Share the love and win!!

Hey lovely floaty people! As it transpires that even sharing  picture on FB will be likely to get our page deleted by the governers, instead to enter our giveaway just please leave me a comment on this blog as to what you fancy winning and why and you'll be entered into the draw when we hit 2600 likers.
If you choose to tell your friends about the blog and the LFCC facebook page at www.facebook.com/littlefloatingcraftco that's fab but not necessary for your entry to count and should be considered completely your choice and unrelated to this giveaway! Ok... sorted....

So what's up for grabs?  Well, you can take your pic of any LFCC creations up to a value of £15. That could be a piece of jewellery, a textile creation, or perhaps something created just for you. And if the thing you choose is priced at less than £15 then keep choosing til you hit that figure! As per the voucher above though, this does include P&P!

I really appreciate all the support of my floaty crew so please do get involved in this opportunity for me to give something back!

xxx

Folksy Friday - dreaming of Spring!

Sharing some love for my fellow folksters this week and embracing the turn (hopefully!) of the new season!

http://folksy.com/items/2935402-Butterfly-Handbag

http://folksy.com/items/3012550-Spring-bunting

http://folksy.com/items/3016022-Branch-in-Spring

http://folksy.com/items/2322761-Spring-Bear-and-Button-Necklace

http://folksy.com/items/2722246-In-A-Spring-Garden-art-print

http://folksy.com/items/2895246-lovebirds-and-spring-chickens

These are just a few of the gorgeous things I found so take a look around, and keep an eye out for the sunshine! ;o) xxx

It's pie weather

There are many of us working towards running our homes more economically in these tough times and part of that means using up ingrediants in the fridge and having what my mum used to call "iffits" (iffits in the fridge you can have it, iffits not you can't).

With a basic suet pie crust you can transform the most basic things into something hearty, warming and incredibly filling! With 200g of suet and 200g lightly sifted flour combined with a little water and thrown back in the fridge for ten minutes before rolling the pastry is beyond easy and I've never known it come out as anything other than delicious. Keep it around 5mm thick and it's crispy and a little stodgy all at once.

Tonights filling was leftover cooked chicken (equivalent of two large chicken breasts) which I chopped into bite sized pieces and added to a couple of rashers of smoked bacon after frying off in their own fat for about two minutes. I let it heat through for five minutes on a moderate heat and then added about a teaspoon of dried sage, a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard, a couple of handfuls of grated cheddar cheese and a small pot of double cream. Slightly decadent but all leftovers in our fridge. Let the filling come to the bubble and simmer for a moment while you roll out the pastry and grease and line a 6" metal pie tin. Pile up the filling and add a lid. Get fancy and add leaves and a rolled pastry rose if you like and milk wash the lot.
Cook at gas 7 for 35 mins, checking after 25 mins to see if you need to lower your heat a little for the last little while.

This kind of pie always going down well with my floaty family but we change it around... sometimes I pop a raw egg in a small well in the filling before I pop the lid on and it's like a hidden treasure lurking under the lid when you cut in to dish it up!

Are you pie fans??!

Suck it up and get on with it!

Sheesh! I'm an embarassement to bloggers everywhere - it's been months since I wrote anything here and I'm deeply ashamed of myself.
I could say that I've been busy being ill, then busy doing Christmas, then busy being ill again but a lot more people deal with a whole lot more than that and still get blogging!

So this is just a quick hello but I've got some exciting new goodies to show you later on today (when Mr LFCC gets back with some new batteries for my camera!) and some new themes which are to be LFCC standards! Watch this space floaty types!! xxx

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas!

Yers, I know it's still November but the Christmas shopping is in full swing, not just onboard Zulu but the floaty folks over on facebook are definately hard at it! It's been really exciting to be part of that and know that you gorgeous floaty people love what I'm doing enough to want to watch someone open a parcel containing something I made on Christmas morning. Wow. That just takes my breath away!  My new "liquor cabinet" charm bracelets have been a hit, and I know some my handprinted textiles and other jewellery are being wrapped and sent off to the North pole to go in the Christmas delivery!

You see, for me, Christmas isn't about what I want, what I might get, and about spending loads of money. It's about being able to show someone that I really really thought about them, that I know them, that I care, and that I could find or make something that would let them know all of that without a shadow of a doubt when they tear back the paper.  Watching the family open their presents is my absolute favourite bit!

Maybe that sounds really hard but if you think about the things that make your loved one chuckle, or the stuff they share with you throughout the year there should be a glimmer of something there for you to work from.  Even something silly could mean a lot! It shouldn't be about the money. Some things might take time but cost virtually nothing so try and think outside of the box.

Example: my first real present for Mr LFCC was a framed autographed photo of his favourite rugby player.  I looked up the person who looked after marketing at the club, and wrote her a letter telling her how wonderful Mr LFCC is and how he was always the one looking after people, and how much he loves his team, and she was kind enough to get the player in question to autograph a picture and she popped it right in the post! It cost very little to get it put in a nice frame! All these years on he still keeps it on his office desk!
I got one from his fave footballer before our wedding too!

I did something similar when my daddy was very sick; he had a huge seriously old tatty poster of Kate Bush in a frame in his office and when it became apparant that he wasn't going to get back in his office I didn't want to draw attention to it and bring his poster home but I found the photographer who did all Kate's recent publicity shots and sent him an email explaining that I loved his photos and would dearly like to buy one (I did explain the circumstances) and he immediately emailed back saying he'd see what he could do. Two days later I received a letter from Kate Bush for my dad and a beautiful photo with an enscription just for him. It was amazing.  His favourite group, The Moody Blues, were kind enough to do somethingn similar thanks to another PR person over at their agency who sorted it out even though they were currently touring the US.
People like to help if you give them a chance.

So anyways I digress rather... What I love about handmade is that you can give a person something completely unique. It's gutting to spend ages picking something gorgeous out that you really consider carefully, know the recipient will love, and then see that someone else thought exactly the same thing so the lucky person gets two! I get kind of jealous too when I see someone else with the thing I bought for my friend as well! lol!

There's the other side of the coin though - not everyone is into handmade, and I know this.  I also worry about "inflicting" my creations on to people who might actually prefer something bought from a recognised label... I hate to presume they would want MY creations over those. I love to give my creations to people I really believe genuinly want them though! If you know the person you'll know which way to go! So this years pressies are a mix but I haven't gone to the high street for any of them! I've imported from small overseas shops via their websites, I've had things made by other people, and I've searched small local independant shops.  Everyone will be getting something different that I doubt they'll get duplicates of but that I really believe they'll love!  I wish I could share with you what I've chosen for who but I've passed everything on to Father Christmas for delivery around midnight on December 24th! ;o)

Family traditions and the ghost of Christmas past

My facebook crowd (hi!!) have been asking for Christmas cards since the beginning of August but I didn't want to dive headlong into those designs until I'd been to a big stamper exhibition at Alexandra Palace in London which was last weekend.  I have very definate leanings towards the whole Victoria  traditional Christmas look but anyone know knows my work will know that I don't like my goodies looking shiny and new; I like them to look like I've found them in an antique shop, or an elderly relatives attic, and they've been loved for a generation or two already.  I love the feeling of something that's treasured and worn through use and spend hours going through all the cases in my local antique place which, luckily for me, is pretty huge! Mr LFCC isn't quite so keen so I make full use of his Saturday afternoons playing rugby!  And with all that effort on what I'm wrapping, special gift wrappings and beautiful things make the difference on a little gesture - so why not? I love that it makes the recipient feel treasured before they even know what their gift is!

I think part of this stems from the habits of my mum and dad who were always creating, and my mum in particular who would re-invent things and create something new and stunning that had real character (Dad mostly wrote and painted as aposed to working with textiles etc!).  She could make anything from anything!
So when I started stitching my lavender bags or needlebooks, it actually annoyed me how new they looked! I had to "vintage" them up!  Thankfully my experiments with distressing the finished pieces in much the same way I distress my card creations were successful and I was really pleased with the finished effects.  There's a definate feel to all my creations that now flows through the textiles too! Happy floaty person!

So anyways, I've digressed. Christmas. I found some beautiful stamps that fit with my idea of Christmas and started making  - I was thinking months ago of a project that I hope would catch the LFCC fans imagination and perhaps start something of a tradition.  We have lots of little ways in our family, about silly presents you must always have in a Christmas stocking - no matter the age of the recipient (a wind up toy, a car you can pull back and race, a sugar mouse, a chocolate orange, some bubble mixture....) and when I inherited the kids they looked at me like a was a total freak, but now they expect these things and I actually got informed that they know their rights, and this things MUST be included, and about foods you have to have, and how important sitting down to Christmas dinner is as a family.  We were big on Father Christmas too and I love that no matter how modern kids are now, with their computers and desire for designer trainers, they still hang on to that little bit of vintage passion but in many modern homes with modern heating systems and high tech structures there is no chimney for him to climb down.  A passing comment about Santa burning his bum in a hot grate stuck with me too!  I wonder if perhaps I've seen these somewhere before and forgotten, but I knew that we needed some magic for Santa!  A beautiful but very old key that would work for no one but him on no time other than Christmas Eve was just what we needed to bridge the gap between the old homes where every room had a chimney, and our new modern streamlined homes. 

click through to see these in my folksy shop!



They do seem to have struck a cord, and captured the imagination of many, and I'm just absolutely overwhelmed with the idea that they're going to become a little tradition for someone elses family.  We need to embrace our inner child at Christmas, and we need to keep the belief in magic alive.  Keep the fairy lights, keep the ancient baubles that don't work as a themed look but you've always had them, keep the decorations your kids made that melt your heart when you look at them.  I just wish I had the egg box and matchstick bells that I remember making with my mum and big brother when I was five!

We go all out on gift wrapping in  our family - people get upset about unwrapping things! lol! Festoons of mini baubles perhaps, or butterflies suspended on wire... anything goes! I wanted to share a little of this but wasn't sure how it would be received so I did just one set of special Christmas tags with a similar design to those made for the Magic Christmas Keys, with matching ribbon to tie everything up beautifully - and you'd only need brown paper to actually wrap the present (I LOVE brown paper and string!!).  I only did the one set anyway and thought I'd guage the reactions before I made more.  One lovely person bought them almost instantly and I definately will be making more! lol!  They got a great reaction which pleased me immensley - not because of the sale although of course that was lovely - but because it means my floaty people totally get me. They know my style and it works for them too.  Its vintage but not fuddy duddy, it's distressed but not scruffy....

I'm getting quite excited about Christmas and determined to really go to town on everything this year.  With ill health getting quite determined to ruin it last year, I'm letting nothing stand in my way for Christmas 2011!  The presents will be beautiful, dinner will be big enough to feed anyone who stops by, and most of all, I'm determined that those people in my life who I'm lucky to have will know that they feel appreciated.

Here's to the magic! xxx

More distress! So happy!

I was so pleased with my first needlebook made in the style of my vintage distressed cards that I spent yesterday sewing and made some more!

This one is listed on Folksy now!

http://www.folksy.com/items/2041541-Needle-Book?shop=yes

I think this style will work really well as makeup bags, and one lovely facebook lady said that she fancied a knitting needle case in this style!

Watch this space!

xxx

Distressed? I hope so!!

I really love my distressed vintage style cardcrafts and wanted to transfer that kind of imagery on to the fabric I am working with.  I like to look around my local waterfront antique shop and find things that still work perfectly for their intended use, but you KNOW that they've had a life, that they've been loved. So, to give my handstitched work that kind of feel I had a bit of a play, and I am so pleased with the finished product.



This gorgeous little needlebook is very simple at first glance but contains different layers, handprinted fabric both inside and out, with gentle distressing on the edges, and gorgeous hand printed pages to store the needles, and a handmade crystal tag on the spine.



There will definately be more to follow in this style - some darker, some romantic and whimsical like this one. I will also be including my own photographic images transfered to fabric as I have with other pieces so watch out for those!

You can find this little gem in my folksy shop here: http://www.folksy.com/items/2018957-Needle-Book?shop=yes

Hope you like my little creation!

xxx

Are you down with the (w)rapping?

It's been another fun filled week here on Zulu... With a reaction starting Monday morning that meant a stay in hospital and a LOT of drugs to kick it out, I'm now sitting up in bed tapping away on my much-missed Daddy's notebook as I can't sleep due to the guy angle grinding the boat he's building and the couple next door having mid morning rumpus! Fair play to them! lol!!

I hopped on to my facebook page for a while yesterday evening though after getting home from hospital (I'm totally addicted to hanging out with my floaty folk there!!) and it was worth it. Everyone cheered me up and I uploaded a couple of pairs of earings I made to my folksy shop ( http://www.littlefloatingcraftco.folksy.co/) and one lovely lady instantly bought a pair!  I popped another link to the last pair of the same (http://www.folksy.com/items/1937621-Bergundy-red-piezo-crystal-brass-earings?shop=yes) and had a new liker ask where I got my backing cards from! 



This isn't the first time I've been asked about the backing cards for my jewellery and it's such a compliment that people notice them enough and assume they're made professionally.  But, I cut them all by hand, I layer them with several colours of ink and stamping to distress and finish them, and I have a new passion for suade thonging to finish them off! I LOVE them!!

It all goes back to my upbringing you see.... When I was a kid there wasn't a vast amount of money floating around so presents were really thought about rather than extravagant and my mom in particular put so much effort in to the whole deal.  I remember once she made me a whole chair! An actual chair!! Out of an old solid thick card drum, and it was sooo beautiful. But as well as making it, she wrapped it.  Beautifully. I wish I had a picture to share with you.   My chair was deep burgundy velvet, with a braided trim with those old fashioned ornate brass rivets they used to put on furniture.  The inside was a gap I could store my cudlies.  It was amazing..  She did it with no money, in the late hours after we finally gave in and went to sleep, and with a huge amount of love. 

Nothing would ever just be stuck in some random paper with mum though.  There would be beautiful flowers, handmade dressings, all sorts to make the present so gorgeous that you almost didn't want to open it! She still does it. I love it and so do her friends!!

This is pretty much ingrained in me now.  I like to make the whole thing special... It might have butterflies or flowers, or pearls, or for Christmas - mini baubles and festoons of ribbon - but it will always be pretty! Except when it's for Mr W as he thinks it's silly and wouldn't care if his gift came in newspaper. Ironic, eh?

My favourite wrapping though? Brown paper and string! lol!!

To create or not to create, that is the question

Someone asked me on my facebook page over the weekend ( www.facebook.com/littlefloatingcraftco ) if it was moving on to a boat that started me off crafting and it got me thinking.  My family have all always created things you see, and when I was a kit I was always a bit shocked when one of my friends didn’t know how to do something “crafty” that I did.  Mum worked part time when my older brother and I were little, and then when she was home with us and our father was at work she worked as a dressmaker and tailor for extra pennies.  One of my earliest memories is us padding round the living room in bare feet looking for pins! Lol!

My mum worked really hard at creating things with us too though; another really early memory that I truly treasure is the three of us sat around the table making “jingle bells” for the Christmas tree out of egg boxes, matches, some cotton, and loads of glue and glitter.  I can’t speak for my big brother but I absolutely loved it.  My friends didn’t get to do anything nearly so exciting!

It carried on throughout our childhood as mum would make all our soft furnishings whenever we moved, and we always had the most amazing cushions that she would create through layers of embroidery and appliqué and after my much missed daddy (technically Step Dad) moved in with us he brought a new medium to the house as he painted the most beautiful water colours and oil paintings.  He also wrote poetry and novels so there was no bounds to the inspiration around us.

This is the illustration my little brother did for the cover of my dads book we were publishing when he rushed off to heaven... He never saw it, but he would have loved it. It was part of the things I was doing to boost his mood in those few weeks he got after diagnosis. ( I got letters from Kate Bush and the Moody Blues for him! Should have seen his face!)

You can find this book at Blackwells online but it says out of stock so when they get the order they place the order with my uncle who holds the stock of the books we had published). It's a great read!  http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/id/Wensum_Stacklemacker/9780954912031
It was actually printed just a few hours after dad passed away. I wish he'd seen it. It was going to be an awesome surprise for him. We sent a copy with him when he "went" though...

This is the portrait my older brother did of dad to go on the back of the book cover.  It is totally dad! lol!



My older brother worked mostly at his drawing and painting within the sci-fi realms and his work is stunning.  I was always more taken with the textile side of things and created soft sculptures that I still love to this day! My favourite was a cascade of individually handpainted and stitched ivy leaves flowing down the front of a cushion! After many years of use the delicate fabric of the leaves eventually gave way but one of my few regrets in this life is throwing it away in a fit of tidying!

When my younger brother got old enough to get in on the act he went the sci-fi route to a fair extent but in a darker style than my older brother.  He made some stunning sculptures but his love of the computer and our digital age definitely influenced him and he produces digital art that I wouldn’t know where to begin at recreating either with a computer or a full complement of traditional mediums.

So on fathers day, we all turned up (unplanned!) at my mum’s house, where due to a sneaky and fast attack of terminal lung cancer dad can no longer be found,  and there we sat  in a house filled with one of a kind originals, and talked about our current creations and passions and it was so lovely.   Dad would have absolutely loved it.  His last unfinished work is still in my mums room and although it’s unfinished it’s still gorgeous, and it’ll stay that way forever. I can’t imagine living in a place where there wasn’t a splash of love in the items that surround me though. The thought of buying mass produced art gives me a physical pain in my chest and I wish that there was some way of nudging those folks buying these duplicates and pointing out that having something unique and special isn’t actually that expensive or difficult to do. If you’re afraid to create something yourself then there are craft markets all over the place, and for those not willing to go hunting for fear of being lost in a creative maze, then why not see what’s on Etsy or Folksy or even Ebay?  You can buy an ACEO for a couple of pounds – why not have five and put them in a long photo frame? No one else will have the same thing hung in their lounge and you can be proud of something beautiful and unique that your friends will at worst talk about (art SHOULD be talked about!) and at best envy and adore and go off and find their own unique pieces.

Don’t be afraid to create – you don’t need to spend a lot of money – paper and pencil can produce the most amazing pieces that will melt your heart!  My current passion is one that I’d not played with since I was fifteen, but I’m having so much creating really vintage style but classic jewellery that I honestly love.  I posted some pictures to my facebook page just to share as I was so pleased with myself, and almost instantly sold the first pair of earings I’d made. If you’re passionate about what you’re doing, then someone out there will share that passion! Go talk amongst the forums on etsy and folksy and share the love of what excites you in the world of cushions/door hangers/lavender bags/miniature paintings/ whatever!!