So Much Has Happened …….

Can’t believe my last post was on 2nd January and posts before that were pretty intermittent …… let’s just say it’s been quite a year in many, many ways.  So, to start off on a high note, yes, I finally got to go to The Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm with Marc’s partner Rick, it was everything we dreamed of and much much more!!!!

We were just like two kids in a sweetshop and there was much girly squealing.  We went to the Judges Final on the Friday night and were the first two through the door, the first two at the souvenir stand and the first two served in the bar!  On Eurovision Night we were in the stadium next door for The Eurovision Party to see it all again, this time on the big screen, it was just too WONDERFUL!  Next year in the Ukraine isn’t really a feasible trip, but our experience was so brilliant, I don’t think we would rule out going again when a country a bit nearer home gets to host the competition.

In April I became Nanny Nell for the second time to Master Bertrum Andrew (a brother for Iris), he was a little whopper, weighing in at 9lbs 13ozs. He is such a little star, with as gorgeous a temperament as Iris.  They are the best thing that has ever, ever, ever happen to me. And, knowing that Bertie was on his way made making my planned move to Evesham even more important, (more of that later)

Sadly, 2015 did not end and 2016 did not start well, The Duke’s father was given the news that he had bowel cancer on Christmas Eve.  A small operation that could have facilitated a larger operation later on sadly failed and no further treatment could be offered.  However, Colin was able to die peacefully and pain free in his own home a few months later, having received the most brilliant home nursing (sadly, however the same cannot be said for much of the hospital care he received).

In January my younger brother died unexpectedly from pneumonia.  Many of you will remember him from the posts I used to write featuring the gifts he “made” at his special needs centre to bring home. It was absolutely heart breaking, however no one could have prepared me for the implosion his death caused within my family. The cracks had always been there, but in the end sadly and with regret I had to make the decision to walk away and severe ties, only time will tell if the damage can be mended.

Then my own father died in May.  Again, it was a terrible  shock.  He was diagnosed with lung cancer but given a 98% chance of success  but that was not to be. He went into hospital a very fit and healthy man, having just mowed his large lawns, but after 4 weeks in hospital, circumstances lead to him not returning home. I could say so much more, but in the  end it wouldn’t achieve anything. He was given a wonderful farewell in a packed church with the most moving tributes paid to him by ex police colleagues, family and friends. In this life you reap what you sow and that was very evident that day!

And, in the middle of this and other things I had set selling Castle Greysquirrel in to motion and began purchasing a flat in Evesham, alongside my daughter who was also leaving The Castle to buy her own home!  I am so glad I started the ball rolling early in February because when I look at Evesham now I don’t think I could afford to move!

I moved with very little.  I seriously downsized and on finding my flat soon realised next to nothing would fit, and on moving, found that what little I did keep didn’t go either (much to Marc’s delight, who tells me I do the most brilliant carboot sale, in the comfort of my new hall).  I E-bayed like there was no tomorrow, filled all the charity shops in the area, had a garage sale one Sunday morning, sent Lu on endless runs to the tip and most days left a huge pile of stuff at the bottom of the drive for anyone who would take it.

And my lovely Craftroom? Moving to a two bedroomed flat, I would say that 90% had to go, oh no!  All I kept was the stuff I couldn’t be without, and then the rest was sold on e-bay (dies, punches, embellishments), boxes and boxes were donated to various charity groups (papers, and stickers), and some offered to friends. It was heartbreaking, but in a way if was also a freeing experience.  A chance to start again, but knowing that storage would now be minimal, so things bought now have to be with a “proper” project in mind and then used, if possible, in their entirety. It certainly makes you think about what you “really need”, for example before I had boxes of beautiful 12” x 12” papers but in reality were something  I hardly ever used. 

Anyway, on 8th June 2016 I finally moved into my new flat.  My stuff was kept in storage while it was decorated thoroughout and the carpets replaced by wooden floors. It came only with an Ikea TV console table thingy, a huge wardrobe that in the end I decided I couldn’t live with, an integral cooker, hob and a washing machine and I, in turn, brought a stool, a radio, bedding, a small suitcase and a borrowed double air bed.

I then acquired two camping chairs and a picnic table…….

….. and then after a month or so I started to buy furniture and move in properly what little I had bought with me.

It’s been a journey, in too many ways to mention, and I now wish I had taken a few more photos, however I hope to show you a bit more of what I have done in future posts.

I am not crafting on any sort of scale at the moment, I have only made a few decorations this Christmas, and as of yet, no cards. I think this will be the first Christmas in 20 years that I will be sending shop bought cards,  but fiddle fart wise I feel up and ready to start the challenge again.   

I don’t really take that much notice of Blog Counters or positions, but after 10/11 months of not looking and or posting  I couldn’t help taking a little peek and be amazed by the traffic I still get and for what projects. I am not promising a post every day, more like every few days, but lets see, I guess blogging and crafting are too much part of my DNA to give up completely.

………. Too Exciting For Words ……..

As you may have realised I, along with three monkeys are mahoooooooosive fans of the Eurovision Song Contest, as is Marc’s partner Rick.  Last year we both tried so hard to get tickets, I even played hookey from work to make sure I was on the ticket hotline as it opened, not once, but twice, to hell with the consequences (my mind was already made up to leave anyway!!!), but tickets sold out within 20 mins, so that was that, we resigned ourselves to the three of us watching it in Worcester together in the Christopher family retreat …… where Marc put so much booze in every single layer of his chocolate trifle, I felt that I could almost sing all the entries in their native tongue!!!

So back in November I hadn’t given tickets for the 2016 contest much thought, it seemed too early, but imagine how I felt when Rick text me this message ……….

OMG?  Interested? Hmmmm I need to check my diary …………. not!! It seems that Rick joined a fan site that gave him prior warning of the sale ……..

I was so excited I nearly stopped breathing ……. but it was still an anxious wait for both of us as Rick awaited the official confirmation …….

It’s not the final final on the Saturday night, it’s the Jury Final on the Friday night, so it’s minus the voting, but Rick decided that if tried to get final tickets, he would probably not get them and then get locked out of the site, only to have to try all over again and risk not getting any tickets for any show at all!  But this also means that we can still watch the event in Stockholm and be amongst the crowds.

With the tickets bought I set about booking a hotel, I think Rick was a little surprised at my speed of my work, but I reasoned  that everyone else would be doing the same and prices would certainly soar if we cleft it much longer, however, should we find a better deal in the ensuing months then I can canceI   ……

However, I think I may happen to burst before then!!!!!

No Resolutions for 2016 …….. I'll Be Too Busy ...........Just Roll On The Good Times!!

It has taken a year and about four days to keep my one and only resolution of 2015 and that was to sort out all my addresses from my old Lavender address book to a new “romantic” French one given to me by the Lovely Laura’s mum for Christmas last year (2014)!  That’s why I don’t do resolutions!!!

However, Lucy and I decided a little while ago instead of presents etc. we would “do” experiences  through holidays and weekends away.  So Harrogate is already booked for February, neither of us has been there before so it will be quite an adventure.

Before Christmas we went to Liverpool, originally to see Reeves and Mortimer, but unfortunately the event was cancelled because Bob Mortimer had to undergo heart surgery, despite this we had such a fantastic time we decided we really needed to do the touristy thing sometime in the new year, including a bus tour and a ferry ‘cross the Mersey…….. and as I type this another weekend has been booked to see Ross Noble, though I think another longer weekend will also be booked.

Because I am no longer ruled by taking my main break in the school holidays we can now book holidays out of season, when they are considerably cheaper, so hopefully we plan to visit a Greek Island to be decided in May, and perhaps a trip to Spain in late September/early November, selling, buying and moving houses permitted!!

Then …… what I really, really want to do, along with three very excited monkeys go to the Bridge Cafe in London where the losing team from The Apprentice go to after they have had their mauling in the boardroom with Lord Sir Alan Sugar …… Marc says that it isn’t too far from him, so it has to be done this year!!!!

BUT there’s more ………. not just a plan ……. the next visit is for REAL!!!!!!!!

Fiddle Fart Update

First of all …HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

…… and a HUGE apology, I am afraid today’post was written right up to my midnight deadline. I got to Evesham, without the pictures I wanted to illustrate a couple of January updates with …… so today, if it isn’t cheating, I thought I would show you some of the lovely handmade cards I received over Christmas, the cards I always keep, because it is always so special when someone actually makes you a card, and also for inspiration.

I am a crafty chicken and very rarely venture away from the style/format I feel comfortable with, but having an example of someone else’s work in my hand to see how they have put it together, their choice of colours, layers, embellishments etc. often helps to inspire me to occasionally veer from my comfort zone, especially when it comes to stamping ……. something I have never really got the hang of!

The reindeer card with jewelled antlers came from Denise, the Lovely Laura’s mum, cut on her Silhouette, a very under used tool of from my own crafty arsenal!  I have to confess that the only time I “use” mine is to switch it on now and again to check that it is still working after it wouldn’t load about a year or so ago and it took me ages after countless e-mails to Silhouette to sort out!  I think the last time I used it properly was for Tom and Laura’s wedding back in August 2012, which is disgraceful!  Marc is always nagging me about just download the free templates every month, even if  I don’t make anything, I promise, I will try harder!

The second card was from my friend Sarah, made I think, by her mum.  It was the wooden heart on this that made me think of trying to do a bit of doodling on some of the blank hearts I have squirrelled away. I might have to be careful of what pens I use as they could bleed into the wood and would obviously have to be fine tipped on work so small.

This card is from “Tilly”, the centre is printed but I think that Christine has added a little translucent micro glitter to some of the leaves, and the owls wings and hat.  The centre was then mat and layered on a very pretty, pale blue candy cane and star paper with punched silver snowflakes in the corners.

The next card is from Krafty Karen who, if I am correct, always sends me a monkey orientated card. There is so much work in this card, the stamped centre, with, that Christmas “must have” translucent micro glitter on the hat and bobble and then perforated holes all round the edges. This has then been mat and layered three times on plain blue and then two styles of square die cuts, with added tickets (stamped) in the one corner and red flat back gems to finish the whole design.  This is the card I would love to do, but my version would look like a dogs breakfast!

Diane’s card also uses another one of my much underused tools, embossing folders, I have quite a few, and was once mad for them, but when I used them they never, ever looked right!  I am thinking about putting some of them for sale, as if I haven’t used them in the past ermmmmmmm, two years at least, what is the chance of me using them this year?

You know me and Kraft card and paper, I just love the whole effect.  This card was from Lynne (and Archie her adopted Monkey) plus the boys and girls of the Burghead Breakfast Club.  I just love it, it’s so simple and soooooo effective ,  I think the lettering may be die cut and the holly and berries possibly punched(?)

And finally, last but not least,  I love, love, love this card, from which I will definitely be pinching elements, as soon as I saw it, it screamed Elizabeth Shaw mint!!!!! So watch this space ......

My First Christmas Card

Doesn’t this just make your heart sing ……..

It was made for me (with a little help from Mum) by Rory, the baby boy who lives next door to Tom and Laura in Evesham, it doesn’t matter how many dies, flat backed gems and all manner of other fiddle fart you have, these are always the best cards ever!!!!!

Craftwork Cards Christmas Candi Pad Card

So ……. this is a card I made using the Craftwork Cards Christmas Candi Pad, I mentioned the other day.  It measures ??? and the blank is hand cut using white linen effect card.

I am not sure what I think, using a “kit” is a bit alien to me! My first decision was not to use the Candi that came with the pad (red with gold dots), they didn’t really do  anything for me or the card in its embryo state.

I started by outlining all the leaves and veins with a black fine liner pen and then used “Glossy Accents” to accentuate and bring a little texture to the darker leaves .  When dry, the sheet was then thinly mat and layered on silver then red card.

I replaced the candi on the larger holly berries with small red buttons and used red flat backed pearls on the smaller ones and it looked …… OK.

I could have left it at that, but then I started to mither about the corners, before opting to cut four triangles of a green/cream gingham paper that matched pretty well ….. and then continued to fiddle fart even more by adding peel off corners and another set of smaller red pearls  and faux stitching.

I know it’s OK, but it’s not my style ……. and after this first attempt, to be honest, the rest of the pad is not for me …… however, I will pass it on to Marc, who knows people who would bite your right hand off for it!!!!

Christmas Tree In A Bottle Revisited

I decided to try and sell the last few remaining Christmas Trees in bottles that I had left over from last year on e-bay …. they all sold, with requests for more, so, although I didn’t intend to make them again, I relented ……

…….. well, a few extra pennies are always welcome … and it used up all the remaining trees and bottles I had, so more, profitable, stash busting.
I originally had to get the trees from Etsy from America (they are by Darice), but I still needed to add a little white paint and translucent micro glitter as they just came green and I also had to change the stands/bottoms for beads as the original fitting was too large to go through the top of the bottle.
They are admittedly very fiddly, hence my reluctance to revisit the project …….

The fiddliest part, for me, unbelievably, was adding the bead and the thread to the top ring …… goodness knows why, but it nearly drove me to distraction!
http://itsallfiddlefart.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/tiny-christmas-tree-in-bottle.html

Christmas Wouldn’t Be Christmas …….

Christmas Wouldn’t Be Christmas without embellishing a few Elizabeth Shaw Mints, using my trusty old Stampin Up punches.

I found the cheapest place for the dark chocolate mints this year was Iceland where they were selling two boxes for £4.  Finding the milk chocolate variety is harder but I managed to I find some in Home Bargains for (I think) £2.50 a box.

Making the mints was also an excellent opportunity for a bit more stash busting, as I managed to use up a couple of packs of snowman stickers that I have had for a couple of years, which, I think, came from either  Poundland or Poundworld.  Finding nice Christmas stickers (like Halloween) for this sort of project in discount/poundshops seems to be getting harder and harder, where once upon a time I was spoilt for choice  …… this year I have found only a couple of packs, and to be honest they were pants!!!!!!  As I have always said if you like something, it’s worth considering buying more than you need for one Christmas, because more often than not you will not see them again.

I have decorated both sides of the mints and then popped four mints in a pretzel bag, adding some of the leftover snowflake stickers also from the packs on the outside and finally tying up with a narrow red gingham ribbon.

Christmas Crafting With Iris

It goes without saying that Iris and I have been doing a bit of Christmas crafting! I had some small canvases that really needed to be used …… so I thought that if Iris painted them, they would make a lovely Christmas present for doting Grannies, Granddads, Aunties and Uncles etc……

……. needless to say she was a natural and needed very little encouragement to seek out her inner creative spirit …….

….. which did involve just a tiny bit of tasting!!!

…….. however, I am not going to talk about the cleaning up, let’s just say, that in the end, a bath was involved and quite a bit of scrubbing!!!!

We then, as “collaborative artists” decided, a couple of weeks later, to go for a mixed media, with festive influences approach to said canvases ……. this involved sequins …….

……. and …….. an awful lot of experimentation with glue …… followed by yet another bath!!!  Happy Happy Happy Happy Days!!

Fluffy Snowman Baubles

It’s taken me ten months,  but I have finally used all the fluffy baubles I found in Wilkos sale in January this year (reduced from £2.50m to £1.25 for 6)

I originally had 12 baubles (2 boxes), but I was a bit heavy handed with three of them when I glued on the baked Fimo noses, pressing them down a little to hard, resulting in the E6000 glue eating into the polystyrene ball that lay beneath the white fuzz …. I tried, but I couldn’t rescue them, without them turning into something that looked like the Snowmen of Satan, so lesson learned, next time use a lighter touch!!

I have been back to Wilkos this year, in the hope of finding some more but to no avail, as they were a gift for turning into these cute snowmen’s heads with very little effort ……

Original post:- http://itsallfiddlefart.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/fluffy-snowman-bauble.html

Farewell Dear Faithful Friend …..

My faithful old mini X Cut guillotine finally gave up the ghost in the middle of November, we must have been together for at least 15 years. I don’t think it could have cost me more than £6.50 or thereabouts ……. so it owed me nothing.

It took me a while to find a replacement, which turned out to be a little bigger (below) from Amazon, the Tonic Studios 8.5-Inch Guillotine Paper Trimmer, it cost me £19.00, which made me blanch a little, but it cuts like a dream.

Tonic also do a mini 6in version, which probably, with hindsight, is the same size as my old one, however I am not sure if it is readily available in the UK, all the ones I have found so far seem to be in the US, although it has been featured on Create And Craft over here ….. but I am quite happy with what I have got …….for the time being!!!!!