Button Ball

Hi Design elf Katrina here again with a cute project using buttons.

      The Fruit Pixie has, in my opinion, the best button packs out there and so I wanted to make something using them. Here is what I made, a button ball!

Now this is so easy to make, it takes a little time but it is something you can do in front of the TV.

You will need the buttons of your choice, a polystyrene ball, some short pins and some seed beads. 

Then all you need to do is place a button on the ball, take a pin and add a bead then push the pin through the button and repeat untill the ball is covered. Just a little tip - don't push the pins in straight, push them in at a angle an they will stay in.

The ribbon is also just pinned to the ball.

I chose to use the cream collection but any of the button collection would work a treat!

I hope you like my button ball and will give it a go yourself

                                                                       Love Katrina

Music sheet Rosette

Hi Design elf Katrina here with another quick Christmas project. I am not in my craft nook at the moment but in Austria absorbing the Christmas atmosphere.

  I have wanted to make one of these big rosette Christmas decorations for a while and they look amazing on the tree. I think I will be making some more.

I made mine using the music paper pack. Cut them into strips along the music, I used 4 strips for this one. Then I used the Christmas washi tape and stuck it along the outside edge of each strip. I then used my ever useful Hougie board and scored the strips every cm. I then joined them all together with wet glue and formed them into a circle and pushed the middle down to form the rosette. Have a circle of card ready to stick to the back of the rosette. That will stop it popping back up again.

For the image in the middle I used  the Craft UK collage topper sheets that I have punched out with a circle punch and then backed it with some of the card in the pack. I added some bakers twine to the back to hang it on the tree.

You can make these as big or small as you like, they are quick and easy to make and look very vintage on the tree.

Don't forget to visit the design team section in the shop for the shopping list for this project.

Have fun with them

                   Love Katrina

IndigoBlu snow tag

Hi Design Elf Katrina here again with a lovely tag project for you.

   I used the wonderful new Christmas stamps from Indigoblu and as I am some what of a snow nut I just had to use the beautiful snow background Snowflake lace.

To make the background I cut a tag shape from a scrap of while card and then used my Woodware  magic anti-static bag to prevent the embossing powder from sticking to any where other than where I want it just by rubbing it over the card. I then stamped with my embossing pad and sprinkled over my white embossing powder and melted it with my heat gun.

I then went over the whole thing with a pale blue water colour and before it was dry wiped it off the embossed image.

I then stamped and embossed the IndigoBlu Merry Christmas circle this time in gold embossing powder, went over it with red water colour, wiped it off of the embossed image and cut it out. I then made up one of the Tim Holtz 3D snowflake using the die from my collection, edged everything with Fire brick red distress ink to tie it all together.

Then all it needed is a ribbon and a snowflake charm to finish it off.

IndigoBlu have a wonderful collection of Christmas stamps, I just wish I had time to play with them all. Do go and have a look at them all.

The shopping list for my tag will be in the Design team section in the shop.

Happy Crafting

                                 Love Katrina

Washi tape angel

Hi there, design elf Katrina here to show you what I have been up too in my craft nook.

   For this project I have been dabbling in one of my favourite crafts, altered art. Some might say its a bit weird, so please alter the project to your own taste, but I love the look.

   I saw the basic shape blanks on the internet but they were in the USA and so I thought I would make my own. So I fired up the computer and came up with this shape.

As a little Christmas gift I have given you the template I used at the end of this post so you can have a go yourself.

You will need to print the template out onto card.

I then cut out her body on its own and using all the wonderful Christmas washi tape I covered it. I used greenery, stockings, Noel, snowflake and stripe.

I wanted her wings and halo to glow so I decided to glid them using the Cosmic shimmer gliding flakes. I applied the glue and added the flakes to the back of the card where the wings are printed, rubbed excess flakes off then cut them out. I actually added the flakes to the front then couldn't see the heart shape!! So I had to trace the wings and draw then over the gilded card and cut them out. so learn by my mistake.

I then backed the assembled angel onto some stiff card and cut her out. Then add the decorated parts onto the body, wings first, halo and then the body. I then added her bottle top face and a punched crown, punched from card covered with washi tape. added some gems.

Her head is a squashed beer bottle cap, I am married to a real ale fan so we have the odd one or 2 hanging around the house. I squash mine in my Cuttlebug, you might have to squash a few before you get one that squashes evenly, it depends on how the bottle top was taken off but its worth the work.

The face I used was from one of my digital kits I have but you could get one from a magazine or even use a family photo. There are also lots of free vintage images on the internet too. Or if children are making them they could draw one.

I then punched holes in her wings and added wire and beads to finish her off.

This is the template I made for this project. To save it to your computer hover over it and right click, click save image as and choose where you want to save it too, I use photos, then click OK. You should then be able to go to your photos or where ever you chose to save it and it should be there ready to print out.

Hope you enjoy making this project as much as I did. Don't forget to have a look in the Design team section of the shop to find the shopping list for her.

Happy Christmas crafting

                                   love Katrina

Spool wreath card

Design elf Katrina signing in again to show you another project with the wreath idea. This time using the Creative Expression spools but the half ones. You get loads in the pack and this project only took 9!

So I covered the half spools with the assorted music paper from the Assorted music paper pack and some of the book pages from the vintage book paper pack. Colouring the book page strips with Firebrick red distress ink.

I cut a doughnut shape using my dies and a scrap of green card. This gave me a base shape to attach my half spools too.

 I then used the same green card to cover the base card, a 5x5 square card blank, and to cut the Crafty Individuals Starry frame die.

I also cut a piece of the Bo Bunny Snowy Serenade Overture to place behind the die cut frame and as a second mat on the card. All the mats edges were edged with Firebrick red distress ink.

Then add a bow for the wreath and a Merry Christmas die cut. Add some glitter touches to finish the card off.

Just another way you can use the spool wreath idea to make a quick but impressive card.

Happy Crafting

                         Love Katrina

Spool wreath Christmas decorations

Hello, Design elf Katrina here with the latest from my craft nook!

    Well to quote one of my favourite Christmas song it getting to look a lot like Christmas!! So I thought I would show you an super idea for a quick and easy Christmas decoration that can use up all those little scraps of Christmas paper you have, don't try to hide them, I know there are there :) Only because I have the same pile beside me!!

    For this decoration I used the whole wooden spools from Creative Expressions, the assorted music sheet pack and the vintage book pages pack too, both from the Fruit pixie. You will also need some wire and ribbon, the new Christmas ribbon would also be perfect for this project, and of course a bell or something for the middle.

So, how did I do it? First I cut a strip of the book paper to fit the inside of the spools and coloured it with some distress ink. I used Firebrick red but you can use whatever colour fits your Christmas colour scheme. 

Then just add wet glue to the spool sparingly and roll the paper around, add a dab of glue to the end and stick down. 

TIP - If you are having trouble getting the paper around the spool smoothly, curl the paper strip first with your scissors, like you would to curl ribbon, and it will help.

Repeat for 9 spools, I did 5 in the music and 4 in the book page. Cut a piece of wire long enough to go through your spools with some extra to form 2 small loops.

Make a small loop at one end of your wire and thread you spools on in the order you want. Thread the other end of the wire through the loop you have made and loop it back through finishing the end down inside the last spool.

Use these loops to attach your bell, I used a piece of bakers twine. Add a ribbon bow and something to hang it from your tree and you are done.

You can get 2 little wreaths from 1 packet of Creative Expressions whole wooden spools, so here is my other wreath, a little bit more fun perhaps. I used some Christmas paper scraps this time and of course that cute Father Christmas bells I have been keeping for just the right project, well I think this was it!!

I hope you like my little projects and will have a go yourself.

For a full shopping list visit the new Design team section on the Fruit Pixie website.

                               Happy Crafting!

                                                         Love Katrina

Christmas bowl

Hi everyone, design elf Katrina here. I am starting to get christmasy now in my craft nook, it's so miserable outside, so what could be nicer then being snug in your craft room making things!!

    I saw this idea on the internet, a pattern from the 1950's for a bowl made from old Christmas cards. Here is where I found the original post with a link to the pattern-
 http://www.mysocalledcraftylife.com/2012/11/20/diy-vintage-christmas-card-bowl/

 As soon as I saw the idea I thought of the new A4 card in the shop by Payper Box. The card is a really good weight and was perfect for this project. I used the Christmas jumper and Christmas tartan. I used 3 sheets of each pattern but at a £1 for 10 sheets it's not going to break the bank.

So to start with you want to print out and cut out the template. Then cut out 6 of the sides and 1 bottom from the Christmas jumper. I did centre the shape on the reindeer pattern which did waste some of the card, so if you are using one of the other all over patterns it will use less card. 

Cut the same 6 sides and a bottom from the Christmas tartan and glue the reindeer side pieces to the tartan side pieces with the patterns facing out. Do the same for the bottom piece too.

I then made a hole template out of the printed template by using a ruler and paper piercer. Just pierce holes at regular intervals around you template and then place the template on top of each piece and poke through your pre poked holes. That way each piece will be the same and it should line up.

Next you need to take some embroidery thread and blanket stitch over the top of a side piece and then blanket stitch 2 side pieces together. Then blanket stitch the 2 sides to the bottom piece Repeat until you have stitched all the sides together and to the bottom. I hope that makes sense, its hard to explain but basically you need to stitch them all together.

There you have your 1950's bowl!

Wouldn't these make great little hampers full of goodies as a Christmas gift or even just filled with sweets for the family to enjoy.

Hope you have a go at this Christmas project. Of course change the card and it can be a bowl for any occasions

Happy crafting!

                          Love Katrina.

Autumn leaf wreath

Hi everyone Design elf Katrina here again. Sorry I have not posted for a bit but sadly we had a death in the family and so I had to organise everything along with my sister.

    Today though I have a lovely autumn leaf wreath that can lift the spirits. I love autumn, the colours are just so beautiful, so I wanted to bring them inside too.


To get the wonderful autumn colours I used the Core dinations kraft core nostalgic collection. This collection has the most gorgeous colours with a craft colour core. I think it is my favourite collection they do, at the moment!!

    So I cut out lots of leaves using the PaperArtsy oak leaves. I just chose the colours I liked and cut about 3 of each size leaf.

I then embossed them using the Tim Holtz Texture fades poker face. I used a Sakura quickie glue pen to run a line of glue around the outside of the leaf and sprinkled some of the cosmic shimmer polished glitter over the top

While that is drying I cut a doughnut shape out of box card and glued them together, i then wrapped some burlap around to cover the card 

Then all you need to do is arrange you leaves around your wreath and glue them on. You will need to use a wet glue, I used my hot glue gun. I also glued a loop of ribbon onto the back so I could hang it up.

To finish it off I added some of The Fruit Pixies wonderful buttons from the Christmas set and some toadstools, berries and ribbon from my own collection

I hope you like my autumn leaf wreath, if you would like to make one yourself you will find a shopping list in the new section in the shop called Design team projects - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/design-team-projects-650-c.asp

Happy crafting!

           Love Katrina

Graphic 45 paper pumpkin

Hi, design elf Katrina here again to show you what I have been up to in my craft nook.

     Halloween is almost upon us, so I have a nice quick and easy project to share with you. I used the wonderfully spooky Graphic 45 Steampunk Spells papers for my pumpkin but you could always use a plain cardstock and make it as a Autumn pumpkin, it dosen't have to be Halloween themed if you don't want.

These are wonderfully simple to make and look so cute. I cut 12 1inch strips of the paper ( the length of the strips will determine how big you pumpkin will be, they all just need to be the same length ) 

You then need to pile them up and make a hole in both ends and secure with a brad at top and bottom. The gently fan the strips out in a rounded shape. Fiddle about with it until you have the shape you like and then you can decorate it!

I chose to cut some leaves out using the PaperArtsy leaf die and shaped them with my fingers. For the  stalk I rolled a small scrap of the paper and glued it to the top then arranged the leaves around it using silicone glue.

I used one of the pieces from the banners pack as a tag and attached it with some thin craft wire. I also used some pieces of craft wire to wrap around a cocktail stick to make some curly wire pieces and poked them into the silicone glue under the leaves.

To continue the Halloween theme I die cut some bats, 2 for each bat so I could sandwich the wire in between them, made wire curls for them to wiggle on and I was finished!

This is such a nice project to make for Autumn or Halloween, They would look lovely in a group of different sizes and are perfect for children to make too.

I hope you will give my project a go, have fun with it ,

   Love Katrina

Graphic 45 Steampunk Spells art doll

Hi everyone, design elf Katrina here. I cant believe it is nearly a month since I posted, I am so sorry its been so long but unfortunately I have been poorly. But I am back to normal now and have a seasonal art doll to show you.

   Of course you cant think of Halloween without thinking Graphic 45!! I love this paper and wanted to make a spooky art doll with it, so here is what I came up with, a little bit larger than first planned perhaps but I am very pleased with her.

She stands about 14 inches high and I made her out of re-cycled box card. I re-enforced her neck and body with coffee stirrers in between the 2 layers of card so she would stand up. The base is a box made from box card, I cut slits to push her legs through but did have a few engineering issues which were solved by stacking pieces of  card either side of her legs inside the box to stabilise her

For her head I chose one from my digital collection but you could use a stamp, magazine picture or why not use a photo of a family member? That would be fun!  Her glasses I made by wrapping some craft wire around a spray bottle top that was the size I needed and her hat I drew, covered with the Graphic 45 paper and decorated with bakers twine and stickers from the collection. All it needed then was a couple of die cut bats!

Her body I covered with strips of the different papers and decorated with stickers and embellishments from the collection. I then made her a little spell book and a broom from twigs from the garden.

I also drew and covered her arms.

I then covered the base box  with more of the wonderful Graphic 45 paper and added a few decorations.  These are the Creative expressions glass vials filled with witchy potions!! The labels are from the Graphic 45 stamps

I also made a couple more books for her and gave her a friend, after all every witch has to have a black cat!

So there she is all ready for Halloween! I must admit I had so much fun making her.

If you have any questions just pop them below of on the Fruit Pixie facebook page

     Happy crafting!

                                  Love Katrina

Autumn flower

Hello, Design elf Katrina here to share another project with the wonderful products from The Fruit Pixie.

    This time I am using something you might not think of using but is so versatile to work with, Colour catcher sheets! Yes, the ones you put into your wash to stop the colour running. If like me you don't use them, you will start when you see what a great product they are after they have done their job in the washing machine. I get mine in the good old £1 shop and have a stack of them ready to go when I need them.  There are so many things you can do with them, they stitch like a dream and take on any colour from any wet colour medium, after all that is their job, and are so easy to cut and they don't fray. See what I mean?

     Today we are going to make a flower with them. I chose to do a yellow flower but of course you can do what ever colour you want to.  The idea for how to put this flower together came from Tammy Tutterow, her tutorial is here - http://tammytutterow.com/2013/07/tuesday-tutorial-love-struck-vintage-style-millinery/ but I have changed a couple of things.

So to begin with we need 2 washed colour catcher sheets. I then chose the colour paint I wanted from the Cosmic Shimmer paint range and made it up into a spray paint by adding a small amount of the paint to a small spray bottle and added some water and just a drop of PVA glue. The glue prevents it from splitting. Its hard to give exact proportions of paint to water but just add a drop of water to the paint and try it, you can add more if need be. Give it all a good shake and its good to go!

Spray both the colour catcher sheets until  they are covered and dry either with a heat gun or naturally.

I then cut 16 long hearts but I think next time I would do 18. I used the Tim Holtz movers and shakers heart but you could use the PaperArtsy Tall heart or even draw one yourself. To cut this many you can fold your colour catcher sheets into 4 and cut through all the layers. You will also need a small circle of felt to stitch them all too.

I then went through and added ink to the edges.

The all then need to be folded as in the photos. The colour catcher sheets fold well so its not too bad a job. I also stamped them all with a script stamp.

Now we can put the flower together. Stitch your petals around the outside of your felt circle and then make another layer inside and one inside that until you have used all your petals up.

I then added one of the wonderful Vintage metal buttons which I rubbed over some of the Cosmic shimmer chalk paint. There are so many ways you can use this flower, the colour catcher sheets are very robust, I have made a book in a class with them and it is still going strong!

So to make my flower you will need - 

*2 Colour Catcher Sheets

* Cosmic Shimmer Chalk paint - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/cosmic-shimmer-matt-chalk-paints-643-c.asp

*Spray bottle - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/imagination-crafts-15ml-spritzer-7591-p.asp

Distress ink - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/ink-pads-84-c.asp

Heart die - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/paperartsy-die-tall-heart-11873-p.asp

Vintage metal buttons - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/8-vintage-metal-buttons-20578-p.asp

Broach backs - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/30mm-gilt-brooch-pin-back-516-p.asp

Have fun making your flowers!

   

                                Happy Crafting

                                                    Love Katrina

Autumn Stag card

Hello, Design Elf Katrina here. Autumn is defiantly in the air, my favourite time of year, misty mornings turning to bright crisp days. The call of the crows and the squirrels getting ready for winter and then of course the wonderful Autumn colours too, just a delight!

     So as my mind turns toward Autumn my crafting soon follows so here is a very Autumn looking card I created in my craft nook using the Spellbinders Birdstand  die and the Paper Artsy oak leaf which is perfect for this time of year.

I used card from the very useful Core dinations Kraft core Nostalgic collection which has the most beautiful autumn coloured card. I cut and embossed the leaves then sanded them back using the Core dinations sand it gadget and then removed the dust with the Core dinations dust buddy, which if you haven't tried it yet get one it really works!

To give the leaves a bit of a life I added some Cosmic shimmer polished glitter using a quickie glue pen.

To find the products I used in making this card look here - 

Cardstock - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/coredinations-kraft-core-nostalgic-16365-p.asp

Dies - birdstand - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/spellbinders-dies-648-c.asp

                      Oak leaves - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/paperartsy-cutting-dies-417-c.asp

Glitter - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/cosmic-shimmer-polished-silk-glitter-600-c.asp

Dust buddy and sand it gadget - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/tools-and-accessories-nproducts16curpage-2-16-c.asp

Enjoy the Autumn colours

                                Love Katrina

Bird and feather box

Hi Everyone, design elf Katrina here with another project from my craft nook

     Today I have made a little box using a couple of the new Spellbinders dies.

I made my box using Coredinations cardstock which I embossed using the Doodle Damask stencil from That special touch Mica. I then rubbed it back to distress it.  The aperture is cut out using Sizzix Framelets  frames and sprigs ( which are half price the moment ) I then placed a book page behind.

I used the bird on a wire die for the outside of the box and the Feathers on the wind on the lid.

Do have a look at these new Spellbinders dies they are a breath of fresh air!

Do let me know what you think

Love Katrina x

Pen pot upcycle!

Hi everyone, Design elf Katrina here to show you what I have been up to in my craft nook!  Intact it was while I was tidying up said craft nook, well my craft table that I decided I needed to do something to the tins I had been using as pen pots for the past few months. To be honest I think it was a way to get out of tidying the rest of the room but less said about that the better!

              So as I said I had saved and washed a couple of tins and one of those cardboard instant gravy pots ages ago and they had been sitting on my table naked for ages, so I collected up my washi tape and some garden twine and got to decorating them.

   All you need to do is was out your tin and dry, remove the lable and any sticky bits on the outside. I only use tins that have the pull type lid so you have a nice top to your pot. If you are doing these with or for children just watch the inner rim of the tin is not sharp.

For this pen pot I just used the black stripe, polkadot and gold Italian script washi tape which I just stuck directly to the tin then filled in the gaps using garden twine which I stuck to the tin using PVA glue. I just applied the PVA dirrectly to the tin surface then wrapped the twine around. The bow was made from a piece of the twine and then hot glued onto the front.

As the pen pot was going to get a lot of use I did glaze the Washi tape. You could use watered down PVA and it will seal the tape and give a nice shine to the pot too.

This was my cardboard gravy pot, I just covered the pot with PVA and then just wrapped the garden twine around and around from top to bottom. Looks rather expensive I think!

This pot was made in the same way as the first, using the blue black and black and white dot Washi tape which a black stripe piece in the middle. I used Creative Expressions black and white bakers twine this time instead or the garden twine.

I then added my favourite die cut at the moment to the middle of the pot after I had glazed it.

The die cut is a Spellbinders die but all sorts of things could be used. The persons name would be fun!

You can find all the things you need on the shop website, except the tins of course. You can find the -

Washi tape - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/washi-tape-625-c.asp

Bakers twine - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/creative-expressions-bakers-twine-black--white-50-yds-16055-p.asp

Spellbinders dies - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/spellbinders-dies-648-c.asp

So get your tins out of the recycle and make them into something useful. These would be great for back to school gifts full of crayons and pens, depending on their age. Or even new teacher gifts perhaps. As I said watch the sharpness of the inside ledge of the tin, the cardboard pots would be best for children to decorate. 

Hope you enjoyed this project and will give it a go yourself

                             Happy Crafting!

                                                                                                                 Love Katrina