HUGE HEADS UP TO THE WORKS

I nipped into Worcester yesterday (23rd October) and found almost all their Christmas craft stuff was “Buy One Get One Free” – the lady in the shop said the offer was on all the red topped packets if that is any help to you and I don’t think the offer is online, it’s in store only as far as I can see.  She also wasn’t sure how long the offer was on for.

Now, I am pretty well stocked up, but it would have been rude not to have a mooch and spend erm…….. £4.

Spending just £1 on each of them  I am certain of a wonderful afternoon spent with Iris and Bertie when nursery and school is out for Christmas fiddle farting.

Bertie, last Christmas aged 20 months totally absorbed painting his suncatcher.

I got them both a snowman suncatcher and foam tree knowing that they can also rifle through Nanny’s drawers, if you’ll pardon the expression, for a few extra bits and bobs. If the offer is on when I go into town next I might get a few more bits …… 50p ….. what price peace?

I also treated myself to four packs of these layered snowmen embellishments as I think I will be able to make some really cute cards using them – 16 for just £2 it’s a steal!

Heads Up – Poundland Doll Parts

I couldn’t quite believe these when I saw them in the Halloween section of Poundland ……..

……. doll parts!!!!  I have to be honest they are just a tiny bit creepy, but as soon as I got over the initial eeeeewwwweeeee I thought of Marc!!!  Don’t tell him I said that, although I may keep a few for myself.

I am thinking altered art?  Sprayed white, gold, silver etc I can see them made into jewellery, or as part of a printers tray display ……..

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/547539267190677133/
I’ll present them to the said Marc and see what he comes up with ….. watch this space.

Advent Drawer Wednesday

Two more drawers today, but progress towards another completed Advent Calendar seems to be slow. I am hoping to get it finished for Christmas, but we shall have to see, life with those delicious babies just seems to get in the way, and to be honest, that is the best place to be.

I am finding that this sort of project is really getting through all the small embellishments I have collected over the  years, but some I’m getting a little bored of seeing.

It would be an exciting prospect to get to end of another crafty year to find all my embellishment boxes almost empty so that I could start the New Year looking for interesting new bits, especially in the sales. If there is anything left I think I really need to evaluate them all to see if I would actually ever use them and then perhaps pass on to others who would. 

Pirate Mirror – Part 2

Wooooo hoooooo Bertie’s pirate mirror is finally finished and I can’t help but breathe a huge sigh of relief ……..

…… it may have taken me 14 months but I have never given up!

Though firmly stuck down the pirates arms can still be moved, so to add an extra dimension I have put dangly bits (if you’ll pardon the expression) in their hands and the crab with its wibbly wobbly legs guards a precious gem. 

With the pirates, compasses, maps and large gems in place I could then drape the broken pearl and chains necklaces round them ……….

……. and then fill the smaller gaps with smaller gems and pirate cabochons.

The only thing I wished I’d done was colour/spray the compass bodies gold before they were stuck down, trying to do it on a finished mirror was fiddly to say the least.

And now it is done and dusted in a yo ho ho bottle of rum type way ……  it just needs to be bubble wrapped carefully until Christmas then it can be hung in Bertie’s bedroom.  I will put a special message on the back for him and hope that one day it might become an heirloom or at least a memory of mad, always fiddle farting mad Nanny Nell ……….

Pirate Mirror – Part 1

I have to hang my head in crafting shame …… I can’t believe it but I actually started this mirror for Bertie at the end of August 2017, what am I like? https://itsallfiddlefart.blogspot.com/2017/08/pirate-mirror.html, needless to say he didn’t get it for last Christmas, but I think it’s a dead cert for his stocking this year. 

To back track to August after covering the mirror with play doubloons I just couldn’t find the right embellishments in the right materials and proportions to feel happy in progressing any further, so sadly it was put at the bottom of the wardrobe and quite frankly forgotten about unless I cleaned in there!

One stumbling block was that I only had one pirate to put on it, however without even looking I found another five bagged together in a charity shop in Worcester, now £4.99 was a little out of my comfort zone but as they were the same make as the original one it really was a no brainer.

The mirror was bought out again and the pirate positions jiggled with along with the compasses, but again I hit a wall as I couldn’t think of anything to bring them all together and fill in the gaps, so after a brief reprieve the mirror was put in mothballs again …… aghhhhhh.

Finding a pirate ship in the 10p box of an Evesham charity shop brought it out again …….

……. and it was then that I found the confidence to commit to some gluing (E6000) the pirates and compasses along with some small pirate beads and cabochons, however, these were removed shortly after when other ideas came into play ……..

…… especially after I decided that making a few pirate maps using Fimo could possibly be the link I had been missing ……. I made four and from there I could now see where I was going.

But you know me, I like things to be balanced and symmetrical so after raiding my old, broken jewellery stash for big gems I spent quite a bit of time distributing them evenly around the mirror ……… and then I am afraid  I hit another halt. I loved the effect when I added broken pearl and chain necklaces, but realised I didn’t have enough, so before I filled all the gaps with gems another trip to the charity shops was called for to find some more ……..

……… and that’s where I had to leave things for yet short period of time, but tomorrow you will finally be able to see the finished results of what became something of a pirate epic!

Spotted In Worcester - Marc Would LOVE This ……

I saw this in a knitting shop in Worcester …………………

……. and thought of  Marc, who absolutely loves a festive knitted decoration.

Quick Halloween Trick or Treat Favours

I put these favours together very quickly for Bertie’s nursery autumn fayre ……

……. using the delightfully named Twisted Guts marshmallow twists that I found in Home Bargains ….. yuk!

There’s not a lot to them, I simply tied two together with a green bow with a rubber bat and a tag, left over from the Halloween pots I made the other week …

….. but hopefully they will help raise a few extra pence towards some much needed equipment etc.

Advent Drawer Tuesday

Another two Advent drawers today ………

….. as you can see I am still struggling with using blues and greys, but hey ho, I’ve given in and am just going with the creative flow.

I don’t like to clock watch while I am working, but so far I reckon each drawer has taken me approximately an hour, but that’s starting with a blank canvas each time and lots of fiddle farting getting everything in the right place and then often changing this and that, no matter how small, until I am really happy with how it looks, before finally the gluing can begin.

Boho Style Christmas Tree Decorations

After two years I am considering injecting a bit more oomph into my twig Christmas tree this year, it’s all been very tasteful so far, but now I think I am done with the less is more chandelier drops and small balls effect, if you’ll pardon the expression.

So with that aim in mind I have been experimenting with some boho style decorations using some of the rectangular plastic drops I have put on the tree in the past.

However, the idea proved to be a lot more fiddly and long winded  than I first anticipated and as you know I am not blessed with much patience when things don’t go as well as planned ….. and so I got a bit bored with the project, but I did persevere.

I started by covering the flat side of the drops with various  decopatch papers and then gluing two together back to back, well, that was the theory, but the drops had a little bit of a curve in  them so would not stick together flat without a fight!

It was a full on battle to keep the mini bulldog clips in place without them pinging across the room every five minutes but once settled I left them over the weekend for the glue to cure properly.

I coloured all the joining beads and drops with Sharpie pens, again a bit fiddle farty for an impatient me. Flat back flower gems were then stuck on both sides of the decoration for extra bling.

Not that I intend to attempt to make them again, but if I did I  might add a little ultra fine silver or iridescent glitter to the papers before I glued them.  Whether they end up on my tree I am not to sure but I will find somewhere for them.

Heads Up Christmas Shopping

I was thinking “snowballs” to go in a few of the mini mason jars I showed you last week as table favours …….. but the Cadbury snowballs I had thought about proved to be a little expensive at 99p per bag, not making it that cheap an exercise …….. so I went delving a little further along the Home Bargain shelves ……..

…… and found these Cadbury footballs for 39p per bag, the same weight as the snowballs but these don’t have a dusty sugary coating …… but who’s going to know? Well, with a saving of 50p per bag it would have been rude not to make a considered purchase. My jars should now come in at just 79p each plus a couple of pence for a tag and attached snowflake.

Just to be on the safe side I did check the sell by date on the bags  but that’s not until April 2019, I am well chuffed!

STOP PRESS - HEADS UP - THE WORKS WOODEN DRAWER SETS

The Works drawers I have used for the project below are currently on offer in The Works at just 2 for £20 which is a saving of £5 per set, making the project a little more economical.  I understand that this offer is until this coming Sunday but don't quote me.

I have looked online but the drawers are not reduced on there - so it may be available in the shops only.

I was disappointed to miss out on a Flash Hobbycraft sale of 25% on everything last week ....... needless to sale the Advent House I posted last week had sold out when I got there!

Another Advent Calendar Started

I have finally got off my bum and started another drawer Advent Calendar using the last of my wooden drawer blanks from The Works (£15) ….. and my crafting area has now been declared an official tip!

I am hoping to get two drawers done a week, while still working on other Christmas ideas.

My intention was also to work mainly in blues and greys so this set of drawers is quite different from the first one, however I have to admit it’s a hard shout as I am already finding that I am automatically gravitating towards background papers that are red and green, the idea of blues and greys just isn’t gelling.

But these first drawers have turned out pretty well, although I can almost guarantee that I will go back to them at least once to add a tiny bit of  something else, even if it’s just a sprinkling of glitter or a dollop of Glossy Accents before I am 100% happy.  Less is more is a rule that goes out of the window at Christmas!

Heads Up – Mini Mason Drinking Jars & Mini Christmas Paper Pads

I spotted this mini mason jars in the wedding section of Home Bargains. At just 39p each it would have been rude not to buy a few. £3.90 for ten is about the same as a latte and a piece of cake, so in making this considered purchase I was really saving myself from an unwise choice along my Slimming World journey!!!!

I am thinking “Christmas” …….. along the lines of chocolate jingle beans, red and green ones would be perfect (M & Ms?) and then attaching a cluster of small bells tied with ribbon to the handle or perhaps Cadbury snowballs  with a snowflake and ribbon on the handle.  I need to study the various festive sweets as they come into the shops.  Chocolate foil wrapped snowmen could also be an option ……. any other ideas/suggestions very welcome ………

I also spotted these small 10cms x 10cms design pads (5 x 20 designs) in The Range for £1 each.  They had quite a few different themes and colour ways but I went for the blues and greys because I need to get a wriggle on and start putting together another set of advent drawers, but where my last one mainly used red and green patterned papers, I thought blue, grey and white would give me a completely different look as I get very easily bored if I have to repeat a lengthy project.

The Works also has this size of paper pads for the same price but NOT with Christmas designs (yet).

I like these pads because the proportions of the designs are scaled down and so perfect for small projects. I have been caught out too many times buying the smaller size of a 12 x 12 design pad only to find that though the paper is smaller  the design is not! One sheet from these pads would perfect for the centre panel on a simple square card, so, in theory no cutting and wastage. I love the knitted design, perfect for a patchwork card?

A Tale Of Two Cards

My sister-in-law asked if I would make her a wedding card using the flower design that I’d used on the vellum sheet at the front of the invitation pack I’d made for her son’s wedding.To be honest, I’d lost my love for the design as soon I’d put the invitations to bed, so admit to keep putting the job off until it was almost the very last minute.

Initially I thought I might be able do a very simple decoupage with it, but the design was too delicate with airy fairy petals, leaves and stems overlapping with nothing real to grasp hold of and the lines for my usual version of decoupage need to be definite, as well as basic.

In the end I simply took the picture and mat and layered it on white and silver mirror card on a hand cut white linen effect card and then painted over it with a Crystal Clear Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen for an extremely subtle glitter effect, so subtle that I couldn’t pick it out to photograph..  Any tiny, flat backed gem or pearl I tried just stuck out like a sore thumb. I don’t really feel that this was my finest crafty hour.

After sleeping on it, I decided to think outside the box and be a little quirky, miniaturising the flower design and then putting it in a small resin frame. 

This second design is much more me, but in the end it was the first card that made the final cut as far as my sister-in-law was concerned.  However it’s an idea I like, so intend to experiment some more for a couple of Christmas cards I already have in mind.