Progress

Progress is pretty rapid right now



I have got a week off so I might need to go buy another one!


Also a quick charity shop purchase I have been wanting a little ceramic deer for ages, now to find him a friend! yay!

New hair

This was a bit of a gamble, it only half paid off, I have major bright roots and darker red ends. Think I will keep it for a bit to see if my roots darken a little.
this is me looking a bit scruffy

I bought this cute paint by numbers today.


It will look great hanging in the kitchen. When I'm in my wood panelled kitchen I like to pretend I am in the alps somewhere and outside my window are big icicles and a lovely ski resort town. If I were to have a holiday home it would be a chalet, they are so romantic even when the snow is gone!!

Ive already started to paint, here is what I have done so far

Ben is going to the gym tonight so I'm sure I will be doing this all evening with saturday night tv on in the background :)

Today was the first day of my weeks holiday off work so I am happy as a clam and have lots planned for the next few days.

Sew Awesome!

Here is my exciting news...



I finally got my sewing machine!

Sorry about blurred photo.

Do not expect fantastical craft tutorials or posts anytime soon as I havent really used a sewing machine since school and thats quite a while. I had a little practise yesterday I wouldn't say it all came flooding back to me because I don't think I was very good back then. I just need a really easy project to start on. I'm thinking cushion cover, I have a design in mind I just need to buy materials.

Also I was really suprised at how quiet my machine is! My mum's machine is quite old 70s probably or 80s, it weighs a tonne and is quite deafening! My lovely modern Janome is not hehe.

Emily x

Decoupage photoframe

A quick post to show you my latest craft project, it is so easy to do and really effective.

Ive decorated some more photo frames using a decoupage technique this time I used a street map of Amsterdam and a paper souvenir bag that we got when buying postcards on holiday, to frame our holiday snaps from Amsterdam.


You Will Need:
A photoframe
PVA glue
Small paint brush
Paper
a photo to frame!

The gift bag and map were perfect materials because they weren't shiny or too thick (these can be diffcult to paint on smoothly and can cause problems when glueing at the corners).

First cut your desired paper into small squares or strips like in the picture below

Using PVA glue paint a small section of the wooden frame and put a square of the paper onto the glue then smooth over with more PVA glue using a paint brush. Keep going lining up the paper squares and overlapping slightly at the edges if you want.

When you have covered most of the frame you may need to leave it to dry so you can cover the rest without getting sticky fingers.

The PVA glue will give the frame a nice shine when it has dried.

Pop your photograph in the frame and display!



Emily x

New week New start

Sorry about my depressing last post.

Today I feel much more optimistic, nothing has changed but I figure everything will work out for the best. As long as me and Ben are together it doesnt matter where we live and I am lucky to have any job at the moment so I will not be fussy if I have to look for a second one.

All this spare time has allowed me to catch up with some much needed crafting here we are the start of 3 new projects:

Stinky this little fellow is for my Moomin shelf. Last year I went to epic lengths to make these:
I felt now was the right time to add some of the lesser characters into the mix.He should be finished by tonight.

Decoupage storage draws. I saved this box from work it had all the beads in it for one of the jewellery brands we used to stock. So I have taken out the divides in each draw and am decorating the outside with decoupage. Ive chosen pastel colours and floral papers cut mainly from Cath Kidston catalogues! Anyway this is my progress so far I need more catatlogues haha.
I will do a before and after blog when its finished maybe by then I will know what to use it for!



Cake stand:

My cake stand sits on our kitchen table and most of the time is empty so I thought I would make little felt cakes to fill the gaps when it isn't in use. I used various tutorials from my craft library.

I followed the steps from 'Knit it Stitch it' for the cakes


I used Heidi Kenney's ice cream sandwich as the basis for my ice cream sandwich although they look nothing alike I did use her guide from the book 'Softies'


The batenburg was my own design and as you can see its completely the wrong scale haha So I might have to redo that one. Next on my cake list is an eclair.yum yum!

Wreck This! update

So I mentioned my 'Wreck This Journal' a while ago. I have had chance to add a little more to the pages of this super fun book.

take a look:



I havent finished the sewing page yet but I thought I would make a border and think about the contents later (still being too cautious instead of spontaneous with it).
I get loads of stamps because I live away from family my mum and grandma send me notes all the time <3
And I used watercolour pencils for the lines because it makes pretty rainbow smudges :)

Im going to try and get my sister to take pictures of her journal it would be nice to see what she has done with hers.

Christmas

Hope you all had a great christmas!
I had a lovely day with my boyfriend and his family.


This is us 'kids' on christmas eve being merry.


Here is a few of the lovely things I was bought:

D&G L'Imperatrice is such a beautiful perfume you have to smell it next time your in a perfume shop.

I really cannot wait to get stuck into my craft books I think my new years resolution will be to pick one book and complete every craft in it...

I also cannot wait to watch Mr and Mrs Smith as you may know Carole Lombard is one of my all time favourite actresses and when I saw this in HMV I was cheeky and asked Ben to buy it for me!

Ben bought me the dvd and also the Lion King boxset! I havent actually seen the second and third movies but it will be interesting. He also suprised me by saying he is buying me a joint birthday (24th Jan) and christmas present but he needed to know my size first...

The ring I posted about! Ben saw the pictures and decided to get it for me! So as soon as it arrives I will have pictures to show! :D

Wreck This Journal

You know when you buy a present for someone and you love it so much you want to keep it for yourself?

Well thats how I feel about this book

WRECK THIS JOURNAL by Keri Smith

I mentioned in my last post that I had bought it for my sister for her birthday... well I bought myself one too, I couldnt resist!

To give you an idea of what its all about here is a glimpse of what I have done so far. It took me a while but Im slowly letting go of my urge to keep this book perfect, I was even spontaneous yesterday!

The best page is the one which says 'LIST MORE WAYS TO WRECK THIS JOURNAL' so far I have put:

1. Bury the book and dig it up later.
2. Run over the book with a car, bike etc

any other suggestions?



I first heard about this book on Claire Payne's fantastic blog have a look here for some great tutorials and cutesy crafts:

http://clairesblog.paynedesign.co.uk/

Christmas decs!

So everyone on facebook has been posting they have seen the Coca Cola advert and christmas is here. (I havent had the pleasure yet, Ben bought Skyrim for the xbox so I havent been able to get near the tv since friday night!)

Im actually literally bursting seriously cannot wait to put up my christmas tree this year. I think Im so excited because its our first christmas alone together in the flat! There will be no housemates pesky (but adorable) kitten to pull over the tree!
Ben said its too soon for the decorations so Ive started stocking up so I can put it all out together. Ive also been making a few festive bits handmade christmas is the best, you saw my last post about the decoupage photoframes...

I was going to buy these from Ikea but they had sold out and I thought to myself 'don't be so lazy Emily you can make those easily' so I sat down today and made my own mushroom :)
Mine reminds me of Disneys Fantasia hehe


Down the road there is a little boutique with the most delicious candyland christmas display it is ADORABLE sugar mice, gingerbread houses and lollipops I bought one because it was £3 and just too good to say no!

Im definitley not a matchy matchy person I want a mad eclectic tree in all colours, I like to get things that mean something to me or remind me of christmas at home. I bought a delft style bauble in Amsterdam so that will also be on my tree.

Im rambling now so I will end this post go listen to Bing Crosby, watch the tv waiting for the holidays to come and show you pictures of everything when its all out of the boxes!

Decoupage

Have you been watching Kirtsies Handmade Britain?

I have and I am inspired!

I started a decoupage project after watching the second episode look at my christmas themed photo frame!

I used christmas wrapping paper and last years Cath Kidston christmas catalogue and I have deocrated 2 frames but I have yet to get a picture for the second.



I think I will make a seaside themed one for my sailboat cross stitch when I eventually finish it.

Sailing Boats

Got a bit crafty and started a new cross stitch.

Another Cath Kidston pattern, this one will go in the bathroom :)



so far...



Ive been thinking a lot lately that I would like to invest in a sewing machine. A decent one (not like the £20 one I bought which never worked!) I have a lot of home decor plans and I can't do them without a sewing machine!!

Anyone have a good machine that they would recommend. Im looking for something that does the basics and I dont really want to spend more than £200.

Excited by this!

I have never attempted patchwork before.

definitely going on my christmas list!

thank you Cath Kidston!

Cath Kidston bag

When I purchased Make! by Cath Kidston it came with a free bag for you to decorate (it suggests a cute flowery applique)

I however took an idea from a library book I borrowed 'The complete book of Papercrafts' by Susan and Martin Penney




I used fabric paints and painted half a lime as my stamp and printed onto the fabric.
>

the finished result!

Simple home decor using old Records

Here are a few simple cheap ideas for decorating your home and adding a touch of rock and roll.

I love old records, I love the texture, the sleeve designs and I love the technology behind them, much nicer than boring old cds and a million times better than an mp3 download!

Display your favourite album sleeves in frames for instant art, like these from Urban Outfitters: £12 per frame

http://www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk/album-frame/invt/5527435297795/?htxt=nGPAKW7sKnoSuTpqu2GJrpwkM2qUXR2dd99ahVvGWBefwqjXWY%2BOMl8SVIVPwLxipDK62QoSr1Da%0AmDo%2BAWl6TA%3D%3D

You could even frame the record itself, especially if you have a decorated one or an unusual colour.


Melt a record and make a bowl!

you will need:

a 12inch record
baking tray
Oven proof mug/bowl (smaller than circumference of record)
oven gloves

preheat the oven to 200 degrees C

Put your mug/bowl upturned onto the baking tray with the record placed centrally on top of the mug.

put the tray with mug and record in the oven for 5mins, by this time it should have drooped around the edge of the mug/bowl

remove from oven with oven gloves and mould the record into a bowl shape.

It will not take long for the record to cool and harden, then its ready to display!

If you dont have any old records, pop down to your local charity shop or indoor market I can guarantee you will find lots of cheap records :)