Wings of a different sort.

So the woodland set is made. Few tweeks to be made but it's all finished. Now to kit these little fairies out! 

Should we go with tutus and glitter them, Most defiantly not said Leah. 

So what is an alternative to pink, sparkly fairies? 

Well I didn't want go to the dark side! 

It seemed that when I looked back over the fairy type shoots she had done before the woodland set, there was a consistant theme that appears, that of natural. No sparkle, no glitter, no 99p shop tiaras, very much a 'real' feel to her fairys. Imagine the fairies that Arthur Conan  Doyle came upon. 

https://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/doyle.htm

Magical, classical, mythical little people who lived in sleeping dells surrounded by daisies and rose hips. 

So today I dropped off a ' Maid Marion' style dress and wings. Now all we have to do is wait to see if it fits in.

If you would like details and instructions of how to make these wings please leave a comment. 

Watch this space for more costumes to fit the set. ;)

Where do all the hair bands go?

I love this meme 

Why ? Because it's so true isn't it?

I must buy at least one pack of clips and one pack of bands every month! 

And then there is hand bands. They end up.....anywhere! 

So when my lovely mad friend Paula asked me to come up with a hair band holder, it didn't take too long to come up with a nifty little idea. 

So if you fancy making a hair band holder here is what you need to do. 

Firstly the things you will need :

A card tube. This must be solid card and not too bendy. Pringles tubes are great or something of that strength.

Corrugated card. Again it needs to be thickish. Cardboard boxes are an ideal source for this and you  know it with be strong enough. 

Felt or material. I used sticky back felt but you can use any sort of fabric that you like. 

Scissors, double sided glue, glue gun, craft knife. 

Embellishments of your choice.

Take your tube and cover it with your choice of material. You could of course use any sort of covering for this. Sticky back plastic or glittery paper. I used a

piece of sticky back felt. As the width was slightly shorted than the tube I had to cut the end off using the craft knife. 

Then cut two circles of card that are about an inch bigger than your tube and cover them in your felt. Cover one both sides. 

Now get a piece of card and measure your tube, adding about four inches on one side and five inches on the other side. Mark where you tube sits and score this with a pencil or end of a knife. This should now bend so you have three sections.  Cut this oblong of card out - to your desired width. I made mine about four and a half inches. Cut the card oblong out and cover both sides with felt. Now you need to glue the tube onto the oblong of card using the glue gun. 

You now have an oblong open top box with your tube across it. Now glue your two circles into the front and back. I decorated the shorter end with a face using sticky letters. On the other end I personalised with the little girls name. I used all sorts of sticky stuff and tapes to jazz up the overal appearance, this of course is up to you what you want the end result to look like. 

And that's it. They work brilliantly. 

So good luck if you're having a go at making one. If you would like one made please comment below I would  be happy to make them to order . 

Have fun :0) 

Fairy land

My last blog was to my friend Leah's blog about the magical set she wanted for her photography studio.

I thought I would share things from my side........

A couple of visits to the wholesaler gave me a lot to think on. Leah was very specific about one thing she, really didn't want a sugary, Barbie style set.
Something magical, mystical and hidden. Somewhere a little fairy could just come across accidentally was what I had to create. 

Number 1 - It had to be dull, not in a bad way in a mystical way.
It needed to be pretty, but not sparkly. It needed to be convincing. Not look like a printed backdrop. So where should I start?

Number 2 - It needed to be solid. It needed to be safe, seeing as small people were involved.
After chatting with Leah I discovered she had two pallets in her garden. Perfect. I do like a pallet project. So I had two good condition pallets and an extra pallet that would be useful if we needed it to work with.
After another trip with Leah to the wholesalers we came back with bark strips, artificial ferns as well as artificial lupins. Add to that some dried bind weed type of wood and I was ready to go.


he first small display was our starting point. This may seem odd, but if this created the right atmosphere we had a very definite direction to go in. 

I got a double thumbs up from Leah, so it was all systems go. Then George (Leah's husband) came up with a wonderful idea.  A tree hollow. It was perfect and getting more perfect by the second. My only job was to make it 'real'. I know I'm going on about the 'real' element, but I so didn't want it looking plastic and 'homemade'!

Two sides. One small side arrangement, and a pond. Oh yes I hadn't mentioned the pond had I! 

So my box of goodies including my glue gun, nails, hammer, tape ( always have duck tape with you, it's a necessity ) and bark, twigs, bags and bags of moss, scissors and an array of crafting knives. 

First of all to 'make' a tree. Using glue and nails I attached the bark strips to one side of the pallet to create a trunk. Because the bark had holes and splits I tried really hard to arrange them so that I had a a strategically placed hole about two foot from the floor. This would be our fairy window. Oh yes, nothing magical would complete without evidence of the really small people! Once the tree was complete, it just needed 'dressing', which is where the moss and ivy came into things. So one side of the first pallet complete. 

I now have to make a confession, I got brain block! I had sketches and had talked about what was needed, but oddly enough the ideas had all gone from my brain. Should I create another 'trunk' or more of a hollow, something sitting back? Maybe a fern corner? Oh god, what to do. I had to stand back. And look hard at it. It needed to match, it needed to flow.

Every great idea has moments like this. You run away with yourself and your ideas and then its like someone's sucked all your creativity out of your brain.

Rummaging about in my box of goodies I found the tumble weedy stuff (sorry, that's not the technical name!) would that  be around a trunk of a tree? I could only give it a try. So with some nails a lot of glue, I now had cascading twiggy stuff around a tree trunk and then ping, all the ideas come flooding back to me. Phew !! Then there was fern and moss and suddenly I was back on track. Double phew!!

Then I encountered another problem (quite a common one this) when you work up close on a project, you become sort of blind to it. To the whole picture. How it's all comes together.
So when I stood up and looked at the completed piece I was rather proud of myself. Considering i had a blind panic, the result was good.

Now what was needed from the second pallet? Maybe smaller tree trunks. Maybe a moss block. I guess a small tree trunk was a good place to start, so that was what I did. The second side flowed beautifully with the trunks just fitting perfectly with a beautiful moss block and tree root coming away from the pallet.

Now for the most important bit, to turn a rectangle mirror into a pond. This was a far more simpler vision. All I had to do was transfer that to the mirror. It's fare to say I was now in a roll. Moss with a nest attached to one corner and perfectly placed water lily flowers. All that was left was to place it where it was to go. 

I know Leah was pleased, and that is all you want when you're creating something. It's all about matching your vision to that of the customers.
Sometimes they can't explain.
Sometimes you cant translate your vision to them.
All you can do is cross your fingers and hope that your visions match! 

This is the biggest worry of the job. From brides to backdrops you hope that your visions match.

So would it work for her visually - that was really all that mattered.
A baby shoot booked in for the afternoon proved a brilliant chance to try it out. Then of course the small person has a bit of a fairy moment and then Leah ropes her son Jack in.  The results are breathtaking.

To find out more about the amazingly talented Leah, take a look at her website http://www.leahvanzyl.com/

Find her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/leahvanzylphotography

Or lastly see her blog http://www.leahvanzyl.com/blog

You can find me on Facebook as well on Facebook.

So biscuits - don't have to take the biscuit!

As you may have gathered my blogging  is centered around my love for all things creative.
Floristry, wedding flowers being my passion.
But it's fair to say I love creating. I love to try and am happy to confess that sometimes my trying, no matter how hard, doesn't  really end with the desired results. Of course my love affair with Pinterest just spurs me onto the next project. So I never really give up, just postpone an idea!

One thing that's always struck me as simple enough to try is biscuit making. You get the ingredients, mix together, roll out and cut out and your done. Or not as in my case. I've tried, really I've tried but it just doesn't work. I must be missing something really important? Although I do like to try, I am happy to admit defeat, and to be honest 'biscuits' has been for some time at the top of the 'defeated by' list. 
So when my wonderfully mad friend Paula told me she had arranged a biscuit making lesson for the kids, there was a little part of me that thought 'why'?

Why would you inflict this tricky craft on children for goodness sake. 
I was in for a very simple eye opener. 

We visited the lovely Latifa at the Fabulicious Baking School in Loughton. 

Firstly I need to tell you exactly where it is because I'd driven past it a hundred times and didn't even know it was there. The address: 251a, possibly gives you an idea. It's above the shops. In order to get in you need to drive into Brookyln Avenue  and then park behind the shops. The entrance is up a flight of stairs, not that obvious from the outside. 
Once inside you enter the wonderful world of baking , magically mixed together by the welcoming Latifa. 

So there we were three adults and five children and all I could think of was my biscuit baking disasters. And then something quite Mary Poppings happened. Latifa started instructing the children what to do and off they went and did it. Weighing, mixing, egg cracking and a bit of needing. So far these small people where doing brilliantly and I was starting to wonder where on earth I had been going wrong. Then Latifa threw a little gem out there. Roll the dough and then she would pop it in the freezer for ten minutes. At this point I didn't realize this was the little gem and did what mummy's do and helped the children to clean up. It wasn't until the ten minutes where up that I realized this was where I'd  always gone wrong. That magical ten minutes had made all the difference. It allowed the children to simply and neatly cut out the biscuits using an assortment of cutters. And then after 10 minutes in the oven they were all ready to be decorated. Beautiful, crisp, golden brown biscuits ready to be uniquely decorated as only five and six year olds can do. 

Of course this is how you need to dress to have a baking lesson!

Mixing 

Beating 

Cutting

Decorating 😉

And of course at the end of the lesson the children ate the biscuits, a success from everyone's point of view. 

So I had learnt where I had been going wrong all this time, you must chill the dough. 

So I have moved biscuits from my defeated list to my achieved list. 

Below is the recipe that Latifa used and I can honestly say they are delicious. 

60g icing sugar

120g soft butter

25g almond powder

1 egg

100g plain flour

100g whole wheat flour

300g chocolate 

Mini eggs/sprinkles etc

Method

Sift the icing sugar on top of the buyer and mix together. Mix in the almond powder and the egg, sift the flour and mix to a dough.

Roll dough out between two sheets of parchment paper. Place in freezer for ten minutes. 

Cut out shapes of your choice. Place on baking tray. Place in preheated oven - 180c, for ten minutes. Leave to cool on wire rack. Melt the chocolate and spread on biscuits and decorate as you wish. 

For more details of baking classes and courses please contact Latifa at Fabulicious baking school. 

251a High Road

Loughton

Essex

IG10 1AD

Tel: 020 31295451

Email: info@fabbakingschool.com

www.fabbakingschool.com

Or you can find them on Facebook 

My verdict without a doubt was ***** five star. We will be visiting again. 

A post by my friend Leah about fairies

I'm not going to say much about this just yet. Wanted to share the brilliant talents of the lovely Leah. 

http://www.leahvanzyl.com/blog/2016/6/woodland-fantasy-photo-shoot

I will offer my side of the adventure next week. 

Half term weather hell !

So the wonderful May half term is upon us and yes of course it's cold and raining.

So what do you do that doesn't cost a fortune and isn't a bore for you as a parent?

I have to confess to coming across this little half term gem purely by accident. 

Whilst out with the small person looking for a Venus fly trap for her school homework we ended up at Wyvale garden centre at Cruz Hill in Enfield. 

The small person loves it there because they have a soft play area attached to the cafe - her two favorite things, so I can happily look around and she knows where we will end up, everyone is happy! 

Although we didn't get a Venus fly trap we did come across this. 

In the corner of the cafe I noticed a lady with trays and pens and paper and soil. So I thought I'd go and see what was going on whilst we waited for our lunch. What a find, today was perfect pollinator, just for £2.50.

So I asked if there was room for one more and the lady said there was. We had a great time. Mummy's and Daddy's can help, or not if you don't want to, all in the comfort of their lovely cafe. 

I wondered what else they had lined up. Details are as the flyer below.

So Wednesday and Thursday - buzzing bakery. For £5.00 - check their website for availability.

Friday - bee hotel £2.50, again check the website. 

Five star fun, with a bit of something for everyone. 

See wyevalegardencentres.co.uk/events for more details 

We had a fab time as you can see. 

http://www.wyevalegardencentres.co.uk/events

Invictus - flowers for the fallen

So this blog is a complete departure from arts, crafts and laughter.
So I feel I should apologise for that, shouldn't I ?

First of all I should explain where my line of thought has come from, and most importantly why.

Did you watch Gareth Malone's Invictus Choir (1st episode - I did watch both). I hadn't planned to if I'm going to be totally honest about this. It was on, so I watched it.

At about  2 minutes 10 seconds in  Gareth Malone made a one hell of a statement. Whilst standing in front of a memorial to fallen service men. He pointed out that "we are good at doing this". I sat up and  thought 'blimey' he's right. 

Firstly, I'd like to share my wonderful memories of my gentle, kind and careing Grandad. One morning a year, I would go just with him up to Trafalger Square and walk around until we found a good spot and there we would stay as the service of rememberance would come towards the Cenetaph and that somewhat eery and emotional minutes silence. We would watch the royal family pay their solemn respects and thanks. Every single year he would always say "I never see anyone I was out there with", and I would wonder too where they were. It's my most special of memories and still hugely important to me. 

So Gareth was right, we were good, very, very good at remembering our fallen.  Oddly this programme I was now totally into wasn't about the fallen, but the living!

Then on Facebook something popped up that I had completely missed. 

My lovely bride Nicola who had got married at the RAF club at the beginning of April (I have featured her wedding previously)  pointed out that at the  memorial that Gareth had made his thought provoking comment sat a beautiful display of red roses. That arrangement was from the their wedding that they had placed on the memorial the following morning. 

I cant really explain how proud I felt. I knew of course she had done this, because she had told me at the time. But there it was on tv and I did indeed feel proud. 

So, I sat watching remarkable men and women with the whole spectrum of injuries, both mental and physical and marvelled at their words and their attitude. 

The blind boxer who said "you don't need sight to have vision". 

Prince Harry, so honestly and passionately wanted to give something back to his military family. People who on the whole just desperately needed to feel a sense of worth again. That sense of worth they had in their military family.

The next day I talked to the small person about it. I wondered what her take would be on it.
I should explain that as a mum I am not the sort that shies away from any curious question your average six year old throws at you!. Because such important people had died before her arrival, I have always talked about them. Kept  their memories alive. 

She knew about Grandad Albert, that I would go up to London with him to the remeberance service, to remember people, just like him who had faught for their country, her country, and sadly had died and not come home. 

We had gone up to the 70th memorial concert at horseguards parade with my gorgous cousin and her husband and Mindy had loved every second of it. She fell in love with Alexander Armstrong and is know to burst into many a wartime song. 

My dear grandad 

My gorgeous girl and her husband 

All of this was fine, BUT what about the people that went out to fight for their country and did indeed come home. 

They came home broken. 

They came home lost, no longer the person they were when they went out. 

No longer able to be apart of the military family that was so important to them. 

Did we celebrate their sacrifice? No we didn't. 

Did we explain to our children that these people, just like Grandad Albert, went out and served their country but came back having given their all and were now simply broken?

Did we show them pictures?

Did we have memorials to them?

Did  we wear a symbolic flower to remember these people?

Amazingly,  I didn't think we did. 

The next day over dinner I  casually talked about the Invictus games, about people who did come back and that maybe we should watch it. she was quiet exited. 

I showed her the flowers at the memorial and she was of course impressed, because mummy had made them.  The first thing to watch was of course the Obamas video to Prince Harry with boom soon become the tag line for everything she said.

Can I have a drink mum, boom.

I'm sure you are getting the picture. How clever to come up with something that made people laugh, whilst bringing such a serious subject to the publics attention. By now the wheels of the invictus games where rolling  - and so where the questions!

So,  where is his foot then?

I like them funny legs, can I have one. Where are his eyes then?

What's  a land mine? 

I answered as honestly as I could.  She seemed totally unfaised by it all. It was sad apparently, but they did come back so that was a good thing. The innocence of childhood is so honest. 

It had made me think. 

What do we do?

As I sit each night watching the invictus games,  I do wonder what  the world is thinking . 

I do hope that maybe someone will think its important to celebrate more often these brave people. 

Maybe we should explain to our children more, about what these extraudinary people do for us. 

We should, but of course I wonder if we will. 

As for Nicola and Alexis, I wish you a wonderful life together, and pray you stay safe wherever life takes you - and thank you to you and all military families.   


To watch the first episode of Gareths Invictus Choir click here. http://bbc.in/1SQ3aTk

To watch invites games day one: http://bbc.in/1rMiYfn

Invites Games : https://invictusgamesfoundation.org/