An overdue catchup and a bit of a rant

Good grief where has the time gone? I have been slack in updating the blog, I have no idea where the past week or so have gone! Is this the first sign of getting old (the grey hair and sagging boobs don’ count!)? Does that mean I need to start crocheting myself a hat (ooh, now that is another craft I can have a go at! As they say, every cloud has a silver lining!!) and get a couple dozen cats-nah! I am struggling too much with knitting to take up another hobby and I just don’t ‘get’ cats!

Which brings me to the next point (was there ever a first?), after the snow of Monday had cleared (I really cannot remember a time in the past 20 years when we have had so much snow, or when it has stayed around for so long-I even had the chance to go to the local churchyard, which looked so pretty in a foot of snow, instead of making a snow angel I made a snow bat!) Wednesday saw me another year older, but sadly, no wiser (wider yes, just not wiser).

Just look at our local graveyard-so much snow!

I have a rule that I won’t work on my Birthday (or lift my finger if I can get away with it!) and the day started off to a great start with my pressies! My lovely OH got me a couple of CD’s (including Sisters of Mercy for those long ago, but not forgot

ten (its only the recent past I have trouble remembering!) heady goth days (ah, rum and black and the taste of Diamond White cider and snake bites), a knitted scary rabbit keyring and a few other bits and bobs (and the promise of a shopping spree for crafting stuff in the near future!), my brother got me some gloves and a fantastic book on origami with illustrations by Rolf Harris, and a brooch we saw on our New Year trip to Whitstable of a hand with chains

and a tin heart (its as odd as it sounds but really nice). I also got some fab jewellery making kit from my sister-in-law and some great gifts from the girls at our weekly craft get together, not to mention some from the CB forum! So a big thankyou to everyone.

These are just a few ofmy crafty gifts

We had a lovely day out, Lebanese for lunch, and a trip to Café Maitreya (previous winner of Observer Food magazine best vegetarian restaurant) in the evening, all brought crashing round my ears the next day after a trip to the dentist! The tooth I have been having untold hassles with for the past 4 months (root abscess, root fillings etc) now needs pulling out! Another one! What the ****. The past couple of years have seen me having to pay for SO much dental work. Arrggggg…I was obviously not meant to have a holiday this year either (last years savings funded my first fixed bridge)-life sometimes sucks, I know it could be so much worse, but it does take some effort to pick yourself up after each knock back.

Whinge over…….

Or maybe not……..twats in small hatchbacks with oversized exhausts, people who let their dog foul and then don’t clear it up, over packaged food products (I actually saw a single pepper shrink wrapped with a plastic label attached in Morrisons!!)…….oh dear, it’s true, 38 years old and now a grumpy old woman! Hurrah, I now have a license to moan (not that I ever needed one before!).

Anyway, back to the reason for life…crafting!

With so much to get clear in my head I decided to take a days annual leave and craft (that always clears my head and gets things in perspective). 6 hours later I have made a dress! I had no pattern and it was a basic pull over the head design, but still a dress. Mind you, even with a belt it looked like a sack,, a sassy red and black silky sack, but a sack none the less (so, that’ll be made into a cushion cover then-I think I am going to end up with a few of those) then….

…Dah, Dah, DAh (spooky music in background). the dreaded sewing machine killer (yep, that’ll be me) struck again.How many times has this killer struck? Nothing had been heard about her for many years, so the machines thought it was safe to venture back out, but no! In a sudden and unprovoked attack the count mayjust have reached No 3!

There I was, innocently make my masterpiece (I didn’t know about the ‘sack’ until I tried it on later) when the machine seized, made a growling noise (nearly banged on next doors wall thinking it was their dog) then chugged a bit, before, PING! A piece of metal fell out from inside!! I have NO idea what it is or what it does, but a quick bang on the table top got it working again-only time will tell if its terminal or whether the killer will strike again…

Anyway, I also received this months ATC from the CB Forum, this months were from CraftyCharl100487 and Clara Cluck-thankyou they are both lovely (gotta love a bit of fantasy).

I also made pressies for my brothers bithday and my family in New Zealand. The cuff links are for my brother and are made from vintage leather buttons, the ear rings for my cousin are of course plectrums, the brooch is for my aunt (same as the one posted previously) and the keepsake book was for my mum and dad, I hope they like them.

Well, I did say it was an overdue catch up!

I have also been making a few cards again:

Phew, I think that's enough for now!

Anyway, Happy Crafting

Li'l Pidge

Sick to the back teeth, but not of crafting

Sometimes, you have to admit that life sucks. You get good weeks, and you get bad. The past week was a bad-un. My hands, knees and feet have been hurting like hell and to top it all the temporary filling my dentist put in when my root infection cleared up is still in as the dentist cancelled and it is now all swollen again and so painful I cannot touch it-so lets just say when you are feeling pretty damned grotty, its hard to pick yourself up and get on with things, yes I know you have to, work demands, home etc etc, yadda yadda. But, even then, it still boils down to the fact that sometimes life sucks! But as we all know, the wonderful world of craft allows us to express ourselves and to a degree lose ourselves, even if only for 15 mins to make a card.

So, with this all in mind, I have managed to get a lot of crafting done. Some of it I cant publish yet as they are for pressies, but even then I managed to get a lot done.

I also got my prize for the New Year Card Challenge on the CB Forum, from the lovely Jane, in the post this week, a lovely array of paper crafting products which I am going to love playing around with.

I made another of one of my favourites this week-shaker cards! A couple of friends have just had their first child, so this was the perfect excuse I need to get out the acetate and the micro beads.

I am such a sucker for a shaker card, a bit of noise and movement in what can be a boring everyday object is always a bonus (just think of John Travolta in a 1970s white suit!!)

So, in an effort to try and forget my woes (lets not even go into the gas bill that came this weekend-I know its been cold, but I didnt realise that I signed up with Dick Turpin utilities!) I threw myself into making valentine cards, using glitter glue, acetate and some light airdrying clay to make heart shaped lock and keys.

Gotta love a bit of embossing

oh, and there's the acetate and glitter glue....
and the airdrying clay (I am loving this card...big hint to my OH!!)

Then I decided that I need a bit of bling in my life to cheer me up so I made myself a large statement piece, of a lovely green wooden and pearl ring

I dread to think what I must look like, so far I have made a skirt, bag, jewelry and a scarf-well, at least I know that no-one else will be wearing the same!

And to top it all I have made some fabric brooches, a few of which I have managed to sell, so that is even more money to charity (but now I need to make some more to replace them!).

Well, I did say I needed cheering up!
Then to top it all, I decided that I would try something new. I made a handbag. I made the whole thing in 2 hours, including cutting, interfacing and stitching and even adding a magnetic closure. I lined it and added a gussetted bottom (ooer) so that I could cram even more goodies into it when out shopping! This time I am really pleased, as I am a bit of a handbag fetish, and they arent very cheap-so this is a great alternative!














I am loving this material-so far I have made an apron, skirt and bag from it! I am SO proud of this, especially since I bothered lining it also (as I tend to cut corners when its something for myself). My OH said that when I went into the office in the morning I was SO down, in pain and generally ready to give up, and when he came home he didnt know what to expect. What he wasnt expecting was a flurry of activity, with scissors, ironing of interfacing, sewing machine etc all happening at speed and a happy me!! I would say that crafting is cheaper than therapy, but as any of you know, for every bit of re-purposed wall paper and old junk we use, there are expensive stamps, glitters, flocks and a whole host of lovelyness in the craft shops (as well as craft fairs)!
As I said, its been a busy week. Yes, it has taken me longer than usual to make some things, but the main thing is that I have spend time doing something I enjoy, and what is life if you cant have a pice of happiness now and again (and to spread this around, I also sent out a few random acts of kindness to some of the ladies on the CB fourm, well karma is always good to stay in the right side of!!).

Anyway, off to play in the craft room.
Happy crafting

Li'l Pidge x

ooh, a few new makes and a win

I can't believe it, I am gushing. The Happy New Year card I submitted to the Crafts Beautiful forum challenge won, along with Maggie (another great entry, as were they all!). Its my first challenge and has spurred me onto look for some more challenges to enter, and to top it all Draytonlady (who ran the challenge) says there is a goody bag as a prize-double bonus!

Well, I have been busy over the past week or so, the cold weather helps as the craft room is easily the warmest in the house, and the dulcid tones of Radcliff and Machonie on Radio 2 of an evening helps me craft along nicely. So, the first of my new makes:

These are my submission for the January CB Forum ATC swap. The theme is fantasy and the middle is one of my sticky notlets as a RAK (Random act of kindness) for Cambiel who is organising it (as is feeling under the weather at the moment, get well soon).

The next one is my triumph, its my scarf! Its taken ages and finally finished just in time for the cold snap to break! But I don't care even if its hot and sunny, I will wear it, because I made it all myself. Knitting, sewing and all those sort of things do not come naturally to me (I prefer a hammer or glue gun!) but against all the odds I have made a purple striped scarf, and all for £2.49 - a bargain (its a good job I don't charge for labour). I managed to buy some wool in the charity shop, grey and black so I am now on the look out for my next project, if you have any ideas, feel free to let me know (so long as they are easy!).

Since wool and needles are not my best of friends I went back to the heat gun and make myself another shrink plastic necklace. This time I used a design from an old tattoo book, colouring it with sakura pens and markers, adding a couple of jump rings at each side and using a double thickness of cording with a lobster clasp at the end:

Having said that me and sewing don't make happy bedfellows (well, I'm sure it was summit like that!) I have finally finished my first handbag. The felt bag is bought as a blank and I traced flower chipboard shapes onto purple felt and cut these out. These I glued onto the bag and added leaves and stitched glitter buttons as the flower centres (stictched to hold it all together at bit more secure in case the glue came away). I was going to use a large popper to secure the bag (living in a city I do like a bit of additional security rather than an open invitation to every scally) but after a trip to the local fabric shop and a chat to the very helpful staff I found out that there is actually a handbag closure for sale. Its magnetic and cost 99p (I am now seeing why handbags do cost a bit, the raw materials alone do add up, but then I have a unique piece). To cover the fixture I used a punch to stamp out a couple of pieces of felt and added a decorative button to add detail. I am really please with the result and am now waiting for my OH to take me out so it can have its first official outing (hubby-if you are reading this, a nice meal out would be a good outing for a bag of this standing!).
One final note, as we are both into 1940-50's style and the whole rockabilly alternative scene (hence my earlier blogs about carving tikki stamps from erasers and hibiscus style flowers in some of my makes and items like the mexican sugar skull necklaces and skull hair flowers to anem a few) we have just managed to locate Sailor Jerry rum, a spiced golden rum-wow, a sweet deliciousness that warms the cockles of ones heart! Yum.

Enjoy x

Li'l Pidge

Happy New Year all in blogland

Happy New Year!
Well, we had a lovely new year spending some time with my brother and his partner (the photo is them on the beach at midnight with sparklers-its hand held in the pitch black which is why its blurred, but how clever are they using the sparkler to make a heart. I would have posted a photo of my OH but he drew porn with his sparkler-typical!) in Whitstable, Kent. A few days down by the sea with fresh air in my lungs (though getting fed up with bronchitis by now-its starting to wear very thin indeed).

Came back to sad news that my OH Grandfather had passed away that morning, just over a year from when he also lost his grandmother. He was such a lovely man and always made us laugh, we'll miss you granddad, rest in peace.

On a lighter note, I have been catching up with my crafting.

These are two of my recent ATC swap on the CB forum. These are from Jintz and Ultramum-thanks ladies, we do love a bit of pink.

These are mine that I sent:

I am getting quite a collection of ATC's now and love getting some post that isnt just junk mail or bills! So, as my new years resolutions I thought I would try to enter some of the forum challenges rather than just lurking and reading the blogs!

So, in the spirit of things I have entered my first one. On the CB forum the set a challenge to design & send a new years card to the CB Magazine, and here it is:



So I am going to be on the look out for a few more challenges-find the time to look and then to make the stuff is the hard part, so if anyone knows of a site that lists craft challenges-please let me know!

I also got a handmade card from my OH for Christmas-bless him, how lovely was that. He sat in the craft room and said he was going to make me a card. Then those words all crafters dread to hear......"can I use ANY of the stash in here?".........what should I do? Nuture the creative thread he was displaying and the loving effort he was going to? Or, be honest and explain that some of the stash is SO pretty that I didnt really want him potentially hacking away at it? Well, of course, I did the only thing I could and resonded "use whatever you want me dear..." then pray to every god and goddess you could name that he couldnt use that lovely glittered vellum you'd been saving or those swarkoski gems!! 2 hours later he emerged-triumphant, though bemused at how long it takes to make a handmade card (what did he think I did up there all this time!). His card to me included my favourite of the moment-owls. What a lovely card, and even more so because he made it for me.
This is the card I made for him. The cat is from a stamp I carved myself, embossed and adorned with a flocked hat with big chunky glitter. I also added a glittered stamped image and used a heart shaped brad that I embossed then dipped in red glitter for that bit of seasonal bling!

Having been SO lack at updating this blog, there is a fair bit of catching up to do. I made my first 18th card for my cousin in New Zealand, her birthday was New Years eve.
I am hoping she liked it-I've not done one before so had to pick the brains of the girls at our weekly crop (thanks Jill for lending me the cuttlebug to cut out the pieces, to Becks for the great silver paper and to Tracy for the ribbon and idea!).

I also made some earings, a handbag charm and the box for my OH's aunts birthday just before christmas:
Well, that's probably about as much excitment as you can take for now, so I'll do another installment in a few days (during these sub zero days the craft room is the smallest in the house and the warmest! So, I have yet another excuse for spending time in here!!).
I hope you are all well (and if not, then I really feel for you, if I cough anymore I am going to SCREAM, apart from the fact that would hurt my poor old chesty, so I think I will just clench my fists in a spurned evil nemisis kind of way!).

Happy Crafting

Li'l Pidge

ooh the CB Forum Secret Santa

What a wonderful Christmas (apart from us both being sick-me bronchitis my OH stinking cold)-the CB Forum Secret Santa gift was torn open to reveal some lovely gifts. I love the ribbons and the brads and I havent even seen the covered chip board letters before-I cannot wait to try them out on my scrapbook.

I got some many nice pressies, but am too busy using them-so I will post some piccies later.

Happy christmas everone
love
li'l pidge

Oh Christmas Tree......

Ah, all topped up with anti biotics and lemsip..so I can carry on with a bit more updating...I have finally managed to make some Christmas cards over the past few weeks.

I'm liking the shaky beaded trees (even if i do say so myself).

I have also had a few birthday makes in the past few weeks ; the first card is for the lovely Becks husband, Nige the Goth and its a shaky cobweb design...oooh loving shaky cards. The 2nd card is for Micky, our resident token bloke at our weekly craft get together (great with the cuttlebug and making tea-well done Micky).

This is a set I made for my sister-in-law's birthday. Its ear-rings, bracelet and a handbag charm with Haematite beads. I made the box with my crafters companion which really speeds things up.

Happy Crafting

Lil Pidge (back to my nest to snuffle and cough in a pathetic way!)

Big Catch up

Sorry folks, the last week has seen me laid up with bronchitus-not much fun and it means I have spent most of the time since Friday in bed. Luckily the past few weeks saw me on a massive crafting spree trying to get all my gifts ready for my family in New Zealand (why oh why is the last posting date down under so early!!) and my brother in London and since I havent posted on here for ages there is loads to add (between coughing and blowing my nose-SO attractive).

First up, a big thanks to my secret santa from the CB forum, a parcel was delivered today (how I did not managed to rip the wrapping off then and there)-ooh, I wonder what it is...shame I will have to wait. Also, my latest ATC's from the CB forum. The theme was snowmen, and these two were from Hellybelly and Magentasnowflake.

Also in a moment of what can only be described as total muppetry I decided that the event journal I spent some months making for my mums combined Christmas/Birthday pressie was not good enough and decided to make a new one! What the hell I was thinking I don't know-by the end of the project I was wishing I just bought her the new Enya CD! The idea is that there are 12 double pages, one for each month, and each month has key birthdays/anniversaries detailed with lots of space to keep adding more. On the opposite page is an envelope containg some handmade cards ready for the appropriate event-all ready in one easy folder.

Well, I did say it was a mammoth task!

I also had my first jewelry order for 2 sugar skull necklaces from a friend. I must admit I ruined a whole sheet of shrink plastic-the only problem with a larger pendant is that the plastic does have a tendancy to curl and buckle and is your concentration waivers for a mere second-burns! (and boy does that make the house stink!). Any way, I managed to make 2 and am really pleased with the results-my first jewelry commision!

I think that's enough for a bit-I need to take some more anti-biotics and have a bit of a lie down (I had no idea that bronchitis took it out of you so much-this sucks!).

Happy Crafting

Li'l Pidge