Friday 31 March 2017

My Easter Door Wreath

Oh my life, I finally finished my Easter Door Wreath, aghhhhhh ……….
Easter Door Wreath 1…… I’ll make no apologises for all the wet glue that’s still visible in the pictures, I’ll have you know that I was up at 8 o’clock on Thursday morning getting it done, I was so sick of it!
Easter Door Wreath 2And am I pleased?  Well. yes I am, I am pretty chuffed with myself, I am so glad Marc wasn’t with me while I was doing it though, as he would have been tutting as only Marc can tut, and remarking on how impatient I am, he, Marc the Prince of Patience!
Easter Door Wreath 4I used a glue gun to attach all the flowers and leaves, as it dries almost instantly, I wouldn’t have been able to cope with flowers and leaves sliding everywhere! There are a few stands of glue here and there, but these are easy to pick off, and anyway, I can always say it’s strands of spiders web.
Easter Door Wreath 5I used a tacky PVA glue to stick the gem centres, I can’t remember what they are actually called, but they look like little jelly sweets and came in tubes …… I got them from HobbyCrafts Show many moons ago, they were quite the thing at the time, but it has taken me until now to use them.  I did try using flat back gems but they looked too shiny and sort of tacky.
I am frustrated at my lack of crafting this past two weeks, something seems to have been happening every single day, however I have reserved Sunday, no matter what, to get back on track. Laura goes back to work on this Wednesday and I will have Iris and Bertie on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.  I am hoping that Fridays will be my housework day, leaving me the rest of the week to do at least some crafting ………… 

Wednesday 29 March 2017

An Easter Wreath Experiment

Oh my goodness, how did I ever find time to work, or am I just showing my age and slowing down.  When I think of everything I had to to do when I worked …… and what I actually “have” to do now …… oh well!
Easter Crafting TableThis is where I left off crafting last week and I haven’t progressed any further, however, I thought I would show you what I had done so far on the wreath I want to put on my Easter door.
Easter Wreath The wreath, has been a huge learning curve as I have never made one before, I thought it would be sooooooooo easy, but at every turn I have met with something that has hindered my progress.
Easter Wreath 1The polystyrene ring came from Hobbycraft, and was my first stumbling block as it was rounded on both sides.  I tried to cover it “bare” with punched flowers, but it just didn’t look right, the flowers didn’t lie like I wanted them to.  In the end, in sheer frustration I sliced the ring in half using my best carving knife, and then covered it in purple ribbon left over from Tom and Laura’s wedding unbelievably some four years ago.  I now realise that I what really should have done was buy the set of two cardboard rings that I ummmed and ahhhed about at the much maligned HobbyCraft Show at the NEC! Flat circles, are, for me, definitely the way to go when making any future wreaths.Easter Wreath 3The flowers still didn’t lie exactly as I wanted, but I decided I was in too far to start fiddle farting again, but I still couldn’t help doing a bit of this and that, with punched leaf sprays and flower centres before really fully committing.
Easter Wreath aI decided to keep things really simple and only add one punched centre to each large flower, at the start I went overboard with fancy centres, but it was too much.
aster Wreath bSo, this is as far as I have got after a week ……….
Easter Wreath cPerhaps I am over critical when working on something that is totally new to me ……. but ….. I wish ….. I had gone for more spring and pastel type colours, to me the wreath is too strong and hot, where for Easter, I think it should have been light, cool and dainty, if that makes sense?
I now need to add more leaf sprays and gem centres to the flowers and then, hopefully, it will be completed by my next post.

Monday 27 March 2017

Not Enough Time ……..A Charity Shop Treasure ……. And A Bathroom Quandary!

Before I went off to the NEC and spent few days in Wolverhampton I made sure I had enough posts scheduled to cover my time away, plus an extra day or two to cover me while I got back into routine, however on my return said routine went askew as Laura hasn’t been well, and when you get a call for an extra pair of hands, your craft table just has to be abandoned mid flow…….
Easter Crafting TableSo, for a while, while I try to catch up with everything, I think I will only be able to post every other day for a while, I’ve done it in the past and it’s worked well. It’s lovely when I can post every day, but it’s a huge commitment, so if I am not here every day, don’t panic, I just need to do some housework!
50p Hoe50p hoe 3
However, to fill today  …… last Monday I had to go to the doctors and dentist in quick succession, but still had time to nip into one charity shop and found 50p bargain!  It’s a beautifully put together, old fashioned hoe which I needed desperately …….
  Nettles 1nettles
I don’t have a garden of my own, but the communal strip at the back of the flat has a fence and below that a bank running down to the river, in the nine months I’ve been here it hasn’t been touched, until my next door neighbour and I blitzed the nettles that had grown so tall they blocked our view considerably.  Well, the nettles and weeds are growing back again, and I want to keep on top of them, which is why I had been looking for a hoe.
50p hoe 150p hoe 4
It’s a bit like something out of Harry Potter, the handle is made from a branch, but it appears to have been used so much over the years that it’s worn smooth and the top has become rounded, for just 50p it’s a treasure.
Tiles 2And finally……. my recent trip to Ikea has reignited my “fantasy” of having a Moroccan style en-suite shower and/or main bathroom.  These tiles were in an Ikea kitchen display ……. it was love at first sight ……..
Tiles……. the shower cubicle in my shower room would look so beautiful done like this …….. I don’t suppose it would hurt to just get a teensy weensy quote would it ???????

Sunday 26 March 2017

Happy Mother’s Day …….. With Guest Crafter Iris Roo

Yesterday I spent the morning helping Iris put her Mother’s Day present together.
Morrisons Mothers Day PresentTom had bought a children’s DIY decorative plaque from Morrisons ……
Mothers Day Crafting 7 …… and had fully expected to having plenty of time to help Iris colour and embellish it ……
Mothers Day 2017Mothers Day 2017 a….. ………. but sadly over the past couple of days Laura has been struck down by a rather nasty tummy bug and so on Friday we all went off to the Cotswold Wildlife Park to help give mum some much needed peace, quiet and rest which was then followed by an impromptu sleepover with Nanny for Iris.
 Mothers Day Crafting aMothers Day Crafting
And, it was easier to pop it in Iris’s overnight bag, along with pyjamas, spare clothes, Elmo and Binky The Rabbit, to do with Nanny, freeing up Daddy to concentrate on Master Bertie and a poorly mummy.
MOthers Day Crafting 3I think the girl done good ……. especially as Nanny got out a few extra bits and pieces like micro glitter, which was duly executed like young Dawn Bibby!Mothers Day Crafting jxxxx Wishing everyone a wonderful Mother’s Day, hoping you all get spoilt, just a little bit xxxx

Saturday 25 March 2017

A Domino Tag For Iris

This project uses a 7cm x 3.5cms children's picture domino as it’s base.
Domino Crafts Iris Mixed Media Domino TagI covered the coloured side of the domino with scraps of a handwriting print paper and torn layers of a spotty green paper plus a scrap for Iris’s name.  The Iris flower is a button leftover from the days of Alan and Barry on Create and Craft. Iris’s name and the edging down the side was done with a black fine liner pen, knowing that the ink would run slightly when the Aleene's Pendant Gel (no longer, I don't think, available in the UK) was applied to the completed design, because I wanted, what I hoped would be, an aged look(?).  The yellow/gold flat backed gems also applied before the gel went on. By flooding the area with quite a thick layer of gel I hoped that the flower would look part embedded in the gloss, like an old tile.Domino Crafts Iris Flower Mixed Media Domino TagOnce the gel had hardened I covered the sides with gold Inkssentials Memory Foil (possibly no longer available in UK)  and smoothed down with a crease mouse.
I screwed a tiny gold eye hook in the top of the “domino”, using a black jewellery wire and  pearl, silver and pink facetted bead to make the hanger.  The back of the tag was simply covered with an account book print paper.
back of Domino tagThe tag is going to be put away for Iris, probably for her Birthday or perhaps Christmas to go into her memory box of tree decorations I have made her over the past two years. I will write a little message and date it when I give it her.  I wonder where it will be in 50 years time?

Friday 24 March 2017

Easter Button Brooches on Tag

Rather than give Iris’s lovely, lovely, lovely nursery staff something chocolaty for Easter, I decided to turn some of the button flower brooches from the other day into some little Easter gifts that will hopefully last a little longer.Easter Button Brooches on Gift Tag 33333I fiddled and diddled for most of a morning until I was completely happy with the end result.
Button Brooch Brooch backsButton Brooch backs
Firstly I needed to finish off the brooch bases I had made, using self adhesive fabric to cover the card base that I had glued the buttons on to and then added a small brooch pin using E6000 glue, so I could be sure of a secure bond.
Easter TagsEaster Tags
I then cut out the tags and decorated them with assorted of tapes, the dotty tape came from The Works (£2 for a pack 10 colours) and the Easter tape from Lldl.
IMG_1768Easter Button Brooch TagEaster Tag Back
Next I tied the ribbons on, thinking that I would be able to attach the finished brooches to the tags with an adhesive foam pad, but when I tried it, it didn’t look right, so in the end I cut out some small rough rectangles to push the brooch pins through and then held them in place with strips of matching spotty tape.
Easter Tag Back 1Button Brooch Gift Tag Easter Crafts
Not as “professional” looking as I had hoped, but if I do them again I am sure I can fine tune the cutting.  With the brooches now securely in place, I still thought that there was something missing ……….
Easter Button Brooches on Gift TagEaster Crafts Easter Button Brooches on Gift Tag 2
…….but found that by adding some punched leaf sprigs and a few dots here and there, all of a sudden everything came together  ……. I was so chuffed.
Out of curiosity I decided to work out the total cost of one tag complete with three brooches, not bad for just 70p ….. I don’t think you could even buy a cream egg for that!

Thursday 23 March 2017

Easter Card Maker Of The Year …… Mia!

I give up ……. I popped into Moo Moos (Port Street, Evesham) for a cheeky takeaway coffee on my way to pick Madam up from nursery when I spied a basket of handcrafted Easter cards on the counter, well, it would be rude not to size up the competition, wouldn’t it?  I know when I am beaten, they were absolutely brilliant, it would be pointless to even try to compete against such a master!
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They were made by Mia, the adorable daughter of Josi, who owns Moo Moos.
miaIt was hard to choose which I one I liked best …….. but in the end I bought the “Easter Bird In Flight” one for Bertie and Iris.
Easter CardsWhat can I say ……
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…… my crafty card career in Evesham has ground to a halt before I have even started!
IMG_1803I think I will just stick to making the sweetie bags that I have on the opposite side of the counter!
IMG_1802Well done Little Moo!
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