A Unique Present From Marc

You may remember, way back when, that when I went down to London to meet Marc for the very first time (can it be almost two years ago?),  we went mooching in all the vintage/second hand shops in Portobello Road and we found this battered old satchel which he bought me after a little haggling, and that I repaired when I got home.

http://itsallfiddlefart.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/meeting-marc-in-real-life.html

http://itsallfiddlefart.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/my-satchel-off-marc.html
Originally I wanted to leave it as it was, and then more recently I thought that I would like it to be even more special and absolutely unique and so asked Marc if he would put one of his designs on it ……..

……. so that, with all the satchels, in all the world, I would be the only one with a totally “Marc” original.

Marc has called it Indian Summer and I just ADORE it, it reminds me of when I used to go to London about 30 odd years ago and the smell of patchouli oil and burning incense filled the air and Marc was doing his designer thing for the rich and famous!!!! Naturally, it will now be my bag of choice from now on, especially on my next visit to London at the end of May to celebrate Marc’s birthday.

But Marc, being Marc, as I tidied away the wrappings something else dropped out of it …..

…… this beautiful and very large lizard brooch …… what is he like?????  He knows me soooooooo well and what will make me go oooooooo and ahhhhh with pure delight!

I will wear him often, but for now I thought he would look perfect languishing in the sun on my kitchen window sill under the shadow of my solar powered waving queen, another gift from Marc ……. don’t you just love him xxxxx

My Recycled Paper Covered Drawers

As you know,  I have been doing a bit of a refurbishment to my upstairs rooms ….. and that I am a huge fan of drawers like these ….

…… but they are expensive and I have been working on a budget! I knew that I wanted a bedside table/set of drawers on either side of the double bed I had put in the guest room, but if I am honest, they would have been more for decoration and putting a lamp on, than actually putting things in, so I couldn’t really justify buying new furniture just for that reason. 

Then, while I was planning on what stuff to move from my old craft room to the new I wondered about the two sets of battered old drawers that were hidden in one of the wardrobes, filled with punches and stamps and decided to go for it …… what could I lose?

So armed with my favourite papers from My Minds Eye and a bottle of PVA bond from Poundland I set to work cutting squares that measured 4ins x 4ins and 3ins x 3ins. I have to admit to becoming a bit anal and deciding to make the drawers as near identical as possible, so that I had a matching pair!  And then, when I decided that the edges of each patchwork square needed to have faux stitching all the way around (using a black biro), I thought I had completely lost the plot, but I preserved!!!!!!

In all, I think it took me about ten hours to cover the drawers, including the inside bottoms as they were a bit grim ……

……. followed by five layers of Wilkos quick drying, satin finish, clear varnish, which took another day and a half.

Because I couldn’t find any new handles to replace the old ones, I decided to spray them using a cream enamel paint, also from Wilkos.I am not sure what the total cost of recycling the drawers was as I already had the papers (bought specially for my bath panel), perhaps £5 (?), plus a bottle of Poundland glue, varnish £3.99 (reduced, to half price for some reason) and a can of spray enamel for £3.87, but, it was an awful lot cheaper than buying two new sets of drawers, and I’ve got completely something unique.  Not to everyone’s cup of tea I know, but very me!!!

The rest of the room looks pretty OK too, in a less is more type way, all I need now are some guests …… Marc?????

I’ve Been Busy …… Introducing, In Hello magazine Type Fashion, My New Craft Room!

I may have only been blogging once a week, but believe me my feet haven’t touched the ground since I decided to stand back for a while ….. As it happens it was a very wise decision, as my life seems to have been taking on a lot of new changes and happenings, which are set to continue for the next six months or so at least, the most exciting of which will be the safe arrival of my first grandchild “Jellybean” in June …….

….. which is why my spare bedroom has gone from this to this ….. and my old Craft Room is no more!

It was a job I firmly intended to do during the summer holidays, but then in a mad mood of impetuosity I decided to get it started over Easter while I was in Iceland, aghhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a brilliant gentleman called Ade who sorted it all for me (he, who did my “boutique” bathroom too).  I just give him a whole raft of wishy washy, fiddle farty ideas and somehow he knows exactly what I want!!!  So when I came home, all I had to do was fill all the shelves and drawers with all the stuff from my old and nearly double the size craft room ……

…… and I did it !!! Well, almost, I still have my sewing machines, Christmas bits and pieces and picture frames in the old room, but it’s all hidden away (but easily reachable when needed)  but now my guests (including Tom, The Lovely Laura and Jellybean) will have a lovely spacious room to spread out in plus tea making facilities.

Christmas 2014 - Retro Snowman Tags

These tags measure approximately 10cm x 5cms and are made using a base tag of plain red card and scraps from retro style Christmas papers.
The canvas snowman toppers cost me 50p for a pack of 4 from a reduced section in The Range.
There’s not a lot to them, the eyelet has been set using my Crop-a-dile, I am still very heavy handed with it, but a proper eyelet does make a tag look so professional! There’s a bit of mat and layering and faux stitching going on…..
….. all finished off with a a length of red and white bakers twine.  These would look good on a parcel wrapped in plain or bottle green Kraft paper.

Rubber Duckie Card.

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using a hand cut blank using a navy blue gingham card.
I’m not sure if this card is suffering from a mat and layering overload!!!??
The ducks came from my visit to Michael’s in Las Vegas, they are sooooo cute, but I am not sure that this card has done their cuteness justice.

However, as there are nine ducks in the pack at least I can have a couple more tries to see if I can get the balance right! 

Having said that though, I think it’s a card that I could possibly use for the birth of a baby boy, with the addition of a sentiment somewhere ….  possibly on the “water”…..??

Rubber Duckie Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using a hand cut card blank using a white linen effect card.
I found these self adhesive, flock duck embellishments from in Michael’s in Las Vegas……. and just couldn't resist them

Baby cards immediately came to mind, but I am also thinking perhaps a leaving cards .... or just a plain "You're quackers!" ?

Cadbury Miniature Bunny Chocolates

These chocolates are just a daft idea made for fun, perhaps a case of over egging (or bunnyising) a Cadbury miniature!!!!

All I’ve done is cover a few Cadbury miniatures to make them look a bit more Eastery ….

…… using a wrapper as a template,  I have cut new ones using scraps from Boofle  6 x 6 papers.

There’s a bit of an art to unwrapping the chocolates without damaging the foil …. but I got there in the end. I then “rolled” the chocolate in a new wrapper, sealing it with double sided tape at the end.

The final touch is a little doodled grass before adding the Easter bunny, done and dusted!

Elizabeth Shaw Bunny Mint Favours

Come on, with Easter next on our crafting calendars did you really think I wouldn’t do something with my crafty confectionary staple Elizabeth Shaw mints?!!!!!!

I try to stock up on the mints whenever see them in Home Bargains or B M Bargains at around £1.99 a box, especially as they always seem to have the milk chocolate ones, which are my personal favourite, dark chocolate is an acquired taste for me I am afraid. I know one day this source will more than likely dry up and then I will have to try and find them in the supermarkets for close on double the price, so I always check the “use by date” and then buy enough for a couple or three projects.

So, once more, I have got my old faithful, umpteen years old Stampin’ Up scalloped and plain circle out and got punching, in pink and yellow pastels for the outside, and Boofle 6” x 6” papers for the middle.

I am a fairly patient person ….. but after a while doing all the dots and faux stitching on both sides of the mints does begin to rankle and I just want to get them done!

Then comes the writing bit, when I start just pray that I can get it pretty well centred first time, and not have to chuck too many in the bin to get them just right.

Then,  all I have to do is sandwich them altogether, using double-sided tape ….. I am not sure how I am going to package them up to give as presents at Easter ….. but I do have a few organza bags from way back when (…somewhere …..) that need using up!