January Furniture Show 2017 – Pictures of Ian Christopher’s Work

You may remember that I beat myself up a week or so ago because I was too busy/knackered to take many pictures of the hospitality areas I worked on with Ian Christopher  and his team at the January Furniture Show 2017 at the NEC in Birmingham, well I now have some “official” pictures from Ian. 

The first few are of the Speak Easy VIP Area which it all started as below, empty  …….

….. and ended up looking like this …….

Ian designed everything, from the colours of the stand walls …..

…… to the posters and art work on the walls, the signage, the flooring …….

……. the lighting, the drapes ………

……. every single stick of furniture that had to be hired ….. even down to the mahooooooosive chandelier in the piano bar.

….. Ian’s plans were drawn to show exactly where everything had to go, for me the thought of it all makes my head spin.  All I had to do was “stage” the props, and wire some gerbera and as I have said, that totally knackered me out!

Ian also designed the Willy Wonka and Western Areas that I never got a chance to see in their finished stage.

It really is a whole new world ……. If I had had the room, I would have been very tempted to smuggle out a cactus or two to put in my communal garden, and then wait for the flat’s management company to pass judgement (as they certainly didn’t like my bird station), and I would have loved to see Iris’s face if I had put two of the Willy Wonka ice-cream cones at either side of the end of the bed in my guest room, but not even my humongous shoplifting bag, as Marc calls, it could have covered them in my attempt to look inconspicuous and innocent.  http://www.furniturepresentations.com/

Red Snowflake Tags

To make these snowflake tags I have used scraps of corrugated Kraft card, small wooden tags (The Works), red snowflake embellishments, pearl flat backed gems, Butchers red and white twine and wooden beads.

The finished tags measure approximately 3ins x 2.ins.

I cut out the tags using the corrugated Kraft card, then attached smaller wooden tags to them using red and white Butchers twine and a wooden bead

The wooden red snowflakes were Christmas parcel tags from Sainsburys.  They were glued to the wooden tag using PVA glue, and then the tag was edged with faux stitching using a red gel pen.

My choice of flat backed pearls was governed by the fact that, unbelievably, I have run out of small clear flat backed gems, but work well nonetheless, perhaps making the tag look a little posher.  I also needed to add the pearls to cover the hole used for string it originally had threaded through. Please excuse gluey globs!!

These tags would look good on a parcel wrapped in a plain kraft paper, or a on a plain red paper with matching string or ribbon.

What I do with all my stuff I make ……..????

Susan asked what I will be doing with all the things I make, especially now that I don’t work and no longer have the staffroom table to display my wares.  Well Susan, the café I like to take Iris on a Wednesday for her scrambled egg on toast is hoping to diversify and have a little crafty section as a side line, so I am going to take a small selection of bits to see how they go, but I really don’t want to start making “en masse”.  I was also asked before Christmas if I would like a stall at a craft fayre, sadly, I had to decline as I had absolutely nothing to sell, so all the Christmas stuff I will be making in the coming months, cards, tags etc. will be put away just in case it I am asked again.

I shall also be going backwards and forwards to nursery from April onwards to collect Iris when Laura returns to work, so I will be keeping my ears open for any other opportunities, but again, I have no desire to make dozens of the same thing.  I use a lot of my stuff myself, and I give quite a bit away too like a box of birthday cards as a present.  As a “retired” lady I don’t want the hassle of making stuff to order or in bulk, I get bored easily these days, so making ten of anything would really be enough for me.  I suppose it’s the making I like, working to a tight budget, followed by the blogging and sharing ……. selling isn’t that much of a priority at the moment.   

Wooden Snowflake Kraft Tags

To make these snowflake tags I have used scraps of corrugated and plain Kraft card, wooden snowflake embellishments, Dovecraft North Pole sentiment toppers, clear flat back gems, rustic style string, and wooden beads.

The finished tags measure approximately 4ins x 2.5ins.

First I cut out the tags, the corrugated card one slightly bigger than the plain Kraft one. I punched a matching hole through them both and then joined them together with a length of rustic string and a wooden bead.

I faux stitched the top tag with a white gel pen.

The wooden snowflakes were then added using PVA glue, followed by a clear flat backed gem in the centre, a scattering of white dots here and there to bring the design together.  I also faux stitched the back of the completed tag with white gel pen to follow through the detail.
These tags would look good on a parcel wrapped in a plain kraft paper, or a on a plain red or blue paper with matching string or ribbon.

My 60’s Genie Bottle Collection

I said a week or so ago that I was intending to put a small collection together of 60’s Genie Bottles in my newly shelved guest bedroom. I had found three for under £2 each in Evesham and one in Wolverhampton, but I think finding them in such quick succession was a bit of a fluke, but in some ways a spooky message to arouse my interest.

Each time I go mooching in town my fingers are crossed but, with a little bit of birthday money this month and my recent stint at the NEC, I have managed to add a few more via e-bay, looking for low starting auctions and setting a rigid limit of £20 on any “buy now” sale. I have also discovered that Etsy occasionally has a few affordable sales too.

I love that all the colours vary ever so slightly and very subtly, so no two pieces are actually the same colour.  Though destined for the bedroom, I made the fatal mistake of trying them in the lounge ……… only to discover they were meant to be there!

I think I now have the bug, big time, so I fear they may spread along with my research and knowledge. There are other colours I would love, but I am already learning that they are of a premium, and that’s where they can stay, there’s always the eternal thrill of the chase, and you never know what will might turn up while I am out mooching!

Easter Bunny Matchbox Favour

Every time I pop into The Works in Evesham I have a good ruttle through the reduced box hoping to find a few more packs of reduced matchboxes as I have a feeling they might not be doing them again, though I have them on “Notify” if/when they are back in stock on their website. However I have found similar boxes from Baker Ross http://www.bakerross.co.uk/search/go?w=matchboxes should they dry up completely.

The felt bunny stickers came from lemonmoonltd on E-bay, but could be old stock (from Baker Ross) as I bought them just before Christmas. The spotted paper tape comes from The Works.

The tape is so easy to use and brilliant for decorating the sides and ends of the matchboxes, bought recently, I think they are going to be a staple for all sorts of projects.

I used scraps of Forever Friends paper on the front, back and inside of the matchbox……..
……. adding a little faux stitching using a fine liner pen.

I put a bunny on each side of the box, adding googly eyes for extra detail and a hanging thread with a bead as I am thinking that using different bunnies and colours would look lovely hanging on Easter branches with decorated Easter Eggs for Iris and Bertie this year. 

At the moment this one remains empty until I find something to put in it, something small like chocolate eggs, bunnies and chicks and then I will go into proper production mode.

Ladybirds In A Jar – Valentines/Wedding Day Favour

This project uses chocolate Love Bugs from Home Bargains (69p net of 15), a Kilner style spice jar, a few wooden ladybirds, butcher’s red and white twine and a punched layered tag.

I had a few chocolate ladybirds left over from my Valentines sweetie bags (posted a week or so ago), so I thought I would make a little Valentine jar with the remainder.  I have had the jars for ages but they can be found quite easily in various shops.

I made the tag in exactly the same way as those on the sweetie bags, using various scalloped and plain circle punches from my collection.

The tag was attached quite easily to the jar by threading the twine through the metal rings that hold the lid to the jar.
As a final touch I also stuck three more ladybirds at intervals round the jar