Christmas -the beginning!

Once again I seem to have left getting started for Christmas a bit later than everyone else..so I have tried to catch up and invent a few items.

I've been really busy and poor old red rat seems to be hidden under a huge pile of papers! The printers on the blink, I can't find the right glue and I've run out of post bags..but not to panic I will get there in the end! 

So anyway, here's a totally non festive card I made for a friends mum, and some kind of festive gift tags :)

Mum to be tags

One of the biggest requests at the moment is for wedding tags and mum to be tags,so I created these to go on gifts as tags..can be personalised too. Come see our Facebook page 'redratdedigns' or follow us on twitter @tweetredrat 

See you soon! 

Happy Father's Day

Well, Father's Day is almost here and the year is vanishing quickly. 

An order for a customer who wanted a Father's Day card made up for them so I dug out my trusty darkroom door stamps and made up this card,I love the motorbike image and spruced it up with some embossing and inking. 

Mens cards are tricky as I find myself really having to think of something other than a car or a football!!

Happy Father's Day for the morning!

Seriously busy week! Our Handmade Collective

So, why am I quiet? What have I been up to...well I've been getting my stock all ready and labelled ready to go into a new shop in the Grand Arcade Leeds,known as Our Handmade Collective which (as I type) opening and ready for visitors right now!

Run by two lovely ladies Claire & Natalie, this brand new renovated ex nightclub is now a gleaming home to food downstairs and crafty wares on the upper level. Our Handmade Collective carries stock from people like me who make things at home in order to buy food (and shoes!)  there are cushions,glasswork,jewellery,cards,clay tags,bath bombs and gifts galore. It's going to be a huge success and I'm delighted to have Red Rat Designs be part of it. 

Pop along and take a look,it's a fab place. 

Flower hair clip

So I decided to have a go at making some more hand sewn items and this is the first of what I made using some fabric remnants I had as well as some cord and a button, end result - a very cute hand sewn floral cute and ditsy hair slide. 

In really pleased with it! 

Father's Day

I have somewhat neglected the blog of late as I have been so busy doing other things. Mainly preparing goodies for Father's Day!

I have been hard at work with the trusty Big Shot and some gorgeous wood grain effect paper stock from Stampin Up, inking round the edges of a basic white card and adhering the letters with foam pads. 

I also found out some old quick cutz dies for the gardening tools and inked those up to the right shades. 

Leather floral brooch

I'm trying to master new skills all the time so I thought I'd try my hand at leather..turns out I found out a few things! Leather is very hard to hand sew,leather does not like sticking together and lastly leather is time consuming!
However,all that aside and once I'd mastered 'hidden sewing' I don't think my flower turned out too badly. See my other designs at redratdesigns on Facebook or visit my website on www.resratdesigns.co.uk

Caravan card

A customer asked me to make a card that included a caravan,for their Anniversary so after playing with various shapes I chose white and a mint shade with a brown Kraft style card to base it on.
I had wondered where to begin but it turned out to be a speedy make and all happened naturally!! I think I shall replicate it for www.redratdesigns.co.uk

See you soon!!

Good luck...

A friend asked me to make 'a manly' good luck card that was simple but got the point across.
So I got out the alphabet and the craft knife and got to work,using the stampin up craft papers which have a slight sheen and create a wood grain this card ended up quite a treat.
Hope you like!

To felt or not to felt

I love the card and paper craft aspect of what I do,but then I found a roll of felt (as you do) and got to work on it creating these little blue flowers. Quite cute I thought,so I've added brooches to some and magnets to others.
Thing is now I've taken up the old sewing needles again I'm pretty quickly becoming surrounded by sewn things!
Keep watching for more goodies..

The big day

So,it's finally happened. Today is the day I have shared my website amongst the 'linkers',the 'followers' and the friends. It is www.redratdesigns.co.uk more items will continue to be added as time goes on,but for now I feel it's a good place to start.

I also have been asked to stock my goodies to a number of local craft stores,which I am very much looking forward to looking more into. It's all gone rather chaotic all of a sudden,but that's the reason I work away in my -not so tidy-craft room!

Enough rambling from me,enjoy the site and don't forget to contact me with any colour requests or personalisation you may need.

Olive Wedding Gift Tags

Hello!

Another little blog post from me,some left over materials I had,some white card labels,a nice script stamp and some Stampin Up ink and presto! Some rather cute Gift Tags. Finished with some gorgeous polka dot olive ribbon.

Come visit us on our Redratdesigns Facebook page,or visit www.redratdesigns.co.uk

See you there!

Mini love tags

Hello!

I made the clay tags by cutting heart shaped clay and making a hole for the string to go through,then making the letters into the clay. I had to make a bulk lot up for a customer so the easier the better!
All my items are available on my Facebook page 'redratdesigns'. Feel free to pop over and say hi.

Hope you like.

Cute Campervan Tags

These are so cute and didn't take long to do at all,join Redratdesigns on Facebook for prices and other items.
They are 8x4 on white card hand cut and inked,available now and names can be added on too!

Time to share my latest make,I hand cut out some labels and strung them with a thick string,then using a honey coloured ink and an olive ink I stamped one of my favourite floral stamps.
Quick and relatively easy to do and a fantastic result.Available to buy soon at www.redratdesigns.co.uk

See you soon!

Happy 10th Birthday Card

Hello!

Today's make for my daughters birthday,quite a simple paper cut design on a pretty paper.I added a die cut butterfly and matching butterflies which I hand stamped to the top of the card. A really simple quick and easy card,
See you soon!

Happy Mothers Day -Great Gran

I made this for a friends mum,on a 6x6 white card with die cut black lettering on a cricut machine.The flower was cut and embossed then hand painted and the centre is one of my hand made buttons.finished with sheer black ribbon to the edge.

A set of ladylike tags?

I made these by using standard brown card cut by hand into two sizes of tags,I cut out some hearts and dandelion flowers in assorted papers and cards and added some lace.Along the bottom I used chipboard wording I painted and I am rather fond of the result..
Just need to create some 'manly' ones now,they are tricky little things though!!

Little Ceramic Buttons

Someone asked me if I was able to make black and white and a mix of vintage look buttons for them to attach onto brooches they had made from felt,I had a play and came up with these....my customer reports they are unique,strong and eye catching. I was very pleased with that feedback.
What do you think?

Just For You card

Hello and welcome to my second Blog post - Im still trying to get my head around it all and working out how to actually add followers, easier said than done it would seem (I'm a technophobe!).

Im trying not to babble on too much so i shall get to the point!

 

..The card, a 6x6" white card with cross hatched style backing paper, my unique vase which is hand cut with 2 tone mini flowers with a brad feature in the centre. I also added one of my favourite East of India gingham ribbons for a finishing touch along with the Just for You sentiment.

 



Catch you soon, Alison!

 

 

 

 

New Baby Verse Card

So i am told i need to get my head around the Technology and 'Go For It'...so here i am! I shall share with you todays card make, someone wanted a 'New Baby' card and here is what i came up with.

Cut on a 5 x 5 white card, hand stamped on pale blue card and finished with ribbon. A simple and easy start!

I hope to learn more on this blogger 'thing' and hopefully find my feet over the next few weeks.

My Facebook Page id Redratdesigns - pop along and LIKE us, and check out our makes.