When a Wreath is not a Wreath.....

it's a mobile....

I saw a photo of a wreath made with these paper hearts and have to say I was not impressed but I could see potential.  So I set to work and made 12 hearts (dead simple) and set them out on my desk in the shape of the wreath.

No!!!!!!!!!!!  it quite simply didn't work, too big and not terribly substantial.  So I took 4 hearts away - ah that's better but what do I do with the spare hearts - ping light bulb moment - make a second tier.  But then it's not a wreath - it's a...........

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mobile!!!!!

Well that sounded simple enough but the mechanics of joining the two tiers so that they hung straight was a bit thought provoking.  But after looking at it from all angles I worked it out and worked out how to hang it.  Now how to make it pretty and to get movement in it.  Firstly I printed off 4 of my Tilda stamp images and then I flipped the images and printed 4 to go on the backs.  Coloured and glittered them and fitted them to the centre of the mobile.  It still needed something else so I cut and glittered 8 little butterflies and fixed them to the mobile using thin strips of acetate so that they looked as if they were flying and voila.......one mobile.

Santa doesn't believe in Bah Humbug

a little pressie for a dear friend who does believe in Bah Humbug - perhaps I can change her mind.

a mish mash of things that

I have forgotten to post of late.....

top box for Arn and the other two for friends.

The 8 Nights of Chanukah - night 8

and so to the last of my 8 Nights of Chanukah Tags.

I'm sorry to have finished and yet happy to see the full set at last.  I'll try and get a photo of them all in situ next week.

The 8 Nights of Chanukah - night 7

you have probably realised by now that I am going through a range of colours - each one leading into the next. I wasn't sure how I would enjoy the final two colours - today's being gold, not a colour I work with much - but thankfully the first one has turned out fine. Now I just have the final tag to make and will be searching the old grey matter for something apt, but for now here is the seventh night....

The 8 Nights of Chanukah - night 6

I have to admit this is my favourite so far.

The 8 Nights of Chanukah - night 5

I used acetate for my top layer on this one.

The 8 Nights of Chanukah - night 4

another fun one to do, I'm not sure if you can see the Star of David in the top lefthand corner - made from acetate.

The 8 Nights of Chanukah - night 3

now this one I really enjoyed

The 8 Nights of Chanukah - night 2

and here is the second night.  I made the miniature Torah Scroll from a  bamboo domino.

All boxed out....

...the final box in the cupboard waiting to be altered and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it....

it reminds me of a cake.  I used my beloved Tim HoltzIdea-ology Vintage Shabby Papers to cover the gesso'ed box, colouring the edges of the pieces with VersaMagic in gingerbread.

I made the roses from scraps of the TH paper using Marianne dies, added some pearls in various colours and diamante pins to finish the top.

A close up of the centre.

I added cream guipure lace trim around the side of the lid and diamante pins to each corner.  To 3 of the pins I added a TH Idea-ology token.  A couple of pearls to the base of each side and that was the sides finished.

The isde of the lid was covered with sections of the paper to match the outside of the lid.  The base was lined with a large piece of the paper and panels of the paper to the side.  I added a rose to each corner and four small flowers to the centre.

finally the box stands on 4 TH Idea-ology feet,  my box is complete and I have absolutely no idea what I am going to keep in it, I just want to look at it.

Two little boxes...

....it's playtime!!!!  I made the first of these boxes some time ago and the second blank box has been languishing in the drawer ever since.  I love altering boxes and adore keeping my things in them - it's so nice to go to a cupboard and see this array of pretty boxes, it just makes the day seem brighter.  So yesterday I altered the second box.

I'm not sure that the photo shows that I used crackle paint on the first one and the blue roses were made using a Marianne die.

I wanted to cover the second box in lace and the only suitable lace I had for the top was white - not a suitable colour - so I tinted it using a Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink pad.  I love this little box and now to find something to store in it.

and it's back to crafting....

...not in the mood for making cards (think I overdid it pre-op) but fancied getting painty and messy so I took two sets of these....

and I turned them into these....

the plan is to put a couple of small pieces of jewellery inside them as gifts for the girls.

A Book of Note

I recently made this little Book of Note for a swap challenge - it was so easy to make using my Bind It All that I think I'll make a few more, they are handy to keep by you for little presents.

While I am away....

.... due to surgery hopefully taking place today I can't be here - well not in body but I am in spirit, so I thought I'd make a few things in the week beforehand to be published during my absence.  I saw this gorgeous style of gift bag whilst blog hopping so of course I had to find the measurements and then this just sort of evolved.  I plan on adding a piece of jewellery to the centre as a pressie for someone special.   A couple of tips if you fancy having a go - firstly only use thin card for your 'base' - thick card doesn't crease nicely and paper is too flimsy.  I used the white card sheet that comes in the scrapbook clear folders.  Secondly make a trial bag up first as you can easily put things in the wrong place - my trial bag folded inside out and the tie was in the wrong place on one of the squares.  It is much easier to work out if you have a trial bag to look at.  Don't be put off, this really isn't difficult to make and there is very little measuring.

Ok here is the finished bag..

I used pearlised card in blue for the outside of the bag with blue ribbon to fasten.  The handle was cut from an oddment left over from the card I used for the panels and the flowers and butterflies were made from more oddments. Pink pearls finished things off.

A closer view of the bag front embellishment..

The bigger butterfly was cut using a Marianne die and the smaller butterflies were made using a Martha Stewart punch.

A side view showing the buuterflies on the handle and the side panel.

I used two sheets of Tim Holtz 12 x 12 double sided card in blue and pink to cover all the panels, blue on the outside panels and pink for the inside.  The bag only took one sheet of each.

A closer view of the side panels..

the little flower embellishments on the two side panels were cut from scraps of the Tim Holtz card again using 2 Marth Stewart punches and pearls.

The inside of the bag....

when the bag is opened up the panels lined with the Tim Holtz card are revealed.  I cut two doileys from thin white card using another Marianne die and coloured parts using pastel pink and warm grey 1 Promarkers, a small quote was stamped in the centre and two little butterflies made from a Kanban stamp were added.  The doileys were added to the two plain panels on the inside and 3 little flowers (made as the side panel flowers) were added to each side.  There is room in the centre for a small jewellery box but if you don't want to use the bag as a gift bag you could add some flowers to the centre panel.

A closer view of the 'doiley'

I have really enjoyed making this and it really is a lot easier than you would think so why not have a go.

Just for a while...

...I wont be here.  Going into hospital tomorrow for surgery and then have two weeks bed rest and a further 12 weeks on crutches so sitting at my craft desk wont be possible.  However I have a few posts pre-planned that will be appearing in my absence and this is a book that I altered over the past week - it kept me out of mischief and stopped me thinking about tomorrow too much.

It was Darren and Talya's birthdays on the 6th and they always take the girls out for a special day to celebrate.  This year they went to Gulliver's Land in Milton Keyne so I made a book of their day out.

Keeping busy...

....having done all the normal daily things today - you know, mowed the lawn, hacked back some bushes, cleaned the kitchen, couple of loads of washing and ironing, cooked the dinner.  I also managed today to knit the back of a cardigan for one of the littlies and at long last decided to do something with a couple of cotton bags that had been in the back of the cupboard for years.  Here's the first one ....

I stamped the centre flower using a Stampin' Up stamp I've had for ages and never got round to using.  I inked it in Memento Black Tuzedo and then coloured it using my ProMarkers.  I dithered over what to add to finish it off, did it need lace, or some buttons???? No, neither of them finished off the look I wanted to achieve.  So I rummaged through some boxes of stamps and came across this set of butterflies and dragonflies, stamped and coloured them in the same way as the central flower, just scattering them randomly across the bag.  Added a few words from the same set of flower stamps and voila - one bag, completed.  Now have to decide what style I want to use on the second bag, decisions, decisions.

A Small Interruption to Play

I just had to interrupt my Art Journal journey and blog this photo.  My 4 year old granddaughter made this for me.  It is made using the same idea as painting by numbers except each number refers to a particular colour of mosaic tile.  The tiles are about the size of a sticky dot and bless her she did the whole thing by herself.  Obviously me drumming into her 'look carefully and get things straight before you stick them down' has sunk in.  A pretty good job and she obviously has the crafter's eye.

it now has pride of place in my craftroom.

Playtime..

..I 'played' with a mini canvas over the weekend and altered it for a friend's birthday, just hope she likes it as it was strictly a 'fly by the seat of my pants' project - but then that's typical of me, I never plan my crafting.

When I have a bit of time on my hands....

...I rummage in my alteration drawer and find something to play with.  I saw something similar to these on Etsy but they were much plainer and they were selling for $25.  The light bulb went off - I have some of those polystyrene balls lurking at the back of the drawer, a couple of hours later this 'evolved'

and then this morning another followed along...