ISSUE 290 MARCH 2016
45+CARDS FOR Die-Cutting Special ALL-OCCASIONS
£4.99
Using the latest designs!
Must-Have Gadgets, New Trends & Inspiration Issue 290 Mar 2016
STEPHANIE WEIGHTMAN’S
card making know-how
Top Skills to Master + 0 1Tip0s, Tricks Papercrafts, Stamping, Colouring & more! & New Ideas
tested for you!
Send it!
EASY WAYS
with your gift to try tonight
Mini Mice! SWEET MAKES THE KIDS WILL LOVE
Perfect Pop Ups all in step-by-step
Love it!
Layer your die cuts
Copy Cat Cards Done in a Day:COLOR BURST MASTERCLASS ✿ QUILLED with our simple templates
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DAISIES ✿ PATCHWORK CUSHION ✿ SILVER CLAY PENDANT
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In Crafts Beautiful …
MARCH 62
EVERY ISSUE 12 OVER TO YOU 14 YOUR REALLY USEFUL CRAFT TIPS
26 INSPIRATION FOR MARCH 32 AT HOME WITH JULIE & WENDY
38 TAKE ONE DIE 66 CORINNE’S CRAFT SPACE 70 ASK THE EXPERTS 73 HANDMADE HOME 99 NET SAVVY 112 COMING NEXT MONTH 122 BEHIND THE CAMERA
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CARDS & PAPER 17 5 WAYS WITH... DEAR LIZZY
Create a range of sentimental cards
31 HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WI
Get the latest goss from the Women’s Institute
21 RETRO FLOWERS
87 ON THE SPOT
52 KITTY CARDS
CROCHET & STITCH
54 BIRTHDAY BRIGHT
62 HOME COMFORTS
59 TIME FOR TEA
64 QUILTING CLEVER
Try over-stamping to make our bright designs These kitten cards are simply purrfect! Enjoy a set of sweet celebration cards Wow with pop-up elements
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PEOPLE & PLACES
We catch up with The Craft Channel’s Debbie Greenwood
Keep your pot warm with our tea cosy Get comfy with this snug blanket
82 67 HEDGEHOG LIFE
Celebrate the arrival of a new baby with cute nursery makes
82 PINCUSHION PET PALS
Keep your sewing station in order with animal softies
100 LET’S PLAY DRESS UP!
Create costumes for your little darlings with our easy guide
106 THREE LITTLE MICE
Stitch a trio of adorable baby felt mice tucked up in mini boxes
LEARN & MAKE 24 ELIZABETH MOAD QUILLS
Fringe and quill to create stunning daisy-themed gifts
Share it! with the rest of the CB community via 4 CRAFTS-BEAUTIFUL.COM
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34 COLETTE SMITH’S MASTERCLASS
Interactive designs are all the rage this spring
44 MAKING SHAPES
Discover the basics of die-cutting
50 SARA NAUMANN’S MASTERCLASS
Create snazzy backgrounds with this easy how-to
BROWSE & BUY 29 TREAT YOURSELF
Be inspired by our geometric selection of crafty goodies
36 SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
Receive a free gift when you sign up
MIXED MEDIA 48 FLORAL FRESH
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Use fabric to make an easy soap gift set
56 FLYING COLOURS
Update a frame or wooden heart with décor paints
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58 PRETTY PONIES
Enchant the little ones in your family with a painted carousel
80 UPCYCLING CHALLENGE
Corinne Bradd transforms old steamers into a handy utensil
104 JEWEL COLOURS
Add a little sparkle to your abode with foil trinkets
JEWELLERY 89 BEAD BOUTIQUE
We celebrate Mother’s Day with a sophisticated pearl showcase
90 FIZZY POP
Transform ring pulls into neon jewellery
93 SPRING FLING
Fashion a delicate necklace
BAKING
94 FLOWER RUSH
84 PAINTERLY BIRDS
98 JEWELLERY SCHOOL
Create a show-stopping painted cake
Adorn clay flowers with gold leaf Get the low-down on making jewellery
FREEBIES & PRIZES 7 HOW TO USE YOUR FREE GIFT
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Make 15 projects using your Multi-Purpose Scoring Board
40 FREEBIES & OFFERS We’ve got over £1,300 worth of prizes up for grabs!
49 SIZZIX GIVEAWAY
www.crafts-beautiful.com
Win a Sizzix Big Shot Plus and dies worth £500!
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Tweetly Sweet
Let your little ones create something special this Mother’s Day with these sweet ceramic flowerpots. Give them the chance to enjoy making a unique gift, while they discover more about nature. £4.99 per pack of four, bakerross.co.uk
CB loves... Decor Delights
Decorate with this charming ornament that’s perfect for adding a little spring into your home. Make a statement by hanging the beautifully painted bird decoration, completed with painted birds perched on a natural branch. Check out tch.net for stockist information.
March
Inspiration
Our pick of the best crafty highlights to enjoy this month
Floral Fancies
Perfect Pens
Change the way you use a pen forever with the new Winsor & Newton Pigment Marker. With over 100 colours to choose from, the possibilities are endless. Try the unique White Blender, which gives you a limitless palette of hues right at your fingertips.
Choose from a delightful mix of floral fancies and perfectly patterned spacer fabrics from the gorgeous new collection, Millie Fleur. Whatever the stitchy project you have in mind, this range from Art Gallery Fabrics is sure to be a winner in your books. hantex.co.uk/agf
Top Gadget
Get creative with the new Spellbinders Sapphire machine. This easy-to-use, die-cutting and embossing gadget is both portable and affordable. Perfect your card making skills, create delightful scrapbooks and decorate papercraft gifts, all with this handy tool. And with craft show season upon us, this machine is small enough for you to take your makes with you on-the-go. Priced £39.99, createandcraft.tv 26 CRAFTS-BEAUTIFUL.COM
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Crafty News
Calm Colouring
Cake Queen
Baking extraordinaire, Mary Berry, will make soggy bottoms and over-done tarts a thing of the past with her new range of bakeware basics from Lakeland. Unleash your inner baker with these pretty essentials and you’ll be whipping up award-winning delights in no time! Prices start from £2.99, lakeland.co.uk
Got five minutes...
This ultimate creative stress-buster is perfect for colouring yourself calm, one week at a time. Enjoy the beautiful selection of nature-inspired drawings by author, Amber Anderson, designed to focus your mind and provide a soothing and relaxing experience. Priced £7.99, quercusbooks.co.uk
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PAPERS for your stash...
Are You Thready?
Get your craft on and support a great cause, thanks to the White Stuff’s ‘Are You Thready?’ campaign. To get involved, you can pick up a patch from your local White Stuff shop or download a patch template to work with your own fabric at whitestuff.com/areyouthready from 28th January. Unleash your creativity and perfect your patch before 10th March 2016. For more details, check out whitestuff.com
Out & About
3rd-6th March, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Olympia, London. With everything your crafty heart desires all under one roof, this show is not to be missed. Choose from over 200 workshops to get your creative juices flowing. Bursting with inspiration and a great opportunity to stock up on all those stash essentials. Check out theknittingandstitchingshow.com for more information. 5th March. Charity Crafting Dabble Day. Organised by Riverside Beads and Crafts to raise money for Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice. Have a go at card making, decopatch and jewellery making at the Market Deeping Community Centre, 10.am to 3.pm. riversidebeads.co.uk
11th-13th March, Squires Kitchen’s 30th Anniversary Cake Decorating and Sugarcraft Exhibition, Farnham Maltings, Surrey. Discover how to decorate your cakes with all the latest trends, tricks and techniques and enjoy free demonstrations from top industry names. Details from squires-exhibition.com
Home Sweet Home, visit g45papers.com for stockists
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Die CUTTING
Take one die Celebrate Mother's Day with our bright springtime makes
Make sure you've got basic shapes that you can use again and again in your die stash! b
Start with... b Die-cutting machine b Dies: Sizzix, Thinlits Die Set Intricate Tribal Flowers; Bigz XL Die, Word Play; Nesting dies, circle, scallop, square b Paper pad, Craft Asylum: Meadow Sweet, 12” x 12”; 6” x 6”
b Embellishment set, Craft Asylum, Meadow b Stamps, Paula Pascual, All Year Round b Ink-pad b Chalkboard sign b Card, assorted colours b Adhesives
Slate Plaque
1 'mum' lettering from pink paper. Using the word play die, create
Stick centrally to a plaque using a strong adhesive. Die-cut several flowers using the intricate tribal die. Fix to the corners of the plaque as shown. Layer more flowers with foam pads for added height. Decorate the rest of the plaque using brads taken from the embellishment set.
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Scallop Gift Tag
1 circle. Create a pink frame with the
From yellow card, die-cut a scalloped
circle and scalloped circle die. Stick the frame to the yellow card using foam pads. Punch a hole in the top of the scallop and thread through the ribbon. Die-cut flowers from white card, fix to coloured paper and trim into shape. Attach to the side of the tag using foam pads. Embellish with self-adhesive gemstones. Position the die-cut wording to the centre of the tag. Stamp a sentiment and attach.
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Cards & Paper
What Katie Said
Use Katie Skilton's design tricks to add a professional touch to your makes 4 Use the ink-pad to add some colour to the leaves and flowers, then leave to dry on a sheet of paper before trimming around them. 4 To make sure that the frame cuts evenly, use a sticky note to hold the dies in place – it will help to keep them steady. 4 If you can't find a suitable piece of slate, use a MDF plaque instead. Decorate it with a paint finish before applying the die-cut shapes.
Mum Card
1 Round the edges and layer pink paper Create a card blank, 11.5cm x 16cm.
onto the front of the card. Trim white card, 9.5cm x 12cm. Using the nesting dies, make a square frame in the top half, rounding off the corners. Fix a piece of yellow paper behind the frame using foam pads. Die-cut some tribal flowers from card. Layer onto coloured paper and trim around it. Fix the flowers to the white panel using foam pads. Add a brad and adhesive stones. Stamp a sentiment, then die-cut it. Trim two banners and fix to the top of the white panel. Attach the sentiment as shown.
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Gift Bag
1 the front of a gift bag. Die-cut the
Matt card and patterned paper onto
flowers from grey card, then layer onto co-ordinating paper and card. Trim around the shapes, then arrange of the front of the gift bag. Embellish the centre of the flowers with adhesive stones. Cut out a sentiment from the small paper pad, then fix to the centre of the bag. Fill with tissue paper and your chosen gift. CB
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Go Shopping
Intricate Tribal Flower dies, Sizzix, sizzix.co.uk Chalkboard plaque, Hobbycraft, 0330 026 1400, hobbycraft.co.uk CRAFTS-BEAUTIFUL.COM 39
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Kitty cards These kitten cards will make the purrfect gift for a loved one
Crafts Tip
To give your feline creations a little bit of extra fun factor, why not use self-adhesive 3-D wiggly eyes?
Sta rt wi t h ... b Paper, Dovecraft, Crowning Affair b Cardstock: pink, green b Pens, black: fine, medium nib b Ribbon, pink b Paint, 3-D relief, pearl white b Gems: silver, pink b Adhesives See the templates on our pattern pages
Meow
1 paper, 10cm x 17.5cm. Next, Create a blank from floral
mount a strip of patterned green, 6cm x 17.5cm, onto the front, adding pink borders to the two longest sides. Dot them with relief paint. Leave to dry. Make three small cats from the pattern pages or print them off onto pink and green cards. Punch out a heart, medium flower and two smaller blooms. Back the heart onto green card, add a pink circle to the flower and position pink gems onto the little ones. Secure the elements to the cats, as shown. Adhere the cats to the front. Create a green ‘Meow’ sentiment, dot with relief paint, then back onto pink paper and fix below the cats using foam pads.
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Reclining Cat Card
1 from pink cardstock, with Make a side-folding card
the back wider than the front so that it protrudes when closed. Glue decorative paper on the visible inside section. Photocopy the bigger cat design from the pattern page onto decorative paper. Cut around the outside edge with scissors, leaving a 1mm edge beyond the illustrated line. Score the dotted line through the middle of the cat and fold over. Glue the animal to the card, lining up the fold with the one on the card. The tail part of the cat should be overhanging and folded over towards the front of the card.
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Cards & Paper
3 photocopy using a mixture Cut flowers from the
of cardstock and decorative paper. Group them on the face of the card, overlapping where appropriate. Secure in position with glue or craft foam pads. Add a self-adhesive gem to the middle of each flower. Tie a small bow from pink ribbon, trim the ends and attach to the neck of the cat. Use a hole punch to make eyes from green card, dotting a pupil in the centre of each one with a black pen. Attach with glue to the cat’s face. Extend the whiskers onto the card with fine black ink. Dot relief paint around the face of the card and add details in black ink. Write a message on the neck tag with a fine nib. Fold the cat’s tail over before placing in an envelope.
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Small Cat Card
1 from the pattern pages
Photocopy the small cats
onto pink and green cardstock. Cut out with scissors. Using a punch, carve out the circle and flower paper motifs and attach with glue to the body of the cats as decoration. Create strips from co-ordinating paper and glue across the body of one cat.
2 green cardstock in half. Fold a 14cm square of
Create a semi-circle on one side with a compass to shape the face of the card. Cover the front with co-ordinating paper, trimming the overhang
“Attach a cocktail stick to the back of a small cat design, and place a few kitties into a batch of cupcakes to add interest to bakes” Cathie Shuttleworth, Designer
with scissors. Write a message on an off-cut of paper with a black pen. Layer with a slightly wider piece of decorative paper, glue together and decorate with relief paint. Arrange the cats and message on the face of the card before committing them to glue and foam pads. Add gems and dots of relief paint where required. Affix a tail to the back of each cat. CB
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Go Shopping Crowning Affair by Dovecraft, paper and gems, therange.co.uk CRAFTS-BEAUTIFUL.COM 53
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Treat Yourself
Better shape up
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Geometric motifs and patterns can help to create really strong crafts – take a look at our top picks and be inspired to make, make, make! 2 1
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1 Fiesta geometric honeycomb decorations, £8.50, candleandcake.co.uk 2 Xcut Nesting Hexagons Dies, £9.99, createandcraft.tv 3 First Edition Deco Maché papers in ‘Geometric’, £3.79, hobbycraft.co.uk 4 Artemio mixed square buttons, £2.50 for 36, craftdepartment.com 5 Geometric mixed fruit gift tags, £3.80, thechaosclub.com.au 6 Happy Place paper collection, visit fancypantsdesigns.com for stockists 7 My Mind’s Eye Cut & Paste washi tape in ‘Presh’, £7.65, onestopcraftshop.com 8 Tattered Lace geometric pattern embossing folder, £12.99, crafting.co.uk 9 Geometric print treat bags with stickers, £3, pipii.co.uk 10 This and That Gems Spring fabric, £7.25 per half metre, sewcraftyonline.co.uk 11 Cross-stitch label wooden blank, £3.50, artcuts.co.uk CRAFTS-BEAUTIFUL.COM 29
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