Just where has...

...January gone to?

I can't believe that we are here at the 29th of the month already - another few days and we will be in February. Gosh how time flies.

2018 has started in a rather hectic manner. Work has been a madhouse and commuting has been 'delightful' (NOT). Quite a bit of crafting has been going on but I really need to get the camera back into use - at the moment I seem to be completing bits but because the lighting is so awful nothing is getting photographed.

I've managed to organise myself right through until the end of October so that I can have Fridays off. This means that I can continue with my parchment classes which I am really enjoying.

Before Christmas I attended some of Andy Pearson's (Pinnacle Crafts) Saturday workshops where we got to play with Pan Pastels and Inks - all nice and messy and not the sort of thing that I tend to do at home. The camera did get forgotten most of the time but here are a couple of the cards that were made...

...it is lovely making a mess and seeing what results from it.

Lots of knitting & crochet has been going on and I'm pleased to say that I've made a great start on the Christmas gifts (don't groan). Christmas card making needs to pick up pace a bit but at least I've made a start...so you never know...I might have them all done & dusted well before Christmas.

Ooooo, was that a flock of pigs flying past the window.......................................................

Santa Dash...

...by one of our team.

At the start of December one of our team dressed up as Mrs Santa and joined Santa dash to raise money for her local hospice. Despite a very soggy day (she said she could really have done with some glasses with windscreen wipers LOL) she completed event and raised £140.

 

She brought her medal into work....

...to show all her colleagues who had sponsored her.

As I sit here creating this post I can't believe that it has been over a month since I last posted - time has more than just flown this year but although the posts have been rather lacking I think time has been well spent on the various causes that I and my colleagues have managed to support.

Back in July my "Craft & Chatter" group completed and sent off 150 mini hats for the Innocent Smoothie "Big Knit" to help raise money for Age UK. When the hatted bottles hit the shelves in the shops this Autumn, we eagerly looked out to see if we could find any of our creations. The answer to that was NO but we all bought items with hats that had been created by other folk. There were certainly some fabulous creations.

In October we were merrily making crochet & knitted poppies...

...which helped to raise just over £180 for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.

The group are currently making "Bonding squares" for local Neo-natal units.

The office supported the Newham Food Bank (part of the Trussell's Trust) again this year and as usual I decorated the collection area to make it look a little more festive. There was a fabulous response and we collected far more than in previous years. The Newham Food Bank provided nearly 2000 food parcels last Christmas and we hope our contribution helped them to do even more this year.

Our support of the RNLI is on going and folk regularly bring in books & un-wanted gifts to add to our 'shop' area. Support from wonderful folk on the web has also been amazing - handmade items & cards from Lunch Lady Jan & Shaz Silverwolf  (regulars on Julia Dunit's "What's on your Workdesk Wednesday" over at "The Stamping Ground") all very much appreciated.

Although you would never believe it due to the lack of posts on here, November & December were very busy crafting months. I finished off all my handmade gifts and managed to make all my cards (yes, I failed on the making as I went through the year - but hey-ho it all got done) but the thing that I didn't manage to do was take photos as I went. I was so determined to get everything wrapped the photos were forgotten.

With it being just a few hours away from a New Year, I can't promise that posting will be any better but I'm sure 2018 will be just as busy and just as crafty as 2017..........................................

 

Winter Skating Angel...

...by Kerryanne English.

 

 

Kerryanne loves all things 'Tilda' and this is her recent creation - isn't it sweet.

 

Each year Kerryanne holds a cyber event over on her Shabby Art Boutique blog called "Simply Christmas" and she shares lots of tips and ideas for putting the heart, home & family back into Christmas. She generously provides lots of free downloads to help you with your festive organisation and décor.

 



If you haven't paid her a visit before, please do - I'm sure you will find some lovely ideas to use this festive season................................................................

I'm still playing...

...with the LOTV images I bought.

I did buy rather a lot LOL...so it is taking me quite a while to work my way through them.

I have loved this image for quite some time so when LOTV had one of their super sales - it was a "no brainer" that this would be amongst my selection...

...I didn't go for a traditional colour scheme on this (although I do love the samples I've seen with this little miss in Christmas red) but went for blues & pinks. I still have some papers from the "Silver Bells" range that I think will work well.

I am still woefully behind with my Christmas cards but I think I have most of my presents sorted.

So better get a move on with my card makes otherwise it will be the usual panic session taking place to get them all done.......................................

But I wanted a...

...playstation.

Don't you just love the expression on this LOTV image...

...you can tell that she is not amused.

Whilst colouring this little miss I was reminded of so many Christmas gifts from my gran. She always bought clothes for everyone and they were always too big - "so we could 'grow' into them". This might have been fine for the grandkids but she also did it with the adults...socks was the traditional gift for the men and my poor Dad (who didn't have the largest feet in the world) would receive socks that were so big that you could tuck the toe under the foot and it would reach back to the heel LOL

Did you have folk that gave 'strange' presents?

I would love to know if there are others out there that had family members who had similar mind-sets - I think with my gran a lot was to do with her up-bringing and the era that she grew up in. Things had to last so it was common practice to buy things bigger than needed so that you could in deed 'grow into them'.

Still, the thought was there and the gifts were always given with love - bless you gran................

A little bit of...

...colouring in.

A short while ago, the lovely folk at Lili of the Valley had a sale and it was too good a bargain to miss. As a result I stocked up on quite a few digi images.

I love stamps (and have quite a few **rollseyes**) but I find digis so useful as you can size them to suit what you want to make.

I was very quick off the mark getting all my new purchases printed but that was as far as it got - there never seemed to be a spare moment to sit and just colour. That was solved when I went to Carol Whalley's crop at the Toby carvery. Here are three of the images that I managed to play with...

...these Christmas ladies are beautiful (I have yet to finish the 4th one in the set).

Christmas is fast approaching - yep, they are already advertising the Christmas Movie Channel which starts the weekend after next and then goes 'full-time' from 21 October - just where has the year gone to?

Every year I say I must be more organised for the Christmas season and every year we get to this point and I start to panic. Well at least this year my 'special' Christmas cards are all done it is just the batch cards that are lacking in numbers. At the moment there are...NONE...as I can't make up my mind on a design.

Well if anything is going to get done I need to get my rear in gear and make a start. I'll let you know what I decide upon - if the broadband plays nice.....................................................

My "Groovi"...

...little Gingerbread house.

I have had the Groovi Gingerbread house border plate since it was launched but had only ever used the little Gingerbread men (when decorating my "Twas the Night before Christmas" book).

I decided it was about time it was put to some use so grabbed some parchment and here was the result...

 ...the tiles on the roof seemed to take for ever...

 ...but the colouring of the candy-canes was pretty quick & easy...

...nothing too fancy...

...but plenty of glitter on the roof to give a frosty effect.

The house is only tiny but will be perfect sitting on the mantelpiece at Christmas with a battery tealight inside.

You would not believe how long it has taken to complete this post - two weeks ago the pictures wouldn't load and I gave up in frustration. Broadband speeds in this area have been awful and today it has taken 3 attempts to actually get into Blogger. Let's hope things improve......................................

Today is our weekly...

..."Craft & Chatter" at work.

We will be doing a count up of the mini hats made so far.

At last weeks gathering we had a display table of the different types of craft that folk have been doing. This was in sup[port of a "Health & Wellbeing" event that was being held in the building and there were various talks & stalls set up in different parts of the office.

There were examples of cardmaking as well as the knitting & crochet...

...with a selection of seasonal and general cards...

 ...the mini hats were very popular...

 ...and the basic knitted squares seemed to prompt a few folk to consider getting their needles out...

 ...but surprisingly, these Christmas cards with images of the Bugaboo character "JJ"...

...seemed to catch more attention and we may have a few folk join us to make a few cards.

It will be interesting to see how many 'new' folk turn up for the group today.

In the meantime, the knitting needles are still clicking away and we will have to see what our total number of mini hats has reached as we will be packaging them up next week to send off.....................

My first...

...completed parchment project.

If you promise not to look too closely (and spot the wonky snipping around the edges and the odd pierced hole that shouldn't be there) I'll show you my finished Christmas gift box.

I did all the outside panels using the Scalloped squares Groovi plate rather than create different shaped panels for each side.

The Groovi plates are a great starting point...

 ...which can be decorated in any way you like. This means even traditional 'parchers' can make use of them (much easier than measuring and trying to draw straight lines with perfect corners LOL).

The "S" on the front of the box was my first attempt at grid-work...

 ...and despite a couple of 'oops' moments I was very pleased with the finished result.

The inside of the box was decorated with some small (less detailed) panels...

 ...with a touch of glitter and 'spray & sparkle'.

The background for the "N" was from a small grid...

 ...which meant that the pattern had to be 'matched' to fill the space - I think this is my favourite panel.

On the sample that Joanne made, her "O" panel was round (using the scalloped circles Groovi plate)...

 ...so I had to adapt the design slightly to fit a square.

The "W" was stippled (only the second time I have done this) and it seemed to take for ever...

...but once done, the background was created with the random use of the micro sun tool.

This Friday I have a couple of parchment classes so will be continuing with my "Twas the Night before Christmas" book - just 3 pages left to do.

At this rate I should have at least two completed projects by this Christmas.....................................

The Late May Bank Holiday...

...was pretty busy.

On Friday afternoon I met up with my friend Hilary for lunch and then went to a parchment class at Pinnacle Crafts. Another page of my 'Twas the night before Christmas book was completed leaving me just four pages yet to be done.

The weekend before had been an "All day" class where we started on a pretty decorated box. I managed to complete the construction and make a start on the decorative panels.

Here is the box that Joanne produced as a sample...

 ...and as you can see, when the lid comes off...

 ...hidden inside are some little shelves (big enough to take a few choccies).
Joanne made two versions, the second being a more general use box...

 ...and folk were given the choice as to which one they made.

Because it was bank holiday weekend, Joanne had arranged another "All day" class so I was able to get stuck in on the panels.

Here is my letter "S"...

 ...lots of 'grid work' and embossing. Which was then followed by lots of snipping (my favourite bit - NOT!!!).
The other panels were then worked upon...

...by the end of the lessen I had completed all but the "W". This will take a while as the letter is 'stippled' and then the background pattern will need to be done.

I will take some more photos once I have finished and mounted all the outside panels. Then it will be a case of doing the panels for the inside of the box.

This has come together surprisingly quickly but will probably take another couple of lessons to complete. I loved the box construction and can't wait to see the finished item.

You never know, I might even have a go at the other version......................................

Would you believe it...

...it might be completed by Christmas 2017.

If you are scratching your head and wondering what I'm going on about, let me enlighten you.

In December 2016, I attended an all day workshop at Pinnacle Crafts where Joanne was showing us how to use the "Twas the Night before Christmas" Groovi plates along with traditional parchment techniques.

As I've told you all before, I am not a "Parcher" - I love the craft but am not very patient so am not particularly good at it. I enjoyed the class but joked that it would be Christmas 2020 before my book would be completed; if lucky.

Well, I've attended a few more classes and have actually constructed my book...

 ...easy enough task using 6x6 card blanks.
Here are my completed parchment pages...

 ...I actually only have five more parchment embellished pages to go.

On the Saturday of Bank Holiday weekend, I went to Carol Whalley's crop at the Toby Carvery.

During the course of the day I managed to construct a cover for my book...

 ...using images from the Hunkydory little book.
I have also added a few more pages throughout the book so that I can use some more of the images...

 ...and this one was actually framed using the new scalloped square Groovi plate to create a frame.
The Hunkydory little book has some lovely images and I love how they work well...

 ...scattered throughout the book.
I thought this image was perfect for the back cover...

...such lovely artwork.

The outer covers will probably get a bit more embellishment once the inside is completed but for now I don't want too much there that could get caught or damaged.

So here we are in the second week in May 2017 and things are coming along nicely. I have a few more lessons booked so that I can get the rest of the parchment elements done and all being well it will be done in plenty of time for this Christmas.

This has been quite a large project but for the first time in ages, this is actually for me. So it is lovely seeing it take shape....................................................

I can crochet...

...as I'm sure regulars who visit my blog can confirm.

I always have a blanket or throw in progress as they don't take a lot of concentration and are things that can be done whilst watching TV.

However, it is a good many years since I made anything 'fancy'.

I have also managed to confuse myself by watching a mix of American and British videos about crochet as we both tend to have different terms for the various stitches - so I decided to attend a class.

Denise at Craft Arena had a basic refresher class advertised but unfortunately it was full so I bit the bullet and signed up for the class where we would be shown how to make a crochet necklace. The class was taken by a lovely lady called Sue Broughton and in the two hour class we completed a necklace and had a play at making one with beads - fab two hours.

So what did I do when I got home?

I dug out a ball of Rowan Egyptian DK cotton that I bought a couple of weeks ago...

...I love this dark teal colour and the yarn is so soft...

 ...and next to no time I had made another necklace (Just needs a suitable button for fastening).
This was the necklace that I completed in class...

 ...and I had a button for this so it is completely finished.
Unfortunately, Denise was out of stock of the white Rowan cotton so I bought some DMC...

...it is slightly finer but with the added beads I was really pleased with the finished look.
I had some 'Sugar & Cream' cotton yarn which is a heavier weight...

 ...and this red necklace was soon added to the stack.
I didn't have many beads left but decided to make another teal necklace...

 ...the beads are threaded onto the yarn before starting...

...and the beads are crocheted into the foundation row...

...another necklace completed...

...with beads evenly spaced around the neck edge - it looks much prettier in proper light.

Would you believe these pieces only consist of two rows of crochet - so they are very quick and easy to complete.

All I need now are some pretty buttons to act as fasteners.

Of the cotton yarns I have used so far, the Rowan is by far the nicest to work with so I think a few more colours will be jumping into my basket in the not too distant future. I also love the glass beads so will be getting some more of those (they do a lovely pearl colour that I think will look fab against the teal).

I have made and added these to my present stash for occasions coming up during the year and yes, I think a few will also end up as Christmas gifts.....................................................