... because life's too short to do anything ALL the time . Creativity and positivity are my "hiraeth"

Saturday 31 December 2011

Bloomin' Teenagers








My teenager's computer is broke. As a result, mine is permanently being used to skype a young German gentleman who shall remain nameless.

As a result, no posts for ages, which is rubbish. So here's some photos of stuff what I have been mostly making over Christmas ... and here's to my new year's resolution of retrieving said 'puter on a regular basis!


Saturday 3 December 2011

Crockery in Disguise




Who the hell would have thought that plates could pretend to be something other than what they are?!?

My lovely friend H told me about her clever sister's Christmas present ideas a few months ago. Vintage plates made into cake stands with ironmongery bought off of her majesty's royal internet.

"What a lovely present!" I thought - and said. I sadly would be strung up if I brought any more cake stands into the house, and lots of my friends, while they appreciate the merits and finer points of a cake stand, aren't really the sorts of people that would appreciate one as a present. "Shame". I thought. That's the sort of thing I'd like to make. "Shame I have no use for more cake stands!"

Then, as luck would have it, I, ahem, have a use for some cake stands. I can be a little more candid than usual as I know him indoors won't see this. He's not feeling too good.

Let's just say, I have a very good use for LOTS of cake stands next year.

So, El & Beth's Saturday Afternoon Craft Workshop ( or EBSACw for short) decided to embrace "the cake stand".

I bought three dinner and three side plates in pale pink when Steve and I took the Grandmother to Tenby the other week. £1 for all three and I really like them because they remind me of quilts. They have circles of three decreasing widths embossed into them in a quilting style - they're dead pretty.

The Grandmother gave me a tea set the other week that's lovely but the kind of wrong colours for my requirements. The are cream with a brown dog rose pattern on. El had a brain wave. We could paint the dog roses. We had a little go an lo and behold, dog roses painted red become poppies!

And I purchased another incomplete tea/dinner set this week courtesy of St David's Foundation, so one of those was earmarked for a cake stand too. I did think about making 2 from this set. I've changed my mind. A lot.

So, we got the drill, we measured the plates, marked the plates, located the special arrow-head ceramic drill bit ... and off we went.

Little did we know that we had a traitor in the midst. One of our plates was not what it pretended to be.

Obviously the pink set, the dog rose set, both female. Relatively easy to drill, and ta dah! we have cake stands! We set about the third one. Decorated with pretty orchids and such like one would think it was also female. Not so. It had a distinguishing mark on the bottom "made in Japan". Therefore we could only come to the conclusion that this set was male in disguise as it gave us so much trouble. A Japanese lady boy, we decided. A rugby player, dressed as a delicate lovely, pretty set of table wear. I swear the stuff was made of kryptonite.

There's only going to be one of those cake stands.

Pretty though, ain't they?! Can't wait till they fulfill their purpose ...



Friday 2 December 2011

Today I have Mostly Been Fabric Shopping ...




...and doing 1940's barrel rolls for Meg's photo shoot this evening.

I made my advent calendar yesterday. I can't take the credit for it, it's a Martha Stewart concept, realised by my good self and fashioned as a result of two year's worth of collecting.

It's made of 25 baby socks, sewn on to a washing line style red ribbon. Each one has 3 sweets and 3 gravy bone biscuits in - one each for the whole herd. I;d love to show you it, but I can't find my little mini gold pegs. When I do, I will show you. Unless I get fed up of looking and post it anyway.

As usual, I had a really specific idea in my head of the Christmas presents I was to be making for my most important ladies this year. And as usual, when it came to buying the raw materials, I bought something totally different and, I think, better. Lovely chestnut corduroy handbags with amber handles and a beautiful print to line and decorate with and co ordinate with the brooch. I'm chuffed to say that I'm making one for my good mate El's Mum. She's setting up a little soap and cream business and is making dreamy products on her kitchen table - I'm thrilled to be her guinea pig.

And I do hope it all turns up soon or it's going to be a 3am finish every night until Christmas again like last year. Lordy, I'm just not as organised as I'd like to be... but who is?


SO in the mean time, this is the "lady garden warmer" I made for Meg's, ahem, "special day" last week. You like?

Oh knickers to it .... here's my calendar.