Sunday 14 March 2010

How much mess can one crafter make?

In my case, an awful lot! When I was making the two pillows and the tags, I must have turned my craft room upside down somehow. I can't believe the state it is in. Especially my lace boxes. For the pillows, I needed to find exactly the right lace of course, and I searched through the drawers and boxes for hours. I love fondling my antique and vintage laces. I love studying all their intricate details, and I get so terribly carried away. Hours pass and then I find myself surrounded by piles of possibles, piles of oh so delicious but not suitable lace, and big tangles of the prettiest pieces. How did that happen?

When I tried to look for a few little pieces yesterday for another project, I realised that I needed to do something to get those lacy tangles sorted. Lightbulb moment! What about all those dolly pegs I bought ages ago for a specific project which now I can't even remember? They looked very new though, so I soaked them in coffee for a goodly while. Much better. I have only done a fraction of the laces, but it is a good start I think -



I'll have to go shopping tomorrow for a few more. The amount I would need to do all the laces, well, lets just say I'd need a rather large shopping trolley.

However, I get bored with too much of the same thing. So this is what happened next. My darling No. 3 son wanted to know what I would like for Mothering Sunday, and we wombled off into town yesterday afternoon. I knew I wanted something crafty, which he thought was rather silly, but he ended up buying me a much wanted precision craft knife ( notice the pretty pink handle! ) and a corner punch which I had coveted for a long time. Woohoo!


He wouldn't let me have them until today, and some of you will know that I am not the most patient person in the world, but this was worth waiting for. Because I had already thought of a jolly good use for the corner punch. I could use it to pretty up some plain tags and use those for winding the wider laces onto!

And thats what I did earlier today, with a big grin on my face. I have only done a few so far, but the France/Italy rugby match is sooooooooooo exciting, I have to watch, can't prettify. Here are the few I have done so far -


It really doesn't take very long to make the tags look pretty. Punch out the corner, age the tags with a couple of brown inks, add a teeny scrap of old paper, and thats it really, get winding!

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY. I'LL BE CLOSING IT TONIGHT AT 10PM AND DRAW THE WINNER TOMORROW MORNING. A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVE ENTERED SO FAR AND GOOD LUCK!

23 comments:

sadie said...

goodness, I love how you have used the pegs! What an inspired idea,and one I will happily pinch if I ever get a goodly stash of lace or ribbon (have a nasty habit of using it too quickly!)

I wish I had a craft room. There is potential, I'm hoping that maybe later this year or next year I can reshuffle bedrooms to free one up for my craft room. I need it! ;o)

Time I was off, but have a lovely Mother's Day. Hope you are spoilt rotten, and I love your pressie. I'm the same, ask for stuff that leaves faces of others blank, but me flushed with joy!

xx

Kelly said...

Soooo pretty!
Love it, ah I need you to come sort my craft room out!!! I'm trying to, honest!!!!

Rustique Gal said...

Wow, you came up with some gorgeous solutions! So much prettier than my hatbox full of ribbons and lace that gets all mooshed around. And #3 Son--What a sweetie! Have a lovely day! Sherry

Karen Valentine said...

Oh my, those lace tags are so yummy!!
And I LOVE the idea of soaking those spindles in coffee! Your lace stash is very enviable! Do you sell those little tags wrapped in lace????
Thank you for coming over for a visit and leaving your sweet comment about my pillows. The one you made for your giveaway is quite lovely too. Have a wonderful week! And Happy Mothering Sunday!!!

Julia @ Vintage with Laces said...

Hi Liz, Your laces are so yummy and the tags you made are beautiful!!!
Have a wonderful evening!
Hugs,
Julia

Dorthe said...

Liz,
you have a wonderfull bunch of fantastic laces, and my,-they looks pretty rolled up on the pegs, and even more on your beautifull tags, I love how you made them look so old and gorgeus.

Hugs, Dorthe

Kim from The Sheep's Nest said...

Oh Liz it all looks so pretty! Isn't it great when we can even make our supplies look like little works of art! The tags are fabulous too! That corner punch just added the perfect finish! We spent the day out in the cold and dreary day working on our greenhouse windows! I'll have to post about it later! hugs to you,Kim

Croap Queen said...

Very pretty missis - as always. You really have some great ideas.

Oh how I feel for your poor family with you sitting there being made to wait until today for your goodies :-/ I do admire Nick's style though - revenge is sweet, making mummy wait. Good lad.

JJ x

Debby said...

What a great idea. I love the pegs and the tags are awesome. So clever..
Debby

Sandi @the WhistleStop Cafe said...

I can't imagine your work room a mess~ even your scraps are lovely.

Happy Mothering Day~

Stitchy said...

Oh rats, I just left a long comment and blogger wouldn't let me post it. Suffice to say I was full of admiration and praise. When I saw the pegs I was envious, "Where does she get antique pegs!" time to start brewing coffee!

Oh and I can relate to the big mess, my room looks like a hurricane hit it sometimes. Except for the little corner set up for the photo shot! I think I'll take a picture next time. Maybe we should start a challenge called... Look at My Big Mess!

Kissed by an Angel said...

I love the lace on the dolly pegs, it looks fantastic!!!
xxxx

Andi's English Attic said...

You must be very pleased with that lightbulb moment. What a great idea and your winding tags are fab. xx

TAPESTRIESOFNATURE said...

WE ARE SO ALIKE! MY LACE BOX LOOKS LIKE SPAGETTI AT THE MOMENT. I JUST LOVE WHAT YOU DID TO ORGANIZE! IT IS SO CLEVER AND BEAUTIFUL! AND THE TAGS ARE GORGEOUS! THANKS FOR SHARING THAT IDEA.

HUGS, JUDY

Sarah - Red Gingham said...

Gee Liz, all you need is a sign above your front door and you'll have people arriving by the bus load to buy your fabulous antiques.

Think of the time it will save from having to sort through everything when you move. Of course I'll take the laces on the pegs as it was my idea!

You know you are a very clever Granny. You are so good at everything you do. You are so natural with all those old bits and pieces, perhaps it's because you are old?

Linens Lace and Lattes said...

LOVE the tag idea. I have so much lace I want to sell and it just looks so much better around one of those darling tags. Thanks for the inspiration.
deb

Doni said...

I'm in love with your lace...in fact I'm Drooling! Lovely idea and I'm copying you! Deep breath..and I'll have another look to dream on......Ahhhhhhh!
Doni

Catherine said...

Look at all of that lovely lace - and what a beautiful way to display and store it all, too! Positively Yummy!!

Catje said...

WOW! I'm stunned! I'm new in bloglandia and I've just started making pillows myself, so I'll use this as the "holy gral" to look up to! Absolutely amazing! I do paper hobby as well, so I'll follow this blog for what probably will be an endless source of inspiration!Thank you!

Catje

Anonymous said...

Liz, everything looks beautiful on the tags and dolly pegs!! Just beautiful! And I love your expression about "wombling" along with your son to buy a "mothering" gift. I also love the British expression "wonky". All such appropriate words!

And yes, my sweet friend, we work 'way in advance for designing fabrics! I often forget what TODAY is! ;-)

I must take another peek or two at your blog and see what else you've been up to lately.

Happy lace winding and corner punching to you!

Diane

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

I love the lace and the way you've presented everything! I would love to work on my sewing supplies now! I came over from my buddy, Diane's! ♥

Becca said...

Just thought I'd drop by to say hello, I found you by way of Dianne Knott's Musings. I love your blog and the vintage lace tag holders.

Becca said...

Just thought I'd drop by to say hello, I found you by way of Dianne Knott's Musings. I love your blog and the vintage lace tag holders.