Butterflies, Sunshine & Happy Birthday Prince George...

It really doesn't seem like a year since I did a blog to celebrate the arrival of HRH Prince George  and seeing all the pictures of him today with the butterflies (which you know I a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y ❤️...  ) just makes me like him even more -  Happy Birthday to our little King-in-the-Making!

I thought, if he is peeking at the blog from his mum's lap, that he might like to see my fluttery visitors to the garden - the one below is a gorgeous 'Comma' that came to settle on the Buddleia...

We also had a beautiful Peacock Butterfly settle for a little rest in amongst the mock orange blossom bush...

...and I nearly never spotted the striking Brimstone Butterfly that was also resting in the same bush (he blended in so well!) The sunshine has really brought them all out today.

Well -  it just wouldn't be right if I didn't mark the Royal occasion with a new butterfly inspired project would it?! So, what with it being flip flop & sandal weather too I've come up with a simple little summer anklet...

For this project you will need a selection of tools and some flexible beading wire (aka Tiger Tail)..

Plus an assortment of seed beads, little acrylic butterflies and some crimps, jump rings and clasp findings

First of all it's a good idea to plan out the colour order of the butterflies...

Then begin threading the butterflies & seed beads directly onto your beading wire (a great tip is to use crimps as spacers between them - they look very cute!)

Keep adding the beads until it's long enough to fit around your ankle (allowing 2-3cm for clasp ends)

Side on a larger crimp and a necklace clasp of your choosing.  Thread the wire end back down through the crimp.

Squash & shape the crimp with crimping pliers and then thread the beads back up over the ends to cover the wire tail.

Once you've pushed all the beads up the wire, cut the wire from the reel, leaving enough to finish off (usually around 3-4cm)..

Next, link one small & one large jump ring together as shown..

Add a large crimp to the wire end, then the linked jump rings and crimp (as before) - threading the wire end down through the first few beads.

It looks nice & neat if you use crimp covers to hide the squashed crimps or if you have a gap in the wire that needs a bit of filling..

And there you go.. a pretty butterfly anklet to wear on a summers day!

If you don't have butterflies a few crystals or other pretty small beads will do just as well. Of course if you want to you can make it shorter to fit your wrist instead and maybe add an extra such as a little charm.

Happy Making

&

Happy 1st Birthday Prince George 

All pictures & text (c)Addicted to Making 2014

Daisy, Daisy, what will we do with you....

There's been lots of daisies & lots of making bits going on this weekend - I keep flitting between this 'n' that just like the baby birds that have been fluttering about in the garden (they are so cute and distracting I can waste hours watching them!)

I think it must be a good year for the daisies as they seem to be out in abundance everywhere I look which got me to thinking about using them as an inspiration for a new project and had me humming 'Daisy, Daisy...' all over the place!  I began to wonder about the song and who Daisy might have been and discovered the ditty was written by songwriter Harry Dacre in 1892 and was said to be about a certain Frances Evelyn 'Daisy' Greville, Countess of Warwick.

Countess 'Daisy', born in 1861, was a British Socialite who's mother was said to be a descendant of Charles II through one of his mistresses.   Apparently she was once up for consideration of marriage to one of Queen Victoria's sons but either it turned out he loved someone else or she didn't particularly like the stuffiness of Royal life and went on to marry Frances Greville, Lord Brooke aka 'Brookie'.  They lived together in Warwick Castle where Daisy was said to hold lavish parties and even hosted seances which were de rigour at the time. She was also an aficionado of the bicycle which has to have had something to do with the song lyrics too don't you think?

 This image is in the public domain due to its age (file from the Wikimedia Commons)

Daisy, herself a veritable fashionista with dresses regularly shipped in from Paris, and 'Brookie' became part of a very swanky social set headed, no less, by Albert, The Prince of Wales (later to become King Edward VII). Not only that but, it was said, Daisy also began to have a number of affairs with powerful men - including the Prince!  After that she fell in love with a millionaire (and had 2 children by him) but he went on to marry someone else and she was pretty broken hearted.   However,  that was not the end of the  scandalous affairs, partying and gossiping surrounding her and eventually she hit upon hard times - having spent much of her money on her lavish lifestyle!  She even sank so low that she tried to publish memoirs about her affair with the prince but she was hushed up and another time it's said she almost went to prison!  

Daisy was not a discrete person and eventually earned the nickname 'The Babbling Brooke' due to her inability to keep details of her affairs quiet.  During her life of scandal she somehow managed to find time to open a school of needlework in Essex amongst other philanthropic establishments, and get involved in social politics and was quite a vocal supporter of Women's suffrage.  She became a bit of a writer (one of her books was about William Morris and the Arts & Crafts movement) and she did eventually publish her own memoirs titled 'Life's Ebb and Flow' in the late 1920s.  Quite honestly it all seems a bit of a risqué sort of life and a real daisy is such a small, unassuming little flower it seems inadequate for such a colourful character!

Anyway - let's get back to my garden daisies and see what  project they inspired...

Simple... pure...ponderings...

sweet & innocent...those hours spent threading one through another as a child...

There are so many possible ways to make a daisy but in the end I decided to make a little beaded 'motif' and all you need for this is some thin beading wire (0.4mm is good) and seed beads in yellow & white. 

Here's the step-by-steps...

1) Cut a fairly long piece of wire and thread a dozen or so beads onto it (the size and number of beads will determine the size of the centre of your Daisy)

2) Thread one end of the wire back through the last bead and pull to close the beads into a circle...

3) Next, bring the long end of wire up through the beads and thread on enough white seed beads to give you a petal (size of your choosing) and thread the end of the wire through the next bead along...

4) Continue to add beads and take the wire through the next bead so that you begin to make lots of petals..

5) If you run out of wire simple add some more on by wrapping a new piece around the centre' a couple of times, trim, squash in the end and then continue..

6) Work all the way around until you have lots of petals then wind the wire around the centre a couple of times to finish. Trim & tuck in the end neatly. If some of your petals are a bit loose you can gently twist each petal (but be careful as if you stress the wire too much they might snap off!)

7) Now all you have to do is decide how to use your motif.. here's a few ideas to get you going:

I hope you have fun making these little beaded flowers - you could make lots in all different sizes or link them to make your own daisy chain (don't forget to experiment with other colour combo's too).

Happy Bank Holidaisy :-)

All pictures (c) Addicted to Making 2014 

Blue with a dash of pink..

Here we are at the end of another week and for the early part it was beautiful blue skies & fluffy white clouds all day! It was so warm & summery that I even (shock horror...) dug out an old pair of shorts & birkies!

Inspirational blue & pink!

I have been-a-making but also having fun with a spot of retail therapy. As nothing is quite ready to post yet as a new project, I thought you might like to share in my therapy and take a little peek into what I have been out gathering in readiness....  

First up is this total impulse buy which just needs a little spot of up-cycling to make it perfect for my craft space.  I just fell in love with the colour!

Oops... 

Doing it up is really an outside job and unfortunately it's raining today, but it is a long weekend - hooray! - so if the weather cheers up I should be able to make a start on it...exciting :-)

Next up is another blue tone & very random purchase - even Teddie was curious! I have no answer as to why I got it (and Easter is long gone so I can't even pretend its because of that).  I just liked the pattern and colour..I guess it simply appealed to me...

Not for Teddies!

That purchase was quickly followed by this pretty vintage egg coddler. Again it happens to be in blue-ish tones and again I bought it for no apparent reason other than I like the 'Woodland' pattern...

I may try actually using this one morning for breakfast...

Even the back of it is pretty!

Now, here's a bit of a clue as to what I might be making something with soon (and yes, it's blue again!)

Thought it was yarn?  Look again...

(it's wool fibre for felting)

On a trip into Bath I also bought some new, thinner 'Doll Needles' for tatting (another little clue to what I have been playing with this week but more on that another time).  I was quite pleased to find this pack because the one's I have are quite thick and 'real' tatting needles aren't easy to find...

And finally, for my irresistible, utterly gorgeous, dash of pink (with a touch of lime green)...

Squiggly Squeeeeals of delight!

Don't ask me what I will do with it because I don't yet know!  I just couldn't put it down once I picked it up and when I do  make something with it I will let you know.

Anyway, that's me set up for the bank hol along with a spot of gardening, friends, family & Pimms!  And I really hope all this rain makes my newly planted runner beans grow :-)

Grow beans grow!

Enjoy your bank holiday whatever you do :-)




All photographs (c) Addicted to Making

Sweet Peas, Crystals & Intermittent Fasting...

I have before me today, a sea of crystals.... sparkling in the sunlight..

  I could sit for ages just looking at them whilst they catch the light and throw out pretty little rainbows.. but really I should get on because one of today's tasks is working on a commission for some bridal pieces (I do have a bridal tutorial in the wings so will hopefully share that later in the week)

Also so far this week I have been pinching out my sweet peas which I planted a few weeks ago and which have simply shot up!

3 weeks ago...

1 week later...

2 weeks later...

Today...eek!

I can't wait for them to flower - I absolutely love their feminine, papery petals and the delicious perfumed scent of them.  I haven't had much luck getting 'bought' ones established in our garden in the last few years so this year I am planting my own seeds and keeping my fingers crossed.  I haven't decided where I will actually put them yet but there are a few sunny spots to choose from... I will keep you updated on their progress.

'Pinched out' (hoping they grow a bit thicker now...)

My other big 'to do' this week is to try out intermittent fasting as a way of both loosing a couple of pounds (ermmm...ok.. several pounds!) and enjoying some of the additional health benefits it is said to give.  You only have to search for the popular 'Fast Diet' (aka the 5:2 diet) to see how people sing it's praises.  I've never been one for dieting really and I am a terrible sugar snacker (biscuits... easter choc etc) so I hope I am able to keep on the straight and narrow with this simple plan otherwise there's not probably not much hope! 

So, I started with a 'fast day' yesterday and almost managed the target cals for ladies (which I would have made it if it weren't for a couple of dizzy sugar lows...and I'm not into it to feel ill!)  Anyway, today is a 'normal day' so I am having a nice amount of food to fill me up but, I am also now mindful of curbing that sweet tooth so my next 'fast day' isn't too hard.  Right,  I'm off to make another cup of green tea while I play work with those crystals...

xxx