C R A L’ S F T S B E A U T I F U Checklist October, let’s get cracking! Two weeks to go £ Compile a list of all the projects £ Attend a or craft fair you’re planning to create £ Craft something for charity and give £ Stock up on craft supplies and back to the community wrapping essentials £ Spend a cosy night in watching the £ Take a day out to organise your craft Strictly Come Dancing final stash and tidy your desk According to the GCA, no other country than the UK has such a tradition of card sending or displaying cards in the home – it’s an important part of November… our culture One week to go (ahh) not long to go now! £ Watch It’s A Wonderful Life £ Make and decorate the Christmas £ Ensure all your gifts are wrapped and ready to go £ Get a little emotional over the John Lewis advert £ Have recipes sorted Did you and a list of everything know? £ Craft your own calendar you need and stocking Some local councils run a recycling scheme which £ Take a leaf out of £ takes Christmas trees Grab a few bargains on Marie Kondo’s book and and transforms them get organised into wood chippings and £ Enjoy your first mince ! compost to be used in parks and gardens

Last-minute tasks How is it December?! £ Do the long-awaited Christmas food shop £ Deck the halls (fa la la la la) £ Make a schedule for all the food that £ Send out the greeting cards needs cooking (and remember stamps!) £ Bake cookies and other sweet £ Create a DIY treats – yummy! Christmas wreath £ BATTERIES! People love something £ a little personal, and Head to the shops to the hashtag pick up the final bits #personalisedgifts has been used a whopping £ Host a festive craft 975,000 times on night with all the family Instagram! Have a very Merry Christmas! ! CARDS & PAPER Start the Christmas countdown with a Folk Art PLANNER

As we head towards the busiest time of the year, you'll find that Helen Fitzjohn's planner is just what you need to get organised for the festive season, leaving you to sit back and enjoy December! Use the bespoke bird design on our pattern pages to cover the front, then make a matching wooden painted decoration that doubles up as a stunning .

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Helen Fitzjohn .indd 3 31/08/2018 10:23 Essentials... have spares for next year. Cut three, 18cm From the bottom measure in, 1cm and score, Card, grey; Co-ordionations, x 19cm, panels from mountboard for the then another 1cm and score. The 20cm amazon green dividers. Stick the gifts label to the first section needs to be 7cm high as this folds up Mountboard: dark red, white panel and cut away the excess below. Place to create the box base. Cut away the excess. Tracing paper the next panel underneath and stick on the Carefully fold up the box and stick to the ‘to do’ label. Remove the excess as before planner. Add a spotty strip, a painted floral Pencil and make the last panel for shopping. Use strip and text. Wooden circle, small the template provided to make corners Make a pen holder from a scrap of Acylic paint: duck egg, off white, from green card to hold the lined squares 5 mountboard, 2.5cm x 3cm. Measure the green in place. following increments, scoring in between: Eyelets/setter To make a box for the dividers, cut 0.5cm, 1cm and 1cm. Fold up and stick the Hole punch 4 mountboard, 7cm x 42cm. From the two smaller sides to the backboard, then pop Ribbon left, measure and score at the following in a pen. Finish by threading ribbon through increments: 10cm, 1cm, 20cm and 1cm. the eyelets and tie in a bow. Adhesives

Folk Art Planner Cut dark red mountboard, 20cm 1 x 48cm. From each side, measure in 23cm and score vertically to create a book with a 2cm spine in the centre. Line the inside with grey and green papers. On the front cover, measure 6.5cm from the top and bottom, then punch two holes. Add the eyelets. Print out the large bird design onto thick white card or trace the design onto white mountboard, otherwise the paint will buckle standard card. Paint the design in red, blue and 2 green. If you prefer, colour with markers or pencils instead. Add a grey frame, 0.5cm, on top, then a strip of grey card and the planner title, then stick to the front cover. Print out the lined squares 3 onto thin card and add a title to each – photocopy a few so you

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Helen Fitzjohn XMAS.indd 4 31/08/2018 09:52 CARDS & PAPER

Craft Shop Get creative with these project essentials

Christmas Card Take a blank card, 15cm sqaure. 1 Matt grey, 14cm square, followed by white, 13.5cm, then red, 13cm. Apply Craft Savvy a white base coat to a 10cm wooden If the folds in your circle and leave to dry. mountboard look messy use Trace the bird design onto the strips of washi tape to cover PAINT SHOP 2 decoration and paint. Leave to dry, any ragged edges Acrylic Artiste colours by docrafts are a very then thread with ribbon and tie to the versatile paint for smaller art and craft projects. base card along with a strip of coloured The paint comes in 59ml bottles in colours that paper and a sentiment. CB range from soft pastels to rich, earthy tones. £2.25, docrafts.com

“Use the planner layout to create birthday BRUSH UP books...by changing the card inserts to Soft bristle brushes with tapered tips are ideal feature dates and gift lists” for applying paint in tricky areas. Da Vinci Helen Fitzjohn, Designer Maestro 2, £3 each, cowlingandwilcox.com

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Helen Fitzjohn XMAS.indd 5 31/08/2018 09:52 Christmas 2018 Templates

Folkart Planner Hand make a book for your project ideas Designer: Helen Fitzjohn 3 A4 pages

Crafts Beautiful crafts-beautiful.com Christmas 2018 Templates

Crafts Beautiful crafts-beautiful.com Christmas 2018 Templates

Crafts Beautiful crafts-beautiful.com CARDS & PAPER one kit five ways DIE-CUT SPECTACULAR SNOWFLAKE SNOWY SCENES DESIGNS IN AN AFTERNOON

now is certainly falling this month as we challenged Tracey Daykin-Jones to make S five fantastically festive greetings using just a small selection from her craft stash. Taking classic snowflake dies and vibrant card, you too can whip up incredible designs in just a few simple steps!

crafts-beautiful.com 47 Essentials… Layered Delight ● Card: red, white, blue, Cover an A6 top-folding card green, purple, lilac, teal 1 with dark blue. Layer lighter blue ● Dies: Sara Signature on top and place to one side. Trim Winter Wonderland, a rectangle from white, then cut Snowflurry, Snowflake an inverted 'v' into the bottom and Quartet, Elegant Tree; die-cut a large snowflake near the sentiments, top. Layer onto light blue, trim and 1 ● Stamps: Christmas tree, secure onto the blank. sentiment ● Gems, silver Adhere a white snowflake to the 2 aperture, gluing only the centre. Fold the snowflake edges up to reveal a light blue layer. Add a die- cut sentiment and embellish with a blue crystal to finish.

Statement Flurries Take a square top-fold blank, then layer 1 with dark purple and add a large lilac circle. Trim a smaller purple square and round the opposing corners, then die-cut a circle from the centre. Adhere to the card and place to one side. Die-cut four snowflakes from white and white glitter 2 card in various sizes. Layer and adhere to the centre of the aperture. Stamp a sentiment onto white using black ink and trim. Cut inverted 'v' shapes into each and secure to the corners.

Craft Clever Be smart with the negative elements from dies, the tiny stars used were taken from the snowflake border die

Bauble Trio Cover an A6 landscape blank with 1 light pink. Trim a smaller panel from dark pink, then round opposing corners and stick to the blank. Make three circles from blue, red and lime card, then die-cut a snowflake from each. Cut matching circles from 2 white and fix to the back of each corresponding circle with foam pads. Adhere the red bauble to the blank using double-sided tape, then the remaining ones with foam pads. Add grey toppers and gems to finish.

48 crafts-beautiful.com CARDS & PAPER “Use post-it pages to mask unwanted areas on stamps prior to inking; the Merry has been split to create Intricate a different effect” Snowflakes Tracey Daykin-Jones, Designer Cover a top-folding blank with blue, then layer lighter blue on top. Trim a rectangle from red and matt a pink glitter panel on top. Die-cut two snowflake borders from white and stick to the card. Secure a pink panel to the centre and add white, then layer snowflakes to complete.

Try a Concertina Effect Take a rectangle of 1 teal card, stamp a Christmas tree image on the left and clear emboss. Use the half outline die to cut out the right side of the tree. Score short vertical lines above and below the centre of the tree and fold the right section back on itself. Score a vertical line down 2 the right section to create three equal panels and fold into a concertina style. Take a red square and secure the left-hand panel of the teal section to the reverse of the left-edge to allow the card to stand. Embellish the tree with gems and glue tiny die-cut stars as shown. CB

Craft Shop Festive goodies Brand-new for 2018 as part of the Sara’s Signature range is the lovely Winter Wonderland collection. Featuring dies, stamps, paper pads and embellishments, it will definitely add a festive touch to your projects with its truly intricate theme. crafterscompanion.co.uk

crafts-beautiful.com 49 CRAFT SHOP... Assorted red and white fabrics, plushaddict.co.uk Book Club Felt, tiny buttons, silver thread and toy , hobbycraft.co.uk

Make an plus 24 cute little toys to go into the pockets. Sew Your Own Felt Advent Calendar by Sachiyo Ishii (Search Press, £8.99), searchpress.com

Celebrate the season with whimsical yet modern paper-pieced designs. Sew Yourself a Merry by Mary Hertel (Search Press, £14.99), searchpress.com

Stitch Enlarge the patternSmart to make a large tree and decorate it with lots of Christmas trinkets

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Trim narrow strips of red and white To make the trunk, cut 5cm x 7cm Oh Christmas Tree 1 fabric, 30cm wide, and join them 3 of white felt and roll up neatly. Sew Stitch Helen Philipps' fabric horizontally with a 5mm seam until the along the short edge and over stitch in and button tree decorations piece measures 30cm long. Place the place. Place the trunk inside the tree template on the reverse of the patchwork and close the gap, sewing the front and in different areas to create three trees. back edge of the tree to the front and Draw around, but do not cut out yet. back of the trunk. YOU WILL NEED... Snip a 30cm square of backing fabric Decorate the trees with surface Assorted fabrics, red and white 2 and pin right sides together with 4 cross stitches using two strands Felt, white the patchwork. Sew round each tree, of red or blue embroidery thread. Sew Backing fabric leaving a gap at the bottom for turning on buttons with red or white cotton. Toy stuffing and inserting the trunk. Cut out the trees Stitch a length of silver thread through 5mm away from the stitching line and the top of the tree and tie up to hang. Small buttons turn right sides out, pushing out the tops Embroidery thread: red, blue carefully. Stuff the trees firmly. Metallic thread, silver

98 PaintedAdd a personal touch toCrackers your yuletide spread with these mix and match delights

A festive dinner table just wouldn’t be complete without the crackers, so why not make Helen Fitzjohn’s simple Scandi-inspired set in red and blue Colour this year? Use our free designs on craft foam to create little handmade Clever stamps to decorate them, then fill with treats and paper hats for your Don’t clean the stamps after use, just blot off any guests – and don’t forget the groan-worthy jokes! excess ink and leave to dry before storing

“Cut out foam initials and stamp Essentials onto the crackers to make great i Paper: white, slightly textured i Ink-pad: blue, red i Craft personalised name markers for foam sheet i Mountboard i Bakers twine i Adhesives the Christmas table” Scandi Crackers Helen Fitzjohn, Designer Print the cracker template onto textured white 1 paper. Print the motifs onto plain paper and trace each one. Cut out 4cm x 4.5cm pieces of mountboard and cover one side with strips of double-sided tape. Stick down onto a sheet of funky foam and cut out. Craft Shop Trace a design on each square of foam. Use 2 a scalpel to cut away the design, just leaving a Ties That Bind foam stamp. Ink your stamps and add patterns to Flake Out This the crackers. Leave for five minutes for the ink to dry, Short on time? Print striped Holly Jolly then cut out the crackers. your crackers with Christmas twine this wood mounted Slot the back tab in and secure with a tiny piece adds a suitably snowflake stamp. of tape. Slip any small items into the cracker, then folksy touch. £2, 3 £2.85, use a glue-stick to secure the ends in place. Tie the pipii.co.uk hobbycraft.co.uk ends with bakers twine to finish off.CB

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Craft Savvy For an alternative mount, stick long stamps to a cheap plastic ruler instead of an acrylic block

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