Wednesday 5 October 2011

WOYWW 122

Ahem, I've been thinking about Christmas here - big time! Firstly, I did manage to commandeer (today's biggish word) - for that read swipe - our chrome vegetable trolley, used purely to house cleaning things, that I'd been hankering over. A swift trip to buy a robust plastic one to house the cleaning things, which are kept out of sight anyhow (just the way they should be kept - out of sight) freed it up and into my gleeful sticky little paws :) The increasing amount of Christmas stuff I wanted to hand was driving me nuts on my desk and this is a great solution:
Stamped and coloured images, papers, sentiment, lace, seam binding, glittered poinsettia - all selected ready for a couple of cards.
The lot popped into a little grey plastic basket.
Then tucked into the chrome trolley - which also has Christmas glittering bits, ribbons, plastic boxes with ready made and glittered poinsettias etc in (need a load more of these!)...and the trolley still has plenty of spare space, for now at least.
Pushed under the desk - it actually goes right back leaving plenty of room for my short little legs but no way was I going to push it right back then crawl round on the floor taking a photo - I might still be under there next Wednesday :) Brilliant solution!!

Ha, that leaves space for me to carry on making these:
Sparkly brads! I can't recall where I saw this idea, so if it's been on a WOYWWer's blog already I apologise. I think the original idea used plain gold or silver coloured brads but the plain metal ones I currently have are really tiny, so I raided my coloured ones. I've used nail polish to colour brads in the past, but these are something different. The makings are in the photo above, heat proof mat, embossing powder, sparkling stuff (a bit like 'less fine' Glamour Dust but no label on the pot although it came from Art of Craft), brads, looooong tweezers, piece of polystyrene (just the stuff they pad parcels out with) and a heat gun.

Hold the brad by its legs firmly in the long tweezers and heat with the heat gun for about 20 seconds. The colour of the painted brads will change slightly as they're painted, but the paint didn't bubble or even smell. Then dip the hot brad into the pot of clear embossing powder and straight into the glitter. I did try giving a quick reheat once the embossing powder was on, and even after glittering the brad but it wasn't necessary, I found that the brad is hot enough to end up with a coating of melted embossing powder on anyhow. Neither the embossing powder of the glitter suffered by me dipping straight into the pots. Then, stick the brad into a piece of polystyrene to cool. I found I could do all of this holding it in the long tweezers - do not touch hot brads! I'd already poked some holes into the polystyrene using the end of an embossing tool. And the result:
Some more centres for poinsettias, snowflakes, flowers and such! I used clear embossing powder but you could use coloured which would be fun to experiment with. And/or coloured glitter - lots of possibilities!

That's this weeks offering from me - a good use for a vegetable trolley and making glittered brads. For more ideas, or just to nose at what folk have on their desks, hop over to Julia's here. Make a cup of tea or coffee first as you could be a little while :)

Di
x

27 comments:

  1. Great idea for the brads, and cool use of the cleaning trolley - who needs cleaning products anyway!!

    Debs x

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  2. Great ideas i have the same veg rack! Thanks for sharing

    Crafty Du
    No 33

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  3. Brilliant - I love your little crafty tips!! x Jo (Ooo sounds a bit saucy - and I haven't had a drink yet!!)

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  4. That's the second time I've read about Glamour Dust today - the sound of it appeals to my inner Diva:) Sparkly brads sound good to me, actually, sparkly anything sounds like my cup of tea!! Have fun putting all those lovely items together.
    Hugs LLJ xx
    PS The trolley looks soooo much better with your craft stuff in it than rotten old cleaning products. Well commandeered!!

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  5. Hi Di. Very pretty poinsettias.
    I'm about to try 'blinging up' my brads. I've never gone beyond alcohol inking them. A great tip. Thank you. Kate x

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  6. What a great tutorial Di! I love those brads all sparkly like that! I second LLJ about the trolley...well done! Have a super day my crafty little friend! If I don't find you around I'll be looking for ya under your desk. No hiding or rolling that Christmas stuff away...get it out and get to work. Only 80 sleeps left! :O HoHoHahahahahaha

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  7. Think you’re onto something there Di, especially when you think that they charge a premium for glittery brads. I shall have to give it a go.

    Glad you managed to snaffle the chrome trolley at last.

    I have all my Christmas stash kept separate too. The papers and sticker are all in one box and I keep all my stamps in another so when I ‘do Christmas’ I just get the boxes out and put them on my little fold out table beside me.

    Happy Crafting!
    Sue
    x

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  8. Oooooo Di .... these look super scrummy.

    I will be giving this a try for sure.

    Also tried your double sided glitter film idea .. it hasn't turned out as good as yours but I am still pleased with the technique. Thanks Di.

    Love Jules xx

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  9. Your brads look so pretty. Perfect for blinging up flowers :o)

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  10. Those are mighty fine schparkly brads you have there. Perfick for Christmas! Did The Crafty Elf have to mention that it is only 80 more sleeps!

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  11. Such a cool idea and perfect for using brads that would normally stay in the box.

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  12. What an excellent idea to get the brads you want. Must try that one.

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  13. Great little caddy, it's only right you should commandeer it for yourself! Love the beginning of the Crimbo cards, and fabby brad idea too!

    Hugs
    Brenda 67

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  14. What a great idea, I have loads of brads that really do need using, will give it a go.

    Kath x

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  15. Oh my goodness Di,I must have a go at sparley brads,they look Amazing!!!
    didn't realise I wasn't a follower,have just become one now! BTW I've also posted a little tutorial today with you in mind;)Let me know what you think.
    Happy Crafting,Julie.x

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  16. I agree, crafty stuff looks SOOO much better on the caddy then cleaning stuff. Those brads look fantastic! Thanks for the great tutorial. Can't wait to see what you do with all those goodies, love that cute image.
    Hugs
    Bernie

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  17. Di your so organised l just love what you have done here and your tutorial was great inspiration:) Sandra H

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  18. Ah, my latest activity is all your fault I see ... and I was just thinking of getting a couple of really useful boxes but, having seen your vegetable thingy I've changed my mind ... so that'll be a trip to the shops tomorrow then. Great tutorial and I have some brads, all the wrong colour, and some glitter tucked away, gold & black, which I bought a year or so ago thinking it was embossing powder - mistake - it would be perfect for this job ... warning re fingers duly noted :) Have a great week. Elizabeth x #75

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  19. That scallop-type lace is just beautiful!
    Think I may use this brad idea, as I need a lot of matching brads for my Christmas Cottage Mini Album... Thank you! :)

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  20. Love your Christmas trolley and as one who also suffers from short leg syndrome that bit did make me chuckle. Great idea on the brad - thanks for sharing x

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  21. What a good idea to put them in preholed polysterene! I usually just flap my tweezers about for a few mins waiting for them to cool(now there's an expression!) - thanks for sharing, love your Christmas storage solution too.

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  22. Gosh, aren't you organised? Love this idea and the images wlook lovely. Love the idea of the brads, too - haven't seen that one before!

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  23. that;s such a good idea to use the polystyrene to sit them in. There's me chucking out polystyrene every time I see it, thinking it's useless.

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  24. ohoooo I had one of those things on wheels...I wonder where it's gone, haven't seen it in ages! (Now I'm thinking about all the things I can put into it!!, Yes box has started, but even now it's not as I see it in my head. My punches are either too big or too small for those holes in the draws...if I turn them round, so there's no holes, the little box draws don't fit! (why???!) Have a great week, I'm still dog sitting...only a few more days...I miss my nice bed!!! Happy WOYWW
    (Lyn)

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  25. Fab use of your previous cleaning materials trolley!

    Also . .. GREAT idea for shparkly brads! TFS.

    Hugs, Sarn x

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  26. Your lovely veggy rack is definitely being put to better use being used for your craft stuff and doesn't it fit perfectly under your desk, Di.
    I love your glittery brads. I've done something similar but instead of glitter I used the sparkly WOW embossing powders which are coloured with the glitter already added and they work a treat.
    Hugs Lisax

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  27. Oooh I hadn't seen this post because it was a few months before I joined the craft blogging community - what a great idea those sparkly brads are (even if they aren't dangly snowflakes). I think round about that time I did actually have some big sparkly brads in pastel colours, they must have been in vogue.
    I have a chrome trolley for my essential stuff now - but it's a big chest height one. Really useful as it means if I have to turn the dining room back into a dining room I can just trundle the trolley out. move a couple of boxes and it's all done.
    Just having a smile about the fact that the very first commented on this post was a Willis, and now another Willis is bringing up the rear, so everyone else is in a Willis sandwich!

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