crafty for christmas 2008

Okay, I went to the opticians yesterday, so now I have two working eyes - hurrah! Been having a bad week craft wise. I don't know if its just me or if everyone gets them. Everything I do seems to look rubbish, I'm not happy with the decorated filofax for my Mum, and I can't decide how to decorate my box for my cards. I might just stick to making a few cards until my inspiration returns.

kbl wrote: »

That is soooo cute, was it hard to do? How would I go about learning how to do it?

Thanks kbl, once you know the basics its not too hard. I use either photoshop or paintshop pro, you can find a 30day free trial if you google them, you can find tutorials the same way as well for them. They are like more detailed versions of paint(brush). Tutirials are also put on the website (deviantart.com) where I've put the link to the photo, just take a look round.

I rub out all the background from the 2 photos of the children, then put them over a nice back ground picture, add a bit of grey, slightly transparent for shadow & background, & then add dots for snow. Thats basically it. HTH

Another idea for an adult christmas present that go down a storm - lap quilts
They are dead easy to do, look really good and need only have basic sewing skills (which is just as well 'cos mine are very basic :rotfl: ).

I made two last year from a pair of new lined 100% cotton curtains I found for £3 at a car boot sale.

I cut the heading tape off, separated the lining from the curtain, and then trimmed both so they matched the width of a sheet of 4oz wadding, (remembering to add a few inches for the seam allowance before trimming. V important that bit!!) I bought the wadding on ebay, a metre wide and four metres long for £10 including postage.

Then I turned the fabric to make the seams, sandwiched the fabric (wrong side up), wadding and lining (wrong side down) together and sewed all the way round, leaving a small gap at one end to turn the quilt the right way out. Then I stitched that shut.

All told it cost me £13 for two lap quilts. My mother had one and she sits with it over her feet and legs in front of the TV in the winter, as does my MIL who had the other and she also takes it to bed with her and puts it over her feet underneath the duvet. Apparently she hates bed socks and it's the only thing that will keep her feet warm.

I could have made them bigger by using the entire size of the curtain (I think it was a 56" drop and about 66" wide) but it would have meant buying another 2-3 metres of wadding to make up the width difference and I was on a strict budget.

Mary & Melissa, how about using the Decopatch idea to cover your boxes? I was having a think and wondered if cheapie wrapping paper would work for this as it's thin so all you'd need is the wrapping paper torn into little pieces and glue that dries clear. As the paper gets 'wet' from the glue you can 'bend it' round corners and stuff so it should look neat. What do you think? I haven't tried it so don't know if it works but would like to give it a go.

So glad your eyes are all in focus again Melissa!