Adventures in shrink plastic....merbabes

Well I know its been an age since I last posted, but you guys kinda took me by surprise. I'd been threatening to open an Etsy shop for ages, and honestly jewellery was the last thing on my list to make or sell!
So after a lot of experimentation I put five items on sale just to see what the response would be. Four days later to my absolute amazement I sold something!! One Facebook status update later and I'd sold the lot!

So its taken me a while to get things back on track, but back on track I am. But before I go off on one about the new stuff I just want to say thank you to everyone for supporting me. whether you shared a link on facebook, bought an item from the shop, or just said 'that's pretty' , thank you.

Its taken such a lot to put my stuff out there, so the fact that people like this stuff enough to buy it means so much. But enough with that on to the new stuff.
For this your going to need to channel your inner mermaid, or as I'm calling this little lot Merbabes.

First up, you guessed it a mermaid.

Clam shells or,  as I like to call them, mermaid bras. these have been done on frosted shrink plastic which works really well as it gives them a sea glass look.

 

 

Ombre seahorse.

All items are for sale in the Etsy shop now along with my other collection 'Rockabilly radness'. So hop on over and take a look, and don't forget if you like what you see follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for regular updates and sneak peeks.

Vicky xx

Adventures in Shrink Plastic.....at long last

So the exciting news is at long last I finally have a Etsy shop!!!!!!

Yes I know its taken such a long time but I'm proud to say I've finally managed it.
So lets talk about what's in it. Well those who know me will probably already know that I am obsessed, just take a look at my Pinterest board, with the 1950s and rockabilly in particular. The whole thing, the clothes they wore, the cars, the clothes, the tattoos, the clothes and the hair! Don't even get me started with Bettie bangs!

So I decided that it would be nice to start with a small collection inspired by that, I'm calling it 'Rockabilly Radness'.
I was also aware that valentines Day is just around the corner and no valentines would be complete without some hearts and no rockabilly valentine would be complete without a traditional heart and scroll.

Another classic rockabilly staple is a swallow. This one is done in pastel pink and blue flying across a fluffy cloud. There are lots of meanings behind swallow tattoos but my favourite is that sailors used to get swallow tattoos as they believed that if they drowned the swallow would come down and lift his soul to the heavens. I also thinks its beautiful that swallows choose only one mate for life!

I don't know why but I always associate cherries with rockabilly, and I'm a sucker for anything in cherry print. So I knew I had to have some cherries in this. On their own they looked kinda weird so I put them on a striped star and now I'm really happy with how they look. In fact I wore this necklace out and received so many compliments!

Aaah my Birthday Girl brooch, when I first designed this back in September I did it with a tattoo/rockabilly style in mind. I wore it all day on my birthday and loved it. I have put this in the shop with an option to have it customised, so you can change the colours or have a name or something else written on it.

And last but not least glitter hearts. Now I know that this doesn't really fit into the rockabilly category but it does fit into the GLITTER category and who doesn't love a bit of that? and like I said I knew that valentines day was fast approaching.

So to celebrate the opening of my shop, the month of romance, and all things glittery I'm giving away one of these heart necklaces to one of you lucky people!!

 
TO ENTER
Go to my facebook page, like the page, like and share the post

The winner will be drawn at random on Saturday 15th February

P.S I just want to say a massive thank you to my husband for his ace photography XX

The Home made year....Christmas 2013

Happy New year!! Did you all have a wonderful Christmas?? Are you full to the brim with turkey and mince pies?

How quickly it has flown by, so much preparation and its all over in a flash. But in all honesty I wouldn't change a single thing. I love this time of the year, its hard to choose between this and Halloween, and I enjoy the preparation as much as the day itself.

So needless to say I've made lots of things and rather than waffle on for ages I've put them into a visual collagey feast. So take a break from putting away the decs, grab that last mince pie and cast your eyes over this lot.............




 

Clockwise from left : countdown door hanger for Jacks room, which says Santa's been on the reverse, cupcakes with cinnamon butter cream.

 Flying reindeer applique blanket. Those that follow my facebook page will have seen this in the making.

 

 

 

 

Tulip decoupage card made with a kit by Papermania.

 

 

Cards made with digital stamps from Pink petticoat, and handmade sentiments.

 

 

Handmade Polar Express picture. I love the Polar Express and watch it on Christmas Eve every year, and yes the bell does still ring!

 My special Santa and reindeer that came home with me from Lapland last year.

 

 

Homemade gifts.

 Finnish piparkakut, gingerbread to you and me. We had this in Lapland last year and it was so lovely I knew I had to find a recipe for it, its different to our gingerbread as they use different ingredients and its much more spicy.

 Sweet chilli jam normally I make red pepper relish at Christmas but I'm told its not hot enough so I made this for a change.

 

 

 

Homemade mince pies and homemade apple and cinnamon ice cream. Those who follow me on Instagram will have seen this in its early stages, and I have to say its tastes amazing. Recipe courtesy of the icreamists.

 

 

Felt Christmas trees,

 yarn wreath,

 felt reindeer's, with button noses from nans button jar.

 

 

Jingle bell wreath with ribbon flower.

Close up of card made with digital stamps from pink petticoat.

 

So all that's left to say is have a fantastic new year I hope it brings you all you dream of, and don't forget in between blogposts you can always catch up with me on facebook, twitter, instagram and pinterest by clicking on the links at the top of the page. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Homemade year ; Halloween

So the clocks have gone back and we're all enjoying our extra hour in bed, which can only mean one thing. Yup autumn is here and its Halloween. Time for our Halloween Party!!

As usual there was much to be done and as usual there was much running around at the last minute..lol. At least I didn't have tonsillitis this year though. So without further ado lets have a mooch at the pics....

 

clockwise from left;

 Party bags. Yay I actually managed to remember to photograph them this year! Handmade by myself using my craft programme and some ace printables from gwynn wasson designs. Hop on over to her blog to have a look at the Halloween party on there. Its seriously awesome and puts mine to shame!

Skull shot glasses

Eye ball cupcakes, again made by me. Vanilla and chocolate marble cakes, orange butter icing and a jelly eye ball.

 

 

Boo Sign ; I wish I could take the credit for making this but I bought I from Asda for £1.00 and seriously you can't make it that cheap so you may as well buy it.

Glass pumpkin votive from Waitrose.

 

 

Dual iced witchy cupcakes.

 

 

Jacks beware sign which he bought with his pocket money to help me. bless him.

 

 

Rogues gallery; I intended to do this last year but due to being ill never managed it so I'm pleased I was able to do it this year. This is a wall of Halloweens past, there's pictures of jack in his costumes from each Halloween and pictures of past party guests. I made these myself by printing out some Halloween backgrounds found on google and gluing them to black card. I messed about with the pics a bit to give them an old, dark halloweeny look, printed them out and stuck them onto bright card. I plan to add to it every year.

 

 

Top; Pumpkins of course, and luminaries. I love those they look fab at night when the tea lights are lit.

Bottom left; Tree scene setter from party delights, made an otherwise empty wall look ace.

 

 

Graveyard cup cakes. these again were chocolate and vanilla marble cakes with green butter icing and had such residents as Eileen Dover, Claire Voyant, Uma goner, and Hugo First.

 

 

left; Aaargh there's a monster at the window. We also had one of these in the shower lol.

Right; bat votive.

 

 

 

Now these are as close to selfies as your ever gonna get from me, but I had four Halloween functions to attend this year and yes I know I could have had one costume for all four but wheres to fun in that???

So clockwise from top left; Witches cat for my own party.

Top right; Toil and trouble witches for the school spooktacular with the lovely Stacey.

Bottom right; Sugar skull for my dads party on 2 November which is actually Dia de los muertos (Mexican day of the dead) so it seemed a bit more appropriate and secondly because I'm a little bit obsessed with sugar skulls.

Bottom left; broken dolly

 

but of course no Halloween is complete without the pumpkin king himself.. the one and only jack Skellington.......

 

 

and here he is my very own Jack Skellington, with his ghost dog zero.

 

So what now? Well I'll be enjoying some fire works in our back garden this evening and I've already started to plan for Christmas so I'll be showing you some of the things I always make at Christmas and some new things too.

 

Thanks for stopping by

 Vicky Xxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sew Sunday ; Easy Halloween blindfold and FREE pattern

Every year at our annual Halloween party we play a 'pin the something on the something' sort of game. Last year was pin the nose on the witch, the year before pin the bow tie on Mr bones, you get the idea, but every year we end up using a black woollen scarf as a blind fold, and as much as this works it looks a bit rubbish. so this year I set about putting that right...

here's how. I decided that I wanted to make the blindfold a cat face copying a design I drew for a brooch. So firstly I changed a pattern for a regular sleep mask by adding some ears and making it more cat like. You can download the pattern below. Just right click on the image and save then print off as A4.

Not the most professional pattern I know, but still, it works!

Cut out two cat shapes in black felt. One would probably be sufficient seeing as your adding eyes but I cut out two just to be sure the little monsters really cant see!!

cut out your eyes and nose shapes and pin into place on one piece of the black felt. Stitch over the eyes in straight lines. I used a straight stitch in black cotton but you can use any colour or stitch, I think a zig zag stitch would look cool, or you could hand sew it. I used a zig zag stitch to sew around the nose which was a bit fiddly so in hindsight it might be better to hand sew this bit.

 

Next you need to stitch your elastic onto the back of your black felt. I recommend doing this bit with a machine as you want the elastic to be secure when using the blindfold.

Then stitch the spare piece of felt to the back using a zig zag stitch around the edge. If your hand stitching I think a blanket stitch would be nice, and voila there you have it an easy peasy blindfold to play all your Halloween games.

 Seriously this took less than an hour and in my opinion looks way better than a woollen scarf tied around your head!! Don't forget to check to back for my home made year post to see what pin it game we are playing this year!

Xxx

The homemade year......I'ts my party

 

Yup it's my birthday...

 

and you know when you think of something and think that's a great idea then when you start to do it, it turns out it's not that great after all?? Well I definitely did that this week.

 

I always make cakes for my birthday so this year I thought I'll make a gingerbread house seeing as I never find the time at Christmas. BIG mistake, take it from me if you ever decide to make one put aside a lot of time and definitely practice first. I made 2 lots of gingerbread and both ended up in the bin. So what did I do to rectify the situation?

 

Made cupcakes of course.

 

Play to your strengths that's what I say..lol.

 

 

So hear they are. Yeah I know they don't LOOK that special but they ARE. These are margarita cupcakes with tequila icing!! oh yes!

 

Mmm margarita and cake two of my favourite things mixed together.

 

 

and these are for those too young to enjoy a good margarita. White chocolate chip with vanilla icing, and those things that I always call jazzies, but have no idea if that's the real name!

 

 

 

and no birthday is complete without a badge, here's mine. Made by me for me. Am I gonna wear it all day??

Hell yeah!

 

So you might ask why I've called this post the homemade year. well I was thinking about all the things we celebrate throughout the year, and it gave me an idea for a new feature/content/section, whatever you call it and what better way to kick it off than with my birthday. So I'll take us through the year and show you all the stuff that doesn't really fit into any other category.

 

 

 

So I'm off to open presents and eat cake but before I do I found this birthday questionnaire on good old pinterest and I thought it would be fun to answer it so here goes....

 

1. How old are you.

Mmm, mentally or physically? Mentally anywhere between 15 and 21, physically, old enough to know better!

 

2. who is your favourite person in the world?

Has to be my little man no question.

 

3. what is your favourite colour.

Predictably, pink.

 

4. what is your favourite TV programme?

Not really got one and it changes all the time. at the moment I'm loving The returned, and me and my little man love regular show. Mordecai and rigby are the coolest.

 

5.Favourite sport?

None, I avoid doing any sport at all costs!

 

6. what song do you love?

Oh there are way too many. I listen to loads of different music but I particularly love Drive by Incubus, pretty much anything by the wonder stuff, or frank Sinatra

 

7. Who is your best friend?

my husband, nobody makes me laugh the way he does.

 

8. what do you want to be when you grow up??

So many answers to this, what's a grown up?, I don't intend to do that anytime soon, see question 1.

 

9.Favourite book?

To kill a mockingbird by Harper lee. Read it too many times to mention.

 

10. Favourite ice cream flavour.

Banana but only the one sold in Rhodes old town, Greece.

 

11. what really annoys you?

Narrow mindedness, really grates!!

 

12.what do you hope to do before your next birthday?

Mmm lets think, win the lottery and jack my job in lol

 

 

 

So I'll be back soon hopefully with something exciting to share X

 

 

Well August is almost over, but what a lot it brought with it. Special birthdays, Weddings, seaside holidays and, oh yeah Bunny ears!

The decorating, or project house as I like to call it has been put on hold and I've been crafting at a slower pace than normal in order to spend more time with my son over the holidays.


So without further ado....

left - my cousin Shaunis 21st birthday cake. Those of you that follow me on facebook will probably have already seen this, and making those roses has taught me that I definitely need to wear my glasses more!!
Right - 21st birthday card. I don't really go in for card making anymore, unless it's a special occasion. I still got a whole cupboard full of stuff though lol.

Left - Wedding card for my babe Stacey who got hitched. It was a lovely day and they all looked beautiful.
Right and below - THE best bunny ears ever. FACT. I love everything by crown and glory and it's no secret I've been cyber stalking Kat at Rock 'n Roll bride for the past couple of years. So when they announced a collaboration between the two I nearly wet my pants. I couldn't order the Liberace bunny ears quicker! Sophie who makes them is massively talented, check her out and she also wrote a great post on how to wear them.

 

So I'll be back in September and I've got some cracking ideas to share with you, and it's this bunnies birthday, so I'm going to try something a bit different. Xxx

 

Thursday Crafternoon....shrinky madness

Hi so I know I've been missing in action for a while now since I got back from my hols. It always takes me a little while to come back down to earth after a holiday and especially when Ive been to Lindos. We had a great time and its still every bit as beautiful as it was when we were married.

That said I have not sat and done nothing since I've been back. Oh no I've been busy busy busy. Jacks bedroom was in serious need of a face lift, he still had a border and curtains that he had when he was born!!! Its still not quite finished and when it is I  intend to move on to my bedroom and carry on until the whole house is just the way I want it. I'm calling it project house. If any ones interested in seeing the before and after let me know and I might blog about it.

But in the tiny amount of time I have had I've managed to make a few things. I'm still having a love affair with shrink plastic (hence the title) but its definitely been a period of experimentation, which is another reason for the lack of posts. Any way I'll stop waffling and show you the pics........

 

This little lady is Rubie. I love her so much shes so cute, and in my mind I can see her in lots of different vintage outfits. This Rubie is a brooch but she can come as a necklace or key ring too.

 

 

I wanted to do some key rings in the style of those old vintage tin signs, these are what I came up with.

 

I cant decide which is my fave the beach huts or the ice cream.

 

 

All the nice girls love a sailor...These two honeys are both called kitty. Again I see them in lots of different retro outfits and I'm dying to do one with pink hair. They have come out a lot smaller than I expected so I might have to do a bit of a rethink. I thought maybe I could put them on a heart background or something. It would also make them more sturdy as I managed to drop another one and her leg fell off..lol. I did say it was experimental!!

 

 

I am totally in love with this one. I wanted to do something with a rockabilly/tattoo feel. then I saw a tattoo sketch by one of my favourite tattoo artists Leah Moule , and the cogs began to turn. I changed the traditional rockabilly swallow into a seagull, and I can see it with a lighthouse or helter skelter instead of the ice cream too.

 

So there you have it, I hope it's been worth the wait. I'll try not to leave it so long next time, and I might have a new collection coming up too. Stay posted and don't forget you can follow me on facebook, twitter, pinterest, and Instagram.

 

Xxx

 

 

 

 

Holibobs

So as much as I would like to stay at home and craft and blog this froggie is hopping off on her holidays to here..............

 

 

This beautiful place is Lindos on the Greek island of Rhodes. one of my favourite places in the world,

and this is St Paul's Bay where I was married 7 years ago...

 

 

 

I'm so looking forward to going back, but you can be rest assured that I will be taking my sewing bag and my paper and pencils, so we will have to see what projects the Greek sun and sea inspires me to work on.

I know one thing for sure it will definately inspire me to lie back on my sun lounger and work on my tan. lol ;) 

 

Have Fun and I'll be back in a couple of weeks

Vicky Xxx

Thursday Crafternoon...shrinky plastic

Well we're back to rainy cold weather again. Two days of warm sunny weather and out came the shorts and sandals and dinner was a barbecue. We all went a bit mad, as we do, and then in true Brit style it disappeared as quickly as it came. Oh well I suppose we should be used to it by now!

Unfortunately, just to rub it in, I'm going to make you think of sunny days again now. The bad weather has not stopped me making, and I've been banging on about shrinky plastic on my facebook page for a while now. So I think its high time I showed you what I've been doing with it.

keyrings

 

 

 I'm not going to lie, it was more challenging to work with than I thought and is definately still a work in progress. Having said that this stuff is magic. Honestly you put it in the oven close the door and when you open it again, poof its shrunk. Its amazing!

I'm so easily pleased lol.

 

Brooches

 

 

The keyrings have definately turned out better than the brooches. Which is a shame as I was so excited about the brooches. Like I said its a work in progress, the white shrink plastic is difficult as its really shiny and hard to colour on. I'm trying to find a way of colour it without seeing the pen marks.

 

oooh as I type the postman just bought me some more, yay. Right then that's me off to play and make more shrinky magic, lol

 

Xxx