As Seen On TV

I think it was in June when I saw a post from a member of the Tattered Lace team, Sarah Trebilcock, on Facebook sharing information about becoming a member of a design team.  I had recently applied to Kanban crafts but had heard nothing back so decided to have another go with a different company. It really was a rush as I saw it at the last minute and so quickly sent of the email.  It said it wasn't die cuts so I sent them a picture of a card I'd created for my husband, Michael's, birthday.

I sent off the email and then waited a couple of weeks but didn't hear anything back.  Ah well.  I would keep trying if I saw any other positions come up but knew it would probably be quite difficult to get on these teams.  They do seem to be unpaid positions but they are a fantastic outlet for my hobby.

Anyway, life went on.  I had a fantastic summer and beautiful holiday in gorgeous Spain. Imagine my surprise when, having forgotten about my application, a couple of months later I got an email from the head of the team saying that I had made it through to the next part of the process.  She wanted me to send her a project to show what I was able to do.  I actually squealed with delight.  Although I wasn't on the team I was a step closer to doing something I really wanted to do.  It took me ages to decide what to send as I wanted it to be eye-catching and show off all I was capable of.  Eventually I came up with a butterfly, shaped easel card.

 

I turned 40 on the 15th of September and had an amazing few weeks celebrating with family and friends and had given up on the idea that I would make it any further on the team.  I was so delighted then when I received an email on the 16th September apologising for the lateness in response but letting me know I had made it onto the design team for 3 months in the first instance. I was over the moon.  I would be working with Tattered Lace products (my absolute favourite out there) and creating cards that could possibly be used to promote their products on their website and on Create and Craft (I know - CREATE AND CRAFT!!!)

 

A couple of days later I was asked if I could make some samples and having responded saying that I could I received a couple of new trio designs.  To say it was a bit daunting is a complete understatement.  I sat and looked at these for quite a while it has to be said.  What could I do with them that was original and worthy of such an amazing company? 

 

 

 Well eventually I came up with about 5 cards to send off to them.  I checked the TV schedule, saw when the programmes that were selling these products were and set up the planner to record them - just in case.  The first programme aired and there was no sign of my card.  I was a little gutted but then thought about it realistically.  It would be amazing if my first set of samples went straight through and made it on air.  Ah well, I thought.  Maybe next time.

 

Later that day a link was put on Facebook to the Pinterest page where samples of these cards could be found.  I nearly jumped for joy as there in full, glorious colour was one of my cards.

 

 

Of course I started texting and phoning everyone lol.  I was so proud of what I'd achieved and it felt great to know that I was doing things they appreciated and that might inspire other people and their card making.  The next day I watched the programme again to see if things could get any better and there it was......  one of my cards was featured in the display of cards (circled below).  I'd done it - I'd made it on to Create and Craft. Who would have thought that a couple of years ago I didn't even know Create and Craft existed and here I was on the channel. 

 



 

When the next email came to ask if I could do some more samples I responded immediately.  What would I get to play with this time?  A couple of days later the package arrived and I had been sent a couple of over the edge dies and a border die. At first I found it tricky because there was no real focal point with them but after a few days of cutting and sticking I'd made nearly a dozen cards to send off.  I was very proud of them and hoped that I would again see them on the TV.

 

this time the products were part of the 'Pick of the Week' but the dies I had been given were not part of the main bundle so I didn't expect to see any of my work.  I checked pinterest again but they weren't on there until I looked through cards that had been made for another collection and there they were - TWO of my cards this time. 

 

Eventually the 'Pick of the Week' sold out and so on the last day of programmes they moved on to other dies - including those I had worked on.  It wasn't until I looked more closely that I could see all my cards in front of the presenters as they did their demonstrations because they were hidden by the titles and product details.  I was a little disappointed that they were there but couldn't be seen.  However, this disappointment turned to complete excitement when the presenters Dean and Rossella were asked a question and they used one of my cards to answer it with.  I was over the moon.  they both commented on how beautiful it was and I swelled with proud.  I know it sounds ridiculous - it's just a card for heaven's sake - but again it is something I love doing and they are being appreciated.

 

 

I just can't wait for the next product to be delivered and I hope to be creating samples for Tattered Lace for as long as possible.

 

 

A busy Summer's Weekend

It's been a while since I posted but I've had a busy couple of months.

July has become one of the most important months of the year for me over recent years.  It obviously is the month all teachers dream of  - when we finally get to have a long, relaxing break.  Now I'm out of teaching it is equally significant as it is the month in which my little lady turns another year older.  This year was her 4th birthday.  In keeping with always I was going to throw her a big birthday party.  For the past couple of years this has also coincided with the Create and Craft Summer Crafting event and this year was no different.

Now, as I have already said on here, I am Create and Craft mad.  I can have it on TV all day.  Although I'm not always watching I like it in the background.  When I found out they would be broadcasting live from the event this year it was an extra incentive to go, despite having organised a big children's party for the next day.  Having been the year before, my sister also fancied going (although she is not a Create and Craft addict, she is bigger crafter than me and is the reason for my obsession). Last year mum came too and drove us there but, having quickly realised there was nothing for her to buy, (she does not share our passion) she ended up sat outside in the sun all day.  We felt we couldn't ask her again so we went by train.

It was manic!!

We arrived at about 11am and it was just chaos.  To people who don't know about crafting you would never believe there were so many people into it.  Despite the crushes, the grabbing and the queuing we managed to bag ourselves a number of bargains.  Ok so we had a big craft bag full of goodies.  We decided to watch the final live hour broadcast from the event and because of this ended up on TV for a millisecond each and then meeting Leonie and Dave (two of the presenters).  Kate thought it was hilarious but I have to admit I was a bit starstruck.

 

 

Despite our protestations that due to the crowds we wouldn't go next year, it is safe to say we will be at Summer crafting next year.

 

 

The next day was Lucy's 4th birthday party.  We were holding it at her preschool so it could be inside or our regardless of the weather.  She had requested a Cinderella theme with fancy dress.  She is completely Princess obsessed which I love.  Her favourite is Belle but having seen the live action version of Cinderella she has now moved her love to her for a while.

 

She had a fabulous day (with only a couple of meltdowns) and got some fantastic pressies from all her family and friends. She is very spoilt but worth it (not biased at all)

Create and Craft obsession

As I've said already, I started crafting to create memories for my daughter in the form of scrapbook pages. Eventually I found the shopping channel 'Create and Craft' as just that - another place to shop for craft items.  However, these days it's part of my viewing choice watching it as entertainment rather than really thinking of buying products necessarily.  As those who know me well would confirm, it is on throughout the day and can almost be guaranteed to be on in the background if they visit for a brew.

What it has done is introduce me to a wider range of paper crafting products and craft companies who I would never have been aware of.  The likes of 'Hunkydory', 'Tattered Lace', 'Tonic', 'Spellbinders', 'Kanban' and 'Crafters Companion' are now staples of my crafting work but I'd never heard of things such as die cutting, embossing and decoupage before I found this channel.

It has proved to be an expensive discovery over the last few years but to be fair it is one of the only things I spend money on (well apart from my daughter obviously) and I get so much pleasure from it it is worth it.  It is very true that crafting helps to de-stress me and I've needed that over the last couple of years when work has got the better of me and when I finally gave it up.

I started to make cards once I'd found die cutting.  I bought a couple of 'Tonic' fairy dies and a few 'Tattered Lace' dies and got to work creating my first cards.  I was so proud of them.  Now I look back and although I still like them, in the same way with my first scrapbook pages, they look so basic compared to what I'm capable of now.

I didn't know about matting & layering, about different card shapes and what was actually achievable.

 

Now though my cards have come on in leaps and bounds.  'Create and Craft' not only sell the products but also show you what you can do with them.  This means that I can then transfer these skills to the other products I have - not just the things that are being sold at the time.

 

I've now done a couple of parties for family and friends with my Christmas cards but mainly make bespoke cards for people on a request basis.  I'd love to expand this to become a full time job but at the moment it is really just paying for my crafty stash.  I just need an occasion and a bit about what the recipients like and I'm away.

 

Here are a few of my favourite makes:

some cards made for Harry's 90th

One I made for my Bradford city mad nephew Zac

A touch of paper folding

One for the hubby

A pretty ballerina

A wedding

An anniversary

A new baby

 

At the moment I have a list of cards to make from birthday's to fathers' day.  I'm so thankful for my friends and family for supporting me and just hope that I can make enough money to support my 'Create and 'Craft' addiction.





A Walk in the Woods

As I mentioned in my last post, I began to scrapbook as a way of documenting Lucy's life.  When I was young photography was a very different animal.  You would have a film of 24 or 36 and those few pictures would be precious (well the ones that actually came out ok once you'd got them back from the processing shop) and were carefully placed into albums by my mum.

This was the same as I was growing up and holidays, parties, nights out would all fit on one film.  In a way I'm grateful for this now as I cannot imagine the kind of things that would be on social media if facebook had existed when I was in my formative years (it's bad enough what goes on there now I'm approaching the big 40).  I now have a select number of albums covering those special occasions in my life.

Of course all that has changed now with the advent of digital photography.  I went out and bought a fancy camera when I realised I needed better quality photos for my project work.  I now have thousands of photos of birthdays, Christmases, holidays and generally just day to day life stored on my laptop.  Sometimes I can spend hours looking through them but up until I found scrapbooking that's about all that happened.  They were never printed off and put in albums.  An occasional few made it to photo frames and were put out for people to see but most just sat there.

Now I can pick out my favourite images and create something that is special and a reminder of happy days.  I always write a bit about the situation as though I'm writing to an older Lucy and telling her about her life.  Although the pictures and the design are the creative part the journaling is important as a reminder of people, places and dates.  I used to spend hours going through old photos with my nan and unless the names of those on the photo were written on the back then it was difficult for her to remember who some of them were.  Hopefully this way Lucy will always know who she's met in her life.

Now some are a feature on her bedroom wall.

 

A recent family day out was to St Ives Woods in Bingley.  When we had our Labradors we used to go here quite often but since Lucy has been born we haven't been until then.  On May Bank Holiday we went for a walk there. 

 

Lucy loved it.

 

She rushed around the woods looking for all the carved figures that they have throughout the woods.  She cuddled the fairies and said hello to them all.  She thought the little dwarf with his pants down was hilarious.  She wasn't very happy about the scary witch and wouldn't go near but was happy to have her photo taken with the rest of them.

 

Now I took a number of photos (just on my phone) and these could quite easily have stayed there.  However, it was such a lovely day that when we got home I set about taking those photos and turning them into scrapbook pages.  Now a memory has been created that will be there for Lucy to look back on and perhaps recreate with her own children in many years to come.



Here goes!!!

Well, having meant to start a blog for a long time now, I've finally got myself sorted.  I want this to be a place I can share my latest crafty projects and ideas.  For those who don't know much about my crafty life I haven't been papercrafting for all that long (in fact I still remember being sat in front of the 2012 Olympics with a glass of wine creating my first scrapbook pages) but it has completely taken over my life.  I'm officially addicted.

It all started when Lucy, my daughter, turned 1 and I wanted to do something special with the photos I took of the big day.  My sister Kate was a fabulous crafter and I asked her to create a scrapbook album for me.  I had absolutely no idea what I was asking her to do (growing up as a child scrapbooking meant cutting clips of gazza out of the newspaper and sticking it in a book of sugar paper) and when I realised what a big job it might be I decided to give it a go myself. 

I've never looked back!!

Kate gave me a bag of 'bits' and I bought 1 12x12 pad of paper and a few more embellishments.  Three years later I've outgrown the dining room table

and have gone on to convert the spare bedroom into my own craft room

 

 

Now I can spend many a happy hour creating.  In those three years I've gone on to cardmaking and I love making bespoke cards for friends and family.  Sometimes it feels like family birthdays are sponsored by 'Wild About Crafting' (my unofficial crafty name).  recently I made cards for my nephew's 6th birthday as well as my parents' birthdays and anniversary.

 

 

 

It really has helped me over the last few difficult months after leaving work.  It has been extremely therapeutic and hopefully one day I might be able to make something more of my hobby.  I've had a couple of card parties so far and Kate and I have done one craft stall.  I'm hoping that I can make the thing I love into something that could change my future.

 

Well, that's all for now

 

Nick