HobbyCraft Baubles – Shopping Alert!

Last year I made these baubles to give instead of cards to special people.

I found these in HobbyCraft a couple of weeks,ago,  there are 12 in a box for £1.99 and are made by Darice.  They don’t have the iridescent shimmer that the Paperchase ones I originally used have and they are slightly smaller.

But I have several ideas in mind for them.

Objects of Desire ……..

An extra post today ...... No “What’s In My Shopping Bag” this week, with Christmas coming, I really am trying to rein in my spending, especially as I really do have enough Christmas bits and pieces for this years festive crafting …. so I have turned my thoughts to my “Objects of Desire” especially after my sister sent me a link to this site http://www.rockettstgeorge.co.uk/index.asp when my levels of desire sky rocketed!   Click on each picture for a link .

I want desire need everything …….

I’ve always had a long felt want  for a beautiful  display dome!  

And the bird on a branch fridge magnets are just too lovely, I’d get a fridge for my craft room to justify me having them!

……. and their jewellery is exquisite ….. the porcelain bird necklace just needs to be round my neck!

A girl has to dream …………….. !

Spiders Web Sour Cream Carton

How creepy is this idea?  My apologies to all those of you with a “thing” about spiders.

I’m not sure why this type of container is called sour cream carton, but I guess the idea originates from the US.

I drew the web myself as I didn’t have any suitable printed paper.

The spider comes from a mixed bag of Halloween creepy creatures from Poundworld, which I have sprinkled with translucent micro glitter for an extra  magical effect, if you can have such a thing as a magical spider!

What’s In My Shopping Baskets

I am trying to be very careful with my money at the moment, with Christmas looming. I have most of the embellishments I need for this years cards etc.  but I am naturally holding back a little for when Poundland/Poundworld finally clear their Halloween shelves and replace them, hopefully, with a festive smorgasbord of crafty items that I can either alter or use as they are in projects.

But while I was in Poole and Bournemouth recently I found a couple of nice little items.

Like these Gisela Graham gingerbread man pegs, I think they were about £3.99 – but they are for me!!! I like the idea and may perhaps try and find a small gingerbread die for my BigShot.

These wooden hearts were reduced to 99p for a pack of 6.  I think I am going to embellish them just a little bit and use them as tags on Christmas presents.

These drawers were a sort of bargain off e-bay …. I bid £3.20 for the both of them and won – but the P & P was a bit expensive – but since I got the drawers for a silly price it was well worth it!  They are supposed to be vintage, but I reckon they were knocked up in someone’s garage, but I am still thrilled with them.

Snowman Fridge Magnet

I don’t like to throw anything away.  I’ve had these frames for ages as the remnant of these little boat embellishments.

I’d used the boats for another project and I was left with about six empty frames, then I had a festive Ulrika moment …… fridge magnets!

I’ve used snowmen buttons I’ve had for years and coloured bits of them in with a Sharpie Pen then put them on a background I’ve made using scraps of white glitter and turquoise Bazzill paper with a few falling snowflakes doodled with a white gel pen. I’ve also added a bit of doodling to the frame and some small silver stars.

I’ve added two pieces of HobbyCraft magnetic foam sheet on the back.  That’s it!

Sorry about the "random" cotton bud ..... it's intended to give you an idea of size!!!

Christmas Wreath Card

Above are the original pictures

I started writing up this post and looked at the pictures that went with it and realised that the card was PANTS!  The holly leaves on the right hand side were completely out of kilter to the other side, it looked a mess …… so I started again.

 

I think the second version looks a lot better (but, if I do it again, I might not mat and layer the centre but just work directly on the card blank.

 

The wreath is made using a variety of  punches, mostly flowers and holly leaves, except for the white snowflakes in the middle of the red flowers, which accentuates the Christmas theme.

I’ve used flat back gems and sets of three little dots to complete the design.

Bingo Card Fridge Magnets

I’m not too proud to show you one of my not so brilliant ideas, it’ll give you a good laugh if anything!

I love bingo tickets, goodness knows why, and I had this daft idea of making fridge magnets with them.

But though the idea isn’t a bad one, my choice of materials was totally wrong from the start.  I decided to use magnetic foam as the base, but though the magnets are light, they have a spongy texture and so don’t feel strong or rigid enough. If I were to make them again, I would put a strong card between the ticket and foam.

I then applied several coats of outdoor Modge Podge, thinking that would add a little rigidity ….. no!  I also stuck  self adhesive letters between coats ….. hmmmmm not sure …. and to be honest the finish of Modge Podge wasn’t as glossy as I had hoped either ….

However not one to throw a project in the bin until I’ve exhausted all the options, I thought I’d glue on an old wooden bingo counter (a carboot find) – but the letters are quite modern and bright beside the old counter, so the mix just doesn’t gel.

My final effort to salvage this project  was to  apply peel off strips round the edge to hide the foam ….. but one strip wasn’t enough to go all the way round, so there are a couple of joints, so the whole thing is just totally tacky!!!

You’ll probably see this project again ….. now I know where I’ve gone wrong!

Little Robin Branch Christmas Card

 

This card is made using a robin and heart stickers from a packet of last years Christmas Accessorize stickers.  I have lots of  unused bits and pieces, left over from several Christmas’s, just waiting for an Ulrika moment, when I finally work out how I can use them.

The branch is make from three punchies stuck together to form a line, with a dusting of Hero Arts hologram micro glitter for a bit of sparkle.  I have also added tiny weeny translucent stars which are nail art decorations from Poundland.

My Festive Mug

As soon as December begins everyone in the offices at work starts using their Festive Mug.  Some people use the same one, but I like to have a new one every year.  And this year I’ve painted my own.

I’ve had to keep it simple as I only have three mug painting pens!

I have really had to quell the urge to add flat back gems to my creation as I am not sure what glue could stand up to the 6/7 cups of coffee a day!

The pens in the picture do require baking - I allowed about 24 hrs for the design to dry completely and then baked in the oven for 20 minutes. The instructions are on the pens - if a little tiny! HobbyCraft also have similar pens that don't even need baking now, from the same manufacturers.

Halloween Sweetie Jar/Favor

I’ve used a small storage jar from Poundworld for this idea.  There are four jars in a pack (that’s only 25p each) and it’s hard to tell them from ones they sell in IKEA.  The only problem is Poundworld don’t have them in very often, so when I see them I pounce and buy in bulk!

I’ve written on both sides of the tag which is made using my Stampin Up scalloped and plain circle punches.

The spider is part of a big bag of Halloween bits also from Poundworld.

I’ve just added a pair of red flat backed gems to him for eyes.  The jar contains gourmet jelly beans from Aldi – 69p per bag.

Stampin’ Up Punches

I have been inundated with questions about the Stampin’ Up punches I use and to help me out my mate Lisa http://stampincraftfairy.blogspot.com/ has come up with a special offer – but it is for this weekend only!

I remember when Lisa and I saw these punches at a Stampin’ Up demonstration at the NEC HobbyCrafts Show a couple of years ago, and we went bananas to get our hands on them. They are just the perfect size for decorating Elizabeth Shaw mint crisps (the milk chocolate ones seem to be in short supply at the moment …. so if anyone spots them, especially on offer, post where, how, what and when in the chatroom gidget !!!) – And if Elizabeth Shaw ever stops making them …… we’ll have to start hunting down another type of round chocolate to use!

Halloween Scary Skeleton Hand Favor Box

This is the first thing I made with one of my Poundworld scary skeleton Hands.

The box is paper Mache from Hobbycrafts, I bought a whole pile of them when they were reduced to 49p for an assorted pack a little while ago.

I’ve coloured it with the thick end of a black promarker pen, then punched two holes on either side to thread some cord through to make “handles”

The final touch is a flat backed gem stuck on the wrist.  Soooooo creepy but might appeal to a little boy to keep his treasures in!

Christmas Shopping Jotter

Everyone needs a shopping list at Christmas, and this is one of the first things I’ll be wrapping up and putting in my many pocketed Advent Calendar this year.

The base is a Morrison's jotter, which I’ve covered with a digi design paper and a few strips of white glitter paper (for the snow).  I’ve also used some black Glitterati stickers for the snowman’s eyes and mouth. The pencil is from a miniature set from Paperchase and the lettering is just using up odd self adhesive letters.

The snowman and background paper are a download called Little Joys from:- http://sweetshoppedesigns.com/sweetshoppe/home.php I think it cost $6.99 (about £4.50).

If I had a shopping list like this I would have to write in my best handwriting for fear of spoiling it!