It was blinkin' cold on the morning I went to the midweek car boot sale. One of the people selling was the mum of the children I used to look after when I was doing after-school childminding. She said she had phoned her husband to say "remind me never to do a car boot sale this early in the year ever again!"
I came home with a pile of colourful stuff............. all for the grandchildren - AGAIN.
3 more dressing up or fancy dress costumes - again all for girls, 2 are Disney so haven't a clue who they are supposed to be; a lovely warm GAP jumper - to fit Willow in the winter; Elmer for whoever hasn't got a copy and a bundle of Duplo to add to what is here or maybe for whichever of the oldest 2 are playing with the Duplo they have at home.
The other thing I brought home was a tray of lettuce plants, they are in the greenhouse until after the frosts have finished, as are the Elder saplings which arrived looking a bit sad and squashed. And sadly the frost on Wednesday night made my aubergine plants keel over despite being covered by fleece. Start from scratch again or buy some plants?
During the week a parcel of dies arrived from a very kind blog reader for me to try on the Spellbinder Sapphire cutting machine that I found at a boot sale. I was keen to have a go but couldn't puzzle out how they would work. The picture on the box and the instruction leaflet showed thin metal shapes with raised ridges and what M had sent were fatter, soft squidgy tops and hard plastic bottom bits. I emailed M and she suggested looking on you tube, so I watched several demos of the Spellbinders Sapphire and they were all using thin metal/hard plastic shapes with raised ridges.
So if anyone can give me an answer to if these type of sissix dies will work with this mini cutter, I'd be very pleased to find out how. If they won't work then M doesn't want them back so I'd be happy to pass them on to someone with the right sort of machine.
So that was my week, apart from a bit of baking, a bit more clearing in the workshop and the usual shopping I've also been list writing. Getting ready for Easter weekend when the Surrey family are here for Willows first birthday party at her house and then an Easter Sunday tea-party with other family here.
This week I am grateful for
- Swimming in a quiet pool
- The first tulips of the year from my mini cutting garden
- The kindness of blogland
Have a lovely weekend everyone, I'm just hoping it warms up a bit because over here in the East the wind all week has been really cold.
Back Monday
Sue
A friend lent me a set of alphabet dies like this last summer, and my Fiskars bird dies are like this too. I will try and find the you tube guide I used, and send you the link!
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/3tBp5Iwa9cU. That turned up faster than I expected!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, but I can't get the link to work even when I take out the fullstop, or if I put youtube/watch etc in front.
DeleteIt works. Just highlight, copy and paste then choose the first of the suggestions that appear in the drop-down box and then you should be away :-)
DeleteBlogland is a lovely place isn't it. LOVE the stripey jumper and you can never go wrong with Duplo can you. Have a good weekend.
I got the link to work but it is for using dies in a totally different die cutter and won't work like that in the spellbinders.
Delete(Beginning to wish I'd never bought the darn thing!)
Sorry - I hoped it would
DeleteWell you didn't spend much; drop it off at the nearest charity shop when you are next out. I wouldn't waste any more time and energy on it.
DeleteI decided I wont let it defeat me! I shall buy one wafer thin die to try it before I abandon all hope!
DeleteI knew you'd say that!
DeleteWell done on the swimming! It has been cold and plants are just not going away properly are they?
ReplyDeleteI miss having electric in the greenhouse as the frostbuster heater was so useful. The conservatory which has electric has a dull plastic roof so things get leggy in there. I'm in a no win situation!
DeleteIt is cold here in North Wales too.Very impressed with your swimming and great car boot bargains.
ReplyDeleteI've seen a forecast for better weather next week _ hooray!
DeleteWe thought about the car boot on Sunday and decided to stay in bed and wait until the weather warms up.
ReplyDeleteBriony
x
I think I'll keep the stuff under the stairs until June!
DeleteDear Sue, I love the idea of early morning swimming, so quiet and you must be getting fitter, well done. Love the jumper and the duplo, you will be the most favourite of nannas, or nannies, or grandmas, or granny, well whatever they call you! You sound a lot more upbeat and I am delighted. Cannot help you with the dies I do not even know what they do, there I have admitted it. I knit and bake etc., but that is about all. Have a lovely weekend. Love Andie xxx
ReplyDeleteI hope I'll be a popular Nanna - always bringing books,toys, clothes or cake!
DeleteI do feel more upbeat this week thank goodness
I gave up on my Spellbinder machine, so hope you sort yours out and can use it. I'm sure that your grandchildren will advise you which Disney dress up outfits you bought.
ReplyDeleteApparently this little one was made for"crafting on the move!" According to the you tubes I've watched it is small enough to "fit in a handbag" Why? I wondered.
DeleteProbably so you can take it along to scrapbooking or card making days ? I used to go to all day crafting events and a lot of ladies would bring no end of kit with them. You can get those thin dies in The Works or Hobbycraft ( ideally for 50p in the reduced section ) If anyone out there is willing to post you a few, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it and find it a very handy , useful piece of crafting stuff. AS its low tech its suitable for kids too............as the grandkids get older they will enjoy making stuff with it. Shame about those thicker dies, maybe someone will be willing to swop them with you, shame to waste them. You'll enjoy it eventually !
DeleteI don't know what a Spellbinder machine is but I have a Sizzix which must be similar. It is very confusing at first but I think you need to find the instructions online. I can cut both the thicker die cuts as well as those wafer thin dies as well as embossing folders. It's always tricky to figure out how to layer it all......
ReplyDeleteI've decided this machine is only meant for the wafer thin dies, it's quite old and out of date compared to what's around to buy now and as it was only £3 I'm not too worried about it, once I got passed the frustration of not knowing!
DeleteThe dies that you received from the lady have the cutting parts embedded in the white part. You can probably feel them (carefully if run your finger near part of the design. The paper to be cut has to go on the white part, therefore. I don't know what plates come with the die cutter, but because each pink and white die already has a thickness, only one thin plate, or a piece of cardboard would be enough. I think the dies and the machine should work, so I wouldn't give up quite yet ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you.I'll have another go and cut some thicknesses of cardboard to the same size as the cutting plate and see if it works
DeleteLove that sweater/jumper - would love one in my size. I thought of you when I went to our local library used book store - run by volunteers. Each month there is a $2.00 US sale on certain letters of the alphabet - I think it was M, N, O, P this month. I go to find mysteries and books that I have read and know I want to have for long term. And low and behold - they were having a sale on "coffee table" books - art, history, travel, etc. books that are large and have lots of pictures. My favorite volunteer, Claire and I are fellow Anglophiles and she pointed me to them. They were $1.00 US! I found The AA "Treasure of Britain"- a travel guide to the riches of Britain and Ireland. It is the 1976 UK version and I LOVE it. I keep it in my kitchen and when I am cooking or up at night not able to sleep I come out and just open it and read. I bought "The Most Beautiful Villages of England" - with text by James Bentley and photos by Hugh Palmer - lovely and final British book - "Britain, A Country Revealed" - newer and lovely pics. Someone suggested that the photos are so nice that I should cut them out and frame them. My heart stopped and I felt light headed when she said that! I just feel like I step back and go to a lovely place when I open them up - miles away from the open prairie and wind blown spaces I live in. I am a native western American and genuinely like where I live but some part of my heart and soul are in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland (both parts, lol). Thank you for the regular breath of lovely fresh perspective your blog provides. Mary
ReplyDeleteI have the AA book and love it. Your post reminded me to get it out and dip into it again. I grew up in the UK but this year we are going over from Canada and having a week in the Lake District where my great grandparents were born. I can't wait to see what the AA book says about it.
DeleteI know the AA book you mean, it's often in charity shops. The AA used to publish a lot of books, not sure they do now. We had a Book of The Coast which gave details of all the beaches and wildlife all round Britain and for a long time I had the AA book of Walks which was a loose-leaf folder so that each walk could be carried around.
DeleteBritain, a Country Revealed sounds interesting, I shall look it up.
Well done on the swimming, Sue. You have inspired me to haul out the swimsuit and get going. I swear, though, that to save money in our cash strapped town, they have turned the heat down in the pool. A real shocker to get in, for a chicken like me.
ReplyDeleteI love swimming when the pool is quiet, it's only a small pool but we are lucky to have it in a village the middle of the countryside.Just wish I was a bit closer as its a 20 minute drive.
DeleteA bitterly cold wind down here too, but at least it's stayeddry and we had sunshine all day yesterday (only were "working" so didn't get to put it to good use). A good haul from the boot sale for the grandkids. Well done on the swimming. I am NOT a water baby - hate getting my face wet and my asthma makes me a bit panicky as I can't hold my breath for very long.
ReplyDelete#Sorry that your dies didn't work. I could see if there are any of the Aldi ones left in town, and send them to you to try. They aren't terribly dear (under a fiver).
Thank you for offering but I've managed to borrow a wafer thin die to try which works but the machine doesn't squeeze evenly and I think I've worked out that the dies I was sent need layers of thick card to get the right thickness in the sandwich for between the rollers, but there isn't enough pressure to cut and it's too uneven anyway. So I may have wasted my £3!
DeleteI love the Elmer book! I used to do a great project with my first grade art students after reading them the book aloud. They would all do a directed drawing of an elephant (some of course looked more like elephants than others!) and then glue little squares of tissue paper on. They were so cute.
ReplyDelete