Gold Key Fobs

Hands up who recognises this?:

Maybe a few of the older ones amongst you (tee hee). 
This is what I have used to create my craft tonight:

It is, of course, a very dusty,old typewriter.

(And yes, it was one of my charity shop finds a while back, with the intention of doing something crafty with it!)

I was inspired to do this craft when I was looking through my massive blog list today and spotted this craft for a Father's Day present.

I decided to make my own labels using gold card:

Trouble was, this typewriter didn't like the thickness of the card much so kept slipping:

But I think it adds to the charm!

I used a template of tags which I drew around onto the card with a blunt point (the tip of my computer mouse pen!) and cut around each tag leaving a small border.  I punched a hole in the tags and used a book ring to attach them to a massive brass key:

I need to back them with some thicker card to finish them off but I am generally quite happy with how they have turned out.

See you tomorrow,

qwiksave

Altered Dominoes

It feels nice to have got over little one's party - its something that you make lots of preparations for (stressing yourself out in the process) and then get relieved when its finally over.  To me it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, until the next one that is, and for me that will be January next year. 

So, its back to 'proper crafting' and today I decided to have a go at altering some dominoes:

It's not something I've done before so I looked up how to do it on the internet and I found this excellent tutorial which I followed a bit. 

I'd managed to get some cheap dominoes from a charity shop for £1:

and found the only two colours of alcoholic inks that I have, denim and terracotta. 

Great colours! I put a few drops on the felt applicator and dabbed them onto the domino.  They react against each other, its fun to watch:

I made four (see above picture)

and then decided that I would colour the edges with Gold Rub 'n Buff:

I also added some gold to the front of the domino too:

Lovely effect!

I didn't stamp over mine because I didn't want to cover up the pattern but I will assess them in the morning and see if they need anything 'extra.'

See you tomorrow,

qwiksave

My First Blog Award

Last week I was given my very first blog award by K of K's Crafty Corner, so thank you very much K.  

I have finally got round to responding to this award with the tasks I have to do in order to accept, which are:

1. Thank the person who gave you this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic!
4. Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award.                  


Here are 7 things about myself:

1. I am 5 feet 1 inches small.

2. For 6 years I played percussion music in a local samba (drumming not dancing) band (Samba music originates from Brazil):

(I'm at the front, left of the lady with the large drum and I'm looking in the wrong direction)

3. At aged 11 I nearly drowned in the sea at Tenby in Wales. The current was pulling me out. Fortunately I was rescued (by people on the beach who rushed in the sea with their clothes on!) :

This is Tenby (my grandparents lived there so we went every year when I was little)
Additional fact added: That 'castle' on the rock there used to be a Zoo in the 1960's!

4. I have worn hearing aids for 40 years and can't hear much without them.

5. My father was a Serbian from Former Yugoslavia and my mother was English (sadly both no longer with us).

6. My favourite drinks are Tea (milk, no sugar) and Strongbow Cider.

7. I got married 13 years ago dressed in pink! I have since cut up my silk pink & white wedding dress and used it as a sail on a toy pirate ship for a children's fancy dress party!

My wedding dress (1996)

Now I have to list 15 other fab blogs that I wish to pass this on to and so this is my list:

1. Kandipandi's Pad

2. In the Beach Hut

3.Little Corner of Ania

4.Mum's Monkey (combined with Its All Fiddle Fart)

5.Happy Doodle Land

6. PepPop's Crafty Place 

7.Home is where my He{Art}Is

8. Greenpixey

9. Hobby di Carta - Il blog

10.2 Cute Rubber Stamps

11.Happy and Rosie Designs

12.Frugal Family Fun Blog

13.Love Stitching Red

14. Sally's Crafty Corner

15.Inky Paws

Phew! It's a lot of hard work (over 2 hours this took me!)  receiving blog awards, I almost hope I don't get too many! (lol)  [and don't feel obliged to accept the award if you don't want it]

THE AWARD:

This one however, will take hard earned pride of place! :-)

No craft today, this took up the time!

See you tomorrow,

qwiksave

PS I was right about florescent being 'in', Next clothes shop has some in its window today and I saw someone in a florescent scarf.  Remember, you heard it here first! ;-)

PPS My husband has returned to China again today. :-(

First Bind-It-All Notebook

Phew! Just done my very first Bind-it-All project!  It's not perfect as I was rushing to get it on here on time but here it is, a monster note book for one of my boys:

I've discovered that the glue I used was a bit lumpy and wrapping paper as a cover (on top of chipboard) is not a good idea, idealy it needs thicker paper.

I've put plain paper inside it so my son can do his own drawings or notes. 

I was a bit worried about doing it, but I watched a beginner's video on youtube that was really good. 

...and just to finish off the florescent theme, here are a few others I did:

Love this flamingo!

..and this tiger.  ROAR!

..and this is the tshirt the idea came from:

Imagine wearing that!

See you tomorrow,

qwiksave

Florescent Animals

Have you got your sunglasses ready?  These pictures are very bright! (and I enhanced the brightness a teeny bit too)

I saw these images on a child's tshirt in a charity shop and fell in love with them! They are all made with squares (and a circle for the eyes) and coloured in the brightest of bright florescent colours.

'Florescent colours are in' so the Martha Stewart blog said the other day so what better excuse to start using them?

Kids would love to have a go too!

Sorry if the colouring isn't the best, the florescent pens I have have a chiseled tip, which makes it a bit tricky to colour in the squares.

I think they are fun (and will be showing some more complicated animals later).  They would look great on cards or a picture mosaic using florescent paper.

As it was Joshua's birthday today, we went out for the day:

We went to Snibson, a science park with a steam railway, near Leicester.

It was lots of fun! (and the kids enjoyed it too!)

qwiksave

Pizza Party

Phew! That pizza party was just as I thought, mischief and mayhem - but my son still thought 'it was the best party ever!' 

I've made him a quick digital card tonight (for his birthday tomorrow!) using a photo of him and his friends on the walk to Pizza Express:

They were all so excited, running off as quickly as they could and not always in the same direction.  Me & my husband had to 'disown them' ocassionally. 

But they all enjoyed making their own pizzas - this is the one the birthday boy made:

Can you  spot the smiley face? :-)

Memories are made of moments like this:

You could (almost) forget the St Trinian's style dough and flour flinging that went on!  lol

See you tomorrow,

qwiksave

Emergency Gift Wrap

OOoh, my arms have been hurting today after playing Tennis on the Wii yesterday, they're not used to exercise! What's embarrasing though is that my soon-to-be-8-year-old can whop me at it and I don't even let him win!

Actually, tonight I haven't had a lot of time for crafting, I'm preparing for his party which is happening tomorrow.  Eight lots of 8 year olds descending on our house for mischief and mayhem no doubt, before we take them to Pizza Express to make their own pizzas.

I'm in the middle of putting banners up and other room decs so I just broke off to do this:

It's handmade wrap using just white paper and dot stickers.  I got the idea from today's Martha Stewart blog, although on there they used florescent circles which were all of the same size.

I think my 8 year old will like this paper - although he will probably not take any notice of it and just rip it open in seconds to get at the Club Penguin books!

Anyway, its a good idea if you run out of wrapping paper, just use plain white paper and stick circle stickers all over it.

Best get back to my party decorating,

Have a great weekend,

See you tomorrow,

qwiksave

Angular Figure

In the 1980's as an art student, I remember seeing images of fashion design and the figures were almost without exception, these tall angular figures with not a curve in sight.  Nowadays I believe the drawings have changed - its the models that haven't got any curves!

Anyway, I liked those very angular figures and have ocassionally drawn some of my own.  Mine a little more cartoony than the serious ones that fashion designers tend to produce.

I did one tonight:

I have coloured it in with my pro-markers and some other pens I had.  I just have to get some more pro-markers though, there are so many colours I need! 

I like the expression I've given her, no smile, just like the models tend to be:

(I must remember to rub out the pencil marks when its dried).

Right, off to play some more Wii with DH, he's beaten me at all the games except one so far! Bah!

See you tomorrow,

qwiksave

Internet Craft Shopping

I love this!:

Not necessarily the book (which I believe was a freebee from a few years ago) but the actual shopping on the internet.  Part of the reason being that we have such little choice of craft shops where I live, just one docrafts supplier, which just isn't enough! 

I'm also glad that some craft shops have started offering free postage, which makes it much more worth while.  Plus of course, bargains to be found in sales sections on crafty items too.

This one, which I mentioned the other day was one of those:

  

My Bind-It-All! (Just £44) Yay! It came today.  Haven't taken it out of its pretty box yet, I need to get some bindery things for it now.

The promarkers have also arrived:

But I also got this from a regular (charity) shop:

Don't like the title but if it tells me what to do in simple language I can let that one go.

As for a craft?

My soon-to-be-8 year old- son has asked for a diary.  He said he wants to keep secrets in it! (Aww!)

So I bought an A4 diary from Paperchase (their 2010 ones are reduced to only £1):

All the page edges are silver...

..and I've added some appropriate customisation.  (I also remember doing that sort of thing myself when I was at school, but mine was of course, 'Girl's Stuff')

(Oh, and we did get the Wii!   :-) )

See you tomorrow,

qwiksave

Anyone for Pizza?

This project is a 'work in progress' type.  It is my youngest son's birthday at the weekend and he is going to be 8.  He has requested a 'Make Your Own Pizza' party at Pizza Express.  As usual, I have left it until the last minute to get out the invitations but I have told the children and parents involved about the event.  This is just a fun confirmation invitation really that will have the location and time details on it (on the back probably).

It's all made from coloured paper and thin card.

The 'tomatoes' were cut out using a circular hole punch.

and I added details with marker pens around the pizza base edge and on the tomatoes.

All in all, quite a fun project to make really.

Other news and my husband has come back from China and he has announced that tomorrow we are going to buy a Wii!  Lots of fun and games!

See you tomorrow,

qwiksave