If there's anybody still out there, welcome back to the Crafty Cowshed and if you're just joining for the first time - Welcome along!
Now I know some of you are thinking "Where the hell have you been? ... it's been 18 months woman!" and you're not wrong, it has. I wish I could offer some plausible excuse ... I accidentally stumbled into Narnia whilst cleaning out the wardrobe and couldn't find my way back ... I popped into the wrong telephone box after one too many margarita's and have been helping Dr Who with his identity crisis, or perhaps the most believable living in the Arizona desert ... I was abducted by aliens and have been instructing them in the art of British sarcasm which clearly took a while (still don't think they got it to be honest). Sadly though, I've got nothing. I have still been making the odd crafty project but somehow just didn't seem to have the time or motivation to document them in any great detail.
I don't really do New Year's Resolutions as such, but I did adopt CREATE as my word for 2019 as I didn't manage to do that as much as I would have liked in 2018. Now that The Teen is driving himself to school and back every day, gulp, and my two year PTO rotation is over **large exhale** I find myself with a little more free time and thought it was high time to give the crafty blog some love.
I don't really do New Year's Resolutions as such, but I did adopt CREATE as my word for 2019 as I didn't manage to do that as much as I would have liked in 2018. Now that The Teen is driving himself to school and back every day, gulp, and my two year PTO rotation is over **large exhale** I find myself with a little more free time and thought it was high time to give the crafty blog some love.
Which brings us to right now. As some of you may already know, Mr Crafty Cow likes to send a handwritten note every month to the top performers in each of his teams at work to congratulate them and let them know how much they are appreciated. When he started this some three years ago, I offered to hand make these for him and it has been fun trying to come up with a different theme and sentiment (how many ways are there to say 'Well Done'?!) each month, despite the quantity gradually increasing from the original 8 per month to 10, then 12 and is currently standing at 14! Apparently, it has now become a popular and coveted monthly tradition and I have in turn received cards and photos from some of those who have 'won' several, showing them proudly displayed on their desks and even dedicated shelves at home! How lovely! I am more than happy to make them but it is also so nice to know that they are appreciated by those that receive them :)
Inspiration for January's card design came from something I saw on Pinterest (where would we be without Pinterest?!) which featured hearts. I like to try and link or at least shout out to the creator of the original inspiration wherever possible but I can't for the life of me find it again now! Sorry :(
I thought it would be cute with the hearts swapped out for stars as I thought it would fit with the whole New Year, New Goals, Reach for the Stars etc. theme.
Yeah ... I didn't really think that through. Making one card with 4 cute stars hanging from bakers twine was a great idea. Making 14 cards with 56 'not so bloody cute after the first 8' stars and a mass of tangled bakers twine which all frayed at the edges and wouldn't feed through the tiny holes ... not so much as it turned out. LOL
The rest of the card came together quite easily though with the help of the latest addition to the Crafty Cowshed, my beautiful Cricut Maker (cue angels singing). It does all the things my Cricut Explore Air did, but cuts faster, more precisely and almost every conceivable material under the sun ... chipboard, wood, leather, foam ... LOVE it!
I always make my card bases from a solid 110lb letter sized cardstock, currently using the white from Recollections, and simply cut one piece in half to make two card bases, scored down the middle. The patterned papers were from Echo Park's Here & Now collection by Lori Whitlock, and I made the sentiment with the Print & Cut feature in Cricut Design Space. Another new feature of the Cricut Maker is that this feature can now be used with colored paper .... YESSSS!
I'll be back soon to show you February's card, plus a 3D project I have been making! Make sure you hit the Facebook 'Like' button on the right hand side to follow the Crafty Cow Facebook page or enter your email address if you would like to receive notifications of new blog posts.
Thanks for visiting and look out for more new posts on all things paper ... with a smattering of recipes and other crafty projects thrown in for good measure!
TTFN x
Inspiration for January's card design came from something I saw on Pinterest (where would we be without Pinterest?!) which featured hearts. I like to try and link or at least shout out to the creator of the original inspiration wherever possible but I can't for the life of me find it again now! Sorry :(
I thought it would be cute with the hearts swapped out for stars as I thought it would fit with the whole New Year, New Goals, Reach for the Stars etc. theme.
Yeah ... I didn't really think that through. Making one card with 4 cute stars hanging from bakers twine was a great idea. Making 14 cards with 56 'not so bloody cute after the first 8' stars and a mass of tangled bakers twine which all frayed at the edges and wouldn't feed through the tiny holes ... not so much as it turned out. LOL
The rest of the card came together quite easily though with the help of the latest addition to the Crafty Cowshed, my beautiful Cricut Maker (cue angels singing). It does all the things my Cricut Explore Air did, but cuts faster, more precisely and almost every conceivable material under the sun ... chipboard, wood, leather, foam ... LOVE it!
I always make my card bases from a solid 110lb letter sized cardstock, currently using the white from Recollections, and simply cut one piece in half to make two card bases, scored down the middle. The patterned papers were from Echo Park's Here & Now collection by Lori Whitlock, and I made the sentiment with the Print & Cut feature in Cricut Design Space. Another new feature of the Cricut Maker is that this feature can now be used with colored paper .... YESSSS!
I'll be back soon to show you February's card, plus a 3D project I have been making! Make sure you hit the Facebook 'Like' button on the right hand side to follow the Crafty Cow Facebook page or enter your email address if you would like to receive notifications of new blog posts.
Thanks for visiting and look out for more new posts on all things paper ... with a smattering of recipes and other crafty projects thrown in for good measure!
TTFN x
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