New Year free printable library pocket envelope

Brand New Year sending best wishes for the new year to all may we all live up to our resolutions and fill the year with good will.

My number one is to make or do something beautiful every day possible - no pressure is another one!

Here is something new for the first blog of the year. I am going to work on journaling this year as we will be making life changes and memory storage will be good to have.

This is a little library pocket envelope for your personal use: 

Free printable sewing ephemera sheet

I want to try and see if this works for people. Let me know if you are able to copy and use it at a decent resolution. I will start adding more collage sheets and free images if it works for people.

Please do not sell this sheet, feel free to use in your own work or for hand made craft works to sell. sheet copywrite: paperwishesbyamanda. happy crafting.

Paper Garland Upcycling no. 3

Another day and another easy project. Again its abandoned tattered charity shop books. 

 I have punched, sewn and turned this one into a garland. 

use tape to centre the punches circles

 Looks lovely in the sunshine. Today has been like a lovely summers day in Ireland  yet it is the depths of ‘winter’ here. The blue skies are one of the nicest aspects of living in this country such incredible deep blue.

Book Envelope Upcycling no. 2

Secret Garden Envelope

More magical recycling, this gift envelope is made from a damaged copy of The Secret garden. I loved this story as a child and it seemed a shame to let this old copy go into the bin because it had pages missing. A ten minute  project and I can give it away page by page. You could use an old button instead of the brad if you have none of those hanging about. The bird is an Inkadinkado stamp.

Just as well it is a 10 min. project. I have had a mad day taking the cat to the vet. His legs are bandaged up after a car accident and he is confined to a cage. Add that to shopping day and taxi services and craft has to take a back seat.

Alice in Wonderland Theatre Upcycling No. 1

 

Recycling a votive candle box

Made this for a birthday gift.  I love Alice in Wonderland stuff and the Graphic 45 Halloween in Wonderland goes great with this Bo Bunny Timepeice paper.  The Characters are all cut from G45 paper and glued onto acetate strips and can be used to perform on (or rather in) the theatre.

This is the first of a series on upcycling. I am going to make things out of stuff headed for the bin. There is so much we buy to make crafts including card so I will try and turn it around - save money and the planet, one gift at a time.  

Kiasercraft Great Southern Land Baby Album

I have been making my first baby album for a friend who had a little boy called Ruben. This is a country WA baby and I have used this as a starting point. I have used papers from Kiasercraft and Graphic 45.

I stuck with olive greens, creams and a vintage look. I have used embellishments I made from classic Australian children’s book illustrations by May Gibbs - Gumnut Babies, Ida Rentoul Outhwaite’s fairy illustrations and Dorothy Wall’s - Blinky Bill the Koala. All the ribbon is seam binding I dyed with Tim Holtz Crushed Olive Distress ink

I made all the pages plain and included a flap with lots of 4” x 6” photo mats and tags for journaling and pictures.

products used:

Great Southern Land - 12x12 Scrapbook Paper – WA

Great Southern Land - 12x12 Scrapbook Paper – VIC

Great Southern Land - 12 x 12 Die Cut - TAS

Graphic 45 Baby 2 Bride collection - Dream a Little Dream

Graphic 45 LittleDarlings paper collection - Kewpie Cute

 (It even had his name on the reverse side!)

Graphic 45 Little Darlings paper collection - Precious Poesy

Doily edger punch by Martha Stewart

and Tim Holtz Distress ink in Crushed Olive and Forest Moss 

Catching Up

Its not easy finding time to blog. I have been making things I've done my first market and finally listed items in my Etsy shop. Now to blogging more and posting the things I am making before I give them away! I put up the Fairy gift tags on Etsy. They are very Spring and Summer although of course we in the land of Oz are heading into Winter. Still it is never really cold here to my Irish bones.