Online scrapbooking

 I haven't tried this yet, but Jane has, and made this gorgeous pic of her lovely daughter - good eh?  Check it out at Daisy Trail

All labelled up and ready to go..

...where, I'm not quite sure, but it's given me a nice little kick to be able to stick a homemade label on my creations!  Just finished a 'happy new home' card and stuck one one the back - it made me ridiculously happy.

And I should mention, it occurred to me when I was sticking bits of paper together that I referred to the wonder-stuff as 'UPV glue' - I meant of course to say PVA, I'm so easily confused.  I have a feeling now that UPV probably refers to double glazing or the like.

In other news today, I decided that my next project, to keep me busy in absence of the Christmas present rush, will be a springtime collection, to be ready for Easter and a car boot sale.  This will use up some of the stacks of fabric I have lurking in various cupboards, and raise a few bucks for our favourite charity, Brigadoon Children's Camp. There, its written down in black and white so now I feel committed; its good, this blogging thing.

Happy Homemade Christmas!!

All unwrapped and, I'm pleased to say, well received by their recipients...

 My first attempt at decoupage - one box which I filled with spring bulbs for my Mum, and one for some buttons and bits for my comrade-in-crafts, the lovely Jane.

 I made two of these but forgot to take a photo of the other one - decoupage frames with applique centres.  I absolutely love UPV glue - it's very tolerant of my slapdash handiwork :) 

 A 'tulip' cushion for my eldest daughter (who's name is Laleh, which is 'tulip' in Farsi)......

 ....and a 'lily' cushion for my younger daughter Susanne (yes, you guessed it, that's Farsi for Lily!).  Neither of these cushions came out how I planned; I was aiming for grown up dark velvets but due to lack of suitable fabrics they came out rather twee!  But the girls seemed very pleased nevertheless.  And that, I think, is the beauty of 'homemade' - it really is the thought that counts!

Putting pen to paper

Now that I have posted all my Christmas cards, I won’t be spoiling anyone’s surprise by posting a pic on here.  It’s the first time I have put ink pen (ballpoint in this case) to drawing paper for a few good years, so I found the lettering a bit of a challenge and had to have a quick google to get the reindeer in reasonable shape.  But overall I think they look okay and its all part of the learning curve.  Although I realise now that a large glass of red wine does not an accurately constructed card make - I’ll save that for the creative stages in future and stick to coffee for the technical bits.  

Talking of technical bits…. I went to a Christmas Fun Day at a local community centre the week and was most impressed by a gentlemen carpenter who was helping kids build basic bird boxes. The sight of a gleeful 7 year old hooning into a bit of wood with a power drill, which I’m sure  would have sent many an over-cautious parent into a flat spin, gave me hope for the future.  So we had a good old chat about letting kids experiment under a watchful eye to give them a sense of responsibility and pride – the grin on that kids face said it all.

Hello blog

Welcome to the world my new little blog, where I plan to record my crafty adventures so I can look back and marvel at how my efforts have improved, until I one day reach my goal of a cosy little craft room tucked away in our old barn in Nova Scotia.  On my last adventure I found the blog to be a bit of a comfort blanket; recording the ups and downs along the way was good for the soul and kept me slowly plodding in the right direction.

The prospect of Christmas with a poorly bank balance finally motivated me to dig out some fabric and paints, spurred on by the lovely Kirsty and inspired by the little brown paper packages that arrive from time to time from my good friend Jane, high queen of car-boot and auction sale bargains and, luckily for me, a shortage of space in her own home to store any more little treasures! 

I’m trying to get into the habit of photographing my creations to share and create a bit of a library, but publication of the Christmas presents will have to wait until their lucky recipients have unwrapped them on Christmas Day.  In the meantime, here’s my Christmas wreath, which I’m hoping the garden birds might take a bit of a fancy to.