It's about time......

You know what I'm going to say.... it's about time I updated my blog! Summer has reached its peak and the season is due for a change! Last year was all about turning the jungle outside my back door back into a garden after almost 20 years of neglect. This year my handy handyman suggested the tumbledown shed could be cleared away and a new one built in its place. I quite liked the extremely "distressed" look of what was obviously once a wash-house but after a bit of persuasion I agreed.

And now its all but finished I have to admit I'm very pleased with it and am enjoying having a place to store all the junk that used to live outside my backdoor. And I really like the fact that its been cobbled together with a door found in a reclaim yard for £10, windows are second hand from someone who had had replacements,  the roof changed from corrugated iron to perspex to make the most of evening light, and the corrugated iron put to use as the back wall.

Someone sometime had painted this pretty floral decoration on the door - I would love to know where it came from.

I bought the gorgeous red geraniums from an NGS open garden we visited in July and have even bought some coloured solar lights after vowing I would never go in for garden lighting! But that's okay as they are inside the shed!

At the end of July I met up with my sister in Amsterdam for a short break. We took our lives in our hands walking about the city centre trying to avoid being run down by the bikes, scooters, cars and trams all vying for space on the busy streets.  Much more to my taste, we visited the great windmills at Zaanse Schans, a sort of open air museum, where we also watched clogs being made, resisted buying a pair (!) and bought cheese instead.

Then August has been all about gadding about with my sister visiting from Germany.  We managed a trip out on most days of her visit - we're very lucky to have many places worth visiting close enough for a half day trip. These are just a few.

A dash to the coast to watch the sunset. We found an escaped kite on the shoreline and got it into the sky again. We gave it to a passing family who after a bit of practice, also got it flying.

Port Sunlight in Cheshire was a lovely day out. So many beautiful houses to admire and a wander around the Lady Lever Art Gallery to admire some of my favourite Pre-Raphalite paintings.

And on a warm sunny afternoon we wandered about the beautiful garden at Nantclwyd y Dre, an ancient house restored and open to the public here in town. The garden is a work in progress being recreated by volunteers. Could have stayed there all day!

So with all this roaming around I haven't been that creative. However with Autumn on the way and Christmas looming in the distance I think I'd better start thinking about it!!!

But I haven't completely stayed away from my beloved sewing machine and my hooks. There are always gifts that need making. This one was for my new tablet that had to be bought after the BBC decided not to support iPlayer on my Kindle anymore. I can't manage without iPlayer in the evenings when I need to be at my Mother's house.

I made these two covered notebooks for my sister and her friend who both need to be planning for their retirements. It will be here before they know it - like it was for me!!

And I hooked this summery scarf for a friend's birthday. It was a total copy of one an Instagram friend posted on her feed. I just loved the style and yarn she had used so I'm hoping she thinks imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

And one more photo - I learned how to make these origami flowers and gave them as another birthday gift. Very easy but rather time consuming.

There have been other makes too of course since I last posted, but this will do for now. Its time to look forward not backward and there is much to do!

More Origami

Still got the paperfolding bug..... I think its going to be my thing in 2016! Really love these stars I learnt how to fold here on the Homemade Gifts Made Easy blog. There are video and photo tutorials. They are so nice I'll probably leave them up after Christmas.

There is one other star I want to learn and haven't worked out very well yet. Its the German paper star made by folding long strips of paper. My sister moved to a new job in Berlin this year so I'm hoping to decorate her Christmas gift with one tonight. I'll show you later if it works out. This is what they are supposed to look like!


Here's the source:  http://www.craftideas.info/html/german_paper_star.html

Finally I'd like to send all my lovely followers (and especially you fantastic few who regularly send me such kind comments) this wonderful old Christmas card (I think its 1950s) I found on ebay a few years ago. LOVE IT!

Jingle all the way....

I've been rather obsessed by bells this Christmas season - almost everything I've made has had a jingle added! There are lots of bells on these snowflakes I've made to hang in the window.

I saw these Pierced Snowflake dies from MFT (My Favorite Things) on the Make the Day Special Blog and really liked what Jenny had done with them. There are lots of snowflake dies on the market, and I do have a few, but these are really pretty and even though I often have difficulty with larger dies on my ancient cuttlebug, these cut perfectly and even the tiny dots around the edges are well defined.

As usual I've used cereal box card. Yes, all these really are cut from just cereal boxes - there is no top layer of fancy paper. As snowflakes are, of course, symmetrical I cut two for each and glued them back to back. As soon as I've glued each shape I quickly put it under something heavy to keep it flat and well stuck - a pile of magazines is perfect as you can put two or three between each magazine with a big pile on the top.

The white card comes from a rather expensive cereal I always buy when its on offer, but I really like the natural card too. You'd probably pay quite a lot for "Kraft" cardstock in a shop or on line so before you assign your empty grocery packets and boxes to the recycling bin I'd advise you to take a second look - you never know what you'll find inside!

I've joined the snowflakes together with jumprings and added the bells with jumprings too so that they stay loose and jingle nicely. The one with red bells has a couple of beads added too. A bit of wire or twine would do just as good a job if you don't have jumprings in your stash.

They don't have to be joined together though, they are just as pretty on their own. But of course I still couldn't stop myself adding a bell or two! :o)

Just realised the background in that photo looks a bit strange! No, I haven't shut the cat in the cupboard - its a bottlebrush fox waiting to be released and put on the Christmas tree! However I have to admit Titch is finding it difficult to get a comfortable spot for her naps amongst all the chaos that is my Christmas crafting space!!!

Christmas papercrafting remembered.....

Christmas always brings back memories of happy childhood cutting and sticking for me. Remember egg box bells for the tree, cut paper snowflakes for the window, gummed paper strip chains hung from the corners of the room to the lampshade in the middle of the ceiling and paper lanterns? Happy days!

I still like making decorations but nowadays they are rather more sophisticated versions made with the aid of papercrafting dies. This year I've fallen for the Take a Bough set from a new company Concord & 9th. I have to admit these little trees are rather time consuming to make - I'd envisaged a whole forest but so far have only managed three!

These music trees are usually popular on my craft fair stall - folks like to give them as teacher gifts (especially music teachers) and this year one lady said her son was a music director and thought them perfect for his tree. I was very flattered!

I rather fell for the black and white version myself - quite sophisticated considering they are created from that old favourite, cereal packet cardboard! The dies are past releases from Wplus9 and Papertrey Ink.

And as always I can't resist a bit of pretty packaging. It doesn't take long and always makes for a more professional presentation - I think so anyway. Cut a square of card to fit the width of your cello bag, stamp with appropriate festive images (these are from Waltzing Mouse Stamps), fold in half and staple over the top of the bag. I put a piece of clear acetate in with the trees too to stop them moving about in the packet.

Finally here's a reminder of those iconic Christmas makes - I'm sure you remember them all. There are links back to all these creations on my Christmas ideas Pinterest board. You'll find lots of other fabulous craftiness there too.  Don't you just LOVE Pinterest!!

I know... its been WEEKS!!!

Where does the time go! As usual November has been a busy time for crafters and mine has been manic what with work, volunteering, caring, hospital visiting and crafting to fit in. I've attended three craft fairs in the last three weeks so please do accept my apologies for my long silence.  But now they're done I've a bit more time to get back to my own Christmas preparations and last night I did something I've wanted to do for ages - I learnt how to weave those pretty Danish paper hearts.

And as they say, practise makes perfect, so I make a lot! I bought a die from here a couple of years ago and did try to master the technique at the time but failed for some reason. But I hate to let anything beat me so I watched Eline's video again, pausing it on every move to keep up, and eventually, as with everything, it clicked.

I think where I went wrong last time was I tried to use cardstock instead of paper, but you can't manipulate card, even thin card.  However I did use the card cuts - I snipped them in half, did the weaving and glued the two halves back to back. You don't get the pocket of course but they make pretty  decorations to hang on the tree or in a window.

But of course the idea of the heart pockets it to put little treats in them. I had the old Christmas favourite Elizabeth Shaw Mint Crisps in mind but didn't find any locally. Do they still exist? However I found these Whitaker Mint Crisps at B&Ms - the company has been in existence in Skipton, Yorkshire since 1889 and I love an old family business that manages to keep on going in these times of the giant faceless multinational conglomerate - especially a company founded by a woman! That's her on the box - Ida Whitaker. They smell gorgeous and are packaged beautifully with lovely old photos of the Whitakers and staff on the boxes. I haven't eaten any yet but that dark chocolate and mint smell just oozes Christmas to me!

And the mint creams come in my favourite flavors of coffee and mint too. Well..... it is nearly Christmas!

I'm looking forward to getting back to blogging in the run up to the Big Day as I've got lots of other festive projects to share. Hope your preparations are all going to plan. Now back to mine!

Paper Pinwheels

I made a bunch of paper windmills for a craft fair last week.  I know, I used the American word pinwheel in the title of this post, but it rhymed better - sorry!  I saw the dies at Make the Day Special - unfortunately out of stock at the moment but there are others on the market. When they arrived I realised the windmills were mean for cards and papercraft decorations and would not spin - a bit disappointing.  Anyway not to be thwarted I decided to try and make them spin - which is what windmills are meant for aren't they!

I have to admit it was a bit fiddly but eventually I worked it out and thought I'd share.  Hope this makes sense.  I've numbered the steps to go with the photos above.

1. I used wooden kebab sticks you can find easily in supermarkets.  A hole is needed but they split easily when the awl is pushed through so a piece of tape (I used washi tape) wrapped round the top before you make the hole stops the splitting.
2. I die cut the pieces from double sided scrapbooking papers. If you want to make a 'bunch' a pad of paper will ensure all the papers will look nice together.
3. Arrange 6 pieces in a wheel (a pin helps keep them together) and hold them in place with finger and thumb.
4. I found it best to staple the pieces together in the middle - if you don't do this you will find it very frustrating getting them to stay together for the next step. I used my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher bought on a whim but I've found it SO useful - LOVE IT!
5. I had some pearl headed florists' pins but any long pin with a head will do - there are lots of different designs on the market but a ball head is required here. You need to add something decorative for the centre of the windmill and a small bead which will enable the spinning. I had these flower shape sequiny things I thought I'd never find a use for (NEVER throw anything away!).
6. Gently shape the pieces with your fingers as in the photo.  This will make it easier to get the pin through all the pieces and the hole in the centre. I'm not going to kid you, its rather fiddly getting everything on the pin but practice makes perfect! Add another couple of small beads to the pin at the back.
7. I've used a clothespeg to hold the windmill on the pin in the photo - otherwise it will jump off! Make sure you hold everything on and push the back and front slightly together but only a LITTLE BIT.
8. Poke through the hole in your wooden stick and bend the pin down at a right angle with a pair of pliers. I thought children might want these so I cut the sharp end of the pin off with wire cutters.
9. Finally wrap another piece of tape round the pin end to tape it to the stick.

Ta-da your windmill. Give it a sharp puff to make it spin. Well, I have to admit they don't spin as well as those you buy in the shops but they do and they look very pretty in a jar on the windowsill.

Easter Cheap Cheap!

If you watch my Plowmen's Clocks facebook page you may have noticed I changed my banner to a herd of origami bunnies for Easter.  I wanted to make some decorations for the window of the Greyhound Rescue charity shop where I volunteer but didn't want to spend much money.  The bunnies were the first thing I thought of. I used a pad of quite thin pastel coloured craft paper I found at Poundland and a simple instruction video - you can find it here.

Don't they look cute all lined up on this lovely table.  I also made the banner you can see in the top photo. I printed out the letters as big as would fit on an A4 sheet (using an outline font I found in my word processing programme), cut them out, laminated them and strung them on cotton twine.

Next I wanted to add some egg decorations but couldn't find any I liked cheap enough so back again to Poundland where I bought two bags of polystyrene eggs and a packet of pretty tissue paper.

If you want a cheap Easter too here's how I did them. To make it easier and less of a sticky process I stuck the eggs on wooden kebab sticks. Cut strips of tissue paper about three quarters of an inch wide and tear them into pieces about 2 inches long. Use a brush to paint the egg with watered down PVA glue. Make it about the consistency of single cream.

Starting at the bottom stick the strips on using the brush to smooth down the paper and at the same time coating with the glue. Carry on layering the strips until the egg is covered nicely.

Leave them to dry somewhere warm. The tissue is very thin so don't be too rough with the brush. When they dry the paper will shrink a little making a smoother covering but they will still look handmade.

Then decide how you want to display them. I wanted to thread them onto twine to hang down in the window. I used a long doll making needle to pierce and thread twine through the egg.

Lastly I used paper punches to create some quick flower shapes and to make the job even quicker I stapled two flowers back to back between the eggs onto the twine, making sure I didn't trap the twine so I could slide them evenly into position.

I think they look quite effective in the window - you can just about see them in the top photo.  So was that cheap enough for you? Total outlay £4 for the pad of paper, two bags of eggs and a packet of tissue paper.  All from Poundland's Easter range.  Everything else I already had in my craft stash. Poundland also had some lovely little craft projects for the kiddos - I couldn't resist and hope our lot wouldn't have preferred chocolate eggs.

I have to say I was quite impressed with the range on offer.  All very pretty in spring-like colours. I loved the traditional yellow "pipecleaner chicks" and they had black and white lambs too. Hypocritical I know, but I just don't like to think about how much the manufacturers paid their workers to produce such lovely items at such a low cost!!!