Still Crafting...

It's been over a year since I blogged here - but I do blog other places too :)

So much has happened - but I'll condense it down...

Miss Violet had kittens.

Miss Violet got run over and died.

I got another cat called Kitty-Belle.

Lily-dog got old and ill,  and had to be put to sleep.

I got another dog - Yorkie called Barkley McScruffles.

Kitty-Belle had kittens.

I became a millionaire selling my crafting and jewellery items.

That last statement was not true :)

 

I've actually spent all day crafting and getting ready for a fete in July - I am making door plaques, pirate chests, "I'm Bored!!!" jars, jewellery... loads of items :)

Here's a few I made or finished today:

 

The pirate chests now have little diamante gems on the middle finger of the skeletal hands... and I so wish a photo could capture how adorable the door signs are - lots of decoupage, googly-eyes, glitter, and 3-D bits and pieces.

As I am doing a lot of fetes and fairs through until December, I thought I would amalgamate Patchwork Apples with my Elandesse business... making jewellery and craft items for children (as well as jewellery for dogs - really! lol)

I am going to save the hand-crafted more exclusive jewellery designs for jewellery parties and Etsy :)

 

I shall now spend the next three hours poking my nose around blogland :)

The Secret's Out!

Di at Pixie's Crafty Workshop (go visit her blog too - she's fun and super-creative... and she has blog candy too!) asked me where I get my bargains... so I'm going to let you in on a few little secrets - the places where I buy all sorts of bargains!

So... much like Helen (It's All Fiddle Fart) I love bargain basement shops... Poundland, The 99p Discount Stores, Pound Shop - never be too proud to have a poke around and pick up a bargain! Helen loves stickers and anything she can "Fiddle Fart" with (gotta go to her blog - what this woman can do with her stash is amazing!)... I pick up odd things - like beaded curtain tiebacks - because you can always take them apart to use. I also love the Discount Stores for 99p hardback books (new project coming up involving these!).

Lace is my new "thing"... I LOVE lace. I've searched around for bargains - because I really don't think that £5 for a yard of 20cm lace is good value (nomatter how pretty it is!) ... Well how about over 20 metres of black cut-out lace starting at under £5? Yup... there are such places. I don't particularly enjoy shopping on auction sites, but "Lacey Bits" is so inexpensive... it's worth a visit (just don't start out-bidding me, okay?! *lol*)

Mad About Cards has a craft £1 shop... and a lot of sales where items are as cheap as 10pence!

The price of scrapbooking supplies has soared in recent years... so look in the children's art department for things like foam lettering, glitter glue and paint.

Sadly, one of my local stores where I buy crafting supplies is closing (all say "awwww")... the only good news is that the craft items on sale there at the moment are silly low prices! If your a Sotonian, take a visit to Bitterne and find the bookshop next to Icelands... I have no idea what it's called!

I mustn't forget to add on here that, for some strange reason, rubber stamps are really cheap in New Zealand - so have a nosey around the world wide web, and find a lovely New Zealand online store that delivers to Europe quite cheaply.

Of course, the same applies to many crafting items via the Good Ol' U.S of A. I paid £17 for my Martha Stewart score board (including postage and packaging) from America... and just £20 for a set of five Martha Stewart punches (I really wanted the peppermint candy punch *lol*)

Last, but by no means least, is Pickwells. A little corner of crafty bliss! How's about this for a bargain... The vagabond for £125! Crafting at Pickwells can be incredibly inexpensive - with 10p sales and always a bargain to be found! Sadly, Carolyn doesn't have an online shop - but if you're ever in the area... you really should pop in and say hi :)

So, there's a short list of some of my favourite and most inexpensive places for craft shopping.

I know I prattle on a bit so I apologise for sore eyes having to read through this - but if it saves you a few pennies, then it might even be worth it *lol*

Crafting Mishap!

My craft area (a corner of the dining room) is somewhat... bijou i.e small and cramped! As well as my 'system' of stacked boxes and things scattered on shelves, I've also taken over the sideboard, wall cupboard, and several other items of furniture that have spaces to jam my craftyness in... oh, and I also store 'stuff' under things too - space under the sideboard? ... crammed, thank you!. Lovely... lots of stash to keep a scrapbooker happy. Well, at least I was happy until last night. As many will know, I am not a glitter-loving-gal. I like a little sparkle every now and then, but huge amounts of glitz just isn't my style (I just wish I could use glitter as well as some of you girls and guys out there in blogland). So, my glitter collection (about 30 or so pots) has lain idle in the back of a drawer. Now... let me just give you a little sneaky peek as to how these drawers are ...

STUFFED!

Not much room left for anything... and as I think I need (and therefore buy) more 'stuff'... well, the 'stuff' gets stuffed... into any space left in a suitable drawer (there is some method in the madness of what's in the drawers... honest!)

And so, last night I was looking for some brads I knew I had - they're kept in the "brad, buttons, and sparkly-things" drawer. "Sparkly things" include bling and glitter. That's when I noticed... as I was rummaging, I got sparkly spots before my eyes... I thought I had some strange crafting disease (other than a critically ill bank balance!). I looked at my hands... oh, no! they were covered in tiny, tiny black spots... that glittered. I must be infected with some arty-farty illness that's crept up on me unexpectedly! Nope... on further inspection, I realised that some of my glitter pots had finally been crushed to oblivion in my drawer... expoding their sparkly contents with abandon over my brads, buttons, and other sparkly things. A deeper delve revealed the green glitter had also succumbed to the crush... a pretty little rainbow of glittery-ness in my drawer. Only it wasn't so pretty - or little! I had to empty everything out by hand (no tipping it onto the floor this time!) and clean off all my packets and boxes. After cleaning the drawer itself, reloading it, and putting it back in its rightful place, the dining room had been well and truly glittered. No amount of being careful stops glitter travelling around a room and getting stuck everywhere. I had a sneezing fit this morning and glitter sprayed from my nose!

Ah, well... it's all done now - I just need to find a safe place to put my glitter pots now - somewhere hermetically sealed with a time lock might be useful :)