The Apprentice 2012

He’s back ….. and my obsession with Lord Alan (although he will always be Sir Alan to me) continues …….

I cannot tell you how much I ADORE this man and the programme!  For the next thirteen weeks I shall be mostly using my two Apprentice mugs (Helen Geddes you are fired/hired depending on my mood) and NO crafting will be done on Wednesdays for a while.  I will be in my pj’s, with a coffee (in one of the aforementioned mugs), a family bag of Maltesers and wooooo betide anyone who disturbs me!  And if Lord Alan just happens to see this post ……. PLEASE can I come and work for you …… I could be your Frances when Frances has a day off ….. I have been told that I “do” have a very professional telephone manner!!

I can hear Lord Alan saying now “Helen, can you send them in now” …… it sends shivers down my spine!!

Days of the Week Peg Fridge Magnets

I saw a very similar idea to this when Googling and just had to have a go for myself, especially as its been ages since I have made any peg fridge magnets.

Nothing fancy …. I just used my 100 year old Dymo label maker to print the days of the week because I love the retro effect of the lettering and that’s really it! I do have tapes in lots of other colours, but I was being lazy, and didn’t relish the thought of doing all the feeding through for a one off idea …. but the pegs would look good in green, yellow, red, blue etc. And to make things even simpler the tape is exactly the same width as the peg … so no fiddly trimming.

On the reverse of the peg I have stuck a strip on adhesive magnet tape. Done and dusted!

Charity Shop Finds …..

Our village is planning on having a Queens Diamond Jubilee event on the grounds of the village hall later on in the year and I am ‘thinking’ about having a stall, it just depends on how much they are charging.  But I thought that if I did, I would concentrate on selling my wooden gift tags and perhaps some Jubilee sweetie bags.

So when I saw these extra large wooden dominoes at only £1.99 for a bag of 25 I snapped them up. They measure 12cm x 6cm x 1cm and are excellent quality.  I don’t have any concrete ideas for them yet, but obviously there will be a few giant sized tags  ….. they were just too good to pass up.

I also found a large bag of these Jenga bricks in another shop for £1.50. They measure 6cm x 2cm x 1cm and will be perfect for small tags  with the printed side covered with various papers and embellished with phrases like Happy Birthday etc.  made using my old fashioned Dymo label maker.

Easter Egg Cups

Now I am being extra careful about what crafty bits and pieces I spend my money on, a bargain is only a bargain when I think that I will be able to use everything up in a project and then be able to take the completed idea into work almost straight away.

So when I saw these eggcups with feet on reduced to 50p a box in The Range it was hard to resist, but I realised that any project using them would hinge on the eggs I could find to fit them. My immediate thought was to use cream eggs ….. but trying them in the shop they were just too small and were lost in a cup! But I decided to risk buying four packs of egg cups anyway ….. and for several weeks carried one around in my bag to measure up any eggs I might chance upon!!

I finally found what I was looking for in the form of Marks and Spencer Hide and Seek Chocolate Eggs costing me £2 for 8.

I was thrilled ….. and when I got home I set about putting them together. First I just glued on the eyes …… then I remembered a pack of clip on bonnets I have had for years and honestly thought I never find a use for.

……. but they were perfect!

I only had ten hats and sixteen egg cups, but I reckoned that the unhatted eggs would be more suitable for boys ….. so that would be OK, no need to over egg the pudding!!  Eggcellent!

I have now found these egg cups in The Poundshop ..... £1 for a pack!!!!!!!!

Park Your Yarn–Wolverhampton

My daughter Lucy came home the other day with a carrier bag containing some wool, a pair of size 4mm knitting needles, a crochet hook and a leaflet containing  knitting instructions and details about the “Park Your Yarn” events organised Wolverhampton Art Gallery in  March and April.

In April St. Peter’s Gardens, which is in the centre Wolverhampton, is going to be turned into a “Woolly Wonderland”, with knitting and crochet created by lots of  local people.

Well it would be rude of me not to take part wouldn’t it?  So I am planning on going to one of the free knitting/crochet events on 24th March at the Art Gallery and St. Peter’s Gardens. 

I am not going to do anything fancy, I’m just following their bench pattern which involves casting on 25 stitches and knitting until it measures 30cm, which, when joined up with lots of others will be used to cover one of fifteen park benches ……. how exciting!!   I plan to take lots of photos of my afternoon plus more when the whole project is completed if you’re in the area why not join me knitting needles akimbo!

http://stitchesandhos.wordpress.com/

http://parkyouryarn.tumblr.com/
http://www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk/wolves/whats_on/004851.html

My Mums Mother’s Day Card

It’s become something of a tradition now that on “Special Days” I show you the card that my profoundly handicapped brother Stephen has “made” at his unit …..

This year he has gone for “the more the better, if it’s on the table, then use it” style of card making, with an extra large dollop of glitter for good measure!

When Stephen comes home on his bus and the coach guide hands my mum a large lumpy envelope it is always an exciting and slightly emotional occasion. We are under no illusions that Stephen has contributed much towards the card, but we know that he has sat beside his member of staff at the table and watched them putting it together for him. They have probably put a flower in his hand, guided it to where it should go and then helped him press it down, talking to him all the time, the thought of which brings a tear to your eye. His staff are so wonderful, their patience and caring holds no bounds ……. and we cannot thank them enough and I just don’t think they will ever know how much these cards mean to us. 

A Box Of Birthday Chocolate Miniatures

I’ve made a matchbox using my Stampin’Up/Sizzix Die I got from the US a couple of years ago.

And then filled it with six Cadbury Chocolate Miniatures re-covered with birthday papers from docrafts Papermania range.

A Newspaper Bag For Grandma Winnie

I made this bag for one of “Mums Monkeys” favourite followers, Grandma Winnie, who is officially Monkey, Darrell and Nigel’s adopted Grandma!!  She remarked that she liked the original newspaper style bag I did featuring the rascals and as I love her so much I made an extra special one for her, featuring her and her adopted monkey Hamish.

In cahoots with Winnie’s daughter Linda, who sent me some information and the pictures   I put this A4 sized newspaper design together, using Windows Publisher, which I then printed onto transfer paper and ironed onto a cotton bag from HobbyCraft.

It was such a pleasure to do and am keeping my fingers tightly crossed that it got to Winnie in time for Mother’s Day.

Good Luck Card

This card measures 12.5cm x 12.5cm and is made using white linen effect card.

Sometimes it’s hard to know what to do with very small wooden embellishments … often they are too small to use on their own, but when put in a group they can look cluttered and messy.

However I think I have struck a happy medium on this card …. I was thinking that when you wish someone Good Luck it’s usually when they are going (flying) off to do something new and on their own …. like a new job, a driving test or an exam ….. and my little bird is striking off on his own too.

The tartan robin is from Handy Hippo £1.99 for a pack of 12

http://www.handyhippo.co.uk/p8018-tartan-robins-pack-of-12.html

Chanel Newspaper Card

This card is A5 size and is made using white linen effect card.

Another of my newspaper cards, the brief was pink, girlie and Chanel and I think I nailed it!  It’s hard to see from the picture, but after I was given the photo, I superimposed  lots of Chanel bags to it to give the illusion of a mega shopping spree.  The Chanel bags at the front  are made using a simple decoupage layer and then are covered with Ranger Glossy Accents.

Gardening Card

This card measures 4.5ins x 4.5ins and is made using ribbed Kraft card.

I have a huge box of buttons left over from the days of Alan and Barry on Create and Craft and I am slowly working my way the themed ones, hence this gardening card.  Nothing fancy just a Stampin’Up paper where the text actually is about plants, which I never realised until I looked more closely and is a nice unexpected touch. The sentiment on the front  is  handwritten by me and stuck down with foam backed pads for more definition.

Decopatch - Papier Mache Suitcase

I’ll be honest …. in a way,  I prefer these suitcases naked and unadorned!

For this first case I’ve used Decopatch Paper No. 497 with the larger of the papier mache suitcases (measurements 4.5 x 11 x 7.5cm & 5 x 14 x 10cm) which cost between £3.00 - £4.00 depending where you buy them.  The straps were a bit of a fiddle fart … as I didn’t want to cover them only to find they would no longer fit in the fastenings!

If I can find some nice gold corners, I might experiment with them, I know it’s got a few gems but I think it could do with something else.

I’m going to put this away and use it when I need a small gift box.

This is more my style, (Plain Jane) I’ve just gone over it a couple of times with a brown Promarker.

This one is staying on my desk!

Small Easter Bunny Wreath

This little wreath has been made using up lots of bits I have had for ages, like the Paper Bliss Bunny embellishments, paper flowers from Lakeland (when they had a craft section), a bracelet that I bought in a pack of six for 50p goodness knows when, and a few flat backed pearls.

I’ve also added a bits of punched foliage and flower centres.  It was a little fiddly to get them to balance on the bracelet at first but I got there in the end.

Chocolate Birthday Card

This card is A5 in size, using a blank of white linen effect card.

I made this card for my sister in law, to give to her best friend.  The brief was “chocolate, personalised, with a bit of glitz and glamour” and as I have made several cards for this person before, I knew it had to be something really different.

I have covered the card blank with some gift wrap I got from Cadbury World some years ago, matching it up with purple felt ric rac braid from a Papermania pack, embellished with clear flat backed gems, plus some purple and gold papers for the mat and layering.

It will come as no surprise to you that I have a few boxes of Cadbury miniatures amongst my stash, which were perfect to add to the card, topped off with candle stickers.  The font I have used is called LD Franks Child in size 28. It looks good enough to eat!

Pussycat Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins, but if I made it again I think I would change it to 4in square instead.

I’ve used puffy pussycat head stickers from Accessorize (£1.75 per pack) and mounted them on small plastic, pastel coloured mosaic squares that I was given a while ago, which were just the  purrfect size for what I wanted!

Dragonfly Tags

These tags were made using children’s covered wooden dominoes and measure 7.5cm x 3.5cm

I was waiting in the queue in Hobbycraft when I spied these wooden dragonfly embellishments sitting amongst the Maltesers …. someone must have left them there after  changing their minds about buying them  just before they got to the checkout … well at 49p for the four I bagged them instead to make these Spring/Easter tags.

A Blast From The Past

This card is A5 in size and is made using white linen effect card.
 

This is a blast from the past …. the original Sizzix Doll Body was one of the first dies I ever bought when you couldn’t move for cards with these characters on!  I made this card for a friends Wedding Anniversary, she has asked me to make her a card every year, always including a bald gentleman in dungarees (her husband!).  I feel I have gone back in time with this card but my lady was thrilled!

FiddleFarting For Two Special Ladies … On A Very Special Day!

Today my mum and sister are in London for the Order of British Empire Service of Dedication at St Paul’s Cathedral for people who have been awarded the MBE. My mum was awarded hers for her work in helping to found and establish Wolverhampton MultiCare

http://www.wolverhampton-multicare.org.uk/

My sister and I were with her when she received it from The Queen and it was a day none of us will EVER forget …….. it was just sooooo magical!

The service is only held once every four years and it has been one of my mums greatest wishes to attend, so my sister Janet has been checking the internet religiously waiting for the Service to be announced so that she could apply on my mothers behalf. Within minutes of this happening forms were filled in and fingers firmly crossed until a letter from Buckingham Palace arrived! Then trains and hotels were booked, and my mum bought a new hat and shoes…… and me? ……I did a bit of crafting!

I made them each a tag and my mum this card (using my Papermania Portobello Road paper pad) and then added a couple of my “royal” teabags for good measure  …..  these have all been secreted away in my sisters suitcase for when they get to their hotel and start to unpack ….

Xx How Kind xX

People are sooooooo kind, sometimes I come home and there is an parcel waiting for me …completely out of the blue, from one of my followers …. I am always totally overwhelmed that I have spookily popped up in someone’s mind and they have taken the time to send me something VERY special and funny,  as has happened this week ……

…… Like Sam who sent me this WONDERFUL pile of little trays, I am so thrilled …. and I know she really had to go ferreting to find them… I haven’t been able to part with the original shelves of curiosities I have  made, but now I can make a few more to give as presents …… and another one for myself to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Thank you Sam soooo much, they will all be treasured, I promise you.

…. And this letter and present made me howl …. it’s from Louise ….

….. it arrived yesterday ….. and made my heart sing …..

How special is this?  I wondered why Louise had asked about the font in the Chat Box!!! I love it.  Most of the Maltesers disappeared during two episodes of Coronation Street last night  (I think it was Michelle who did Frank in!!) A letter will be put in my Smashbook and the poster will be put next to my desk.  THANK YOU so much, I love them all dearly.