Arboscello Tree Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using a ivory linen effect handcut card blank.

This is the card I made for my mum for Mother’s Day.

Marc lent me this die from Memory Box – Arboscello Tree, Style No. 98155, a while ago and which I am afraid I kept for a little too long without using, but when thinking about Mother’s Day I knew it would be perfect for my mum.  The flowers are made using a 1cm Papermania Daisy Punch.

Used on its own, unembellished, it would look lovely on a Christmas card with just a little sparkly micro glitter on its branches and around the bottom or with just a lone bird sitting on one of it’s branches for another occasion ….. or covered in little hearts on Valentines Day …. there are so many possibilities. I am not sure where Marc got the die from … but I am sure he will let us know when he sees this.

Poundland - Hanging Decopatch Easter Egg Decorations

When I was staying with Marc we perused the Poundland website together and found these packs of  “decorate your own eggs” ….

…. and I immediately thought of making hanging egg decorations using Decopatch.

….. so using a little trial and error ….. first I added a loop to thread some cotton through to hang the eggs by, using a gold effect wire  ….

…. and then started the on the therapeutic bit of covering the eggs with the Decopatch Paper. Well,  I thought it would be therapeutic, but with the eggs being small and quite fiddly to handle when sticky, I just got grumpy and very stuck up!!!!!  I added a little HunkyDory Diamond Sparkles Fairie Kisses to the glue for extra sparkle, but unfortunately the effect was rather lack lustre on the hoped for twinkly side

I could varnish the finished eggs but have decided that as they will only be on display, hung from a piece of branch in a pot for a few days and admired from a distance, not close up,  the time and effort involved isn’t really worth it.  However,  I shall be adding a few bows … and perhaps an embellishment or two …. so keep watching this space!

http://www.poundland.co.uk/top-tips/easter-arts-and-crafts/

http://www.thedecopatchplace.co.uk/

The Final Finishing Touches to Tom and Laura’s Wedding Invitations.

I bought seventy five130gsm C5 envelopes from eBay to put Tom and Laura’s wedding invitations in.  They cost me £7.38 inc. P & P  which I don’t think is too bad, but I thought that I could make them a little more special……

….. so cut papers in the same colours as we had used for the punched flowers and then lined the envelopes with them, using only the smallest amount of PVA glue to make sure that there were no wrinkles.

I then thought that I ought to make a little “something” to add to the back of each invitation to show how just how unique they were and who had made them….

….perhaps drumming up business for this very successful dream wedding team!!!!!

Tom and The Lovely Laura’s Wedding Invites Almost Finished ….

Well….. “The Wednesday/Thursday Tom and Laura Crafty Wedding Club” set up chez nous, to make the wedding paraphernalia for Tom and the Lovely Laura’s wedding has finally finished their first project ……

…. to wit … 50 invitations in two basic designs, but each one is slightly different, because the make up of colours used for the flowers was left entirely to Denise, Sarah, Daisy, Emily, Lucy and me …… and are so Lovely Laura.

After our last session they were left drying all over the room, with just the ribbons to trim, as you can see from these pictures.

We were all so chuffed with ourselves ….. and spent ages just gazing at all the different combinations.

I don’t really think I made putting the heart/printed part of the invitations together easy for myself ….. because I know that, if I had the patience, I could have set up the print and cut facility up on my Silhouette to do it, but I have only done that once …. and it took me two days to get right and in the process almost sent me stark staring mad!!!!

So …. first I created sheets of invitation “toppers” in Publisher …..

……  in three colours, pink, purple and turquoise to match the ribbons, in Papyrus font size 16.5.

And then …. the Heath Robinson bit ….. I held a plastic heart template behind the card to centre the text, and then, trying not to move the template, drew round it, again on the back of the card …….. I know, I know …… talk about long winded!

The hearts were then duly cut out ….

.... then mat and layered on white linen and mirror card.
There is one more fiddlefart finishing touch to go ….  of which I will show you tomorrow.

The Best Mother’s Day Present Of Them All …… Guest Crafter My Brother Stephen.

I expect, like me you’ve all been waiting with baited breath to see what my brother Stephen came back with from his Day Centre on Friday for my mum for Mother’s Day ……. well,  here it is …….. mahooosive fanfare and drum roll maestro please …………………

Not a card this year  …. but a beautiful package containing handmade sweets…..  two peppermint creams and two truffles, all tied up with ribbons and bows and flowers, as well as a tag.

As I always say with these posts …. we are in no doubt my brother actually did very much in the putting together of this wonderful gift, more as like he just sat at the table, watched, hummed and twiddled with his sleeve  ….. but we cannot thank his staff enough for doing it on his behalf ….. THANK YOU xx YOU’LL NEVER KNOW WHAT GETTING A PRESENT LIKE THIS MEANS TO US EVERY YEAR xxx

Way Over The Top 50th Birthday Card!

This card is made using a hand cut cream glitter A5 blank.

There is a story behind this card … I had temporarily stopped making cards to order, so my sister in law decided to buy a special  “handmade”  (CraftROBO/Silhouette cut) card from Not On The High Street, paying over £5 for it,  but when it arrived it took our breathe away, it was so awful. It was made using cheap flimsy card, the cut out design was so confusing it was hard to pick out the wording and it wasn’t even centred, Sarah bought it to me in despair asking if I could rescue it!!!   Believe me, I’d have put it in the bin ….. but in the end I managed to make a gift tag from it.

Needless to say I felt very guilty for not making Sarah a card in the first place and to make amends created this very over the top little number (not to my taste to be honest, but in real life it did appear to be a lot more subtle!), but the person the card was for loves anything that is OTT and the more bling and embellishment the better …. in her case less is definitely NOT more!!!

You can’t see the sparkle in the picture but I made the blank using a sheet of very twinkly A4 glitter card. I have to admit I wouldn’t do the lettering in the way same again …. I would stick to just one type of font, but Maria, the lady who  received it was absolutely thrilled!

Adoption Card

This card is made using an A5 blank in white linen effect card.

There is nothing complicated or fancy about this card, it’s really very basic, using an appropriate backing paper where I have coloured the odd heart red with a fine liner pen to go with the sentiment …..

…. and a pack of Poundland 3D stickers that I have had for years, but which are just perfect as the little boy being adopted is almost four and the theme needed to be a bit more grown up.

Seashell And Seaglass Mirrors

I have been looking for inspiration before I start on my own seashell themed mirror …..

http://www.etsy.com/listing/53967881/seashell-mirror-beach-decor-w-aqua-blue

http://www.buythesea-bymail.co.uk/seashell-mirror-3666-p.asp

shop.beachgrasscottage.com/Seashell-Wreath-Beach-Decor-White-Shell-Wreath-w-Starfish-45.htm

http://www.oceanviewseashellmirrors.com/gallery.php

http://www.etsy.com/listing/105379540/driftwood-mirror-with-seashells

Charity Shop Find …

On Saturday I nipped up the road to have a browse in the two charity shops we have …

I found this mirror measuring 20ins x 20ins for £2.95 which was duly bagged, its condition is a little rough but with the wide frame it give me plenty of scope to embellishment.  On one of my stays with Marc he enthralled and inspired me with a tale of a set of mirrors he made for a restaurant that were wonderful confections of sprayed sea shells, pearls and “diamonds” mermaids and divers ……. so perhaps this will be the start of my own version …..

OBJECT OF DESIRE ………

…… And this is the mirror I left behind and will probably regret forever not buying …. but at £10 …. it was a bit too much to buy on a whim ….. if had it been a fiver I would have had it ……..

Ladbroke Grove Sunset …..

While I was staying with Marc last week there was the most wonderful sunset ….

…..so wonderful in fact that there was a real buzz of excitement and several people along with myself just stood and watched in awe and then tried to capture it’s beauty on their phones,  including one lovely lady who was so caught up in the moment that she gave a very excited running commentary to her sister on her mobile ….

It was such a magic moment.

Bejewelled Boudoir Mirror Progress

Progress on my “boudoir” mirrors is proving to be slow, but thanks to all the precious bits and pieces Marc gave me during my half term visit I have been able to progress a little further towards their completion.

On Saturday afternoon (2nd March) I spent several hours working on them, one on each side of my work area, so that I could go quickly between the two, owing to my going all anal about making them look almost identical. To be honest,  when I had finished it didn’t look like I had done very much ….. but as my fingers got increasing covered with glue and irritating I decided to call it another day.

I think another afternoon filling up the remaining gaps should complete the overall effect and then I will need to see where I need to add an extra layer or two to add depth and a little more opulence. I have some birds and butterflies from dissembled necklaces to do that with, but I still think I may need some large Primark type flowers to get the look absolutely right.  The narrowness of the mirror frames has limited my scope for flamboyance a little, but by using the first layer of jewels as a base I am hoping that I will be able to spread a little more to the sides and over the mirror, some of the lower pieces will be partially hidden, but, in away, that will hopefully add to the eventual magic. So bear with me a little longer and watch this space.

Wolves v Watford …..

The 1st of March would have been the Duke’s and my 33rd wedding anniversary  …… the Duke was a season ticket holder, as are most of our immediate family  and as Tom (our son) was unable to make the rescheduled Friday night match I used his ticket instead ….. (my third ever football match), and sat with the Duke's Dad.

It was blooming freezing …. and I didn’t have a clue what was going on, but it was a sort of symbolic way to “remember” the day.  The score?  1:1.  And the hat???? …. A present from the Duke a couple of years ago …. perhaps the least said about that the better!!!!!

Adoption Card With A Pirate Theme

This card is made using a white linen effect A5 blank.

I made this card for my best friend Sarah, who has recently completed a very long and rigorous process to enable her to adopt the most adorable little boy Jacob. I cannot tell you how much I admire her and her determination and strength to achieve her dream …. she will be the most wonderful mother and Jacob is such a lucky boy to have her for his mum.

I chose the pirate theme because Jacob adores dressing up and one of the gifts Sarah had asked for from work to help him settle  was a pirate outfit.I didn’t have to think too hard about how to put the card together as the packaging of the crystal effect stickers (63p in a sale) really did it for me …. all I had to do was trim a bit off the backing sheet and then work out how best to position the words, for which I used The Duke’s very old and very grubby but faithful Dymo label maker.  Simples!!!!

Catch Up Time ….. After My “Inspiring” Time With Marc In London …..

Three days with Marc at half term and I feel like a new woman and my mind is a whirl with ideas ….. We talked constantly, and Marc has so many ideas that ignite my imagination …….….. and he is also so generous …. he showers me embarrassingly with beautiful things to craft with, like this humungous pile of jewels to finish my “boudoir mirrors” with.  I had been waiting for Primark to bring out their new jewellery as I needed a few key pieces to use as a foundation, but to be honest, so far, what they have had has been disappointing ……

….. except for these bird necklets costing £3 each, (bought from the Oxford Street store) made up of nine birds. You just couldn’t buy that many embellishments of that size for the price in any craft shop that I know. So spare time willing, hopefully it won’t be long until my mirrors are finally finished.

Satchels are very much on trend at the moment but Marc told me that briefcase/document cases are also very popular too and then presented me with this one …… it’s gorgeous ….

I need to find a shoulder strap for it and then need to think whether  I embellish it any further, we had watched a Create and Craft programme where they were painting a briefcase ….. I don’t know if I am that brave …. but I think small white daisies could look lovely.

We also perused the Poundland website together for ideas,  which I then  followed it up by paying the Wolverhampton branch a visit …… buying several packs of these bubbles. We had looked at “wedding” bubbles, but they were a lot smaller and more expensive  …. but we both agreed that these are just screaming to be decorated once the labels are removed…… so watch this space for what I do for Tom and Laura’s wedding.

We also spotted these clocks amongst the Poundland Mother’s Day range, they measure approximately 12cm across the widest part and at the tallest point measure 12cms, but once again, with the embellishment is removed they also  shout out to be altered ……..

Marc and Rick’s flair for putting things together has also managed to creep into and influence my own decor, especially when it comes to what I affectionately call “London Lounging” ……….

I did have very plain and boring cream cushions in my dining room before my trip to London, now look at it …. Come Dine With Me here I come!!  I looked everywhere for cushion covers like this at Christmas but the few I found were so expensive and not half as sequined, but I found these at nearby Penkridge Market for £1 each when I got home ….. oh Marc, what have you done to me!!!!!!!!

And as for the progress of my canvas ….

I am still doing it in a very hodge podge way.  What I had done (so far) just didn’t look right until I took a thick black marker to outline the edges etc. with a beating heart, I knew that if I didn’t like it there would be no going back ……

……. but that’s all I am showing you for the moment….. there are many hours work still ahead ….. so once again it’s a case of watch this space!