Still Struggling ........... So I'm Taking A Break

My heartfelt apologies ......... but I have decided to take a break until 4th September, at least, as I still remain without a single iota of inspiration or will to craf, so I have decided not to push it.  

I have my first "Craft Fayre" on 4th August, so I am been busy putting together all my crafty makes leftover from Christmas, Halloween etc. which will take up a small corner of my table, the rest will be filled with all the spare crafty bits and pieces that I know I probably won't use or don't inspire me anymore, along with a cuttlebug, a Tattered Lace Baby Blue, piles of cello bags and envelopes, dies and stamps. There's mountains of it, and I am really being savage in my cull. What doesn't sell this time will be carried on to the September Fayre and then I'll see where I am. I think once I am on the list of regulars I may be able to continue in this vain until I have cleared all I want to clear.

With the exception of the few larger items, I am going to keep prices low to either 50p or £1 (easy to add up and give change) appealing to fellow crafts who like a bargain and children with a bit of pocket money to spend.

I found a white double sheet in a local charity shop (£3.50) to cover my table and have ordered a hundred stripey paper bags, so I am pretty much set.

I have to admit that just seeing the sheer volume of stuff I no longer want has been overwhelming, to be honest at the moment it all feels more of  a burden rather than the wonderful treasure it once was, if that makes sense?  

However, I still have Halloween, Christmas and New Year in mind, hoping that, while giving myself a proper break, I'll begin to start putting a few ideas together for my usual random acts of crafty kindness, plus all my festive fairings for family, friends and school, so if I do put anything together over the next few weeks, I'll schedule them from September, so that I already have a bank of ideas to hopefully re-start my regular posts ...... we shall see. In the meantime have a very, very brilliant summer.  

A Bit Of This and That ……… Time For A Cull

Well, woo hoo, I managed to put together enough posts to cover the week before, during and after my 10 days soaking up the Greek sun, of which, perhaps, I may post a few photos in the next week or so.

However, before I went away, I found 28 of these 6.5cms, metal, pastry tins in the local Salvation Army charity shop for just £1.99.  Now, although I may not be crafting a lot at the moment, these were still a no brainer.  I’m already thinking a Christmas wreath using old, wooden Christmas figures and novelties to create simple scenes inside them and then Marc suggested a Day of the Dead theme, using sugar skulls and skeletons etc.  Hopefully there will be enough to make both, when I can get down to it.

You know I love a good bargain, BUT, I also need to have a very drastic craft stash declutter, having already booked two, local craft fairs in August and September in preparation. I don’t intend on making anything for either fair, as I already have a few bits and pieces left over from last Christmas and Halloween, no, my main aim is to try and sell all the surplus stuff I have accumulated, at a time when others may be thinking about getting their seasonal crafting under way!

My craft room, as it is, is overwhelming me, if you know what I mean. I never intended for the shelves above the bed settee to be full or any available free surface topped with even more boxes and bits! Aghhhh!   I have a few ideas for this coming Christmas and will keep what I think I will need to the side, but in selling the stuff that I have got bored of or am uninspired by, I can hopefully recoup a little money to put towards the trip to the USA that Lu and I are planning for 2024.

I also lost my brother-in-law towards the end of May and seeing the mountains of “stuff” that had to be got rid of before the keys to his bungalow had to be handed back was again overwhelming and I vowed there and then (not that I have any plans to bail ship just yet) not to leave anything like that for my own family to sort out.  So, a real, good chuck is required, in the craft room and beyond, I mean how many mugs does one woman need? If I crafted 24 hours a day for the next 100 years, I would still have enough left over to do another 100 years!    A merciless cull is required.  I’ll let you know how I get on after my first fair,  happy days????

This Girl Is On Fire Birthday Frame

Just a really quick birthday frame for Iris’s 9th birthday, I know, where have those years gone?

There’s not a lot to it.  I took one of the bathroom, shadow type frames I got from Poundland years ago now.  I remember seeing their potential and buying them in bulk, some in one of their sales for just 25p each. I still have a few left, so you’ll probably be seeing them again. sometime in the future.  The wooden letters came from The Works, again a while back now.

I started by taking the back off the frame and covering the front with a scrap of shimmery navy coloured card.

I then centred the letters as best as I could, before gluing them in place using B-7000 glue for a secure fix.

……. followed by various confetti stars and clusters of three white dots using a white paint pen to help fill in the gaps and bring the whole thing together …….

…….. before gluing refitting the back, again using B-7000. 

If I were to repeat the idea, I think I would use lots of different coloured, ultra fine glitter to cover all the letters as the idea could very easily take on some extra bling and sparkle.

Ballerina Frame

Iris was in a dancing show the other week and I wanted to give her something special from Nanny to remember the day by.

There was really nothing to it, but let’s just say it’s keeping Fiddle Fart going while I go through this creatively limbo! 

The ballerina brooch you might recognise from Lu’s and my trip to Malvern Flea and Antique Fair (£1) a week or so ago.

In order for the ballerina to lie flat in the frame I had to take the pin fitting off the brooch, it was soooooooo flipping hard, it just didn’t want to give up its position and I really didn’t want to break off an arm or leg in the process, I finally manged it, although a stone, quickly glued back in, did come out, doh!

The small, white, plastic picture frame cost me 50p from a local charity shop, took on a whole new look after it had been sprayed gold, once the back and glass had been removed.

When the frame was dry, I simply glued a piece of black card onto the back and then closed up the case (I didn’t use the glass again), putting the ballerina slap bang in the centre, fixing securely with E6000 glue.  The final touches were made using the tiny, gold stars.  Sorry, about the glue marks, luckily Iris didn’t notice them, but as you can see my crafting is a bit off!

Iris loved it ….. after the show, she said, with stars in her eyes, that she wanted to dance just like “the big girls” when she was older, she is such a determined young lady, I think she just might!