Lessons from the Women of the Past

I am very grateful to my Mum and to my Grandmother for the wonderful crafting skills I learned from them. They both influenced me greatly: My Mum with her sewing skills and my Grandmother with her crafting prowess. Home making skills were a necessary part of our lives and we sewed everything that we wore and crafted many of the decor items around our home. So in honour of those days, here's a set of cards which celebrates the things that our Mothers and Grandmothers held dear. These very feminine cards are inspired by the crafts of days gone by when handmade meant quality! All the papers and embellishments featured are from Collections Elements . Hand embroidery was a wonderful past time for ladies of all ages and they were very skilled with a needle and embroidery floss, creating beautiful table cloths and duchess sets for their dressing tables. I still have some treasured items in my linen cupboard which have been handed down through the family. And whilst the bobbins on my c......

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Jewellery..... For Your Table?

Being a jewellery maker, I have been thinking how fun it would be to have beads on my dining table. And in particular, wouldn't it be fun to have beaded serving ware. So that's the next project on the list for my celebratory dinner table. It's a simple decorating idea that will tie in nicely with the purple theme I've chosen. I have a platinum coloured cake server in my buffet which is the perfect base for this project. It's my favourite server but it only comes out on special occasions and this is definitely a special occasion. I've gathered some 24g platinum coloured wire and a selection of purple seed beads. Because this server has a rounded handle and a lovely pattern I decided to keep the beading really simple so it doesn't get too bulky, but if you have a flat server, you could really go to town with the beads and decorate the whole handle. All you need to do is wrap a length of wire around the grooves of the handle a couple of times to secure it......

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Swirl of Light and Colour

How  about a little bit of eye candy to start the day? Beautiful, iridescent and shimmery, these pieces catch the light as you move. The camera struggles to capture that quality but whenever I wear one of these swirly looking pieces, they draw non-stop compliments... even from complete strangers! Notice how the colour changes when you look at the ring (top left) from a different angle. It really does change like that! Tide Pool Ring Iridescent Rose Pendant Want to learn how to make your own. Then head on over to Mill Lane Studio where you can purchase the Twist and Roll tutorial. For some other great jewellery ideas using Fantasy Film, have a look at the other tutorials whilst you're there. 'Til next time..... If you can't get enough of My Tutorials and you want even more inspiration,  click here to find my books and printable pdfs ...

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