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!)...

Sunshine!

Yes! March is here (that's officially a Spring month right?) and the sun is shining. Obviously it is still cold, but to see the world in a bright light again just makes everything feel absolutely awesome! And I even saw the first colour in the garden coming through, in the form of a purple crocus. I love this time of year - those of you who know me will know I love the sun and being outside, so I can't wait for Spring to get into full swing.
It was my Birthday last weekend, so I was busy eating cake and letting the little monster open my cards and presents (not that I had any choice!) I was spoilt by my family and had a lovely day with them all. My Little P was super lovely and could sense that something was going on which made that day a bit different from the run-of-the-mill day. She even went to the shops with her Nana and picked me a lovely balloon with butterflies on (which was really for her enjoyment!)
Aside from that, it's been a relatively normal week - playing with the little Lady, entertaining her, trying to have eyes in the back of my head to avoid catastrophe, oh, and a little bit of crochet when she goes to bed!
I have mainly been ploughing on with the Granny Square Play Picnic Blanket for the little Miss. I have found it a really nice, relaxing project, perfect for evening crochet when you don't have to concentrate too much. And, by joining the squares as I went along, no silly sewing together at the end! Each square is 6 rounds in size, and there are 36 of them. I used loads of colours - not many are repeated. I then spent an age trying to work out what to do with the edge. I liked Attic24's patchwork blanket (which inspired me) and the way Lucy used calm colours around the edge to reign in the haphazardness of the blanket itself. I went with a similar approach in the end - blues and purples for a few rows to edge it and calm it down a bit. Then, after my friend kindly let me borrow her book (Edie Eckman's Around the Corner Crochet) I sifted through edge after edge to find one I wanted to try and wouldn't take an absolute age (it is only a play blanket after all!) I settled on edge #37 but adapted in to use double crochet rather than treble, as I didn't need it quite so long. I can't recommend that book enough - I'll never struggle for edging ideas ever again now I've downloaded myself a copy!
I really like this little blanket - I think it had come together really well and the Little P has been putting it to good use already with her tea parties and tents. So, here it is, Little P's Play Blanket - bright and cheerful and perfectly sized for the Little Lady!

And a close up of those squares...

And a final glimpse at that edging... ruffled goodness!

In other exciting news, I mentioned previously that my trusty friend had treated me (us) to a needle felting course for my Birthday. Yesterday was the day in question, so I'm all clued up on the basics of needle felting. I went with the idea that I'd enjoy it, and that it would be useful - maybe even use it alongside my crochet, but it surpassed my expectations completely - it opens a whole new line of crafting up for me!
It was a nice small class, just the 6 of us plus the teacher, and as she started explaining what the bits were on the table in front of us, I couldn't help but notice a pack of antiseptic wipes and plasters! I knew the needles were lethal, but that sight made me fearful! We started easy, just felting some yarn onto a piece of material. Then we moved up to using the roving itself, and turning that into a neat square of felt. The whole thing was very addictive and therapeutic - the notion of repeatedly stabbing a piece of fluffy wool was very soothing somehow! Then we were able to make a flat shape and choose from a variety of biscuit cutters to use as a template. I chose a duck, as I had promised the Little Lady I would make her something. It was all going quite smoothly, no stabs, no broken needles. Then it was the big test - the ball. Now the roving had to be rolled around and fingers became perilously close to the needle. I did manage to jab my finger, but luckily no blood! Others then followed suit, but no major incidents! Here are my wares from my first ever needle felting experience!

I really loved it, way more than I thought I would. I can't wait to get started again, I have a flower garland in mind. I had a starter kit for my Birthday, but I also bought a bag of mixed colour roving after the course to give me more scope. Hopefully, I'll get started on a flower in a bit....

This morning I also tackled another craft - lino printing. I had been planning in my mind what I wanted to do for the last week, so I sat down and sketched the idea out. I then traced it and transferred it onto the lino block and began carving away at it until I could carve no more. Another craft I thoroughly enjoy - where am I going to get the time and storage to keep up with all these ideas in my mind?! The idea I had was to have a heart shape as the main focus, with the outline of a dandelion spreading it's seed in the wind. Then for the background, a curly sort of pattern. For my first attempt, I think it came out quite well. I can see areas it needs to be tweaked but it's ok. Maybe I should have tried something a bit less fiddly and intricate for my first piece (that's how I roll though!)

On that note, I'm going to go and start stabbing at some felt for a little while - here's hoping no fingers! Until next time...

The Craft Cupboard

Today I decided that my 'craft cupboard' had actually become somewhat of a hazard. When the door was opened, an avalanche of fabric, yarn, paints, stamps and buttons fell in the general direction of... well, everywhere! Tidying it was actually quite rewarding, as I began to realise I have actually accumulated quite a good lot of 'stuff'. I like it when I have an idea, and then can say 'I have just the thing for that!' Trouble is with that logic, is space. It uses quite a lot of it!
But a few days ago I decided that the Little P and I would make a card for her Gran's Birthday, and I was pleased to say 'I have just the thing for that!' Ok, so getting the crafty boxes out with the Little P was a bit hectic to say the least, and there were only a couple of major incidents, one involving a button spillage and another throwing clear cling stamps everywhere... but by the end we had made a card. I was quite chuffed actually, for a spur of the moment thing. I used Distress Inks to make a background and then stamped the words 'Happy Birthday Gran' on the top. The Little Lady then stuck pretty paper flowers on, followed by buttons. She loved the craft boxes and had a great time wading through stamps and paper and buttons. Hopefully I may pass this craft addiction on to her and we can have 'crafty time' together!
It was good to have a sort out, as the cupboard was getting a bit, well... full. I do love my crafting, obviously crochet is my número uno, but I'm dead excited about getting to use these too...

Yep, that's a couple of Lino blocks and equipment I need to have a go at making my own Lino block stamps. I've never done it before, but keen to have a go! I've just got to print off the image I want to try then when I get the time (as ever! - crochet time is priority!) I will give it a whirl.
I finished the owl square cushion last week too, very pleased with it, and so is Little P, who is constantly dragging it around and playing games with it. I love the little owl squares, and the fact I could explore my DK cotton-based stash and use a whole load of different colours. I'm not sure I would like to make a blanket of those squares though, as there are a lot of ends to sort out, it's much better when you can just hide them away! It seems the Mollie Makes crew liked the squares too, as Gathered magazine featured a picture of mine in their 'readers makes' page and Simply Crochet magazine picked it as their 'square of the week' on their Facebook page. Thank you for the owly love! It's lovely to see something I've made liked by people at magazines I really enjoy reading, it's really rewarding. I must credit the pattern to Repeat Crafter Me - its great and very easy to follow.

I've also been hammering the rainbow granny stripe blanket. I'm now on the final colour! So then I need to plan what to do with the edge. I'm not sure whether to keep it neutral with cream, or whether to add colour in with the cream to make it a bit more interesting.

Whilst emptying the cupboard earlier, I found the cushion cover I made at the beginning of the month at the sewing machine course. I thought I'd take this opportunity to show it off! It really is a very basic envelope style cushion cover, and not in my colour choices, but the fabric was already cut and ready for us to use. But it's not about that at all, it doesn't matter how it looks, what matters is I made it! My very first sewing machine project! I really enjoyed the course and learning to use the basic functions of a sewing machine and overlocker. I really did love the overlocker, but it looked so complicated, how on earth do you thread one of those up?! So without further ado, here is my baby -

Notice the ric-rac detail. For a complete novice seamstress, keeping a straight line down the middle of that stuff was very tricky! I never really thought about the construction of things like that before, so it was great to see how to make something like that, and very useful too. Hopefully that cushion cover will be the start of a whole new world of creation. When the course ended, we obviously had to go and buy some fabric to give it another go on our own at some point. We found a lovely little shop and I bought a metre of fabric and a couple of fat quarters (Amy Butler fat quarters to be precise!). So I'm just waiting for an opportunity to have another go at something on a sewing machine - my friend's craft room is up and running, I shall be visiting it later for a sneak peak - and I'll also drop a hint about using her machine! Of course I'd love my own, but current circumstances do not allow for this, and I'm not sure it would fit in my craft cupboard even though I have cleared it up a bit!

Right, must be off, a little hooky time before popping to see the craft room in all it's glory!