Tutting

Yesterday was a 'Girls Day', a day my friend and I spent crafting.  BetBet had decided we would try to learn how to Tat.  We had both fancied the idea of Tatting and she had bought the Tools of the Trade (a shuttle each) in readiness and we both had odd skeins of embroidery thread lying around waiting to be used for just such an occasion. 


 We watched a few tutorials on YouTube, then had a go. 
It was a lot harder than we had imagined.  One needed very nimble fingers and being women of a certain age, we found it painful to keep our fingers in the positions they needed to be in.  We decided that, maybe, we should have tried this many years ago.


However, we persevered for a while longer and finally I 'got it'.  Something clicked and I found my way of creating the stitch.  I couldn't hold the thread how one was supposed to, but through trial and error, had found a way that suited me.  It wasn't such good news for BetBet.  However hard she tried, her fingers would just NOT do what she wanted them to. It was very disheartening.


This is what I managed after a couple of hours ...

around three inches of raggedy, uneven stitches. 

This is what I managed after another hour or so, once it had 'clicked'...

I had something that was starting to resemble Tatting!

I love the way it automatically goes into circles.  I can see endless possibilities for this; jewellery especially.  However, I am not sure my fingers want to revisit Tatting any time soon, but my brain is telling me "Ooh, this is fabulous, lets have another go!"


After a tasty lunch, home-made crustless, spinach quiche if you're interested, BetBet showed me how to Macramé.  She had taught herself many years ago and had made pot hangers and the like.  I had always wanted to have a go, but could never quite understand the written instructions - no YouTube in those days!  I must say this was much, much gentler on the hands.  I took to it like a duck to water.

(hands courtesy of BetBet)


She also showed me how to add beads into the work.  I did take several pictures of my Macramé, but as we were using dark wool they have not come out very clearly.


We had a look a several YouTube tutorials for both Tatting and Macramé, which helped us enormously.  I have to sing YouTube's praises for Videos on how to do things. Fabulous invention if you ask me!


It's also fired up my imagination for all sorts of Macramé-d things.  I can't wait to have another go.  YouTube showed us lots of bracelet tutorials and I can see myself using  finer embroidery threads, rather than the traditional hemp, and small beads to create Christmas gifts.


We also looked at Needle Tatting, where the shuttle is replaced by a very, long needle.  It looks so much easier and more kind to one's hands. We are thinking of giving this a go.  Maybe on our next 'Girls Day'.


We were not alone in our crafting. 
 We had a very special guest...

meet Poppy, a neighbour's cat who seems to prefer BetBet's company.  She seemed to know that if she wanted to stay with us, she had to be Very, Very, Good.  No chasing the balls of thread and wool!


And there I will leave you.


'Til next time.


Debs xxx

Some Crafting

This is one of the first digital scrapbook pages I have made.

When Mr C asked me what I wanted for my Birthday at the end of February, I decided I wanted an easy-to-use graphics programme.  I had been trying for several months to understand how to use a very expensive professional programme that I had, to no avail.  Even with the help of the manual, I still couldn't figure out how to put together a page layout.  I had been watching Create and Craft (a TV shopping channel here in the UK selling all things craft related) and decided that this software was the one for me

Serif's Craft Artist Professional.

I can honestly say that from the moment I loaded it, I was hooked!

It really is easy-peasy.  I've only used a couple of the tools that are available and have downloaded two free digi-kits to play with, but my-oh-my, the results I think are fabulous!  Here's the second  page I made.

This was a scrapbook page encapsulating the moment when my father presented a boxed gavel and base to the Royal Engineers Association for use at their meetings.  This was a very poignant affair as it is likely to be the last outing my father takes as he is terminally ill.  This presentation was something he was determined to do despite being so ill.


I am very pleased with how this has turned out and have added two more pages showing other photos taken on the night.  I like the idea of hybrid crafting, where one combines both computer crafting and hand crafting and I am planning on adding a pocket on the middle band to the right, where I can keep a written record of the evening. I may also decoupage the flowers and ribbon. I printed this page out on smooth 250gsm paper, but feel it would look better printed on glossy photo paper, although the shabby look is more suited to a matt finish.  Decisions, decisions.  Once I've decided on what paper to use I will get the other pages printed off.  I already have twelve by twelve plastic page protectors that I can place these in and I can see that this will become the start of many more scrapbook pages telling the story of my life.


I am already planning on going back to my childhood for some pages, making pages about the dogs that have been in my life, pages about Mr C and keeping a visual diary of day-to-day life at Soggy Bottom.


I feel an obsession coming on!


Wishing you all a Happy Easter, 'Til next time. Debs xxx

Play Day

I've spent a happy day today crafting with my friend BetBet.

We usually have a craft day once a month where we do our own thing and chat and eat and sing... but this year I suggested we do something a little different.  Instead of doing what we fancied, and thereby always doing the same sort of crafting, why didn't the host of the day decide on what we would do?  This way we would push ourselves to do things we perhaps had never tried before and get out of the comfortable crafting rut that we've been wallowing in for some time.

As it was at my house today, it was my decision and I  went for Rosettes and Roses.  Now, I have only ever made one rosette and never roses, and BetBet doesn't often reach for paper (paint and glass being her specialist subject) so this was something I knew would fit the bill of 'pushing the boundaries' for the both of us.

My attempt was pitiful, but this was BetBet's

Good huh?

We then went on to make paper roses.  They were much more successful and we both enjoyed doing these.

I reached for my trusty Tim Holtz Distress Inks to add definition to the edges, whilst BetBet used her glass products

It took several attempts to get them to be consistent and I think I managed slightly better than BB, but then I use paper all the time.  Here are the fruits of our labours

As I mentioned earlier, we always have a treat, often Tunnocks Tea Cakes - we can't get enough of them!  Seriously, we LOVE these so much that  we restrict  our consumption to Girls Days ONLY!

We came up with the idea of seeing if we could make a rose from the foil wrapper.  BB stuck the foil to a piece of cardstock first for robustness, then set about making the rose.

I think they turned out very well, don't you?

We were also very, VERY naughty as we  had After Eight Mints as well!

I'd better not eat for the next week to balance out the calorie intake!

I hope you enjoyed the peek into my day.

'Til next time, Debs xxx

Easter Already?

EASTER?  Have I gone mad?  Not really.  Its just that I saw bits and pieces in Hobbycraft for Easter and couldn't resist this wooden hanging sign, waiting to be painted.

I spent a happy couple of hours painting it; well actually I mainly used metallic pens to give it a bit of a sheen.

I'm rather pleased with how its turned out. Just needs  a bit of green gingham ribbon to hang it with (I didn't like the pale pink bit that came with it) and it can then be hung in the window when the time comes.

I also decided that I would start an inspirations journal for the Being Creative monthly challenge and so I set about decorating the front cover of one of the many (sshh, don't tell Mr C how many) note books I have waiting to be used.  It seems I cannot pass by a stationery shop or the stationery isle in the supermarket, without stopping to buy a note book; A5 and A6 being my favoured sizes.

I printed off the Being Creative logo that Julia produced three times in varying sizes and matted them onto mirror-board.  A couple of thin strips of the pink mirror-board, a magnifying pebble (not very clearly seen on this pic but its on the bottom logo at the beginning of the words and two buterflies and we're done.  Turned out okay, me thinks.

Being Creative :: March

I've completed the March task set by Julia.

I started with much trepidation, but found that soon I was enjoying the whole experience and wondering why I had been so nervous.  I thought you might like to see how I progressed through to the finished piece.

A stark white sheet of watercolour paper - quick get some paint on before I lose courage

That's better ... I had it in my head to have a background of same-colour squares, but out of necessity (due to me being careless) I had to smudge over it with a mix of green and yellow.  The outcome wasn't too bad so I carried on ...

I stamped on white daisies (I so LOVE daisies) and put the paint on thickly to add interest.  I decided that I would have bright orange middles to the daisies and painted a blob on each one.

I then thought it would be good if I accented the first daisy in some way so it would draw your eye into the picture and decided on chain stitching around the petals.  As the paper is 190gsm to withstand a fair amount of water, I thought it best to prick holes around the petals first and sew through them

This worked extremely well, but I hadn't appreciated that the thick paint would crack and flake away, but I kind of liked the effect so decided to keep going. 

What should I do next?  It needed something else and after much deliberation I decided I would french knot the centre of one of the other flowers

And I'm so glad I did as I'm really happy with the finished look.

Ta-Da!

The worst thing has been trying to photograph it!  These photos do not do it justice whatsoever, but they're about as good as I'm going to get them.

For information, I used 190gsm Bockingford watercolour paper, 10 x 7 inches (I seem to prefer working small) and acrylic paints.  The daisy stamp was a freeby with a craft magazine some years back.  I separated the stranded embroidery thread and used two ply for the daisy chain edging and three ply for the french knots.

All in all, I'm over the moon with this, but still feel I could have done better!  I really MUST train my brain to think positively about my own work.  I'm hoping that as the months roll on, my confidence will rise. I'm really looking forward to seeing other members work and I can't wait to get started on April's theme.





Two Little Birdies

I've spent a few hours this weekend crocheting little birds.  I've been wanting to make one of these for a long time, but just haven't got around to it.  This was my first one:

Not bad for a first attempt, me thinks.  I apologise for the poor quality photo; too dark to take it indoors and still not really light enough outside, so the flash has washed the colour out.  It should be a sage green with pale pink button eyes and bright pink wings.  My second attempt turned out completely different, even though I used the same stich and type of wool:

So much better!  I crocheted the wings this time rather than using felt, and the button eyes were a creamy white with a brass pin and shank.  These were both made from whatever wool I had to hand and old buttons from the button tin, which holds buttons inherited from my Grandmother as well as my mother.  Here they are together:

You can really see the difference.  I much prefer Pink Lady.  The eyes are better, the beak is much, much better and she seems to have more character.  Green man looks a little sniffy turning his beak up like that!  What do you think?

I've really enjoyed making these and want to crochet lots more.  I can see them hanging on the tree at Easter, or even in the garden during the Summer.  My mind is buzzing with places to put them and I have one of two other ideas along the bird line that I want to try, but more about that another time.

Hope you've all had a crafty weekend.  Til next time XXX

Out of the Mouths of Babes and Other Things

As you may know, I walk my Goddaughter to school on Friday mornings. She greeted me at the door last Friday with a big cuddle and said "I can smell your house". "Can you?" I replied, "Yes. You smell like your house.  I like the smell of your house".  I spent the rest of Friday walking around, bosom swollen with pride and feeling pretty good about everything.  Especially as I've been lacking in the housework department of late.  I just can't seem to get back to any sort of routine.  I'm telling myself its because I've been busy sewing a Birthday gift for my friend Betty, but I don't really believe that.  However, it has been GOOD FUN to pick up the needle again.  Betty collects Owls and I saw a soft toy kit back in November in Hobbycraft, fell in love with it and decided to make it for Betty, who's Birthday is at the end of January.

As you can see its produced by Anchor.  I decided I didn't want it to look exactly as the kit and so set about 'doing my own thing'.  I thought the wings would look better if they were laying on the front rather than stretching out to either side and I replaced some of the material with some from my stash.  Here she is with all the layers tacked on:

I used a mid-green perle thread and stitched either chain stitch or blanket stich around each shape for definition.  I felt I wanted it to be completely hand stitched rather than machining these shapes in place.  Oh and how I LOVED stitching.  I had completely forgotten how much I enjoy using needle and thread!  Thinking back it was at least ten years ago when I last did any embroidery or even machine sewing - oh, no, I lie, I did make a pair of curtains.  Anyhoo, it was a long time ago.  I decided eventually that I had to machine the back and front together, mainly because the seam allowance was such that it was so small I was afraid it would all tear apart as I was turning it right side out and thought machine stitches would hold it all together much better.

Ta-Dah

Looking at it now, I think perhaps I should have kept the wings outstretched as they probably needed to be placed just a little higher than they have ended up.  I didn't put the feet on either because they stuck out and looked odd as nothing else was sticking out, except the beak.  All in all, it was an enjoyable project, but if I do it again I will definitely cut the material much bigger to allow for a 'proper' seam allowance (the material provided was only just big enough for the provided pattern pieces) and I would place the wings and feet as per the original instructions.  I think she is absolutely gorgeous and I'm very pleased with the end result.  I hope the recipient will be too.

New Year Delight

Last weekend (and yes, I know its almost this weekend!) Mr C and I had Sunday lunch and spent the entire afternoon and most of the evening with our good friends, Ron and Betty.  It is something of a tradition as we do this every January.  Its in lieu of a Christmas Dinner as Mr C and I are usually at another set of friends on the day itself. We also exchange Christmas gifts, whether we have seen each other over the festive period or not.  This started at the same time as Betty and I decided (some years ago) we would endeavour to make each others gifts and spend no more than five pounds on materials.  As the first Christmas deadline loomed it was evident that the gifts would not be ready in time, and so we came to the decision to exchange them in January, thus giving us both a little extra time.  It works very well as we get to extend the festivities and there's not that feeling of emptiness that is usual after the decorations are taken down.  Betty's Birthday is in late January and mine is late February, so it works rather well and keeps us with something to look forward to until Spring arrives, when all is well with the world again (can you tell I'm not that keen on Winter?).

I always get interesting gifts from Betty and this year was no exception; in fact I think she has excelled herself with these as they are quite simply beautiful

Gorgeous!

She bought a cheap pair of plymsols and decorated them with fabric paints.  She had previously decorated a pair for herself last summer to take on holiday and I had said how lovely they were then and that I must decorate a pair myself.  Well of course, I never got around to it last year and now I don't need to! Its almost a shame to wear them, but wear them I shall and enjoy every minute of walking in them.  I don't know if I will be able to wash them but the dust and dry dirt (ever hopeful!) of Summer should brush of.  If I only get one Summer out of them, it will be a Summer of blissful memories about where those shoes carried me.

Its Been A While

Time flies round these parts. Didn't realise how long I'd been away.

I thought I'd show you some of the encaustic art I've done which I want to make into note cards.

I love doing this. Its so therapautic, much better than ironing clothes!