Craft – The Art of Cobwebs

Thank Heavens I’d written the password on a post it note & stuck it on my ‘puter!

Hello … I’m back! I‘ve been away for a while. M.I.A. (Missing In Action) for what feels like years, and although I kept trying to pick up the blogging ropes again, real life kept coming up with other stuff and *threw a spanner into my plans and thoroughly messed things up.

*’threw a spanner into . . .’ [normally ‘the works’] is a British term, used when something upsets your plans or messes around with anything you might be doing and generally puts a stop to your plans or ideas etc.

Where have I been and why? Well … I’ve not been travelling the world (sadly). I’ve stayed right where I am, – and I thankfully haven’t had Coronavirus or Covid 19 – so I count that as a massive blessing. Although health problems did come into the equation.

Originally I lost my crafty mojo. It was as if my brain had forgotten how to be creative! I have a craft room of amazing incredibleness, and couldn’t seem to be able to bring forth the creativeness which lives inside me 100% of the time. So to have lost my mojo, for what felt like forever, was upsetting to the point of depressing. How the heck did I lose my mojo? It was attached to me like Peter Pans shadow was sewn to him by Wendy Darling.

Then . . . I had a flare up of medical problems. … I suffer with the ‘amusing’ problem(s) of nerve damage, caused by a road traffic accident some years ago in which I injured my lower spine. Added to that, a beautiful combination, my body developed diabetic neuropathy a few years ago (another nerve damage thing) and these two things decided to gang up together in order to have a little fun of their own making, and it caused horrible havoc in my body for rather a long time. Miserable pair of beggars. (grrr).

Then … with the belief that I am a Superwoman who can achieve ANYTHING I WANT, (I’m not and I can’t), I tried to shift the garden bench roughly 12 inches, by shoving it with my thigh. The result of this unbelievable stupidity was a great big, massively HOT, KABOOM, felt in my lower spine, – reminding me that I’m not ‘Super’ anything, other than SUPER STUPID! Which Mr.Cobs confirmed, with those exact words too!

Then … (as if that wasn’t enough), three weeks later, I only went and injured my knee by giving it a thoroughly good whacking on the corner of our big wooden bed. “Darn it!“, “Oh dear me!” and “For Goodness sake!” were sort of the words which popped out of my mouth, … followed by some tears. Mr.Cobs called out an enquiry of:- …. “What the heck was that big bang?” from the living room, to which I could only tearfully shout back:- “It was ME!”.

So anyway …. ‘Real Life’ was also going on at the same time, with it’s Coronavirus Lock-down and social distancing; Mothers Day; A Grandchild’s Birthday (I’ve spent every birthday with him since he was born… in fact, I was there when he was born!); being confined to the house like a prisoner; etc etc. The result was a situation of dreadful fed upness, and some things just had to go onto the back burner until I was ready to pick them up again. So … that’s where I’ve been and that’s some of what kept me ‘busy’ and not blogging!

But anyhoo . . . . Moving forward ... I felt the desire to create something. But it wasn’t the normal paper, paint, clay, card designing or any of the things I normally create.

I’d seen some really lovely creations made by Textile Artists and had the greatest desire to have a proper ‘go’ at this magical art form. I had a bit of an idea about using textiles for things other than their intended use, as I’d done a short textiles course about twelve years ago. But the important thing was that I wanted to try something. I wanted to create. My creativeness was putting in a phone call, and I answered the call!

Sooooo – I am now officially a self taught Textile Artist. I’m creating art works using fabric and textiles.

I’ve made some things which I want to share with you, but I haven’t taken any photos yet, so that’s my job for this week.

I’m also having a ‘go’ at writing a book. Yup, me! Some of you said I should write one, and I knew I had a book inside me, waiting to get out, and finally it’s happening. It’s only at it’s very beginning – but that, according to a song I know – is a very good place to start!

It’s so lovely to be back chatting with you. OH MY GOOD GARDEN CABBAGE! I almost forgot … during my ‘away from blog land’ time, a knock came at the door one day and Mr.Cobs went to answer it. It was a police lady. She’d come to enquire about me. Where I was? and How I was? Was I there? Could she see me, please? Oh.My.Goodness! – what had I done to cause the Police to come to the door asking to see me?!!! Totally freaked me out!

I hobbled to the door with the help of two walking sticks and the lovely Police lady reassured me that I hadn’t done anything wrong, but they had received an enquiry that they had to follow up on. Apparently someone via my blog and WordPress, had contacted the authorities and asked for someone to check on me and make sure I was still alive!

I have never felt so guilty for doing nothing than I did right at that moment!

I didn’t even know that you could ask the police to go and check up on someone in this sort of circumstance!

I had to confirm it really was me by giving my date of birth, place of birth, and various other questions which I can’t now remember, and then she very quietly asked if everything was OK at home? Flippin’ heck… she thought Mr.C might have been knocking me about, or keeping me from blogging! I laughed raucously … and the police lady began to laugh too. Well, the end result was that I told her I felt very guilty that valuable Police time had been wasted all because I hadn’t blogged for a while, and I couldn’t apologise enough to her for all this wasting of police time.

She was so sweet, and said that if they receive an enquiry like this, they have a duty to investigate. She said that someone associated with WordPress and my blog had made the enquiry and she could now send re-assurances that I was indeed alive and it was merely real life and some health problems which were keeping me from blogging at that time.

So .. to whoever it was who made the initial contact with the police – I do hope that you received the confirmation that I was Ok and still alive and that life had simply been a bit of a trial! Please let me know if it was you, so that I can be re-assured that your concerns were answered.

This all sounds like the last few months of absence have been dreadful, and in some ways they have … but there have been wonderful moments too. I had a significant birthday (ending in an 0), which, despite lock down, was so very lovely. The nicest anniversary – with bunting put up in the garden and afternoon tea. Some really beautiful, magical changes in our little garden. Oh! … and … there has been a new addition to the family. But … I’ve blathered on for more than long enough, so I’ll tell you about that another time.

Right now … I’d better get going on some photographs so that I can share the evidence of actually being a ‘Textile Artist’! (I’m sure I’ll still be working with papers, clay, paint and card again at some point so please don’t give up on me!).

In the meantime, I send my love and one huge bucket of squidges to each of you.

Birthday Greetings … of the Hare(y) kind!

I bought these beautiful craft papers a short time ago, and knew that I’d definitely be using the Hare papers to make a particular Birthday card – and, I did, and … this is it.

Actually made in August, I saved the photos and couldn’t find where the darn I’d saved them … but a bit of a search (of around an hour long! tsk tsk) and I found them again today, so sharing a couple of photos here with you.

The papers are made by Craft Consortium (I’ll add a link to their website at the bottom of this post for those who might be interested), and are truly beautiful papers. The images are so crisp and bright (although my photography skills are useless – forgive me), and the papers are a joy to work with. As you can see in the photo, I used four images from the same ‘Hare’ selection, which I matted and layered onto card-stock I already had.

I used a little muslin square behind the main image, which I laid on top of some deep purple grosgrain ribbon. Some assorted stamens, in 3 colours of purples, are peeping out from behind the medium image. There are two tags, made from two smaller Hare images, which I tied with (hairy) string. And I finally added some paper flowers, which I finished with some buttons for the centres.

Turning my attention to the inside of the card, I stamped an image of a Post Card, and gave it a vintage look with inks, then layered it onto some of the deep purple card which I’d also used on the front for matting and layering – so that the ‘theme’ was carried through into the inside of the card.

I stamped a couple of images, which I then water-coloured. After the above photograph was taken I went back with the water-colours and painted a little more, and just brought the whole thing more ‘to life’. But … I then forgot to take another photo, so this sadly is the only one I have of the inside.

This was a really enjoyable make, mainly I think, because I’m kind of in love with the beautiful papers. I have another of their collections, and can’t wait to make some cards with those too.

For those who would like a peep at what they make and who they are, I recommend their website. It’s easy to navigate and has a great selection of images, if you’re low on inspiration. You can visit their site here: https://www.craftconsortium.com/

Thank you so much for coming to share this card with me. It feels like FOREVER since I shared a card. I’ve been enjoying myself with the clay for far too long! (and I’m still hearing it calling to me! lol).

I know that posts are a little infrequent at the moment, but this bloomin’ bout (or flare up) of ‘poorly’ is knocking the stuffing out of me, and I am so thankful to you for all your lovely messages of support, and am so genuinely grateful for your kindness and friendship.

I’ve been thinking about …. (brace yourself) …. Christmas… and I’ve started to make my version of something I found on Pinterest, which I think you might like. I still have to finish the project though, so although I’m not quite ready to share it yet, I’m giving you a warning that Christmas is on its way! EEEeeek! lol.

Again, thank you for coming. I love seeing you. Have a blessed day, my fabulous friends.

GIVEAWAY ~ ‘Home Under the Dome’ ~ WINNER

Thank you all so much for joining in the fun of the GIVEAWAY for the Home Under the Dome, which I shared with you in the last blog post

I closed the Giveaway today, and then collected all the names. Each name was allocated a number based upon the order in which they entered their name into the GIVEAWAY.

These are the names, along with their allocated numbers: (where possible, I’ve added each name as a link to their own blog, so that you can go and visit them and perhaps make a new friend!)

I then asked Mr.Google for it’s Random Number Generator, which it duly gave me, and I asked the RNG to pick the winning number from and including No.1 – up to and including No. 11. I clicked the ‘Generate‘ button, and it chose . . .

NUMBER 1 (ONE)!

So the WINNER OF OUR Home Under the Dome is [drumroll]. . .

~ Watching the Daisies ~

Daisies, I’m thrilled to be posting the Home Under the Dome to you. All I now need is your snail mail address so that I can post it.

I think you and I have emailed each other once before, so I’ll have a search through my emails to see if I can find your email address, and once found, I’ll drop you a note so that you can send me your snail mail address.

Many, many thanks to everyone for joining in. Giveaways make life just a bit more fun, and shines a bright spot in days.

There will be another Giveaway very soon …. but I won’t tell you when, or what for, or why. So keep watching … you really won’t have to wait too long. 😉

And tomorrow …. there is a blog post heading your way – (if I can get the darn photographs taken), – which I think will not only make you smile, but possibly even make you laugh out loud, and maybe even squirm and squiggle just a little. 😀 *Cobs – tsk tsk, that’s enough. Don’t give it all away!!*

But, for today, this glorious Sunday which has been gifted to us all . . . May your day be peace filled, touched with joy, and sprinkled with happy. May you leave any troubles outside the door until tomorrow, and may love fill your home and heart.

And … stay as awesome as I think of you as being. Because you truly, really are.

Much love and many squidges, from me in my corner to you in yours.

Home under the Dome 3 ~ MEGA DOMES!

What’s that saying ~ “Go BIGGER or go home!”? We’ll we’re doing both here!

Although … not going so big that you could see a ‘Home Under the Dome’ from Space. I might be calling them ‘Mega Domes’ – but they’re still tiny. Small enough to put in your pocket.

Take a look at the measurements… (the purple rule is in centimetres, but I’ve done the conversion into inches to help) . . .

The Home Under the Dome in the centre (above) is the regular sized dome that you’ve seen me make before. (you’ll find information about this little Dome later).

The Mega Dome on the right hand side of the above photo contains something very special, because it holds a ‘Fairy Kiss’, and, of course, a Fairy Home[under the Dome] along with some Fairy Mushrooms and a few other tiny fairy things. The Dome on the left hand side of the above photograph contains a Fairy Wish Tree as well as not one, but TWO Fairy Homes, and a bundle of Fairy Mushrooms. Let’s take a look at that one first, shall we?

The tree really does have a tree trunk – but try as I might I couldn’t get it to properly show up in photographs. The trunk is made from a piece of branch which fell from the humongous protected Pine Trees which are in my garden to the rear of Cobweb Cottage.

There are two Fairy Homes, and an assortment of Fairy Mushrooms – all freshly collected from Freckled Mushroom Wood ~ which can be found near to where I live – but is only known and shown to those who truly believe and enter with a pure heart. If you look very closely towards the top of the tree, you will see the tiniest of Fairy Bluebirds, sitting happily in the tree. Can you also spot the really tiny multi coloured, sparkly butterflies?

What you can’t see in the photos above, is that the Fairy Wishing Tree was collected when there was a low breeze, and so it is held in suspension, or ‘frozen in time’, and bends slightly, and the foliage still looks exactly as it did when the low breeze blew it – all blown and sort of ‘leaning’ in the same direction. It looks like there is a gentle wind blowing inside the Dome. Magical!

The other Mega Dome – well that’s a special dome and possibly my favourite. It contains a Fairy Kiss, which holds a Fairy Home and some Magical Freckled Mushroom.

It has flowers, and some teeny tiny buttons which the Fairies had collected and were using as stepping-stones up to their house. Knowing that the Fairies wouldn’t mind, I gathered up just two of the minuscule buttons and added them to the base of the silver Thimble Kiss.

… The Fairy Kiss – is the Thimble you see holding the Fairy home and mushrooms.

Do you remember in the story of Peter Pan, the boy who never grows up, (written by Scottish novelist J.M.Barrie), who interacts with Fairies, Mermaids and Pirates (‘think’ Captain Hook!). Wendy Darling and Peter Pan became friends and wants to give Peter a kiss – which Peter thinks is the thimble which Wendy is holding, so holds out his hand to receive it.

That thimble from the story made a huge impression on me as a child and I grew up knowing that in reality, a thimble to humans, was a ‘kiss’ to a Fairy.

When my daughters were old enough to understand and treasure things – one Christmas I gave each of them a special gift from me of a silver bracelet (one each), which I’d had one tiny, real silver thimble hung on each of the bracelets, and when they’d opened their bracelets I shook my arm and showed them that I too had a silver bracelet with a silver thimble on it, and told them that wherever they might be in the world, and if I was ever a long way away from them, they only had to look at their bracelets and would see that they would always have a kiss from me. They loved their bracelets, and the knowledge that they would always have a kiss.

Now lets deal with that tiny little Home Under the Dome which is in the middle of the two Mega Domes, shall we ? . . .

This regular sized, tiny Home Under the Dome (in the centre of the above photo) is quite a special dome, and it’s up for grabs!

Edit: 22nd July 2018:

The ‘GIVEAWAY’ is now closed to new names being entered into the ‘hat’. Anyone adding their name from this moment forward is, I’m afraid, too late to be included in the ‘draw’.

The Winner of the Home Under the Dome will be announced later today; Sunday 22nd July 2018.

This tiny little dome is packed to over-flowing with charm and has some very special features. There are two tiny homes under this dome, both of which speak of the quirkiness and fun of the Fairies who once inhabited the homes – for both are slightly different in that they are wiggly wobbly. Bending and curving just slightly. They’re …. different in a special way.

It was difficult to show you what I mean in photographs, but you can just about see in the photo above that the tallest of the two houses begins at ground level and then curves backwards and, had it been taller, you would have seen that it’s on it’s way back to curve the other way. BUT .. if you then look at the smaller of the Fairy homes – that home also curves and in fact matches the curve of the taller house! How do the Fairies know how to do that?!!! [gasp!]

There are blue freckled Fairy mushrooms, and also one teeny tiny red freckled mushroom, all growing in the grass. But … there is something very special that I haven’t included in any Dome before . . .

. . . there – in a ‘held in a moment of time’, is a tiny blue butterfly, which landed on a freckled mushroom, and is captured forever under the Dome. This special Dome is now the subject of a Giveaway for followers of my blog.

Edit: 22nd July 2018:

The ‘GIVEAWAY’ is now closed to new names being entered into the ‘hat’. Anyone adding their name from this moment forward is, I’m afraid, too late to be included in the ‘draw’.

The Winner of the Home Under the Dome will be announced later today; Sunday 22nd July 2018.

If you would like to be the custodian for this Home Under the Dome, and you are a follower, all you need to do is:-

In a comment on this blog post, put the word ‘GIVEAWAY’ right at the beginning of your comment. Put it before you type any other word – this helps me to find those folk who would like to be included in the chance to be the new Home Under the Dome, guardian.

And that’s it. That’s all you need to do.

If you can’t find the comments box, then you need to scroll all the way to the top and click on the title of this post (‘A Home under the Dome 3 ~ MEGA DOMES!’) – and that will load the blog page this time with the comments box – which will show up at the bottom of the post. (You can also read any comments other people have put too!)

Please remember that the Giveaway is only open to followers of The Cobweborium Emporium Blog.

Edit: 22nd July 2018:

The ‘GIVEAWAY’ is now closed to new names being entered into the ‘hat’. Anyone adding their name from this moment forward is, I’m afraid, too late to be included in the ‘draw’.

The Winner of the Home Under the Dome will be announced later today; Sunday 22nd July 2018.

Well, crafty wise, that’s me done and dusted.

However . . . I’ve learned some things this week that I’d like to share . . .

Don’t trust that the new receptionist at your doctors has actually booked you in to see the doctor you told her you wanted to see, but instead might (accidentally) book you in to see some doctor in the practise you’ve never seen before in your life. [sigh]
That although your husband/partner normally has the worst memory in the Universe, sometimes they will surprise the heck out of you and know exactly where to find a particular thing, that you know you have, but WHERE THE DICKENS IS IT?!!!
I’ve learned that I haven’t lost my power to bargain with stores and get a better deal than they first offer you. SOOOO happy, and Mr.C is in awe! (But I don’t go in for hero-worship so … ahh, no … a little hero-worship is great for the soul – so long as it’s only for a moment).
I’ve finally admitted that my big boy cat, [read ‘small Panther’], Alf Capone, is, quite frankly, the nosiest cat in the world. He likes to sit or ‘lounge’ anywhere at the front of our cottage where he can observe every single thing which goes on in the area where we live. Any neighbour who comes or goes, doesn’t do so without being counted out and counted in again. Any car which drives past is registered – both in colour, make and model, for future reference by him. He’s the laziest, nosiest, most beautiful cat with the biggest personality, and he makes everyone laugh. He’s also the biggest eater. We’ll go bankrupt with this cat. He can really put it away! (But then, he is a huuuge cat – so I guess it’s understandable).
Finally … I’ve learnt that ‘accidentally’ being booked in to see the wrong doctor actually might be beneficial – so don’t discount seeing someone different when the need arises, for a fresh set of eyes looking at things differently and can sometimes come up with what possibly might be the answer.

I’m sure I’ve learned more than these things, but my one brain cell can only hold so much information, and when there’s too much going in it forces the brain cell to ‘evacuate’ some older things in order to make way for the new stuff. (But I wish that it would hang onto passwords or at the very least be organised enough to stick post it notes to the inside of my skull!)

All that’s left for me to do now is to wish you a truly wonderful week. May reality be better than your dreams!

Have a blessed day all. Sending you heaps of squidges and lots of love ~

Edit: 22nd July 2018:

The ‘GIVEAWAY’ is now closed to new names being entered into the ‘hat’. Anyone adding their name from this moment forward is, I’m afraid, too late to be included in the ‘draw’.

The Winner of the Home Under the Dome will be announced later today; Sunday 22nd July 2018.

I’m baa-a-ack!

Hello! 😀

The missing crafter known as Cobs has been found!

Most of you know, but just in case you, dear reader, don’t: I’ve been having my craft room painted, and having new shelving and storage in there so that I could get myself more organised. Ha! More ORGANISED. That’s a joke.

I don’t know where anything is any more! Things had a place where they lived and I could (kind of, mostly) find them. But now . . . I can’t find anything. Everything is in a new place! So to help the situation I’ve put little sticky notes with various things written on them and fix them on door cupboards and drawers, and on various different bits of papers/acetate/card, etc, so that I give myself a fighting chance to find things again. There’s still some stuff under my sewing desk – but it’s nothing of major importance so it can wait a little while. But there are some boxes stuff on the sewing desk, and I need to finish doing those over the weekend…. in between real life getting in the way – like it does. tsk tsk.

Well … while I’ve been getting on with getting on …. Spring jumped into the mix and ohhh how wondrous it’s made everything here where I am in the South of England. There are now Bluebells flowering in my garden, along with Primulas, Grape Hyacinth, and even my mums Poppies have pushed through the soil and are warming their new leaves and little stems in the wonderful sunshine we’ve had going on. Everything has felt so happy and sea-sidey.

I’ve driven past the bay and along the Harbour side many times over the past couple of weeks, and as I gazed out over the ocean, I swear that someone had sprinkled diamond dust over it for it was twinkling and sparkling like no diamond ring could ever achieve. I so wanted to stop and park, just so that I could enjoy the feeling of deep peace which comes over me when I sit and keep the ocean company. I’ve booked myself an appointment to keep the Ocean company over this weekend. I’ll take some coffee and just sit quietly with it, while it talks to me, in its low, gentle shhhhushing sounds, and I listen to its wisdom and calming voice. It’s the most incredible, peace giving feeling, and I highly recommend it.

Anyhoo . . . I couldn’t come to chat and then leave without sharing a smile or two with you, so … get your chuckle muscle ready – we’re going to give it a workout!

These are the Jokes Folks!

A lorry-load of tortoises crashed into a trainload of terrapins, and I thought, ‘That’s a turtle disaster.’

If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?

I stopped buying women’s magazines. The only time I ever see someone who looks like me is under the word ‘Before’.

My New Year’s resolution was to get in shape. I choose round. So far it’s going really well!

I found a new way to know if you’ve put weight on. There’s a car park near me which has a barrier that goes up when it senses a car is near. I was carrying two bags of shopping, and …

Old ladies in wheelchairs with blankets over their legs? I don’t think so! … I believe they’re retired mermaids.

The worst job I ever had was as a forensicologist for the United Nations. One time I thought I’d come across the mass grave of a thousand snowmen, but it turns out it was just a field of carrots.

I was walking along the other day and on the pavement I saw a white baby ghost; however, come to think of it, it may have been a tissue.

A lot of people like cats. Take the Pope, for example: I read that he was a cat-oholic!

My mother made us eat all sorts of vitamins and supplements, until one day I nearly choked on part of The Sunday Times.

As a child I watched Mary Poppins so many times I suffered from a condition with my sight. Umdiddleiddleiddleumdiddle Eye.

. . . and finally . . .

I had a dream last night that I was cutting carrots with the Grim Reaper. Dicing with death.

Before I go .. I have bit of mind-blowingly exciting news that I’m bubbling over about, and which I’ve known about for about 3 weeks, but didn’t know how to go about sharing this news as I didn’t want anyone to think I was showing off or anything like that.

I’ve been nominated for an award in the WordPress Annual Bloggers Bash Awards 2018! This news made me so, so happy that I sat here and blubbered (cried) about it.

Now I live under no delusions of winning – there are a lot of other blogs nominated in my category who are far worthier than my little bit of the World Wide Web – but to be nominated — Ohh my goodness! That alone is the most incredible, magical thing to me. Such an honour and so unbelievably wonderful to see my name there amongst all those others – aw heck, – I could cry all over again just telling you about it.

I’ll give you a link to the page on WordPress so that you can read about the awards for yourself. (Voting closes at midnight on April 30th (BST)). If you want to see my name there, scroll down to the category of: MOST INFORMATIVE (Original Content) Blogger – and you’ll find my name in the box under the explanation of what this category is about.

LINK TO LIST OF NOMINATIONS – click here: https://sachablack.co.uk/2018/04/06/voting-is-now-open-for-the-annual-bloggers-bash-awards-bloggersbash/

Please know that I’m not asking you to vote for me – I wouldn’t ever do that. The joy of seeing my name amongst all those others is mind-blowing. I have no pipe dreams about winning. I don’t ‘do’ Facebook or any of the social media things like that – and no one in my family reads my blog, except for the lovely Mr.Cobs (bless him), so I have no ‘in family’ or friend supporters, but hey, that doesn’t matter …. I WAS NOMINATED! And that alone means more to me than you could ever imagine.

Thank you to the lovely fellow blogger who put my name forward. I am touched to the heart of me and filled with thanks for your kindness. Bless you. I think I know who this is, but I won’t embarrass them by naming them here.

So . . . that’s me, back in the saddle again. Now I know that trying to catch up with everyone’s blog posts I’ve missed reading is going to be a task on the impossible scale, so what I’m planning to do is pick up from today. However . . . if there is a post that I’ve missed over the past couple of weeks, which you were hoping for me to see, or comment on, then please leave a link to it in a comment below and I’ll go straight to it and have a peep.

What have you been up to? Been anywhere? Seen something? Created anything? Do share!

Until we talk – and I hope we do talk … may your day be bright. May your smiles be brighter. And may your life be filled with contentment. If it’s not … make it so!

Sending you much love and squidges ~

Paint, brushes and … coo what a mess!

I’ve been very lackadaisical about posting a blog post or two over the last few days, or reading and commenting on yours and/or other folks blog posts. Sorry about that. I’m here to explain that there is a very good reason for this … so – read on dear reader, read on . . .

Liddle Widdle Cottage — Not exactly a photograph of little wittle Cobweb Cottage, *but a sort of likeness.* 😀

We moved into our incy wincy, teeny tiny, little wittle cottage over 6 years ago now, and from the moment I saw the already converted garage – no garage door anymore, a lovely wooden floor and spotlights in the ceiling. No draughts, large double glazed window with a double glazed door, and all this sited in the back garden, across the decking – well, I knew that whatever the cottage looked like, THIS craft room was going to be mine.

However … I’ve longed, from that moment, for the room to be painted white inside. It was and always has been since we moved in, been a delicate shade of lavender. Not a bad colour by any means, but just not the right colour for me. I longed for an antique sort of white which was soft on the eye and which I found relaxing and inspiring.

I dropped hints every now and again. I even added this request to my Christmas List to Father Christmas, but it was missed off the presents left by F.Christmas, and hints never hit the spot.

BUT . . . about 3 months ago Mr. Cobs suddenly said that he was going to put me some better shelving in my craft room! (Be still my beating heart). I gasped in ~~shock~~ loving surprise and gazed all starry-eyed at my craft room walls, imagining the new shelves.

Now Mr. Cobs isn’t someone who rushes at jobs. I have to put in a request several weeks before I’m in need of something, so I knew that I’d likely have to wait for a short while for the said shelves to appear – but I began to kind of sort out my crafty things. Moving stuff about, making piles of this, that and the other, all of them waiting, waiting, waiting – bit like being 42 weeks pregnant when you hoped to go into labour at week 39.

Suddenly, himself BURST into action earlier this week (during a bout of it not raining for a change!) and after measuring (several times) and informing me of what he thought was the right shelving system for me …. and me agreeing or suggesting perhaps a tweak here and there – I decided that I would chance my arm and see if perhaps, before he put up the said new shelving, would he, perhaps, maybe, be open to taking up a paint brush and splashing some paint around in order to turn lavender walls into white ones. And . . . . . . . . . HE’S DOING IT!!! He’s actually painting the Craft Room! Oh joy of joys thy name is Cobs Snr!

Painting — Not entirely a photograph of Mr.Cobs, but a sort of likeness. *lol*

Ohhh dear reader 😀 I cannot explain how amazing the room feels when I go into it. It’s bright, uplifting but restful and the positive vibes are incredible. AND …. … the new shelving system looks wonderful. There’s still things to do, and still all the putting back of all the crafty stash etc to be taken care of, but … it’s all this moving, changing, painting, putting up shelving, altering, (and still waiting for an extra bit of shelving and then possible moving of a couple of things around) – which has kept me away from posting. I haven’t been able to properly get into the craft room, and the dining room table is filled to capacity with all the crafty stuff which has had to be moved from the craft room, in order for painting to take place – so no crafty thing has been produced to share with you here

So … my apologies that I’ve missed some of your posts over the last week or so. I will attempt to catch up at some point. But a combination of Mr. C., paint, brushes, and creations of a totally different sort than normal … and also because I’ve been far too excited about this [almost] Alice in Wonderland happening, has kept me from being able to do anything other than be child-like excited about my craft room being decorated.

I’m kind of here … I’m just not quite all there. (but you knew that already). lol

Oh … and in the middle of all this Little Cobs had a Birthday, and I hosted a Birthday Party here at Cobweb Towers – and had to hide all the craft stash which has been sitting on the dining room table! It was all hidden really well. In fact so well that I’m not sure we’ve found it all again! LOL.

Anyhoo … normal service will be resumed once everything is back to normal. Until then … please take very good care of yourself.

Sending love and squidges ~

Craft Living, with Anne and Malcolm ~ part 3

Some of you will recall that I’ve posted ‘Craft Living with Anne and Malcolm’ twice before, and so know that all the photos/pictures are all about having a bit of a giggle about something(s) that you might have normally not noticed about a craft inspired photograph.

If you haven’t seen the firs two of these blog posts, you might find that having a read of them first will give you an idea of what to expect in this third instalment.

You can find the first Anne and Malcolm post HERE No.1 (it will open in a new tab for you)

The second Anne and Malcolm post can be found HERE No.2 (again, it will open in a new tab).

Anne and Malcolm aren’t myself or Mr.Cobs – however, they do have their feet placed firmly in our joined at the hip sense of humour. (except my humour is far cleaner than Mr.Cobs, and doesn’t involve swear words (very often) and most certainly has nothing to do with f.a.r.t.s or blowing raspberries either!)

Anne and Malcolm are a figment of my imagination. They are two people I ‘made up’ in order to share something which tickles the heck out of me – that being viewing a photograph and the ability to see something funny; odd; weird; strange; ticklish… which, the moment I’ve seen *that thing*, I instantly give voice to describing it. And … I simply brought that voice to the blog here in order to [hopefully] cause you smile.

So here for your enjoyment is Craft Living with Anne and Malcolm, part 3. I hope you enjoy viewing it as much as I did putting this little selection together for your enjoyment.

There aren’t nearly enough laughs to be heard in the world right now, so have some fun with these, and share them too. Let’s infect the world with a bit of laughter! 😀

❤

Well, what did Malcolm expect Anne to put the pot plant on… a pillowcase off the bed?? Good grief!

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Eh? Don’t we all do that???

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Personally, Mr. Cobs lives with the belief that I have a bladder the size of Lake Titicaca!

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…. Nice to know that someone else has that problem too. 🙂

~ ❤ ~

Well, we’ve turned over a few more pages of the ‘COBWEB CATALOGUE – life with a Crafter & her Spouse’. Y’know … I don’t think we’ll ever get to the end of that Catalogue – there seems to be an unending amount of pages in it.

I will be truthful and say that I love this adorable pair. They’re obviously made for each other. But both in need of getting out more.

Thank you so much for coming and having a bit of a giggle with me. Do remember to share the smiles with your friends (send ’em a link in an email) or re-blog for your own blog followers. We really do need more smiles going on in the world right now, so let’s form a chain, eh?

Wishing you a happy, contented weekend. Sending squidges and buckets love, to you in your corner, from me in mine. ~

The Wand of Dooom ~ by Little Cobs aged 7 (almost)

Little Cobs, my scrumptious Grandson (aged nearly 7 – as he’s fond of reminding me), has never, up till now, been that ‘into’ crafting. It was such a heart-sore to me but it was something that every now and again I’d have a play around with, at the dining room table, to see if I could spark him up and get him going. That was until last week when I asked him if he wanted to do a little painting or something … he positively JUMPED at it! So, acting upon his instructions I got various colours of paint, and bits of card, and he went off to his bedroom, (here in Cobweb Towers) coming back with an armful of Dinosaurs. “Lets do Dinosaur footprints!” he said excitedly. So … we did. We painted (with a cut sponge) the dinosaurs feet and made them ‘walk’ across the bits of card!

Not wanting to end this sudden change of craftiness, I said …. “Oooo, I know … let’s paint a proper painting. On a canvas – just like an artist does!” He was all for this … so another trip to the craft room, and I returned to the table with a small canvas – about 6″x 4″ (roughly) … and we painted birds – …. well, actually he painted different coloured splodged finger prints, and I said I would do some magic and turn them into anything he wanted – except dinosaurs (because we’d already done those) … birds was chosen – along with a special request from him of … “A SLUG!” – which we named Cecil. We left the painting to dry, I added some details to the back (name, date etc) and then sealed the acrylics lightly so that he could take it home and impress mummy and daddy. (They were by the way (impressed).

So this week I thought I’d try to get him to do something else crafty …. and … we made his very own Wand!

I’ve seen wands on Pinterest made for children, using a hot glue gun. Personally – I don’t think the making of anything using a Hot Glue Gun is child friendly. But that’s just me and my over-protective Grammyness!.

Most of you know that Little Cobs has Cerebral Palsy – which, along with other problems, can affect his hand/eye co-ordination a little, and sometimes he can be a bit shaky – hence the reason I wanted to get the main hot glue stuff out of the way. BUT … I knew we would still have to use the glue gun for fixing adornments.

He chose three different coloured jewels, a red one, a blue one and a black one, all which had one side covered in aurora borealis and made the jewel flash all sorts of colours as you moved them.

I explained that Grammy would have to fix these jewels to the wand using some very special glue and a hot glue gun. I told him that this was very dangerous stuff and only for grown ups to do – so although he could tell me where he wanted his jewels to be, I would have to glue them.

Bless his heart, he was so good about it. He sat patiently, watching – and playing with all the jewels in the pots – (he even went and got his little matchbox digger/earth mover and made a building site on the table while waiting).

Then came the painting bit – and after that …. best of all …. we added shine and glimmer, which gave it “the MAGIC!” (apparently) – at least that’s what Little Cobs said, and he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to magic. (apparently). 🙂

I gave him a little make up sponge and showed him how to gently add the glimmer and shine to the wand, in the places he wanted it to be. He had an absolute ball of a time with it. So much so that I had beautiful gold fingernails where he’d sponged me with it too.

The glimmer and shine (the MAGIC) comes from one of my favourite products in my craft room. Pinflair Buff It. Available HERE. (scroll down just a little to find where the Buff It products are listed). I use the original Buff-it rather than the liquid Buff-it. I’ve never tried the liquid so can’t comment on it. As you can see in the above photo … the buff it will ‘go’ just about anywhere. On the wood and on the glue, beads, jewels and on Grammys too! Then after a gentle polish with a soft tissue, the wand was finished and ready to wave, with a swish and a flick! (Harry Potter fans will ‘get’ that).

And that’s all there was to it!

I thought a great name for this wand would be: The Three Eyed Dragon Wand (because the jewels look like three dragon eyes peeping out) … but Little Cobs felt that he could come up with something far better … so while I went and washed my gold fingernails, young Cobs turned his Grandad into a Frog and when I got back into the living room Little Cobs proclaimed that this (waving his wand about with abandon) was … “THE WAND OF DOOOM!” – you have to say it in a deeper voice than normal and prolong that ‘Dooom’, so that it gives the listener a feeling of impending … dooom. LOL. When I said it as The Wand of Doom, I was corrected and made to say it several times until I got it right.

Some people are so bossy! 😀

We did actually make something else too ... but I’ll leave that for another day.

Well …. Happy Monday! The start of another week. Another one! Coo, aren’t we lucky that we get given these weeks, and we don’t even ask for them or add them to our shopping lists! We get them free too – which is my very most favourite price!

Thank you so much for coming and having a coffee with me. May today be a really great day for you. Remember … you’re in charge of your mood, so pick a good one!

Sending love and squidges, from me, here in my corner, to you, there in yours ~

It was a book – and now it’s a card!

Firstly … sorry to still be posting Christmas cards, in the middle of January, but this was one which I couldn’t post before Christmas as it would have spoilt the surprise, so sharing it with you now.

Originally this was a children’s book called Dear Zoo.

It was one of those books which is ‘interactive’. It had opening doors on each page. So I began by cutting those doors out so that the pages lay closely together.

I set to work and first measured out how much of a section I wanted to cut out of the book in order to leave the right size ‘hole’ inside the card/book at the end. Once I’d cut through the pages, I then glued and used double-sided tape to ensure that the pages I wanted to stay shut actually stay that way.

Then … I went to town. Papers, card, ribbons, flowers, baubles, a sleigh, handmade hearts, berries, printed pictures from a CD Rom, cutting, pearls, snowflakes, die cutting … you name it, I think I probably either did it or thought about doing it.

Mr. Cobs Christmas 2017 2 — Inside, showing page 1, of the book/card.

I die cut the Christmas trees, then painted them roughly with a little paint then once dry I added some dimensional ‘snow’ and added a little twinkling glitter. While those dried I stamped the blue backing paper with clear embossing ink and added some softly twinkly embossing powder so that it gave the background a bit of twinkle. The snowflakes are all die cuts too.

Mr. Cobs Christmas 2017 3 — Inside of the book/card – page 2

I printed this page (above) three times, and cut out various parts of the page so that I could do a little decoupage and give the page some depth.

I added a little white glitter here and there, on these layers, just to catch the light and again, add some depth.

Mr. Cobs Christmas 2017 4 — The back of the card/book

The spine of the book (and spreading round to the front and back) … when you see it in real life, looks like leather. It’s not. It’s actually made from regular craft card and glycerine. (and an embossing folder – but you can use any embossing folder you like). I won’t bore you to death with a ‘how to’, because people have posted how to’s about doing it all over the web. But instead, I’ll give you a video of the fabulous lady who taught me how to make this faux leather: (her name is Sheena Douglass and she’s Scottish – so give yourself chance to adjust to her accent and you’ll be fine then). . .

And that’s all there was to it!

Have to admit that the most difficult bit was actually cutting through those individual pages. Coooo, those were thick and really tough work. But then … I’m a bit of a weakling so taking the top off a bottle can challenge me most days! tsk tsk. drat these muscleless arms!

Well .. it’s Tuesday (or Chewsday as my friend pronounces it), and I think we need a little Tuesday fun, so here are a few jokes to turn the corners of your mouth up . . .

Why don’t you ever see hippopotamus hiding in trees? Because they’re really good at it.
How does NASA organise their company parties? They planet.
My friend recently got crushed by a pile of books, but he’s only got his shelf to blame.
What did Jay-Z call his girlfriend before they got married? Feyoncé.
What do you call dangerous precipitation? A rain of terror.
What do you call a big pile of kittens? A meowntain.
…. and finally ….
Atheism is a non-prophet organisation.

Well even if only one of them made you smile, then I’ve done my job. 😀

Thank you so much for coming. I love seeing you here. Each blog post is, for me, like opening up my front door and waiting for you to arrive . . . and then you all come, one by one, and stop for a coffee with me. I just love it. (and I love it even more when you stay for a chat – so please feel free to chat away in comments. I can promise I’ll reply because, as everyone will tell you, I love to chat!) 😀

Have a truly blessed rest of your day!

A Peacock made from Stamp Soup!

I saw the technique for making this card demonstrated about 3 weeks ago and the whole thing fascinated me so much that I tried to remember every little thing about how the demonstrator made her creation. Now I know that I haven’t got it exactly the way she did it, but it’s close enough.

Made on an 8″x8″ scored and folded card, using Polkadoodles Stamp Soup stamps, called Regal Peacock. But … that name really is just a suggestion, for you could make a million different creations with these stamps because the results will come from your imagination. You and I could begin with the same stamps and yet we’d make something way different from each other.

Here …. take a look at them:

. . . can you see the peacock stamp in there? . . . No? That’s probably because there isn’t one! I used 7 different stamps to make the peacock. You can pick them out … they’re the ones which are a little darker in colour. I used a black Stazon Ink Pad (solvent ink) so that I could then colour the images using watercolours.

You don’t have to be ‘neat and tidy’ when painting the Peacock feathers, just free-handed with the paint. Then once dry, all the feathers (which were stamped onto spare card, then painted) have to be cut out and then ‘feathered’ at the edges by cutting into the images with light, small cuts. Those peacock feathers are then adhered to the main peacock body which I’d previously stamped and coloured using the watercolour paints, directly onto the card.

Finally …. some parts of the peacock were embossed with gold and green embossing powders.

. . . and that’s all there was to it!

Although simple to make … I had to spread it over three days so it kind of felt a little time-consuming. All the waiting for paint to dry, and cutting out of all the feathers…. little things, but they all added up to time. But it was a totally, thoroughly enjoyable make, I have to admit. A lot of fun – and I can’t wait to make something else with those stamps now.

So anyway … how the divil are you? I feel as if we haven’t got together for a coffee and chat for weeks and weeks.

In my world … the chubby dog (aka the Belly on legs) had to go to the vet this week. I noticed that she had some tiny patches of hair loss on her back so off to the vets we went and after some examination and a bit of testing, we were told she’s got a Bacterial Skin Infection. (That’s the dog not the vet who has the skin infection). So we have a little bottle of stuff which we have to massage into her skin … wait 5 minutes, then thoroughly wash off. And we were given some tablets, which she has to have twice a day.

Now she really doesn’t mind the tablets. She’s called ‘My Little Fat Bitch‘ for a reason. She can eat as if it’s going out of fashion, and she thinks those tablets are treats, so woofs them down!

And . . . she really loves the massage bit of the stuff in the bottle … but … the bit she’s not at all happy with, is the ‘wash it all off’ bit. She HATES the shower. HATES it. Did I say that strongly enough? I’m not sure I did so let me repeat myself: SHE HATES THE SHOWER.

She’s told me time and time again; . . . “Belly is not designed for getting wet. Don’t let Belly get wet. That umbrella …. that’s for Belly. Hold it down here, over Belly – NOT over you! Don’t let Belly Get Wet!!“

She SO hates getting wet that she would rather plait her legs, (‘braids’ for folks in the USA), than go out into the garden to have a tiddle if it’s raining outside. This adorable, much loved pooch even squints in the rain. Yes, seriously. I kid ye not!

So the massage and shower isn’t the most enjoyable task … but then … I don’t have to do it. Mr. Cobs Senior takes on that job, (bless him) because I feel like Cruella de Vil if I try to do it.

When it’s all over and done with … you have to see that rotund little dog absolutely barrel out of that bathroom! She’s like a bullet out of a gun! It’s among the funniest things to watch … and boy can her little legs can move when she wants them to!

So anyhoo . . . what’s going on in your corner that you’d like to share with me while we drink the last few sips of coffee from our cups?

Won the Lottery? Got a new job? Sold your house? Adopted a new pet? Or … by any chance . . . Does your dog have a bacterial skin infection? Your cat? YOU? I can recommend a vet! 🙂

Wishing you a thoroughly enjoyable Thursday. May the hours go as fast, or as slow, as you would like them to. Just find the fun and enjoy it.

Be the reason someone smiles today. Heaps of squidges from me in my corner, to you in yours.