gingerandgeorge

Love, the Easter Bunny

I'm hoping to have a couple of Easter-themed projects to share later this week, but in the meantime, if you'd like to add some easy seasonal decor to your home, I have two words for you. 

Bunny bunting.

The more properly titled rabbit garlands are in the shop now, and if you order this week, you'll get two sheets of bonus bunnies to go along with the kit. You can also use the rabbits to make Easter cards (as below), or add them to scrapbooking layouts, like this one by my talented and very lovely friend, Julie.

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Collared

A couple of weeks ago, I bought some yellow wool felt from one of my favourite online fabric shops. You can never quite tell how colours are going to compare in real life to the shade you see on screen, but in this case it was even prettier than I'd expected and, as everyone knows, the newer and prettier something is, the sooner you have to do something with it.

So, I did. 

The pattern on top is a Hambly overlay, and I love the contrast between the glossy, printed acetate and super-soft felt. If you want to make something similar, it's really simple. 

:: Draw and cut out a collar-shaped template (just one will do - you can flip it over to cut out the opposite side). 

:: Trace around it, twice onto felt and twice onto the overlay. Cut out all four pieces, trimming just inside your marked lines so you don't have to worry about erasing them.

:: Make small holes in the top and centre points of each piece, using a needle. 

:: Place the overlay pieces on top of the felt and thread a single jump ring through all of the centre holes to join them together.

:: Add two more jump rings through the top holes - one on each half of the collar - and add a length of chain before you squeeze the rings shut.

:: Finish off by tying a length of ribbon through the centre jump ring to decorate. 

And that's it - one collar-style necklace, ready to wear.

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PS. Have you seen the pretty giveaway over at my friend Gabrielle's blog? 

Hambly Sketch-ily

Remember how much I enjoyed taking the Sketch Challenge last month? We've been playing along again over at the Hambly Blog, this time for the March challenge. Although I found it a little bit trickier than February's version (lesson learned: scale is a Very Important Thing when you're making a card instead of a layout), I'm secretly, actually, slightly-annoyingly-smugly happy with how it turned out.

Leah's clever sketch was the starting point . . . 

. . . and you can see how everyone else interpreted it over at the blog, along with details on how to join in and win some fancy-shmancy prizes. Plus the chance to feel secretly, actually, slightly-annoyingly-smugly happy.

Obviously.

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Palette Pingpong (No.43)

Hola, Pingpong pals.

That time of the fortnight has rolled around again, and today it's Gabrielle's turn to offer you something pretty for free. I challenged her with this photo (via Style Me Pretty) . . . 

. . . and you can see what she did with it over at her blog, the green gal. 

If you haven't played Palette Pingpong before, it really is that simple - look at the pretty picture, click through to see the colour swatch it inspired, then help yourself to Gabrielle's freebie. No sweat, no weird rubbery bat and no arguing over whether the ball was in or out.

Those Olympic pingpongers really should take note.

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Happy Spring Garland

It feels like I've been banging on about spring for weeks, but today it's officially here. Hurrah! My inner geek wishes you a happy vernal equinox, while my outer and rather more shallow lover-of-pretty-stuff would like to point you towards a project I put together for the Hambly blog last week.

It's based around a set of paper flowers, made from punched hearts. I've been making these for a while, and am very fond of them.

They're perfect for decorating gifts, not least because they're so clearly made with love (or hearts, at least), and you can also use them as embellishments on cards or scrapbook layouts. 

Like this one.

The step-by-step instructions for both the flowers and the garland are over on the Hambly blog right now.

In the comments underneath the project, Leigh (you didn't leave a link or email address, so I can't get back to you directly I'm sorry, Leigh!) left a message asking where to buy Hambly supplies in the UK. As it's a problem I have too, I thought I'd share a couple of sources, along with a general plea to UK shops to start stocking more - the new lines are so gorgeous, it would be . . . well, maybe not criminal, but most definitely tragical not to.

 

:: Sarah's Cards - one of my favourite UK papercraft shops has a small selection of Hambly overlays, including the Frames Wallpaper, similar to the paper used in this project. (I think a sheet of the yellow overlay may well fall into my cart the next time I go shopping...)

:: The Craftz Boutique - this is probably the biggest selection you'll find in an online, UK-based store. They have over ten pages of papers, overlays and rub-ons, from both older and more recent lines. I'm really hoping they'll pick up some of the new releases - they seem the most likely bet at the moment.

:: The Eternal Maker - I mostly use this shop for their amazing selection of fabrics, and always seem to forget they do a few paper-y things, too. One of those things is Hambly, and although it's only a handful of items, it's a good handful.

:: Craft Island - I think one of the newer paper shops around, but I've used them a couple of times, and they seem great. Again, they don't have a huge Hambly selection, but there are some really good pieces (hello, moustaches), including washi tape.

:: Sugar and Spice Crafts - a little bit pesky to navigate (there's no search box), but they have a few goodies, including washi tape, label stickers and rub-ons.    

:: Hambly shop - you can buy directly from Hambly, and have your order shipped internationally. Buying products from US websites often works out to be just as cost-effective as shopping within the UK. It obviously depends on the exchange rate at any given point, but even taking the additional shipping costs into account, it's an option worth considering. Bear in mind you may have to pay customs/import charges if you're ordering over £15-worth of product (find out more here), but that is pounds, and not dollars, which gives you a little more leeway. Scrapbook.com, Emma's Paperie and Two Peas also have good amounts of Hambly which they're prepared to ship internationally. 

 

I really hope that helps, whether you're Leigh or anyone else shopping for Hambly in the UK. You'll only need the smallest amounts to make a happy spring garland of your own, and I've got a couple more projects later in the week which should help any leftover supplies go even further. 

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Design Crush

Because as breathtakingly beautiful as the moon is, the one thing that could maybe, possibly make it even better, is a moustache. 

You know I'm right.

(Martin Krusche 'Für Neil' poster, via the always wonderful Hus & Hem) 

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Finishing touches . . .

For your Mother's Day present. 

Print-at-home tags in the shop now, and don't forget, you can still help yourself to the free printable cards from last week, for your mama, or anyone else you love. 

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Palette Pingpong (No.42) : Spring Notecards

So, it's been a little while since Gabrielle and I have PPP'd (although you might have spotted her stellar roundup post a couple of weeks ago). Did you miss us? 

In order to make things up to you, I have a very happy little printable today, but first, le palette. Gabs challenged me with a beautiful shot, which in turn led to this:

Spring is most definitely in the air, wouldn't you say?

And because it's nice to celebrate good things like longer days, warmer weather, blossoming trees and longer days (did I mention the longer days already? Oh daylight, how you cheer my soul...), I have a pretty set of notecards for you.

There are four different patterned cards and four printable sentiments, so you can mix and match them, however you prefer. Choose from 'thanks a million', 'dear friend', 'ahoy-hoy' (my favourite way of saying hello) and 'happy mother's day'. It's next Sunday here in the UK but, being the fabulous and grateful child you are, you already knew that, right?

You can download each of the cards separately - pink plaid, retro flowers, grey chevron and coral scallops - plus the labels here. Snip out your chosen sentiment, fold the ends back on themselves and then use a tiny amount of adhesive (a glue stick will do) to fix to the front of your folded card. Really easy and - I hope - the perfect way to spread a little spring cheer.

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PS. If you want even more cheer and/or good stuff, head over to Gabrielle's shop, the green gables, and help yourself to 75% off her super-pretty kitchenware. Spring cleaning, ho!

Shattered

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DIY Dalek

I could launch into the post with all kinds of smart-arsery and obscure references to Doctor Who, but I'm not going to. Instead, let's just settle on 'my job is awesome'. Because seriously, how many people get to make things like this and call it work?

It's a Compost Dalek.

Obviously.

Lift off the top half, drop your kitchen scraps inside and when it's full, transport to the compost bin outside. It's mostly made from household items and leftovers, including plastic cartons, cardboard, cocktail sticks and toothpaste lids, which makes it even more eco-friendly, and probably on a budgetary par with the original BBC-built Daleks. 

The full project is featured in the current issue of Aquila magazine, as well as on my personal list of Things I Have Made Which Might Be Useful In The Quest For World Domination (Always Assuming People Are Prepared To Overlook The Fact It's Less Than A Foot Tall).  

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