SUMMER TIME AND THE LIVING IS WET!

Hi everyone

Can I ask you to pop your head out of the window and tell me what that 'thing' in the sky is?  To me it looks like the sun but I have very few memories of that particular object to be able to state 'yes, it is the sun' with any confidence.  I am therefore asking for your advice.

Last week disappeared rather quickly and although I was working throughout the week (well most of it), I have very little in the finished items department to post on here.  I haven't even finished some of the things I was working on the previous week.  This butterfly behaviour has to stop!  I blame it on the weather or perhaps the saying time flies when you are having fun is true.

Thank you Sarah of Top Toy Box for your guest post on Friday - lovely ideas for the long summer break from school that is looming and as the weather is likely to be pretty unreliable, these may help lots of people who want some fun crafty things to do with their children.  Would you like to be a guest blogger here?  I would love you to join in, so get in touch if you would like some more information (christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com).

However, it has been a good news week for me really.  Two friends I had lunch with on Monday placed orders with me for earrings; then another friend ordered earrings and matching necklace.  I keep saying I am not intending going into the jewellery making business, but I am pleased to have orders.  In addition to that I had orders for a Ruby Wedding card and a card for someone who is running in the Olympic Torch Relay.  Even better was the call I received early in the week from someone who had seen my work and wanted me to make their wedding invitations!  There is a bit of a tale behind this, but it is exciting and a nice type of feedback about my work, and means the butterfly behaviour has got to stop.

We were supposed to be attending an open air event at Farnham Castle yesterday, but had to cancel our plans.  The friend whose birthday we were celebrating sprained her ankle and this meant walking through the mud would be rather difficult.  Not that we wish her anything other than a speedy recovery, but we were not too disappointed.  As you may know, the UK has had quite a bit of rain recently (British understatement) and the prospect of sitting in mud while being rained on was not something we were mad keen to do.  However, we had a meal with our friend yesterday evening - in the dry.  I tried to sell the tickets on Twitter and Facebook without any success - now who would not want to sit in a  muddy field??  But, never to be put off, a friend of mine organised a French Flea Market yesterday to raise funds for her church (yesterday was Bastille Day).  She asked me if I would like a table for my cards and as it was only a few miles away and a very reasonable stall price, I agreed.  The organisers were disappointed with the turnout, but given the weather I think they did very well - and so did I!  It is amazing how you can do well in the least likely of places.  I donated the tickets to the raffle and they were won by a really nice couple on the table next to me who have just started an up-cycling/re-cycling furniture business, so I was pleased the tickets went to a good home.

In addition to selling well on the day, I had a commission for 2 cards to be made there and then.  I always carry a stock of materials to make cards during the 'in-between times', so this was good and I also made some for stock, so will add these here for my Handmade Monday makes.  Plus, I was given a great idea for somewhere to sell my wreaths and once I have made some enquiries, I will tell all.

Don't forget to visit the other Handmade Monday blogs to see what goodies my fellow crafts-people have been making this week.

I know we all look at our Blog stats regularly, but do you ever carefully review the search strings people use that eventually lead them to your blog?  Some of mine this week made me wonder, scratch my head and smile (copied exactly, so apologies for the grammar and lack of capitalisation):

ear piercing invitation card
mr pie craft story english
one day when i caught in rain
2012 limb holiday craft faire

I will leave you to ponder these and wish you a great day in the sunshine.  I am off to make an ear-piercing invitation card as it must be needed. I will be back with my Wednesday witterings and look forward to chatting with you then

Jill

TODAY'S GUEST BLOGGER IS......

Crafts I Enjoy With My Children

Hello everyone, and thank you Jill for allowing me the honour of being a guest blogger! A little about me - my name is Sarah and I used to be a childrens’ librarian but am now a busy mum of two little girls, aged 5 and 3, as well as owner of an online toyshop selling educational toys and games (www.toptoybox.co.uk). I was talking to Jill about some of the crafts I enjoy doing with my children (nothing too complicated!) and she thought they might be good to share. So here goes: my top 5 crafts for children that won’t cost a penny (well, pretty much…!)

1) As this picture shows, my little girls love to be princesses! Making princess hats or crowns is very easy and lots of fun. For the medieval hat, we simply made a cone from a large sheet of card, fitted it for head size, then taped together. The children then added their own decorations. Glitter glue is great here and don’t forget to add some streaming ribbons once the glue/paint is dry for the complete medieval look. Puncture two small holes either side of the hat rim and thread some elastic though to keep it in place. (And of course this is easily adapted into a wizard’s hat with lots of shiny stars!)

2) This is one for the summer (if it ever arrives!). Sea shell crafts are great for children. Add wiggly eyes to make little sea creatures, or create a picture frame to put a holiday snap in. Buy a cheap, plain wooden frame (the sort that haven’t been waxed or varnished are best) and then using PVA glue, stick the shells onto the frame, making sure that all of the shell edges meet for best effect.

3) How about making your own paper-weights? There are two ways to do this - either buy some air-drying clay and shape it into a ball, or simply head into the garden and find some nice smooth stones. Then let your children paint the stones with either pretty patterns or bug /animal designs. Ladybirds and bumble bees are popular and easy, and a pair of stick on googly eyes finishes them off perfectly.

4) In this house we hardly ever buy greetings cards. They might not be at professional standard, but everyone seems to appreciate a homemade card. One idea for you which always works well: take some buttons of different colours and sizes (we always take buttons off worn-out clothes before recycling them) and stick them onto some sturdy folded card to make a bear design, pretty flower head, caterpillar, or whatever else you can think of! Younger children can also make a very pretty card simply be sticking bright buttons in a random design.

5)  And finally. I am amazed when children come to visit both that they have never made one of these and at how much they absolutely love doing so, and I thought that maybe lots of mums haven’t thought of this one yet so hopefully this will be a great share!

Simply draw a big, bright red double-decker bus outline onto some paper, not forgetting the windows. Then take an old catalogue, magazine, or even junk mail, and cut out lots of different faces to stick onto the bus windows. And there you have it  - a real life bus! This craft can be adapted for seasonal occasions too - at Christmas we cut out toys we like and stick them onto a large paper stocking, and at Easter we glue eggs and chocolates onto a big paper egg, before adding a ribbon around the middle to finish. Very easy and very satisfying!

Happy crafting, everyone!

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