Tuesday 23 September 2014

WOYWW in a special place!


Hello peeps, yep its Wednesday again!  This week I have an extra special workdesk to share...now it's not from Wednesday but actually from Tuesday because I spent the day with the lovely Lunchlady Jan.  At the last crop I asked Jan if she did sewing lessons to improve my skills and she kindly offered a days sewing!

So off I went with my machine and SO much fabric stash in the boot of the car ready to hone my bag making skills.  During the morning the lovely Julia must have smelled the coffee as her timing was impeccable!


 from the left, Julia, me and Jan

I brought my "Man Bites Dog" cards with me and Julia did the honours by picking some for this weeks desk:


 "Teen Rehab Missing Again"....oooh, considering these are picked as random they can be quite dark!

Jan is a great tutor and soon my skills were being honed to another level and after a few hours (made longer as I do have a tendency to chat!) I had a bag that I am SO proud of....look:


 It has pockets and lining

and even a recessed zip!  I am so chuffed that its going to work with me tomorrow...and it is NOT going to be a Christmas pressie for one of my sister in laws as I thought it would be as I love it too much to give it away!!

So thanks Jan for a great day, great lunch, fabulous tuition and for putting up with a messy crafter!  Thanks also to Julia, without WOYWW I would not have made so many new friends (not easy as you get older) to share my crafting passion.

So there you go, I have the skills and now need to have another go at making a bag...somehow I think it wont look as good, but hey I have learnt a new skill and that can never be a bad thing!

Happy WOYWW

Kyla
 

Sunday 21 September 2014

Silver and a wedding

Hello, I have been waiting to post my latest make until the recipient had opened it!
 
On 13/09/13 my brother married Zoe.  It was a lovely day and several months ago I decided what I would make them for their first wedding anniversary.
 
I bought a solid silver spoon (hallmarked Birmingham 1928) and hammered the bowl flat.
I then punched into the metal the date of their wedding.


 Now, I have to come clean, if you are thinking of making one of these, whilst not difficult I did mess up!  The first one I made I accidently moved the punch as I hammered it which meant it produced a shadow secondary punch!  So that means my first spoon will be sold for smelting down (doh!!).  So my big tip would be TAKE YOUR TIME....do not rush!
 


 I thought it would be a very individual present (without taking up too much room) but something to let them both know how much we think of them and how pleased they found each other.
 
Happy crafting
 
Kyla

Wednesday 17 September 2014

WOYWW

 Hello peeps, have you had a good week?  I hope so.  

This Wednesday on my desk are a few new goodies.  I rarely buy craft stash these days (as I have a room full of stuff) but Sunday saw me go to a small craft show where I bought a few goodies. 
 On my shopping list was spray and shine (as I have tried other ways to replicate the shine in Sheena Douglass' brilliant fake leather with no success), some glossy accents (as I am nearly out), a sizzix bigz die of a fob watch (I like these dies as I can cut leather out of them so I can easily make this into a circle) which was only £6 and also some great stamps which were only £3.99-bargains. 

 I also bought 2 colours of brusho a waterbased paint I have considered buying for a couple of years since I saw it demo'd at the NEC but had only seen the sets, whereas these were only £1.40 each so more affordable to try a new product.


 Last week I showed you a new photo printing kit I bought and this is the first t shirt I made from it



The idea is that you choose a digital image and create a negative which you print out on special film.  I chose a picture I took at night of the wheel in London.  You then apply the light sensitive dye to the fabric (in this case I used a black dye) then place the negative over and expose it to the sun for about 15 mins...wash it out and voila!  I am loving this idea and am thinking I would like to make cushions with this image on...ooh, once again SO many ideas but so little spare time!

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week....'Blonde Wife Blames Naked Tourist',,,,ooeer missus....keep your eyes out if you are in a tourist area this week!!

If you fancy a legal snoop at desks across the globe then feel free to join us over at the lovely Julia's blog (link over on the right).

Happy Crafting

Kyla
 
 







Wednesday 10 September 2014

WOYWW

So it's that time of the week again...when voices across the globe cry out "what, Wednesday?  Already?!" 

So, straight down to business and what is on my workdesk this Wednesday? 

This week I have been making luggage labels (as you do).  At my local scrap store they had some nice thick leather (they don't have it often) in blue and green and my mum has been asking me to make some luggage labels for her so this seemed perfect.
I used bostik leather glue (I think this is really expensive at £5 for a small tube which I used up just on this project)but its really strong and holds well.  I also cut some decorations with thinner leather using my bigz sizzix dies. I cut a slit in the back and threaded through some white card and clear plastic so that contact details can be added.


Also on my desk this week is my new purchase (an early anniversary pressie from hubby) which is  a photo printing kit where you can print from a negative onto fabric (such as a t shirt) and expose it in the sun.  If anyone has used this before I would love to hear from you!

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week are 'Romantic Girl Stuns Hero'...one, two, three...ahhh....unless its a stun gun, in which case it takes a whole different turn!

If you would like a legal snoop at desks across the globe then feel free to join us over at Julia's blog (there is a link over on the right).

Happy crafting

Kyla
 

Sunday 7 September 2014

Kate Bush and leather! Not the obvious pairing

 Hi peeps, sorry I have not been round for a while but things have once again been busy, busy, busy at chez Pidge!

It has not been all work, as last week I was lucky enough to go and see Kate Bush LIVE!!  I know, never in all these years did I expect to be able to tick that one off my bucket list.  I am so grateful for my friends Marnie, Ade and Andy who sold me their spare ticket and also drove all the way to London for the gig...I was like a kid...sang all through the concert and grinned from ear to ear the whole time (sorry especially to Ade who I sat next to and had to endure my catawaling)!

When the dust settled I realised I haven't blogged about my new purse that I have made.

It's from a kit from http://www.simpleway.co.uk/ I have already made a small coin purse and a handbag from them.  Their kits come with everything you need and really clear instructions.







This purse is called a Tardis purse (as its larger on the inside than the outsidebut don't get me started on the new Dr....I may rant for several days on that one!).


It is in leopard print which is a limited run of leather finish that they advertised on facebook (which is where they advertise their short limited runs...a great use of social media).

It took me a few sessions to finish as the rheumatoid arthritis in my hands means its a little hard to grip at times, but its really sturdy and the great thing is that if it starts to come apart through over stuffing (with receipts and shopping lists...lets be honest its never going to be overstuffed with money!) then they even include some spare thread for any running repairs!

The company do bags, shoes and accessories.  If you get a chance to look them up I can highly recommend them.

Happy crafting
Kyla