TARDIS Thursday- Clara from JTTCOTT- 90's adaptation

Hi there,

Oof, I am very tired!!! I think this holiday needs to get a shift on! I missed both TARDIS Tuesdays so I when I realised that for school today, I was wearing a Clara outfit, I figured I should share it!

I last wore this look in 2020 on the blog so I think it is due a revisit after a 3 year hiatus.

It comes from an episode called 'Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS'.  Clara's main outfit from that episode is hugely iconic and one of my favourites.  This outfit is only in the episode for a tiny moment but it's a real nostalgia trip for me as it's a real 90's look- I used to wear pretty much this outfit when I was a teenager.

Here's my version:

I have worn this outfit 3 times now for TT and it really hasn't changed. It's all built from charity shop items.  The dress has a ditsy flower print. I think my towel is the most screen accurate part of the outfit- ha!  I'm just wearing my Birkenstock sandals with the outfit- I had to get these resoled last Summer after annoyingly accidentally leaving them out in the sun on a very hot day the previous Summer so the glue all melted and the soles all curled up! Luckily, we have a good shoe mender in town.

Yesterday, I was daft enough to leave for school without a coat or a cardigan wearing thin white trousers and canvas shoes. When it came to 6pm and I was off to a rehearsal in Pimlico for Orchestra of the City, I despaired of it tipping down with rain.  I boldly knocked on the door to SLT who were having a meeting and asked if anyone (they all drive) would be able to lend me a raincoat.  Luckily, my Deputy Head offered me her one. I still got completely saturated on the way to and from orchestra.

I'm rather pleased with my reuse this week.

CBC was ruthlessly pruning our Jasmine at the weekend and he also pulled up all the Nigella 'Love in a Mist' flowers which had become seed pods.  

I had a little go at turning the Jasmine into a leaf-circlet for my head and I offered the lady who runs out Lunchtime staff provision the foliage suggesting she use it for an activity with the children.  She said yes, so I was I the ridiculous situation of  transporting a large amount of long lengths of Jasmine foliage in my cycling pannier.  I got vaguely heckled by some teenagers at my local station and I am afraid I went nuts at them!  Felt bad in retrospect but I HATE it when teenagers act like twonks in front of their friends to get a laugh. I hope and pray they don't give me grief in the future. I caught up with Liz later at school and she said the children ADORED the activity and loads of children wanted to wear and make circlets. I wish I had managed to transport more of it and wish I hadn't shoved the rest in the compost as there were some disappointed children who didn't get to make one! It was really touching and satisfying for me to see several children sitting wearing circlets in my afternoon lessons!

I also cut 90 Nigella flower heads - 1 for each of the year 1 children.  I had promised them some flower seeds for their Spring and growth topic in music if they completed all their tasks. They were SO delighted when I showed them the seed heads on Tuesday and ridiculously excited when I opened up one of the seed cases to show them all the tiny seeds hidden inside.

I cut another 60 Nigella heads for one of our learning mentors who makes dried flower arrangements.

It felt really satisfying to find uses for my children for my garden waste. I might not be able to bring my children to the countryside but I can bring the countryside to them!

Hope you are well!

xx

Three Cards

 It's been a while since I either made any cards or posted any pictures of those I have made.

Since next weekend I will be seeing my sister and Dad for their birthdays, I realised I hadn't actually made them cards! I thought I had but I hadn't!

Often, I don't have an idea in mind for a card until I look at some item of material in my crafting supply. 
I had recently bought a new flower crafting punch for £4 in the charity shop. It was a triple punch so it had 3 different flower shapes which it cut which you can either use separately or together. CBC had ripped open a magenta envelope very messily so I decided to salvage as much of it as I could so I punched as many flower as I could out of it and put the remainder in the recycling.

As I went into the dining room, I saw the little pot of pink flowers and decided to use those.

In addition, I also spied a roll of floral washi-tape in a pencil case. I grabbed a frame card from my card stash.

I used washi-tape to cover the frame- happily, it had pink flowers on it.

Next, I grabbed a set of pink flowers and a tool which looks like a thick-nibbed ballpoint pen. When you rub it  in circles all over the flower, on top of a piece of funky foam, the flower starts to curl at the edges and look 3D. I did that with all the layers of the flower and proceeded to do that with all the pink flowers I had. 

I then laid them out inside the frame. Would you believe I had punched the EXACT amount needed to fill the space! I glued the flowers on top of each other using prittstick and then added a little centre using my silver Sharpie pen and glued them down.

I'm rather pleased with it and hope she likes it!

Next, I decided to do the same technique on some orange flowers I'd punched out of the concert tickets which I had snaffled from the recycle bin at CBC's work.  Using the frame taken out from the previous card, I placed the flowers on top of it and decided to add green stems using a fine liner pen. I layered this on top of a gingham card I've had in my stash forever! I have sent this card to an Insta pal who loves florals but has been suffering with her mental health recently. I really hope she likes it!

As with my sister's card, I had no preconceived ideas about what I was going to do for Dad's card but my eye fell on this piece of gold and green patterned packaging I'd saved from a toiletry gift pack from Christmas and cut a panel from it.

I simply then used my alphabet mini craft-punches to spell out the letters plus a few stars using some blue metallic card. I used the corner-rounder punch to round the edges.

It was really fun to make some cards again and I hope to make some more soon!

Recycled Materials Christmas Crafts- Christmas tree window display- (used envelopes)

I've really enjoyed doing some crafts on my weekends over the past couple of weeks.

After I made my paper snowflakes, I decided to try and make some envelope Christmas trees.

Using the pre-used envelopes, I cut rectangles of different sizes and folded them in half. I then cut them diagonally so I was left with a Isosceles triangle.    I then decided to cut simple triangles, half-heart shapes, semicircles from the fold side and the diagonal edges.

With some of them, I used deckle-edge scissors or used star or snowflake punches.

To display them, I used a octagonal plastic base from a chocolate box  on our window sill.

I sent some photos to one of our Year 5 teachers who decided she needed to make them with their class.

 I'm really pleased with it and slowly enjoying the decorations I am putting up in my house!

xx

Recycled Materials Crafts- Used Envelopes for Christmas decorations

Good Evening!

Greetings from sad and lonely Kezzie whose husband did not tell her he was going to the Staff Christmas party until late! I totally would have made social plans if I had known!

Anyway, I am going to do some marking but I thought I'd post before that.

Thank you for all the love on my recycled cardboard Advent calendar!

Today, I thought I'd share some other crafts that I tried the same weekend as my calendar.

I saw this idea on the web (not sure of the original source but I saw it on Pinterest in Google.

 

A concertina paper tree on a skewer seemed a cool idea to try.

I picked up a junk mail envelope from the table and decided to use it to experiment with rather than waste a piece of fresh paper.

https://www.pinterest.pt/susanafrgomes/christmas/

I liked the way it looked, rather than just a white tree so I rescued a few more envelopes from the recycling and tried making a few more.  CBC had bought a pack of skewers for a Duke of Edinburgh expedition so I grabbed some to put them on.  They slipped off a bit so I guess you'd have to glue them.

There were a few pieces left over so I decided to try making paper snowflake cut outs in the remains.

I wondered if using variations on patterns would look more interesting than white.

They're easy to make.

I'm sure you know how to make paper snowflakes but just in case, here's what I did.

1.  Cut out a square of paper. Any size will do but make sure the sides are equal.

2.  Fold it in half, from one diagonal to another so you end up with a triangle. You shouldn't fold so you end with a rectangle.

3.  Fold in half again and half again.  You should end up with a triangle each time.

3. Hold the middle point (where all the folds are) in your hand and cut a curve from one point to another.

4. Cut little triangles or curves from each edge but don't let any of the cut outs join with other ones or they will just make one big cut out.

5. Use a hole punch to make holes further into the shape.

6. Unfold and you will have a lovely snowflake!

I've sat here making a few more and I think I might try to decorate our upstairs windows!

Have you ever made paper snowflakes? Why not try reusing old paper to make them?

xx

Cards 3

 Here's the next batch of cards I made over the Easter holidays.

I started with a strip of patterned paper which I stuck to a pink card blank.  The ice-cream cones were made from an old brown envelope and the ice-creams from scrap papers. Not 100% convinced by this one. I've made better ice-creams.

This one isn't much of a change but the letters came from a 3D birthday card I was given with the letters on various levels. I reimagined them in this guise.

Hazel might recognise this card as she sent him to me originally and I decided he needed a second life so I cut and gave him new deckled corners and then mounted him on patterned blue paper (which I used a border punch on) and a pink card to match his glasses.

One year, my sister gave me a really nice (and clever birthday present). She had this dress punch so she punched me a whole lot of dresses in different patterned papers so I had my own batch for making cards. She put them in a moisturiser tub so that was good reuse. I decided to match the drss with some flowers and a complementary spotty backing. The dress is held up with foam squares to make it look more 3D.

Is there one you like better here?

xx

World Book Day Costumes 2021

 My school decided to postpone our World Book Day celebrations till today so the children were in school. The main reason was because we had a Zoom date with Michael Rosen, the wonderful children's author and poet.

This year, I decided to make one of my ideas that I have listed in my 'World Book Day costume ideas' blogpost but never actually made.

My inspiration was The Rainbow Fish from the above book.

It has a wonderful moral about not being proud and sharing your riches with others and is really beautiful!

As always, I want to make my costume from things I already have- I've only ever bought tiny items for my World Book Day costumes and used things that can go back to their regular use afterwards.

I started by knowing I wanted to use some of my craft felt stash to make coloured fish scales.  I found this turquoise top in my charity bag. It's too tight (and too low cut) and so I was going to get rid of it so I decided to give it a makeover.

I cut a template from a coaster and cut various scallops from the appropriately-coloured felt.

I sewed them roughly to the top.

Unfortunately, when I tried it on, because it was so tight, some of the threads pulled and broke.

I tried to sew them back on and hoped for the best.

Next, I wanted to make some fins so I had brought home some chiffon scarves that I use at school for music and movement with the year 1 children.  I got an old pair of pants of CBC's (they were in a cull bag) and I cut the cotton material off and left myself with the blue waistband. I tied 6 different scarves to that so they would dangle.

I laid these out on top of a blue petticoat that my sister bought me about 6 years ago and decided I needed more fins, perhaps from my shoulders so I took 3 chiffon scarves in 3 colours and tied them with a knot and I tied them onto large safetypins which I attached to the shoulders.

I made one more which I decided I would attach to my ponytail in the morning.

When I got up in the morning, I donned a blue top and leggings and a blue skirt to make the journey to school and put everything on when I got there.

The final touches were to dust my face with shimmery eye-shadow and I added my new GoryDorky necklace which my sister bought me for my birthday. It looks like soap suds but I decided to don it to represent the final glittery scale that the Rainbow fish has left after he's donated all his beautiful shimmery scales to the other fish.

And the final touch was my Nickat irridescent bubble earrings.

The children that knew the story recognised me instantly.  A few thought I was a mermaid or a princess.

It was a hard outfit to wear on a windy day- my scarves went everywhere!

However, that's not the end of things I made this year.

I decided to bite the bullet and make a few examples of simple costumes that could be made out of cardboard.

The first was a Wardrobe!

For a Narnian theme.  I was going to make some optional face masks to hang off it for a white witch and a lion but I ran out of time. I still have a wardrobe.

Next, I used an old pizza box (a supermarket one) and I painted a Gingerbread house that could be worn for a simple Hansel and Gretel-themed costume, either alone or with another costume, e.g. witch, lederhosen, dirndl etc. I added string to the top.

The next costume I made was a simple Ladybird costume which could be easily put onto a child should they need a costume. It actually ended up being used by my Deputy Head Teacher.

I had a pair of cardboard pizza bases which were relatively clean so I painted them red during a staff meeting. I then drew black spots on them in a marker.

I then hole-punched the tops to make them into a tabard.

The final touch was (if worn with all black), a head-dress made from red card and some wire from a floral decoration which I bent into antennae

My final contribution to the day was to help Year 3 teachers.

They were all going to come in wearing all black (boring) but didn't know what book to go with. I suspected they were the character of The Dark from the book by Lemony Snicket.

The Dark is personified and Lazlo, the little boy in the book, is really scared of it as he goes through the dark house with his torch.  The dark keeps talking as he goes and in the end, he realises, the dark can actually be our friend.

They were all entranced with the idea.  To help, I printed 3 mini copies of the book for them to hang round their necks with string and I made them all torches out of card too.

Other great costumes included all of Year 2 who came as Oliver Jeffers' The Crayons, a full blown Gruffalo, Year 5 as Willy Wonka characters, Year 6 as characters from Holes (Louis Sachar). Year 4 are studying the book Varmints at the moment and all came in adorable Varmints costumes with ears, noses and bunny ears!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kezzie (@kezziesquirrel)

Spectacular!

For my birthday this year, CBC's old housemate and our good friend gave me a really considerate and well-thought out present. He bought me a pair of wooden-framed sunglasses because he knew I was trying to avoid plastic. CBC and I were both really touched at this thought and they were really beautifully, stylish, well-made sunglasses. You can see me wearing them here last week.

Sunglasses are one of those things that get easily-broken, lost, ditched and then replaced. And they are generally made out of plastic so they can contribute to plastic pollution.  They are quite hard to mend once broken as they are quite brittle and fragile.

Thus, last week at our musical camping place, CBC had borrowed them and I had taken them back and I found them in the tent with two cracks in the wood like they'd accidentally been trodden on. 

I was understandably dismayed- I take the breakages of things all the much harder since working hard to reduce my waste.  BUT, since they were wood, I had a plan. At camp, we have a couple of people whose duty (we all have duties. Mine was Assistant Orchestral Librarian this time) is to act as engineers, mending or sorting anything that needs to be fixed.  So, I asked N, one of these if it was possible to mend my sunglasses.  He took them into 'triage' and decided that, yes, if he could locate some wood glue, they were certainly fixable!  Hurrah! 

He kept greeting me with updates on the patients in Intensive Care, including sending me this picture accompanied by the message: "As promised, photo of the patient in the recovery room. Photos in surgery are not available because they are just too gruesome...."

Finally, 3 days later, he returned them to me with barely a scratch visible and I have been wearing them since!!

What a spectacular chap!

x

When I'm supposed to be tidying, I can be found crafting....Part 2

A week ago or so I posted pictures of cards I made during the summer holiday that involved some recycling. I got soo sick of uploading slow photos, I decided to do it in 2 batches, so here are the other half of those I made. Click on them to view a larger image to see the detail! Trouble is, now I'm back at school, all I want to do is make cards but unfortunately have to mark, plan, practice, assess!!!!

Come on half-term, roll on!!! Oh the lovely pink wallpaper! This design was based on one I saw in a craft-magazine- except it was made using expensive materials. The recycled elements are the patterned paper part of the flowers (Whitestuff invoice) and a bit of chiffon ribbon from a present.

Another part of the HAT inspired range, I decided to make a card using the same ideas but incorporating 2 hats. The side bits and the background were some scraps of wallpaper left from my craft at church holiday mission (Oyster card covers!), pink wallpaper was scraps and the patterned is a paper bag.. I like this one best!

Not so keen on this now- the black hat was made from the middle folded black card cut from the large hats card, it was supposed to stick out (pop up style) but it just looks like it got creased!

Ditto this one. Not so keen.

The inside looks prettier in real life though...

This was the first of 4 cards I made out of the back-page of an old Cath Kidston catalogue- why waste a pretty magazine. I cunningly matched the foam flowers to the colours- these have been kicking around since my first year of 'craft card-making' some 7 years ago

I bought a wonderful steel stencil in Re in Corbridge which means I can use a craft knife with it- I used more Cath catalogue to make (it has a contrasting baby pink inside)

Here was the scrap of Cath catalogue I used to punch the butterflies in the last card. Waste not, want not... (more pink linings- rather like giving my cards a pink petticoat!)

....AHa! Do you spy where I found these Cath letters from- Yep, they're the negative from the previous card- plus some thin strips! (more pink petticoat linings)

Oh look- you can look at my card's petticoats!

CBC bought me a lovely origami book from Re in Corbridge and I used the idea in it to make my first origami windmill (it turns!) I sent this to WOMOTM!

Do you recognise this pattened card? Yep, it's the left-overs from the Tea-bag box!

As are these- I liked my patterned teapit and mug so much,I had to make more!

More recycling! Coffee pouch...

Here we have a FAIRY CAKE CARD (Is that name ok Alex Odd socks and pretty frocks????!!!)

:-)

My final card of the holiday was this girly one combining more paper concertina-ing- using up scraps that were kicking around the table (the pink frame is velvety and was part of a nice cosmetic gift-set packaging! I like this one even though it's very scruffy, just for the little hair bow!

So, whatdya think??? Mean jibes, constructive criticism and lavish admiration always welcome!!