Seamus and Sophie

Once upon a time... Wait, it happened just before Christmas )) Someone knocked at our door. When I opened it, there was such a cute little creature. He was very polite. "My name is Seamus", he said. We all could not fail but fell in love with this polite, always smiling, little gentleman and were happy to suggest him to stay with us. I am sure you would do the same just looking at this cute face ))

Seamus was very curious, liked to learn new things. We told him about Christmas. He loved it too because of peppermint candies and gingerbread house. Sometimes we saw that he is getting sad though he never stopped smiling.

It turned out that Seamus felt very lonely in spite of everybody's love. He just could not believe there is no someone else like him in the whole world. He asked everyone he met if they have met someone who looked like him, even our cat.

And Santa Claus ))

But noone ever met anyone who looked alike. Seamus watched the sky full of stars feeling deeply sad and then he decided to start looking. He was very determined and we just could not try to stop him so we just wished him good luck.

Days and weeks were passing by and we did not hear anything from our Seamus. We worried if he is fine and healthy and if his search is successful. One day someone knocked at our door. We happily decided that it was Seamus. And yes, it was him!!! But this time he was not alone... "My name is Sophie", she said. As polite as Seamus. And even cuter than him))

They look so happy together. And we are happy they live with us now bringing us joy each day.

It took Seamus a lot of efforts to find his beloved Sophie and he will never let her go.

Of course it is just a fairy-tale ))) But Valentine's Day is on the way. Send some sights of appreciation to those you care about and let love fill in your hearts.
Happy Valentine's!

Birthday cards, the latest

Two girls celebrate birthdays in February. Greeting cards on these special occasions.

The dress I made myself. The other three are handmade cards 3D stickers. I always liked when a card does not look flat.

One last touch. Mmmmy favourite. Personalize :)

I used pop-up technique in that one.

Makes really interesting effects I believe.

A cute caterpillar sticker was a funny addition ))

What is left? Ahhh... Envelopes to put cards in. Draw...

Cut...

Embellish.

Happy birthday! :)

Tools I use

Proper tools' using is one of the most important parts in making crafts if you want the item look really good. I have been experimenting with a lot of different types. It was a long path full of disappointments sometimes. You can just imagine how one can feel creating something and it looks bad just because they chose wrong glue or paint or whatever ))) A few samples might be just thrown away until you get what you really want to get.

So scissors... I use a lot as you can see. Long blades are good when you need one long cut, small ones for detailed cutting. You need some to be sharp, some not, so experience comes with attempts, mistakes and lessons )))

It is not just scissors I use to cut something off hahaha Roller blade is really good for a long clean cut. I use zigzag scissors if it is necessary to make a nice cut for cards or if I don't want fabric to spill. That small knife is one of my latest purchases. I realized I need it when started making pop-art cards. Really handy. I can hold it as a pencil so it allows me to cut different angles or curves. But finger hurts like crazy after hahahaha

Glues... Most of my craft disappointments are connected with wrong choice of it. So from what I experienced for now white glue is baaaad for cards :) Paper gets moist and loses its shape. But sometimes it is necessary to have it anyway. Still my choice for greetings cards is a heavy duty transparent glue, but not the instant one!!! Instant glue is deadly for paper, goes through it and leaves stains you never get rid off. That violet glue stick you see is really magic hehehe It leaves violet marks and you can see what area is glued and which is not and then it just disappears. Voila!

Glue gun... What is it actually? It is kind of plastic that is melting allowing you to glue one thing to another. It is really good for fabrics if it is no way you can sew something on, but not good for different kind of plastic or metal. Never glues none of those in a proper way. Or it should be such a decent amount of it that it will be just glue in the end hahaha Dries out really fast so you should be faster ))

Paints and pencils... I like silver acrylic paint I have. If you follow my posts you could see it in a lot of stuff I make. Pencils with metallic effect and gel pens of different colors are always good for paper, with one but. It takes longer time for gel pens to get really dry so they have a tendency to smear. Should be really careful making fonts. Mondeluz watercolor pencils by Koh-i-Noor just don't need any comments :) Love them! Not using them much unfortunately.

Brushes, different types and length. Usual pencils of different softness and thickness. And yes... even a dot maker they use for nail art. Very handy at times. Anything is good when you know which effect you wish to achieve. I used a needle recently but it is yet another story to tell :)

Forgot to tell about carbon paper. I felt I needed it sometimes so here we go. Things a greeting card is being born with hehehehe

You will be able to see the results in my next post.

Use proper tools and stay tuned :D

Personalization

As promised here is some more about personalized presents. I showed these coasters before but a final touch was to make them more personal. I chose a name on just a box for the first set as it was for made for a man.

I allowed myself to put initials on the coasters of another set. It looks more feminine I think. And yes, it was made for a woman )))

But a name on the box itself as well.

I did not make this CD holder. I chose it as a present as I liked the blue colour of it. It was the colour that gave me the idea how to restyle it. You know I like jeans ))) The holder is very well done but... booooriiing. Let's add some personal touches to it. See the results below.

Here we go. The area in the center of the box is a photo of the owner which I retouched for some certain reasons. Too personal, you know )))

Personalized things have more of our nature, character even maybe. Those things are really different and unique, stand out of common. This idea can be used in many areas of our life, not just presents. Personalized interior things can show more of an owner's personality, habits and passions. So personalize your life and feel yourself important because you are!!!

Have a nice day )))

Coasters

It is amazing at times how many interesting ideas is possible to find in internet nowadays. I stumbled on the idea of making such coasters on site trozo.ru In original version it was made with different designs of fabrics but I think in one style they look as good as those. So all I had to do is cut out 30 rounds, as it was a set of 6, and sew them together hehehe Multiply it on 2 as I made sets for two different people. So the rounds...

...and how it looks when ready in different variants of using. For wine glasses...

...or usual ones.

A closer view.

After all I had to find a nice way for keeping them. I chose a box and a piece of red cardboard left from my camera pack for one set.

Pink for another set.

Handmade gifts are always unique but I like to make them more personal so the last touch is to detect who was this gift made for.

More about personalized presents in my next post )))

Zippers

The idea of using zippers as an element of decoration came into my mind long time ago. Once I accidentally stumbled upon zipper jewelry by Kate Cusack and was just stunned with her masterpieces that she creates using simple zippers. I would probably never try to make necklaces, but decided to have a try with a pin.

Just a little addition about the pin I made, could not find the pictures before )))

... and variants of it's using. As a belt decoration. It can be worn simply on a skirt as well.

... or on bag. Fantasy is all yours.

Back to zippers. A little New Year tree. Just loved it, hopefully a little girl it was made for would love it too.

Zipper flowers look just great. It is never possible to repeat exactly the same flower. It is different every time.

I like to use them for hair bands.

Single...

... or a few.

I will keep doing zipper decorations. Once started, hard to stop hehehehe

Jeans and more...

I always entertained the idea of reusing things. It is like giving a new chance, new life to something. And sometimes the thing you make is even better than it used to be. I like when there is some kind of story or history behind the thing. Jeans is the best for textile reused things I believe, just love to use it.

So what do we have here. A cute brooche I made as a first try for one of my Christmas presents. I changed the second one a little but my daughter loves this very one.

Cute little decorations for Christmas are also good in a jeans version. Some cinnamon inside is never bad to add ))

A cover for a guest book or a photoalbum (for a person it is made for to decide). It was a much more complicated work but I enjoyed doing it and reactions when it was presented were even better hehehe

I found this cute boot on one of the sites about tilda dolls but I decided it would look cool in jeans as well. Red looks good with jeans :))

A friend of mine is really good in making tilda dolls and textile dolls. I am just an amateur compared to her. Recommend visiting www.princesstori.blogg.se to see it with your own eyes.