Taking my first steps.

Please, please, please be very gentle with me because these are my first steps into the unknown.

I first signed up to blogger back in November of 2006 so that I could leave messages on the blogs of some of my crafty and very talented friends but that was as far as I got, I never had the nerve to venture any further than that………. until now that is!

Oh well, one giant step as they say:-

My name is Susan, Sue to my friends and I’ve been crafting for as long as I can remember.

This is me but don’t expect to see too many photos of me in the future because I’m very camera shy and hate having my picture taken.

So what crafts do I get up to..............well, cross stitching has to be my first love but I also knit and crochet, make cards and dabble in a little scrapbooking from time to time. My first recollection of stitching was stitching small crosses onto some Gingham curtains for our Wendy House in Infants school at the age of 4.

Crikey, I’ve just realised that was 46 years ago!

I got into card making about 4 years ago, which was around the same time that I found the Crafts By Carolyn forum and it was here that I founds lots of like minded friends who have given me loads of encouragement over the years. I still feel very uncertain when it comes to scraping but you never know, one day you might get to see some of my layouts if I can bring myself to use some of the gigantic mound of stash I’ve collected over the years and I sure that any true crafter will understand exactly what I’m saying here!

It was on C by C that I meet Lythan and Anita who are now good friends of mine and it turned out that they only live about half hour’s drive away from me so we are able to meet up for craft days now and again and have a good rummage through each others stash.

Lythan is on the design team for the Daring Cardmakers blog so I thought I would make my first post on Blogger a double whammy by also taking part in my first dare, so here goes…………..

G'day all, Gillian here, and it's my turn to dare you all this week
Your card can be any theme you like, just as long as it's got something you'd find in a Haberdashery Department on it
Alright then, grab that old sewing basket of yours or raid your sewing machine drawer, have a look at what creative bits are hiding away there....maybe it's buttons, a zip, hook & eye's, ribbons, braids, Dressmaking patterns, tape measures,Pins & Needles, lace, safety pins or embroidery thread....
so many wonderful little treasures just waiting to be added to your next card :O)
I'm going to add one more rule....
Yes you may stitch on your card, but that can't be your only haberdashery item....

Well I’m absolutely useless with a sewing machine so other than my cross stitch silks there’s not very much at all in my sewing box to be honest but I did manage to find a few bits and bobs to use.

For the first card I used embroidery thread, braid and a few buttons. The papers are 7gypsies Sunnyside and Rineback and I’ve picked out the flourish on the paper with brown embroidery thread to give it some texture.

For the second card I used some bits that came from a friend on C by C. Antique lace, a swatch of floral material .and I also found some seed beads left over from one of my cross stitch projects.

I didn't use any patterned papers on this card, instead I used my ‘Whimsical’ Doodle Genie to draw the stems of the ivy straight onto the card and then added the ivy leaves with my tapestry stamps.............I’m really loving these at the moment!

The flowers in the urn were made using Flower Soft.

Well that's enough from me for my first post.

See you next time.