My First Card For Christmas 2013 ….. Noel

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and used a hand cut blank made from Kraft card, mat and layered on dark blue.

Woo hoo hoo, my first card for Christmas 2013, done way back in April!

It’s very plain in a typical FiddleFart less is more sort of way! The letters used came from a game bought at the village Easter Fair for just 50p, I just cannot resist the opportunity to buy a set of cheap letters to put away until the right project comes along.Once I had got the letters centred and balanced, all that was needed was to add a few punched snowflakes with pale blue flat backed gems and a layer of Ranger Glossy Accents to lift the letters and add dimension and texture to the overall effect.

Looking at it now, although I was aiming for a “shabby chic” effect, I wonder if it’s just a little too austere?

Christmas Badges

Ok, ok,  …. so I have started Christmas already!  In the past I have done projects way before time when the mood and/or inspiration took me but then scheduled them for Sept/Oct onwards, but this year I’m just going to publish them,  as I do them, it’s much easier for me that way, and if you are anything like me, you are probably already on the prowl looking for new ideas anyway!

So, this is a badge I made using my “Bandai Badge-It”,  in it’s packaging.  I think if you are selling handmade items at Fayres etc. in the run up to Christmas, how they are presented makes all the difference.  It might take a little more time, but a packaged item, like this badge,  seems to attract more attention when it’s “all dolled up” rather than just “thrown” into a box with a lot of others. It looks a little more professional and helps people look at it as small gift they could give … especially as you have sort of done half the gift wrapping/presentation for them already!

I started by stamping a few snowmen on a sheet of paper using an Anita’s snowman stamp, (sorry there is no serial number), and then created a little scene of snow and sky around them,  but within the boundaries of the Badge-It template, colouring it in and then adding a little Hunkydory Diamond Sparkles micro glitter.

After cutting a snowman circle out,  I put it through the Badge-It to create a badge, I know it’s “a toy” but I think it’s brilliant, as I must have told you a hundred times by now!

All I then needed to do was make the card to attach the badge to, using a bit of “fiddlefart” writing and faux stitching and a small self adhesive foam pad to keep the badge in place,  before popping it all in a small cello bag …..

…….. done and dusted and simples!

Tom and Laura’s Wedding ……

Where do I start? 

Well for one,  I am relying heavily on everyone else's photographs of the day, as I only took about a dozen or so, as I wanted to see the day as it unfolded through my own two eyes and not through the display screen of my camera. 

So .... let’s get the crafty pictures out of the way first ….

…… let's just say that all the “Wedding Craft Club” members received wonderful complements throughout the day for all their hard work, it all looked very pretty, without being over the top and over weddingy, if you know what I mean……

…… and for all the teasing The Equally Lovely Denise had to endure ….. her 300 metres of bunting was only just enough!!

The music all through the service was lovely, all specially chosen by Tom and Laura with their very individual quirkiness, each song had it’s special meaning and memory for them through their growing love and relationship and was beautifully played and sung by Laura’s friend Emma. 

For me the most special and magical moment of the entire day was seeing Tom’s face as Laura came down the “aisle” on her dad's arm …… the love in his eyes would have melted even the hardest of stone.

My two nieces Emily and Daisy read the story “Love Monkey” by Edward Monkton, during the ceremony, they were so nervous but were utterly brilliant and the sentiment of the story was just perfect knowing Tom and Laura.

It really was a beautifully thought out and delicate ceremony   ….. right down to them leaving the room as a married couple to the strains of Pure Imagination from the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, one of Tom’s favourite films as a boy!

Then followed the taking of many, many photos …….



Then on to the reception ……

…… where we could all relax and kick of our shoes, though I still can’t believe I replaced my fascinator for a pair of my reading glasses !!!!

The speeches were perfect too and so funny ….. goodness knows where Tom got ability to just stand up and make what seemed to be an effortless, noteless speech, with comic timing ……. and as for Ed the Best Man .....  his speech was illustrated with photograph “evidence” of his and Tom’s friendship, going back to the day they first met on interview day at Durham University and up to Tom’s "It's A Knock Out" Stag Weekend, none of which I would be able to reproduce here!!!!!!!!!!! But again so funny.

The wedding cake was topped by two very romantic sugar dinosaurs handcrafted by Tom.  Dinosaurs being the theme of the reception, each guest table being named after one of Tom and Laura’s favourite dinosaurs!!??  The table plan featured Laura’s beautiful writing and a dinosaur drawing by Tom to illustrate each table ..... see I told you they were quirky!!

There were candy floss and pop corn machines in the conservatory for guests after the meal, served  by,  I am told on good authority, a very attractive young man, hence my nieces and daughter's frequent visits for both comestibles ….. and who, if he had wanted, could have made a killing on chatting up lovelorn, single and very beautiful young ladies after they had watched Tom and Laura’s tres romantic first dance to Tim Minchin's "It's Not Perfect" !!!!! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg3PberzvXo

I have missed soooooo much out,  but I hope you have had a small flavour of just how wonderful it was. If I could have just one wish,  it would be to go through it all again but in slow motion .……… a perfect day, that will stay in all our hearts forever …… I wish Andy could have been there to see it all unfold ….. he would have been so proud, probably watching from quiet corner as was his style, not wishing to be in the limelight of being Father of the Groom. Tom talked about him very lovingly in his speech, telling everyone what a very happy childhood he had had …. and he said that a testament to this was the table full of Tom’s school friends who were ALWAYS round at our house, in our loft, and who all had very special memories of Andy.

Each came up to me separately during the day and said that they believed that how they had turned out was a lot to do with knowing Andy in their formative years and how nothing was out of bounds for them while they were with him, under our roof ….. and although they thought they had pulled the wool over his eyes over so many things, including sneaking in an inestimable amount of lager up our rickety loft ladder, he always knew exactly what they were up to, nothing went past him and that he always made them feel they were safe!  Hearing them say so many wonderful things and listening to so many of their memories made a perfect day, even more perfect and special! What more can I say?

The Wedding Of The Year, Las Vegas And London Lounging With Marc …..

As you know I’ve been “quite” busy this year ……. which finally culminated in my five week summer break of which I now have just one day left  ….. in that time I been to Vegas, London Lounged with Marc AND last weekend (24th August to be exact) celebrated the Wedding of The Year.  I have barely spent more than a couple of days at home,  let alone drawn breath  …….. and in reality I haven’t written/blogged Fiddle Fart for a very long time relying on very  thinly spread scheduled posts to carry on.

I have decided that the next few of weeks, covering these events will be my swan song ……  I am going to try a get post written every couple of days, starting tomorrow with the wedding ….. although to be honest I think The Monkey’s have pretty much covered it in their own inimitable style  ….. http://mumsmonkey.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/tom-and-lovely-lauras-wedding-both.html

While I was in Vegas I “did” a Smash book, so I am going to use that as the basis to tell mine and Lucy’s story with a few added photos and comments.  ….. AND yes ….. I did get to shop in a Michaels, a 99 cent shop and a Wallmart , plus  pawn something in the famous Gold and Silver Pawn Shop,  something Andy and I had planned and talked about often. I gambled (unrecklessly) at the roulette table, flew over and visited the Grand Canyon, visited Hollywood and paddled in the Pacific Ocean on Santa Monica beach …… and drank an ample sufficiency of cocktails ……amongst MANY other things!

….. so for now it’s a case of watch this space and perhaps calling in a little more often than once a week for a while ……