Happy Easter

Hi there, hope you have enjoyed your Easter eggs!Just wanted to share my little Easter display.

 The little chick sitting on the egg is a needle felted project we did at Glue & Stick.

It was a bit painful when you pricked your finger with the needle but he was worth it.

Hope you enjoy what's left of the Easter break. Thanks for dropping by.

This is my favourite new toy

I bought this huge die with a view to make my own match boxes(no I haven't got a serious smoking habit!) I had in mind to make a magnetic advent calendar using match boxes and a baking tray something like this

But the boxes are way to big and I would need a really big baking tray. So I used the boxes to hold two tea lights/chocolates for our craft stall.

I've got another idea for the advent calendar using the boxes so watch this space.

Sparkly bird

Crafty Individuals is one of my favourite places to play. At a recent workshop we made this lovely 6x6 canvas.

The background was made using plain cream card, cut into assorted shapes to cover the canvas. These were stamped using CI stamps and coloured with distress inks. The frame was painted with Farrow and Ball paint in a lovely lilac/mushroom colour. Then the edges were embossed in silver. The image is this stamp.

 I've added coordinating flowers to finish. The speckly finish was a light spray of white enamel paint (Jean did this for me as I am so so heavy handed and I didn't want to spoil it).

Have you tried.....

to make one of these block cards?

They can be a bit tricky as there's quite a bit of measuring but they do look very effective. Very easy to follow instructions are here. If you try it post a link so I can have a look.....please. 

Baskets and boxes

Getting ready for our tabletop sale on Sunday at The Manor Youth and Community Centre Coulby Newham Middlesbrough, Sunday 30th March 10am.

If you're in the neighbourhood pop in and say hello.

Hi

remember me.....yes well I've had a bad case of cantbebothereditis but I glad to say I seem to have recovered without any after effects. Today I thought I share some pictures of a couple of baby boxes I have made for our forthcoming Ladies Charity lunch in aid of Zoe's Place,a local children's hospice.
They started off as hamper boxes from Harrods(kindly donated by my niece.

As soon as I saw them I thought baby gift boxes.They were a bit awkward to cover but they look so cute.

A friend and I are doing a few craft fairs in the area so if you want to see where we are and what we're selling pop over to our Facebook page Nicestuff crafts.
Ok now that I've got rid of that nasty "cantbebothereditis" I'm off to get crafting....and blogging.Thanks for popping by.

A perfect wet weekend

Is it just me but I find January such a long dull month? But not this year, Jean had organised a crafty weekend in the pretty seaside town of Whitby. On a wet Friday we headed to Whitby, famous for it's fish & chips, the 199 steps to the abbey and Dracula.

It wasn't sunny when we visited.
Nor did we climb the steps
But we did eat these.......


15 crafters crafted away for 2 & half days

Cutting, sticking, pasting, eating chocolate

We bought a jigsaw (as if we didn't have enough stuff with us!)from a charity shop

We each had about 8 pieces and took turns to complete it. But one piece was missing and someone had put an odd bit in.....

I managed two cards and a moneybox

plus a tag and another card that I forgot to photograph.

A great weekend looking forward to doing the same again next year ladies. I mean what else is there to do on a wet and dull January weekend?

First Glue & Stick of 2014

A welcome return to my favourite workshop.We meet once a month and we make "stuff". It can range from mini books to canvases to sewing projects. A wide range of projects and this month we made a practical birthday box to keep our cards in. 

Designed by the talented Gail it was worth all the measuring and cutting.

A perfect way to store your special cards. 
Guess what we're making next month???? Yep cards. Talk about being prepared I'll have no excuse for missing anyone's birthday.

TinTin

Once you start it's easy to get on a roll or in my case a tin. I've collected loads over the years but I determined to do something with them this year. My next project is a baby tin awwwwwwwe how cute

I've covered it with scraps from my bit box and used a cute LOTV baby stamp. I just love that pom pom trim and The Ribbon Girl has such a lovely selction.

I've popped a tiny tiny pair of socks and a vest. Another tin ready for the craft stall. 

2014 a year for change

Hi there can you believe it's over a month since we were eating, drinking and celebrating with our families no me neither . But it is and I really need to get myself into gear. This year is starting off different as due to funding cuts I'm not teaching any craft classes so that means I have all this lovely time to......craft. So no excuse for not getting those UFOs (unfinished objects) done. Out came the steps and I've dusted off a couple (read a load) of tins from the top shelf in my craft room.

I set to and have covered two..... Well it's a start

I'm putting them aside for a craft stall. I've filled the one of the left with toiletries  and the smaller tin with a couple of nail files, hand cream  and a lip balm.

So two down what shall I tackle next?

Finally.....

It's finished!!!!

This fabulous Kaisercraft Advent Calendar. It was given to me as a gift from Andrea some time ago (read 2 years lol).

At the beginning of the year I challenged myself to tackle it and I'm so glad I did. I'm really pleased with it. 

The little elves are from Hobbycraft and the white Christmas tree was given to me by Gail. These trees were used an earlier project and she had some spare.

So now all I have to do is find some small treats to go inside (chocolate is always a safe bet !!!!)Roll on 1st of December.

This week I'm loving....

the Hobbycraft show at the NEC Birmingham. Four of us set off on a very early train on Saturday morning with the express intent to go shopping! I'm glad to say we didn't fail. Lots to see at this show although there wasn't as many paper craft stalls as last year. More fabric/quilting/beads/knitting etc. 
Here's the stash

Lots of paper

I don't know how I managed it but these chocolate bunnies made their way home in one piece!

 And finally I couldn't resist this beautiful piece of glass.

 Ok so now I have to find a new home for all my new stash. 

So did you go the show? If you did,leave a link so I can check that I didn't miss a bargain. 

It started with a stick.....

A tall stick that I brought back from our latest trip to the crafting cottage at Skipton. Hubby kindly fixed it to a lovely wood log and I was ready to dress it.

 Adding layer upon layer of vintage style paper from Hobbycraft 

until it turned into this amazing rustic Christmas tree.

If you want to make one of these trees then pop over to Scattered Scarlet blog for a step by step tutorial on how to make the basic shape.

ps I can't stop singing "It started with a kiss" - Hot Chocolate. If you know it then feel free to join in. 

  

Getting ready for Christmas

It's no good you can't ignore it Christmas is coming.....

So if you would like to get a head start I'm running some classes and workshops for Middlesbrough Community Learning at their centre on Lodore Grove Acklam Middlesbrough. 

Classes start Wednesday 6th November 7pm-9pm
for 5 weeks, cost £40


Workshops are as follows and the price includes all materials.

Tues 26th November 10 am-1pm  £15
Thurs 28th November 1pm-4pm   £15

Sat 30th November 10am-3pm  £25

These are some of the projects we will be making.

Ring 01642 811400 to book your place and you can breathe a sign of relief that you too are ready for Christmas.

Thanks for popping by.

It's all buttons

A quick card using up my scraps and buttons. I just love kraft card at the moment.

This week I'm loving....

Crafting in the countryside. For those followers who have been with me for a while will know that twice a year we go for a long weekend in the Yorkshire Dales. This is fun filled 4 days of crafting, eating (and boy do we eat!) and chatting. This year it was all girls as Sid was sunning himself abroad.
Afternoon tea was the theme and on Saturday afternoon we all donned our hats and gloves and drank tea (and ate cake)

Check out the matching tops!

Even the washing up was done wearing a hat.

And this is what we produced over the weekend. Lots of lovely projects and ideas.

Time to go home and next time we're off to an even bigger cottage.