Printed Father's Day Cards

How to make a Father's Day card in 10 mins!

We used polystyrene pizza bases (I have a stack under the sink for such occasions) and 'E' used a pencil to draw a picture, Daddy in this case.

I went over the picture a bit harder to make the lines deeper.

Then we painted some block printing colour over our tray, but you can use any paint, I have used poster paint before.

Place your paper or card over the top and smooth it down with a flat hand and peel back to reveal your print.

Wheelie Bin Wars

I am an enthusiastic recycler so was distraught when our wheelie bin went missing!

One that looked a lot like ours found it's way into a neighbours front garden....... but anyway we ordered a new one and it took ages to arrive and when it did, the first time it was emptied it went missing again!

This time I found it in the drive way of some flats 5 houses down.


So, now I've stencilled it and every Wednesday I go looking for it!

Felted Bowls

Hi all, sorry I haven't posted for ages and ages but I've been felting!


These are my first attempts to felt round a ball. They are two halves and I have felted the left handside one a bit more. The one on the right is my favorite as you can see all the fibres around the rim, it's just as it was when I cut the felted ball in half.


I have taken step by step photos for a tutorial but I'll explain quickly how I did it.

You have to make lot's of what are called in the trade - Pre-felts, which a small pieces lightly felted, you dry them, then.....................


your pin and stitch them all around the ball until you have lot's of layers built up, then you felt it. I will explain the whole process properly soon.



Then I made these bowls with good old fashioned kitchen appliances. I started felting them by hand and got bored and put them in the dishwasher. The dishwasher didn't felt them much but it made an interesting shape to the edges.


This pink and brown one is my favourite, you can't see from this photo but in the middle is a brown dot. When I had felted the two colours together a bit I cut a circle out of the middle and turned it over.





For the last few years my Mum and Dad have gone to Amsterdam to see the tulips and each year they buy an Amaryllis bulb for my nan, sister, me and one for them. We all get given them in paper bags with the colour of them written on it and every year the colours are completely different!! There follows lot's of up-date phone calls between my Mum and all the recipients letting us know what colour they really are, can't remember what colour mine was meant to be but it wasn't dusty pink.

and the winner is...................

Pants!

email me 'Pants' and I'll get a little package sent out to you.
cooperjo@talk21.com



Thank you everyone who entered and posted such nice encouraging messages. x

We did it!

We lasted one night in the snow, it was great fun but, blimey it was cold.
The kid's loved it and didn't want to come home but it all got to much for me.
When I went to the loo before going to bed and I had so many layers on it took ages before I could actually go!

this is how it went........
Jacket up
Fleece up
Jumper up
Jeans down
Another jumper up
Top up
Woolly tights down
Long sleeve vest up
Short Sleeve vest up................
you get the idea!


Unfortunately the batteries in my camera were flat but I did take a few with my phone. The photo above was taken on Monday morning and you can still see some snow, the views of the South Downs covered in snow were amazing and there were so many birds singing and flying around.

We will be camping again this year I'm sure, but next time it will be in the summer and if I start to plan a camping trip which isn't in July or August can you point me back to this post!

Easter

Hope everyone is having a nice long weekend.


.............and it wouldn't be Easter without Easter Nests, ours went a bit odd with the chocolate overheating but with a bit of vigorous stirring, a night in the fridge and mini egg decoration they are now perfect.
I made some mini cheesecakes from a recipe in Nigella's How to be a Domestic Goddess, they are a bit of a flaff but taste v. nice!

Leaves

Maybe it's just the time of year but I have been noticing leaves all around the place.

Bonfires and Knitting

My Parents Annual Bonfire Party was it's usual success.




It started in the traditional way with my Dad putting on his very old handknitted jumper that only comes out once a year.



The pyrotechnics team staged a well co-ordinated display and soup and baked potatoes were enjoyed by all.

Then something wierd happened, it all went crafty...............



My Aunty Lainey has been crocheting a jumper for my sister Laura.



So, Laura had to try on said jumper while we all discussed the length and felt the wool!


Then my mum held a knitting surgery and we all tried to figure out a pattern that Laura was trying to follow.

Now let this be a lesson to you all, this is what happens if you where a polyster woolly hat while tending a bonfire!

Good Crack!

We met our friends Adam and Rachel aka DNA and their children at the Tate Modern yesterday. The boys found the crack intriguing, wanting to know how it was made, we decided it was either an earth quake or aliens!

Had an interesting chat with Rachel (she has started her MA in Fine Art!) about how everyone wanted to stradle the crack and walk the length of it, my main observation was only men and child put there feet down it!

We didn't spend much time looking at the galleries. Having children asking 'why is a big square painted red art?' all the way round is a bit wearing! Children seem to like art that looks like something, they liked the Monet and they recognised the big Matisse collage and both commented that they could make a picture like that, which I'm sure they have!

future artists of Great Britain, 'Shelter' 2007

What they do enjoy is creating their own 'installations', this one they are exhibiting outside the Tate at the moment. Rachel has some great photos of a boat they created on the beach at Easter.

Handmade Pledge

sign the petition at BuyHandmade and pledge to buy handmade, you don't have to make it yourself, go to Etsy for 1000's of handmade goodies! and I'm hoping the Fat Orange Cat Boutique will be open soon!

German Zakka

I am taking part in a craft book swap on Swap-bot, I have a book to swap but I thought I'd go and see what I could find in the Salvation Army charity shop in Catford. It's one of those old school charity shops; stuff comes in, they sort it and sell it, rather than the centralised sorting and creaming off of the vintage bargains we all hope to find.

Anyway, look what I brought for 10p!

German Zakka, I'm presuming it's German, it says it's printed in West Germany, please correct me if I'm horribly wrong.

I want this! I wonder if my Dad would make it for me for Christmas.

I would have died for this as a kid, look at that rug and that beaded curtain.

and I want to make this....................

and those fruit shaped cushions...............

and a rag rug loom......................

not so keen on these but I like the way the pictures are laid out.

and here's Christmas sorted....................

that shoe shaped thing that holds your glasses and pens looks v. useful to someone who wears glasses and has pens.

and tucked away in a pocket at the back are two very scary and complicated looking patterns in pristine condition. Hurray for Charity Shops!

Look what else I brought for 10p......................

That hair looks like it's been knitted! Sorry Pam Dawson but you can't blame me with the title of your book as 'Knitting Pam Dawson'!!!

But she can knit dungarees for toddlers, how cool is that?

Though, Ben's friend looks a bit uncomfortable with the way Ben is eyeing up his stripey dungies.

Where can I get a toddler to make these for? I did offer to make some for E but he wasn't too keen.

I know, I'll make one, (a toddler that is) there's a pattern for one in the German Zakka book.................. no really, there is......................