Kitty Ballistic's Creations

Beaded wire-wrapped ring - a giveaway!

2012-01-29T19:27:00.000+01:00

My last blog post was about our Crafteroo Pinterest Challenge, and I've made another item on my list - yay!
It's another wire-wrapped ring - the tutorial is here. I've made a wire-wrapped ring before (see blog post about wire-wrapped jade ring), but fancied trying another with some rather nice vintage bronze wire I have. So I made myself one:

And then, just because I was feeling cocky, I made another. The second one is slightly bigger than the first (about US size 7, which means an inside diameter of about 17mm). So...I have a spare beaded ring, and I'm giving it away to one of you lovely readers!

To be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is leave me a comment on this post before 20:00 (CET) on Friday 3rd February 2012. Please make sure I am able to contact you so I can get your address if you win. I will randomly choose one person on 3rd Feb. to receive the ring. Good luck!

Crafteroo Pinterest Challenge - January

2012-01-11T20:18:00.001+01:00

Yes, we're not even halfway through the month, but several of the Crafteroo gang have been mad busy crafting. I say most, as I seem to have spent the beginning of the year making sure that the sofa doesn't feel neglected, and ensuring that the chocolate mountain in the fridge doesn't engulf the entire kitchen. So far, mission successful. *high fives self*

Less successful are my attempts at making something from my Pinterest Challenge board. The first attempt at making something resulted in a small pile of bent wire, a slightly scratched finger, and some excessive swearing. The second make looks promising, but will need to be sanded and painted at the weekend. And so third time lucky, here is what I have made so far. It's a felt flower brooch.

And here is the Pinterest version:

The tutorial is from Infarrantly Creative - it shows three flowers together, with leaves, which looks really cute, but I wanted just a simple flower brooch for a jumper or coat.

As for the rest of the Challengers, well, take a look at what they've been up to!

The first make was actually posted on the last day of 2011, which is pretty impressive - talk about organised! It's a baby blanket in lovely candy colours from Jaydee:

Pin details here

Next is a super cute fabric purse by Pennydog:

Pin details here

This next item from md0u0131 looks delicious - cookies in a jar!

Pin details here

And to go with the cookies, how about a nice cup of tea (or coffee)? And you can keep it warm with one of these mugwarmers by audrasilk:

Pin details here

The last item is two challenges in one - t-shirt yarn, made into a cute rug by BigBlueBed:

Pin details here and here

Phew, it's made me tired just reading through that list, and there are still a couple of weeks left of January. :-)

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2012!

2012-01-01T00:01:00.001+01:00

I wish you all a very happy, peaceful and thoroughly splendid 2012. :-)

Set of 5 Happy New Year cards by Emily McDowell Draws

My handmade Christmas haul

2011-12-30T15:30:00.001+01:00

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. I was thoroughly spoilt this year, and got loads of fab goodies. I took part in the Crafteroo secret santa again, and look at the gorgeous cushion I got from my Santa:

It's quilted - at least, I think it's a sort of quilting, it has wavy embroidered lines on the background. And look at how cute the cat's face is:

I also got some gorgeous handmade jewellery from my friend, Kats (who owns Future Queen Jewels):

I love these yummy 'seaglass' effect beads

The photo doesn't show it that well, but the crystal pendant has a slightly twisted shape - lovely!

And Kats also got me this fantastic fennec fox figurine (try saying that quickly three times!):

Lookit the tiny hands! *lovehearts*

He/she (no name yet) is from a fabulous shop which I've featured on my Facebook page before - it's called Bonjour Poupette, and it has the most amazingly cute miniature creatures.

And finally, I got a few craft books to read.

I've tried embroidery before, and I've dabbled in seed beadery, but I want to get to grips with both properly. I will attempt to do that in between making new things for the Crafteroo Pinterest Challenge, which starts in the new year (or, if you prefer, Sunday). More on that very soon....

Big bling, tiny balls!

2011-12-16T10:05:00.000+01:00

I confess I am struggling to get with the festive feel at the moment, but I did at least buy some tiny baubles to Christmas up my desk at work.

*trying not to look at all the mini me reflections*

Sadly I haven't got round to putting them up at the office, so they're sitting in the box on my desk at home. I will take them in on Monday, and enjoy them for a full two days before I finish for the holidays. :D

Even blingier (is that even a word?) than the tiny baubles are some buttons I accidentally bought last week. Well, I wanted to buy a particular type of button (which I did) but then these caught my eye.

Mmmmm....sparkly. Not sure if these will become rings, or the centrepiece of some seriously bling-tastic brooches.

And going back to the spherical theme, something possessed me to make white chocolate and lemon truffles last weekend.

Note the lack of tiny truffle cases - domestic goddess, I am not.

They do taste good, but they're very sweet and not zingy enough for me. I'm not really a fan of white chocolate, so I'm not sure why I made them really.

Handmade balled sterling silver wire headpins

2011-11-30T16:59:00.000+01:00

I get through a fair few headpins when I'm making jewellery, especially if I've done something to upset the God of Loops (such as forgotten to leave out an offering). And while I can generally get away with using 1.5 or 2 inch headpins, sometimes I need longer pins for wire wrapping larger focal beads etc. I have found a few suppliers of longer pins but they are either expensive, too far away (for my impatient self) or they are out of stock. So I was thrilled to find a tutorial for making balled wire headpins on How to Make Jewelry.com. I discovered that it was fairly simple to make your own headpins by heating the wire in a torch (which I already had to hand after my Adventures with Art Clay Silver). So I managed to fire up the torch (after a bit of persuasion and a few squirts of lighter fluid), and here are the results.

I used some 20 gauge half hard sterling silver wire that I had in my stash - ideally I'd have had 22 or 24 gauge to hand.

I cut the wire into several lengths, longer than the usual 2 inch headpins, as I knew I wanted longer headpins for some pendants I wanted to make.

Then I followed the instructions in the tutorial, and basically stuck the pieces of wire into the flame until a ball formed, then dunked them into cold water. And here's what I got:

They're a bit 'organic' looking, but I am quite pleased. Well, at least until I compare them with bought headpins:

Although to be fair to my attempts, I was using thicker wire AND they've not been cleaned up.

The tutorial suggests using soapy water and wire wool to clean up the wire, but I was being impatient (and don't have any wire wool) so I dunked the wires into some silver cleaner and then buffed them with a soft cloth.

They're not perfect, but they are usable. And I will get some smaller gauge wire and some wire wool to make some more, as they were so quick and easy to make. I'm also eyeing up another tutorial on the same site, which shows you How to Make Earring Wires. Watch this space!

Damsons in distress

2011-11-05T12:03:00.000+01:00

Despite the trend to move immediately from Halloween to Christmas without passing Go or collecting £200, I am determined to enjoy Autumn, even if the weather is against me (seriously, 18°C in November?). And at this time of year, my thoughts turn to food (who am I kidding, my thoughts turn to food all year round). Picking brambles and berries, making pies, jams and crumbles and (if you're me) wondering why you never see damsons any more.

So, with berries on my mind, I've picked out a few delicious items to share with you - all from European sellers too. Enjoy!

And...I've made myself hungry again. :-)

Seaglass and sunshine

2011-10-11T22:25:00.000+02:00

I've just returned from a much-needed holiday in Spain - I hope you missed me and no, I didn't bring you a present. Well, OK, this blog post is your present. Happy now? :-)

We stayed on the coast and were lucky enough to get fantastic weather, so we made a couple of trips to the beach, which was about 15 minutes walk from where we were staying. The beach was lovely and quiet, nice soft sand, but lots of pebbles too. We brought home a few interesting pebbles and shells. And I discovered it was a great source of sea glass too - there was tons of it! It would've been rude not to have picked up a few pieces (even the house we stayed at had a container full of pieces of seaglass, so I added a few from my haul to their collection).

The bit in the middle is massive - I think we could use it as a paperweight. :-)

We mostly saw dark green (beer bottles, perhaps? ;-) ) but we did get a few interesting colours in the mix.

It turns out that the Husbinator has a good eye for seaglass - look what else he found for me:

Awwww!

And I also picked up some gorgeous shells:

As you can probably tell, these pics were taken in Spain. I have some more shells which I'll photograph (if the sun ever comes back out here).

And finally, here's a pic of the beach:

Sigh.

So, the plan is to make something from the seaglass. Probably jewellery. I've got a couple of ideas already, and have found a tutorial on drilling holes into the glass using my Dremel.

Crafteroo craft magazine issue one online now!

2011-10-01T12:00:00.001+02:00

The online craft magazine by members of the Crafteroo forum is available now! The magazine is crammed full of projects, ideas, hints and tips, articles - look!

I may be slightly biased, but I think it's fantastic value for what you get. So if you're looking for a great read, and some ideas for projects to make this weekend, check out the online crafts magazine now. It's available now on the Crafteroo forum.

Stocking up my Etsy shop

2011-09-30T16:00:00.000+02:00

I don't usually pimp out my shops like this, but I recently reopened my Etsy shop and I've started to add some handmade jewellery to it. I just fancied showing off some of my jewellery, really. :-)

Some of the items I've posted about before:

And some are new:

I seem to have developed a taste for vintage beads, but fear not, the buttons will be back soon.

New online craft magazine from Crafteroo

2011-09-14T20:19:00.000+02:00

Exciting news - a brand spanking new online craft magazine will be launched in the next few weeks! It's been put together by the members of the Crafteroo forum, and it's going to be fantastic.

From the press release:

"Online forum Crafteroo is launching a brand new online magazine dedicated to all types of crafts. Run, written and edited entirely by forum members, who between them cover just about every craft you can think of, the new magazine will be digitally published quarterly, with the first issue due out on 1 October 2011. "

The first issue will be packed with projects and recipes, hints and tips on building your online craft business, reviews on the latest craft books, apps and social networking tools, and competitions with fab prizes.

And as if all that wasn't enough, you get to see my latest felt tutorial too! :-)

The magazine will be available from 1st October on the Crafteroo forum, so make sure you get your copy!

Crafteroo Button swap: Bonus post!

2011-09-07T16:30:00.001+02:00

I posted a while ago about the lufflies I received for the Crafteroo Button Swap. Well, I have to post again, as this very afternoon, I received a rather exciting looking parcel with some rather snazzy tape on it:

And inside it was....

Close up of buttony-cog loveliness:

Such a cute idea! I didn't really want to unwrap the parcel because it looked so nice, but...well, it had to be done. By the way, the wrapping paper is a dressmaking pattern - clever idea, eh?

So I unwrapped the parcel carefully, and found all manner of goodies:

Some yummy buttons on a playing card (I love this idea):

I don't really want to take them off the card, but they are already calling to me...

Gorgeous spotted fabric strawberry - this is so, so pretty!

Behold the cuteness!

A rather funky 'Team Rincewind' badge (called a button in the U.S. - so if you didn't already know that, you learned something new today and you can go ahead and have the rest of the day off. I'll write you a note):

Rincewind is (of course) the hapless wizard from the massively popular Discworld books by Terry Pratchett.

And last but not least - chocolate buttons!

The, um, bag split at the back, so I had to eat some already. Yeah, that sounds plausible.

I am beyond thrilled with the goodies I received, especially these were extra bonus goodies, made by the extremely talented Apryl of Meridian Ariel, out of the goodness of her heart. Apryl, thank you so much, you have thoroughly spoiled me, and I am delighted with my parcel of pretties. :-)

Apryl makes badges like the one I received, but also charming dolls. Look at these lovely little characters in her Etsy shop:

This is Miss Gertrude the Gatekeeper. I love her outfit, and Apryl gives each of her creations a fascinating back story. I love the style of her photos too, it's so unique and ideal for her dolls. I seriously recommend you check out her shop, and her blog too.

From Brussels with love

2011-08-25T21:09:00.000+02:00

Mr B has just returned from a couple of days away on a business trip, and he bought me a couple of presents. A couple! Oh, wait until you see!

Looky looky at this gorgeous tin - such pretty colours!

Wait...what does that say?

They're....no, not actual olives, surely? How would that work? I am not sure, but I am intrigued...

Ah, sugared almonds. Delicious, yummy, moreish sugared almonds. YUM.

The next two tins are empty, but are for 'storing stuff' (oh, how well Mr B knows me!)

A tin of flavoured caramels - flavours include vanilla, coffee, fig, and orange (which is slightly Terry's Chocolate Orange-y, but in a richer, smoother way)!

And finally....

Because I'm worth it. That's proper velvety flock...stuff - so soft. Yes, I have rubbed it on my face. Why do you ask?

So, I have been thoroughly spoiled (again). I've just looked up the shop from which these lovelies were bought, and it looks uh-may-zing. Checkit:

Photos by fidelramos on Flickr

Oh my! Apparently as soon as you enter the shop, they force you to sample one of their biscuits - shocking behaviour!

So thanks to the splendid Mr B, I now have enough sweeties to last for some time AND some new storage for all the beads ~~I've just bought~~ I already own. :D Result! Thank you, Husbinator. :-)

Dala horse obsession

2011-08-06T13:16:00.000+02:00

I don't know when I first started to like dala horses, but there is something very charming about the simple shape, and the colours used to decorate them. They are a traditional Swedish symbol or emblem, which (according to Wikipedia) started as a simple wooden carved horse made for children to play with.

I like the simple horse shape, which lends itself well to various craft techniques. Which leads me to a problem - which do I choose to make first? A beaded dala horse is probably beyond my skills (probably - ha!). Felt was an obvious choice, but it has also been done (rather well):

Felt dala horse wall hanging by lovahandmade

I am tempted to give embroidery another bash (it's more of a colder season craft to me), so I might give this pattern a try:

Free dala horse embroidery pattern from Just Crafty Enough

Or maybe something like this:

Dala horse embroidery by Melinda♥Josie on Flickr

Then there are tutorials about making block prints, which look fantastic, but I fear require more skills than are at my disposal:

Swedish dala horse block print tutorial by lilblueboo

These are also available to buy though:

Dala horse rubber stamp by Corrabelle

So now I'm thinking either dala horse biscuits - maybe gingerbread, with icing decorations....oh.

Dala horse cookies with icing by benziedesign on Flickr

Maybe I'll make something with shrink plastic instead then...

Kitty Ballistic's Creations Third Blogiversary

2011-07-21T13:00:00.033+02:00

Today is my 3rd blogiversary. Yes, three whole years have passed since I first start posting about the things I like to make from beads, buttons and felt. Wheee!

Someone's Birthday Cake Cupcakes by CupcakeQueen on Flickr

Three cakes, do you see? One for each year! I haz teh smartz. And lookit the tiny cupcake candleholder!

I have enjoyed sharing my crafting exploits with you over the last few years. The number of posts I've actually written does suggest that I spend more time being distracted by shiny things than is good for me. I promise to work on that. *crosses fingers behind back* Other plans include:

More tutorials - the Felt Sweets tutorial I wrote seems popular, and I quite enjoy writing tutes.
I also want to make more felt items. I have a to-do list of characters AND one poor felt person who is in bits in my project bag. :(
I also have a few new crafts I want to try, and rather than wait until I have finished an item, I might share them as works in progress. And if it all goes wrong, there's always the CraftFail blog. :D
And I think I might give the blog a makeover. And yes, I will back it all up first. I learn from my mistakes. Sometimes. :-)

If you want to zoom back in time to see how it all began here is my first post on this blog (feel free to make whooshing noises to emulate time travel as you click):

Yes, that is a felt womb, with a missing fallopian tube. Click the photo to read more (there are beads, it's not all about crafted reproductive organs.

I always enjoy reading your comments, and would like to thank you all for supporting me so far.
I'd like you to celebrate my blogiversary with me by eating a cake (or similarly treat-y item) of your choice, and leaving me a comment below. Tell me which posts you like best, or what you'd like to see more of.

Thanks!

Embossed earring cards using Sizzix Big Shot and Textured Impressions folders

2011-07-17T15:14:00.000+02:00

I could've sworn I'd posted about using a new shape for my earring cards somewhere - maybe it was on Facebook? Anyway, as you may know, I use my Craft Mangle (Sizzix Big Shot) to create cards for my earrings, and found a label shape from Nestabilities which I *love*:

However, I wanted to jazz this up a bit, so I decided to try embossing to add some texture. And here are the results:

Which due to the background colour and shape of the label is making me think of sticking plasters.

I love these patterns - swirls and dots, and birds! Here are the patterns on larger sized bits of card:

I love this! I am trying to figure out how to use it to make cards and stationery for myself

And here are the new textured earring cards in action:

So, what do you think? I quite like them, but I want to also try to make earring cards for dangly earrings too.

Drop earrings makeovers

2011-07-10T13:24:00.000+02:00

I have been sorting through some of my stock, and there were a few earrings that were begging to be pimped. They were fine as they were, but nothing special. So I waved my magic ~~wand~~ pliers, and gave them a new look.

First up were these turquoise bead earrings. Nice enough, I like the turquoise and antique brass together:

But I thought that copper might go even better with the bead colour:

Next up were these yummy red 'nugget' beads. They're quite unusual, they have little indents in them. Again, they look fine with the antique brass:

They just needed a little something extra to make them 'pop'

Little yellow flowers FTW! I love how these look now, they remind me of cartoons somehow. Maybe the Mr Men...

Anyway, I will be 'making over' some more jewellery in the coming weeks. I think it's a useful exercise, and it certainly makes me aware of how my jewellery making skills have improved, as have my photography skills.

What do you think?

Painted filigree components

2011-07-05T20:18:00.000+02:00

I just thought I'd post to show you some pics of my latest 'thing' - I take metal filigree shapes and paint them using acrylic paint (I may do a tutorial on this at some point). Some filigree items are in lovely shades of dark bronze and don't need any colour, but to jazz things up a bit, a lick of paint seems to do the trick. It's quite addictive as well.

So far, I've only made earrings with just the painted filigree component, and no beads.

For some reason, these are devillishly hard to photograph

However, I have plans to add some beads to these beauties to make earrings, and possibly a necklace or two as well.

The leaf shapes look like they have a nice patina on them - cool!

Arty close-up shot

Only one coat of paint on these so far - I may sand them a bit so the texture still shows through.

Mmmm...chocolatey. Again, this is after only one coat of paint.

These birds have had two coats of paint, but no varnish sealer yet.

The acrylic paint comes of really easily, but the varnish is a pain to remove. So if anyone has any handy hints for how to get the acrylic varnish off the paintbrush/my hands, please leave a comment below. Thanks!

Badly behaved buttons

2011-06-27T21:32:00.000+02:00

Ah, alliteration, how we have missed you!

A while ago, I made a cute pair of earrings from some rather yummy green vintage buttons, and they were snapped up rather quickly (hurrah!). I wanted a pair for myself, so I was thrilled when I found not one, not two, but four of the buttons in my stash over the weekend - whee! The downside is that now the buttons have been made into earrings, they have become unruly. To the point where I am considering starting a correctional facility for deliquent jewellery. I already have a plastic storage box of jewellery which refuses to be photographed correctly, and is doomed to stay there FOREVER (or until I finally get myself organised enough to attend a craft fair *hollow laughter*). Anyways, here are the little so and sos:

One of these kids is doing his own thing....

Of course, some buttons are simply in a class of their own, and know how to behave in polite society:

I have also been on the lookout for buttons to fit into some new ring blanks I've bought, and I managed to find just the right one:

I do love those buttons - I must try to get hold of some more.

Crafteroo Button Swap

2011-06-25T17:44:00.003+02:00

You might have noticed the rather snazzy button full of ....buttons in the sidebar which I made for the Crafteroo button swap which I organised. Have I told you my heart-rending tale of woe? I'd be surprised if I hadn't, being a slight drama llama at times. Short story: I ended up with no swap partner as someone dropped out, so superfab swap partners Pennydog and Handmade & Heritage decided to 'adopt' me, and we did a threeway swap. So, I sent goodies to Pennydog, she sent to H&H, and H&H sent to me. Geddit?

Well, in the last week or so, we all sent out our parcels, and people have been posting pics of what they sent and received. So without further ado, here are the fantastic goodies I received from my wonderful swap partner, Handmade and Heritage (I never know if we're 'allowed' to use real names *shifty*).

So, my parcel of goodies arrived in the week, and I must confess, it gladdens my heart when people use my user name instead of my real name:

That's obviously not my address. Although sometimes I wish it was. :-)

And inside the envelope....am I building the tension nicely, or did you all scroll down already to see what I got? :-D

Chocolate buttons! A fabulous card! Pretty parcels with ribbon!

After a brief fondle of the parcels, I opened them to reveal......oh my goodness!

I love it! The colours are fab, the buttons are sooo cute, and the stitching is ace. There's also purty backing paper at the back, which I didn't take a photo of - you can see it on H&H's blog. But wait, there's more:

Buttons! On pretty card. And where do I know that phrase from....?

I am thrilled with my goodies, thank you so much to Handmade and Heritage. If you want to see more buttony swap goodies, have a look at the links below:

Big Blue Bed

Handmade and Heritage

Quartz

Pennydog (sent) and received

Seawood (sent)

Future Queen (sent)

Handmade Father's Day card

2011-06-19T16:34:00.000+02:00

A couple of years ago I came up with the idea of making some felt plush sausages as a Father's Day card/gift for my Dad, and this year, I was struggling to think of a card idea that might match that one. Rather handily, my (slightly spoilt) Dad bought a new camera, and so inspiration came from that. Although, as always, the best ideas are *not* the simplest, but the fiddliest. After an hour or two of snipping tiny bits of card, colouring in, and glueing, I came up with a card that I thought he would like.

I think it turned out rather well, seeing as my 'magic' white ink pen disappeared and I was forced to be creative. The photo in the 'lens' is of me and my Dad taken on holiday in Llandudno. The photo was a bit faded, even after scanning in and trying to restore it via the scanner options. Still, it worked out OK and Dad was pleased with it, which is the main thing. :-)

Note to fellow photographers: Yes, I know that this card is not technically accurate. I am using a bit of the old artistic license here.

Tutorial: fabric covered buttons

2011-06-08T12:03:00.001+02:00

I have dabbled with making fabric covered buttons before, using a button tool, which involves a level of manual dexterity that I clearly don't possess. So results have been, um, varied. That didn't stop me from buying one of those tools at the weekend - I am ~~stubborn~~ determined to master it.

So when I found a tutorial on Craft blog that showed how to make fabric covered buttons without using the button tool, I was keen to try it out. The tutorial uses shank buttons, but as I knew I wanted to make fabric covered button earrings, I needed to find some old buttons which were flat. I have quite a lot to choose from:

Eventually I found two smallish buttons which matched in size - one was quite scratched, so couldn't really be used anyway.

Aside from button(s), you will also need:
Fabric (don't choose anything too silky or slippy - see more about this later)
Small piece of felt
Scissors, thread, a needle
Fabric glue
Findings (depending on what you will use the fabric covered buttons for - earring posts, brooch back etc.) and strong glue to attach

***What to do***

1. Cut your fabric into a circle measuring twice the diameter of your chosen button. If you are rubbish at cutting out circles, use something to draw round - I use this handy dandy orange doohicky (that's probably not its official brand name):

I used a piece of recycled/upcycled/repurposed neck tie for this - it has a nice sheen to it, and the pattern is pretty on both sides.

I chose the 'right side' and drew my circles, then cut them out.

Not only do I have no drawing skills, my cutting skills are not great either.

If you like, you can check the size of the circles with the buttons. And if you are making two fabric buttons, you can make them look like slightly creepy eyes. This step is optional. :-)

2. Using running stitch, sew round the edge of your fabric circle. Note: if you have chosen a fabric which frays (don't choose a fabric which frays - take my word for it), make sure you sew further from the edge.

If you knot the thread, don't pull it all the way through - this will help you gather the fabric later.

3. Make sure you have the fabric wrong side up, and place the button inside the fabric circle. Pull the threads carefully to gather the fabric round the button.

You see now why I said 'Don't choose a fabric which frays'?

You can move the button about inside the fabric to make sure it is centred. Note: if you are making more than one fabric covered button, make sure that the buttons are the same way up inside the fabric. If they are not, you may end up with one flat button and one slightly domed button. [/voice of experience]

4. When you are happy that the button is centred, secure the gathered fabric by knotting the threads together. Snip off any excess thread.

5. Cut out a small circle* of felt, big enough to cover the gathered fabric at the back of the button.

*or your interpretation of a circle - let's be creative here, shall we? ;-)

6. Glue the felt circle in place. You might need to press it down for a while to make sure that it covers the gathers.

7.Once the glue has dried, glue the findings onto the buttons.

The finished earrings!

I have to say, although I love the idea of using repurposed fabric from neck ties, the slipperiness of the fabric made it difficult to work with, both in this tutorial and in the button tool. I think using some sort of interfacing might help, but it would add extra thickness to the buttons (which might not be a bad thing). The bonus of using fabric from neck ties is that you get some interfacing fabric in it, so maybe that's something to try. I might report back on that one.

As for the button tool, I *can* get it to work with less flimsy fabrics - for example, felt.

Mmmm...turquoise.

And once you have your felt covered button, you can decorate it...with more buttons!

The purple button really is tiny - it has a diameter of about 5mm. Micro-buttons!

If you use my tutorial, I would love to see what you make - please post your links in the comments section below. Have (buttony) fun! :-)

Decorating cupcakes with fondant icing (or Introducing Sumo Bear)

2011-05-31T21:39:00.001+02:00

I have recently developed a taste for cupcakes, and despite never having been particularly successful at baking before, I've managed to make a few good batches of them already. The latest makes were lemon vanilla cakes with cream cheese icing. The Husbinator couldn't fathom how cream cheese could be made into icing, but he did admit that they tasted pretty good:

So, spurred on by that success, I signed up for a cupcake decoration class with a friend. We spent three happy hours learning how to make cake decorations, including a bear and a pig, from fondant icing. I somehow got the proportions wrong for my bear, so he is a little...cuddly. Hence the nickname, Sumo Bear:

I'm just big-boned

He's not bad for a first effort, and he is pretty cute. I guess all that time spent playing with polymer clay helped. My pig turned out OK too, although he looks pretty startled. We discovered why when we took him out of the cake box at home and realised that his tail had come off. Oops!

Dude, where's my tail?

The less challenging cake decorations involved rolling out various colours of icing and using cutters, moulds and glitter (aka 'Pixie dust' to my friend, Nancy):

Pastel colours, flowers and swirls

Close up of the rose sprinkled with pixie dust!

One of the highlights of the class was at the beginning, using a small cutter to gouge out a piece of cake in order to fill it with jam or.....lemon curd! It's available over here! And I have some! So now all I need to do is remember what the gazillion recipes are that I needed it for. Until then, there's always....

Gorgeous glass lampwork beads

2011-05-28T15:54:00.000+02:00

I have been wanting to buy some lampwork beads for a while, as I fancied making some earrings with them. I just happened to see a message on Twitter from the fantastic Carolyn of CeeGeeJewellery about being one sale away from 100 in her shop, EvaBeanBeads, and well, it was clearly fate. After some time spent drooling over the contents of her shop, I decided on these little beauties, which arrived yesterday:

Arty close up shot:

Mmmmmmm....

And as if that weren't enough, I got a free gift for being the 100th sale in the shop:

Ooh, what's that I spy? Is it a matching pair of beads which would be ideal for a pair of earrings for me?

Why yes, it is!

I also bought myself some more glass earlier in the week. Not beads, but from a bead shop at least:

It's a gorgeous blown glass heart. It's a couple of inches wide, so too big for jewellery. It will either go in a bowl, or be hung up on some nice ribbon. Which will have a very secure knot. We bought it at a rather nice bead shop in Ghent. It is full of lovely (but expensive) beady treasures. This is what the inside of the gift box says:

So on that note, I am off to use some of my new beads to make some jewellery. :-)

Vintage buttons and earrings

2011-05-23T16:25:00.000+02:00

I went to a flea market yesterday - I've not been to one before, and I wasn't sure what to expect. I could've gone mad and bought a load of gorgeous teacups and coloured glass, but we've nowhere to store/display it. Instead, I contented myself with buying some vintage buttons and some earrings. Here are some pics of my finds:

Yummy blue buttons

Shame there's only one of the smaller buttons, they'd be ideal for earrings.

Pink buttons in the same style. I love the cards they came on.

Purple buttons.

Deliciously blackcurranty.

I spotted these beauties on a stall where my mum was buying some nice rugs rather cheaply - they cost 50 cents. Not sure why there's a random non-matching button in the mix.

Pretty mother of pearl leaf clip earrings.

Rather nice brass filigree clip earrings. Both pairs may be made into something - possibly retro style sweater clips, using the tutorial I saw on the Dainty Squid blog.

Maybe I am channelling Emma Pilsbury...

Vintage sewing items (aka A Load of Old Bobbins)

2011-05-17T20:58:00.000+02:00

I recently got some sewing stuff from my Nan, who no longer does any sewing. I love looking at this kind of stuff, although it always reminds me that I should get myself a decent case for my own sewing supplies. Anyway, here are some of the treasures I found.

Thimbles, fasteners, buttons (yay!) and even some dressmakers chalk, which is worn nice and smooth:

Pins in an old cigarette case:

I Googled the name on the tin, and apparently a decent quality cigarette tin fetches about $15.

Instruments of torture! If you're a mattress....

Check out the fabby scrapbook paper - love it! It's from Making Memories, in the Vintage Findings set.

Lovely brass (maybe) thimble with the pin case again.

And finally, an arty shot of some old cotton reels which, for the sake of the poor pun in the title, I am referring to as bobbins:

Oxidising copper jewellery (or Adventures in Egg Land, part two)

2011-05-15T09:45:00.000+02:00

I have already tried oxidising silver jewellery last year, so when I read that it's also possible to use the same method to oxidise copper jewellery, I decided to give that a go. I recently ordered some copper findings from a fantastic Artfire seller called RoyalMetals and my goodies arrived this week. I set to work making some earrings with them, and then picked a pair which I thought might suit the darker brown colour of oxidised copper:

When I tried oxidizing the silver earrings last year, I used a tupperware container. I've seen tutorials mentioning ziplock bags, so I thought I'd try that this time. I read online that copper-plated items might not oxidise well, so I 'cleaned' the metal bits of the earrings with 70% alcohol (from the first aid box, not the drinks cabinet). Acetone is recommended for this, but I didn't have any, as I buy acetone-free nail varnish remover (to go with the numerous bottles of nail varnish I own but never use).

So I hard-boiled a couple of eggs, and put them into the bag. I then bashed merry heck out of the eggs with my hand. It was a bit warm, but great for stress relief. Actually, this would probably work even better if you draw a face of someone you don't like on the eggs first. *makes a note for next time*

Note: If you are trying to lose weight, you can open the bag at this point, and take a good deep breath of the eggy fumes. I bet you won't feel like eating much after that. Nice. :-)

Then I added the earrings to the bag:

"Hey, a sauna, this is kind of relaxing. Wait, what's that awful smell? No, I've changed my mind, let me out. I'm choking..."

So I left the earrings in the bag, and tried not to keep looking at them. Occasionally I would poke the eggs a bit to release more of the fumes. After an hour or two, I could see a colour change, but it wasn't quite dark enough. So I left the earrings in the bag overnight, and this is how they turned out:

The earring wires have worked really well, but the headpin wire and bead caps are a bit patchier.

That could be because I didn't clean them with the alcohol properly. I guess I could try oxidising the individual components first then making them into jewellery. Or I could just buy them ready oxidised. But where's the fun in that? :D

Tackling the bead stash - bead busting monthly

2011-05-10T15:00:00.002+02:00

I've mentioned the blog 'Operation Tackle that Bead Stash' on here before - I've recently learnt peyote stitch and made myself a seed bead bracelet thanks to a peyote stitch tutorial I found on there. As the name would suggest, the blog was set up to inspire us to use up beads which have been lying about in our craft stash, waiting for that perfect project. A recent blog post suggested trying to get us back to our old bead stash busting ways by challenging us to post our bead stashing goals on the first Tuesday of the month, and then post updates on how we do. So, my Bead Busting Monthly challenge goals are:

1. To create something for the May Moodboard challenge.The blog team does a monthly 'moodboard' challenge, choosing a colour combination to inspire us to create. Of course, I like looking at the pretty colours, but inspiration never hits at the right moment. The colour for May is green. Yummy, luscious green.

2. I don't have any WIPs (works in progress) to finish, so my second goal is to make at least one item from the bead stash shown below:

This is the contents of one jar of beads - I have a few more. And a couple of boxes.

But wait...do I spy some green beads?

I do! Well, that's both goals from the same jar of beads. Cool!

Hello, dolly! Well, hello, dolly!

Sorry, it's been in my head since the Husbinator decided he needed to watch that particular film....

Handmade jewellery from recycled clothing and buttons - part two

2011-05-09T21:11:00.000+02:00

So in yesterday's post, I mentioned how we were getting rid of some old clothes, and the Husbinator was throwing out a load of (neck) ties. Well, here are some of them, saved for my craft stash:

I absolutely love this one:

Not sure what I will make with that, but it needs to be used. Mandarin ducks FTW!

Anyway, I had a look around online for some ideas about what to use the ties for. I'd seen various halter tops and skirts made from ties, but I wanted something different. Something quicker to make, for starters. And then I looked at my Pinterest board and thought 'fabric flower' (for a change). I found a tutorial (which I can't find back again at the moment) and used a silk tie to make this:

It's a bigger brooch than I'd usually wear - it's about 3 inches across - but it is rather splendid. Possibly helped by the fact that there's a vintage glass button at its centre:

YUM.

And seeing as I'd found some blanks for making covered buttons, I used another bit of tie to make these:

The fabric has a nice sheen to it, which doesn't show up so well in the photo. Ooh, now imagine a pair of earrings made from that mandarin duck tie!

Handmade jewellery from recycled clothing and buttons - part one

2011-05-08T21:27:00.001+02:00

I've started to get into recycling more recently. Well, if you can count going 'oooooh! over some tiny buttons on a White Stuff tag as recycling:

Seriously, look how cute they are! They were just begging to be made into earrings, really.

Then the Husbinator and I decided to have a bit of a wardrobe clearout. We took several large bags of clothes to the second hand recycling bins today, but I salvaged a few items for craft purposes. I also had a few items which could no longer be worn, and I saved some bits from those too. I never realised how pretty the buttons were until I chopped them off the old blouse I was throwing away:

And I got this lace/crochet panel from the same blouse - no clue what I'm going to do with it, but it was too pretty to throw away:

And then the Husbinator showed me the pile of t-shirts he was throwing out, and again, I salvaged some. I've seen plenty of tutorials for recycling t-shirt fabric into jewellery or accessories, so I have Plans. And here is one of them:

In case you were wondering, it's a fabric flower brooch.

Check out the almost neat felt circle I cut out. I am improving. :-D

There are a couple more items for my recycling show and tell, but I'll save them for another post later this week. "Always leave them wanting more" as the saying goes. Who said that? Anyone? Anyone?

The winner of my blog giveaway is...

2011-05-07T20:56:00.000+02:00

I had so many entries for my giveaway, so thank you all for taking part, and for your lovely comments. I fed the numbers into the random.org randomiser and it picked a winner for me. And that winner is......*drumroll*

Comment number 3, which belongs to Tabitha!

Congratulations, Tabitha! I will be in touch shortly to find out your details so I can get the earrings in the post to you.

Thanks again to everyone who stopped by my blog and left a comment. I will be holding another giveaway in the near future - at the very latest, in July, for my blogiversary.

Tutorial: fabric flower brooch pin

2011-05-04T22:51:00.002+02:00

Yay, another of my high quality tutorials. :D This one was destined to be a success, as I started it quite late one evening (as you will see from some of the photos), and it could've gone either way:
Making myself something to wear = 1 point
Choosing a project which relies on cutting things out neatly = -1 point
Naked flame! = 10 points
Stinky glue: = -20 points

I will give myself a bonus point for taking at least some effort to document my blundering about in semi-darkness with flammable fabric near a lit candle though.

I've seen a lot of those fabric flower brooches (rings, earrings, necklaces, hair accessories, etc.) around and about, and I fancied having a go at making myself one (I even have a Pinterest board just for fabric and paper flowers). I made a ring a while back using someone else's tutorial, and decided to make my own. If you want to make yourself one, you can follow my sort of instructions below.

What you will need:
Flammable fabric: chiffon, silk, satin - test a scrap of fabric to see how it burns before cutting it out.
Scissors
Fabric glue
Stinky glue for metal/plastic (optional)
Needle and thread (same colour as fabric)
Brooch back
Beads or buttons for centre
Small piece of felt
A source of flame such as a candle - I have also done with with a cigarette lighter, the candle is easier to control.
Tweezers (if you are nervy/clumsy/have delicate fingers

Decide on the size of the flower you want to make. I decided on a brooch, which has a diameter of about 2 inches. You could make smaller flowers for a ring, or even earrings.

Cut out several circles of fabric. For the brooch, my circles varied in size from 2 inches down to the smallest, which is about an inch.

OK, so they don't need to be ultra neat, OK? Circle-ish will do. Don't judge me.

I can't remember what stone this candle holder is made from.Amazonite? Is that even a real thing? I'll go and Google, you carry on reading....

Now for the fun part. Carefully hold one of the circles near your flame source so that the edge of the fabric starts to melt slightly. Don't put the fabric right into the flame, it will just melt (or catch fire!).

The edge will melt and harden slightly, which causes the fabric to form a nice dome shape. You need to keep the fabric moving fairly quickly so you don't melt it too much, and also to keep the shape nice and circular.

Note: If you want to test the edge of the fabric to see how it feels, leave it a second or two to cool down before touching it. Don't ask me how I know this.

The resulting fabric circle should look something like this:

You can take it a little further to scorch the fabric if you like that look.

Repeat the process for all of your fabric circles. You should now have a dinky pile of circley domes:

It's starting to take shape now, see? *hops excitedly from foot to foot*

Arrange the circles in a pleasing shape, then sew them together with a few small stitches.

Choose something to go in the centre of your flower.

Note: if you are using beads, or a flat-backed button, you can sew that into place to anchor the fabric circles in place all in one step. Nifty!

I chose the black button on the far right. I removed the plastic shank from the back, sanded it a little, then used the stinky glue to stick it into the centre of the flower, covering the stitching. Leave glue to dry.

Once glue is dry, glue a small felt square to the back of the flower, to cover the knot and stitches. It also gives you a more stable surface upon which to attach the brooch back.

Glue brooch back in place and leave to dry. You could probably leave out the felt backing square if you were making a ring or earrings.

The finished article!

Peyote stitch bracelet - blue seed beads

2011-04-29T16:25:00.002+02:00

I was reading the Operation Tackle That Bead Stash blog recently and I saw a short tutorial for peyote stitch. I have had a go at seed bead stuff before, I made myself a spiral stitch necklace (which I've never worn - huh). The tutorial looked so straightforward that I thought I'd give it a try, and here's the result:

The beads are a pretty shade of blue, with a hint of pinky-bronze inside. I've tried to look them up on the website I got them from, but they don't stock them any more. The clasp is made from a dinky pearl button I had in my stash.

You can see the thread more clearly here, but it's not bad for a first attempt. I only had white/clear thread in my stash - if I make more of these (and I probably will), I will invest in different coloured threads.

And this is what the bracelet looks like on:

Aside from that slightly iffy looking thread where the loop is attached, it looks rather nice. I quite like the button being the focus as well, so I can wear it either way round.

Once I got used to the stitch, after the first few rows it was quite relaxing to do. I have some yummy but tiny bright red seed beads that are begging to be made into something sparkly:

I don't know how fiddly peyote stitch would be with smaller beads though?

Blog giveaway - a pair of pretty pink bead earrings

2011-04-28T19:48:00.000+02:00

Drumroll please.....may I present.....my 200th blog post! Wheee! Fanfare! Marching band! Environmentally-friendly confetti! Lots and lots of CAKE!

And as if all that wasn't enough of a celebration, I am offering my lovely blog readers and Facebook fans the chance to win a pair of beaded earrings.

Those exact earrings could be yours. They could be gracing your earlobes very soon. Lobes. Sounds odd if you keep saying it. Lobes. Lobeslobeslobeslobeslobes. Lobes.

OK, I'm done now.

So, what do you need to do to win these pretty ear adornments? Well, it is very simple (because if I try to be clever, I will get confused, and then I'll go off in a sulk. And there are no more Mini eggs in the house). *sad face*

You can enter the giveaway by simply leaving a comment on this post, telling me what your favourite item is in my Artfire or Zibbet shop, OR which of my blog posts is your favourite. Thassit. Oh, and if one of your friends becomes a fan of my Facebook page, that counts as an extra bonus entry for you (although they need to mention your name when they post on my wall).

Any compliments you might make about how witty I am, or how nice my hair looks today are muchly appreciated, but won't count as an extra chance to win. Sorry. :D

The giveway will run until Friday 6th May at 8pm (CET), and I will pick a winner from the entry names shortly afterwards, and announce the winner in the weekend.

Please make sure I am able to contact you in case you win - if you win and I can't find an e-mail address for you, I will pick another name.

Good luck, and........lobes. :-D

Gardening photos, a greenhouse update, and Happy Easter

2011-04-24T12:32:00.001+02:00

The weather has been so good recently, that plants in our garden (and greenhouse) have been growing like mad. We visited the garden centre yesterday to buy some more small shrubs and plants to replace some plants that are past their best, or to fill in gaps in the borders. I even bought some small lettuce and rocket plants, rather than growing from seed (although I'll probably sow some in a few weeks anyway). So now our veg box looks like this:

That's a dwarf pumpkin plant in the middle. This cannot end well. Grow quickly, tiny lettuces, grow!

And here's the situation in the World's Tiniest Greenhouse:

Top row, l-r (from memory): Hollyhocks, pumpkin, lupins, coriander, tomatoes, chilli, sweetpeas (not doing much :(), tomatoes. Bottom row: tomatoes, one single defiant basil seedling :D, courgettes (also dragging their roots this year).

Beneath those shelves are some more tomato plants, a large pot of cat grass (for bad weather days) and...something else, which I've forgotten.

The other side of the greenhouse is much the same:

More tomatoes and chillies, some poppy seeds, and a couple of potatoes which are refusing to 'chit'. Those two tiny plants on the floor are dinky fuschias, which the Husbinator likes - they're now potted on and have pride of place in the garden.

Because the good weather makes everything grow so fast, we get to play 'What the heck is *that* plant?' again. I noticed a couple of familiar-looking leaves last week, but didn't get too excited, until yesterday when I saw this:

Lily of the valley! Finally! Apologies for the poor photo, they're really low down, and I couldn't get to them. But yay! I planted them years ago, and they never appeared. They were clearly just waiting to surprise me. Woop! You just know I'm going to be back on here in a few days, complaining of a sore back and soil up my nostrils. :D

Speaking of surprises, while we were pottering in the garden, we heard a strange noise, and when we looked up over our heads....

I guess the good weather means hot air balloon season has arrived early here. :-)

OK, one last photo, then I'm done. I don't know if I ever told you about the wicker reindeer which I saw in a garden centre a few years ago and was not allowed to buy (it has vanished completely now - never to be seen again)? Well, I saw a rather nice plant holder thing with a tiny blackboard attached to it, so you could display messages to people like 'Look, a plant!' or 'Get OFF my lawn'. Anyway, the Husbinator wasn't keen on them, but it was already Wicker Reindeer II, and I was determined. So when I saw one at the garden centre yesterday, I pounced. And so, I wish all my lovely blog readers...

Button earrings: a trio of turquoise

2011-04-23T16:09:00.000+02:00

I'm not sure where these buttons came from - well, I found a packet of the flower ones when I was looking for something else the other day. It's odd that they're all a similar shade AND that they all turned up on my craft table at the same time.

As you can see from the photos, it's not ideal weather for taking photos. The light is a bit too bright, it's mid-afternoon, and I can't get the colour balance right (that's the same background paper in the top two pictures).

Speaking of paper, I've just ordered some more backgrounds for my photos. And I also bought some papers just because I needed to have them.

My Little Shoebox: Who's there Wise Old Owl

Melissa James: Kitschy Kitchen Cherry

My Little Shoebox: Sew Cute Made with Love

They are too busy to be used as photo backgrounds (well, the cherry one might be OK), but they're so cute, I just had to buy them. :-)

The asparagus season is here!

2011-04-17T19:15:00.001+02:00

This is one of my favourite times of the year. In Holland, the asparagus season (aspergeseizoen) has just started, and also in Germany (it's called the Spargelsaison or Spargelzeit). However, both countries seem to favour the white asparagus over the green ones I am used to.

Photo by yuichi.sakuraba on Flickr

They look a bit pale and anaemic, but they taste good, and once they're covered in delicious Hollandaise sauce (also Dutch apparently - the clue's in the name), you hardly notice the colour. The main downside of them is that they need to be peeled before cooking - and who has time for that? :D

If I have a choice, I do choose the green asparagus though. They just seem more appealing somehow.

Photo by balise42 on Flickr

Gorgeous colours. YUM. The canteen at work is offering traditonal Dutch asparagus soup throughout May, so that's a good reason to skip the sandwich. Sadly, I am one of the few for whom asparagus has an unfortunate side effect. I won't taint the asparagus love-in by discussing it here - if you're interested, Google 'asparagus + genetics'. ;-)

Not only have I been getting excited about asparagus soup, I've also been making felt stuff. Well, a felt thing.

You could tell that was coming really, couldn't you? The 'possibly called Gustav' (thanks to my Mum for the name suggestion :D) asparagus will soon be for sale in my Zibbet shop.

Artfire Collection of the Day Contest

2011-04-14T21:41:00.000+02:00

Artfire is currently running a contest where you can win a $100 gift certificate to spend in the Pro shop of your choice on Artfire. All you have to do is subscribe to their daily collection e-mail. You'll receive a unique code, and if that matches the code in the daily collection newsletter, you win $100 to spend in the shop of your choice.There's a new code every day, so someone will win $100 each day. Whee!

So, because it's always nice to do some window shopping, I started looking at some of the items on my favourites list, to see where I would spend my $100 if I won. Have a look at these pretties for inspiration.

Easter isn't too far away, so these gorgeous Easter cards by lieswinne caught my eye. Lise has a whole shop full of gorgeous cards, ACEOs and prints featuring her fantastic artwork.

Next up is a ring - yeah, you know me and jewellery. This ring is an unusual mix of sterling silver and brass, and it's beautifully made in a subtle shape by BarronDesignStudio. The shop is full of beautifully handmade jewellery - it's well worth a look.

Next is some unbelievably colourful handspun yarn, which makes me bitterly regret I stopped learning to knit at the beginner stage. This beautiful yarn is from WaterlooWools, and it is simply stunning - imagine a pair of socks in those colours!

Next up is some pretty stationery. I love the colours and patterns on these cute cards by sparetiredesign.

Finally, another shop I could easily spend my $100 in - I can't find one thing in silentgoddess' shop that I don't *need*.

Oh, so many pretty things, such happy shopping-y thoughts....*sigh*

Help save our bees!

2011-04-11T21:49:00.001+02:00

I am currently obsessed with bees. Especially bumble bees, with their fluffy bottoms.

Bumblebee in my garden last year

I have always been quite fond of them, but then I watched Great British Food Revival with Ainsley Harriott, and he was championing honey, and of course, bees. And the programme showed someone who kept bees on the roof of their flat. An actual hive!

Of course, being the rational realist that I am, I didn't immediately scour the internet to find out about bee-keeping. *ahem*

Anyway, bees are fascinating creatures, but many species are dying out (find out more about this on The Bumblebee Conservation Trust website). And even if we can't all keep bees in our gardens (curse you, tiny suburban garden!), we can do something to help. Even if you only have a window box, or balcony, you can grow a pot or two of plants which will attract bees. Check out these pretties...

Borage - beautiful blue, slightly alien-looking flower which is edible and are lovely floating in summer drinks like Pimms.

Borage flower - photo by PurpleGecko on Flickr

Pale pink geranium flowers - pretty, dainty, and beloved by bees:

Bloody Geranium - photo by Marylise Doctrinal on Flickr

Rosemary - yummy in food, and yummy to bees. Actually, quite a few herbs are popular with bees (e.g. sage, mint and thyme), so if you like to cook, grow some herbs in your garden and help bees as well.

Rosemary flowers - photo by m750 on Flickr

Oriental poppy. I'm a big fan of poppies, especially the bright red ones growing in fields and by the side of the road. But these peach ones are gorgeous too.

Oriental poppy - photo by beautifulcataya on Flickr

You can also find a list of ways you can help bees on the Help Save Bees site.

And finally, just because I could....I created an Artfire collection with a bee theme:

The beauty of bees

Curated By: KittyBallistic

ArtFire.com

Jewelry Supplies

Upcycling old jewellery into new

2011-04-06T21:38:00.000+02:00

I never know what the 'in' phrase is for this these days. Anyway, my lovely Mummy gave me some bits and pieces of old jewellery which she never wears, and I am planning to use it to make new pieces.

The pearl earrings could be rings, or possibly centre pieces for broochs. The single stone earring (not sure if it's moonstone or labradorite) is very pretty - not sure what to do with that. And the two brooches are very pretty. I don't think I'll be taking them to pieces, but I might add to them a bit. I also have this choker necklace:

It's really pretty, the beads are lovely. I apologise for the photo, I'm not sure why I didn't bother to arrange it in a neater fashion. It's the ideal colour for the April challenge on the Operation Tackle that Bead Stash blog:

Finally, now that Mother's Day has passed (in the UK at least), I can show you the earrings I made for my Mum:

I love these 'cathedral' style beads, and turquoise is one of my favourite colours. I might be forced to make myself a pair of these, as well as some for my shop.

Stylish Blogger Award

2011-04-05T22:28:00.000+02:00

At the beginning of March, I was lucky enough to be nominated for a Stylish Blogger Award. *pauses for rapturous applause*

The rather fabulous person who nominated me for the award was Claire from Les Bijoux De Claire. So thank you, Claire, for this lovely compliment. The stylish bit refers to my snappy dress sense, non? :D

Rather than making an emotional speech, thanking my parents etc. *waves to her mum*, the correct etiquette is as follows:

1. Make a post linking back to the person who gave you the award (see above).
2. Share 7 random things about yourself
3. Award 15 recently discovered bloggers with this award
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them they’ve won the award

Soooo.....seven random things about myself. Hmmm. OK, here goes....

1. I have a huge shark phobia. Actually, that's not just a phobia of huge sharks, even small ones scare me. Even photos of sharks scare me. Dolphins sometimes scare me, if they're being all underwater and loomy. I don't wish sharks any harm, I just want them to be away from where I can see them AT ALL TIMES. Kthxbai.

2. Actually, I have a few random phobias, aside from the one above. The oddest ones are my fear of the Universal sign at the beginning of films (although I'm not keen on the Warner Bros or...the one with the flying horse either), and washing machines. Or more accurately, looking inside the drum of the machine. As a student, I was not happy about using front loading washing machines at the laundrette. The shark thing makes sense, these....not so much.

3. I love to sing. In my head, I sound like Shirley Bassey. In real life....yeah, it's not so great. I even did some voice test thing on Youtube to determine my singing pitch. I am a baritone. *grumpy face* OK, so the officialish term is 'lady tenor', which in my opinion is wholly unacceptable, as it is far too similar to Tena Lady for my liking. Anyway, apparently, this is me:

Humph.

4. A couple of years ago I forced myself to eat olives, in order to acquire a taste for them. And now I can't stop eating them. My body is probably about 77% olives even now. The rest is cauliflower cheese, which I would eat every day, if I was allowed to.

5. I'd quite like to run my own tea shop. One with nice comfy chairs, lots of cushions, proper tea (with MILK!), and cake. Lots of cake.CAKE.

6. When I was younger (like school age), I wanted to be a midwife. Unfortuntely I wasn't able to get a place on the midwifery course I wanted, but I did get a place at nursing college. However, the college kept putting back my start date and by the time I was able to start, I'd found a job.

7. I love buying nail varnish, even though my fingernails are rarely in good enough condition to warrant a coat of polish, and my toes rarely see the light of day unless it's extremely warm. The more glitter, the better. I also love buying make up, in particular MAC eyeshadows. And no, I don't wear much make up - my eyes seem to react badly to allergies etc. I just like the pretty sparklies.

And finally, here are the 15 (pretty) recently discovered blogs I am nominating for the award:

1. Les Bijoux De Claire
2. Diary of a Vintage Girl - gorgeously glamorous!
3. Creativeapples -fine art, photography, tutorials and resources for crafters
4. Feeling Stitchy - bit of a cheat this one, as it's not new, but it is a fantastic blog about all things stitchy
5. Flamingo Toes - great name for a great blog, full of fab finds and tutorials
6. BrandiGirl - Brandi makes gorgeous jewellery and provides inspiration with her use of colours.
7. Bonkers About Buttons - this one is pretty self-explanatory. ;-)
8. Deridolls - another cheat, and I know I've mentioned her before, but seriously, she makes amazing dolls. Look. At. The. Detail. o_0
9. The Good, the Bad and the Internet - a showcase of what's great, and...not so great on the interwebz.
10. Something Sublime - stunning jewellery, fantastic photography.
11. Ric-Rac - yummy sewing and fabricy goodness. Warning - latest post contains a fantastic piece of work using the swears 'bumface' and 'fart'. :-D
12. Joojoo - stunning art and jewellery - so much talent!
13. I love Handmade - a great showcase of all things handmade.
14. BettyJoy Tutorials - very nice blog with loads of fantastic tutes.
15. Operation Tackle That Bead Stash - a lifesaver for those of us who are in need of inspiration of a beady nature.

So, I'll be contacting these blogs to let them know that they've been nominated shortly.

Otter charm necklace - handmade jewellery

2011-03-28T17:34:00.000+02:00

....(aka Otterly Splendid)

I have recently been joining Crafterminds chats every Monday evening (they're US-based, so they take place lateish in the evening, but they're worth staying up for) and the last chat was all about SEO. There was a load of great information in the chat, and one of the 'takeaways' (ick, sorry, still in work mode) was to use search-friendly titles for blog posts, rather than cutesy ones. Regular readers of my blog will know I loves me a good pun (well, actually, a bad pun), so this goes against my natural inclination. But I will give it a go.

Anyway, I recently got my 'paws' *smirk* on some rather cute charms, and this weekend I decided to use one of them to make myself a simple necklace:

It's teeny tiny but super cute. That's the best pic I have at the moment, as for some reason, I teamed the otter with a disproportinately large crystal bead, which means the poor otter can't stand up straight. Then again, they spend a lot of time lounging about in the wild, so maybe I'm just being accurate. Yeah, that's it.

Maybe I should've made the necklace with two otter charms? But seriously, look at the cute. My girlcat, Phoebe, gets called otter, because she sometimes looks like she has otter paws. Mind you, she also gets called BatBearCat as well. Moving swiftly on...

I've also made my Mum a little pressie as it's Mother's Day in the UK this coming weekend. However, as she has managed to find my blog before now, I'm not posting a pic - I don't want to spoil the surprise. Instead, here's a pic of some earrings I made this weekend.

Oh, and I have also recently been awarded not one but two blog awards. The first is a Stylish Blogger Award, and I was nominated by the lovely Claire from Les Bijoux de Claire. The second is a Versatile Blogger Award, and I received that nomination from the charming Jess of The Vintage Huntress. Thank you both for nominating me, I will blog more about these awards in the coming few days.

Spring colours: items from Artfire

2011-03-22T20:50:00.000+01:00

I've been poorly with a flu-cold-virus thing for the last few days, so I'm posting this collection of pretty Spring colours to cheer myself up. A little self-indulgent, but what the heck! Normal service will be resumed...sometime this week. :-)

Spring colours

Curated By: KittyBallistic

ArtFire.com

Craft Supplies

Sulky Sunday showcase

2011-03-13T15:14:00.000+01:00

Meh. I spent two hours this morning writing a blog post (interrupted occasionally by the Husbinator, who was attempting to bake bread, and paying no attention whatsoever to instructions or recipes), and whilst trying to upgrade to the new post editor, I lost the post. Gone. *poof* For. Ever.

I am too ragey to rewrite it today, so instead, I thought I'd share a few pics of stuff I've made recently. *clicks the save button*

First up are some red lace earrings. I found this yummy red lace at our local buttony craft shop:

And some more lace earrings:

I know that background paper doesn't really work with intricate lace items, but it's so pretty, I wanted to use it:

Yum! Speaking of pretty colours, the Husbinator found these dinky storage pots at the supermarket yesterday:

I think they're meant to be spice jars, but I will use them for something crafty. Tiny buttons which need to be kept fresh, perhaps?

A cupcake themed collection

2011-03-11T21:07:00.003+01:00

After last week's baking session, I am now obsessed with cake. More so than usual, I mean. I have been gazing adoringly at stand mixers. I shouldn't be so shallow, it's just a kitchen appliance, but...oh my!

I'm not sure I can justify the high price tag that Kitchenaid stuff has in Europe, but it sure is purty. *mesmerised by the shiny*

And seeing as my mind was full of cakey thoughts, I decided to make another Artfire collection:

My cakey, bakey h...

Curated By: KittyBallistic

ArtFire.com

Indie Design

A moderately successful baking session

2011-03-05T17:30:00.002+01:00

I got it into my head that I needed to make some cupcake toppers - I have some ideas in mind. And of course, I needed cupcakes to try them out on, so I searched for some recipes and found this one. I love lemony cakes, so they sounded ideal. We went shopping this morning, and of course, there were no poppy seeds. Apparently they're not a regular baking ingredient. Oh well. So, I went ahead and baked the cakes without them. And it was only once the cakes were in the oven that I realised I hadn't even started making the toppers. So, let's just consider these as a trial run, shall we?

I am slightly impressed with my icing skills, especially as I made the icing too early, and then was too impatient to wait until the cakes were completely cool which meant that the icing was very soft. The cakes taste goooood though. More baking next weekend, as the Husbinator wants some chocolate cakes.

Until then, here are a few cupcake finds to tide us over.

Mmmmmmmmargarita cupcakes by Annie's Eats

Oh em gee - Beatles cupcakes by Fluffy cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes with booze-filled, flaming strawberries - by Sprinkle Bakes

He's the greatest dancer!

2011-02-27T16:00:00.005+01:00

It had to happen sooner or later. It was only a matter of time. And my birthday weekend in Dublin finally inspired me...

As is customary, I am not 100% happy - Anton du Felt deserves shinier shoes, his hair isn't quite right AND he really needs a mouth. I know, I know, my felt creations are usually sans bouche, and that amuses me. But Anton *is* known for his winning smile, and somehow, it's just not him. Still, he is wearing tails (I will try to get a decent photo when the entire house isn't covered in bits of felty fluff) AND a cummerbund. I didn't tie his bowtie in the proper way because...well, clearly I have waaay too much time on my hands, but not *that* much. At least it's not on elastic, like a waiter, eh, Anton? <---he doesn't read my blog, I know - I'm not quite that deluded. I am quite pleased with how the photo turned out though. The Strictly Come Dancing trophy is amusing me no end. :D Although that could be an effect of using fabric glue without opening the window.

This is the photo I used as inspiration - it's on Anton's website:

Marvellous!

Experimenting with a white background for photos

2011-02-26T16:06:00.005+01:00

So after getting all overexcited about backgrounds in this post, a thread was started on the Artfire forums about trying to use 'catalogue style' photos to see if they affected views and sales. I tried out a couple of shots, but I wasn't keen. Anyway, I stumbled across this blog, with a handy tutorial on making a white background for your photos using a cardboard box and some foamboard.

So I tried it out - first with a cardboard box and some white card. This was not successful. So I managed to find some foamboard at our local craft shop, and here's what I made:

I just used the board taped together, rather than trying to fix it to a cardboard box. It seems to work OK. And here's the shot I got of that ring:

It's a quick snapshot, taken in quite poor light (there was some sunshine earlier today, but it's raining now), but it's not bad. It's not as white as the next photo, so I could improve on it.

I also took a pic of these new button earrings which I made earlier on:

The earrings were being tricky little beggars to photograph, so the pic is slightly out of focus.

I don't know if I really like the white background or not yet. I think I will need to take some more pics in order to decide. I also did a sort of comparision with another recent make.

This is the sort of photo I'd normally take these days - patterned background (possibly this is a bit too busy, but I liked the colours) and a prop of some description:

Here is the same pendant with a plain background and prop:

And here it is in the new white background box:

It's not exactly a scientific study, as the last photo uses a different set up without any props. But give me your opinion anyway - which picture do you prefer?

Heart swap - the lovely goodies I received!

2011-02-23T19:48:00.006+01:00

I think I've probably already mentioned that I took part in the Heart Swap organised by the lovely Lisa of NoodleBubble. I sent off the stuff I made for my swap 'victim' almost two weeks ago, but I didn't hear if she got it yet. Hmmm.

However....my parcel arrived today - yay! And look what Clare sent me:

The bag is so pretty, the colours are amazing. I rushed the photo so I could blog it today - I will try to get a better pic of the bag in all its glory over the weekend.

I love the details too:

And as if that wasn't enough....

Cute bird stamps! Ink pad! Sticky sparkles! CHOCOLATE!

Thank you very much, Clare, for all the goodies - I am thrilled with them. You can find Clare's blog here, by the way. And thank you, Lisa, for organising this swap. I just hope my swap recipient gets her parcel from me soon...

Fabric flower ring and lace earrings

2011-02-20T19:08:00.006+01:00

I'm still finding Pinterest addictive, especially for finding craft tutorials. My current obsession appears to be fabric flowers - I am pinning loads of fab tutorials. And I'm even getting round to making stuff too. Check it out!

It's a dinky fabric flower ring. I followed a tutorial from Mrs Priss' blog, and it was surprisingly simple. I do, however, need to get a decent lighter - the two I have are not easy to use for this kind of project.

I also made some earrings with vintage lace and tiny bows:

Again, I followed a tutorial - this time from Trey and Lucy. I'm quite pleased with the tiny bows I made.

I also found another tutorial for similar earrings, which recommends using glue or starch spray on the lace. I might try the glue, but I have no real use for starch spray. *doesn't do ironing*

I have also made a necklace like this:

Picture from HonestlyWTF blog

I haven't got a decent photo because it's dark now - will have a go at getting one in the week.

Oh, and if you're on Pinterest, you can find me here.

Backgrounds for your craft photos

2011-02-16T10:52:00.012+01:00

If you make jewellery or other craft items, chances are you'll want to photograph them to show them off, even if you don't sell them online. And the best way to make sure that your item stands out well is to have a good background. There is a lot of discussion about backgrounds - should it be plain, patterned, dark, light? Some people prefer a plain, white background, other like to have texture, colour, and even props included.

There is no one background that suits all photos. And as most of us don't have access to a professional photo studio, we're probably taking photos at home on the kitchen table, or maybe outside on the patio (weather-permitting). So having a few different backgrounds to various types of items is a good idea. Scrapbook paper is one of my favourites at the moment - I like to use complimentary patterns and colours:

But I can't always find papers to suit, plus they're not always big enough to allow me to get the photo I want. So when I saw this tutorial about Creating your own backgrounds for your photos on A Lemon Squeezy Home, I was thrilled.

Image by Christie at A Lemon Squeezy Home

The article shows some great ways to create your own background boards from 20 x 30 craft boards - I guess you can pick them up in art supply stores? They're probably the sort of board you'd use to mount prints or photos, I think. The tutorial shows how to use different paint effects, and even doilies, to create unique backgrounds. And the best part is, you can choose exactly the colour you want! I especially love the 'Create' board, which uses puffy paint to write on the board, and of course, the Graffiti look.

The article also got me thinking - instead of paint, could I use textured wallpaper to create a background board? Hmmmm....

Anyway, have a look at the article, and see if you get inspired, like me, to look at backgrounds. Here's a few parting shots of backgrounds I like on Artfire, just to get you thinking even more...

Aqua Chalcedony and Sterling Silver ring by I_Obsess

Vintage button hair bobbies by KreatedbyKelly

Sakura Coral and Silver earrings by TheSheriffsDaughter

Playing with colour palettes

2011-02-13T19:48:00.004+01:00

I am a big fan of colour. And I am also a big fan of Brandigirl's blog. She showcases colours in the most beautiful ways AND makes stunning jewellery. Seriously, her shop should carry a warning, you will want EVERYTHING in it.

Anyway, I fancied having a go at making a colour palette from a photo, so when I read that Brandi was doing another Colour Palette blog walk, I decided to try. Basically, you need to take a photo of something that inspires you, and make a colour palette from it (Brandi even helpfully gives instructions on how to make on on her blog). Simple, eh? Well, it should be. Except...well, what inspires me? Flowers? Cake? Baby animals? It's a tricky one. So, while I am mulling it over, I decide to hone my colour palette skills on some of my Artfire favourites. So, here goes!

First up are some stunning lampwork earrings by GlassRiverJewelry. I think the colours are amazing.

Next is an art print from JessicaDoyle. Again, fabulous colours, but much more subtle than my first choice. Love it!

And now some more lampwork, this time from AlishaWhite. These glass discs are beautiful, and make my mouth water. Which probably isn't a good thing, really.

I did also have a go at one of my own photos - not something I made, just playing around with a photo from Dublin. And yes, I know, I was meant to write another post about our trip - it's coming, I promise.

It's a close-up of some graffiti on the 'U2 wall' in Windmill Lane. There's not much about U2 there at the moment, but there were some nice colourful bits to keep me happy.

I have to say, I thought Pinterest was the most addictive thing ever, but I think colour palettes could take the lead. They are a lot of fun to make, but be warned - once you pop, you can't stop! :D

The magical mystery tour

2011-02-09T21:16:00.005+01:00

Apologies for my absence, but as you can probably guess from the title of this post, I've been away. In fact, I was whisked, whisked away by the fabulous Husbinator for my birthday weekend. I didn't find out where I was going until a few hours before we were due to leave. I knew we were going away, but my guesses of Giraffeworld and MonkeyLegoLand were incorrect (although vastly amusing, in my opinion).

I won't keep you in suspense, dear reader (although if you're my friend on Facebook or Twitter, you'll already know) - we went to....

Ta dah dah DAH! That pic is taken from a 'scrapbook' which the Husb made for me - fair made me well up, it did. And in case you've never heard of Dublin:

Which is fair enough. :D So, now that we're all on the same page (geddit?), I will continue. Because, gentle reader, this is just the beginning of the excitementgiddification. We stayed in the Clarence Hotel, which is owned by *fanfare* Bono and the Edge! *squee* It was a really lovely hotel, very nice staff, good cocktails (more of that in a later post), and basically the ideal place to chill out in. I didn't spot Bono or the Edge waiting tables, but to be fair, we only had dinner there on one evening. :D

But wait: there's moar!

I know I've bored you all to tears with my worship of the Edge, but I have yet to drone on about my adoration of the lovely Anton du Beke, suave star of Strictly Come Dancing, and all round splendid chap. Well, anyway. It just so happens that he and his gorgeous dance partner, Erin Boag, were also in Dublin that weekend, with their show, Puttin' on the Ritz. Have you guessed yet? HAVE YOU? Because, oh yes, we had tickets to see their show. 8th row from the stage, baby! The show was fantastic - fabulous dancing, great singing, the band was great, and there was plenty of banter in between songs. Marvellous, as Anton would say. And....it gets better. Oh, how it gets better!

That's me! With Anton! Seriously, it's not Photoshopped! He and Erin were both SO lovely, took lots of time to speak to their fans, signing autographs and such. Anton is exactly as charming and funny as you'd expect, and Erin is just lovely, chatty, elegant, and so pretty too - it's just not fair! Not only did I get that photo, I also got this:

It was my birthday on Monday. And what a birthday present I got. I am a very lucky woman indeed. Thank you again to the wonderful husbinator, for making this a very special birthday indeed. x

I do have photos of Dublin, honest - I'll do another post about that later this week. :D

Handmade Heaven: Ten Terrific Tutorials!

2011-01-29T21:02:00.007+01:00

OK, so I might have gone a bit overboard with the alliteration in the post title, but I love to look at tutorials, and I'm getting quite a collection. So I thought I'd share some of my favourites with you. In no particular order...

Super pretty lace earrings by Trey and Lucy- these are ideal for me, as I don't like heavy earrings.

Sweet little shrink plastic snowflake pendant by The Long Thread - well, you know me and shrink plastic.

Clever window cards by Carolyn's Homework: a fun and easy greeting card idea.

Amazingly simple to make fabric flower ring by V and Co: these are simple to make and kits are also available if you don't have the bits and pieces on hand already.

Tiny succulent plants in teacups! Check out this lovely tutorial by epheriell designs.

Lace flower hairpin by Aly & Ash: This would also make a cute brooch.

Origami heart earrings by ChubbyHobby:These are so cute, and again, nice and light.

Pompoms made from old t-shirts by Craftaholics Anonymous: These are made into a decoration for a room, but smaller ones would make a cute bag charm or keyring. Or, as I was thinking, cat toy. :D

Lavender wands by Lillyella: Will have to wait for summer to try out this one, but it looks so nice and simple.

Fork pompom tutorial by eskimimiknits: A simple way to make dinky pompoms. So quick and easy, now I need to make a gazillion pompoms.

So, those are just a few of the things on my to-do list for the coming months. I'd love to know what you have planned. If you have any great tutorials, please feel free to share them in the comments below.

Handmade in Europe Artfire Guild Gift Swap

2011-01-21T21:02:00.004+01:00

Our Guild decided to do something a little different, and instead of a Secret Santa, we sent out New Year's gifts to our swap partner. We thought that it would be nice to receive a little parcel of goodies after the new year, when it all seems a bit gloomy and bleak. I was lucky enough to receive a parcel of treasures from Victoria of Butterfly-Crafts - have a look at what I got! Once again, I am being spoiled.

The first thing I saw was this - a gorgeous handmade bag!

And look at the lining too! *lovehearts*

The rest of my loot is shown below: a book about making cards using peeloffs (I have a LOAD of these, so inspiration about how to use them is always welcome) and some card blanks to use them on, a couple of stamps, some yummy smelling vanilla aroma beads, a pretty blue beaded bracelet, and a bag of choccie coins!

Close up of the beaded bracelet - the beads are so pretty, and it's one of my favourite colours too.

The aroma beads are by Pegasus Soaps, and the bracelet is by Catinalife, both on Artfire. So a big thank you to both of them, and a huge thank you to Victoria for all my gifts. I am thrilled with them all!

Colours for Spring

2011-01-15T14:39:00.003+01:00

Since well before Christmas, I've been moaning about the lack of colours in the shops. I try to avoid wearing black as much as possible, as it doesn't suit me. I'm sick of wearing grey and neutral colours, I wanted some bright colours to wear. So I am pleased to see that some colour is creeping slowly into the shops now. And I had more or less decided that coral pink was going to be my colour this year. I'm not really a big fan of pink, but I can cope with coral. :D So when I saw Pantone's colour trends for Spring 2011, well, I wasn't too disappointed.
Honeysuckle is a bit too pink for me, but Pantone have named it 'Colour of 2011', which amuses me slightly (was there an award ceremony?). I could totally get behind 'Peapod', 'Blue Curacao' and 'Lavender'. Coral Rose looks a bit too orangey for me, but maybe I will learn to love it.

Here are a few items I found on Artfire to tempt you to try Honeysuckle. I might even be tempted myself, actually...

A buttony new year to all!

2011-01-09T15:17:00.011+01:00

Well, we're into 2011 and my obsession with buttons continues unabated. I bought some more buttons yesterday (I was actually quite restrained *proud*). Here they are mixed in with some old new buttons, and some old old buttons. :-)

I bought the leaf bowl yesterday too, but it's slightly too deep to show off the buttons properly. I shall have to fill it with something else instead. Ferrero Rocher, perhaps?

And I've just noticed that the blue buttons I bought are all upside down in that photo - doh! This is what they look like when they're not being shy, having been turned into earrings:

I made several pairs of earrings with buttons bought yesterday, they'll be in my Artfire shop soon.

I started thinking, though - I have a lot of buttons, and it seems a shame to *only* make jewellery from them. So I decided to look around for inspiration, to see what else I could make using buttons. And there are a lot of fantastic ideas out there - here are just a few of my favourites.

This gorgeous tree uses not just buttons, but also an old cotton reel - double whammy!

Image by Kitsch&curious on Flickr

Another item added to my 'must-make list' are these gorgeous paper and button flowers by Itchin Stitchin:

Speaking of flowers, what about a beautiful button bouquet for a bride to be?

Image by lilfishstudios on Flickr

This felted bowl uses buttons as just the right amount of embellishment - perfect!

Image by thefuzzymonkey on Flickr

And while I love the idea of using buttons on cards, I don't think I could part with these:

Image from dailypoetic on Flickr

So, now I have plenty of inspiration for buttony makes this year. AND I've had the wonderful idea of creating a 'to make' list on my blog, so I can find my ideas and tutorials. If you have any fabulous ideas for buttony makes for me, please leave me a comment. Thanks!

Thinking of Spring

2011-01-02T16:47:00.004+01:00

Yes, I know, day two of 2011 and I'm already thinking about Spring. The snow is still not shifting here, and although it has been much milder over the last few days, you can still hear the ice crackling on the road every time a car drives past the house. So without wanting to wish the year away, I thought it would be nice to remind ourselves that warmer, brighter days *are* coming...eventually. And so I made a new Artfire collection (yes, another one!). I was surprised by how few snowdrop items there were on Artfire - are they called something else in the U.S., I wonder?

Thinking of Spring

Curated By: KittyBallistic

ArtFire.com

Handmade Gifts

New Year Sale 2011

2011-01-01T19:00:00.002+01:00

I've decided to hold a sale in my Artfire shop to make some space for new items. So from now until midnight on 7th January (2011), I will have a special sale section in my shop. If you've got some money just burning a hole in your pocket, you want to treat yourself to a little something nice for New year, or maybe you want to make an early start on Christmas shopping for the end of the year (I'll try not to judge), then check it out. And just to make things simple for you, I've created a collection to show off some of the items on sale. Because I'm nice like that. ;-)

My New Year Sale ...

Curated By: KittyBallistic

ArtFire.com

Jewelry Supplies

Getting organised for the new year - pimping jam jars

2011-01-01T13:04:00.005+01:00

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2011 - I hope you all have a happy, peaceful, and healthy year.

I am hoping to be more organised this year, and I'm trying to get my craft supplies under control. So when I spotted this tutorial on Design Sponge (via Pinterest - be warned, Pinterest is very addictive), I knew I wanted to try it. I use glass jars to store beads and buttons at the moment, but this way, I get to pimp my jam jars. And how often does one get chance to do that? :D So, here is one of the heroes of our tale:

We get through quite a lot of these, as we get all our packaged veggies in jars now. Apparently, aluminium cans are bad, m'kay? I also have a few Bonne Maman jam jars, which look quite cute already with their gingham lids, but I also pimped one of these, just for the heck of it. I don't need another excuse to stuff my face with jam, but I'll take it.

The tutorial suggested using scraps of paper you have lying about, and I had just the thing. It's an envelope from the Dutch version of the RAC/AA - I love these envelopes, the insides are so pretty:

So, I followed the tute, drawing, cutting, pasting (and getting ModgePodge under my fingernails), and here are the resulting pimped jars:

They look even better when filled with pretties:

Not sure what's going on with the camera angle - they look a bit odd. Anyway, I think they've turned out rather well. I have some more jars waiting for their makeover, I just need to figure out where I've put the packet of origami papers I have. *sigh*

Handmade Christmas goodies

2010-12-29T13:17:00.003+01:00

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. I did, it was nice and quiet, with lots of good food and lovely pressies. I was thoroughly spoilt and received so many lovely things. I took part in the Crafteroo Secret Santa and an ornament swap (which I organised), and here are some of the goodies I received from my swap partners.

First up, the ornament swap. My partner is Claire Hurd of Claire Hurd Designs. She makes gorgeous felt creations, and I was lucky enough to receive not one, but three beautiful items PLUS a pretty card (which is on display downstairs, so I don't have a photo at the moment). But look!
They are so beautifully made, such neat stitching. I love them, and am envious of Claire's sewing skills! I also received this dinky felt brooch:

It looks massive in that photo, but it's about 1.5 inches wide. It's made from lovely neutral shades of felt, with stitched detail. Gorgeous! Thank you so much, Claire!

I was also lucky with my Secret Santa partner - lookit all the pressies!

This gorgeous little bowl is crocheted then felted (I think) - it is soooo soft and such a pretty colour. It's ideal for storing jewellery in, which is exactly what I'll be using it for. But at the moment, it contains....buttons!

Yummy, yummy buttons! I am already planning what I will use them for. And there's more!

Amazing ceramic owl buttons in my favourite colours! I love them SO much. And there's still more....

It's a lovely soft flower brooch - so pretty. And even the gift tag is beautiful:

Love the fabric used - I may keep this to use as a bookmark!

I am so grateful to my Crafteroo Secret Santa, and to Claire, for making me such lovely things - thank you both! I'm feeling inspired to make things myself now.

Snow and tell

2010-12-12T20:43:00.008+01:00

See what I did there? It's actually not even topical now, as all the snow has melted. Tsk.

Again, apologies for not having posted for ages - the usual excuses apply. Plus I've been feverishly crafting things for Secret Santas, and of course, I can't show those pics yet. But....I can show some of the lovely things I've acquired in the last week or two.

First up, my gluhwein mug from Aachen in Germany. Which has just reminded me that I haven't posted my pics from the Christmas markets yet. Oops.

Not only did we get to drink some yummy gluhwein, but we got to keep the cute mug it came in!

I've also made some festive purchases at our local supermarket, which I usually do round Christmas and Easter time. They have a nice selection of decs and such, so I have a few goodies for storage purposes.

This cute storage tin was very reasonably priced, so how could I resist it? I also have an Easter one in a similar style, with bunnies and chicks on it. :D

Bowl from the same shop. Not sure what I will fill this with. Ferrero Rocher, perhaps?

And finally, the peas du resistance. Ta da da DAH!

Yes, it is plastic, and it's not very 'vintage homes, dahling', but I love it. Zooming in....

Candy-striped glass bead earrings which will be in my shop just as soon as we get decent enough light for me to get some photos taken.

Festive spangles. Some tiny bells which I am determined will be used to annoy folks in the run-up to Christmas (oooh, maybe I need festive bell earrings for work?) and snowflakes which will be used to decorate presents.

And of course, buttons. Freshly bought from a fabulous Artfire seller called BrizelSupplies. Do NOT all charge over there and buy out her entire shop, please, I'm not sure I'm finished shopping yet. ;-) Check out those gorgeous yellow buttons bottom right of the photo. They will be featured in their own extreme close-up shot very soon. Oh yes.

That's it for now. As I said, I'm hoping for a bit of sunshine this week, so I can try to get some photos taken of things I've made. We are forecast some more snow later this week (woop!) so the title of this post will be relevant again, which is handy.

Artfire collection crazy!

2010-11-25T22:22:00.003+01:00

I've been exceptionally busy at work this week (how dare work get in the way of my fun time?), which has meant I've been getting home later than usual, with less energy than I usually have (which isn't that much, frankly). So I've been making a few collections of Artfire items, and I hit the front page jackpot with one of them. Checkit!

In the meadow we ...

Curated By: KittyBallistic

ArtFire.com

Vintage Fashion

It's a very silly take on a few lines from 'Winter Wonderland', but I like it. I've had a lot of comments on it, which is lovely.

I thought I was being a clever clogs with an original idea for the next collection:

The twelve days o...

Curated By: KittyBallistic

ArtFire.com

Craft Tutorials

But no, someone else also had the same idea. :D

And my latest collection showcases a variety of gorgeous items from the Handmade in Europe Guild.

A festive touch f...

Curated By: KittyBallistic

ArtFire.com

Handmade Gifts

The Guild is growing in size, so I was delighted to feature some of our newer members, as well as show off the work of some of our 'veteran' Guild members. ;-)

Making collections is highly addictive, and it is a thrill to see your collection featured on the front page of Artfire, or in one of the newsletters. They are a great way to promote your shop, or Guild, but they are also a fabulous tool for getting gift ideas for every occasion. Why not have a look, or if you're an Artfire seller, have a go at making a collection yourself?!

Improving product photos

2010-11-20T16:58:00.007+01:00

I have been wanting to reshoot some photos of items in my shop for a while now, but the weather hasn't been that great. I do have a light tent, but I still prefer to take my photos in natural light. Possibly because that way I don't have to get my tripod set up. *lazy*

Anyway, today we had an hour or two of sunshine, so I quickly took a few shots of some items already in my shop, as well as photographing a new item. Have a look, and let me know what you think.

Before:
After:

These Christmas tree earrings look a little more festive now I've used some sparkly scrapbook paper as a background.

Before:

After:

These smoky quartz earrings look much better with a different background too. I found some yummy 'Paris' paper for this photo, although I had to crop out the Eiffel Tower. Le oops!

Same background, with a hint of Tour Eiffel this time. This necklace is new to my shop. And I've spotted some similar beads in my stash which may need to be used for another necklace very soon.

I am hoping to get some more pics done tomorrow, as the weather forecast looks promising.

GLOW Eindhoven 2010

2010-11-10T20:18:00.005+01:00

Last night we went into town to see the GLOW festival. During this exhibition, various buildings and locations around the city centre are transformed using light and light techniques. Despite the awful weather, town was absolutely packed (the festival is on for just over a week), and we didn't get to see all the exhibits. However, what we did see was pretty amazing.

The church was lit with stripes...then fish swam across it. It was then engulfed in flames, and eventually ice. Not sure why I only took a photo of the stripes though. Huh.

Not a great photo, this was a musical instrument, a bit like tubular bells, lit in a lovely purple colour. A nice interactive piece, as you can tell.

Text and funky patterns painted across the main market square.

Difficult to see, but the metal beams were covered with pistons and cogs which moved. Cool!

A rainy view of flowers and stars.

And the 'star' attraction (at least for us) - the transformation of one of the main shopping streets into a sort of Las Vegas (only not as cheesy):

This transformation was done using wooden structures covered with thousands of LED lights. The effect was stunning.

A view of the ceiling. I had to lean against Mr B so I didn't topple backwards. :D

Because we missed a few exhibits, we're considering going again before the weekend (when the festival closes). Yes, it was *that* good.

For more details about GLOW, check out their website.

Glass lampwork beads collection on front page of Artfire!

2010-10-30T21:51:00.002+02:00

Check me out with my snappy post title and ting! I made a new collection only last night - took me ages, because of all the pretties. Anyway, I woke up this morning to discover that my collection had been on the front page of Artfire - w00t! So, here it is, in all its beady loveliness. Enjoy!

Luscious lampwork

Curated By: KittyBallistic

ArtFire.com

Fine Art Paintings

A sweet little tutorial

2010-10-24T14:06:00.005+02:00

You lucky, lucky people, I've decided to make another tutorial for you. This one is nice and easy, and uses up any spare scraps of felt you have lying about the place.

Felt sweeties tutorial

What you will need:

Scraps of felt in various colours - thinner is better for this, as you need to be able to 'gather' it
Polystyrene balls or wooden beads - the ones I used are about 3/4 inch
Embroidery thread to match and contrast the felt you're using
Scissors, needle and pins

1. Cut a piece of felt to a rough square shape of about 3 inches and place a polystyrene ball in the centre

Ooh, a tiny golf ball!

2. Roll the felt round the ball and make sure that the sides meet - there should be a small overlap so that the ball is covered.

Giant finger of dooooom!

3. Use a pin to hold the felt in place.

4. Using thread the same colour as the felt, use several stitches in the middle of the tube to hold the two edges together.

It looks much neater in real life, honest!

5. Cut two short lengths of contrasting thread (about 4 or 5 inches long). Turn the tube over so that the stitching is underneath and make sure that the ball is still in the middle of the tube. Use one piece of thread to tie up the end of the tube.

6. Again, make sure that the bead is in the centre of the tube, and then use the other piece of thread to tie up the other end of the tube. Make sure that you use at least a double knot, and make it nice and tight to gather the felt nicely.

7. Carefully trim the thread, and if necessary, trim the ends of the felt tube so that they look equal.

Ta-DAH! You have just made a felt sweetie! Why not make a bowlful as a decoration for the holidays? Be careful about leaving them lying about if you have young children, nosy pets, or short-sighted relatives though.

You could also string them into a garland and hang them on your Christmas tree. Either thread cotton through the finished sweeties (if you use polystyrene balls) or use wooden beads, and thread cotton/cord through the beads and then make the felt tubes around them.

If you do use this tutorial to make felt sweeties, I would love to see your photos of them. Please feel free to leave a comment or link on this post. However, please do make these items to sell. Thank you, and happy sweetie-making!

ETA: Now featured on craftgawker - yay!

Adventures with Art Clay Silver

2010-10-17T12:46:00.006+02:00

My Art Clay Silver starter kit arrived this week (more details in this post), and I was patient enough to wait until the weekend to try it out (which also meant that the eye infection I had had cleared up, which was helpful, as I needed to be able to see what I was doing :D).

I was very excited about trying it out. So much so that I just went ahead and starting playing with the clay, instead of calmly taking photos. So the photos start halfway through the process - sorry!

The clay looks a disappointingly dull grey when it comes out of the packet, and there's not much of it. At all. So you have to be vewy carefuw with it. [/Elmer Fudd] I spent a long time deciding what to make, as there were so many things to try. I really wanted to make myself a ring, but had read that it wasn't the easiest thing for a beginner to try, so I settled on making a pendant.

I assembled the required kit on the ~~ironing board~~ craft worktable, rolled out the clay and then cut out the shape I wanted. Fortunately I had some cutter shapes left over from my polymer clay work, so I was able to use one of those. I cut out a star shape, gave it texture using a metal button I had (yes, had to get buttons in here somewhere) and pierced a hole in the top of the star, ready for a jump ring later on. The clay was then baked in the oven for about 20 minutes to dry it out. Once dry, you can file and smooth any rouch edges on the piece. I did this, although clearly not as thoroughly as I should've - see quality control comments later. *tuts*

Now for the exciting bit.

After drying, the clay turns from grey to white.

Yeah, it doesn't look much now...but just you wait!

The next step is to 'fire' the clay. I used a cook's torch - the type wielded on TV by chefs making creme brulee and so on. Meet....The Flameinator!

For some reason, I had a total mental block with the torch, and kept turning the gas dial the wrong way, thus extinguishing the flame. *makes loser sign at self*

Anyway, the clay piece was placed onto the fire block (which itself was resting on an old wooden chopping board), I lit the torch, and began to fire the clay.

Once the clay starts to heat up, the organic binders burn away, and the piece bursts into flames for a few seconds. I'm making it sound way more dramatic than it actually is, but it's my blog, and I likes a bit o' drama.

After a short while, the clay begins to glow and once it reaches a 'peachy-orange' colour, you need to start a timer, so you can fire the piece for the right amount of time.

See? Glowy. Pretty.

Once the time is up, the piece is left to cool, or if you're impatient, you can 'quench' the piece in a bowl of cold water. Guess what I did? :D

The clay is still white and dull - it looks pretty much the same as it did after drying out in the oven. But this is where it all gets a bit magical. Using a wire brush, you gently brush the clay to reveal the sparkly silver.

You can just about see the difference between the brushed silver side and the unbrushed, white side.

I continued to brush the clay until it was silver. You can choose to stop at this point, and the piece will have a 'satin' finish.

However, I wanted to make it shinier, so I used different grades of sandpaper, some silver polish and a cloth, to finish the piece. And here it is:

I am quite happy with how it turned out. I think it needs a couple of sparkly beads or crystals hanging from the jump ring, but overall, I'm pleased with it. My Quality Control Officer (aka Mr B) was slightly more critical about it, noticing the slight fingerprint mark on the back of the piece (I couldn't see it, although I'll admit that the back of the piece could be smoother).

Anyway, for a first attempt, I am pleased with it. I will definitely be making more metal clay items in future. I want to investigate the possibilities of adding items to the silver clay after firing as well...*mysterious*

Brown Sugar Blue - a new Artfire collection

2010-10-15T22:32:00.006+02:00

One of my items has just been featured in an Artfire collection, and it's sooo pretty. I love dark blue anyway, and this collection teams it with a touch of copper, and some caramel shades. It's so pretty. Take a look! And thanks to Riskybeads, who curated the collection.

Brown Sugar Blue

Curated By: riskybeads

ArtFire.com

Fine Art Paintings

Precious Metal Clay - more new toys!

2010-10-10T17:51:00.003+02:00

Yes, I've decided I need to have a play about with some metal clay, so I've ordered an Art Clay Silver starter kit, which should be with me next weekend. Yay!

Art Clay silver is a special clay which contains tiny particles of real silver. It can be moulded into virtually any shape, just like regular polymer clay. However, instead of baking it in the oven, you need to allow the metal clay to air dry, then you 'fire' it. Firing can be done over a gas hob (or even a camping stove), in a kiln (or mini-kiln - *squee*), or using a blow torch (which is what I'll be doing). Once the clay is fired, it turns an unimpressive dull white colour, and it is brushed and polished until it shines silver. The nice thing about the Art Clay stuff is that it is environmentally friendly - at least, as much as it is possible. The silver in the clay is reclaimed from photographic supplies, circuit boards, etc. And each piece made with the clay is classed as fine silver, which means it's 99.9% silver, and can be marked with a '999' stamp.

I am *so* excited about trying it out, I've been looking on the internet to see what others have made with metal clay, and there are some amazing pieces of work out there. Have a look at these!

Metal clay and fused glass ring by GlassFancy

Lucite flower and metal clay earrings by Destiny's Creations

Red pearl and fine silver necklace by Barking Dog Gallery

Castle Ring by Wearable By Design

There are so many amazing pieces of work, I can't wait to get my starter kit so I can try to make something too! Must be patient....must be patient.... ;-)