Craft Chatterbox Blog

Ga-Ga for Gin - Christmas makes in under 30 mins

22/12/2018

Do you fancy a wee bit of crafting before Christmas? Or maybe you’d in like to make a last minute personalised gift? Well, I figured I’d share a few of the fast and easy projects I’ve been making for my friends and family this year. I’ve even uploaded the files for you to help get you cracking straight away - click here.

I’m a big fan of gin, so the current craze suits me well. You’ll notice that gin features heavily in my projects ;)

Secret message socks - if you can read this fetch me a G&T and gin bauble christmas gift by craft chatterbox blog.

Gin Baubles

Edinburgh based Pickerings Gin sell these super cute gin baubles. You get 6 multi coloured baubles in a pack and each bauble is a double measure. You can refill for next time too! I bought mine from local wine shops Cornelius on Easter Road and Valvonna and Corolla on Elm Row for £30 but I’ve noticed John Lewis and other shops have them online - JL currently have them at half price, kerching!

Personalised pickerings gin bauble by craft chatterbox blog

To personalise, I choose the Magnolia Sky font which has the benefit of being jaunty so you don’t have to be too precious when placing on the bauble (great time saver). The font size is 36 and I did a 0.01cm offset which both welds the letters together and makes it ever so slightly bolder and easier to cut and weed.

Another time saver is the vinyl you choose. Picking a vinyl that cuts and weeds beautifully even on small and intricate designs makes your task a joy instead of a tribulation. My favourite vinyl for this hands down is crafty cutter premium rose gold. This stuff is a-maz-ing.
I tend to place the the letters so that the highest point sits at the top of the liquid level.

I got some little advent boxes from Sainsbury's - 24 for £3 which the baubles and socks fit perfectly into )

Secret message socks

I’ve been meaning to do these for a few years now. Basically htv is applied to the soles of socks, so the message can only be read if you have your feet up. I like to be a bit fancy, so chose bamboo socks from Boots and nice foil effect vinyl also from Crafty Cutter. I actually used part of the gin baubles box to slide into the socks to stretch them slightly and allow uniform placement. The foil vinyl has a good amount of stretch which makes it well suited to this project.

Gin prints

A while back I posted a tutorial on foiling with a laminator and laser printer. Here’s a really effective way to make your own prints and you don’t need any artistic ability either! Simply snap a photo and use a free app that converts your photos into a sketch such as this one. Then it’s just a matter of printing your image and foiling it. Boom, you’ve got yourself a lovely foiled print in under 10 mins for the cost of a sheet of hot foil and piece of paper or card! I've included my gunpowder and jawbox gin prints here if you'd like to jump straight to the print and foil step :)

Step 1: original photo

Step 2: Use an app to convert to a sketch

Quick and easy gold foiled gin print

Snow globes

And finally a little gift for kiddos- I decided not to feature gin in this one haha! I got these rose gold snow globes in Boots for £6 but on 3 for 2 offer. The globe pops off the base and you can slot your own photos or decorations in the middle. I used my favourite pearl paper from Anna Marie Designs and used rose gold and opal vinyls from Crafty Cutter.

Glitter snow globe made by craft chatterbox blog. Personalised message using pearl paper and rose gold and opal vinyl by crafty cutter

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Muck N Brass Furniture Luxecyling Workshop

17/8/2018

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I had a fab wee weekend down in London last week catching up with friends and shopping my wee heart out. I also managed to fit in a furniture upcycling, or indeed luxecycling, course at Muck N Brass. I couldn't believe my luck when I saw that Zoe was running a workshop the very weekend that I was visiting. Check out my fabulous side table that I painted and decoupaged with beautiful designer wallpaper!

Fusion Mineral Paint

I discovered Muck N Brass through my interest in Fusion Mineral Paint. I was lurking on Instagram, lusting over some beautiful furniture upcycles and noticed that my favourite ones were all using Fusion. Now, I may have mentioned previously that I'm not a fan of chalk paints such as Annie Sloan's at all. I find them hard to work with and I don't like the rustic, thick paint strokes and distressed finishes. I much prefer a completely smooth, flat, matte finish. I'm pretty devoted to General Finishes Milk Paint, but upon reading some reviews of the Fusion Mineral Paint range, I noticed that they shared similar characteristics - both are self-levelling, matte, low prep and durable. I spoke to the lovely Nicky from Done Up North and she told me that if I enjoy working with GF Milk paint, I would like Fusion too. Check out all the lovely colours in the Fusion range:

Table Manners Workshop

In the Muck N Brass Table Manners Workshop we got to pick out our own solid wood end table and then learnt all the steps to upcycle it. We covered prep, painting techniques using the Fusion Mineral Paint and also decoupage using designer wallpapers or luxury gift wrap. When I hear the word decoupage, I think shabby chic vintage roses, but nothing could be further from that on this course. We're talking bold and graphic designs and even included some absolutely fabulous wallpaper designed by and exclusive to Muck N Brass.

The course was £150 which includes all the tuition, materials, teas and coffees plus lunch. You have the table plus an information pack to take home afterwards! It runs from 10am to 2pm.

Would I Recommend?

I considered the workshop really excellent value for money and would thoroughly recommend to all levels of experience from complete novice to avid upcycler. Zoe is an excellent and fun teacher and she went above and beyond in helping me to get my side table back to Edinburgh!

Regarding the Fusion paint, I liked it but found it a little harder to work with compared to GF Milk Paint. I loved the colours and durability, but found it left brush strokes which I don't normally get. I read that it can be sprayed so I'll defo try that and I've also bought their Ultra Grip which preps even the craziest surface to accept paint such as glass and laminate. At the moment I feel that there is room in my life for both General Finishes and Fusion Mineral Paints :)

Comparison of the finish between General Finishes Milk Paint and Fusion Mineral Paint by Craft Chatterbox blog

Zoe On Tour?

Zoe will be up in Glasgow for a while filming a show for the BBC (she's proper famous don't you know?!). I told her that I know lots of people who would love to take a class up in Scotland and so she's looking into it. I'll keep you posted if she manages to get something organised!

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Rose Gold Wedding Paper Cut With Free Cut File

11/6/2018

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I've been AWOL for quite a while, but don't worry I've been crafting like crazy. I have also doing lots of home improvements, so I've lots to catch up with you about!

Free Cut File to Download

As its wedding season, the first project I'm sharing is my geometric papercuts, including a free cut file that you can download here. I've included the file both in SVG and also GSD format (for those who use the basic Silhouette Studio software).

Free geometric papercut file from Craft Chatterbox blog. SVG and Silhouette studio compatible files

Click to download

Two Options: Floating and Edge to Edge

I couldn't decide whether to have the papercut floating or edge to edge within the frame, so I've included both options. I ended up cutting both and I included the smaller papercut on a greetings card to give the choice. For the perfectionists amongst us, the border around the smaller papercut allows you to perfectly centre the papercut within the frame.

Crafty Cutter High Shine Rose Gold Vinyl

Crafty cutter is the queen of speciality effect vinyl and she has a massive range of rose gold self-adhesive and heat transfer vinyls. Here's the unboxing video of a giant order I did at Christmas time if you're interested in seeing more:

She now sells a new high shine rose gold vinyl which is also rose gold on the reverse - great for glasses etc. Charlotte kindly sent me a sheet to try and I'm in love. It cuts and weeds like a dream and I think it looks ace on this project. It's currently priced at £2.50 per A4 sheet.

Other Supplies

FRAME: I got the frame for £6 from BHS, which I've just seen is closing down again:( I have seen the same frames from Boots and Paperchase, albeit at a higher price point
PAPER: I used 125gsm hammer paper from Paperchase
CARD: I used 300gsm hammer card from Hobbycraft for the greetings card
FONT: I used the Strong Glasgow by Hero Fonts which is free for personal use

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Giant knitted Blanket (Arm Knitting)

26/2/2018

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The days are mercifully getting longer here in Scotland as we edge into spring, but it's still mighty cold. The 'Beast from the East' weather snap is upon us and the gritters with their cute names are out in force. So, I thought I'd courie-in (one of my favourite Scottish words meaning to nestle or snuggle) and tell you all about my giant knit merino wool blanket.

What is Extreme / Arm Knitting?

Unlike extreme ironing, which is crazy and perilous, extreme knitting is a cosy, fun and quick activity. Super-sized yarn is knit as normal, but instead of regular needles, you use your forearms instead. Alternatively, you can invest in a lovely pair of giant needles or make your own from some curtain poles or PVC piping. You can use jumbo chunky yarn, or like me opt for raw roving.

Extreme knitting with 19.5 micron merino wool using 40mm needles. Blog by Craft Chatterbox

Woolly Mahoosive

Woolly Mahoosive website

I bought my wool from Woolly Mahoosive and found the owner Andrea very helpful when I messaged her with questions. This is definitely a luxury product, a 4kg ball of 19.5 micron superfine giant merino costs £160, but there is a more budget friendly'Mammoth' acrylic version for £60. I bought a giant ball of each - the merino colour is denim and mammoth is midnight, but I have to say that my heart belongs to the merino.

The lower the micron, the finer the yarn,

Whilst the merino is pricey, it does represent good value compared to the other shops I considered. Prices were very similar, but as the other shops were abroad, postage and tax was high. Moreover, Woolly Mahoosive sell exceptionally soft 19.5 micron compared to the standard 23 micron that I found elsewhere.

Needles

Excuse the childish staging!

I decided to buy the giant 40mm by 80cm knitting needles as part of a set with the wool, but I they seem to be sold separately now - here. I was a bit disappointed when one of the ends of the needles came off when I started knitting. Instead of fixing with wood glue, I taped with my bright ducky tape which helped remind me if I was on a knit or purl row!

My Extreme Knitting Calculator

Here is a little calculator that I made to help you know how much wool to buy and how many stitches to cast on. Please note that these are approximate amounts and will depend on your tension, knitting method and needles size.

The Knitty-Gritty

I knit the blanket in exactly the same way as I would with normal size wool and needles. As the wool takes centre stage, it works best with simple stitches, so I alternated rows of knit and purl to give a traditional stockinette stitch. The roving is very delicate, so ensure that the wool is not under tension. I accidentally broke the wool at one point by tugging too hard, but thisYouTube video showed me how to join the ends again. If you've not knitted before, or would like a recap, here are 4 good knitting videos covering the basics.

I watched a couple of movies, so would say it took me about 4 or 5 hours in total - such a blissful way to spend an evening!

Felting and Washing

Lightly felting your wool helps decrease shedding an prolong the life of your blanket. Many guides I read were quite complicated and were often conflicting so I contacted Andrea from Woolly Mahoosive for advice. Here is the guide Andrea supplied - her process was thankfully very quick and easy.

The acrylic wool can go in the washing machine but not the merino. Here’s a guide I found about caring for your merino blanket.

The Finished Blanket

As usual, this is not an affiliated post in any way. I paid full price for my supplies and all my opinions are my own.

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Top Ten Tip to Save Vinyl and Reduce Waste

18/2/2018

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If like me you hate wasting media and want to utilise every last wee bit, I have some top tips that I've picked up over the years. I'm particularly excited about tip 10 which saves lots of vinyl and helps alignment if you have multiple colours.

1. Do a Test Cut

Before you cut the entire design, it's always a good idea to check the settings if you're using a new material. In the SEND menu, adjust the cut speed, pressure and blade, then in the bottom right corner, there is a 'Test Print' button. This will cut a small square with a triangle inside. If this has cut fine, you can proceed to cut your design, confident that the settings are correct. If not, adjust and try again - use the arrow buttons highlighted below to move the blade to a different start position on the mat.

How to save vinyl and reduce waste from Craft Chatterbox blog. Tip number one, do a test cut

2. Add a Weeding Box

Add a simple rectangle around your design. I think this is better than cutting out the vinyl with scissors before or after you cut, as you can space designs much closer together and have nice straight lines which can help with placement. You can go a step further and add weed lines, further breaking up the design and making it easier to weed in sections. Silhouette Studio Business Edition offers an automated feature for this.

How to save vinyl and reduce waste from Craft Chatterbox blog. Tip number two, add a weeding box

3. Check Your Cut Whilst The Mat is Still Loaded

Before you unload your mat, it's always a good idea to check and see if the design has cut OK. I normally just weed the counter from a letter O or such like. This tip is particularly useful if you're a gung ho kind of crafter and you've not done a test cut! If your design has not cut through, you can send to cut again and because the mat is still loaded, it will cut in the exact same position.

How to save vinyl and reduce waste from Craft Chatterbox blog. Tip number three, before unloading mat, test try to weed a small piece. If it hasn't cut well, send it again and it'll cut in exactly the correct position

4. Nest your designs

Try and arrange your designs in the most space efficient way within Silhouette Studio. Consider rotating some shapes to fit. The Designer Edition and up has a Nest function, but I find it can behave erratically, so I tend to just arrange myself. Here is how I've laid out a project I was working on yesterday - I've rotated some shapes and even made a jaunty weeding box to save a little bit extra vinyl!

How to save vinyl and reduce waste from Craft Chatterbox blog. Tip number four, nest designs and consider rotating them to fit

5. Utilise empty space

I like to utilise any empty space by cutting out extra desgins. In particular, I like to add little HTV or cut fabric details to the sleeves, feet and bum on baby onesies.

How to save vinyl and reduce waste from Craft Chatterbox blog. Tip number five, utilise empty space. For example cut small designs to add to a baby onesie sleeve, feet or bum.

6. Use Arrow buttons to Cut from a Different Start Position

Arrow buttons exist to navigate the blade to start cutting in a different position. I had used these for adjusting where I wanted my test cut to start, but had never thought of using them for other cuts until I found this awesome tip from Kay over at from Cleversomeday

7. Reverse Weed Intricate Designs

This technique really helps if you have lots of small pieces. Once your design is cut, apply the transfer tape before weeding to the whole design. Remove the backing paper and flip over. Now you can remove the vinyl from the transfer tape, sticky side up. The transfer tape holds the vinyl in place, meaning small pieces are less likely to be removed accidentally, in a similar way to how weeding works for heat transfer vinyl. Here's a super quick video

8. Cut SPareS - Especially Dots for LeTter i's

I can not tell you the amount of times I have lost the dot belonging to a letter i and I have to go back and cut more. Now, if I'm doing a tiny design, I'll cut spare dots, commas etc in case one goes missing.

9. Reuse Transfer Tape and Keep HTV Backing Sheets

Transfer tape can be used several times before it loses all it's sticky. Similarly, the backing sheet left over after you have applied your Heat Transfer Vinyl can be saved and it can come in handy for lots of things. For example, if you cut too deeply into your HTV and have cut part or fully through the backing sheet, place your saved backing sheet on top of the damaged one. You can now weed as normal. It also comes in handy if for applying fabric appliques and for my favourite tip of all, tip number 10:

10. Mirrored Print-Out Hack

This is a variation on the hack I read about in Silhouette School.

Silhoette School alignment trick to save vinyl

In this hack, the design is cut in separate pieces to save vinyl. A piece of HTV backing kept from a previous project is used to hold the pieces in position. I don't bother with the sharpie and pen holder though, instead I mirror the full design and just print it on copy paper. I simply place the print out on the desk and put the carrier sheet sticky side up and continue as with the Silhouette School method. This also means that the carrier can be reused again.

This hack also works for self adhesive vinyl. I did this for a blank clock I got from Acrylic Craft recently. Instead of being able to make only 1 design with an a4 sheet of vinyl, this hack can fit 5 designs! Apologies if anyone is easily offended there is a sweary word (it's only half as naughty if it's said in an Irish accent).

How to save vinyl and reduce waste from Craft Chatterbox blog. Tip number ten, using my print out hack, you can make 5 designs in an A4 sheet of vinyl instead of just one

I printed my clock design in mirror image and then placed clear transfer tape on top, sticky side up (as my tape is only 6 inches wide, I joined two bits) and secured to my desk with washi tape. I then cut and weeded each of the 12 clock points as normal (I didn't mirror, just cut in the usual way). I took each smaller piece and placed it sticky side up, on the large transfer tape with the help of the print out to position it. So, I had paper, large transfer tape, small transfer tape and vinyl - all sticky side up and ready to apply.

How to save vinyl and reduce waste from Craft Chatterbox blog. Tip number ten, how to save vinyl using my mirror print out hack

The ring is the outside edge of the clock, so the arcs do not apply to the surface - I just used them to ensure I had placed the vinyl correctly on the clock. I burnished with a squeegee and then removed the large and small pieces of transfer tape (saving the large pieces).

How to save vinyl and reduce waste from Craft Chatterbox blog. Tip number ten, my clock with vinyl applied using my minimal wastage mirror print out hack

After toying about with it, I decided that 12 O'clock should be the letter F rather than the exclamation mark.

Fecking Late Clock by Craft Chatterbox blog

I hope you found this blog post useful and I'd be very keen to hear if you have any other vinyl saving tips or tricks.

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How To Make Your Own Foil Prints and Stickers

19/1/2018

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Tutorial on how to make your own foil prints and stickers using a laser printer, a laminator and foiling sheets. Reviews and recommnedations of Foiling products by Craft Chatterbox blog

I'm very excited to bring this tutorial to you today as I've been a foiling-mad woman for quite a while now! I've recorded a video which shows you how to foil your own prints. I've also covered foiling stickers and how you can layer foiling on top of inkjet printed backgrounds. I compare the different foils and give tips on the best printers and card.

To help get you started, I'm giving away a bumper pack of free printable designs - links at the bottom of this post.

Why A Laser Printout?

Laser printers don’t use water soluable ink, instead they use tiny granules of black plastic called toner. Laser printers uses static electricity to arrange the toner onto the page and then the hot rollers melt it and fuse it to the paper. If we heat the page again, the toner will melt and become a perfectly precise glue that the foil will stick to. Any parts of the paper that are white stay white, whereas anything printed black will be covered with foil.

Before - a normal black and white laser print out. Gold foil is placed on top and run through a hot laminator, giving the final foiled result. Tutorial on toner foiling by Craft Chatterbox

Bee image by Nic Squirrell https://www.silhouettedesignstore.com/view-shape/148628

Inkjet Printouts Won't Work, but that can be useful

Inkjet printers will not work, but the fact that they aren't reactive can be used to our advantage. We can print any design, using black or coloured inks as a background, safe in the knowledge that the foils won't stick to them. We can then take the inkjet printout and run it through the laser printer, this time printing the design that we want foiled.

Foiled designs can be layered on top of inkjet printed images, here the stripes are inkjet and the wording is laser printed and foiled. Tutorial by Craft Chatterbox blog.

Inkjet printed background stripes with laser printed and foiled centre

Foiled designs can be layered on top of inkjet printed images. This is marble patterned wrapping paper, but equally inkjet printed pattern would work too. The wording is laser printed and foiled. Tutorial by Craft Chatterbox blog.

This is marble patterned wrapping paper, but inkjet printed background would also work.

Printer Tips

Mono laser printers that only print in black and white are better than colour ones as apparently the formulation of the black toner is different. I originally bought a Canon printer from John Lewis but had to return it as it kept getting paper jams. In the end I bought a Samsung MD3220ND from Printerland, currently £117.58 as it was the only printer I could find under £500 that could take cardstock up to 220gsm.
If you don't want to buy a laser printer, you can get your local print shop or chain such as Staples to print you copies. Photocopiers also use toner if you have access to one.

Foiling Sheets

The Minc Rose Gold foil comes in a roll which is handy. I bought mine from Amazon UK for £7.37 and it shipped from America (there is no import taxes as the value is under the threshold).

Deco foil by thermoweb foiling sheets. Foiling Tutorial by Craft Chatterbox

The Deco Foil Rose Gold foil comes in 6 by 12 inch sheets of 5 or 20. The 5 sheet tube is £6.42 and comes with free next day delivery if you have Prime. The larger pack of 20 is £7.16 but ships from America, also no import tax.

Patsy May Toner foiling sheets. Foiling Tutorial by Craft Chatterbox

Patsy May, a UK company sell 15m rolls of metallic foil in widths of 10, 20 and 30cm for £6, £10 and £15 respectively. They also sell holographic and patterned foils in the same sizes and prices. The postage is £2.70, but even adding this, these foils work out the cheapest.

My favourite is the Deco Foil, but in the video, the Patsy May foils actually performed really well on stickers.

Card and Paper

My favourite white card to use is Color Copy by Mondi, its bright white and super smooth, especially formulated for laser printers but also works well with inkjet for those layered looks.

Mondi Color Copy 200gsm is great for foiling. Tutorial by Craft Chatterbox

Mondi Color Copy A4 200gsm £13.11 from Amazon with free Prime delivery.

I also like the super smooth card from Anna Marie Designs which is £5.99 for 50 sheets.

I'm a massive fan of an innovative paper from Italy called The Tube, sold by Paperstory, both for foiling and for paper cutting. It has a latex like finish and 10 sheets are £3.10. There are a variety of colours, my favourite are the matte black, petrol blue and graphite grey.

My favourite papers to foil with. Matte Black 'The Tube' paper from Paperstory. Image is #4051032 from Vectorstock. Foiling tutorial by Craft Chatterbox blog

Matte Black 'The Tube' paper from Paperstory. Image #4051032 from Vectorstock

Tip For Silhouette Users when Foiling Stickers

Stickers look great foiled, I particularly like to make foiled return address labels.

Foiled stickers cut with a Silhouette Cameo, but circle punches can also be used.

For those with Silhouette Cameo cutting machines, the Cameo 3 having two blades is great for stickers. I do a light kiss cut which cuts the circles but not the backing paper (blade 1 force 5) using the left blade. It then automatically moves on to cut with more force (blade 2 force 27) through the full sheet using the right blade. Once you've cut the stickers and removed the registration marks, then you can foil as normal.

Cutting stickers with the Cameo 3. Kiss cut with the first blade then fully cut the sheet to remove registration marks with the second blade. Do this in a single pass using the cut by line option within the Send menu

How to kiss cut then trim the sticker sheets in a single pass using the cut by line option.

FREEBIES!

Please feel free to download and use the following PDF printable freebies that I have designed (personal use only). I've also included SVG and Silhouette Studio Compatible formats (GSD) if you'd rather cut the designs instead of foil them. The PDFs are black and white, I've just shown them in gold to help envisage the final product. Click on the images to open the download links

Free printable PDF file for foiling by Craft Chatterbox. You Make Me Happy When Skies Are Grey

Fool For Love font https://mistifonts.com/fool-for-love/ Arsenale White font https://www.dafont.com/arsenale-white.font

Free printable PDF file for foiling by Craft Chatterbox. Silently Correcting Your Grammar

Ostrich Sans font https://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/ostrich-sans

Free printable PDF file for foiling by Craft Chatterbox. Origami insects

Icons created by Agne Alesiute and kindly shared under Creative Commons licence. https://thenounproject.com/grrrauf/collection/origami-animals/

Free printable PDF file for foiling by Craft Chatterbox. Insect mandala

Icons made by Freepik and kindly shared under creative commons licence https://www.flaticon.com/pack/animal-kingdom

Free PDF printable by Craft Chatterbox. Little Sleep Thief foiling file.

I Love Glitter font by Misti Fonts http://mistifonts.com/i-love-glitter/

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Origami christmas baubles - free templates

23/12/2017

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Origami christmas baubles free pdf printable and silhouette cut files plus video tutorial from craftchatterbox blog

This year, I went for a dark blue and rose gold theme for my christmas tree and got a wee bit obsessed making origami baubles!

Free PDF Printables and Silhouette Cut and Score Files

I've got some free PDF printable templates. For those with cutting machines, I have included a folder with Silhouette compatible cut and score files and also a folder of SVGs for Cricut users. Link for free files

Youtube Tutorials

I've previously shared a written tutorial for the diamond and pear shaped lanterns on Silhouette UK - here. I think origami is definately something which is easier understood with a video though, so here's my YouTube tutorial:

I also did a video on how to construct the origami spheres

Gallery

Silhouette settings

The paper I was using was my favy-fav pearlescent 120gsm paper from Anna Marie Designs.

I cut with a blade 2 force 27 and scored with a blade 2 force 2. I really recommend experimenting as it will vary massively depending on your paper and also blade condition.

Double-Sided Scoring for Silhouette

Most of the time, I just cut and score everything on the same side of the paper. The spheres however have an interesting feature that all the diagonal lines fold one way (mountain) and all the straight lines fold the other way (valley). So I decided to score the diagonal lines and cut the outside edge, then pause the machine. I didn't unload the mat, but just flipped over the paper, fitting it back into it's rectangle so I knew everything was still aligned. The machine then resumed - scoring the vertical lines and cutting out the circles for stringing. Here's a screenshot of my send menu.

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Mid Century Modern Furniture Shops In Scotland

29/9/2017

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If you, like I, swoon over the sleek, elegant lines of Mid Century Modern Furniture, here is my guide to the best places to find it in Edinburgh, Glasgow and central Scotland. Join me in my mission to bring more Mad Men style to our homes!

Mid Century Modern Market at Drill Hall Edinburgh

The timing for this blog post is fortuitous, as today I will be popping along to a new market that's dedicated to MCM design and furniture. It's held in Drill Hall on Dalmeny Street in Leith and launches today, Sunday 1st October. The market will be held quarterly.

**Blog update** So I went along at 2pm. Apparantly it was super crazy busy when it opened at 12, so much so that it was difficult to move. So, whilst it was calmer by the time I arrived, I was told that a lot of the best stock had also been sold. Regardless, there was still a nice selection to browse. I was particularly impressed by https://www.c20home.co.uk/ - they had a particularly some lovely restored ercol sofa (sold) and rocking chair that I very very nearly bought. See below for some snaps of that day

Gumtree, EBay and Newsnow

Gumtree is probably the easiest and cheapest place to find MCM furniture. It's where I found my TV unit, dressing table and chest of drawers and is also where I found many sellers listed below. Key words I search for are retro, mid century, teak, g plan, danish, 50s or 60s.

EBay tends to be a bit more expensive, but has a bigger range if you are prepared to travel or have the item delivered without seeing it in person

A great site I love is Newsnow, as it trawls both Gumtree and EBay, along with other classified sites. I was getting really irked by the ads that I'd accidentally click on when scrolling listings on Gumtree whilst on my iphone, so this site thankfully alleviated that.

Paris Proctor & Dog - Kinross

I found Sam on gumtree and visited him in scenic Kinross (half an hour from Edinburgh) when I was on my quest for a cocktail cabinet. Whilst I didn't find a cabinet, I did take home a lovely chair for my craft room. I had a good old chin wag with Sam who's a lovely bloke and true enthusiast for MCM furniture. Paris Proctor & Dog on Facebook and Instagram.

Jimmy's Retro Furniture - Musselburgh (Edinburgh)

On the subject of dogs, Jimmy is an adorable parson terrier, who photobombs his owner Gav's wonderful furniture finds. The warehouse is based in Musselburgh and is by appointment only, Gav can arrange delivery too. Follow on Jimmy's Retro Furniture on Facebook and Instagram

Retro Interiors - Glasgow

This is one of the best and largest collections of retro furniture in the UK, indeed buyers often come up from London to shop here. John the owner has this massive warehouse stuffed to the rafters and there is room after room of gorgeous stuff. I did get FOMO (fear of missing out) because there are so many warrens and items stacked up high. You can't research beforehand on Facebook or Instagram, instead go along and explore this treasure trove in person- 569 South Street, Glasgow G14 0QX Tel: 07803 235 651

Kean On Antiques - Glasgow

Another shop I found on Gumtree, I bought my little cocktail cabinet from Ryan that I then upcycled with an Orla Kiely style stencil that I made. A great shop with keen (haha did you see what I did there?!) prices. Kean on Antiques on Facebook.

Caroline Key at Trash Furnishing - Edinburgh

Caroline upcycles mid century furniture just around the corner from me in Edinburgh and does an absolutely stunning job. I'm very keen to have her work her magic on a piece for me soon! Trash Furnishing on Facebook.

C/O Caroline Key - Trash Furnishing

L'Atelier Vintage - Edinburgh

I've not purchased (yet!) from L'Atelier Vintage, as their stock moves quickly. I'm looking forward to meeting them at the market and to seeing some of their pieces in person. L'Atelier Vintage on Facebook and website.

L'Atelier Vintage - Mid Century Modern shops in Edinburgh and Central Scotland

Bra Bohag - Edinburgh

This shop on Easter Road in Edinburgh houses beautiful scandi MCM furniture, art and ceramics. Bra Bohag on Facebook.

Bra Bohag in Edinburgh - Scandi Mid Century Modern furniture shop

Have I Missed Any?

If there are any other lovely shops and dealers of mid century modern goodies, I'd love to hear from you!

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Creativity and Sociability

13/8/2017

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I visited London last week and decided I'd use Airbnb instead of a hotel. I've used Airbnb before when renting the entire apartment, but never a room. I decided to take the plunge and force myself to be more sociable, something I've been conscious I need to work on lately. Anyway, it wasn't anything like work, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and met a kindred spirit in my host Richard. Indeed, when he told me about the Tom Dixon designer sample sale, I asked to tag along and we had such a laugh.

Richard and Matthew's lovely Airbnb guest room

Show and tell - admiring our loot in over carrot cake and coffee in a Portobello cafe

I got a little message from Richard after he'd seen my recent post about my kitchen refurb. He was inspired to get crafty himself, so made over some Ikea drawers with marble contact paper.

CRaft Dates

Next Saturday I've arranged a craft day at my place for Lorna's lovely mum-in-law Babs and her pal Ros. Bab's in a champion knitter and lover of all things crafty, so we figured it would be really fun to have a wee day showing each other hints and tips and making things whilst we natter over tea and biccies.

I'm also meeting up with an arty pal whilst I'm on holiday in America and once I'm home, I've booked in another day with Lorna's wee cuz Ava to make her fabulous sparkly things, most likely involving unicorns!

I'll make sure to take some pics and will update the post.

Facebook Groups

I gave up my jeweller's bench a while back and whilst it's lovely to craft at home I think inserting a bit of sociability into crafting and making is always good. Sharing ideas, top purchases and getting and giving troubleshooting help makes things so much more fun. I'm a member of a few facebook groups and really appreciate all the help and belly laughs there too. If you are in the UK and have a Silhouette, check out Silhouette Cameo Crafters Support U.K. I tend to favour the UK ones as the products and shops are available, but the mainly American Silhouette CAMEO Project Inspiration is worth joining too - it's very active.

So folks, get collaborating, share any crafty projects you've been doing on my Facebook page, I'd love to see all the awesome stuff you're making! Nadine x

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Make Oversized Stencils With Silhouette Cameo

13/8/2017

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Make large stencils with Silhouette CAMEO. Tutorial on Craft Chatterbox blog.

In my recent Kitchen Refurb project, I used my Silhouette Cameo cutting machine to make some large scale stencils and today I'll share the two techniques that I used. For the splashback, I pieced together 6 a4 sticker sheets and used registration shapes to align them, whereas for my cocktail cabinet upcycle, I cut long continuous lengths of vinyl from a roll.

Piece Together Smaller Stencils Using Registration Marks

For the splashback, I wanted a gentle stencil material that wouldn't damage or lift my dark grey paint. I decided to use my favourite metallic sticker paper from Poundland (£1 for 8 sheets). The only problem is that these stickers are A4 in size, so I needed 6 sheets to make up the stencil. To make sure that I was aligning my sheets exactly, I cut little squares along the sides which formed registration marks. Once I piece the 6 sheets into one, I covered over the squares

I'm a big fan of the Whatcha Working On blog and Eff recently did a tutorial on large wall decals. She used the same registration idea as I did, but used stars instead of squares (any shape with corners is fine). In the wall decal tutorial, the stars are used to align then removed, in much the same way as I uses the squares to combine the sheets before then covering them. Check out Eff's guide on How to Divide a Large Wall Decal in Silhouette Studio - the principles are exactly the same for a stencil.

Cut Long Lengths of Vinyl Directly from the Roll

My cocktail cabinet is quite narrow, so I didn't need to piece together separate stencils, but at 90cm high, it's much longer than even my biggest 12 by 24 inch mat. I therefore decided to cut my stencil without a mat, directly from the roll. I normally cut everything from a mat, even vinyl despite the fact it has a backing sheet so doesn't strictly need it.

TOP TIP 1: Ensure the top of your vinyl is cut crisply and is as straight as possible

Cutting without a mat works just fine, but it's very important to load it straight. If your vinyl doesn't have a nice clean edge it may load wonkily or not at all. Similarly, if not cut square, you'll find the vinyl will eventually slope off it's rollers. The back of your vinyl will likely have a grid to keep you right and I recommend using a rotary cutter if you have one.

TOP TIP 2: Position Clear of Obstructions
I placed my Silhouette Cameo on the floor, making sure there were no obstructions

TOP TIP 3: Use Arrow Keys to Test Feeding
I used the arrow keys on the machine to feed the vinyl through and test that the vinyl would load through for long lengths without any issue. I was tempted to buy the roll feeder, but decided I wouldn't use it enough to merit the outlay (and storage!).

For more tip's check out How to cut without a mat on your Silhouette

Use the Hinge Method

Spray Tent

Oh how I yearn for a garage! Unfortunately adding a garage to a lovely apartment in Edinburgh's city centre comes at an eye watering price, so I've come up with a slightly barmy idea that works for me! I bought a deluxe aqua dome tent which is really quite big at over 2m tall and 1.65m square. It's ample size for the furniture I need to paint and I don't have to worry about fumes as the paint I use (General Finishes) is non-toxic and has no odour. My colleague thought I'd be a disaster trying to put it up, even asking me to Facebook Live it! I defied his mockery though and was quite happy that it was up within 30 minutes.

Finished Product

Bloopers and Outtakes

I'd never want to make out that all my crafting projects go to plan. Normally there's always something that goes awry! On the splashback, I got some bleeding. Now normally the sticker paper is perfect, giving very crisp results, but the force of the HVLP sprayer must have been just a bit much for it. I just tided up with an artist's paintbrush. On the cabinet, I originally tried the wet application method, but it was a disaster, I couldn't get the vinyl to stick to the cabinet and the transfer tape wouldn't come off the vinyl either!

Big shout Out to Baillie Signs Edinburgh

A while back, I contacted Baillie Signs asking if they had any offcuts of vinyl. They generously gave me a few big rolls! Whilst not the colour I'd use to directly decorate items with, they work perfectly for stencils. Many crafter pals I know have struck up friendships with their local sign makers. It might be a handy way to buy smaller quantities instead of ordering online and if they are happy for you make pretty things from what would otherwise be waste, I think everyone wins :)

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Piece Together Smaller Stencils Using Registration Marks

Cut Long Lengths of Vinyl Directly from the Roll

Use the Hinge Method

Spray Tent

Finished Product

Bloopers and Outtakes

Big shout Out to Baillie Signs Edinburgh

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