Washi tape stickers - tutorial

I love washi tape and im always trying to think of ways to use it.When i saw this washi tape sticker tutorial i though i could do my own take on it.  What i really wanted was to be able to make stickers to give away, not just to use myself.

So i armed my self with some washi tape, a decorative punch and some freezer paper which would become the backing of the labels

I layered 2 bits of freezer paper over each other and stuck washi tape over the the join. Its important that freezer paper over laps each other and that'll make it easier to pull it away from the sticker when you want to apply your stickers. Also stick the washi tape to the shiny sign of the freezer paper, makes it easier to peel off as well.

I then punched out the hearts. I took the back off my punch and used it upside down as i found it much easier to make sure i was punching in the right area that way

So now i have lots of little heart sticker with easy peel off backing

I used mine to decorate my phone :)

Girl with Balloon necklace - 2nd try

So the first attempt at this was successful but had a major flaw. So this is version 2.0 (been a few of those recently!)

before baking

after baking (one girl folded over on to herself so she didnt make it!)

Now hopefully the holes are big enough to get the jump rings through so i can create the necklace!

Update - Finished item :)

Sleep/Eye mask

Lovely BM has trouble sleeping sometimes and likes it really dark to help him drop off. He's been using some freebie airline eyemasks for a while but they break quickly and the elastic is too thin. So, the good making girlfriend that i am, i decided to make him his own eye mask. I just did it free hand, so no tutorial but i think its a success. The only issue is that Lovely BM has a big old head though so the elastic needs to stretch a bit before its really comfy.

Baby boom cards

Preparations for the baby boom continues with some baby cards. The heart card below is a variation on the wedding card i made previously but i think it works just as well. The teeny tiny new person card above is a design ive done for years but my new silhouette has made them much easier to make :) (hand cutting tiny letters is not fun!)

Wooden handle leather clutch

I subscribe to a few making magazines and they seem to have a free gift attached every week! I got some square wooden handles a few month ago so I thought I’d have a go at a little leather clutch for myself.
It was pretty easy but (as always) I forgot to take pictures as I went along so no tutorial - sorry. I'll try and walk you through it. But aside from that im pretty happy with the finished article, it could probably be a bit shorter, to make it look more suitable for evening, but I’ll give it a try out next time im out for dinner :)

Basically I cut a rectangle of leather and another rectangle of lining fabric that was the same width but slightly shorter. I fed the handles onto the leather and then lined up the short ends of the leather and the lining, right sides together. I sewed the short sides together to make a big loop of fabric, with the handles on the loop.
I then lay the loop flat, right sides together, with the lining fabric central. Make sure the handles are in the right place and then sew along the long sides, only as far as the lining fabric. Don’t forget to leave a gap for turning out.
Turn the fabric out, fold it in half, right side together and match up the lining fabric. Sew a very narrow seam along the sides of the bag. Don’t sew all the way to the handles or you won’t be able to open your bag very wide! Turn the bag right side out and you’re finished

DIY plaited twine belt

I fell in love with this diy plaited twine belt at Say Yes to Hoboken and had to have a go at it myself. The tutorial at Hoboken is brilliant, really detailed and easy to follow. I like how my belt turned out but i think the twine i used was a bit 'hairy' so its a little bit scratchy. It'll definitely need a haircut before i wear it out!

Studded Sandals

No this is not a post about Spartacus or Gladiators (sadly) just  about some old sandals ive spruced up! I loved these sandals last year and i pretty much wore them to death as you can tell from the picture. I wanted to wear them again this year but they were a bit scruffy. So i decided to make them a bit more rock and roll, then the scruffiness could be excused as part of the style (thats what im hoping anyway!). So i just punched some studs i bought off ebay through the leather and folded the prongs back in on themselves. I used the flat end of a thick metal knitting needle to make sure the prongs were fully pushed in - im sure theres a proper tool your supposed to use but the ongoing spending freeze has made me much more resourceful! The backs were still a bit rough though so i just glued some super soft leather i had left over from this jumper to protect my skin. Revived sandals :)

Baby boom bibs

As i explained Lovely BM and I's friends are having a bit of a baby boom so i cracked on with some more 'cape' bibs for some of the super bubbas that are arriving in the next few months. No one seems to want to know (or tell) what sex baby their having these days so i had to go with unisex colours, but i love blue so i couldnt resist doing a blue one... someones got to have a boy right!

Embroidered Handwriting Card v2.0

I had another go at the happy birthday embroidered card this week. I tried to glue a border on it first but had a major glue fail (spray adhesive everywhere!) and nearly ruined the whole thing. I managed to get the glue off the embroidery but the card above and below was all messy. I couldnt bear to redo the embroidery so i cut around it and glued in on a Moroccan tile background i already had. Im quite taken with it, but im not sure its up gift standard so it might just stay with me for now.

Wedding card

My lovely cousin got married last weekend so i got out the trusty Silhouette and made her and her new hubby a personalised card. I just drew some hearts in Silhouette Studio free hand, copied and pasted loads of them across the card and stretched a few so they weren't too uniform. Added some text and had the Silhouette cut it out on some card blanks. I then cut out a piece of red card for the back and glued it in place. I think its really simple but effective. Hope they liked it too :)

Bunting gift tags

Following on from yesterday's embroidered tags, i also made some bunting gift tags - aren't they cute!! I think i prefer this style, with some applique instead of just embroidery, but maybe i just need a bit more practice at my embroidery...

Cress garden - update

 

My Postcarden cress garden is going strong. Bit worried the cardboard base might rip though as it was a bit delicate when i moved it to be photographed... Probably my age old issue of over watering causing me problems again!

3D star v2.0

A much better attempt at these gorgeous 3d stars than my previous attempt!

Now i just need to learn how to do the distressing paint techinique as well....

Embroidered gift tags

I fell in love with the gorgeous machine embroidered gift tags at Mud and Twig on Etsy and i wondered if i could make something similar, but far less perfect, myself. They're really cute, i especially love the one with the presents. I got the tension all wrong with the hearts though and the back is just a knotty, thready mess but you live and learn!