It's All Fiddle Fart
When I spend ages over where to stick a teeny weeny embellishment like a pearl or diamante gem my sister calls it "Fiddle Fart"
A FEW CHANGES .....
A SMORGASBORD OF BLOG POSTS .......!!!!!!!
I still do not have a scheduled bank of crafty blog posts ...... HOWEVER, I had an e-mail from my lovely friend Jan The Fan who suggested that though I still feel that I can't produce a "crafty" post on a daily basis, I might consider adding the odd very short post about perhaps one of my many "objects of desire", charity shop finds, what's in the shops, ideas & inspiration, other blogs that catch my fancy, sayings, and some of my photographs etc. as and when I feel like it ..... and I thought why not? ...... I am still not promising a post every day ..... but if you pass on by you never know what you might find!!
OLD TEMPLATES AND FILES
I am sorry I cannot send out any templates, poems etc. that I may have previously offered before May 2012 ...... my computer decided to die then and I lost all my files and I do not intend to redo or replace them, what's gone is gone!
Monday, 20 May 2013
Bridal Keepsake/Favour ……
Please excuse the glue globs on some of the photographs, it was still wet in my eagerness to get this post written.
I don’t have a clue what to call this ….. when I had the idea I was thinking about the lucky horse shoes you give to a bride outside the church/registry office …. but heart shaped! If that makes any sense at all?????
I saw this string of vintage decorative hearts in Home Bargains for £2.99 and knew immediately what I wanted to do with them, and as there were four hearts altogether, it was a no brainer, as you just can’t even buy one wooden heart of such quality from craft establishments for that price!
I decided to use one of the small hearts, which measured approximately 5.5ins x 5ins for this project and then raided my cupboards for a whole variety of embellishments including paper flowers, cabochons that I had been sent from WholePort, fabric and crocheted flowers, plus flat backed gems and flowers and pearls …. you name it, I used it as my desk proves!
Like my jewelled mirrors I built up the design, adding gems to the fabric flowers and filling all the gaps with small pearl beads.
I think it is all the fiddle fart, very sticky building up and filling gaps are what makes all the difference when looking at the finished heart. I used a narrow cream ribbon to hold it by, threading it through the existing hole at the top, with the bottom hole being easily covered up by all the embellishments.
I now really want to make a couple of horseshoes for summer weddings, which I think could go down a storm at work. Marc gave me one when I last went to see him ….. now if only I could find it amongst all my bits and pieces …. I can see it in my minds eye, I just cannot remember where I squirrelled it safely away, DOH!!
Sunday, 19 May 2013
Champagne Flute Wedding Bubbles
I had bought some regular tubs of bubbles from Poundland a while back with the intention of making them look more “weddingy”, but whatever I did with them they just didn't look right, in fact everything looked I tried pants!!!
Saturday, 18 May 2013
A Painting For My Mum’s 80th Birthday
Rather can give you an almost daily blow by blow account of the painting I've done for my Mum’s 80th birthday, I thought I would deliver it to you all in a single post as a fait au complet, outlining the stages I went through before the great unveiling !
However, when I went into The Works to get a palette, I saw this Boldmere starter pack of much larger tubes of acrylic paints for just £7.99, which was far more economical, and I couldn’t resist, especially as I now had two canvases to paint.
And the last three pictures are the final stages which took me another weekend. It’s the detailing that takes the time ….. outlining first in black. then in white Posca pen …. and then painting over again in the places where I thought needed it.
Friday, 17 May 2013
Free To Good Home ……………..Leave It Alone Helen ………!!!
I spotted this table outside one of our local shops ….. I am sooooo tempted ….
….. but so far I have managed to walk away twice …… if it stays there for much longer my resolve may weaken …… as it could be Decopatched, and make a really cute kitchen table …… !!!
PS ...... I went back for it ...... and it had gone!!! Doubtless there will be other choice opportunities in which to pick up tut!!!
PS ...... I went back for it ...... and it had gone!!! Doubtless there will be other choice opportunities in which to pick up tut!!!
Thursday, 16 May 2013
Mini Canvas and Easel
This mini canvas measures just 7cm x 7cm and came in a pack of 4 from Poundworld.
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Framed Word Art
I love some of the “Word Art” that is around at the moment, but it’s a bit pricey ….. and with most things that I see, that I like, a little voice in my head says …. “I could do that” …………
From what I have seen, I think that song lyrics are usually printed on music sheets, while other quotes/sayings are printed on pages from old books ..... I am now thinking that pages from old altlas could look good too ..... so I may be found hunting round in some more skips .........watch this space!
Like most ideas …. one thing tends to lead to another …. and I wondering if I could make a set of notelets along a similar vein ……
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
Altered Mirror
You wouldn’t believe how many reincarnations this mirror has had to go through to get to this completed stage, in fact this is the second version, the first one ended up in the bin!
Like the very first mirror I altered I used a mixture of Promarkers and Sharpie pens to do the flower doodling, drawing the basic shapes first and then using a black Sharpie for the outlining, finer details and to fill in the gaps.
I really like the effect of adding a white outline, but getting the right pen that stayed put while being varnished was a problem, the first couple of pens I tried dissolved immediately ….. however I found that a white “Pilot Super Colour Permanent Type Ink” held fast …. wooo hooo, but although it is labelled as “extra fine”, I would have really preferred it to be even finer …… but that’s me being very picky!
Monday, 13 May 2013
Altered Poundshop Clock
I cannot believe I didn’t take any pictures of this clock as I was working on it, what am I like?
The clock came from the Poundland Mothers Day range, Marc spotted it on the website and said it would be perfect for altering.
![Poundland Clock Mothers Day Gift_thumb[7] Poundland Clock Mothers Day Gift_thumb[7]](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-daQllC356vc/UX034EmvGnI/AAAAAAAAqtI/PVxkMj1nP2Y/Poundland%252520Clock%252520Mothers%252520Day%252520Gift_thumb%25255B7%25255D_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800)

When the varnish was dry I couldn’t help myself by just outlining the design again in white using a white Pilot Super Colour pen before a couple more coats of varnish with a little ultra fine iridescent glitter added for a fairy lustre effect.
The only thing that needed to be done to prepare it was to remove the wooden motif and then a bit of sanding to smooth over where it had been.
After that I just doodled basic flower and leaf shapes straight onto the clock using Promarker pens, then outlining and adding detail to them in black, as well as filling in any gaps, before applying a couple of coats of quick drying glossy varnish.
And finally ……. small, very sparkly flat backed gems round the dial ….. done and dusted and now sitting in one of the partitions of my what not shelf on my desk.
Sunday, 12 May 2013
Framed Jewelled Heart
This project has been in the making since Christmas when I asked for a deep box frame from Hobbycraft for an idea I had for my newly decorated “guest room”
….. which I then covered with all the clear, turquoise, green and pearl flat backed gems in various shapes that I could muster …. I thought it would take forever but a couple of hours did it …. as I watched Emmerdale, Corrie and Grand Designs …..
I have a four more smaller box/shadow frames from Ikea to use up now, but as of yet haven’t had any other brain waves as to how to fill them …… but that, I expect, is only a matter of time!
Saturday, 11 May 2013
My Doodled Brooch Experiment
Friday, 10 May 2013
Saucer Crackers
I believe “the real thing” has a snap and a motto inside ….
The ribbon I have used is 4mm wide.
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Today ….. Guest Crafter Maisie And Her Wonderful, Wonderful Pink Mirror.
Oh my life …… someone is trying to make me look like a right amateur ……
….. this gorgeous mirror was made by Maisie who, can you believe, is only six!!! She and her Gran Anita are followers of FiddleFart …. and this is what Gran Anita told me via Facebook …….
Anita : Helen my six year old granddaughter has been collecting bits and pieces since she saw this (*my first boudoir mirror) and wants to start her mirror this weekend. What did you stick the bits on with?
Me: I used E6000 glue Anita ......it's like a very strong bostik
Anita: Thanks Helen. My granddaughter loves to see what you have made. She loves all the sweetie bags etc. and has done some for the school fair and Christmas fair. She always makes all the teachers presents as well.
Me: Say a huge hello from me .... and send me a picture of her mirror and I will make her my guest crafter xxxxx
Anita: She would be thrilled with that Helen. She is very into pink and purple and says that's what she is doing it in.
Anita: “ …… Maisie's mirror that she has made for her bedroom. Done all by herself. Hope you approve Helen. She sat all Saturday whilst we were busy in the garden. She never had as many bits as we thought but had painted it pink so she doesn't mind. She loves it and is really pleased with it.
How can I compete with this sort of talent????
Well done Maisie, I know how proud your Gran is of you ….. your mirror is WONDERFUL ….. and very, very special because you made it all on your own ….. and to be honest … it’s better than mine, so I think I had better practice a bit more to get as good as you! …… Lots of Love …. Helen
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