A French Knitting rug

Eek - I seem to have neglected my blog again!

I recently found the French Knitting I started a couple of years ago (with the intention of making a rug for Jess's bedroom) and decided to try and finish it. 

I had already sewn a lot of the knitted cord together but as it was starting to resemble the shape of a bowl I unpicked the stitching and tried a different method for sewing it all together.

I actually completely finished it all last night and can now share the pics:

The finished item measures approximately 75cm x 68cm.

Another one......

Purple and silver this time to go with our Christmas colour scheme. 

This one has the addition of some lovely leaves I found on a Christmas floral bouquet decoration.

More wreaths

I've made a couple more wreaths - another pink one for a friend to give to her grand-daughter:

and one using baubles instead of flowers:

Wreath of roses

I went shopping last week and found some cheap polystyrene rings for wreaths in the Christmas crafts section so bought a few, of course.

I decided to use one to make a non-Christmassy wreath for Jess's bedroom although I did use a Christmas decoration which I pulled apart.

I covered the wreath with organza ribbon and tied a length on to use for hanging. The leaves were from a Christmas garlang which I cut apart and stuck on. I then made the wire and bead embellishments and added the paper roses. 

I still have 3 polystyrene rings left so trying to decide what to do with them!!

Bookmarks

It's my day to post over at the Make The Day Special blog today so I've been busy making a couple of bookmarks:

I seem to be overrun with cards and tags so decided to make a bookmark for today's post as I'm always needing more of them, with books lying all around the house!!

I started with a base of watercolour paper which I sprayed with Dylusions inks and then stamped the image from Unity's Love Life stamp set using black Memento ink. I then doodled around the edges using Posca paint pens and added a ribbon:

I also made another bookmark using another Unity stamp which unfortunately is no longer in stock in the shop but can still be bought from Unity here:

Work in Progress - Felted picture 1

This is what I'm currently working on - no plan, I'm just seeing where it takes me as it's the first one of these I've tried! It measures about 2.5" x 3.5".

I'm trying to decide whether to hand or machine embroider on it and considering a river running through.

Crafty Secrets hanging

Over on the Crafty Secrets blog it's time for their Linky Party and after meaning to make something for the past few I managed to play along this time.

I've made a fabric wallhanging using a stamp from the Fairyland stamp plate, fabric and felt:

I stamped the image on to cotton using Memento ink and added some colour using Spectrum Noir pens. I then layered up the felt and fabric and some lace. The hanging cord was made by making a length of french knitting.

The beads at the bottom were made using various ones from my stash:

Materials used: Crafty Secrets stamp, Memento ink, Spectrum Noir pens, fabric, felt, Wild Orchid flowers, beaded embellishment, french knitted cord, beads.

Summer cabin hanging

I've made a wallhanging using the gorgeous summer cabin stamp from Artistic Outpost's Keeper stamp sheet available at Artistic Outpost.

I stamped the image on to calico (although in hindsight I should have primed it with gesso first!) and then sewed on some vintage velvet ribbon. I then used a variegated stranded cotton to embroider the plants at the side. I've never been a fan of french knots but I actually managed to complete quite a few of them here!!!

I then sewed the calico on to some gorgeous fabric which I embellished with beads before sewing it on to pink felt. I used some more of the patterned fabric to back the hanging and used some seat padding inside to plump it out a bit.

I then made some bead embellishments after rummaging through my bead stash:

Bead Embroidery 1 - finished!!

Well, I've finally finished my first attempt at bead embroidery although I have no idea what to use it for or what to do with it now LOL!!

The photos didn't come out as well as I hoped as the colours aren't true.

An abundance of sequins.....

...was evident in our house before Christmas as I bought some polystyrene balls and cones along with numerous pins to make some decorations.

Here's the tree I made for Jess to have in her bedroom. The cone is about 6 inches tall:

Here's one of the baubles for our living room. This one is about 5 inches in diameter:

I also made some in bronze with purple and one in turquoise.

Finally here's a tree I made for the living room - again this one is about 6 inches tall:

Happy Daze Challenge - March to Your Own Tune

On the Happy Daze blog this month the challenge is to give your item a musical theme in the March to your own tune challenge.

I've had this papier-mache mask sat in my "to-do" cupboard for a while and decided to use this. I started by covering it with old sheet music and then I added a light layer of Claudine Hellmuth gesso over this. After it dried I wiped on Jo Sonja's acrylic paints and then left it to dry again then added a layer of  Viva Decor Croco crackle paint in transparent. After this dried I randomly stamped over the mask using a Prima music background stamp and black Versafine ink.

I added some beaded string around the edge (from a Christmas garland I took apart) and a ribbon to hang it on the wall. Finally I added a ballerina charm and some Prima flowers which I jazzed up with Stickles and then the words were done using vintage Letraset transfer lettering.

The metal embellies on the cheeks were from The Works and I coloured them with a permanent pen before sticking a rhinestone in the centre:

Materials used: papier-mache mask, vintage sheet music, Claudine Hellmuth gesso, Jo Sonja's paints, Viva Decor Croco transparent paint, Prima stamp, black Versafine ink, black beading, ribbon, ballerina charm, Letraset dry transfer lettering, Prima flowers and flower centres, vintage buttons, Distress Stickles and normal Stickles.

For the love of pink and green

I've been playing in my play book/journal again and made a page that is purely based on my love of the pink/green colour combination.

I started by spraying over a mask on to the page using Glimmer Mists and then stamping the flowers using Faber Castell Big Brush markers as the ink. I then used some die-cuts and a digital image which I printed off and cut out and stick these to the page.I then added rub-ons and a few stamped leaves.

Materials used: Tattered Angels mask, Glimmer Mists, Innovative Stamp Creations stamp, Faber Castell big brush pens, K&Co die-cuts, digital image from Lisa's Altered Art, Basic Grey rub-ons, Fancy Pants rub-ons.

Mini quote canvas

Here's the canvas I made for the Make The Day Special shop blog for my post today.

I used a prepared 10cm square canvas which I coloured with Ranger Distress Stains and then stamped a Unity quote stamp with Distress ink. I highlighted the text with a fine pen and then added rub-ons, Prima flowers and centres and a beaded embellishment. The trim was originally white so I used the distress stains to colour that too.

Materials used: canvas, Ranger Distress Stains, Unity stamp (from Quote Bundle Pack), Ranger Distress Ink, black Sakura pen, My Mind's Eye rub-ons, Prima flowers and centres, Kaisercraft rhinestone, Crafty Notions Rainbow Drops, upholstery trim, beaded trim.

Rainbows

I've been playing in my "play book" again. I won't call it a journal because I don't think it comes close to all the beautiful art journals out there at the moment - it's just my book that I get to play in and do whatever I want in LOL.

I made the background using oil pastels (expect to see a fair bit of them in the future as I love using them!!). I then used a couple of Unity stamps, some doodling and a bit of Dymo tape:

Materials used: oil pastels, Unity stamps, black Versafine ink, black Sakura pen, white Signo pen, Dymo tape, MAMBI alphabet stickers, Making Memories alphabet stickers.

Create Beauty

I bought myself an A5 sketchbook the other day having seen some of the fabulous art journalling around and wanting to have a go at some of the techniques.

I've decided to just use my book as a "play book" and just fill the pages with whatever I feel like at the time LOL!

This first page I made using a mix of watercolour crayons, watercolour pencils, stamping and pens.

The "Create Beauty" stamp from Unity's Just Be You set was stamped using Stazon on watercolour paper and then coloured with Derwent Inktense pencils. I also used the "make something" stamp from Unity's Better Somewhere Today set stamped straight on the page along with the birds from Unity's Brave Girl set.

 

It may not be perfect but I had fun LOL!!

Materials used: watercolour pad, Reeves watercolour crayons, Derwent Inktense pencils, Glimmer Mists, Unity stamps (as above), black Versafine ink, black Stazon ink, Versamagic ink, sequin waste,

black and white gel pens.

Desert Island Crafts Challenge - Challenge #10 and C.I. "Vintage (with a heart)

It's the 15th of the month which means it's time for another challenge at the Desert Island Crafts challenge blog and this time we're working with my itinerary.

I used:

• lace
• decorative pins
• something metal
• 3 different stamps
• distressing
• stickers

I'm also entering this for the current challenge on the Crafty Individuals blog (where I was lucky enough to win some fab blog candy last week!). The challenge is "Vintage  -with a heart" and of course Crafty Individuals products have to be used.

I started with a plain white board book which I coloured with Ranger distress inks and then stamped over the top with a Crafty Individuals stamp. I then added an image from a C.I. book (part of the blog candy) and then lightly added gesso over the top. I used some white rub-ons, a clock stamp in the corner, a metal sticker, lace and pins.

I stuck the inside of the pages together after cutting out a niche in which I placed a heart charm. Again the pages were coloured with distress inks, overstamped with a C.I. stamp, a C.I. image added along with white rub-ons, stickers and embellishments.

The back cover of the book was stamped with another C.I. stamp in distress ink. I tied a piece of lace through the book spine and added pins.

Materials used: board book, Ranger distress inks, C.I. People and Places 2 image book, C.I. 237 stamp, CI 214 stamp, CI 255 stamps , Fancy Pants lace, Studio K metal sticker, Marcella by Kay metal sticker, Making Memories alphabet stickers, Pink Paislee Artisan element, Basic Grey rub-ons, Claudine Hellmuth gesso, other lace, decorative pins, charm and ribbon.

Happy Daze challenge - Wood Calendar

Happy Daze are having another Facebook challenge at the moment - Wood - so I'm entering this for it.

I bought a plain wooden calendar in my local craft shop Just Tracy's and have used Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden 6" x 6" papers and Butterfly Garden stamps to decorate it.

It started off looking like this:

I started by painting all over the main calendar and the wooden date blocks with Claudine Hellmuth Studio gesso and then used Mod Podge to stick the Butterfly Garden papers to the main part.

I then added some lace, flowers, vintage glass buttons, and some stamping to the main panel and lace along the bottom.

The date blocks were stamped using the Butterly Garden stamps and Versafine sepia ink and edged with Versamagic chalk ink with some highlighting of the designs in green Versamagic ink.

Materials used: Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden 6" papers and stamps, Versafine sepia ink, Versamagic malted mauve and key lime chalk inks, Claudine Hellmuth Studio Gesso, Mod Podge, Prima flowers and flower centres.

Also used: cotton laces and vintage glass buttons.

You may like to head over to the Happy Daze blog here and leave a comment as they are currently offering some fab blog candy of a £25 gift voucher to spend in the shop!!

"The Outpost" wallhanging

OK - I confess.......I've been playing with calico and fabrics again and made another wallhanging!! This one uses an Artistic Outpost stamp from the fab set - The Outpost (buy in the UK from Happy Daze).

I coloured some calico using alcohol inks and then stamped the image using black Stazon ink. This was then sewn on to a felt background which, in turn, was placed on to a piece of frayed raw silk. I added some hand sewing around the edge of the felt using some hand-dyed rayon thread.

I made the backing piece by "quilting" some cotton fabric with layers of felt in between and randomly sewing together.

The actual hanging part is some twill ribbon that had wording printed on but I sewed some satin ribbon over this to cover it.

The Play Date Cafe - PDCC73

I've had a few days away from crafting due to terrible itchy eyes - conjunctivitis/hayfever but managed to make this for The Play Date Cafe challenge 73 before it got too bad.

The colours this week were:

which do look gorgeous together here but totally threw me so I decided to mess around with my felt appliqué stuff and came up with this textile ATC.

Not quite sure what I think of it yet but it was fun to play with LOL!!

Butterfly canvas

had so much fun making the quote canvas yesterday that I decided to make another one in a different colour scheme with a butterfly.

Again, I coloured the canvas with the distress inks and then stamped the butterfly using black Memento ink. I then coloured the butterfly using Promarkers and added some Stickles. I then stamped the quote and the 2 smaller butterflies and added rhinestones.

Materials used: canvas board, Ranger distress inks, Butterfly stamps (Elusive Images), quote stamp by Unity stamps from the Quote Bundle Pack, black Memento ink, Promarkers, Stickles.

Also used: rhinestones and adhesive pearls.