learning – CraftyGuider

Here’s to 2016

At the beginning of 2015, I resolved not to have any resolutions, not to sign up to any social media obligations like photo-a-day or blog-a-week, not to join in with quilt a month, crochet along etc. and not to heap too much pressure on myself to join in and fit in with the crowd.

To some extent I’ve succeeded in this (especially the not blogging regularly part – oops!) but I’m not quite there.

My aim for 2016 is to get organised. I want to declutter and put systems in place to get my life, head and home in order. I want to complete ‘to do lists’ rather than keep putting things off. I want a crafting area that is inspirational, rather than a pile of work in progress. I want to minimise food waste by planning meals better and shopping smarter. I want to put my health higher up in my priorities.

But for now, I’d like to wish everyone a happy new year and I hope 2016 is everything you want it to be.

Tutorial: How to mount an unmounted rubber stamp

There are lots of different type of stamp available on the market. When I started crafting *eh-herm* a few years ago, wood mounted blocks were the thing. They are the ones with typically a red or grey rubber stamp stuck on a wooden handle. They are easy to use but difficult to position on the page accurately as you cannot see the image when you stamp. They are also bulky to store.

Clear stamps are great. They cling to acrylic blocks so that you can use them, you can see where they are going to stamp and they are easy to store.

Sometimes though, you get lovely images on unmounted rubber stamps like the one above from one of my favourite stamp suppliers, Lili of the Valley. They do have the storage benefits of clear stamps, but they need mounting before they can be used.

You need to buy some mounting foam which has a permanent adhesive on one side, and a cling surface on the other. I had an offcut (the light grey in the picture) which fitted my stamp, and I fixed the stamp to the permanent adhesive side.To ensure a clean stamped image, carefully trim the excess foam and rubber leaving a small border around the edge. Non stick scissors are good for this. It helps avoid those annoying smudges at the edges of stamped images where the ink pad has caught the background as well as the raised image.This is my trimmed stamp. The foam backing gives an even image transfer as you can really squish it down when you stamp.I use Memento ink pads when I stamp an image I want to colour in with my Promarkers so the ink doesn’t bleed.

Isn’t it a gorgeous image? It was chosen by youngest Craftyguidelet when she came to a craft show with me. She’s got good taste!

Disclaimer: Any links contained in this blog are not affiliate links and I don’t get any money if you click on them.

Craftingspiration – Craft Books

I love craft and cooking books. They give me inspiration, techniques, ideas, instruction, patterns, recipes, hints and tips. Some have been recommended to me. Some are from TV series I’ve enjoyed. Some are gifts. Some are swaps. Some are prizes. Once they are in the house, I won’t let them go.

I’ve found that I either just use the same couple of pages over and over again, or don’t use them at all after the initial look through when they first come to me. Looking at some of these afresh, I am determined to use them, and in doing so, I might clear some of my crafty stash as well.

I’ve decided to start with cake. Ingredients are ordered. Ready, set, bake!

Are any of these on your shelf?

Knitting and Stitching Show 2014

It’s that time again. My annual pilgrimage to Alexandra Palace for the Knitting and Stitching Show. This year I had to go on the Saturday so I could get someone to look after the Craftyguidelets and it was absolutely HEAVING! I’m glad I decided to do most of my shopping on the first trip round, especially the fabric, as I could hardly move later on.The blue fabric is gorgeous Liberty Tana Lawn and will become a blouse, and the other two are the softest knitted fabrics from Eternal Maker and will become pyjamas for the Craftyguidelets. They sent me on a mission to get some fabric for their Elsa dresses but no one was selling any. The nearest I found was a stand that had scraps of turquoise shiny scraps. When I asked if they did bolts of the fabrics as I was making Elsa dresses, the owner looked at me in a puzzled way. I clarified “Elsa, from the Disney film, Frozen”. Complete blank look. I’ve found the only person who has never heard of the film!These ribbons are from Crafty Ribbons. I have some card designs in mind for the tape measure ribbons, and the others made up the multi buy offer. “If I knit fast enough, does it count as aerobic exercise” and “Behind every knitter is a huge pile of wool” are two of the great quotes on the knitting one, and “Chocolate: here today, gone today” and “Chocolate…NOT just for breakfast” are on the chocolate one.This is my beading stash. The turquoise and white beads with the spacers are going to make the Craftyguidelets some Elsa jewellery with some snowflake charms I got before (spot the Craftyguidelet theme here!) The others are kits from Spellbound Bead Company. The Christmas tree earrings are a bit of fun for decorations day at school later in the year, the necklace looks stunning and the 3D stars will look great on my Christmas tree.I blame this purchase on @Meanyjar. She taught me crochet back in January and look at these gorgeous colours! OK, I didn’t need much leading astray. The colour selection was made by Attic 24 with Stylecraft for a crochet along later this month. There were another 3 colour palettes but this was my favourite. If the crochet along is too complex for my newbie skills, there are other patterns I can follow on Lucy’s blog. My vision is of me crocheting a beautiful blanket over the colder months in front of the fire. The truth may be lots of YouTube videos and frantic calls to Meanyjar for help!I also did a workshop while I was there. This is my start on a foundation pieced landscaped coaster, and this is the finished version I am aiming for by the tutor Sally Holman.It was great to learn a new technique, and it was nice to have a sit down for an hour without lugging heavy bags around.This knitted pergola was in the entrance hall. The details were stunning.The birds are my favourites, especially the blue tit with the peanuts and the budgies!And this view has been in my top 3 for many years. It used to be on my way home from my Saturday job working for my mum and dad in their bakery, and any excuse to divert to look at this view is worth it.

Getting to Know You – Ice Breaker Activities

It’s the start of the new term at Guides and as usual we have some new starters. I do my Guiding in a fairly rural area, so most of the Guides know each other from the main school in the village, but it seems that there is a huge gulf between the lofty year 7’s and the new year 5’s.

Looking for some new ideas, I stumbled across icebreakers.ws which has a number of interesting games to get everyone talking and learning more about each other. Who knows, they may actually find out that the year 6’s aren’t an alien species and are quite interesting!

I’ve tried the Bingo style games before where you have a sheet of paper and have to go around finding someone who has an elder brother, someone who is left-handed and someone who can’t stand One Direction. This is good at making the Guides talk to people outside of their normal friend group because Nancy the new girl is the only one with a hamster, and if they want to get that signed off, they need to share the fact that they hate marmite.

Another suggestion on the website is the blanket game where you hide one person behind a blanket and everyone else tries to guess who it is. I find this works best when you know each other a bit first. Rainbows won’t peek while you are hiding someone, but Guides aren’t beyond a bit of cheating. Or is it just mine?

I think I’ll be trying the connecting stories game within the new patrols. One person starts off a story such as “I had jam on toast for breakfast this morning” and then the next person needs to provide an anecdote related to this such as “my mum made strawberry jam this summer” followed by someone else’s “I went to a pick your own farm and we picked 3 punnets of delicious strawberries”. The linked stories have to carry on as long as possible.

With my old unit, I played the “move to the left” game where everyone sits in a circle on their own chair. The person in the middle makes a statement such as “move to the left if you have an older brother”. Anyone this applies to has to move to the left and sit in the next chair. If a Guide doesn’t have an older brother, they stay put, which can mean they get someone sat on their lap. If there is a complete pile up, you can rescue the poor unfortunate Guide left sitting underneath 4 others by making a statement that you know applies to her alone.

Do you have any good ice breaker activities to share?

Girlguiding is the leading charity for girls and young women in the UK, with 553,633 members. Thanks to the dedication and support of 100,000 amazing volunteers, we are active in every part of the UK, giving girls and young women a space where they can be themselves, have fun, build brilliant friendships, gain valuable life skills and make a positive difference to their lives and their communities. We build girls’ confidence and raise their aspirations. We give them the chance to discover their full potential and encourage them to be a powerful force for good. We give them a space to have fun. We run Rainbows (5—7 years), Brownies (7—10 years), Guides (10—14 years) and The Senior Section (14—25 years). If you can give some time to help support or lead a unit, just click here or call 0800 1 69 59 01.

Museum of London – Review

With the Craftyguidelets learning about the Great Fire of London in KS1 and Stone Age to Bronze Age in KS2 next term, we planned a day trip to the Museum of London near St Paul’s Cathedral to do a bit of ‘research’.

The museum is right in the heart of the history it is curating. Parts of the London Wall are ‘displayed’ through windows on the upper level. I’ve no idea why the man in the picture appears to be taking a selfie lying down in the shade of the wall!

We were met at the door by a member of staff who asked us about our visit. She showed us to the various activity sheets for children which you can also download before you leave home. We picked up the War, Plague and Fire one for youngest Craftguidelet. As there was nothing for eldest to have, the staff member got her some leaflets with pictures from the gallery, and also lent her a clipboard and A4 paper to draw pictures and take notes on. She also met up with us later in the day and showed a genuine interest in what the Craftyguidelets had done. It’s great when someone goes above and beyond the call of duty.

Photography is permitted in the museum but flashes aren’t so forgive the dodgy pics!
The galleries inside take you on a chronological journey through the history of London, starting in the ‘London before London’ gallery. This took us from the Stone Age through to Bronze Age with displays of artefacts discovered in the London area.
This Bronze age helmet is supposed to demonstrate the ferocity and virility of the owner. Not your normal head gear for a night on the pull any more!
The Roman area had this mock up of a Roman house. I love the mosaic floor.

Moving on through Medieval London and past a 100 year old model of the old St Paul’s cathedral, we arrived in the War, Plague and Fire gallery. There was a quite disturbing film presentation of the spread of the Black Death which we moved on from, and then on to the Great Fire of London.
It was great to show 5 year old Craftyguidelet examples of houses and how people lived in 1666 when the fire happened, as a background to what she will be learning about in the classroom. The museum is also in the area where the fire took hold, which also gave her another perspective.
These fabulous dresses were in a recreation of the Pleasure Gardens. I was a bit confused by the film dramatisation that was projected as part of the experience though.

After travelling through the Victorian shop recreations, we carried on moving through history to modern London.
This is a bronze lift from Selfridges from 1928. I love the grandness of it.
The Suffragettes were also featured with a large display, including this embroidery from Holloway Prison.
This was from a display of equipment from a bakery demolished in 1966 to make way for a new development. Being a Master Baker and Confectioner’s daughter, I am drawn to bakery memorabilia.
Probably the most thrilling part for me was the story of the development of the Olympic cauldron from the 2012 London games. The actual petal for Great Britain was displayed. I didn’t realise there were 3 cauldrons made – one for the Olympics, one for the Paralympics and one for testing. The scale and the detail were staggering.

We really enjoyed our day out at the museum. It held everyone’s interest throughout our visit, and there are probably details we missed to go back and see another time. Entrance is free but we did leave a donation in the box.

This review is based on my own opinion of our family day out. I received no incentives to go or to write a review.

Summer School

Summer Reading Challenge 2014

This year, the Craftyguidelets have been given homework to do during the school holidays. School work for a 5yr old and her 7yr old sister in the holidays? Shouldn’t they be enjoying themselves?

It’s not boring study though. Their new teachers have given them a blank A4 book to fill in with whatever they want. There is a sheet glued in the front giving ideas, but it could be anything they want to do.

The Craftyguidelets like ticking things off so we are using some of the suggestions, and we have already worked on a diary for our holiday in Cornwall. I have started a new smashbook, and they are using this idea to illustrate their diary with photos, entry tickets, leaflets and owl feathers, as well as drawings.

Also on the list are ideas based on their topics when they go back. 5yr old Craftyguidelet has the Great Fire of London, which will mean a trip to the Monument and St Pauls, stopping off at the Museum of London to see their War, Plague and Fire gallery. While we are there, we’ll visit the London Before London gallery for 7yr old Craftyguidelet’s Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age topic. For me, we’ll have collected lots of Show and Tell material for next term to avoid the last minute scramble at 8.29am for something topic related.

From: Books About Town

Another activity we’ll be trying is the Books About Town trails. Each trail has around 15 book benches to find, and there are 4 trails to choose from. I’ll be searching for the Dr Seuss bench on the Riverside Trail.

Eldest will be learning about Claude Monet next term. This will give me the opportunity to share my favourite painting with her – La Gare St Lazare – at the National Gallery. I used to go to the Impressionist gallery a lot when I was younger and am looking forward to rediscovering it.

There are also suggestions for nature walks, creative writing and art projects, to go with our plans for the library’s Summer Reading Challenge, loom bands, gardening, lego, Minion Rush, Brownie badge work, Rainbows summer treasure box, music, drama workshops, play dates, fancy dress catwalk shows, baking, playing and craft days.

Less than a month to go until the holidays end. Best get a move on!

January Review

And just like that, it’s the 31st January! One month of 2014 has passed and the next 11 months are stretched out ahead, full of promise. On the whole it’s been a good January for me. I’ve felt a lot better (apart from putting my back out in the last few days), I’ve made decisions on what I want to do with the business and my blogging, and I’m in a positive frame of mind.
January started really well for me. A couple of days after my birthday, I won a retweet from Theo Paphitis, and my twitter feed exploded with new followers and good wishes.
I managed to get my craft on and make cards, get some scrapbook layouts made, finish some decoupage and get some sewing done. It’s the most creative I’ve been for a long time.
I’ve also started crochet lessons which is something I’ve wanted to do for a couple of years now. My doubles and trebles lesson was a bit more successful than my tea gloves lesson. Perhaps it’s because I don’t drink tea, I just don’t have the tea gloves gene in me.
Probably my greatest achievement is to get more organised. My magazine mountain is now a foothill, and several WIPs have been completed. I’ve got a long way to go still, but with each mini breakthrough, I feel more weight coming off my shoulders.

How was your January?

Handmade Update

I’ve had a very productive few days. I have organised, crafted, planned Brownie badges with eldest Craftyguidelet (Craft badge is first!) and decluttered. However this morning I managed to throw my back out. I was emptying the waste paper basket of all things!
As we are having some work done on the house, I couldn’t go back to bed so I have been stuck at the kitchen table with my ibuprofen and heat pad. I did manage to get my decoupage papers and mod podge out and I’ve managed to complete my “bake” sign for my kitchen. I used the Hobbycraft Deco Mache papers which are really pretty, and chose the colours to go with my handmade place mats which use Cath Kidston spotty fabric.

What I really needed to do today was photograph and list my new handmade cards.
On Sunday I had a play with some Anna Griffin papers. Look at the wonderful vintage images of flowers I was working with. I’ve got a huge pile of cards to list for all sorts of occasions so keep an eye on the website.

This is one of my favourites. I love the blue tones on this birthday card.
I also used some of my craft themed supplies. This one uses a Sizzix die for the mannequin and some swirl dies that I bought a long time ago and have never used.
I have also been doing my crochet homework. Regular readers would’ve read about my lesson with Jean-Mary at Betty Makes where she managed to tame my disobedient crochet hands into yarn holding, treble making, crochet wannabees.
Still a bit wobbly, but look! It’s crochet! I haven’t counted my stitches or rows, but I think the technique is coming.
I’ve even tried the edging. It’s loops! The pattern became a bit of a foreign language after this so it’s not got much further. Jean-Mary says I need to treble in my loops. Hmmm. Might get a translation and a few pointers tonight if my back will let me go to my lesson.

I’ve also managed to keep up my decluttering in January. I’m still on track with my challenge to recycle a magazine a day. The pile is going down. I won’t have finished a WIP a week though unless I get a sudden surge of creativity in the next few days, but I am getting more organised.
My loose crafting papers were in a box that was too heavy to get down from the shelf every time I made a card. I managed to clear a space in a filing cabinet by turfing out some obsolete Guiding paperwork, and put the papers into files by colour. I might actually use them now! I’ve also sorted through my 12″x12″ scrapbooking papers and managed to do 3 scrapbook layouts. No pics as I generally use photos of the Craftyguidelets in my scrapbooking, but it’s been really nice to have a look through images of them as babies (yes, I’m that far behind!).

It’s been a really productive January, so hopefully my back will clear up quickly and I can carry on. I’ve got plans for February too to keep 2014 as a positive year for change.

Linking with Handmade Harbour’s Handmade Monday.

Beginners Crochet Class at Betty Makes

For the last few years I have wanted to learn to crochet. I own about 10 hooks for some reason, I’ve got the books, I’ve made a crochet hook roll, but I’ve never progressed very far.

A couple of years ago I met up with Jean-Mary (@meanyjar) at a craft show. We had been tweeting for some time, and after some retail therapy, we sat down for some lunch. After a chat, she set about trying to teach me some crochet. To say my hands were not designed for crochet was an understatement. Just holding the yarn was a problem, holding the hook wasn’t much better, and then moving the hook…you get the picture.

Despite this experience, Jean-Mary went on to open Betty Makes to teach her crafty skills to others. I signed up for her crochet course which takes students from beginners, learning new skills and stitches, through to the granny square.

Lesson one started with picking up a small sample of crochet already started by Jean-Mary and working doubles into it. Having someone else’s stitches to work into was a lot easier than my first foray where my tight foundation chain was not having any of it. A couple of rows of doubles later, (and holding the yarn properly for the first time ever!) I was doing trebles. The satisfaction as my wonky, uneven mini sample grew was fantastic.

Next we moved on to working from a pattern. I have discovered that it is hard to count to 29 when you are busy chatting and drinking tea, but my pot holder is growing nicely, albeit having gone down to 23 stitches somewhere!

The cost of the course includes the hook, pattern and wool, so I have 2 weeks to practice my neatness and counting at home, before I go back and learn more. Next lesson includes making some tea gloves. Depending on my technique, I’ll either wear them myself or end up giving them to the kids if I drop too many stitches!

Are you learning a new skill in 2014?