Thursday, June 09, 2011

Busy days ...

Hello ...

How are you? ... 
I'm busy getting things organised for another night with my group ... Sometimes it is hard to keep coming up with ideas that I can present for them ... being that they are limited in their abilities it takes a fair bit of work ... And what would I do without the internet and you wonderful bloggers out there who share your creations, your ideas and your tutorials? Lots of my inspiration come from you ... and I am able to adapt most things so that my group of mentally and physically challenged can create something   nice to take home ... So I thank you ...
To see their progression each week is a blessing ... I have no training at all ... either in teaching craft or with special needs ... but we seem to gel ... maybe because I find it so simple to see beyond their disabilities ... and because I have taken them to my heart and they in return bring me such joy ... So as time consuming as it is ... preparing each week is worthwhile ... and this week we are going to make brooches and of course cards ... here is a little look ..


This will be the finished article ... I still have a lot of cards to cut and bows to make 


The brooch 


I had a lot of felt in my stash .... and I got the badges for 5p each ages ago in a sale


Some of the supplies ... the pretty papers were a gift from Jak
Now I need to cut card and tie bows ... I hope to be back with you soon 
Have a wondeful day 

~ Ros ~



Tuesday, June 07, 2011

City Crafter Altered Jars

Hello and Good Morning to you all ....

Today we have a brilliant new challenge over at the City Crafter Challenge blog ... set by Kirsty  and this is a first for me ... I confess I have never altered a bottle or jar and have been dying to try it ... so thanks Kirsty for a great challenge! 
I loved each and every entry to last weeks' challenge ... you are all so talented ... makes picking winners soooo hard ... and I know the other DT feel just the same as me ... "Thank You" to all of you.

I had all sorts of ideas when I first heard what was in store this week and just couldn't decide ... so I went with 3 different ones ... I'll show you them first and then do a little explaining ... Warning ... there are lots of pictures!


First up I wanted to do a more ornate one ... and the bottle I had was kind of triangular in shape so covering it took a bit of figuring out and a few snips here and there ...


Once the covering was sorted it was just such fun to add all the little embellishments 


Scraps come in very useful here ... I covered the wooden heart with a scrap of paper added a key and a gem stone ... a scrap of hessian and tulle ... a sprig from a flower decoration, ribbon, butterfly and a piece of beading together with a TH ticket ... all glued and tied with twine ...


I also glued some trim where the joins in my paper are and used a sticker backed with card across the front ... and just so you can see the reverse ...


More pretty lace from a Pixie Dust Paperie kit ... who incidentally are kindly sponsoring us again this week 
For my second creation ...  I used a screw top jar and made a container for my pins with a pin cushion lid ... This was 'sew' simple to do ...


The pins originally came in little plastic containers with sponge lids ... so I used this sponge for my lid .. covering it with materials and gluing it to the jar lid with a couple of circles of tulle between the lid and the sponge top ...


I added some pretty lace to the rim of the lid and voila! 


... And those adorable little pins on top were made especially for me by Steph ... 'Thanks Steph ... I LOVE them" 

And finally a quirky and so easy one ... 


... Ok so some of you may recognise what this was ... it was originally a handwash and I loved the 3D fish effect so  I kept the empty container ...
I peeled the manufacturers label from the front ... (Tip ... to remove any sticky labels be it from a jar to a pair of new shoes ... use either a hairdryer or a heat gun and swipe it back and forth over the label for a minute and the label will just peel away in one go) ... The 3D effect is done by a piece of acetate being either stamped or in this case with stickers/transfers on being placed in the centre of the bottle ... mine is secured there using some coloured stones and sand ... the type you use to stand candles in or in vases to hold flowers ...
The back of the bottle also has a 'sea' sticker on and I used some silver glitter paper (self adhesive) over this ... I added some water too ... really to show you the effect  but you could leave it as it is ... 'cos when you come to change the water you will need to make sure you don't tip the stones etc., down the sink!


As a final touch I added some twine and made a sea effect tag complete with charm and pearls 




I had so much fun doing these ... I hope you are going to try one too ... why not pop over to CCCB and see what the rest of the DT and our amazing Guest Designer Sasya have created? ... Oh and Do take a visit to Sasya's blog ... Oh my goodness ... you will NOT be disappointed ( there's even a free tutorial and pattern for the cutest crocheted deer ... Awww!) ... 

Thanks so much for stopping by ... keep safe

~ Ros ~















Sunday, June 05, 2011

Jingle Belles Card 23 ...

Hello sweet friends ...
I am just popping in with my card for this weeks' Jingle Belles Rock challenge  and the theme this week is 
.... Let it Sew, Let it Sew, Let it Sew ....
Which of course is to add some sort of stitching to our card ... you all know I stitch on just about everything ... so why is it that I suddenly had a mental block when required to do it??**?? I guess I just over think everything ... so in the end I decided to keep it quite simple ... but with a little bit of ... humour?


..  it kinda speaks for itself really ... red ribbon and stitching ... and I cut some little holly leaves (ok ... I tried to cut something resembling holly leaves) ... from felt and added a wee bit of stitching too ...


... See the little 3D chipboard piece? ... my little bit of humour ... 

Hope you all have a lovely Sunday ... Thanks for stopping by ...

~ Ros ~


Saturday, June 04, 2011

Happy Anniversary .....



I just had to pop in and wish my dear friend Stella  a lovely day filled with happiness ....
and because the lady "Likes blue" ... another 'blue' card especially for you 



I hope this arrived on time 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone ...

~ Ros ~


Friday, June 03, 2011

Sewing box ...

Hi there ... are you having a good day? 
We have had glorious sunshine today ... really hot and I spent the afternoon in my craft room ... much cooler ...
I saw a beautiful sewing box Here and was so taken with it that I thought I'd make one too ... but I confess that I really do prefer the one made by the talented Kerryanne ...


My box is a hexagonal shape and I covered it with paper rather than paint ... 




Using some MME paper 


The labels are from the Graphic Fairy 



Lace and ribbon from my stash ...
Simple .. but lots of fun to do ..

I hope you have a lovely evening ... I'll be back tomorrow

~ Ros ~












Thursday, June 02, 2011

WaltzingMouse and bye bye Cat ....

Hi there ...
finally the mystery of the cat is solved ... seems she ... "Minnie" ( the minx!) belongs to the Policeman a few houses away ... well actually his teenage daughter ... and they also have another female cat ... who does not appreciate Minnie being part of the household ... fights ensue and Minnie decides to leave home and search for a new family to adopt ... 
Well she was collected yesterday evening and 2 hours later they were searching for her again ... they knocked at my door and as soon as Minnie heard my voice ... she came from her hiding place in the garden ran in my house and up my stairs! But I desperately needed a nights sleep so sorry to say I handed her back. No doubt it not the last I will see of her ...

 I have a card that I made for a sweet blog friend Becks ... and I used the sketch over at WaltzingMouse ... such a lovely sketch ...


I decided to flip this and here is my card ... 


This Thank you card is way overdue because I know Becks love MF papers and I just couldn't get these so my lovely friend Stella got them for me
 (Thank you Stella) ...
I used the "Text It" stamps from WM on the paper ...


I'm hoping you can see that ... and I also used the lovely "Victorian Frippery" set again too ... this is probably my most used set of stamps ... love them!



I used distress ink to stamp with and then added some twine to my card ... flowers and some delicate tulle with a bow ... 
Becks this will be on it's way to you soon ... sorry it's late

And finally ... I have this souvenir magazine from the Royal Wedding ...


... If anyone would like it ... just let me know ...

Have a lovely day