Charity Shop Tut–A Very Dubious Cruet Set

Oooowwwwer matron, I don’t think this cruet set has any redeeming features apart from being complete and unchipped!  I think it’s meant to be a charming and romantic yellow rose bud confection, but to be honest it just makes me feel just a bit queasy!

It’s all rather crude and so, as you might already have guessed, a considered purchase was definitely not made ………..

…… especially with its over ambitious £2.50 price tag!

Advent Drawer Tuesday - Christmas Stockings

Just one drawer today ...... I think this may be the way I  continue for the next little while, as at the moment I  always seem to be short of one drawer out of two when it comes to posting for this regular Tuesday spot, hopefully by doing so I will give myself the time to catch up on the making.

This is the second drawer featuring Christmas stockings I have made for this particular calendar, except in a different colour way.  A bit of repetition doesn’t hurt now and again and with twenty five drawers on different five levels it’s easy to, if you’ll pardon the expression, slip an extra one in. The stocking card on foam stickers are from Flying Tiger and the gold glitter numbers Hobbycraft.

Simple Iris Card

This is the card I made for Laura’s birthday.  I forgot to measure it, but I think it’s something like 7ins x 5ins, using a hand cut, white linen effect card blank.

So far this year it looks like I have gone for a very simple, less is more, safe approach with my cards, partly due to the constraint of time and then to see how far I can take myself away from my usual format of mat and layering on white and then silver.   

I think the design is pretty OK. The scrap of background paper works perfectly with the irises which are the the very last of the huge bags of themed buttons I used to get from Create and Craft in the days of Alan and Barry ……goodness how long ago that was now.

World Book Week

Well ...... what can I say ...... last week I went back to school after being asked if I would like to read a story at Bertie's nursery for World Book Week.  I was thrilled to be asked, but as I replied I did wonder what I had done as its been around twenty years since I've actually read a real live story to a group of very young children.

Sadly, because of the windy weather the mini circus tent that had been put up especially for the week had to be taken down, but a small room in the school was transformed with cushions, rugs, fairy lights and a draped ceiling, so there was still a special feeling for the little ones as they entered.

I read the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and I think it was pretty well received. It was a story I knew the children were familiar with so they knew what was coming and could help me if I got stuck. Bertie didn’t volunteer to come in and listen, Nanny storytelling is rather lack lustre when compared to playing with “the cars”  ……. however Laura made him the most wonderful Hungry Caterpillar  outfit for dressing up day (sorry no pictures at the moment) when he certainly made the most of channelling his “inner hungry caterpillar” and looked so unbelievably cute. Happy Days.

Charity Shop Tut – Howard Holt Kitsch Kitty String Holder

I love a bit of kitsch and this particular cat head seems to have been following me over the past couple of weeks.  Originally I photographed on the shelves of a local Charity Shop as a potential contribution to one of the C**p Charity Shop Find Facebook pages I subscribed to …… then I saw it again in a shop in Exmouth during a recent visit ….. I remember picking it up, hmmmming and then putting it back thinking “….. I bet you wish you’d bought that when you get home madam!”

On getting home, would you believe it someone posted the same cat found in another shop …… I felt that the stars were truly conspiring against me, so it was inevitable that my fate was well and truly sealed when I found “Francoise” as I now like to call her  in yet another Evesham shop priced at just 99p …… it was a no brainer, she was duly purchased as I think she is rather cute.

I then decided to do a little research on said Francoise.  She dates back to the 60’s and was made by Howard Holt, Japan. She is in fact a string holder but there are quite a few variations on the cat theme from salt and pepper pots, jugs, spice jars, to teapots etc.. There are also many collectors of Howard Holt out there, mostly I note in the USA, where prices are interesting!  Back in the UK, on Ebay asking prices for my head vary from £19.99 to £39.99.  Who was to know?  This find has really turned out to be more treasure than tut!

I couldn’t help also noticing the 1960’s Howard Holt Christmas ceramics any of which I would love ........

…… now what are the chances of me finding one of them?

Advent Drawer Tuesday

Two gingerbread inspired drawers today.

I’ve been holding back from using these Flying Tiger stickers for a while, I don’t know why, I wasn’t sure if they’d fit into the Advent calendar drawers I am currently working on and then I thought ….. get over yourself ……. overthinking all the time ……it’s Christmas, anything goes ……. just get the them made ……..

I think they’re cute and worked out ok.  When I go back to them when I pull the whole set of drawers together I think the house just needs a few tiny weeny flat backed gems here and there and the little gingerbread girl and boy definitely need to have proper bows, little black dome stickers for eyes, red pearl gem noses and tiny buttons on their clothes….. which I may have to order.  I now need to do another three drawers in similar style so there is a “ginger”, as Bertie likes to call them, on each row.

Lighthouse Card

This card measures approximately 5.5ins x 5.5ins using a hand cut, white linen effect card blank.

I just cannot believe how this card came together!  The wave and small embellishments came from a pack of Jolees stickers sent to me so many years ago that I forget by my wonderful friend Dianne in Florida, but I knew one day I would use them.

The lighthouse came from a pack of cheap and cheerful metallic stickers I have also had squirrelled away for some time.  I wondered if the metallic effect would work, I was so thrilled when it did.

As for the paper, which came from  small paper pad from The Works, the sun ray effect couldn’t have been more perfect.  All I had to do was lightly colour over a tiny part with a Promarker pen to give the illusion that the lighthouse was on land.

I love the card so much, made for a gentleman for his eightieth birthday, I am going to try and recreate it again but put it in a shadow frame in my guest room. I am just praying I have another lighthouse somewhere ………

Iris’s Paper Dolls

I got out my very old, original, red Sizzix Bitty Body dies out for Iris recently, you’d have thought I’d given her the moon, the stars and the sun on a stick!

She created and played for absolutely hours, reciting the names of all the dolls (Ticky and Tacky and Jackie the Backie ….. And Jim with two noses and Jo with the bow) from one of her favourite books The Paper Dolls by Julia Donaldson and if you haven't read it, it’s a real tear jerker at the end.

She had such a lovely time, it’s now one of her favourite things to do with me when she comes over that I decided to invest in the girls outfit die from e-bay which for some reason I never got all those years ago.  It cost me £8.99 with free P & P and has been worth its weight in gold for all the pleasure it has and will continue to give.

I know you can’t keep everything children make, but next time she asks if we can “do paper dolls” I’ll make sure she makes a picture for me to frame and put in pride of place, it will be worth more to me than a million Mona Lisa’s.

Personalised Poundland Gingerbread House Tree Decorations

I have finally got round to personalising the blank Gingerbread tree decorations I found in the Poundland sale for just 25p each.  There were millions with names already printed on, but I had a good ruttle round to see if there were any blank ones as Iris and Bertie are not that common a name.  I struck gold!

I simply used a permanent fine writer pen, to first put the middle letter of each name in the centre of the given space and then added the other letters to each side so that the whole name was more or less equally balanced across the middle ….. if that makes sense?  A cluster of my customary three dots on either side also helped fill in any empty space with a little extra frou frou.

I then added a tiny red button to the sweetie at the top of each house and a liberal sprinkling of iridescent micro glitter to the snow on the roof …… sorted!

I am now kicking myself just a little bit for not finding a few more blank houses, at 25p each they work out much cheaper than a “posh” Christmas card and I  could have personalised them for Iris and Bertie’s friends to give as a gift that could be bought out for a few years to come ……bum …… severe case of shudda, wudda, cuddame thinks!

Advent Drawer Tuesday

A Santa and two reindeers for your delectation today.

I think Santa needs a little careful grooming with a cotton bud to remove some of the excess micro glitter from his beard, hat and boots.  Me thinks he also needs a small clear gem on his green snowflake embellishment.

I think I am happy with the reindeer. It’s always nice to find the occasional matching left and right embellishment, especially for a project like this.  Can’t see that I need to add anything else to the drawer …… except ….. perhaps two pairs of tiny googly eyes?

Jewelled Pendant

I have had these Ranger 2ins x 2ins, antique copper effect Memory Frames forever, I don’t think they are available anymore, but I could be wrong.

I cut out a square of text print paper first and stuck it on a scrap of card to give it a firmer base. I then proceeded to add the tiny weeny pieces of broken jewellery to the centre bit by bit.  The pieces were so tiny I almost made myself cross eyed in the process.

I used E6000 glue to secure everything as I didn’t want anything to come astray over the passage of time.

I also had to be careful that all the pieces fit perfectly under the dome, anything placed too high had to come off …….

……. and nothing could stray beyond the the edges otherwise the cover would not sit neatly within the frame.

I was really pleased with how it turned out, despite the squinty eyes and the lady who received it as a present to mark her eightieth birthday was going out to find a chain on which to wear it, which thrilled me as I thought she might have just display it on a shelf. 

It’s Beginning To Look Like ……. Easter

I saw these glittered birds reduced to 50p a pack in the Hobbycraft in Tamworth, I ermed and ahhed and then decided not to make a considered purchase, but you’ve guessed it, as soon as I got home I thought…… Easter!

So I looked on the Hobbycraft website and they still had some …… I managed to get 6 packs, as well as an awful lot of other things, mostly Christmas stuff, and all reduced, I think I got a parcel of 53 items for around £28.00 including free P & P,  …….. all this in my “No Spend January”, now reinstated to a “No spend February”

And what am I going to do with them?  Well,  I always have a couple of decorated branches around The Towers at Easter and I thought this year Iris and Bertie might like to see them covered with said birds.  The colours are OK, possibly not the red, but all the others should suit a springtime pallete pretty well.

I don’t think they need any more embellishment, we’ll see how the sequins stand up to being handled etc, but they can easily be replaced by some small, pastel coloured, flat back gem flowers I have squirrelled away somewhere to enhance the spring type feeling.

……. and then who knows they might make a reappearance at Christmas, I certainly have enough to cover my tree ……30 calling birds?

Advent Drawer Tuesday

Progress on this first Advent Calendar of 2019 seems to be going very slow … with another eleven still to go.

I see I need to go back to the tree one as a gem has slipped …….. I think I am finding it easier to limit myself to just a few packets of main stickers, it’s finding the tiny in between bits that fill the gaps I find hard. 

The stocking drawer, turned out pretty OK too (please excuse the still wet glue)  I am now wishing I had a few more packs of the tiny holly embellishments (The Works) in my stash, I am using my last few…… but somewhere I am pretty sure I may have some similar confetti holly that I could use in their place.

Moroccan Style Beaded Lamp – Revamped …… Again

Following on from last week and my revamped bathroom lightshade using drops from a charity shop chandelier find, I have now tackled one of the two matching lamps in my spare bedroom.

A few months back I went over the beads with a Sharpie pens to make the colours a little more vivid, but now I have gone the whole hog and added a whole new set of drops and I am pretty thrilled with how it’s all turned out.

Lamp - BEFORE

When I looked I found that there were holes all the way around the shade that originally didn’t hold a drop, so I went overboard putting a new drop in each.  It took a little while to work out a pattern all the way round using the “spare” drops that I had left over from the re-vamped bathroom shade, the drops already on the lamp and finally the drops from the charity shop chandelier, if that all makes sense.  I left some of the beads their original amber colour, some I re-coloured red, half of the original pointed lamp drops I coloured over with turquoise and any added clear beads were coloured purple ……phew!  And then …… in for a penny in for a pound, I decided to add clear flat back gems in the centre of the flowers on the top of the shade and on the centre pillar.   Not to everyone’s taste I know, but very me.

Lamp AFTER

But now, looking at the “After” photo I can see the rings look a little too big ….. here I go again …… watch this space, I have some small jump rings to look for.  I really need to get a life …… and there’s the other lamp to do as well!

Cards From Christmas 2018–Fiddle Fart Guest Crafter No.4

A final selection of some of the cards I received over Christmas 2018

I love the idea of “The Night Before Christmas” ….. I need to come up with an similar idea for a card particularly for Bertie as he very much likes a clock.  The card is from Mrs A (another Monkey adopter,who was also part of the Swindon Monkey reunion and fellow crafter and blogger)   The image had been stamped and coloured and I believe the text typed and cut out(?).

Mrs A was also the maker of the felt Elf on the Shelf you may have noticed in my Christmas decor posts. https://itsanalienlife.blogspot.com/

The snowstorm card from my mate Karan was not “handmade” as such, but I added it as a reminder of something I again need visit sometime in the coming months.  I love the idea …… it just seems to be a bit fiddly ….. although I am sure Marc will put me right on that one.  Another rainy day project for us …. perhaps when I pay my annual Eurovison Weekend visit in May?

And last but not least ……. a card made by Bertie which I treasure.

He isn’t an Iris when it comes to crafting, he will always ask to “craft” but he is far more interested in the tools we use and how they work than actually putting glue on paper and sticking.

If I’d let him he’d spend hours just cutting on my slidey cutter.

Advent Drawer Tuesday

I really thought both of these drawers were finished, but now looking at them again in the pictures, me thinks there’s still a bit more fiddle fart to be done.

The sleigh needs a good dusting of glitter around the top, as well as the numbers and holly needing a layer or two of Ranger Glossy Accents and on top of that I don’t think a couple of clusters of three tiny white dots would go amiss round the stars.

And the bear drawer, well, he could also do with a little glitter on his hat and boots, some jewels on his tree and a little black faux stitching round the edges of the number background.  I always go back to my Advent drawers a week or so later with fresh eyes, it’s one of the very few projects I do where less is more flies out of the window and enough never seems to be be quite enough!

Framed Snowman Christmas Card

This hand cut card measures 5.5ins x 5.5ins.

I love the wooden frames sold not only in Hobbycraft, but also in The Works and Poundland etc.  I am just at a bit of a loss as to how to use them on a card. My imagination goes no further than simply framing a sentiment/greeting or creating a little scene and although that’s a little boring, despite extensive searches on Pinterest and Google I haven’t found any other ideas that inspire me ….. so I am still working on it……

However, having said that I am really pleased with this snowman card. The grey wood effect frame was the starting point, followed by the wooden snowman on a glitter card snow background. The snowman was from Lldl a couple of Christmas’s ago and I really wish they would stock them again.  I bought so many, but I am now down to my last few.

It was finding the right paper to cover the front of the card that took almost all of my time, but I think I got there in the end.  The wooden snowflake and the extra dusting of glitter on the snowman’s scarf and hat were the last things to go on.  I think the card could take a little more fiddle fart, but for the time being I’ll just leave it as it is.

Guest Crafter – Iris and Her Aqua Beads.

Crafting time with Iris is even more special now she’s at school and time more limited,  but over Christmas we had a good little splurge. 

Iris loves Sylvanian Families and she also loves Aqua Beads, so when Aqua Beads do a Sylvanian Family set, it’s a no brainer!

Believe me, she’s got far more patience with all those fiddle farty little balls than I will ever have, I seemed to spend all my time under the table picking them up.

While she was working away I thought that we should make something more permanent to keep and display what she had created, so I found a couple of silver picture frames and when she was finished beading I got her to draw a couple of backgrounds to go in them, sticking the characters on to them when they were dry.

They are so precious, with a memories of the day they were made and showing Iris how valued her artistic efforts always are.

Bertie got in on the act too but he was more content with sorting out the balls rather than making any pictures, which is soooooooooo Bertie!