Monday, November 25, 2013
Friday, November 22, 2013
Fridays Favourite Treasury by Faith from Abygem
'Fur and Feather, Fish and Fowl ' by abyjem
Fishy, fluffy, furry and feathered - some lovely unique makes from the CPteam - to see more lovelies from this wonderfully talented team, just type CPteam into the search bar
Sponsored by send bulk email from excel.
Find more of Faiths work in her Etsy shop Abygem or in her Folksy shop
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Budget Bodge it Bookbinding by Lynn Davy
Budget Bodge-It Bookbinding
On a recent holiday, I made three little books to use as diaries. They were a bit of a challenge as I’d gone away without any crafting materials: all I had was a pair of nail scissors, a pencil, and a free sewing kit from our hotel room.
I had to be very ingenious and collect every possible scrap of paper ephemera, including luggage labels, a bus timetable, receipts, tourist brochures, teabag packaging and my airport boarding pass.
I had to be very ingenious and collect every possible scrap of paper ephemera, including luggage labels, a bus timetable, receipts, tourist brochures, teabag packaging and my airport boarding pass.
Adding content was also a challenge with no glue!
I’ve since been asked how I made these books, to which the short answer is that I don’t exactly know... but here’s how you can make something similar, and experience the fun of creating something unique and personal out of whatever happens to be in your wastepaper bin.
Plus, you won’t get sticky fingers and you don’t need to wait for your book structure to dry before you can start writing in it.
You will need:
- Scrap paper. Don’t go too big or too small: two or three inches square is fine. If your paper is used on one side, choose pieces that are twice as long as they are wide, then you can fold them blank-side-out to make double-thickness pages
- Something for the covers, not rigid but a bit heavier than the pages – for this example I used a couple of old photo prints
- Strong sewing needle and thread
- Scissors
- Any embellishments you like, e.g. buttons, ribbons, sequins
Choose half a dozen pages. They don’t all have to be the same size. Fold used paper so the used side is on the inside.
Fold larger bits of blank paper to make two pages.
Trim the left-hand margins if necessary, and line them up. (You can paper-clip them together if you like.)
Trim the left-hand margins if necessary, and line them up. (You can paper-clip them together if you like.)
Add the covers and make sure the margins are aligned. Trim if necessary so that the pages will all more or less fit inside the covers.
Thread your needle with a generous length of thread and punch a hole through the book near the top left corner. Stitch through the hole from back to front. (You can rule a line down the front cover and mark holes before you start, if you like; make sure there are an odd number. You can also punch them through with a bradawl or large needle to make the stitching easier, a good idea if you’re using thick thread and/or heavyweight papers.)
Stitch through the same hole again from back to front, pulling the loop of thread round the top edge of the book.
Stitch through the same hole a third time, this time pulling the loop round the left-hand edge of the book.
Make a second hole near the left-hand edge, a little way along from the first, and stitch through the pages from front to back. Stitch down through the second hole a second time, pulling the loop of thread round the left-hand edge.
Make a second hole near the left-hand edge, a little way along from the first, and stitch through the pages from front to back. Stitch down through the second hole a second time, pulling the loop of thread round the left-hand edge.
Now make a third hole and stitch from back to front...
Carry on until you reach your last hole. Stitch through twice from back to front, pulling one loop round the bottom of the book and one loop round the left-hand edge.
Now stitch back along the row of holes, filling in the gaps so you have continuous stitching on both sides.
When you reach the last gap (on the back cover), knot the ends of thread together. Tie a bow if you like. Trim the ends.
Fold the covers back along the line of stitching so that the book will open and close.
When you reach the last gap (on the back cover), knot the ends of thread together. Tie a bow if you like. Trim the ends.
Fold the covers back along the line of stitching so that the book will open and close.
Now have fun stitching on embellishments and adding content. Write, draw, stitch...
A bit of envelope can be used as a ‘pocket’ to put things in (or you can stitch the bottom of a double-thickness page). You can use a length of ribbon or thread to attach whatever is in the pocket so it doesn’t get lost when you take it out to look at it. Or attach a small gripseal bag or a bit of clear packaging to put small objects inside. It’s up to you!
Monday, November 18, 2013
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Riddle me Craft Pimp Treasury WINNER....Heather Kelly
Over on the Craft Pimp Facebook page we have daily themes for everyone to join in and post their links for the theme of the day, all that is asked is that you comment and like and maybe share a few of the posts. Lynn, from Lynn Davy Beadwork has been making up treasuries to go with the themes and came up with the idea of making a Riddle Me treasury, just to get the juices flowing over the weekend. The treasury is made up of items from around Etsy and has a theme, you guess the theme and email Lynn with the answer, all the right answers go into the draw and a lucky winner is pulled out.
The first winner for the Riddle Me Treasury was Heather and she kindly wrote up this article for the blog.
It arrived and I opened the packaging to find this!
Isn't it cute? A tiny Really Useful Box! (I'm one of those people who love boxes, so this made it even better). Opening it up...
I found it stuffed to the brim with treasure! Love the autumnal colour scheme too - I asked for a surprise rather than specifying one, and this is perfect. Lynn is great at picking beads that all go together.
The top layer was some sparkly sparkly crystals.
The next was some bigger seed beads in different shapes. The twisted bugles are dusted with gold, there are some cubes, and I really love the little drop beads - there are pearly white ones in there as well as deep red berry-coloured ones.
Then there was an assortment of chips: amber, red tigerseye, jasper, carnelian. The amber in particular is lovely.
Some Czech pressed glass: leaves, flowers, daggers with frosted and AB sides. The little puffy triangle beads are a really nice shape.
Finally, a bag of shell and pearl beads. The long shell pieces are fab and give me all kinds of ideas!
Lynn sells bigger Mojo Boxes on Etsy, along with her seed bead tutorials and kits - have a look and be inspired! Lynn Davy - Nemeton
Thank you to both Lynn and Heather.
Anyone that would like to play can just come over to our Facebook page and the new Riddle Me treasury will be posted sometime during the week, we would love to see you there :)
Monday, November 11, 2013
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Meet the team - Anna McDade.
If you have never seen Anna's work I can honestly say you are missing out! Anna's beautiful pieces in precious metals are outstanding and her decorative findings are the perfect finish for handmade jewellery.
Here at Craft Pimp we like to ask the questions of our team members that are the ones you would want to ask yourself before commissioning a bespoke piece of art, those all important questions...what is your favourite colour? How much does the neighbours dog eat? So we asked Anna our most important questions and this is what she said....
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Anna's Etsy shop |
Question 1.
If you could be a muppet which one would you be and why?
Animal. Because he cannot be tamed.
Question 2.
What is your worse quality?
I have to pick only one? Ok, I’m impatient. No, I constantly correct
people when they get something wrong (so my partner tells me) No, go
back to impatient. Did I mention indecisive? Maybe I’m corimcisive.
Yes, that.
Question 3.
Cheese and pickle sandwich or cheese and tomato with salad cream?
Cheese and pickle. Salad cream always gives me bad memories of working
in a sandwich shop in Padiham when I was a teenager.
Question 4.
What song best describes you?
Ship Arriving too Late to Save a Drowning Witch by Frank Zappa. I
leave you to draw your own conclusions…
Question 5.
How weird are you on a scale of 1-10?
Pineapple
Question 6.
When will pigs fly?
1066. I saw it on the Bayeux tapestry.
Question 7.
If you were a brick in the wall, which brick would you be and why?
The one under Chad’s nose. It’s a bit warm and sticky, mind. But it
does mean I can stay out of the cold.

Question 8.
Write your own eulogy.
She was oft heard to exclaim ‘WHERE IS IT? WHAT HAVE I DONE WITH IT?’
Question 9.
How would you get an elephant into the freezer?
I would coax it gently with the promise of icecream flavoured lollipops.
Question 10.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
In a dark room trying to recover from the last 5 years. Technically, I
can only hear myself breathing though, it’s too dark to see.
Anna's work is truly unique and original, she is a designer with lots of talent. For more of Anna's work just follow the links below and enjoy browsing her beautiful pieces...maybe even treat yourself, it is nearly Christmas!
Thank you Anna x
Monday, November 4, 2013
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