Re-making a necklace..............

Quite a few years ago I was bought this lovely Pilgrim necklace as a leaving present from work and I loved it, but sadly over the years the acrylic beads have scratched and become dull, so I decided to buy some replacement beads and try and re-make it - this is the result.......

I managed to keep the lovely green beads and one or two of the beads that were crystal, but I replaced everything else with crystal/quartz/glass beads and I'm quite pleased with the result.  The colours are much more vibrant than the acrylic beads and when the light shines on them they look beautiful.

Even managed to find a nice little dragon fly to replace the enamelled piece that had scratched.

A baby card and some Christmas bells

I keep feeling guilty when friends ask me for my blog address and I have to explain that I haven't updated it for a while.  Note to self:  Upload a photo of something I am working on each week.......well we'll see won't we!  It's been a bit of a poo nine months really, my Brother-In-Law died of Cancer and my Sister looked after him at home right until the end so we (family and friends) took turns in supporting and helping her, he died at the end of June and then in November I had a heart attack, not a serious one, but one nonetheless and am trying desperately to change my bad habits and lead a healthier life, but the weather has not been kind to us.  

On a happier note my Son and girlfriend visited from Australia during December and in October they got engaged and are getting married March 2014 in Woolgoolga, Coffs Harbour, Australia, which is where she comes from......some something to get in shape for.....oh and to save for!

Friends of ours recently brought baby Casey into the world and this is a card I made for them.  I haven't yet had a cuddle with the new born and must arrange a visit.  I blame the weather, this snow doesn't inspire one to get off their backsides and do anything.....watching TV with a crochet hook and ball of wool is all I can muster these days, oh and snoozing!  

I succumbed and bought a Martha Stewart edge punch, mainly because I have been asked three times during the past year to make/design wedding invitations and thought that this lends itself to a romantic theme.  

I bought the gingham card at a show in Five Lakes, Essex (cannot remember the show's name) in blue and I have some in pink too, love it for baby cards.  The tile is a 2" square piece of stampbord coloured with alcohol inks and about four layers of clear UTEE  plus a little gold embossing powder that I stamped into with the foot stamp.  

I have also made two lots of wedding invites this year already, although they were almost identical, which made the second lot easier, just a slight variation with the flower, but made some mocks for them to look at.  I shall put them up here when I gather the photos together, some.  I never know whether I will find them on my camera, Andy's camera or my iPhone to be honest.......another note to self:  Be more organised!

I have also been sewing and made this little Christmas ornament to try out smocking, which I haven't done since my school days.

The one on the right is my one and the purple one I bought at the Warner Archive Christmas sale in Braintree, but it was made by a friend in my Thursday class.  I wanted to make more, but with the heart attack happening it changed a few things before Christmas, I shall make some more next year to give out to friends and family.  Some of the girls made Christmas crackers with the central body beaded and smocked, they were lovely.  

More to come from my crafting world.......

Carol xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 Been Sewing......

Attended a couple of workshops during the summer holidays, the above is the finished article from one of them.  I never finish anything on the actual day and I hate "not finishing" things....so Eileen, here they are!

I have been crafting......honestly

It's a whole year since I last blogged and I feel so ashamed that I haven't got around to putting my stuff on here.  It also means that I have a lot of blogs to visit too. Anyway here are a few things that I have been up to the past year.

My friend asked me to make her a couple of hair clips for her holiday, this is one of them.  Very easy to make, just cut five or six rounds of organza of slightly different sizes.  Hold each piece individually down on a heat-proof surface (I used a chop stick) and carefully burn/melt the edges with your heat gun to make the edges shrivel slightly.  You can use a candle flame, but I always use the heat gun.  Arrange pieces, pin through all layers and sew right through all layers, then shape it to how you want it and secure with one or two stiches.  Sew on required embellishments and then either a comb or brooch pin.  Eazy Peazy!  I did make two, but didn't photograph the other one, maybe she will give me a photo of her wearing it.

My friend's Son gets married in two weeks and between us we made the wedding invitations, order of service, seating plan and place settings, I am going to the wedding so will take a photo of the tables and the seating plan on the day.  I introduced my friend to card-making and she very quickly got hooked (didn't we all), so much so that she ended up making wedding invites for her friend's daughter.  I must admit I did all the cutting and showed Sue what to do and she ended up doing most of the work, which she found very relaxing.  The photo isn't very good as I took it with my phone, never mind.

I love to craft in the garden when I can, usually sewing.

Some sad news, my brother-in-law died very recently and my Sister suggested that she gives me his silk ties to see what I can make from them as she knows that I use very small pieces of material on some of my projects.  I then proceeded to get some ideas on the Internet and was amazed at the amount of people that do this, rugs, dresses, bags, you name it, I found it.  So I am looking forward to receiving these and making them into some lovely things for my sister.  I will of course post these on here.  

I am on two workshops next month for machine embroidery and hand sewing with mixed media, so looking forward to it as I haven't been to a class either for a year.  It is a friend of mine that is the tutor and I think it will be great.

Bye for now, have a great day and I look forward to visiting a few of your blogs, I have a lot to catch up on.

Carol x