littletree makes...button jar & tag

Hello all, yes it's almost Friday and it's also time for another 'make'...I have a double DIY today in the form of a frosted glass jar and matching tag made from super air drying clay! Now a little while back I got a mystery package that was filled with buttons and so I had started collecting them in a jar, well the jar was looking a bit sad and plain so I decided to jazz it up with a fancy tag and frosting the glass to say 'buttons' so today that is what I am sharing with you! Again it isn't a difficult DIY but I will just run through what I did...

1/ You will need...A clean glass jar, frosting spray, masking tape, cutting mat and knife.

2/ Lay strips of overlapping masking tape onto your cutting mat to build up and area large enough for you lettering.

3/ Draw on your letters.

4/ Carefully cut them out and gently ease the letters from the mat.

5/ Stick the letters to your jar and smooth down so no gaps appear.

6/ No spray your jar with the Frosting spray according to the instructions...preferably outside! If not then a well ventilated area.

7/ Leave to dry thoroughly and then you're done!

Instructions for the Clay Tag are below...

1/ Pick out lots of pretty buttons to press into your clay.

2/ Roll out your clay ( I used white DAS air drying clay) I did this on a non-stick kitchen mat so I could pick the clay up to remove from the backing if it got a bit sticky!

3/ Press in your buttons. You can press them all in at once and remove them carefully later or stick a blob of blue tack to the button and use as a stamp.

4/  Using a cookie cutter cut out your disks of clay, whilst still damp use the end of a straw to cut a hole for hanging. 

5/ Leave to dry overnight somewhere warm.

6/ When dry you may notice some rougher edges, just lightly sand these with some fine sandpaper or even an old emery board!

7/ Done! Paint any colour and hang them up!

Above are a few more I made at Christmas and can easily be adapted for personalised gift tags with names and in various shapes. Cookie cutters work really well as they come in so many various designs and as long as they are washed thoroughly afterwards can still be used for baking! I hope you have enjoyed these DIY's and with the weather still set to be miserable they may come in handy over the weekend! Enjoy!x

go nuts on your birthday!

Another quick little post, my mum asked me to design a card for her friends birthday last week and she loves squirrels so I drew these little folksy critters with their nuts! (ahem...) I have been doodling a few woodland creatures in this style recently so keep an eye out for them as they may pop up later on...x

a little commission...

A little break from the DIY madness today...This print has been commissioned by the lovely Anna Dean of the Patchwork Peacock, who you may remember from my visits to the Made It Market, if not then refresh your memory here! It is a print in celebration of both her and her husband finishing their PhD's this year, hers is Neuroscience and his Maths, seriously clever eh? And Anna does all of her Patchwork stuff too! So I just thought I would share how it is coming along...Anna loved my ampersand from the 'me&you' valentines card I designed so I had to incorporate that! They love their tea so a pair of steaming mugs had to make an appearance and both of their initials are 'A' which works perfectly in balancing the print, how handy...she also like the colourway of the card so I have stuck with the black, white and red theme. The first print is the chosen design but I thought you may like to see the others...I'm thinking about offering this as a custom service on Etsy (Anna's idea!) what do you think?x

PS- Anna has said I can post this now rather than after she has given it to her husband, it is supposed to be a surprise, apparently he doesn't check the internet much so I should be safe! I hope so Anna!x

colour inspiration...'boudoir hues'

Image HERE

A little Valentines colour inspiration...don't you just love the soft duck egg with the pop of sulty reds? Ooh la la...x

littletree discovers...ashley ann photography

Image HERE, designed by Katie Daisy

Hello again...Happy V-Day to everyone celebrating! Did you all enjoy the craftiness yesterday? Well I have even more today...Ashley Ann (photographer/regular Design*Sponge contributor) and her blog Under the Sycamore. Ashley was the lady responsible for the great DIY from yesterday and her blog is JAM PACKED with even more!!! She has a great blog, is a DIY genius and great photographer (busy lady!) plus a super pretty banner designed by the talented Katie Daisy...so I thought I would pick a few DIY faves from her archives to share today, but do pop by as there are so many more to discover, just click on the links above. x

clothes pin magnets HERE

quilt piece bunting HERE

decoupage bowl HERE

littletree makes...a box of memories

Are you ready for some crafty goodness? Now I saw this idea in the December issue (9) of Mollie Makes before Xmas and mentally made a note to try and do it ready for the new year...well you may have noticed we are now in February so that didn't work out so well...but with all the snow hanging around last week it meant I finally got around to making it! Now I don't know about you but I'm terrible at remembering what I have actually done with my time so I thought this box of memories, or perpetual calender, would help me to jot down all the nice little things that go on throughout the weeks and months!

I saw this as a real opportunity to get crafty with all the bits and bobs I have collected over the years so I had postcards from design shows, scraps of paper, stickers, washi tape...all sorts! Which is why you can see my awful blue carpet in the picture...my desk just was not big enough and so the floor it was...I think in the original diy (from Design*Sponge) they used vintage postcards to make the monthly dividers, but use whatever you have to hand. I don't think I bought anything new apart from the record cards, everything else was stuff I had, or collected from around the house! Yey, even better!

I had such fun making this as it was a real change from my normal, draw-scan-retouch-colour on Photoshop work, so I may have gotten carried away a bit...anyway here's a sort of step by step of what I did...

1/ Collect all your cards/stickers/tags/tape/thread/buttons etc. Trim your cards/photos to a slightly larger size than your record cards. Mine were 3x5.










 2/ This pic just shows the various ideas I came up with...printed paint/pinked edges/cutout
sections/stickers and tags with the months on. I have also covered the back of these cards with brown paper or the insides of envelopes.











3/ I have these little letter blocks but unfortunately didn't have black ink! So black acrylic it was and it worked just fine. I used each side of the cards so one day each side.











4/ I also added in a 'birthdays' card to go at the front of each month as a reminder of upcoming celebrations! I used my pretty washi tape!











5/ Then organise into months and get writing!













 
6/ I'm hoping to find a box to store the cards in but for now it's good old twine!









Hope you have a go, even if you file the idea away for next year! Just don't forget about it until February like I did! Come back later in the week for another 'make' I'm not going to tell you when or what you'll just have to wait and see...have good weeks people!x

welcome...

Hello lovely people, glad you can join me again...did you have good weekends? Good...now before we dive into a new week of posts (starting with a fab little 'make') I thought I would take a minute to welcome all my new readers....I think I have gained about 15 new readers in the last 10 days so I thought maybe a littletree re-cap was in order. Plus, as some regular readers may have noticed there have been a few design/layout changes here at the blog recently so if you are wondering where some things have gone do not fear I have probably just moved it somewhere!

So apart from a new banner I have re-arranged the page tabs and added a few extra buttons, here is whats what...

1/ I still have the Etsy and Society6 shops I have just merged the two tabs to one and if you click the tab it will take you to a page with links to both shops...
2/ Again I have a personal Website and Behance Portfolio which are now both under the same tab which will take you to a page with links to both...
3/ Instead of having a long (very long) list of blogs on the side of the blog I have created a new tab for all of my MUST READ blogs which also includes my fave Online Magazines too! I am going to try and keep this updated as often as I can!
4/ These new links in the sidebar are to take you straight to some of the more regular post features I have here on the blog...so go explore!

Hope that helps readers new and old alike? Have a jolly good nose around and visit some of my other pages, I would love to hear what you think! Ok, enough serious stuff...time for some crafty fun...

pinterest pick of the week...

Hellooooo Friday! Have you all had good weeks? Mine has been pretty good, the snow has kind of forced me to stay in and work but also get a little crafty so there are a few 'makes' headed your way next week...back to this week and our Pinterest pick of the week...Quilling! Now I always thought that quilling was a bit twee, but after seeing this pic above (by Lisa Nilsson) which is amazing, I was determined to see what else was new in the world of quilling...and I was pleasantly surprised! I am loving the quilled inspirational sayings below...they are just stunning! So enjoy re-discovering this craft with my fave picks from the board Quilling Inspiration by Valerie Tate Williams, click on the links for sources...

And one last little one that is also a super simple quilling diy found HERE, so if you fancy giving it a try let me know! 

I thought it might come in handy for some weekend Valentines craftiness! See you next week x

littletree discovers...Imaginative Bloom

Image HERE Necklaces by RachellovesBob

Hello again my lovely readers! Another new discovery today...I pinned the above image yesterday and intrigued by their loveliness I followed the link and came across this wonderful site, Imaginative Bloom.

Started by Irene Zuccarello it is a place to share all things handmade, every item is carefully chosen 'with the intent to be inspiring and interesting to share.' Imaginative Bloom 'supports the genuine handmade, the art’s production and all the passionate and craftive minds behind this that stands out for their originality...' Irene lives in Treviso, Italy which is a short hop to one of the most inspirational cities in the world, Venice, so I think she knows a thing a or two about pretty stuff!

Imaginative Bloom is a pretty special place packed with inspiration, advice and a real sense of community for creative people of any discipline to come and share their work and ideas...so what are you waiting for? Hop on over here and get inspired! To get you started here are a few more pics from the article that contains the lovely necklaces above...I'm off to check out some more right now, enjoy!x

Image HERE Rings by The Angry Weather

Image HERE Bracelets by Thief&Bandit

littletree discovers...Yoke

How is it Wednesday already?! Where is the week going...anyhoo, today I am sharing a relatively new find with you...I discovered the work of Yoke a little while back (not sure where now!) and added their shop to my favourites list immediately, but then I am always doing that and forgetting, so every now and then I like to go back through my (long) list and refresh my memory of all the lovely shops I've added! So I am sharing the loveliness of Yoke with you today...

Run by Mark and Zoe, or Mr and Mrs Yoke as they have become known, they produce a range of bright and beautiful prints, cards, tea towels and bags which they sell online here. All of the designs start life as cut paper and then turned into a screen print to be transferred onto all of the products above! My favourites are definitely the 'Bish Bash Bosh' tea towels and the 'Oddball' print (below) although I would love any of their prints, I'm not fussy! Do you like? If so pop by their website or shop to see even more...x

All Pictures/Designs/Images owed by Yoke from their website and shop.