Way Over The Top 50th Birthday Card!

This card is made using a hand cut cream glitter A5 blank.

There is a story behind this card … I had temporarily stopped making cards to order, so my sister in law decided to buy a special  “handmade”  (CraftROBO/Silhouette cut) card from Not On The High Street, paying over £5 for it,  but when it arrived it took our breathe away, it was so awful. It was made using cheap flimsy card, the cut out design was so confusing it was hard to pick out the wording and it wasn’t even centred, Sarah bought it to me in despair asking if I could rescue it!!!   Believe me, I’d have put it in the bin ….. but in the end I managed to make a gift tag from it.

Needless to say I felt very guilty for not making Sarah a card in the first place and to make amends created this very over the top little number (not to my taste to be honest, but in real life it did appear to be a lot more subtle!), but the person the card was for loves anything that is OTT and the more bling and embellishment the better …. in her case less is definitely NOT more!!!

You can’t see the sparkle in the picture but I made the blank using a sheet of very twinkly A4 glitter card. I have to admit I wouldn’t do the lettering in the way same again …. I would stick to just one type of font, but Maria, the lady who  received it was absolutely thrilled!

Adoption Card

This card is made using an A5 blank in white linen effect card.

There is nothing complicated or fancy about this card, it’s really very basic, using an appropriate backing paper where I have coloured the odd heart red with a fine liner pen to go with the sentiment …..

…. and a pack of Poundland 3D stickers that I have had for years, but which are just perfect as the little boy being adopted is almost four and the theme needed to be a bit more grown up.

Seashell And Seaglass Mirrors

I have been looking for inspiration before I start on my own seashell themed mirror …..

http://www.etsy.com/listing/53967881/seashell-mirror-beach-decor-w-aqua-blue

http://www.buythesea-bymail.co.uk/seashell-mirror-3666-p.asp

shop.beachgrasscottage.com/Seashell-Wreath-Beach-Decor-White-Shell-Wreath-w-Starfish-45.htm

http://www.oceanviewseashellmirrors.com/gallery.php

http://www.etsy.com/listing/105379540/driftwood-mirror-with-seashells

Charity Shop Find …

On Saturday I nipped up the road to have a browse in the two charity shops we have …

I found this mirror measuring 20ins x 20ins for £2.95 which was duly bagged, its condition is a little rough but with the wide frame it give me plenty of scope to embellishment.  On one of my stays with Marc he enthralled and inspired me with a tale of a set of mirrors he made for a restaurant that were wonderful confections of sprayed sea shells, pearls and “diamonds” mermaids and divers ……. so perhaps this will be the start of my own version …..

OBJECT OF DESIRE ………

…… And this is the mirror I left behind and will probably regret forever not buying …. but at £10 …. it was a bit too much to buy on a whim ….. if had it been a fiver I would have had it ……..

Ladbroke Grove Sunset …..

While I was staying with Marc last week there was the most wonderful sunset ….

…..so wonderful in fact that there was a real buzz of excitement and several people along with myself just stood and watched in awe and then tried to capture it’s beauty on their phones,  including one lovely lady who was so caught up in the moment that she gave a very excited running commentary to her sister on her mobile ….

It was such a magic moment.

Bejewelled Boudoir Mirror Progress

Progress on my “boudoir” mirrors is proving to be slow, but thanks to all the precious bits and pieces Marc gave me during my half term visit I have been able to progress a little further towards their completion.

On Saturday afternoon (2nd March) I spent several hours working on them, one on each side of my work area, so that I could go quickly between the two, owing to my going all anal about making them look almost identical. To be honest,  when I had finished it didn’t look like I had done very much ….. but as my fingers got increasing covered with glue and irritating I decided to call it another day.

I think another afternoon filling up the remaining gaps should complete the overall effect and then I will need to see where I need to add an extra layer or two to add depth and a little more opulence. I have some birds and butterflies from dissembled necklaces to do that with, but I still think I may need some large Primark type flowers to get the look absolutely right.  The narrowness of the mirror frames has limited my scope for flamboyance a little, but by using the first layer of jewels as a base I am hoping that I will be able to spread a little more to the sides and over the mirror, some of the lower pieces will be partially hidden, but, in away, that will hopefully add to the eventual magic. So bear with me a little longer and watch this space.

Wolves v Watford …..

The 1st of March would have been the Duke’s and my 33rd wedding anniversary  …… the Duke was a season ticket holder, as are most of our immediate family  and as Tom (our son) was unable to make the rescheduled Friday night match I used his ticket instead ….. (my third ever football match), and sat with the Duke's Dad.

It was blooming freezing …. and I didn’t have a clue what was going on, but it was a sort of symbolic way to “remember” the day.  The score?  1:1.  And the hat???? …. A present from the Duke a couple of years ago …. perhaps the least said about that the better!!!!!

Adoption Card With A Pirate Theme

This card is made using a white linen effect A5 blank.

I made this card for my best friend Sarah, who has recently completed a very long and rigorous process to enable her to adopt the most adorable little boy Jacob. I cannot tell you how much I admire her and her determination and strength to achieve her dream …. she will be the most wonderful mother and Jacob is such a lucky boy to have her for his mum.

I chose the pirate theme because Jacob adores dressing up and one of the gifts Sarah had asked for from work to help him settle  was a pirate outfit.I didn’t have to think too hard about how to put the card together as the packaging of the crystal effect stickers (63p in a sale) really did it for me …. all I had to do was trim a bit off the backing sheet and then work out how best to position the words, for which I used The Duke’s very old and very grubby but faithful Dymo label maker.  Simples!!!!

Catch Up Time ….. After My “Inspiring” Time With Marc In London …..

Three days with Marc at half term and I feel like a new woman and my mind is a whirl with ideas ….. We talked constantly, and Marc has so many ideas that ignite my imagination …….….. and he is also so generous …. he showers me embarrassingly with beautiful things to craft with, like this humungous pile of jewels to finish my “boudoir mirrors” with.  I had been waiting for Primark to bring out their new jewellery as I needed a few key pieces to use as a foundation, but to be honest, so far, what they have had has been disappointing ……

….. except for these bird necklets costing £3 each, (bought from the Oxford Street store) made up of nine birds. You just couldn’t buy that many embellishments of that size for the price in any craft shop that I know. So spare time willing, hopefully it won’t be long until my mirrors are finally finished.

Satchels are very much on trend at the moment but Marc told me that briefcase/document cases are also very popular too and then presented me with this one …… it’s gorgeous ….

I need to find a shoulder strap for it and then need to think whether  I embellish it any further, we had watched a Create and Craft programme where they were painting a briefcase ….. I don’t know if I am that brave …. but I think small white daisies could look lovely.

We also perused the Poundland website together for ideas,  which I then  followed it up by paying the Wolverhampton branch a visit …… buying several packs of these bubbles. We had looked at “wedding” bubbles, but they were a lot smaller and more expensive  …. but we both agreed that these are just screaming to be decorated once the labels are removed…… so watch this space for what I do for Tom and Laura’s wedding.

We also spotted these clocks amongst the Poundland Mother’s Day range, they measure approximately 12cm across the widest part and at the tallest point measure 12cms, but once again, with the embellishment is removed they also  shout out to be altered ……..

Marc and Rick’s flair for putting things together has also managed to creep into and influence my own decor, especially when it comes to what I affectionately call “London Lounging” ……….

I did have very plain and boring cream cushions in my dining room before my trip to London, now look at it …. Come Dine With Me here I come!!  I looked everywhere for cushion covers like this at Christmas but the few I found were so expensive and not half as sequined, but I found these at nearby Penkridge Market for £1 each when I got home ….. oh Marc, what have you done to me!!!!!!!!

And as for the progress of my canvas ….

I am still doing it in a very hodge podge way.  What I had done (so far) just didn’t look right until I took a thick black marker to outline the edges etc. with a beating heart, I knew that if I didn’t like it there would be no going back ……

……. but that’s all I am showing you for the moment….. there are many hours work still ahead ….. so once again it’s a case of watch this space!

A Half Term Trip To London To See Marc ….

I didn’t say anything before because I didn’t want people of a dubious nature to know that I was away from home….. but on Monday I went off to London to stay with Marc for a few days …… needless to say it was WONDERFUL …. and I didn’t really want to come home!!

I really, really needed to see Marc …..  last Sunday I was struggling with the the idea of continuing to blog as I hadn’t got any scheduled posts in the pipeline or any inspiration, it looked like the end of the road, BUT I knew if I talked to Marc he would give me a “right good” kicking up the posterior …..

…… which,  believe me,  he did ….. he told me that I had become very good at “doing a very good job of doing nothing!!!!!!! ” … which was so true!  When the Duke was with me I was getting up at 5.00 to work in the office, do a days work at school and then come home to get tea and then another hour or so of blogging or crafting…. and now,  all I have managed to do since Christmas of note was a big fat nothing ….. except for Tom and Laura’s wedding invitations, but in the “olden days” those would have been done weeks ago, boxed up and ready to send out!!!

But now, thanks to Marc I am back on track ….. after my aforementioned telling off.  We talked non stop craft, watched quite a lot of Create and Craft, going yuck or ahhhh in turn at the various items,  perused the internet for ideas, and drank mahooooosive vodka and cokes from pint glasses and posh coffee   …… it was bliss!!!! 

….. And when I got home ……. I immediately started work on the mahoooosive canvas that I had for Christmas, sketching it out at about eleven o’clock, within an hour of my getting home ….. mad or what?? As you can see I am going about it in a very hodge podge way, but then I haven’t really painted anything “proper” since I was at school ….. many, many moons ago!!!

However,  I am back on track, there will still only be two posts a week on a Friday and Saturday, but there is a renewed spring in my scoring board ….. all thanks to Marc…… xxxxxxx

A Quick Set of Notelets

I’ve never,  ever got any notelets for a quick “Thank You” so decided I ought to get few done, “just in case”

I decided to use a WS Design envelope template that I’ve had for years,  which makes envelopes that measure 13cms x 13cms…..

…. and some A4 papers that I’ve also had for ages, left over from the days when I was brave enough to force my way through the crowds and trolleys at the NEC Hobbycrafts show!

The envelopes were cut out and scored in no time …… and glued down with just a smidge of glue.

…..  I then decided to add a label, mat and layered in either gold or silver mirror card to the front of each envelope.

The notelets measure 12.5 x 12.5cms and are just simply card blanks covered with the same paper as the envelopes.  I will use a couple of narrow strips of double sided tape to seal the envelope when I eventually use them. 

I think WS Designs has since closed and no longer available but downloads of their templates are available for a small charge from Cut and Craft (below)
http://cutandcraft.co.uk/category/24795-ws-designs.aspx

Very Simple Desk Calendar Idea

A couple more ideas today for using one of my Masking Sticker sets from WholePort

The first is a desk calendar I have made for my craft room as I am hopeless with dates and can never find a diary when I need one, so I thought if I one like this,  I wouldn’t lose it  ….

….. all I used was a Ikea picture frame (measuring 14cms x 9cms), the stickers and a couple of coats of clear varnish …. et voila!!

I also covered the front of a small notebook to make a shopping list pad to keep in my bag … not sure about the idea really, it looks better in the flesh,  …. but something very simple that a child could easily make for Mother’s Day perhaps.

http://www.wholeport.com/item/a1m_total-27pcs-blue-masking-sticker-set-light-color-series-multi-function-sticker-tape.html

The Most Beautiful Valentines Day Card In The World

I don’t think anyone will receive as lovely a Valentines card as this one ….. made by my brother, now 50, at his care unit for my mum.  As always we are under no illusion that he did much towards it, but we are sure that he would have sat at the table watching the staff put it together for him, twiddling with his jumper sleeve and perhaps humming ……..

….. We can imagine the struggle they had, just to get him to put his hand flat on the table long enough for them to draw round it….. believe me they must have been quick!!!!!  He may even have had the paintbrush put in his hand for a matter of seconds before he flung it across the room …. leaving a painty trail behind …..

….. but doesn’t really matter how much Stephen put into it, we all love it all the more because we know how devoted the staff are to him and how very much he is loved and cared for …. I cannot express how WONDERFUL these people are, words are just not enough, but on this Valentines Day I shall be thinking about them all at work and thanking them for every tiny little thing they do, not only for my brother, but for all the other adults in his unit, some who have much worse problems than he has and saying “THANK YOU FOR ALL THE LOVE YOU GIVE SO EFFORTLESSLY EVERY SINGLE DAY FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS” ….. true unsung heroes … THANK YOU”

A Review - Using Masking Sticker Set From WholePort

I thought I would do a little review and have a little play with one of the Masking Sticker Sets (ver. basic) I received in my first parcel of goodies from WholePort.  The first thing I noticed was just how put the packaging was!

Each pack contains 27 different patterned sheets, made up of self adhesive paper 7.5mm, 15mm strips and 13mm dots.  My second impression was that the students where I work would love these stickers to use as page markers, to accentuate key words or just to embellish their work.   I’ve used a few on one of my Smash Book pages to stick down a couple of tickets and as labels.

I’ve used them along with my old faithful Dymo label maker to make these gift tags,

Something very simple but effective, especially if teamed up with a plain wrapping paper.

I added just one strip on the back of the tags and would also be tempted, if giving a card with the gift, to add a few stripes to the envelope to carry the theme through.

http://www.wholeport.com/item/a1m_total-27pcs-blue-masking-sticker-set-light-color-series-multi-function-sticker-tape.html