Read my nails

I love nail art but I'm no expert so what I attempt is normally not that detailed but this tutorial will give your friends the impression that your nail artwork is tip top

I got the idea from Glitter Fingers but I simplified it a little and used some images I found in magazines as well.

What you will need:

old magazine / newspaper 

(Company magazine works well as it's not glossy and has cool fonts)

Alcohol 

(probably meant to use medial alcohol but a shot of vodka worked for me)

light coloured nail varnish

clear nail varnish

Step 1

Layer a couple of coats of the light colour nail varnish on and let it dry completely

Step 2

Drop your scrap of paper in the alcohol and leave for 15-20 seconds

Step 3

Take the paper out and hold it text/chosen image side down on the nail and hold it in place for 30ish seconds. Make sure you press down on each part of nail over that time so the paper transfers over the whole nail

Step 4

Cover the nail with clear nail varnish to seal it

It really is that simple so give it a go!!!

I'll be back xx

Crafty Superstar

This week I'm being featured on Cut Out and Keep as one of their Crafty Superstars and I couldn't be more excited! They are going to publish one of my tutorials every day and as it's Valentines day on Friday, each tutorial will hopefully give you inspiration for lovely things to make your partner.

Also in the spirit of learning new crafts this year, I've tried as many new things as I could, so if I can do 7 in one weekend, you definitely still have time to do one of these before Valentines Day

Check back everyday to find out where I get my materials and links to the tutorials!

Monday - Valentines Garland

What You Will Need:

• Red Felt
• Thread (white and red)
• Sewing Machine (I have a Janome from John Lewis)
• Ribbon
• Twine

Tuesday - Love Lights

What You Will Need:

• Red Wool
• Twine
• 3 Jam Jar (s)
• Hot Glue Gun (I use a Loctite I got from Homebase and these bargain glue sticks from Hobbycraft)
• Lace
• Red Felt
• Paper (book of your choice)
• Mod Podge (or PVA)

Wednesday

What You Will Need:

• Mask from Hobbycraft
• Feathers from Ebay (red,  black and these cool red/black feathers I used for the middle layer)
• Nail Varnish from Boots (I used Barry M - dark silver magnetic)
• Jewel Trimmings
• Jewellery Wire or if you don't have any of that, I used this wire I bought from Homebase
• Invisible Thread
• Diamond shaped Beads
• Black Veiling
• Hot Glue Gun (I use a Loctite I got from Homebase and these bargain glue sticks from Hobbycraft)
• Elastic (depends on how you want to keep the mask up)
• Dowel from Homebase (depends on how you want to keep the mask up)
• Ribbon (black if using dowelling and same colour as your hair if not)

 

Thursday

What You Will Need:

• Red & Grey Felt
• Red Thread
• Sewing Machine (I have a Janome from John Lewis)
• Cardboard (I store all the boxes from my online deliveries as they always come in handy)

Friday

What You Will Need:

• Picture Frame (I used this record frame from Ikea)
• Hot Glue Gun (I use a Loctite I got from Homebase and these bargain glue sticks from Hobbycraft)
• Sissors
• Ink Pad (red and peach)
• Pencil
• Lino Cutter
• Lino
• Canvas fabric - large enough for your frame

Saturday

What You Will Need:

• Cardboard
• Sissors
• Sellotape
• Ribbon
• Hot Glue Gun (I use a Loctite I got from Homebase and these bargain glue sticks from Hobbycraft)
• Pencil
• Roll of Black Paper from Amazon
• To fill it, I raided the party section at Asda and got lots of confetti and kids toys

Sunday

What You Will Need:

• Dowel
• Ribbon
• Hot Glue Gun
• Polystyrene Ball
• Tissue Paper
• Mini Plant Pot ( or these glass tea-light holders are a bargain on Amazon)
• Love heart sweets
• Salt Dough (or something like plaster of paris)
• Chocolate to melt (or cocktail sticks)
• Sweets of your choice

Knit your own baby booties

Yesterday I took a trip round to my friend Lorna's so she could help me with my knitting skills. She has a great pattern for these simple baby booties which as long as you know some knitting basics you'll easily be able to pick up.

For those who need that extra bit of help and don't have your own Lorna to hand - I've put in some links for the dummies site on how to knit. It's what I've been using and it has helped me to pick it up reasonably quickly

What You'll Need:

Wool - I used this Navy Sparkly Wool

Needles - 4mm (I bought this BARGAIN pack of Bamboo Needles from Kurtzy)

Sewing needle with a large eye

Scissors

Step 1

Start by creating a slip knot and tighten it round your needle

Step 2

Cast on 38 stitches

Step 3

Knit for 11 lines. 

I struggle to keep track of my lines so Lorna suggested that I create some way to tick off each line as I go. So if you have the same issue as me - tick off a check box every time you finish a line. SIMPLE!!!

Line 1 - KNIT
Line 2 - KNIT
Line 3 - KNIT
Line 4 - KNIT
Line 5 - KNIT
Line 6 - KNIT
Line 7 - KNIT
Line 8 - KNIT
Line 9 - KNIT
Line 10 - KNIT
Line 11 - KNIT

Step 4

Now you need to start forming the toe shape by reducing the number of stitches in a line

Line 12 - KNIT 17, KNIT 2 together, KNIT 2 together,KNIT 17 (reducing line to 36 stitches)
Line 13 - KNIT
Line 14 - KNIT 16, KNIT 2 together, KNIT 2 together,KNIT 16 (reducing line to 34 stitches)
Line 15 - KNIT
Line 16 - KNIT 15, KNIT 2 together, KNIT 2 together,KNIT 15 (reducing line to 32 stitches)
Line 17 - KNIT

Step 5

Next you need to create the band of the bottie with that elasticy-feel. For this you need to do alternate knit and PURL on the same line

Line 18 - KNIT 1, PURL 1, KNIT 1, PURL 1 (repeat for full line)
Line 19 - KNIT 1, PURL 1, KNIT 1, PURL 1 (repeat for full line)
Line 20 - KNIT 1, PURL 1, KNIT 1, PURL 1 (repeat for full line)
Line 21 - KNIT 1, PURL 1, KNIT 1, PURL 1 (repeat for full line)
Line 22 - KNIT 1, PURL 1, KNIT 1, PURL 1 (repeat for full line)
Line 23 - KNIT 1, PURL 1, KNIT 1, PURL 1 (repeat for full line)
Line 24 - KNIT 1, PURL 1, KNIT 1, PURL 1 (repeat for full line)
Line 25 - KNIT 1, PURL 1, KNIT 1, PURL 1 (repeat for full line)
Line 26 - KNIT 1, PURL 1, KNIT 1, PURL 1 (repeat for full line)

This doesn't show up too well with the dark wool but you can see the change in stitch on the cream bottie below

Step 6

Cast off and then finishing it off by 

• leaving the last stitch on the needle 
• wrapping the wool round the needle once more 
• pull the bottom stitch over wrapped around piece of thread on the needle to create another slipknot

Step 7

Pull a large loop so that it's longer than the height of your bootie and remove the needle

Step 8

Cut the loop in half and then pull out the piece of wool which is still attached to the ball

Step 9

Fold your bootie in half and thread one of the remaining pieces of wool in your sewing needle, using this to stitch along the bottom of the bootie

Step 10

Carefully feed the remaining wool through some of the stitches to fasten it, before cutting the remaining piece off.

Repeat Steps 9 and 10 along the back of the bootie - leaving an opening at the top of the bootie

Then flip your bootie inside out 

Step 11

Repeat all of the above until you have enough Baby booties to fill a tiny cupboard!

Thanks again to Lorna for sharing this fab pattern with me!

I'll be back xx