25 Sept 2013

#CraftBlogClub notebook challenge

Well I finally finished my notebook! All it took was two attempts at paper marbling, a big mess and a bit of swearing ;)



Why the alien? Well I was looking through my embellishments and found this little guy. He has a sticky pad on his back and when I put him on to see what it looked like, the sticky pad got well and truely stuck... I was going to re-position him but the paper was going to tear so he can stay there lol.

So I have completed the challenge, even if I did it very clumsily. At one point I didn't think I was going to finish at all, as my blood pressure was rising and I was very close to hurling the notebook out of my bedroom window! Oh well... Bring on the October challenge! 

Hayley x 

24 Sept 2013

When did you "officially" become a crafter?

This is something that was being discussed on Facebook a while ago. A page I follow (can't remember which one) posted a status saying that she felt like she was now officially a crafter because she had sliced her finger with a scalpel! 

This got me thinking... Before I started making nappy cakes I made greeting cards and paper crafts. I think the moment I became a "proper card maker" was when I had an accident with my hot glue gun... Well two accidents actually!

First I stuck two of my fingers together with molten glue. To explain how the second accident happened I will have to show you a photo of my desk. Ha it almost looks tidy in this pic!



Look at the wire basket hanging under my desk, my glue gun is on it (the purple thing!) which is fine when it is turned off... You can probably see where this is going...

So back to the story! I glued my fingers together, swore and put my glue gun onto the wire basket while I unstuck my fingers. Problem is when my glue gun is turned on, glue slowly comes out of the nozzle as it melts, without me having to press the trigger. So the glue dripped out of the gun and fell through the square holes in the basket onto my jeans... So I ended up with burnt fingers and ruined jeans! That was the moment that I decided I was a "proper card maker" and a clumsy idiot!

As for the moment I decided I was officially a nappy cake builder? Thats an easy one! It was the day that I realised that I regularly buy nappies, despite the fact I have no children! Haha =)

So I've shared mine... When did you "officially" become a crafter?

Bye for now,
Hayley x

23 Sept 2013

Custom Orders are the best!

I'm very excited today because I have been working on a custom order! I love custom orders... When someone says "Could you make a nappy cake in the shape of *insert random object here*?" and I say "I have no idea... But I'll give it a go!"


I was asked if I could make bears... Turns out I can =)
On Sunday I received a message on Facebook asking if I could make a nappy cake resembling a certain object... I won't say what it is yet but hopefully I'll be able to post photos soon. So today I spent a lot of time on this idea and I finished the nappy cake and I have to say I'm really proud of it! Personally I think it really looks like the object it is supposed to be (if that makes sense) and I have sent photos to the lady who enquired. I'm waiting for her response, hope she likes it!

I think the reason I love custom orders so much is that I love a challenge! There's always that thrill as I think "Can I really make *that* out of nappies and baby items?!" I love to plan how I'm going to assemble it and there is no better feeling than sending photos to the customer and saying "Look, I did it!"

Fingers crossed that the lady likes it!
Hayley x 

20 Sept 2013

Second attempt at Paper Marbling

After my first attempt at paper marbling, I was ready to give up but thanks to encouragement from you lovely lot I decided to give it one more go. So did my attempt look like the photo in the book this time? Nope! But it was a huge improvement on last time... and this time I didn't cover my kitchen floor in wallpaper paste whilst trying to tidy up =)


I'm still not sure if I will use my marbled paper to cover my notebook for the #craftblogclub challenge. Either way I am glad I had another go! Here is a reminder of my first attempt.


Not good... Here are some of sheets from my second attempt.




Not exactly a work of art but I'm much happier with it! So thank you for the encouragement! I have another idea that I want to try out so who knows what will happen to my poor notebook! Haha =)

Bye for now!
Hayley x

18 Sept 2013

Notebook project disaster!

The #craftblogclub challenge this month is to cover a notebook. I decided to have a go at something I hadn't tried before... Paper marbling. Basically paper marbling is when you drop paint into a wallpaper paste mixture so that the paint floats on top. Then you use a cocktail stick to swirl the paint into a pretty pattern and place a sheet of paper on top so it absorbs the paint.

My idea was that I would marble some sheets of paper and use them to cover my notebook. Then I have some embellishments that I was going to decorate it with. So what happened? Well here is the photo of what the finished product should look like, from the book I am using as a guide.


And here is a photo of one of the sheets I made...


Need I say any more? So it didn't exactly go to plan. I'm thinking of a plan B for my notebook but unfortunately that isn't the end of the story. Because I was now faced with a problem...

How do you dispose of wallpaper paste???

There is probably a really simple answer to that (if you know, please comment) but I wasn't sure what to do. So I started to pour some of it down the sink and then thought "Maybe not, that can't be good for the plumbing!" So then I decided to pour it into a plastic bag and put it in the bin. Which is probably the sensible thing to do. Unfortunately I made a slight mistake, so I have a tip for everyone. Which is:

"If you are going to tip something that is partially liquid into a plastic bag, check that the bag doesn't have holes in the bottom!"  

I am hanging my head in shame as I type. But I am all cleaned up now so I can laugh about it haha! Hope my story gave you a giggle, I am now going off to think of another idea for my notebook... If you have had any crafting disasters please comment below, it might make me feel like less of an idiot!

Hayley x

12 Sept 2013

Magazine Project Madness!

As a keen crafter I read a lot of magazines that feature hints, tips and projects for you to make and sell. Most of the time I think these magazines are fantastic. Incredible. Extremely relevant and useful. However, there is one part of these magazines that I have occasionally doubted. I have given them the benefit of the doubt up until now. But in the latest issue of one of my favourite craft magazines was a feature that made me think "Ok, enough is enough! I must speak up about this and find out if I am the only one who feels like this!"

What am I talking about? The projects featured in these magazines. You know the ones: "Make this for £X and sell it for £Y". Sometimes I think "But no one would pay that much for that project". At this point I should probably point out that I live in the North East where generally everything costs less than in other areas of the country. Which is why up until now I have given these projects the benefit of the doubt, because maybe people who live in London, for example, would pay that much for that project because the cost of living is higher there. 

So why have I changed my mind? I changed my mind because of a project in the latest episode of a craft magazine. This project made me shake my head and check that I had read it correctly. I had. But I still couldn't believe my eyes...

This project was telling you to paint pebbles so that they resembled bugs and then sell them in sets of five... FOR £15!!!

WHAT?! 



Painted pebbles... Now to me that sounds like a great project to do with the kids. A fantastic rainy day activity, something to keep the little ones busy. But they are seriously suggesting that you paint loads of these, split them into groups of five and take them to a craft fair. Then sell them for £15 a set!? If I did that around here I would be laughed out of the building! We are in a double dip recession! Surely I can't be the only one that thinks this?Would you pay £15 for five pebbles painted to look like bugs?

I want to finish by saying that I do honestly love these magazines, they advise and inspire thousands of crafters but I feel that some of these projects need a dose of reality! Let me know what you think =)

Hayley x

11 Sept 2013

Butterfly nappy cake tutorial

A couple of weeks ago on Facebook I asked my fans to challenge me to make something different out of nappies. I had some fantastic suggestions and I'm still working my way through them... Next on my list is a pirate ship! Anyway one of the suggestions was a butterfly and when I posted photos I was blown away by the response! One person said they wanted to try to make one themselves, so here you go Dee, this post is for you ;) 




Before we start you will need:


  • A baby bottle
  • A pair of scratch mitts
  • 8 nappies (I use size 2 but you can use any size)
  • 6 baby wash cloths
  • Coloured ribbon
  • Elastic bands
  • 2 cotton buds
  • Googly eyes
  • Sticky tape
  • Double sided tape




Got everything? Good lets go =)


1. Take your scratch mitts, put one inside the other and pull them over the lid of the bottle.



2. Take a nappy and roll it up starting from the bottom. Secure it with an elastic band. 



3. Roll one wash cloth around it.



4. Repeat with another nappy. These are the lower wings.


5. Take a length of ribbon, tie it around one nappy and tie a knot.

6. Wrap the ends of the ribbon around each side of the bottle and secure with another knot.



7. Tie the ribbon around the other nappy and secure with a knot. Trim the ends of the ribbon.

Note: I haven't got a photo of the bottle with both of the lower wings attached because... erm it looked kind of rude lol! Maybe I'm just being immature but never mind =) 



8. As before roll one nappy up. Then take another nappy and open it up. Roll up the first nappy inside the open one.



9. Open up another nappy and roll the first two nappies inside it. So you now have a roll of three nappies.



10. Take 2 wash cloths and cover your roll of nappies.

11. Repeat the last 3 steps so you have 2 upper wings.



12. As with the lower wings, take a length of ribbon, tie around one wing, then around the bottle and the second wing. 

13. Tie the ribbon tightly and trim the ends.



14. Attach the googly eyes with low tack double sided tape (This doesn't damage the mitts, it simply peels off)

15. Attach the cotton buds to the back of the scratch mitt with low tack tape.





And thats it! If you make this, let me know how you get on and send me a pic! All I ask is that if you make one and post it to your Facebook page, Twitter, Blog etc please link back to this site. Thank you =)

Hayley x

9 Sept 2013

Craft Blog Club

Hi! I'm just dropping in tell everyone about the Craft Blog Club on Twitter. It is on every Tuesday from 7-8pm, just use #craftblogclub to find out more =)

I'm joining in for the first time tomorrow and I'm very excited! It will be great to meet other bloggers and talk about crafty things. Come along, join in! =)



Bye for now,
Hayley x

3 Sept 2013

Why do you craft?

I was browsing through Facebook last night, looking at the updates of the other crafty pages I follow, when I got to thinking about why people craft. What is it that makes it so appealing? No matter which craft you look at, sewing, crocheting, jewelry making, paper craft, etc there are an army of dedicated crafters who spend hours making products and posting them online. Why do we do it?


Apart from the fact that we obviously enjoy our chosen craft, what are the other benefits? I think they can vary from person to person. Last night I asked myself the question "Why do I craft?" and this is what I came up with:

Personally I craft because:

  • I enjoy it (the obvious answer)
  • It is theraputic
  • I can do it whenever I want, even in PJs 
  • I love making things and being creative
  • It keeps me busy
  • I love being part of the crafty community on Facebook =D
That is my list, what is yours? Feel free to comment with your reasons. I am sure there are also scientific reasons for enjoying crafting, such as it releases feel good endorphins (I have no idea if that is true, it is just an example!) I'll have to look into it =) I would also be really interested in what the most common reason for crafting is, so please do let me know: Why do you craft?

Have a lovely day,
Hayley x

1 Sept 2013

My challenge

Good afternoon =)

I've just popped over to show off a couple of my latest creations. I asked my fans on my Facebook page to suggest things that I should try to make out of nappies. I've had some brilliant suggestions so far and I am working my way through them. So here is my progress so far:

Natalie challenged me to make a lion.


Dee challenged me to make a butterfly

I'm pretty happy with both of them, I'm even thinking of making a quick step by step tutorial on how to make the butterfly, incase anyone wants to try it at home. If you are interested please leave a comment =)

If you want to check out the other suggestions (or want to add your own!) then head over to my Facebook page www.facebook.com/nappycakes1511 

Next on my list... A pirate ship! Wish me luck =)

Have a great Sunday!
Hayley X