Decoupaging my way through a few jobs!

Well as it is Handmade Monday I thought what a good time to show you some of my latest little crafty moments (to be honest I only finished them this morning!!!) 

Do you get asked to do a few jobs (when you have time) or put things by and say 'I will do that one soon!'  Well this morning was an attempt to finish a few jobs.

My lovely friend (and Joe's mum) asked me to make a couple of clipboards for her two boys.  Can you tell which one is for Joe??

I bought these tea light holder blanks some time back but never got round to doing them up, I loved the butterfly paper.  I do find this new decoupage odd if I'm honest, you rip it up into little pieces before sticking it down.  I was so worried that all the pretty butterflies would look silly, but it is odd how you can still see them.  I really like these ones now.  I think some papers work better than others so it is worth having an experiment!

This little box is another wooden blank I bought to decorate but just hadn't got round to yet.  I only did the lid and I think I may keep it at that, I like the contrast and the grain in the wood looks rather nice.  What do you think?

Lastly I fancied having a go at a pencil case.  I can never find my pencils or pens so thought putting them in a special place would be the answer!! I thought doing all of it would be too much so left the sliding section plain (I also thought that the sliding movement may ruin it in time so best left clear).

Have you tried decoupage? It is funny how crafting has moved on so far isnt' it, I always thought it was just cutting out lots of images and layering them on top of each other with little dabs of 3d glue!  But it now also seems to cover decorating items and furniture etc with lovely papers!

Well what have you all been up to?  I'm off to linky with Handmade Monday so hope to see you all there! xxx

Happy Friday ~ mmmm possibly

Well, if I'm honest it's been a long week and I wasn't going to post as I was really stuck for a happy thing to show you (not that it was a miserable week, just no pictures to show).  However something just happened that really did make me very happy!  

As most of you know (think I may talk about it often enough) I create mystery crafty postal boxes and back in October I asked some lovely bloggers to review my first boxes.  Well one of these guinea pigs has become a regular customer and this month she took a video of the big unveil!  

It was just so wonderful to watch someone else opening a box.  I spend so much time preparing them but I never see them opened and it was a wonderful yet slightly surreal experience!

The video is around 22 mins, but she really does go through everything, 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSXSFRaRR4I

I don't seem able to add the actual video to embed into my post but if you click the image it should take you directly to the video.

Oh and I really wanted to say a huge thank you to all you bloggers who took the time to congratulate Joe on his fish.  He was so happy to read your messages, So a huge thank you from me, Also from Joe and his mum for making his week! Here is a reminder of his lovely crafty fish!

I will be sharing my Happy news on Happy Friday!  Do pop round to see what makes other bloggers happy or to join in! xx

Whatever Wednesday ~ Fishy

Well whatever have you been up to?? 

Just a short one from me today, I thought I would share a few snaps from our little adventure at the weekend!  

Since getting a season ticket for our local sealife centre we have been nearly every weekend, although this weekends reason was because my eldest wanted to go on all the rides that now seem to be open.  

Here she is stroking a starfish!  One thing that is lovely is the interactive rockpool, not interactive like on a pc but good old fashioned, proper interactive, ie getting her hands wet! (isn't it funny how words change their meanings a little in this new techy society!).  

I remember a few years ago the sealife centre visited a preschool I was running, they bought a bath like tank filled with wonderful sea creatures.  It really was quite the experience and apparently it is still something they offer.  So if you have a centre near you it might be worth suggesting your local school or group contacts them to see if they offer the service near you!

On our way out we couldn't resist a quick photo in the giant lego shark.  Here are my girls posing!  strangely enough, climbing inside a large shark with red blood like bricks round the mouth didn't phase my youngest at all!  (lets hope she never actually tries this with a real one!)

Generally I would have said ...'avoid the sealife center, it's far too expensive' (true the day tickets really are costly!) but we were lucky to get a local offer and saved over £40 for the three season tickets and so far we have been 4 times (that's saved us nearly double what we paid) I am now converted tho! We have had so much value from our visits and see something new each time.  

I always thought the cafe was expensive but our cards offer us 20% discount on drinks.  I still won't buy things in the gift shop, even with a discount!  

Over all I am now a huge fan! 

If you don't decide to go a season ticket route I have in the past found fab deals online and I discovered a while back that if you go really late in the day they often just let you in if you just buy a guide book.  It's worth looking around!! 

Do you like to visit the same places? I just love season tickets, there is far less pressure to go for a full day! Just a few hours makes somewhere fresh and exciting rather than feeling you have to get every penny's worth of your visit and slogging out a whole day regardless of how busy it is or even how the weather turns out! 

Well I'm going to leave a linky in case any of you lovely bloggers wish to share something you have been up to this week, doesn't matter what it is (or it wouldn't be whatever Wednesday!!)

Hope you have a lovely week and pop back for Happy Friday and Handmade Monday

xxx

A little Easter Preparation!

This year is going ever so fast isn't it!  I am realising that I am, already, too late to start selling items for Easter that are custom made.  I never know when to start with these things, it seams that crafters advertise Christmas stock for months but as soon as it is gone what next??  Valentines, Mother's day then Easter!  (there is no rest!) but then, with the exception of Fathers day there is a crafty season lul until Christmas again (Halloween is a funny one, people don't give cards or presents so I never really craft for this season)

I have been very fortunate to receive a few custom orders recently as well as the normal Crafty What Nots orders.  I haven't actually launched my One-off boxes yet but I am surprising getting orders for them! The nice things about these boxes is that they are personal to the individual and also I can share progress shots with the customer so I know they are happy beforehand.  

Here is a collage of one of the Mother's day boxes.  There is much more in the box but I don't want to spoil it just in case any of them read my blog!

Another One-off box I have been working on has been for a 3yr old.  So far it is full of spring crafty goodies but I have also been making a colouring book for her.   Here is a little collage of some of the drawings!  What do you think?  I did wonder about making up a few to sell before Easter with a set of crayons (too many ideas!!)

Just a reminder to all you Crafty What Nots fans that next months box orders are due to close on the 15th March.  I'm loving the papers already!!

It feels like my world has been consumed with Crafty Boxes, I am sorry if it becomes a little tedious but I get so excited about them! 

In order to bring a little happiness to my facebook followers I have invented a new game!  It's called Crafty What-bats and is something I used to do a lot as a child.  Here is an example! Each What-bat reveals the name of a page who has interacted and joined in with my page!  (Ooo perhaps I should do one for my blog too!)  It's a great way to share pages and fun too!

Can you guess the name of this page?

Lastly I just want to thank those of you who entered my giveaway on Friday. I collated all the entrants from Facebook, Instagram and my blog and the winner was Emma Gray from FB land.  Here are the images I posted to show how I picked the winner.

Well I had better stop and go and do some tidying!! Argggh!

I will be stopping by Handmade Monday as always!

Have a lovely week and hopefully see you back here for Whatever Wednesday and Happy Friday!

xxx

'Whatever' giveaway

This week I decided to launch a multi social media give-away to win one of my new 'Whatever' boxes!  These boxes have become quite popular and I thought it would be fun to give a lucky reader a box!  Each box is crammed full of crafty goodies and normally retails at £7.50.  Unlike normal Crafty What Nots boxes, these aren't personalised and are ready usually within 24 hours, they really are a lucky dip of crafty wonders.  I am happy to try to incorporate a colour preference if you have one!

I am running this give-away on Facebook and Instagram (I'm useless on Twitter so didn't get that far! lol)  All you need to do to enter is comment below that you wish to be entered... that's it!

I will collate all entrants across each network and select a winner at 8pm on Sunday 8th March!

If you didn't catch my Whatever box unveil then here is my little video of what you might find in yours!!! 

I have been trying to think of my 'Happy Friday' photo this week.  I discovered that my dropbox is incredibly full of photos, however nearly all of them are tutorials or photos of Crafty What Nots boxes so nothing new to show you really.  I usually take loads of family pics of our exciting adventures but my camera, unusually, didn't venture out of my bag all weekend! Apart from a few snaps at the sealife centre!  

I thought I would share this pic instead!  It was a little crafting achievement that I was incredibly pleased with.  I created my own stamp to use with my Crafty What Nots.  I have dabbled in stamp making before but this one worked really well!  I am wondering whether to branch out and make a few but not sure yet!  What do you think?

I am going to link up with Happy Friday so hope to see you there! 

Hope you all have had a happy week and have a super weekend (fingers crossed for better weather!)

xxx

Whatever Wednesday 2

Welcome one and all to another Whatever Wednesday!  mmm now whatever could I show you today? This week we popped back to our local sealife centre.  We have decided that on a wet day it is such a great place to go.  As we have been a few times recently, I didn't feel the urge to take too many photos but this beautiful weedy sea dragon was just far too irresistible swimming sedately around the tank!

We would have spent ages here if we didn't have a little person desperate to see how quickly she could get out of the building! (It's amazing how short a 2 year olds attention span can be isn't it!)

Still I managed to snap some lovely pics.  He (or maybe she, but as it was a nursing tank and the males tend to look after the babies I assumed it was a male) was so stunning!

In other news this week I have been busy creating one-off Crafty What Nots boxes and Whatever boxes.  I have also been busy playing on a new app on my phone designed to create little movies from your pictures.  so I will leave you with my first blogged video about the 'Whatever' Boxes!  I will also add a linky in case you fancy linking up any of your recent blog posts!  the only criteria is there isn't any! Well isn't that what Whatever Wednesday is all about???

Felting Easter Egg tutorial

Well after a busy packing week I thought I would just share a little Eastery craft with you.  This lovely egg took me a couple of hours to make (maybe cz I had tv on in the background...btw I don't recomend watching anything other than the needle when it comes to felting!!!)

I started with a polystyrene egg, some wool and a felting needle.

I didn't draw a pattern like my last felting project, instead I just felted where I felt like! he he! 

As you can see I like swirls!  I then added other colours.  Don't over work your felt!  The more you stab the needle in the more bruised the egg becomes and it becomes squishy. (mind you wouldn't you!)

Here is my finished egg!

I hope you feel all felting inspired!  I think I will thread a ribbon through the middle  of this one and hang several around the house!  The Easter bunny will want to visit!!!

I'm popping along to join in with Handmade Monday so do pop round and say hi!