Oh my, it's May already and it'll soon be time to welcome the 2018-19 Annual Catalogue! One of the great things about being a SU demo is that we get to see all of the lovely things that are coming soon ahead of time, and I promise you that you are going to love, love, LOVE some of the goodies coming your way! This does mean, though, that we have to say goodbye to some of our old favourites to make room for the new. And in the same way, I'm using up my retiring DSP to make room. I like to keep gift bags ready-made so that if I need one in a hurry they're good to go - and these bags are about as large as you can make from 12 x 12 inch paper. The finished size is 8 x 8 x 4 inches, so they'll hold quite a bit. Here's the how-to-do-it video.
You could easily vary the dimensions a bit if you wanted - how about 9x9x3 or 7x7x5? Why not give it a try? Anyway, keep crafting! Keren
Hello, and welcome! I got a lot of positive comments about the basket I made to hold my swaps for Onstage and I promised to show you how it was done, so here it is! It's based on a fruit punnet - this on probably originally held grapes. Of course, I had to eat the grapes first (it's a tough job, but somebody has to do it!) Before I share the tutorial with you, you might want to know how to calculate how much paper you would need if your punnet is a different size. Measure the distance from just below the lip at the top to just above the base. That will give you the width of the strips you need. Then measure all the way around the top of the punnet, and multiply by 3. Round up to the nearest multiple of 12. Mine measured 22 inches, so I needed a minimum of 66 inches, or 6 strips of 12 inch-wide paper. This project could easily be made by older children with some help with the cutting - it's pretty straightforward. Here's the video -
Usually at this time of year, SU demonstrators are hitting the road with joyful cries of "Telford, baby!" - this being where OnStage Local (our demo conference/training event) is held. This year, for a change, it's "Solihull, baby !" as the venue has changed, and that is where I shall be, so I'm really, really hoping that the scheduling for this post and the YouTube video works!
When I was a little girl, my sister and I loved pretending to be posh ladies, fanning ourselves with bits of paper concertina-folded and drinking "champagne" (otherwise known as cherryade) out of our mother's sundae dishes. Sometimes I'd spend my pocket money on a paper fan from the market and swan round the place, being very grand and fluttering my fan like mad. It must have been hilariously funny for onlookers! Still, I did love my fans!
I made a full-size version of these folding fans back in the summer and I thought a mini version would make a nice item to swap with other demonstrators at OnStage. It does get quite warm in the conference room - so I hope these will be a nice practical item. They'd also make nice party favours or goody-bag items. I've scheduled the video, and you should be able to link from it here - https://youtu.be/5OA-MkbktL4 It wasn't easy to keep track of where all the score lines needed to go while filming, so as I promised, here's where you need to crease the paper. Score at (all measurements in inches) - ¾ 1 ½ 2 ¼ 3 -3 ¾ 4 ½ - 5 ¼ 6 6 ¾ 7 ½ 8 ¼ 9 9 ¾ 10 ½ 11 ¼ Turn the paper over and score at- 3/8 11/8 17/825/8 33/8 41/8 47/855/8 63/871/8 77/8 85/8 93/8101/8107/8 115/8 If you find that the ball tool jumps out of the channel a lot, you can help it run smoothly by lubricating it - rub it on a bit of dry soap, a tumble-drier sheet, or even rub it on the side of your nose! I'll be telling you all about OnStage (well, as much as I'm allowed to) in my next post and I'll also be showing you what I got in exchange for my swaps next time, so please do come back on Wednesday! Keep Crafting! Crafty Hugs, Keren
Inspiration comes from strange places sometimes. I got the idea for this box from an episode of "Call the Midwife", where I saw one with a similar fancy closure. My husband is addicted to CTW. Yes, seriously. This is in Tranquil Tide, and it's now available because the new catalogue HAS LAUNCHED! (Let joy be unconfined!) Here's the tutorial -
It's a dainty little box, but very pretty, I think - do you agree? Thanks for visiting, Crafty Hugs, Keren
