Scrappy Pictures.

Hello again. Long time no see, lol. Since my last post I've had my hours cut at work. I'm in 5 days a week instead of three but have lost seven hours as I'm doing short shifts. Bit of a bummer but the main cause is the opening of a new Tesco Express at the end of the street. They should never be allowed to do this. There is also a cheese shop and a butcher who have been affected.
Anyway as a result I've had less cash to play with but more time to get thrifty. I've been scouring the charity shops for bargains to paint up or alter and have found quite a few cheap picture frames. My obsession with Pinterest came in handy here and I thought I'd show you what can be done for next to nothing.

Sorry about the reflection in the glass. This one was punched out of a map of Paris and the surrounding area, also from a charity shop.

This one was made with all sorts of bits and bobs.

And this is my favourite. I've done this one for the bathroom as I've just bought towels, curtains and accessories in burnt orange and pear green, not from the charity shops, lol.
The little heart punch was £1,65 from Abakhan. Another bargain.

Santa pringles cans.

I went for a drink to a pub in Chester and spotted 2 Small Pringles cans on a vacated table. I pounced on them before the bar staff could clear them away. I've seen so many of these and other containers and jars altered for Christmas pressies and thought I'd have a go.

Good what a bit of red and black paper can do. The buckle was made with silver glitter card and  scalloped plain square punches. I bought a huge reel of the braid at Abakhan for £1 last year and have used loads of it on various gift boxes. I glued a circle of red paper to the lid and edged it with silver stickles.A week later I went back to the pub in the hope of scrounging a couple more tins but guess what? They don't sell them any more. Typical !!

Friday weight, 9st 2lb (target weight) Christmas is coming though............

Grinch pills for the grown ups.

When I was sitting glued to Pinterest for far too long I came across this idea for Grinch pills.

 Speedy calls one of his mates the Grinch because he's such a miserable so and so and he asked me to make some to take to the pub at Christmas.Well, you know what I'm like, I can't possibly make something so tasteful and decided to make my own version.

D'you know what? I've worked in a newsagent for nearly 7 years and have always assumed spearmint softmints where green, lol. There's always something to learn in any job !! I bought these from poundland in a pack of 4 rolls and was gobsmacked when I opened them.  Still I'm sure they'll still work.

I found the little Grinch clip art from google images.

I'm about half way through my Christmas shopping. I'm off next week so hopefully I can get it finished. In a moment of weakness I've gone and promised speedy ( who thinks he's Father Christmas ) we can put the tree up this weekend. Eeeeek!!

I couldn't help myself.

I was in Tesco this morning and noticed the loose "fill a bag" sweets. I spotted these false teeth and thought about my workmate's hubby who has just had 6 top ones fitted. Then I remembered the bloke who sweeps the roads outside the shop also recently had a full set.Both of them are up for a laugh. Well, what's a girl to do??

I made up the little poem and found the sad man on Google images.

I also went into Boots to look for Christmas pressie ideas and found these among all the boring toiletry sets.

Sorry about the blurred photo. The hard backed note book at the back says " little gorjuss thoughts and was £10. With the 2 for 3 offer I got the memo block free. A nice little pressie for a young lady or perhaps a fellow crafter.

Well that's it from me for now. I'll weigh myself in the morning and confess to being a right greedy madam all week. I'll be good next week.......................

Update.  Target weight 9st 2lb Today 9st 3lb. Should have been worse really.

Naughty stocking fillers.

These are neither use nor ornament really.They serve no purpose except for providing their recipient with a cheap chuckle after opening all the boring socks.

They are the result of killing time in Tesco while waiting for Speedy to meet me.I should never be left unattended in a shop for too long, lol. I saw these balloons, 20 for £2 and thought "they remind me of something". They just needed to be blown up for 5 minutes or so to make then look a bit more convincing.

I made up the little poem and found the santa clipart on google images. The bags are the size used for C6 cards. The Works usually have them for 99p but be warned, they are slightly too small for C6 envelopes but fine for gift bags. Feel free to copy the idea if you know someone who's up for a laugh.

Another spice gift and some measurements.

Here's another little stocking filler for the cooks in our lives. Again, a bargain from Tesco on special offer. Not sure how much but around the £1.50 mark.

The image is from  ( oh no! I left a space here to add a link later only to find it was one of those 24 hour freebies but you may find something suitable HERE, another useful site)   and the caption is by Meljens Designs HERE. 

The instructions on the packet says " rub into poultry, meat, fish or anything else you can get your hands on " so look out speedy, lol.. I peeled the use by date off the back and stuck it onto the card so people can see it without pulling the packet off as it's stuck on with double sided tape. The piece of card is 11.5 cm x 24cm,  Score at 2cm, 13cm and 14cm.As you can see I've put some staples close to the bottom fold so the flap stays in better.

 I've also worked out the measurements for my little box on my last post;
The lid is 17.3cm x 20.3 cm and scored at 4cm on all sides.
The bottom ( slightly taller) is 21cm x 18cm and scored at 4.5 cm on all sides.
 Happy gift making.

Another spice box.

Well, here we go again, back to trying to take decent photos in electric light. This is the best I can get these to their true colours.

I know I've posted this type of box before but I'm showing you this one because the spices are on special offer at Tesco, 2 for £2.50 at the moment so it makes an even cheaper stocking filler.The links for the free image is on this post along with some slightly better photos.

I've got quite a few of them made ready as they come in handy for work mates and little extras for people who are hard to buy for.

Remember me telling you about my boss with his packet of oats last week? Well, speedy has had to go one better. He fancied nachos with a bit of chilli last night so I decided to have chilli with rice for myself. He wanted to watch the end of the film so I dished mine up and left his chilli in a dish and grated some cheese for him. I told him the chilli was under the grill on low keeping warm and all he needed to do was put half of the cheese on top, grill it for a couple of minutes, put the nachos and the rest of the cheese on top and grill it again. Easy??? No!! He goes into the kitchen and comes back with a plate with a layer of grated cheese on it, lol. nothing else, just cheese. He said "do I put it under the grill like this then?" He hadn't listened to a word I'd said. What he was planning to do with the plate of grilled cheese, I just don't know. As you've guessed, I normally do all the cooking. Useless men!

Naff Christmas Gifts, lol.

Let's face it, I'd be gutted if someone gave me tea towels for Christmas but some one's going to get one of these jokey gifts in their stocking this year.

I found a pack of 4 micro fibre tea towels for £1.79 while browsing at B&M and I thought they would be perfect for this image and caption from Create with TLC. The link to both is at the bottom of THIS POST.  Lesson learned here is to use strong glue in vertical stripes then it will be easier to curve the image around. I used glue all over and it set quite hard so it was a bit tricky not to end up creasing it up. I think double sided tape might not stay put with it being curved unless you've got super strong stuff.

Today's weight. 9st 2lb. ( still at target ).

Ghostly Smut!

Back again as promised with the result of yesterdays shopping. These little gifts are for grown ups! Why should the kids have all the fun?

I've smudged the naughty word with picasa tools so Mr Blogger won't shout at me.

I got the idea when i was mooching on Pinterest and found a much tamer version. I googled Halloween in google images/clipart to find the house. There's loads of ghosts, spiders etc. I printed the poem in Hoola boola font.

Off to mother's now. when i get back I'll see if i can find the clean version from Pinterest and do a link. Meanwhile I found a great site for printable tags, journaling pages and labels etc. Its called Sweetly Scrapped . Make sure the kids are in bed and hubby is bound and gagged and spend a couple of hours browsing as it's quite a big site.

EDIT. The original treat bags with printable topper can be found HERE at Glorious Treats. I couldn't find all white marshmallows or little red sweets so I had to improvise with craisins and popcorn.

Cookie tin gifts.

I think it's time I got my skates on with my Christmas gift making while there's still a fairly decent amount of daylight left. I was mooching around what I call the naughty aisle ( biscuits and sweets ) in Tesco and came across these tins of cookies.

There were 5 or 6 different types and all were priced at between £1.60 and £1.99. Not a bargain for a few cookies by any means but with a bit of paper and ribbon, I made them into nice little stocking fillers.

The main background paper was already there so all they needed was a contrasting band.

Here's the double chocolate version. I got the free image from Arthur's Clip Art HERE. There are a few more useful images in the "food" pages. The caption is from Create with TLC HERE.

I didn't like the sticker on the top with the scruffy black tape so I cut around the circle and stuck it onto a punched scalloped circle.
I learned a couple of things when making these so I'll pass them on. First of all make sure there are no dents in the tins. Secondly apply all layers separately. With the tin being a curved surface the papers crinkle if you mat them up and then apply.

I cheated and drafted this post last night as it is a fairly longish one. So all i need to do then is...................

Today's weight 9st 2lb ( target weight ). Going out for a big scoff tonight for stepsons 30th birthday so that will soon change.

An older cutting and sticking habit.

I was sorting through my enormous cookery book collection the other day trying to decide which ones to give away and which ones to keep. I had far too many and my shelves were bursting at the seems. I ended up wondering which one i would keep if I was only allowed to keep one. No contest. It was one I started compiling 14 years ago. It started life as a hardback " day to a page " diary. I decided to give it the respect it deserved and here's how it turned out.

12 x 12 paper wasn't wide enough to fold inside at the top and bottom but that's OK as I'm going to cover it with some clear adhesive plastic. It took 2 sheets, one for the front and one for the back.

I've spent years cutting recipes out of magazines and copying ones from library books.

I've used each month for a different category eg chicken, beef, cheese , desserts, food gifts, preserving, etc.

And another page. I'm looking at it now and wondering how on earth chicken soup ended up in the fish chapter, lol.

And if you're not drooling enough already here's a page from the desserts chapter. Unlike the rest of my cookery books, there is nothing in this book that I wouldn't like to make and eat.
If I've inspired you to start one of these yourself make sure you buy a decent quality diary and reinforce the spine with tape before covering it as it will end up bulging quite a bit.

I'll hit the publish button now but I'll find the links to the images which were freebies and add them later.

LINKS. CHEF by TLC. HERE
              VENDING MACHINES CAPTION by TLC  HERE
              LADY BAKING by TLC    HERE
              LADY WASHING UP by TLC  HERE.
              BON APPETITE by TLC  HERE.

Vintage gift box.

While I'm not in the mood for making cards as such, I thought I'd start decorating my pile of blank boxes. Most of these boxes are a result of mis-measuring and getting sizes wrong for the stuff that I want to put in them. Others are from when I've forgotten to cut the card for the lids bigger ( always 3mm to get a good fit ) than the bottom and having loads of half boxes waiting for other halves to be made.

This one is about 6" square. The pic makes the lid far too big but it isn't in real life. The paper I've used is from a big K & Company stack.

The image and sentiment are both from TLC Creations. If you look up TLC in my labels in my side bar there is a link in one of the posts to both images.

Here's a close up. The flowers were made with punches using a You Tube tutorial. There's loads of different ones available.

Challenges.Craft your days away. Make your own flowers.
                 Di's digi designs. Anything goes.
                 Secret crafter. Inspired by a song ( Lady in red ).
                 Critter sketch. Anything but a card.
                 Anything goes challenge. Vintage.
                 Charisma cards. Inspired by a song ( Lady in red ).

Speedy's hospital check up was fine. He's waiting for the go ahead for a kidney transplant ( hopefully mine or his sister's will match ) but as they messed up his heart medication there has been a delay while they get that sorted. He's got to have a nuclear scan ( not as scary as it sounds ) tomorrow and another on Tuesday but the doc is more than confident that there will be a good result and we will be able to get things moving again. He has kidney damage, caused by a virus rather than kidney disease so he doesn't actually feel ill. In fact he says he's never felt better.

40p Christmas Gift.

And a snack to eat while you're making it. Can't be bad. I saw these canisters of bread sticks at Morrisons and as they were on special offer i thought I'd buy a couple.

Not because I wanted the bread sticks though. Oh, no, it was the canister I was after. The bread sticks were just an added bonus. The main attraction was the clear lid. I know the pringles have clear lids but they're three times the price and three times as fattening ( i mean you couldn't just throw them away could you, lol.) So here's today's crafty make.

I wanted my first one to be quite " grown up" so I used THIS  little tree image from Create with TLC.  I got the caption from there too. The papers are K&CO.  I cut a circle of matching paper to cover the top of the lid then used a gallon of Stickles around the lid and the front layers. Makes it look so expensive, lol.

Not bad for 40p. It's about 10" high so will take lots of choccie type things , trial size toiletries or perhaps a rolled up scarf or even a T shirt. The list is endless.  Well what are you waiting for ? Morrisons is open............

Challenges.  My Time o Craft. The Letter G  ( glitter glue )
                   Creative challenges, Anything but a card.
                   Try it on Tuesdays. Anything goes
                   Craft Your Passion. Anything but a card.
                   Make it Monday. Anything goes.

Spice Box.

My sister has just had a new kitchen put in so I've made her a little, "happy new kitchen" pressie. I've been making loads of blank boxes lately so this one just needed decorating.

I got the image from TLC Creations HERE. Paulette has (quite rightly) made the decision to only keep her designs as freebies for 48 hours as a result of too many people just snagging and going without so much as a thank you. After 48 hours the designs will be up for sale in her shop.Become a follower so as not to miss out. Fortunately this little chef is still available, so is the caption HERE.

The box is just the right size for 2 jars of Schwartz seasonings. Nice little stocking filler for "awkward" people, lol. The paper is by K& Company.
Not sure if I'll be able to find any suitable challenges for this one but I'm off to have a look.

Found a few.  Challenges. Sisterhood of Crafters.  Simply Handmade.
                                        Allsorts challenge. Red
                                        Stamp Something. Use a digi

Masculine box.

First let me say thank you for my "happy birthday" comments from yesterday. I had a lovely day in Nantwich. There's some really nice little shops there. All the little gifty type shops have gone from Chester now due to greedy landlords and councils. We came back in time to have a few drinks at the local then we got a Chinese and a bottle of wine. You always know you've had a good birthday when the scales tell you to get off them next day.

I've been making quite a few bags and boxes lately and decided to make a "non girly" one as men do exist and do appreciate handmade gifts.

Not much to it really. The paper is from a stack by K and Company. I started with a white box base and inked up the edges with brown ink.

I don't really do "dirty" but i like the way this one turned out so I'l be doing a few more. I'll probably make a matching tag for this one to finish it off. Perhaps a diary, a pen and a few notecards will go inside. One stocking filler sorted.

Challenges, C.R.A.F.T. Boxes.
                   Crafty Catz. A vintage look.

Stripy Gift Set.

I've been a busy little bee today. I've been into town to get some bits and pieces this morning. I got some little hand creams from M&S for mums  gift bag and made her a necklace to but in her little box. I've just got to wrap her main pressies to take to her tomorrow. It's Speedy's birthday on sunday so I've made him a little gift bag and matching card while i'm on my day off.

There's more info about this bag on an earlier post HERE,  and instructions at Splitcoast Stampers HERE. After making a few of these bags i found that making the first 2 folds half an inch instead of an inch made them a little bit taller and made all the difference when finding things to put inside as they have to be fairly flat

You can just about see the side view of the bag here but my 2 links will show you better.  The little boat is a Meljens digi image.

Here's the matching card which is 6"x6". The paper is from DCWV stack six  12 x 12 papers. The " AHOY" is also by Meljen's.

And here's the set together. As you can see by the pic, the bag is about 5" square.  Things I've got for the bag so far are, a Thorntons  4"x4" bar of chocolate with ginger, a Cadbury's kids size bar of dairy milk ( the flat one) , a Caramac, some wrigleys chewing gum and a small 2" square Thorntons trial size white chocolate. I'm going to get a Scratch card and a lottery ticket as well.  Big kid he is, lol.

Challenges,  Meljens  Stripes ( how could i not )
                   Totally Papercrafts. Stripes and spots.
                   Sisterhood of Crafters. For men.

Gifts for mum.

Well i was going to moan about the weather on my post today but while i was faffing around trying to get some decent pics of today's creations the sun managed to come out. How long for, i don't know but it's certainly not the heatwave stuff. The funniest thing is that on the news yesterday morning they gave out a heatwave helpline number. It was quite chilly and I envisaged loads of workers falling asleep waiting for someone to ring up and say "I'm hot, what shall i do?", lol. Anyway here's a little bag and box i made to go with mums birthday pressies.

There are details of how to make the bag on a previous post  HERE,  and more info on the little box HERE.
All they took was one 12 x12 piece of K & CO. paper and a piece of A4 card.

I used a 2" circle punch and cut the circles in half for the corners and my little eyelet tool came out for an airing.

I got the little heart embellishment from The Works, £1 for six. The bag and box are not as big as they look in the pics,  the bag is 4" tall ) so it will be a bit of a challenge finding something to put in them. Perhaps a trip to Thorntons and a mooch around Crabtree and Evelyn's trial sizes tomorrow.

Edit,  to anyone who's looking at that bag and thinking " if only",  please have a go, it's so very easy.


Speaking of challenges..........Glitter Geeks, Handbags and Gladrags.
                                             Creative Belli Blog, Something begining with G. (GIFT)
                                     

Take Note. It's Friday.

I don't know about you but Friday always seems to come around quickly. That's alright though because i get paid on Fridays. Weekly, old fashioned in the little packet,lol. So easy to manage your money when you get paid this way.
Yesterday i had such a card making frenzy it was unbelievable. Speedy has a little pint at the local catholic club on the way home from work (cheap ale ), and they are planning to start a weekly indoor "local produce" market in the next few weeks. They said i could have a table for my cards so i need to get my act together. If they don't sell at least I'll have all my cards sets to give as Christmas gifts made nice and early. It's supposed to be on Thursdays which is my day off. I just hope some big git doesn't change the day or i'm stumped. I'm determined that these cards are all going to be made from stuff i would normally chuck in my scrap box and be dead simple to make and will be posting here regularly.
 Meanwhile here's some notebooks I've altered. I found them when scratting around for bits & bobs.

The digi image is from Meljens and i added the "NOTES" in Back to School font. I added a panel of paper on the back to match the front, mainly as i couldn't get the label off,lol.

 The coloured books were from Woolies and the black and grey from Wilkinsons all 50p each.

Challenges.. Pink Elephant,  Teacher Gifts.
                   Stamp something, Use a digi.

Target weight 9st 2lb. Today's weight 9st 2lb  :)

How Naughty are These Then ???

Do any of you remember Fanny Craddock, the famous TV cook and her poor henpecked husband Johnny?

Well, i was just a little lass when she was on TV but i can still remember her. The one thing which people will remember poor Johnny for is his final sentence on one of her shows in which she had been making some doughnuts. " Goodnight to you all, and may your doughnuts turn out like Fanny's". What a famous last line ! The poor bloke never lived it down.
Yesterday, i was doing the food shop in Tesco when i saw these pink doughnuts,lol.

 I looked at them and thought they'd be good for a bit of smut, but what could i make? I bought 3 packs. Then I remembered Johnny....................

This is the outcome of going to a strict all girls school,lol. I've just given Speedy a bag full to take to work and I'll be taking some to my boss's dad John later as he's up for a bit of smut to give out in his pub.
They also do chocolate ones which bring to mind another body bit, lol. I'll be making something with these soon but i doubt  whether they'll be fit for public viewing. Probably best left to the imagination.................

Edit....  Whenever i give Speedy some of these naughty gifts to take to the pub he always comes back and says everyone said "ooh your missus should sell these she'd make loads of money"  (bless),  but have any of them ever asked to actually buy anything?????    No, no, no.  So, how do i make all this money then ??  You could shoot 'em couldn't you, lol.

Orff with their heads !!

Before you send me to the tower, this wasn't entirely my idea ,lol. My boss's dad asked me if i was making any Royal smut bags and i said no, but then he'd planted the seed and my head just wouldn't let it go. I relented this morning and went shopping in search of suitable "stuff", and i hereby risk my whole reputation........

The "stuff" is iceland  cornflake cluster bites. They come in a plastic tub, £1.50 for 22, so are a cheap laugh in more ways than one.  My "accomplice" owns a pub so i'm taking him a dozen bags to give out on friday. You'd think i had nothing better to do with my time. I'm going away on friday for 4 days on another mystery coach trip to who knows where. I'd better take my disguise kit in case we end up anywhere near any Royals. I bet Prince Harry would pay good money for a sackload though, he's usually up for  a practical joke. I've just had a mental picture of him swapping the wedding favours on the top table for these...................