Minimakers Blog

Cutlery Challenge

2009-04-09T01:11:00.000-07:00

Introducing Professor Pilchard-Spooney.
He is made using 3 spoons, a pilchard tin, two allen keys, and his hat is a cream horn mould.
I put peel off stars on his body and hat coloured it with Peel off pens and alcohol inks and then removed the peel offs.
A Docrafts forum buddy Nicks had challenged us to Alter cutlery.
Originally this was intended to be a robotic Penguin, but then I found the old cream horn tin mould, which fitted snuggly on the head of my project, and everything changed, lol I just had to use it. I had lots of frustrations fixing it all together, in the end I used "Aroldite Rapid" an old favourite of mine, for awkard sticking jobs. Bit by bit and piece by piece, and very slowly, eventually Professor Pilchard- Spooney evolved.LOL. so named because of his Pilchard tin body and his Spoon head and feet.
I just hope that people will get half as much enjoyment seeing him as I have had, creating him.
If you care to leave a comment, it will be the cherry on the cake (Cream horn maybe? lol) for me.

My first attempt at an Altered Slide mailer.

2009-03-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

I created this for my best friend Jane (AKA JustJane) in return for a beautiful one that she sent to me. It so inspired me that I just had to have a go.

I used the textured stamping technique on the front then painted it blue and silver and embossed it with silver embossing powder, I copied Jane's idea of using an altered jigsaw piece to embellish it with, to which I had attached a fairy charm , along with some fibers to which I attached some little crystal beads.

inside I put an image of a fairy and stamped the word Dreams on the inside flap. I really enjoyed doing this.

Jane got me the slide mailers and sent them to me by post, so I shall be working on some more before long.

First day of Spring

2009-03-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

Well it's the first day of Spring at last, and here is a piccie of my one eyed cat Peanuts enjoying the sunshine. he has his only eye shut, so looks like any other cat. lol.

Daffodils Hyacinths and Tulips have erupted everywhere in my garden, I did not know that they were there, as this is my first Spring in the bungalow, yet another feature that makes me so happy that I moved here.

Peanuts clearly loves it here too.lol

I haven't been too well lately suffering with synus

problems on top of my usual complaint, but a week or two more of this glorious weather (hopefully) will soon chase away the Winter blues, and all the coughs and sniffles associated with it, so that I can get back to some serious crafting.

Altered Art Tin.

2009-02-21T00:30:00.000-08:00

We have a new section on Docrafts for Altered Art, and I am spending more and more time on there, and loving every minute.

The people that use this section have wonderful inspirational galleries, full of wonderful ideas and innovative projects. I just cannot resist trying my hand at some of them.

The picture shows my Altered tin, and is for a challenge on the Altered Art section.

It used to contain a jigsaw, and the picture and measurements etc were on the tin in glossy paint.

It took an age to remove the paint by sanding it.

I then covered it with blown vinyl wallpaper, which I attached with Araldite rapid.

I then painted it with some metalic paint given to me by my daughter Angy. Then I stamped and embossed it with sparkling black and silver embossing powder.

The images are stamped on black card and embossed with silver embossing powder, cut out and attached with more Araldite rapid, I then added metal chain and bits and pieces and the black gems, the "Handle" on top I found while out walking my dog. lol. waste not, want not, is my motto. lol

Tile Bracelet

2009-02-10T16:13:00.000-08:00

The picture shows two views of my latest project.

I resized 10 Fairy images to 3/4" square and glued them onto mountboard tiles, that I had cut previously.

I then punched the holes in the side edges of the tiles, first measuring where I wanted the holes to go.

I then embossed the edges and backs of the tiles with silver embossing powder. Then covered the images on the fronts with Anita's 3D clear gloss finish to protect them.

using some strong silver yarn I joined the tiles together as shown, putting beads in between each tile.

Fortunately, I didnt need to put a fastener on, as the bracelet slips over my hand nicely.

I enjoyed making something a bit different, and will wear the bracelet tomorrow when I go to meet my friends, I wonder if anyone will notice it. LOL

2009-02-02T07:44:00.000-08:00

Brrr! My first Winter in the Bungalow, and this is how the garden looks now. I am nice and warm in here but I can't get out to shop because of the snow. Good job I stocked up yesterday.

It's been snowing non stop all day and the sky is still full of it.

I put my jacket and wellies on earlier, and went to put stuff out for the birds, all kinds of birds have been to feed, and at one time I had eight big fat Wood pidgeons squabbleing over the food on the bird table, lol. I think the word is getting out that a silly old fool will venture out to feed them here, whatever the weather.lol

Meggy came into the garden with me, and sorry Meggy but thats all the walk you'll be getting today. lol

My PC/Craftroom

2009-02-01T04:04:00.000-08:00

This is where I spend a lot of my time, it was originally a cloakroom / storeroom. To the right there is a double wardrobe where I keep a lot of my craft stash and equipment.
Meggy is sat where she always sits when I am in there, we had to raise the tower on a stool, because Meggy used to switch the computer off by leaning on the button.lol.
There is a window above the computer, so I can watch the world go by. Note the wheat bag for my feet, lol there is a little radiator in there, so it's nice and warm but my condition means my feet are often cold, so a couple of minutes in the microwave with the wheatbag, and they soon warm up.
There is not a lot of room for crafting, as such, so to do the messier jobs painting , stamping etc, I use my kitchen.

"Blue Angel" and "Dusky Rose" Smellies no longer Available

2009-01-30T05:24:00.000-08:00

6 Months Later................................

I cant believe it's been so long since I've edited my Blog! Since moving into my Bungalow, life has been so hectic, but now I am well and truly settled into my new environment, and especially as I am getting ear ache from one or too well meaning friends, (yes you know who you are, lol) I too think it time to do a bit of Blogging.

SMELLI'S have evolved.

A good friend of mine from the Docrafts ATC forum Helen (aka Smelliehelli) has come up with the idea of a new shape to do artwork on. By drawing round a 4" Protractor. Eager to try out anything new, I have done just that, and here are two of my efforts, I first made the background using the textured stamping technique, (I think I've mensioned this tehnique elsewhere, on my Blog) I then painted them and embossed them,and then added cut out photographic images and gems.

Bashful Fairy ATC

2008-08-17T05:33:00.001-07:00

I made this ATC using a picture that I have taken of a toadstool in my garden.

Using my Adobe programme and using 'Layers' I was able to

remove the background and other eliments of the original Fairy picture, and place her on my own picture of my Toadstool.

Now I can say there ARE fairies in my garden, LOL.

I had great fun doing this and I want to experiment more, so........ watch this space LOL.

The garden taking shape

2008-08-14T17:38:00.000-07:00

I moved into the bungalow on the 19th of July.

The council removed three large trees from the garden, as there were far too many, and several overgrown hedges and shrubs, were either removed or cut back allowing more light into the garden.

My son in law has put some of my favourite shrubs in for me and dug the border shown in the picture, Which I put my plants in today.

The inside of the bungalow is lovely with a large spacious lounge, decent sized bedroom, and I now have a small computor /craft storage room, which I didn't have before, so I am a very happy Bunny. LOL

Part of the garden to my bungalow

2008-07-08T13:56:00.000-07:00

The picture is a small part of the garden to the bungalow, There is evidence that it once was a very beautiful garden, it has character and cries out for someone to love it. I do, and fortunately so does my son in law Tess and the twins, who have all promised to help make it beautiful again.

I haven't added anything to my blog for ages, as I have had a lot to do getting ready for my move to the bungalow. The bungalow has only one bedroom, at present I occupy a two bed roomed flat.
I am/was a hoarder, so accumulated "junk" had to be sorted.
Have I used it in the last year? no, so out it goes.
Not as easy as it sounds. for instance regarding a big bag of pieces of soft leather.....have I used it in the last year?, Yes. how much have I used? two small pieces. Am I likely to need it again? Yes. So with tears in my eyes LOL I sorted a few good sized pieces of different colours, into a tiny bag in comparison, and binned the rest.
This very slow method of sorting, finally achieved my aim of getting everything into one shelved double wardrobe instead of two, etc, etc,.
Not everything was binned, Some stuff would be useful to Angy's art and craft club at the school where she works, for instance several large oval or round shaped pieces of mountboard, Hoards of papers, most of which I had already scanned and saved on my PC, Beads etc etc.
I became a regular visitor to the local Sue Rider charity shop, and only once failed to resist buying new stuff to take back with me lol, and that time it was a pair of unworn comfy shoes, for £4.50 which proved to be a good buy, as they are blissfully comfortable, a rarity indeed for me.

Another view of the bungalow garden

2008-07-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

This view shows a bit more of the garden looking from the opposite direction from the other picture, but there is loads more that runs down the side of the bungalow.
At the side near the front, there is a piece of garden enclosed by an unruly hedge, the council have promised to remove the hedge to give me more room to get my scooter in and out of the bungalow.
I intend to buy a shed which will go where there previously was one, near the fence but just out of view on the picture.
I will also have access to loft space to store such things as my Christmas tree, decorations, suit cases etc, being in a ground floor flat at present I don't have use of loft space.

Garden Blooms Needlefelt ATC

2008-06-15T04:20:00.000-07:00

Here is my second attempt at needle felting. A bit more of my untidy embroidery this time, but as Nature isn't always tidy, I think I got away with it this time. lol

Now my brain cell is hurting, as I'm thinking what my next NF should be! Should I try a sea scape or maybe a tree Who knows!

One thing is for sure, I find it very relaxing, it's a bit like painting but with fibres instead of paint, so less messy lol.

Soon in the next 2-3 weeks I shall be moving to a gorgeous council bungalow, with my very own proper garden.

I will have to pack up all my other crafting gear for the move, but my needle felting box will stay by me, as it doesn't take up much room, then I can continue crafting in my spare moments between sorting and packing.

Hillside,

2008-06-14T08:55:00.000-07:00

My first attempt at needle felting

Since Connie showed us how to needle felt, I have been itching to have a go.

Here is my first attempt, and Connie is right, it is very relaxing, and quite easy to do, and I didn't even mind doing the bit of embroidery on it, lol. Embroidery is not my best subject, but I am quite pleased with how it has turned out.

I hadn't got any of the coloured woolly stuff, except for some white kindly given to me by Connie.

So I found out my suede brush and some oddments of coloured felt, and after a couple of hours brushing, and a sore finger and thumb, lol, I had sufficient to get started.

Now I am eager to start another one, and see how the next one looks. Watch this space. lol

A day at Connies

2008-06-08T05:06:00.000-07:00

left to Right. Me, my daughter Angy, my sister Brenda, Helen, and our Hostess with the mostest, Connie. Connie's lovely hubby John took the photo for me.

It was a lovely day, and we spent the whole time chatting about crafts, eating cakes and drinking tea, we ended up in the garden as the weather was kind to us.

Then Connie gave us a demo on needle felting, and now we're all itching to have a go.lol

Thanks for a day to remember Connie.

Lady Violet and Encounter Sculptured heads

2008-06-06T05:41:00.000-07:00

One evening I was busy "playing" with Fimo, I had made "Lady Violet" and layered her over some pretty glittery mesh fabric onto a shaving foam background, when my daughter Angy called.

"I want to play" Angy said, "Whats stopping you?" was my reply, lol.

You can't (or maybe you can lol) imagine the fun we had that evening as we created between us several very different heads.

While we were playing, we decided it would be a lot of fun to host a Sculptured head Swap on our forum on Docrafts.

Angy being the brainy one would be host, and I (useful sometimes lol) would be her buddy.

And so the Sculptured head swap was started. We gave what we thought was a long deadline 30th June. but the weeks are flying by so quickly lol, I'm just glad that mine are already made.

Angy tells me that they are arriving, but won't let me see them yet except one that was sent to me as a buddy RAK from Sherry, a very talented lady, and it's absolutely gorgeous.

I can't wait untill the deadline is reached, so that I will have the pleasure of seeing them all and helping Angy sort them. There will be some happy forum members when they start arriving on the participating forum members door mats, I'm sure.

Make a Moo or two

2008-06-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

I thought I would like to enter the "Make a Moo or two" Challenge.

Each Friday a new challenge starts, this week the theme is Beige/brown /cream.

They are both made from scraps and off cuts that I keep in a little box, should I need them, and now obviously I do, lol.

The first one "Quiet Time" I puched and added the little cream flowers, the title was already on the background, and I thought it was a good title for the little girl who appears to be saying her prayers, so a little bow beneath and some brown centers to the flowers was all it needed as I had already edged the card with brown ink and embossed it with holographic powder.

I stamped and edged the background for the second one "Flower Fairy" with my brown ink pad and again embossed it with my holographic powder. The little fairy didn't show up too well so I edged her with a brown Whispers pen, I hope I haven't spoiled her in doing that, but at least she shows up better. The knotted ribbon at the bottom and some ribbon pushed through from the back at the top, overlaid with a punched flower, two decoupaged leaves with a little flower left over from a previous project, gave me the finish I wanted.

My favourite is the one on the left "quiet Time" she has such a lovely little face, reminds me of my two eldest granddaughters when they were small as they too had/have lovely dark hair with soft curls like hers.

Make a Moo or two (Cats)

2008-06-02T17:10:00.000-07:00

Each Friday a new challenge starts, this week the theme is Cats.

The first one "Ancestors" I printed two Egyptian cats the same, cut one out and gold embossed it, (I stamped all the cats with Stazon on matt silver card and cut them out, and gave them all green glitter pen eyes), I sewed the chains on from the back, then added the brads, and wrote by hand "Ancestors" on more matt silver card, then gold embossed the edges of the card.

For the second one "Curiosity" I printed the black cats face back ground on card stock, the silver cat is sat on some recycled packaging on which I added the blades of grass with the green glitter pen, the 9 and the count down 8-1 depict the cats nine lives (curiosity killed the cat!) I printed and cut the no 9 out of card, added Anita's 3 D clear gloss to the eyes of the background cat and to the no nine, and edged the card with silver embossing.

The third one "Cats love the sun" the background is from a recycled junk mail envelope (I love recycling lol) the letters are alternately, stamped on the background and stamped onto card and then stuck in place, I chalked the ones cut out, but it doesn't show on the photo, The sun and the edges of the card I silver embossed added the gem to depict "Love" then put Anita's 3D clear gloss all over but around the gem and while it was still wet pressed the cat into it.

I look forward to doing more of these little Moo cards, which are much smaller than ATCs and so, more of a challenge.

A day at Bridgenorth

2008-06-01T04:57:00.000-07:00

It seems ages since I was able to add anything to my blog, due to problems with my PC, that occurred after it being upgraded with a new motherboard.

Now thanks to my daughter in law Shell and, my grandson Richard and one new hard drive, more memory and a lot of tweeking, it seems to be working perfectly and much better than ever before (fingers crossed).

Sue and her Hubby Frank (aka Frankiesue) came to stay at a nearby hotel last weekend , so that they could spend some time with Angy and her family and myself.

Would't you just know, that I had to go and get a nasty tummy bug, so was unable to join them at the meal out on Sunday.

Feeling a bit better on Monday I enjoyed the day out to a local beauty spot with them, a quaint olde worlde town called Bridgenorth. The weather was a disappointment though, with gale force winds and it threatened rain, which we were able to avoid by having a very nice meal in a fish and chip restaurant there. Despite the weather we all had an enjoyable day together and Sue and Frank have promised to come again soon.

I forgot my friend Connie's advice to strap my new camara around my neck LOL, and forgot to take it with me, but Sue took some photos for us to remember the occasion, and if she lets me have one or two , I will put them on my blog at a later date.

This picture I got from Google again. It seems that I will never learn LOL.

One twelth scale trees

2008-06-01T04:48:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the two trees that Angy and I made as a project for our Dolls house club. Angy asked me to finish hers off as she was busy getting her B A with honours degree. Well done Angy I am very proud of you.

I knew Angy was hoping to make her tree as a blossom tree, so I thought I would surprise her and have a go at making it into a Magnolia tree. (The one on the right).

Mine has just leaves, punching the leaves and attaching them was a very tedious task, I ended up with very sore shoulders and chest lol, now I can see that about at least as many leaves again are needed for it to anything like resemble a real tree LOL (maybe sometime later , when and if I can find the patience.

It doesn't show up very well on the photo, but the trees are planted into "Soil" make from used teabags and PVA glue with added moss and paper foliage. We made the trunks and branches with florists wire and I covered them with PVA and pieces of kitchen towel, before painting and adding Leaves/Magnolia blossoms.

I made this ATC for Wyvernsians Mesh Swap

2008-05-17T04:14:00.000-07:00

Far too much gold embossing, I didn't like it at all, untill I added my all time favourites Accent beads. Now I think it's at least passable. The mesh is over gold card, not very noticable on the piccie, but gives it a bit of sparkle in the hand.

Oh well!, you can't get it right every time, somebody might like it.

Believe Angel ATC

2008-05-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

It'a a cold wet miserable day today, woke up full of aches and pains and stiffness, so I thought I would do some crafting till the pain and stiffness eases.

I have seen where people use bottle tops in thier crafting, so thought I would have a go with one that I found, while walking the dog.

I embedded the cut out face in deep impressions embossing powder, in the bottle top and put it in the oven to melt. I needed some wings for my Angel, and found some printed on a square of paper that came in a lucky bag from the Loughborough meet last year, stuck them onto card, cut them out and triple embossed them. Then layered them over some pink sequin waste, before sticking on the bottle top Angel.

The background is a piece of bronzy pearlised card which I clear embossed with a filigree type stamp, and then embossed around the edges with gold and also the stamped word "believe" at the bottom. I added two pink gems but thought they looked too pristeen, so I melted them to take off the sharpe contours and added a few small clear holeless beads.

I may send it to FrankieSues Angel swap on Docrafts.

Heart and Soul ATC

2008-05-16T05:09:00.000-07:00

Heart and Soul I made last night.

I tried dabbing my lilac and blue Bingo dabbers onto the shrink plastic heart, and then shrinking it and then embossing it with my deep impressions powder. It appears Green on the picture but is actually a pinkie red.

The background is marbled with Shaving foam, and pieces of Alkohol inked tin foil and a piece of fabric mesh which surprisingly didn't disintergrate when I used the heat gun on it, but curled up a bit and shrank lol. A few accent beads and a couple of melted gems added then the edges silver embossed. the word "Soul" stamped on with stazon. Not sure yet but may send it to the Mesh swap, on docrafts.

Solder and Beads my third Gothic Arch

2008-05-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

The third of my Gothic Arches, I wanted to be quite different from either of the other two, and as I have been itching to play with my soldering iron again, here was my chance!. lol
You can just about make out two little coils of thin wire on each of the crossed wires within the frame, and the beads can move freely on the wires. I looped the ends of the wires and attached fuse wire "tassles" to the loops on the sides and used brads to attach the frame to the mountboard in the top and bottom loops, the brads also go through the gold card, which I placed behind the frame.
I had previously attached the pretty mesh fabric to the mountboard, which is yet another one of the Shaving foam creations, made last Saturday. A couple of swirls of silver accent beads, pink gems and edging the mountboard with my gold metalics pen completed the project.

Upgrade on my computer

2008-05-12T04:43:00.000-07:00

On Sunday my Daughter in law Shell upgraded my computer

( Shell is a whiz with computers) So it left me with time on my hands and as the weather was glorious, I decided to take her youngest son, Christopher my grandson to a local beauty spot, an ancient farm, called Northicote Farm which is now listed and maintained for the benefit of the public. See small piccie of Northicote Farm, as it looks from the road.

We took Meggy my dog, as it is an ideal place for dog walking, with the nessessary dog waste bins amply provided.

I am not too good on my pins, but was feeling good, so thought if I take it steady with lots of sit downs on the logs provided, I would be okay.

I found myself cursing myself at my stupidity, for not bringing my new camara along as the views were breathtaking. This picture is one I found on Google, but is similar to what it was like in the woods on one of the many walks at the farm.

There are geese and a turkey and pot bellied pigs and other animals there as well.

Part of the listed building has been allocated as a tea room, with shaded tables and benches outside and a large bowl of water for the dogs. So I bought myself a large mug of tea, and an orange drink for Chris and we sat and ate Apple pie as well.

It was a really enjoyable afternoon and I and Chris loved it, and so did Meggy.

Chris is the younger brother of my frequently mentioned Twin grandsons Richard and Andrew, who help me so much with all my computing problems, and who helped me get this Blog started.