These Space Invaders inspired nails were really simple to do with Sharpie pens. I started with a regular french manicure then copied the pixel squares one at a time with a Sharpie pen. I finished with a good quality clear varnish. I find sometimes the Sharpie ink can run if you spread the top coat too thin so I try to gloop it on thickly. It just takes a little longer to dry.
There’s been lots of new arrivals in the last year so I’ve been having fun making toys and new baby cards.
This was my make of the Bloomsbury Elephant knitting pattern by Amanda Berry made for my super cute nephew.
The pattern is available to buy on Ravelry
The pattern designer has lots of other wonderful looking patterns on her page: Amanda Berry
It was very simple to follow and I’m really happy with the result. I also decided to knit a little scarf to keep him warm.
I have a bit of an addiction to Kilner jars for storing things in my kitchen. SO instead of adding sticky labels to the jars I’ve made these hand written labels. They were done with another wonderful Christmas gift that I received. Manuscript Calligraphy Pens
So I expect they’ll be a lot of crafting this year that will incorporate learning a new skill. I have already made a start pinning some tutorials: Calligraphy on Pinterest
Happy New Year.
It’s been quite a busy 2014 but I have been keeping up the crafting I just haven’t had the time to sit and blog. Mostly due to being busy in my new home which needs a lot of work so the DIY has taken over. But I’ve been collecting all my pics and should have a whole host of things to blog soon.
But to start the year with a smile my lovely husband gave me this custsom made stamp for Christmas and it’s first use was on this card to say thank you. So now I can stamp all my creations with my MadeBySair.co.uk logo. :)
Here’s this years Mother’s Day card.
Inspired by simple labels, I created this by just cutting out a pretty shape on some flowery card stock. Stamping the letters onto some ruled card and accenting with a couple of sharpies.
Also this year I sent a card to my sister for her first Mother’s Day.
I took a similar simple approach and created a rosette type of design. I created some relief by attaching the shape with sticky pads and added a cute little wooden peg.
It’s been a while since my last blog post. I’ve been very busy with general life things, work christmas moving house etc. So a backlog of posts to come.
So to start here’s a little card I made in November for a birthday featuring some partying Owls.
A simple make from some card stock I found in TK Maxx, button eyes and some of my ever growing collection of letter stamps.
Nail art has been a hobby of mine for a very long time I started doing painting designs on my nails as a teenager. I’ve dug out some of the earliest pictures I have from an old hard drive just when digital cameras were more widely available to the masses so the picture quality is quite poor. I think the earliest I have is from 2004 but I was painting designs from the late 90s. I may attempt to recreate some of these now that Nail Art has become much more popular and now that digital photography has greatly advanced. These were also mostly done before nail art pens were available and so most were done with paint brushes or cocktail sticks!
Stripes, Checks, Flowers and Animal Prints.
Cracks, Checks, Greek Key Style, Japanese Flowers & Bamboo
Blue Star, Zebra Tips, Big Yellow Start, Flowers, White Tree.
Spectrum, Circles, Graffiti, Swirls, Japanese Doll
Also here are some which are definitely from the 1990s. When I started painting my nails I used to always paint a fake nail as a keep sake as I didn’t have a good camera. I had them in little plastic pouches. Here’s a photo I took of them at a later dat. It’s quite a mixed bag. Some patterns have airbrushed backgrounds a few with jewel, sticker and water decal embellishments. All were done with varnish thin paint brushes and cocktail sticks.
Airbrushed Backgrounds with Black Patterns, Silver Swirls, Purple Stripes, Palm Tree Island, Silver & Red Zigzag, Black ^ White Spots, Halloween Nails, GB Flag, Blue Stripes & Circles, Lightening with Jewel, Sunburst, Silver Roses, Black & White Checks.
Some more spotty nails but with 5 bright colours dotted onto a white background. I achieved these spots using a stylus pen. They make perfect dots and are easy to wipe clean with a bit of nail varnish remover.
Inspired by a visit to and old style sweet shop with pick ‘n’ mix sweets that came in a stripy paper bag. Painted with a thin paint brush using bright pink nail varnish on white.
I tried out a new terracotta nail colour this week and was inspired to draw on a brick wall patter with Shapies. Then added a little graffiti (my SAIR tag) onto my thumb with a metallic Sharpie.
