Meowy Christmas everyone!

Hi bloggists, and welcome.

OK, I'm a crazy cat lady.  And if you think I'm sorry for it, think again.

I like dogs as well - but I LOVE cats.  I've said before that this cheeky little pussycat reminds me so much of our Persian girl, Mysti.  (Her full registered name is Callymichanti Bootylicious but I couldn't face going to the vet and having them call out "Bootylicious Howell, please!"  So we called her Mystique - although Boadicea would have suited her...)  I coloured it as close as I could to her natural colouring (she's a lilac).  Here she is helping me to film -

Here's the tutorial - 

Thanks for visiting and  I hope you'll come back soon!

Crafty Hugs,

Keren

Meowy Christmas!

Hello bloggists, and welcome!

It's suddenly become much colder here.  September and October were really mild, but all of a sudden I'm starting to feel as if winter is coming!  I've put the flannel sheets on the bed and most nights I put a hot-water-bottle in to warm the bed up before getting in.   Time to start thinking about Christmas deccies! 

Stampin' Up! has lots of lovely Christmassy things in the Autumn/Winter catalogue, and I've used some of them in my bauble - the mica flakes, the ribbon, and the Pretty Pines dies-cuts - but the cheeky little cat tampering through the snow is from the Annual catalogue.  The Pretty Kitty stamps were among the first things I got from the 2016-17 catalogue;  that cat is just SO like my Mysti.  Here's a picture of her so you can see for yourself...

She loves helping me craft and has been known to put in a "puss"onal appearance when I'm filming.

Here's the video showing you how I made the bauble.

Thank you for visiting.  Please do call again, I'd love it if you did!

See you soon,

Crafty Hugs,

Keren

Pet Selfies

Hello bloggists, welcome to my blog!

I've had a lovely few weeks away from the day job but it's back to the day job on Monday- :(

I 've had lots of  time to plan and to craft though, and I've taken the opportunity to get to grips with some apps to help me plan and to keep notes of ideas and inspiration.  

I see lots of great crafting ideas on social media - and I always think "I must try that" - then I go back to try to find it and can't.  I keep a notebook for ideas However, thanks to a tip from Connie Stewart, I've discovered Evernote - it really helps me to keep track of all the wonderful inspiration that I get from others and to be able to give credit where it's due afterwards.  (Yes, I know about Pinterest but whenever I go there I emerge hours later having pinned lots of ideas but never actually having visited my own boards..)  Trello is another great tool that helps me plan my YouTube videos and blog posts.  I am now super-organised (well, for about five minutes anyway!)

Today's cards were inspired by an idea on Splitcoast Stampers -

I do hope you like it!

See you soon,

Crafty Hugs,

Keren

Origami heart - with a surprise...

Hello bloggists, welcome to my blog.  I'm so pleased that you came to visit!

I've had a few requests for more origami-based projects - so your wish is my command!

I used to spend hours folding paper when my children were younger;  it was easy to pick up and put down and the materials were easy to find and, most importantly, not messy.   This sweet little folded heart has a secret hidden inside, which I think makes it more fun for the recipient.

I used envelope paper.  Stampin' Up! DSP is excellent quality but it's a bit too heavy for most origami- it's almost light card.  The envelope paper is much better for the job as it's a bit lighter, but still top quality.

The heart itself is a very easy fold - here's the tutorial;

I used my favourite cat stamp too - this one looks like my Mysti when she's shouting at us for something she wants.  (I accidentally put her food bowl where her water bowl normally goes and vice versa the other day and she yelled at the top of her voice until I put it right!)  She puts in the occasional personal appearance in my videos and she may well turn up in my live stream Virtual Workshop on 6 July (7.30 pm BST) - so how about joining me to see if she does (or if the tripod remains upright?)  

Crafty Hugs,

Keren