t really mind that. I hope you enjoy taking a peep at the tutorial.

Take a strip of yellow fabric fold in half lengthways and sew along the edge. I used a stretch stitch which kinda acts a bit like an overlocker.

If you need more length, do this twice and sew both together to create one lone strip of material. Once again I have used a stretch stitch to prevent unravelling of this seam.

Next set your machine to a long straight stitch and adjust the tension. As you sew the fabric will start to ruffle itself.

Let the machine ruffle the material of its own accord.

When you have done the entire length, it will look like this.

Find the bit where you joined the two pieces of yellow fabric together and pin it to the bottom of the dress, matching up the side seam of the dress with the seam in the yellow fabric.

With navy thread and using a straight stitch, sew the fabric to bottom edge of the dress, making sure to keep the visible length of yellow fabric consistent the whole way around. I kept a ruler at hand whilst doing this bit.

When you have gone the whole way round you will have two edges. Sew together with the zigzag stretch stitch once more, just like in photo 2.

Next I made the belt. I had some fabric left over and i also thought that it would tie the whole dress together. Here’s a photo walk through.

Take a Looooong strip of fabric and iron in half lengthways (right sides facing each other) and sew along the long edge with a straight stitch. Turn the right way out and iron flat with the seam in the middle. Next sew along the outer edges to neaten.

Fold a piece of fabric in half and draw around a leaf template with a pencil (i sketched the leaf shape freehand onto a piece of scratch paper). Sew along the pencil line, leaving one end open. Do this twice so you have two pieces. Cut notches and then turn right way out.

Take a rectangular piece of spare scratch fabric and sew the leaves to this piece. Pinch the fabric first so the leaf will ruffle a little.

To prevent the corners of the rectangle peeping out, tuck them back to create a point and add a few stitches to hold in place.

To make the know, take another piece of fabric about 5″ long and 2″ wide, fold in half lengthways and sew along the long edge. Turn inside out and sew along the edge to neaten. Next tie a loose knot into the fabric.

Match the two tails of fabric together and sew with a straight stitch.

Push one leaf through the knot and wriggle into place. The knot should sit snuggly in the middle.

Next find the middle of your belt length and sew a button hole. The button hole should be as wide as the knot tails (see photo below)

Tuck the knot tails into the button hole.

First I used a zigzag stitch along the edges of the knot tails to prevent unravelling then using a straight stitch, sew back and forth to attach to the belt. If you are careful you can sew over the top of the seam which is already there which gives a really neat result.

To finish I added another button and a button hole at either end of the belt so I could fasten it around my waist. I made the button fasten inwards (so the button is against my back) but as an embellishment I added a big fancy yellow button.

This week’s MANday Monday carries on with my love of notecards. I just love their ittybitty style! And for this weeks masculine card I have also decided to work with chevrons.

Chevron patterns are very hot at the moment, very a la mode in the crafting world. Theres something about their zigityzagity nature that makes them seem masculine to me.

I didn’t have any chevron papers but I chose a page from the We R Memory Keepers Hippiyty Hoppity stack which had solid stripes in a variety of gorgeous colours, and by cutting strips of this paper you can make your own chevron effect.

`The trick is to cut at a 45 degree angle to the stripes, I used my cutting mat as a guide, first cutting across the diagonal of the grid marks, then turning my paper so that the edge lined up with the vertical grid lines. Then i cut at 1cm intervals.

I used a 12 x 12 piece of scrapbook paper, first cutting into the bottom left corner, then i repeated this on the bottom right – this makes sure you have both the ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ in order to make the chevron shape.

I love the way the bright chevrons stand out against the kraft background. All it needed was a little greeting – so I turned to these Hero Arts Sparkle stamps.

Thanks for stopping by.

I’m a list maker.

And i love it.

At work, I have a ‘things to do’ book, and really cannot function without it. Its like a life line, an aide-memoire, an archive, a thought extractor, a telephone directory, a doodle pad and really, all in all, that book is priceless to me.

At home I must confess that I am not as organised. I’ve got loads of notebooks here, there and everywhere. I like having them so i can jot things down, but then sometimes i find that i write something down and then don’t look at that book for weeks.

I decided that i needed a way to make a note of project ideas which was more visible to the eye. Whats the point in writing down ideas then tucking away the notebook and not looking at it for ages?

So I started creating, and this is what I came up with. I knew i wanted to use little clothes pegs. I had some teeny tiny ones, but thought they were too small, and i knew that normal clothes pegs would be a bit too big for what i wanted. So for a while this project sat on the sidelines, until one day I found a pack of pegs that were the perfect size. Not too big, not too little. just perfick! wooohooo, love it when that happens!

They say the best things come in small packages

Given that my crafty time has diminished since the arrival of Miss Pi, I have fallen in love again, with tiny notecards.

Notecards are a great way to use up scraps of paper and all those extra embellishments or cut offs that you never for round to using.

There was a piece of kraft cardstock on my desk that has given life to a few tiny notecards, heres the first one.

These Hero Arts stamps are perfect because the greeting is small, clear and so versatile (and cost effective too)

The cupcake is from the Bake me a cake line of papers from 3 bugs in a rug and the floral papers are from Echo Parks Victoria Garden range. They work beautifully together.

And….

the winner of the scrapbook paper giveaway is EllenM

I have also picked a bonus winner who will receive some random goodies from the craft stash -
Renee Schimel.

congrats you guys, send me your addresses – lez(at)hungryheffycrafts.com

Happy weekend everyone! Woooohoooo. I love the weekend because it means lots of time with my two favourite people. One with stripy legs and one with denim legs.

This weekend’s project is half crafty & half practical and means that I get to play with my sewing machine…but more about that soon.

I wanted to share a layout which was recently in The Scrapbook Magazine (issue 57). The theme was Art Deco, so i made these little flowers by layering circles on top of each other. I love the way they turned out.

Its hard to believe that this photo was taken almost one year ago exactly. I remember those days vividly. As much as I loved having a newborn in my hands, I am really having lots more fun with a 1 year old. Being able to play together, communicate with one another and share moments which are special for both parties is the best feeling ever!

Todays fun and games – Piper’s first proper bike! Granny Oman send a surprise package in the post (thanks for the happy mail Gran-O) and I spent yesterday evening building the bike so it would be ready for today. When Pi came downstairs this morning she must have sat on my knee for a good few minutes before she started staring over at the bike. Then she turned and made the bunny rabbit sign.

Even though we didn’t have a sunny day we went for a test drive. It was so precious seeing her little smiling face as we were out and about. I think this bike is going to be used a lot!

I love this smile so very, very much!

Have a great weekend!
x

A couple of weeks ago my friend Lisa had a very important job to do, and no, it wasn’t making me a cuppa tea (although she totally rocks at that!). Lisa got called to duty as a birthing partner for her sister Ellie.

Throughout the whole day i think i was more excited than she was, texting constantly, demanding updates on contraction lengths and the stages of pain relief. It made Piper’s birth come flooding back to me and that always brings a smile to my face.

Ellie and little Kacie Faye came for a visit today at work and i got a little squish. You really do forget how tiny they are at the start. When I got home tonight, Piper felt bigger than ever before! How do they grow so fast?

So here’s a little card I made for Kacie to welcome her into the world.

Congratulations Ellie and Lance (and Aunty Lisa).x

(don’t forget the scrapbook paper giveaway is still open)

Last week at Piper’s nursery they were celebrating Easter. The kiddos had to come dressed in something yellow, and were invited to bring along an Easter Bonnet for the parade. Let’s just say that i got a little carried away with the excitement of getting crafty.

I was looking for a foam bonnet so i could manipulate it, but i couldn’t find one anywhere so i just picked up two straw hats from Tesco at 99p each. I figured that with two I could experiment if i needed to. Piper spend most of the day pushing the top inside out, turning the hat over and popping it out again. It was the best game ever! Bless her wee cotton socks!

I had other plans however. Whilst she was happily popping the hat inside out, i got crafty.

I had already bought some bits and pieces – some wooden carrots from eBay, a furry bunny from when we went to Fishers Farm on Piper’s birthday, and some supplies from the model rail shop – i was good to go.

The plan was to make a garden with a veggie patch full of carrots and a naughty little bunny eating one. The basis of the shape was made with funky foam. It was easy to get the shape because its so mouldable, but sticking it was a bit of a challenge as it doesn’t like glue a whole lot. I had to use pva glue in parts and then a glue gun as well.

To make the veggie patch i first punched some small holes then made little X’s in the foam with a craft knife. Next I covered a section in glue and sprinkled the brown soil over the top. I then covered the rest in glue and sprinkled with the green grass stuff (both are made for model railway making). The toughest bit was leaving it to dry overnight and not touching it.

Every garden should have a fence right? To make mine i stamped a woodgrain image onto lollypop sticks and then stuck them around the hat. Because i used yellow foam to make the outside of the garden, i covered the foam with a wide gold ribbon first of all, so when i stuck the lolly sticks onto the ribbon it looked really pretty.

In a mark of genius i remembered that i had a paper pack in my stash from We R Memory Keepers that was called Hippity Hoppity and had lots of Easter themed papers. I looked through them and picked out a few borders and a tag, and figured out how to incorporate these into the design.

I wanted the hat to be interactive because Piper loves pulling things in and out, so i tied bakers twine around each carrot top, and tied all the strings together and secured it to the little tag.

The main body of the hat was complete and now it just needed some finishing touches. The bunny of course was added using a glue gun, and flowers from my stash also gave life to the garden. I added a little gem in the middle with some glossy accents (i knew that if i used glossy accents there was NO WAY they would fall off and make their way into a little mouth). They also need eggs of course, so these little wooden eggs (from the £1 store) were secured with a glue gun too.

Easter bonnets also need bows, so two lovely bows at the back, first a gorgeous green from www.theribbonreel.co.uk (need to get more of this stuff) and also the gold ribbon in a big bow.

Craig rolled his eyes at me, but I just smiled back. Maybe next year Piper will be able to make her own bonnet for school, but I took great delight in making this one. It will go into her treasure chest along with the other precious things that we have collected over the last year, and will continue to collect for many years to come.