The Gold Rush (super-quick-to-make Christmas cards)

This Christmas I wanted to keep things very simple so that I could batch make my Christmas cards in as little time as possible. Staying away from the red and green traditional colours of the season, I turned instead towards a rather glitzy black and gold combo.

Simple supplies include black card, Christmas tree stamp, gold washi tape, gold ink and a gold marker pen.

I love making small cards as I always struggle to fill large areas and these measure a mere 6x9cm.

Wishing all of you a sparkling, crafty Christmas!
x

Speedy but ultra glamorous!

Halloween Pumpkin Cupcakes

These yummy chocolate cupcakes went down a (trick or) treat last Halloween and are perfect for taking to any spooky party or just for sharing with your colleagues at work. You can use any chocolate cake and frosting recipes you like but if you're pushed for time, my favourite cheat is Betty Crocker's Devil's food cake mix and chocolate fudge icing. I won't tell anyone if you don't ;)

To get a really nice ruffle on your icing, I like to use a large open star piping nozzle. It allows you to get a really good height to your cakes.

Now for the pumpkins...

Pumpkins in progress

To make 12 cupcakes:

Divide a pack of ready-to-roll orange fondant icing into 12 fairly equal pieces. It doesn't matter too much unless you want your pumpkins to be identical.

Shape about 6 of these lumps into little balls by rolling between your hands. With the remaining lumps, break off smaller pieces and again roll all pieces into little balls. Some can be flatter, some can be taller for a natural look.

Make a little indent in the top of each pumpkin using a ball-ended decorating tool.

Now take a small paring knife (mine isn't too sharp), and score lines from top to bottom, all the way around the pumpkin, taking care to not cut too deep. Alternatively you could use a cocktail stick or special decorating tool.

You can make these icing decorations in advance if you like and store in a dry, well ventilated place.

Now for the crowning glory: take a whole clove for each pumpkin and gently push the rounded end into the little indent you made. This will give you your pumpkin stalk. Just take care to not munch on this when you indulge as the flavour is very strong (though apparently good for toothache!). You are ready to pop these onto your iced cakes.

So there you have it. Easy-peasy but stunning pumpkin cupcakes. Just finish off with a little sprinkling of white chocolate stars and treat yourself!

Almost too good to eat. Almost!!

Happy baking!

Lu x

Pumpkins on Parade

So here they are in all their glory. Twelve squishy-squashy, last-all-year pumpkins. Finished off with just a little brown felt, rolled into a tube and glued into place. I meant to photograph a tutorial as I went but was so excited that I clean forgot. If anyone's interested though I'll try make one in time for next autumn. Just leave me a comment below. I'm thinking I need a nice wooden basket or trug to display them in now.

Now, onto that knitting I spoke of...

Happy crafting everyone!

Lu x

Autumn Crafting

Hi folks!

I've once again been a very neglectful blogger :( Life has taken a me in a few different directions over the last year but I'm once again starting to feel settled and gearing up for some cosy crafting.

Absolutely the best thing about working from home (other than wearing my slouchies) is being able to embrace my inner domestic goddess. In between working I've been making blackberry jam (with fruit picked from the hedgerows on my countryside walks), baking bread (the smell is heavenly) and preparing this season's sloe gin.

Well with this abundance of sloes on the trees, it would be rude not to make gin!

I'm terrible for getting an idea into my head and not being able to shift it until I've made the idea into a reality. So the other day when the thought of fabric pumpkins to decorate my home for autumn/halloween popped into my brain, I naturally had to do something about it. Which is why this selection of 'petal' shapes are slowly being turned into little plushie pumpkins.

Beautiful fabrics chosen from my local material shop. 1/4 metre of fabric could give me as many as 6 pumpkins!

Slowly but surely, I'm sewing them up and transforming them into these little fruits. (Dark orange one approx 7cm dia.)

Now, here's my confession: I do actually own a sewing machine. Where is it? In it's box. So I'm sewing all of these by hand. Am I crazy? Probably. But I like the control that I have with hand stitching and it truly is a labour of love. I still have a little way to go yet so pop back to see the finished project later :)

Next on my craft radar is a little bit of Christmas knitting. My boyfriend requires (another!!) hat to wear when he's fishing so out come the needles. The yarn has already arrived. Some Garnstudio DROPS alpaca that I ordered from www.woolwarehouse.co.uk It's a super-soft yarn that knits up beautifully. Once again I will be using this gorgeous pattern by La Maison Rililie but sticking to just the stripy pattern for the boyfriend.

Green's not my cup of tea but apparently it's the ONLY colour to have for fishing - boring!

So I bought myself some much prettier colours and I'll get my hat when everyone else's gifts are finished.

Ah well, I'd better get on with these pumpkins and get my bread into the oven.

Happy crafting everyone!

Lu x

Hoop hoop hooray!

The first of the three hoops is complete! I'm looking forward to painting the wood in bright colours when I've finished all three. But the stitching has to go on hold for a brief while as I have a knitting project to complete in time for a birthday. The yarn arrived today (Garnstudio's DROPS alpaca) and it's super soft. Hope it knits up well. 

I haven't done much knitting for men, but I'm sure these rather lovely manly colours should go down well. Just need to choose which ones to use. My weekend's activities are sorted at least :)

Happy crafting!

Lu

It's all new...

So... new year, new job, new stuff for the blog. Life got a bit busy and I'm now proudly the Art Editor of CrossStitcher magazine. But now that things have settled down a little, I've made time for me and I'm getting up to all sorts of crafty adventures. Unsurprisingly, I've started stitching again and am embarking on a set of three geometric hoops of my own design. Here's a sneaky preview for now, then more to follow as I progress...

Absolutely in love with these colours right now. And chevrons too of course!

Happy crafting

Lu x

Birthday Bots!

Look what has just landed on my desk today! Issue 114 of Papercraft inspirations magazine, featuring some awesome robot cards designed by yours truly!

The cards and set tag are made using the lovely illustrations of Naomi Hocking, all of which are available to download for FREE from the Papercraft inspirations website.

The magazine is on sale June 4th, so get it while you can. Also in this issue are fabulously zingy marigold cards, 10 inspirations for using cork, and a masterclass on quilling. Plus don't forget the free gift of a Milton & Co Découpage Card Kit. What's not to love, right?

Happy crafting everyone.
Lu x

p.s. keep your eyes open for a tasty treat in the following issue...

Craft your own confetti (and pouch)!

I know I promised you a crochet cushion in my last post, but the truth is that it's still sitting unfinished on my craft table. Soon. Really.

In the meantime though, as wedding season is fast approaching, I was asked to design a confetti pouch for Gathered by Mollie Makes. It's such a simple make, so for all those brides out there having a DIY wedding, this is for you!

You can download your free confetti pouch pattern here as well as find out more about how to get the latest issue of Gathered on your iPad. All instructions can be found in issue 23.

Happy crafting.

Lu x

P.S. Is there anyone out there not thinking of Sun Lollies right now? :)

I heart origami!

The latest of my adventures in papercrafting for Gathered by Mollie Makes.

Now, as a general rule, I'm not the biggest fan of origami as a lot of it can seem very traditional. But with a modern twist and pretty paper to work with, you can create something beautiful.

The method for this heart bookmark is likely very old but my paper, designed exclusively for the project, allows for a contrast in patterns once you've finished all the folding.

Click here to download the exclusive origami paper design.

The tutorial of how to make this bookmark can be found in issue 17 of Gathered. Click here to find out more about how you can get your fill of craft inspiration weekly to your iPad.

Happy Crafting!

Lu x

P.S. Coming next time... a crochet cushion

Thank you. Graçias. Merci. Danke.

Just 4 different ways of saying thank you. How about 4 more ways?

I was recently commissioned for a set of 4 thank you cards for the wonderful digital magazine, Gathered by Mollie Makes. So if you fancy giving hand-cut cards a try, simply download the PDF from the Mollie Makes website and grab yourself a sharp scalpel. And while you're at it, take a look at how you can get weekly craft inspiration from Gathered on your iPad by clicking here.

I would love to hear how you get on. Happy crafting!

Lu x

My house, in the middle of...

...well, Tesco. The Tesco Technology guide to be precise.

This is another of my super-secret, can-finally-reveal-it projects that I had been working on. Seems like forever since I last posted. It's not that I haven't been busy (because I have!) just that I've had to keep my lips sealed about what I was doing.

So here's the little house I made. OK it's not so little. Its base is about A3 in size and took quite some time to make. The basic brief: a house with different items of wireless technology in each of the rooms/garden all made from card.

And here it is in the Tesco Technology Guide:

And while I was at it, I whipped up a couple of radio masts as well (as you do):

So there's no wonder all my crafting time disappeared before Christmas!

Lu x

Been busy decorating...

...digitally, that is. My crafting has been more in the virtual realm the last couple of weeks and I have designed some 'wallpapers' for Gathered magazine's Wallpaper of the Week!

So if you want a fabulous wallpaper for your iPad, then simply subscribe to Gathered today. It goes without saying that there's lots of great crafty projects and features to read about in there too! Keep your eyes open for more of my designs to be featured over the coming weeks...

Lu x

You spin me right round!

I'm a cover star on issue 3 of Gathered! Well it's my project (and even my hand). So if you want to make some paper fireworks that are totally safe indoors then click here to find out how you can get Gathered for your iPad.

Lu x

Spooktacular Crafting

How exciting! Check out my Halloween party kit project featured in issue 2 of Gathered by Mollie Makes. Super proud to be part of this wonderful new digital magazine, available to download to your iPad now. Click here to find out how to get crafty goodness beamed directly into your hands today. I'd love to know if you've enjoyed my project so feel free to comment below or tweet me @crafty_lu.

I've also got some more projects in upcoming issues so make sure to keep an eye out for those too. I'll blog more when the time comes...

Have a crafty Halloween!

Lu x

Fancy a cuppa?

Except you can't drink this one :(

Whilst laying out a scrumptious crochet project by Meredith Crawford of One Sheepish Girl blog fame in the Christmas issue of Mollie Makes magazine, I was prompted to finish this little project that I started aaaaages ago.

I came across this image early on in the year and I decided to try amigurumi for myself. Having only made crochet coasters and scarves before now, I knew this was going to be a bit more of a challenge. Found and tailored a pattern to my own liking and it wasn't too hard to do after all.

For fabulous patterns to follow for yourself, look out for Meredith's crochet tree ornaments in issue 21 of Mollie Makes on sale 23rd November!

Now where did I put that packet of biscuits...

Lu x

Honey, I shrunk some plastic!

And no ray gun needed. Could crafting get any cuter than this?! A very successful first attempt at using shrink plastic. A few little things I want to adjust (the colours in particular as they end up much more saturated than you expect) but I'm very proud to be wearing my ice cream necklace today. I feel a lot more food with faces designs coming on...

If you've never tried shrink plastic before, give it a go! It's so simple to do and fun too. You can see my step by step tutorial below for instructions:

Enjoy! Lu x

A model crafter

I'm so excited to finally be able to share this project with you. It was a secret for such a long time! Commissioned by O2 for their monthly phones & tariffs guide, here are my fun card models to depict the different functions available on phones. Popcorn for films, headphones for music and a camera for, well, a camera!

Here is a quick snap shot of the finished items at home:

It's a really tough call as to which is my favourite but it might just be the satellite.

Here is the first test shot taken by the photographer:

And the finished product (the cover and internal spread of the phones & tariffs guide):

Probably one of my proudest work-related moments (that's not to do with my day job). And I'm working on a couple of similar projects again now. Will tell you more about that when I can.

Lu x

Just my type

Designer-geek alert! Upon reading about Presstival on Eye magazine's blog, I instantly declared to my colleagues that this was a must-do event. To be honest I'm more a lover of letterpress products than all of the process behind it but there's something magical about looking at trays and trays of type. On 1st September 2012 the family-run Whittington Press opened the doors of its quaint premises for all to see (and stroke). And the smell took me right back to my uni days spent in the print department. 

As well as the opportunity to make your own prints and chat about all things typographical with experts on hand, there was all manner of printed items to covet (and buy). And as it was also the village fete on that day there were brass bands, raffles, cakes, best vegetable competitions and dog shows aplenty. I know I have a few more converts to take with me next year now!

I'm not sure that I even know what half of the pics below are of, but they are just so pretty:

Lu x

Welcome to my world

So it's finally happened. I've got myself a blog after a long, long time of putting off getting one because I just didn't think my life was exciting enough for others to want to read about. It probably still isn't. So I'm going to keep it simple for my first post and just share with you some lovely images relating to one of my favourite subjects - cake! Here is just a small selection of some of the cakes I have made over the last year or so.

Top row: Strawberry and white chocolate cupcakes made for The Flowerpot Gang television series, a rainbow cake for my friend's wedding, devils food cake with chocolate finger surround.

Bottom row: 6 layer milk and white chocolate extravaganza (also for the aforementioned wedding), strawberry cupcakes after icing, chocolate and strawberry cupcakes for a friend's birthday. Hmmmn a sense a strawberry theme...

That's it for my first post then. Hope to bring you more very soon from my world of cakes and makes.

Lu x