Adorable, Alice and adventures!

Just a quick post for today, things are always so rushed coming up to the new year and this year is no exception!  We're off doing some visiting this afternoon, it may get emotional as its the Mr's grandparents and (at their request) we haven't seen them in about 4 months or so (actually I think its about a year for me!), they're pretty old school and as they're ill have been worried about not being able to 'play host' but we finally convinced them they don't need to worry. 

As the 'crafty one' in the family I get the odd request for things, my sister text me 2 days ago asking if I could help her with her Alice in Wonderland costume for NYE - to be fair I'm happy to help I just didn't want to put myself under a tonne of pressure making the entire outfit so I said if she could get a dress I'd make the apron and give her the ribbon for her hair.  A couple of hours work yesterday afternoon and this is the result

Not the best picture I grant you but hopefully I'll get to see it in action!  I made it out of a Winceyette type fabric as I wanted it to be quite thick and its the best the fabric shop could offer me!  

In other news, I've also got the logo for my little venture done, we debated whether to keep the teapot or go with a button, the button won! I've had some great feedback so far and alot of support - 2012 is going to be a fantastic year I just know it!

Well I'll sign off for now before I start waffling but I'll catch you before NYE 

Happy crafting!

xx

'twas the season!

Well? Did you survive?? Pleased to say I did :) It was a very quiet Christmas this year which gave me time to reflect and catch up on my reading - I got new crafty books as gifts so my nose was buried for the last 2 days coming up only for the turkey and sprout fest lol.  Ok, if you're on my Facebook/Twitter list you'll know that I also had a rant or two about sales adverts on Christmas morning (keep Christmas in December and keep the sales in January!) and the obligatory holiday/diet adverts - but lets not get into that again or I'll be up on my soapbox all day! 

So today is back to 'normality' whatever that may be.  I've got a list of tutorials planned for the next few months to keep both me and you amused plus I'm going to be launching my Adorable Little Extras label (really excited!!) I've also been (still) trying to work out the decor for my living/dining room - the Mr has agreed this needs to start looking more like a home now and I've got my eye on the back wall/window for my new craft space.  I've really GOT to do some crafting today - you know when you wake up at stupid o'clock and try to get back of to sleep and you end up remembering your dream, I was dreaming about soap making!! Go figure!

Anyway, I've got pork to be roasting and Warhammer to be assembling with the kiddies so I shall leave you for now - don't forget my open invite on my last blog post to join my ATC swap, I'd love to have you on board!  

Happy crafting 

xx

Calling all crafters!

I was sat looking through some of the things I've created over the years and remembering how I love to 'potch' with things when I discovered a small box with some of my favourite rubber stamps in that I'd kept back from the cull.  It got me to thinking, maybe its time to start something a bit fun for 2012, so, calling all crafters - would you like to be involved in a 2012 ATC swap?

For those of you not in the know, ATC's are Artists Trading Cards which are miniature works of art or stamping projects, collages, whatever you want them to be. There are only two rules, they must measure 2 ½” x 3 ½” and should not be sold, only exchanged for other cards.

Artists usually make a set of cards on a similar theme, they are called series. The artist records the name of the set on the back of each card, signs and dates it and allocates a number to show how many were made and what number each card is in the sequence, for example 1/6, 2/6 etc. Single unique cards are called originals and sets of identical cards are called editions.

ATC’s can be made from plain cardstock or by altering poker playing cards (standard playing cards are not the right size) or trading cards such as Pokemon, Yu Gi Oh etc. Any media can be used but they need to be sturdy enough to survive the mail and not too thick so that they can be stored easily.  You can see some lovely examples on the internet, unfortunately I was only able to find pictures of 1 I'd previously made (and we are going back years here!)

I am proposing a monthly swap with each month having a theme (maybe bi-monthly if we think that would be better?) so all the crafters involved and up with a lovely set of artwork for 2012 and something to get them creating!

So, what do you think? Interested in taking part? I'd love to hear from you!

Happy crafting!

xx

Hic! Cranberry Vodka Tutorial

Well I wasn't expecting to be doing a tutorial post yet but this one's coming off the cuff due to me remembering one of my favourite things to make this time of year - Cranberry Vodka!! I made this last year and gave some to my local pub landlord and he swears he's never had a hangover til he had this - enjoy!

You will need:

• 1ltr Vodka (as its being flavoured you can use cheap stuff)
• 300g Fresh Cranberries
• 150g Caster Sugar
• 1 large or 2 smaller kilner jars
• bottles (for bottling lol)

Weigh your sugar and put into your kilner jar (I used two and split the amount between them as I'll leave one to flavour for longer)

Add the vodka to the jar/jars

Prick the cranberries a few times (this is where I get a bit stabby stabby! teehee!) 

Put the cranberries in the jar/jars with the vodka

Look how pretty this looks already! At this point the berries had only been in this jar around 10 minutes

Shake the jars to get the cranberries agitated in the vodka and to start dissolving the caster sugar.  For the next 2 weeks you will need to shake them daily.  Personally I'll be doing one for 2 weeks and the other for about 3 or 4 to see which had the best flavour.

This makes an awesome present if you start it at the beginning of December - you can decant them in to pretty bottles and tie them up with ribbon and tags :)  Alternatively you can just keep it for yourself! 

I hope you enjoy this, I do enjoy making random things - let me know what you'd like to see more of on this blog, if there's something you'd like me to test out I'd love to hear it :)

Happy crafting

xx

I made that!

So, as Royal Fail have still yet to deliver anything I've ordered in the last 5 days and I still need to make a craft 'to do' list I thought I'd have a look back over the last 12 months at what I'd actually made (and remembered to take pics of!) and see what I could recall :)

OK, starting when the snow was down a year ago and I was busy creating something fabulous for the derby wife to wear on Christmas day - we are both all about handmade and to make this even more bargainous the fabric for this was found in the remnants bin at the local fabric store!  We had so much fun making this, I'd made one of these previously totally out of gingham fabric (so retro eh!) and to be honest I'm probably going to make another, its one of my favourite styles!

From there I went on to discover macarons.  Tricky little buggers that they are, my first batch totally stuck to the paper and some turned out the size of the saucer!  However I am not one to easily be defeated and after another bash they turned out beautifully!  ok I make them in some really weird combos (thai curry anyone?) but they are really yummy!

After that, I'd re-ignited my love affair with baking and decided to attempt to get a new business off the ground.  Unfortunately it wasn't to be, however it did lead to some fab creations! 

Including a big 'birthday present' cake and Pirate and Princess cupcakes for Cardiff based roller derby team Tiger Bay Brawlers that went down a treat :)

To be fair, I didn't do much crafting over the summer months, I was a bit busy co-founding the Valleys Roller Dolls, however I did make these rather fabulous helmet panties (if anyone's interested I'll do a tutorial on them, just let me know!)

Now things have settled down a bit I've started again and, well, you've seen what most of I've been upto since!  Oh, I did try my hand at knitting again - I now have vowed to only knit with either chunky wool or that fab frilly stuff, I don't have the patience to do anything else! 

Just a last pic I wanted to share as it is so beautiful! I hadn't made a hair adornment in a while but when I do make them I like them to look classic!  And so I give you 'Margot'  

Well, I hope I've inspired you to go and create something, anything! Don't be afraid of making mistakes, half the fun is in the creative journey 

Happy Crafting! 

Podsock Tutorial

Ya didn't think it was coming did ya? eh? eh? Hehe well its not an overly complicated post but a nice easy tutorial for a Sunday evening that can be completed in very little time! I've made these for both myself and my youngest firstly as a little bit of protection and secondly so I can find the damn thing when I put it down!!  Have to thank the Mr for the tutorial name too "ooh it looks like a little podsock!" 

Off we go then! You will need

• felt
• template
• Needle
• Embroidery Thread
• Scissors

First of all cut out your pieces, you will need 2 of each of the back and front template pieces (I know there's only one template but the back is just the front piece without the windows cut out!)  I've done mine in contrasting colours but you feel free to have fun with it.

Put the two front pieces together and blanket stitch around the windows and the top only as my dodgy arrow on the pic shows! (Yes I know mine already has the back on and sewn all around but I forgot to take a pic, sorry!)

Put the two front and the two back pieces together and blanket stitch all around the edge (except for the top back piece which only needs sewing at the top!) Don't forget to leave a small gap at the bottom for the headphones jack plug!

And there you have it! a little felt podsock for your iPod to nestle in.

Its easy enough to make a template for your own version if you don't own the little squat version like me, simply draw around it, add a little extra around the edge for the stitching and, well, I'm sure you get it.

Happy crafting! 

yeah, yeah, yeah....

You got me! I *still* haven't posted up the promised tutorial - it will be up tonight without fail! Ok, happy? Phew!


To be fair, its only because there's been so many exciting things happening here - I decided that maybe it would be a good idea to finally do something with the two years of college/uni training I did and actually do some pattern drafting/designing! HA! Betcha didn't know I could do that did ya!  I can't reveal much at the moment as I'm working on something I'm hoping to release for 2012, nothing too fancy but its a babystep and babysteps lead to bigger bits of awesome!


I need to go and get more coffee now, after partying with my roller derby team last night I'm a little worse for wear and want to make sure the pics for the tutorial come out in focus!!


See ya in a bit ;) 

Out with the old...time to renew

Morning :D If you can't tell I'm trying to keep on top of this blog thing now lol!  I know, I know this should have been the promised tutorial post but that can wait til later today (maybe tomorrow? teehee!) 


So, I've got a few 'personal issues' to work through, not this side of the holidays though - its not the done thing really is it?  Instead I decided to sort myself out - I was getting up in the mornings and getting more fed up with what I was seeing, I needed to become more 'me'.  Recently this has involved ditching the crazy hair colours and the black hair and going back to a lovely red colour (it suits my skin tone more) and as of Monday this also  involved me going for the chop!  Now, this time last year I had shoulder-ish length hair, ideal for rocking the pin up styles I loved and throughout 2011 its gradually gotten shorter (complete with undercut either side back in January) and as much as I liked the idea and had been talked into growing it again by the other half - I couldn't cope with the messiness! Well, that and the fact that, at one point my other half told me I looked like Hayley from Corrie (did wonders for the self esteem I tell you!).  I know my style, and heck, I can still pull off pin up with short hair - so I went from short bob shape to messy crop! 

I love it! I can dress it up or I can go for my slouchy style - but more importantly I feel happier in myself as I don't have to faff!!  I'm even tempted to make myself a Christmas dress now :D

Yesterday bought some much needed fun and crafty shopping with my friend Ceri.  She is ever so slightly mental in a fabulous way and we had a scream!  We hit all the fabric shops on City Rd in Cardiff and I think I managed to buy something in each one of them! Ceri is also a veeeery bad influence and I ended up buying one fabric which cost me £25 for a metre! She was right, I would have kicked myself if I'd gone back for it next week and it had gone - and on the upside it is over 2 metres wide so I'll get a few projects out of that one!! Problem was, I'd already picked out 3 fabrics that were £10 - £14 a metre each - agh! I really should use my mountain first but hey ho! I WILL use these before the new year!  Ceri was also slightly shocked and delighted that I'd never visited Inkspot and couldn't wait to take me there - and *poof* there goes more monies! Although, in all fairness, it did remind me how much I love Tim Holtz stuff! After stopping for a much needed sammich (just one sammich!) which was both filling and gorgeous we ventured forth in the hail/rain/lightning/thunder headed for 'Big Knitters' - Ceri determined to fill at least her mums part of the shopping list.  Much ooohing and aaaahing over Llama wool and other softness occurred while I was busy raiding the ribbons (yup, more spending!) and a quick detour into Shaws for some circular knitting needles and we were done and homeward bound!  I do love meeting up with Ceri, our randomness works so well, even to the point of me having tea come out of my nose (don't ask!).  Wanna peek at my purchases?  Lol thought you might! Apparently some of my taste in fabric is a little 'Juicy Couture' but its all good to me!

25p a metre? rude not to!

so much fabric!

a bit 'Juicy'?

That's enough from me for now, I guess I better go and actually *make* something!  Might see you later, but for now - happy crafting! xx

Catching up!

Morning!! Apologies for being AWOL these past few days, have been busy with crafty pursuits, public transport round trips to pick up my new skates and catching the dreaded cold I'd managed to avoid til the other half came down with it! 


So, to bring you up to date - I've finally managed to get my head around opening an Etsy store (not that hard I hear you say, yes yes, but I wanted to make sure everything was just right) and although I only have 4 items on there I am very pleased with my little creations - I like poking a bit of fun at 'big brands' and alot of what I do is for my own amusement, hopefully it'll amuse others too, who knows!  If you fancy a peek at what I've been upto my little shop can be found here 

I also tried my hand at fudge making for the first time (as you can see) - I'm determined to crack it! My first batch was Vanilla and I adapted a recipe my ladybrother Gina had given to me.  It didn't turn out too badly,  ok it's a bit grainy but I'm sure the boys will demolish it when they get home later lol.  I've decided I really need to crack it as I found a fab christmas pudding fudge recipe on The Pink Whisk blog that I thought would make a lovely gift for family.  I'm trying to handmake as many gifts as I can this year, whether they'll be appreciated is another matter lol.  


For those of you who've liked my little tutorials so far, thank you! Don't worry I'm working on a new one, the first attempt didn't come out quite right so it's back to the drawing board and it'll be ready in about a day or so :) 


Til next time - happy crafting! 

Pucker up - Mistletoe Tutorial

Oops! Its been a couple of days since my last posting but hey, its silly season so I can be forgiven for being a little on the quiet side.  To be fair, I've been off collecting crafty bits and pieces and getting inspired over the weekend - culminating in yesterdays craft session getting ready for this new tutorial. 


I'm pretty well known for not being able to keep plants alive, its a bit of a running family joke as I even managed to kill and un-killable spider plant!  I do like incorporating traditional things into my holiday crafting so I thought why not make some felt mistletoe.  Now it's taken me a few days to get the template right as every time I'd attempted to draw it, it ended up looking rather on the rude side and I'd end up chuckling to myself at my craft desk (simple things eh!)  I wanted this to be a no sew tutorial but that just wasn't going to happen, the bead 'berries' needed sewing so that ended that idea.  But ok, enough waffle from me, you can find the template for the mistletoe here
You will need:

• Moss green felt
• scissors
• Sharpie marker
• hot glue gun and glue sticks
• pearl beads
• needle and thread
• ribbon in a colour of your choosing

Cut out your template and arrange the pieces on the felt, now is a good time to decide how big you want your arrangement to be so you can draw accordingly.

Draw around your template with the Sharpie (I did try with chalk but it just wasn't working!) and cut out your pieces

Once you've cut out all your pieces, layer and arrange them until you are happy with your shape.  Using your hot glue gun,  use small dabs of hot glue to stick the layers together.  (In case you were wondering, another reason I decided to use hot glue was to add a little weight to the felt)

You can now start adding your bead 'berries' - if you're not as fussy as me you can hot glue them in place, its down to personal preference at the end of the day.  Add as many 'berries' as looks pleasing to your eye.

Once you've added all your 'berries' you need to make a hanging loop and decorative bow.  Now I'm sure you all know how to tie bows but if you get stuck you can always give me a shout.  Use whatever colour you like to match your decor.

Position and glue your hanging loop to your mistletoe then add the decorative bow.

Et voila! your very own mistletoe to smooch under!!

I hope you've enjoyed this little tutorial and if you make your own mistletoe I'd love to see it! As usual, feedback always welcome :)  

White Rabbits!!

So December is finally upon us!  I had the smug satisfaction of pinch punching my other half this morning (hey, he's managed to get me the last 2 months in a row!) and I thought I'd crack on with my sewing while waiting for the first of my Christmas gifts to arrive.  The fruits for my Christmas cake are soaking (I'll share the recipe with you if you like when I post about it, I've not made one months in advance in a while now and this one is delish), I'm still pondering whether I've chosen the right colour scheme for my living room and I don't yet have a tree, but, its a little to early for my tastes to be decorating yet, especially as there's still crafting to be done. 


We decided that the boys are a little old for the traditional Christmas stocking treatment now (11.5 and 14 in case you were wondering), so I thought it would be a nice touch to downgrade slightly and hang mini stockings from my fireplace for each of us.  I've made 6 in total, well the 2 cats are family too! I'm not sure what I'm going to put in them yet but I figure the little surprises will be a nice after dinner tradition to start.  I'm sure there's lots of stocking templates floating around the internet, however, I will upload mine as soon as I can get it scanned into the computer.  


And so, here's my little Christmas stockings (just as a side note, the crystal in the middle of the embroidery is a kinda oil slick black in real life, it just looks rather flat here!)

      

As the Coke adverts say, holidays are coming.......