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Thursday, November 15, 2012

24 Of Everything!!

For the past couple of years, I've been asked to make an advent calendar for someone very special. The first time around, I was still pretty new to all this papercrafting malarkey and didn't quite know what to do. I sort of made little puches that stuck to a large piece of card. It wasn't the best looking thing in the world, but it was handmade and sort of worked...although some of the pouches started falling off half way through advent!!! Second time around though, with a bit more experience under my belt I attempted to make something entirely different. I'd seen the how-to guide, I'd seen what the finished results could look like, and I was determined to give it a go...

Thankfully, it worked...but...it caused one heck of a headache, and took me days rather than hours to complete. I was ever so proud of the final result...so proud in fact that I went on to make more...then I took the original idea, twisted it up and created something entirely original and a little bit different. The people that received my makes were also pleased with the finished projects...they worked well, but I vowed not to make them again...they're not easy to do, are very time consuming and pretty costly in regards to the amount of card and paper you use. So I put the projects in my portfolio and forgot all about them...

Until that is, the day Mum came home from work and asked me to make another advent calendar!! The craft store where she works had been asked to have lots of inspirational ideas dotted about the store. She'd been speaking with some of her bosses, telling them the sort of things we've made and before I could say no, I was sitting in the craft area making up the advent calendar!!

Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy making them, but it's a very long winded process...how long?? Well, I shall explain...

Firstly you need about 30 or so sheets of card...you can choose any colour, but I find that white is easiest to work with (and cheapest) and then you can cover it with lots of papers and pretty things!!...


From those sheets of A4 card, you then cut 24 squares and 24 strips of card...one sheet of card will make both a square and a strip...so long as you remember to concentrate and don't keep talking like me and forgetting which bit you've cut like I tend to do that is!! Ooo and by the way for any paper crafters reading this, I don't have a die to cut each of these from, I literally measured and cut each one with a craft knife and ruler!! 


Next up you have score the folds in each of the squares and strips...I used my hougie board, but you could easily use other score boards. Again each individual piece of card requires you to measure where the score lines need to go ...that's 48 pieces to measure and score individually!! Once scored, you then cut out the un neccssary parts of the squares to make the shapes of your drawers....


Now that you have all your drawers and sleeves measured, it's time to start decorating...in order to open the drawers, you need to add some form of fastener to hold onto...I used split pins, but you could also use ribbon or buttons so long as they're stuck on well enough. As I said before, I like to use plain white card, for ease, but as it would be a little boring if left plain, I then cut out 24 little rectangular shapes to cover the front of the drawers and stick them on...


once the pins are in and the decorative paper rectangles are stuck, it's time to fold and stick your drawers and sleeves together...now's the time you find out if all your measurements were right!!


If they are, you'll now have 24 drawers and 24 sleeves...


with the drawer fitting inside the sleeve...


being tight enough to not have gaps, but loose enough to open....told you it was fiddley didn't I!!

So now you're drawers are made...what next?? Well, now you have to put them all together to create the calendar...

There are lots of options with the shapes you can form them all into. I started by making the box shape, but once you know how to do this the possibilities are endless...I've seen some where people have made them into Christmas trees!!

To make the box style drawers, you stick the drawers together in little blocks of three...I tend to use sellotape around the outside of the drawers...you won't see any of the tape as it will be covered...


Once the three drawers are stuck together, you have to cut another strip of card and stick it down one side of the drawers from top to bottom...again I tape that at the top and bottom as you won't see the tape once it's all placed together..


Once you have your blocks of threes, you simply build them up to create a square...making sure the drawer fronts are on the outside!! I then tape it all together to give it extra hold and strength...



You'll have two layers of 12 drawers that sit one on top of the other....

All that's left now is to decorate your squares. As I made this one for the craft store, I used the papers and images from their current stock. You can of course change the colour conmbinations and decorative finishes to make your own personalised calendar.

Once completely decorated, you then cut a slightly larger square to sit on the top (covering all your taped up mess) and another for the bottom so it has a base to sit on...add the numbers to the drawers in any order you like, and hey presto you're advent calendar is complete!!


As I said, it's very fiddley, takes a heck of a long time, but always seems to look pretty when it's finished!! I'm not making these to sell due to the amount of time they take up, but if you feel like you want to give this idea a go yourself, you can find the instructions here ...good luck!!

Ooo and check out my drawers on display in the store!!...


Little x



Saturday, November 10, 2012

A Bloomin Tiara!!

Ever since Lady discovered that we would be in Birmingham on her birthday, she's been talking about "needing" a tiara...or as she called it...a ta-ra-ra!! She kept telling everyone that she was getting a ta-ra-ra for her birthday!!The only problem was, way back when I asked her if she really wanted one, she'd said no...so I did as she wanted and didn't get her a bloomin ta-ra-ra!!!

Or so she thought!!!... Yesterday though (and I hope this is true) over morning birthday coffee we finally gave her her bloomin birthday ta-ra-ra!!! Along with a couple of other things....


Yep, as her name is Lady...and it's her birthday, I made her this "birthday Lady" badge...I really hope it's put a smile on her face and got lots of attention from everyone at the craft show...I say hope, because I'm currently typing this sat in my kitchen at 10.12pm on Thursday night, but I'll schedule this post for Saturday morning!! So in all honesty right now, I have no idea if she even wore her badge...but she better have worn the bloomin ta-ra-ra!!!

The final thing Lady got for breakfast on her birthday was this ...


Ooo yes that really is a "chicken" puppet...now if you have any knowledge of what Lady is like, then you'll know she won't be calling it a "chicken"!!!!

I can hear her now...sitting on the train saying "that man's staring at my "chicken"!!!

Hope you enjoyed your "chicken" Lady!! and your bloomin ta-ra-ra!!

Little x


Friday, November 9, 2012

Birthday Lady

There are two very special things about today...the second is that we're all off to Birmingham this morning to spend the entire weekend at the big craft show...lets see how much ribbon we can buy shall we!!! The first and more important thing, is that today is Lady's 47th birthday!!! One of the things I didn't share with you on Mum's birthday is that Dad didn't quite know what to get her, so instead decided that as he needed to give her something she could unwrap he put 50 pound coins in a jar!! When I told Lady what he was doing she said "tell him I'm 47 on Friday"!! haha!! Well, neither I nor Dad got her 47 coins, but we did make her a few special things...starting with her cards ... 



This card was a joint effort from both Crusty and I...Crusty stitched the "mon-key", I placed him onto the card and decorated him!! I'd already made Lady a birthday card (or two) but when I saw the "mon-key" I really wanted to make him for her...but I can't stitch!! So thankfully Crusty was able to help me out and together we made quite a pretty card...well I think so anyway!!

Next up there's the card Mum made...


A while back, Mum made a card with folded over corners that Lady really liked. So when it came to choosing what to do for her card, Mum already had this planned in her head!! With lots of flowers, and pretty pinks, it turned out perfectly for Lady. 


As Lady is a big Snoopy fan, Crusty couldn't resist stitching him for her birthday card...again she's added the buttons (see what I mean about the button phase!!). This is another of Crusty's "all by herself" creations...she's getting rather clever don't you think?? Definitely needs to be doing more of them I think!!

Last of all her cards, is mine...


I'd made this card in greens for Mum, although obviously Mum's had a 50 on it!! When I showed Lady, she'd loved it so much that I couldn't quite resist making another version in pink!! Pink is apparently her favourite colour, although I've had so many issues trying to match shades of pink that I've been trying to convince her that it should be orange!!...she wasn't buying into it though, so I had to stick with pink haha!! With a little bit of pink gingham, some more stitched edges and a lot of pink flowers, I'm pretty sure this is "very Lady"!!

Well I might have lied before when I said that was the last card...you see I thought I'd messed up again as I hadn't taken a photo of the other card I'd made her...but thankfully after a few text messages I have a bit of a dodgy quality (taken on a phone) photo...


Yellow car!! (punch for you)...Way back in August as I sat sunbathing in the garden, I made two of these cards...one for Crusty, and one for Lady. The only problem was if I'd shared this card in September when it was Crusty's birthday, then Lady would have seen...so Crusty's been itching to watch Lady open this card!! On Wednesday night when we all descended on Lady's house to deliver her presents, we all sat watching as she opened this card...knowing what was coming...as she opened the envelope and saw what was inside, she got the "YELLOW CAR" slaps!!! Somehow with us all being together this entire weekend and both Crusty and Lady having these cars as keyrings I have a feeling I'm going to get a lot of slaps!!!

Did I mention presents?? ...


I did didn't I!?! This is how Lady's presents were delivered...


as brown paper packages tied up with string...and in there were a few of her favourite things!! (The Sound Of Music in case no-one got the reference)

Don't worry, her presents were wrapped up nicely in pink papers and cellophane inside!! 



Some were in a pink spotty bag...



and some were made to look like ice-cream in a bowl!!

But mostly they didn't stay wrapped for long!!....


Happy Birthday Lady...Hope you have a fun packed day

Little x

Mum x

Crusty x









Thursday, November 8, 2012

Old-Lady's Crafts!!

For my final post about Mum's 50th birthday I thought it was about time I shared all the cards we made her...When it comes to making cards for Mum it's never easy...it takes me forever to think of what to do...then once I get an image of what I'd like to create in my head I wind myself up in stress to make it look as perfect as I can. You see as Mum's a crafter, I can't get away with anything!! No little glue splodge or glitter in the wrong place goes unmissed!! Crafting for Mum however is always a challenge...I usually push myself harder than I have before to create something extra special that she's not seen before or would expect.

With it being her 50th birthday I really needed to make her cards more special than ever before...how?? Well, by spending more than 8 hours crafting one card alone!!! Yep that's right 8 hours!!! Why 8 hours?? Well, this is why....


Apart from the card itself, and the ribbon, every piece of that card is hand stitched by me...and I'm NOT a stitcher!!! I'd made a card where I'd added stitched edges and a stitched sentiment, but somehow got it into my head how pretty a stitched backing paper would look...


Personally I think it does look pretty...but I shall NEVER EVER be doing it again!! I really do love it, but it caused me nothing but nightmares, pain in my hand and a lot of bloomin stress!! It was a seriously long process...I started by drawing the 50 onto aida (fabric used for Cross stitching) then I had to place that little 50 where I wanted to stitch...punch through all of the little holes where the stitches would go...then move the 50 to a new place and start all over again!!! Ooo and of course once the holes were punched I had to then stitch through them!!!...So do you see why I'm never doing it again!?!

My stitching phase didn't stop with this card though...


I then decided to add the stitched sentiment and stitched edges to this triple easel card too!! Ooo and you see the little 50 heart?? 


Yep, I hand stitched that too!!! Mental I know!!! In fact I'm pretty certain I need checking to make sure I actually have some sanity!!!

With my card, and the card from my Brother made, I then spent an afternoon making a card with my Dad!! Ooo yes, not even Dad gets away with buying a shop brought card...everything's handmade in our family!!


I may have cut the bits and pieces out, but Dad sat and glittered everything by hand...he stuck it all down himself and chose it all...Although when it came to the ribbon I had to take over, so he's not quite got a new job just yet!!

Crusty on the other hand...


Well seeing as she made this card all by herself, she can definitely have a job!!! Mum's favourite disney character has always been Tigger, so when it came to choosing an image to stitch she decided to use the black and white tigger. Then as she's on a bit of a button kick at the moment...she's stitching buttons on everything!! The orange and green she'd used fitted perfectly with the black and white stitched image. 

Next up is the card Lady made...


Mum really loves Fizzy... so when it comes to Lady choosing an image to stitch for Mum, it's always got to be fizzy...he's ever so cute! This time there was a choice between two images, but together we decided on this one. Lady worried that the flowers were too pink and as Mum's favourite colour is green that it wouldn't look right, but as you can see it's beautiful. Lady even cut out the stitched image and backed it with a doilie as she'd done on a previous project that Mum had loved...Ooo and she even used her favourite buttons on the flowers, which means Mum must be really special haha!!

Now I've shown you all the projects made by us here at little-lady's crafts, I can explain the title of this post...Mum's friends Jackie and Linda that I mentioned in the previous post also wanted to get Mum and extra special card. I guess when you're buying for a crafter you're perhaps more aware of what the card is and how it was made...or maybe they love our cards so much they want to try and match their prettiness!! Whatever their reasons, they both decided that Mum's 50th birthday would be the ideal time to try and make Mum a card!! Ooo yes, they too decided that a shop brought card just wouldn't be good enough!! So they went and brought some children's crafting pots full of all sorts of things to make and create....they brought a large piece of card, and then some time last week they both met up and made this ....


hahaha!! No matter how "rubbish" they think it looks, it will never be "rubbish"...it might not be up to our usual standard!! But the best thing about it, is they tried!! Jackie and Linda took the time to think about what they wanted to do, they put their heart, soul and hair into this card!! So no matter what anyone else thinks Mum absolutely adores this card...I'm not sure why I bothered spending 8 hours stitching her card!! maybe feathers, glitter and stickers was what I needed hahaha!!

Ooo and the explanation for the title??...


As we always put our facebook address on the reverse of our cards, Jackie and Linda decided that they'd put their own the reverse of theirs...Old-Lady's Crafts!! Well I guess they are Old-Ladies hahaha!!! 

Little x










Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Devious Daughters!!

On the very bottom of the previous post, I wrote..."just when you think it's all over, along comes another surprise)...that was in fact a clue...a clue that thankfully Mum never picked up on. You see, as I mentioned before, Sunday was Mum's 50th birthday and time for us to get our revenge for all the birthday related things she's put us through over the years. But, seeing as she'd have been expecting things to happen on her birthday, Crusty and I got a little more devious!! We decided to wait until she thought it was all over before springing the biggest surprise of them all!!!

Way back in September when Crusty and I were listing all the possible ways of celebrating Mum's birthday, we decided it would be nice to organise a meal for her and her friends. Most importantly of all though, we decided to make it a surprise!! So with a bit of planning and some help, Crusty and I planned the surprise meal...we contacted everyone with a date time and venue...we let them all into the secret but made sure they knew to keep it a secret...we got everything we needed to make the night extra special. All we needed then was a plan on how to get Mum to the restaurant without suspicion...cue Jackie and some more hush hush conversations, and the plan was set. Mum was to meet Jackie and Linda for a meal on Tuesday November 6th at around 7pm...meanwhile everyone else would show up and surprise her!!!

As the day drew closer, more plans needed to be made and the nerves started to kick in...what if she found out?? What if she was too ill to make it?? Mum had had a pretty awful cough and cold for over a week in the lead up to the big day, so we were a little worried she'd back out of her plans. Thankfully though, Jackie sent Mum a message inviting her out to dinner, saying she wasn't accepting no for an answer!! So the ball was rolling...the following day Mum informed me she would be going to dinner with Jackie and Linda on the 6th...cue my potentially bafta winning performance "the 6th?? What day's that?? Tuesday?? Ooo that's ok, because I'm at Mel's for dinner that night"...I wasn't of course, but I couldn't tell her that!! I have to say I'm pretty impressed with my acting skills haha!! A couple of days after that, as we'd all booked the week beginning November 4th off, Mum suggested we take a shopping trip on the 6th...UHOH!!! Crusty thankfully immediately retaliated with "I can't that day I'm at Natalie's" followed by me reminding her she would be out with Jackie and Linda, whilst I would be at Mel's!!! Calm was restored and the secret planning continued...

Crusty was sending everyone invited reminder texts to keep everyone in the loop...everyone execpt Mum of course!! We all knew what was happening, but so far Mum didn't have a clue. On Saturday Nov 3rd Crusty and I made all the final plans...we had everything we needed, Crusty and I would be going to Mel's mid afternoon to bake cupcakes for the party and we'd all meet up in the evening...Only problem was we'd forgotten that Mum would be on her own...and whilst on her own she'd be free to go wherever she wanted...aaahhh!! So on Sunday night we set up our final, final plans!!

Tuesday morning arrived, by which point I was overwhelmed with nerves. I left the house at 11:30am with Mum to meet up with Lady for a bit of a wander around the shops....meanwhile Crusty was left at home to bake some cakes that "Natalie had asked for". Mum and I met up with Lady, and did indeed wander around the shops...Crusty text me to say she'd finished the cupcakes and was all set to leave as soon as we had got rid of Mum!!! At 2pm when Jackie finished work, we handed Mum over and they went for a coffee and a catch up. Meanwhile Lady, and I headed back to her house to meet up with Crusty!! Back at Lady's house the three of us set about decorating the cupcakes...


Lady cut all the little flowers from the icing Crusty and I had coloured, before we popped them onto the cakes...


Crusty then added some glitter and the cakes were all finished 


Pink and green to match the little buckets we'd brought to put them in...well, when I say we brought them what I should really say is we paid for them!! You see, way back in September Mum came home and told me the little buckets had been reduced at work. When you added the reduced price with her discount, it made them "really cheap"!! So being the bafta nominated actress that I should be!! I asked Mum to get me 10 little buckets...they were for "Lady"!! Lady's Mum was going to have a little birthday BBQ (In September when it was raining) and wanted little buckets as sort of table decorations for the garden...Ooo and they needed to be pink (Lady's favourite colour so no suspicion would be raised) and green (Mum's favourite colour) "to match the green garden furniture"...thankfully Mum didn't suspect a thing and brought 5 of each colour...we of course repaid her, but we had the buckets and Mum still knew nothing!!

The buckets were an idea that I'd had from when Jackie had previously turned 50. Back then, they all went a bit mental and started creating their "bucket lists"!! That led to both Mum and Jackie getting tattoos, as well as some other things...anyway, I didn't quite want a bucket list theme, but I did want them for a reason...

This reason...


with a little play on words, I had some very funny little party favours...


We even added some little bags of jelly tots (one of Mum's favourite sweets) to the inside of the buckets...


With the buckets and ourselves ready, we all headed off to the restaurant...

Mum was still at home when we arrived, but the nerves had definitely kicked in by that point!! The staff at the restaurant were all really helpful. Even though we hadn't been able to book (they don't take bookings) we still managed to get a table for 10. Better than that though was that we could have it straight away, so with drinks in hand we headed to the table and got things organised...


The table was ready...the cakes were in their buckets and looking very pretty...we'd even managed to get Mum's favourite waiter serving us!! It was all going well...too well...I was convinced something would go wrong...Everyone showed up on time and we all sat waiting for Mum's arrival.

Jackie text Crusty to say they were on their way ...Crusty's hands were shaking and I started worrying she'd run out the door when she saw us!! But no...Mum entered the restaurant...we could all see her, but she couldn't see us...the front of house person brought her round the corner, and we all shouted "SURPRISE"!!! 

Mum didn't run for the door...she didn't storm out...she looked shocked, but most unexpectedly, she didn't cry either!! We'd expected her to be a little teary...we'd even placed a tissue on her seat!! But there were no tears...just shock and a lot of "you buggers"!!!!

Best of all, Mum hadn't had a clue!!

We all sat and had a lovely meal, lots of giggles and a lot of "I can't believe you didn't guess from's"!!
It was a fab night, and hopefully a 50th birthday Mum will never forget. 

Love you Mum (if you're talking to me)
Little x 








Sunday, November 4, 2012

Curlers, Slippers & Bananas!!

Exactly fifty years ago today a very very special lady was born...my Mummy...Yep today is Mum's 50th birthday...the big 5 O!! So how do we mark the occassion?? With revenge is how!!!

You see, for years Mum's been the instigator of birthday celebrations...she's been the one that's decorated the house in balloons/banners, she's hung flags from windows to let the neighbours know it's our birthdays, and she's even snuck into workplaces to decorate them with birthday regalia too!! Ooo yes, Mum's done it all!! Her most recent birthday hi jinx have included posting 50 individual birthday cards to her friend on her 50th, and most humiliating for me, a few years ago when I turned 30, she decorated the store I worked in in balloons and banners so all the customers knew just how old I was!! So today's the day we get our own back!!

As the eldest of her three children the responsibility obviously falls to me...I get to be the organiser, the shopper and most importantly the planner!! My Sister and I have been plotting how to mark the special day for weeks. We considered handcuffing her to a roundabout with a big "I'm 50" sign above her head, then we thought about putting photos of her from younger years (80's perm included) in all the places her friends would see them...but then we realised she'd probably never speak to us again!!! With the big humiliations out of the question, we finally came up with this ...


Looks pretty doesn't it?? Well, what you can't see, is that lurking in amongst that green and pink basket of gifts are a few little "surprises"!!! The first of the surprises you can obviously see ...

Bananas...Why bananas?? Well, every morning Mum has a cup of tea and a banana for breakfast...nothing out of the ordinary right?? No, there isn't...but once she's finished her banana she places the banana skin in her tea cup and ever so kindly leaves it sitting in the kitchen waiting for me to wash it up!!!Annoying!!! Yep, I do realise that buying her bananas will just encourage her to do it again, but it's now become a long standing joke in our family so I couldn't leave them out of her birthday gift list!!!

There is in fact a total of fifty presents sitting in the basket...actually 49 to be precise as the basket counts as a present!! But not all of them have been nice!! She's had hair curlers ...picture an old lady, and you picture her with rollers in her hair right?? Exactly, so now she's 50, she obviously needs them!! There's also a blanket (to cover her legs when she gets cold), some slippers (all old ladies wear slippers), some over 50's vitamins (she'll obviously need those) and most importantly of all, there's a plastic rain hood!!! Well, we wouldn't want her newly curled hair getting messed up by the rain now would we!?!

Don't worry, she's also got plenty of nice presents hiding in there too, but as we've always liked the odd joke present or two in our family, I couldn't resist!!

I have plenty of other pictures or things we've made Mum for her birthday, but I'll save them for another day. For now, I just wanted to share with the world that Mum turns 50 today!!

Hope you have a lovely birthday Mum
Love you lots
Little x

(just when you think it's all over, along comes another surprise)

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Halloween Fun!!!

Well, I hate to admit it, but I seem to have been neglecting my crafting duties!! It's been over a week since I posted anything...shame on me!!! Where have I been this time?? Well, I've now gone back to work!!! It's been a few weeks, and I'm finally starting to feel like I know what I'm doing, but I've been struggling to juggle everything and I'm afraid crafting has taken a bit of a backstep...it shouldn't have considering how much there is still to do, but it has. Today though, I'm back...

This coming week is going to be a very important one...It'll start with Mum's birthday, and finish with Lady's...there's still lots to do to complete all my projects, but there's lots of surprises coming your way, and I'll share them with you as they happen!!

For now though, I'll go back to yesterday...in case any of you missed it, it was Halloween. As Halloween isn't such a big holiday over here in the UK, we didn't really do to much, but we did manage to make a few things...
 

I'd had this little image tucked away for so long, I was itching to use it!! Thankfully Halloween obviously gave me that excuse haha!! Both Mum and I used the image to create a very quick card for Jackie and Lady...just another excuse to give a card really!! I printed the images ...Mum had one, I had the other. Although they were the same image, we made them different..how?? Well, I glittered different bits to Mum, which to me just shows how although the image is the same, different people will use them in different ways...


No two crafters will make the same project!!

With the cards made, Mum and I thought we were finished...but nooo!!! Crusty was asked to make cupcakes for our Nan and her friends who were having a halloween party in their communal lounge...


So with a bit of green icing and a few spooky decorations, she came up with these.. but that wasn't where she stopped...


She also made these chocolate topped biscuits made to look like ghosties!!! Ooo and check on the one on the bottom row, second from the right...Crusty giggled so much when she realised she'd given him a unibrow!! haha!!

Cupcakes made, Mum and I chipped in a little extra...I've been growing pumpkins since back in April, and although I've managed to get two actual pumpkins, they hadn't quite gone orange in time. So I bypassed the pumpkins and decorated something else...


Yep, the little oranges have faces!!! Hidden at the very back of this photo you'll also find there's some ghosties...they're actually lollipops covered in tissue paper made to look like ghosties, but the little kiddies Mum was handing them all out to loved them!!!

Ooo and in case you're wondering, Nan and her friends all had a lovely time at their party...


Who says you have to be young to have fun!!!!!

A belated Happy Halloween All 
Little x