Halloween Brew 2013

Oh my life I never thought I would ever get back my enthusiasm to make my Halloween brew again.  I lost all my files when my computer “died", so last Halloween I didn’t have the heart to “redo” them ….. but there is something about seeing all the Halloween bits and pieces in the shops that just nags at me to do something …..  So Ta Dah …… FiddleFart Halloween Brew 2013!

Inside each packet I have put in a sachet of hot chocolate,(Maltesers or Galaxy – 99p for a pack of 5  from Home Bargain etc.) some mini marshmallows (Home Bargains 79p or Poundland £1) which I have then divided into small cello pretzel bags and sealed with my Elitech vacuum bag sealer, two skull lollipops from a huge bag from Poundland (23 at least)  and a couple of plastic spiders left over from my sweetie bags.

I have put together a poem, not a brilliant one I know   ….. but it goes with the contents I have put in the packs, namely the skull lollipops as stirrers and as far as I am concerned I am free to give my poem away to anyone who wishes to use it, as it came out of my head …… so copy away …. 

I am also free to offer you a download of the PDF file of the sheet of four cards to put in your packs as the doodled spiders and webs are also mine! I have left the bottom part of the card blank so that you can decorate it yourself with stickers etc. as I have done.  The font used is Chiller.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h4yipr6d1inogpl/Halloween_Brew_PDF.pdf

The cards were designed to fit a cello bag approx. 9cm wide  x 22cm long  (not including the fold over), however, if your bags are a little bigger you could do a little creative mat and layering to make them fit!  I sealed the completed packs with my sealer, which also cuts the excess cello bag off, but a transparent cell would work just as well.

Once downloaded the file can be printed on any colour card/paper – and embellished as you wish.

I bought my Elitech vacuum sealer several years ago, but don’t really feel qualified to offer any advice on buying one ….but if you are thinking about it  for crafting, have a look on e-bay or Amazon …. I think I would expect to pay anything up to about £40 perhaps – anything under £20 would be a bargain!

Two Graduation Cards

As you know my Lucy graduated a couple of weeks ago amidst much pride, she not only got a First Class degree but also two special awards for her work and disertation, which she was told was a unique achievement in her department, all that while watching out for her dear old mum!!!

So naturally, a time for making celebratory cards. My card which measures 5ins x 5ins using ahand cut blank of white linen effect card was made using a pack of Jolees embellishments that I got in Michaels (in Las Vegas!!!!! ), …. that I bought especially with Lucy’s graduation in mind, so a bit of a cheat really.  The paper used for the background was chosen to reflect Lucy’s degree in Accountancy, but looking at the picture now I can see that I have used it the wrong way round …… doh, talk about lack of attention to detail, I should be so ashamed!!

No cheating at all with this second card was made by the Equally Lovely Denise, the Lovely Laura’s mum (my new daughter in law!)  A very clever design that I plan to remember and copy in the future.  I always struggle with mortar boards, such a weird shape ….. I had never thought of a square with a tassel ….. yet another doh on my behalf, I really am rusty these days! 

Gingham Santa Cards

These cards measure 9.5cm x 9.5cm and are made using a hand cut white linen effect card blank.
I am not at all sure about these cards!  I really don’t like the green gingham or the red for that matter!! In fact they are really YUK!!!

I’ve used stickers from The 99p Store that I got last year, but they just aint right!!!  Perhaps it’s because they have no dimension and have a peel off look to them!  Anyway I think they will be well and truly consigned to the “only use in an emergency box”!!!!

However,  I am much happier with the tags …. perhaps it’s because tags don’t need that much dimension and the kraft card and bakers/butchers string add a Christmassy feel.

I’d got some bits and pieces left over that didn’t quite suit the front of the tags, but were perfect for the back! Done and dusted!

Jacob’s Advent House

Sorry about the quality of the pictures in this post, but the pictures are rescued from Google after I lost hundreds of pictures in a “deleting” disaster.

So briefly this is the Advent House I made for my best friends adopted son Jacob for his first Christmas with her.

I used a wooden Tesco Advent House that I had the foresight to buy many of as I knew I would never see them again at £5!

Rather than try to repeat my original post I will just use the pictures to tell the story and just apologise about not giving details about papers etc.like I usually try to do, which came from the HobbyCraft Christmas 2013 range, but I doubt if they are still available now.

 

Jacob’s Advent House – Part 2

Progress with Jacob’s Advent House has been much faster than I first thought it would be, mostly due to my being able to refer to past blog posts of the original house on my computer screen as I worked.

I had a bit of a disaster with the red spotted paper I originally put on the sides of the house which wasn’t strong enough to stand several coats of varnish, so I replaced it with a much thicker green paper, which I now much prefer.

I covered the roof with a red corrugated card which had a metallic sheen to it.  Working round the bottom of the chimney was a bit fiddly, but I got there ….

…… and then added ric rac brad at intervals down the roof ….I will also add clear flat back gems at a later stage.

The eaves are almost finished too … they just need a snowman either side of the star drawer …… some red or green lace around the edges and bottom plus a few more clear flat backed gems for a little extra, over the top, Christmas bling.

…… but it all needed to be left to dry properly and to settle a bit before all the final fiddle fart touches could be added.

While that was happening I could get on with the drawers, which had now been coated with several coats of clear, satin varnish with a little extra fine translucent glitter added to it.  I made the drawer knobs by sticking a square flat backed gem onto a wooden bead, this was quite fiddly so I temporarily stuck the beads onto double sided tape to stop them moving around while I was working on them. They were then each stuck on a drawer with superglue to make absolutely sure that they don’t come off.

You wouldn’t believe just how long it took me to sort out the drawers so that the embellishments followed a pattern and then that the different patterned papers were spread out evenly and no two were together, talk about more fiddle fart!

I am not the greatest fan of peel offs,  but have used silver corners, in two sizes, to add a bit of sparkle and shine to each drawer…….

So that’s it for another day ….. Jacob’s Advent House is almost done …. I just need to have another tidy up of my desk before the final sprint to the finish …..

More tomorrow ….. all being well!!!

Jacob’s Advent House – Part 1

I was very excited, if not a little daunted by the task I had set myself in making an Advent House for my friend’s little boy Jacob …. not by the actual cutting and gluing, but the planning,  I had virtually decided to make it almost the same as mine ….  until a trip to HobbyCraft turned my idea completely on its head …..

….. when I saw these adhesive Advent Toppers, they cost £2.99,  but there was a buy two get one free offer on selected Christmas stuff  ….. so you can guess what happened,  …. I got one and two spares, aghhhh!!!

But….. the colours didn’t go with the papers I had originally chosen to use …. so out came my paper box and I started all over again, opting for some Stampin’ Up papers in green, not a Christmas range, but perfect as a background and whose patterns were in perfect proportion to the drawers, plus a few pieces of red paper,  their position to be decided once I got started.

The house was duly sprayed with a cream colour spray paint ….

…. drawers covered and roughly planned out with their numbered embellishment ……

…. which were given the FiddleFart treatment of a dusting of extra fine translucent glitter from Michaels, a present from Dianne in Florida a while ago.

And then I started to think about snowmen ….. which was followed by a stupid amount of time spent on the internet trying to find “the perfect snowman” x 5 ….. I failed, and went to bed wondering what to do …..!! 

However when I got up next morning and started looking for something completely different I stumbled upon some wooden snowmen I had completely forgotten about  … that were perfect,

I had spent too long looking for cutesy snowmen …. and this was an Advent House for a rufty tuffy little boy …. so the more “rustic” wooden snowmen I found were much better suited!

All the pieces were coming together slowly ……. and I was now covered in glue and my craftroom chaos ……

More tomorrow ….

How many People Can Say They Went To Vegas And Went To A 99c Store?????

Oh my life, you’ll never know how much I have wanted to go to a “real” dollar store like Dollar Tree since finding out about them through blogging and the internet ….. what a thing to have on your bucket list!!!

However, on the day I finally made it to one we’d already been to The Gold and Silver Pawn Shop, Michael’s and Walmart! Back home this would have been a mere poottle around  …... but in Vegas,  in the HEAT ….. oh dear lord, the HEAT, us Wolverhampton girls just aint built to take it! We were totally exhausted and none to fragrant by this stage (about 4.00pm), but I was determined to give it my best shot!!

In some ways I was glad that this wasn’t the best 99c shop in the world for creative bits and pieces  …. as I was almost cross eyed with heat and fatigue and couldn’t really take it all in …. and incredible as it seems now, I only spent $10.25 - £6.32!!!!!This 99c Store had aisles and aisles of food, far more than our Poundshops,  including a Deli and frozen section, which surprised me.   And I really I wish I had bought this popcorn now, how good would it have looked in my craft room,  but space and weight in my suitcase was a constant issue when fiddlefart shopping …. and with hindsight I wish I hadn’t taken quite so many clothes!

So what did I purchase ….?

A drinking jar, as seen on Big Brother, and sold here for stupid money here ….. 65p in 99c Store!!!  If only I could have bought more home ….. but I was determined that this one at least would come home with me.

Two glass candle sticks?? Lucy thought I was mad …. and what I wanted to buy to go with them were glasses that would, when glued on top would have made perfect Halloween Apothecary jars like below ……. but there was no way I could have got them home ….

http://amyhurley.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/09/halloween-dollar-tree-decorations.html

And four pair of reading glasses, that are sooooo cute, 65p???? OMG! You can’t see them clearly in the picture but they have three “diamonds” on each side of the frame …. I have a drawer of reading glasses of every colour and pattern …. but these are my favourite at the moment, but I am frightened to wear them in case I lose them, which I always do!!

And finally …… a dollar store tote ….. which I shall use proudly as a kitsch accessory!!!

An everso slightly disappointing haul … and if we hadn’t packed so much other stuff into our two weeks I wish I’d had time to jump into a taxi and said “Dollar Tree,  my good man” …… just for a second bite of the cherry. But,  if I am ever lucky enough to go to the States again I’ll definitely only be taking two outfits, one to wear and one in the wash!!!!

Take And Make Workshop With Kirsty Wiseman

Woooo hooo, there is a “newish” craft shop in Wolverhampton called Domino Crafts, I think it’s been there for about six months perhaps a bit longer.  I pop in there now and again mainly because they have a Payper Box section, where you fill a small or large wallet with the A4 paper and/or card of your choice, a large wallet costs £6.49 but I forget how much the smaller one is.

Anyway when I was in last Thursday I was particularly impressed by the range of Payper Christmas designs, particularly the blue and white spotty one which just screamed snow and snowman scene to me, there is also a very nice dusty navy blue gingham that made me think immediately of a  shabby chic Christmas , so it would have been rude not to indulge a little!!!

I also bought a couple of Sakura Quickie Glue pens and some corner peel offs with Christmas ideas now well on my mind and as I was paying we got to talking about Domino’s Facebook page and then that Kirsty Wiseman was doing Make and Take Workshops on 16th November ….. well my place was booked there and then!!! http://limegreenbogiegirl.blogspot.co.uk/ I’ve never ever done a workshop before, so I think I may have peaked doing my first with Kirsty, I am sooooooooooooooo excited!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Domino-Crafts/187935284582228
I also understand that Julia Watts from Creative Expressions/Create & Craft will be doing a demonstration day on Saturday 26th October …. but I will be London Lounging with Marc then!!!!

Domino Crafts have a wide range of Spectrum Noir pens, dies for all machines, Hunkdory, DCWV, Crafters Companion, Debbie Moore, Woodware and Creative Expressions as well as selling their own handmade cards, tags etc.

Domino Crafts, 7a Cleveland Street, W-ton, Tel: 01902 428 842