A Card with a ‘twist’: Book Marking Vegetables!

I sat at my desk towards the end of last week wanting to make something different in the ‘handmade card’ category . . .  and I came up with  A Card for a Gardener – but one with a difference.   It’s slim and tall, and stands up all by itself, just like a card is supposed to do, but if you pull on the ribbon at the top, you find that there’s a bookmark hiding inside!

pull on the ribbon and SURPRISE! something is hiding inside!

Trying to make a card suitable for a lady or gentleman, either of which gardens, seemed a challenge at first, (I instantly thought of flowers … and flowers on a card is something one normally associates with a ladies card),  but as I was gazing around my craftroom looking for inspiration, my eyes rested upon my collection of Graphic 45 and one of the Graphic 45 collections is a particular favourite of mine, it’s called Home Sweet Home.

photograph credit: Graphic 45

So … the choice was made!  The Card (base) is made out of craft card, which I measured, marked and cut to size, scored and folded, then glued all the parts which needed to be fixed together.

I then chose and fixed to the ‘base’ layer of paper – the papers behind all the adornments.  The deeper green paper on the front and back of the card (the holder of the bookmark) are from a selection of papers by Dovecraft, called Couture de Jour.  But the paper used on the bookmark itself is again from Dovecraft in their range called Floral Muse.

Distressing and inking up took place, and made everything look like it had enjoyed a good ol’ time in the garden with it’s gardening friend. (I almost feel like the distressing looks like soil covered fingerprints!)

I cut out the images I wanted to use from the Graphic 45 papers, and placed them where I eventually wanted them to be, – then leaving them there, I turned my attention to making some vegetables out of Hearty Clay.

If you haven’t already tried this clay then I can highly recommend it.  It’s easy to handle and will dry quickly – I always give it overnight, simply because I want to ensure that all the moisture has had chance to evaporate.  (You really don’t want to put wet clay on a card!).

It’s also very light in weight so it adds little to the weight of a card.

Once the clay vegetables were dry I painted them and put them on one side for the paint to dry.  While I was waiting, I fixed all the fussy cut items to the card.  Then I sprayed the dried vegetables in a quick dry glaze, and once dry I added them to the card, then turned my attention to the bookmark.

showing the back of the card and the front of the bookmark.

Again, wanting to make sure that the card could be given to a lady or a man, I chose the stamps carefully.  All the stamped images you see are Graphic 45, and from the same Home Sweet Home range.  I stamped the images in black dye ink, then hand painted them using watercolours.

showing the ‘stand’ for the back of the card.

Finally … I made a fold out stand for the back of the card so it could stand up by itself, or if preferred it could lean against a book or a shelf, wall,  etc.

trying to show the glaze I gave the card.

But . . .  there was just one last thing I wanted to do … I glazed the front of the card so that it gave it an extra sort of ‘aged’ look to it, and especially so to the craft card.  (see above photo)  It made it look like I’d found it in Grandads shed, a left over from the 1940’s.  It was a bit difficult to photograph the glaze, but the photo above was the best out of the ones I took.

And that’s all there was to it!  🙂  The bookmark can be separated from the card holder, and the card can stand there all by itself without the bookmark.  So your gardener friend or relative can use the bookmark in his/her  [gardening]  book and not lose the page they were reading , –  AND …  they will carry your inscription around with them tucked into the pages of their book!  Something which would make me smile over and over!

Actually …  perhaps we could make this card a give-away!  Yes … let’s do that.  If you’d like to enter your name into the mix for this card to be sent to you, simply add the word GIVEAWAY either to the start or end of a comment,  and we’ll give it till Thursday of this week – so the 4th of May – at 6pm (UK time), at which point I’ll get a number generator to pick a number and I’ll announce the winner on Thursday evening!  Oh … and those of you who’ve won a previous give-away, please enter if you’d like to win this card … you’re not excluded just because you were picked out before.  It’s all just down to the luck of the generator.

I can either write the card out to whoever wins …  or I can leave the card blank, and the winner can give it to someone else as a gift for their birthday.  Winners choice.  😀

Happy Monday, and …. HAPPY MAY DAY!  In case you didn’t look at the calendar this morning, today is the 1st of May 2017.  This day won’t ever happen again.  It’s the only May Day of 2017, so beg you to enjoy this day like it should be enjoyed.

“The world’s favorite season is the spring.
All things seem possible in May.”
Edwin Way Teale

I feel the earth waking up truly now.  Everything seems brighter, lighter, more joyous.  People seem to be happier too.  Oh … and the little cottage along the road has some holiday makers in it already!  I saw the people there walking their dogs earlier.  (I wanted to run off with the dogs!  Two fabulous White Highland Terriers, all snuffly and smiley).

Oh anyhoo …. I’ve yapped enough.  I shall shut up and leave you to enjoy the last gulps of your coffee.

Thank you so much for coming and having a coffee with me.  I absolutely love seeing you.  It brightens my day and makes me so happy to share some time with you.  It’s like having an open house and all my friends popping in, sitting around the pine kitchen table to share a few smiles and giggles together.  What a great way to start the day!  ❤

Sending lots of May Day love and buckets of squidges, from me here in my corner, to you there in yours.  Be good to each other and … may your God go with you.

Edit to add: —> GIVEAWAY now closed! <—

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Fairy Shoes ~ Peapody’s Slippers ~ they’re his Sunday Best, don’t you know!

Peapody’s Sunday Best Slippers
handmade by
Cobweb the Fairy Cobbler

Peapody is a fabulous rascal in the land of Fae. He’s tall – in fact quite the lankiest of the male fairies that I ever did see – and wears long-legged brown woollen trousers with turn ups – which, he tells me, are there to catch seeds!;  an old (but still very serviceable) white with the faintest of line checks,  collar-less shirt – with the sleeves rolled up;  and braces which hold his trousers up and are attached to them with white bone buttons.

He’s a gardener in Fairy Land and has been around for a gazillion years. Well – that’s what he tells me, but I’m not entirely certain I believe him.  To me he looks around his late eighties / early nineties – but hey, what do I know.  I’m only a ”whipper-snapper” according to Peapody!

He gardens every single day. He says that no one else is going to take care of that forest so he has to work every day!   To be honest, I think he just likes to garden – but he also likes to have people tell him he’s doing a wonderful job – so I did, and still do, often!

He used to wear boots. Brown, wrinkled, crinkled, cracked, leathery looking boots with laces, but he said that he’s far too busy and can’t be bothered with boots now and so decided a while ago that he was going to retire his boots and instead wear something more comfy.  He asked Cobwebs the Cobbler to come up with something which he didn’t have to fuss with.  He wanted:  comfy with no laces;  no zippers; no doodly uppy bits; no hobnails; no rivets and no holes.  He said he just wanted to push his feet in and walk.  And this is what Cobwebs the Fairy Cobbler came up with.

Fairy Peapody’s Slippers

They look, to all intents and purposes, like they’ve been crafted from the pods of the peas which Peapody grows to make Pea Pod Soup, and they’re even adorned with peas!

Peapody was thrilled with them when he saw them, and, I’m told, hasn’t taken them off since because they’re sooo comfortable. One satisfied customer I think!

If you’re now wondering what Pea Pod Soup tastes like, Peapody very kindly shared his recipe, scroll down to find it!

Pea Pod Soup

Ingredients:

• A colander full of freshly emptied pea pods, rinsed
• 1 onion or a handful of spring onions, chopped
• A generous handful of fresh mint
• Light vegetable stock
• Seasoning:  a little salt, a little pepper, a little sugar, a little lemon juice
• To garnish: more chopped spring onions and chopped fresh herbs of your choice
• Optional: a little yoghurt or cream (use vegan varieties for vegan soup!)

Method:

1. In a large saucepan, gently fry the chopped onion or spring onions in a little olive oil for about 3 minutes.  Put the pea pods and mint into the pan – discard any very woody stems but there’s no need to chop everything up, this soup will be going into the food processor later on.  Add enough light vegetable stock to allow the pea pods to float about happily. Bring to the boil, then turn to a low heat, cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Check the water level and top up if you need to.
2. Allow the mixture to cool a little and then transfer to a food processor or liquidiser and whizz until smooth. Pea pods can be stringy, so be prepared to run the machine for several minutes and taste as you go so that you can be sure that the consistency is right for you. If all else fails and the consistency is still a bit too fibrous you can put the soup through a sieve.
3. Return the soup to the pan, check the consistency and thin it down with a little more stock if you like. Check the taste and adjust it to suit your own preference using salt, pepper, sugar or lemon juice. This soup can be served warm or chilled. Top with finely chopped spring onions and fresh herbs, or a swirl of cream or yoghurt.

Yes, it’s a genuine recipe.  You really can make and eat it.

Thanks for coming to read and take a peep at Peapody’s Slippers.  I love them.  What do you think?

Have a truly beautiful rest of your day all.  ~