Diary of a crafter

Hello from a slightly colder than comfortable, Sunday afternoon in Scotland.

It's almost time to close the web site, I just have to collect all the images and store them. I'm not looking forward to that but once x3 close, so do all their web sights.

Cookies still have not been made 🙄

I do still enjoy working with MDF and have stock piled some Christmas lines ready to do later.
This led to felt flowers which I have spent a great time making and teaching. I struggled with getting wording on to plaques and then discovered Chalk Couture & Magnolia Design Co. I'm not so patiently waiting for those to arrive, that's something completely new to me. I have three original cricuts but never really used them, I'm very hesitant to buy a new machine for that same reason, I'm too lazy to take hours to learn how to cut SVG files. In America they use the bigger negative piece and paint the words through the stencil but in the UK it's more the positive that is just stuck on. I'm happy to play with both because I ain't learning to had write on plaques .

I'm struggling to thread up my sewing machine, I have great plans to create an army of gnomes. I have been a busy crafter and collected up all the supplies required and made my own pattern , one day these may join the shelfs of other "kits" I have designed for sale on etsy.

There's no pressure right now to be productive for anyone besides me. I'm liking it.

I post the odd picture of the things I have finished over on IG - sugar Nellie , but that's about it.
Social media is clearly a full time job for some but I missed that boat long ago. Come follow me if you please, I'm not selling anything, just enjoying crafting like the good old days when it was all fun and no pressure.

Two years later

Wow, what a two years those turned out to be.

Without turning into a script for a documentary, things took a sharp turn, and this year I can say that I'm back one the road looking for sign posts to guide me on which way to turn?

I know that Sugar Nellie will not be making any new stamps, that world faces so many hurdles, I ain't fit to jump them anymore.
But I just have to take a look at an old stamp catalog and it's easy to remember how much I loved those stamps, and personally, I have a slightly large collection. I will always love crafting and this year I need to start all over again.

But where to start, I suppose right back at the beginning, teaching. Craft classes and get togetherness, being social with like minding folks who all understand the love of being creative.

I had a quick look at the top crafting sites in the UK, it shows more wood and vinyl sites, but Stamping Up demonstrators are still going strong. Are people still making cards as trends do come and go.

Personally I have been playing with wreaths, something the UK really has not taken too. There are next to no supplies available here but my trips to see the Grandsons allows me to shop for as much as I can fit in my case.
Sugar Cookies, well I might have cutters and sprinkles but not one cookie has been baked YET!
MDF, I have missed that trend but I'm excited to take up the challenge and will be working with that as soon as my studio is warm enough to work in.

But other things have changed in the last dozen or so years. Blogger, face book, Instagram and all the other social media formats, can I even tackle them?

So here I am, back to blogger, requested a reminder of my password and I'm in.

If anyone's out there still, tell me what's been going on these last few years, what are crafter excited about and do you agree or are you even crafting?

I'd love to hear from you, I might be talking to an empty room, is there anyone reading blogger anymore?

Karen

the beginning of the end

Those of you who are part of the face book groups already know that I had made the hard decision to close Sugar Nellie.

For a variety of reasons we have not added any new art work and without which we were going no where.

This has had a knock on effect at www.funkykits.co.uk as they are our online partner who sold all our new releases world wide for the last 9 years.

My life has changed as have my priorities, its time to let this one go.
Its been a lot of fun, many amazing people, much excitement and a lot of learning along the way. Thank you for joining me on this journey, your support and encouragement has been unmeasurable.

There is also a lot of rubber to find loving homes for and the sale of Sugar Nellie rubber stamps is underway.

Other brands that Funkykits stock will also be added over time.

Heartfelt thanks for all your support and love. Karen

The best things in life .....

Hi everyone,

As digital images are this week

as showcase I wanted to use a different

stamp than the Furry Friends range.

So for today.used Wish upon a star.

It is currently on the retiring list,

so would get it asap if you want this digi.

She can be bought here:

She is coloured with copics.

I thought I create a scene with animals around

this cute stamp.

Here is my card:

Thank you so much for visitig this blog today.

Sadly this is my last post on this blog.

Happy Crafting and hugs,

Marion

Victoria Standing

Happy Thursday!

Debra here with some inspiration...

This week the design team is featuring digital stamps.  

I used Victoria Standing, from the Simply Adorable digital section.

Sadly, this is my last post for Sugar Nellie.  It was a fun year!

Close Up:

The image is colored with Copic Markers.

E00, E11, E21, E31, E33, E41, E42, E43, YR21, YR24, R02, R20, R22

You can find this image and many others here...

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hope you have a blessed day!

Deb

Think happy thoughts

Hi everyone,

As this is our week of anything but a card

I made a pillow box for you.

I always like the colour white on kraft and on my

pillow box I stamped an image white on kraft.

I liked it that much that I did not want to colour it.

The stamp I used is a Scrapberry stamp.

This stamp is called little sister

You can find this one here

And here is the pillow box:

Thank you so much for stopping by.

See you next time,

Happy crafting and hugs,

Marion

Gift Wrapped & Made with Love

Happy Thursday!

Debra here with some inspiration...

This week we have an 'anything but a card' theme.
I made a gift tag using 'Gift Wrapped' and 'Made with Love'.

Bag:

You can find this image and many others here...

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hope you have a blessed day!

Deb

Snow Fun

HI everyone,

Today is my turn to show you

a Christmas card.

I always loved the Simply Sassy range

so thought it would be lovely to use

one of the winter images from that

range for my card today.

The choice was made for Tammy

Tammy is coloured with copics

 You can find this image here

I used an older paperpad for my card

that I hardly use snce I like it a lot.

Here is my card with this cute image:

Thank you so much for visiting this blog today.

Untill next time,

Happy Crafting and hugs,

Marion

Christmas - Little Helpers

Happy Thursday!

Debra here with some inspiration...

This week we are featuring Christmas images.

I used Little Helpers, which is on the retiring list. 
There are a lot of Christmas images retiring, so now is the time 
to snatch these great deals before they are gone.     

You can find this image and many others here...

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hope you have a blessed day!

Deb

Winner challenge 139

Hello my lovelies, sorry for my absence, life is crazy busy right now.

The challenge should have been called last week.

Here I am, a week late.

This was our last challenge, sad I know but its a sign of changing times ahead.

The DT put a lot of time and work into creating and inspiring you and with only a handful of
loyal entries, it was time to call it a day.
 My grateful thanks to all our DT & Sweeties who have served us a dose of crafty love for a long time now. I could not have done it without you, past and present members, forever grateful.x

Our last winner was picked by random numbers and is LUCY no# 9

Congratulation to you Lucy, please email me direct at kmaciver@aol.com  with your choice of prize.

No more challenges, but our Face Book group is still open, please feel free to share your lovely card and home decor items over there. The group is almost 2000 strong and keeps on growing.

The sun is shining here, harvest is finished, the least stressful for years as the weather has been kind and Scotland has had sunshine for several weeks now, no sign of much rain on the horizon.

have a great day
Karen

We'll always be purrmanent friends

Hi everyone,

Times goes by quickly and

today it is time for my inspiration on this blog.

I used a Scrapberry stamp this time

and it is not one of Basik, but does have a cat on it:

It is called our summer.

I coloured the image with copics.

You can buy this sweet image here:

And this is the girlie card I made with the image:

Thank you so much for visiting this blog today.

Untill next time,

Happy crafting and hugs,

Marion

Picket Post

Happy Thursday!

Debra here with some Inspiration...

This week the theme is any image, any brand.
This is 'Picket Post'.

Here is another using the same image...

You can find this image and many others here...

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hope you have a blessed day!

Deb

Sugar Nellie DT

Hi everyone,

Today my turn for inspiration on this blog.

I could not resist and used a cat stamp

from Scrapberry's Basik range.

The one I used is called Thinking of you

The image is coloured with copics.

You can find this cute stamp here

I tried to make a clean and simple card and one I could

send to a male or female.

So here is my card:

Thank you so much for visiting this blog today.

Untill next time,

Happy Crafting and hugs,

Marion

Gorjuss shopping list

More GORJUSS goodies just in time for Christmas.
No new art as such, Suzanne has not produced anything new that I have seen in years. But Santoro continue to licence different things with the portfolio of art under their care.

More stamps, mini  @ £2.  ......and giant A5 @ £7.95

A rolling tote bag for those who venture out and about to craft, these were perticularly popular at scrapbook ing crops years ago, just to wheel your tote in with all your bits and pieces in one place, cool.

Dies......mmmmm......my instant thought is 19.95 per set which only cuts out one figure, pick up the scissors and get on with it, there is much better things to spend your craft pennies on.

Spiral bound journal, this appeals to the gift market and there are many people who don't craft, who love gorjuss stuff. A nice pressie for a fan or a young teen.

As some stamps continue to be discontinued without notice, it's best to make sure you have what you like. Remember that  FUNKYKITS still have the biggest selection of hard to find Gorjuss stamps to add to your collection. We will be doing some house keeping soon, just to check stock levels before the new ones arrive.
I can't add photos from my iPad ( anyone know how to fix that ) but I will go load them up over on the FB Sugar Nellie group page for you all to see.

Have an easy day, it's my first day off in months and I'm working from home today, contradiction in terms but I don't view SN as work , just a hobby that got way out of control !

Last chance

Challenge 139 Last challenge Big prize Join in Going out with a bang

That's right sugar addict, numbers are dropping and the DT put in a lot of work. Not enough time to craft so we are saying goodbye to our challenge.
As it's the last challenge, I'm going to double the prize!
Well worth entering this, must be one of the biggest challenge prizes around and I know you have a Sugar Nellie or two hiding in your craft room.
For old times sake, ink it up !

It's almost our birthday, things are about to change.
Karen

Hartelijk Gefeliciteerd

Hi everyone,

As digital images are 

the showcase this week,

I have choosen one from the Furry Friends range.

It is called Love Songs.

Isn;t it adorable ?

Coloured with copics.

You can buy this sweet image here:

It is a ckean and sumple card I made with 

this cute one.

Loved the papers and the image so much

that less was more :) .

Here is my card:

Thank you so much for visiting this blog toady.

Untill next time,

Happy Crafting and hugs,

Marion

Book Club

Happy Thursday!

Debra here with some inspiration...

This week we are featuring digital images.

Today, I used "Book Club", in the Simply Sassy Digital section.  

Close Up:

The image is colored with Copic Markers.

E00, E08, E11, E21, E31, E33, E35, E37, 
E40, E42, E43, E57, YR21, YR23
B21, B23, R02, R24, R29, T1, T3

Chalk background

You can find this image and many others here...

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hope you have a blessed day!

Deb

Bebe

Hi friends

Gaynor here sharing my Tuesday inspiration

this week we are showcasing Digi stamps

I've used this cute digi called bebe available here

all the details of the products I've used on my blog here

thanks for stopping by xx

Monday Inspiration ~ Digital Week.....

Morning all....

and I hope you are all well too...:o)

Vicky here today to share with you my card...and
this weeks theme is Digital....and I have used the
gorgeous and adorable....

Make a Wish

I have coloured the image with my Copics and SN Pencils...

the papers are from First Edition...the dies are from Sue 

Wilson...and I have added a gem too...

and you can find this wee beauty here..

So thanks for stopping by....and have a lovely day too....

Vicky xx

Prettige Feestdagen

Hi everyone,

Today is my turn to show

my Christmas card.

The image I used is called My Friend Flakey.

It is on the retiiring list, so get it

while you still can.

The image is coloured with copics.

You can find this sweet image here:

I loved to make a little winterscene with this digi 

so here is my card:

Thank you so much for visiting this blog today.

Untill next time,

Happy Crafting and hugs,

Marion