WOYWW #341

WOYWW - hosted by the very talented Ms Julia at The Stamping Ground.

I'll be number ... 38 I believe.

So... on my workdesk today is yet another change of hobbies/crafts. I am back to making miniatures!

My darling Hubby bought me a dolls house for Christmas - 1:12th scale, and so the 'Adventure Into Miniature' starts all over again :) The variable drill (from my Nail Tech days) is on the far left - very useful for all the little curves :) I am halfway through making a ladies bureau  (top right-ish) inspired very much by Kris - though I haven't the correct materials, tools or hardware to complete the bureau, I'll still give it a good try with crafting items I do own already. Whilst awaiting the arrival of primer and paint, I'm starting on making a dolls house grandfather clock - this is the rough design sat on my desk. Some essentials are there - ruler, pen, pencil, glue etc...

The little bureau does deserve, I think, a little piccie of it's own - with some of the paper plates I made to decorate the shelves. I'm no artisan (more of a craftisan lol) but I am quite pleased with how it's coming along.

On the far right, is my favourite tin - I keep some small tools in there - and things that I use as tools - toothbrushes, toothpicks, orange sticks, bits of plastic and card... also handy is my phone.

A few weeks ago, I had every intention of taking part in every WOYWW - but I didn't realise that the 2nd fell on a Wednesday - my wonderful Dad passed away that day last year, and I really didn't want to participate when my desk was empty and I had nothing to say. The phone stays near so I can call my Mum whenever I need to. A bit of a poignant and sad and to my desk viewing... but at least my craft-space is being used now! 

Got to have a quickie close-up of that tin...

We'll just ignore that there's sweeties tucked away behind there too :)

Have an interesting and wonderful 

"What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday"!

Crafting Mishaps #7

Ah, the ATG gun... a little pink devil that pretends to be a helpful tool, when really it sits there, waiting... plotting .... dreaming up ways of defeating the hapless crafter (that's me!)

I mean to say - it looks innocent enough, and I even bought a pink one so that it didn't look at all sinister - but who knew the terrors that could be waiting...?

It all started when I needed a refill. The prices are so high! But then I found it... double the amount of sticky tape for half the price of my usual choice... Thank you, EBay!

I purchased the refill, and it arrived within two days! Great service, I thought - unwittingly letting this dangerous substance into my home - oh, the innocence of the bargain-hunter!

I had no idea what disasters lurked ahead as I loaded the gun, innocent as a baby as I laid my finger on the trigger - hovering above a piece of paper that begged to be stuck to something...

I lowered the 'nozzle' to the paper, pushed the trigger in and tried to glide the tape across the surface. It did not feel right. The tape was thicker than I was used to and it didn't break easily when I released the trigger (learnt the hard way - crafting mishaps #6). And there is the crux of it... the flippin' tape did NOT break! I tried to use a pair of scissors to cut it - and the tape stuck to the scissors. It was unravelling at speed as I struggled to detach the scissors from the tape. How I managed to wrap it around three fingers is a complete mystery! Why I didn't let go of the trigger and stop the tape unwinding is an even bigger mystery! The tape and gun were winning the battle - working together, they had nearly succeeded in overpowering me completely. I tried to drop the scissors - they were stuck to the tape I had wrapped around my fingers and I daren't shake them off - two cats and a dog were in the room (looking at me with smugness and bemusement). I turned around to grab another pair of scissors - and of course, the tape gun went clattering to the floor. My instant reaction was to lift my arm to stop it falling - but that just made the tape unwind even more. I knew then that this was a devious plan - the tape is NOT supposed to unwind when the trigger is released. 

I had visions of my family coming home to find me mummified in ATG tape... the dog sat faithfully by my side wondering how the hell I managed to get into such a sticky mess.

I sat on the floor, and the dog jumped on me and licked my face... then he tried to eat the tape - my hero!

I sat and picked that tape off for almost half an hour... and you know what the worst part is? It didn't stick to the paper properly!

 I hate that ATG gun... and I really hate the new tape!

I'm going back to shop at 3M Direct lol

I WILL defeat the ATG gun and become it's master!

Home Decor ~ Stairs

I always wanted to have the carpet off of my stairs, and have them painted white and then battered a bit... A very inexpensive sticker set from The Range (£2.99) and this is what I ended up with :)

 

I just have to change the wallpaper at the top of the stairs now... been 'hmm-ing & Ah-ing' about this for over a year now!

Origami Stars

Sometimes, when I talk about one of my nieces or nephews, I may not be talking about relatives as such. I have two especially dear friends, and their children call me 'Aunty' - such an honour! I thought I had best explain that one when I say that my niece (one who is not my brothers child) asked if I could make origami stars, and gave me a link on how to fold paper into stars. When I say "asked" ... it was more of a bet! (Thank you Ms Charmaine! lol)

Well, ... Could I?

The thinner the paper, the easier it is...

 I made so many different sizes out of all sorts of scraps of paper :)

 And when I'd finished... I made some more. These are hung up out of the way above my desk...

 I decided to take the smaller stars and put two back-to-back. Not the best photograph I'm afraid, but my camera is out of batteries and I'm having to use my laptop camera :)

So much fun to make - even if it does make your hands ache :)

 

A Couple More....

Just a couple more projects I finished... These aren't Christmas themed, and I still have some for sale too!

I love the Alice-In-Wonderland themed jewellery - I chose the antique-bronze colour because I thought it suited the project best. First, I made the charm bracelet...

 ... then earrings and a little charm necklace to match :)

 I had some beautiful material scraps given to me - some Cath Kidston designs, so I made these keyrings :) They are simple shapes just stuffed. The completed ones have a keyring 'O' added to the top of the ribbon.

 

Christmas Wreaths

My favourite craft project :) I just loved making these - and they are sold at the Boutique Village in Southampton. I made a few, and they were so popular I had to make some more.

I made two of these traditional coloured ones, and didn't lacquer them because that would have hidden the beautiful papers I used. Because these ones were card, not paper, not having a lacquer coating should be fine.

This copper-tipped one with holly leaves is my favourite - I'm going to make another one just for me :)

 This one is different - and quite unique. It took so long rolling up and tying all the bits of paper, and then tipping each end with glitter - I swore I'd never make another one!

A close-up of the unique one-and-only wreath :)

 

Even More Projects :)

I love making Christmas décor - whether it's cards or decorations, it always makes me smile. I can't help it, I just LOVE Christmas :) So here's a few more projects from the last year...

 

I made little bobble hats and mittens tree decorations in so many colours - not shown here are the brown and cream, red and green, and autumn themed colours. One young lady whom I sold some to made her set into a hanging banner for her fireplace :)

 

I also made the boxes I put the hats and mitts into.

 I made a few of these hanging decorations - my favourite is the "Joy" one...

 Chocolate bar covers with a 3D theme...

 Chocolate bar wrappers to look like snowmen - the hats are made the same way as the bobble hat tree decorations :) I also made teeny ones that sat on the tops of Polo mints wrapped in snow-man wrappers. I think Polo's are called 'Lifesavers' in America?

 I also made lots of boxes for chocolate and candy - these Hello Kitty ones had the hole cut out to show the character on the box.

I made quite a lot of the candy boxes, and also loads of 'Reindeer Poop' bags too :)

 

More Projects ~ Christmas Cards

I did say that I had done a few crafty things over the last year... so here's a few more :)

These cards are all sold now, but I will definitely be making more, as I think they are so pretty :)

 

Over The Past Year...

I realised that I had written a post of "Hey, look, I'm back!" but didn't explain why I had been away...

Last year my father had been quite ill, and on September 11th, our family were told not to worry, he'd have a simple operation and then all would be well. On September the 16th, the surgeon and doctors changed their minds drastically, and my dad was told he had cancer. But... not to worry, as it was operable, and his outlook was good. 11 weeks to the day after this, my wonderful dad passed away. It was such a shock to us all, and it sent me into a spiral of grief and depression. I have been diagnosed with 'prolonged extreme grief' which is similar to PTSD in some ways.  I don't write this here for sympathy - only to let people know why I haven't been around and why I may seem to have changed a bit in the past year.

Things are sometimes a little better, and I take each day one at a time - never expecting to have a good or bad day, but just hoping to get through it and remember my dad with a smile and fewer tears than the day before.

This photograph was taken on my birthday - the last birthday I had with my dad.

I have a wonderful family - Mum, brother, husband and children - who have all helped me (are still helping me) every day... and great friends who understand.

So... there it is.

I'm not sure if I ever updated about my dog Lily, or my cat, Baby - well, Miss Violet... but I always called her 'Baby' :) Poor baby was run over and died in my arms on the way to the vets. I do have other pets now - but miss her terribly. My jack Russell Terrier, Lily, had mammarial cancer, and we had to have her put to sleep. I swore I would never have another dog... and that thought lasted about 5 days before I went out and got a little Yorkie who we named Barkley McScruffles. He'll be 2 years old on January 1st 2016.

When Miss Violet died, I eventually got another cat who we named Kitty Belle. She is a cross between a Persian and a Black Bengal - so she dribbles a lot and meows all the time :)

Kitty Belle had kittens, and I kept one because she was so very tiny, and her name is Coco (but we all call her Coco Bean)

This is Coco and Barkley.

Kitty Belle

Kitty with one of the kittens (not Coco)

 

 

 

Projects :)

I have managed to finish a few projects over the last year :)

 

I stepped back into the world of candle making with soya wax, and sell candles in teacups :)

 

I made a lot of Christmas crafting projects to sell too, including Santa keys :)

 

 

Bookmarks...

 

 

... and lots of Christmas-themed earrings...

 

 

 

 

So I have kept myself crafting-busy.

I'll upload a few more of my projects to show :)