Crafty Loops

 Handmade Reusable Shopping Tote/Bag - upcycling vintage fabrics Whatabout ye folks, it's Lee here.  Remember when I shared the wee Peter Rabbit tote with you all and I said that I'd like to make it so there was some sort of closure on it for folding up and storing?  Well, I did just that.  I came across a tutorial over on YouTube, Rosie's Art Studio , where she shared how to make her Eco-Friendly shopping bag .  This is a big tote but it is actually the perfect size for a shopping bag. And it folds into such a compact size too.   And I have so many beautiful vintage fabrics that I like to upcycle into really useable, functional pieces.  So, with my vintage fabrics in hand, off I went and made 2 of these bags.......to start with, teehee. The bag opens up really big and is perfect for carrying all your shopping bits & bobs.  It has a really large gusset base which means when the bag has items in it, the base opens out nice and wide to maximise on space. Now, when Rosie

ASMR Bookbinding - Greatly requested This won't be to everyone's taste......I do understand that.  But I have been asked on many occasion if I would do an ASMR type video showing bookbinding with just the noise of me making.  And I am always happy to oblige....even if it takes me years to do it, lol. So here it is.  For those of you who do like ASMR, I'm not sure how effective this video will be but I hope you enjoy it anyway.  I don't expect anyone to watch this if its not your type of thing.  But for those who do like the sound of pages being folded, cut and sewn, well, this is for you.  Put your headphones on for the best results.  Enjoy! And if I don't see you before Christmas......have a great one!  I hope 2022 brings much more joy and happiness to us all and especially much more good health.  Get your vaccines people, lol. That's it from me for now.  Toodles Noodles.....Lee aka Crafty Loops xo Would you like to support my little old blog by buying me a cof

How to make a book - Kettle Stitch Bookbinding  A number of year ago......In fact.......over 9 years ago (SHOCK!!!) I made a series of bookbinding tutorials, showing how I make a book from start to finish.  I divided the videos up into different sections which meant the viewer had to click onto the next video.  I thought this would be a simpler way of doing the videos however, I have been asked over the years if I could make the series into one continuous video, so the viewer doesn't have to click out of the video onto the next one. So, it's only taken me almost a decade and quite a few hours of editing, but I edited the videos into one continuous format and deleted some of my waffling....boy I can talk.  It is almost 90 mins long, so please be aware of that.  I am making a book completely from scratch. I do realise that if you watched the initial series of tutorials, this video is just a repeat and not for you.  But this is for those people who prefer to have all the videos in

Tutorial - How to make beaded Christmas charms & Jewellery  What about ye folks, its Lee here.  How cute are these?!  Ugh, I just love them.  They're such cute makes.  Like in my previous post, these were made using beads and crystals from Beebeecraft.com .  The quality of these products are incredible.  Honestly, I wouldn't steer you wrong.  I'm so chuffed with these. I've been making little Angels for well over a decade now, in one form or another.  Should they be charms, stickpins, jewellery accessories etc.  And these little charms would be perfect for a keyring or as a handbag charm.  You could also convert them and make them into earrings or a necklace pendant. These are so cute!  Little candy cane earrings.  I saw this design on Pinterest and knew I had to do something similar with the glass pearls and teardrop crystals from Beebeecraft.com   They worked out perfectly.  I can't wait to rock these this Christmas, lol We've had Angels and candy canes a

How to make Beaded Christmas Icicles What about ye folks, its Lee here.  I was recently contacted by Beebeecraft.com  to see if I wanted to try some of their products and do an honest review.  Now, I have not been paid for this at all, they simply sent me some products of my choosing.  I agreed on the premise that any review I give would be completely honest.  Oh boy am I glad they got in touch.  Their site is a bead lovers paradise with so many beautiful items to craft with.  My order arrived within 7 days which is incredibly quick and the products I got are awesome. I'm sharing a couple of videos with you today.  The first is the haul of goodies that I got and the next is a tutorial sharing these beautiful Christmas icicles.  These can be put onto your key ring, used as an accessory on a handbag or backpack or, as I will be using them, a Christmas decoration on my Christmas tree. The quality of the beautiful glass pearls and tiny crystal bicone beads is exceptional.  And the tool

Ruby Slippers Video Tutorial It's an oldie but a goodie.  You know those days when you are randomly going through your laptop, looking at old videos and photos and then you come across a half edited video from 3 years ago that you forgot to post?  No?  Is that just me?  Well, that is what happened here.  I forgot to post the tutorial on how I made these Ruby Slippers shoes.....almost 3 years ago.  So without further ado.....and waffling much more, because it could end up being another year before this is posted.....here is the video of how I created a pair of ruby slippers for my wee Skin and Blister (that's good ole Cockney rhyme for Sister). And as always, that is it from me today Folks.  Hope to see you around my Blog neighbourhood soon.  Any questions, please leave in the comment section below and I will do my best to help you. Toodles Noodles.......Loops (Lee) xx Would you like to buy me a Coffee ?  It's all done through Paypal, so very safe.  Every co

How to make a soft cover wrap around book Doth my eyes deceive me?  Is that a Crafty Loops blog post I see?  Yes, yes I can hear you all from here, lol.  But finally, my gas heating is now installed.  Yippeeeeee!  Which means my house was turned upside down and there was dust and dirt that would make the Sahara Desert blush!  Our attic had to be emptied because we needed new loft insulation, which meant the majority of my house sat in the back garden whilst the work was carried out.  Who knew we had so much crap up there!  Out of sight, out of mind definitely applies to my attic. As if having our house turned upside down and sitting in my back garden wasn't enough, there of course needed to be a little drama added to the mix - this is the Loops Household after all.   When the guys were installing the new gas pipes in the attic, one of them slipped and his leg came thundering through the roof!  Scrubby Loops said all he could see was a leg dangling from the hall ceiling.  Then a

How to make an inset window in a Wedding Photo Album Hi everyone.  A very Happy New Year to you all.  We have just had a lovely quiet day today at home.  Its blowing a gale and pelting it down outside.  It looks like the sun didn't even bother to come out today at all.  Looks like it popped its head up, saw the wind and the rain and decided to hide back under the covers! Anywho, I promised that I would come back with the tutorial showing you how I did the window in the wedding photo albums I made for my brother and sister-in-law.  It is really very easy to do and really quick.  But I stuck the camera on whilst I was making it, so I thought I'd share it with you too.  Of course, like everything I make, I had never done anything like this before.  So these 2 albums for my brother were my guinea pigs, lol.  But they ended up looking really nice.  And both sets of parents loved them once Karen had them full to the brim with gorgeous wedding photos. Without further ado, here is

Quick Tip - how to straighten stickpins and Jewellery wire Hi folks.  Just a quick wee video tip today.  When I make my stickpins, I usually buy them in bulk from China on Ebay.  Problem with this is, you always end up with bent, wonky stickpins that you need to straighten.  Also, when you use jewellery wire, we have to muck about with the wire and jewellery pliers in an attempt to straighten something that has been wrapped tightly in a circle......you can see my dilemma.   Well, here is a quick tip which won't result in you cutting the hands off yourself, whilst struggling to straighten the wonky little blighters! I hope to be back soon with a few Tim Holtz Embellishment Kits for sale.  They'll be a mixed selection of Tim Holtz goodies.  So instead of having 18 hanger paper clips when all you need is 2, or 1 set of box corners instead of paying for 3 sets, I have put together various sized kits to cater all budgets.  Also....a Miss Congeniality Giveaway will be announced

Bookbinding tutorial - How to do a 4 hole pamphlet Stitch Nope this is not a moment of deja-vu.  This is in fact a new pamphlet stitch tutorial, the first being 3 holes and this being 4.  My reasoning for doing the 4 hole stitch is simply because I saw others making junk journals using my previous 3 hole stitch binding system.  And as they were junk journals, they obviously didn't have uniform and perfect sized signatures for the 3 holes.  Some had added small tags, envelopes, wee bits of scrap paper etc.  My concern was that these small pieces would maybe only get one stitch through them which would mean they may come apart and fall out of the journal.  So with the 4 holes, at least 2 stitches would be placed in smaller pieces of paper making this stitch perfect for junk journalling.  You can have the spacing of the sew holes as close or as far apart as you like.  Its up to you.  I wanted quite a large gap between the top stitches and the bottom stitches as I'm planning on add

Video Tutorial .....How to do a pamphlet stitch book Hello my lovelies.  Well........My birthday has been and gone.  I turned 33 this year and for some reason all I can think of is "All the three's.........33"!!  It keeps going around and around in my head.  You know.....that cheesy deep voice the Bingo callers use when they call out the numbers?  Yep........I think I'm going to be constantly hearing that in my noggin until I turn 34!  Nooooooo!  I don't know about you lot.......but I thought by this stage in my life that, somewhere along the way a switch would flick and I'd suddenly start thinking like an adult.  Is that gonna happen any time soon?  Because I've just turned 33 and I'm still waiting to be and act like an adult!!  Ask my husband and family.....they'll confirm my immaturity.  I have a 12 year old brother who has more sense than me!  It should have happened by now, right?  Was I over looked or something?  Maybe the "Adult Maker G

Tutorial -How to create a faux leather texture and look Hello, hello my crafty buds.  I know.......long time no see, eh?  I've been a bloomin' disaster lately!  Lol.  And I can't really think of any excuse other than........"Hi....I'm Mrs Disaster Pants, nice to meet you".  Time just seems to have disappeared of late! I haven't made much of anything lately.  My brother, Jay and his lovely Fiancée Karen have set a date to get married next June............WOOWHOOOOO!  Karen has said that she might like to make her own invitations.  So I have offered my crafty mitts to her.  As I pretty much have everything she needs here, I've said that we can have a play day with some designs.......Yippeee!  I can't wait.  I'm so excited for her, lol.  I pretty much made EVERYTHING for our wedding and I loved every minute of it.  And our day was perfect.....for us anyway, lol.  I can't believe we just celebrated 2 years of marriage this month.  Anyway, i

Vintage Grunge Cuff/Bracelet And How To Tutorial Do you like my Vintage Grunge Cuff?  Ohhhhh I love it.  I have been being it all day with a pretty summer dress.  I made a bit of a mess with the flower in that I added Stickles......for my sins!  And it made a bloomin' mess of the flower by making the ink run and now it looks yuckie!!  Grrrrrr Hello my lovely Loopies, did you enjoy today's weather?  Yeah?  Well, get the good of it, cause its all ending tomorrow AGAIN.  That is if you live in Northern Ireland of course.  Grrrrrrr.  As much as I LOVE living in beautiful Northern Ireland, there are times.........ohhhhhhh...........there are times, I could wring the neck of the weather man......poor Darra from BBC One Newsline!  Ok so I am totally aware its not his fault, and there isn't exactly a Complaints Department for these sorta' things.  But I'm getting completely frustrated with Summers that are grey and soggy wet and its soooooo grey and even puddles are st

Coptic Bookbinding Tutorials using the Kettle Stitch...How to make your very own books or journals   I know, I know.  Ive been promising these tutorials for months but you would not believe the amount of trouble Ive gone to just to be able to get these on here today.  Its been a bloomin' nightmare and thats me being polite.  Firstly, I uploaded them with music and no talking but ohhhhhh no, Youtube wouldn't allow that because of Copyright issues with the music.  So little old Loops not wanting to let all you lot down by not giving you the tutorials I promised.....RE-RECORDED THE ENTIRE LOT OF VIDEOS AGAIN but this time you get to hear my beautiful Northern Irish tones.....lol But that wasnt the end of my troubles and there is a MAJOR GLITCH in Youtubes system at the mo which prevents thousands of people not being able to upload over 15 minute long videos amongst other issues but I wont bore you any more with my problems with getting these videos done.  Put it this way th

Tutorial - How to make a Pinboard (See altered Box in previous post for Pin Board) Here is the pin board I made for an altered Box.  Allo, Allo my lovely friends.  Don't know what the Allo Allo' is about........that show just popped in to my head and I was having a little giggle to myself at that saying! If only you could live in my head for a day, heehee.  Not that I ever saw the show as I was too young but I did catch the odd glimpse of a rerun every so often. Anyway, enough of my randomness!  Aye right, like that will ever happen.  As promised, I said I would show you all how I made the pin board from the altered Steampunk box in the previous post.  This can be made to ANY size you want.  I just happened to make this one small for a box, but if you want a big one for your wall or a small one for a book, this tutorial will suit all sizes of pin boards.  The same techniques and instructions apply. Now as this was such a small pin board, the padding in it is actually

Video Tutorial - How to make a Distress Ink Storage Tower Handmade Distress Ink Tower Holds 20 Distress Inks or a combination of Distress Inks and Blending tool thingies! Now.....before you even see the video or before I even get to explain what this tutorial is all about, there will be a few things my sister will be doing straight away.....just from reading the title...... First......she'll be all giddy and excited when she realises I'm doing a tutorial with me talking.....which will lead to the second thing she'll do.... Secondly.....She'll quickly jump onto Facebook to one of our cousins facebook page....Jessica (Hi Jess) and she may even text her too.  She'll tell Jess to "Hurry up and get over to Lee's Blog......She's doing a real tutorial with her silly talking and everything!!!" "Why would these 2 things happen?", I hear you ask, scratching your little noggins.  My sister, Tara and our cousin Jess were sitting last s