Cupcake Earrings

I hope everyone had a lovely St. Valentine's Day! I over indulged with yummy chocolates and scrummy cake (in my case birthday cake thanks to my wonderful sister's happy birthday)!
So today I am posting a tutorial for guilt-free, super cute, cupcake earrings made from polymer clay.
I have used Fimo for these ones but any type would work. There are quite a few photographs in this post.

You will need polymer clay in a suitable colour for the cake part. I blended mine using white, caramel and yellow until I was happy with the shade for a traditional sponge. (A dark brown for chocolate cupcake would look good too don't you think? Or how about red for red velvet cupcake?)

White clay for the icing, various colours for hundreds and thousands style topping, e.g. blue, pink and green.
A sharp cutting tool (I've gone for a scalpel), earring findings and some glue.

First shape a small piece of the sponge colour into ball as marked 1. below.
Then roll one side of the ball in your palm with one finger to narrow one side as in 2.
After this flatten the bottom of the narrow end as in 3.

Using the sharp tool create ridges by gently pressing it into the narrowed section.

Next soften a ball of white clay and flatten it. As this for the icing it shouldn't be too neat, after all icing isn't perfectly regular on a cupcake. Attach it to the top of your sponge section, pushing it quite firmly whilst being careful not to distort the sponge.

Roll out very thin lengths of the colours for the hundred and thousands and cut lots of tiny pieces, then press them onto the icing.

Cut the iced cupcake in half from the top down and add a small ball of red, for a cherry, to the top of each.

Now follow the manufacturer's instructions on how to bake your cupcake (for example with Fimo bake at 130 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes), sadly you don't quite get the enticing smell of the real thing :-(

Once the two halves have cooled completely, attach the earring findings with glue (I rough the surface to be glued up a little first to give it a good key to stick to) and leave to dry completely.

Finally enjoy your tasty looking but completely calorie free cupcake earrings!

Another option is to stick them to pieces of card and use them as toppers.

I hope you liked the tutorial and found it helpful, please leave a comment if you want to ask or add something.
I'm off to Poland for my oldest friend's wedding this week, so no doubt they'll be news of that in the next post. I'm very excited and also very lucky as I get to be part of her and her hubby to be's "Big Day" as Matron of Honour!
Until next time- craft in earnest, Craftin' Ernest xx

Washi Tape Boxes

You can’t fail to have spotted the huge popularity of washi tape lately! It’s all over the internet and rolls of the lovely stuff have been appearing in my favourite shops.

For me it was a case of, I really liked then look of it and definitely wanted some but didn't really know what I wanted to do with it. That put me off buying some for all of about 3 minutes, so I treated myself to a bumper pack online in the New Year sales. I also bought an extra couple of rolls of ones I simply couldn't resist on a shopping trip.

Now what to do with them (other than admire and gently stroke them)? In some ways I feel they are too precious to use, I annoy myself when I get like that.

One roll I purposely bought to stick on the back of clocks I've made, that one was pretty obvious.

The next thing to jump in my head was to jazz up some boxes. I was given a Charbonnel et Walker, Pink Marc De Champagne Truffle box (without the chocolates which normally would be an awful travesty but I don’t like champagne truffles so all was fine)
The box itself is actually rather nice as it is and very sturdy, but I didn't want people thinking there were chocolates in there if they spied the box, so I decided to give it a makeover. 

I attached some stripy, paper stock and embellished it with a few strips of tape over the top, followed by some strips around the edge. Next were the obligatory buttons, I used PVA glue to attach them in the shape of a heart and just for good measure I coated the whole top with PVA for extra toughness. I thought the end result would make a lovely gift box that the recipient could keep as a trinket box. I didn't think about lining the button design up with the lid indents which bothers me now but I know for next time!

I felt I was on a roll then [pun intended ;-)] so went to work on a plain, brown, cardboard box. Again I used a rectangle of paper just on the top as a foundation and added washi tape with just a single button accent. I also decorated the bottom half with tape. It's just the right size for a pair of earrings I've made for a friend and makes the gift just that bit more special.

I then remembered a Thomas Sabo gift box I received containing a stunning bracelet, well that had to have a make-over too.

I did try to use it as I would use regular tape to wrap a present. The paper was slightly glossy, red paper with small white polka dots so I thought the white tape with red polka dots would look good. Unfortunately the tape would stay stuck down, after about 10 minutes it would curl up at the ends no matter how much I would rub it down. Ah well, that wasn't to be.
All in all, I do love the stuff and have a few more ideas up my sleeve....
Until next time craft in earnest, Craftin' Ernest x

Happy New Year

Happy New Year and all the very best for 2014!

I really enjoyed 2013 but I’m super excited about 2014 as some of my closest friends are either getting married or expecting a baby this year- lots of crafting opportunities there.

I had a busy few days just before Christmas getting the last of the commissioned items made! They included a wedding album cover made with a Dr Who theme.

A fabric and leather handbag with lots of buttons as a feature- always a good choice in my opinion!

And a zebra hat for my friend’s adorable little boy. She had a picture of the kind of thing she wanted which I would say was knitted with crocheted features but I crocheted the entire one I made.

Over Christmas I gave my list of things I have to make a bit of a sideline and made some things for myself as a festive treat as well a few things for family members…

A very chunky, crocheted cowl in a lovely rich copper brown for my sister:

A super cosy, knitted, stripy hat which is certainly needed to keep the wind out of my ears at the moment. I made another version for my fella so he's cosy too. By then I was addicted so made one for our niece and a baby sized for one of 2014's new additions ;-)

A black, knitted, narrow cowl to keep the chill of my neck

And a bag for myself which is similar in design to the button bag above but slightly larger. I've been meaning to make something with the gorgeous, map fabric I bought yonks ago. I'm calling it my "Fit For Adventure Bag". I used some PVA glue to cover an old, shank button with aeroplane fabric and added a few other buttons for good measure.

I hope you all had a wonderful, crafty festive period, best wishes for 2014!
Always craft in earnest, Craftin' Ernest x

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

I feel I can legitimately go all Christmassy now that's it's December! Although I don't mind Christmas festivities starting in November, it helps me get organised. I know a lot of people can be a little "bah humbug" about starting to early.

I am pretty much set although I still need to do my "wrapping". I try to recycle as much as possible and thought I would see gift bags this year. I do love wrapping though! I know quite a few people who don't like wrapping so I get to do it for them. I genuinely think I could do it full time if there was such a job as full time professional wrapper.
I've done a little decorating, that is I've decorated a little tree. I thread a mix of red, green and gold buttons onto some sheer white ribbon, wound it around the tree then added a few baubles and a glittery "Noel"!

I have made my Christmas cards and because I get to use my fountain pen with green ink I even like writing them.

I used the same method as seen in my blog from May about rubber stamping....
http://craftinernest.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/t-shirt-print-make-over.html
I made some with a robin on and other's with Rudolph, up close and far away, the classic holly and a Christmas Tree or two. As with everything, buttons were involved, as was sequins (a Christmas necessity) and a other bits and bobs.

I even folded and cut most of the card myself this year, recycled of course. It's a bit time consuming but I kept them all the same size- A5 folded to A6. I also used some square cards left over from year and some from a few years back when I folded A5 lengthways, just to mix it up a bit.

Festive fun! Craft in earnest, Craftin' Ernest x

Wrist Warmers

Well, it's turned rather chilly now and hats, scarves, gloves with lots of layers are a must! I have inherited some driving gloves, which I have really taken to, but they stop right at the edge of the hand. A nice pair of wrist warmers are just the thing to stop the chill getting in when I'm out of the car.

I've been making these for a few years now and they make great presents as you can really vary them up and personalise them.
For this tutorial I have used the sleeves of a "fulled" jumper by shrinking it using the hottest wash on the washing machine. Alternatively you could knit/crochet the base and felt it or you could use felt material and sew the base by sewing a tube leaving a space for your thumbs.
In my opinion buttons for decoration are a must though.

After you're happy that the jumper has shrunk the desired amount and you've left it to dry completely, cut the ends of the sleeves off to the length you want. I like them to go from half way up my little finger to around 8 cm beyond my wrist or more. If the end of the sleeve has a ribbed cuff you may like this as a feature and leave it, alternative you may prefer to cut it off or if the end has shrunk a lot you might have to cut it off to fit your hand in!

Once you're happy with the length you need to cut a hole for your thumb in each. I find using a small, sharp scissors makes it easier, once I've done the first I use that as a guide for the second.

The easiest way to finish the edges is to sew around them, using embroidery floss for example. Simple whip stitch looks very effective as does good, old blanket stitch.
And as mentioned a few buttons finishes them off nicely!There you have it, lovely and toasty wrists to wear with or without gloves.

For a more fancy edge I like a bit of crochet. Using a fine hook, 1 mm usually works well (and the sharper the better), I attach the chosen wool/yarn by slip stitching all the way around, poking the sharp hook into the edge and pulling the yarn though. I space it by eye but you can use your little finger as a guide to help or if you like things very precise you could use a tape measure. It's good to keep things nice and loose at this stage. Once I have worked all the way around I slip stitch into the first stitch once reached. After this I switch to a larger hook perhaps a 3.5 mm to a 5mm depending on the yarn and then crochet a frill. For example, chaining three and dc into every other stitch or sc, dc, sc into every other stitch. Experimenting is always good!

Until next time stay cosy and craft in earnest, Craftin' Ernest x

The Chunkier The Better

How great are "chunky knits"? They're so cosy and grow so fast. I have some shop bought chunky knitting needles and crochet hooks but thought it must be extra satisfying to use homemade ones so I thought I'd have a go at making my own using a length of 18 mm pine dowel (though it actually measures 20 mm). I bought it from my local Homebase store and a 0.9 m piece costs a little over £3.

So far I have made a crochet hook, I used a hack saw to cut a section approximately 22 cm long (I also cut the remaining 68 cm in half to make knitting needles at a later date, but who knows when I'll get round to that).

I roughly marked the position for the notch using a marker pen about 2-3 cm from one end and cut it out roughly using the hack saw. I tidied it up using some wood cutting tools. A set of 9, all with various tips, cost £1.99 from "The Works"- I love that shop, you can pick up some real bargains.

Then using the sanding attachment of my electric multi-tool I worked the tip into a blunt point and tidied the notch up before using a fine sand paper to neaten everything up! It took a while to achieve a point I was happy with, perhaps 40 minutes, and I found that it was much quicker to press the "hook" into a hard surface whilst sanding the end with the multi-tool and use a good bit of pressure. A lot of dust is created so if you're working inside a dust mask is highly recommended, a pair safety specs is a good idea too.

All that's left is to crack on with some speedy crochet. I've used Cygnet "Seriously Chunky" which suggests 10-12 mm knitting needles but looks lovely and snug using my jumbo crochet hook- perfect for a cowl I would say . I included a packet of Parma Violets for scale (and then promptly ate them).

Its really is quite satisfying to crochet with and very quick!
Until next time craft in earnest, Craftin' Ernest x

Darker Evenings Are On Their Way!

We're already the majority of the way through October. I feel every time I write I'm flabbergasted how quickly the time has flown by. The clocks go back this weekend too so the evenings will be darker- the prefect excuse to stay in wrapped up warm with some crafty project on the go. So much wool and so little time

Last Saturday I had a stall at an Autumn Craft Fair and my recently made clocks got their first outing and I'm delighted with the response. Such lovely feedback, people can be so generous. I've sold 5 and have orders for 2 more so will have to get busy making them, luckily buttons are not in short supply in my house ;-)  I made a few with applique features and I'm quite pleased with the end results and I have ideas for more buzzing round in my head.

From November the Christmas Craft Fairs start full swing with three booked already so, of course, I have to make, make, make in preparation.
I've been making bridal accessories too but can't show the end result until the bride herself sees and is happy with the result. Hopefully I'll be able to blog about it soon.

Also I have started on my first Chrimbo tutorial but I will share that closer to the festive period. Not long now!

Until next time craft in earnest, Craftin' Ernest xx