……. and her Beano covered lampshade now hanging proudly in young Master Bertram’s bedroom.
I just love the way she has even covered the inside of the shade, with the black and white pages ….. a brilliant touch for a totally unique one off.
However, it was a good exercise to see how the buttons would balance and stick on the narrow edge of a bangle, even though I was pretty confident that E6000 would do it. 
…….. well, it does look rather cute round the bottom of my glass votive holder, so looks like I have really made a small centrepiece for my Easter lunch dining table, I wonder if I should make another one to match now?
Buttons from The Works
The self adhesive felt flowers came from The Works, I had assumed, wrongly, that there would be at least two flowers the same in a pack of eight, (£1)….. 
I stuck the felt flowers onto some self adhesive fabric, however cutting round the flower with the fabric was fiddly and time consuming …….. 
……. so I have to work out another way if I can, to stop my scissors getting all gummed up while cutting.
However the backs do look much better (professional!!!!!!) when covered.
I glued the flowers onto the clips using E6000 as I wanted to be certain that they wouldn’t fall apart during wear.
I started by cutting some small card circles on which to glue the buttons, to act as a base/anchor.
A completed flower measured approximately 3cm x 3cms.
The final job was to add the fastening pins, again using E6000, so that I could be confident that they wouldn’t come off.
The brooches were really simple to make. They could be used on hair slides/clips or without the pins as embellishments on cards, anyway, I am off now to search Evesham for some more small buttons to play with!
……. because after 6 years in recovery, I have decided to take my life in my hands, after vowing never ever, ever again by going to the NEC tomorrow for The Hobby Crafts Show! As some of you might remember, this used to be a regular jaunt for me and my friend Lisa (Bird) now to be seen on Create and Craft demonstrating the Silhouette Cameo ……… that was until we couldn’t take the pushing, shoving and bruised shins anymore! I am hoping that by going on a Thursday it might be a bit quieter?????? 
However, as I don’t have a clue what’s in and what’s out in the Craft World anymore I thought it was about time I went and had a look around, hoping that Evesham has had a mellowing affect on my patience. There is nothing I particularly want or need, but I expect that will all change when I get there. I will also try to remember to dress as lightly as possible, as from memory once it starts to get crowded it will also get hot, and a lady of my age doesn’t need to get any hotter than she does at present!!
https://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/gl-ichf-ltd-20 – offer expires 16th March 2017
I covered the picture side of the domino with a scrap of white paper. I’ve had the thread of tiny Christmas lights forever and wondered if they would work on a domino tag/tree decoration. 
Getting the lights and parts of the thread to lie down was a nightmare, in the end I flooded the area with a very generous dose of Aleene’s Pendant Gel, and sat for quite a while holding the parts of thread and lights that wouldn’t lie down with a cocktail stick. The background looked a little plain so I added a sprinkling of tiny gold stars. That done I then had to leave the gel to set for 24 hours, so much no poking restraint was required. 
Once the gel had hardened I covered the sides with silver ( Inkssentials Memory Foil (possibly no longer available in UK) and smoothed it down with a crease mouse.
I screwed a tiny silver eye hook in the top of the “domino”, using a teal coloured jewellery wire and a large silver bead to make the hanger. It is finished, but something isn’t quite right, I think the white background isn’t right, but what do I use instead that still makes the colours of the lights stand out and remain the focal point …. I am thinking silver or gold? Any suggestions would be welcome.
The first item, perhaps is not a “object of great desire”, it’s more of an instant hate it or love it piece, and to be honest the chairs plonked in front hinder my illustration a bit …… It’s a bit of an ugly beast I know, but I sort of like it! It’s the mirrored panels and the clock that drew me in (I forgot to look at the price tag, sorry). I have decided I really need two residences, my bijoux flat and another old and rambling place with nooks and crannies to indulge my furniture fetishes ….. this would definitely go in my breakfast room, (get my delusions of granduer), untouched …….. one shelf would be filled with odd china breakfast tableware, another with jars of homemade jam and honey, and in the morning the top would have a lacy runner on and lots of muesli in jars and odd ornate silver spoons ….. I really need to get a life!
From my favourite charity shop, a box of unopened glass coasters for 80p, a project for me and Iris, the pack split up and her drawings inserted to make personalised gifts for dotting relatives or perhaps I might keep them, changing the pictures to suit the occasion?
And, from the same shop, this little curio for £1.50, I admit to umming and ahhhing and putting it back a couple of times as I wasn’t sure what it was or what I could do with the sticky up things at the top, wondering if I could saw them off ……… DOH …..
It wasn’t until I actually got it home, after paying my money but still thinking about what it was, when I realised that it had been upside down in the shop but I was too thick to realise it ……. now, I am thinking a Cabinet of Christmas Curiosities like I have seen on Pinterest (below) ….. adding shelves to the side cupboards, if I can. I just need to keep my eyes peeled for little bits and pieces, I already have a couple of bog brush Christmas Trees, so there’s a starting point. 
You couldn’t even make them for 50p, they are now put safely put away for when I don’t have time to make a card or for a fancy gift tag on a present.
I have filled them with small 2 Haribo Easter gum packets, 3 foil wrapped eggs, 3 foil wrapped bunnies, a wrapped chocolate ladybird and a small Aldi chocolate rabbit.
The tags were then tied to the bags with a white thread and then a yellow ribbon tied in a bow over to hide the thread. All very simple and basic really.
The yellow ribbon ……. was a very happy memory from the ribbons I am still using, left over from Tom and The Lovely Laura’s wedding almost four years ago now, where on earth does the time go?
To make the rabbits look “professional” I decided to make them double sided, taking off the paper backing and sticking the rabbit heads onto some coordinating adhesive fabric from The Works…….
