One Crafty Cow: October 2014

Saturday, 25 October 2014

An Aegean Anniversary!

Morning all!

Just back from a very relaxing week in Crete to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary - warm sunshine, blue skies and the crystal clear turquoise waters of the Aegean .... Ahhhh, bliss! We had decided to treat ourselves and booked into a 'luxury' resort, however past experiences of this description had so often led to disappointment and a realisation that my idea of luxury and theirs were not entirely the same! We needn't have worried on this occasion though as the Daios Cove Resort was AMAZING and we felt thoroughly spoiled from the moment we arrived until the minute we left. In fact, the 5* service continued even as we arrived at Heraklion airport for our return flight where to our surprise we were met by another member of the hotel staff who guided us through the very busy airport, whisking us to the front of the queues for check in, bag screening (which was in a completely different area!) and delivering us to the security gate in record time, ensuring the whole process was as painless as possible - brilliant! This was the icing on the cake for me as that is the bit I hate the most about travelling home after a lovely holiday and always makes me grumpy! 10 out of 10 Mr Daios! If you get the chance to go I would definitely recommend it.

So this week's crafty share has to be the anniversary card I made for Mr Crafty Cow. I used one of the black & white art pads from LOTV coloured with Promarkers and matted onto some gold foil card. Papers were also from LOTV - the Antebellum paper pad I think - and ribbon from American Crafts. Hope you like it.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a good week
TTFN
Bev x

Sunday, 12 October 2014

A very classy affair ...

Sorry for the delay in this weeks post but we have all been up in Manchester to celebrate my nephew's wedding which took place on Friday ... and what a fabulous wedding it was!

Both my nephew and his bride are architects and have aready redesigned and converted their London apartment from what was once an old bakery into a fabulously sleek two storey abode. Add to the mix the bride's deliciously quirky and creative styling and meticulous attention to detail and it was evident that this would be no ordinary wedding!

The bride wore a beautiful dress of gold brocade, which she designed herself, accessorised with gold boots and a sparkling ear cuff. Instead of flowers she carried a stunning bouquet made from vintage brooches and buttons that had all belonged to her own and the groom's grandmothers, and was made by her equally clever Mum. It was so unusual and such a lovely idea - something to treasure forever.

My sister, being a dab hand at making a celebratory cake or two, had offered to make the wedding cake **although I bet she was wishing she hadn't when she received the picture of what they would like (complete with precise measurements - did I mention they were architects?)**

By Tuesday evening it was finally ready and my nephew came to collect it, ready to be transported from London to Manchester the following day **you can see where this is going already can't you?**. I don't think he had even got a mile down the road when disaster struck and the cake toppled over, completely squashing the bottom layer and reducing it to crumbs!! Distraught, he drove back to his Mum's where they assessed the damage and determined that whilst a couple of tiers were salvageable, a whole new bottom tier would have to be made. It was now close to midnight and the wedding was less than 72 hours away! After pulling out all the stops, wedding cake mark 2 was made, except it was now too late for my nephew to collect and so it had to come in the car with us (as we were also picking up my sister on the way). It was like something out of a Benny Hill sketch ... Mr Crafty Cow and I, youngest & eldest (don't ask me how we managed that!), my sister, overnight bags, suit carriers, hat (hers, not mine!) and now 2 tiers of a wedding cake! My poor sister was so paranoid that something else would happen to it that she sat with it on her knee for the whole journey from London to Manchester, ready to be reassembled at the venue! Whilst not quite the same as the original, which was covered in silver leaf and sadly could not be procured again at such short notice, I think you'll agree that she did a stunning job!

The bride and groom's individual styling and meticulous attention to detail was carried through the theme of the whole day - the lovely bridesmaids ... one in silver, one in gold... the gold & silver heart shaped confetti ... even a neon sign designed by the bride, and in her handwriting, to indicate where the dancing was to take place. A very classy affair!

And finally, my own personal wedding highlight .... as you know, we are all huge Bake Off fans in our house **have already got withdrawal symptoms now that it has finished for a other year ... sniff** and so you can imagine my delight when I discovered that we were sitting at the table with none other than the brother of last years Bake Off winner (who can forget the very clever Frances and her squirrel cake?)!!! What a small world ... not to mention a very fitting end to an extremely stressful week for my poor sister!

Congratulations to Simon and Claire and wishing them a long and happy live together!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and see you next week!
TTFN
Bev x

Saturday, 4 October 2014

Boxing Clever ...!

Happy Weekend everyone!

Usually by this time of year, the winter woolies would have all been unpacked and probably worn several times by now, the central heating would be on and the winter duvet re-instated on the bed. Well, not this year. I can't believe it is now October and we are still being blessed with warm and sunny days and mild nights with hardly a drop of rain to be seen here in Sussex. The garden is still looking beautiful and all the hanging baskets and pots are still in full bloom! Amazing!

I have a feeling that that may all be about to change very soon though, so what better way to spend those wet and miserable weekends to come than snuggled indoors with a cuppa, a choccy biscuit and a bit of crafting?!

So this week, I have a tutorial for you. It is a cute little gift box, with sleeve, bow, tag and even some nesting for the inside, all made from one sheet of 12x12 paper/card! Yes, really, one piece! We all need a gift box from time to time, and the ones from those posh stationers are soooo expensive ... this one costs pennies!

1. Take one sheet of 12"x12" paper or card. If using paper, try and ensure it is of a fairly decent weight and one with a double sided pattern adds a nice contrast for your sleeve and bow, but it is not essential. I am using the Sweet Taffy paper from Stampin' Up!

2. Cut as follows:

Cut 2" of nesting (very fine slivers of paper). You can skip this bit if you don't want to use nesting and you will have a 2" strip left over.
Cut a 2" strip for the sleeve.
Cut a 1" strip for the bow
Cut a 7x7" square for the box base
Cut a 5x5" square for the box lid
Keep remaining piece (5x2") to use for a tag

The pieces all laid out should look like this:

3. Take the 7x7 square and score on all 4 sides at 1-3/4". This will be your box base. (score on the side you want as the inside of your box)

4. Starting at bottom right hand corner, cut up the vertical line to where the two score lines cross (1-3/4"). Turn 90 degrees in anticlockwise direction and repeat. Do this for all 4 sides turning anticlockwise and snipping each time.

5. Turn over to the right side, and add glue to the flaps on the opposite side to the cut. Double sided tape will hold paper but a wet glue will give the best hold, especially if you are using card.

6. Fold all flaps to the inside of the box and glue in place.

7. Now take the 5x5" piece and score at 5/8" along all 4 sides

8. Repeat steps 4 - 6 to complete the box lid.

9. Scrunch up the nesting and roll into a ball between the palms your hands.

10. Gently pull apart and add to the base of the box.

11. Next, take the 2" strip for the sleeve and score at 2-3/4", 4-1/2", 8-3/8" & 10". Fold along the score lines and stick ends together. This will now slide over your box and lid.

12. Now take the 1" strip and cut into two pieces, 8" and 4". Notch the ends of the 4" piece as shown.

13. Glue the ends of the 8" strip together to form a circle and then stick down in the middle to form your bow.

14. Stick this piece to the smaller strip and add rhinestones or other embellishment as desired.

15. Now you can either use the leftover 2x5" piece and simply fold in half to make a gift tag, or you can add a stamped sentiment to some punched shapes as I did here.