Helmar Fun......

I posted this over at Helmar this week.

I made some clay using Helmars Tacky Craft Glue.

Its a great one for kids,  Both mine tore off chunks and started forming their own sculptures!

I used to make tiny bread dough flowers from PVA white glue and white bread with the crusts cut off.........

YES!!!!  You heard right!!!!!  

It works.

It is very messy, cause you have to mix the dough in your hands until all the white glue is incorporated into the bread and it no longer sticks to your fingers.

Not totally appealing to me any more!!!!

There are recipes all over the place for making your own clay.

Some contain allum and plaster and all kinds of wonderful products.

I had played with corn flour before, but had never made a recipe for others to follow.  Kind of a one time deal each time I played!!!!

So I had a look for other recipes to see what measurements people used and decided I wanted to try to make a smaller batch that did not need storing.  Just enough to make a few things, and have had enough by the time the clay ran out.  This amount was perfect for that.  I am not certain how this will store, I put what I was not using in a zip loc bag and it sweated a little,  I dont know how much more it would have done so if it was stored for any length of time

ANYWHOO.....

I came up with this, using stuff from your fridge and cupboard.....I included things that others used just in case they were beneficial. (LOL)

so the oil (makes it more manageable) and the lemon juice were included.

Ok.

That's enough talking.....

1/4 cup of Helmar Tacky Craft Glue

1/3 of a cup of Corn flour (adding up to, another 1/4 of a cup, to get the correct consistency)

1 Tbsp baby oil

1 tsp lemon juice

Mix this altogether in a bowl (it does wash out fine, just do it straight away)

This is perfect.  All my goodies are drying now.....so I will post again with what I did with the finished creations, next time!!!!  

Be sure to stop by the Helmar Blog to see what all the amazing Designers are doing each day over there!

Revitalised little girls accessories....

I have a list as long as my arm of things I would like to do, to 'upcycle' some worn out or outgrown fashion-wise clothing and accessories. When you have a Helmar video due, and a deadline to meet....with no 'idea' in my head of what you want to do.....its acually a great place to start.

I found this cute little bag with a sequined butterfly, in the bottom of my daughters wardrobe, discarded and forgotten. Some of the sequins has fallen off and it looked a little worn. Then I saw the little craft thongs I bought Mazzie a few weeks ago, and had not gotten round to 'crafting' yet.... PEERFECT.

                                                                      So I did this......

 

Helmar 450 QUICKDRY  and  GEMSTONE glue worked a treat
Visit the blog HELMAR HERE and see a plethora of projects created with Helmar adhesives.  There are new ones posted daily!

Thats it from me today.  Enjoy.
Remember to do something crafty today!

HELMAR HOLIDAY HOP

Almost there Girls.........On the home stretch now!
Welcome to the next in line for the Helmar Hop.
You have just come from Jing-Jing's Blog and this is your last stop before heading back to the HELMAR blog.  Ok  lets get to it.........
 I have a short and simple Video on a quick and easy gift idea for one of those last minute giifts you didnt expect you would need, or one for a neighbour or teacher/bus driver!  ( We are just winding up the school year here in Australia!)  What ever the occaision, little gifts like these are cheap and simple, but look really cute, and are great to give away in the Holiday Season.  I have been saving all my containers all year, and have quite the stash, all different shapes and sizes. I something like this created last year by one very clever Mel, and made many myself last year..... All you need is a little Patterned Paper, a few embellishments and some great Adhesive.....HELMAR is your one shop stop!!!!  There is something perfect for every purpose.......In my Project the Adhesive runner, Zap dots and 450 Quickdry did the trick!

Ok.....here we go.....

 

Hope this gave you some ideas for some quick and easy gifts for Christmas!  It will work for containers of all different shapes and sizes......Just get inventive and you will create something unique and easy!!!
Now remember there are FACEBOOK GIVAWAYS so go 'LIKE' Helmar on FACEBOOK!
AND......Be sure to leave a comment at EVERY stop to be in the running for some prizes!!!!

Ok ladies thanks for stopping by! xx

Time to head back to the HELMAR BLOG to finish up for the day!

Lydell x

Pincushion

I am trying to take pictures each time I do something, or make something, just so I can add details here.  Maybe someone can get a prompt or an idea of something to create, from something I have made, which was probably prompted by something I had seen somewhere too.  Pass it on I say!

My pincushion........
My old one was one I made while at college.  Dare I say....quite a few years ago.  It was time!

I had a cute vintage looking eggcup, and I decided to use this as my base.  I got the idea from someone i had seen make a pin cushion from a little white square ceramic condiment bowl.  I had nothing like that.....but I did have a few egg cups......
You will need fabric, cotton is perfect and pins and needles slide beautifully in and out with out catching.
Good fabric scissors, a threaded needle, a glue gun ( plug in to heat up now)  You could just use craft glue, but it will take a while to dry. Polyester stuffing, and Pins and needles

Cut a circle from fabric....I guessed how big.  In the end it could have been a little larger.  I was after a toadstool type of look....but never got it!

Thread a needle and baste stitch with double thread ( to prevent
breakage) right around the edge of the entire circle so you can gather
it (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch in from the edge)

Gather it enough to be able to stuff.....

and stuff with polyester stuffing....or what ever stuffing you have......
Stitch tightly shut and tie off.  Make sure your hot glue gun is heating up

Prepare your base, by adding some stuffing, and glue in a smaller piece of the same fabric over the top. press down around the sides to make sure the glue has adhered well.  Put glue all over this mound inside the egg cup, and just around the inside of the eggcup 'lip' and press your pincushion top into it.  Hold for a few seconds to make sure it has set nicely.

Add all your pins, needles, and a couple of safely pins to be prepared for anything!

And it is done.  A fun quick and very simple project......and it is awfully pretty sitting next to my machine as I sew!

Giving Back.....

I have been blog surfing lately.....A LOT.  But not within the scrapping world.....just a little out side of it.  Still crafting of course, but the amount of stuff I have come across having a week of being a little under the weather, and with the motivation of wanting to sew my kids some clothes, and costumes for their book week parade at school.... is phenomenal.  I have learnt so much from people not wishing to make money out of everything they create (don't get me wrong, that is ok too, I admire people who are able to turn crafting into money)  But I so appreciate those people who do what I am doing, mum's wanting to use their skills to benefit their family, with the added benefit of thoroughly enjoying the process.  I have learnt how to draft my own patterns, and I have made several things for my DD.  I have decided I would really like to offer things that I have found out, and some projects I have created, here on my blog.  If it teaches just one or two, something that I was taught a long the way, then I have accomplished what I set out to.  I am a teacher.  I no longer teach in a school, but I think I have an inground desire, that knowledge should be shared.  So with that thought in mind  I will set off to load photos and examples here and there, to add a little to the pool of creativity, that this world wide web offers.  Should you find yourself here....I hope you have seen something you would like to give a try.  I am not an expert in ANY way, but I have worked out I can get results from just trying things out, and learning from others.  I am creative....I just don't look at my finished things too critically!!!!!

Please note, that I will attempt to acknowledge anyone whom I have gleaned information and ideas from.  I am a strong believer people should receive the recognition they deserve from creating something and being kind enough to share what they have learnt, but I have seen soooooo many things, and I don't always recall where I saw something.  Just know that almost every idea comes from someone else first....I might alter it to suit my needs, or change something about it in some way, but ideas are always inspired from somewhere or someone in someway.

Quick Link....

Just a quick one for something I saw this morning, that I found interesting.  It may be handy!             Colours pallete Generator   it is for finding the perfect colours in an image for web design I believe....but also extremely handy for a scrapper.  You enter your photo you want to scrap (you need to resize less than 1100k first) then the generator gives you a pallete of all the light shades, medium shades and dark shades that are in your photo or image!  Mmmm.