Folded Paper Posy

Its time to take the festive decorations down, and the house can look stark at first, so i've made a folded paper posy to fill the void, and will share the instructions with you here:

Cut 72 squares of paper. Mine were 3" square and were made from scrapbook paper. You can make them any size, but I wouldn't go any smaller unless you were using a more flexible paper.
You could use pages from an old book, vellum or cartridge paper.
(Having now tried for 2 whole days to get the individual stage by stage pictures of the tutorial to go where I want them to, I've given up and made a block of pics in Photoshop - how I can use Photoshop just fine, but tear my hair out with frustration with Blogger, I'll never know!)

1. Fold the squares in half

2. Fold the two outside corners to meet at the centre one.

3. Flatten the two outside triangles into kite shapes - this is a standar "tea bag folding" shape

4. Fold down the sections that protude
5. Fold each kite shape in half
6. Put glue on the outer edge of the folded square
7. Fold into a cone shape and hold with a paper clip until the glue is dry.
8. Glue shapes together in pairs.
9. When glue is dry glue 3 pairs together to form a flower.

Finally glue 6 flowers together to make a semi circular dome, holding them all in place with paper clips until the glue is dry - make two of these. Glue the two together, placing a loop of ribbon in between them so you have something to hang it by.

Hope you like it - mine is certainly cheering up the empty space left by the Christmas decorations!

Paper Punching Book

Ooh! Look what the postman brought this morning!

Although I'd seen loads (and I mean LOADS) of edits via email, I hadn't seen a hard copy of my book until it arrived in the post this morning. I just love the quality. Magmaker have done a really good job on these, and for £4.95 I think they are a real bargain (but then maybe I'm a teensy bit biased?).

I was lucky enough to see all four titles and everyone has done a great job. I know just how hard everyone worked on their own title and how many hours we spent sweltering in a tiny photography studio during the only heatwave we've had this summer, but suddenly now it all seems worth it.

I guess if I've got my copy they are generally available in most craft stores, but if you are having difficulty finding it you can buy direct from Magmaker at http://www.magmaker.co.uk/books.cfm

Since finishing the editing I've been giving myself a few relaxing weeks - knitting and sewing in the sun ( well I couldn't be too picky about how much sun there was - if it wasn't raining it was good enough for me) but I guess its time to get back to some proper work now. My relaxation finished on a high note with a visit to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham on Thursday. I spent a fortune of course but came back with loads of inspiration and ideas for new stitchy and mixed media projects, so its back to the "too many ideas, too little time" scenario - but I'm not complaining - its all just such good fun!

New era, new book

I enter a new era of my life today - my children's friends start getting married.
That makes me feel sooooooo old!! It only seems two minutes ago that they were phoning each other to check on school homework and arranging parental lifts to places, etc. Now we are guests at the wedding. Where does all the time go?
So, yesterday afternoon was the usual last minute panic to make the wedding card. Fortunately, oh so fortunately for me, the girl in question likes plain and simple styles, and I knew the colour theme of the wedding so I was able to make it really quickly. I did want to make sure there was a little stitching on it, but then stitching is like yoga to me. It allowed me to slow down and get into the right frame of mind for a relaxing weekend. I just about had enough time to take a quick pic for you - so here it is.
The cardstock is DCWV Luxury stack. It is pearlised and metallic, so that saved me loads of time. Normally I would have enjoyed spending time creating my own background, but I have been busy on other things, and at last I can share with you what that is!
I have been busy over the last few weeks editing the book I have written for Magmaker, the same company that produced the Making Cards for Children Special that I co-wrote with Laura. They are producing a series of four books. They go to print very soon, and you will be able to buy them via Magmaker (see the link on the right hand side) and in most good craft stores. My book is on paper punching, Lindsay Mason has done one on rubber stamping, her sister Heather Fenn-Edwards has written about beading, and Amanda Fowler's is on decoupage.
So with the editing in hand and the wedding card made, I am now going to totally ignore the awful weather we are having and enjoy myself reminiscing about "How tall they've grown" and "Do you remember when....."at what I guess is just the start of the "children's friends' weddings" season. I guess I just have to stop feeling old and embrace it!

Photo shoots are hot!!

We are having a mini heat wave in England - a rare event, so I was a little dissappointed yesterday to have to shut all the windows, leave my garden, where I love to spend sunny days and travel to St. Ives near Cambridge to do the photo shoot for my next Magmaker project. I set off early with the car filled to the brim with boxes and totes and every conceivable prop that I might need.
I hadn't done one of these before. I usually just post everything to them and it all magically gets done, but this time they wanted hands and tools in the shots. I don't know what I expected - probably, considering the weather, I had hoped it would be a spacious air conditioned room with a water dispenser close by. Not quite! It was a tiny room in a warehouse! And boy was it hot! And that's before I was sitting next to lights. The previous author's shoots had taken much longer than expected and this was Friday and Brett the cameraman didn't want to spend a sunny weekend working so we went at the fastest pace we knew how. Fortunately I was really organised and had every stage of the projects mocked up, labelled and ready to go, but after a few hours, even my quite obsessive organisational skills seemed to dissappear. Labels seemed to come unstuck in the heat, things got lost under piles of stuff I hadn't pack away properly and we sank into utter chaos.
Brett walked off to get something occasionally and came back with bright quips like " its a fantastic day out there" - just what I needed! Heaven knows how, but we actually managed to finish about 5.45pm. he was able to go home to a BBQ and I could start off on the long journey home, tired and grubby but relieved that we had managed to finish in the one day. I don't think I have ever worked so fast, under such hot conditions, without moaning (too much!!) before.
It was great to get home, let some air into the house and walk around my garden, admiring the plants and veggies and grateful that they had withstood the heat of the day. I couldn't face unpacking the car and restoring order to all the chaos. The one thing I have learned is that photo shoots are HOT!!!

It's been a long day

Most people are enjoying a sunny holiday weekend. I am shut in my study working on a new project for Magmaker. I must keep working - we have to photograph it all on Thursday. I must keep working.....I must keep working......I must keep working. At least I can look at the sunshine. Trouble is I'm looking at the veggie seedlings that want planting out, the tomatoes that need putting in Gro bags and the lawn that need mowing too. I am going to really enjoy being back in the garden as soon as all this work is finished - but for now - it's back to it!!