Welcome

by Craftybabs // April 6, 2015 // Comments off

Update 24th July 2020

PLEASE NOTE, I AM ONLY TAKING COMMISSIONS FROM FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHO CAN COLLECT IN PERSON.

To all visitors, followers and newsletter subscribers, I hope you are keeping safe and well in these difficult and uncertain times. Crafting is a good means of keeping occupied and distracted whilst we are all staying at home. You may notice that all passwords have now been removed from the tutorials and I’m not envisaging using passwords in the future. Take care, stay safe and keep well xxx Babs

Hi there, welcome to my website which is my way of sharing my crafting journey with the world. I have been a creative person for virtually all of my life, and, like many, have had a go a pretty much every form of creative craft at one time or another. Nowadays I am predominantly a paper crafter making bespoke cards for friends and family and their friends. My passion is die cutting. I am lucky to have a number of different die cutting machines and thousands of dies. I also, when the mood takes me, like to write the odd verse or two. I also share pictures of my makes on Pinterest and on my Facebook page, both of which you will find by clicking on the links.

If you like what you see, then why not sign up for my newsletter. You’ll be first to know when new cards and tutorials are added to the galleries. Your email address will only be used to send you the newsletter or respond to any questions you ask. It will not be shared in any way with any other party and you will not be sent any marketing, advertising or other material.

N.B. If you’ve signed up for the newsletter, you’ll need to add me to your accepted/address list as some people are finding them going into their Spam/Trash Folders

Seeing Double – Baby Girl Keepsakes for the Parents & Grandparents

by Craftybabs // April 22, 2021 // No Comments

My sister asked me to make baby keepsake cards for her Nephew in Law on the birth of new new baby daughter and one the same but with different wording for the proud Grandparents. Regular visitors will have seen these cards before. They are such a delight to make and are always well received.

Anyone For Tennis – An Ace Birthday Card

by Craftybabs // April 22, 2021 // No Comments

I made this card using a digital card front layout that I created using Craft Artist 2 Professional. The addition of some appropriate die cuts finished this off perfectly. The great thing about hand made cards is, as I’ve always said, the ability to create a very personal, unique, one off greeting for those special occasions.

Strictly For A Chocaholic – 30th Birthday Pop Up Box

by Craftybabs // April 22, 2021 // No Comments

I was asked to make a special card for a young lady celebrating her 30th birthday. My remit was pink, strictly come dancing and chocolate. I had great fun creating the ‘chocolates’ to go on this and not a calorie in sight. For details of dies used just click on any of the pictures.

Floristry In Paper – Retail Therapy Florist Card

by Craftybabs // April 10, 2021 // No Comments

This one somehow slipped through the net. I made this for my daughter’s birthday in January. I finally got to use my Tattered Lace Retail Therapy dies and CD Rom. I chose the Florist shop as my daughter loves gardening and enjoys her greenhouse where she grows lots of vegetables from seed. I did think this would be a quick make as I was using the CD Rom to print out all of the elements including the shop. How wrong was I. I had endless problems getting it to print complete sheets and don’t know if that was a fault with my printer or a problem with the Cd. The colour choices were also a little disappointing, so I’m probably not going to use the CD again. Next time I use this set I will probably cut most of the elements from coloured card stock and colour in the flowers or other elements with markers to get nicer and more realistic colour tones. All the same, it did make for a pretty impressive card, the small items are a tad fiddly but I think the end result is worth the fiddle. I did mount mine onto a card base as I felt it stood more securely and would be less likely to fall over.

Don’t Worry Bee Happy – Take 3

by Craftybabs // April 10, 2021 // No Comments

I was asked to make some rainbow & bee cards to cheer up friends and relatives through the latest lock down. I used the same design as I used previously for fridge magnets and made them into cards and then added this verse;

I’m sending you a rainbow

To brighten up your day

In lockdown things aren’t easy

So this is just to say.

The sky will soon get brighter,

Our troubles will soon be few

But until we turn that corner,

I’m here to help you through.

A Break From The Norm – Knit, Sew & Crochet

by Craftybabs // April 10, 2021 // No Comments

I am delighted to say I am an expectant Grandma. Our eldest Daughter and her hubby are expecting their home to be enlarged by two feet in mid July. What better excuse to make something cute. So it was out with the sewing machine, knitting needles and crochet hooks. It’s so great making baby things, they are are so quick to make up (apart from my current project, a blanket). When I started on my mini makes we didn’t know the gender of the baby but we now know it’s going to be a little boy, so future makes can be a little more gender specific.

Blooming Lovely – Large Pop Up Box Card For A Special Mum

by Craftybabs // April 10, 2021 // No Comments

I was asked to make a special birthday card for a special Mum. Pop up box cards are always popular and this large version was just the ticket. I used my newest set of Altenew layered flower dies along with a few others to create a birthday bouquet fit for a queen, complete with Queen bees. If you click on any of the pictures you’ll find a list of all the dies I used to make this. The ‘Mum’ in question was delighted with it and I have to say, I was quite pleased myself. I just love layering dies, you get all the effect of dimension without added bulk, this card folded flat to go into an 8″ x 8″ envelope.

Who Nose a Big Softie?

by Craftybabs // February 26, 2021 // No Comments

Sometimes my crafty stash comes in for non-cardmaking projects. My daughter has a favourite and much loved teddy who’s nose was looking a bit worse for wear after millions of cuddles. So it was out with the felt and a needle for a quick repair. Am happy to report that ‘Chester’ the bear has made a full recover from his ‘Nose Job’.

His and Hers 30th Birthday Cards

by Craftybabs // February 26, 2021 // No Comments

Lots of people are celebrating special birthdays during lock down and I’ve had quite a few requests for 30th birthday cards. Here are two recent makes, one masculine and one feminine, each reflecting the likes/interests of the recipients. Foe details of dies used on each one just click on any of the images.

6 Green Bottles Sitting In A Crate – Have A ‘Crate’ Birthday

by Craftybabs // February 2, 2021 // No Comments

This is the second version of this style of Pop Up Box Card I’ve made. The first version was made a few years ago featured red wine and is my most pinned card on Pinterest. I had a request to recreate this but with White wine to celebrate a 65th Birthday. Cards like this are so much fun to make and are always well received. The die cutter I used to create the bottles is a custom made Wooden steel rule die I’ve had a number of years. There are now a number of bottle dies on the market that could be used to make something similar. I used The Wine Buffs CD Rom to create the labels for the bottles and added some personalisation on my PC before printing them out. I created the wine glasses by die cutting the glass shapes from acetate and used glossy accents and promarkers to create the ‘wine’.