Wedding Wonders With No Wonga Part 2

Published in Issue 19, October 2012

Written by Kerry from Scrapbookerry

www.scrapbookerry.com

PART 2

Mr L proposed, I said yes and now we are trying to get the wedding of our dreams with the least amount of money possible. Some things we are making ourselves, some things are beinggiven to us, others we are getting through hard labour and lotsof rooting around for bargains and other things just can’t bebudged. So we will try some haggling instead.

If you are interested in helping us along the Wedding Wonderswith No Wonga journey then please do contact us at weddingwonderswithnowonga@gmail.com

The first plans.

These last couple of months we have been trying to work out exactly what we want from our wedding and have been having to look at some of the things that we do need to pay for! The dates, themes and venues have been at the front of our minds!

As soon as Mr L proposed, I knew right away that I wanted to get married on the last weekend in August. I didn’t really care what day of the week it was, it just had to be that last weekend. Luckily Mr L knew that I would want that and was happy to go along with that date as well.

The date is important to me. My own parents were married on the 1st of September and my sister and brother in law were married on the 29th of August, so it just seemed right to get married in between them. 

Once we looked at the diaries we saw that in 2014 the 30th of August falls on the August bank holiday and it is Saturday as well. It must hve been destined as it was perfect for us, so within days we had the date set.

We have had lots many discussions about what we wanted and our ideas for our wedding. Everything we have been thinking and talking about has been put into our Wedding Art Journal so we can record all of our ideas. Our ideas usually end up being the same! We are both country people in our hearts and we both want that to be reflected in our wedding.

We thought we would have a quiet wedding and a reception in a field.

We didn’t want anything fancy. We wanted a vintage feel with old style tea sets and a nice simple hog roast for the food. We had various ideas for colour combinations, but eventually decided on brown and cream. It is a colour combination which suits all of our immediate family. As I am strawberry blonde, Mr L is brown and Baba is ginger we needed something that suited us all.

So we were raring to go….

But we came unstuck with the field. We have gone over this idea for the last
few weeks, trying to decide whether it is truly what we want. It is something that we both would love, but and it is a big but, we are both very nervous of the great British weather. We can’t afford to have massive marquees and were thinking of having tents instead. Our next hurdle was trying to find a field near us. We live in an area with lots and lots of fields around us. However finding one that we wanted was a different matter. 

We began looking into village halls instead and some of them near us were remarkable. We have managed to find a fantastic hall we can hire for the whole weekend and can decorate to our own specifications. It has great grounds, so we still have space for our hog roast and it has a playground for the children. It looks fantastic. There are car parking spaces and it isn’t too far from the church. So all in all it is perfect and the best thing is that it is undercover and the price is great! A really good deal for the whole weekend. 

We are set on having vintage china sets and we have narrowed it
down to two options. We can either go hunting ourselves searching car boots, eBay, charity shops and jumble sales or hiring all the china from a company. Like Dormouse and The Teapot http://www.dormouseandtheteapot.com/ This company hires enough china out for a wedding of 80, which would be perfect for us.

They have a stunning range and it is just what we are looking for. But at the moment it is still a decision to be made - whether, to hire or to buy ourselves?

We are planning far in advance so we decided that we wanted to make some Save the Date cards. Nothing too complicated as we wanted the cards to fit in with the simple theme of the wedding itself.
We could go with a very simple Save the Date card, where we would fill in all the details, but this could be time-consuming, or we could opt for a more personal photo Save the Date card.

 

This is more us and fits in well with my scrap booking. Plus once it is made it can easily be reprinted to send to all our family and friends.
The card is more in keeping with a wedding and more in line with what we
are wanting for the rest of our wedding. So it has been decided that these are
going to be our Save the Date cards and the rest of the wedding stationery will be
based on a similar design!

If you are interested in helping us along the Wedding Wonders with No Wonga journey then please do contact us at weddingwonderswithnowonga@gmail.com

Make a Crystal Band Watch with Tassle

Published in Issue 19, October 2012

Written by Sally-Jo from The Bead Bounty

www.thebeadbounty.co.uk

This piece was inspired by the beautiful colours of autumn and is perfect for the party season ahead.

Supplies

Approximately 56 Crystals for the bracelet (I have used 4.5mm x 5.5mm doughnut beads)

7 x 4mm contrasting bi-cone Crystals for the tassel and chain dangle

Size 11 seed beads for the tassel

2 x wire protectors

2 x 4-5mm jump rings

1 x eye pin

1 x head pin

1 x clasp

1 x 50mm piece of chain

1 x 12mm end cone

2 x 50cm lengths of fishing/fire line

Beading needle and beading thread

Glue or clear nail varnish

Scissors

Round/Flat and side cutter pliers

A beaders watch face 

Beads and watch face used produced a 7 and a half inch band.

Step 1. With the first piece of fishing/fire line, thread on a wire protector and position it at the centre of the thread

Step 2. Thread on first crystal crossing the threads through the bead hole and positioning the bead centrally to the wire protector.

Step 3. Pick up 2 beads on one thread and 1 bead on the other thread. 

Step 4. Pass the thread with the one bead on through the second bead on the first thread so that the threads cross again and pull the threads tight.Step 5. Continue this process until you have added 28 beads in all.

Step 6. Pass the threads, one through each side, through the hole on the watch.  

Step 7. Pass the threads through the first bead on the strap and then back through the hole on the watch and once more through the first bead on the strap.

Step 8. Run the threads back through the length of the strap in the same way as before with the threads immerging at the same place just above the wire protector.  

Step 9. Tie a good knot and add a dab of strong glue or nail varnish.

Step 10. Run the extra thread up through several beads, tying knots as you go and adding glue then cut off excess.  Repeat the above for the other side of the strap.

Step 11. Add a 4mm bi-cone crystal to the head pin.

Step 12. Bend the pin to a 45 degree angle.

Step 13. Shorten the wire to approximately 6-8mm with wire cutters.

Step 14. Using the round nose pliers, make a loop.

Step 15. Attach the loop to one end of the 50 mm chain.

Step 16. Attach the other end of the chain to one end of the bracelet.

Step 17. Using a jump ring, add the clasp to the other end.

Step 18. Thread the bead needle with approximately 50cm of thread and tie one end to the loop of your eye pin.

Step 19. Pick up 20 size 11 seed beads.

Step 20. Pick up 1 4mm bicone crystal and 1 seed bead.

Step 21. Pass the needle back up through the crystal and pull the thread so that the crystal meets the seed beads.

Step 22. Now pass the needle up through the 20 seed beads and the loop on the eye pin. Please read N.B below before you continue with 23.

Step 23. Repeat this process 5 more times and tie the two ends of the thread together. Add a dab of glue and trim the excess thread. 

N.B I have done 2 strands with 20 seed beads, 2 with 22 seed beads and 2 with 24 seed beads but you can do them all with 20 if you wish and you can also do them shorter if you feel that the tassel is too long for you.

Step 24. Put the bead cone on to the wire of the eye pin and over the top of the seed beads. Now repeat step 12 – 14 above to make the loop for your tassel.

Step 25. Using the second jump ring, attach the tassel to the Watch Band.

Upcycling makes the World go around

Published in Issue 19, October 2012

Written by Bridget from Inkahoots

http://www.inkahoots.co.uk/

It's quite possible that we are in the midst of a new craze sweeping the nation… No, it's not the pursuit of celebrity or trying to beat Usain Bolt - it's a much quieter pastime that's crept into our culture gradually over the last few years. Now is the time to start shouting about 'Upcycling' and appreciating the amazing results that can be achieved with a little time and skill! 

If you've never heard of it, you won't be alone, but put simply it's the act of taking something that you would otherwise throw out and finding a way to make it into something else, something better or more beautiful. Or, as I would say 'taking something a bit naff and turning it into something that someone might actually want!'

So, why has it become so popular? There are lots of personal reasons why people do it, but the main themes are an interest in eco-living and not wanting to leave an huge footprint on the environment. Doing things like shopping locally, reducing energy consumption, saving precious resources and doing your bit by recycling and re-using in all its forms. The recession has played its part too, people are looking to save money and the planet - Upcycling does both.

A book by William McDonough & Michael Braungart, 'Cradle to Cradle - Remaking the Way We Make Things', published in 2002, brought the topic into the fore by getting people to rethink the way they used things. It was only last year I discovered that Upcycling was the word for what I'd been doing for the last 5 years!

The fantastic thing about Upcycling is that we can all do it and we can do it at home, in our lounge whilst watching telly or at the kitchen table. It's so satisfying to see something transformed from a very ordinary thing (or even a horrible thing!) into something that is unique, a one-off. Your options are endless - you can redecorate by using paint or decoupage, or change it completely, such as using an old jumper to make a doorstop or turning an unwanted children's game into hanging decorations.

You'll find that lots of the handmade products, sold on Etsy and other craft sites, are made with Upcycled items. In fact, the number of products on Etsy tagged with the word 'Upcycled' rose from 7,900 in January 2010 to 167,000 in October 2011! The craze is here, without a doubt, but is it here to stay?

It seems we are hooked on Upcycling. It's a bit like our obsession with vintage - that harking back to another time. Everyone recycled and upcycled during the wars - 'Make Do & Mend' wasn't something invented to go on tea towels! There are opportunities too, for mums like me, to set up a business and work quite happily from home, using a personal website or bigger craft websites, like Etsy or Folksy.

Also, it doesn't have to cost much to get started, you basically need glue, a bit of left over paint…. and there is inspiration everywhere you look on craft websites, magazines and Pinterest. There are even blogs and videos to show you how to tackle specific projects. I think that we've all got a little 'Upcycler' in us - the only thing to do is have a go - you never know what hidden talents you may discover. 

I'd like to see Upcycling Clubs spring up in our local communities - places where folks can go to be creative and artistic, swap ideas and finished products, sell their creations and, of course, do it over a cup of tea and a big wadge of cake…. now there's an idea…!

An Interview with .... Helen Rose Glass

Published in Issue 19, October 2012

An Interview With

Creative Crafting speaks to Helen Rose Glass

Tell us about the lady behind Helen Rose Glass
I am a glass artist living in the Essex countryside just outside Chelmsford. I’ve worked with glass for 8 years now and while fusing is my main skill, what I create is constantly changing and developing as I learn new glass techniques. Over the last few years this has included stained glass, lampwork beading, glass casting, printing on glass and restoration work. I find it interesting to see how these techniques can work together to create something new and exciting. 
I am currently in a period of major change where my crafting life is concerned as I’ve just left classroom teaching after 11 years to do this full time. I was starting to find that opportunities were presenting themselves and having given more hours than I’d care to remember to my school and going part time last year, I decided it was now or never. So here I am all excited and scared about my future crafting career. 
Perhaps unsurprisingly considering my teaching background I run various glass fusing workshops which take place in my home studio and at ‘Handmade’, Colchester and ‘Make, Do and Mend’, Chelmsford.
I sell my work at ‘Glass from the Past’, Billericay, Essex, ‘Handmade’, Colchester, Essex, via my website www.helenroseglass.co.uk and at local craft fairs. I am a member of The Guild of Essex Craftsmen and regularly attend their craft events.

When did first begin creating your designs, and why? 
I first discovered glass fusing at a local craft fair and after buying huge amounts of it over several months, I decided to learn how to make glass for myself. I’d been looking for a craft to do at home that was completely different from what I spent my days as an Art Teacher doing, so this was ideal. I found a day course in London and loved it. That was it, I was hooked. I signed up for their evening classes. For 10 months I took the journey from Essex to the studio which involved 2 trains and a 20 min walk. I loved going so much that it didn’t seem like a huge effort. 

What is it that you enjoy about your work?
I love being creative. When I don’t craft I just don’t feel like ‘me’ so can happily spend hours making glass, printing, felting, sketching ....pretty much doing anything arty or crafty. Being creative is so relaxing and it’s the ultimate compliment when someone else likes your work enough to buy it. I am so thankful that I am now able to do this full time.

What is your biggest crafting achievement, and why? 
Last year I learnt how to do traditional leading with a view to making my own design for the kitchen/hallway door. So not doing things by halves, this was my first project in a new technique. I decided to have a peacock as the image and designed it to include elements of glass fusing alongside the traditional leading. I even melted my own sheets of mixed coloured glass in the kiln to create the peacock ‘eyes’. It took around 6 months of evening classes to complete and then with the help of my Dad, I installed it into the door. The peacock design was perhaps more adventurous than I’d first envisaged but when I see the light come through it every day I am glad I took on the challenge. 

Rehearsals can be pretty full on as the music is always challenging and the conductor is extremely strict but it’s one of the best things I’ve joined in years.

If you had to choose your favourite from your creations which one would it be?
I love my koi carp coffee table. For ages I’d wanted to make a wood and glass table for my house for ages but finding a piece of wood with a hole was trickier than I’d realised. Thanks to Ebay though I found a company in Scotland that had the perfect piece. I made a template for the hole, spent hours shaping the clear glass and began experimenting with ways to create the various elements of the design, whilst also keeping a sense of the movement of the fish. I’m pleased to have such a unique piece of furniture in my home that I can proudly say I made.

Where does your inspiration come from?  
I find inspiration in many different things and keep sketchbooks of images I like, postcards from artists, photos I’ve taken etc. As someone who studied design at university, it’s a process I’ve always followed and even as a glass novice couldn’t follow pre made designs in books. I just didn’t find it inspiring enoughand the process of creating my own work always starts with design and experimentation. I’m currently exploring ways of combining printing and textiles within my glasswork. At the same time I’m also using nature within the imagery e.g. prints of leaves, peacock feathers, shells. 

If you could change one thing about what you do, what would it be?
I’d like to be working alongside other like-minded people in a craft studio but at this stage when I’ve only just stepped into the full time craft world it’s an expense that I can’t justify. For now I’m going to work at home and pop into visit friends in their studios instead.

Do you have a favourite website?
I know most people use Facebook to stay in touch with friends but I also find it great for coming across new and exciting crafters on a regular basis. I’ve found loads of inspiring designers via people who tag them in their posts or pictures. This year I visited ‘Art in Action’ and managed to talk to several people whose work I’d only ever seen online before which was fantastic.

Has anyone helped or supported you more than any other?
There are 2 people who have helped and supported me more than any other but each in vastly different ways. Jan Waller of ‘Love, Make, Think’ and Caroline Weidman from ‘Glass from the Past’. I first met Jan when we worked together as art teachers and she helped me through my first years in the classroom. Since then we have been firm friends who support each other emotionally and artistically. We can openly discuss our ideas/designs and give each other encouragement at the points when doubt starts to creep in. I know I can call Jan for advice whenever I need it and thanks to Skype we can still do this even though she’s now in USA. Caroline has been a kind of glass mentor after I randomly met her in a car park at a craft fair! When she opened her glass gallery I was honoured to be asked to display my work for the 1st time. Caroline has taught me copper foiling, traditional leading and has now taken me on as her studio apprentice where I am restoring stained glass windows. The experience is invaluable and one I am very grateful for.

Tell us a random fact about yourself!
I grow lots of my own fruit and veg in the back garden.

Millie-Mae and Mummy makes.... Ghoulish Hangmen Bird Feeders

Published in Issue 19, October 2012

Written By Millie-Mae and Tracey Kifford

www.wowthankyou.co.uk

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where they strung up a man they say murdered three.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where the dead man called out for his love to flee.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where I told you to run so we’d both be free.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

From The Hunger Games

When you go down to the woods today, you’re in for a BIG surprise! We’ve gone all Spooky this month – yet practical too – and have made some hangman bird feeders, ready for the wintering birds packed full of nuts, seed and fat. Warning – this is a very messy project!

You will need:

Large Saucepan

Some old baking trays

Greaseproof paper

Wooden spoon

Large gingerbread man cutter

Red food colouring

Wire sandwich bag ties (for ‘skeleton’)

‘Rope’ (we used paracord)

Scissors

Lard (we used 500g beef dripping)

Bird seed (big bowl full)

Method:

1. With adult supervision, place the block of lard into a large saucepan, and over a low heat allow it to melt entirely

2. Once melted, take off the heat and carefully pour the bird seed into the liquid. Mix well.

3. Keep adding the seed until it gets quite thick. Then leave to cool for a good 30-45 minutes.

4. When the fat starts to set (turn white), place the gingerbread cutter on a piece of greaseproof paper and fill with the bird mixture. Pack it down well.

5. Take the wire bag ties and make a ‘spine’ for the hangman (this will add strength); we also added a loop to attach to the noose later!

6. Carefully remove the cutter and then place in a fridge while you make the noose!

7. To tie a noose, or more accurately ‘the hangman’s knot’ – we have to say we cheated and found a guide on Google. It’s frighteningly simple to do. Millie-Mae had a go at making one, but it wasn’t something we want her remember, so we made most of them ourselves, following this simple image:

8. Once made, put the rope over the head of the bird man, take a small brush and add some ‘blood’ in the form of red food colouring.

9. You’ve finished! Hang outside on the trees – very effective in a row of several during twilight!

Millie-Mae (aged 6) and Toby (aged 3) are the children of Tracey Kifford, owner of the marketplace WowThankYou

Trick or Treat Lollipop Pendant

Published in issue 19, October 2012

Written by Claire from Elderberry Arts

http://www.elderberryarts.co.uk

Trick or Treat Lollipop Pendant

What You Will NeedCraft knife

Small amounts of black and green fimo

Cocktail stick

2 x  1/2 inch eye pins

Step 1. Cut off a small piece of each colour clay - around 1 cm will be fine.

Condition clay to soften and roll into balls.

Step 2.  Roll each ball into a thin sausage approximately 15 cm long.

Step 3.  Wrap the sausages around each other and cut the resulting sausage in half.

Step 4. If you like, you can roll the sausages a little to blend the twists.

Step 5. Take one sausage and coil it. Press down the end to secure. Now repeat with the second sausage.

Step 6. Cut the cocktail stick in half and push into the bottom of each lolly.

Insert an eye pin into the top of each lolly to finish.

Step 7. Remove the cocktail sticks carefully and bake according to the manufacturers instructions. You may need to use a little glue to secure the sticks back in after the lollies have cooled.