fabric and yarn beads: update

I made another three-strand wrap-around necklace with my straw beads and rather like the effect of making them a bit chubbier and more shapely! I used some pink and purple DK acrylic yarn for the first layer of wrapping, which fattens them up nicely, then just a few strands of lime green embroidery cotton on top.

Just thought I’d share because I see there have been a lot of visits to my etsy store, so I added these pics to the tutorial as well :) In case you haven’t gotten around to looking yet, the listing is here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1115954156/tutorial-necklace-with-handmade-fabric

Yes, I know, this is a bit of flagrant self-promotion, but you gotta try your best, right?

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round

Time to try something slightly different. But still with, you know, patchwork….

Pinterest…oh NO, there goes two hours of my life….but – these, from CluckCluckSew:

How could I see these and not be inspired? I already had a flat round cushion so decided to make a cover without the side gusset as an experiment. Side A and Side B:

Nice way to use up oddly shaped scraps, and being flat this would work on a stool, I guess. The next round one will have a side like the original design. I emailed the blogger, Allison Harris, to be sure she didn’t mind me linking back to her and using her pic, and she said she was happy for me to do so. Nice lady. Thanks for the wonderful tutorial, Allison xxx

origami – me? orumad?

I truly admire origami and those who do it (origamiers? origamants? orifices?), all that tiny fiddling and folding of exquisite handmade paper with long cool fingers, the flawless creases and the simplicity of perfection and the perfection of simplicity…nope, not for me. Give me a sack of buttons, an empty coke bottle and a glue gun any day.

Except until now. I have just been nominated by the Crafty Pioneer, clearly a woman of discernment and high blogging standards, for the Liebster Award. I’m very honoured, thank you very much indeed. I am a follower of this blog but a relatively new one, so once I’d read that I’VE BEEN NOMINATED I went through a couple of Crafty’s posts again – where I spotted the nicest paper flowers I’ve ever seen. (You know where this is heading, right?) Before I knew it, I had burrowed in boxes for paper and was busily measuring out 4-inch squares… and look:

My flower!!! I know that the petals don’t match, and I didn’t have any florist’s wire to stick them onto (I substituted a chop stick, which felt appropriate) but I am still mighty pleased with myself.

Here is the flowers tutorial. I love it. I’m already trying to work out when I can fit in a trip to the Deckle Edge for more paper because, as you all know, I really needed another crafty hobby! hahahaha hahahaha

To be continued…

House slippers

I bought this pattern from Mamachee on Etsy the other day: Oma House Slippers, and am loving it.

I made a pair in thick cream cotton for Alison’s birthday, and this pair below in a sort of soft tubing in teal for Issy’s birthday yesterday, and the pair in Shetland Chunky in blue is for a friend who is flying back to her home in California today. I thought they would be perfect for wearing on a plane, when you need to be as comfy as possible.

I also wanted to make my own yarn from t-shirt fabric, which is what that blue stuff is above, with pictures of horses on it. I found the tutorial here: Polka Dot Pineapple. It felt like such a mission to make it and then to only end up with two small balls, but it’s obviously a very cost-effective material for slippers. And I plan to make a million more. Unfortunately that won’t be today – I have woken up with a very sore throat and ear and headache, so this is the sound of me shuffling back to my bed right now…pad pad pad.

To be continued…

My competitive spirit

The deadline was midnight. I had managed to send in five entries for the Celebrating Creativity competition, and was feeling pretty chuffed with myself. I enjoyed compiling the tutorials and playing around with ideas (not to mention wool, beads, glue, buttons, glass, wood, foam, etc…) so just the doing of it all is a winning thing for me.  I think I will go on to develop all those new ideas into new items for the Jam Tarts range. They are:

1. the heart decoration

2. the mosaic mirror and stand

3. the lampshade with flowers

4. the knangles (!) (sounds like something Roald Dahl might have dreamed up)

5. the footstool cum storage box: (much more about this one later)

and then, at the 11th hour, I had the idea of making a crochet chain rope necklace and adding beads, so we have Entry #6:

And if you roll it up even more, it works as a bracelet!

Who knew I was so competitive?! If anyone would like a copy of the tutorial for any of these items, send me your email address and I’ll send you the word doc with pleasure.

To be continued…