Wendy's blog
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Tropical Candle Holder
Posted at 4:00 pm , on June 7, 2018
The idea for my dad’s Father’s Day present this year began with a conversation about my mum’s severe allergy to strawberries. She developed this allergy in her early 70s, and with it relinquished any dream of remortgaging the house to fund an afternoon of sitting on Henman Hill scoffing a bowl full of Wimbledon strawberries and cream. Such a great shame, as my mum has always enjoyed eating strawberries!
After commiserating with Mum again about her dreadful allergy, we then landed on the subject of ‘favourite fruits’. My mum’s favourite fruit is now peaches, my favourite fruit is mangoes, and it turns out that my dad’s favourite fruit is pineapple.
Well, you learn something new every day!
A week or two later I was wondering what I could make my dad for Father’s Day this year, and the conversation about favourite fruits came to mind… and thus the idea of a pineapple-themed pressie was born. A pineapple candle holder I thought… just what my dad needs!
Being a Crafty Beggar, I of course wanted to make use of things that were already lying about the house waiting to be recycled, hence the body of the pineapple being an old plastic bottle.
I simply covered it with some air-drying clay and got the pineapple texture affect by mixing paint and wall filler, and pushing it through a stencil in the design of some netting.
I hope my dad enjoys his Father’s Day present this year. Actually it’s a good job his favourite fruit is pineapple… trying to do the project with a blueberry for inspiration wouldn’t have had quite the same result!
Fancy trying your hand at creating an eye-catching candle holder, or something else ornamental this Father’s Day? Viva Decor Concrete is a fantastic modelling clay which is easy to mix and work.
Practical and versatile, it can be moulded with the hands; all you need to do is wet your fingertips and get shaping! It can be rolled or pressed out, shaped using cutters, or patterned using stamps and stencils. It can even be shaped using objects, such as a bowl, (it can be applied to glass and plastic) so you could create your own pot, fruit bowl or other ornamental gift, with ease! Once it’s completely dry, you can then go on to decorate it with Viva Decor Paints, and make your Father’s Day gift truly one of a kind!
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Crafts That Take The Biscuit!
Posted at 4:06 pm , on January 11, 2018
You know how it is after the festive season has come to an end. Boxes, wrapping paper, broken decorations, countless bottles, crackers tins, biscuit tins… all needed to be got rid of OR turned into a crafty project or two! In my case, it’s not only the stuff chez Turner Webster. The other day, my mother-in-law (Kath) came to visit and brought with her several unwanted biscuit tins, sure that I would be able to find a use for them. She was right!
Biscuit Tin-Turned African Scene
The shape of the one featured here immediately made me think of a sunset. To give this project some purpose, I thought it would be good to have the ‘sun’ as a mirror.
To start with, I covered the entire tin with two coats of Debbi Moore’s Vintage Chic Chalk Paint. This went on like a dream and covered the metal without any problem.
I’ve recently started to use painted book pages in my various crafting activities and this time was no exception. All the paints used here are from the Liquid Buff-It range from Pinflair. They have amazing colours with a beautiful sheen finish, without going so far as to be outright ‘glitter’. The depth of the tin meant that I could create a 3D effect with the mountains, and a souvenir elephant I bought years ago whilst filming in Africa has now, finally, found his starring role!
As a vegan, I have to say that the original contents of Kath’s tin wouldn’t have given me any pleasure… but the new crafty content certainly brings great satisfaction!
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Beach Cleanup & Poem
Posted at 3:10 pm , on August 21, 2017
As a ‘Crafty Beggar’ I’m up for recycling anything, but it’s not often I resort to using dirty rubbish in an effort to produce a work of art! The idea for this seahorse canvas came to me when I was walking along the beach with my pal Jane at Watergate Bay in Cornwall.
Materials Used:
- Large Canvas
- Art-C Texture Cream
- Pinflair Glue Gel
- Stencils
- Lots and lots of beach rubbish, as seen below…
We go to Cornwall every year (and pick up other people’s litter every year!). Whilst doing the same a few weeks ago, I thought that this time I would put our bags of rubbish to good use — and try to make a bit of a point at the same time! I used a large canvas and then a variety of creams to create the sand and sea colours. The plant and clock stencils are from the Stamps Away range and I mixed paint with a white wall filler to create a thick texture.The glue that is holding all the rubbish in place is Pinflair Glue Gel! After I’d finished, I got to thinking. What would happen if the litter got worse and worse and worse? (Particularly the plastic). I imagined a situation in which it got so bad that the beaches as we know them simply disappeared. This thought came to me in the middle of the night — as thoughts like this do — and I slid out of bed to write the poem below.
Until next time! Love,Wendy x
“Plastic Paradise” — Wendy Turner Webster
There’s a little girl on the beach, a tub of sweeties in her hand
It’s shiny and plastic and destined for the sand
She had wished for the sweets and the wish had come true
Who cares about the plastic? She has better things to do
Mum doesn’t care, she can’t see a bin
Dad doesn’t care either; well, it’s hardly a sin!Nearby, two lovers lie together under the sun
The magic of the beach, an adventure just begun
They whisper and they kiss as the sun gently sets
They leave the beach at midnight, no looking back, no regrets
But they forgot the condom, the champagne bottle and the cork
A morning surprise where others will soon walkThe sea creatures gasp for life as the years pass by
More rubbish and plastic, more reasons to die
But the kids and the grownups and the sun seekers, they don’t care
Not a care in the world, this world that we share
Their cups, their bottles, their plastic bits lay forgotten on the shore
And the waves roll in and spew out some more
For it’s not just this beach, it’s every beach in the land
Knee deep in plastic where there used to be sand“No point going now” is the latest I’ve heard said
The beach is a dump and the sea creatures are all dead
No star fish, no sea horses, no crabs, no fish
And the little girl returns to the beach to make another wish
She stands among the rubbish with the wind in her hair
She’s an old lady now and now she does care
But like most things in life, the knowledge comes too late
Humans were so happy to be lazy, never contemplating their fate
Years of rubbish on the beach, killing and harming for all that time
Now there’s nothing left to do but admit to the crimeYes! Confess! We must all take our turn
And then ask the question — do we humans ever learn?We killed the beach and we killed the sea and we shake our heads but it’s true;
A landscape of plastic — not the paradise we once knew.
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