this blog is essentially an online diary of my little creative projects - if you can't fix it, throw some glitter over it and add a lacy edge and everything will be alright.

Wednesday 24 October 2012

sprite cake pile with lychee icing


you can use sprite as a binding agent in cake!!!! nope, i didn't believe it either - but all you have to do is mix your dry cake ingredients together with some butter, then add about half a little bottle of sprite, bake on 180 for half an hour. and if you're me...cut up with a cookie cutter, make into a pile and 'decorate':
 
though i must say the best bit is the lychee icing - simply wizz up half a can of lychees (strained), mix in icing sugar until it's as thick as icing, drizzle generously, add sprinkles and eat! 

knitting my first scarf : )


a couple of weeks ago i took a little ball of wool and a pair of blue knitting needles from the free box of stuff in the staff room at work, these along with a free hobbycraft how to knit leaflet lead to a very productive lunch break indeed! It's not even in the slightest, but i am determined to finish it! i don't think the folk at the university knitting society were very impressed - i went for the first time yesterday, it was a bit surreal and i'm not sure i enjoyed it, but i shall definitely go again....home knitted socks here i come!

Thursday 11 October 2012

velvet ribbon belts

i've discovered something both brilliant and terrible - martha stuart is a real life human being! she's not just a crazy american social ideal!! AND she has a craft section on her website...some of the stuff on there is very stepford housewife, but some of the stuff is rather good. take these velvet ribbon belts for example, they're simple, easy, and look great in a elegantly minimalist sort of way. here are the two i made:

the midnight blue one is for the waist and the black one is for the hips. they don't take too long to make and the materials are cheap (£2 per belt), the only set back for me was finding the right colour of velvet- i want all the colours! the link above has good instructions but i would add that you can use any iron-on hemming web type thing and it'll still work, and that i have no clue as to how long a yard is - so for ribbon length just wrap it around your waist, add a bit for the excess and double as the belt is double sided.  have fun : )

Tuesday 9 October 2012

cute felt fox collar


so cute! so simple! i hate that this is not of my own design!- i was browsing image search for cute felt brooches yesterday when i stumbled upon these felt fox collars and i simply had to make my own (cheaper) version. it was really easy and quick, and it cost less than 50p in materials - one felt sheet, a little bit of white felt for the tail and face, two spare buttons that came with a cardie, and a popper to fasten. i may line it with a pretty ditsy fabric if it gets worn a lot. anyways - to get the pattern started i looked for a top that had the right neck line and drew around it, then freestyled a fox. it's really quite effective on...starting to wonder what other woodland beasties i can drape about my shoulders for autumn...tehehe : )

Sunday 7 October 2012

painting halloween trick-or-treat bags


today's demo was a halloween make - i sat for an hour and painted these:


they're double-sided sweets containers made from thin wood with twine handles. you just paint them, just grab some standard acrylic and a brush and away you go, really easy. i was joined by two sisters and their mummy, they painted the other sides of the containers (they both seemed to like pink a lot, the younger of the two explained why pink is a scary colour (awwww!!)) anyway, i had fun trying to make them as creepy as possible - it's halloween, it's meant to be scary!

scandinavian style christmas cards

i was a bit poorly recently and work were really nice about it and let me do demos this weekend (the demos were going to happen anyway but it was very well timed and appreciated!) so yeh- i got to have a bit of a sit down and play with some of our new christmas card making stuff on saturday (woo!) i've never been too big a fan of the whole red-and-white christmas thing but it all came out rather sweet:


pretty cross stitch style papers and twine, parcel labels and cute ribbons : ) anyone wanting to make cards this year remember: double sided sticky tape is your friend!

moustache glasses, take two

in preparation for movember i've been dreaming up weird and wonderful ways i might don a mo. now i know that moustache glasses aren't the most innovative way i could have done this, but trial and error have taught me that they are the most flattering and least ridiculous way to spend a month wearing fake tashes:

basically i got reading glasses that were in the sale at primark (50p/£1 each), knocked out the lenses with a hammer, made moustache shapes out of felt and card and hung them from the glasses with chains. so far i have one evening pair- black glittery mo with glitzy glasses, and one for day time with flowery frames and a standard mo. you might have noticed the thin plastic moustache to the left of the blurry photo (trying out my phone camera...need to work on that), that one was courtesy of primark too, it was a pair of shades with a moustache already attached! it was £4 but they gave it to me for 50p as one of the lenses was missing which was rather ace as i was just going to knock out the other one anyway : )
 
two more frames to add moustaches to. yay!

Tuesday 2 October 2012

map duffle bag

this one has been in the pipe line for a while now. i find it really hard to find a bag that i like (don't have this problem with shoes, there are always pretty shoes everywhere), so i decided to make one:


i got map fabric from etsy, the grey fabric from my grandad, and my wobbly sewing machine skills from a hatred of projects that take too long to finish. it's a really simple design that i made up as i went along - round bottom, straight sides, sew together, make lining that does the same thing, add handle, sew everything together, realise that "tap firmly with hammer" written on the back of the eyelet packet means "bash frantically with hammer for blooming ages and annoy one's flatmates", roll and sew remaining map fabric for the drawstring, and sew two small bits of the tougher fabric together to make that bit that keeps the bag shut. (yes that's right, i do instructions now!) all in all i'm really quite happy with it : )

Monday 1 October 2012

origami map wallet

way way back i did a post about drinks carton wallets- there have been many reincarnations since then and they have all served me well. but now for something completely different - my origami wallet : ) it's a design by sok song from the book crease + fold (unfortunately i can't find a link online for the instructions - sorry!):


i made a couple of changes to the original design - it's a map of venice rather than a subway map, i inked up the edges with gold and stamped it to make it look slightly less like a bit of old map, i covered the outside with sticky-back-plastic to make it last longer, and i made section for coins by attaching velcro to one of the pockets. i'm rather happy with it, even if it is only going to last a month or so.