In the News - Christmas Fairs, Concerts and Reviews!

There are two events happening on Saturday 7th December that will inspire, encourage and bless you.

EEC Christmas Fair

If you are in London on then come along to the EEC Christmas Fair and Carol Concert.  I will be there displaying some of my work, there will be other craft stalls, international food and more, starts from 1pm to 6pm.

For every item purchased on my stall on the day I will be giving 30% to charity for the Philippines disaster appeal organised by Oxfam, so come down and show your support.

Concert

There will also be a concert the same evening starting at 7pm at Tokyngton Community Center, St Micheal Avenue, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 6SA.  There will be a wide range of talented musicians sharing their skills.  My husband Alan will also be show casing one of the songs from his Ekidz album about internet safety for children. For more information on the concert at Tokygnton, email iiichronicles@yahoo.co.uk or call 07986893511

Book Review

DIY Gift Guide - Quirk Books

This book is one that I downloaded on my Kindle, I am always looking for mini projects to try my hand at and this seemed like a useful start.  The book was free on Kindle, so I didn't hesitate in ordering.  It has a selection of DIY ideas curated by Homemade Quirk, which is a place where people share their stories, ideas and they are not only craft based but have ideas of food gifts and treats.

The book is split into 6 sections - for the bookworm, for the lovebirds, for the kids, for the animal lover, for the foodie, for the geek, and aims to appeal to different needs has a total of 18 projects, 9 of which are food based.  The instructions are fairly straight forward to follow.

My favorite 3 projects were making the Tiny books, pink champagne cake which I intend  try substituting the wheat and dairy, and the mini candi charms using polymer clay.  My least favorite was the cat portraits made with real cat hair (never knew you could do anything with cat hair, although for those with pets this would be a great recycling project.  It is a nice book for kids to try their hand at trying to make some of the project, it could have had a few additional ideas or variations on the projects that were listed.  All in all as a free publication you can't go far wrong and it is definitely worth a look at least!

Katherines Corner

Today is also Thursdays Favorite Things on Katherines Corner Take a stroll over there and visit some of the inspiring and encouraging blogs, If you have a blog you can leave a link to your post and show some support by visiting others who have listed theirs.

It would be great to see you at one of the events if you are in the location or even in the UK on Saturday 7th December, share what you are up to, and if you have a pet will you be giving the cat portraits ago?

Finally, have a great day and blessings to you and yours!

Ice Cream - Memories of Home

Ice Cream - Memories of Home

Welcome to Memories of Home, if you would like to find out more information about the series, Click here 

Being in a supportive environment is important to our growth as individuals, not everyone has had that opportunity and as adults we try and create an environment that will nurture and bless our children and indeed ourselves.

Ice Cream

When we were younger, about once a month my dad would take me and my brother and sister to an ice cream parlour - the old fashion kind.  It was called Marine Ices.  It was run by an Italian family with its recipes developed by Gaetano Mansi and they had a wonderful selection of ice creams and sorbets.

Our dad would allow us to have the pick of the selection available.  One of my favorite was knickerbocker glory with lashings of ice cream and their milkshakes were delicious along with their ice cream sundaes with a cherry on top.  I remember the chrome furnishings and the excitement of it all. 

Our trip to Marine Ices became a family tradition which would be followed by a stroll around Camden Lock which has become a very trendy place to be for millions of tourists each year.  When dad passed as kids we kept it up for a while fondly looking back at our memories and each building new ones with our own children.

Do you remember somewhere you used to visit as a child, please leave a comment and I hope you continue to join me on my journey over the weeks, as I share my mixed media houses and look back to the memories of home. I look forward to hearing about some some of your own memories. Blessings and peace to you!

Tutorial Tuesday - Tea Bag Treasure Box

Where will your imagination take you?

It is surprising what you can do with an empty box an a bit of imagination.  As part of the recycled project on Saturday I shared with you the Teabag Treasure Boxes I had made, from the empty box once it had finished, here is the selection that I had made previously.

Selection of Tea boxes made into treasure boxes

Today I will be showing you how you can decorate your own box using a few simple techniques.  What you will need:

An empty tea box (or any box you have to hand, paper of choice, gesso or paint, stamps, embellishments of choice and imagination! 

Starting off with a box

Taking a box of your choice - this is one of my favorite teas and I do go through quite a few - it is spiced tea with a blend of ginger, cardamon, black pepper (yes) and a range of other things, it is absolutely delicious with some sugar and rice milk.  It is similar to Chai, but a bit more spicy, but that is for another post...

Cover your box in your paper of choice, this will help make it more sturdy.  Here I have used a brown paper bag.  I spritzed it with water which made it easier to scrunched it up which will add texture to the box.

As I applied each piece I have covered it pva glue and then allowed it to dry.

Once covered and dried your on the home stretch!

The box sets quite hard, I decided to keep my box open and then I painted it with gesso, allowing some of the colour of the paper to show through.

Add an encouraging word with lettering

I stuck on some letting - the word 'Create' and on the inside of the lid using handmade stamps I stamped a heart and added stamped flowers around the outside of the box..

Home made stamps used in decoration

I applied glue from a hot glue gun around the edges and around the heart.

To finish off I added some goldfinger metalic paste to the edging of the box and around the glue and it gives it a worn grungy look.

I attached one of the 'teabags' from the teabag treasure tutorial post I did last week.  You can cover your box with pva glue to seal it and then your ready to go and use it

I look forward to sharing next weeks project with you.

Material Mondays - Chunky Button Fabric Journal

Chunky Button Fabric Journal

Ever one for making a journal, I had some material from some scarf material I had that is at least 30 years old....does that make it vintage?  The scarf formed the basis of the covers with 3 panels.  The journal measures around 5 x 5 inches.  I really love the size and feel of this journal.

I decided it was going to be an experimental journal, the inside page holds a crochet pocket to carry tools and equipment, I wanted to add as much storage space as possible so that you wouldn't necessarily have to carry any other supplies.

Chunky Journal - inside 3 panels

The central pages that form the signatures are made from my sons old school uniform trousers.  Once covered in gesso the pages become stiffer and easy to work with.  There are 12 pages, 6 of which have already been altered with paints and writing and will form the springboard for additional ideas.

Pockets of joy, with lace and crochet trim

I have really enjoyed adding the stitching, buttons and other elements

Love stitched on a piece of hessian allows for more storage underneath

 The Journal was made with love and is a reminder to me to take time out and show myself some love.

More buttons decorate the back of the chunky journal

If you are considering learning how to take part in creative activity check out Craftsy online courses, at the moment they are doing a special offer on some of their classes, and they are offering some free mini courses. Click here. 

Have a blessed day, see you tomorrow for Tutorial Tuesday.