Very Simple Holly Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins

This card took me about ten minutes to make.  I decided to keep things really simple and write sentiment myself, adding a little bit of doodling round the edges.  I then mat and layered it on silver mirror and white card, before finally putting it in the centre of a card blank that I had covered in a holly design paper,  using foam pads for extra dimension  . 

The final touches were made by adding three small red flat backed gems to each sprig of holly,  along with a sprinkling of extra fine Hunkydory Diamond Sprinkles, and two PaperCellar silver glitter self adhesive corners.

National VELCRO® Month–Top Fiddle Fart Tips 26

Nadine says ………….. I use VELCRO® to attach my roman blind to hang from a fabric covered batten,  sew on to the fabric blind and stick to the batten.

National VELCRO® Month –Top Fiddle Fart Tips 25

Suzanne sent this Top VELCRO® Tip 

I use a little tv table in the evenings for crafting and I use a VELCRO® a plastic tub (the ones the washing tabs come in) on the side of it to put all my scraps (and choccie wrappers) in,  this frees up a little bit of working space.

Suzanne’s blog can be found at …….. http://suzannescards.blogspot.co.uk/

National VELCRO® Month …. Top Fiddle Fart Tips

Caroline has sent me her Top VELCRO®Top Tip 24

With 3 young boys, the TV Remote keeps going AWOL. So we stuck a piece of VELCRO® on the back of the remote and another piece on the side of our coffee table, and voila,  no more lost remote

Check out Caroline’s blog ……. www.lacetopdesigns.com

National VELCRO® Month–Top Fiddle Fart Tips 23

Two top VELCRO® tips of a curtain type nature from the “Two Louise’s” who both posted their tips in the chat box …..

Top Tip 1 - Louise: I use VELCRO® to 'hang' net curtains and to make blackout blinds more effective as I can seal all 4 sides directly to the window pane and windowsill.

Top Tip 2 – Louise (lonidan):- It must be a "Louise" trait because I have VELCRO®’ed my blackout curtain linings to the main curtain. Much too lazy to sew!!

National VELCRO® Month–Top Fiddle Fart Tips 22

A lovely, lovely (and very educational) Top Tip from Vicky today, she says ……..

“Me and my daughter used stick-on velcro (only the "hooky" part - not the "furry" part!) to make 

labels that she could attach to her model of a plant cell made from felt.  The labels can be taken off and stuck back on to help memorise the parts of the cell.  I have attached a picture. 

Hope this helps you in your Velcro quest” 

National VELCRO® Month–Top Fiddle Fart Tips - 19, 20, 21

Three BRILLIANT VELCRO® Top Tips from Lorraine today

Top Tip No. 1 - I know that ring top curtains have taken over in a big way now, but a few years back swags and tails were the height of fashion and I used VELCRO® on the top of the swags and on the pole so it was easy to adjust the folds without all the complicated sewing and you could easily take them down for washing.  Best of all it didn’t matter how much they got twitched when pulling the curtain they stayed rock steady!

Not a useful tip............. but, we all know fashion comes around again, so be ready with the VELCRO®, swags WILL return!!!

Top Tip No. 2 - We all have those cupboards that open too easily, that little people like to explore.  A small strip of VELCRO®on the frame and on the door sometimes is enough to discourage them ransacking your wool stash and if not, the noise of the VELCRO® parting is a good warning they are up to no good!  Now, I am not talking about cupboards containing dangerous products,  as they should always have the correct baby proof locks on them but cupboards where they are ok to investigate but under supervision.

Top Tip No. 3 - VELCRO® dots are great for sticking different fabric flowers on to the front your favourite flip flops.  You can change the colour to match your swimsuit/outfit on holiday while taking up a very small amount of space in your suitcase!

Hope these tips can be added to your total.

Thank you Lorraine so much for taking the time to send me your tips …. your name, if I am lucky enough to be in the top three top VELCRO® tippers will definitely be there with all the other tippers in my teapot of fortuitous fate!

National VELCRO® Month– Top Fiddle Fart Tips 18 No. 18

Doda’s Top VELCRO® Tip is ……….

A piece of Velcro on a little handmade pin cushion and the reciprocating bit on your sewing machine is a handy way to keep your pins just where you need them.

Doda’s blog:-     http://tonicstudios.blogspot.co.uk/

My Christmas Wish Star To Support Scope”Keep Us Close” Campaign

I had the following e-mail from Jo Tilley-Riley from Scope asking if I would support and publicise their “Keep Us Close” Campaign

“There are more than half a million families in the UK with a disabled child. For parents it’s a daily challenge to give them the support they need. But the current lack of services near their home makes it much harder than it needs to be. More than six in ten families can’t get the services they need in their local area and are fighting tough long battles to find them elsewhere. The Keep Us Close campaign puts pressure on the Government to require local authorities to provide services closer to home. There is a nice video that explains the campaign here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=INjII66pruA#!

Scope will be setting up a Christmas tree in Parliament that we want to decorate with ‘wish stars’. These can be created electronically, or made the old fashioned way and decorated by hand.

If you’d be interested in supporting the campaign, you might like to make a wish star, blog about it and then send it in the post to Scope for them to hang on their tree.

The link to the Christmas Wish is here: www.scope.org.uk/wish”

I don’t have to tell you that this is a cause very close to my heart, my mum is almost 80 and still cares for my very disabled brother at home and she has had to fight tooth and nail for every bit of help that she has ever needed for him, and unfortunately still has to continue to fight for …..

My brother is 50 today …… he doesn’t know it’s his birthday, only that he will have been given a lot of extra kisses and cuddles ….. and extra squidgy cake with squirty cream  ….. so if you want to help others like my mum …. visit the website and send your wish …… just like me!

http://act.scope.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1677&ea.campaign.id=17275&ea.tracking.id=wish_star_url

xx THANK YOU xx 

National VELCRO® Month– Top Fiddle Fart Tips 17

Samantha’s Top Tip ……..

Just thought I’d let you know what I VELCRO® use for, as well as crafting I’m also a professional Face Painter and use VELCRO® to keep my paints still in the A4 document holders I use to store them.  It also stops little fingers from lifting the paints (yep people do pinch paints) as I can hear it crunch when they lift them. I’ve attached a pic so you can see kit set up.

https://www.facebook.com/tinksthings#          http://www.tinksfaces.co.uk/

National VELCRO® Month–Top Fiddle Fart Tips 16

I’ve had these magnet test tubes for single stem artificial flowers ages, but they had a small magnet attached so I couldn’t put them on my computer as I had hoped as magnets really really bad for computers,

…. but I got to thinking that I could attach them now using the VELCRO® Stick On from my VELCRO® pack of goodies!

Once the flowers are in you shouldn’t be able to see the VELCRO® strips, and perhaps …… with Advent almost upon us I should find some festive foliage to put in them to add a little festive spirit to my desk and office!!!!!!!  Ho, Ho, Ho!

National VELCRO® Month– Top Fiddle Fart Tips 15

Barbara’s Top Tip …..

I use VELCRO® in my big scrapbook where I store tags I have made so that I can take them out and display them and then put them back for easy reference and they stay nice and clean and flat.

Barbara’s blogs:

http://barbarascraftroom.blogspot.co.uk/          http://tagtuesday.blogspot.co.uk/

Two Wooden Christmas Tags

The base of these tags have been made using children’s wooden dominoes with the holes being made using a PowerCraft hobby drill.

The Christmas trees and Santa’s on these tags were prised off pegs from a Christmas card hanger set from a poundshop. It was cheaper to buy them in this way, than to buy a packet of wooden tree embellishments from a “proper” craft shop.  I got about 20 trees and Santa's, plus the pegs they came off  which can also be used for something else, bargaintastic!

A few scraps of paper, flat backed gems and a handwritten sentiment and they are done and dusted!  Ho, Ho, Ho indeed!

National VELCRO® Month –Top Fiddle Fart Tips 14

The Design and Technology girls at school are just about to begin a new project where they will be designing and sewing a fleece hat (I hope to be making one too …. so watch this space…)

I shall be giving them the pack of Snag Free Sew On VELCRO® from my goodie box because some of the girls want to make a whole range of interchangeable embellishments for their hat to give them lots of different looks, how brilliant is that?

National VELCRO® Month – Fiddle Fart Top Tips 13

Lynne Says ………Ooo I have a  VELCRO® 'Top Tip' , in fact I have a few, but here's one for the moment ...I have used a cheap plastic storage basket and put 2 strips of the hook side self adhesive VELCRO® on the bottom. It sticks to the carpet in the boot of the car making it ideal for keeping de-icer, scraper etc. in one place and not rolling all over the place. I hope that makes sense!

National VELCRO® Month – Fiddle Fart Top Tips 12

Linda said ……. I haveVELCRO® 'd my bow maker to my desk. It stops it moving about but I can still take it off and use in other rooms. Linda x
http://cutitstampitstickit.blogspot.co.uk/    http://lindylousmeetingplace.blogspot.co.uk/

National VELCRO® Month –Top Fiddle Fart Tips 11

Sometimes I like to give someone a very small package containing an equally small gift as, what my Mother In Law used to call a “fairing gift”….. something like a charm, a single sweet, or a tiny embellishment, that sort of thing…

…. And for that purpose I have a box full of tiny papier mache boxes that I usually colour and decorate with Promaker pens.

Bundling up several of these boxes together has always been is a complete nightmare in the past, as they always seem to come askew, but by using a VELCRO® Super Slim Stick On it’s a piece of cake. with the extra bonus of the self adhesive pads being so so slim you can’t see them and once the string has been taken off the boxes they still stay together and all the tiny contents are relatively safe.

A tiny parcel done and dusted!

National VELCRO® Month –Top Fiddle Fart Tips 10

When I am creating in my craft room a new idea will often pop into my head while I am already working on a project …. and I can never find a notebook to write them down  …..

….. but now with a whole bundle of  VELCRO® goodies at my disposal I have been able to rectify the problem …. and now have a whole plethora of notebooks conveniently situated in my work area, for my convenience …..

….. and maximum idea jotting!!!

Nationa VELCRO® Month–Top Fiddle Fart Tips No.9

Ladies and Gentleman …..  may I present my Snowman Container for storing mini marshmallows for snowman soup ….

This idea was put together very much on the hoof …. you may have noticed that I have become somewhat manic trying to come up with ideas on how to use VELCRO® …  and so this snowman was put together very quickly while the creative juices were flowing! What I have done is VERY basic but now the idea is in my head it wouldn’t take much to titivate it to give it to a more refined and professional finish!

I have taken two 100ml plastic jars found in a Poundshop …. (6 for £1) …..and to stick the snowman’s head to his body I have used two strips of “Stick On” VELCRO® on either side of the jar lid and bottom (I had wanted to put it in the middle but the bottom of the jar was concave and so too deep for the VELCRO® to reach the jar lid).

Et voila ….. a very daft idea for the children when they are helping you to make Snowman Soup during the festive season!  Ho, ho, ho!!

National VELCRO® Month –Top Fiddle Fart Tips 8 And Some Reminising

As you probably know I love box/shadow frames and finding little treasures to put in them, and while I was sorting through The Dukes bits and pieces I found this Imperial Service medal, unfortunately (as is often the case) I don’t know any of the history of it,  just that it was given to him by his Great Aunt……

…. but it seemed sad that it should be kept in its box, in a drawer, never to see the light of day for years and years, so I decided to frame it.  I was mindful however,  that one day, I in turn, would probably wish to pass it on (in its original box of course) and therefore needed to secure it within the frame using the least number of materials possible in order that its condition was not harmed or its possible value affected.

So I decided to use two adhesive VELCRO® ‘Stick On’ circles (one on the ribbon and one on the medal itself) to hold it in place, and they seem to have done the trick.

I have also framed a couple of other treasures recently (not using VELCRO® this time), which are now gracing the shelves of my dining room which I am slowly “doing up” ….. for when I am ready to apply to be on ‘Come Dine With Me’ !!!!

The peacock brooch was from Marc, which I strongly suspect is from Butler and Wilson, The tree, also a brooch, was from my mum last Christmas and is from Pia …..  and the Eiffel Tower was one bought back from Paris by The Duke from our very trip abroad together to celebrate not having to help pay any more towards Tom and Lucy's university fees etc.….. he loved Paris soooooo much he couldn’t stop thinking about it when we got back …. so about a fortnight later we went back to do it all again!  What was he like?

Christmas House Cards

These cards measure 5.5ins x 5.5ins.

Hmmm, I made these cards way back in January and I am still not sure about them! I got the wooden window and door embellishments years ago but have never been that happy with any of the cards I have made with them and for me these  cards are just too busy.

I originally put the embellishments on a house shaped card, but they were far too heavy and the card wouldn’t stand up.  So I used the house shape as a template, drawing round it and then cutting it out in the gingham and craft card.  I think I need to tweak the idea yet again before I will be really happy with it and failing that, give up and pass the embellishments on to someone else for them to play with!

Five Minute Snowman Card

This card measures 5.25 ins x 5.25 ins and took now more than five minutes to make.

The snowman is from a pack of six from Hot Picks Decorative toppers, they seemed to be in all the craft shops last year on special offer, something like 4 for a £1.

All I’ve done is match the snowman up with scraps of matching paper, then added silver glitter corners with a couple of flat backed gems. When speed is of the essence at Christmas I shall bang out a dozen of these cards …. then they will be done and dusted!

National VELCRO® Month Top Fiddle Fart Tips 6

I made this book of spells as a very elaborate trick or treat box a few years back ….

….. and because the skellybob hand was quite heavy I needed a light but secure and substantial  fastener ….

So it was a case of ….. bring on the VELCRO®! On this occasion I glued the VELCRO®, but if I was to do a similar project again I would now use the self adhesive STICK ON variety.

VELCRO®fabulous!

National VELCRO® Month–Top Fiddle Fart Tips No. 5

Marc sent me this little concertina wallet a while back ….
…. and you can see that he has used VELCRO® adhesive dots for the fastener.

VELCRO®TASTIC!

This Christmas …….

This Christmas I will be mostly wearing either one of my Christmas jumpers from Primark …. £12 each. I might add a couple of sew on wobbly eyes to the reindeer to add dimension !!!!!!!!!And on my head I will also be wearing my Primark Christmas pudding hat £3, what a bargain!!

Ho, Ho, Ho!!

National VELCRO® Month– Top Fiddle Fart Tips–No.4

Lovely Dianne in Florida sent me this beautiful pen and notebook but I knew it wouldn’t take long for them to get separated in my voluminous pink backpack which goes everywhere with me …..
 But at almost the same time as it’s arrival came my box of VELCRO® magic, and then it was a no brainer …..
….. I attached a strip of VELCRO® to the notebook and another to the pen top … simples!

National VELCRO® Month–Top Tips From Fiddle Fart Readers No. 3

Cheryl W suggests …….
I'm think that sticky-backed VELCRO®  would be great on the dash of a car with the other piece attached to the back of a small notepad. That way, you can keep notes in view, without having to hold onto them.
Cheryls blog …… http://paperpanacea.blogspot.co.uk/

National VELCRO® Month –Top Tips from Fiddle Fart Readers–No.2

Thank you Suze ….
I think the monkey’s on my other blog http://mumsmonkey.blogspot.co.uk/ will run with the Movember idea …….. !!!!!

Suze’s blog: http://cant-stop-crafting.blogspot.co.uk/

National VELCRO® Month –Top Tips & Ideas from Fiddle Fart Readers ……No. 1

Thank you Bitter_Angel for these two brilliant ideas ……

Bitter_Angel’s blogs:-

http://crossleggedcrafting.blogspot.co.uk/

http://mygenerallybitterramblings.blogspot.co.uk/

I cannot thank Kim enough for helping me out by being the first reader to submit her TOP TIPS for using VELCRO® , I really hope it will be the start of getting a huge creative VELCRO® ball rolling, and in doing so she also added an extra element to this ‘crafty adventure’ that I hadn’t anticipated….. by including links to contributors we will all get the extra bonus  of having good old nosey into the craftiness of others and/or their lives,  gaining an insight into some of the people who belong to the “Fiddle Fart Community”.   When I started to read Kim’s blog http://mygenerallybitterramblings.blogspot.co.uk/ I felt very, very humble, but  I won’t say any more ……. I’ll just let you find out why for yourself.

I hope this is the first of many, many posts for the month of November …. I hate having blank pages on the blog  ….. and this could really help to fill them.  THANK YOU.

A Couple Of New Ventures …… National VELCRO® Month & Wholeport

Over the past few months I have received a few e-mails from various companies asking if I would be interested in reviewing/trying out some new products …. but to be honest I just didn’t have the heart or the mojo…… but then I got an e-mail from Zuzana Borovska from Fleishman-Hillard asking if I would like to be involved with National VELCRO® Month in November …… and I thought why not?

Yesterday I received  the most beautifully packaged VELCRO® kit containing all sorts of exciting VELCRO® packs to get all crafty and creative with. The aim of the campaign is to come up with new tips, ideas and ways  to useELCRO®   and then share  the ideas in a few blog posts along with other bloggers who are also involved.  It is hoped that between us we can come up with at least 101 ideas on how to use VELCRO® !  I have a couple …..but once I start playing I hope to come up with a few more …..and hopefully, with luck, I can add an extra couple of posts to FiddleFart too.

           
If anyone has any ideas they would like to suggest I would be very grateful and I will try to put them together and blog them too, with all credit paid to you of course.

You may also have noticed that I have a new link in my sidebar to a company called Wholeport.  Wholeport is a company based in China that has somehow found me in the ether and has offered to sponsor me in an effort to help get my mojo back. They will send me a range of products to try out, review and link back to.  I decided to say yes because a lot of their stuff was quiet different and I was curious!  If I receive products that I don’t think I will/can use I intend to pass them on to readers,  as it seems ages since I have had a giveaway. I await my first parcel to arrive as I just don’t know what to expect.  I have no experience of using this company but I have read a couple of reviews that have said that all orders are sent out very professionally and fast ….. just Google them for reviews or posts from other blogs if you want to check them out.

And finally a heads up to this gorgeous tiny Christmas baby socks from Primark …. these are size 0 – 2.5 (early days) and cost £1.50 for three pairs.  Last year you might remember that I filled Christmas baby socks (below),  not half as pretty as these,  filling them with sweets with sweets and they vanished as soon as I put them out.   You could also buy three sets (24) to make a gorgeous Advent washing line!

This years socks will be put across our fireplace on a piece of pretty string and attached with miniature pegs …. photos to follow in December.

I am not making much this year, but if I see interesting things in the shops I will certainly keep posting heads up!