October Calendar Printable - Halloween

Hey everyone,
Well it's been a long time.... I have been so poorly and had no will to write but this morning I just printed off my Calendar Design for October and just had to share it and where better to do this than my Blog :D
I am so excited to be back. I have so much to share as although I have been poorly and unable to write I have managed this time to do a bit of Crafting :D
So here is my Calendar that I will be using myself for October

I really wanted a Halloween theme as I just love everything about Halloween but I didn't want it too in my face. So if you look closely you will see in the background there are faint little bats flying around. I love how this paper captures Halloween but it is not bright and garish.
I do hope to show you a lot of bright Garish Halloween makes and designs but for my Calendar I wanted it more subtle. I think I achieved just that!!
Now if you would like to be able to print this off for yourself, I have already listed it in my ETSY store and the link is here
OCTOBER HALLOWEEN PRINTABLE CALENDAR
It is just $1.20 which is about 79p :) BUT..... hold on there. If you would like to be in with a chance of getting one free, Just leave me a message here or on my Facebook post about this HERE and I will pop everyones name who comment into a cup and draw someone to send this file to :) :)
And don't forget if you would like something different designed, I can do that for you. Just send me a message and we can discuss what you would like, I will make a mock up for you and if you like you buy and if you don't, there is no obligation to buy from me.
Well that's it for now, I hope to be back soon.
Don't forget to leave me a comment here or on my Facebook post :)
Bye bye. xx

Knitting for Charity

Well it has been a little while since I have updated again but I have so much to tell you all, I am almost bursting. Let's start with Knitting!! I haven't picked up a pair of knitting needles for years and years. I was never any good at it and always very slow. So as soon as I discovered Crochet that was it done and dusted forever. Or so I thought. A few months ago I joined my local spinning guild and have been trying to learn to spin. It has been an amazing learning journey and I have been very lucky in the fact that in only four months I own 5 drop spindles and 3 spinning wheels!! Yes I know it is overly excessive but what can a spoilt girl/woman do???

I will write more catch up posts on what I have been doing at guild but for now I am eager to share this Knitting I have been doing. 

 

 

It is for a fantastic cause and also just a little project that I thought I may be able to join in with ... and I did. I am so excited to see my square join others. The organisation is Knit for peace and if you click on that link it will take you to their page, which explains everything. They are asking for any donations and there are a lot of patterns on the page to use, I may even have a go at another pattern. Please let me know if you do anything for them as I would love to see :)

So, we were asked at Guild last month if we wanted to join in with making a knitted Dressing Gown. We had to knit 12cm squares and then someone would sew them all together into a kimono style dressing gown. I so wanted to join in but when I got home I was just not sure I understood the instructions I had wrote down and with my illness and limited time to craft. I really cant afford to waste time making the wrong thing. So I took my Needles and Wool along to guild today determined to get it right and I did. The amazing thing is that the guild got together and over the month have produced enough squares to make the whole Dressing gown and here it is all spread out with just two spaces at the top.

 

If you look close you can see I have marked where my square will go. I am so excited about being a part of this project. I don't think I have ever done anything like this and although it is just a little knitted square. I have so much pride that it is mine and will be used to help someone out. 

 I had planned to bring it home and work on it over the next month but as the guild is so amazing and there were only two squares left to fill I spent my day finishing my square and yes my little square did take me all day. (I told you I was slow) I did also manage a huge amount of chatting, a little bit of fruit tea drinking, listening to a talk on weaving and a smidgen of spinning!!

 It is absolutely the best way to fill my day. Here, just because I think it is the first thing I have started and finished in along time is my lovely little square.

 

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Mothers Day

Happy Mothers day to everyone :)
I can now show the Card I designed on my Silhouette Studio. Once I had learnt the basic Box Card  Shape,(post here)  I just new I wanted to make the flaps butterfly shape but the first time I tried I was over tired and just couldn't make it work. So was so pleased when I finally found a day I could have a good go with designing. It didn't take me long as I had the fabulous Video's from Nikki in Stitches Craft Academy to follow if I forgot things and I did forget a lot. Here is;

Eeeek  I feel so professional saying that I designed this and even more so when I "Release the compound path" Ha ha Most Silhouette users will know what I mean when I say that but it sounds so designery :) and so great to know what it means. Again a huge thanks to Nikki :)
So here is the Card made up for my Super Special Mum.

I hope everyone has a fabulous day :)

My Robo and my new friend Nikki

I've had a really long break from my Blog. This is for many reasons but mainly because I have been having a lot more good days in the week and have been able to be up and about Crafting :) Yay :)  It feels amazing actually getting things done and made. So hopefully this will continue and I will be able to get a bit more organised and get Blogging again :)
I have been working a lot with the Silhouette Studio as my Mum gave me her old Robo to play with. When I decided to get an electric cutting machine many years ago I thought long and hard and did lots of research and finally chose the Cricut. This was because I thought it was an easy to use machine and although you had to buy Cartridges once you had a few you could just pop them in and cut. It wasn't quite as easy as this but was I still think the easiest machine to use and the best choice for me at the time. Very much less technical than the Robo which was also on the list to choose from. I have absolutely loved my Cricut and made some fab things with it. I have however become a little more advanced in my Crafting and felt I needed to make a change. It was quite a big change and one I was really not looking forward to but as I had a free Robo on offer I felt the chance was too good to miss and so I have been playing around with the Silhouette studio since December 2014 and WOW.

I can print and Cut :D

When I first downloaded and opened it, (link at the bottom if you want to have a go)  It looked so scary. I was lucky I had my Mum to help guide me but even with that help when you are used to something like the Cricut Craft Room and go to something like the silhouette studio it is a huge jump but I must say it wasn't too bad. It has at last come to me slowly and I do now understand what a few of the buttons do :)
 I am one for searching and finding free tutorials and spending hours finding info out myself for free but this really takes so much of my time what with not knowing how my day is going to go illness wise this time I have decided to go get some paid help :)  and that help came from Nikki in Stitches. I have been following her for years. So long now, I am not even sure how I found her. Her emails and posts struck me straight away. She sews and paints and Crafts, has a go at anything. Just like me :) About the time I got the Robo I received an email about some free classes to do with the Silhouette Studio. I never got to watch them as it all looked way to confusing and I was just not ready to delve into it all. When I did actually get round to looking into her Crafting Academy I was so glad I did. It actually looked like just what I needed and Nikki had just put out a discount code!! ..... yippeeee. I signed up straight away and have not looked back.
I have learnt so much already. We don't only do design work on the studio. Nikki talks us through making up actual projects and then has a live lesson where we get to ask her questions and she shows us how to do everything LIVE :) I managed to even remember this last month and got to "talk" to her. When she said my name I felt so special :) Eeek it is so exciting and really like a personal class rather than web based. The best you can get without actually being with her. I cannot praise this Academy and Nikki high enough. She seems to be around all the time even though she is in America and I am in the UK. It honestly doesn't take her any time at all to answer anything you post whether on her Facebook page or the Forum and she keeps you informed on other "every day" things she is doing. Like Sewing herself a blouse haha Yes she did that!! and her family life. So amazing :)
I  am currently working on last Months lesson, Drafting. I so enjoyed this as just recently really I got into these folding box cards. I managed to make a template on my Cricut using different shapes. This was quite hard, so was really not looking forward to designing it for my Robo and there it was... My first lesson.... Drafting and showing us how to make folding box cards!!  It seemed like fate :D
Here is my first go and the card I made :)

My very own template!! and I even managed to go up a gear and made this one.

I can't show the card for this one yet as it is my Mothers Day Card :) Yes I still have a few weeks to go and I have made my Card :D

I still have a lot to learn on designing these these templates as I cant remember everything but the good thing is, the class is always there for me to go back to and watch as well as every class Nikki has done!! I just don't have enough good free time to watch them all. Next Months class has already been released and I haven't got to watch it yet as I am still captivated in what I learnt last Month :D
As you can probably tell I  am so happy with this class and finally hooking up with Nikki :)
Enrolling in the Academy is closed at the moment but if you follow my link above this will take yo to Nikki's Facebook page where you can scroll down and check out info on all the classes and also there is a list to pop your name on if you would like to know when enrollment is back open :)
Right, let's get on to more box cards :D


Link to Silhouette America for the Free studio download :)

Elf on the Shelf

Oh I have just not had the time or energy to update my Blog but I have loads to show you :)

I really, really wanted to make Jackson and Isabella an Elf for this Christmas and sourced the patterns knowing I could alter them a little if I tried. The male elf did look a bit scary haha!! and then I saw the current edition of Simply Crochet and on the front was a lovely looking elf!! and what seemed to be a fabulous looking Poncho!! That means surely if there are Two items on the cover I like I get to buy it...right?? Ha ha any excuse... Well it seemed everyone wanted to buy this issue. I couldn't get hold of one and the Month was coming to an end rather quickly.So I purchased the online addition. I really do like to have my magazines in my hand to scroll through. Or just to look at. I really do have a terrible Craft Magazine addiction and have to pick them up in the supermarket and have a little row with myself over whether I should be allowed it or not. I often win but just lately I have been trying to be really good and not buy. However this one I needed for my Grandchildren he he and so now have on my laptop. This is great for when Crocheting at home but is not ideal if you have a Hospital appointment and want to take some Crochet for the Car Journey or the waiting room. Plus you don't get a free gift!! So I will be cancelling this subscription and buying off the shelf when I need my next Magazine fix. The plus of this online buying is that I got 30 days free. So didn't pay for this mag. I just have to remember to cancel :)

So as I said the time was getting on.... I actually picked up my Crochet hook and started on Saturday the 29th November (oops) Leaving me not much time for this quite fiddly project. Here is my first days work and poor little elfy looking a bit like E.T

The pattern was quite easy to follow and although I didn't use the yarn suggested and just what I had in my stash came together quite well :)

I went onto the Hat next. This was not so easy. Once I had finished it was way too big and couldn't decide whether to sew it on and try to loose the excess all around or unpick and try again. I hate unpicking but as the elf was looking so good I went for this option. I didn't do the last round of increasing. It was still a little too big but much better.

 It was a nightmare to sew to the head though and get it looking neat like the photo in the magazine but I did my best. I enjoyed making his Hair and the little extra's like the frill round the neck were such good finishing touches. Unfortunately due to time my Elf is missing his Cuff's, Booties and Bell but is still adorable. Here he is with his Belt but no legs. 

I made a Box for him to have escaped out of ha ha and tied it up all lovely for Jackson to open. Isabella is a little young. So I will hopefully get round to making her, her own Elf next year when she knows what is going on.

 I wrote them a letter from Santa. You can see that on my Facebook Page Wendy's Crafts and inside I wrote a note from the Elf who had escaped. "Ha ha, He he I have escaped, Come find me. Do you need a WEE?? and then set him up in the toilet. It was so good.

Jackson wasn't too sure with what was going on but he did realise the Elf was being naughty and you could see he liked that. Hopefully I will get time to finish the elf properly once Advent is over and he returns to Santa :)

I so enjoyed making him but wish I had left myself more time to fully enjoy without rushing. 

 Keep an eye out on my Facebook page for Elf updates :)
Just one last quick photo I have now of him with legs :)

Chocolate

Well I have actually managed to make my first Chocolate explosion Cake and my first Chocolate explosion Bouquet. So I am declaring the next few days Chocolate time :)
The Cake was for my Brother's 50th Birthday and is not actually my first chocolate explosion one but it was my first pouring out one. It was actually really fun to make and was nice to not have to tackle fondant for a change.
Here are some piccies :)

We also had an event to go to and I have always wanted to make a Chocolate Explosion Bouquet but have just never got round to it. So last time I was at my suppliers I picked up a big florist box. It was so pretty and getting ready for the event I decided to get on and make one and I am so in love. This one cost's £15 but can make these from £10 up. They can be ordered from my Page All Things Sweet.
Here's the photo's of this one. I can remake these for any occasion. Boxes and Chocolates may vary but I will always make sure you are happy with what I make before I post.

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As it is Chocolate time I thought I would also show you this :)

I bought it an event I did with All things Sweet. I have always wanted to make my own to try but sometimes you just have to give in and buy. Especially me as I have so many crafts I love I may never get to making this and would just be missing out. So I bit the bullet and got one. They come from Alotofchoc  if you click that link it should take you to their Facebook page where you can buy your own or browse their wares. So I thought I would do a little review on it :)
Like I said, I have always wanted to make some of these. I did dabble in Chocolate and still buy the odd chocolate mould for just in case. I know a little about Cacao and have some posh Chocolate in my Cupboard but I just couldn't resist buying these. The Chocolate looked fabulous on their stall. It was set out so you had a good view of all that was available and there was just enough choice. The lady was so knowledgeable and helpful and I got my choice down quite quickly (mainly because I am quite fussy) to the Duck l'orange and tonight I opened it :)

Well being a stuck in my ways kind of girl. It was a bit weird putting a chunk of Chocolate into a mug. I am usually putting it straight in my mouth or using powder to make my Hot chocolate. So was a bit surprised when I was told to just stir it into hot milk. I thought it was just an extra to my normal hot chocolate. So this I did and as it slowly melted away I quickly took it out and took a little bite..... I just couldn't resist. I couldn't see all that chocolate melt away before my eyes. My mind couldn't comprehend not biting into it. This made no difference to the end result as once the chocolate had fully melted off the spoon (o.k I did just lick the last bit off that just wouldn't seem to melt off) I tasted the milk and it was delightful. Like a smooth chocolatey drink that left you with a nice clean feeling mouth after. I have promised the second one to my daughter but I might just have to use it myself to get the sensation of this fully :)

I would just say to make sure your milk is really, really hot as I am a bit of a baby when it comes to hot drinks and so the chocolate took a while to melt and when it had fully melted it was just warm enough for me to drink. So next time I will actually do what it says and use Hot milk!! I will definitely be buying from Alotachoc again and really do advise you to have a try of their product as this one was delicious :)

Please note this review was done by myself. I bought this product and decided to review it and any thought whether good or bad is solely my own thought.