Welcome....to "Inky Cottage".

Hi everyone....over the past week I've been working on a project i have been meaning to do for ages. Storage for my mini ink pads.

I usually have them lying around, or shoved in a basket where i can't see them properly, so i did what any good crafter would have done.....gave them a home. Not just any home though, i gave them Inky Cottage! :)

I wouldn't mind living there myself! Inky Cottage was made with the stunning TwiddlyBitz Chipboard - Christmas Advent House Kit from Karen at Charmed Cards and Crafts. Thank you Karen :)

As soon as i saw this kit in Karens shop, i knew it would be great for storage. As you can see, as well as it accommodating the eye shaped ink pads perfectly, my Twinkling H20's were having a sleepover too!

I did this in crackle paint, then brushed randomly with Distress Ink to dirty it up a bit. I wanted to get the feel of a lovely cottage that you might stumble upon deep in the woods. That's why i added the bits of twig on the roof to look like there were roots and ivy growing over it.

There are so many uses for this, i tried some of my smaller wood mounted stamps and they fit lovely in there as well. You could make boxes for each hole, and fill them with crafty stash, brads, buttons etc.

I reckon it will look quite nice up on my scrap room wall....what do you think?

Thanks for looking. :)

Altered chipboard box.

Hi everyone :)

I haven't made Maddy anything for a little while, and one of my more secret resolutions was to do more of this, so here's a little altered chipboard box i made for her to put odds and ends in.

Very simply done, but the best bit about this was that i got to try out my new Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paints that i bought today. They are amazing! It's the uneven crackle effect i really like, and when you brush over it with colour, the crackles stand out even more.

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Here i just coated the box in Tattered Rose Distress Crackle Paint, and when dry i lightly brushed over it with Tea Dye distress ink. A few embellishments and of course some lace to dainty it up a bit, and there you have a nice looking little box for a lovely gift.



Aren't these crackles just great?.........Cheers for that Mr Holtz! :) You can buy the paints here at Jennie's shop.

It's the first box I've altered apart from a tea caddy i did a while back, so i was pretty chuffed with the result. Hopefully Maddy will be too....fingers crossed! :)

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Lastly, i have to give a shout out to a new craft shop i discovered in a nearby town today. Close to Southampton, theres a place called Swaythling, and there you can find a craft shop that's only been open a few months called "Craftin Delights".

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Run by a lovely and helpful lady called Jeanette (hope i spelt that right), who makes a gorgeous cuppa btw, her shop is full of crafty goodies. I was made very welcome by Jeanette and her friend and fellow crafter Nicky, i had a lovely time there. Jeanette also runs workshops there too, so next time you are down this neck of the woods, it's well worth popping in.

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Always nice to find a new place to get stash, and only right to pass it on to. :)

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Bye for now.....