Next up in my revamped photos are the greetings cards. This was how I originally started crafting many moons ago. My style has changed a bit since I first started, but I have never been into the ‘cutesy’ or more traditional type cards. Recycled materials have a place here too with the use of old stamps & patterened paper from junkmail / security envelopes. I can also make larger customised cards to order. In these days where we are swamped by cheap, mass produced, so-called ‘handmade’ cards (which really aren’t), & digital greetings it is nice to give or receive a proper handmade card, and support a small business.

#justacard

Next up in my updated photoshoot are my upcycled notebooks.

The ones made from floppy disks (all 3 sizes) are still my favourites. The original ones are spiral bound but I also now do longstitch versions, & hoping to add coptic binding to the mix.

The flat lego plates also make great book covers but it is getting harder to find them at a reasonable price so I think I’m going to have to move onto the copycat cheaper versions. All spiral bound, but again, I hope to do some coptic bound ones.

Old playing cards are another favourite. The ’52 Things I Love About You’ books are always popular. I love looking for random, interesting packs of cards in charity shops.

#upcyclednotebooks#recyclednotebooks#recycledfloppydisk#52thingsiloveaboutyou

Now that the 100daysprojectscotland is finished & Christmas craft fair season is approaching I can take the time to get some half-decent photos of the stuff I normally make. First up are my recycled plastic earrings which are made from some of the amazing colours of plastic bottles that would, at best get chucked in the recycling bin, or just dumped.

Coincidentally, yesterday we got a garden sieve, & while it was lying there all clean & shiny I thought “the earrings would look quite good on that” (my other half will definitely have something to say about it when he sees this post).

#recycledplasticjewellery#iusedtobeaplasticbottle

Well, that’s a wrap for this year. Thank you to everyone who came & bought things from me over the last couple of days. I hope to get properly back into the craft fair circuit next year. Also hoping to get the website revamped, and maybe get some online selling on the go as well.

My next craft fair will be at Holy Corner Community Playgroup in Bruntsfield

6a Morningside Rd, Edinburgh (Holy Corner)

It’s been a while since I made these but I sold quite a few at the craft fair last week so need to replenish stocks. These were the first notebooks I made, They are the easiest of the spiral notebooks to make as they only have 6 binding holes, which is the default size of my binding machine. Larger books with more than 6 holes require a bit more planning & thought. 10 holes or more can be done fairly easily using the machine’s extension feature but 8 holes (as in my lego books & 5.25″ floppy disk books) can’t be done this way, but I managed to work out a template, which was a bit of a hassle to do but was well worth it as it makes an 8-hole binding really quick to do.

Batch of Lego notebooks ready for the craft fair. I had forgotten how much fun it is to make these. I have a huge stash of ‘random paper’ ( plain, lined, graph, music, account book etc). Mostly from charity shops, although nowadays (ie post-covid) there is much less of this type of thing in charity shops so it is harder to find. Although I did mention I had a huge stash. The Lego bases are also harder to come by. I use the old (original) thin bases which are flat on the back, & are thin enough to fit in my binding machine. The newer ones are thicker (so you can build onto both sides), but are too thick for the binding machine. They do come in more jazzy colours though, so will probably get some & just drill holes & do a sewn binding rather than spiral. The other problem is that you used to be able to get the old ones fairly cheaply but now they are ‘collectable’ & people are selling them for ridiculous prices, especially any colours other than the more common grey or green.

Really I have been here all the time, still making things but ‘proper work’ got in the way more & more. Now I have retired I can get back into just making stuff. I did love my job but it was becoming less enjoyable due to endless paperwork, bureaucracy, & internal ‘politics’.

I am hoping to get back into the craft fair circuit & also start an online shop. So, to break myself back in gently I did a small local fair a couple of months ago & am doing this one (above) this Sunday, 5th November. There will be a pop-up cafe with all preceeds going to the food bank. There will also be a food bank drop-off point. Any money left from table hire, after paying for the hall hire will also go to the food bank. There will be lots of craft stalls all selling beautiful, locally-made goods.

Also hoping to update this website as it’s not that user-friendly & I don’t really like the layout so am preparing myself to trawl through some other themes to see what suits. Also badly need to update the gallery pics as they are so old & look very basic compared to what I am making nowadays.

So, watch this space!

Sorry I haven’t posted on here for a while. I will rectify this soon. Please see www.facebook.com/anjcraft for up-to-date news

Most of the cards I make are one-offs, as what I make usually depends on what idea pops into my head, what papers I have to hand, what my favoutite colour is at the moment & what mood I am in. There are however a few recurring themes that prove to be popular & fortunately I seem to be able to produce again & again. Here are my favourite cards to make at the moment. They will still always be slightly different depending on what paper I have – that’s what makes them unique.

1: Scrabble Birthday

2: Junk mail origami shirt

3: First class stamps

4: Dare to be different

5: Ewenique

6: Purrfect day