Papercraft Post - Homemade Envelopes

Now I'm often raiding the farthest corners of my craft cupboard, hoping to find a long lost envelope somewhere in Narnia!  But it is so easy to make your own! 

I once had a plastic shop-bought template for making them...that too has been swallowed up in the snowy regions of the cupboard...but who needs shop bought, when by simply deconstructing an existing envelope, you can create your own card template...

...and then the world is your oyster!  Any paper, old magazine pages, old wrapping paper can become the most cheery envelope for that personal postal delivery!

Start with a card template and pages from an old magazine...

...add a little bit of basic origami magic...

...and you have conjured a beautiful array of unique envelopes!

Next to create my own labels to write the address on... 

...oh and careful positioning of the template is vital I discovered; one of my envelopes has a lovely close-up of a tubby bird tummy...while the head has disappeared over the back!

May is Here!

Pinch, punch, first day of the month and no returns, white rabbit!  There, all bases covered as we welcome in the 1st of May!

And what does this new month also mean?  It means I have completed National Poetry Writing Month... yes I have indeed written a poem every day for 30 days... and I didn't miss one!  No really, honest truth!  Yes it was tough going some mornings and yes some are better than others, but I feel a definite sense of achievement.

In fact, I would describe writing a poem a day as the equivalent of a mental jog, starting the day with a more alert brain and the knowledge that writing has already been done and the rest of the day is yet to come!  (Yes, many of the poems were heavily rhyming, it's a habit hard to shake, particularly when you usually prefer to write songs to poetry).

Enough white rabbiting on... these poems will not go to waste, I am making my first ever poetry chapbook, in which I can proudly present my April achievements to any poor friend or family member who will put up with them!

Back to the workshop for me, I think it's time for some crafting!

Day Thirty: 30th April 2014

Play me a tune sweet piper,
In perfect time you keep,
Haunting homespun melody,
Lull me now to sleep.

For I have journeyed piper,
Far across the seas,
So play the old home-fire song,
That called me on the breeze.

The hearthside beckons piper,
Ne'er more to roam,
Come sit and play till break of day,
Sweet ode unto my home.

Day Twenty-Nine: 29th April 2014

Make a house a home,
Line the walls with books,
The sills with pots and plants,
Pans and onions hang from hooks.

And take out the blankets,
Unfurl them in the air,
Dispel the dust and cobwebs,
Hand-sewn and patched with care.

With the whirl of a blanket,
Create a nook and nest,
A child's cosy den,
To hide from all the rest.

And when it comes to bedtime,
The day is at a close,
Snuggle in your blanket,
Pulled right up to your nose.

Day Twenty-Eight: 28th April 2014

Stabled within your close corner stall,
Do you whisper and whinny?
Toss your soft downy white mane,
Blink your long felty lashes,
Flex your slender floral neck.

The day has been harsh to you.
Caught up and cantered in a moment,
Abandoned the next.
Trusty steed.
Ever there to answer your small rider's call.

I once rode you.
You have weathered well.

So twitch your cotton ears,
Dawn approaches
And a slumbering child stirs.

Day Twenty-Seven: 27th April 2014

Hear No Evil
He is at my ear,
Attentive,
Protective,
The guardian of every timbre
That comes to me on a zephyr.
Listen.

See No Evil
Fleeting glimpse of silver,
Flickers through my hair,
He is close at hand,
Watchful,
Vigilant.
See.

Speak No Evil
He whispers in my ear
Words of confidence and wisdom,
Be strong of heart,
Lips part,
A sound is spoke.
Uttered.

Day Twenty-Six: 26th April 2014

What can I give you my own little one?
I give you the world!
Shining upon your small sleeping face,
Lulling you into the land of dreams,
Your own spinning world of
Moon and stars;
Celestial globe.
I gave you the world,
But you have a
Universe.