……. and thought I had done exceptionally well ……
…… in resisting the humungous mountains of mini Daim/Dime bars on check out ……
….. but then ….. just as I was feeling safe, I spotted equally an humungous mountain of Polly’s, my all time Ikea confectionary of choice, chocolate covered soft marshmallow sweets with flavours of arrak, buttertoffee and vanilla, that I haven’t seen for ages and ages and ages …… and these were in bumper bags!
I am not proud of my actions!!! Nom, nom, nom!!!!
I know I am on a tight crafting budget, but I just could not resist treating myself to this Trimcraft 6” x 6” First Edition Nordic Christmas paper pad, I have to say it is one of the prettiest Christmas pads I think I have ever used, I love the way that the patterns are in proportion for making the size of cards I make, and I love the colours and all the patterns. I don’t think there is a page I wouldn’t use. Some papers have a fabric finish, some are pearlescent and others are double sided. I know this pad will owe me nothing by the time Christmas arrives ……..
http://www.trimcraft.co.uk/products/FEXPAD15/first-edition-nordic-christmas-6-x-6-paper-pad ….. especially as I have discovered it has pages that need the minimal of fiddle farting to turn into a beautiful card.
All I have done is trim the page down and then mat and layered it first on red card and then on silver mirri card to fit the 6” x 6” card blank. From there I added two red glitter hearts to cover over the original printed hearts, put a little translucent micro glitter on the writing and tiny red flat back gems and pearls in of the spaces between the pattern and finally a little faux stitching using a white gel pen round the edges of the matting and card base. It’s the sort of card I would love to receive as it’s so delicate.
There are three pages like this in the pad, when I make up the other two I think I will mat and layer one on a red card blank and the other on a blue one to give them a slightly different look.
So …. following on from yesterday and my new found vigour (????) for card making and making a dent in my humungous embellishment stash, I’ve gone for my predicted Christmas 2014 Kraft and Nordic theme!
Nothing fancy, just nine 1.5in squares, outlined with faux stitching, which I’ve then mat and layered twice on kraft card and red card, before putting onto a 6” x 6”card blank.
So this term I decided to use mini Kinder bars, which I found in Poundland in packs of 8 (but I was very diligent as I also spotted packs of 6 beside them…. not so much of a bargain!)
I cut 3ins x 3ins squares of patterned paper and rolled the bars up in them, securing with double sided tape and then simply decorated with one of an assortment of wooden embellishments that I’ve had forever and that needed using up, followed by writing “Happy Days!” on each one! Voila!
I took one of the plain wire bracelets Marc and I made and then took lengths of thinner, more manageable, coloured wires that I already had to attach beads that Marc and I had found in charity shops and a car boot during his stay. 
I remembered what Marc had told me and made sure that all the beads were secured to face outwards …….
…… and that I used the wire as my needle.
I was surprised by the amount of wire it took to do all the attaching, but I didn’t want the beads to be secure and not move (or fall off) while the bracelet was being worn, but found that rather detract from the finished article it added extra colour, texture and dimension to make it all pull together.
http://pixiloo.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/wild-woman-bangles.html but I didn’t have a clue where to start to make one. 
So when Marc said he was coming to stay I begged him to bring his jewellery making tools, namely his wire coiling gizmo (which he also kindly bought me) and his wire twister, plus some wire so he could “try” and teach me the art, because Marc is an expert when it comes to jewellery making.
We played with the wire coiler first, which I mastered pretty quickly, making these coil beads with basic experimentation ……. and I could see how I could develop ideas using the coils……
…… but it was the wire twister that I was really interested in.
This was our very first attempt (above) at a bracelet, with Marc twisting the end wires to make eyelet fasteners 
Then we got a little more adventurous and added beads to the wire as we twisted, again all very basic.
But this is what we came up with in the end, adding jump rings and a lobster claw to fasten it.
…… and then I tried adding a pendant.
In then end we made a pile of about sixteen bracelets of varying sizes which will now become the bases for me to attach beads and charms etc. by wire wrapping by hand for my own version of a “wild woman” bracelets.
But when I modelled an animal print jacket for Marc I got more than I bargained for, as I struck a model type pose with my hands jauntily placed in the pockets, I felt something …… it was only someone’s glasses and a tissue ……. which meant that they had worn it out and then returned it!!!! Cheeky B’s!!!!
We must have mooched happily for an hour opening mystery boxes and asking what on earth is that for ….. but I am afraid very little was purchased. Marc managed to find, what we think were a pair of very sparkly Swarovski crystal, Kirk’s Folly sun-catchers for £3.99 (reduced by 70%) which he thought, after taking them apart, he could make fifteen pairs of earrings from each catcher, as seen artistically draped round our milkshakes
…… we also each found a Silhouette Design CD – Block Party for 99p which was marked up for a retail of £33! 
I wanted it to look interesting, but it’s a bit too much, and all those interesting bits have just got lost, but as Marc told me, with jewellery making if you don’t like what you have done you can just undo it and you will still have all the bits to do it all again!
I started off with this necklace that was selling pieces for 3 for £1 and removed the ribbon that went through the chain ……
……. but after that I am afraid I lost my way by adding too many large pieces, I wanted layers but in the end I got a tangled mess.
So now I have photographed it, I am going to take certain bits off it, like the tree of life and see if I can arrange it a bit better (below). I also need to practice opening and closing my jump rings, I don’t have the knack yet, and Marc makes it look so easy!
I just need to keep practising!
……. and it’s amazing what I began to see and find through fresh eyes.
So these necklaces (above) were bought because of the en trend metallic/industrial style of the beads, the number of them and the fact that once broken up and used with other similar beads they would take on a totally new look.
While this jumbled up pile would provide me with thousands and thousands of spacer beads bought again for about 33p.
We also discovered that Poundland now have a range of jewellery (Purple Ivy) that when disassembled would provide another a very cheap source of bits for jewellery making and my jewelled mirrors.
By the end of the week I had massed a very interesting collection …… both of pieces to take apart and others, mainly bracelets that I can embellish further. All I now need to do is do something with them.
He came down one morning wearing it and I can remember feeling a teensy bit envious and then thought …… except the chain, I think I have got some very similar bits and pieces in a box somewhere amongst all of the other boxes on my shelves, so perhaps I could try and copy it. 
Then later, when I openly admired it Marc said “You dozy mare, they’re your bits!” LOL, because Marc doesn’t sleep very well, he’d gone into my craft room and played ……..…….. and this was the result! When he arrived, he had been wearing the ball chain with different appendages on, then five minutes fiddle-farting in the middle of the night …… and he comes up with this! Aghhhhhh, I am so jealous, I just wish I had a quarter of his imagination and flair of putting things together …….. however, during his stay he has made very valiant attempts in an effort to teach me ………..
I was hoping to post every couple days re: Marc’s visit ……. but we are having such a wonderful time …..
