Happy Birthday Flower!

Here's a little card I made last week (week before? time flies...) for my lovely friend Jo's birthday. I was a bit disappointed because the petals are a bit wishy-washy - I don't think my sense of colour is very good, I find it hard to visualise the end result before I get there. But I was dead chuffed with the actual result: Jo's delight in receiving it, which made me very happy.  

Meanwhile, back on the sofa - I've just been reunited with my laptop, fresh back from the laptop doctor's (and the ailing mouse-pad still not fixed) so have been indulging in a little pinterest.  Oh my word, its sooo addictive!!  There may be a lull in craft production while I explore...

I think they deserved these...

Two of my best friends moved house only days before Christmas (different friends, different houses, same challenges!) - and knowing them as I do, I'll bet they had everything unpacked and festived up in the nick of time; me, I'd be in bedlam for months.  So I made them a little card each and posted them off, one to the wilds of Devon and one to swanky Chislehurst, with lots of love and good wishes.  Not quite the same as being there to help of course, but I was with them in spirit. 

Christmas present

My lovely Mum gave me this fabulous book, a treasure trove of tempting crafts, all of which I want to try my hand at (well no, some I feel are a bit beyond me, but you get the general idea :)  In particular: hooked rugs, goats cheese, paper making and paper marbling - which I remember dabbling in as a child.  So I have a nice long New Years resolutions list, with a couple of items parked in my 'when we move to Nova Scotia' file due to lack of facilities, space, or, in the case of cheese - a goat!

Christmas Past

Casting a swift look over my shoulder at 2011 before plunging headlong into 2012, I remembered these cushions that I made last Christmas for my lovely husband.  Although cushions might not appear on every blokes' wish list, these were especially made for his den in our Nova Scotian home - I feel I have to explain this, because when one of his mates looked up from his stack of techno-gizmos to enquire what Santa delivered to our house, the reply of 'cushions' resulted in a somewhat non-plussed expression :)   But they look fab in the den on the $25 yard sale sofa, underneath the darts board and the gun rack ( one has to have somewhere to store one's water pistols) - all he needs now is the flat screen TV and beer fridge to sit back in man-heaven comfort.

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!