JFF - In the Sewing Box

Well, what is in my wardrobe stays in my wardrobe but what is in my sewing box can come out at any time.  It is such a pity that this challenge did not come up earlier when I was doing my little House on the first of the month isn't it - lots of things from my sewing box went in there.  I can't wait to see what you all come up with this week.

I had not a clue what to do and then the light switched on and I had a "ding" moment and remembered that people used to make "button fairies".  So out with the button box (don't tell anyone, it lives in my craft room), a bit of wire and we were halfway there.  At first I thought it might be too cute but Zoe assured me this was "arty" so I heaved a big sigh of relief and here it is - reminds me of something from "Alice":

Or should I say - here they are:

Yes, I got a bit carried away.  They are not really me but I did enjoy making them - had great fun rummaging through my button stash which now has got itself sorted into "shank buttons", "large buttons", "small buttons".  As you can see the two above have Friendly Plastic 'heads'.  They did not photograph very well as they both were made with a metallic strip.  The top one has a rubber stamped pair of wings with wire antennae and the baby one has a Spellbinders butterfly diecut for wings and antennae.

Thought I would do one a bit different so this one is stamped with a photostamp image and the wings are from a Marianne Die.  I left a bit of wire at the bottom on this one and gave it a twirl.

Perhaps now I will attempt the necklace with the buttons I bought at Aintree last year - now where on earth did I put them?

WOYWW 124 and Chaos Reigns

I spend so much time trying to find folks when wanting to leave a comment for someone who has been kind enough to leave one for me and life could be so much simpler.  Please, when posting it would be a great idea if you could put the number you are on the list that week.  Straight away we can come and find you (I say "we" because I am sure others feel the same) - we used to do it but it seems to have disappeared and new peeps are maybe not aware of it.  Just a thought and no way is it a criticism,, just a plea from little old me.

Now to the business - what on earth am I on about - why Julia Dunnit and her phenomenam which is What's On Your Work Desk Wednesday.  Pop over and see what I am on about - you will be hooked.   Now to my desk - this week!!!  As most of you know I have just got back from my three day Polymer Clay Workshop and have finally unloaded my bag.  This is my room:

Literally everything DUMPED!  No available workspace and no time to move stuff at the moment.

This is my poorly pasta machine just peeping in at the left hand side, my syrup tin (stripped of its upper and lower seams), a book I bought, my screen printed pendants, canes for the fruit tarts, crushed clay for Natalia's bracelets and other stuff.

Moving along - new clay (I am converting to Premo as I love working with it) and old clay.  The latter of which is perfectly ok but there are bags of Kato, bags of Premo, Sculpey and Fimo.  Now they all have to be sorted out.

A tube bead roller which Val and Craig gave to us all, skewers, tools, rolling pin, liquid clay, screens, cling film, instruction leaflets and a couple more new books and probably loads of other stuff I haven't mentioned.  On the tiles are (top - bracelet and brooch half finished from Natalia's class, black and white brooch from Christine's class and various screen printed pendants/ear-rings cut from left-overs from Alison's class).

Want to see more chaos?

Pop over to Julia's blog and join in the fun as we all rummage around to see what everyone is up to.  Happy WOYWW!

But first of all feast your eyes on the inchies I got from  the swap: (remember these are all clay ones) - I showed you mine last week.

The bottom two rows feature mainly caning and the one to the right of Alex's Steampunk one is also a cane.
Eva did a button rather than an inchie for all of us, Irene did a Sutton Slice with her face (3rd row down), Kim did Mica Shift (next to the end on second row) whilst the next one along is from Christine Dumont the tutor who did the brooch with us (mine is not finished yet - needs sanding etc) and check out Sue's which I love (first and second on second row down).  Don't know the names of the people for all of them (it is rather frenetic when we swap) but do know that the top left one is by Noella and the top right by Marta, both from Spain.  The face cane at the bottom is Diane's and the Celtic Knot is the cane perfected by Val and demonstrated to us so admirably.

Got to show you the brooch I bought from Marta (Marta is from Spain) as I just loved it and thought I might also put a jump ring on it and turn it into a pendant.  I bet some of my friends will expect me to do something like this - but I am not as clever as Marta - not yet!  Must say this photo does not do it justice as I had to take it in artificial light.

Polymer Clay Weekend

Well, this time it was in Alfreton, at the Genesis Centre, which was a much more modern venue than the football club where we usually attend but I did miss the football club to be honest.  This year we had some different tutors from those in the past but here is Natalia, who we all know from the last few years (and love) with her clown's hat on sorry, her mask on her head.  She was shredding some clay in a coffee grinder - that's Diane who has just snuck in the picture.

Here she is dem'ing the bracelets which we all made:  

My friend, Irene, is in this picture (it runs, Kerry, Carol, Kim and then Irene - and you might recognise Debbie the next person as she is on tv with Jewellery Maker) all watching carefully as Natalia decorates her bracelet. 

Danni - Natalia's husband gave us a demonstration of  - well - what can I say - bracelets?  These under the sea type structures are fantastic.  They look so fragile and yet Danni threw one down on the ground and it did not break.  How tough is polymer clay?  How talented is Danni?

Are they fantastic or what?

This is the work of Stephanie.  Now I am so annoyed I did not get a photograph of her as she is such a pretty young girl.  Her workshop was working in miniature and we had to make the minutest canes of fruit.  We could choose what we wanted to make and I chose oranges.  Then we got a bit of other people's canes and put them on a flan which we made.  Here are mine with a pound coin by the side so you can see how tiny they are - actually just less than a pound coin:

Oranges, bananas, kiwi fruit and strawberries

Should I make them into ear rings?

This is the magnificent table that Stephanie brought with her to show off her skills in making these miniatures ...

... and these are some of the ear-rings which she brought with her to sell (you can just see her tiny gingerbread houses on the right of the picture):

I admitted to Stephanie that I had not been looking forward to her class but that I had thoroughly enjoyed myself and would be making more of these goodies.  Can't wait as I have some bits of canes left - just need some pies and flans.  Thanks Stephanie for a most enjoyable workshop.

Think I will leave it there for today but I have lots more to show you so will be back.  Before I go I must show you my lovely friend Cathryn who always comes and looks after the shop where participants can bring their jewellery and sell it.  Here she is by the side of the stall she set up and manned over the three days (love you lots Cathryn):

Polymer Weekend

Well, got back a short while from three days of Polymer Clay(ing) in Nottingham!  This was my third year of going down there and once again, met up with my friend, Irene.  This time it was in a different location, Alfreton,  but we decided to stay at the Nelson & Railway in Kimberley as per usual.  This is the view from our bedroom window this morning, unfortunately despite having had wonderful weather all weekend we awoke this morning to a dismal day which has progressively gone worse:

I can just imagine waking up in the morning, looking down the lane where the pub is and seeing this covered in snow.  What a pretty picture it would make.

On the way home I wanted to stop at a couple of places but missed one - Chas and I had our wires crossed but I was not that bothered because the view would not have been as pretty as it was when we went down and it was bathed in golden autumnal sunlight.  Here is the knitted tree from New Mills in Derbyshire:

OK so not really a knitted tree but a tree kept warm with some knitted socks on it (squares really that were sewn around it) - and below a knitted bumble bee, or is it a butterfly?

Am sure this was once featured on Sarah's blog?

On arriving home, well as we were driving up the Lane, there was a little Blenheim Cavalier King Charles Spaniel running back and forth.  We stopped so as not to run over it and I was sure I had seen a white dog also but it disappeared.  I got out and it came to me but quickly ran off and was running back and forth up and down the Lane, down a nearby Avenue and back up - obviously lost and bewildered - it was only a young dog.  I managed eventually to entice it up our long drive and into the utility room.  Then I left it with Chas and went asking people fairly close to us if they knew of anyone who had a dog like that, asked a few people walking by were they looking for a dog etc but to no avail.

Came back in and rang the Vets who told me to take it down for it to be checked for a chip.  Chas thought I should ring the RSPCA in case someone had rung in and they lived nearby so I did and they told me to ring the Dog Warden.  To cut a long story short the Dog Warden came and picked it up.  It was such a lovely little thing, I would say only about a year or so old and a short while ago he rang me to say it had been returned home and indeed there had been a white dog with it but that one had gone home on its own accord.  Maybe this one would too but I was so worried it would get run over - hope I did the right thing.  Here it is in the dining room (incidentally it barked like crazy and ran round in circles when Chas closed the kitchen door yet never bothered that the utility outside door was closed).

Now, what happened on the weekend?  Well, think you will have to wait until tomorrow for that episode as I must get the suitcases unpacked and some washing in.

What a Lovely Surprise

Last Saturday I was just walking past the door (the one with the letterbox) when I spied an envelope on the floor.  Chas was out at a lecture or I am sure the post would have been collected before 2 pm! Imagine my surprise, on opening it, when it contained this beautiful envelope:

Much too nice to use - definitely something to keep.  It was a puzzle as to who had sent it to me but when I opened it I found it was from Helen Roots, a member of an international Yahoo group I am on. Panic set in as I could not remember my entering this swap and then I read the letter inside.

Helen had joined the swap and sent one off to her designated partner but was asked to send one to someone else - a random act of kindness.  Helen chose me - isn't that lovely of her?

She has made the envelope herself from good strong quality paper, half is embossed and coloured with Distress Inks (?), the other half stamped in various colours and with a delightfully coloured scarecrow decoupaged on top.

A very welcome surprise and such lovely autumnal colours guaranteed to brighten anyone on a dull day in the north of England.  Thank you Helen!

Recycling - from the Kitchen

Well, last weeks recycling on JFF gave me lots of ideas as I checked through the entries.  I just need to find the time now to do them.  Have decided to write ideas down on a piece of paper and pin it up in my room - then when I get my Mr Mojo buzzing off for a break I can whistle him back with a look at my list.  Now to Von's brill challenge for this week.  I'm loving her theme.

At first I thought I might do a bottle with either Alcohol Inks or Clay but as I have done both of these things before I decided to upload my "fairy in a bottle" but then decided that was cheating so went back to the drawing board.  I once got little "wickies" when I did some salt dough stuff (must add it was a while afterwards) so that went through the window and then the local Council came to my rescue.  The day I was doing all of this thinking, and hurting my head in the process, they delivered these boxes.  Hideous boxes - for me to have on display in my kitchen!!!  Oh no no no!

Would you want that in your kitchen?

Now, keep this quiet, they delivered two to us.  We are only a couple but our bungalow has two doors at the front so I guess they, like so many callers, thought it was two bungalows.  Well, that gave me chance to play. The first one I tried car paint on - it does peel off but it is such a nice colour.  It is sat in the bathroom at the moment with foot salts in (don't ask).

The second one I gessoed, then put two coats of white emulsion paint on (had used this on plastic tubs before and they have endured a few years in the garden with plants in them) but it did not give good coverage.  Out with some Acrylic Paint - bright yellow - should make the kitchen look a bit sunny - oh my goodness it looked awful.  Next Acrylic Paint on top of that - the EcoFriendly stuff  from Julia Andress.  Still a bit streaky and what an awful colour.  What next?

Cover it with images!  What theme?  (See, such a lot of thinking.) In the kitchen we have some framed postcards I once brought back from a trip to France - one is breads and the other cheeses - so Paris came to mind as I do have a small collection of stamps suitable.  Chas loves Paris anyway, so whilst he was doing breakfast (can do boiled eggs much better than I can) I got in with it.

I began by using paper from the printer to stamp and emboss on - first stamping my image in black and then putting clear ep on top, heating it and then colouring.  For my colouring I decided that it would take too long to colour individual images besides which I love my Distress Inks so I coloured with them.  Don't ask me what any of the combinations are - I have not got a clue - it was just a mad production line.

I began on the front and decided to make it into a collage, overlapping images in places and boy oh boy I did enjoy myself.  Ran out of images to use with a Paris theme so did have to use the same on on both sides of the box.  Doesn't matter as it won't show where it stands.

Looking at these photographs you would never believe that the base colour of the bin is now green -

The top

So there it is - now drying having had a coat of watered down PVA to give a bit of protection to the images but it looks so much better in my kitchen - and Chas Loves It!

Now what can you recyle from your kitchen (or your friend's, relatives - or anyones) - love to see it on the Challenge Blog.

WOYWW

It's Wednesday again - time for us all to go mad taking pictures of our messes, sorry chaos - oops no, I mean workdesks/work in progress etc to show to the world of Julia followers.  If any of you live near Tidworth, Hants check out Julia's blog from last Sunday - reads  like a great workshop (and you get to meet Lunch Lady Jan by the sounds of it).  Regardless of this, if you are new to reading my blog then go to The Stamping Ground to see what I am on about.

Well, here is my desk - chaotic last few days getting ready for a three day workshop in Nottingham.  Meeting up with my lovely friend Irene (very talented with clay) at The Nelson & Railway in Kimberley which is where we always stay.  This year the venue has changed but we love staying there so we got ourselves booked in months ago so we were sure of a room.  Donna Kato is going to be there again and Alison Gallant, plus Natalia and Danny and some other tutors who I have never met before.

My two pasta machines are ready to be packed away, the silver one to go with me and the other back to the cupboard.  The red one is a cheapo that I bought for £12.50 but now I wish I hadn't.  You get what you pay for!  My silver one is a good one that my son and dil bought me one Christmas (thought they were going to be getting fresh pasta when they came round) but I cannot remember what the make was as I have had it years.  

Right, what is wrong with the red one?  Well the largest setting on the dial releases a gap between the rollers which is far smaller than the one on my good machine.  Not good when you are following instructions for a technique.  Just telling you this as a warning to all those out there who are not familiar with polymer clay because you will be making things far too thin if you are following instructions in a book.  If you are ok with the clay but have purchased one then you can use it for conditioning dark clay (which is what I will do) and maybe roll out to the correct thickness using something like playing cards tacked up to give you the required depth.

Well that is all for now, you can see the 40 inchies I have done for the swap - if I get time I will do some more as I have lots of black conditioned clay left.  For now I will carry on with the boring job of sorting clothes out - which has been going on for far too long - did not realise I had so many things - but must add it is due to my fluctuating size and my not wanting to throw anything out that I "know" (fingers crossed) I will one day get back into.

Where have you heard that before?  Oh, and before I forget, I will try to visit as many of you as possible but if I don't get to you with being away until late Monday I promise I will pay you an extra visit asap.