2014 Wrap-Up

Here we are at the end of the year.

It hasn't been as big a year for crafting as some years, but if you look back at what I've been doing you will find some chunks of time have been spent doing a little of this and that.

My main crafts for 2014 have been Card Making, Cross Stitch, Crochet and Sewing.

African Sunset is now at about 85% complete. There is just one more elephant, a little more background and some back stitch to do.

I'm really ready to be finished this. It has taken a lot longer than I anticipated, but the end is in sight.

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My final card for the year was a birthday card for one of my sisters.

It is a Lucy Cromwell découpage design. This photo doesn't quite give you an idea of the depth, but it made closing the envelope difficult.

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Progress has also been made on my Crochet Rug. In fact, I think it will have to be called a blanket instead of a rug because it has gotten so big. Sorry I haven't got any photos.
I'm on my last ball of blue wool and then I will be edging it in maroon wool.

It's very large and very warm (surprising for something with so many holes in it).
I won't be working on it until the weather cools down again - probably in April or May. It's just too hot to work on during late spring, summer and early autumn.

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So there you have it. 2014 is done.

There are plans for cards in 2015; hopefully both African Sunset and my Crochet Blanket will be completed and I will be able to move onto new projects. There is sure to be some sewing in there too, as another Kid's Camp is fast approaching and I am in need of a costume or two.

See you next year.
And Happy Crafting!

Paper Quilting

This is something I would put on my Christmas wish list if I was writing one this year!

A Card With a Difference

My sister's birthday was coming up and I was looking for inspiration of what to do for her card this year.
As I flicked through a card making magazine, I found the perfect idea.

(Inspired by Paper Essentials UK Issue 108)

It's a shaped card, but doesn't have an are inside to write on - I just wrote on the back.

By the way - she loves it!! And even said if she found a dress like it she would wear it!!

A Spot of Mending

I wonder how many people still mend their clothes?
Do you?

I, for one, still do!
During my uni days I darned my socks and mended as much as possible - all by hand - because money was very tight.
These days I still mend, although more often with my sewing machine than by hand.

Once I had a work shirt that had a collar that just didn't sit right and no matter how many times I ironed it, there there still wrinkles. Then one day I realised the collar had been sewn in backwards!! Most people would have put the shirt in the OP Shop - not me! I unpicked it, turned it around and sewed it back on. It finally sat perfectly!

My most recent mending job was to replace the zip on my favourite coat. The problem with zips is that a whole lot of sewing goes on after the zip has been attached  - in this case, the buttons on the flap that conceals the zip and keeps the wind from going through it.
It took me all afternoon to get it done, but finally success!!
I also was able to reinforce the pockets as they had started to come apart.

Please share your mending successes (or nightmares).

First Attempt

What can you do with a remnant of 1.4m of tomato red felt and an undetermined length of hessian braid?

Make bunting, of course!!

This was my first attempt at making bunting, and I'm very pleased with the result. It is 8.5m long! I even put hanging loops at the end.
It will be used at work for our circus theme this term!

A Stack of Cards

People keep telling me I should sell my cards, but I have to say that I get so much satisfaction out of being the one to give the card that I don't do that (not to mention the fact that I don't have time to make the volume I would need to make it a viable business). However, I did recently make some cards that I donated to a silent auction to raise money for an orphanage in the Philippines.

One lady bought the whole lot (I believe they were sold as a bundle), and told me that she has already used 2 of them and that the recipients loved them.

Baby and Birthday!

A friend of mine recently had a baby and today is her birthday, so 2 cards have been made!

The design slightly changed as I made this one, but I think the end result is better than my original plan.

This one all started with the border! The trouble was figuring out what to do next. But I'm really happy with the way I was able to introduce texture through the embossing, without adding another colour.

Who Needs a Journal?

My latest crafting project was not cross stitch (still working on that), nor was it a card made specially for someone!

This one was for me - a new journal!

Several years ago I won a Bind-it-All. An amazing tool that enables me to bind up all manner of things in a variety of shapes and sizes. So far I've only made journals, but there is always the possibility for something more.
Anyway, back to my current one ...

This one has been a combination of recycling and re-purposing. The covers were some cardboard used as packaging that I trimmed to size and then covered. The front cover is a beautiful Grace Taylor scrapbooking paper, with clear contact over the top to protect it. Unfortunately I ran out out of clear contact, but found some patterned contact in the back of my cupboard - silver holographic stars!

The internal pages were also a challenge. I really wanted some lined paper, but I can never find good quality paper of the right size that has lines. So my brilliant idea was to look through my stash of writing paper from the days when I used to write letters to pen-pals. I had 3 pads of blue paper that was excellent quality, not lined, but that's OK. So I pulled all the pages apart and they are the pages of this journal!

The wire is a little big (I didn't have the right size on hand), but that will work well, because for the purpose of this journal, I often stick other pages in and the extra size wire will allow the journal to expand.

Now, if you live in Australia, could you please give me some suggestions of where I might find some good quality lined paper?

Safari and Baby

No, not combined!

I recently made a card for a friend who was having a baby shower. Inspiration for the card came from 175 Fresh Card Ideas by Kimber McGray, but I have changed things a bit.

My friend loves polka dots, so using the dots embossing folder was perfect. The pram is actually made from some kind of fluffy fabric. And I added white brads to help secure it.

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And now for safari time. I did some more on African Sunset last night, and have now finished one of the elephants - except for the back stitch!

You can't quite see all of it because I have turned the aida cloth on the scroll frame. I mostly need to do backstitch around the legs, ear, trunk and tusks. But that will have to wait until I've done part of the next elephant - at least to the point where there is at least one stitch beside all the areas for backstitch.

Costume anyone?

I'm on a Kid's Summer Camp this week!
Each day we have a different theme - Dinosaurs, Pirates, Medieval and Under the Sea - and needed a little costume item to make the games fun each day. Most days it was easy to find something because I already had a suitable costume, but Dinosaur day was a problem.

A Google search started and I found an idea that I could modify, so thank you Ginger & George for the inspiration!

I started out with a plain green t-shirt (conveniently already in my wardrobe).
Then I added 10 felt diamonds.
A needle and thread connected things together, and this is the result:

Side view!

First Card for the Year

Well, I've made my first card for the year, and it was not for the person I thought it would be.

I received a surprise phone call from a very good friend, we talked about many things, but the purpose of her call was to invite me to her daughter's 10th birthday party. Her daughter specifically wanted me to be there!!

It's such a blessing to be part of a child's life, but it is in moments like these that you realise they really appreciate the time you spend with them. Don't ever underestimate the impact you can have in a child's life.

This card is for my young friend!

A Sewing Adventure in Re-Purposing

How many of you have a few items in your house that you don't use and are getting frustrated by the space they take up?
I'm guessing everyone!!
I know I have a few.

Which recently led me to get rid of a few things in my wardrobe. A few things will be making a trip back to an Op Shop! They served their purpose but I'm not going to wear them again.
This leads me to the purpose of this post.
I've had a skirt sitting in my wardrobe for a few years that never quite fit right (on me or any other member of my family). I also had a need for a bag to put my pillow in when I go away on holidays or trips.
The skirt was the perfect size - resulting in the idea that the skirt could become a bag.

Before

After

It took a bit of unpicking - I had to remove the elastic in the waist and take out the hem.
I used a French seam for the bottom to make sure the denim wouldn't fray in the bottom seam, then sewed up the casing for a cord. I even used the gold coloured thread to match the stitching. I tried using a toggle that I had to secure the cord, but it wasn't big enough, so I popped the cord through the holes on a big button and used that instead.

It's the perfect size bag and it even has pockets (I left them as they were)!!