Weekend Makes

Hello...

how was your weekend?

 

I worked on Saturday and on Sunday felt like having a day at home. Mr B took himself off to an exhibition, Youngest Boy was staying at his cousins and Eldest Boy was sleeping a party off (!!) which meant I was able to indulge myself by spending the day making things.

And I was in a festive mood by the time I'd finished, because this is what I made for selling at the craft fair on the 16th November (yikes!!).

Badges, good for stocking fillers I thought!

 

Christmas cards with badge

 

Christmas card with brooch

 

 

Christmas spice scented sachets

 

and 

 I made these last week but didn't get around to photographing them,

lavender bags.

 I actually like these much more than I thought I would, which is just as well as I made a silly mistake on one (twisted ribbon) so I'm more than happy to keep it!

 

On Friday evening I made a cover for my Christmas cushion cover!!

The trouble with the Christmas one is that it's too early to put out but I have nowhere to store it until Christmas.

Some time ago I bought this fabric (I have a passion for anything with deer on as well as birds) with the intention of making a cushion cover but just didn't get around to it. I have masses of it left and am now thinking of making myself a bag with it too!

(Excuse all the pins, everything is waiting to be finished by hand.)

 

Have you started your Christmas making yet?

 

And finally for those of you who, like me, love magazines and Christmas, the Ideal Home Christmas magazine is out on Wednesday - yippee!

 

Have a fab week and thanks for visiting, and welcome to my new followers.

Suzanne

xXx





Project Keyring

I woke up this morning with this project on my mind, it started yesterday when I decided that I needed a key ring for my bicycle locks.

Time is limited today as I am meeting a friend for coffee shortly and working this afternoon so as soon as I got up, after my shower but before breakfast and all those morning chores, I did this

I wasn't happy with the first one (bottom) - it turned out too big and too wonky. The second one I did is the right sort of size but I still like the idea of a border to pretty it up, although I have used nice fabric on the back the front looks a bit plain to me. What do you think?

I have a few more ideas but I've run out of time. I have lots of ideas running through my head now - key rings for the shed, house, just keys, school lockers etc. I think I'll make some for the next craft fair as I love to combine printing and sewing.

Do you ever have the urge to create so badly that it takes over everything else?

I'm a firm believer in doing things whilst you are in the mood - it's just a shame that real life interferes!!

Have a great day



Feeling Crafty

Mr B and Youngest Boy have gone away for the weekend, I knew as soon as I'd waved them off what I was going to do today....CRAFT!

It seems so long since I've had a decent session due to the seemingly never ending decorating!

Recently, I bought some new stamps and was itching to try them, so the first thing I decided to make was cards - all the same design but finished in different colours.

The stamps I used are from

Crafty Individuals (tea pot), Dovecraft (bunting) and Clearly Besotted for the sentiment.

I was lucky enough to find this next stamp set by chance, I have been looking for a nice doily stamp for some time and now I have a whole set!

I used it to make a card to attach a magnet to, the idea is you get a card and a little gift in one.

The next project isn't quite finished but I thought I'd show you anyway and do a big reveal when I have finished (if I remember).

These are wooden tags to attach to little containers of buttons to sell at the next fair, I plan to add a little button and of course some twine or ribbon.

How are you spending your day?

 

 

A New and Exciting Venture

It would be silly wouldn't it, for the first craft fair I sell at to also be the first (and possibly last) craft fair I organise? Why am I doing just that then?! Only one word for it really M*A*D, but exciting too.

Luckily for me, my partner in crime has sold at CFs before so has some knowledge, and I'm sure we'll make up in enthusiasm what we may lack in expertise!

The hall is booked, the flyer designed after many, many hours trying to get the sizing right (I'm no computer expert!). We even have a blog! With a beautiful, magical introduction to the C******s fair written by the talented Mrs Snippet - thank you Mrs S! Please blog soon - we miss you!!

Today was spent trying to come up with ideas for things to sell, here are a few things I've made so far...

 

I'm not great at making things more than once, I itch to try something new, so I need to be organised and disciplined!

I know some of you sell at CFs so any advice will be gratefully received.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and have a great week.

Thanks for visiting

xXx

 

 

Eye, eye...

Well, the boys have gone up to London for the day and I have the house to myself for the first time in what seems like a long time, I'm hoping they are not getting too wet as it's raining, pouring here on the South Coast.

I thought I'd take the opportunity to have another go at some sewing after my failed attempt on Sunday.

This is what I made,

a glasses case

front

back

lining

 

Unfortunately, I forgot it had wadding in (I know...!) so I ironed it and flattened it, because of that it also ended up a little misshapen.

I stamped the image onto the fabric (pale grey linen/cotton mix), made sure it was waterproof and then finished with a mother of pearl button on the front and a vintage button on the back. It's lined with a limited edition Liberty print that I got from the V and A a couple of years ago.

In November I will be selling at my first craft fair, glasses cases were one of the things I thought I'd make. I won't be selling this one though - too wonky and too flat!

Apart from that I'm happy to be able to combine some of my crafty loves - sewing, stamping, mother of pearl and vintage buttons.

 

Thanks for visiting

xXx

 

 



Vintage cards

On Friday my friend Mrs Snippet, myself and another friend visited the Glitter Pot for a class on making vintage cards tutored by Alexandra Kamann.

This is the first time Mrs Snippet and I have attended a stamping class tutored by anyone other than Helen Chilton and we agreed we'd happily do another. (We're still YOUR biggest fans though, Helen!).

The class only lasted two hours (although there was no rush for us to leave). I managed to complete one card and came away with all the bits to make two more (but no envelopes, weirdly - must have forgotten to pick them up). I did have a problem with using the gloss, it's the first time I've used it and I just ended up with a huge blob! When I wiped it off I lost the bird image, luckily as I love bird themed stamps I have plenty to chose from to re stamp the image with! A new technique I learnt was how to dye ribbon using an ink pad, I never fail to be amazed at what you can do with a ink pad! Who thought of all these things?!

A lovely day...

Isn't the weather in the UK dismal?

I managed to spend some time working in the garden on Saturday but that's about it. I was happy to have the rain to begin with, we really need it here in the South of England but I'm really itching to get on with my garden projects now.

As always, thanks for visiting.

xXx

Swap Goodies - Jubilee

Well, I've now participated in my first blog swap. It was organised by Lynda from Hookin'withlaalaa and I was partnered with Aija from Craftysmiles. I've not heard from Aija to find out whether she has received her parcel yet, but I wanted to post this during the BH weekend so thought I'd go ahead anyway.
My parcel from Aija contained...

a lovely bunny - so beautifully made by hand, some paper plates, a mug, hanging heart, lavender and a gorgeous CK brooch that I'd seen in the catalogue and coveted! I'm a lucky girl, thanks so much Aija.

Here is what I sent

some cookie cutters and a tin to put the made biscuits in, chocolates, tissues, vintage and new buttons, ribbon, a CK UJ pin cushion, a message pad with hand stamped images, some chocolate and erasers for Aija's girls.

I also made this brooch, I enjoyed incorporating my current  two (crafty) loves - stamping and sewing

I really loved the theme, and especially enjoyed finding ways of presenting the brooch, buttons and ribbons. I do so enjoy working on the little details!

The stripy buttons are from a gorgeous little shop in Dinan, France that sells vintage haberdashery. At least, I'm hoping it's still there because I'm planning to return someday soon!

  I hope Aija likes it all.

Thank you Lynda for organising the swap.

xXx

Bleached...

I had a lovely day in Lingfield yesterday at the Craft Barn. I attended  a class tutored by Helen Chilton, we were using Oxford Impressions stamps and bleach techniques, with a bit of embossing thrown in, to make cards for men.

I did take my camera but forgot to take the memory card so I've no photos of the day, Helen took some which hopefully will be on her blog soon.

These are the cards I made, and an envelope to store them in. I attended the class thinking I'd probably never use the bleach technique again, but came away completely converted!

Thank you Helen for another great class and to the other ladies on the course who made it such a pleasure, and the lovely Craft Barn staff.

We went for lunch at Joyce's with Best Wishes which I can recommend, any place where you can have handmade chocolates for lunch can't be a bad place, friendly staff too...

I hope you've all had a great weekend, what did you get up to?

Thanks for visiting

xXx

Time for Summer.

I've been working on my entry for the CI Challenge for 3 days now (not all the time, of course...if only!). That is a long time for me, I usually start and finish my stamping projects within a day. I felt really inspired by this challenge and it was great to have the time to devote to it as I have a week off work.

The theme is Time for Summer, I chose to do a trio of blocks as I wanted it to be 3D and to be able to use a technique I learnt from Helen - fake washi tape.

The first block was Time for Summer in the Garden. I began by colouring a piece of card blue to make it look like the hazy blue skies of summer (I used the same technique for all three blocks). We eat outside as much as we can in the summer so I stamped a cakestand and teacup and used green crochet lace to give the idea of grass, then I stamped a

 butterfly from the CI 333 set as well as some flowers from the same set, I punched a mini doily and coloured it yellow to symbolise the sun and used a ribbon with strawberries on and a vintage button that has a clock face on. It's great to relax in the garden but you still have to clock watch to some extent as there are still things to be done, meals, collecting the children from school - such a bore!

Because I wasn't sure how I am going to display these blocks, I wanted the backs to be as decorative as the front. To achieve this I used paper from the CI book of backgrounds number 7, summer, I then stamped the title of the block using a vintage typewriter font stamp.

The next block is Time for Summer in the City. The clock charm is there because the people in their offices will more than likely be watching the clock wishing for the working day to end, and the flowers in a frame (CI 262) could be the only flowers they see throughout the working day!

(I always make up little stories for my pictures, I can't help it!)

Again, this was backed with a CI background paper and the text stamped by me.

The third block is Time for Summer in the Meadow.

I used crochet lace again and the butterflies from CI 333, the birds are from my all time favourite set, CI 329. I use this set a lot.

Can you see the clock in the meadow? The only clocks you will find there are the dandelion clocks, of course!

The back of the meadow block, CI backing paper and vintage font stamp again.

On the sides and top I used the fake washi tape method. I love this technique although it is very messy (or is that just me?!) So clever.

A couple of pictures of the blocks together.

The stamped images were coloured in with Derwent Coloursoft pencils on all three blocks.

I loved this theme and I'm off to enter my blocks into the CI Challenge now, and find somewhere to display them. Not easy!

This is also my week 14 project

Thanks for visiting.

xXx

WOYWW 148

Today I am working on my entry to the Crafty Individuals Challenge. The theme is Time for Summer and I'm really enjoying this one.

Here is a closer look at the desk

Thanks for visiting!

And thanks to everyone who visited last week. I did visit EVERY desk eventually, but didn't manage to comment on them all. Visit here if you're wondering what this is all about...

xXx

Colour,colour everywhere..

Yesterday I attended a class at The Craft Barn led by the lovely Helen Chilton. Helen is well known for her love of colour and chose to use rainbow inkpads from Kaleidacolor for this class. We inked onto shiny card with a brayer using the colours of our choice. I chose the fresh greens colourway as green is my favourite colour and I thought it would go with my decor, I was tempted by the reds too.

Then we stamped onto this with black staz on, this was tricky to master and I have to admit that at this stage I really thought I wouldn't like the end result. With guidance from Helen all became clear and this is what I ended up with.

The colours are much more vibrant than they seem here.I may have a problem if I decide to hang them on the wall though. As Helen told us specifically on the day to be careful of this I didn't let on, so if you're reading this Helen I'm confessing now..

Thanks to Helen for a great class.

Whilst I was having fun at the class my husband and youngest son were collecting this, my latest win on ebay,for me.

I love it, lucky me!