Blankets Akimbo ………Finally A Blanket For Marc ……..

I am loving my £4 crocheted blanket/bedspread, it didn’t make it to my sofa, it’s a keeper in my bedroom, a bit hot at the moment, but just think how cosy it will look and be in the winter.

Marc asked if I found another would I make a considered purchase on his behalf ………… and low and behold I then  found this one (below)……….

……. again only £4, but a little too pastel and pale for Marc’s macho image, however perfect for my sofa (as I said above) for snuggling under when it gets a little chilly in the evening.

It’s beautifully crocheted and finished off and sooooooooo warm, but what about poor Marc, it seemed very unlikely after two finds in one week that I would find another one the following week ………

…….. but I did and in macho Marc type colours, he’s dead chuffed!  It’s absolutely mahoooosive and the price, £2.50????? It was paid for and bundled into my Nanny style shopping trolley before you could even say crochet hook, then in the washing machine with at least half a bottle of fabric softener.

I am now thinking about going on a mission to save all crocheted blankets and find them new homes (but then …….what are the chances of finding any more after such a brilliant run?)   Marc has told me about cottage core, something I’ve never heard of  - “As a concept, it embraces a simpler, sustainable existence that is more harmonious with nature. Aesthetically, it’s a nod to the traditional English countryside style, romantic and nostalgic,” – which has quite a following and a market on eBay ………. I’ll let you know how I get on in my quest as and when anything comes my way again……..

Mini Chalkboard Christmas Snowman Decorations

I’ve got a feeling it could well be an easel type of Christmas this year!

I bought a pack of these mini chalkboard easels on a whim from the wedding section of Home Bargains, costing just 99p for 4, at roughly 25p each, I was on a winner already, whatever I did with them.  They measure 9cms tall by 7cms at their widest (approximately)

As soon as I got home I started going through my box of Hobbycraft wooden embellishments left over from last year ………

……. and found that the snowmen were a perfect fit (you know me and proportion, coupled with the  plastic snowflakes I bought in bulk about three years ago from Aliexpress, still going strong and after all this time owe me nothing, plus a bottle of Dovecraft 3D Enamel Effects (£1 from The Range).

I started off with the text using a white, fine tip, Posca pen and then glued on the snowman.

Next came the snowflakes ………..

…… followed by the Enamel Effects on the easel bar, with a sprinkle of translucent ultra fine glitter.  Everything was coming together perfectly.

All that was left to do then was add a few clusters of three white dots here and there, again using the Posca pen, another snowflake on the easel bar, clear flat back gems in the middle of the snowflakes and a smaller flat sequin snowflake if there was any spare space going begging.

They really didn’t take any time at all to make, which is always a bonus, especially as if any idea has to many stages I then get bored.

I’ve got 16 made so far, using up all but about two/three of last years snowmen. These will be form the basis of my Christmas fairings (in place of a Christmas card) which I will send as a large letter in the post.

I have another pack put aside as I have other ideas, I am thinking Halloween and a perhaps some other Christmas ideas using other festive embellishments, again leftover from last year.………….

……… however this all depends on my Home Bargains getting some more in, they don’t have any in stock at the moment. In the meantime I have assigned Lu the mission of seeing if they have any in Wolverhampton  …… I have priced exactly the same thing  on eBay and Amazon and believe me they can forget it!

Guest Crafters – Iris and Bertie’s End Of School Badges

There are always little fairing gifts at the end of each school term for Iris and Bertie’s teachers and the end of this summer term was no exception. 

No grand gestures, just a small bottle of shower gel and a face and hair mask that they could all easily slip into their holiday suitcases plus a bundle of three Lindt assorted chocolate squares.

There was also a holiday themed magnet from Nanny (above) plus badges from Iris and Bertie, using the Super Badge-It Maker I got from an Evesham charity shop for just £1.50, which was worth it just for the badge spares themselves, as they are pretty hard to find and when you do find them they are stupidly priced …… which is probably why you find the machines in charity shops and carboots!

Bertie took advantage of the rectangular shaped badges, making a bee badge for his teacher and toast badges for the staff of Breakfast Club, somewhere he has always dreamed about going to ever since he first started school, just to be able to try Mrs Thorley’s famous white toast, poor deprived child had only ever had wholemeal until then!  Needless to say he has really embraced it, for a tiny little thing the staff say he can certainly pack away his breakfast!

I made a special badge for “legend in our household” that is Mrs Thorley too!

Iris made her badges all the same …….. going for a heart in the centre of each, that’s my girl!

So that’s another school year gone ………… time is running at far too fast a pace  for me, I never try to take any school run for granted, these are such precious days. One day a little hand will slip into mine and it could be the last time they feel the need to keep hold of me, feeling that they are too big now to hold Nanny’s hand.  I always give them such a tight squeeze when they do it and tell them how much it means to me and how I don’t ever want to let go ………………………………

Christmas Easel Cards/Decorations

Following on from my birthday easel decoration/card from the other week I decided to have a go at a couple of Christmas ones using the same idea.

I took two more of the 12cms x 16cms canvas and easel sets from The Works (I see that they still have them in stock, but they are now £2 a set, which I think is still good value, but will naturally keep my eye open for any further reductions. The canvas and easel stand approximately 15cms tall.

I found that the canvas was only just big enough to take the word Christmas if spaced out very carefully.

Note to self – look out for some smaller, colourful alphabet letter sets in case I want to make any more in the coming months.

I did toy with the idea of adding a few sprigs of holly, Christmas lights etc. here and there but nothing seemed to work, it looked bitty and didn’t flow, so perhaps should be left plain and simple.  I think I could get away with it if I were to put a scene together without any lettering …….. so that, I think is going to be my next project only using smaller, square canvases on an easel, there might even be a Halloween one to be had too.

The Charity Shops of Portsmouth & Winchester Yield Very Little ……….

Lu and I managed to get a two night stay in Portsmouth at the last minute the other week.

I don’t think we have ever felt so desperate for a change of air ……….

……. let alone see the sea in real life …………. it was wonderful.  We just sat for hours on end with a flask watching the world and countless wild water swimmers go by and just chilled! 

We hoped to get in a little charity shop shopping but sadly Portsmouth yielded very little, and no considered purchases unfortunately were made.  Lu quite fancied the kidney shaped dressing table (above), it had “potential”, but me thinks it would need someone quite adept at cutting and sewing to replace the flounced cover!

We both loved this desk - £65, for goodness sake ?????? Look at all the drawers and nooks and crannies, it also had the potential to be something quite magical ……..

It had seen better days and I wouldn’t say it was top quality …… but I could see it painted navy blue with gold stars and moons here and there, but wonder if that would be possible with the roll top?  A job for a professional no doubt and not for the likes of Mrs FiddleFart Bodge-It me!!!

We also spotted these “vintage” Kath Kidston dresses on the clothes rail in the same shop for £8.99, if I was size 8 or 10 I would have had them in a heartbeat, how cute are they?

I was quite excited by the prospect of a visit to The Cadbury Shop at Gunwharf Quays, especially at the thought of finding a few boxes of Cadbury Dairy Milk Miniatures as in days of yore to embellish for special occasions. They didn’t have any! After a little research I don’t think they even make them any more ……. which is really sad, but then again it must be nine odd years since I last bought any!

On the way back home we stopped off in Winchester, which is very, very, very posh and where the clothes in the charity shops are on a whole new level, again if you are a size 8 to 12! I wish I had taken a few photos just to show you some of the beauties I had to leave behind.

Lu was very chuffed to find this Beatles jigsaw as she’d fancied it in meltdown but couldn’t justify the price …… she paid £3 for hers and if all the pieces are there when she’s done it she’ll probably get me to put it on eBay to help towards a few more jaunts in the coming months.

I th

I also spent £3 in the same shop (????)  It’s so bad it’s almost good?  I thought it might be something special, but I could be wrong. I’ve put it on eBay but I think it might be a slow burner.  More common in the USA, made by Lego in Japan in the 1950’s.  If it doesn’t sell it doesn’t matter, it’s my sort of quirky taste, she already looks quite at home on one of my shelves in the lounge so whatever happens it’s win win.

I’m not sure what the lifting of Covid restrictions will bring on July 19th, we’ve booked a stayover in Southport for Lu’s birthday at the end of the month ……………. I think we need to make hay while we can!

Bright, Random Letter Birthday Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and uses a smooth, white, pre-scored blank from a bulk Hobbycraft pack.

Oh my goodness, am I struggling with my card making ………..

……. above is my first effort at a card for my Brother-in-Law’s birthday, which was so absolutely horrendous that it ended up in the bin, what possessed me?  It took another 24 hours before I was in a fit state to try again!

In the end I simply took a page from an Origami paper pad (The Works) and used it to cover the whole front of the card blank, then I added cardboard letters from a self adhesive alphabet set (from B M Bargains, I think) backed on scraps from the same pad, mat and layered on silver mirror card.

Various confetti stars and clusters of three black dots here and there, using a fine liner pen sort of bring the design together.

It is not my finest work (!!!!), don’t think it’s really quite there. Perhaps I should have cut the front off the card completely, trimmed it down a little and then used it to mat onto an darker card blank ?????? But at least it’s a card, it does the job ……. but I really do need to get my act, card wise, together!

30th Easel Birthday Card

Oh my goodness, I am struggling with all my birthday cards for this month, I am soooooooo out of practice,  it’s unbelievable. 

And, this is a huge cheat anyway, because I used a 12cms x 16cms canvas and easel set from The Works, I just couldn’t face making a card ……. perhaps this is the way to go for the time being?

The set, which stands approximately 15cms tall,  was a bargain a while back as it was reduced from £2 to £1, which was a no brainer, I think I bought quite a few at the time.

I simply stuck random letters from various alphabet sets onto the canvas with a few additional confetti stars and clusters of the black dots here and there. I decided to glue the canvas onto the easel, because left resting on the bar the canvas looked a little out of kilter. 

I might go through my other easel sets to get them used up, perhaps a few for Halloween and the rest for Christmas? We shall see.