Paper, Beads & Inspiration

Do you need a Fairy wand?

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:27:00 +0000

I had been toying with the idea of making some Fairy wands for a while and I finally got around to do it last night. I managed to make one and I am pretty pleased with it. I will (of course!!!!) have to get some more materials. (How come I have tonnes of stuff but never the stuff I need for something?) However I thought it would be fun to show the prototype and you can let me know how to improve on them.

Of course if they don't work as Fairy wands they make pretty good cat toys, I had to fight my mini tigers off cause they love the glittery ribbons.... Maybe another idea for the shop?

Celebrating 500 followers on Facebook!

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:32:00 +0000

A few days ago I realised that there were 500 followers to my Astrid's Garden Facebook page. I decided that would be a good reason to celebrate with a give-away. I have a pretty charm bracelet as a prize.

So what do you do to have a chance to get this pretty thing? Nothing hard, just tell me what you would like to see in Astrid's garden. Tell me what kind of things you would like me to create. Tell me if the items I have made are what you like or which ones you don't like and please tell me why. Anyone who leaves a comment on the blog will automatically enter the draw.
So have a look here astridsgarden and in my Etsy shop
I look forward to reading your comments and being inspired by your ideas!

If you like purple.

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:47:00 +0000

Haven't blogged for ages, but thought it might be an idea to start again. I have decided to let my Folksy shop fizzle out and am putting my efforts into my Etsy shop and am pleased to announce my new website. So what am I doing to fill these shops? I have been busy, but unfortunately not creating stuff, but indeed setting up website and filling in tax return. However I have managed to make a pretty necklace today, particularly if you like purple!

Here are the raw materials and some of my handmade felt beads.

And here is what I made of it

Hope you like it, it's for sale in my Etsy shop. I have just bought a pile of seed beads too and have plans for some really gorgeous orange and also limegreen jewellery. So keep popping in and having a look as new things are being listed all the time. And don't forget, if you like Octopusses there is always Squids In which has now got a new home on my website too, so if you're in need of some funky cephalopod cards that's your port of call

Long time no blog!

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:51:00 +0000

I haven't been blogging for a while as I have been busy making stuff for various ventures. However I thought I should just write a little blog post and just let you all know what I was up to. I have been setting up my website. You can now find me here. I chose this webside provider because they said it was really easy to do.... Well of course me being me I couldn't make heads nor tails of it and got quite frustrated by it. But help was not far away and my daughter helped me to sort it out in short order. I have also started a shop on ASOS (PS my daughter is also the gorgeous model in my ASOS shop!) and have been happily promoting Shhim. So all in all a busy time. I hope that it will bring some benefits in the form of sales as they have been a bit thin on the ground recently. Anyhow here are a few goodies I have made recently

And a few nice shots of my furry companions too, who keep me on my toes as they have a crazy obsession with the wool I use for felting. I managed to keep my stuff out of their way but they are very cunning.....

The A to Z of me (just a bit of fun)

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 10:30:00 +0000

A - Age - 45

B - Bed size - Kingsize, but I usually en up with a tiny part of it, squashed between hubby and mister cat

C - Chores you hate - Washing up

D - Dogs - no dog at the moment.

E - Essential start to your day - a nice espresso.

F - Favourite colour - Blue/turquoise.

G - Gold or Silver - Silver.

H - Height - 5' 7"

I - Instruments you play - learning to play the saxophone.

J - Job title - expert finder of other people's belongings, and in my spare time painter and jewellery maker

K - Kids - 5.

L - Live - Wales.

M - Mother's name - Geertruida

N - Nickname - Don't have one

O - Over night hospital stays - When my daughter was stillborn.

P - Pet peeves -People driving too slow, as we have to drive great distances for everything here in Wale

Q - Quote from a film -Did you all see that, cause I won't be doing that again! (Pirates of the Carribean)

R - Right or left handed -mostly right.

S - Siblings - Two older brothers.

T - Time you wake up - I don't like waking up, alarm goes of at 7.20

U - Underwear - whatever is reasonably priced and not a thong.

V - Vegetable you hate - none really but not fussed on broad beans

W - What makes you run late - Kids cats and hubby.

X - X-rays you've had - can't really remember x-rays, only remember ultrasound scans.

Y - Yummy food you make - loads, love cooking.

Z - Zoo animal - Fossa, stunning looking creature

Copy the list and add your own answers! It's fun!

A pair of handmade earrings!

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:35:00 +0000

After all the furore on Folksy about what does or doesn't constitute "handmade" I felt we could all do with a pick-me-up. I have got this pair of needle felted earrings , handmade by myself as a give-away prize. What do I want you to do to have a chance to get these beauties? Well I would like you to look at my Folksy Shop and my FB Shop (and if not following this blog do that too please) and leave a message on here to tell me what items you like best and why. On the 27th of September I will then randomly select one of you to be the owner of the above mentioned earrings. They have sterling silver hooks and are made of merino tops in a nice teal colour. I have finihsed them of with a pretty little fan shape and some teal coloured beads from Black Cat Beads

Preserving a bit of summer!

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:56:00 +0000

For the first time our orchard has given us a harvest. The plum trees were so full of fruit that the branches were drooping down to the ground. Picking them was fun as the wasps had also found them and were there in great numbers. Fortunately they were to busy gorging themselves to pay much attention to me. I just had to be careful not to put my finger on wasp occupied plums. I made a nice plum cobbler yesterday which we had with custard, yummy. My middle son Conor had already made a load of jam so I thought I would freeze the last bucket full of them.

There you are, five bags of preserved summer. Now we can have a few cobblers in the winter too!

A-listers week 1

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 21:51:00 +0000

Another month of listing club goodies. I followed a butterfly/dragonfly theme and found all these gorgeous goodies. Click on the pic and you'll go straight to the shop where there are more delectable goodies to be had.

Peg dollies.

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:02:00 +0000

Just a quick post to show you how I spend a happy hour with my 5-year old. We grabbed a box of felt and fabric scraps, some googly eyes (of course, what would we do without them?) and some other odds and ends. This is what we made together

He has called them Elisha,Mabel and Linda..... No idea where he got those names from but there you are. We had FUN!

My first Craft Fair!

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 17:31:00 +0000

Last week I did my first Craft Fair. The weather forecast was horrible, so I was a bit worried. As it turned out it was a gorgeous day, just a bit windy. When I arrived there was only one other seller and he turned out to be a fellow Folkser! Here are some pictures of our stalls

This is mine

Astrid's Garden and Hannelore's Atelier

and this is Aberfan Turning with some gorgeous pens and other lovely goodies.

I bought one of his light pulls as I'm planning a make-over for my bathroom with driftwood and sea themed items. Really chuffed with it, as it was just what I was looking for.

There was quite a bit of entertainment and a few other stalls but it was rather quiet overall. These cuties gave the children rides

There were plenty of edible goodies to be had and one of the local Art Clubs was also there.

Penlon Farm Produce

(seriously yummy jams and chutneys)

Delicious cakes from Derigalteisen

All in all it was a good experience and I did manage to sell a few things. I won't be so worried about doing it again. Although outside fairs are definitely more worrying as the wind did tip some of the gazebos over. Mine stayed put as my husband had tied them down with sandbags. He stayed around all day too, getting food and drinks for me, wasn't that nice? Later in the day my daughter and son turned up too and my daughter actually managed to double my sales, clever girl!

June Bugs go floral!

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 11:07:00 +0000

I won't have time to do much blogging over the next week as I'm going to a wedding and then have to prepare for my first craft fair. I'm quite excited about the fair but a little bit worried too as I have never done it before. Not sure if I have invested to much in packaging but I thought a purchase looks nicer if it comes in pretty packaging. We'll see how it goes. In the mean time I have been listing every day in my Folksy shop as a member of the June Bugs. I have picked the floral themed items listed today. They are very varied and pretty. Click on the picture and you will be whisked off to their respective shops.

I'm afraid I didn't make any floral items, mine were inspired by the Pirates of the Carribean and have Black Pearls in them. Hope you like them, I'm quite partial to them myself.

June Bugs are busy bees!

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 22:20:00 +0000

I've not had much time to get creative recently but fortunately I have quite a stack of pretty things prepared for this months listing club, the June Bugs. Other busy June Bugs have also made lots of gorgeous items and I will show a nice selection of them as well as some of my own.

And here are a few pretty items I have made

Couldn't sleep last night.

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 21:53:00 +0000

Last night I was lying awake and my mind was whizzing with ideas to make stuff. I had bought some gorgeous red pearls from Madcowbeads and was totally at a loss what to do with them. On one of my wanderings about I walked past some red spotted fabric and a little light bulb came on. Today I actually started of with some of it.

This is the pile of materials I started with. I have some spotty fabric, some iron-on vylene, wooden skewers and large wooden beads. I was being supervised by a sleepy feline who had stowed away in a cardboard box.

Fortunately he was very sleepy and stayed in his box so I managed to get on and give a couple of different bead styles a try. I made some barrel beads an inch long and just under half an inch diameter, some titchy "bi-cone" ones and covered three large wooden beads as well. I have made the bi-cone type before but I had never covered wooden beads or tried to make really tiny ones either.

Tomorrow I will add the gorgeous pearls to it and post the results. Please let me know what you think.

Last of the Mayhem

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Tue, 31 May 2011 23:04:00 +0000

Commission necklace finished!

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Thu, 19 May 2011 22:50:00 +0000

I finally finished my commission necklace. My customer was very happy with it. Here is a picture of the finished necklace. In the first picture my daughter is modelling, in the second it is shown in more detail.

Some more Mayhem!

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Sat, 14 May 2011 22:41:00 +0000

AnnaKingJewellery, Whimsical Wren, AprilisForever, CottonsAndDreams, LittleRedRobin, Withhugsandkisses, JAusten Jewellery, SteampunkStorm, GladysAndAlbert

Just a few of the lovely things on offer by the Mayhem listers. A bit of a blue theme.

Necklace under construction

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Sun, 08 May 2011 22:22:00 +0000

I have been working on the necklace I have been asked to make. It has been great fun and it is nearly finished. Here is what I have been doing:

I collected the various materials, memory wire, beadalon rubber tubing and some large ribbed, red wood beads

Threading the wire through the tubing. That was a lot easier than I expected and it gives a really nice finish. I shall have to see what other colours are available.

The beads slide on very easily but the holes are a little too big and the beads won't stay in place.

I decided to locate the three beads together by drilling them and pinning them together. It was "fun" to try, as my drill bit was a little bit too short and my tiny drill not quite powerful enough and I spend ages getting the first hole drilled. I borrowed a small drill and achieved what I wanted in a minute flat! I guess good tools are worth the money you pay for it.

Here are all the elements of the necklace. I solved the problem of the holes which were too large by using some small, black,wooden beads either side of the red ones. I had to ream the centres a little to fit over the rubber tubing but they really finish them of nicely. It will be a necklace in two parts, the three bead choker is one part and the slightly longer necklace that lies lower on the neck. Tomorrow I will finish of the ends and then it's ready for it's first inspection. Hopefully my customer will like it, but in any case it has been a great learning experience.

Jewellery making commission

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Wed, 04 May 2011 22:10:00 +0000

I have been asked to make a special necklace for someone. I went on-line to get a picture of it as it was from a film (Arthur and the Invisibles) and this is it:

Image from Internet

Well at first it looked simple enough but thinking about it there are a couple of complications. At the moment I'm thinking of rubber tubing with memory wire inserts, but that doesn't space the beads apart on the choker part. So I'm still busy thinking on how to space them apart. Looking at it closely again I also noticed that there is a size difference that I hadn't noticed before. Well as soon as my materials come in I will take photos of the process of making this commission.

Mayhem at Folksy!

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Mon, 02 May 2011 22:05:00 +0000

No, nothing to worry about it is just another listing club. This month it is Mayhem. But beautiful Mayhem. Above are some of my fellow Mayhemmers gorgeous goodies. Click on the photo and you will be transported to the relevant shop, where you can find many more lovely items.

I have been busy elsewhere lately but I have re-listed some beautiful items in my own shop hope they will find a new home soon!

April show-ers in Bloom!

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 10:32:00 +0000

Here are some of the gorgeous flower items that the Aprils show-ers have produced. There is nothing to add except "go get them before they're gone!"

Inchies inspired!

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 22:41:00 +0000

A few days ago I really felt uninspired and I blogged about it. I told you about the things going wrong and the interference I was getting from the cats. It was surprisingly freeing and your comments also cheered me up.

I decided that what was needed was a rethink on the interference. Maybe they weren't interfering but actually telling me to do something. As they were drawn to the photographic light box I guessed they wanted to be "in the picture" I took a pile of photos of them and looked at some inchies on the web and came to the decision to make some "Kitty Inchies."

I thouroughly enjoyed making these and a stack of prepared inchies is ready on my desk to add more kitty-ness to. Surprisingly the left me to get on with it and snoozed in various places. I wonder if that is a sign that this is what they wanted?

April Show-ers, the new monthly listing Club on Folksy.

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 14:03:00 +0000

Just have a look at all the lovely goodies available on Folksy. We have again got a listings club this month, called the April Show-ers. I haven't had time to list anything today but hopefully will join with a double dose tomorrow. Hope you'll enjoy these for now!

Uninspired, under siege and underwhelmed.

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:52:00 +0000

I don't know what it is but everything I start at the moment goes wrong. Paintings don't work out, inchies just look tatty and beads are not speaking to me at the moment. In my head I have visions of very pretty things but I cannot bring them to fruition.

The cats are also troublesome as they insist on breaking their way into my crafting space and jump on my desk or rummage through my materials. The trouble with having FOUR of them is that when you get one out three others sneak in again.
It's probably revenge on their part as we left them at home and went on a short break in the Lake District. The kids looked after them well but according to them it is not the same. We should be here to serve them. Or we'll wee on your bed!

Yes one of them really did and then they had an even better idea.... Puncture the waterbed! There we were thinking they'd done it again and they were just sniggering in their whiskas!

Ok so I have bought the stuff to mend the waterbed now and they seem to have forgiven us but I am still not allowed any peace to craft. They have to interfere. I think I will have to build them a big gazebo type thing in the garden that they can lounge about in when the weather is nice. It is sad they can't go out except on a lead but even here in the countryside the traffic is too dangerous.
Other things that have interfered lately with creativity and opportunity to make things has been the total lack of support from my domestic appliances. The dishwasher makes my dishes dirtier than they go in and throws hissy fits every two or three days flooding the kitchen, the tumble dryer is being "cool" and the microwave threatened to go up in flames yesterday. Thank goodness "Henry" still works even though he spends an extraordinarily amount of time lying on his back....
Anyway, I'm hoping the postman will bring me some parcels tomorrow so I can try out some different techniques and maybe kick-start me again.

Valentinos and Aceos

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 22:00:00 +0000

I didn't know what my blog should be about, the Valentinos listing club or the busy Aceo artists.
When I started through the Valentinos listings I realised the Aceo artists were there in great numbers! So that made it easier for me. Here they are, the ones above are mine and all the gorgeous ones underneath are all the other Valentinos Aceo Artists.

Some of my favourite things

noreply@blogger.com (hannelore_cossins) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 21:23:00 +0000

No-one I know is getting married but if there was someone I would get them this gorgeous ring holder from Pants and Paper.

I absolutely love this amazing watch from the Whimsical Wren

These earrings are absolute stunners from Infinitijewellery

This is such a pretty bag,from Made with Love X,makes me wish I had a little girl to buy it for.

The colours of this scarf are so lovely and the textures add to the total scrumptiousness

This pendant is so adorable and the colours are really nice too. You can get this from the Dotttery Pottery