Heads Up - The Works Origami Stacks

Just a quick heads up today ........

........for two new origami stacks from The Works.  They cost £5, but if you subscribe to The Works website you get some fantastic online only deals, I always try to take advantage whenever there's a 30% discount on offer. I also have a loyalty card which also comes in very handy at the end of the month if I have earned enough points for a free something or other.

The papers measure approx 6ins x 6ins.  There are 24 different designs in each stack of over 400 pages.  I would say that it isn't the thickest/strongest of paper (because of it's origami nature),  I don't think I would perhaps use it to cover the whole of a card front (but I need to play) however, as a background to a design or side/top or drawer front of an Advent calendar they are just perfect. 

 It's the proportion of the designs that I particularly like ..........

....... they are perfect for the scale I usually work with, as above.  I haven't tried die cutting with the papers yet, that's an experiment for another day.

Beaded Chandalier

Help, I need saving from myself .................. remember that beaded charity shop light shade I got the other week for just 80p?

Well, I dismantled it ...........

............. and added strands or sets of two or three beads to the light fitting in my spare bedroom! Lets just say it's filling up nicely and is erm ........ very me!  And. if I found another similar shade in perhaps a different colour would I buy it? You bet I would, I think my overall aim now is to eventually replace all the clear beads for coloured ones. I am bonkers, I know.

I have quite a few beads left over so when I have the time I plan to swop them over with some of the purple and amber beads on the two Moroccan style lamps in my lounge. I just need to count them out, so I know I have enough for both lamps to be as close as I can.  What am I like?

Simple Christmas Tree Card

This card measures 5 1/4 x 5 1/4 ins.

I feel that this has got to be the biggest cheat of a card ever.   I wasn't even sure I should really post it, but it does reflect my current mood and taste for making very simple cards at the moment and, to be honest, if I had seen a card like this when I first started out crafting it would have given me the confidence to think yeah, I could do that, without needing a huge pile of stuff and a million and one tools. 

I simply covered the front of a hand cut card blank with a page from the embossed Christmas paper pad I found in Poundland before Christmas, which contains quite a few designs that could stand on their own without embellishment or mat and layering.  I thought the subtle greys, mustards and teal were also very on trend.

The sentiment came from a pack of 6 from Hobbycraft's Christmas sale for just 50p.  I wasn't sure if it would go, but I think it works as it stands out from the background.

I did wonder about adding Glossy Accents or a little translucent micro glitter to one of two of the trees, but I don't think I will ...... it's enough as it is, even if it does feel like cheating!

Christmas Tree Shadow Box

With no urgency as regards to time I have been making minimum bids on various Christmas Tree brooches from China.  If the bidding goes up I just leave it and don't bid any higher as I know there will always another one to go for.

The tree used in this idea cost me just 79p and no P & P!!!!  How do they do it?

The 10cms x 10cms box frame came from Hobbycraft when they were on offer for half price at £2 (I  doubt I would ever have paid £4 for one).

 

I just made a simple background using a glittery, embossed snowflake design paper to which I added a few tiny clear flat backed gems to give a bit of  Christmas extra bling.

I removed the fastening from the brooch and then stuck the tree on to the paper using E600 so I could be sure that it wouldn't come loose.

I then added faux stitching with a black fine liner pen to the mount.  I wanted to repeat this round the edges of the frame but for some reason permenant marker pen just didn't adhere to the finish,  I wonder why?

I seem to be a little obsessed at the moment by sticking snowflakes to all the frames (and sometimes the glass) I am using,  but again, as it's for Christmas I think it works ...... but, if I change my mind I used PVA glue in the first instance as they can be removed carefully without (touch wood) damaging the finish on the frame.

Let It Snow Penguin Card

Following on from yesterday Marc pointed out that every drawer I’ve done was also a Christmas card design in the making.  Of course he was right and when I thought about it, it was also a useful way of using some, if not all of the (Flying Tiger) stickers, papers and embellishments I have left, minus the numbers.

So, this is the card I made taking yesterdays drawer as inspiration.  It measures 5 1/4ins x 5 1/2ins and is made using a handcut, white linen effect card blank.

I am really chuffed with how it’s turned out. Now I need to look at all the other drawers and the stickers I have left to see if I can use/re-create a few more of the ideas/designs with perhaps a slight amendment here and there to turn them into cards as well .

Revised Snowman Baubles

My snowman baubles from last week sat on the table for a day or so and then started to get to me, they were just a little too plain ...........

Christmas is one of the few occasions when too much is never enough, if that makes any sense?

So I found out some very small wooden tags I already had.  They were far too dark use as they were but when coloured over with a white Posca Pen and then the sentiment added using a black fine liner pen they were perfect.

I added pre tied festive bows (from The Works, I think) to the plain red hanging ribbon, putting a small plastic snowflake in the centre. 

Adding the tags was a right fiddle fart, trying to get them to sit neatly just under the ribbon, but I got there in the end.

The baubles look sooooooooo much more festive than they did before  ........ I am now really happy with them ......... so no more fiddle farting with them Mrs Geddes!!

Shadow Box Christmas Picture

I am really, really chuffed with how this Christmas shadow box has worked out.

The little, festive, fabric dolls cost me all of 30p for the two in an Evesham charity shop, in the run up to Christmas last year. As soon as I saw them I imagined them in a box frame and at just 30p it would have been rude not to have bought them.

The Ikea Ribba frame cost me £1.45 from a Tewksbury charity shop.  I picked it up and ummmed and ahhhed before putting it back, only to later think that it could have been a very useful purchase, so I went back the next day to find, thankfully, it was still there.

I created the simple background using a glittery, embossed snowy paper and two layers of white glitter card.  I added a few tiny, clear, flat backed gems to the centres of the snowflakes for little extra but subtle bling.

I faux stitched around the mount with a black fine liner pen.  I wasn't sure about doing it,  but I think it's worked pretty well with the folksy look of the dolls. The dolls were secured to the background using glue gun glue.

I wasn't sure either about adding the snowflakes to the glass front, would it be too much? Again,  I think it's worked, but if I change my mind I only used PVA to attach them, which is easy to remove.  I The white dots were made using a Posca Pen, also easily removed if need be.

I reckon in all this project cost me less than £2 to put together for a complete, never to be repeated, one off. I am not sure at the moment where its going to go, whether I'll keep it for my own festive shelves or give it as a present, but I've got plenty of time to think.

Objects Of Desire

Not to everyones taste I know but when I saw this 1950/60's formica drop leaf  table with matching chairs outside an Evesham charity shop a while back I admit to sighing and stroking it longingly.

It was only £10 and had stood the test of time, and no doubt there was an awful lot more life left in in still, there's furniture in my flat that I know will never last that long. 

I always say I need another house (or two) with plenty of nooks and crannies and a few original features  that I could decorate and furnish for the sheer hell of it in my eclectic taste  ...... this would definately have found a space in my retro kitchen!!!

Snowman Baubles

I got this idea from a bauble (below) I spotted in Marc's kitchen last time I stayed with him in London.

It made me think about what I'd got squirrelled away in my craft cupboards to make something along the same lines.

I had four open glass baubles that I'd bought from The Range (Christmas 2018) but never used.  I think they cost me about 80p each and the resin snowmen were from Hobbycraft ages ago.

Originally, I was going to use Fimo for the snow, but then found this Martha Stewart paper clay, which I thought would work out to be much lighter.

I moulded four pieces to fit in the bottom of each bauble and then made an indentation with the bottom of one of the snowmen to create a level place on which to secure them when ready.

I dusted the "snow" with translucent micro glitter, which was a bit messy, but looked OK when it had dried.

Fitting the snow in the bottom of the bauble was also more fiddly than I had anticipated, I used PVA glue, but when it dried the stray bits were a bit of a pain to clean from inside of the bauble, but I got their in the end, thank goodness for Sticky Stuff Remover.

Sticking the snowmen into position was a doddle though, as was changing the silver thread hanger for some red ribbon. 

Two of these baubles already have names on, one for Bertie and one for Iris to add to their collection of Nanny made tree decorations, made and given since their very first Christmases. I hope that they will still be in their lives at Christmas long after I have gone and bring back childhood happy memories of all our times together when they were small.

Snowman Shadow Box

This shadow box measures 14.5cms x 11cms,

I found three rather awful looking, frames in a local charity shop for just 50p each, with their  crumbling glued flowers, but as the frames had a bit of depth to them and stood up on their own I thought they had potential, so they were duly purchased, with the worry that perhaps I might not be able to get the backs off in one piece without doing serious damage.  After very carefully prising I did manage it, it was the glue that was keeping the mount in place that presented the problems, but again with a little gentle  prising it too came free.  The frame was ready to embellish.

Unfortunately the snowman brooch I had originally planned on putting in the frame proved to be a little too thick and the frame couldn’t be sealed, however the painted wooden snowman fitted a treat, after adding a little white micro glitter to his hat band, pom pom and stripes on his scarf.

I made the very simple background using a snowy design paper and a scrap of white glitter card.  As I wanted to create several layers to make the most of the frames depth, I added two small snowflakes to two of the mount corners along with a few clusters of little doodled dots. With that, the frame was ready to be put back together.

I added faux stitches using a black permanent fine liner pen around the edges of the frame, however when I come do the other frames I think I might use a white pen instead, the black is perhaps a little too harsh.  Two large wooden snowflakes along with a few more smaller ones complete the look. The white dots were added last using a white Posca pen.  Another Christmas fairing done and dusted.

What's He Like?????

As you know it's nigh on impossible to get a picture of  Marc as he prefers to remain a man of mystery and intrigue on tinternet to all but his closest friends .........

....... however, while he was staying with me a couple of weeks back I did manage to take this very relaxed shot completely unbeknownst to him while we were out shopping in Aldi.  What are we like? 

Charity Shop Find ............ Yet Another Beaded Lightshade!

I really do need saving from myself, I just cannot resist a “chandelier” or any other type of lamp/lightshade that is made up of clear or coloured beads ….. and at just 80p for this pink one, what’s a girl who can’t walk passed anything that is sparkly to do?

I have an inkling of an idea, but it will have to wait until the school summer holidays when I will have a couple of weeks all to myself, but I am thinking that I could swop the clear chains of beads on the light fitting in my spare bedroom, for the pink (???).  I am pretty sure it will work, especially as “sometimes” the clear beads shout out at me to do something with them to bring the light even more together. We shall see…..

Marc and I also spent an afternoon while he was staying with me before Easter re-jigging the pair of Morrocan style lamps (from The Range) that I had  already had a good play with. I am now thinking that some of the purple and amber beads could be replaced with a few of the pink (????) to lighten it just a little more.

And then ........ after talking to Marc I also have plans to the light fitting (The Range) in my newly refurbished shower room ......

........ so watch this space!

Drawer Advent Calendar

At last, ..... my first Advent Calendar of 2019 is finally finished. Let’s just say it’s taken an awful lot longer than I had anticipated, almost four months, my excuse, I’ve just been too busy with doing other things.

Once all the drawers were done, it was time get the drawer frame decorated.

I used a red Sharpie pen to colour all the dividers and edges, hoping and praying that it would hold out to the very last slat and not dry and fade on me.

To cover the sides and top I used a patchwork of the paper scraps I'd used on the drawers. These were then varnished with a clear gloss varnish about three/four times with faux stitching added using a fine tipped black permanent pen to outline each scrap when the varnish was dry.

The only slight problem I found was with some of paper/card holly leaves I added that were placed slightly over the edges of some of the drawers, they were a little fragile and tore, so when I do make another calendar (????)  I intend to use a stronger, plastic confetti type holly that I have squirrelled away somewhere.

This calendar is going to be put away until 1st December and then given to my neighbours across the hall, who are expecting their first baby in September, hopefully it will be used year after year, becoming part of the babies Christmas traditions.

I have another set of this type of drawer left to do …….. The Works - £15 so not a cheap project. I just need to work out what basic colour to go for and then what embellishments I am going to use, at the moment I am thinking perhaps wood or plastic, as they will definitely be more durable over a period of years.

The Flying Tiger stickers I have left over from this project will most probably used on cards, as Marc said, each drawer is also a card in the making with a few tweaks here and there .......

....... and I am wondering if I could make a tree decoration or two with them, perhaps using a variety of the mini frames I also have left over .......