Wedding Day.

The wedding went off very well on Saturday even though it rained and most of the photos had to be taken inside.  Whilst my back was turned I managed to aquire 4 new followers so taking me over the 200 mark.  Whey Hey. Thanks so much all of you for following me and my exploits. This calls for a little blog candy which I will get organised a.s.a.p.

Below is the Wedding card that I made for my Son and Daughter in law so I can show it to you now.  I saw this card idea in Crafts Beautiful by Niki Rowland and decided to adapt it very  slightly and change the colour of course to Purple.

The backing paper is a sheet of silver patterned foil paper. The purple is a plain sheet of card stock that I put through the printer after I made a sheet of  appropriate sentences up in word and printed them off. The heart is a plain silver sheet of paper die cut with this lovely heart shape that embosses at the same time.  I typed the sentiment again in word and printed off onto the pale purple card stock. The lace doily punch is by Martha  Stewart.





Entering into the following challenges:
Totally Gorjuss: Congratulations.
4 Crafty Chicks: No Stamping  Zone.
Always Crafting: Anything Goes.
Crafty Catz:  Anything Goes.
Lollipop Crafts: Anything Goes.
Craftymess Challenge: Embossing or Distressing dry or wet.

Good Luck.

For the Bride tomorrow  (my nearly DIL ) a Lucky Horseshoe in the Wedding theme colours. All stiched and embroidered by hand. I saw this idea in Crafts Beautiful magazine by Carolyn Letten and have adapted the design .

Made in felt with pearls and beading.  Showing the back .

A box to keep it in afterwards. The picture makes the box look flat but that is an origami paper bow on top with another of the paper roses on top in pale lavender this time. 

A little story to go with the gift. My Mum & Dad can't be present on the day but the pearls on the horseshoe are from a Pearl Bracelet that belonged to my Mum which  I dismantled and used.

Everythings Coming Up Roses.

Back in March nearly DIL was talking about having  roses as the table decorations for the forthcoming Wedding and needing to know how to make them. I found myself volunteering to make them  for her.

Then  I asked the all important question of how many?   260ish was the reply!!! Gulp!!!

 This was revised down somewhat after the table plan was finalized to 100ish. Phew. Thats ok then.

 I made a few samples up and these are the ones I finally made with the colour scheme they gave me. The wedding theme is Purple and I had a strip of ribbon to get the purple roses the exact colour needed. I found a couple of good tutorials here & here and adapted them with trial and error  to produce a rose I was happy with 

I used Colourbox fluid chalk in pink on the petal edges to achieve this rose and moulded each petal with a round tipped embossing tool  to get the papery texture  using 140gsm cartridge paper.

I used Lavender Colourbox fluid chalk on this rose and shaped each petal by hand. The same die was used on both these roses but in different size combinations.

This rose was made smaller and I used Pearescent chalks in two tones of pink on the petals and shaped again by hand.

And lastly the purple rose which had to match the ribbon swatch exactly. I found

after much trial and error that Winsor & Newton Water colour gave me the result I needed so each petal was painted with several coats  which gives them a nice varigated look.

These were all finished last week and are now with the Bride and Groom for the Wedding tomorrow.

The boys helped with the production of these and their post is down below!!!!!!

I am entering these into the following challenges:

Top Tip Tuesday:  Anything but a card.

Great Impressions: Lots of Flowers.

Make it Monday Party:

Aud Sentiments : Anything Goes.

Rose Production.

The boys wanted to help with the massive rose production so I put them in charge of the Big Shot and they set to with gusto.

They soon got into the swing of it with Norm turning the handle and Monkey feeding the die through. 

Erm Monkey you are keeping the different sizes in neat stacks aren't you?

Hmm. Thought so!!!!

Sam was in charge of the numbers but looking over Sam's shoulder are you  absolutely sure you need that many though.!

All Purpled Out!!

Iv'e been working extensively in Purple this past month  as this is the wedding theme colour so consequently have quite  a pile of off cuts left over.
It just so happens that the theme over at Tag Tuesday  this week is "use the colour Purple" so say no more!!

I cut a tag shape from cardboard and matted with polka dot paper which I then distressed around the edges using my handy T.H. distressing tool. I then inked the resulting rough edge with a promarker pen. The buttons are made from shrink plastic and coloured with the same promarker before shrinking down. The bow is made from paper and is made believe it or not from a 3" square of paper. The tutorial for it can be found here. It is a bit fiddly at first but you do get the hange of it quickly and as  Helen emailed and said Practice makes perfect!

The flower is from the mammoth rose production undertaken  which I will be posting about upstairs( As Fluff puts it) in a mo. Centre tag is  a Kaser craft journal tag that I treated myself to. (Well a girl has to have a bit of fun whilst under stress.) Entering this into Pixies

Crafty Snippets as that is what it's all about.

Also entering into the following challenges:

Truly Scrumptious:  Distressing & die cuts/punches. ( buttons and rose made using die cuts)

Divas By Design: Buttons & Bows.

Creative Inspirations : Anything goes.

Miss April Makes Update.

Here is the update for the 3rd week of published makes over on the monthly flickr group.

Details can be found here on The Felt Fairy.

First one of the week was The Fluff Pot who showed us some vibrant coloured flowers. These had been wet felted using merino wool tops.  Also showed a pair of hand felted baby booties. They are so cute. 

Next to load up was Paper Blossom with a Peg bag. Not just any old peg bag mind but one her Grannie had started and then put away up in the attic and forgotten about until Mary -Jane was helping her mum have a clear out and found it stuffed in a bag of material scraps. The rest is history as they say.

Gilly popped her makes on next. A lovely vintage book cover/wrap, a very pretty apron with striking embroidered flowers on it and a pair of cushions looking very fresh in the palest of blue fabrics.

Mary then posted a picture of her doll ' Miranda Mufflewort'. You can find out more details of her here. Mary makes the most amazing dolls. I have been following her blog for ages.

The Snail Garden has made a lovely picnic cloth with beautiful appliqued flowers on it. Hope the weather soon improves so it can have lots of use this summer.

Silvia Sherr posted for the second time this month with  her mouthwatering array of jams and yogurts. Sent me scuttling off  to make some scones!

Mags creative meanderings showed off a lovely quilt which if I'm not mistaken is made with Cath Kidston material. A cute rabbit and the prettiest baby dress and matching green cardi.

A row of easter bunnies appeared from Charlie & Wendy. I have to keep going back and counting them in case they have multiplied overnight!!

Celtic Thistle has made a scrap cushion in patchwork. The pattern is 'Circles of Geese' This is not an easy design to make up but  has been accomplished beautifully.

My last one to comment on is from Felt by Rae. Again her  second time  A most glorious feathery and very pink fasinator that she made for a friend. I'm wearing a fasinator for the Wedding on Saturday but nothing as grand as this.

So there you have it. Do stop by and have a look at all the entries.

I will be back next week  on the 30th  for a final round up of the last week of the months makes. This month has gone really quickly and I will be handing  the baton over to Miss May who will be

Gill of Dosie Rosie.

Hugs Miss April.

Bronze it is.

I'm really getting into this card making.  One of my favourite magazines for inspiration is ' Crafts Beautiful'. I saw a lovely idea for a Wedding card by Niki Rowlands in there (used it for little boys card but can't show you that one until after this Saturday)!
 Now it just so happens that is is Fluff's Anniversary so I adapted the design for a Wedding Anniversary card. The good old World, Wide Web tells me that 8yrs is Bronze so that sent me skuttling off to my stash of papers. Found this lovely satin bronze paper and some plain pink card stock. Typed up some appropriate sentences in word and then ran the pink card through my printer.  Now I have my very own printed design! Matted the pink onto cream card and used ink (to match the wording) to distress  around the edges. I love this heart die(Sizzix 655207) as it gives a really deep embossed design .Lace edging strip is a Martha Stewart punch which I layered up with a maroon satin ribbon. Sentiment was printed out in word and then die cut using the Ornate shape in The Sizzix trio (656322).

Entering into the following challenges:

Lexix's Creations:  Use your punches & dies.

Bunny Zoe's Crafts:  Ribbon or Twine.

So Artful Challenges:  Wedding/Anniversary.

C.R.A.F.T. challenges: Wedding /Anniversary

One stitch at a time: Anything Goes.



Shoes.

This is the card I made my nearly DIL whose birthday it was last week.
Purple is her favourite colour at the moment  so I pulled together some matching papers to use from Funkyhands 'Hearts and Flowers' range.  The stamp  is second hand so do not know the make(but I know a girl who does) and is coloured in using water colour pencils. Papers have been distressed round the edges and inked with TH. Walnut Stain and matted onto cream cardstock.

Entering into the following:
The Stamp Man challenge: Shabby chic or distressed.
Aud Sentiments: Spring Summer colours.
Charisma cardz: Shabby chic.
Love to Create:  Anything goes.

Queens ATC

The Theme for  this months ATC at The Altered Paper was to choose a Queen of your choice and make it nice. After deliberating for quite a while I finally decided on Queen Anne, daughter of James II. The picture was cut  from an old magazine which was in black & white. I coloured her face, cheeks and lips using powdered chalks to make it look like the photos they used to colour before the advent of colour film. Flowers are die cut from 'Fancy blossoms' by Memory box and the leaves from 'Rose Creations' by Spellbinders. Coloured using Fluid Chalks by ColorBox. Flower centres are beads from my stash.

As my partner for this swap lives in America, I  also enclosed a tag with a short history of her reign. Printed off in word and paper distressed using the ColorBox chalks. Hope my partner likes my choice.



Entering into the following challenges:

ATC's with Attitude:   Anything goes/faces.

Joan's Gardens:  Something different. Include flowers using dies or punches.

Pan Pastel:  Add a flower.



Wedding Fever.

We have Wedding Fever in our house. Our little boy (not so small anymore ) Fluff's bruv is getting married this Saturday!! Back in February I was shown this picture and asked if I could make a cushion for the rings something like this? I love a challenge.

So I set to and made a couple of cushions up in cotton sheeting in different shapes ,supplied satin material swatches and purple beads (wedding colour theme is purple) for a choice to be made. I also asked what embroidery stitch they prefered, plain or swirly.

This is the result. As a 4yr old will be carrying the cushion down the aisle I have attached ribbons for the rings to be held in place. Don't want them falling down the grating !!

There is a story attached to the material chosen. My friend Sarah got married in 1993 and the material is what her Wedding dress was made from. I was given some off cuts as I was asked to make a rag doll for the littlest bridesmaid to hold (2yrs and easliy distracted) and having been shown a picture of Sarah's gown, dressed the doll in an exact replica. Remaining material has been in my stash ever since and I still have some over!

Entering into the following:

1st Unique gifts: Handmade Mondays

Divas by Design: Anything but a card.

CupcakeCrafts: Material girl. (Taken literally).

The Crazy Challenge: Feminine/Girly.

Needlebook.

I have just completed a swap with Button Floozies. The challenge was to create any kind of handmade Needlebook you like as long as it included at least 5 buttons in its design. I will give you a second to count the buttons on this cos I know you will!! Yep there are 5 all present and correct.

I decided to use Sunbonnet Sue picking her flowers for the front cover. The only machine stitching I did was to attach the ric rac braid. Everything else has been done by hand. I much prefer to do applique by hand even though you get a more finished look using a sewing machine. I like the rustic look! I made a little pin cushion from a bottle top to go with it. The buttons are made from shrink plastic and coloured with promarkers (before shrinking). There is also a wally heart button hiding inside the cover but no use looking as you won't see it.

As I have used bits of felt up (for the pin cushion), a bottle top and odds of shrink plastic I am entering this into Pixies Crafty Snippets #16.

Also entering in to the following challenges:

Alphabet Challenge: Embroidery.

For Fun Challenges: Anything goes.

All Sorts: Buttons & threads.

Miss April More Makes Roundup.

Here is a roundup of the 2nd week of published makes over on the monthly make flickr group.

Details can be found here on The Felt Fairy.

Raphaele has made a lovely zip pouch, beautifully lined inside too.

Checkout the lovely cushions that Silvia has uploaded. They are beautiful.

Next up is the cutest knitted Chicken. He has legs to die for. Move over Humpty Dumpty youv'e got nothing on this chicken mate!

Hart 44 has made some padded hearts in the prettiest of materials and a lovely lunch bag reminiscent of the bucket bags of the 1950's.

Next in to load up her pictures was Ali with a knitted duck and a smashing knitted teacosy/crocket mug warmer made for her swap partner in Germnay. Lucky swap partenr!!

Taryn popped in with a diamond patterned lace shawl in glorious colours and last make of the week is from My Hungry Hippie with a vintage key chain made for a friend.

Again I have had great fun nosing round some new blogs and having a route round everyones photo streams. Hope you will find time to do the same .

Hugs for now and will be back again with another round up of some terrific items. Keep making em and I will keep blogging em.

Miss April.

Oo La La!

The current challenge over on the Art 'n' Soul flickr group was to use a 7" torso template and dress or decorate however you wished. This is my entry. A French Basque made from pink card stock using black taffeta (3 decades old), pink/silver lace (4 decades old) and trimmings from an old black bra. All from my stash of odds and ends.

And where is the Wally plastic shrink button? Well there could only be one place couldn't there!!!

As I have used up snippets of lace, bra straps and shrink plastic I am entering this into this weeks

Pixie's Crafty Snippets.

Also entering into the following:

Ditzy Craftymess: Anything but a card.

Anything Goes: Anything goes.

Pollycraft Challenge: Fabric.

Use it Tuesdays: Anything goes. ( Hoarded supplies as above)

Sunbonnet Sue.

Here is the tag I have made for the April Swap on The Altered Paper. Theme is Easter/April Showers. Hope my partner Jenny likes it. Also entered it for Tag Tuesday as the theme was Easter Too.

Sunbonnet Sue is paper pieced and the flowers are made from snippets of left over white card which I have cut using various small punches and dies. All painted with pots of luminarte paint. (I am so in love with these little pots.) If you look closely you can just see the "Wally" shrink plastic button peeking out amongst the flowers. (Bit of a clue. The button is the same colour as Sue's bodice!!!

As everything is snippets of this and that I am entering into Di's Snippets challenge.

Miss April Update.

Full details of the flickr group can be found on my blog post below.
So who has been up loading their makes over the past week.
Rosa Lily showed us her Tatty Easter Bunny,so cute made from scraps of material. check out those ears of his.
Dinki Dots showed us a rather snazzy pillow using pink polka dot material. Spots are so in this year don''t you know!! Check out Dinki's photstream for a gorgeous pair of pink fngerless gloves with a frill and cable detail. Just remember though I saw them first!!!!
Another pillow, this time by Hungry Hippie depicting bunting. All ready for the Jubilee.
Joanie Jelly has some cupcakes for show. I do believe they have been made by crochet. A real labour of love.
Next up was a little crochet jacket from Wingingit. There are some close ups of the jacket on her photostream, well worth a look as the detail is second to none.
Felt by Rae has uploaded a meerkat in fanchy costume but the best bit is on her blog as he is sporting the most perfect pair of y-fronts I have ever seen. Go take a look.
Mimi and Tilly have some gorgeous earings. Perfect for an Easter Bride.
Now where would we be at Easter without the chickens!!!!
Check these out do.
Fam Fa has got a sensational chicken on show. Go read all about it on her blog.
And lastly from my weeks roundup a clutch of the cutest little chicks strutting their stuff made by Elaine Maul.
Thanks girls for showing us your makes. I have enjoyed looking through your photostreams and blogs.


I will be back next week to show you the next batch of April makes. See you Then.
xxxxxxxMiss April.

Hoppy Easter!!!

No Easter Eggs but I know the Easter Bunny has been cos he left me this.

Entering this as a last minute Snippet just for fun.

Hope you all have a Happy Easter with lots of Easter Eggs.!!!

Easter Bonnet.

My snippets card this week was meant to be a quick an easy one but ended up taking ages. It was more fidly than I thought and the colours havn't come out brilliant either. I had my Sunbonnet Sue quilting book out for something else I had made and decided to make an Easter bonnet from one of the templates using paper instead of material (as you do).

I used a Friskars circle punch on the bonnet to create a lacy edge to it.

Flowers are all cut from snippets of white card (left over from making a huge order of over 100 Roses in assorted colours and designs) and then painted using luminarte colours. Card is made from 300gsm watercolour paper and design papers are by Funky Hand for the two patterned pinks and Chocolate Baroque for the Cream Ice.

Entering into the following:

The Shabby Tea Room: Homegrown flowers.

Hooked on Craft: Easter.

Rainbow Ladys: Happy Easter.

Ruby's Rainbow: Easter.

My Mums Craft Shop: Easter Creations.

Creative Inspirations: Easter.

Top Tip Tuesday: Easter or /and animals

Easter Eggs.

This is the tag I have entered this week on Tag Tuesday. The theme being Easter Eggs.

I cut an egg shape from card stock, painted with pink Luminarte paint and then ran through an embossing folder to add some texture. The pink ric rac braid has been in my stash for decades and the ribbons were either freebies or given to me by friends. The flowers were cut from a Memory Box die which I won on Fionas blog recently. I am loving this little flower die to bits. It really is very versatile. Just 3 flower shapes that you can put together in any combination and make a variety of different flowers with. The Easter egg stamp is also a freebie from a magazine.

Entering into the following challenges:

Craft your days Away: Easter.

Pan Pastel UK: Easter week.

Ginger Loft: Anything but a card.

Aud Sentiments: Happy Easter.

Tuesday Taggers: Easter Theme.

Use it Tuesdays: Uninked stamp.

Eden

I started this painting back on 19th January and finally finished it last Thursday 29th March.
A larger canvas this time and flat so this will be off to the picture framers next week to be framed before it can be hung.


Again I have taken it in stages. The oil takes quite a while to dry.

I have simply called it Eden.

Not intirely happy with the water but as I have signed it now it is finished. See what you think.

I have made a start on my next one which is a mountain scene and lake.

Show casing this on 1st Unique. Hand made Mondays.

Miss April.

The Monthly Makes challenge organised by Annie of The Felt Fairy is a flickr group for you to upload pictures of all the goodies that you make each month.

The April group page can be found here.

I am Miss April and will be co hosting all of the lovely items for this month.

The 1st entry of the month is from Siobhanro who has uploaded a photo of a very loveable giraffe bag . Siobhanro makes the most gorgeous bags which you can see on her blog here.

I will be commenting on the makes as they come in and sharing as many as I can with you over the next month. Why not come and join in the fun. All are welcome. Just show us your makes thats all we ask!!!