A Craftberry Fairytale

There once was a crafter who worked very hard and was very creative and honest.  In spite of her creativiy, she still did not earn enough to live upon.  She thought she should open her own Etsy shop but all of her money was gone, save for the felt...enough to make 3 stockings for her children.

She cut her felt in preparation to craft the next day and after browsing blogs that evening, she wanted to retire to bed, intent on waking early to do her work.  Her conscience was clear and her heart light amidst all her troubles, so she went peacefully to sleep, leaving all her cares to Heaven.

In the morning - after saying her prayers - she sat down to her work, when to her great wonder, there stood one stocking already made.

The good crafter knew not what to say nor think at such an odd thing happening.  As her children gathered, they stood in awe at the stocking and asked if they could each have one.

She knew she had enough to make two more and so that evening, she once again cut out her work and went to bed so she might wake early and begin the next day.  But alas, she was saved all the trouble, for when she woke, the work was done ready to her hand.

She continued to cut her felt each evening and woke each morning to find the stocking complete; just as before and so it went on for some time.  One evening around Christmas time, she and her husband were sitting over the fire chatting, when she said to him "I should like to sit up and keep watch tonight, that I may see who it is that comes and does my work for me".

And this is what she saw.........

This is the little advent calendar that I have been working on for the kiddies.  It has taken me a long time to complete as I've been trying to keep it a secret from them.  I want to hang it while they sleep and surprise them with it tomorrow - December 1st.  There will be treats inside each stocking of course and I will definitely be reading them the story of the Elves and the Shoemaker (or maybe I will just read them my post ;o)

I hope you have a fairytale kinda day!

much love,
Lucy

The Craftberry Fairytale was adapted from The Elves and the Shoemaker by the Grimm Brothers

Paper Romance

Romance is the glamour that turns the dust of everyday life into a golden haze - Amanda Cross

Over the weekend I shared this tutorial at New Nostalgia, I was honoured when Amy asked me to do a tutorial on this flower. What I hadn't realized however was that I had no idea how to do a tutorial for this specific project.

You see, I often times just let my creativity take me away and I am a true believer that there are no rules when it comes to creating.  So I sat down and tried to put together a tutorial to the best of my 'structured' ability.

To those of you who are truly paper artists, I apologize if my techniques are unorthodox to your craft.  Nevertheless, I hope that you get the gist of it and that you enjoy it!

Materials:

Scissors

Paper (I used pages of a book)

Glue

Clear tape

Masking tape

 Floral wire (optional)

1. Cut or rip 5 strips of paper of approx. 3" long by 1" wide (these will form the middle of the flower, I believe it is called the stigma...please correct me if you know the right name)

2. Wrap each piece of paper around the toothpick to help you get started on the quilling process.

3. Gather all the little tubes

4. Tape them together

5. Cut 15 petals in total (5 each of large (4"), medium (3") and small (2")). These are the sizes that I used but please feel free to alter as you wish. 

6. With your scissors, gently curl each petal just as you would curl ribbon.

7. How it looks

8. Start assembling your flower by placing the smallest petals around the stigmas (?) overlapping them as you go around.

9. Continue this process all around

10. I secured it with tape after every layer, making sure I squeezed the paper together tightly. Don't worry about the petals being perfect at this point; you can mold them after (paper is very forgiving to work with)

11. Continue to attach the petals until you have placed all 15 (from smallest to largest)

12. Squeeze the 'stem' tightly one last time and secure with tape

Trim the excess paper and you're all done !! ( that was easy)

If you would like a stem, follow steps 13-16...

13. Tightly wrap the floral wire ( my wire measure approx 12") around the flower a couple of times and bend it downwards to form stem.

14. Wrap masking tape around the wire all the way down to the end.

15. Cut several long, thin pieces of paper and apply glue to them. 

16. Wrap the strips of paper, one at a time, around the masking tape covered wired 

And you now have a lovely paper flower...

 

I truly hope this tutorial was helpful and you give it a go!

Thanks so much for reading and thank you Amy for allowing me to share this with your lovely readers!

much love,

Lucy

attending this lovely party

http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/2010/10/frugal-round-up.html

Houses in Roses

Simplicity Saturday (4)

                               

It's hard to believe that our Simplicity Series has come to an end.  During the past 4 weeks, I have shown several simple wrapping ideas that you can hopefully use for the holidays or any occasion. 

I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed putting these together for you.  Thank you so much for your wonderful comments and encouragement.

Here are the last of the Simplicity Saturday wrapping ideas.

Simplicity is beautiful and the possibilities are endless.

Here is a little collage I put together of all of our simplicity wrapping ideas.

Enjoy!

Once again, I hope you enjoyed my Simplicity Saturday series. 

To my friends in the U.S. - I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing family-filled Thanksgiving.

And to my friends in Canada - it snowed here in Toronto for the first time this year.  Yet another reminder that the Christmas season is upon us. 

I'm looking forward to seeing all of your beautiful and creative ideas in the days and weeks to come.

Thanks again for dropping by the Craftberry Bush.

Have a lovely weekend!

much love,

Lucy

Reflection in lost lustre.....

As I awaken all of our Christmas decorations from their yearly slumber, I find myself wanting more.  They were good enough this time last year, but somehow they appear to have lost their lustre, their appeal.  And then I realize greed is influencing me. 

I stop and reflect on the reasons why we adorn our houses with brightness and splendor; why we give generously to some and out of obligation to others; why we honk our horns in a rage as we try to find a parking spot, only to then plow through shopping centres; why we cook lavish meals and glutton ourselves until we can't take another bite.

I look down at my belongings and my soul reminds me of the true meaning of this season.  Not for the presents or the food or the nicest decorations.  But to celebrate the birth of the saviour; the one that was born in a manger amongst sheep and cattle.  Not on a golden cradle or wrapped in fine linen.

Suddenly my year old bulbs shine again and I am content, because my house will glow with the love that my family and I will place on each ornament that will adorn our tree.

The lights will shine brighter because they are reflecting the true meaning of Christmas, Christ.

I took some of my 'older' ornaments and gave them a little makeover

 

I used paper on some and sheer fabric on others

It is my hope that as the Christmas season wraps itself around us, you find time to reflect upon the true reason we celebrate Christmas.

much love,

Lucy

I am attending these wonderful parties

 Its So Very Cheri, 

 faded charm cottage,

 blue cricket design

You can't catch me! I'm the Gingerbread Man...

"Run, run, as fast as you can!

You can't catch me!

I'm the Gingerbread Man!"

This weekend, the kiddies and I made gingerbread cookies.  Well, not real gingerbread cookies, but they look real and smell even better (I wish there was a rub and sniff button on the computer so you could smell the sweet fragrance of cinnamon and nutmeg these ornaments emit). 

We made some of these a few years back and every time we take them out of the box they still smell lovely.  These make very sweet ornaments or you can simply have them sit as potpourri around the house.

They are absolutely easy to make and best of all - no baking required.

You will need:

1 1/2 cups of cinnamon

1 cup of apple sauce

1/4 cup of white school glue

1 tsp of ground nutmeg (optional)

1 tsp of ground cloves (optional)

1) In a bowl, combine cinnamon, applesauce and glue.

2) Work mixture with hands for 2-3 minutes to form a ball.  If the mixture feels too dry, add more applesauce; if too wet, add cinnamon.

3) Refrigerate for 15-30 mins and while waiting, feel free to browse Craftberry Bush.

4) Knead on a cinnamon sprinkled surface until the dough holds together well.

5) Roll out with rolling pin.

6) Use cookie cutters and place cookies on parchment paper.

7) With a straw, pierce a hole at the top of the cookie (optional)

8) Allow to dry for 24 hours or more, flipping the cookies over from time to time to avoid the edges curling up.

Once the cookies had dried, we chose to paint them

Our little gingerbread family...

Mama loves Daddy

Prior to the cookies drying, the kids printed a little message to their Nana using a toothpick, making long lasting keepsakes with the children's own handwriting.

The children used paint to write their names and the year

Daddy Gingerbread Man looking handsome

me having some paint brush fun...

the end

Sadly, the story of the gingerbread man does not have a happy ending :o(

Whenever I read the story to the kids, I let them decide the ending.  I'm happy to say that most of the time, the gingerbread man gets away and lives happily ever after (but I learned it was always best to read them this story after they've eaten and their bellies are full...you don't want to know what a little one's imagination can come up with when hungry and deciding the fate of a gingerbread man).

Wishing you all a wonderful week!

much love,

Lucy

This post made the top 5

Giveaway Winner

Before I announce the winner of my Giveaway, I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks for your continued visits and sweet messages. They encourage me to continue creating and sharing and I hope that some of my projects may even inspire you once and a while.

And now for the Giveaway results. Thank you to all who entered...I am so happy to announce the winner is...

 

Anna from The Three Sam's.

Here is a little bit about Anna....

Anna is the Anne of Green Gables, who everyone loves.  She shares her life with her 'Gilbert' and a baby boy named Jonah.  Her blog is full of food for the soul and her writing is passionate and inspiring.

She is currently doing a countdown to Thanksgiving called "Thankful Me".  If you have a minute, hop on over to read some of her beautiful blogs.

Thanks again to everyone!

much love,

Lucy

Simplicity Saturday (3)

There is peace in simplicity

Thank-you for joining me once again for Simplicity Saturday.  Last week, I had mentioned I wanted to incorporate a little colour into the mix without jeopardizing simplicity.  Please let me know what you think?

I will let the pictures do the talking............enjoy!

Thank you so much for visiting. Would you visit me again next week for more Simplicity Saturday?

I wish you a beautiful weekend!

Much love,

Lucy

Linking to

ps. If you have not yet entered my GIVEAWAY, please do so soon as I will close all entries this Sunday (21st) at midnight.  Below are the items I would love to wrap for you.

or