Making Your Own Rub-Ons

A while ago I purchased a product to make my own rub-ons, but the instructions were a bit confusing. Today I was thinking about using the product, and I noticed at the bottom of the instructions was a website you could go to to see how to use the stuff.
It wasn't quite as simple as type in the address and there it was. I had to hunt around for it a bit and finally found the following video on YouTube!

The presenter makes it look really easy.

Crochet Rug Progress

With cooler weather arriving, it was time to pull out my crochet rug and do some more work on it. I keep thinking I should finish it now, but then as I'm working on it I realise that it isn't big enough. I still can't comfortably tuck my toes in and have it fully over my lap.

So I have decided to keep going around and around and around and around a few more times. I still plan to learn shell edging for the edge. I still have plenty of wool, so that's not a problem.

I'm not sure what colour I was using when I last posted, but I am currently using purple. I've got another 2 and a bit rounds before I change again.

I've now used 7.6 balls of wool out of a total of 18.

Craft Table with Storage

I posted this on my other blog, but since it's craft related, I thought I would post it here too.

Guess where I've been looking again! Yes, Ikea Hacker!
This time the whole article was found on the original blog.

So, now I just need a craft room and this would be great. There is one thing though, this craft table is designed for someone to be standing up, while I prefer to sit while crafting. At least you can get to all your supplies easily.

On the original blog, they said that the shelves didn't fit their scrapbooking storage containers, so it may need some tweaking for your specific needs.

Finger Knitting

Finger Knitting was one of my favourite things to do as a child because it was quick, easy and I could do all sorts of things with it once I was finished.

I'm now working with children every day in an After School Care Program, and they have been finger knitting, since our supply of wool was replenished over the summer holidays (thanks to a friend who generously donated her spare wool).

Some of the girls had never done it before and wanted to learn, while others, who had been at the centre last year grabbed some wool and sat down to do it. However, there were a couple of methods being used.

As a child, I used the very simple method of  a single loop being made into a chain. Some of these girls were using a method involving all fingers, which looked more like knitting. I had never heard of this, so I got the girls to teach each other.

Then I remembered that once I had used 2 strands of wool at the same time and it looked beautiful and made a stronger cord. I looked for some instructions, but our internet search at work is restricted, so it has taken me until now, to find some simple intructions. Once again YouTube has come to the rescue. Have a look at this video.

A Little Bit of Stitching

Ok, so it's been a long time since I updated you on how I'm going with any of my cross stitch projects. So now that it's a new year, I thought I should at least say something about where I'm at.

My sister loved it that I am doing African Sunset for her. You might remember from my last post that I wasn't sure if she still liked it. It was nowhere near finished for her birthday, but I wrapped up what I'd done and gave it to her, saying that I would keep working on it. She told me that everytime she sees this design in a catalogue she cuts it out to keep, so I know I made the right choice.

You can see from the picture below how much I've done. It looks great, even without the back stitch done. However, I still have a long way to go.

I'm also still going with Hang in There Panda. I don't have enough of some of the thread colours, but the company it is from will send more (free of charge) if you request them. I have already had to request one colour and it took about 6 weeks to arrive, but now that I found another colour that I need I decided to do as much of the rest of the stitching as I could without it to see if there were any other colours I needed before I ordered it. That way they could send them all at once. But I haven't done anymore on it since I gave it to Mum because I was trying to get more of African Sunset done.

Then Christmas was approaching and I had some cute little mini cross stitches, complete with frames in Christmas designs. I like to have a new ornament or something every Christmas, so I decided to do one of these. I ended up almost getting 2 done by Christmas, but I still have a bit more stitching to do, so it will be my new one for next Christmas.

Below you will see the cute wreath that I did for Christmas 2011. I changed the pattern slightly, but I like it better the way I did it.



Finally, I have been making birthday party invitations. They were interesting because I decided I wouldn't buy anything new for them, but use what I had in my cardmaking/scrapbooking stash.

They have worked out beautifully, and I learned a bit about working with vellum - including printing on it and different ways to attatch it. Now I just need to find the dress to wear to the party, make the autograph book and do some baking.

Updates

Where do I start?
I have been doing stitching, crochet and making more felt brooches. I forgot to photograph the brooches before I gave them away to my girls on camp - LF8R Winter Teen Camp that my church runs with CYC. I was a leader again this year (my 2nd year) and I gave my 4 girls each a brooch. Most of them ended up using them in their hair for our 80's Prom, the last night of camp. They were gorgeous!

For my crochet rug, I am now back to purple, having finished the next section of blue and the 2 rounds of maroon that go in between. It's getting too big to photograph!

I didn't get 'Hang in There Panda' done in time for my Mum's birthday. I still wrapped it up, along with the picture, and will complete it as I have time. Part of the problem is a lack of thread being supplied. Thankfully the company will send you more thread if you run out. I did have to get some of one colour, however I have now run out of another colour. I don't need as much as they will send, but I can't just go out and match it, because they don't use standard threads. I'm going to do as much as I can, to see if I need more of any other colours before sending my order.

I'm still going with 'African Sunset', but there is no way I'll get it finished by the start of next month. I plan to do the same as I did with Mum, wrap what I've done and include the picture. Hopefully the person I'm giving it to still likes the picture. Not sure what I'll do otherwise.

I finally finished my course, and my new job starts on Monday! I'll be spending several hours everyday looking after primary school aged children in an After School Care Program! Some opportunities for craft will come up there, so that's good. Other than that, I just need to make some more time for stitching. One thing I'm doing is cutting back on my internet time. It's amazing how much time Facebook and other internet things take. It's a battle, but one I'm determined to win.

Puppets and Brooches

One of the requirements for my Children's Services course was to make a puppet that went with a song or nursery rhyme.
I chose 'Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary' as my rhyme, and this is my puppet:


To present her I used a basket which I put in silver bells, cockle shells and some little dolls. The effect is very nice. Today was the day we presented them. So now I just have to wait to see if I passed.

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I've also been making some more felt brooches. Five in all.



A nice thing about these brooches is that I was able to earn a little money for them.

Craft Updates

I thought it was time I updated you on some of my projects. I haven't blogged for so long because I've been a little busy - family emergencies and starting studying again have taken almost all my time. First up, is my progress on 'Hang in There Panda'. I was working on it a bit, but then realised I was running out of one of the threads. Thankfully you can order more thread free of charge from Dimensions. It took about 3 weeks, but I can now get on with it again. I was trying to get it ready by the beginning of May, but I think it might be more reasonable for the middle of June. As you can see, I have a little more of the panda to do and then all the other sections.

Next there is 'African Sunset'. There is absolutely no way I will get this done by August as I planned. However, what I have decided to do it tell the person I'm giving it to how much I've done and that I will finish it as soon as I can.

I'm currently trying to get the top left corner finished, just so I feel like I'm getting somewhere and so that I don't have to constantly change colours all the time.

And then there is my crochet rug. As I do with many projects that I design myself, I have changed the design of this once again. I was planning to use two balls of blue to one ball of purple with two rounds of maroon in between. However, I am almost to the end of the second ball of blue and I would prefer to have more blue before the next purple section. So I'll just do however many blue I feel looks right and then do some more purple. I will stick with the two rounds of maroon in between though.

You couldn't really get the full colour contrast with the photo of the whole rug, so this next photo is a close up of how the three colours work together. I love how they all complement each other and it will be interesting to see how the next part goes. I'm still not sure quite how large the rug will be.

Oh, and can anyone tell me how I can even out the edges? They are a little wonky right now. I have heard something about blocking, but I'm not sure how it will work on a project this size. I'm guessing that it has to be done once the rug is finished.

One of the things I love about this now is that it keeps my legs warm while I crochet - a perfect winter project!

Something Small, Something New and a Little Progress Too

After all the large projects I've been doing, I felt the need to do something small, so that I'd feel I actually accomplished something.
So here they are, a book mark and a Christmas decoration.
The hanger on the Christmas decoration is actually green, but for some reason my scanner picked it up as blue.

So with those finished I was ready to move onto something else. I decided to work on this cute, stamped cross stitch panda.

As a general rule I hate stamped cross stitch. You can't get the stitches even and cover the markings for stitching at the same time. But I didn't realise it was stamped cross stitch when I bought it, and I intend giving it as a gift.

I have done a little more on African Sunset, but not much. I find it very frustrating having to change colours all the time, and the colours are much different that what I usually work with. I really hope the person I plan to give it to still likes it by the time I finish.

Now the question is, can I get African Sunset and Hang in There Panda done by the time I plan to give them to the intended recipients. I'm beginning to have my doubts.

A few more things from 2010

There were a couple of projects I did at the end of last year.
I ended up doing our family Christmas tree decorations again.

This time I went with the felt theme of craft that I've been doing lately.
I used a cookie cutter to make a pattern and then cut out 2 felt pieces for each one. The gold star in the middle is a brad. I had to put a small hole through the felt to get the brad in, but other than that it was easy. I sewed the 2 sides together with a contrasting embroidery thread, stuffing the star before I finished stitching. The hanging loop is red rickrack. I need a contrast for the red stars, but didn't have anything available. I made 8 in all. One was actually blue with a silver star brad - my friend has a blue and silver theme going with her Christmas tree.

The other project was a birthday card. I used Stampin' Up stamps from a couple of different sets. One of the sets was 'Window Dressing'. I love this set. It has so many possibilities!
I did make another card, but I don't have a picture of it. I also used Stampin' Up sets for that one.