stand up 'My Love' card

This card is so easy to make and can be adapted into almost anything and for any occasion. All you need is some card, some foil or even fabric scraps, your chosen printed words, sticky back foam and a sewing machine. Once you have decided on your shapes glue everything down, leaving the words to the end. Then plan you sewing 'route', I went for straight lines but you can go nuts, especially if you want to add texture. Once you've sewn over the various bits ( best to use an old needle as it will slightly blunt a new one going through card) add your words with sticky back foam. Add a bit of card with a fold in it to make the card stand upright. What words will you chose?

Delicious syrup!

This delightful bottle caught my eye on a trip to Tesco, the packaging was so pretty I just had to buy it and put it in my glass fronted kitchen cabinet. It's rose syrup, primarily to b diluted to drink as squash but i'm already thinking of rose icing, cake, jelly, cocktails etc. It has such a fantastic colour but I think the taste maybe hit and miss, if you don't like rose turkish delight, forget it. But I do so hurray!

London Tack

Retro to go featured Liberty iconic London Christmas decorations late last year, they are absolutely beautiful and if I had some spare cash I would have bought a few, but at £19.95 I had to pass. However all is not lost, when visiting recently I picked up these fridge magnets for 99p each. Alright they look a bit tacky but they really brighten up to the fridge. Watch this space, by December I'll have transformed them and they will be adorning my tree!

Save the button

So it's always handy to find a button in a little bag on the inside of your newly purchased item, but isn't it so lovely when someone has taken the time to design a little paper packet for it to go in? I can never remember what button matches up with what item of clothing, but I know that the larger packet here came off my Jack Wills dress and the smaller from my long knitted tank top by Heritage. Nicely done, good inspirational stuff.

I heart Kawaii

kawaii developed from a playful writing style by teenagers in the 1970's which was soon banned in schools due to it's ilegibility. The cute style was quickly adopted by magazines and in advertising campaigns. Sanrio soon realised the potential and produced merchandise to feed the trend which now reaches all ages and has become a part of east asian culture. Not everyone is a fan, although we recognise and to a point define kawaii as 'cute', the word itself has it's roots in protection of the weak, innocence, being precious. Many think the style is childish and some visitors find it inappropriate as mascots can be found everywhere, even the police have one!

Ok so it's a bit late now I know but I found this cute free download with some not so sugary sentiment on kawaiinot.com. Thank goodness for email - get sending!

http://www.kawaiinot.com/valentinedownload.php

Old frame recycling

If I chuck anything out it has to be either a) completely useless or b) it will have just made me really really angry. I tried to perform a quick change act in the street once and the zip on my skirt got stuck so I ended up ripping it off 'how dare you humiliated me like this skirt?!'. I felt so sorry for skirt that it remains to be fixed so I guess rule b is a fib. Anyway, I've had a couple of hideous pictures sat in the spare room for ages and when I went a bit nuts in Ikea recently buying fabric and then as usual had no idea what to do with it I decided on the following. I pulled out the pictures, carefully stashed the glass, couldn't find the staple gun ( suprise ) so got drawing pins and stretched out the most interest section of the graphic prints and pinned to the back of the frame. Done. Less than half an hour for the two.

The ever handy heat gun!

I've now discovered that not only can you create lovely designs with stamps, ink, and embossing powder using a heat gun, and finish your Shrinkle pieces but I just used it to remove some old paintwork from the stairs! Of course if you try this make sure you are working in a well ventilated area with a mask and goggles, and stick on some work gloves if you're a bit clumsy like me! Keep the heat gun moving in circles and as soon as the paint bubbles slightly give it a scrape, if you already have a heat gun then you'll know that absent mindedly looking away for 10 seconds can result in flames/charred area/shrieking so keep a close eye. Obviously if you have an entire skirting board to do then bite the bullet and buy, hire or borrow a paint remover ( giant heat gun) but if it's only a few small areas why not give it a try. I cleared an a5 size bit of a good few layers of old paint in 10 mins. Proceed with caution and grin at results.

little wooden house

I found this whilst rummaging around in an antiques shop in Menominie, Wisconsin, it only cost me $1! It's a great idea if you have any off cuts of wood hanging about or maybe have a nose about next time you're down the tip. Depending on what shapes you have you could make town houses, cottages, sky rises, or even a whole village. You could use festive colours, add some glitter and make christmas decorations.

Photo model miniature

Check out this awesome site to transform a photo, it looks like a miniature model when you're finished! Really easy to do, it's quick and free. I thought this picture of Paris would work well because of the detail - fun!

http://tiltshiftmaker.com/

Hope Craft for Haiti

As well as donating directly you can now support th fund raising efforts by buying something from the 'Hope Craft for Haiti' shop on Etsy, items kindly donated by Etsy vendors. http://www.etsy.com/shop/crafthope

Russian Ornament

Check out what I found whilst browsing in 'Crundles' in Swansea, a handpainted Russian ornament, so beautiful and it's going to look great on the christmas tree next year! 'Crundles' is an awesome shop stocking quality jewellery, clothing, decorations, cards, soft furnishings and small items of furniture. The kind of shop that wouldn't look out of place on Diagon Alley!

cheap and cheerful photo art

Messing about on photoshop I managed to change the photo to black and white and retain the yellow jumper, when I remember how I did it i'll share, me and photoshop aren't best buddies yet. Lovely effect though.

little rabbit

Made this little chap from a scrap of vintage look fabric, £3/metre in Forton Fabrics, Gosport, pale felt, old bits of embroidery thread and buttons off an old shirt.

Not his best angle, been slightly squashed and made him slightly angular.

Really easy to make,

1. Roughly draw a pattern, head, ears, body, arms and legs too if you like a challenge! Then add half an inch round the edge for seam allowance.

2. Cut out two.

3. Sew your features to one of the bunny shapes.

4. Place the 2 shapes together 'face to face', sew round the edge, leaving at least an inch gap.

5. Before turning inside out make little snips from the edge of the fabric to the seam ( but not through it) .

5. Turn inside out, stuff (you may need a poking implement for the extremities) and sew the hole shut.

spider costume

Another no frills and no cash costume, off cuts of fur and fabric, stuffed tights and a pack of ping pong balls from pound land. Bargain.

superhero!

Had to dress as a super hero for a children's party at work, I was determined not to spend any money! Pulled out this dress from my wardrobe, coordinated the waistband with black 60's style boots, and gloves made from an old pair of tights. Wanted to go for the early comic hero rather than the new spandex clad version for obvious reasons! I made a paper mask but it looked really shoddy so asked around and managed to borrow some blue face paint, back combed the hair, added some sparkle - shazam!