My Little Compendium Of Curiosities

Remember the box that my wooden hearts came in?  Well, I couldn’t resist fiddle farting with it …… and had soooooo much fun!

The box measures 4ins x 4ins and each compartment measures 1.25ins x 1.25ins. 

I lined each one with a small scrap from my Papermania Portobello Road paper pad and then the excitement of finding tiny treasures to fill them began.

I wanted to make it as 3D as possible, so some of the bits are stuck on several layers of foam pads, like the birdcage, boat and gingerbread man.

I love the sweet jars best, followed by the fish bowl, again on foam pads so it stands proud of the home sweet home sign.

I am not sure if you can buy boxes like this on their own, because if they did I would buy them buy the crate …. as making something like this is my idea of crafting heaven!

If you know where I could get some more, without buying a whole pile of embellishments PLEASE let me know, I have lots more little bits I am desperate to house.

What’s In My Shopping Bag This Week

As you know I am being very frugal this year when it come to my crafty shopping, however as all my Valentine goodies disappeared almost as soon as I put them out, I have allowed myself a few pennies to spend (and the rest will be saved)…..

…. but I have invested in a 6” x 6” Papermania Portobello Road paper pack (£4). I just adore the patterns, colours and shabby chic effect,  and although I have no ideas at the moment as to what to do with the papers, apart from  jars of red, white and blue bonbons, I am hoping to make a few things to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee in the coming few months.

I also splashed out on these four earring and necklace sets from a local market in Penkridge, they were priced at 2 for £1!!  Now the ‘diamonds and pearls’ were falling out as handed my money over, but it was the enamel effect flowers that I had my beady eye on. I plan to disassemble them and make new steampunk type pendants with the parts, sticking the gems back won't be a problem

Marks and Spencer Bags of Love – chocolate hearts £2.50

I am also re-investing some of my pennies in heart shaped chocolates, initially with Mothers Day in mind. It’s hard to find chocolate hearts at the best of times and by checking the sell by dates on them (Dec 2012)  I know I can use them for various projects in the coming months.

Tesco chocolate hearts £1 a net

Tesco Love Bugs - £1 a net

And the same goes for Tesco chocolate ladybirds which I found too late to use for Valentines Day, but will be nevertheless be brilliant for Easter.

Tim Holtz Inspired Memory Glass Pendant

I think I am getting there very slowly, my Compendium of Curiosities doesn’t seem to have left my side since I picked it up on Saturday and as you can see I took what Tim has written about using corners to heart!

I have used two Ranger 1.5ins x 1.5ins Memory Glass squares, with a text background and part of a punched heart on top of that. I still find applying the foil tape to join the glasses together fiddly but it’s getting easier and if it is a bit rough and ready it adds to the charm. The bird cage was from Marc, I’ve just added a gem to cover the hole on the top. I didn’t know I had the corner till I was searching through my boxes for a key, so I was thrilled when I found it as it’s perfect where it is, again with a three small gems added.

Dead chuffed!

Diamond Jubilee Crafts - Fiddle-Fart Designer Bag!

I saw this picture in one of the Sunday papers of Cheryl Cole with a designer newsprint bag by Anya Hindmarsh and I thought it would be funny to make my own, especially as I make so many newspaper cards and save myself £190 at the same time!!!

First I put together the design using Publisher

I liked the idea of just using black and white with just the union flags in colour.  Then, just as I was about to put the transfer paper into the printer I suddenly remembered to reverse the image so that it was the right when I ironed it onto the fabric, how many times have I forgotten to do that before?!!!!

I was thrilled with how it turned out, and decided to add just a few flat backed gems for extra bling.

I am just praying that I get tickets for the Diamond Jubilee Concert … so I can use it …. for my programme and popcorn .....

… if I’m not thrown in the Tower for treason first!

Baby Bump Mini Hanger

This mini hanger measures 3.5cms x 7.5cm and is made using an child’s wooden domino as the base.

Work has been awash with pregnant ladies of late … which gave me the idea for this little hanger.  I’ve made it in the same as I make my tags but have drilled two holes along the top to thread a ribbon through to hang it by. This first attempt has now given me a lot of other ideas/themes for hangers so watch this space …….

Decopatch Watering Can

I tried a putting an ivy in my Decopatched watering can ….. so cute.

Tim Holtz Inspired Brooch Pin

I was stroking the pages reading my copy of Tim Holtz’s “A Compendium of Curiosities” wishing I could make just one thing half as beautifully as he does. I love his style so much but whenever I try something it invariably turns out pants, then I leave it for ages until I find the courage va va vroom to try again! BUT I know I give up too easily and the only way to perfect my “art” is to persevere.

It was on Page 9 in a section about Ornate Plates that got me all inspired, I don’t have any as fancy as Tim’s but I remembered I do have some plain brass ones stashed away ….

My first slight error, was colouring the plate with a brown permanent pen (I think I should invest in some Alcohol Inks for another time), the finish could have been better, but I know I am super critical with myself whenever I try to “Do a Tim”.

Anyway, I stamped a tiny bird image onto a text paper and glued it onto the back of the bookplate with another stronger piece of black card over it. I then held my breath as I filled the centre with Ranger Glossy Accents!

While I waited for it to set I searched through a box of old jewellery bits my mum had given me …. and the black flower beads were perfect for what I had on mind. I stuck them on with E6000 glue (as recommended by Marc) and then I couldn’t help adding the two brass dragonflies and a few flat backed gems, for complete FiddleFart overkill!!

I must be pleased because I know will wear the brooch sometime this week and it is very much “my style”. However, I am going to have another go, substituting the birds, which I am not really sure about, with an old fashioned style Dymo label maker word and see how that looks.

Birthday Newspaper For My Sister

This is the card I mad for my sister’s birthday last year.

She “works” as a volunteer in national/international sports events all over the country, so I thought I would use that as the theme. It made her laugh!
I make so many newspaper cards that I am trying to spread them out ... didn't realise until today that this has been waiting for almost eleven months to get an airing!!!

Two Quick Cards for Fiftieth Birthdays

I made this card for my Sister In Laws 50th birthday.  I stuck a variety of alphabet stickers on different patterned paper and arranged them in a higgledy piggledy fashion onto the card blank with a few paper flowers with gem centres to embellish. Voila!

I made this second card in almighty rush, but it looks ok. 

The squares are from a Papermania paper shape set bought for £2.50, much reduced, at the Hobbycrafts Show at the NEC a couple of years ago.  The letters are odds and ends from  American Crafts self adhesive alphabet sheets.

Little Boat Wooden Tags

The base of these tags have been made using children’s wooden dominoes with the holes being made using a PowerCraft hobby drill.

Nothing fancy today, just using up of odd bits and pieces that I’ve had for ages to continue my resolve not to buy new stuff while I have more than enough stash to last me, even if I crafted non stop 24 hours a day for the next 25 years!

I was thinking that these would be OK for little boys birthday parcels or for Dad’s on Father’s Day.

Altered Primark Necklace

From this …….

……. to this …..

I was messing about with a Cern’ (Franc and Bourgeois) gold outliner for glass painting on this necklace. When I first tried the outliner on the beads it was far too thick, so I wiped it off and noticed that quite a nice pattern was left, so I tried again, but this time using only the tiniest amount of gold in a swirly pattern, and this is the result.

FiddleFart Guest Crafter – The Duke "Mr FiddleFart"

 
“The Duke” is the most brilliantly creative person I know, he can make or mend anything! So when our son asked if he could come up with an idea to make a tally chart for his team at work, to inspire them to meet all their targets and  "win" a free breakfast, this is what “The Duke” came up with.

….. Made using scraps of wood, blackboard and ordinary paint, the addition of  plastic knives and forks and winners medals was just pure genius!

My favourite part was the easel ........


...... which I  have now asked him to make me but in miniature for my cards etc.

My Guest Crafter Today …..Ellie

One of the Year 7 students Ellie at school bought me this adorable felted penguin she made after getting the Kirsty Allsopp craft book for Christmas to see and I promised I would make her one of my guest crafters. How cute is he??

I also tried to persuade her that it really belonged on my desk, but she was having none of it!

Wooden Heart Card

This card measures 4in x 4ins and is made using a ribbed effect Kraft card.

No need for mucho explanation for this card today, just to say that the wooden heart was originally a natural colour but I decided to colour it with a red Whisper felt pen to give it a more Valentine flavour.

Wooden Heart Tags

Well with February being the month of “Lurvvvve”, something with hearts on today.

Made using wooden children’s dominoes (which measure 3ins x 1.5ins) ) and wooden heart embellishments from Hobbycraft, there’s a not a lot to them.  The sentiment is handwritten and on the back I’ve just added faux stitching round the edges so a message can be added if needed.

Smartie Pants Sweet Jar

It’s always nice to give someone a surprise when they have done something special …… like passing an exam or their driving test etc..

These jars can be found in Asda or Ikea for £1.99 a pack of four and have been filled with ‘real’ Smarties but other chocolate beans would do.

I’ve put self adhesive ribbon round the jar lid and then added a “Smartie Pants” label to the front and back using punched shapes, stickers from Hobbycraft, a bit of handwriting and a few stars.  Done and dusted!

Stripy Heart Card

I’m not too sure about the stripy paper on this card, it was a bit of an experiment and to be honest I much prefer using a gingham pattern  to stripes. However on a more positive note, I was a little nervous of colouring the natural wood hearts, but they have turned out pretty well.

Chocolate Valentine Love Bugs

I always like to have a box of Elizabeth Shaw mints handy just in case I have an idea on new ways to use them.

And, as I can’t find any love bugs for Valentines Day this year I decided to make my own, using the aforementioned chocolate mints and some black and red glitter card cut using my 1 3/8 Stampin’Up circle punch.

I stuck a black circle on the top and bottom of the mint and then trimmed the red circle slightly for make the head and wings.

A couple of wobbly eyes, a line down the centre and a few small punched circles for spots finishes the idea!  Simples.