Operation Pancake - What A Waste?

Remember Operation Pancake?  This is my drive this year to make some flat cards that will qualify as standard (not large) letters.  The "waste" in my title refers to sequin waste, a most useful and green product that used to be thrown away.  After all, this is just what is left over when you have punched out all the sequins isn't it?  Yes, but look at what you can do with it...

You can make cards with it, like this one.  Here's how:

First off you need a sheet of white card 10"x7".  Score down the middle to make a card blank 5"x7" and cover with green paper.  Cut two right angled triangles of gold paper with equal sides of 3½" and stick down.  Thin strips of red paper have been laid along the top to cover the join and add interest.  It's cheaper than a peel off and looks nice and bright.

The glittery swirly background on the green paper was made with three colors (gold, green and red) of glitter glue swirled around and left to dry for a night.  I buy the big squeezy bottles of it from Anita's (DoCrafts) that come in eighteen colors.  This is the cheapest way to buy glitter glue, unless you know better.

Then you need this bell template, cut from a scrap of card: 

You now need some standard holed (usually about 5mm in the UK) sequin waste in red and gold.  I laid my bell onto the sequin waste and drew around it with a chinagraph pencil, but laying it underneath and making sure it does not move would also work.  You have to make sure that you end up with something made from only whole holes, which looks like this:

The purple line is the template, the green line is where you actually CUT.  Next, measure the hole diameter in your sequin waste.  Choose two papers that go with the gold/green/red theme and cut a few strips.  Here now is a weaving diagram, because these strips are not for quilling but for weaving in and out of the holes:

 This is a weaving diagram for the RED bell.  Here is the other one:

This one uses the GOLD sequin waste.  I hope you can see where you weave the papers, up one and down another in most cases.  When you get to the edge don't cut off the papers or they will fall out.  Instead, bend them over on the wrong side for about ½" and then cut.  Glue the bells down as shown using a suitable glue.

Here is the holly leaf template for the corner sprays.  The berries are red sequins, so you are not just using the waste.  Cut four green leaves and two gold ones, and use three sequins each corner.

Voila, you have a nice flat card.  It looks as though some time has been spent on it too so you ought to avoid the sort of comments you get if you have just stuck down a topper, added a bow and a greeting.  This usually runs something like "well, you can't have had much fun making this can you, why don't you buy some charity cards instead next time?"

I hate it when people say that!  Instead I buy other things from charities and make the cards...of course, you could always make these cards for charity as there is no copyright on them. Then you would have the best of both worlds!

Christmas Cute Critters - Get that Christmassy Feeling

There is nothing quite like curling up on the sofa in front of the TV on a dark late autumn evening and making something for Christmas.  If you go over to Mad Cow Beads and scroll down you will see a small picture of the Christmas Festive Seed Bead Kits - pack of 7 weenies!

If you remember a short while ago I posted up links to the same site for the Halloweenies then this is another larger kit of these beaded figures to make up.  I will introduce the cast to you.  First up alphabetically there is Angela The Angel looking innocent and lovely in white and gold:

Next if you fancy something a tad more pagan there is Holly the Christmas Fairy:

Next up there is O Christmas Tree:

And it wouldn't be Christmas without that garden favorite (recently voted #1 most popular British bird) good old Round Robin:

Ho ho ho here comes Santa, who gets given the sack every time he turns up for work:

And his best buddy Snowbody, who seems to have appropriated Wanda The Witch's broom:

And last but by no means least, let's do some stocking up:

All these make great decorations to hang on the upper branches of your tree.  However big a Christmas tree is the very topmost branches always lend themselves to small and light ornaments, but trying to get these in a store is not easy.  Christmas trees seem to get bigger every year and many baubles look more like footballs!  These are just the right size and very light for hanging on those fragile wee branches.  Or hanging up on a swag decorating a wall, or on a wreath, or how about adorning the fronts of crackers?  Each person then has a wee gift to take home even if they just get a plastic eye patch or pair of tweezers that don't work...

Make & Craft - New Magazine On The Block

There's a brand new craft magazine out called Make and Craft, starting this month.  You can find out all about it by clicking here.  It is a multi craft publication available both as a print copy and online and there are also many free projects you can look at to whet your appetite.  It comes out every month, and also contains a section with projects for the junior crafter which is always a good thing.  I spent many happy hours crafting as a child, making a mess but at least I was quiet while I did it!

One project I have submitted can be found on page 48 entitled In The Bag.  Using that pleasantly squidgy craft foam (Anita's, CraftTime etc) you can make some cute gift bags that double as a seasonal bag for the little girl in your life.  They weigh nothing unlike this crafter, and thus can be hung from even a modest sized Christmas tree with a gift inside it - not a heavy one of course.  Also a good way of transporting gifts and lasts far longer than a plastic bag.  You recycle it by using it many times.

I had to submit two designs but was stuck between a robin and a Christmas pudding.  The robin won as it was more colorful, but here is the pudding which is surely great for an edible gift.  

Here are the templates in black and white.  First the icing (cut one in white):

Now the large holly leaf (cut two in green):

Now the small holly leaf (cut another two in green):

Lastly the berry which doubles as a raisin.  You need three in red for berries, and as many as you like for the raisins studding the pudding in black foam:

You will also need a front and a back both in brown, and a handle in white.  You can find patterns for these and instructions on how to put it all together in the magazine, issue 1 October 2012.

You could also do a pumpkin in orange foam with black features but you can draw that for yourself...

Halloweenies - Gavin The Ghost

Here is the fifth Halloweenie, Gavin the Ghost coming to haunt you along with his friends Jack O Lantern, Scary Skull, Wanda The Witch and Catkin.  Watch this space for the Christmas set of Cute Critters plus two beaded nets to dress up plain tree baubles.  Visit Mad Cow Beads to find out more...

Halloweenies - Get That Fall Feeling!

There's something spooky going on over at Mad Cow Beads - a set of four different beaded charms to make up.  Available singly there is Jack O Lantern to start with:

He's a folksy pumpkin with a style of his own, gloriously orange.  Then there is Scary Skull, the scourge of the High Seas...

He comes with his own crossed bones!  Next up there is Catkin:

He's a witch's cat, nobody tugs his tail!  Last but by no means least there is Wanda The Witch:

She has a broom ready for a game of Quidditch, or to sweep away the snow if the upcoming winter is as hard as everybody keeps telling me it is going to be.  Look at all those huge bunches of berries on the trees...

The kit contains all you need to make all four and is a snip at £1.98.  Suitable for older children and of course adults they are a great way of personalizing all sorts of things, ideas given in the packet.  Soon there will be a Christmas set as well...just the thing for the long dark evenings ahead.

Popular Crafts Oct-Nov 2012 Out Now

Get your copy of Popular Crafts now, the last one before the Christmas issue.  There are lots of projects in here to try, including plenty with a Halloween theme and a children's section.  Turn to page 16 and see my project for a fun Geisha makeup bag.  The figure on this is made from applique but not a stitch is sewn thanks to Bondaweb - you have to stitch the actual bag of course but it cuts down the time and makes attaching lots of fiddly little bits a breeze.  This is a good way of using up lots of small pieces of fabric, and then decorate it with the Gem Master.  Clicking on this will take you to the Antex website where you can buy the item plus extra stones and studs to use with it.  It is simple to use, just plug in, turn on and applying the tip (you get several different ones) to the stone heats the glue on its base and thus it is stuck where you want it.

Turn to page 95 to see another project, this time one for the tweenager (or teenager) in your life.  The Deluxe Charms Bracelets Kit contains enough polymer clay and other materials to make two Pandora style charm bracelets.  Read the article to show you how but here is a photo to whet your appetite showing what it contains:

Popular Crafts also has a website filled with more projects, many with an autumn theme right now as well as stockists in the UK, a forum and more.  Click on the link to take you there.

Pond Diary - Genesis of a Wildlife Pond

Pond  Diary - Genesis of a Wildlife Pond

As promised, my first green issues entry on a blog that is not going to be just about crafts.  I am now the proud possessor of a wildlife pond, although as yet there is nothing in it besides water.  Surely a pond is a pond is a pond many of you are thinking, but there is more than one type.  Most shops and catalogs stock items for a koi pool which is something else entirely, so if you are wondering - as I was not long ago - what the difference is here is the lowdown.

Q What is the main difference between a koi pool and a wildlife pond?  Surely it is a hole in the ground filled with water?

A Not really.  If you want to keep koi carp you won't have much else in the pond as they are voracious and eat everything in sight!  You will also want to keep the water clear so you can admire your beautiful fish and to do that you need a pump.  These get rid of impurities such as fish droppings and waste food and keep the water clear.  They are pricey to buy, expensive to run and difficult to maintain so feel pleased that if you are going to have a wildlife pond you won't need one.  You are going to have a proper ecosystem!

Q But I still buy a fiberglass pond base from my local garden center, right?

A I shouldn't.  They are rather on the small side, fine for carp being fed but not much good for encouraging native wildlife as they aren't big enough.

Q So how am I going to line my pond and what size does it need to be?

A You can find butyl lining on a roll in garden centers and buy the best you can get as you don't want to have to do it all again in a couple of years when the plastic wears out.  A good entry size wildlife pond for your back garden would be about 8' x 12'.

Q How deep does it need to be?  Can I dig it straight down like a tank?

A If you want water lilies - and I would suggest that you do for a number of reasons - the water needs to be at least a meter deep.  Not all over however - have lots of ledges of different depths and an area that slopes down gently from the ground level.  Birds and other creatures can drink here and take a bath, and snakes can glide in for a swim.

Q Okay, now I have dug and lined it (or got somebody else to do this as I did, nothing like a proper professional job) what happens next?

A  You need to fill it with water.  The most natural way to go about this is wait for it to rain, but it will take a long time to fill and every time you have a shower you have to go out and tweak the liner.  Better to just fill it from the tap unless you are on a water meter.

Q But the water isn't fit to drink and has to be filtered before I do so!  Surely it will kill all the livestock?

A  It would if you put it straight in!  Wait at least a fortnight so the impurities can evaporate before doing anything.  All you need to do as you wait is to obtain some oxygenating plants or your water will go stagnant.  But that is where I leave you this time apart from a few photos of what it all looks like...

The pond being dug in my back garden, first stage after being marked out with a hose.

Hole in the ground!  Turn on a tap somebody...

That is better.  Pea gravel on the edges and you can see the wrinkles of the liner.  Nothing you can do about that, but you won't see them when a few plants have been added.  Haven't Ben and Luke done a great job?  Now off to the garden center and hang on in there for more Pond Diary and of course some crafts.