Tuesday 13 November 2012

Craft-A- Day

I'm sure, like me, you get all sorts of e-mail spam 
and most of it I delete out of hand without even reading
 but for some reason one of them caught my eye the other week.
It was from a book publishing firm asking if I would be interested
 in reviewing a craft book that is being issued in the UK this month.
Well I'm always up for a challenge and this is something I have never 
done before so I thought why not.
A few days later a package arrived with my copy of 

A CRAFT- A- DAY
by
SARAH GOLDSHADT



Make something new every day of the year.” States the introduction on the back of this colourfully bound craft book which immediately got my interest.  “365 simple projects”
and thats exactly what you get--365 very simple but fun projects.  





The book,  which is very nicely produced with clear and bright photos,
is divided into 52 weeks each with a different theme.
 You have subjects such as Owl week or Cloud Week
 and every day has a project based on that weeks theme. 
So Cloud week( April 9-15) has a pin cushion, 
a mobile and a decorated t-shirt  amongst other things during the week. 
My personal favourite week is people week as you can mix and match 
heads and bodies to make different people. 











The first page of every week has a page of templates to trace 
and use in that weeks projects.  
Then you are given the list of supplies,
 written directions  and a photo of the finished article on a page by day basis. 
None of the materials used are expensive and
 no real skill is needed to make any of the projects.
The projects are easy to do which would be ideal for
someone who is a beginner at crafts or maybe for use 
entertaining children.





 For an experienced crafter it is a little basic but the motifs
could provide inspiration for other projects.


However I found it quite repetitive with alot of the crafts
 being repeated several times
through the book with the only difference between them being the motif  used 
and no development of the crafts skill level.





 The supplies page and how to section are at the rear of the book 
and I would have placed at the beginning because the introduction
 states that there is how-to photos but they were not immediately apparent 
when flicking through the book.
However the photos are clear and easy to follow.








I had great fun looking through this book and will pass 
my copy on to a family member who teaches 6/7 year olds.



It doesn’t pretend to be anything other than a simple craft book  and would be a useful resource for entertaining the Grandchildren, a young Mum to use in the holidays or for a primary school with the templates being a great source of inspiration in other projects.
 It is produced by Quirk Books and is priced at £16.99 in the UK and $24.95 in the States. 






Gillx

Wednesday 7 November 2012

Italy part 2

 I have been awake since 4.30 for some reason
so the house work has been done early and
has given me time to catch up with my favourite blogs.

Then I thought I would just finish off my holiday photos
before getting back to the serious business of 
of sewing and crafting. I have also got a book I have been ask to 
review but more on that later now back to Italy and
the amazing
Herculaneum which is a smaller site than Pompeii
but better preserved. It even has furniture still in situ,
as well as some fabulous mosaics and wall paintings.









This is a replica of a villa garden planted
with Medlar trees  which were there originally apparently.




Wall decoration still in place.




On to the Museum in Naples which houses the 
artefacts from Pompeii and Herculaneum.





in a stunning building


in to the Shopping Mall with it's beautiful roof


And amaze at the size of the cruise ships


Time for the Olive Harvest


and
Time to leave.


Hope you liked looking at a few of my holiday photos

and I'll see you again soon.

Gillx

Sunday 4 November 2012

Italy part 1

 This is going to have to be a 2 part post to show you 
the places we went on our week in Southern Italy.
There is so much to see in this part of the country
and our holiday was a guided tour where we went somewhere 
different everyday but were based in the same hotel in 
Sorrento.
Exhausting but fabulous as this is one of the places on my 
"Bucket List".
.


Sorrento.












The Amalfi Coast.







The plain of Vesuvius.




Pompeii and Vesuvius





 After 800 metres straight up to the crater.




Capri 








Just a few of the hundreds that we took between us.


The next one will be a bit shorter.

Gillx