A Bits and Pieces Sort Of A Post

There was an extra bonus to Marc’s and my visit to Crafting Live at Malvern ….. while we were having a much needed cup of tea and waiting to be picked up we noticed that people were leaving the hall with large smiles and what looked like the boxes of the card/paper/kits that had been given as complimentary gifts at the start of the day. At first we just watched, we were happy with the box we had each received, both containing A4 wood patterned paper …… but then we got a little curiouser, before finally deciding that we may as well go see what was going on.

Well, what’s a poor boy and girl to do? We both came back with a pile of extra boxes, rather than take them all back to wherever the organisers were giving the packs away to anyone who wanted them.

You name it, we got it, glitter, metallic and patterned card ……….

…….. plus a couple of card making kits …….

 

…… including a “wobble” card kit.  When we got back we decided to split the contents so that we both got a bit of everything ….. and after sorting through again, I decided to give the papers that I know I won’t use to Iris’s nursery school, as they are always crying out for materials, so it was win win situation all the way round.

And …….. this is a stemmed dish Marc created marrying a small (upside down) vase with a glass bowl, gluing with E6000.  It was sitting on the sideboard at the cottage and had me completely fooled when I admired it, it was only when Marc told me what he’d done that I cottoned on.  What a brilliant idea!

As you know, I have decorated my bathroom shelves with decanters (filled with bubble bath) that I have found in the various charity shops of Evesham. If I occassionally find a prettier, more unusual shaped one I then replace it for one of the plainer ones, so long as it costs less than about £2.

In the Crafters Companion Café they used decanters that have lost their stoppers as vases with paper flowers in them.  All the plates, cup and saucers and mugs are also “found” treasures, it all looks so cute, especially against all the country style furniture.

And finally an object of desire ……… I haven't got a single spare spot in my bijoux flat, but I just love this painted, metal flamingo, believe me, if I had any where it would fit, it would  be mine!

Marc and I – Soldering Yet Again at Crafting Live, Malvern.

Following our day scrapbooking at Crafters Companion, Marc and I moved on to Crafting Live at Malvern with Create and Craft the following day.

I have to say that after my past disappointment at the Hobbycraft Show at the NEC it was a very pleasant day ……..

…… where we got to see the various Create and Craft programmes going out live which was interesting in itself.

It was also comfortable to get around, there were enough stalls with a good range of different products and you could look at things properly without being pushed and shoved and your ankles bashed!  There were an awful lot of dies and stamps, but I was still able to stock up on all the card colours I needed and treat myself to a few other bits and pieces (including some Tonerflex foils and accoutrements) and Marc could have a good look at the Screen Sensations stall, although I think he must almost have all the screens they have.  

There were also plenty of Make and Take Workshops, but in the end nothing really called our names ……

……. then we spotted Glass Garden Studio who were doing workshops that included soldering, something we have both tried so many times but with mixed results.  Well, it was a no brainer and Marc treated us both to the Bunting Workshop – their example shown below.

With an excellent tutor putting on the copper tape was a doddle …….

The soldering wasn’t as much, but we had all the proper tools to use and yes, with practice (Marc bought the soldering iron and solder for future playing) I think it’s something I could now finally master ……..

 

……. especially minus the large audience that built up around me while doing it!  Also, on the plus side, Marc did manage to sell a couple of extra workshop tickets to said audience as we were working!  What is he like?

 

It was a confidence boosting experience, just learning how to hold the soldering iron properly was so worth it.  I have the bunting safely put away, I think I could add a few little bits to it ….. and then find somewhere to hang it, most probably in my guest room.  Happy Days

Scrapbooking With Michelle Jackson Mugford at Crafters Companion, Evesham

Another apology from me, this time for only just posting Marc’s and my day scrapbooking at Crafters Companion, Evesham with Michelle Jackson-Mugford, blame three busy weekend on the trot!

The day started off a little fraught for Michelle as she got stuck in traffic on her journey down, hardly able to move for hours, finally arriving, poor lady, four hours late, but despite that we had a BRILLIANT day, the staff of Crafters Companion were so hospitable and Michelle a real trooper.

Michelle gave us a choice of one of her scrapbooking kits, accompanied by a detailed instruction sheet to get us started on the background for our page and then, using the smaller embellishment elements we were left to soar!

The kit Marc and I choose had a sort of potting shed/garden theme, so I am glad I took, among others, a picture of Bertie in his rabbit ears …… which made me think of Peter Rabbit.

You will notice, as per usual, that all but Marc’s hands managed to evade any attention from the camera!

I tell you what, working on a 12ins x 12ins sheet is a world away from a 5ins x 5ins card …….

……… and I seemed to fiddle fart forever before committing to any sort of gluing.

It was also tempting to use everything we were given, but I managed to restrain myself.

The page is now safely put away, it still needs a title somewhere near the top …… I was thinking something along the lines of “…… Little Bertie Rabbit had a fly upon his ear, so he flipped it and he flopped it and the fly flew away ……” – I just need to find a suitable background paper to write/put it on …. and then I might put it in a frame to go in his bedroom to embarrass him when he is 18!

Thank you to Michelle for taking me out of my crafty comfort zone, and the elusive Marc, whose idea it was and treating me to a wonderful day.  Hopefully we will now keep an eye out on other workshops going on at Crafters Companion and who knows, do a few more in the future.

Wedding Invitation Samples

This is the first sample pack I have sent my nephew and his fiancée to see what they think, after they asked me if I would “make” their wedding invitations.

Amanda sent me a link to a very expensive site in the US and asked me if I could come up my own interpretation on the basic theme/idea, wanting clean simple and very less is more.

She liked the idea of a band, a vellum wrap and a seal, but not necessarily all of them together, so I tried as many variations on the theme as I could, incorporating the rose gold mat card she had picked out from all the paper and card samples I had sent her from various companies and using a grey font.

As you can see there isn’t an awful lot of crafting to be done, it’s really all computer lead, except of the odd tiny flat back clear gem or pearl and the seals, made using my Ranger Melt Art Melting Pot, now discontinued!

So much of my time was taken up with experimenting playing an assortment of fonts, varying their size and style, be it capitals, regular and italic etc..

I am now waiting to see what they whittle their choices down to (if any) and what other variations, changes to wording etc. they want before I set up another round of samples. I think there will be an awful lot of too-ing and froing before we get to that final production stage, so watch this space.