Christmas Past And Future ……..

Sorry this post contains the C word ……. in June!!!!

I don’t know how, but I was very remiss after Christmas this year  when I didn’t post the handcrafted cards I received, which has been, over the years, something of a Fiddle Fart tradition.

So, when I found them all safely put away while having yet another tidy up during this flipping lockdown, I thought, well,  better late than ever.

Roll of drums and with a huge thank you to Mrs A, Tilly, Denise, Di, Maisie, Michelle …….

….. and Karen, whose card, I am afraid, I had taken apart as I want to frame the beautiful cross stitched robin so it’ll continue to make me smile for many, I hope, Christmases to come …… only I can’t get out to look for one, bum!

Which got me thinking about this coming Christmas ……… I have an idea for The Monkeys, I just need to organise a photo session, but that’s about it as I have a spooky feeling that this year is going to be a different kind of Christmas especially if this retched virus is still around. Can you imagine Christmas shopping if we still have to adhere to social distance rules and have to queue outside for goodness knows how long, if we even have any shops left by then!  Sadly, I, along with many others,  will probably be doing most of my shopping online, doesn’t bring that Christmas tingly sort of feeling with it and will be yet another blow to the small, independent shops.

It also means that I need to come up with some sort of flat and lightweight Christmas decorations (to keep postage down) in place of cards, something to keep, like Karen’s cross stitch, that can come out year after year …….. guess I’ll be spending an awful lot of time on Pinterest looking for inspiration.

George Floyd Memorial

I wanted to share a post with you today written by my friend, follower and fellow blogger in the US, Cheryl (https://paperpanacea.blogspot.com/) Many of you will have read Cheryl’s lovely comments which she leaves on Fiddle Fart almost every day. 

We exchange the occasional e-mail, but when I heard about the awful death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, my thoughts went straight to Cheryl as I knew she must have be very near to events ……. I’ll let her words and pictures tell the rest of the story ……… https://paperpanacea.blogspot.com/2020/06/

Home Sweet Home Fridge Magnet

The principle of some ideas I find on Pinterest look deceptively easy, but this wasn’t one of them, it really had me cursing!

I needed to trim some of these 2.5in craft sticks down to help accommodate the roof …… aghhhhh!  My craft knives couldn’t hack it, neither could my posh silicon knife or bacon scissors, in the end it took a small pair of scissors and a little gentle bending power and even then it was touch and go. This was then followed by a little bit of sanding as the edges that were left were rough ........

……. the glue smudges also left a lot to be desired!

However, the fiddle fart was a doddle, from the little wooden bee embellishments to the layered doodled door and windows and faux stitching, using a black fine liner pen.

On the back I simply added a piece of self adhesive magnetic strip so that it can live on my fridge.

Now, although this is unlikely to be a project I return to, it did spawn a pretty simple Christmas idea ……. but more of that for another day, as I am just waiting for some wooden stars from ebay to finish it/them off.  Watch this space ........

Trick Or Treat Halloween Card

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and uses a pre-scored blank from a Hobbycraft card pack.

I know it’s far toooooooooo early, but this card was a series of happy accidents that I have to admit to being quite chuffed with because when I started playing with the idea of a metal embossed skull I had no idea where I was going with it.

As you know I very much like a Day of The Dead skull, I am just rubbish at drawing them, this, in my opinion, is a poor effort but I decided instead of relegating it straight to the bin, I would stick with it and colour it using a variety of fine and ultra fine Sharpie pens.

Yuk, yuk, yukity, yuk, yuk, I really, really didn’t like it, but when I turned it over I found that I did!

But what to do with it?  I originally thought shrine, but had no suitable frames for it and didn’t want to make one, so I then thought card.  So, I covered a card blank with a purple and black, spider and web Halloween paper and simply plonked the skull in the middle, that didn’t work.  Then I thought, hmmmmm what about “Trick or Treat” to the side using silvery glitter letters, in two different sizes? It worked!

This quickly followed by the addition of some purple/fuchsia stars and a scattering of three white dots here and there, made using a white gel pen.  Woo hoo hoo I even felt a tiny bit of my mojo coming back, but there again, I do love the doing Halloween stuff, perhaps even more than Christmas sometimes, I think it is the colours.

I now need to put the card somewhere safe, as I might use it to hold Iris and Bertie’s invitation to Nanny’s annual Halloween party and sleepover.

The Return Of The Mojo

I don’t know how or exactly when it happened but it looks, touch wood, like my mojo has returned, perhaps not for making cards but definitely for making tranklements of a Christmas type persuasion that I hope to post in the coming weeks.

I think just looking at the mess my flat is now in is testament to my racing mind, where one idea spawns another in quick succession, which is also why I have so many half finished projects on the dining room table at the moment, but it feels good after all these barren months.

The mess has further confirmed my need to reorganise my spare bedroom into a craftroom with guest facilities.  The bed has already been bagsed by my niece Emily, who is in the process of buying her first house, and once this flipping lockdown is over, it will be quickly spirited away. 

The sofa bed I originally had my beady eye on is sadly no more, I read the companies reviews and I have thought better of it.  Argos also had one I really, really fancied, but it was 5cms too wide, which was gutting, so at the moment it looks like a grey two seater from Wayfair, who I have dealt with before and cannot fault. I can’t say grey would ideally be my colour of choice, however it does go with pretty much everything and can easily be hidden under a throw and some choice cushions.  I just need to be patient now, put up with the mess and pray that lockdown doesn’t go on for too much longer!

Bertie Does Warhammer

This is one of my very favourite lockdown pictures of Bertie ………

…….. totally absorbed in painting the Warhammer tank he’d chosen all by himself to then paint along side his dad, being a big boy!

I really need to get some pictures of the tiny figures Tom paints, I think my Sam’s Study is tiny enough, but Tom’s figures are in a completely different league of tininess!

A Visit To The Oxfam Superstore in Oxford

A while back, as a belated birthday treat Lu booked us a weekend in Oxford with the Oxfam Superstore as part of our itinerary.

Would it be awful to say we were a little disappointed?

It was beautifully set out, organised, clean and tidy, but it did nothing for us, perhaps it was the atmosphere which was so totally different from the usual high street shop we’re used to.

I'll be honest, you can’t beat the feeling of excitement as you have a really good mooch along a cluttered shelf of tut or through that mysterious box of bits on the floor, looking for that goodness knows what, that gives you a charity shop rush! I found the children’s section particularly disappointing, just the wrong day perhaps, but to be honest the charity shops of Evesham have more to offer.  Iris is developing quite an individual style, so I had hoped I might find an colourful tutu skirt, or something sequined, embroidered or multicoloured.

I was however taken by these two teapots, they were quite cute and dinky and at £3.99 each not a bad buy, but I have more than enough various sized pots in my Royal Doulton Minden collection,  so they remained where they were for another moocher to fizzle over!

I also rather liked this set of drawers, I can’t remember the price, but it must have been really reasonable for me to take a picture, perhaps £30?  It was heavy, solid and built to last, unlike the flat packs you buy from Ikea, if I have the space, it would have been a no brainer.

I quite liked this jug to, but alas again have no place to put it.

I did however make one considered purchase for 99p, something I had seen and really wanted a similar one in a posh shop while on my travels, but had balked at the price at something like £12, so I grabbed this one straight away and have been using it ever since.  I am afraid Lu left empty handed.

I think we both decided then that our very favourite rummage day out from now on has got to be the Flea Market at the County Showground in Malvern, with every stall being an absolute treasure trove of tut. Lu tends to look for cocktail bits and pieces for her kitchen shelf, whereas I like to look for religious kitsch, retro mirrors and vases in the shape of hands  ………

Lu is very good at talking herself out of something, she really fell in love with an Orville the Duck money box as it bought back memories of childhood and it being so crap it made her laugh, but despite much errring and ahhhing her purse remained resolutely unzipped and she has regretted it ever since!  When this flipping lockdown is over and we can go out and mooch in safety once again, I have promised myself that if we see another one, it will be hers, no arguments!!!!

Simple Cactus Birthday Card

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and uses a pre-scored blank from a Hobbycraft pack.

My apologies for such a basic and lazy card, it’s a bit of an insult really, but in an effort to get my completely flunked mojo back, I am making myself try to put at least one card together each day, no matter how easy, in the hope that eventually one idea will lead to another and waaaaayyyyy hayyyyyyyy it’s back!

Soooooooo, I simply covered the front of a card blank with a patterned paper from a Works origami paper stack that I thought would give the design a sort of retro feel to it and then added a whole pack of Paperchase house plant and cactus stickers (£1.25) to it.

In parts I just placed the stickers more or less how they were in the pack and then fitted the leftover ones round them, I told you it was a lazy idea.  The final touch was the birthday greeting made using my faithful old Dymo label maker. I think it works, despite being so simple, I just wish I could be more enthusiastic and inspired.

Countdown to Halloween Trick Or Treat Truck with Drawers

I have finally finished my Halloween truck, started on March 16th just as the country was preparing to go into lockdown and not a single toilet roll was to be had!

I think you’ll agree, it doesn’t look much like the original truck, a present from Marc, from Aldi’s Christmas advent calendar range from, I think, 2018

It’s thanks to Marc it finally got finished, as I had just left it sat sitting, languishing by my work table, while again I was waiting for inspiration as to what to do with it next.

Marc said he’d seen my last Fiddle Fart post of it and loved what I’d done so far and then we spent goodness knows how long bouncing ideas off each another, my only idea at the time was to put some sort of tray/box on the top to put some extra sweets in …… but this is the result of our conflab.

Inspired by Marc I started on the roof, with the skeleton and the box. The box, originally brown in colour, was transformed using a thick, black felt pen with twiddly bits added with a white gel pen. 

The skeleton was ever so gently bent until he was in a sitting position and then superglued with a 1lb weight resting on him to make sure he was stuck good and proper. His one hand dips into the box holding a mystical crystal ball (a marble), while the other holds his cup …… for his wine!

Once these two objects were securely in place, I could then add all the extra fiddle fart, raiding my various boxes for any little bits I thought would go mwith the theme.

The wooden columns were originally fancy, tall cotton reels that I coloured black with again a white gel pen to add more detail. 

The tombstones were the tops of small papier mache boxes, coloured silver and doodled on with an extra fine tip Sharpie pen.  This bit was so much fun.
It was Marc’s idea to give the skeletons sunglasses, and I thought, brilliant idea Marc, but where do I get the sunglasses from, would you believe they came from a pack of Paperchase stickers I just happened to find in a box while I was mooching, they are just perfect. 

To embellish the wheels, I simple cut a circle out of some Halloween paper to put in the middle and then glued a spider over the top.

I’ll be honest, once I started fiddling it was hard to stop ……….. ……….. but apart from perhaps a top hat for the skeletons, currently on order from Amazon,  I think I have stopped  …… time to move on, I already have decorating one of the Hobbycraft Advent Houses I have had squirrelled away for a couple of years in mind.

I just can’t wait to see Iris and Bertie’s faces when they see it!  It’s soooooooooooo over the top.

Marc’s Beautiful Babies

Its seems to have become quite a tradition for me to enjoy all the pleasures that are Eurovision with Marc particularly as it also coincides with his birthday, plus the annual plant sale in Martley, a nearby village near Marc and Rick’s Worcester Cottage.  It’s always a lovely weekend, but alas, due this blooming Covid-19, this year it’s not to be, bum!

With this in mind, it was really spooky that just before meltdown I not only found one but two ceramic basset hounds in the antiques centre in Evesham, let’s just say I pounced on them, pleased as punch,  that I had found part of Marc’s birthday present so well in advanced (and add to his collection) …….. especially with one (above) being Sylvac ……

….. and the other one, with his tail held up in the air, which, Marc tells me is a true characteristic of a basset hound.

Sadly, I have had to put them in the post instead of enjoying Marc and Rick’s wonderful company, garden, out of this world food and ………….

……. fighting with these three reprobates, Hetty, Piccolo and Tilly …….

……. for just the smallest space on the sofa! 

What are they like, if not totally beautiful?

A Parents Impassioned Plea

Oh, the joys and pleasures of home schooling ……….

……. dirty rotten spoil sport!

I fostered Iris and Bertie’s love of all things tiny, shiny and preferably sticky oh so well, my work here is done!!!!!

Objects of Desire In Witney

Shortly before we went into meltdown Lu and I decided to have a day enjoying the pleasures of Witney ...........

........ which included having a mooch round one of our very favourite shops there, The Old Pill Factory - http://www.theoldpillfactory.com/

I didn’t make any considered purchases, but Lu managed to find a small, cut class ice bucket, something she’s been looking for, for at least 18 months, to go on her cocktail themed shelf in her kitchen, sorry no picture, doh, but it was perfect. However, although my money was safe on this rare occasion, I wouldn't be me without leaving with a few objects of desire and creative ideas. 

As you know I love a bit of religious kitsch, needless to say, I made a bee line for this statue of Mary, who looks a bit Lourdes-y to me. A fiver and I might have been tempted, but £25, I don’t think so, however, I really should know bu now that religious kitsch just aint going cheap these days!

I also LOVE a chandelier, this was so dainty with it’s pale, olive green droplets and naturalistic gold frame, beautiful, but way out of my price range, even if I had anywhere to put it!

I took the picture above initially to save the idea and then I noticed the price tag, but after a bit of research large, glass jars are again a lot more expensive than I had first appreciated.

At first sight this little box appeared to be decorated with wooden pieces …….

…… but on closer inspection it was covered with small squares of text, possibly from an old, faded book and then varnished.  I loved the affect and it’s definitely an idea I am going to try, especially if this blooming lockdown goes on for much longer.  I might try it on something fairly small first and then see how I go. 

And finally, a very looooooooong felt want!  When I was planning my move to Evesham I always imagined living in one of its many terrace houses, never a flat and one of the first things that was going to be on my shopping list was a vintage style shed, just like this, for the garden, that I could carpet, hang some retro curtains, furnish with Lloyd loom chairs, have shelves full of curios and old fashioned plant pots on the veranda ……… seeing this was like a dagger through my heart ……….. but never, say never!