Sunday, 28 December 2014

Crafty Christmas...

 
Hiya guys!  Happy Sunday!  Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas!
 
I spent the day chilling out with my family and watching loads of DVDs!  Overall, it was a really good day!
 
I was actually going to do this week’s post about what to do with leftover Christmas present boxes that can be reused, but…my lovely sister got me something really cool and crafty for Christmas so I obviously couldn’t not do a post about that!
 
Months ago, while I was organising my arts and craft supplies, I was moaning about the labels on the drawers and how they looked really messy because I was handwriting them.  I mentioned a label maker would be totally handy because I could organise e-v-e-r-y-thing and label them!  To be honest, I didn’t really think anyone was listening to me, but guess what I got…a label maker!!!  Yay!
 
 
 
 
What makes this label maker even better is that it embosses the letters on to the tape, instead of using ink, making it 3D…AMAZE!
 
 
 
 
So, getting inspo from a film we watched - Maleficent, which you should watch if you haven’t seen already, because it is r-e-a-l-l-y good – I thought it would be fun to do a line from a Disney film song.  For example:
 
 
 
 
I then thought ‘what if I type out lyrics to a full song? And maybe display it in a photo frame?’
 
So I tried it out!  I typed out the lyrics to a song I’ve loved ever since I was wee – Judy Garland’s ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’.  And this is what I came up with.  I love it!
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
I think it’s pretty cool, and I really like the fact I decided to use different colours for every line of the song!  The photo frame I got from a pound shop.  I like the style of the frame…but it would be lovely if it was gold instead of white!
 
So that’s all I have for this week!  I hope you have a good week ahead, and bring in the New Year in style! And enjoy yourselves, of course!
 
I’ll be back in the New Year with more crafty projects!
 
Happy New Year when it comes!
 
Take care guys xxx

 

Sunday, 21 December 2014

Christmas baking!!


Hiya guys!  Happy Sunday!

I thought I would do another photo post, but a wee Christmas baking one so you can get to see what I’ve been up to this week J
 
So, when I wasn’t working, I managed to do some baking.  I made Gingerbread cookies and sugar cookies! To be really honest I’m not the best at cookies - cupcakes are more of my thing - but…they actually turned out not too bad!  And, if I do say so myself, they were yummy!
 
For me, the sugar cookies were so much easier to make, and I didn’t make as much of a mess as I did with the gingerbread ones.
 
I also made some gingerbread cupcakes.  As I said, cupcakes are my thing so this was pretty straightforward and easy to do!
 
Anyway, here are the photos of all the yummy food! 
 

 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
Well that’s it for this week…until next time!
 
Happy Holidays! xxx
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Recipe Sources:
 
 
Gingerbread cookies
 
Sugar cookies
 
Gingerbread cupcakes
 
 

Sunday, 14 December 2014

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree!

 
Hiya guys!  Hope you’ve all had a good Sunday!
 
This week, I had intended to do a post about making loads of DIY baubles and decorating my Christmas tree with them.  However, I’ve been pretty busy with work and didn’t really have enough time to do this L 
 
Instead, my post is a short one about ideas for making your own Christmas baubles, and at the end I’ll have photos of my tree!
 
Let’s begin…
 
 
 
Christmas bauble #1
 
 
This is a really easy bauble to make, although it’s a bit messy - but quite cool once it dries.
 
 
 
What I used:
 
Medium polystyrene ball (less than £1 from an art store)
Torn up newspaper text
Glue
 
 
 
 
What I did:
 
1)     Basically I just covered the ball with glue and newspaper scraps, then covered it with more glue…sort of like paper mache.
 
2)     I then left it to dry!
 
 
You can decorate your bauble more if you like – glitter, gold/silver pen, gems – whatever goes with the style/colour scheme of your Christmas tree.  Bauble hooks, ribbon or string can also be attached to it so that you can hang it on your tree!
 
Idea: Half a dozen of these could be put into a large bowl for a table centre piece.
 
 
 
Christmas bauble #2
 
Like the first, this bauble is not that hard to make.
 
 
 
 
 
What I used:
 
Large clear plastic ball, opens up (less than £2 from a haberdashery store)
Card
Craft Punch, flower design
Glue
Glitter, red
 
 
 
 
What I did:
 
1)      First of all, using the craft punch, I cut out nearly a hundred wee bits of card - crazy amount for one ball!
 
2)      I covered the inside of one half of the ball with glue and stuck the little card designs down, with some space between for the glitter to be seen.
 
3)      I did the same for the other half.
 
4)      Once all the card was stuck down, I covered the inside of both halves with more glue, then poured on the glitter.  I then put the two halves together then shook the ball so the glitter would stick to the glue.
 
5)      Once both halves were dry, I glued them together, to finish the Christmas bauble.
 
 
 
Again, bauble hooks, ribbon or string can be attached to the bauble, if you want.
 
You can be totally crafty, decorate and make DIY baubles any way you like - using permanent markers, glitter glue or old nail polish...anything!  This is where you can have fun, designing!
 
I really do like the idea of making my own DIY baubles but, in the end, I just used decorations we had from last year.  The gold and silver colour scheme never goes out of style!
 
So I will end my post with my gold and silver decorated tree!  
 
I’ll catch you all next week, with another Sunday post!  Enjoy the week ahead…until next time! 








Sunday, 7 December 2014

Question/Answer Post #1

 
Hiya guys!  Hope you’ve all had a great week!
 
This week I was thinking it might be an idea to start a question-answer type post.  This idea came to me after a couple friends asked me some creative-y/design-y questions, and I thought it would be a good idea to answer their questions through my blog.  That way I can do the DIY thing myself and post pictures on how it can be done (if I can manage to do the project myself, that is).
 
So I got asked a couple questions and I will deal with one of them in this blog post.  I will answer the other one after Christmas, as I haven’t done that DIY project before and I’ll need some time to look at it.
 
Okay, this week’s question was about nail art, water marble nail art to be specific.  A friend had seen a video of it on Facebook and was wondering ‘how is it done?’
 
So here you go pal, a wee answer for you! J 
 
 
 
 
I’ll do a step-by-step tutorial and also include some tips and tricks to help you.  These are things I have found out through trial and error as well as from nail art blogs on the internet.
 
This is one of my fave nail art designs to do as, even though it’s a wee bit tricky, it is fun to do and you can end up with a different design on each nail.  You can also jazz up the nail a bit more by adding little details, if you like, as illustrated in my previous blog post.
 
Right-o!  I’ll start by listing the tips and tricks.  Water marble nail art is quite difficult to start with but the following tips and tricks should make things easier, and it becomes easier with practice.
 
1.     Water.  What I have found is that you have to use the right temperature of water - it is easier if you use the right water!  When I first did the water marble nail art I used cold tap water and it didn’t really work very well.  It might also have had something to do with the nail polish I was using back then, but after some research, watching other video tutorials, I saw that other people were using bottled water at room temperature, so I thought I’d try that.  It worked much better!  So this is what I use now!
 
2.     Nail polish.  I have discovered that not all nail polishes work for me.  Some makes of polish seem to work better than others.  Also, it depends on the style of nail polish, glitters etc.  It is all trial and error really, just giving it a go and seeing which one works.  The main thing you are looking for is for the polish to spread out and sort of dissolve in the water!  If it doesn’t do that straight away, give the bowl (or whatever you have the water in) a little shake to see if that helps.  Another tip is not to plop the polish into the water as it will just fall to the bottom in a little blob - just hold the brush a few millimetres above the water and lightly drop the polish onto the water.  It also helps if the polish is new or runny-ish as it will be easier for it to drop off the brush.  If you are using old, just load the brush so a drip forms on the end.
 
3.     Work quickly!  As you are putting more and more drops of polish into the bowl, the earlier drops will start to dry and congeal on top of the water so you need to work quickly and get all the drops you want into the water and drag the cocktail stick (or whatever too you decide to use for this) through the layers to create the design you like.  If you take any longer, you will find that the outer layer of polish sticks a little as it will have congealed already.  (Be careful though, not to drag through the polish too heavy handed - if it does stick to the tool it might end up dragging the whole thing together and create a clump at the end of the tool).
 
4.     Vaseline/lip balm.  Using Vaseline or some other lip balm around the nail cuts down on clean-up time.  This creates a barrier between skin and polish, meaning that after the nail comes out of the water the extra polish on the skin can be easily wiped away.  When I first did this type of nail art I used masking/sticky tape but that didn’t work very well because the polish still got under the tape, and cleaning up was a nightmare!  So, now I use Vaseline - so much easier!!
 
5.     Be steady.  Be steady, and be careful not to move your finger around in the water.  If you keep your finger steady the polish will stick to your nail in just one thin layer!  I found how important this was the hard way, realising that once my nail was out of the water it looked like it had multiple layers of polish on it – and it took forever to dry too!  There is also a way to remove your nail from the water, to make sure that only a thin layer forms – this is explained in Step 7!
 
 
Now for the step-by-step tutorial - with pictures of course!  (I really need to invest in some sort of tripod, because trying to take pictures while doing my nails was quite difficult.  I do apologise if the pictures aren’t great or don’t explain what I was doing clearly enough.)
 
 
Water Marble Nail Art Steps:
 
 
1)     First of all I applied a base coat, then one coat of white nail polish.  This colour doesn’t have to be totally opaque as the water marble will cover any flaws.
 
2)     I poured the room-temperature water into a large cup (one that I only use for nail art!) and set that aside. 
 
3)     Next I picked the colours of nail polish I wanted to use and laid them out next to the cup – all open and ready to be used.
 
 
 
 
4)     Then I used the Vaseline and put it around the nail, not forgetting under the nail and all around the finger up to the second knuckle.
 
 
 
 
5)     After that, I dropped the polish into the water in the order I wanted.  To do this, I put a drop of the first polish into the water then let it spread out.  I then dropped the next one into the centre of the first, then let that spread out, and so on until I had the desired amount in the water.  
 
 
 
 
You can use as many or as few colours of polish as you like.  Obviously the more you use – the more detailed the nail art will be!  As I said in Tips and Tricks #2 and #3 above, work quickly when dropping the polish into the water. 
 
6)     I used a Kirby grip as the tool to create the design in the polish.  I lightly dragged the hair grip through the polish to create a leafy shape that I was happy with.  You can create whatever shape you want by dragging the tool from the inside out or the outside in.
 
 
 
 
7)     So, after prepping my finger I carefully placed my nail over the part of the design I liked best and, making sure the nail was parallel to the water, dipped my finger into the water to cover the nail. Being very careful not to move my finger while in the water, I blew into the cup just to dry the extra polish around my finger, and used a cotton bud to pick up the excess by twirling and dragging it across the water until all of it was gone!      
 
8)     I then removed my finger from the water - I did this by slowly straightening it while keeping the nail below the surface. Then with my finger pointing directly downwards, I started to scoop my finger upwards so my palm ended up facing down towards the water.
 
9)     Now, using a clean cotton bud, I wiped the excess polish from around my nail and finger.
 
10) This is where the design can be left as it is, with a clear top coat being applied once dry.  
 
 
 
 
 
       Or, if you want you can add more design, which is what I did here!  I used my dotting tool to create little dots along some of the marbled effects.
  

 
 
 
11)  After finishing my designs, I put a white sparkly textured coat of polish on top and then added a clear coat to give it more shine!
 
  
 
That was all I did really.  I know it looks like a lot of steps, but I just wanted to break it down a bit more, just to explain it a bit better.
 
So, hopefully this answered the question? As well as explained it to anyone else who was interested in how this nail art was done!!
 
Okay guys, that’s all for this week.  Keep an eye out for my next question/answer post which I will put up after Christmas!
 
Have a fab week and I’ll catch up with you all next Sunday! Until then…See ya!