What’s In The Shops …

Accessorize are just starting to get in their new stickers  (£1.75 a pack).  To be honest, though cute, the Halloween ones are not a patch on last years, with a more limited range of characters etc. and so are a little less versatile.

And the snowman are also “nice” with a slight sprinkle of glitter, which personally I could have done without, but they are nothing to blow me away, but I am still interested to see what else they bring out in the next few weeks

Now to Marks and Spencer, where they have a 3 for 2 offer at the moment on some of their Christmas ranges ……

How cute are these Jazzie Trousers gingerbread men?  Talk about made for me ….. normally £2 for a box of 10!  They have got my name written all of them, and I suspect my lovely friend and blog commenter Marc will also be buying them by the truck load.  I LOVE them!

Not content with Jazzie Trousers …. M & S have also got chocolate gingerbread men ….. I have got a HUGE feeling that gingerbread men and red and white gingham are going to be so on trend this Christmas and I am going to be in my festive element!

There are eight chocolates in a pack which cost £3.  But as I made full use of the offer I paid £6 for two packs of chocolates and one pack of biscuits…… but undoubtedly I will be going back for a few more before the offer ends.  I am planning on splitting the packs to make up small fairing gifts to give instead of cards to the people I see everyday at work.

And finally back to Poundland where from the top picture this looks like nothing …..

….. but it’s a paperweight photo frame that I found hidden amongst the Christmas stuff ….. I am in two minds as to whether to make a festive paperweight for my festive desk at work or something to use all year round ….. hmmmm!

Stampin’Up Ornament Punch

This card measures 3.5 ins x 3.5 ins and is made using a ribbed effect Kraft card.

Ever bought a crafty something and then wondered what on earth possessed you?  Well I did with this punch, it’s been on my desk for over a year … unused and unwanted, largely because it just didn’t inspire me ‘till now …. and now I love it!

Stampin’Up Ornament Punch 119847

It has given me so may ideas on how to use all the tiny leftover festive Accessorize and Paperchase stickers I have.

The rubbery snowman sticker was from a pack from Tesco a couple of years ago, they were cute but quite expensive, so much so that I would only use one per card to get my moneys worth and these baubles will be my way of doing just that.

Recycled Suitcase

Well, I’ve finally finished my recycled suitcase, and it didn’t take half the time I thought it would.

I can’t exactly say that I enjoyed cutting round all the fiddly bits to go round the rivets at the ends of lid etc., but it was worth it in the end.

I’ve gone over it with several coats of clear varnish which will give it some degree of waterproof-ness if I decide to actually use it and get caught in the rain.

….. and if I ever do another one, I think I will use a thinner paper, DCWV papers are very strong but perhaps a little too thick for a perfectly smooth finish if papers are overlapped.

Frankenstein and Ghost Jam Jar Lanterns

These are my final jam jar lanterns (for Halloween). 

 

For Frankenstein I used an assorted  pack of 75 sheets of tissue paper (the colours in the pack were limited to yellow, two shades of green and a few blue) from Poundland,  but the tissue was stronger and thicker than the stuff I have used on previous jars and was therefore a lot easier to use.

The ghost was made using white tissue …. awful to use ….it went all globby, but the texture was interesting  …. but as they are going in the garden it doesn’t really matter.  Several coats of clear glossy varnish complete the lanterns.

I Love Mr Fiddle Fart (The Duke)

Look what Mr Fiddle Fart has given me ….. I am so thrilled …. I wanted a Polaroid camera so that I can go out with my Smashbook, capture the moment and then instantly stick in the picture…. digital cameras are brilliant but this is the dogsdoodahs!!!

What Are You Lot Like

I love each and everyone of my followers, you are all so wonderful xxxxx ….. So imagine my surprise yesterday, when I got in from work (knackered) and I found a small packet on the mat and was a little puzzled as I didn’t recognise the address on the back …. but on opening it I found it was from Paula ……

…… it contained the loveliest note ever and a gorgeous stamp.  I am so touched that on an exciting visit to a Stamping Festival Paula thought of me ….. I make no apologies for saying I am very moist eyed as I write this.  Thank you sooooooo much Paula ….. you’ll never know how much this means to me and will be treasured….. xxxx

Cath Kidston Keepsake House - Part 2

Progress has been a bit slow because now that all the drawers have been covered and several coats of clear varnish applied it is only the twiddly fiddly things that are left to be done, but, due to the fussy nature of the paper, I have decided, after some trial and error, to adopt a very less is more approach, so I am thinking very carefully about what else to use to embellishment it any further.

So far I’ve used half a width of some self adhesive, lace effect, border tape from Paper Cellar round the top part of the house, with real narrow cream lace over it to add layers and to hid the joins. I’ve also put the lace round the chimney, and across top and bottom edges of the roof. I have left it at that for the moment as I am on the look out for some red buttons to add, one large one for the centre (again to hid the joins) and some smaller matching ones to go at measured distances across the lace, but I need to get the colours/design/style just right to fit in with the theme. At the moment I am carrying a sample of the paper in my purse wherever I go, something with birds on would be perfect.

I’ve made the drawer pulls using small green wooden beads from a Poundshop necklace with a square clear flat backed gems glued over the holes.

All that’s left to do is put a square of the left over paper in the bottom of each drawer to finish them off ……

…… find the right buttons and think about how to embellish the star shaped drawer at the top (if I decide it really needs something) and the bottom panel on the right hand side. …….. thinks ……

What’s In The Shops For The Festive Season.

Not really a crafty day today … it’s just that the shops are beginning to get their Christmas sweeties in and if you haven’t seen them yet I thought I would  give you a heads up ….

Now ….. who could resist these tiny Lindt chocolate teddies?  I found them in my local SPAR priced at 50p each (they measure about 5cm) and before I knew it this lot decided to come home with me. 

…… Then I remembered this string of stockings I bought years ago and decided I didn’t really like ….

Well,  I’ve now  shoved a bit of stuffing in the bottom and a teddy on top ….. sorted ….. a little fairing gift to give instead of a card!

Also in the shops,  found by my lovely sister Jan ........ caramel filled Galaxy parcels and cuter than cute ….. Aero Christmas trees ……festivechoctastical!! 

Let It Snow Wooden Christmas Tags

The tags in today’s post started life out as a box of animal dominoes that I got at a carboot sale for 50p!

I covered them with blue patterned paper and some glitter card and then embellished them with snowmen buttons (I coloured their scarves and buttons with Sharpies permanent pens), handwritten sentiments, a few stars and a bit of faux stitching.

Before starting I checked that the ink from a black fine liner pen would not bleed into the wood and that you could write a message on the back.  

On the finished tag backs I have just done the faux stitching, leaving the middle blank.

I used my Aldi Craft drill set (bought a little while ago) to put the holes for the thread fastenings.

I also tried making a heart shaped tag along the same lines, but I am not so happy with it…. however, if you can wait a day or two I have altered the design a little bit with more pleasing results.

Christmas Badges

Made using my Badge It! from Bandai

I bought a badge like this a couple of Christmases ago and was gutted when I lost it, as it just about sums up my mood when I go Christmas shopping ….. but now I have a badge maker …. I can make my own!
 

These three badges were a bit of an experiment. I have made several of the top left hand one, one of which I might try putting on a card. I’m not sure about the one with the writing on, and the one made using a cotton canvas inkjet paper is growing on me, I like the texture, but I think I will use a better quality canvas paper if I make anymore to get a clearer image.

And the last two …… well I can think of quite a few people I can give these to! If you’ve got a Badge It and would like a copy of these badges just e-mail me and I’ll send you the file.

Framed Snowman Card

This card measures 5ins x 7ins and  sort of follows on from a decoration I made last year.

The frame is part of a larger embellishment, (I used the centres and was left with a pile of frames), that I have just doodled on with a Signo Uni Ball white gel pen.  I’ve used  Baby Polka Dots 12 x 12 paper from Paper Adventures in the frame with a little white glitter paper and also to cover the card blank.  The snowmen are buttons I got in a job lot from US a few years ago and am still working my way through using them.  Finally I have handwritten the sentiment.

Batty Halloween Jar Lantern

I am loving making jar lanterns …. our garden has been awash with candle light of late as I try everything I have made out amongst all the tree branches.

All I have done is simply cover a small jar (large mint sauce I think) with orange tissue paper, it’s trickier and  more fragile to use and not a patch on Decopatch if you’ll pardon the pun!

 

The bats are die cuts I’ve had for years, they are rather thick and stand a little proud of the jar so I am not exactly sure how weather proof the jar will be if we have a rainy night, however I have given it extra coats of clear varnish just in case. Getting their wings to lie flat was a little tricky but I got there in the end. 

Halloween Trick or Treat Sweetie Bags

I’ll be honest, there’s nothing really that new about this idea, they are just basic sweetie bags with a Nestabilities Label die cut topper but with a slightly different take on using jelly beans and a chance to use the new bubble stickers I’ve found  this year.

Both the stickers and jelly beans are from Poundworld.  There was a good variety of different sticker packs and I think I got one of each, some were scary and some were cute.

Wearing disposable plastic gloves I sorted the jelly beans into colours and then looked at the stickers to work out a theme for each colour ….. so the green ones became spiders eggs …..

……. the black ones became bat poop …

…… the red, Dracula Blood Capsules .. and so on.

On the back of each topper I wrote “Dare you eat one?”

And as I had a few spare black beans I added one to some of the packets to give the (warped illusion) that one could have gone off!

With just a bit of imagination you can come up with all sorts of awful names!  From two bags of beans I made nine bags, which is pretty good going!