A Wrist Rest for Keyboard and Mouse

I like to do my typing at my desktop computer but find that I need a wrist support, I had been using a hard plastic one that came with my keyboard but it wasn't that comfortable. Sooooo like most crafters I have a fabric stash and plenty of toy stuffing so I made one, I liked it so much I made more.

The first one I made was this spotty leopard, no wild cats were harmed in the making of this wrist rest, I found toweling was much the better option.

A Wildcat Keyboard Rest

 Or how about a cute purple Dachshund with floppy orange ears. He makes a great desktop pet too.

A cute wrist rest for comfort

 I then decided that a fish would be an ideal shape for laying on the desk, what do you think?

A fishermans helper

They all come with a matching mouse pad, this one is made of denim fabric with an appliqued fish.  

Wrist Support and Mouse Pad

I love my desktop pet, it not only  makes it comfortable to type but these sort of pets don't need feeding, are not demanding and look good keeping guard of my desk.

My Desktop Pet

Wrist Support Desktop Pets

 Happy typing....

Jan x

I'm popping over to Handmade Monday  over at Sum of their Stories, why not join me, there are lots of great crafting blogs to see. 

 

Cute Sock Kittens

My cute little sock kittens have been purring along nicely

Fluffy Bed Socks make cute Kittens

I choose pretty bed socks because they make lovely squidgy kitty's.

A trio of Cat Tails

A Pair of Kitty Trouble

I double hand stitch each Kitten and they are filled with squishy toy stuffing.

Cats galore

The eyes and nose are made of felt and securely stitched. Pretty ribbon finishes them off nicely.

You can check to see if any are left in my Folksy Shop
 


Best Wishes

Jan x 

as per usual you can contact me via any of my shops or facebook, you'll find the links top right.

This post is joined up to the Handmade Monday Link Up

Giraffe Room Plaque

I love giraffes so when I was asked to make a couple of plaques for a little boys room it was such a pleasure.

 After choosing from a selection of sketches I made a start.













We decided on the colours for the
edging and the ribbon.

The remit was to have a tiny bee on each plaque and a painted rainbow on one and rainbow ribbon on the other.

I was really pleased with how they turned out, my lovely customer was too.

I'd also painted another Giraffe Plaque quite a few years ago, you can see it and the sketches by following this link..

 More Giraffe's here...

That's it from me for now

Jan x

This week I'm joining in with Handmade Monday Linky Party Pop over and see who else is joining in.


If you'd like to commission a plaque or anything else you've seen on my blog you can always get in touch with me via my Facebook or one of my shops... links on the right.

White Unicorns

Firstly I'd like to say a big Congratulations to Victoria on her wedding announcement over at Lucy Blossom Crafts,   I wish her lots of fun and no pre-wedding stress while organising such a wonderful event.

*** *** *** ** * ** *** *** ***

Meanwhile, I managed to pick up a couple of small canvases that came with their very own easels, they're so cute and perfect for a shelf or table top and perfect for a couple of Unicorns.......

A White Unicorn with a Silver Mane on a lovely sky blue background.

 Painted around the side of the canvas and finished off with a shimmer of sparkle.

 A Prancing White Unicorn on a peach background.

The mane is painted with silver and gold coloured paint and finished off with a shimmer of sparkle.


That's it from me at the moment, I'm sharing this post over at the linky party at Lucy Blossoms Blog

Jan x

A Cat & A Mouse Nursery Paintings

I've been working on a few projects this week, some are not quite ready for their final photographs so they'll be for a future blog post. I've taken a few Work in Progress pics along the way so here are a few teasers. I'm really pleased with these little animals so while I was waiting for the varnish to dry on the wood I thought I'd do some nursery paintings.

Work in Progress

 I decided to start with the Ginger Cat and the Little Pink Eared Mouse....

Cat & Mouse for the Nursery

I used white mounts to set them off nicely.

The Mouse & the Flower

The Cat & the Poppy

I used a frame that I already had to show how they'd look all framed up, these 2 mounted pictures have been put in my Folksy Shop

I really enjoyed my time doing these so I can see myself painting lots more.

Enjoy the rest of your week end


Jan x

St Patricks Day Charms & a little snippet of WIP

I hope everyone is having a good week, did you know that it will soon be St Patrick's Day? (Thursday 17th March), so Happy St Patrick's Day to all who celebrate, I don't celebrate this day myself but I have family over in Ireland so always receive a couple of cards and messages. I decided to make a few special Hanging Bottles....

St Patrick's Day Bottle

I made a bottle filled with the gold coins I collected from the End of the Rainbow!!!

ok, ok,  I'll come clean, I didn't really find the tub of gold at the end of the rainbow, I made all the little coins with gold card.

Green Fairy Dust in a Bottle

4 Little Bottles all in a row

Good Luck Wishes in a Bottle, these make nice little Good Luck Charms that can be hung up around the home.

I've also been working on a new idea for my paintings on wood, here is a little peek at some of my work in progress.......

WIP Cats and Bunnies

WIP painting on Wood

That's all from me for now, I'm off to have a nosy at Lucy Blossom Crafts Link Up


 Jan x

Happy St Davids Day, Dragons and Daffodils

Today is St Davids Day, the Patron Saint of Wales, check out more about St Davids Day Here 

I haven't got anything new to show you this week so in celebration of this special day  I'll show a few of my previous makes....

Red Dragon

.....here is a Red Dragon that I made for a boys Name Plaque, a Red Dragon is depicted on the Welsh Flag.

A Tiny Daffodil Aceo Painting

The Daffodil is the National Flower of Wales

Daffodils on a Heart

It's a lovely flower that you can see alongside our roads and hedgerows. I've painted these Daffs on Aceos and Hanging Hearts.

St David of Wales

Images of St David often depict him on a hill with a white dove on his shoulder. It's said that the dove represents the Holy Spirit which gifted St David with eloquent speech when he preached. Some stories say the dove is depicted because one landed on his shoulder on the day he miraculously raised a hill to preach.

A Nesting Dove

This is my resident dove in my garden.

Rough Sketches

Happy St Davids Day

Jan x

I'm linking this post over to Lucy's Craft Blog Link Up

Hare Gazing & Hare Leaping Paintings on Hearts

I was having a rummage through my 'stash' and found a few Hanging Heart blanks, mmmm so what should I use them for? I asked myself...... yes, I often talk to myself, I suspect you do too. The Hubster says it's because I'm usually the only person to understand my own ramblings!! 
So I thunked and I thought and decided it was time I painted a few more Hares. I haven't done any for a while.

A Leaping Hare & The Snow Moon

The Hare is closely associated with the moon, particularly the full moon, it's a connection found in Celtic and Druid mythology as well as folktales from all around the world.  Did you know that the Snow moon or Full Snow moon is a traditional name for the full moon that occurs in February in North America? No I didn't know either but I saw it on my FB page and checked it out. I thought this was a fitting image for one of the hearts.

Hare Gazing at the Moon

I live in a rural area and lucky enough to see hares running through the fields, it's believed to be a favorite animal and 'attendant spirit' of the Celts. It represents love, fertility and growth and is associated with the Moon, Easter, death, redemption and resurrection. So I really should paint a Spring Hare to add to the Winter and Autumn ones. 

Hare Painting

 

I love the Hare and the associated stories, the Moon Gazing Hare on the hanging heart was taken from a painting I done a while ago. You can see the post about it here..  The Hare Gazing Painting

Hare Sketch

And while searching for the Hare Painting post I came across this little sketch from one of my first posts way back in March 2011, you can see the post here ..... Running Hare Sketch

I hope you've enjoyed my little ramble but that's all from me for now, I'm off to do some more painting.

Jan x


I'm linking this post over to the weekly Lucy Blossom Craft Link Up

Sketch Books, Love Potions & 2016

I know we say this all the time but I've got to say it again...... Wow, how time has flown, I can hardly believe another year has gone by and it's 2016 already!!!!!!

Like every New Year I like to plan on doing and making new things, for inspiration I've been looking through my sketch & idea books...

Pages from my sketch books

....they are full of things I can expand and experiment with, I'd like to do more work with polymer clay with a bit of paper mache thrown in.

I've been having fun with my miniature bottles so I'm planning to do a few more, my Christmas ones were a huge success so I thought I'd move on to Valentines Day themed bottles....

A Miniature Bottle for your Valentine

I've also been having a little play around with a logo for my Etsy Shop

Playing with Logo's

These are some of my works in progress, still lots of sketches and jiggery pokery to do but I'm quite liking this style and it's been great fun playing around with coffee and ink stains. 


I'll leave you all with my best wishes for a wonderful 2016

Jan x

The linky party over at Lucy Blossom Crafts  is still open so I'm popping this post over there, why not wonder over and see who else is joining in.

Star Wars Christmas Decoration

I believe that lots of us 'crafters' make some of our own Christmas Decorations, have you made any? either for yourself or as a gift for someone?
For the past few years I've made my 6 year old grandson a decoration to hang on his Christmas Tree, this year he asked for Darth Vader from Star Wars, he had to be wearing a Santa Hat too.

Darth Vader

 In previous years he's been given Creeper from Minecraft.....

Creeper

and the Tardis from Dr Who......

The Tardis

I've also painted him a Spiderman in a Santa Hat but can't find the photo for that one.

I've written on the back of each decoration, 'From Nanny & Grandad' and the year. Because they are made of wood, painted with acrylics and varnished they will be used to decorate the tree for years to come.
I think this has become one of our 'family traditions'

Do you have a family tradition? I'd love to hear about it.


Best Wishes

Jan X


I'm popping this over to Lucy Blossom Crafts Link Up  if you want to pop over and leave your own blog post it will be open all over the holidays.

Stonham Barns Owl Sanctuary and Outdoor Plaques

It's been a week of painting Fairy Doors, Wooden Houses and Key Hook Plaques but I'm afraid I can't show them yet. Soooo I thought I'd share my day out with you instead.

Today, even though it's a wet and windy Sunday, hubby dragged me away from my painting table AKA the kitchen table, to treat me to a day out. We went to Stonham Barns, I'd never been before and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's an Owl Sanctuary but has lots of other birds of prey to see...

This was the weirdest looking Snowy Owl I've ever seen, It's winter plumage makes it look like it has a big fat pair of legs....

Snowy Owl

I took so many photographs I really didn't know what ones to show you, I managed to whittle it down to these.

Please don't ask me what they all are, I really should of taken notes, or better still, taken a photo of the information card that was with each of the birds.

As well as the Birds they have these cheeky chappies, I could of stayed watching them for hours....... 

Meerkat Kastle at Stonham Barns

 

....you can see them on Youtube here...  YouTube - Meerkats at Stonham Barns

The sanctuary has a wide variety of birds, there are Falcons, Eagles and Red Kites to name but a few.  

Some of these magnificent birds are here because they were injured, usually by other birds or animals but can you believe that one of these birds had been shot, it was brought to the sanctuary after being found by a dog walker.

As well as the animals and birds there is a restaurant and a selection of gift shops so if you're out and about in the Suffolk area I think it's worth going, although I think I'll wait till the warmer weather for my next visit.  

You can find out more about it here....

Stonham Barns Suffolk Owl Sanctuary

To redress the balance, as this is a Crafty Blog, here are a couple of plaques that are in my Folksy Shop at the moment,

 Did you see what I did there?..... As they are outdoor plaques I thought they would fit in with the theme of this post.........

            ........and there's a feather in the photo too.

















I'm going to pop this post over to the Handmade Monday Link Up @ Lucy Blossom Crafts


Jan x