Are you looking forward to Christmas?

I know I shouldn't really admit to this being an avid crafter and all that, but I'm really not up for Christmas this year.  I don't know why it is exactly but it just seems one extra 'job' to add to the ever growing list of things to do.  Anyone who knows me will know that my decorations are normally one of the first to go up in our street.  As soon as December 1st rears it's head our Christmas tree is down from the loft and I'm busy making a Christmassy mess!  But not this year.  I'd planned to make a start this weekend but even that now seems like a chore with the barrage of other things awaiting my attention.

We've been through a tough month and this probably isn't helping in the festive stakes.  We found out we were expecting a baby back in September.  I sailed off happily for my 12 week scan a few weeks ago only to find that we had in fact lost our baby at 7 and a half weeks.  I'm coming to terms with this slowly but I still have little wobbles occasionally (like yesterday when I inadvertently walked through the baby clothing aisle in Asda :().  Add to this the huge amount of expectant or new mom's I see on my travels - I think they've all been sent to rub salt in my wounds.

What with all this and the fact that we're in the process of moving house, I just can't get excited about it all.  It almost feels like our life is currently on hold until we move onto new (and hopefully better) things in 2014 and this is what I'm really looking forward to.

I feel such a hypocrite as I'm busy making seasonal plaques and tree hangers to fill others houses with festive cheer and yet my own festive cheer is sadly lacking.  I think that Christmas has become so commercial and I know I'm definitely not alone in feeling this way.  Our families ask us for lists of what we'd like and I spend time quizzing our kids to then distribute their choices throughout the family so that everyone has a specific gift to buy at the correct price............arrrrggghhh.  For goodness sake, it's all got so ridiculous and I'd just like the simplicity of it back again.

I've toyed with the idea of carrying out some volunteer work coming up to Christmas to help remind me of those who really need some festive spirit at this time of year.  I'd love us to do this as a family as I think it's something we all need every now and then, a little jolt to remind us of the things that really are important.

Sorry for the moany post, I just felt I needed to get this off my chest.  I wonder if anyone else feels like this?  If so please assure me I'm not alone.  I'm sure as work dies down and the decorations finally go up, a little Christmas spirit will probably emerge from somewhere.  I'll keep you posted :).

Thanks for stopping by! x

Filofax Love and Tutorial

A couple of weeks ago I badgered my lovely Hubby into letting me purchase a filofax.  As an avid IGer I love seeing the pics everyone posts of there filo's and personalised stationery.  After much googling I decided on the Filofax Original in Fuchsia patent.  I went for the personal size as I thought the A5 might be a little too big to fit most of my bags.

So far, my Filofax Original has suited me down to the ground.  It came with a selection of stationery, blue, green, pink and white note paper, squared paper, to do lists, contact pages, diary plus the usual size charts and notable dates pages.  I got to work straight away by making my own dividers.  Some of the ones I've seen on IG and Pinterest have been fab so I took inspiration from these.  As I'm into card making I have quite an array of backing papers so decided to use some of these for the job.  The ones I actually ended up using were freebies from Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine but with their floral patterns, they were just the look I was going for.

1. I started by drawing around the dividers that came with the filofax onto the backing papers so that I had the perfect outline which I then cut out with scissors.  
2. Once my dividers had all been cut out I laminated them using A4 laminating sheets.  I found that I could get 3 of the dividers in one A4 sheet.  
3. When the laminated sheets had cooled down I once again cut around the dividers using scissors, leaving a small (approx 2-3 mm) edge to allow the laminating sheet to stick together.  
4.  I traced the punch holes from the original dividers onto my newly laminated dividers. 
5. I don't have a fancy filofax hole punch so I punched each of the holes individually using a single handheld hole punch.  Obviously, this takes a little longer but is a much cheaper option.  

And there you have it, lovely floral filofax dividers!

I bought some super Forever Friends sticky notes while we were away in Cornwall and I've put these inside the clear pocket that came with the Filofax.

Seeing as a couple of my Filofax sections are music related (Ladies Choir and School Choir) I decided to make a few note paper pages with a musical background.

1. I found a background image from the internet and then using MS Word I sized the background to the size of a 'Personal' page.  
2. I also turned the image to greyscale to fade it slightly.  I then copied and pasted this 3 times onto my A4 page.  
3. On each background I added a text box with no outline and then added a table with only bottom lines showing, hence creating my lined paper effect.  
4. I printed these to A4 white paper and cut out using my paper trimmer.  
5. As with the dividers, I traced the holes from some of my original Filofax stationery and then punched with my single hole punch.

Voila, musical note paper!

Thanks for stopping by! x

Relaxing Cornwall crochet

Last week we were down in beautiful Cornwall. We stayed in the peaceful little hamlet of Rosecare, just a few miles from Bude. As we've stayed in this area many times we decided that this year, we'd have a relaxing holiday taking it easy and not rush around from one town to another.

As the weather was fairly mixed we had a lot of days where we just lazed the morning away in our lovely cottage and just headed out as soon as the sun showed itself. This free time was a great opportunity to throw a few crochet projects together. I started with a lovely cupcake keyring, moved on to mini christmas trees (piccies coming soon) and then spent many a free moment making mug cosies.

I managed to find some fantastic wooden buttons from a little shop in Bude and these were just perfect to finish off the design.  The pattern itself is from bubblegirlknitandcrochet.wordpress.com and she very kindly have me permission to sell the items I make. Off to the yarn shop soon to get some more cotton yarn in various colours so I can have a range in my Etsy shop. 

Mug cosy's are priced at £4.50 and available to order from etsy.com/shop/twinkletwitcrafts or by messaging me through my Facebook page at Facebook.com/twinkletwit .

Thanks for stopping by!

The 1st Twinkle Twit FB Giveaway

As my Twinkle Twit Facebook page has started to grow over recent weeks, I decided to set a target of 100 'likers' or followers.  Today I finally reached my goal and so my 1st Facebook Giveaway has begun!

(Following FB rules) my giveaway is being run by a 3rd party app which will choose the winner at random for me one week from today.  All you have to do is like my Twinkle Twit page, click the button on my page and answer a quick question about what Christmas items you'd like to see in my Etsy store.

One lucky winner will receive a lovely crochet heart made by myself. The heart is padded, scented with coconut oil and embellished with a crochet flower and leaves.

If you'd like to be in with a chance of winning, please visit my FB page at www.facebook.com/twinkletwit and then click on the giveaway tab at the top.  No time to waste, competition ends in 7 days!!

Thanks for stopping by! x

A new world of craft

Well guys and girls, it's been a while!

Things have been hectic over the last few months but I thought it was time to resurrect the Twinkle Twit blog and tell you what's been happening.

Up till the end of 2012 my main craft love was all things papercraft - card making in particular with a little scrapbooking thrown in for good measure, however 2013 has seen me take on a whole array of new craft projects.

It all started earlier in the year when I was put on anti-depressants by the doctor.  Yes, I'm not afraid to admit it.  I was suffering terribly with anxiety and panic and got to a point where I couldn't socialise or even visit friends.  When I began the new meds they really knocked me for six.  The side effects were horrendous and these went on for many weeks.  During this time it was difficult to commit to anything but on the odd occasions when I felt better I wanted to do things that would occupy my mind.  My first project was to be an Easter tree.  I took a slow walk with Mom to the local playing fields and chopped off a few willow branches to start work on my project.

After this I began experimenting with wooden plaques.  My bro is an expert in the carpentry department so he cut me some various blanks and I spent time playing around with them to find the best materials and supplies to use.  The plaques became popular and many of my friends were asking if they were for sale so I decided to open up my Etsy shop www.etsy.com/shop/twinkletwitcrafts and also list items on my Facebook and Instagram feeds.

I've also been learning to crochet and I have to admit, I think I now have an addiction!!  I never really got into knitting although both Mom and Nan were avid knitters, but I love the fact that with crochet it's not all about cardi's and scarves!  You can start a little project such as a brooch or hanging item and have it finished in a few hours.  I'm by no means a expert and not very quick but I love the things I've made so far using lots of fabulous resources on the internet. We're really lucky to have a fabulous wool shop in Halesowen called Withit Witch I popped in this morning as I've decided to make a little something for Mom to hang in her hallway.

I saw a sign recently that said creativity is not a hobby, it's a way of life, I really think that's true.  My mind is constantly in craft mode, if I see an idea or project then I have to give it a go, or spend time thinking about how I could do it differently.  The crafter's mind never stops!  I have to say, I have trouble getting to sleep some nights (oh dear, now I really do sound like I have problems).

I'm so pleased that I decided to stray from papercraft, as although I still love it and try to make cards for all my friends and relations, I've found this whole new world of crafting that means things never get stale or boring.

I have a couple of crochet projects on the go at the moment so piccies coming soon!!