Stardust, Moonshine and Smooches

I got an incredible amount of work done while I was sick. Perhaps it was some sort of delirium. In any case, these three beauties popped off the worktable. All midnight and glitter *swoon*

Like most things I make they're hobbled from all sorts of bits and pieces with a nice splash of glitter for good measure.

See the little wordplate? I've been playing with metal stamping and admittedly I'm not very adept at it (yet!). They say practice makes perfect... which suits me fine because whacking stuff with a hammer is good for getting the blahs out. The Stardust Shrine is listed HERE.

My inner wizard/witch lives for pointed hats and stars and moonshine.

And ohh that look. This is the exact look I would give to ridiculous requests when I was working as a graphic designer. I'm pretty sure if I were in charge of fulfilling wishes made on stars I would make this face once in while too. The Moonshine Shrine is listed HERE

There is something extraordinarily sweet about kisses in old photos. Perhaps because the sitters in old pics often look so dour. I understand they look that way because they had to remain still so long... but I'd much rather remain still while kissing like these two.

The Tender Shrine is listed here.

And here is one of my favourite songs, "Tender" by Blur



"Come on come on come on, Get through it"
Hang in there. You got this, baby! xoxo

Wee Floral Fairie Scene in a Tiny Tin with Fairie Dust from Graphic 45

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that I've been whining about being sick. Despite feeling like death on a stick, I've been really productive. Working has been a distraction from feeling terrible. (Don't worry, I'm feeling positively perky today.)

One of the things that popped off my work table was a collection of little fairy tins. 

There's not much to these cuties. They're made with "Fairie Dust", inexpensive clear topped tins, a whole lot of fussy cutting. 

I started by fiddling around with just one wee tin... then quickly went through the entire half dozen I had on hand.

I got so carried away I even made a tutorial so that you can join me in my madness. My voice is pathetic because I'm sick, and the lighting is horrendous because I really didn't plan on making a tutorial for these, but the How-To vid can be found over HERE.

You can absolutely make these with any tin or box. The tutorial gives a technique for covering an object with curved edges.

These are made with the "Fairie Dust" collection save for the wee yellow butterflies from "Flutter" and these Wee Wings Transparency

Want to make your own? Good! Here are all the bits you'll need:

Graphic 45 Fairie Dust
Graphic 45 Flutter
Wee Wings Transparency
Small metal tin
Good quality white glue (I use Aleene's tacky glue)

Hot glue
White acrylic paint
Adhesive foam squares

A pinch of glitter

And here's that tutorial link again... HERE.

And remember, if you're feeling inspired and make your own, please tag me! I really appreciate the shout out, and I absolutely love to see the things you make. xoxo

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Memories of Ireland

You know, I woke up this morning and the very first thing that popped into my head was that it was St. Patrick's Day and that I never really shared many photos from my visit to Ireland. So, here are a whole bunch of my favourite Irish memories for you.

Be warned there are many, many, many pics ahead.

Cheeky deer in my aunties garden.

Beautiful gravestones are a-plenty in Ireland. How beautiful is this?

This pretty bunch of flowers was sitting high in a quirky church window. I'm not a church-goer, but quirky churches are quite nice places to be if you ask me.

Like sleeping elephants.

My auntie and I seem to have a few bits in common.

Few things are nicer and more terrifying than crisp white Irish linens. You can bet that I removed every bit of make-up before bed, no matter how many gins were in my belly! Also, check out that wallpaper! *swoon*

The little faeire pond at my aunties house.

I discovered a new favourite thing while in Ireland. The magic of the sun streaming through the clouds and lighting up mountain sides and peaks.

Painted by my talented uncle in the wee town of Kilgarvan.

I'd secretly like someone to carve a moss heart for me. 

(Altough it's probably not at all nice and you probably shouldn't do that at all)

Yep. There are definitely faeries here.

Did I mention the heart thing?

See that glorious bowl of cream and fruit and flowers in the back? I bought that. It went in my belly. No regrets.

Scones and jam and butter and cream forever and ever!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day my lovely friends xoxo

Simple Things House for AlphaStamps

While I am a HUGE fan of farting around on a project for ages and ages, and taking a zillion times longer than I should, and fiddling with a 100 different pieces and adding 14 dozen different types of embellishments... sometimes the opposite is nice.

Sometimes, I like playing with a couple of sheets of paper that already match. Let's face it, some days just aren't made for thinking too much. Some days designing and making arty farty choices is hard!

That's kind of how this wee house came around. I just sort of day dreamed as I went along.

Now, I know what you're saying, "Ummm, Nichola... you altered that Mini House Front Box for the base. That isn't exactly taking the daydreamy easy route." 

Cross my lazy heart it didn't take much to change the house box. I simply omitted the back piece, trimmed the tabs on the sides, and added a folded bit of card to make the roof.

"Ok, fine. But look at all those fiddly bits inside!"

Nah! There are only 9 fussy cut elements inside that house (and four of those are butterflies which really hardly count at all!) The elements are cut from Spring Farmhouse Simple Things Scrapbook Paper, and Spring Farmhouse 8x8 Paper Pad. The pretty vintage girl is from the Flower Girls Collage Sheet

As for the outside, I really didn't do anything. I just covered the front and sides with a sheet from the
Spring Farmhouse Pad. And used a wood look paper to for the roof. A butterfly and snipped sentiment and that's it!

(Okay, I did stamp emboss the roof a bit but it would have been just as pretty without that extra touch)

All of this blabbling to basically say that this was a lovely project to work on. The papery elements just clicked together to sort of make something really, really pretty with very little effort. If you feel like being a bit of a lazy crafter too, HERE are all the things I used to make this "Simple Things" house.

And all of the individual bits:
*Spring Farmhouse Kit - March 2019
Mini House Front Box
Spring Farmhouse 8x8 Paper Pad
Spring Farmhouse Simple Things Scrapbook Paper
Small Felt Flowers - Pink*
Flower Girls Collage Sheet
Whitewashed Wood Background Scrapbook Paper
Wider Planks Light Wood Scrapbook Paper