3D pumpkins, geometric baubles and the cutest ghost

Today I'm sharing the printables for the halloween and Christmas crafts from my visit to Fellowes in Doncaster last week. But before we get to those, don't you think pom poms raise your spirits in much the same way that bunting does?  I mean, anything adorned with pom poms (or bunting) has to be good doesn't it?

Exactly, so imagine how pleasing it was to be presented with this sight on arrival. And even better, soon after there was a great cup of tea and some pretty fantastic cakes. And of course the crafting and good company.

Photo credit: Fellowes

If you don't know much about Fellowes, they're celebrating a 100 years this year and the Banker's Boxes originated with them. They often provide the original kind for film sets and such like. But they also have a huge range of office equipment, and our tool of choice for the day was the laminator.

And what a clever thing it is. Addictive too, I found myself looking around the room for more things to laminate, and I've some ideas to try over the coming weeks, but first onto those printables.

Photo credit: Fellowes

Halloween Bunting

You can download the printables to make your own Halloween Bunting from the Fellowes Ideas Centre.

First up was the Halloween bunting, with hardly very scary ghosts, black cats, pumpkins, a magic tree (not the magic money tree sort sadly), bats and a witches hat to choose from.  The ghosts threaded onto twine against a black wall looked super effective, and you can choose which motifs you opt for.

The big debate, is of course whether to cut out first and then laminate, or to laminate and cut out after.  If you want to use your bunting outside then cut out first as the laminator will seal the edges and keep them watertight for longer. If you're limited on the number of pouches you have then cut out first to make effective use of your pouch space, or laminate the whole sheet and cut out afterwards.  As a novice laminator that's the approach I took, but either way works.

Photo credit: Fellowes

I was drawn to the cats - no surprises there - and as I was cutting out my second one, inspiration struck and I went a bit off piste, and aided and abetted by Maggie from Red Ted Art who was leading the crafting session, quickly created a 3D pumpkin. It is really cute - it's about hand-size - so will be a good addition to any halloween decorations, or table setting.

LUCKY BLACK CATS, AND POM POMS!

MY OFF PISTE 3D PUMPKIN

While we're not big Halloween celebraters here, I think this technique is one I'll use again.

Geometric Christmas baubles

You can download the printables to colour your own geometric Christmas baubles from the Fellowes Ideas Centre.

These were my favourite item of the day. Armed with brightly coloured felt pens I set about creating bold geometric patterns and once again experienced how mindful colouring, crafting and chatting can be. You'll notice I've coloured over the lines, and that's on purpose, and so my colour will be up to the line I cut, which meant my cutting didn't have to be quite so precise. There is method to my madness (at times).

In fact I enjoyed creating these so much I pulled out another sheet and created a second colourway, and once they were together they all seemed to just 'go'

I've punched a hole in the "bauble top" and threaded twine through that so they're easy to hang. These might end up on our tree, or if I make several more I may just have another use for them. But Christmas is months away yet (and yes I know it'll be here before I know it) but even so I'm going to ponder my creativity some more, and hopefully find time to pull out my felt tips at least once more.  And if that creative idea takes shape you can be sure to read about it here.

If these aren't the crafts for you do head over to the Fellowes Ideas Centre, as they've some fab ideas there and whether you're coming at these from a mindful perspective or a rainy day activity for the kids, I'm sure you'll find something there to spark your inspiration.

This is a collaborative post, but all views and opinions, cutting out and colouring in are my own.

Roses and quite a change in dad's garden

We were in Norfolk this weekend and it's the first time I got to see dad's garden and many of the changes he's been making. And there's been quite a few which means his garden looks quite different but will be easier to maintain. With the amount of conifers and bushes he's removed it hasn't can't have been an easy task and even though a chainsaw was involved - and I'm sure enjoyed - I do wish he'd taken things a bit slower. 

Some of the larger climbing rose bushes have also gone, but plenty remain and were still in flower for our visit. I think he pretty much has every colour going though, with plenty of pink, quite a few yellow and some orange and peach creeping in too.

It wasn't just the flowers providing colour, just look at this (most likely a) phormium. With the sun on it, the colour is just fantastic.

There's still some growing space, but not as much, and the growing space is closest to the kitchen, which makes a lot of sense. The apple tree, like ours on the allotment, was laden with fruit.

The big change in dad's garden is some of the smaller beds have been removed and grass seed - and grass - has replaced them. The beds that held the large conifers have also been reduced in size with grass replacing space there too. 

And it's growing well.  There's plenty of birds in dad's garden, hence the netting in the photo above. But look in the photo below and see how luscious it's quickly become.

There's still more roses though.

And a pile of stones. We have a lot of stones in our garden, so perhaps dad's competing. Although his stones have a prettier Norfolk hue than ours do.  I think I know the plan for these, but I'll save that just in case I'm wrong.

Lupins also do well in dad's garden and throughout his garden the flowers are just about still there, but it's clear to see they're already set on providing plenty of seeds for next year.

And a final rose. This one with a story. It's a standard rose in the front garden and it was large and a mesh of branches. Dad was considering replacing it but I managed to persuade him to try pruning it first. I'm not sure he was convinced, but he gave it a go. It's at an awkward height and was tricky to get in and under to find the green stems, so with nothing to lose it was dug up, trimmed more easily and put back, just as if nothing had happened.

It's obviously not the textbook way to prune roses, but it seems to be happy and it appears quite happy, with new leaves and even some flowers, which just goes to show plants can be hardier than we expect them to be!

Chevrons and vertical spaces at the Ideal Home Show

This is the last post sharing the room sets from this year's Ideal Home Show and follows on from the kitchen and dining room last week and the bedroom and bathroom the week before.  So which two rooms are left, and which features chevrons, and which makes use of its vertical spaces?

You might have guessed that one of the rooms is the living room, and you'd be right. This room set marries blues, greys, pastel pinks and copper accessories against a bold chevron patterned floor.

It's a room full of shapes too. The diagonals of the chevrons, the square and oblong cushions and the rounded table and pouffe. And there's plenty of places to put your nick-nacks; a trestle table and an inbuilt faux pastel pink shelf.

I told you it was a bold floor didn't I? 

But somehow the floor is another way to add texture to the room without overpowering the space - it just goes to show that if you go bold with your flooring, then while you don't want to add too many patterns, you don't need to be ultra safe either.

The final room set, could be classed a bit of a cheat, as it's an outside room. But it's a space that more of us would love to make better use of, weather permitting. You'll not be surprised to know that I loved the bright colours and it's a space that I feel would zing with energy. 

It's also the space that makes good use of the vertical space in a way that many of us could adopt. I like the modern slats, although now I think of it they do also remind me of the old fashioned lath and plaster too!

It was good to see that the copper trend is still strong, the longer it's here the more it grows on me. And while I've been slow to adopt this, now I think it's hard to avoid it.  I don't think this is the most practical space as where would you put all those cushions overnight?!

So there's all the room sets, there's been some great rooms and looking back I wonder why it took me so long to share them!  Of the six rooms, which was your favourite?