Other stuff

If you can believe it, I've also been working on some other bits and pieces...

...paper bunting.

As is often the case I don't have any photos of the finished article to hand (soooo typical) but its really cute!

I've been working on a number of different colour combinations but the one in the pictures is my current favourite. Its peach, green and cream with extracts from 'Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes' from a book I bought yonks ago. I wrote about the book on here at the time, not knowing whether to cut or not, but I did, and I love how it looks as part of this bunting.

Baby Shower Crafting

So baby showers.... not something you see/ hear much of in the UK, but I'm on a mission to change that (at least for friends and family)! Not just because they are a lovely way to make a very pregnant, probably very tired mum to be feel special, but because of the wonderful crafting opportunities that come along with hosting one! ;-)

My sister in law definately deserved a baby shower and in leiu of any sisters of her own, I thought I'd throw one for her. I went with a simple grey/yellow colour theme and decorated with strings of paper bunting...

baby signage ...

and naturally... a nappy cake centre piece!

The nappy cake was so astonishingly simple to make that I cant wait for more babies to arrive so I can have an excuse to make more!

You can visit more creative spaces here...

Paper Bunting

Was a bit bored this afternoon (and was procrastinating because its assignment time again) so a made some more paper bunting to cheer up the living room.

Mr T. used some gorgeous double sided wrapping paper on my birthday presents last week so I used that.

 

Hope you are having a good weekend!

p.s. Comments are back – hurrah!

My Creative Space - Snippety Snip Snip

So I’ve done it, I’ve made the cut!

No, not my coffee habit or the hair, the nursery rhyme book!

If you read the nursery rhyme post you’ll know that I was so taken with it when I first got it that I was considering keeping it as it was, and not using for the express intention I had bought it in the first place (to paper craft with like i did here)! I was clearly in danger of adding to the stockpile of books and other ‘nice' things that currently clutter decorate our flat.

So to aid my decsision and knock me off my perch on the fence, I ran through a quick mental checklist:

• Do I have children...?   No
• Do I ever have children visiting who would enjoy the rhymes...?    Very infrequently... so no
• Will I ever read the nursery rhymes to myself... ?   Errr, no
• Will I ever read the nursery rhymes to my husband...??? Definitely no
• Do I like crafting ...??? Silly question - next!
• Do I want to experiment more...? Why yes, yes I do

So the answer was clear and danger averted - I chopped up the book!

I have to say the first snip was incredibly painful! It went against almost every fibre of my being and felt soooo wrong (to put this in context, my parents house is almost a library, I have a literature degree and if asked what I'd grab first in a fire, there are definately a good few books that would rate high on the list!). But after a while of just getting on with it, it actually felt quite liberating and I’d created enough nursery rhyme strips to start sticking.

Heres the results...

(Sweetheart Mobiles. Note to self, put window cleaner on the house 'to do' list asap!)

 (Mini Flag Bunting)

(Whirly Twirly Whirly Mobile - or nursery mobile as I'm calling it)

They spin in a really pretty way in just the lightest of breezes. I have packaged a few of them up as a little gift box for an expecting friend. I hope she likes them.

I cant wait to see what other things I can find to chop up now!

For more creative spaces have a peak at the new Our Creative Spaces page

Nursery Rhymes

If you have read any of my previous posts you’ll know that I’ve been thinking a lot about paper crafts. There seems to be a whole different world out there of things to make. So as I was junk shop foraging at the weekend I kept my eyes open for anything I might be able to experiment with. This book was my top find…

Its not a particularly old book, but the pictures and rhymes inside are absolutely gorgeous - of a completely different era. These are some of my favourites…

This little rhyme was one of my favourites when I was little (it was the curly hair thing)…

I’m really torn now as to whether to cut it up or not. I’m erring on the side of cutting rather than not as I’ll be able to get the book as new if I want a proper copy. I just keep thinking of all of the little baby garlands/ decorations that could be made up from it. Hmmmm…

Paper Crafting

Wow, its been a busy week! It seems like an age since I last posted, but I’ve been making up for lost time this weekend and have finally completed a couple of bags I’ve been working on, done some paper crafting and have also made some buttons. I’m feeling very pleased with myself! I’m going to put my bags up a bit later in the week, so today is all about the paper…

I posted a few weeks ago about some pretty paper garlands I had found as decoration ideas for my sisters wedding next year. Since then I’ve been nosing around a few junk shops to try to find some old sheet music (you know the stuff that has that gorgeous creamy/ brown slightly tea-stained look to it).

I found myself this… 

 It seems like old music from the 1930’s and it looked really cool. I felt quite guilty knowing that I was just going to chop it all up, so I had to dive straight in with the cutting. I cut up some little strips and stuck the strips together over some old bakers string (if that’s what you call it) to make the little flag bunting.

To take things a step further, I  also made a few drinks stirrers to see how they’d turn out.They seem mega popular in American 'backyard weddings' at the moment.

I think they are really cute! Admittedly, they’ve been made from chopsticks rather than straws or something else more appropriate for drinks stirrers, but it was just to see how they’d look. I tried a monogrammed one too.

 
What do you think? Good for a spring wedding?

Paper Garlands and Gifting Bags

As I’ve mentioned before, my sister is getting married next year. Woo Hoo!

I’m still looking around for ideas I can send her way. As I love, love, love all things bunting related, I was really inspired by Frog Goose and Bears post on paper garlands, so I did a bit more digging around and found these garlands.

(I cant remember where the top image came from - eek! If you know let me know.
Bottom image from paper doll romance blog)

Aren’t they pretty! My sister loves music, so I was thinking that instead of using books we could use sheet music instead.

In other news, I decided to use the sewing paper idea to create some gifting bags. I don’t know about you but I love wrapping presents using brown paper and then adding a variety of bits and pieces to jazz it up a bit like this and this.

The thing is, I spend ages wrapping presents and needed a quick alternative. So… I created a few pouches.

(apologies for the colour balance on these pictures - its completely off - awful!)

They are perfect for small items and I can seal them up using my new fabric tape!

Ta da! Wrapping made easy!

I've been busy recently...

I've been sewing quite a lot of stuff recently, but have also been experimenting with with other crafty bits and pieces to see if I can use any my wedding later in the year.

One such experiment was taken from Threadbanger 'decor it yourself' and Zakka Life:






















Pretty!