Better Late Than Never...

Well, it's been a while (43 days to be precise) since I last sat down and typed up a post. In that time, Christmas has been and gone, and 2014 is in full swing It's been a busy period... but also very enjoyable. Having a little one about the place certainly brings out the festivity in yourself! It feels too late to be talking too much about Christmas, as things are just getting back to normal and into the usual routine, but I have a few photos to show of some of my festive makes - I took these pics way back before Christmas, but haven't had a chance to do much with them!
First up are the cards I made. It's the first time I have made my Christmas cards, and I am pleased to say I will be doing so again. I don't have a huge amount to make so it is pretty manageable. The hardest part is deciding what to do... crochet motifs? stamping? embellishments? I went mainly for printing with lino block shapes, but did have a handful adorned with buttons and pretty papers...

The lino printed selection made from a simple triangle and snowflake shape...

And some fancy button work...

I was pleased with both types of card - I love the low-tech effect of the printing, and the fact it's imperfect... but I also rather like the simplicity and neatness of the paper/button ones. Who knows what I'll create next year?!

I also decided to make some of my tags and wrapping paper (by make, I mean decorate!) I bought a roll of brown wrapping paper and some plain tags in red and brown and a few supplies from The Homemakery to pretty them up. The tags were a mix of washi tapes, stamps and fabric tape. Here's a few of my favourites...

And then there is the wrapping paper... I have discovered a great new creative outlet for myself - stamp carving. Yep, taking blocks of rubber and carving my own stamps ready to print with inks. The possibilities are endless, and I really love it, from the designing phase and carving, right through to the end product. I have been doing a lot of this recently and will write more about it at some point soon. To start with, I carved simple shapes - a Christmas tree was used for the wrapping paper. The rubber used for carving stamps is so much easier than cutting lino blocks. It's more expensive obviously, but well worth it, and normal stamp pads work great, whereas lino blocks need a proper printing ink.
Lino block printing definitely still has a place for certain things, but at the moment rubber stamp carving is where it's at for me! So here is my first attempt at carving a Speedball Speedycarve block (the pink stuff) to make wrapping paper...

I was chuffed with it, and it has sparked a whole new line of interest, bordering obsession, but like I said, more to come another day.

Things have been quiet on the crochet front since Christmas, but the build up was fairly full of it. I promised a picture of my Christmas bunting and star garland in situ - the light is rather poor in the lounge and it never gets better, so I took the best ones I could and brightened them up on my laptop to try and make them look more true to life...

I got quite a few nice comments on the bunting, and have already started on a 'Merry' to hang above it next year. I thought I better start it now so that I have yarn from the same batch and don't forget exactly how I made it, although I'm not exactly into crocheting Christmas things in January!

The stars also looked rather sweet on the fireplace...

It's been a grey few days here, and it's getting colder too... but I did manage to get out and take a couple of photos in the garden. I absolutely love the pinky-white flowers on the Viburnum bushes at this time of year... a little bit of fresh colour in an otherwise bleak garden...

And a couple of others just because...

After a busy Christmas period, it's quite nice to get back into routine. Little P is so much better when she has familiar routine, and everything goes back to functioning that little bit better. I am also back to limited crafting time now, but any time I've had I have been busy designing and making stamps to make some Thank You cards for Little Lady's Christmas presents. They are all made now, and just need writing up at some point! Then I'll probably get back to crocheting (Little P wants a Hello Kitty toy) and showing my stamp carving efforts. But until next time, I must be off - I'm watching Sherlock and it's getting interesting!



Keeping on Top of Things

Nobody needs reminding that Christmas is just around the bend. I installed an app on my phone to create Christmas lists, and each day it reminds me how many days to go until the Big Day... today it is just 25!
I am rather excited again this year about Christmas - since having Little P I seemed to have regained a lot of the festive excitement I had as a child - but it also means there a lot of things to do. Especially this year as I have decided to make my cards, and gift tags, and even some wrapping paper. It did seem like a great idea back in October! I am really enjoying making them though, it's just the time factor as usual, and having a very helpful Little P who wants to join in with everything!
I've had a go at lino printing again. Very simple stuff, but very effective too. I've carved a few 'trial' stamps and blocks and have had mixed results. The ones that have worked though I'm very happy with, and I am learning more about carving lino with each attempt. The cards are still mostly a work in progress but I have a sneak preview...

I made these with a simple triangle and snowflake stamp, and some block printing inks...

I plan to do some more tomorrow when I have some spare time, and have a new block to try printing with... exciting! I really like the simple, yet colourful effect of these cards, and am chuffed with them... they looked great all lined up when they were drying off!

I have also finished the Christmas bunting that my Mum asked me to whip up. Tomorrow will be decorating day, and I will hang it then but light in the lounge is notoriously bad, so I'm not expecting the photos to be great. I took a couple of sneak previews in the little light I could find by the back door...

I love a pile of bunting triangles! It's made using RICO Design Creative Cotton Aran in 3 colours - Cherry, Pistachio and Natural. It's based on the Simple Bunting Tutorial by Pink Milk although I've tweaked it a little bit to suit my needs. There are 11 triangles - 2 with holly on, and the rest spell 'Christmas' using matching felt letters. I'm very pleased with it and can't wait to see it hanging up!

It will also be time to hang the star garland on the fireplace, so I'll try and get a picture of that too! I really hope it stays and little hands don't pull on it too much...
I also have the little felt decorations I made to hang on the tree...

I'm also very busy trying to crochet some gifts too... I have had a little Santa production line going on in the evenings when Little Lady is tucked up in bed...

Ho Ho Ho! I do like these little chaps!

Me and the Little Lady have also been making pom poms. The idea is to stick them around a paper plate wreath, although she has claimed them as her 'fluffy balls' to go in her 'special box' and I am not allowed them. She loves picking the colours for me and choosing which size pom pom maker to use for each one. I just do the donkey work and wind the things! I'm just using up some scraps of Stylecraft Special DK, but I love all the colours!

With all the gifts for everyone else, I felt I needed to treat myself just a little bit. Those of you who follow the Attic24 blog, will have seen the giveaway she is hosting with Fig1 to giveaway a load of RiceDK goodies...
I had my first glimpse of RiceDK wares several years ago and really liked it then. Over the last 18 months of following Lucy's blog - who often makes reference to Rice products - I have been sorely tempted to order something. Somehow I resisted... until there was a 10% discount code on her blog to buy from the Fig1 online shop. Sorted. Now just to choose what I want...
That was the hard part. The range of melamine products are to die for. Over the last year I have been collecting a few oddments of melamine, the plan being to one day to have a cupboard full of mismatching colourful melamine cups, bowls and plates. I have previously bought some from John Lewis...

The top ones are by a company called Anorak. The bowl and plate in the bottom picture are John Lewis' own (I think the range was called Pioneer) and the cup is an Orla Kiely. And no I have 3 more items, from Rice! Yay the collection is growing slowly!

I love, love, love these. The colours are great. The patterns are beautiful. And they are nice and sturdy too (and very bouncy thank goodness!) Little P instantly claimed these for a pretend picnic on the lounge floor, and she had to use all 3, so I didn't get to study them for a while!
I love how the insides are coloured too. So pretty.

What a happy treat to myself!

Now I must go, time is of the essence and I need to go and make some more gift tags whilst I have 5 minutes! So, until next time (when Christmas will probably be pretty much on top of us!)...

Have Yourself a Handmade Little Christmas

Yep, it's all about Christmas crafting this year. Last year I felt I left it a bit late (the Christmas tree skirt was finished in time for the tree to come down!) so I have started in good time this year. It's not just crochet either - it's a multi-discipline crafting bonanza! I'm making my own cards - simple ones, but pretty ones I think. I also have 'stuff' for Little P to make her own too. That will involve heaps of glue and glitter and sequins and stickers - but she will have great fun (and so will I cleaning up after her!)
The last 3 weeks have been ridden with ailments - first me and the Little Lady were under the weather. Little P took quite some time to get over it, and is still not fully there, although she is becoming more her usual self now. The cheeky streak is back! It was hard getting out of the house at times as Little P wanted to stay in (most unlike her) but I needed a break too, so I suggested we drive to the City to the Hobbycraft store. We will just pick up a 'couple of bits' for Christmas crafting... needless to say I bought more than I anticipated, but it will definitely all get used and enjoyed. The trip did also cheer up Little P, who was very excited about making Christmas cards and picking the bits and bobs she wanted - within reason.
I have also been trying my hand at hand-sewn felt decorations. I have seen them in shops and refuse to buy them as the quality of the stitching doesn't often look great, and they aren't cheap either. It would be much more satisfying to make some - all you need is felt, stuffing, thread and buttons, and a little bit of practice at blanket stitching. So I acquired some Christmassy colours of felt and thread, and some pearl buttons and got to work.

Not bad for a first attempt hey? I found blanket stitching around the points a little tricky, but in my later creations, I've ironed it out a bit and they look a little smarter! So simple, yet so sweet, and a lot cheaper and more pleasing than shop-bought ones. I also really enjoyed hand stitching these, and it reminded me of sewing lessons at Middle School - the ones I used to hate and had no interest in, how I wish I'd listened and learned more now!

I have other 'big' ideas for Christmas crafting too... I saved the 5 'cone bobbins' that my Hoopayarn came on, and plan to turn them into nativity characters, safe ones that Little P can play with. Amongst my Hobbycraft purchases were some polystyrene balls for their heads, and a small polystyrene figure, which will become baby Jesus if all goes to plan. He has already had one accident - when reviewing my purchases, Little P managed to snap his head off! Nothing a bit of glue won't sort! 
My Mum asked if I would crochet some Christmas bunting to hang up in the lounge, so I have to figure out my plan for that too. I have made a small crochet star garland to hang on the fireplace. I needed a small, repetitive project whilst I sat and watched 'Inception' one evening, so picked some festive colours and made 12 little stars. I improvised the stars a bit after looking at various patterns, but they are pretty simple...

Round 1 - 15dc in magic ring, slip stitch to close.
Round 2 - the points, chain 6, sc in 3rd chain from hook, hdc in next, dc in next, tr in next. Skip 2 stitches from Round 1 and slip stitch into next. Do this 5 times to make 5 points.

Easy peasy little stars... I then strung them together by making a simple chain and slip stitching through the top of one of the points of the star. I think I had 30 chain stitches at each end, and 20 between stars. I used Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo and a 3.5mm hook.

Amongst all this festivity, I have made a couple of much needed beanie hats. The weather has most definitely turned for the worse, and I was searching around for a suitable slouchy hat pattern. Then right on cue my friend Curly Girl Coop alerted me to the wonderful world of MyBoshi. If you like beanies and colour, you'll love this stuff. It's a company who specialise in making customisable beanies and hats and other woolly goodness, using their own brand yarn, which is a mix of 70% acrylic and 30% merino. It's surprisingly soft, and not at all 'fluffy' or 'itchy' - two things I can't stand for a hat! It has an amazing range of colours and gives a lovely 'polished' and professional look to the hats. The only negative is that a lot of the information is in German and there are only a few 'do-it-yourself' patterns available, unlike the enormous range available to buy as ready made boshis.
The basic pattern is very simple however, and I think it could be easily adapted to create different effects. It just so happens that my local yarn store is selling this... Luckily my friend Curly Girl Coop had left me a few colours to choose from after she had raided the stand, so I bought a few to take home and try.

My first effort, the one on the left, worked up so quickly and easily. I had to add a couple of rounds to make it a bit longer so it covered my ears, but the pattern was very easy to follow. I was hooked. I had to make more. Little P picked her colours out (the brightest pink in the world and violet) so I whipped her one up too. It was a little tricky as she wouldn't let me measure her head, so it was a bit of guesstimation, but I got there in the end. The last one, bottom left, is a slouchy hat. I love the colours of this one, and can see me wearing it a lot. Also very quick to work up, I finished it in an evening - this included colour planning which takes up the most time!

I just love how the yarn looks... so polished...

My advice? If you need a winter hat and you can crochet - it's MyBoshi all the way!

I could quite happily buy loads more colours and make loads more hats! I just need more heads to wear them!

I also managed to type up a little pattern for my Father Christmas amigurumi, which can either be a toy or a hanging ornament. Find it here. I think he will look good next to Ronald the Fat Little Reindeer too...

 

Must be off, so until next time, happy Christmas crafting!