Hannah McCurley - StampinbyHannah

29th May 2014

Buttons!

I have recently discovered the joys of buttons! This was made all the easier by Hobbycraft, and their packs of 100g of buttons for £1! I’m trying not to spend a the moment, saving for some larger purchases (I’m very excited about what it soon to arrive), but such a stash of buttons for a pound I could not say no! There is a decent selection of colours and chose both within the packs, and of the packs themselves, I grabbed brights and basic black and white. All the buttons in the packs are different but of good quality (although I’m not sure they’d stand up to being worn on clothing). I had to quickly put this card together some of my favourites, and a simple birthday greeting, I stick my buttons on with Glossy Accents from Ranger (also available and hobbycraft)

28th May 2014

Wedding Wednesday

With my wedding coming up in 2015, I am in full wedding stationary production; Save the dates, Invitations, Orders of Service, Place cards, Menus, Seating Plans, Favour boxes, and anything else I can possibly think of to make out of paper and card.

My Stationary is simple, double stamped punched heart, attached to a card with a peg (and a foam square and liquid glue) with a simple stamped title, and a printed insert.

The key to successful homemade wedding stationary is just that, keeping it simple. Depending on the number of guests you could have hundreds of each item to produce, and although in theory it is cheaper to make your own costs can quickly spiral when adding sparkly bits, ribbons, and fancy card stock.

The design also needs to be easy to mass produce, its a great activity to involve your bridesmaids in, but are they as crafty as you? No? then make sure its something they cant get wrong, or you could find yourself making everything again and the time leading up to the wedding is stressful enough without having to make hundreds of wedding favours.

27th May 2014

On My Desk

We recently got a cat, Freda, rescued from the local RSPCA centre.

I have been scrapbooking for a couple of years, both 12×12 pages and divided pages protector styles. I enjoy both, but 12×12 is what I do mostly, I reserve divided scrapbooking for specific events or trips where I want to get a lot of memory and photos scrapped quickly, and even then I supplement that with 12×12 pages.

So I wanted to document the new addition to our little family. I have recently discovered the themed project life cards from Becky Higgins, and bought the girl pack (by local Hobbycraft didn’t have the cat one), and so decided the use 3×4 cards on my layout in a grid pattern. The other elements on the page come from a variety of sources, including printable journaling cards from various places, items from previous Studio Calico kits, sequins, stamps, washi tape, and letter stickers.

For my first 12×12 page in a while I’m quite pleased with it, the photo doesn’t really do it justice (that might be something to do with the rubbish lighting!)

Back soon with more from the craft desk

25th May 2014

Storage Sundays

Hello and welcome to storage Sundays

This will hopefully be a regular posting focusing on different areas of my craft room.

Yesterday, in preparation for this post (and because it was desperately in need of a tidy up), I reorganised my 12×12 paper stash. I’m hoping this method works for me, I will keep you posted with any changes I have to make. I have tried a number of storage solutions in recent years; drawers, boxes, stashed on a shelf, and I suppose this follows along the same lines, but with the added bonus of being able to find what I’m looking for!

I have the IKEA expidit 4×4 shelving unit. I love it, although I currently have to share it with J for his college work.

My 12×12 has always had its own compartment within the unit, along with my current scrapbook, a box of Becky Higgins page protectors, and my misting box (just because I don’t have quite enough paper to fill the whole shelf). However, it has just been put there, shoved onto the shelf, and then sort of abandoned because I couldn’t see what I had, what were full sheets or just scraps. So I haven’t really used it!

That was until yesterday. First of all, I cut some labels. I would dearly love a tab punch, but I cant find one I like that someone still actually makes! But I do have the Tim Holtz Alterations Tiny Tabs and Tags Bigz Die from Sizzix, so out came the Big Shot, and a piece of 12×12 cardstock in a colour I am unlikely to use for anything else (strange sort of yellow, I’m not all that keen, but it’ll do for this purpose), and I cut myself a whole pile of tabs.

Grabbing my stapler and a pen, I got onto the floor, and sorted through all that paper. I decided to organise by brand. Until a couple of months ago I was a member of the Studio Calico Scrapbook Kit Club, and so have a lot of certain brands; Studio Calico, American Crafts, Crate Paper, etc. but I have also bought collections packs from other companies; Echo Park and Papermania, as well as a pad from K & Company (which, is very thin paper, and only get used for proto-typing) and a stack from core’dinations.

Each section got a tab, stapled to either; the front sheet (if it was a collection pack), or a piece of heavier weight cardstock. I find that I know what sort of papers I own from each company, and so find it easier to organise that way rather than say, by colour. But its about finding what works best for you, and if you find yourself thinking ‘I need a blue paper’ rather than ‘I think something from October Afternoon would work’ organise that way.

So, the final reveal. I’m pleased with the result, I did a bit of crafting after all my organising, and found what I was looking for pretty quickly (and sorting it all out helped me find a heap of stuff I’d forgotten I bought!).