Diamond Jubilee Crafts - Union Jack Cup Cake Flags/Picks

I have been pricing up Union Jack flag picks for the Diamond Jubilee, either to use at a tea party or as small decorations or embellishments, but it  turned me into a bit of a Scrooge! Then, I remembered the paper chains I bought last year for the Royal Wedding, and wondered if I could I do something with them?

I cut the chains down to just two flags, using a toning Promarker pen to colour the white part of them down the middle.

I then gave the flags a quick flick of double sided tape across them with my tape gun  and placed a cocktail stick in the middle. All that was left to do then was to fold the flag over and trim the end with a pair of wavy line scissors. Done and dusted!!

Food Police - Naturally, if I were making these for a real tea party I would make them in much more suitable and hygienic surroundings than my craft room and would wear latex gloves while handling the cocktail stick during the making and when putting into a cupcake or sandwich etc.

Easter Ladybird Favour Box

My obsession with ladybirds continues …..

I’ve made a matchbox using my Stampin’Up/Sizzix Die my son ordered me from the USA a couple of years ago, using black and red card.

I then filled it with ten of the Tesco chocolate love bugs that I stockpiled during their Valentines Day promotion, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to find them in the shops after for other projects.

Ladybird Tags

I was clearing out some cupboards and I found this box of small branch cut offs left over from when Mr FiddleFart, aka the Duke, made us all pocket sundials a year or so ago.

It seemed such a waste to just throw them away and then it dawned on me that they would make brilliant tags ….

So I kept it simple and just added a handwritten sentiment and a wooden ladybird to each circle.  The final part was drilling the hole for the string, this proved a little tougher than I anticipated with my little drill  but I got there in the end.  I am dead chuffed with the result and think these would look great on a present for a gardener or attached to a plant pot.

But now my dilemma… because I am really trying to use as much stuff as I can this year, collected over years, do I replace what I have used, like the ladybirds … I had to scrabble about for these last few, hence the mix of colours …. do I stop having ideas of a ladybird type nature …. or do I just buy a couple more packets for when another idea springs to mind?????? Aghhh  I just can’t win!!

Park Your Yarn–Wolverhampton

Yesterday I went to one of the Park Your Yarn events that have been going on in Wolverhampton over the past month (and which come to an end on 5th April). I am quite shy and quiet in new company and was relieved to be able to just slip in unobtrusively under the canopy, popping the knitted strips I had already completed on the table and sit down to knit in the glorious sunshine, listening to the others as they either taught or learnt how to knit and crochet

After a while a lovely lady called Mandy sat beside me and “recognised “ me from this blog ….. it felt so weird and I was a little embarrassed, but it broke the ice. She even remembered the old pictures of me in what I used to affectionately call my shopping lifting coat and handbag!!!!!

Then, Mandy offered to show me how to crochet, something I have never attempted before.  All I can say is she is a VERY patient teacher ….. I admit that I am a very slow learner and just couldn’t get my head (or fingers) around holding the yarn, ….. so we didn’t progress further than making a chain BUT something did sink in because when I got home I was still able to add some more links to my chain!!!!! So I will keep on practising chains as Mandy advised  and then when I am confident I will get my daughter Lucy to show me the next step., so perhaps in a little while I will  be able to make a square.

Mandy also knew all about the Monkeys, so even more ice was broken as we both took lots of pictures of them getting stuck into the crocheting too, although they hardly took their eyes off the custard creams!!

I bought home a couple more balls of wool.  I was sort of tempted to use some of my own, but thank goodness I didn’t because the installation is only going to be in pinks/white and creams, so my efforts would have been wasted.  I can’t wait until it is completed to see where my strips will end up!

Mandy has a blog http://6ichthusfish.typepad.com/ 

and is also a designer for http://itsacreativeworld.typepad.com/
xxx THANK YOU MANDY for making my afternoon so enjoyable xxx

http://www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk/wolves/whats_on/004851.html

As Featured In The National Badminton Museum……

As you know my sister and I try to come up with an idea for little token/fairing gifts for her to give to the various people she meets at some the sporting events she works at as a volunteer.

Well ……. a couple of weeks ago she was at the 102nd Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships for which she made these packets of recovered Cadbury miniatures with the event logo on (I merely put them in the cello bags and tied the ribbons).

….. Anyway to cut a long story short, a gentleman there was so impressed that one of these chocolates has now found a place in the National Badminton Museum, along with an Elizabeth Shaw mint version she made for the year before!!!!

We are already planning for next year ……. a shuttlecock with blue and green toffees in ….. watch this space!!!

http://www.badmintonengland.co.uk/text.asp?section=41

Cadbury Chocolate Miniature Ladybirds

I love ladybirds …. so I thought I would try and decorate some Cadbury Chocolate Miniatures to look like them.

I’ve used a wrapper as a template and cut rectangles measuring 1.25cm x 2.5cm to make new ones,  drawing a thick black line approximately 1cm deep for the head along the longest edge.

After re-wrapping the chocolate, I’ve drawn a line down the centre with a small triangle at the end to look like wings, followed by a few black spots, wibbly wobbly eyes finish the whole effect.

Easter Penny Bags

My “Penny Bags” usually go down well, so I have made a few for Easter.

They are nothing really special but with money being tight for a lot of people at the moment I think they offer reasonable value for money and the person who gives them knows that they are giving something a bit different as I will only be making about 20 of them.

I’ve punched the tags from a small blue gingham print card, added a wooden bunny embellishment, a bit of doodling and a handwritten “Happy Easter”

This is the first time I have used gusseted bags for my sweets which measure 7” x 3” x 1.5” which I found on e-bay from  http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Wrappings-and-Bows?_trksid=p4340.l2563 and I am quite impressed.

I put an assortment of 12 chocolate ladybirds (Tesco) 8 small easter eggs (The Range) and two chocolate bunnies from the Aldi pack above (£1.79) in each bag, tied with a pastel coloured ribbon.

The Apprentice 2012

He’s back ….. and my obsession with Lord Alan (although he will always be Sir Alan to me) continues …….

I cannot tell you how much I ADORE this man and the programme!  For the next thirteen weeks I shall be mostly using my two Apprentice mugs (Helen Geddes you are fired/hired depending on my mood) and NO crafting will be done on Wednesdays for a while.  I will be in my pj’s, with a coffee (in one of the aforementioned mugs), a family bag of Maltesers and wooooo betide anyone who disturbs me!  And if Lord Alan just happens to see this post ……. PLEASE can I come and work for you …… I could be your Frances when Frances has a day off ….. I have been told that I “do” have a very professional telephone manner!!

I can hear Lord Alan saying now “Helen, can you send them in now” …… it sends shivers down my spine!!

Days of the Week Peg Fridge Magnets

I saw a very similar idea to this when Googling and just had to have a go for myself, especially as its been ages since I have made any peg fridge magnets.

Nothing fancy …. I just used my 100 year old Dymo label maker to print the days of the week because I love the retro effect of the lettering and that’s really it! I do have tapes in lots of other colours, but I was being lazy, and didn’t relish the thought of doing all the feeding through for a one off idea …. but the pegs would look good in green, yellow, red, blue etc. And to make things even simpler the tape is exactly the same width as the peg … so no fiddly trimming.

On the reverse of the peg I have stuck a strip on adhesive magnet tape. Done and dusted!

Charity Shop Finds …..

Our village is planning on having a Queens Diamond Jubilee event on the grounds of the village hall later on in the year and I am ‘thinking’ about having a stall, it just depends on how much they are charging.  But I thought that if I did, I would concentrate on selling my wooden gift tags and perhaps some Jubilee sweetie bags.

So when I saw these extra large wooden dominoes at only £1.99 for a bag of 25 I snapped them up. They measure 12cm x 6cm x 1cm and are excellent quality.  I don’t have any concrete ideas for them yet, but obviously there will be a few giant sized tags  ….. they were just too good to pass up.

I also found a large bag of these Jenga bricks in another shop for £1.50. They measure 6cm x 2cm x 1cm and will be perfect for small tags  with the printed side covered with various papers and embellished with phrases like Happy Birthday etc.  made using my old fashioned Dymo label maker.

Easter Egg Cups

Now I am being extra careful about what crafty bits and pieces I spend my money on, a bargain is only a bargain when I think that I will be able to use everything up in a project and then be able to take the completed idea into work almost straight away.

So when I saw these eggcups with feet on reduced to 50p a box in The Range it was hard to resist, but I realised that any project using them would hinge on the eggs I could find to fit them. My immediate thought was to use cream eggs ….. but trying them in the shop they were just too small and were lost in a cup! But I decided to risk buying four packs of egg cups anyway ….. and for several weeks carried one around in my bag to measure up any eggs I might chance upon!!

I finally found what I was looking for in the form of Marks and Spencer Hide and Seek Chocolate Eggs costing me £2 for 8.

I was thrilled ….. and when I got home I set about putting them together. First I just glued on the eyes …… then I remembered a pack of clip on bonnets I have had for years and honestly thought I never find a use for.

……. but they were perfect!

I only had ten hats and sixteen egg cups, but I reckoned that the unhatted eggs would be more suitable for boys ….. so that would be OK, no need to over egg the pudding!!  Eggcellent!

I have now found these egg cups in The Poundshop ..... £1 for a pack!!!!!!!!

Park Your Yarn–Wolverhampton

My daughter Lucy came home the other day with a carrier bag containing some wool, a pair of size 4mm knitting needles, a crochet hook and a leaflet containing  knitting instructions and details about the “Park Your Yarn” events organised Wolverhampton Art Gallery in  March and April.

In April St. Peter’s Gardens, which is in the centre Wolverhampton, is going to be turned into a “Woolly Wonderland”, with knitting and crochet created by lots of  local people.

Well it would be rude of me not to take part wouldn’t it?  So I am planning on going to one of the free knitting/crochet events on 24th March at the Art Gallery and St. Peter’s Gardens. 

I am not going to do anything fancy, I’m just following their bench pattern which involves casting on 25 stitches and knitting until it measures 30cm, which, when joined up with lots of others will be used to cover one of fifteen park benches ……. how exciting!!   I plan to take lots of photos of my afternoon plus more when the whole project is completed if you’re in the area why not join me knitting needles akimbo!

http://stitchesandhos.wordpress.com/

http://parkyouryarn.tumblr.com/
http://www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk/wolves/whats_on/004851.html

My Mums Mother’s Day Card

It’s become something of a tradition now that on “Special Days” I show you the card that my profoundly handicapped brother Stephen has “made” at his unit …..

This year he has gone for “the more the better, if it’s on the table, then use it” style of card making, with an extra large dollop of glitter for good measure!

When Stephen comes home on his bus and the coach guide hands my mum a large lumpy envelope it is always an exciting and slightly emotional occasion. We are under no illusions that Stephen has contributed much towards the card, but we know that he has sat beside his member of staff at the table and watched them putting it together for him. They have probably put a flower in his hand, guided it to where it should go and then helped him press it down, talking to him all the time, the thought of which brings a tear to your eye. His staff are so wonderful, their patience and caring holds no bounds ……. and we cannot thank them enough and I just don’t think they will ever know how much these cards mean to us. 

A Box Of Birthday Chocolate Miniatures

I’ve made a matchbox using my Stampin’Up/Sizzix Die I got from the US a couple of years ago.

And then filled it with six Cadbury Chocolate Miniatures re-covered with birthday papers from docrafts Papermania range.

A Newspaper Bag For Grandma Winnie

I made this bag for one of “Mums Monkeys” favourite followers, Grandma Winnie, who is officially Monkey, Darrell and Nigel’s adopted Grandma!!  She remarked that she liked the original newspaper style bag I did featuring the rascals and as I love her so much I made an extra special one for her, featuring her and her adopted monkey Hamish.

In cahoots with Winnie’s daughter Linda, who sent me some information and the pictures   I put this A4 sized newspaper design together, using Windows Publisher, which I then printed onto transfer paper and ironed onto a cotton bag from HobbyCraft.

It was such a pleasure to do and am keeping my fingers tightly crossed that it got to Winnie in time for Mother’s Day.

Good Luck Card

This card measures 12.5cm x 12.5cm and is made using white linen effect card.

Sometimes it’s hard to know what to do with very small wooden embellishments … often they are too small to use on their own, but when put in a group they can look cluttered and messy.

However I think I have struck a happy medium on this card …. I was thinking that when you wish someone Good Luck it’s usually when they are going (flying) off to do something new and on their own …. like a new job, a driving test or an exam ….. and my little bird is striking off on his own too.

The tartan robin is from Handy Hippo £1.99 for a pack of 12

http://www.handyhippo.co.uk/p8018-tartan-robins-pack-of-12.html

Chanel Newspaper Card

This card is A5 size and is made using white linen effect card.

Another of my newspaper cards, the brief was pink, girlie and Chanel and I think I nailed it!  It’s hard to see from the picture, but after I was given the photo, I superimposed  lots of Chanel bags to it to give the illusion of a mega shopping spree.  The Chanel bags at the front  are made using a simple decoupage layer and then are covered with Ranger Glossy Accents.