Christmas Cards - at last!

And so it begins, I finally pulled my finger out a couple of weeks ago and seriously got stuck into some Christmas card making. I used a Kraft cards and envelopes as I absolutely adore them and set about making them quite clean and simple looking. Want to see?

The first five variations feature the oh so cute robins which I found at Clearly Besotted. Love them sooooo much. I simply stamped the images and sentiments with StaZon ink and coloured a little with a red Galaxy pen. Ooh also added a few rhinestones too.

Everything on this first card is from Clearly Besotted - I did draw in a cheeky Santa hat though!

This next one is my favourite - something about it makes me smile.

 

I was a bit naughty here and dare I say it a bit nervous....I wanted to change up how the robins were positioned so I picked up my beautiful clear stamps and very, very carefully cut those robins out. I think I would have cried if I'd misjudged - but luckily....

Again forgive me for drawing and adding a Santa hat to the top fella.

Similar but different, isn't the font perfect?

Less the hat and the music:

Hope you like these. I have them for sale over on my Facebook Page

I'm planing on getting back into regular blogging now as I have so many makes and other things I'd love to share with you. My camera is set to pop!

hugs

Victoria

xxx

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Sewing for Christmas

Today I'd like to share with you some of the festive sewing I've been up to. I have to admit to being like a kid in a sweet shop and getting very excited about Christmas - even more so now that Zac and Blake are at an age where it's just magical for them. I can't wait to see their little faces when they meet Santa this year - more about that after the event though!

I found some gorgeous Christmas fabrics this year and made up all sorts of things - too much to share in just one post so for today it's about a few decorations. At a recent event I attended I set up my tree with just Christmas heart decorations I'd made, I took the photo before switching on my pretty lights - boo hiss. It was such a beautiful setting too - inside a church.

Here are a selection of some of the decorations I've made...Santa hats, trees, owls and Robins too.

 

 If you like these - they are all available to buy and order too and more details are available on my 

 FACEBOOK PAGE.

I also made a few cute Christmas Owl cushions too:

I am so going to have to make another one now as Zac wants one to snuggle up to! 

Pop by tomorrow when I'll share some festive paper craft projects with you.

Hugs

Victoria

xxx

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Craft Fair and Scentsy Display Idea

Oh my giddy aunt - have I really gone for a whole month without one single blog post? Oops, my bad. I promise to do better, in the meantime why not pop over and visit my Facebook page which I do update rather a lot....

Blue Jelly Sew n So

Anyhoo, back to the blog. Recently I've attended lots of craft fairs and have been asked by fellow stallholders and attendees alike how I made by display. So I thought it would be nice to share it here with you. Firstly here's how my set up stand looks with all my fabric goodies:

Using the same stuff at another event here is my Scentsy stall:

I've tried loads of ideas to add height to my stalls without almost breaking my back to get it there - including book shelves, shoe racks and these just work out the best things for me and they fold to store too. Bonus! So, where from and how to get them looking like this:

They are small step ladders from ...Ikea. Here are the various stages of putting them together. Starting with me having more tuts than an episode of Skippy assembling them. Jelly and flat pack are not a good combination, even when I steal tools from The Spark to help me. I sat on the kitchen floor for quite a while and was amazed to have no extra bits left over - that NEVER happens!

Next I relocated to the kids playroom - for fear of splashing paint on my shiny white kitchen units or the floor and getting into more trouble than you can shake a stick at. Kids rug upside down plus cut open bin liners seemed a safe enough option. Then on with the paint - upside down to start.

I will admit to wanting to do things quickly and I was very tempted to use chalk paint to do these. Thing is I have a bit of an issue touching anything that feels chalky - it goes 'through me' and so I opted for this stuff instead as it has a silky smooth feel to it and still goes on to wood without having to prime or use undercoat. In fact - look in the background of the photo and you'll see the boys table and chairs painted with the same stuff. No need to waste left over paint (I've even done my desk with it!).

Is this post as much fun as watching paint dry? A Minion appears to have lost the will to live......

Fast forward to finished!

Now they are done, they've had loads of use already and they didn't cost a fortune, they fold flat, they work for both my businesses and every home needs ladders right?

Hugs

Victoria x

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Fabric House Doorstop and Ladder Stitch Tutorial

Today I would simply like to stick my tongue out to the British weather and pull faces at it!

 But I'm a grown up so I probably shouldn't set bad examples for my children, one of whom is snuggled down on the sofa a little bit poorly.

So let's ignore the wind and the rain and enjoy a spot of creativity. I'm ready to share the project I gave you a sneak peek of yesterday. A fabric house doorstop:

I'm kind of in love with it! It stands about 9" high and 7.5" wide and the fabrics are just so scrummie.

Here are a few different angles.

I'll be selling these at events and fairs for £20. If you'd like to order one and have it posted, the cost of postage via My Hermes will be £5.28 due to it weighing 3 kilogrammes.

I can make them in different fabrics and colours and will be doing Christmas gingerbread house style ones soon too.

I've been asked a few times how I close up the seams neatly on my sewing projects so I thought I might as well help you out there.

I use a hand stitch called 'ladder stitch' or 'invisible stitch'. The first few times can be a little tricky but persevere and it gets much easier I promise.

I hope these photos help to explain it - The large photo on the left shows the seam after I've stitched it - the others show how to fold in your fabric and pin it in place. Sew straight from the front edge to the back - keeping your needle beneath the top edge of the fabric. Then pop your needle diagonally toward the front edge and bring through on the edge of your fabric. If your needle pops through below the edge you will see the stitch. Pull tightly to close after a couple of stitches.

Hope that helps some of you. If you'd like to order any of my fabric makes or kits to make yourself, please email me at:

bluejellystampin@sky.com

hugs

Victoria

xx

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Joining Scentsy in October

One day two posts - I know!

But this one is really good fun and tells you more about Scentsy Electric Warmers and how you can become a consultant too.

So what is Scentsy exactly? Check me out (actually don't - it's a bad photo) with some Scentsy goodies. We have a range of Electric Warmers, Fragrance Wax Bars, Buddies and bath and body products too.

Scentsy electric warmers are an alternative to candles. They use a heating element to slowly melt specially formulated wax, enhancing your home with more than 80 Scentsy fragrances safely, with no flame, smoke or soot.

You simply choose a warmer, plug it in, add a cube of wax and enjoy!

 

When I discovered Scentsy I also found I could still enjoy perfect scents in my home without having to think about my very mischievous twosome toppling over a candle or burning themselves. One less thing to worry about.

Being a Mum to two boys with a hubby who's an electrician and always coming home mucky, I do worry about how my house smells. I am always jealous of kids who walk by smelling of freshly washed linen and don't get why I can't get my kids to smell like that.

Luckily for me - my house does smell like that, people often pop round and ask how I get my washing to smell so fresh. Well my secret is a Scentsy warmer in my hallway filling my home with the fragrance of white florals, a touch of spring - the scent of fresh laundry. OK so it's a Scentsy Clean Breeze wax bar but they don't have to know that do they? Or do they?

Having a 'job' I can do in my own time, working the hours I want to work around my family is just perfect. My friends and family instantly loved the Scentsy range too and are fast becoming my best customers (as well as myself of course).

If you're looking for something NEW you can do to fit in with your life and your needs, why not drop me a line and we can have a no pressure chat about you becoming a Scentsy Consultant too?

 

 I have my own sewing business as well as running a household and being 'Mum' and if I can do it - anyone can.

 

There's no better time to enrol as a Scentsy consultant than October. The perks are too good to miss and at just £94 including postage it's amazing.

 

In your Rocktober Starter Kit worth £230 you'll find everything you need to kick start your Scentsy business including a premium warmer, wax party testers, wax bars, bath and body products, catalogues, order forms, business kit 

PLUS during Rocktober:

 

As well as your standard starter kit you'll receive an additional 30 mini party testers PLUS a Scentsy family store promotional bag. The mini testers will help you on your way to handing out basket parties and the bag is just perfect for that!

 

If you fancy an extra pay day or two before Christmas, drop me an email at:

 

bluejellystampin@sky.com

 

or hurry over to my website to find out more and join in the fun:

 

JOIN SCENTSY

Don't worry - clicking the link won't instantly lead you to enrolling - you can read through all the information first!

Hugs

Victoria

xxx

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New Home Card and a Sneak Peek too!

Let's just pretend we blinked and missed the last four weeks and I've been here all along! 

Moving on swiftly then........

I've spent the last few days helping my Mum in Law move house, it's so exciting as she is now literally 2 mins walk around the corner. The mini beasts are thrilled as Granny isn't just close by - she lives next door to the park and a minute walk from their school too. The move was an experience for many reasons, emotional as she needed to move after my Dad in Law passed away leaving the house way too big for her and also my husband was born in the house and grew up there, I lived there too! We had a loft conversion built above the house and had many happy years there - until Zac came along and we had to move out and find somewhere bigger.

Anyhoo, a new home requires a new home card right? If found my desk folks and on there I found ink, papers and stamps - bonus!

Stampin' Up! fans be happy - I've used mainly SU products on here. Actually everything with the exception oft he house and main sentiment stamp are from Stampin' Up! See you can take the girl away from Stampin' Up! but......

The other stamps were freebies off the front of a magazine - I know, cheeky eh? I did have to adapt the card, it only had the new home sentiment on it to start with but then disaster struck and the removal chap with his van didn't turn up. I turned all detective like and tracked him down and he turned up oodles of hours too late - so by the time we'd got her moved in to her new abode it was late and dark. So a quick addition of the Project life sentiment above was needed. Actually I think it completes the card, it was missing a little something.

Here are some close ups for you detail junkies:

Now then, as you know I'm also sharing here my passion for fabric and sewing and on the 'house' theme here's a little glimpse at a project I've not quite finished yet....

Hopefully I'll find time to finish it later today and be able to share it tomorrow. to see more of my day to day stuff and creations, why not have a look and a like of my new crafty Facebook page?

Blue Jelly Sew n So on Facebook

Hugs

Victoria

x

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New Baby Card and Gift Set

Good morning on another lovely sunny day here in Nottingham (enjoying a late summer). I'm grabbing myself a few minutes on the pooter whilst Blake is asleep - poor lad got diagnosed with the flu on Monday so he's having a few days off school resting until we can get his temperature down.

I've been wanting to share this with you for a while but as I hadn't given it to it's recipient I couldn't. I know it's arrived safely now so at last............my lovely friend Lou had a gorgeous baby boy George recently and I made a card and matching gift for him. Here's the card:

The card took me forever to design as I wanted it to match the gift and I just couldn't get it right at all. My mojo had defo gone for a walkabout when it came to making this. I've used all Stampin' Up! products, some current some retired and one set is a Christmas stamp set!

Here's the gift, a sleeping bag for baby George:

I didn't have a pattern or follow a tutorial for this one, I really winged it - including guessing the size - hope it fits! I adore this fabric and bought it from my favourite fabric supplier The Faff Room. I saw the fabric and knew it would be perfect for this so bought it without thinking about how I would make it.

Here are a couple of close ups of the card.  Did some therapeutic colouring in and cutting out here.

Also close ups of the baby sleeping bag, I adore these giant buttons, wish Stampin' Up! still did them. I cut out a tree from the main fabric and appliquéd it on to the bib - the whole thing is lined with a gorgeous organic cotton fabric with super cute paw prints on.

Finally I made a little oval decoration to match on the hanger. 

I'll admit I found this a bit tricky to photograph so I hope I've shown it off OK.

You can buy Stampin' Up! from Louise or visit her blog HERE. 

OK - I'd better go and check up on Blake and perhaps snuggle up to him too. We managed a it of play yesterday so fingers crossed he has a little more energy today, I'm in the mood for creating a train station out of Lego Duplo!

ooh - don't forget to scroll down to my previous post and leave a comment to be in with a chance of winning my paper give-away!

hugs

Victoria

xxx

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Birthday Present and Blog Candy Giveaway!!!

Sunday already - where did my weekend go? We didn't make it to see my Mum today so James took Blake to the supermarket, gosh we spoil that boy ha,ha and whilst Zac chilled out, I made up some more Scentsy wax samples to post out - if you want some to try too, just drop me an email at:

bluejellystampin@sky.com 

More importantly - the birthday present. I like to make and I like to give things I've made and this is no exception:

It's one of my cute fabric snails I shared with you a few posts ago and a card made from some free stamps I got. I did some paper piecing and some colouring too - takes me right back to my childhood and getting lost for hours with my colouring books, very therapeutic I must say and it still is.

So the rest of my day involves finishing cooking the roast and of course eating it, packing up those fragrance samples and parcelling up some of my Stampin' Up! stash that I've sold. I still have some left - if you want to take a look they are all in albums on my facebook page HERE.

Now something I haven't done in what seems like AGES is .....

A GIVE-AWAY

Who wants this lot?

A big pile of Stampin' Up! designer papers cut to 6"x6". All you have to do to be in with a chance of getting this lot posted out to you (UK only) is to leave a comment below and share this give-away on your blog or facebook page.

I'll pop all the names in a hat and draw one out on Friday 26th September. It could be you!

Hugs

Victoria

xxx

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Fabric Sausage Dogs

Happy Saturday, hope you're having a great start to the weekend? We're all still ridden with colds but trying to ignore it and have fun - as I type the boys are playing hide and seek. I'm not sure they're doing it very well as I can hear them shouting at each other to say where they are hiding.

I'm not managing to smuggle in any creating today as it's a family day so sharing some previous makes with you, I haven't shared them here before so I could get away with saying I whipped them up earlier but I suspect you wouldn't believe me.

I am loving rekindling my love of fabric and sewing and these cuties were an absolute delight to make, I love their little noses and long floppy ears:

Each one of course comes with it's own bone!

They're a great size too, over 30cm long.

 

Here are a couple snuggled up with some other fabric makes ready for sale on one of my stalls:

I'll be at an event on Sunday next weekend selling my fabric creations - would be great to see you there:

Love to stay and chat but I'm under instructions now to build a train track starting in the lounge and worming it's way through the dining area and into the kitchen. Blake wants it done - and before Daddy gets home from work too so I had better get my skates on.

hugs

Victoria

xxx

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Butterfly Birthday Card and a warmer too.

Gosh it's so dull again here today in Nottingham. Still as misty and damp as when we woke up. Something pretty is needed to brighten my day so here is a special card I made yesterday:

It's my Mums Birthday next week so I'm getting ahead of myself. I wanted to make something pretty with a vintage feel to it so had to go for a rummage through my stash. I've used all sorts on here from the lid of a Kraft box to elements from a mini album kit and a chevron bag. Everything is from Stampin' Up! though - present or retired.

I love the acetate in the box lid with the matt layers of vellum then the shiny glimmer card. Lots of different textures to feast your eyes on.

Hoping so much to get to go and see Mum on Sunday, it's not looking hopeful at the moment as both the boys and I have horrible colds and my step dad has to be really careful around germs, partially due to his age but also because he has chronic leukaemia (CLL) and whilst he's not undergoing treatment, germs could change all that. My Mum is also in remission from breast cancer so no way do they want our lurgy! We're crossing everything that we'll be rid of our colds or it will be mid October before we can get together again. At least I have time to pop this in the post and get it there on time.

On a positive note, can I say a huge thank you to everyone who has taken an interest in my Scentsy adventures so far. I sent out many shiny purple envelopes yesterday and today with fragrance wax samples in (please see my previous post if you want to know how to get one too). I hope when they land on your doorsteps you enjoy opening them and sniffing your way through the goodies inside.

As we're on a bit of a butterfly theme, I thought I'd take the opportunity to share another Scentsy warmer with you:

This is our Etched Core warmer with Butterfly wrap. I love how when it's switched it creates a beautiful warm glow of light - just like a candle. It's such a versatile warmer too as you can get different wraps for it to change the look:

You can see lots more choices over in my Scentsy Shop too.

Right I had better make an effort and quickly run round with a duster and the Dyson and get a burst of housework done before it's time to pick up the boys from school and so the weekend mayhem can commence!

hugs

Victoria

xxx

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Sharing Scentsy - want some in the post?

OK - today I'm going to tell you a bit about my new venture. Actually it's not so new as I've been busy with it for over a year now, but the time feels right to do more with it and share it here. So...what is Scentsy?

Scentsy core products are a safe alternative to scented candles.  

Our Warmers melt and warm specially formulated food grade wax  releasing the fragrance into the air which means – NO BURNING. This makes your home safer for you, your family and pets.  With Scentsy you say goodbye to soot, wicks and flames for good.

It's a simple three step system:

How Does a Scentsy Warmer Work?

 

Pop one cube of wax (from a selection of over 80 fragrance bars) into the dish on your warmer and switch it on. A secret combination of ingredients creates a pool of melted wax. Only the finest scented oils are hand-picked to give an array of aromas.  the wax is allergen free and does not contain soy.

 

When you use Scentsy you’ll no longer leave home thinking, “Did I blow out the candle before I left?”

 Our Warmer is safe to have around children and pets and, my boys even have a warmer  in their bedroom which doubles as a night light too. Blake also helps me when I'm making up samples to send out in the post!

Plug it in, turn it on and… walk away. Its that simple!

This new Vintage teapot is one of my favourite warmers.

Along with this Love Element warmer:

There are so many fragrances to choose from and I have made up some samples packs. If you'd like to find out more about Scentsy, you can visit my website:

Find out about Scentsy

or if you'd like to receive some information in the post along with some wax samples to sniff your way through please drop me an email with your name and address to:

bluejellystampin@sky.com

This is for UK only please. Once I receive your details I'll pop one of these pretty packages in the post to you:

Who knows, maybe you'll end up practising Safe Scents too.

hugs

Victoria

xxx

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