Another Simple Card!

 

You may notice a trend with my Christmas cards this year...

They are all very simplistic and include a lot of white bits! This is quite unusual for me as I usually choose a colour theme (pink, black and silver last year!) and use background paper on each of my cards.

However I think the white works well, especially with the embossing in the background (its snowflakes if you can't tell). It also makes my cards a lot quicker to make.

I need my cards to be quick this year as I was very naughty last year and was making last minute cards up until... Christmas EVE!! I need to be more organised!! (like that will ever happen! lol)

 

The die cut tree is the Spellbinders Holiday Tree and the Snowflake embossing folder is from Crafts Too. I think the finished card is 5 x 7 as the tree is quite a substantial size.

Pirate Bunny

I made this bunny ageees ago, but as you might be able to tell, Im a very bad blogger! lol. I have started to get better though (don't know how long that will last though!)
This bunny was knit using a Debbi Birkin pattern, the booklet has two bunnies in and I NEED to knit them both, I have added the other onto my list of ever growing projects.

DVD Guardian

 

Meet my new DVD guardian! He was originally destined to be taken to one of my craft fairs but I couldn't face selling him so he now lives on top of the DVD shelves..... Im going to end up with a house full of knitted toys at this rate!

 

He was knitted using wool from my stash (so its very gradually getting smaller!) but I substituted the funky fur used in the pattern for foxy wool. If I made another Id use the recommended wool as I had to alter the pattern for the beard and hair to get them in proportion to his head.

 

He was made using an Alan Dart pattern from Simply Knitting

Memory Box Prim Poppy

 

Oh yes... we are back to the WHITE cards lol. I think my next card needs to have a bit more colour!

The poppies on this card are made using a Memory Box die which I then coloured using Copic Pens. I think the embossing die was a Crafts Too folder, but I can't remember its name.

The "thinkinhg of you" circle is again from Craftwork Cards and comes in a set like the Christmas ones I used before.

Red Riding Hood

I completly forgot to post my Red Riding Hood from the Ravelinic games! She didn't take that long to knit but took ages to sew together! Mainly because I couldn't get her hair to look right!
I think I finally got it to look ok.. I sewed her hood in place to cover the back of her hair.
The pattern was from Simply Knitting and was designed by Alan Dart.

Because I was part of the Alan Dart team on Ravelry I was entered to win a "medal" and I did!! I recieved the Bronze medal and won an Alan Dart pattern from his website (which he very kindly donated!) It took me ages to decide which pattern I liked, but in the end went for Pippa Pig. Hopefully you will be seeing one knit up very soon.....

Cuttlebugging...

 

I forgot to tell you... I FINALLY bought myself a Cuttlebug! I haven't used it too much yet, but you might be able to tell its going to play a big part when making my Christmas Cards.

I LOVE my new dies from Memory Box.

On this card I have used The Deer Trio which has been cut out using glitter card and the country landscpape die has been cut on plain white card.

In order to make the deer look like they were standing on snow I've torn the card to give it a "fluffy" look. I then added some clear glitter glue to give it a bit more definition.

 

I think the "Christmas Blessings" stamp I used was from Molly Bloom and is stamped in dark grey so that it isn't a massive contrast between the writing and the white of the rest of the card.

 

I created this card using the new Marianne Christmas tree die. I don't usually make such large cards (this one is 8 x 8!) but the tree looked too large on my usual 6 x 6 cards, and you couldn't see the beautiful backing paper behind it!.

I think the paper is from the Authentique range and was double sided so the pink and the grey sections were both from the same sheet. The presents along the bottom of the card were created using a Martha Stewart Punch.

The ribbon came from my stash and the snowflake charm was from a pack from The Hobby House.

 

I have to admit I did cheat (slightly!) on this card. I got someobody else to do the distressing around the outside of the tree. I still haven't got the hang of distressing! Mine always looks too dark or I add too much and end up with a much bigger border than I actually wanted. lol. I will have to start practicing I think....

Halloween Witch

I don't normally make Halloween cards but we got some new stamps at work so I had to try one out! I think this one is called Treatin' Witch from Penny Black.

 

The spider web and spider were created using a Spellbinder die.

 

I coloured this image using my brand new spectrum noir pens. I now have Promarkers , Copics and them! lol I think I need to stick to just the one pen, however they do seem to work well together. I only have the grey set of spectrum pens so far so used a "gold" promarker and copic skin tones (E000, E00). Im quite please with the results of these pens, apart from on her hair I still can't get it to look realistic.

 

Beaded Snowflake Card

 

This card measures 6 x6 inches and was created using the Memory Box die Beaded Snowflake (available from Samuel Taylors)

 

This is a nice simple and easy card to make! The only thing is... .you need to be careful that you don't lose the little flower from the middle of your snowflake. You only need one and you just add it to the contrast colour snowflake. I have placed the purple snowflake on top and glued it onto the silver snowflake using Pinflair Glue.

 

I love the greeting at the bottom of the card! These come in packs from Craftwork Cards and contain loads of different messages all on white card with either gold or silver writing. I've got some of these in circles instead of ovals and used them on nearly all my Christmas Cards last year! lol.

 

Ravellinc Games 2012

On ravelry.com knitters set themselves a challenge or series of challenges to complete while the olympic games are taking place. This could be finishing projects that have been half done for months or starting something new or trying a different technique.

I set myself the challenge of completing my night owl, he has been  in a bag since before Christmas and just needed his claws and eyes knitting and tonight I finally sewed him up.

I also wanted to complete a new project. I downloaded the clown teddy pattern from Alan Darts website and started knitting :)

I plan to make another of these for a Christmas present. You may remember the big pile of fluffy wool in my stash photos! lol, It is now nearly half the size so I am slowly making progress with the stash busting.

He is quite large and ever so cuddly and has been named Freddy the Teddy.

Hopefully tomorrow I will also have completed my Red Riding Hood as I have until the end of the closing ceremony........

Other Art

Hello Blogland!
Today I thought I would share some of my other art work. I was traweling the internet and pinterest the other day and suddenly remember deviantart.. .and got further distracted lol. But it also made me remember my old artwork (which is currently packed away in a drawer, waiting to be stuck up in my craft room !)
I haven't drawn or painted anything for ageees , but I bought some canvases the other day and some paint so I just need to think what to draw!

Unfortunatly when I had nearly finished this one my paint bottle exploded when I was trying to refil my paint pallet... but we can always pretend it is meant to be like that lol.

This ones only little about 8 x 8 inches and is painted onto a flat canvas with acrylic paints :)

Hopefully soon I will have some more piccies to post... watch this space!

Finished Object Update

This is the list of things I aimed to finish in the next few weeks and so far I have done:

* Crofter Dot
* Baby Boy Aran Jumper
* Blue Tony  Monster
* Crochet Baby Blanket
* Baby Boy V-neck Tank Top

I have also made some progress on the following:
* white knitted baby blanket - on row 11 of 20 so nearly halfway done (as it has quite a large border)
* Monster chunk - body is sewn up it just needs legs.

Still to do:
* Blossom elephant toy - needs dress, an ear and putting together
* Blue snowflake teddy - needs arms, legs, ears and sewing up
* Superman blanket square - just over halfway done
* Jenny watson baby blanket with hood - only just started
* Teapot bunny - just needs sewing up

I plan on adding pictures later... I just need to find my camera cable.

The Finished Objects...

So I have joined a virtual knitting retreat on Ravelry whose aim is to finish as many as your projects as you can. When sorting my stash I found LOADS of half finished items... some of which I couldn't even remember what they were!! So hopefully over the next two weeks you will see some nice colourful posts with my FINISHED items! (heres hoping! lol)

To spur me on I'd thought Id list my projects here so I can see exactly how far I'm progressings .... so here goes.....

* Crofter Dot - just needs sewing up
* Teapot bunny - just needs sewing up
* baby boy aran jumper - needs an arm and neck and sewing
* blue tony monster - needs arms, legs and sewing
* crochet baby blanket - needs quite a few more stripes (think it is just over half way done)
* white knitted baby blanket - on row 10 of 20 so nearly halfway done (as it has quite a large border)
* Blossom elephant toy - needs dress, an ear and putting together
* Baby boy v-neck tank top - needs front finishing, borders adding and sewing up
* Monster chunk - needs some legs and putting together
* Blue snowflake teddy - needs arms, legs, ears and sewing up
* Superman blanket square - just over halfway done
* Jenny watson baby blanket with hood - only just started

I think thats it for now, I don't think theres any chance that I will get all of these finished over the next two weeks but I hope to make quite a big dint on them :)

stash sort part TWO!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

I forgot to tell you, whilst sorting my stash I found various carrier bags/ paper bags/ boxes (lol) with unfinished projects in!
I have now been very organised and put two projects in my front room box and the rest with my wool to try and make myself get back up to speed and finish them before I forget what they are! Im also trying not to start anything new before I finish some of these! So.....
I have set myself a challenge.
I REALLY want Rebecca Dangers new dinosaur pattern, but I know that if I buy it I will start it and forget about my (short term) tidyness and organisation. So I need to finish the two projects in my box and reward myself. hehe. Ive got a whole week off work this coming week so hopefully it will be doable.
Also Im preparing for the local market to sell my sock monkeys and knitted things so I am madly packing those up and finishing the last little bits off!

Hopefully the rest of my posts this week will include pictures of something thats actually finished.... Now that might just be me been hopeful!

the BIG stash sort!!

I have been very brave this week and had all my knitting stash out, at the same time!! I'd like to say I was surprised by how much there was, but I had fully prepared myself for the wooly goodness lol.
I hope in 6 months time I can take far fewer photos of all the woolness I have left and maybe some stash busting knitted/crocheted things

My Aran, it may not look much.... until you realise the lilac ball at the right hand side is actually a 400g ball!

The chunky wool - Mostly in monster colours and some Indie in the bottom left corner that I bought to make a scarf but then didn't like (don't have a clue what Im going to use it for instead!)

 The fluffy stuff - The white was to knit a Christmas tree like one I made a few years ago, however I never got round to making it so I think the wool is destined for fluffy gnome beards instead.

Other stash part one - Mostly double knitting from odd projects. And lots of full balls that I bought just because I liked the colours! heh.

Stash part 2 - More stashy double knitting mostly for toys and lots of paler colours at the right hand side for baby knitting - Jumpers / blankets etc. for various presents. The only wool I have a few balls of is the purple snowflake (to make cute floofy monsters) and the orange double knit, as it has taken me ageeees to find a nice orange that isn't a neon colour!

This is what the purple fluffy wool is destined to be!

Wish me luck with my stash busting!!

Gorjuss Secret Draw Card

I saw this on a blog agees ago with a tutorial.. great you say? Well no, because it was all in inches and my scoring board doesn't like inches!. So I had to try and guess the measurements to make a similar card. I think I did quite well with my guesstimations.

The card is about 16cm square and has a card blank fastened on top. Next time I think I will make an easel card instead of a flat one so it looks more like a gift. Now I just have two to make for Mothers Day. I just need to think of something to put in them now!

Sketches by Carly

Here is my other card from my cardmaking day. This is an entry for the Sketches by Carly challenge.

This is the same paper I used for my last Gorjuss girl card. I wish I had saved the description as I love this paper. The stamp is a from Do Crafts and is a part of their Urban range. It is coloured with Copics. There are five gems lining the image which came from my stash. The corners were created by cutting up a doily and stuck on using Crafters Companion stick and spray.

Seems a little sketchy

Here is my entry to the "seems a little sketchy" challenge. I made this as part of my card making day. (yes a WHOLE day crafting!!) It was so much fun getting all my papers and flowers and sparkly things out from the craft room. I turned my music up and sat with a bunny spectator making cards. I wish I had time to do this every week!

The stamp used is a Gorjuss girl and if I remember rightly is called puddles of love. The papers are from my stash and I cut the description off (oops!).  The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Granny Stripes

Ive been looking at Ravelry and the Attic 24 blog for crochet inspiration. AND I found it!
Ive started to make a granny stripe blanket for my sofa in the front room. The colours look like a rainbow and I can't wait to get it finished.

This is my lovely basket of wool! I had to roll all my wool into balls so it would fit.

My blanket so far! I started on Saturday and so far have one stripe of each colour. I think I will need four stripes of each colour to finish it. Its going to be HUUUUUUGE.

Gorjuss Girls

While taking photos for my blog I found these on the camera. They were for a card making class that never took place. I love the Gorjuss Girl stamps and images.

This stamp is called "I love you little rabbit", Its definatly my favourite as it reminds me of my (not so little!) rabbit.

Hello Blogland!

Im back (again!!)
Ive had a few days off this week so have started to get all my craft things sorted so (hopefully) will have more crafting time, as I will actually be able to find my things lol.

So first of all, from my blog, you may be able to tell that I like to do a LOT of knitting/ crocheting. As I get to see all the wool as it arrives in the shop, a bit  a lot of it seems to make its way home with me.
Therefore 2012 is the year of the stash!

To motivate me ive started photographing my stash, (theres lots of it!)

These are the full balls:

The lacking greens / yellows / oranges. I am yet to find a nice orange

These are the multicoloured balls, most are baby crofter.

The pinks and red, they look much nicer in real life.