The Animals went in 2 by 2....

Hi everyone,

Well, this week is turning into a mild nightmare - did I honestly think it could get any worse after monday's funeral? well no..... but apparently fate has decided otherwise. On Tuesday my mums car key broke in the ignition - its not even 6 months old! 4 hours and £55 later it was fixed, just in time for us to get a phone call from the security company that monitors the church to say the roof sensors had been activated - some thieving little %~@!? were trying to steal the copper off the roof - again!!! so after that was resolved (ish) tuesday was over and then yesterday? oh, yesterday the internet packed in - yet again - right in the middle of me completing a time sensative online application form. Oh! how I hate this week so far. *head*hit*desk*

But with everything else going wrong it has meant the only thing I have been able to do is craft. Which is just as well as Mum's boss (the vicar of the church) turns 50 on Saturday and I promised mum I would make his card for her. Now the vicar's favourite bible story is Noah's Ark, so out came the high hopes images, scan then into the computer to resize to fit and mum's card for Paul is done:

Now that was all fine and dandy, but then I get handed the card our new curate had attempted to make for the whole church to sign... now I wish I had taken a photo but I didn't, so lets just say that our curate Manda really isn't artistic. She had folded a piece of mount board in half, but it had folded at an angle so it didn't stand and then added to it she had cut a 50 from Noah's Ark wrapping paper. Add on a hand written sentiment and we have the final card...... ummmm, no. So anyway, the card got given to someone else in the church to fix, who in turn (as usual) asked if I could rescue it.

Well I took the 50 off the front and started over. I cut the mountboard back to two 12"x12" squares, covered the insides with white paperstock, covered the front with blue - added a spine and then got a little crazy. After adding a black border to the 50 I dug out my trusty cuttlebug and cuttlekids animal dies and got going - so it's a strange mix but hey! I think it turned out really well in the end

So with two ark inspired cards done, all that is left is his birthday cake, which mum is making - but can you guess what it's going to be? lol! keep your eyes peeled and I'll upload photos of the finished masterpiece.

Hope you're all having a more fruitful week than I am and happy crafting!

Lots to tell....

Morning all,

This is going to be a fairly long post but hopefully it should bring everyone back up to speed and me back into the real world.

We shall start with getting the sad news out of the way. As you may have read in my previous post, my grandmother passed away on the 12th after a long battle with ill health and yesterday we had her funeral. It went well and was well attended and I just about managed to get through the tribute without crying or throwing up, but my legs were shaking like jelly the whole time. Although it was a sad affair, as a practicing christian I honestly believe that she is in a better place and most likely having a good old catch up with those we have already lost.

So with that said, on to happier things. On the 11th and 12th of the month, we had our annual church christmas market and the craft stand make a whopping £726 this year. We were all exceptionally pleased with the success and I promised to show you a couple of the things mum and I made this year. One of the big themes that we worked with (as it's everywhere around) is hearts:

 There was also a set with a green stitched Noel

 Mother pf pearl buttons sewn onto a wired frame with ribbon

Natural cotton with mother of pearl buttons and saddle-stich ribbon

The other thing that mum and I did that I really wanted to share with you is these incredibly cute bird doorstops - we simply enlarged mums design for lavender filled birds to create these:

Don't you just love them? well I do anyway!

So all in all the christmas market was a great success and the second highest profiting stand was the jams and chutney stand that my Grandfather makes all the supplies for- nothing like keeping the winning streak in the family!

Then if we jump a week forward, on Saturday (the 19th) I took a stand at a vintage and crafts fair in Birmingham to try and make some money (ironically though it cost me a fortune in supplies to start with). It was a good day but sadly my cards really didn't sell - and they weren't that expensive! but taking heart, I covered my costs and still have supplies for the next stand I'm doing on the 10th December.

So I do believe that we are all up to date again. *phew*

I'm off to have a look at everyones lovely creations from the last week or so, but first I think it's time for a cup of tea! I do hope to be back with some card entries soon.

Take care and happy crafting!

Some sad news

Good Morning all,

This is just a flying visit to update you all with the sad news that my Nan passed away on Saturday after her long battle with ill health.

She saw in her 80th Birthday, but in the end the cycle of infections and the fact that she had been in ill health for the last 30 years finally caught up with her.

The nursing care in her last months with her was beyond incredible and the staff were deeply moved that she had gone - in truth I think they were in more shock than we were.

So you'll all forgive me for not being online a lot at the moment as we're busy arranging the funeral for next Monday.

I promise next time i'm on i'll bring you happier tidings.

Take care of yourselves x

Update + Penguin Skittles

Morning all!

How is everyone this morning? cold?! yep, me too! Well I promised you an update so an update we shall have.

As of Sunday 30th October I once again became unemployed, *sigh* and with no work lined up it seemed like it was going to be a dull few weeks of filling out job applications and being the personal dogsbody to my family.... but wait, here's an idea...... why not take a craft stand at the local craft and vintage fair on the 19th November and sell cards! hurrah! great idea..... except I have no cards to sell and that's only 3 weeks off and we have the church's christmas bizzare the weekend before and ooooh! eeek!  ummm.....

Well after taking a deep breath and thinking it through logically I realised I could do it if I got my act together and limited what I was making and specialised...... oh and then if I took another table on the 10th December too I could do one which is more crafty than cardy! insane? oh yes!

But insane or not, the deposit for the table has been paid and I am busy making a range of white on white cards and book cards, beaded items - pins, bracelets and hair slides and if I can master the technique, altered candles.

Am I stressed? yes! is it going to be worth it? only time can tell......

But today is my nan's 80th birthday and sadly she's still in hospital 15 weeks on from her stroke and honestly, she's only just still with us so i'm spending a lot of time visiting her with my parents and brothers. It's now in God's hands to her future.

And tonight is the start of the church bizzare and I did promise you something crafty to see, so here you have it - Penguin Skittles!

Aren't they just the cutest?! I had so much fun sewing them, although stitching onto black aida of an evening was not the most relaxing of tasks! Anyway, they're done and I really don't want to part with them, but they are for a good cause so off they go and hopefully someone will give them a good home.

That's it for now, I'll try and pop back on Sunday with some photo's of the bizzare and other things we made but bare with me, it's a mad time at the moment! I am around, just not online much!

Take care and happy crafting

Belated Spooky Soho Update

Hi all,

I'm so sorry it's taken this long to do the post but since I was made redundant again on the 30th my life has actually been insane - but i'll come on to that on another post tomorrow as today is all about the final week at work and Spooky Soho.

This year my colleagues and I wanted to make the week a little bit more authentic to the Georgian house, which is an issue when you consider that halloween as a celebration came about with the Victorians.... hmmmm. But if I do say so myself, we nailed it with the final scheme. Now due credit goes to Peter and Emily who took the lead and did all the work on the cellar, leaving me free to design the craft activites and the visitor centre/garden scavenger hunt.

But without further ado - the spooky soho experience!

When first you enter the cellar complex you are asked to 'stand and deliver!' as the highwayman greats you. In the 18th century, highwaymen were prolific and the most famous of all? Dick Turpin!

You then turn and enter the cellar system itself and are greated by the sounds of a tourture chamber (unseen)..... actually it was much darker than this, but my camera self adjusted the lighting

The next room you enter is all about the gothic, with three windows showing many of the ideas that were feared in the period......once again, we were setting history to rights as gothic symbols were the work of the 18th century, by the time the Victorian writers came along, it was already a well established genre of literature!

Moving ever onwards, you sneak a glimps to your right and come face to face with the grave robbers. With public executions become less common, medics in the period had to source their bodies for dissection and lessons from elsewhere and so the era of the grave robbers was born.

Round the corner and don't be decieved by your eyes - yes you did just see the headless lady....... again the idea of ghosts and tourtured souls was a strong idea in Georgian times and the image of the headless lady is a classic which has stood the test of time

And finally we come to the Guillotine room with its severed heads and sounds. With the French revolution in full flow and the guillotine being used in excess, the British were deeply afraid that the deeply rooted disillusionment with the system of rule would come over the water and take England by storm and with it the reign of the guillotine! eeek!

So there you have it. Spooky Soho's cellar! We even did a short promo video for it which you can find here.

It really was a great week, it went down so well with both our managers and visitors alike, so hopefully the idea will get an airing again next year - but who knows!

I promise I'll be back with another update and some crafting to share tomorrow but for now I must run.

Have a great day and happy crafting

All buttoned up

Morning all,

Just a flying visit to show you one of the many projects i've been doing for the church bizzare - these are button badges:

I had so much fun making these - I did 4 in one night so you can see how easy they are really. I think my favourite is the little owl, but I have a major thing for owls at the moment - probably because they're such a big trend.

Anyway, must go to work and hopefully today I won't come back with another injury! its been a bad week so far. Wednesday I trapped my little finger in the shutters whilst closing up the house and its swollen, green and purple and frankly very ugly to look at..... but then to add to the multicoloured look I managed to maim both my hands and my left knee last night, when one of the paving slabs on the road I walk down to get home gave way as I walked over it and I went flying - there's now a massive hole were the slab should be, after it sank a good 6 inches and a nice big hole in my knee and both my palms too......

Maybe I should just stay in bed today? huh?

Have a good day whatever you do and hopefully you're all having a better week then me. Happy crafting!

Spooky goings on......

Things are about to go bump in the night at work, as we're almost into our Halloween week at the house!
We're busy designing a new 18th century inspired cellar of horror, with a highwayman, headless lady and not forgetting the guillotine and severed heads......... mwahahahahahah! *ehem* sorry, getting a bit carried away!

So onwards to todays post. This is one of three craft activities we will be doing; monster mask making! I've been messing with patterns and designs for a couple of weeks and the final collection is:

The pumpkin, bat, ghost and frankenstein....... hopefully the kids will enjoy making them. I've had great fun making up the samples but frankly I'm a big kid!

As everyone seems to be running halloween challenges at the moment, I'm entering these into the following: Everybody Art, Simon Says and Fussy and Fancy Fridays

I hope you all like and i'll be sure to give you a full blog of the site with images of our finished creation!

Take care everyone and happy crafting x