It’s Been a LAWGGGG Time..

Since I entered a challenge, But I thought well what the heck.  Things are finally slowing down here.  I sent off three Christmas parcels today which is wonderful.  I also finished my commissioned cards which is also a big thing.  I have a little bit of quilting to do on a gift then bind it and that’s done.  So I decided to actually have some fun.

Coops posted on her blog The Ribbon and Trim challenge over at Crafts and Me and that is where I am going to enter this card.

This was so different, and nothing like I usually do. But I wanted something traditional yet modern and soft.

I used my Derwent watercolour pencils, to colour and paint the image.  I used some stickles for the added sparkle which you can’t actually see due to my naff picture taking and some polar white flower soft to add some soft 3D snow.

I hope you like it, thank you for looking x

Pictureless

Hi all, I hope yo are doing well.  I know I have been so busy over the last few weeks, making cards and gifts and everything christmassy.  Hopefully things will slow down a little.  I have a few five minutes.  So I have blown the dust off the blog and doing just a quick post to let you all know I am still alive.. 

I worked out I must spend aound £30 or more on craft magazines in one way or another.  To be fair I do love reading them when time permits.  I don't know about you , but for me especially this time of the year they begin to build up and when you are resting your feet on them it's time to decide whether or not these magazines are really worth buying?  I mean they are good for leading you down the road of crafting temptation and making you buy things you really shouldn't because you have already spent your monthly budget on promarkers.... Oh that's only me?  REALLY!???  Huh!  Anyhoo back to my point.  When I was doing my banking I looked at my direct debits for these magazines, my eyes actually popped out of my head..  I thought why do I need these guys, when I actually read RSS Feeds from my favourite crafters everyday with my mail.  How many crafts can one do realistically? Do you guys spend money on things you really dont use or is that me?   So I cancelled all my subscriptions and I now only read my RSS feeds, and the good thing is that you never ever stop finding great sites.  I have to really becareful that I dont spend hours clicking in awe at all the talented people in blog land.

A few of my faves are on the left and right sides somewhere, have a check out of some of these blogs they are so wonderfully giving..

So back to the christmas crocheting..  How are you guys getting along with your christmas organising, are you an early bird like me or are you a last minute person?

I really…….

Must get my arse into gear and start posting more regular.  I am like the kid who always lags behind with undone laces and a snotty nose..  Anyhooo when I am not blogging I am actually up to loads of stuff.

I have finished the rag quilts I made and I don’t know if I like it.  What do you think?

I must remind you that my photography does indeed suck..

I made mum some candles for her work colleagues.  They are the easiest thing to do.  I saw a tutorial on you tube when I was having a flick through.  Sadly I have a brain like a sieve and the link has gone but basically the instructions are:

1: Find a candle you like, this really can be any size or shape as long as you can do the following instructions.  Meaning if the candle is too small it will look odd or if the candle is to big then you are going to lose the image.  I personally used church candles which are about 3” wide by 7” tall.

2: Print or stamp your image on to tissue paper

3: Colour your image.  I used promarkers from letraset, but I have also used prisma color pencils.  I haven’t tried anything else.  If you do try let me know how that came out. Just so you know to be very, very, very, careful to use a really, really, light hand when colouring on tissue, the slightest touch will cause the colour to go wildly crazy and bleed and smudge all over the place.  Tip I coloured my tissue on some letraset bleed proof paper for some weight and it seemed not to go that crazy lol!

4: Once the image was super dry, I left mine until I came home from work (about 2 – 3 hours) carefully cut out the image, remembering that tissue is like a fairy wing and will tear very easy. I found it easier to cut with the backing paper I used to colour the image intact.

5: Place your image on your candle where you like it, then dab a few places around the image with water, I just found it easier to keep the image in place.

6: Wrap the image and candle in wax paper, I got mine from a local cake making shop for £2.65 for about 5 meters.

7: Gently go back and forth with your heat tool until the paper looks wet.  Carefully peel the paper from the image.  If you spot some areas that are not stuck or look really edgy, just repeat this step.  Tip do not do what I did when I was practising and go to close and end up with deep ridges or leave it too long and end up with melted candle..  The idea is to melt the wax paper so the image sticks to the candle and soak into the tissue paper making it transparent.

After all that I wanted to make boxes for them to sit in and voila candles galore..

Lastly, the nights have been really dark so card making is a bit blah.  I like lots and lots of light. So i have been using up spare wool to crochet premature baby clothes…  We found that Colchester Special Care baby unit are really in need of clothes, blankets and such.  So that's what mum and I are doing.  I love it.  I am looking for a really nice crochet pattern for hat, mittens and booties.  If you know of any nice ones let me know.  Thank you..

Crikey I am shocking at taking photo’s bwahahahahahaa!!.

Anyhooo hopefully I will get back into the habit of posting to give you guys something to read lol x