Brand Spanking New

Oh- oh! I've been shopping.
What's in the bag?

Yarn?

No

Beads?

Not this time

Embroidery goodies?

Uh-uh

No, you will never guess.

I have found myself a completely new (to me) way to spend money crafty interest.

Want to look?

I'm going to have a go at lino cut printing!

I always love lino prints when I see them. There's something so satisfying in their simplicity on the paper. Just do a search on Etsy or Folksy and you'll see what I mean. I was inspired mostly by some prints I saw yesterday by Sarah Young and by seeing fellow blogger Mayaluna show how to make a stamp (clever girl also prints on fabric).

So, I'll go and have a play with my new toys and hope to show you the results soon!

Paper Play

Hello all! Ever since I was very small I could often be found playing with paper. I'd usually sit snip snip snipping it to make snowflakes or paper people chains or some other intricate creation. Sometimes I would make things like newspaper palm trees or paper houses. There would usually be a trail of little snippets of paper where I had been. Well, not a lot changes. Nowadays it's making cards and an itch to create a collage.

So when I read Lucy's post back in November about Decopatch I filed the information away in the back of my head. Then in February I was at a craft fair in Brighton and came across the Decopatch stand ...so of course I HAD to get some bits and pieces. It wasn't until I was doing my blog catch ups last week that I found that Kinbles had also been inspired by our Lucy, shopped at the same stall as me and been busy busy Decopatching. You can see her results here, aren't they lovely?

So, here are my efforts so far. Please excuse the fuzzy photos!

This is Dippy the dinosaur, my first attempt. I used three different papers to cover the blank form. Tear, stick, tear, stick....so satisfying. Easy and quick.

Next on my hitlist was a mirror with an ugly broken plastic frame.

A hot glue gun, some torn paper and glue and it looks so much better (its even nicer in real life, trust me!)  I also covered the fronts of the drawers in an Ikea wooden storage box. My parents bought me this years ago for me to decorate. It houses a lot of my jewellery making bits and pieces.

I'm not too keen on the bottom two drawers and may re-cover them at some point. My favourite is the top left drawer. I'm planning on giving the box a coat of paint to finish it off. I also have an old and rather tatty coffee table that I'm thinking is going to get the treatment. If  I do it, I'll post a pic, I've already done a couple of patches on it to see how it looks (not that it could look worse than it did!).

Well, the weekend is almost over and I still have some birthday presents to start making for the end of the week so I will run along now.

Spring Has Sprung! (and about time too!)

After torrential rain and mad gustiness over the weekend, the last two days have been lov-er-ly. The winter coat has been replaced with a lightweight, I am able to walk to and from work in daylight (hurray!), the crocuses are pushing up to say hello, the birds are singing, I have some sunny yellow tulips by the window and all is right with the world.

I like many things about winter but in January and early February I get the blahs. I just want to sleep and my energy, creativity and mood take a dive. Which is why there has been such a long gap since my last post. I have had no words and nothing to report on. Even getting myself in front of the computer was a struggle and my reading of  other blogs (and my e-mails) dwindled from daily to rarely.

But I'm back now and need to get busy as there are some birthdays coming up! I still intend to include a little homemade something in the gifts so will be letting you all know how it's going. Can you believe that this:

  

is all the crochet I've done since I last wrote here? Maybe I was dreaming of spring, knowing that my spark would come back with the flowers.

So I will leave you all to some more yellow floweriness and hope that they give you the lift that they give to me!

Now I'm off to catch up with my favourite bloggers... take care

X

Lazy Sunday Crafternoon

I hope you all had a good weekend! First off, I'd like to congratulate the wonderful Kate on her 100th blog post and the lovely Lucy on the safe arrival of Bump24 (now Teeny Man!). If you like colourful hooky goodness, please visit their delicious blogs: Kate (The Garden Bell) hooks up scrumptious blankets like no-one's business and also dyes her own yarn while Lucy at Attic 24 has inspired many a hooker (behave!) with her fab and colourful projects and easy peasy to follow tutorials.

Yesterday I had a lovely crafternoon with my friend Sarah. She visited to borrow my sewing machine and to have a crochet lesson. She brought over some yummy weight watchers chocolate brownie squares to share (good girl!) and I plied her with coffee and herbal tea while she worked on an applique cushion.

After experimenting on some scrap fabric with different stitches - Sarah decided to stick with a straight stitch.

The pictures are a bit fuzzy because I felt a bit silly taking photos of her while she was sewing "Ohh, hang on, stop there, let me get a pic of you sewing....no, no we'll have to switch the machine off so the light isn't on it" etc. I think it must be very annoying to try to sew something (especially fiddly sewing) with someone doing that, but she didn't seem to mind at all. This is the result:

Again, the pic doesn't do it justice. It's a cushion cover with the name "Maya" appliqued on in a gorgeous gingham crepey cotton. This material was also made into a curtain for the kitchen. Much chatting and drinking and eating of chocolatey things went on and time quite ran away with us, so no crochet this time round. It was fun though, definitely something to do again!

The end is in sight

So, just over a week ago I make a resolution. A PUBLIC resolution no less, to update my little blog more regularly .... and then I disappear. What can I say?

You will see though that something has been happening.

Hmmmm, exhibit A: itty ends of yarn on the arm of the sofa. Does anyone ever DO anything with these? Looking further along I see this

A little stack of granny squares in two colour combinations

  

Yes, it's yet ANOTHER hooky project. Actually, I started this before Christmas and am hoping to finish by the end of the weekend. There are sixteen squares (eight in each combination of blue and white). I've just started joining them together. I decided to do my blocking when the squares are joined (this will work right?)

I'm planning on a four by four central square and then I'll keep adding borders until I'm happy with the size. It's going to be a little blanket for a little person (a new baby boy) to give as a gift. I've used Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino which is lovely and soft and nice to work with.

About half way through hooking the squares I began to have doubts about the whole thing - are granny squares alright for babies? Will their little fingers get stuck? Oh well, I'm hoping it will be ok.

Sorry for the terrible photos by the way - the light is AWFUL (these are actually the best pics I got out of I-don't-know-how-many-attempts). I'm also tired and I've decided I need to upgrade my camera to a digital SLR. It's all so confusing though - any advice is much appreciated (I need something that I can more or less point and click!)   

  

2010

Happy New Year! (a day late I know, but that's me:) )

Has any one made any new year resolutions? I never have, stubbornly refusing to do so every year. THIS year however, I think is time for a few.  I'm not talking the lose some weight, exercise more, sort out finances sort of thing here - I make those resolutions weekly!

No, my goals for this year are craft related. Partly due to the fact that I didnt make ANY Christmas cards for 2009 OR handmade presents* and partly due to the fact that I have not finished a single project on the blog so far, I came up with these:

In 2010, I will try my best to:

1. Finish some projects - aim for minimum of one a month and having a big project on the go (aren't I brave setting a figure like that?! Note the "aim for" get out clause)
2. Make a home made gift and card for each female birthday that I would buy a gift for
3. Start wearing / showing my creations
4. Make Christmas cards in advance 
5. Take more photographs for 6
6. Update blog regularly 
7. Take a class / learn something new    

So, now you have them down in black and white - I'll review them at the end of the year. The above picture has no relevance -I just don't like to post without pics! (Hmmmm - although it is another WIP)

I'm hoping the blog will keep me motivated  - so please feel free to leave comments, they're always most welcome (I get ridiculously excited to see them to tell you the truth)!

Bye for now

* Actually, I did manage to crochet a last minute hat for mum, something I'd promised months before!

Snow!

I woke up on Friday to discover it had snowed in the night. Proper, on the ground snow. No buses running, trains badly affected. So - I walked to work. It wasn't that cold (though I was wrapped up nice and warm) but hard going at times. I decided to make the most of it and walk along the seafront into Brighton.

There's something magical about snow - especially on the beach.
When I eventually got to work, I found it had been all locked up as there was no electricity! I had to walk back again, but I'm not complaining; it was beautiful :-)