National Cardmaker of the Year 2011 ~ Craft it your way!

Once again my life has taken a new direction and has been the main reason for the gap. Since my last post I found out that I won prizes in 2 categories of the National Card Maker of the Year 2011.

I can’t quite describe just how amazing it felt to find out that I had come first in Joanna Sheens Category. But then to discover I had also won a second prize for my entry into the My Craft Studio was amazing. To say I was over the moon was a massive understatement. It was like winning the lottery, not that I have ever won, but I imagine I would feel the same. For me though winning anything in this competition meant so much to me as this was for something I had created from scratch, rather than simply a stroke of luck or being the winner of a prize draw. Even as I’m writing this, I still can’t quite believe that two of my cards had been chosen to win.

There’s nothing like crafting to take your mind off of everything else that’s going on. How wonderful to be rewarded for something that’s so enjoyable. It’s been a huge boost to my confidence, I’m incredibly proud of this achievement. I’ve not been put out to pasture just yet after all.

Along with my monthly magazines, I get so much inspiration from Create & Craft and all of the talented guests. In particular Melanie, Leonie, Stephanie and all at My Craft Studio, Debbie Shore for her reintroduction to sewing. And of course the one and only Joanna Sheen for everything she brings to us crafters, I’m always eagerly waiting for her next release. It’s impossible to put into words just how much of a difference these people have made to my crafting without sounding patronising or cheesy, but I’m sure they will know what I mean.

I’m always learning new techniques, that’s what makes crafting such fun and crafters are always willing to share and help. If I had to choose my favourites, which is really difficult I would have to say Decoupage closely followed by stamping and distressing. I do love my Cricut though as I’ve mentioned before and I’ve just started scrapbooking thanks to Melanie Heaton, she has such a passion and shares such inspiration.

I hope this doesn’t sound too much like the proverbial acceptance speech, as it’s meant most sincerely. When I first decided to enter this competition in July, it was for a bit of fun as well as another way to donate my cards to charity. It was my original intention to enter a card for each category, I thought it would be easily achievable. Health certainly wasn’t on my side and in the end I was able to enter ten of the categories.  I honestly didn’t expect to hear anything at all, I’ve never entered such a big competition before. I suppose deep down I didn’t feel that my cards were good enough to win such a contest. I know it sounds like every other person that wins, but it really is true.

We’re so lucky to have such a large and varied selection of crafting supplies and tools to choose from. Like everyone, I have my favourites and believe it or not, top of my list is My Craft Studio and Joanna Sheen. My very first Purchase was a My Craft Studio Double CD Rom and shortly afterwards, I came across Joanna Sheens ‘Enchanted Christmas’. My first ever cards were from these and since then I have every release. For me being a winner in both of these categories is a dream come true.

I just know I’m going to be walking round with a constant grin on my face, I’m over the moon with excitement. I’ve not even had chance to think about the prizes, but it’s brilliant to have so much more to look forward to and thinking about all the crafting I will get from them. I have a passion for crafting, I love making cards for Friends and Family, that’s when you can really personalise them and know that they are going to be special.

What a lovely Surprise.

So much has been going on I dont really know where to start.

Hunkydory have such great quality crafting supplies, from their beautiful Silk Art Board to their Diamond Sparkles and everything in between. There’s just so much to choose from, they really do have something for everyone.

Making cards and gifts from their crafty goodies is always a pleasure and I still believe that it’s impossible to make a lovely card or project from one of their impressive card kits. They do produce the most gorgeous kits, these are always excellent quality & value but above all everything coordinates which make them a great buy for new crafters. And for the seasoned crafter, the sky is the limit.

My new HunkyDory Magazine arrived on Friday and I had a lovely surprise. Last month I sent in one of my cards for their competition, as I turned the pages I was amazed to find my card had a place on the winners page. It’ seems my luck has taken a definite turn for the better. I am incredibly proud, I can’t wait to have my prize delivered, how exciting.

My Cricut Cutting Machine

This bit is about my Cricut Machine and how I came about buying one. Cricut is a range of cutting machines made by ProvoCraft. It’s cartridge based and will cut any shape, character or font that is on the cartridge being used.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I am an avid fan of the Create & Craft channel, it’s a great source of information for craft. It’s where I first heard about the different Cricut machines and what they did. I already had a Craft Robo, it does a fantastic job of cutting exactly what I want. In a later post I will chat about that.

At first I was dead against getting a Cricut machine, for a variety of reasons. I felt that the cartridge based system was far to restricting, that the cartridges were very expensive and didn’t have a lot of content. Luckily I happened to see a Cricut show with Melanie Heaton, who in the space of an hour dispelled all of these worries so I decided to try the Cricut Create. The Create is one of the smaller Cricut Machines. It’s a brilliant machine, as soon as it was out of the box, I was hooked. It’s incredibly easy to set up, so I was choosing and cutting allsorts within an hour of it arriving.

Rather than going into all the technical stuff you can follow this link for the Cricut Create.

I thought the Create was big enough for what I wanted, but within a week my mind was doing overtime thinking about what else I could do with it so I upgraded to the Expression 2, it comes with a 12x12 inch mat but you can also get a 12x24 inch mat giving you even more scope.

I could never thank Melanie enough, her advice, explanations and demos have made a lot of people extremely happy. I think it’s fantastic to know that you can trust someone to tell you what’s what. Without her knowledge and enthusiasm I would have let this excellent machine pass me by. I could kick myself for not getting a Cricut in the first place.

As soon as Melanie mentioned the possibilities of cutting fabric on the Cricut, it opened up a whole new area of crafting possibilities. To stabilise the fabric you need to use some Heat and Bond to the back of your chosen material, some fabrics work better than others but craft and life’s all about experimenting.

This is a photo of a card I made with cardstock and stitched felt. The felt doesn’t cut as cleanly as other fabrics but still gives a great result, for some effects that fact would come in very useful. I used the Gypsy Wanderings and the Cindy Loo Cartridges along with papers and Basil & Buttercup Decoupage by Trimcraft.

What an Exciting Day!!!

What a thrilling day for me. Let me explain! I’m a member of Create & Craft, it’s the worlds only 24Hr Craft channel, it’s brilliant and it’s become a sort of lifeline for me. ast month a lady from the publishers who puts together their Members Club Magazine got in touch. I was so excited when I was asked if I would like to be in the next edition, I was extremely flattered as like many other people I’ve never been ‘In Print’ so to speak.

Well the Magazine arrived and there I am on page 71, I’m ever so proud of it. So there you go, it’s my turn to have 15 Minutes of fame. I know it’s only a little piece but to me it’s the front cover or centrefold spread. Go on Humour me. LOL. The picture is a scan of the page and shows some of the pottery pieces I have made along with a couple of simple cards.

Cardmaking is so enjoyable but I never thought I would be able to make anything on the potter’s wheel, especially since my hands have got so bad. I was lucky enough to have the most excellent teacher, His name is Paul and he works at PotteryCrafts in Stoke-On-Trent. I was lucky enough to go to a 4 hour training session and came away full of enthusiasm. It’s so uplifting to be able to make nice things despite any illness or disability. You don’t need any force at all you just guide the clay.

If you ever get the chance to have a go, do it without question, you will be so glad you did. A potter’s wheel is such an expense and would normally be out of the question. However Create & Craft.tv sell them and offer a flexi payment scheme with no interest added. It includes the 4Hr training session and delivered for only £2.99……         WOW. By the way, I don’t work for either Create & Craft or Pottery Crafts, but it’s such a great craft and it certainly makes it easier to buy.

I Was Sidetracked !

Well so much for finishing the Tank top. I got sidetracked and spent most of the afternoon making photo polymer stamps. It's great fun and you can find some really great copyright free images in old magazines,newspapers and books. I made quite a few. I thought I would share this one with you. I still cant believe the detail you can get at home.

I've used the Teresa Collins Stampmaker and Imagepac sachets. It only takes about 10 Minutes from finding the image to stamping your finished project. I will add more as time goes by.

How I started Crafting...

Since retiring from work a couple of years ago because of illness, I thought I’d go mad, but by chance and a lot of luck. I found The Create & Craft TV Station. That was the beginning of a wonderful journey of discovery. Every day I learn something new. It’s funny, but until finding Create & Craft I wouldn’t have described any of my projects as Crafts, just great fun.

Although I didn’t know it as craft at the time, as children we were always encouraged to be creative. In particular, I remember regularly playing with wax and Paper Mache. A book that springs to mind was a ‘Bumper Fun Book’ which was crammed full of crafty projects. I wish I could find it now. Since then I’ve always enjoyed making things with my hands, I have my Mum, Dad and Nan to thank for that.

My main aim for today is to finish a knitted tank top, my first piece of real clothing. I've been using Rowan Colourscape chunky yarn by Kaffe Fassett. The pattern I have used is by Sarah Hatton from the Colourscape Folk Pattern Book.

A work in Progress

A few years ago a friend introduced me to Cross Stitch, I’ve really enjoyed it, I have an on-going project (a portrait of my Nan, it’s fairly large piece so it’s a work in progress, so to speak. The picture is of the section I am working on at the moment.

Thought I'd Better Start.......

It seems I should now start a blog, for months people keep nagging and I really don’t want to be left behind. I’m still sure that no body will have the slightest interest in what I do as my life isn’t at all exciting or dangerous. It might be funny as the older I get the more Victor Meldrew moments I seem to have.

But as I’ve decided to start this blog now, I’m hoping that maybe something I have to say or share will appeal to someone out there.

By the way, I almost forgot, I'd better introduce myself properly,I'm Nick, i'm 41 and live in Barnsley, in Beautiful Yorkshire.  Thank you for taking the time to read this. Im very new to blogging but hopefully over time it will become clearer to me and more interesting for you. Take care.