Another Fairy Captured :)

There was I, working away at my desk when a little fluttering movement near my laptop keys caught my eye. As I looked over to my computer, I spied this little fellow frolicking on my keys!

He said his name was Collin Ole, but that he liked to be called "Ollie" and he lived in a holly tree in my garden. He'd been waiting for Christmas and Winter to arrive, but had become confused with all the cold weather we've had here, and so wanted to ask a human what was going on, and what season it was.

Unfortunately, the only human he could find was me, so he didn't really get many decent answers :)

By sheer chance I was in the middle of making a decorated jar just the right size for Ollie... and so he asked if he could live there for a while.

Ollie loves the Poinsettia and holly leaves inside the jar - and was most impressed when I told him that I made all the berries myself from bits of polymer clay.

 The outside of the jar has lots of flowers and pearls, ribbons and feathers... but isn't too girly - Ollie likes that too.

 The top of the lid hides a little secret...

Under the red poinsettia is a hidden compartment...

 A quick flick of the switch, and Ollie is bathed in a gentle flickering glow...

He says he likes that too, because it reminds him of winter fires in the hearth, and it doesn't get too hot either.

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These fairy jars are a great way of using up small bits and pieces, are really quick, and are easy too. I like to decoupage and layer the paper figures in my jars - even though I'm rubbish at it *lol* Glitter and a glass partition can hide a multiple of sins and bad cuts :)

I'm entering this one (same as the last one) into the Crafty Snippets challenge over at Di's place - Pixies Crafty Workshop. It'll be the first time I've ever entered twice in one week! :)

Crafty Snippets week 68

I have found the perfect way to use up LOADS of those little bits and pieces I have laying around. It's something that's been popular a few years back - something that passed me by completely until this week... captured fairies!

All you need is an empty (and clean) jar (or bottle if you're really clever and brave), a paper figure, loads of little bits and pieces, and a dash of imagination.

If in doubt, look up Artedar or Cynthialoowho on youtube (or just google "captured fairy").

So... here's "Rosa Alma", a wee little fairy captured in a jar...

 The back of her jar (an empty candle jar)...

 and a couple of charms I added...

I used scraps of ribbon, bits of feather, lace, paper and fabric flowers.... anything pink that I could lay my hands on :) If it wasn't pink, I 'dyed' it using cosmic shimmer and/or ink.

So much fun to do... a great project to immerse yourself in for a few hours inbetween other major projects, or when your mojo is waning.

My snippets drawer is dangerously low on bits and pieces now - woohoo!

So... off to the playground to post the piccie and have a play.

Don't forget to go visit Pixie's Crafty Workshop, and have a smooch around the playground for how other people use their little crafty snippets :)

Mothers Day & Crafty Snippet - Week 67

I haven't been totally idle whilst away... and thought I'd share the finished present I made for my wonderful and beautiful Mum this Mothers Day.

This particular project was very difficult, as everything had to be cut from scraps and leftovers - I just didn't have much red items left in my stash! I used a Marianne die (number LR0264) - I am so in love with these dies - so, so gorgeous, I wish I could afford to buy them all :)

Here's the piccies...

It took ages to get the brad in the bottom, as it goes through the first five fan leaves... there's a brad on the other side that goes through five fan leaves too, so they cross over. Never again! lol

Mum loves poppies, and I had a couple of 6x6 papers with poppies on that were a free gift in a magazine. I had used most of the other free papers, and felt relieved that I had saved these. The lettering was bought from QVC a few years back. Not many letters left now, and what did remain were all different colours - nothing that a black permanent marker couldn't solve :)

The reverse of the fan has photographs of my brother and I... utterly adorable! lol

Everything was mod-podged before assembly to keep it a bit more durable.

The fan sat snuggled in a custom-made box of red lined with a lace off-cut, with the lid edged in black card.

Finally, the lid was decorated with leftover Papermania flowers that all had to be coloured with red ink, because they were ALL the wrong original colour, and then mod-podged. I fussy-cut some spare poppies from the 6x6 paper, and added these too.

As this is nearly all snippets and leftovers, I think I'll pop along to the playground at Pixies Crafty Workshop and play along with the Crafty Snippets week 67.

She's Baaa-aaack!!!

Hoping to get on here and do some catching up later... as I've been off blogger for a little while. I had a bit of worrying health news, and had to wait for some test results... but I'm all okay now. I know it's an obvious thing to ask, but will all ladies who are offered a smear test please, please go ahead and have one! Even if nothing appears wrong, a couple of minutes of discomfort is a small price to pay for peace of mind. If you do think somethng is wrong, don't ignore it. See your doctor or nurse, get a smear and talk to someone! When the test results come back clear, your world will be amazingly worry free :)

And if the test results aren't such good news... then you'll know you've made the right choice, and have taken one huge step towards regaining your health.

So... scare over for me and hopefully normal activity will resume soon :)

If I'm ever absent from here, I can sometimes be found on Facebook ... because let's face it... that candy won't crush itself :D