Trick or Treat....

Did I already mention that I like Halloween alot ..... ?  Sorry,  it must be the child in me or possibly the sugar high I get from sorting   pinching all the sweeties we stock up on ready for the inevitable flood of local kids ghouls!  

Of course the fun doesn't stop at midnight either because as soon as the clock chimes we enter another skull loaded celebration with the 'Day of the Dead' festival aka 'Dia de los Muertos' !  I probably shouldn't even get started on this one because we could be here a long time but the colours, the sugar skulls, butterflies, folk art and flowers... are just amazing!

So, back to the purpose of this post...the blog TRICK is this fun little ghostie make which you can knock up in 5mins and give to the kids to dangle on a stick on the doorsteps later tonight....

All you need is some scissors, glue, elastic band, needle & nylon thread, wobbly googly-eyes, kitchen towel and white fabric (or you could even just make them from kitchen towel is you have no fabric!).  I used one of my son's old school shirts which he seems to grow out of within the first term and which always have just enough ingrained dirt splodges on to render them too shabby for the second hand shops...

Follow these 6 simple steps:

1)  Cut a square of white fabric
2) Screw a kitchen towel up into a rough ball shape (for the head). Place in middle of fabric square.
3) Gather fabric around the kitchen towel and secure it with an elastic band
4) Cover the elastic band with a scrap of white fabric
5) Glue on some wibbly-wobbly-googly-eyes
6) Sew a length of nylon to the top of the ghostie head so you can dangle it from a stick

I hope you have fun with that - you could make loads and make a ghostie-tree for your window display:-)  Next, the blog TREAT  is a chance to win this fab mix of beads, kindly donated by Beads by Lili  

As you can see it is absolutely b-u-r-s-t-i-n-g with colours, flowers & skulls!  It could be all yours too because it's the very first blog giveaway and entry is easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!


This giveaway is open to anyone aged over 18 living in the UK and to enter all you need to do is leave a comment below this blog post by midnight EST on Sunday 04.11.12 

The lucky winner will be announced on a new blog post and the beads sent out once they have contacted me with their address (UK only).  The full terms of our giveaways are here so make sure you check them out and then get commenting !





                              Have fun over the next few spooky days
                                                               & 
                                                     Good Luck !

Spooky goings on....

You may have noticed it's been a little bit quiet on the ADM blog this last week... listen....shhhhhhhhh....  (cue noise like a tumbleweed)  - is there something spooky going on?!

Well no, not quite yet but it will soon be Halloween so there might be at some point.  I guess you could say that the real world has been that little bit extra 'demanding' recently what with projects, family events and any spare time being spent 'prepping' for the making session at the Pound Arts Centre in Corsham.   It was quite a challenge to get two lots of craft stuff ready (plus samples) and I think I must have checked & re-checked a zillion times that I had everything we needed to be able to make fabric corsages and/or some jewellery on the day!  I'm glad to report that it all seemed to work out well  and there was plenty of creativity, chatter & smiles.

And so it's onto the next event and with Halloween always being a firm childhood favourite, I couldn't resist making up a few little projects to share.  To begin with I got busy with some large round acrylic beads and a marker pen which then, in turn, led to several little spin off project ideas for using them!

First up was my 'Jack O'Lantern' Earrings (main picture at top of blog post) which are pretty simple to make if you have a little bit of jewellery making experience and some pliers - the full step-by-steps are over on my tutorial page if you fancy having a go.

Next up was a dingly-dangly 'Mummy' charm which you could easily make into a keyring or bagcharm.  You'll just need a bit of wire, some white 'rags', glue, string and a large white round bead for the head (if you can draw better than me it helps too ;-)

Then last but not least, it's one for the spooky story teller - a scary skulls book thong to dangle between the pages as they tell their blood curdling All Hallows' Eve tales to their terrified audience...

            
I'm putting the instructions for all three projects into one of my mini-make books (link here) and hope you will be inspired to enjoy creating your own set of creepy character accessories!


Until next time....   

Happy Spooky Making!

009, bow ties and ......a licence to craft

Apple squash - shaken not stirred.


Yes, that is a jelly sweet 'olive' and this week we are about all things Bond & 9yr old birthday excitement! This last quarter of the year is just about the best thing ever for G - having 2 lots of celebrations, pressies & parties in fairly quick succession (not to mention Halloween & Bonfire Night in between!).  One of his current favourites is James Bond so it is with great timing that the 50th Anniversary also falls in this month! 

With all the upcoming festivities, every Secret Agent needs to dress for dinner so 'M' (aka Mummy) has a plan and a licence to craft ;-)

ADM Productions presents.... 'You Only Stitch Once...' 

For this mission you will need some black fabric, needle,

 black cotton and scissors.

Begin by cutting a rectangle approx. 23x12cm

Fold the long edges of the rectangle to the middle

Fold each end like this..

Then fold both ends into the middle on the back...

Catch the sides with your needle and thread and

 sew them over the top of the ends. Keep the needle
and thread attached..

Cut a small piece of fabric approx. 11 x 3.5cm

 and fold it's edges to the middle as before...

Wrap it around the tie (neatest bit at front)

 and sew into place...

then stitch a brooch or safety pin to the back...

Ta-Da  - a bow tie fit for a mini-secret agent!

(see - there was only one lot of stitching)

 Right, I'm off to blow up balloons, sort out party food & cakes. Oh yes, and before I sign out I can let you in on another little secret...  the first blog giveaway is coming soon!




Happy Secret Crafting :-)

Channelling my inner Mary Berry....

Puddings....mmmmm....I want puddings....


Ever since the pudding episode of  the 'Great British Bake Off' I have been craving puddings. Not fancy, delicate or fine puddings.... I want big fat, sweet & stodgy, puddings - the sort you got dished up as a child and sploshed with gallons of yummy yellow custard!

I wanted to make one last weekend and played with the idea of Sticky Toffee pudding....then I dreamt about Jam roly-poly.... but in the end decided it simply had to be Treacle tart!  I went shopping to get all the ingredients and deliberatly walked past the 'ready-made-just-heat-in-the-oven' pie determined to channel my inner Mary Berry and make one from scratch myself! I even googled her recipe here.

I got everything home and checked through, trying hard to resist sticking my finger in the golden syrup,  only to discover that the bottom of my *special* (not used very often) fluted flan tin had gone missing!  I hunted high & low and thought I had found an alternative china pie dish - only to discover that it had a huge hairline crack running through it -disaster!  I didn't have anything else suitable or that was not already being used for the Sunday roast so that was that. I could have cried and, having told the kids we were going to have a totally fab pudding-fest, felt really rather bad about the whole thing!

Anyway, by this weekend I'd pretty much forgotten about it and pushed my cravings back in the craving spot (or wherever it is they live when you are not thinking about them) and consoled myself that puddings are just really bad for you anyway. Then this morning, out of the blue,  Super-Huzb brought me home a new fluted flan dish!  Treacle tart here I come....

Back to googling Mary Berry's recipe and not long after the new flan dish got duly covered in pastry and the extra little strips for the top were prepared.  Breadcrumbs were whizzed in the whizzer and a pan of sticky golden syrup was set to warm gently on the hob.  A large un-waxed lemon was zested & squeezed and the kitchen smells were mmmmm..delicious!

I'm not sure Mary would approve but I decided to use only 1 lemon, not 2, because in our house we all have a rather sweet tooth and I just know that our youngest would 'yuk' at too lemony a flavour.  I guess Mary isn't here to try it (or Paul Hollywood to grimace at it) so it didn't really matter.

I also didn't exactly work the classic 'lattice' look either, preferring instead to embellish (aka cheat..) with a few un-woven, twisted pastry strands instead (sorry Mary).  I did brush everything with egg so it baked nicely from anaemic to golden brown in the alloted 25-30mins and I managed to stop it from getting burnt by popping some tin foil over the top for the last 10mins- that way it could also go on cooking and I could try to avoid the dreaded 'soggy bottom'.

The last thing you are instructed to do, and probably the most difficult, is to leave it in the tin to settle a while - which when it's all golden sweet, fresh out the oven is pretty hard!  It is necessary though otherwise the middle would be too gooey to cut properly.

So here's my finished Treacle Tart!  Maybe not the best looker in town but it sure did taste mighty fine and there was very little evidence of a soggy bottom.  Of course, it was most definately best served with some yellow stuff too...

I just need to sit with the papers and a bit of Downton now to round off the day nicely!

Happy Sunday :-)

Yarnstorm in a teacup....

For the last year or so I have been helping to set up and co-ordinate a small, local support group for people affected by psoriatic arthritis ('PsAZZ' in Bath) and this week in particular I have been helping them to organise a yarnstorm event taking place in December.  

Apart from the paperworky things, I've also been making a few examples to take along to the next meeting, and last night I made this batch of funky crochet flowers..

Personally, I believe there is a whole lot of therapeutic value in crafting (or any other such distraction that absorbs you and takes you away from your troubles!) but the nature of this particular arthritis is that it quite often it affects the hands with swollen knuckles, bent finger joints and achey wrists so it can make any kind of crafting difficult. Holding a crafting event such as this is testament to the sheer willpower of those affected!

We have a fairly small area to decorate (hence the 'teacup' bit in the title ;-) and apart from sorting out event details, I have been putting together some ideas for those who feel they might not be able to take part because they either can't knit/crochet or have sore hands that don't lend themselves to crafting very easily. 

The plan is that it will all be on display outside the Bath Institute for Rheumatic Diseases who have been very supportive to the group.  First of all there is a large door to cover which should be easy enough to sort by asking for small patchwork squares from those who can knit or crochet.  Then, the rest of the area to fill will largely comprise of garlands and I've been thinking of all sort of easy-to-make woolly 'things' that could be strung onto them (in addition to knits & crochets) such as....

 .....pom poms & tassels (see the tutorials page for the easy peasy step-by-steps for these)

.....french knitting tubes & shapes

.....plastic canvas shapes sewn with colourful yarns...

.....examples of how uneven, imperfect but brightly coloured shapes can be fun (and made with big easy-to-grip knitting needles of course!) and not forgetting, good old fashioned wrapped lolly sticks!


So, here's the event poster in case you are interested in taking part...

I'm nagging all my family members to join in - big ones & small ones alike (taking no excuses with all these examples of what to make!).  I am sure the other group members will do the same and the best result will be if it raises awareness for the cause and, in addition, it inspires people back into the possibilities of crafting even with their disabilities!

Well, I'm off to sort out more yarns and then possibly venture out to get some more.  I'll be taking my umbrella though...there has been so much rain this week that the title of this post seems even more appropriate than I first thought!

Happy crafting :-)

Tropical autumn...

I usually enjoy the changing of the seasons and this morning I took my coffee outside in the garden so I could make the most of the flowers that are still out doing their best to thrive in the last golden rays of autumnal sunshine!  I took a few photos for two reasons - first to be able to look at next spring when I will forget what we planted and second, because the colours are simply inspirational....

The warmth and colours are almost tropical and several friends have mentioned that they are off in search of warmer climates in the next month which reminded me that I had a necklace tutorial for just such an occasion!  I've been working on it some more this week and put it into a new mini-magazine style format that I am thinking of using for other projects in future and I'd love to know what you think?  

Here's the link:

                              

                         

And of course, if tropical colours aren't really your thing you can easily swap colour schemes to suit.....


Enjoy Making :-)

Return to Downton...

Sundays just aren't Sundays without a roast dinner, the papers and a good old TV costume drama to settle down to so I admit to being quite excited at the return of Downton Abbey series tonight.  I know the stories can sometimes be a little bit... hmmm shall we say 'twee' (?) but to be honest who cares - mostly I just want Sunday evening to be nice & easy before the real world starts all over again the next day.

The thing I love most is looking at the sets, from the furniture and household paraphernalia to the fabulous costumes & jewellery (all faithful reproductions of the era aka eye candy for the vintage lover) It always seems so much more of a romantic time too with all that gentlemanly chilvary, polite conversation and stifled passion! *Sigh*

OK, I know that's a bit rose-tinted and it wasn't really all that good back in the day but it definitely cast it's influence on my choice of crafting today...

As you can see, this afternoons project was indeed a little bit 'Downton' but it is also something that is well on trend this season so I may get to wear it without looking like I'm half dressed for a costume party.  I've not made a crochet collar before so had a play with some sizing and stitches first to find my way (whilst sipping on a cup of fine english tea!)  and then had the perfect excuse to rummage through my box of vintage buttons to find just the right little pearly beauty to finish it off.

I used a 3.5mm crochet hook and some silky cotton/acrylic mix DK wool. It didn't take as long as I thought to complete the whole collar in the end and am quite pleased with the result.  I am going to try wearing it over various tops to see how it works best.

It wasn't a difficult pattern either and I am aiming to write it up properly later (if I can read my scribbled notes!) but before I do that I think I may just have to try it out again and maybe make a couple up for Christmas presents.

Happy Sunday crafting :-)