SewforSoul Feature in Reloved Magazine!

Shabby Chic Tin Cans

August's edition of Reloved Magazine is in the shops now and features another SewforSoul project, these upcycled tin cans which I created for our guests at this year's Easter party.

They make fabulous flower vases and are perfect for a country wedding, with guests being able to reuse them as pen pots for a lasting momento of the great day!

They are really easy to produce and can be customised or embellished in hundreds of ways and colours, so get saving your soup and bean cans now!  

Happy Crafting!

Happy Christmas - £25 Crafting Voucher Giveaway!

SewforSoul Magazine Feature and Giveaway!

Christmas is just six weeks away, which in creative tasking terms, is waaay too soon!  I now really ought to start thinking about some serious festive crafting and having an article published in Reloved Magazine's Christmas issue was just the thing to put me into a festive frame of mind!

Regular SewforSoul visitors will recognise the project from this blog post.

I based the adorable Father Christmas applique on this digital stamp by Cuddly Buddly.

Digital stamps are perfect for applique, as they're so easy to re-size and manipulate.  Cuddly Buddly have a huge selection and, as well as digital items, they also stock a wide range of physical crafting products for card making, scrapbooking, sewing, decoupage and painting to name but a few! 

If you haven't yet visited Cuddly Buddly, you've been missing out on a fantastic crafting experience and as it's 'nearly' Christmas I'm holding a giveaway for a lovely £25 gift certificate and, with over 12,000 items held in stock, they really do have something for everyone.

To be in with a chance of winning simply leave a comment on this post and then pop over to Bloglovin.com to start following SewforSoul.  The winner will be drawn at random on 1 December, just in time for a little Christmas shopping!

Good luck!

'Reloved Magazine' Halloween Feature

DIY Gothic Cloche Article - Better late than never!

Wow, time has really flown by and it's hard to believe that Halloween was only this time last week!  There were so many pictures I wanted to take and share, but just didn't manage.  I even forgot to blog this Reloved Magazine article featuring my 'Gothic Bell Jar Tutorial'.

It looked lovely in print, although the bloodstained and rusty saw was a somewhat macabre touch on the editor's part!

I am now more than happy to start turning my thoughts to Christmas projects, only seven weeks to go!

Halloween Gothic Bell Jar Tutorial

Upcycled Plastic Bottle Display Cloche

The children only went back to school last week, but my thoughts have already been turning to Halloween.  We're holding George's Birthday Party on 31 October and the theme is 'Victorian Gothic'.  I have been busy crafting all manner of props including apothecary bottles, museum-style specimen jars and these 'Gothic Bell Jars'.

They came about as a result of this apple gift box, which I crafted from two upcycled plastic pop bottles.

I made quite a few and had the top bottle halves going spare, luckily a friend asked if she could have them to use as cloches on her allotment. I handed them over and she reported back that they were perfect for preventing pesky little bugs from devouring her crops!  This got me wondering if they would also make suitable display cloches.  So I went down to my local food store, armed with my half bottle, in search of something to use as a cheap base.  I trawled through the aisles trying every possible jar lid until I found the perfect fit.  I then needed a cloche handle, I bought some wooden cabinet handles from the local car boot sale and sprayed them black, but I wasn't really happy with the result.  Mr Larkin then reminded me about these cloches which he and the children kindly gave me for Mothering Sunday;

   

He pointed that they had clear glass handles and suggested that I use a large clear marble - Genius!  (He also noted that they cost £12 each and I was now making 'free' ones....)

I was delighted with the finished item so thought I should write a tutorial, as who wouldn't love to make their own gorgeous display cloche!

Gothic Bell Jar Tutorial

Materials

Empty two litre plastic soda pop bottle

Lid from ‘Hunger Breaks ~ Hot Pots’ microwave meal

Black card

Large clear marble

Equipment

Dremel tool or hacksaw

Strong multipurpose glue

WD40

Scissors or craft knife

Step One

Carefully remove the thread from empty plastic bottle, as in the picture below, using your Dremel or hacksaw.

Step Two

Using strong multipurpose glue, such as ‘E600’, stick the clear marble into the exposed bottle neck.

Step Three

Wipe off the expiry date on the bottle using nail polish remover or acetone.  Then remove the label, should any glue remain on the bottle simply rub with WD40.

Step Four

Carefully cut the bottle in half, using scissors or a craft knife, and discard the bottom piece (or make an apple gift box!).

Step Five

Cut a circle of black card to cover steam holes in the Hot Pot lid and stick into place.

Step Six

Now place your cloche cover on the black base, a two litre bottle fits the raised lip of the Hot Pot lid perfectly. However, if you can't find a 'Hot Pot' lid simply experiment with upturned saucers, dishes or other suitable items.  They even look fantastic just placed directly over your treasures!

I filled mine with various car boot and thrift shop finds - A quick spray of black and silver paint makes naff ornaments and cheap plastic animals look most gruesomely gothic!

Happy Halloween!

Reloved Magazine Feature September 2014

Hot on the heels of being featured in 'Sewing World' magazine, I also have an article published in the September edition of 'Reloved Magazine', which is available in shops now.

 Can you spot my piece from the contents page below?  

Yes, they asked to use my Apple Gift Box as a 'Back to School' special.  I was more than happy to oblige, especially as the whole magazine is devoted to upcyling, a cause very close to my heart!

I have a number of other projects in the pipeline which are going to print over the coming months, so keep checking back for more details.

Happy Crafting!

SewforSoul ~ Reloved Magazine Feature

Beano Comic Book Table 

Last year the children and I created a 'graphic novel' decoupage table that I blogged about here.  I included a tutorial, which proved to be quite popular, and so a couple of months ago I was asked if it could be used as a feature in 'Reloved Magazine'.  

Well, it's in the July edition and copies are on the shelves and available for purchase now;

Reloved Magazine July 2014

SewforSoul Decoupage Table

Those of you with keen eyesight might also have noticed another SewforSoul creation on the front cover of the magazine, I actually have two features published there this month!  It's all very exciting, although they did manage to get my name wrong in both articles, but at least the blog address is correct!

Check out pages 34 and 38!

Next week I'll share a couple of pics of the vintage bunting article, which was based on this post.  It looks lovely and is a gorgeous three page spread!  If you can't wait until then pop along to your local WHS and nab a copy for £4.99.