Heads Up To The Works ……….

The Works have sets of wooden drawers for £15 each or 2 for £22

They measure 35.5cm x 35.5cm, which is very generous, but the depth isn’t given.  I haven’t seen one in the flesh, but I am thinking, with 25 drawers they would make a brilliant Advent Calendar. I was also thinking that three would fit very nicely and look quite good along the top of the drawer unit in my guest room, filled with various craft bits and pieces.   http://www.theworks.co.uk/p/craft-sets/2-x-25-drawer-cabinets/kit05902

This cabinet box has potential too, especially if stood upright. It has 10 compartments that could stage various Christmas scenes, I already have several Christmas bits and pieces that are too big for my usual projects but would be perfect for this.  It measures 15 x 20.5 x 3cm and at £2.50, it’s worth an experiment or two??? http://www.theworks.co.uk/p/craft-storage/wooden-compartment-box/5052089193185

And …. they don’t have this in the Evesham branch but who could resist ordering this little wooden suitcase for just £1.00? It measures 10 x 8 x 4cm. I am thinking it would make a very cute holiday memory box …… with a zig zag scrapbook book attached to the inside and the outside possibly decorated with shells, stickers and photos from the holiday. Again for £1 it’s worth a pop. http://www.theworks.co.uk/p/craft-storage/mini-wooden-suitcase/5052089192812

I use The Works an awful lot now that I have moved to Evesham, if the shop doesn’t have something I want in stock I just order it online and then collect it a couple of days later, so no P & P. When I collect anything, I usually get a discount on buts and pieces I might happen to buy at the same time.  I have a loyalty card where reward points are added whenever I spend anything, so I get a little discount here and there when I claim those points, so it’s win win all round.  ………and now they have a Craft Club, so joining it is a no brainer too. It’s worth a look.

Christmas Tree Domino Decorations.

For this and several following posts poor Iris has had to sacrifice one of her boxes of picture dominoes …….. and my ability to make something and then leave it well alone until it is really set has been sorely tested.

The dominoes each measure 7cms x 3.5cms

For this project I decided to decorate both sides of the dominoes identically with scraps of a handwriting print paper, a strip of white glitter paper (snow) along the bottom ………

…followed by Christmas trees using scraps of green and brown papers ………. adding tiny silver stars and yellow/gold flat back gems. I decided to empathise the trees and domino edges using a black, fine liner pen, knowing that it would run slightly when covered with gel, which I thought would add to the handmade feel.

I covered the completed scene with Aleene’s Jewellery Pendant Gel, and that was where my patience was well truly tested, as I knew from past experience that I shouldn’t touch them for at least 24 hours, no matter how tempted.

I like using Aleene's because of the economical size of the bottle and the fact that the pendant gel is quite thick and not too prone to running. As I was running low and anticipated that I would use more in the next few months, I tried to buy another couple of bottles, but to no avail, I can’t find it anywhere in UK, not even on Amazon, where I think I originally bought this bottle. Instead I have ordered Ranger Glossy Accents. I used to use Anita’s 3D gloss an awful lot, but when they changed the bottle to a smaller tube type container I never quite managed to master the application and so became disenchanted with the product.

When I was absolutely sure the gel was set and hardened, I turned the domino over and repeated the gel application again. However, if I was making tags, I would just  leave the back blank so that a greeting could be added.With both sides of the decoration set, I then used adhesive silver Inkssentials Memory Foil (tape) to cover the sides, burnishing them with my crease mouse, so it was smooth.  Sadly, wanting more tape for future projects, again I cannot find it anywhere in the UK! I am not sure, but I wonder if it has been discontinued?  It took me several hours and texts to Marc before finally finding something similar on e-bay which is 6mm wide, I am just hoping it will be OK, so fingers very tightly crossed.

I screwed a tiny, silver eye hook in the top and bottom of the domino. On the top I used black jewellery wire and bead to make a hanger, and on the bottom I added either a silver snowflake charm or cluster of beads.

I think when I make these again for presents, I may not add the black outlines, as I think it would give the tags/decorations a subtler, softer look, I also think that less is more, I need keep to using just one dangling snowflake and ditch the cluster of beads as they look heavy and add too much fiddle fart, so that the simplicity is lost. 

Sticky Beaking For Di – Craft Stuff Finally Sorted To the Eighth Degree!!

It’s done, eight months after moving in my craft stuff is now sorted and has a permanent home, without looking, I hope, too intrusive (if that’s the word?)

It took forever, sometimes I just had to close the door and walk away after I had had enough of the sorting, in all it took me three days, with breaks, as I got frustrated.

But it’s all done, and everything has a place, and more importantly, I now know where everything is!

There are several large, easy to access, under bed boxes, under the bed (where else) for paper, card, tools (silhouette, laminator, sealer etc.) and Christmas embellishments, papers etc..

The rest is all in contained in the drawers and boxes on the shelves, but leaving the two large, top shelves in the main unit for guests to put their bits when they stay. It’s reassuring to know that I kept all the right bits when I downsized my craft room, there was nothing set aside as no longer needed.  I do have a couple of boxes under the bed that are still empty and if I had anticipated this, perhaps, I might have kept a few more of my patterned papers and a few more stickers …… but hey!

Would I change anything now it’s all done?  Well, the situation was a little different when I was first buying the furniture and I needed to get the room basically furnished at least.  With hindsight, which is a wonderful thing, I wish I had investigated more having a floor to ceiling cupboard/wardrobe made/fitted with a set of four drawers to the side, along the same lines of my bedroom, or failing that, had the shelves made to reach the bottom of the drawer unit, so it looked more or less like one unit, but again hey, I have too much time on my hands to over think things, but, perhaps in time, I could extend the shelves?????

My bedroom cupboards are now strictly toy free zones, with toys now relocated to the hall cupboard. I still have a couple of empty, high up, out of ‘baby’ reach shelves for when I bulk buy loo rolls, washing powder, and other cleaning products etc. when they are on offer.

  

I have also really sorted out the six drawers in my crafting table in the lounge, as they too were getting on my nerves as they were tightly crammed with stuff I didn’t really need on a daily basis.

And, a top tip from Marc for staying tidy between crafting sessions ……… collect and put everything you need for your current project(s) in a large box  and then at the end of your session tidy everything back into it, so that it’s all still there and ready for the next day etc.  The idea works, the flat is small so it doesn’t take a lot to turn it into a bomb site, and there is no way I can relax on the settee with a messy corner staring at me.

Little Birdhouse Card – Mark 2

This card measure 5ins x 5ins and uses a hand cut, white linen effect card blank.

Following on from yesterday, I decided to see how the birdhouse card would look on a simple mat and layered background, using paper from my Craftwork Cards Country Charm mini paper pad, a white linen effect card and silver mirror card.

The wooden birdhouse tags came from The Works (current stock) they would married up with some little wooden bird embellishment.

Again, I put a scrap of red, spotty paper behind the heart to give the birdhouse a bit of colour, picking red from the background paper. 

I used a brown pen to colour the eaves of the birdhouse, stuck on the bird (giving him an eye), and then added 3 layered, punched flowers with yellow flat back gem centres, before finally doing some faux stitching with a fine, black liner pen. Sorted.

Little Birdhouse Card

This card measure 5ins x 5ins and uses a hand cut, white linen effect card blank.

The wooden birdhouse tags came from The Works (current stock) and I wondered if they would marry up with some little wooden bird embellishments that I have had forever.  I was thrilled when the proportions were perfect!

I put a scrap of red, spotty paper behind the heart to give the birdhouse a little colour, stuck on the bird and then added punched leaves and flowers with tiny pearl centres

…… but, it looked a little bland, so I carefully added turquoise to the eaves, an extra flower on the bottom and a little faux stitching and sets of three dots here and there with a black fine liner pen, which all bought the card together.

Patchwork Christmas Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using a ribbed Kraft hand cut card blank.

Putting the patchwork of a a patchwork card together was a little more fiddly than I first anticipated, but I got it together in the end. I arranged and glued scrap pieces of Christmas patterned paper onto a square of white card, measuring approximately 4.5ins x 4.5ins and then layered that on a hologram type mirror card, before finally positioning it onto the card blank.

I then made a layered strip to go across the card using a length of Kraft card and paper that matched those already used on the card.

I originally added a silver Craftwork Cards sentiment to the  plain and scalloped circle layered backing (using various sized punches), but when I looked at it, it just didn’t look right, so I replaced it with a gold one, which looked much better, especially against the yellow/gold flat backed gems etc.

Beaded Charity Shop Bargains –Total £3.50 Spent

My favourite Charity Shop in Evesham always has a brilliant array of interesting necklaces and bracelets, and what I particularly like is the way they make up bundles of colour matching bracelets for between £1/£1.50 each and this week, when all spread out, I came back home with some very useful goodies.

It was the bracelet of facetted grey, aurora borealis beads that first caught my eye in the top bundle (£1)

There must be at least a hundred glass beads on it, all with a loop, which makes using them as a “dangly bit” on a project, perhaps a fringe on the bottom of a tag, so much easier.

 

I also noticed the bracelet of irregular blue gemstones and immediately thought of Marc, as they are just the sort of thing he uses in his jewellery/key ring making. In just these two pieces I felt I had had my monies worth. I think the bracelet with the abalone rectangular links will also be useful to Marc, but I think the dolphin and wooden bangle will put in my next bag to go to the charity shop nearest me. 

The other bundle of bracelets (£1) also provided much useful fruit, all the beads on three of them are glass in various sizes. On the green bracelet, they are already put together in small drops of three/four beads, all I need to do is take them off the chain. The same can be done with the blue bracelet which also includes a few metal charms and a toggle fastener. I have already started some Christmas decorations/tags using children's wooden picture dominoes pieces and the drops are (hopefully) going to be perfect for them.  I think the bangles will be donated back to the shop.

The above necklace, well it’s “stunning”, once upon a time I would have worn it, but now, perhaps not, but I am keeping it whole for a while at least, just in case, but if not, I can already see in rearranged and set in a rectangular memory frame I already have.

And now for my Mystery Buy of the Week, (again from the same shop), all suggestions welcome. They all have a pin and fastener on the back.  There was nothing on the packaging to say what they were, but one possibility that came to mind was that they could be candle pins, to go round and decorate a large or several pillar candles???? Anyway for 50p ….. I could have some very posh candles if I wanted!

And finally …… this “stunning bracelet was from Oxfam, for 50p. When taken apart the clear glass pieces are going towards an oval jewelled mirror I am planning to make for my nephew and his girlfriend to put in their new house.  The old mirror hung in my in-laws lounge for as long as I can remember, I thought by bejewelling it, it would breathe new life into something from his Granddads house without looking old fashioned and out of place.

Not a bad collection for just £3.50, in between going to the dentist and a coffee!