The Stars Are Out

So this is my latest card!
Once again my cardmaking supplies seemed to explode all over my bedroom (which is where I construct these masterpieces).

I'm guessing you're all wondering what I used for the gold star chain. Actually, brads! Instead of pushing the metal pins through the card, I bent them out flat, then curled the ends over to form a ring. I put a split ring (like those used in jewellery making) between the stars and then one at each end. The ends are secured to the card using jewel brads and the middle star had some adhesive foam to keep the chain in shape.

The row of stars at the bottom is an ink stamp, actually using white ink. The words in the middle are also stamped, but I went over the white ink with a white gel pen.

The inside of the card and the envelope are made from white paper with yellow polka dots.

This is for a friend's 21st.

Crochet Rug - The First Ball

Well this is the progress on my crochet rug.

I've finished the 1st ball of wool (plus the start of the 2nd).

The first ball made just over 19 and a half rounds.

I've worked out my pattern, of sorts.

I have 3 colours: Navy, Purple and Maroon.

So the plan is for 2 balls of Navy, followed by one round of Maroon, then 1 ball of Purple, followed by a round of Maroon ...

I have 10 balls of Navy, 5 of Purple and 3 of Maroon, so I'm hoping this will be enough.

Actually, I can't get any more of the same brand wool, so it will have to be. The blocks of colour will decrease as the rug gets bigger because more wool will be needed for each round.

I'll do another update after the second ball of Navy.

And for those wondering, this much has only taken 2 and a half weeks!!

A New Challenge - Crochet!

Ok, so this week I've been teaching myself to crochet using a DVD. I'm actually making a rug, which is very ambitious for a first project, but I want to really learn the stitch.

So I'm starting with a Granny Square and just going around and around, getting bigger each round until I will end up with this massive Granny Square as a rug.

The only thing the DVD didn't teach me was how to change colour or at new wool when my ball ran out.

My friend, Jenny, does crochet, but when I asked her how she did it, she said she just tied a knot and kept going. So I decided to look on YouTube and this is what I found.


It's such a great video, and I think I may try this method since it shows both changing colour and securing the tail of the new colour. The only thing is that she finished off the previous round first. Hmm ... I'll have to think about that.