A Charity Shop Find & An Aldi Bargain.

Marc has taught me well when looking at jewellery in Charity Shops, he can spot a piece that can be disassembled into a million pieces in a nano second, which, if bought individually or in packs from the jewellery section of, for example Hobbycraft, would cost an absolute fortune

So he would have been so proud of me as I scooped up this long boho style necklace for just £1, it is made up of so many components and had many, many possibilities.  I have counted 14 large, brass puffy hearts, 26 small silver hearts, and 35 amber coloured bead drops, plus over 100 large silver links.  I wouldn’t have been able to afford to buy this little lot in one go, so I am well chuffed.

However, I am not in any rush to take it apart just yet as I think it will look quite nice just hanging and adorning my spare bedroom for the moment.

I have had my beady eye on these wooden decorations in Aldi since before Christmas, again with the idea of disassembling, but at £3.99 I was being mean, but when they reduced them last week to £1.99, well, it would have been rude not to have bought them, and when I opened up the pack, I got a surprise, as I thought it was all one piece when actually it was four, so that works out at 50p per piece.  Again, I couldn’t buy all the wooden shapes for £3.99 let alone £1.99, and I haven’t counted all the wooden beads, gold jingle bells and ribbon also included.

However, a bargain is only a bargain when I actually use it, it’s not a bargain when bought and then put in the back of a cupboard, so initially I am thinking that the large hearts could be made into gift tags, possibly married with a few silver hearts from the necklace (if I can bear to break it up …..), and the houses, I am thinking along the lines of Home Sweet Home …….give me five minutes and I will see what I can come up with.

Valentines Day Ladybird Matchbox

I was a little disappointed to find that only one chocolate ladybird fit comfortably in this The Works matchbox.  Two would have looked cute, but the top would have bulged and that wouldn’t look very professional, so I may just pad the box out with a little red tissue paper to make the ladybird look all cosy. I will look, but doubt if I will find any other suitable wrapped sweet that would maybe go with it, unless a small packet of Lovehearts would fit?

The box is lined with a heart patterned paper and then I  have simply mat and layered the top and bottom using scraps from a Nordic style Christmas Paper and silver foil, with co-coordinating scraps down the sides.

The leaf and sentiment circle are punched, and the “With Love” handwritten and edged by me using a black fine liner pen.

I thought putting the wooden ladybirds on the top would be a hint as to what lies within, and when the chocolate is eaten you still have a little box for treasures or buttons etc.

A Moment Of Doubt & A Whole Host Of Festive Guest Crafters

I am sorry I haven’t bought you many projects in the past week or so, my mind is a whirl with ideas and I am really champing at the bit to get going, but after having the kitchen tiled last week, the flat is in complete disarray again as all the furniture etc. has come out of the spare bedroom while I have built in shelving put in.

 

Last night I tossed and turned asking myself, why, after being so certain for  about what I had wanted for months, did I choose to have shelving, when cupboards would have kept everything hidden, all the time I knowing all the answers …….

……. cupboards would just be more blank wall space where shelves offer interest and a place to display “my finds” or makes  …… I know it will be perfect when it’s finished and all my craft stuff will finally have a proper home, where I can find everything easily, I have just had a bit too much time to think about it all.

So today,  I thought I would show you all the handmade cards I received and that were all displayed in pride of place on my festive shelves.

It doesn’t matter how many stamps, dies and embellishments you have, there is nothing quite as beautiful as a card a child has made, so the Robin card above just has to be my most favourite, in all its innocence.

These stamped cards make me think I really should try to persevere more with stamping this year. As I said the other day, I was very impressed by Marc’s Wonder Stamp Press and I have already bought a set of Dandelion Clock stamps from Forget Me Not Crafts in Evesham, they need using, otherwise what’s the point of me buying them?

I need to start simple ……. the Christmas Tree Card is the perfect example of where I should start, less is more and so effective, it says it all.

The only cards I made in 2016 were for The Monkeys, I really need to pull my finger out, which is why I am just going to continue Christmas more or less throughout this year, if that’s OK.  I missed out so much last year in the Christmas crafting stakes, I bought several paper pads and embellishments and I really can’t afford not to use them.  I was also offered a table at a Christmas fair but I had nothing to sell, well, if I start now, I would be able to say yes and put on a good show. The Merry Christmoose card is definitely an idea that I think I could put my own slant on ……. as soon as the bedroom is sorted of course.

Heads Up – Home Bargains – Chocolate Love Bugs

Just a quick post …….. with Valentines Day in mind……..

I found these nets of 15 cream filled chocolate Love Bugs in Evesham Home Bargains for 69p.  I was a bit dubious about the quality and taste, but I am very impressed, nom, nom, nom, so it would have been rude not to buy a few more! I am planning on putting two ladybirds in a decorated matchbox for Valentines Day.  This idea came about when I found two packs of 12 matchboxes (the same as I used at Christmas) at the bottom of the craft sale stuff in The Works, reduced from £1 to 50p a pack, I was well chuffed.

By my reckoning a matchbox with two ladybirds would cost approximately 12p to make, plus a few extra pence to cover the scraps of paper and embellishments used to decorate it.  It’s a no brainer!

Little Wooden House Christmas Tree Decorations

Following on from yesterday’s charity shop finds, I have started to use some of buildings I found in the bag of bricks I got for just 40p. 

In all there were nine of these houses in the bag.

As you can see from the first picture (above), the houses are quite small and what I was going to do with them depended on whether I could securely screw a tiny eye hook into the roof, which, as you can see was a success.

I started off by making new front and backs for the houses, using scraps from a Forever Friends 6” x 6” Christmas paper pad because the tiny proportions of the patterns were perfect for the house size.  I cut out and stuck down the doors and windows and then doodled on them with a black fine liner pen, but as I doodled the more detailed the design got, as I added curtains and a tiny weeny clear flat backed gem door knob.  When I was all detailed out, I glued a matching front and back to each brick using PVA glue.

When the front and backs were dry, I put translucent micro fine glitter on the roofs to give them a proper Christmassy sparkle.

Then, I couldn’t help myself fiddle farting again, by adding a window to each side of the house. Et voila, all that is needed is a hanging thread, but I will leave that until nearer Christmas (2017!!!)

As there are only nine houses, I think all these will be destined to be put in a small pack along with other tree decorations I plan to make throughout the year.  I tend to make tree decorations to give instead of cards to family and friends, something they can keep, unlike most cards.  It is also something that is very important for me to do for Iris and Bertie, so that they each have a box of treasures made by Nanny Nell, collected over the years, which they will then, perhaps, put on the tree with their own children sometime in the dim and distant future.

Three Charity Shop Finds ………

I found this Christmas Tree decoration just before Christmas, costing just 99p, I am not sure what is is, it seems to be a little small to be a card holder.

It was the angels that I wanted, I certainly couldn’t find anything similar for just 99p for 16 in any craft shop, so it was really bought to disassemble.

But once stripped the tree also looked as though it had possibilities.  The angels came of their springs and pegs pretty easily to …. I am thinking, perhaps they could be put on a tag, in a tiny printers frame or in a small box, after a bit of a clean.  I am pretty sure the pegs can also be used on something.

This year I am going to try and make a concerted effort not to just put away my finds “for another day”, so hopefully I will be able to bring you at least one project where I have used a few of the angels in the next week or so.

In the same shop I also found this pack of 48 wooden tags for £1.49.  I haven’t used my heat gun for ages, so I thought I might see how they would look if I just tried putting embossing powder on the front to cover the printed pattern, or failing that, simply covering them with micro glitter to help embellish some kraft gift tags like the one below, I think my printer will take quite thick card for the sentiment.

And finally, in another shop I found a bag full of small toy village blocks for just 40p. 

I already have a seed of an idea in my head, so my first experiment was to see if I could screw a very small eye hook into one of the roofs ……

……. success! I am now thinking of a series of simple Christmas tree decorations (??????), so watch this space! 

Sticky Beaking Marc’s Country Lean Too

When I am not wandering round Marc and Rick’s country garden when I go to stay with them in Worcester, I can be found mooching in, what they call the ‘lean-to’.

Every time I go there always seems to be something new to look at that, but which they swear has always been there but I haven’t noticed it.
Again, everything seems to look just right, if I tried to get the same effect it would look all over thought and contrived.
I am awful, as I also have to touch everything!

And …….. one thing I just couldn’t keep my hands off recently was the humungous green vase (below), in the end I think Marc felt compelled to let me take it home as I had stroked and admired it soooooooooooo much. If I had seen it in a shop I would have bought it there and then, but Marc found it on a stall at one of the many village fetes he goes to in the summer, and it cost him just 60p!!! OMG. OMG, OMG!

I have the perfect place for it, in my guest room, hopefully, it will be in situ by next Thursday, after my carpenter man has been to put up all my compartment shelving …….. it’s been a long time coming, you have to wait for a craftsman, but hopefully next week I can share it’s progress with you  ………..

Experimenting With Microscope Slide Decorations

Marc and I have “played” with microscope slide decorations several times before, and my latest idea was wondering if we could use the temporary metallic tattoos I found in Home Bargains for 75p per pack, after seeing them used on clear glass Christmas baubles.

And, this was a time when, yet again, when Marc got to see just how impatient I am when crafting, topped of with an obsession for projects like this being double-sided (my reasoning being if they can be seen from several angles while hanging, then both sides should equally interesting.!!!)  Marc also knows that I can’t wait for anything to dry and in the process have to keep fiddling and worrying something!

 

Anyway, the tattoos transferred onto the glass very successfully, and for the purposes of these experiments we used only one slide, however if I  do them again I would put two slides together to protect and preserve the tattoo permanently.  Marc experimented with Glossy Accents and micro glitter on the back of his slides as another way of preserving and protecting his tattoos with mixed results.  I think we both decided that the glitter didn’t really work, as the stickers got lost amongst it all. We used copper and gold adhesive foil round the edges of microscope slides, however, Marc quite fancies having a go at soldering at sometime, which is what we have seen with a lot of “professional” microscope decorations and pendants.

My biggest frustration with our method of making microscope slides has always been what to add/make as an anchor from which to hang the finished slide (I think when soldering a ring is “simply” added to the top, with the solder then keeping it in place).  On this occasion Marc created hangers using jewellery making copper wire and E900 glue to keep them in place, with reasonable success   I think this idea still needs to be explored an awful lot more (….. if I have the patience), at the moment I am determined to crack it sometime this year, so that by next Christmas I will finally be happy to make and give them as presents, and, perhaps, sell a few too. I am already thinking filigree wraps/connectors (?) on the top and bottom of the slides, as I have seen on Etsy,  I may even have to have a go at soldering with Marc, if he could bear it.

Marc found a microscope slide of mine from one of our previous experiments, I added three tiny red/yellow stickers on the flowers on the front, which worked OK, but the stickers I added on the back were again lost. 

Then I had a go at making a square shaped glass decoration using a silver snowman bubble sticker and white chalk pen on the inside, to preserve it …… however, I hate it …… its clumsy and crude, but all part of the learning process!

And finally,  from all our experimenting, I filled a gold pendant tray with glossy accents and assorted very small flat backed pearls, the judges are out on this one!!!  All I will say is that sometimes close up photography does nothing for very small projects.