The Introverted Crafter

Picture heavy post today, as I've been busy making things.   To start off with, a pair of earrings. These were made with the items from the last Beadhaul box, except for the hook earrings themselves.   The necklace I made to go with the earrings (well actually I made the necklace first. I used the arrowhead beads and heart pendants on here, as well as some of the other beads to alternate. I then used the doll pendant in the centre.   One of my mums workmates is coming back after a long time off, so she asked me to make a welcome back card. I used a card that already had an aperture, embossed it, inked the edges, then gathered some flowers I had in my stash, die cut some butterflies, which I added perfect pearls to, a metallic star, and the phrase welcome back in the centre.   A birthday card for a soon to be eight year old. I embossed white card, cut some presents and hats out of some paper I have, and made some balloons out of...

This month? Lady Fury!   As usual here is the welcome note. I love the word play on the left. It's a great teaser for what you get, and some inspiration too.   Here is a picture of everything you get. I hope they keep this up just in case they forget anything! (Never have yet but we're all human)   A new page - tutorials. For those of you who don't know they post tutorials for beginners (and ideas) on their website. It's a fantastic site and the tutorials are well worth a browse.   Findings - As I have said before always a help, and it's good they have included so many.   Coconut shell beads - unbelievably light.   Natural hematite round beads.   Natural hematite column beads - slightly brighter than the round beads which have more of a burnished edge.   Hollow spacer beads. These could work with the things in this box or the last box, as they have a futuristic/post apocalyptic vibe. ...

Answer? Hell no! I used all the stuff I bought the other day on a piece and I absolutely love it. I started off by using clear crackle texture paste with some stencils on a canvas. I then found some pieces (wooden pieces, metal cogs, clock faces, a bow and arrow, keyhole, a wooden word, a clock key, some grungeboard numbers and stars and a believe tag)I then painted it all with white gesso. Once it was dry, I used a combination of distress spray, tattered angel glimmer mist, mica powders(gold), distress paint splatters, and a bit of distress ink pad to highlight the cracks. Once done I used white embossing powder with a script stamp and holograph embossing powder with a crackle stamp. I also used some distress embossing powder on the clock key. I then die cut a moon and stars, painted them with white gesso, sprayed with distress spray and used some stickles. I heat set it purely because it gets some cool bubbling effect on the stickles. I then stamped and cut a phrase, inking th...

Last year, at least for the first part, I did really well with saving money. This year? Not so much. In fact I've done terribly. I don't know what has changed to be honest. For example, even though I have not actually done this months challenges (due to the month not being over, not because I've failed) I have already bought the treat! Totally wrong, and I'm disappointed in myself. So the question remains, do I need to go on a spending ban again and if so, for how long? It wasn't a spending ban last year per se, but an attempt at frugality. The irony is, when I made that first post I said about a spendthrift year, getting the definition the wrong way round. Well this year has been a spendthrift year, but it doesn't need to be. Anyway, back to the crafting. The first thing I made this week was a birthday card, using some of the new stuff I got. I stamped some blueprint stamps onto card together, then again separately. The separate ones I cut out, coloured with ...