Finally made a blanket!

Hi all, hope you are all doing well....just wanted to show off my newly learnt craft and first finished item.....a crocheted blanket.

It's only a small lap blanket for Maddy's dogs, but i used it to learn on and make my mistakes. It's a bit wonky here and there but nothing that notices when you use it.

Really enjoyed this, prefer crochet a lot more that knitting, lot less stressfull, so hopefully it will be the first of many.

Big thanks to Maddy as usual who taught me the basics, as usualy i almost made her tear her hair out whilst i tried to learn....but that's what blokes are for eh? :)

Made use of my new pen case too.....makes a great holder for my hooks and stuff. Bit more masculine than the flowery Kath Kidston types too :)

 Take care everyone, hope you are all well and crafting......keep smiling.

Calv.

Happy New Year everyone!

Just a quick stop by to wish everyone out there in blogland a very happy new year for 2015. I hope all of my crafty friends across the world are keeping well and keeping crafty.

I've been seriously slacking recently, so biggest kick up the bum goes to myself, have a few crafty projects in mind so I hope to be spending some more time here.

Looking forward to catching up with you all soon, can't wait to see how many of your lovely blogs are still going.

Have a great New Year everyone,

Love Calv, Maddy, Rotty......and I suppose I should mention the big girls blouse......Calvin Mouse. :)

Anyone here?

 

A big hi to all my friends in blog land, yes i finally dusted down the cobwebs from the blog door and jemmied it back open....long time overdue by the looks of it. I do tend to get lost from time to time in blog land and real life, but i always end up coming back at some point.

All is well here in the land of Calv, the kids are happy, Maddy's happy......can't ask for more than that really. Since losing my craft room to the girls, crafting took a back seat for a while. Music took over and is definitely here to stay, but the crafty pull is tugging again so i will be popping in more often to catch up on things. Whether it be outdoors, or in a small part of the house, i need to get that crafty space back again.

I hope you are all keeping well out there, i'll be getting round all of your great blogs in the next few days so if you hear a knock on the door and it's a strange man.....it will just be me. :)

I haven't seen Rotty for quite a while, i know he is still happy in his new house that i made him, but you know what Rotty is like, it's like having another kid,....when all is quiet they are usually up to something! We'll have to see later on......

Good to see you all again......keep smiling, ......got a few things to be getting on with....

Lorna's Kindle Kovers

They say in life, there are no such thing as strangers, only friends you haven't met yet...and this i'm glad to say has come true recently. I went to an acoustic night at a local Art Cafe, three artists playing thier music in a cozy and amazing setting. One of the artists was a singer/songwriter called Jim Chorley, a lovely guy with great music to share.

Then i discover that his partner Lorna is super arty crafty (in fact they both teach art at a school), and has a blog crammed with gorgeous makes. Her textile creations are just lovely and i couldn't help thinking of a few friends when i saw these great Kindle Kovers...





How cool are they?!!!

You can see more of these on Lorna's blog, and she also has an Etsy shop here where you can get them.

Jim and Lorna are the loveliest of people, so take a trip over thier blogs and have a browse. It's not often that you get people that have thier priorities in the right order, but when your life revolves around art, music and love.....you just know things will be good for a long time! :)

So a big thank you to Jim and Lorna, it's people like yourselves that make the world a brighter place. :)

Long time no see!

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Hello dear friends! No i haven't been abducted by aliens, and no you're not seeing things with my banjo fund pot there lol, all will be explained in good time.
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So how have you all been? Behaving and still turning out fantastic crafty makes i hope? Well i've had a bit of a lull in the crafty activities latley, mainly because i have lost my beloved craft area! As some of you may know, one end of my daughers double bedroom was the craft area, but other things have taken over and it's been replaced. Sigh.
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So what have we been up to? Well to say things have turned slightly musical in our lives is a bit of an understatement. I'm starting back with my guitar learning and am getting on pretty well. As a secret bluegrass music lover, i'm also looking to get myself something i've always wanted....a 5 string banjo!!! That is what my fund pot is for at the top. So far it's not going too well, but i'll get there....this is what i'll be getting....
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Before anyone says it, yes i will be sat in my rocking chair wearing dungarees and scaring the tourists with a rendition of duelling banjos! :)

As well as that, i bought myself a Ukuelele...but it's not just me that got one....
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Yes our Maddy is a dab hand at one now too! Maddy's always been musical though so she's got a head start on me, she can hold a tune on a violin and is learning the guitar with great results.
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At least my efforts are appreciated by Maddy's daughters dog, little Mojo...




So are we good i hear you say? Well i'd like to say that the pic below is our new album cover...




However it was just a pic from a day in the rehearsal studio we had up in Leeds. Lots of fun, and it really perked up my girls interest in music.....which means that the new gear like mic stands and amps for the bedroom has taken the place of the craft table!

Maddy has been busy with her daughter Georgette too, she is doing really well with her music, she's performing at a lot of live gigs, on radio and is through to the Open Mic Uk area regional finals, if she gets through she could be performing at the O2 arena. So it's been all go here and very tunefull whilst it happens too. :)

I hope to get back to crafting again soon.....as soon as i can find a place to do it! I hope you are all well, i'll take a trip round everyones blogs over the next few days and catch up.


Take care all,


Calv.

Post-it note holder.

Hi all, hope you are keeping well and crafting loads?

Today i finished off a little project i have been working on, just a simple post-it note holder, but i wanted to test out a couple of new stamps. I made this for my lovely neighbours, they are two of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet, and i knew they would appreciate this make. The Wheel of the Year on the front shows the eight pagan festivals throught the year...i distress inked it, put a layer of UTEE on it and edged it with gold embossing powder...



I handstitched all the way around it with metalic multicoloured thread, always looks nice against a darker paper background. My neighbours love nature so i added a couple of brass leaf charms on small lengths of chain, and the antique brass srapbooking corner charms added to the nature theme with thier daisy design...

Inside, very basic, but i added another new stamp of mine.....The Green Man....

This is a beautiful stamp, very detailed compared to some of the Green Man stamps around, i got this one from the U.S....ordinarily he would be green of course, but as this was on a dark background i though i'd leave it plain....besides, unlike my girlfriend Maddy, i colour like a drunk chimp, so best leave it be i think...

Popped another leaf charm and chain through the spine....

The whole of the edge of the holder is lined in gold embossing, looks real nice against a dark background. In case you've not made these before, the holder is just a piece of cardstock covered each side with your chosen patterened paper.

I enjoyed making this, not only because it got me out of my crafty dry spell, but i know it is going to a good home where crafty skills are appreciated.

I'm also going to enter these into a challenge, Divas by design "Anything but a card" challenge...thank you to the Divas by Design ladies for the challenge. :)

Till next time...:)

Calv.

Guest designer for Papertake Weekly.

Hi all :)

I haven't made anything too crafty for a while, so i was chuffed to bits when Dawny from Papertake Weekly Challenge asked me to be a guest designer for this weeks Dads and Lads challenge.

I've never been a great one for matching colours and papers, so i just did what i liked, i like to think it turned out ok. I used the Mikey download image from the lovely Karen over at Charmed Cards and Crafts and then kept it simple with some chain and a few layers of paper and card ripped and edged with distress ink pads.....and you'd hardly notice where i got carried away with the Cropadile! :)

Hope you like it, thanks again to Dawny for inviting me to take part in this, it was a pleasure. :) Why not pop over to the blog and see the great makes that her design team have made, and even take part in the challenges yourself? By the way, i did see that Rotty got his snout in the picture too....i thought for a minute he'd been up to mischief, glad to know he hasn't .

By the way, for anyone new to my blog, i don't just talk about bees, trips to hospital and delinquant clay rats, i have on occasion been known to make cards and other papercraft items, proof being here, here and here! :)

Thanks again...

Calv.

My bees are hatching!

As most of you have already read here on my blog, i've been playing host to some solitary bees for the winter, they moved in, made cocoons.....they were even on time with the rent!

Well today i went out and saw that some have hatched and tunneled out of thier nests....



How cool is that?!!! There are about 4 0r 5 in each hole, i'm not sure if they've all emerged yet, i won't disturb them though to look.

So tonight i'll raise a cuppa to them and wish them all the best on thier new journey. It's nice knowing i did my little bit to keep a few more bees around.

I took a video too, a bried one of one of the babies emerging after hatching....heres a link to the Youtube video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dwyz_9CmJNU

Thanks for looking.....i promise the next post will be about crafting. :)

Calv.

Look what i just bought!

I've been after this for ages, it's been sat in my local antique shop for a while and every time i've passed it i've stared at it like a kid staring at an ice cream! There are so many things i wanted it for, some crafty ideas. maybe some kind of storage, but most of all i envisaged it as a nice addition to my garden.

The lovely lady who owns the shop gave it too me with a big discount, which was much welcome as it was the price that had put me off getting it for ages.

I thought i might put it in part of the garden where it could be used either as a hanging basket for trailing plants, or maybe something for the birds. I love the way the top comes off so i can access it easily for sorting out or cleaning. I think this will look even more lovely when it's weathered a bit.

What do you think?

Calv.

12 x 12 storage and magazine rack.

Hi all, really quick post to show the easiest 12 x 12 project there is.....a wooden pallet rack that can take 12 x 12's and magazines, or indeed anything you crafty lot hoard these days. (Yes i know what a craft room gets like!).

So we have our humble wooden pallet....doesn't matter if some of it is beat up like this one, you're only using an end of it...

Cut off an end that is two slats thick, you can do three if you want but it's a little too deep to get the paper out....

Either leave it like that and give it a sand, or give it a little wavy effect with a jigsaw, i also carved a few notches around the edge and used a hole saw too as i like the way the colours show through from the papers and mags....like i say though, give it all a sand otherwise you WILL get splinters off of these rough pallets...

Once thats done, give it a lick of paint, and hey presto.....one quick and easy storage idea...

I fogot to say, i have'nt done it here, but don't forget to put some sort of base on the bottom, otherwise your papers will fall through....i didn't bother here as i wanted to blog it quick.

Of course you can fancy this up as much as you want, stamp on it, paint on it, do whatever you want. If it's too rough a project too have in your craft room, maybe use it in the garden or shed.

Just an idea.

Hope it gives you some ideas.....take care,

Calv.