Eloquent Acorns! They speak to you!

I love Acorns – and Pine Cones – and Broken Branches – and Conkers – and Sycamore Seeds (or as Daughters 1 and 2 used to call them:  Helicopters), – and Conkers (seeds of  the horse chestnut tree)  – and … well anything which trees give to us.  They’re all such wonderful gifts from Nature and given to us freely.  So making an Acorn project is an absolute joy!

These particular Acorns aren’t  ‘fallen from a tree’  Acorns.  These are cut and turned pieces of hard wood, shaped into beautiful little Acorns, sanded smooth and ready for me to do something wonderful with.  So I did.  I gave each Acorn a voice of its own and brought forth the positivity which I could feel just from holding the Acorn in my hand.

It was the oddest thing, but with each acorn I could feel a real feeling of uplifting comfort;  encouragement;  calmness;  peaceful and peace filled,   and .. oh … what felt like a hundred different feelings of wonderfulness.  I began to notice that upon holding each acorn in the palm of my hand, I would get a different word pop into my mind.  So I began to write the words down on my note pad.  And, as you can see from the photo’s – now, each acorn travels with its own word emblazoned on its little nut!

Each of the Acorns is meant as symbol of encouragement and positivity. 

Acorns really are little miracles.

I know that people now are too cynical and don’t believe in miracles, or there are some who are of the belief that miracles are the work of a dark force.  Whereas I …  aw,  I see miracles happen every single day.

This summer, I’ve watched the baby squirrels born in the tree tops, in the garden of Cobweb Cottage,  leave their nest,  with mommy in attendance,  and learn to carefully scramble down and back up the tree again.  I watched them day after day, slowly learn to race up and down the huge, tall pine trees, and laugh and cackle and ‘bark’ at each other as they’ve learnt to jump the wide spaces from one tree to another.  All the time they were keeping an eye on Miss Maisie the Cat who cannot understand how these strange, chattering creatures can move so fast!  And there I am,  stood in the garden,  giving thanks for being in the right place, at the right time, to witness the miracle of baby squirrels growing up and learning how to do what they were doing,  and smiling all the time, feeling blessed, because I was watching this miracle of nature.

I’ve sat in my craft room in the garden, and watched a Magpie learn how to play and get a bit of fun by standing on the high ridge of the Cottage and drop a pebble so that it bounces over and over down the roof and then finally hits the conservatory roof and flies off onto the decking where it makes a combined noise of ‘PLOP’ and ‘CRACK’.  And that Magpie LOVES his game.  So much so that he pops off, finds another pebble then comes back and goes through the whole game all over again.  Now … call me daft, but in my mind, him teaching himself this game is a little miracle to me, and I watch him in wonderment, all the time grinning like a fool – so much so that my face begins to ache!

I’ve heard baby birds in our nest boxes, emerging from their eggs and screeching for their food, when they hear the mommy bird land on the nest box with a beak filled with wriggling insects.  The miracle of life.  Nature.  Every day!  FREE!

Nature sends us Postcards all day every day, but unless you look up and see these Postcards then you’ll miss them and not see the Miracles that these Postcards hold.

And likewise …  Acorns are, for me at least, a Postcard.  And these Acorns, are my version of those postcards.  My interpretation, if you like.

Each one has a completely different, uplifting, positive, word of encouragement and meaning.  No two are the same.

They can be popped into your bag or your pocket and taken with you wherever you go.  Or, because they come with a ribbon on them,  they could be hung on a Christmas Tree, or a metal hanger, or maybe one of those crocodile grip/note holders on your desk.  Or simply put somewhere you want them to be, so that you see them now and again and they remind you of their message.

I have to admit that these weren’t a quick make.  I’ve been making these over the past few weeks, doing a bit now and again, then waiting until I can get to the next stage.  I knew how I wanted them to look so had already planned out how to get there.  But …  they did take rather longer than I would have liked.  

What’s that thing Confucius said about going slowly?  …  …  … 

“It doesn’t matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop.”

Yeah  …. that about sums up life here in Cobweb Cottage.  🙂  Wise man, that Confucius.

Well, that’s me done and dusted.  Now let’s get to the important bit . . .

How the dickens are you?

Is life treating you kindly?  Is everything fine and groovy in your world, or is something causing you a bit of trouble?  Feel free to unburden yourself and if I can help in any way, or suggest something you might not have thought of then I will.  If I can’t help then I’ll sit with you and just hold your hand.

If someone is bothering you, then you tell me who they are and I’ll put on my boots and come and sort them out!!  I might be little, but when I’m roused I am MIGHTY!  (and I can control a classroom of  noise makers  even when their own teacher can’t – simply by saying  …..  “ERMmmmm  Excuse ME??!!!!!”  In the right way, right tone, and right volume.  And yet … they all still love me afterwards.  LOL! – yes, it’s really true!).  So coming and sorting someone out for you will be a walk in the park!

BUT …  if life is treating you kindly and you’ve won a few pounds on the lottery (or couple of dollars), then do tell because I can then laugh with you as we plan your spending trip!  Maybe you’ve made a new friend?  Got a new job?  New baby?  New House? (Rabbit 🙂 ).  New car?  Old car back from the garage but with a lower bill than you expected?

Whatever it is, if it’s happening or on your mind, then share and/or unburden and we’ll have a coffee together and chew it over.  Oh…  and I have biscuits – so we can chew on those too!

For now, I must thank you so very much for coming, and for spending a coffee moment with me.  I’m so happy to see you here.  Seriously so.  You make the internet such a great place for me to be  . . . and I know that for some folks, it can be a bloomin’ nightmare!  So thank you.  You’re amazing.

Sending much love to you my fabulous blog friend, and wishing you a truly wonderful day.

 

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This Little Piggy is a Valentine Little Piggy!

When I first saw Hunkydory Box Pops (last year) I fell in love with them and bought two sets.  Farm and Jungle.  And … I bought them just to make for my Grandson, Little Cobs.

I made him one at Christmas (and forgot to share it with you!  tsk) – a Christmas Crocodile – in a clear box, to which I’d added a bundle of ‘snowballs’ – and he loved it.  (Who says you can only make Christmas cards for children with Rudolph or Santa on them?)

You can make these Box Pops as simple or as complicated as you like, and can use them for almost any occasion too!  For Children, they fit the bill and work perfectly.  But … I can actually see that they could work for adults.  They inject an element of fun into a card.

You make up your chosen animal using the die cut elements.  Then you can either press it flat and put it into an envelope (envelopes come supplied with the die cuts), or you can make an Acetate box and pop your card into it so that the recipient can keep the card held inside the box after they’ve displayed it – or you can seal the box shut so that the card will be held inside the box and protected.  (If you’re not good at making boxes then there are boxes, cut to size and ready scored, from Hunkydory).

In the above photo – I tried to light piggy so that you could see the folds of the ‘box’ which make the body of the pig.  Hence the reason they’re called ‘box pops’.

Once made up, you can simply press your animal flat and put it in an envelope – but it will pop back up when the recipient opens it up when they receive it.  The head is fixed to the body by a folded piece of acetate, which gives the card ‘nodding dog’ look. (or in this case nodding pig).  So cute!

This Little Piggy Loves You.  (Well it would ….  after all, it’s a Valentines Pig!)

I made the lid of the box out of acetate, so that the pig can be viewed from the sides and the top.  And … the funny thing is … when you look at piggy through the sides, he’s looking at you.  But when you view piggy from above …  he’s still looking at you!  How does that happen?  Is it magic?  Maybe piggy is  Super Pig  –  (like Super Man).

I added hearts and stars which I sprinkled around the inside, and finally added a ribbon handle, and ribbon around the base and the lid, and VOILA!  One Valentines Card, from a Grammy to her 5-year-old Grandson.

So ….  Happy Monday! 

I know Mondays can be drab sometimes, but give it chance.  You know they nearly always get better, even if you don’t feel the ‘happy’ straight away.  Give the day chance to show you the warmth, the smiles, and even the love.  Allow yourself to have a lovey day!

Most of all . . . whatever you’re doing today,  be good to yourself  …  and to each other.  It helps the world go around and makes life so much enjoyable and pleasant.  And the world could do with a lot more enjoyable and pleasant in it.

Have a truly blessed day.  Heaps of love and squidges from my corner, to yours …

 

Just to let you know … I don’t receive anything in the way of payment or remuneration from any suppliers mentioned in this post or any other post.  I will only recommend to you items which I’ve used and work for me and ones I’m impressed with. 

The Hunkydory products talked about in this post were bought by me.  No items were gifted from companies, and I have received no payment in any way or form, for chatting with you about them.

Happy Anniversary!

Well my goodness, it’s been quiet around this blog for the last month, hasn’t it!  I won’t bore you with the details, suffice to say:  Life sometimes gets in the way and it can take up valuable crafting time.  How dare it! 

“What a darn cheek”, I hear you say.   I agree.  How VERY dare it, indeed!

I’ve been trying to fit a little crafting time in, and one of the things which was on the list of ‘To Do’, was an anniversary card for my truly lovely neighbours.  Big M  (aka Mr. Cobs)  learnt that they were going on a fabulous holiday to celebrate their wedding anniversary, so he shared the news with me and of course … I instantly went into ‘must make a card’ mode, and this, dear readers, is what this lovely blog post is about.

I’ll put in as many details as possible in case this card inspires you to make something similar for someone you know.  But if I leave anything out, please feel free to ask in a comment.  Comments are moderated (to delete ‘spam’ before it gets onto the blog) – so your ‘question’ or comment won’t appear on the blog straight away.  But I will reply asap, I promise, cross my heart, hold up my pinky finger and say “Honour Bright”.  (yerrsss….  Shirley Temple was a part of my growing up.  My mother loved the films).

Anyway … let’s get on with it, shall we?

The ‘base’ card I used was a 5×5″ ready scored card (by Craftwork Cards), in a beautiful soft biscuit colour, with white polka dots.  I began by cutting half of the front of the card off, diagonally, and then on the reverse of the cut off piece of card, I sprayed it with plain cold water from a very fine mist spray.  I let the water penetrate the card and after a moment or two, I curled the card round a little tube, to give it that lovely curve you see in the photograph above.  If you do this – hold the card there for a moment, to kind of ‘set’ the curve and give it a memory of where you want it to be.  Then set it on one side to dry while you get your papers chosen and cut to size.

For this project I chose papers from Docrafts ‘Papermania’ in their Parisienne Blue range.  The doily is also from this range.  I cut a 12×12 into 6″ squares, then cut one square diagonally, and also cut a doily in the same way.

I fixed the triangle of paper and the doily to the curved piece of card first, (you might find this easier to do if you drape the curved card over the edge of your desk and work with it that way),  then fixed a 6×6 sheet of the paper to the card, as shown.

I attached the curve back onto the card again, and using strong red tape, I taped it down to the front of the card. I then punched two holes through the curved piece of card, and the card front (now attached, beneath it) and then ensured the curve stayed exactly where I wanted it to be by using a tie of thin organza ribbon through the punched holes.

My attention then turned to the back, and I made a card stand for the back, so that the wallet card would stand up when it was finished.  (Imagine a school photograph, which has one of those stiff fold out bits on the reverse, enabling you to stand the photo up without a frame.  The card stands I make are the same sort of thing).  I then finally fixed the ‘loose’ front in place, along the inner bottom, thereby creating a wallet style card.

I added some metal, vintage style corners in place, using some strong glue and my craft clamps.  (Bought some time ago from The Range for next to nothing.  I HIGHLY recommend them!)

Corners fixed in place and not moving, ….  then came the fun stuff!

The Roses came from my stash.  I buy flowers anywhere I find them.  If I see flowers which I know would work perfectly on cards (or albums etc), I buy them straight away.  Finding the right flowers when you need them can be a task and a half sometimes, so I try to have a selection already in the craft room so that I have them when I need them.

The roses I chose for this card are a kind of delicate to touch, silky flowers and I fell in love with them because of their softly folded petals and the way they curled at the edges.   I tucked them into the curve of the card and added silky green leaves wherever I thought they were needed.

I made a big bow using some wide, pretty blue Organza and added a satin ribbon from the Parisienne Blue range on top, to layer,  and also tie the biscuity colour of the card into the ribbons, and finally, I added a large rose to the centre of the ribbons and fixed it in place.

Next came the tags which I wanted to tuck into the pocket.  I used some beautiful royalty free images and also stamped a ‘post card’  onto some card, then vintaged it up using a warm brown ink pad and duster brush.

All around the edges of the tags I kind of sprinkly, embossed some very fine, golden embossing powder to give them a bit of pizzazz.  The stamped message that you can just about see on the tag behind the postcard above reads: 

Marriage
1. A legal commitment to live as
husband and wife
2. Wedlock
3. A close and intimate association
4. A pledge.

Which kind of sums it all up in a few words, doesn’t it?.  I loved it!  It was perfect for this tag.

And finally …  this card would never have fit into a regular envelope, so I made it a matching box, which I lined with contrasting papers from the same Papermania Parisienne Blue range …

The card was ready and waiting for my neighbours when they came home from their holiday.

Thank you so much for coming and spending some time with me.  I’m sorry that it’s been a bit quiet around here, Thank you to those of you who so kindly kept me in your prayers and sent me messages.  You touched my heart in so many ways and kept me plodding along.  Thank you.  I want to say I love you, for it.  And I do – but not in a creepy way you understand!    . . . aw, you know what I mean.  (chuckling to myself here).

Have a truly blessed rest of your day.  I hope your weekend is fabulous and that the sun shines warm upon your face  …. just not so hot that it melts you though!

Heaps of love and squishy stuff …