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 :)

 

 

WOYWW #337

Well, the last time I played at "What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday" was week number 196 - back in March 2014! It seems perfect that my decision to start blogging again should open with a WOYWW day :) I do believe I will be poster number 37 :)

So... My terribly untidy, disorganised work space is here...

So many unfinished projects - from star-making and wreath constructing, to choker finishing and rooting a reborn dolls head! Also including Polo mints for the dog and music for my entertainment and sanity! lol

The origami stars started out as a challenge from my niece Charmaine - can you do this? she asked - knowing full well I'd drop everything, get out my Christmas papers and start folding! The necklace chokers were lace tatted by my wonderful mum - I just have to put fittings on them, and a little cameo. On the far right are the cones I rolled ready to make another wreath - I make them exclusively for the "Boutique Village" in Southampton :)

Ah, yes... rooting a dolls head with mohair - such a time-consuming, annoying, fiddly job. Which is why it's still not done after weeks of laying there creepily waiting to be finished, so the head can be finally attached to the body and the reborn doll sold on to someone who'll keep her and treasure her forever (yes, there are plenty of people - all ages and genders - who pay good money for a well-made lifelike doll).

 

Right, time for a Mr Linky to WOYWW at The Stamping Ground, and a nose around other people's desks :)