Any ideas...

...what I can do with these - craftwise, that is.
Not the best of photos but perhaps this one will help a bit...
They are card CD holders that Mum had come through the post with some audio books in. She has transferred her CDs to a more substantial storage container and presented these to me...to "do something with".

There are two styles - a)a tri-fold card with slots to take the CDs and b)a book style consisting of the cover and a single page (there are slots inside this too for the CDs).

I have been thinking about covering one of the 'books' and decorating it with some stamped images and perhaps using the slots for photos or gift vouchers - making it a combined card/gift. However, I am open to ideas & suggestions...the more the merrier.

If someone comes up with a really good idea I might even send them one of these to play with - as long as they promise to "show and tell" what they do with it and how they did it.

So get those ideas rolling in...................................

Introducing...

...my Mum (you might want to grab a cuppa - this is a long one).

The lady responsible for all my Arty-Craftiness...all 4ft 10 & a half inches of her. Whatever you do - don't forget the 1/2 inch...she gets very touchy about it LOL

Despite her limited mobility these days she is very independant and will still give lots of things 'a go'...here I caught her looking out of the window considering where she was going to plant some summer bulbs.
Things might take her a bit longer these days but she gets there in the end...
This is the person that during my growing up would never be put off of trying anything or trying to adapt something for her purpose.

Knowing the sort of people my grandparents were it has always amazed me as to where my Mum got her arty-craftiness from. I know she and her sister were taught to knit but it wasn't by my nan as she struggled to manage garter stitch lengths that someone else would have to cast on & off for her. Great Auntie Queenie was probably responsible for the basic skills and I know Mum did knitting at school. Nan couldn't sew either...it was more likely to be granddad stitching on a button if the need arose so I know this was a skill Mum definately gained at school.

So from these basic beginnings it is surprising what my Mum has managed to achieve over the years. She is very good at looking at something and then creating something similar. Oh and if you thought my crafting skills were pretty eclectic then you should see what she has tried...knitting, embroidery, dressmaking, home furnishings, woodturning,, watercolour painting, oils, crochet, silver-smithing, beading, just to name a few...

I can remember her making a plaster of paris landscape on a huge board for my sister and I to layout our farmyard buildings & animals. It had a mountain and fields, rivers & roads and was wonderfully creative. Then there was a year when we left it too late to get a Christmas tree so she created our very own "North Pole" - a piece of 2x2 wood wedged vertically between the floor & ceiling in the corner of the lounge. It was covered in red & white crepe paper to make it look like a candy cane and had lights and decorations attached - we woke Christmas morning to find our presents at the foot of the pole.

Mum turned her hand to costume making when I attended Dancing school. Once again her ability to look at something and make something similar came to the fore. At competitions I would often see other children in beautiful (expensive) costumes and beg Mum for something the same. On three occasions she completely covered leotards with sequins - each one stitched on by hand - because it was cheaper than buying the same thing ready made...I had a lovely emerald green one that she even dyed my tap shoes to match by using shoe dye and green glitter, a gold one that shimmered like fish scales but the most beautiful of all was a white leotard covered in mother-of-pearl sequins. It had leg-of-mutton style sleeves - the top part made from crystal chiffon and the long cuffs covered in the sequins. The poloneck collar was covered in sequins and decorated with glittery net butterflies...and more of the butterflies were woven into my hair - looking back, I was a very lucky little girl.

Over the years, although Mum encouraged both my sister and I - my sister wasn't really interested. However, I have always liked to try, dabble, copy - have a go.

Mum is always very supportive of my crafting efforts and I have to thank her for most of my larger crafting pieces of equipment. My Quickutz & Alphabet was a combined birthday/Christmas pressie as was my Cricut. My sister had money for something so I got a BigShot. My Cropadile was an Easter gift as was my Bigbite a year later. When I used to take her to Ally Pally she would see things demonstrated and then ask "would you like one of those..."

Some crafters follow their hobby despite their families "Not getting it" - I've never had that problem as far as Mum is concerned.

So now you have met my Mum (at least virtually LOL) and all I can say is - thank you Mum for giveing me the encouragement to find pass-times that I really enjoy.....................

I love Deco Ladies...

...like the ones you see on Clinton Cards.

So when Andy at Pinnacle Crafts mentioned that he was going to do a Deco Style class - I was there, and my place was booked.

Today was the class day and it was wonderful. Andy told us we would be making a variety of cards using the Deco idea of classic clean lines and period colours - i.e. not just black & white which a lot of folk associate with the Deco style.

The first card we made was mainly B&W but I used a little hint of peachy-pink as a highlight accent.
The image was a clear stamp from the new DoCrafts range Perfect Pets and so was the embossed frame. The border was one of the newer Martha Stewart border punches. With a bit of added bling the finished effect is quite classy.

Although it doesn't show in this photo (my wonderful skills with a camera coming to the fore - yet again LOL) the pattern is created from turquoise miri card cut using an EK Success trim punch and then glued in rows down the whole of the front of the card.
The panel was cut in silver miri using a Cuttlebug die and then mounted on the turquoise card before being raised with 3D foam.

The Deco period saw travel becoming very popular so this easel card was made to look like the lady is standing on the deck of a ship.
Kanban scenic card was used for the sea & sky and the the decking.
The rail and the lifebouy were cut on the Cricut and by carefully placing the lady, she looks like she is holding onto the rail gazing out to sea.

This card was a 'take' on one that Andy did a little while ago using an Edwardian lady. For this class we had a digi stamp of a 'flapper' which we coloured using Copic pens.
The background of the card was created using matte silver card covered in glitter card 'bricks' to give the look of a wall. The door was cut from white gloss card using the "Ornamental Iron" cart on the Cricut. The railing was cut using a Martha Stewart deep edge punch - gunmetal miri card was used.
Funny enough, the design on the railings was very close to the design of the door. As you can see, I stuck with the turquiose colour when I was colouring this image as this is a shade that I really like.

Another lovely crafty day with a bit of all sorts of crafty things...colouring, punching, stamping, blinging, cut & sticking.

All the cards were 5 & 3/4inch squares but we had a standard side fold, a tent fold and a couple of easels.

I have so enjoyed my day...............................

A tiny bit of...

...cross stitch.
...and when I say tiny, I do mean pretty small. To give you an idea of the scale I've taken the photo with a Distress Ink pad to one side so you can get a better perspective. Pretty quick and easy as the whole thing is fairly simple blocks of colour.
A bit of back stitch to give the thing dimension and suddenly it is a parrot instead of blocks of colour.

I need to get back into my cross stitching because I really do have rather a lot of kits sitting in my so-called craft room. Perhaps a couple daylight bulbs in the side lamps in the lounge will help things along..........................

I Can't Believe it's...

...not a marge tub LOL
There was a time when marge didn't come in the rectangular tubs that you see nowadays - lots came in round tubs. I suppose the manufacturers took into account ease of storage and decided rectangles used the space in the fridge more efficiently. Anyway, I digress. A short while ago I was having a rummage in the freezer/laundry cupboard for a dish to put a pot plant in and I found an old "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" tub. The size was just right for an idea I had so I got stuck into a bit of recycling.
I wanted to make a little trinket pot to put on the bedside table to hold rings and things safely and this is what I came up with. The inside was lined first of all with some cheery yellow fabric - a couple of stitches through the tub to ensure the fabric was held in place. The outside was then covered with a piece of quilting wadding and then a piece of pretty trellis fabric (no idea of the source of the fabrics as I've had them for some considerable time). The inside fabric and the outside ones were stitched together around the rim of the tub.

Two circles of stiff card were cut to make a lid. Wadding was applied to the one side of one of the circles and then covered with the trellis fabric - the other circle was covered with the yellow fabric. Some co-ordinating lace was gathered and attached around the edge then the two circles were stitched together to hide the stitching of the lace. The lid was then attached to the base. A piece of ribbon was stitched to the front edge of the lid and a covered ring was attached to the base to create a closure.

One recycled plastic tub becomes a little trinket pot - simples.................

Another craft...

...that I dabble in - crochet.

I can just about follow a crochet pattern and I have made fancy doilies and the like but when I get the crochet hook out it mainly tends to be to create blankets, squares...the simple stuff.

I recently bought some lovely soft lavender DK yarn and thought I would crochet a cushion cover with it. Whilst the yarn is lovely, it is not ideal for crochet as it splits very easily whilst working making it quite difficult to build-up any kind of speed.
However, it is creating a lovely soft finish...just means it will take a bit longer.

I also found some lovely assorted fibres that I want to incorporate but I haven't made up my mind yet whether I will crochet them as part of the construction or add them after as decoration - will need to give this some thought.
In the meantime, this is something that I can sit in front of the TV and and pick up from time to time just as something to do..................................

Happy St David's Day...

...hope the weather brightens up.

It is very cold and grey here today so I thought a nice cheerful daff would be just right...
Have a good saint's day - those of you who will be celebrating. For the rest of you...pinch-punch, first of the month..............................