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Tuesday 20 December 2016

A One Hour Marble Craft Box DIY #PHWinterWorkshop





 
 
 


A big trend at the moment is marble. I've designed a marbled wooden box tutorial which you can also create with a wooden box from your local craft store, some nail varnish and paint primer in about 30 minutes (plus  a little prep). I got the inspiration for my box from Oh Joy! Marble Bead Jewellery. The effect is immediate and so quick to create.

For this post I've partnered with Parcel Hero to support their online auction for Great Ormond Street Hospital. Parcel Hero are looking to raise £1500 for G.O.S.H. this Christmas, so please do give generously to the link below. Thank-you guy's for sending me the box to DIY and then gifting towards the appeal.

For this DIY, you will need-


- A wooden box with a close fasten clasp (for dipping and the lid staying on!)
- Duck tape
- Three matt nail varnishes
- One glitter nail varnish
- One skewer
- One plastic bowl to dip the box in
- Paint primer or matt undercoat
- Fine sandpaper



Take your box and give it a light sand, Then paint it and let it dry before giving it another coat. When the box is dry tape the edges up with masking or duck tape so they are water tight.




Then it's time to get ready for marbling. Take your plastic tub and fill it half full with tap water and place on a protected surface.


Then add your nail polish starting with the lightest one first. Add a few drops of each and then stir with your skewer. You have to be super quick as the varnish dries really quickly.



Hold the box around the taped sides and dip it. The varnish will stick to the primed painted surface and ta-da it's marbled!



I let the box dry before I peeled off the tape and painted the edged with glitter polish.


And leave to dry before closing.

 
And my box is finished. I really love this technique, it reminds me of marble inks at school.



For other bloggers creations check out the #PHWinterWorkshop  tag on social media. You can read more about the Parcel Hero support of G.O.S.H click  here .

Happy Crafting!

Samantha

 

Wednesday 14 December 2016

A Little Bit Of Christmas Mindfulness With Weleda*

 
 
 
 
 
 
Today is the 14th December, so ten whole days before Santa (the big man) arrives. I have the most excited five year to put to sleep every night and like most families things are crazy!
 
So, I was delighted when Weleda asked me to join them and sample their new Mindfulness Colouring Book and Bath Set. I went along to their Derbyshire offices to meet Lizzie Hobbs the artist and had a moment out of everyday life to colour in, drink herbal tea and relax.
 
time out at Weleda
 
meeting Lizzie
After feeling totally energised by my morning of colouring in, I realised that this would be a lovely activity to do before bedtime with my little girl. So we have coloured in, chatted about our day and then had a lovely bubbly bath time with the pack's body washes.  Now Little L is at school, I'm looking for activities to do together that she is not tired out to do.
 
oooh pencils
So for the last month, we have been working through the colouring book then matching bathtime with the body wash relating to the picture. I have to say this pack is a perfect dual present for a little girl and her Mummy. It's time out together to make, create, chat and learn about flowers.
 
 
Here is our Turkish Rose page, we coloured in together and enjoyed a little bit of mindfulness in the run up to Christmas.  I would also take this pack away on holiday, so if you know someone travelling over Christmas and New Year, this is a perfect little £17.95 gift.
 
Mummy time as well...
 
After school colouring in
 
And we are still using the pencils

I want to thank the lovely people at Weleda who gifted me the pack and invited me the launch morning. We have loved the pack so much.
 
The gift pack includes a beautiful designed colouring book by a talented local artist Lizzie Hobbs and four treat sized body washes including my favourite Wild Rose.
 
If you can't wait until Christmas you can always buy your own here .
 
Happy Crafting,
 
Samantha
 
* This is a sponsored post

Monday 9 May 2016

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Happy New Year!

Wishing You A Happy 2016
 

Hello and welcome to 2016!

After a Christmas season of clarets, burgundy and reds inspired by the colour of the year 2015, it's great to start to work with Pantone's new colours of the year, pastel blues and pinks.

I love pastels and blue is still my favourite colour. I've a sweatshirt I bought 15 years ago that I still can't part with as I love the colour too much.

So hooray to a new year and a new pastel colour palette to gain my inspiration for this years Crafternoons from.

This year's goals are to develop more plans and more Crafternoon beautiful events, engage with Crafternooners online and a few exciting projects that I hope to launch very soon. We still want to remain bijoux and unique.

I'm currently developing a new and better website and new Crafternoon activities for 2016.

Thank-you for your support,

Samantha xoxo

 

Friday 11 September 2015

Make A House A Home




I love a craft challenge and was thrilled to be invited to take part in the Make A House A Home competition.

As the Summer days are fading and I am crafting for Autumn and Christmas (yes the C word in September!) it was great to get my craft on with bright Summer inspired colours.

 
I was sent the pretty wooden bird nest with the brief to get crafty and to 'make a house a home'. With the inspiring craft materials at Buddly Crafts  to choose from, I put together a colour palette of homely happy colours; greens, pastels and reds. I then chose the a basket of pretty materials to reflects this.


I saw the Fimo Effect polymer clay with a great shimmer to the classic Fimo I have used before. Fimo polymer clay is great for modelling so I bought a pastel palette of  six pretty colours Aqua, Light Pink, Lilac, Mint, Peach and Vanilla.


I had to include the Tilda fabric in the project as I have used them to make cotton dolls, cushions and bunting and the prints looks really homely. I chose the green to look like the trees.


To start the project, I broke off a strip of each of the colours and rolled it out with a old wine bottle a 3 mm thickness. This was for my flags for around the bird house roof. I played around with the flag shapes until I got one I was happy with. I then cut out the flags six times in each clay and wetted them to bend them into a shape so that the bunting flags looked like they were blowing in the breeze.


They were then baked as per the packet instructions and left to cool down whilst I decorated the bird house.


I used the Tilda fabric for the roof and the side panels of the bird house leaving the inner panels ready for a white acrylic paint wash later in the project. I used a hot glue gun and a heat proof mat (the red dotty mat just seen) to protect my craft table.


I bought a pastel pink, pastel blue and white ric rac trim to add to the bird house around the sides and over the Tilda fabric as a contrast.


Over the Tilda fabric - so pretty!


Then the white wash was added.


I crocheted a bunting flag in red using devil red #666 .

The flags were then fixed into place and with the remaining thread and fabric I embroidered a 'Home' banner and decorated the bird perk ready for my reveal.

 
Our little Home sign
 
 
The bunting fimo flags were glued in place on a crocheted string with a ric rac trim. I used a staple gun to attach the thread to the house and strong craft glue to attach the flags to the string.


And a hanging loop on the back.



And our new bird home is finished.


I am over the moon with my finished bird box and it's going up in the house tomorrow. I want to thank Ocean Finance for inviting me to take part.

How would you decorate a bird box?

Have a great Friday.

Samantha

* This is a sponsored post

Thursday 10 September 2015

Summer Crafternoon Makes

It's Been A While Dear Friends...
 
Firstly, I have had a lovely Summer 2015 making with some lovely people at our Crafternoon Teas and it's great to blogging again. I've been working on our new website and a few big projects too over the Summer which I will reveal soon.
 
I wanted to share a few makes and photos from Crafternoons this evening...
 
 
Memory keepsakes and vintage style purses in Leicester.
 
 
A stash of vintage fabrics for a Crafternoon in Derby.
 
 
A 1940s rag rug inspired corsage at Crich Tramway Museum's vintage week.
 
 
A red and black fascinator action shot in Sheffield.
 
 
A Crafternoon hen party making vintage style fascinators in Derbyshire.
 
I will be back with an exciting crafty project in the morning.
 
Take Care Crafternooners,
 
Samantha
 

Monday 20 July 2015

This Summer...Make Your Own Strawberry Ice Cream


For the last six months I've been slowly getting obsessed with making ice cream. It started as an idea for Christmas day dessert, I made a simple vanilla no-churn recipe and it was delicious. By total chance I was given the MELT ice cream recipe book for Christmas too, so from that day on I've been late night experimenting  with chocolate-y, fruity and booze-y combos when the kitchen is family free.

It's been a great journey and I have been completely amazed how creative you can be. So as I sit here dreaming up some new non-churn recipes, here is one of our current favourite...strawberry ice cream with pick your own strawberries to involve your family and friends in the process too!



You Will Need -

200ml double cream
200ml of strawberries, hulled and chopped up. The riper the better
2 drops of vanilla essence
65grams of caster sugar
Seasonal fruit to decorate (we used raspberries)


Method

1. Take the strawberries and put them in a non-slip bowl with the sugar and vanilla essence and mash away until the bowl is a red fruit thick liquid in it.
2. Whip the cream until if forms soft peaks on the beaters and looks thick and glossy but be careful not to over whip it (yes you can do this too!).
3. Fold the cream and strawberry mixture together until it looks a pink creamy colour.
4. Place the ice cream in a freezable tub and pop in the freezer for at least four hours.

To serve take out the freezer and leave for ten minutes on the side to scoop it or use a scoop that's been standing in boiling water but be careful to use an over mit as it may be hot, hot, hot.

 
Decorate with sprinkles and fruit. To make a booze-y version add a tablespoon of your favourite tipple when mixing the cream and fruity mixture together. The ice cream will come out softer as the alcohol won't freeze. We like a homemade blackcurrant vodka in ours!

Bye for now,

Samantha
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