Thursday 28 August 2008

It's 06:50 in the morning and I'm crafting!

Yep, you read that right! I was inspired whilst getting ready for work-so decided to do a very quick make. I managed to get hold of some adhesive envelopes that you put tickets into when you take a book out of a library (the first picture). I decorated it with Tim Holtz distressed ink in Lettuce and used my new paperartsy stamps (SO loving this company). I then included some blank scrap paper and a clip-a perfect gift for my mum-as its sticky she can peel off the back and stick it to her computer or filing cabinet and always will have a notepad to hand!

I managed to acquire a box of blank ones (big thanks-you know who you are!) and was thinking of maybe making a load at the crop and seeing if we can sell them for "donations" to a local charity. If I can persuad a local shop to supply some clips, great, of not, I'll have to use a staple, as the one in the photo are £2 for a small pack-so not too cheap. They are quick to make, and you can use any technique you like. I'll let you know how I get on.





Happy Crafting
Li'l Pidge

Wednesday 27 August 2008

Wow, I got a feature!


Wow, Jane from the CB forum (big thanks) spotted my altered cutlery and posted them on the Inspirational Crafts Blog (link on right, but I am unable to get the logo to work at the mo!), I didn't think for a minute that any of my work was good enough, but there are some truly inspirational pieces on the blog-I have a feeling that if it isn't nailed down (even then, I don't think it's safe) I may "alter" it! (husband best move off sofa soon as he may be next!). Especially since I have just received my first stamps off PaperArtsy, and they are perfect for altered art.
Even with all this crafting I managed to go to see Mama Mia with my mum-the digital sing-along version (the film, not my mum). Well, there was only about 20 of us in the entire cinema (a lovely Picture House cinema, a mini chain/semi indie cinema-so much more civilised than these big chains, there is a cafe and bar with papers and board games and you can take your drink into the cinema, as usual, I was not very ladylike and took a bottle of organic cider in!), with the cider lubricating the old vocal chords I belted out all the songs, all out of tune but with passion! Me and mum enjoyed it and that's the main thing-it's a great film and I thoroughly recommend it (I may even be tempted to go again, but not before I have seen the Dark Knight or Hell Boy 2).
Happy Crafting
Lil pidge

Tuesday 26 August 2008

Cards, bag for life, scrap pages and a bit of a pickle


Finally I have had a chance to do a bit of crafting, with all this wet weather I'm spending a lot of free time at home, mind you I would rather a little sunshine now and again!
The dark brown flower on this card is actually a white fabric flower from a Hawaiian fancy dress garland dyed to which ever colour I need at the time with felt tip pens-so much cheaper than "proper" crafting embellishments.

The cupcake card was for my niece's 10th Birthday and I have used the stamp with last months Stamper magazine and I have included a homemade phone charm as she got her first mobile phone from her parents, so she needs a bit of phone bling now!


In an effort to be a bit eco friendly I thought I would start crafting on my rapidly expanding "bag for life" collection. I used a couple of cloth dye ink pads (only 20p more than the usual pads I buy, so made sure I bought 2 in colours I dont have as inks) and used a mexian style skull with 2 "sailor Jerry" style swallows and glued on some black sequins (I really cannot sew, hence the fabric glue!). It's already turning heads at the local shops, though I dont think for the right reasons! Never mind, I just tell people I'm a trend setter (and just pray they never find out the truth!).

So, not only time to do a bit of crafting but also something in the mail that isnt just bills! The next 2 ATC's from the lovely ladies on the CB forum arrived. The rose is from Snaggles and the Bluebird 2 is from beckp87, thankyou ladies they're lovely.
What with all this crafting I am so pleased that I have joined Jill's Crop, it means that at long last I am getting round to scrapbooking my last holiday, I was so lucky to go back to Singapore and New Zealand but what with life generally getting in the way of crafting its been over a year since we went! So at Jill's crop I have managed to do about 5 pages so far! ~Hurrah! So I thought since I haven't blogged any scap pages I would show you them-hope you like them. I'll post a few more piccies of them over the next few days.


Well, one final piccie before I retire for the night, and that is my make for today-pickled nasturtium seeds! They have self seeded all over my garden and last year I pickled some and about 1o months later, they taste just like capers-fantastic in pasta and all it cost was the price of some white vinegar, so I decided that I would make some again this year, hopefully I will be able to make enough to add some to the homemade food hampers I am hoping to make for Christmas, try them, they are really nice, but they do take 10-12 months to pickled properly. All you need is for each pint of vinegar, 6 peppercorns and 1oz salt poured over them in sterlized jars-enjoy!
Any-hoo, Futurama has jus finished and my bed is calling (you can only ignore its call for so long).
Happy Crafting
Li'l Pidge

Monday 11 August 2008

Toothache motivates me to craft!

I know it's hard to believe-but 4 days of
toothache and I got my mojo back!
My dentist says its my widsom teeth playing up and to see how things go over the next week or so-wisdom eh? I knew it was in there somewhere! Anyway, between feeling
sorry for myself and the ironing I managed to make a monochrome flower shaker card for my friend Sam's birthday and the double heart card is mounted onto vellum and then acetate with a couple of beads and thread to keep all the layers together. Then to top it all I managed to make a R.A.K. A.T.C. (Random act of kindness artist trading card) for the organiser of this months Crafts Beautiful forum ATC swap (I wont post a photo yet just in case the person concerned reads the blog beforethe post comes!), then walked in the rain to the local post office to post them (I can only spend so long at home feeling sorry before I go stir crazy and need to get some fresh air!).

Then to top it all (the mojo was still active) I managed to finish my first proper altered art project. Inspired by the magazine Cloth Paper Scissors. They are EPNS cutlery coloured with alcohol inks and then wire, beads, threads and sequins wound around them and then I cut words from an old book (well, I copied them first as I really couldnt bring myself to cut a book up, even if it was only 40p in a charity shop-its a book after all!) which I mounted in a box frame that I also decorated.

For a first attempt I am really pleased, it has pride of place on the mantle piece, but now I have to think what to do with it (and all the other pieces of cutlery I bought at the thrift shops, let me know if you have any ideas!).

Anyhoo, pain killers and my bed are calling (with of course my copy of this month's CardMaking and Papercraft that I bought today) so happy crafting.

Li'l Pidge



Saturday 9 August 2008

A Harbourside Festival, a trip to the big smoke and a Lomo


Last weekend saw the Bristol Harbourside Festival, an amazing festival in the heart of the city with 5 different stages of music and dance and all for free. Over 250,000 people turned out for the 2 days (which is more than Glastonbury!).

One of the highlights was local girl made good, Beth Rowley (No6 in the charts) who belted out several of her jazz tunes to the delight of the masses.

This was later followed by Sheela-nagig another fantastic local band who mix folk, ska, jazz and arabic. They had the crowd eating out of their hands as they challenged the crowd to dance to their songs and they rose to the challenge.


Mid week saw us go to London to see Reverend Horton Heat play one of his few UK gigs, a mix of rock and roll and rockabilly, the gig was fantastic with many of the audience dressing in the classic 50's style dresses with flowers in their hair and the men in blowling shirts and dark turned up levi's - nice. Shame that the venue (Astoria 2) let it down with poor sound and the electricity cutting out on stage during some of the acts-not good when you pay all that money and dont get the service they should provide. I will certainly think twice before going there again if there is another option. A bonus was being able to stay with my brother and his partner and catch up on all the gossip, its always nice to see them both, but it is never for long enough as we dont see each other very often. My brother recommended the river taxi to Waterloo which goes past all the great sights, the O2, Greenwich, London Bridge, London Eye and the Tate Modern to name a few, and all for £4-bargain! We went into the Urban Art exhibition at the Tate Modern and I even managed to pick up a replacement Lomo whilst I was there! Hurrah! So over the next week or so I will have a play and see what I can come up with (of course I will post the results here).
I thought I would finish today off with a photo I took of my favourite Pie makers takeway - Pie Minister-great pies with mash and gravy, all packaged in a funky recylable cardboard box and eaten with wooden forks which can also be composted - result, tasty and good for the environment!


Today has been a wet old day, so I took advantage to catch up on printing out some photos for my next scrap book that I am completing at Jill's Crop night and to do a bit more on the altered art project I am working on-watch this space.

Well thats it for now, a large glass of a cheeky red is calling me, and its call is getting louder!
Happy Crafting

Lil Pidge