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!

Cards From Christmas 2018 – Fiddle Fart Guest Crafters No. 3

Three more cards for your delectation today ………

I just love this card, it’s delicacy and the colours.  It’s from Karen, a fellow crafter and blogger. I am guessing it’s made with a whole series of dies, it’s the sort of card that Marc would tease me for losing patience with.  It’s stunning http://kkfantasticplace.blogspot.com/

The next card was from Michelle, I am also guessing using a die for the card blank and then a series of dies for the borders and snowflakes.  I really need to get more adventurous.  I never seem to veer very far from my square cards …….. boring!

The last card is from my Auntie Beth in Bude, she is colouring book bonkers,  and I am guessing she has managed to get her little mits on a set of colouring notecards for this beauty. I have only done one or two colouring book pages, but I’ll tell the truth, as soon as I decide that the colours I have used don’t look right together, I just couldn’t continue to finish the rest.  Is that being a tad anal?

Beth uses the coloured pages from her books to make cutlery holders at her daughters cafe in Bude.  They have had quite a few taken away surreptitiously under the table, and who can blame the customers, I think I would be tempted too ……….. The Lock Gates Tea Room, Bude

Advent Drawer Tuesday

Another two drawers for you today …… I have to admit that progress on this calendar has slowed down a little, what with baby sleepovers, weekends away and my ongoing en-suite shower room drama …… more of that in in a few weeks time, if it’s finally done, but, let’s just say that I have been unable to use this room since the beginning of November…… fortunately I do have a main bathroom or I would really be ponking by now!

Two Nutcrackers and a Santa, using Christmas themed stickers from Flying Tiger and glittered Advent numbers from the Hobbycraft sale.  I am also keeping a very close eye on The Works and am praying that when they do start stocking their Christmas stuff again, usually in around May/June, they have some more of the snowflake embellishments.  I could kick myself for not buying all they had when they had their BOGOF sale earlier …… I had already bought so many, at the time I was sick of seeing them …… and now I want 100’s as they are so useful to fill up a little space.

In the meantime I have ordered a whole assortment of different frames and wooden shapes to use obviously as frames for the numbers and stickers but also act as a more solid background rather than card to mount them.  The depth also adds more dimension, and as you know I love dimension!!!!

Revisited Bejewelled Bathroom Lightshade

Following on a couple of posts ago and the charity shop beaded chandelier find I decided that there was no time like the present to try to re-vamp the light shade currently adorning my bathroom to see if my ideas actually worked …….

Bathroom light shade before

I think they did ……….

Light shade after

I hope you can see in difference the pictures.

I started off by removing all the existing drops and replacing some of them with the larger ones from the charity shop shades, colouring two clear beads with a yellow and purple Sharpie pen and leaving one in the original amber to reflect the colours in the main body of the light shade. Four of these drops were positioned in the corners of the shade and another three were evenly spaced along the sides.

I then made up another set of drops to be spaced in between the new larger drops, this time colouring one clear bead purple, again to pick up an existing colour and then I coloured an amber bead with green for a subtler shade of the colour, using green straight onto a clear bead was just too vivid, if that makes sense?

If I say so myself it does look pretty awesome, it throws wonderful colours and patterns on the walls, with just the sort of effect I imagined and wanted, but was wary I would get ……

………. it is also so much more individual now and more me. I am thrilled.  Now, when I get another hour or so to play, my next challenge to to re-vamped the jewelled lamps in my guest room, to hopefully achieve the same individual look and success.

Cards from Christmas 2018 – Fiddle Fart Guest Crafters No. 2

Four cards that I was soooooo lucky to have received for Christmas 2018, plus an interloper for you today.

The first card is from Di, a fellow craft blogger and adopter of several of my monkeys way back in 2011.  In our cards we both mooted that another Monkey reunion in Swindon must surely be a goer in the coming year. Why Swindon? Well, it’s almost half way between where Di and Valery (another adopter) live, easy by car and for me the train.  This is a stamped design, but so beautifully executed, coloured and cut out I really thought it might have been a printed die cut. Sorry Di.   http://pixiescraftyworkshop.blogspot.com/

The next card was from The Lovely Laura’s mum.  I am guessing it was cut on her Silhouette.  I think I have told this story before, but when we were making all the things for Tom and Laura’s wedding I introduced Denise to said Silhouette which she really ran with it, putting me to shame, as I don’t think I have had mine out since cutting out all those cheese shaped boxes!

Another stamped card from Christine ( Tilly), I love it, so cute and such lovely colours.  You know me and stamping ….. but  a couple of weeks ago I treated myself to Tonic Studios & Tim Holtz Travel Stamp Platform, which seemed to be the perfect size for me as I tend not to make cards any bigger than 6ins x 6ins. Using a new customer code I managed to get it with 20% off, so that pleased me too. Needless to say, like  a lot of crafters I have yet to try it, but perhaps this post will give me that spur.  Initially I want it to print sentiments straight onto a card, something I rarely do as I am such a kak handed stamper and in the past many, many blank cards have ended up in the bin. So …… watch this space.

This final card was obviously a Thank You card sent by my very dear Monkey follower friend Jan The Fan.  It’s the cute simplicity of it.  I think I could do something very similar for Easter using some of the wooden polka dot rabbits I have squirrelled somewhere. I just need to have more faith in my doodling ability.  Marc would now tell me that when I have come up with a doodle I am happy with I could then put it through my Scan n Cut ……. I feel another “out of my comfort zone” challenge coming up for me then ……  but as Marc is coming over in a few weeks time, perhaps we could do this one together ….. it sounds like a plan.

Charity Shop Find – Bejewelled Lightshade.

I first saw two of these bejewelled lightshades in a charity shop when Marc was staying with me. We ummmed and ahhhed, but at £3.99 each we questioned what I would actually do with them as brown/amber isn’t the most appealing of colours and in the end we talked ourselves out of a considered purchase.

About five weeks later I saw that they were still there in the shop, so again stood standing there with them in my hands pondering, when the new manager came over and said that I could have them for £1 a piece, well in that split second it was a no brainer, but I have to admit as I walked away from the shop with my swag I did have second thoughts, more rainy day junk under the bed?  Then I had “that” light bulb moment ……..

The brown/amber colour was the same colour as the drops on the lampshade in my bathroom and lamps in my spare room ….. what if I replaced some of the original drops at regular intervals on these with the more fancy new ones (of which I now had 62) I now had,  giving them a much more individual look, colouring the clear beads with yellow, purple, and pink Sharpie pens to blend in more.  With that I felt my £2 spend was justified!  Well, that’s the theory anyway!

The rings on the drops are pretty easy to do the change around …… it’s the Sharpie pens I am now wondering about, particularly on the bathroom shade as the added colour needs to be subtle  ……and there’s only one way to find out ………… watch this space …….

Black, Red and Green Let It Snow Christmas Card

This hand cut, white linen effect card, measures 5.5ins x 5.5ins.

This is another Christmas card which embraces colours not usually on my colour radar, especially when I think of Christmas.The papers comes from a paper pad (£1) I found in Poundland, and when I realised it’s versatility and potential for something a little bit different had to go out and get another!

I don’t often cover the whole front of my cards with a paper but it’s something I am quite getting into …… I am not just feeling white space at the moment!

After a little mat and layering on white and red mirror card and a touch of faux stitching plus white glitter card for the hills I simply added the sentiment and a wooden tree from Hobbycrafts Snow Cool Collection. The final touches were a red, flat back gem star on top of the tree and a scattering of tiny black dots using a fine permanent pen. All done and fairy dusted, simples!