First Christmas Post of the Year

It’s hard to know when to start Christmas ….. I begin looking for and thinking about ideas in the summer holiday and try to get quite a few put together ….. but when should I start  posting them?  …… Well, I have decided to start now ….. and will add others as and when I do them.  If you are anything like me, I’d hate to find a brilliant idea a couple of days before Christmas and have no time/materials to make it …….. so here we go …and as it gets nearer to Christmas I can start on Easter!!!

 

I’ve seen this idea done in lots of different ways when I have been Googling and this is my version ….. take one chocolate bar ……

…….. cover it with red paper, add a belt and buckle, a few buttons, a beard and some fur trim.  The beard and trim are made using a glitter paper, which is easier to wrap round the chocolate bar. (AC0123W - 12 glitter sheets per pack from http://www.craftime.com/).  There are two shades of white in the pack, one a brilliant white and the other is slightly creamier in tone.

You could also stick a loop of red ribbon to the chocolate bar before covering it to make a Christmas Tree decoration …….or ….. get a length of string, make 25 of them, add a peel off number to each one et voila an Advent Calendar!

My Many Pocketed Advent Calendar Challenge!

This is my “Many Pocketed Advent Calendar” hung up on my craft room door………

I have set myself a challenge to make a little something for each pocket before 1st December, then I will take it to work and let everyone choose a pocket  …… I think 24 totally different ideas might be a lot for my haddled brain …. so some ideas may be duplicated but different, if you know what I mean, i.e I may decorate three chocolate bars, but they will each have a separate design …… how exciting!

Gone Fishin’ Birthday Card

I don’t do many cards for men! The themes just don’t appeal.

But this is a card I made for my sister-in-law to give to a friend.

I’ve used a Quickutz Silhouette download for all the parts except for the personal message.

I was a bit frightened when I thought I had finished it because there seemed to be a lot of white space left, so I added chopboard DCWV corners, just to fill it in a little bit more!

I'm a bit excited ...... as I am starting my Halloween and Christmas ideas from tomorrow. Last year I was very ambitious and managed a Christmas themed post every day from November 1st  ..... I can't promise that this year .....but hopefully it'll be a mixed bag .... that will please everyone.

Surprise Party Birthday Card

This is a card I made for a friend of a friend for whom she was planning a surprise party, I thought I would follow the theme through to her card as a reminder of the evening.

I’ve used my newspaper template and an assortment of clipart images.

The lady is made up with simple decoupage layers.

I’ve used Anita's 3D clear gloss finish on her eyes, shoes and cake, a tiny amount of Hero Arts micro hologram glitter on the candles and hat and an assortment of stars sprinkled here and there.

Overwhelmed

On Saturday I was inspired by another blog to display some of my cherished possessions ….. but I was also overwhelmed by generosity, can you imagine how excited I was when the postman asked me to sign for THIS parcel?

Especially when I saw who it was from…….. agggghhhhhh!!

Only Poundland!!!!!  Oh my life!

It was crammed with all manner of treasure.

It was like Christmas and my birthday rolled into one!

One of my projects has featured on the Poundland blog,http://www.poundlandblog.co.uk/?tag=pound-shop&paged=5  so they know about my blog, which makes me feel a bit famous ….. but this gift was a lovely and much appreciated surprise!

You know when the Queen gives Warrants to her favourite shops ….. I wonder if I can officially use the Poundland logo as my warrant as – Official Crafter of Poundland Goods!

Opening Up …Just a Little

 

I know I don’t open up much on my blog, I like to keep it strictly “craft”, it was a decision I made when I first started writing, but I've decided that occasionally it would be nice to wander off the path a little, and show you some of the things I love to find and collect ….. and sometimes add to my projects.

What gave me the idea was hopping to a new blog written by a lady who often comments on my blogs:- http://magweedsmayhem.blogspot.com/2010/08/bobbin-about.html . What I read inspired me to think about the things that  I have squirreled away but  not looked at for a while.  Lilibet wrote about her love for wooden cotton spools – we must be kindred spirits, as I too love old sewing paraphernalia, although I very rarely sew, because it makes my gums itch and reminds me of sewing lessons at school, when all I ever did was unpick,even my tacking had to be unpicked, as a result I am always disappointed with most things I sew.

But, I always look for old sewing boxes at carboots, people almost give them away, thinking that they are worthless when I see them as priceless treasure trove, you never know what you are going to find ….. as you can see from my pictures.

I love the thought of shoulder ribbons and using "potato" coloured darning thread.

And look at this wonderful receipt

I like to ponder upon the women who’s boxes these once were, who ordered lassie, omo, vim and cake (I wonder what sort of cake it was!)

But it was Lilibet’s comments about the cotton reels that made me think and get  my Gran’s old sewing basket out. When she died it was the only thing I wanted because this is what she used/touched almost every day for years, and years and years.

It seemed so sad that I just keep it on the top shelf in one of my cupboards, but then I had an Ulrika moment and looked up at the empty IKEA memory boxes on my nic-nacky shelves  ………..

................and I sorted out all the wooden cotton reels and her thimble and put them in one of the boxes.

I am dead chuffed ...

Thank you Lilibet, and all this happened before 9.00am on a Saturday morning! I wonder what will inspired me to fill the other boxes.

Doodled Thank You Card

I doodled the “Thank You” using a fine liner pen and my new Promarkers, then got stuck for a suitable background paper. It took a while, but in the end I plumped for this polka dot paper with silver mat and layering.

And the winner is .......

Well done Rustyhammer (check out her WONDERFUL blog  - http://rustyhammer.blogspot.com/), you have won a voucher worth £40 from CSN Stores in my Anniversary Giveaway!  Woooo Hoooo Hooooo!

White and Gold Flower Card

This card breaks one of my few  rules of card making – it’s always cream and gold or white and silver but the lady who ordered this card asked for “very pretty, using white and gold”

It’s a design I have used several times before, but this time I have used the specific words of the sender.

Perhaps not a combination I would have chosen, the white is too harsh against the warm gold. I have never punched flowers using this gold paper before and I like the effect ….. perhaps for small Christmas wreath card ……

Wedding Book ….. Something Old, Something New ….

I’ve shown you this idea about a year ago, but though the words are the same, the embellishments change, so I thought I would show you the one that I finished on Tuesday night.

And I won’t rabbit on …. I’ll let the pictures tell the story.

On the left hand pages of the book I make a pocket and add a couple of cards for the giver and bridesmaids etc. to write little messages.

The book is placed in a plain box (made using my box maker from e-bay)

But I like to embellish the top a little.

And this is a view of my desk as I was making the book, while watching “The Great British Bake Off”

Altered Canvas Bag

I have started to alter the bag I got from the carboot on Monday. I couldn’t believe it when I found that the straps actually come off, making working on them so much easier, how brilliant is that?

I had a look in my ribbon box and found  this red polka dot grosgrain ribbon which is just perfect. I have glued it onto the bag with heavy duty PVA, turning over the ends so they don’t fray.  I know I could have sewn on the ribbon, but that’s not my style, too slow! And as this bag is a bit of fun, I am not planning on its longevity or durability!

I was going to get a set of Accessorize pin badges (£3 for 4) to embellish it until Lisa pointed out that I could make my own ….doh,  I’d forgotten about my badge maker,…… so that’s my next job!

Football Birthday Card

This card is made using the SMIRK for Him decoupage pad (£7.99) – it contains enough designs to make at least 24 cards.

I have used “real” grass for it – well almost, it’s the grass they use for model railways etc. I think it cost about £2.99 a roll from Hobbycrafts – it’s a nice little twist making very simple card just that little bit more special.