Day Tripping- Delightful Stroud

Last weekend my husband and I decided to go out for the day but couldn't make up our minds where to go. We were in the car when I suddenly had a brainwave to visit a town nearby which neither of us had ever been to. We're a bit spoilt for choice where we live, although we live in quite a rural town we have easy access to 3 big cities- Cardiff, Bristol and Gloucester are all within 40 minutes of us and so we tend to head to these.
As such we've never been to Stroud which is only 30 miles away and actually a little closer than Gloucester so with the Sun shining on we went.
On arrival we immediately discovered a lovely Farmer's market, which was fantastic and as it turns out is award winning- http://www.fresh-n-local.co.uk/markets/stroud.php It was a lovely mix of yummy food (lunch and dinner sorted) and handmade items. It put me in the hubby's good books as they had a great selection of real ales- his equivalent of my buttons.
This led to a street that gave me high hopes for the town, Threadneedle Street!

Situated here were shops and a flea market with a whole array of goods for sale from wool roving to antiques. Now we're talking!
Whilst in a charity shop around the corner I headed straight for the button tin (it's like a magnet), this is where my other half stepped into his own and told the lady I'd buy the lot if I could, at which she replied you can have them all for £3! Wahooooo yes please, thank you very much.

There was a very interesting "pop-up shop" filled to the rafters with weaving looms, wool and truly beautiful blankets. A shop called "Made in Stroud" as you can guess selling items made in Stroud, there were some exceptional items, it really was a feast for the eyes- there are some very talented people in the area.
On the other side of the high street was another market selling fresh produce outside and an eclectic mix of items.
At the bottom of town was as a wonderful vintage shop, Strangeness & Charm http://www.strangenessandcharmvintage.com/ I picked myself up a quirky vintage brooch made from wire and thread. It's so intricate and I love the thought of someone crafting each of the individual petals and leaves before putting it all together- I look forward to pinning it to my favourite blazer.

The lovely owner was super helpful and gave me a map of Stroud she'd put together pointing out all the great places you might pick up a vintage treasure or two.
There was also a wonderful wool shop called Yarnarama but as I have given up buying wool for Lent I only paid a flying visit (roll on Easter).
We'll definitely be returning in the not so distant future and it just goes to show there may be a little treasure of a town near you just waiting to be explored, give it a go, who knows what you'll find!
Until next time, craft in earnest! Craftin Ernest xxx

Ding Dong The Bells Are Going To Chime

I do love a wedding, it's such a delight to share in a couple's "Big Day".
I can totally appreciate all the hard work that goes into making the day so special and all the decisions that had to be made along the way.

I also love a bit of wedding related crafting! It's the most perfect time to get busy with the pearls and crystals, lace and ribbon.

I recently had the pleasure of making my close friend's sister-in-law-to-be's beaded tiara and the bridesmaid's hair accessories! (Not great pictures sorry)

Also, as I mentioned in previous posts I had the great honour of being part of my friends' Becky and Steve's wedding. For part of their wedding gift I thought I would make them something personal to commemorate their special day and decided on a cushion.

I used transfer paper for inkjet printers to copy an image of their hands with their wedding rings onto white fabric. It took a few attempts as the instructions didn't mention anything about letting the image cool after ironing before peeling off the backing paper. Probably very obvious (especially as it's not the first time I've used it) but I forgot so trial and error certainly played a part, as did some choice words.

Once I'd finally got it right, I machine embroidered the lettering. I used white tissue paper to space the words just as I wanted them.

I went over each letter a number of times with two different colours. To finish it off, what else but a few buttons- heart shaped, shell buttons were perfect for this project in my opinion.

I think the happy couple were pleased were the result, it's certainly very personal to them.

We have a few other wedding this year to look forward and to keep me busy :-)

Until next time craft in earnest, Craftin' Ernest x

Jet Setting Part 2 - Ireland

After the delights of Poland we headed for our annual February trip to see the family in Ireland (see last year's February post here- http://craftinernest.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/ernest-in-ireland.html).
As always it was great to see everyone especially as we only made one trip over last year. We flew straight from Krakow to Dublin, then drove west to Limerick in a hire car- here's a handy hint for those not familiar with saloon cars- the don't have rear windscreen wipers so don't go ask the guys in the hire office how to turn them on, you will look silly ;-)

Shopping was once again on the agenda, we concentrated on culture last year after all. We even had to buy another suitcase, definitely a sign of a successful trip! I finally made it into a shop that had caught my eye previously but didn't have the time then to go in, The Art and Hobby Shop: https://www.facebook.com/artnhobbylimerickcity
I'm very glad I got to go in! I bought lots of bits and bobs- a large circle cutter, a set of fabric pens, more washi tape (yes I certainly have fallen in love with the stuff), some ribbon, ink pads and a pack of resin flowers.
I had earlier picked up a a necklace and earring set at the knock-down, bargain price of 1 euro and thought it would be good to use with one of the resin flowers.

Using pliers I removed the horse-shoe charm and replaced it with a small metal disc with a hoop I already had (it was from a long necklace with lots of them dangling off it). All I had to do then was glue one of the flowers to disc. I don't think it looks too bad at all for about 1.30 euro?

My aunt Maxine gave me a chunky green cardigan she knitted, perfect to keep me snug in the evenings! She's very good.

All in all it was a truly fantastic week and I could do with another week off to recover!
Until next time, craft in earnest! Craftin' Ernest x

Jet Setting Part 1 - Poland

Well, I've had a super busy week jet setting about, as you do. 

As I mentioned in the last post my oldest friend, Becky, married the love of her life, Steve, on Thursday in a truly beautiful ceremony in Poland! The day couldn't have been more perfect and I was truly delighted to be part of it as Matron of Honour and one of the witnesses. The wedding took place in Niepolomice Castle about 25km outside of the wonderful city of Krakow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niepo%C5%82omice_Castle

Krakow is a lovely city with lots to do and see, we went on a few day trips (for example The Salt Mines in Wieliczka), took part in two walking tours and consumed an incredible amount of chocolate at Pijalnia Czekolady Wedel: http://www.wedelpijalnie.pl/pl/o-nas

There were quite a number of shops selling handmade items, including Kiku Miku, below, which sells a wonderful mix of accessories and gifts.

 

I treated myself to a cute, little brooch made from a bottle cap -https://www.facebook.com/MANIFESTO.SHOP

I also bought my sister a pair of earrings as she has a thing about Paris.

These were most deserved as later on the trip, whilst on one of the walking tours, my eagle-eyed sister spotted some wool in the window of a shop which was the first port of call after the tour had ended. There are lots of little passage ways in Krakow hiding all sorts of places and at the end of the one with wool in the front window was this wonderful treasure trove -

It was packed full of goodies, everything from buttons and wool to zips and patches. The brilliantly helpful man behind the counter didn't speak English but was really great, producing all sorts of extra colours of items I was after. Buttons, naturally, were a must and I couldn't resist a few other things. The zips for example were a bargain at the equivalent of 50 pence each! 

I think Krakow is well worth a visit! In the next post, I'll fill you in on Part 2 - Ireland. Until then, craft in earnest, Craftin' Ernest x

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