Spoonie Survival Kit Giveaway (Gifts for those who have a Chronic Illness)

I had a guest post a few months ago now (yes, sorry about the delay!) from the lovely Pippa all about her Spoonie Survival Kits. Pippa and her volunteers make little bags, cards and other little items to help those, like herself, who suffer from a chronic illness.

If you'd like to read the full guest post please do click here. Pippa has had a lot of support over the last few months and I couldn't be more pleased for her. To help with raising awareness I wanted Pippa to write about Spoonie Survival Kits and I also wanted to purchase several items myself from her shop that I could pass on via a blog giveaway.

First I have a survival kit. I am told these kits vary and include items of comfort to the recipient. Some days are harder than others and a little kit like this has made a difference to many people who have bought from Pippa. I have not opened the bag, as Pippa's aim is to have a surprise delivered to the recipient, therefore I will not spoil it! You can win 1, small yellow bag in the rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The second item is a lovely bracelet made by a volunteer, isn't it pretty? Again, please find the rafflecopter form below to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cupcake Mumma

My #DICraftSwap with Dainty and Ivory!

I recently followed a new blog, Dainty and Ivory written by Hannah. I'm so pleased I did because it's a lovely blog with craft, round ups and now swaps! Every month, Hannah sets a theme (sign ups are now going on for next month with a geek theme!) this months theme was Spring.

I didn't honestly focus too much on the theme itself preferring to think of nice bright or pastel colours, what spring means to me and what my swap partner loves. With all that in mind here's what I sent:

I made several cards, one in particular I loved because of this little kawaii character I placed on the front. She has a basket for little flowers which reminds me of spring.

I made some earrings and a needle felted cat (one of my partners favourite animals) I added some hot chocolate sachets because we're still having chilly evenings and a lovely bright notepad too.

Here's my gorgeous gift from Rhiannon who blogs at  The Sparkly Panda! A beautiful handmade bunny which I adore, a cross stitch pack, a lovely notepad and a pair of handmade earrings in my favourite pastel colours. Thank you so much!

I'm looking forward to the next swap and also blogging about an upcoming one I'm sending off this week! In the mean time, why not check out my mug swap post from last month?

Cupcake Mumma

Check Out My Makes!

Recently I blogged about Crafty Creatives. I get a box of surprise crafty items each month and it is honestly the highlight of whichever day it happens to arrive on! This months box is all Gothic themed in honor of Halloween (which i love) so I dived in on Friday evening and started making things!

First up was this masquerade mask. I followed the very clear instructions of laying clingfilm over the paper and covering the film with some white netting which was also supplied. Following the lines with my fabric paint was easy and soon it was all finished and ready to dry,

On Saturday evening I pulled all the tape off and tried peeling the clingfilm from the netting as instructed. This doesn't actually work very well (and I'm not the only one who this happened to!) so I just left it on and cut carefully around the mask. I made a hole either side of the mask and husband tied ribbon because I was struggling with my child sized head shape! 

With some finishing touches added (fabulous, super soft feathers also found in the craft box) I was ready to have my photo taken! I went with one silly and one 'not bad' pose:

As you can see from my photo I made several other items too. I really wanted to do something with the pretty resin roses so I thought I'd do the most simple thing and make myself a very bold, statement piece of jewelry  I peeled off the rose, chose the black blank ring and grabbed my super glue! It's all stuck on very well and suits my hand just right.

No matter what I do the rose always comes our blue. It is purple though
and just gorgeous!

My last craft was making myself a new necklace. I took the cabochon and placed one of my favourite images from the vintage papers supplied into the pendant. I then glued the top on which magnifies the image. It looks spooky. My husband asked me to take it off when we went to bed because it freaked him out! Personally I love it and I shall definitely be breaking it out for Halloween. I was going to use ribbon but found an old necklace (I collect ugly ones from charity stores so I can reuse the chains) and popped the cabochon onto the silver chain instead. What do you think?

 There are still a lot of things to make from this months kit but I just don't have the time right now. I'm still making things from last months kit as well! If you have subscribed to Crafty Creatives then i'd love to know what you think of my makes and what you plan to do with yours!

CupcakeMumma

Autumn Gold

I love Autumn, it's my favourite season by far so when I checked in with The CSI Project this week and saw our crafting challenge was 'Gold,' I thought I should make something I could wear over this lovely season. I had a look around and found this lovely necklace so thought i'd have a go at making something similar.

I bought some 24 gauge gold wire from Ebay, an old gold necklace for £1 from my local charity store as I didn't have any gold chain, and finally I raided my draws for some beads that would match the wire. In the end I opted for some small purple ones after being unsuccessful finding my larger purple bead stash!

This was a fiddly project for someone who hasn't made anything like this before so it does require patience! It's also not a project I could photo step by step, maybe next time! For now, here is my Autumn Gold Nest Necklace:

First of all I threaded the 4 beads onto the wire then started wrapping the wire around until I was happy with the size of my 'nest' and the beads felt secure. I made a loop before cutting the wire to allow me to place a jump ring for attaching to the chain.

After taking apart the old necklace from the charity store I was left with a very long piece of chain- ideal! I cut the length I needed using my pliers and reattached jump rings as well as a new clasp. Now my necklace is all ready for stepping out into the Autumn wind (and rain!)

What do you think?

CupcakeMumma