A Very Happy Christmas And New Year ..........

With a week to go .......  may I wish you all a very Happy Christmas & 2024.

I'm taking a week off or so, to just sit back and relax but will be back on Monday 1st Januray 2024, with, hopefully, some new ideas for 2024. The past six months or so have been an up hill struggle to keep things going, as I've just had no mojo or inspirartion, I have just about managed to cobble a few ideas together to limp to the end of the year.

That being said, at the beginning of November I started to give my craft room a really good sorting out, it's taken till now, on and off to do. A lot of stuff went to a local Guide Group, school and various local charity shops and to be honest I think there's still a lot more that could go, however I'm holding back for now, but then, what hasn't been looked at or touched by November 2024 will probably go the same way.

Temu may turn out to be my 2024 crafting saviour though, because in the run up to Christmas, I spent far too much time watching crafty haul videos on YouTube and then, of course, out came my phone ........ that's the reason why I am starting 2024 without said app, it's just too tempting.  I now need to get cracking using all the things that were delivered in Temu's distinctive grey bags with the orange logo, before I do anything else, no matter what I see in the shops in the January sales etc. If I didn't buy something when I first saw it, then I certainly don't need it now. 

It's a lesson learned, I went mad in the aisles in The Works and Hobbycraft in the January 2023 sales, but have I done anything with most of it yet? Have I heck as like! However, in this current very positive frame of mind they and all the Temu stuff WILL be used first, even if I do end up posting Christmas in January ....... otherwise, I'll have just thrown my money away!

See you on the other side ………..

School Christmas Cards

As promised, today I present the end results of the Christmas cards I made with one of the Year 2 classes (6 – 7 years old) that  I listen to read on a Thursday ……..

…….. needless to say, they all hit it right out of the park ………

…….. and beyond!

I think they all really enjoyed being able to choose their own component backgrounds, noses, hats and eyes ………..

…… which already made them quite individual, but when they added their own unique doodled ears and antlers the reindeer’s personalities came through  ……

……. and then, one little one went off piste and added a mouth, which I hadn’t originally done on the example, which I now regret, because the mouth really did make them! However, once the others saw what she had done, the trend followed suite and I daresay a few more will be added to those without when they all write and stick in the inserts.

I love them all.  It was a joy to do, but made me realise how out of practise I am working with a group of little ones, I was mentally and physically exhausted by the time I got home!

The Legend Of The Christmas Spider

How come I’ve completely let this story pass me by? 

Copyright Jai Moore Designs

However, enchanted and inspired, I have a spooky sort of feeling that this might just be one of my first projects for 2024. Sorry, sorry, sorry …. I know we haven’t even done this year yet, but after all these barren months, I am really praying it could be the start of getting my mojo back!

I’ve already got a few ideas, it’s something I think I could really run with …… however, saying that, I’ve had these wooden, pickle shapes stashed away for a couple of years now, so perhaps I really should start with them first?!?!

Mums Monkey Seasonal Offering 2023

For Christmas 2023 I decided to make some tree decorations instead of my usual Monkey cards, something a bit more lasting.

I started off with a photoshoot with The Boyz, creating a sheet of the chosen photo, specifically sized to fit the baubles, using my ancient copy of Publisher 2003.

The pictures were then cut out and laminated to help give them extra durability.

The large, wooden baubles came from Temu (diameter 3.5ins, overall height approx. 4ins), which cost £4.98 for 20 (25p each).

I painted the body of the baubles on both sides using a red Wilko emulsion match pot, before varnishing both sides again with Wilko clear, gloss, fast drying varnish (both now sadly unavailable due to the recent demise of Wilko.

I originally coloured the caps with a gold marker pen, but for some reason, best known to myself, I then covered over with Dovecraft gold, pearl effects paint instead, probably to add extra texture (?) ……. hmmmmmm.

Then, the pictures didn’t look quite right cut in a circle ………

…….. so I cut out the background and then mat and layered the resulting pieces on gold mirror card to help them stand out a bit more, that looked much better.

I then got a little involved in the rest of “the doings” and forgot to take many more photos! However, the fur on the hats was given the Dovecraft’s 3D Enamel Effect treatment, with a generous sprinkling of ultra fine, translucent glitter for good measure.

To fill in the space at the top of the bauble I painted some wooden sentiments (The Works) before sticking them down securely with E6000 glue.

Around the edges of the front and back I added faux stitching using a white acrylic pen.

With all this done, it was time to finally add the pictures, using foam pads on the back to add a little more dimension.

It still looked a little flat, so I added tiny gold stars and clusters of three white dots ……..

……… which really lifted and bought everything together, especially after adding a small white pom-pom on the end of each monkey’s hat.

I’m pretty pleased with them, but, if I could change anything, it would be the caps, I should have left them as they were with the gold pen and simply adding glossy accents over the top for a smoother, more professional finish, oh well, a lesson for next time I guess!

Funny Christmas Card

I LOVE this card, spotted in a shop in Christchurch, near Bournemouth ……

…….. sounds a little too familiar!

Santa Sleigh Favours

Another idea I have used before, but I thought I would post them again …….

……… seeing as I managed to snaffle a few packs on the sleighs in The Works January sale this year for just 25p a pack.  I am not sure if they are currently available, but  I think originally they were £1 for a pack of two.

I was also able to find the M & S Italian Chocolate Assortment again, which were a perfect size to act as Santa’s sack on the sleigh.  The chocolate Santas came from Home Bargains, costing, I believe, 79p for a net of 12.

I simply stuck the wrapped chocolate onto the sleigh using a double sided, adhesive, foam pad and then the same again sticking the Santa to the sack.

The silver bows with a tiny bell attached were a present from my dear friend Diane. These were attached to the back of the chocolate with the tiniest amount of glue gun glue as I didn’t want to risk melting any of the chocolate.

So simple, but such a cute little favour to pop into my neighbours mail boxes in December instead of a Christmas card …….. happy days!

Iron Orchid Ginger and Spice Mould Christmas Frame

Aghhhhhhhhhh, I just knew I would come unstuck with this idea, following on from my post of 25th September featuring the Iron Orchid Ginger and Spice mould Marc sent me a while back …… BUT, I think I got there in the end!

I’d given the characters ample time to dry completely, so I couldn’t put off painting them any longer, especially as I’d also treated myself to two new sets of pointed tip paintbrushes from Temu (a posh set for £2.66 and a cheaper one for £1.79), to see what the difference was, in the end, there was very little, but I think I prefer the more expensive ones.

My choice of paint, Wilko emulsion tester pots, was perhaps not the wisest, using acrylics may possibly have been better?

The characters came out awfully dark and even though I was in full blown Christmas mode, I wasn’t really sure about the red and green either …….

……. especially when teamed up with the 33p picture frame I found in a charity shop that I thought would be perfect for the idea …….

……. but again, at this stage it also came over as too dark. Sooooooooo, I put a new background paper in and painted the frame gold.

However, I was still not feeling it! I hated the green and red (red and green should never be seen?), despite gently rubbing the paint to get a more faded and subtler effect, but I felt I had invested too much time to simply chuck it all in the bin and start again.

Yet, despite loathing the green, what did I go and do, only painted the wooden letters green as well, in an effort to try and draw things together?

There followed far too much fiddle fart, before deciding, rather than being an all year round decoration/picture, I should instead “embrace” more Christmas, by going the whole hog, adding wooden snowflakes (Temu, £2.48 for 50) in an effort, this time, to draw the attention away from all the “dreaded” red and green.  The letters were duly Glossy Accented and that is how I left things overnight, still not convinced, this wasn’t an absolute pigs ear!

By the morning it was all change, again everything was wrong, the “home sweet home” didn’t say Christmas, it was all so flat, where was the magic?

The original fabric background was resurrected, with slopes of white glitter card stuck along the bottom to form a basic snow scene.

A new set of letters were painted white and glittered, as were the snowflakes.  A long forgotten gingerbread house was rediscovered, as were some small Christmas trees.  It was finally coming together.

With everything in position, I then set about carefully lifting each piece, one at a time, to glue down exactly where they had been placed. 

When I saw the end result, after all the fuss and bother, I was pretty relieved.  I liked it. It is on the “busy” side, but that’s Christmas for you and I’m not 100% about the bead noses, but again that’s working up close to a project over a period of  long time, from a distance they work.

All it needed then were my signature clusters of three white dots and a sprinkling of confetti snowflakes ………

……… only to then discover that I’d been working with the frame upside down, with the hanger fastenings at the bottom, but nothing that wasn’t easily sorted, duh!

The frame will now be carefully wrapped and given to Marc as an Advent  present for 1st December  ……. after all, it was him who started it all!  Happy, if at times, frustrating days!