Super Cute Sock Dog

As I seem to have lost my cardmaking mojo I decided to use my free time after work today to finish making my sock dog.

I had such great fun making the sock dog, its so easy to do and I have seen lots of different patterns out there to make other animals not just dogs, variation can also be achieved by using different patterns of socks. I plan to start making lots of different animals with socks and cant wait to get started on those. Hopefully they will be a bit neater then my dog here which I have decided to call patch as the sewing is a little bit patchy to say the least!

Overall though I loved making Patch and think he is super cute!! I have now got him sat on my chest of draws by me bed :)

Easter Cards

I have been meaning to start making my easter cards all this week but I just haven't really had any idea what I wanted to do for them.

I started colouring in an easter themed digi stamp this evening and got it all coloured and cut out but then I just couldn't decide what type of card to make with it. I seem to have lost my creative mojo :(

Im not massively happy with my shading on this image either, don't know whether to scrap it and start again? What are other peoples ideas for easter cards I need some creative suggestions.

Boot Sale fun on a Sunday

I am a huge lover of markets and boot sales, I haven't been to a boot sale for years I think the last time I went to one was when I was re decorating my bedroom before I went to university.

I decided to head to a huge bootsale at the MK Bowl today, there are so many stalls and so many people. I wasn't on the hunt for anything specifically just things I could use for crafting or things I could craft onto. i ended up laden with bags with all sorts of different things which I have lots of crafty ideas for.  I enjoyed bargaining for the best deals and just having a mooch at what people were selling definitely a great way to spend a Sunday morning.

One of my favorite buys was this amazing vintage suitcase, I am not sure exactly how old it is but I loved it as soon as I saw it, I assumed it would be very expensive but when I asked the stall holder he said it was only £4 I snapped it up.

I plan to use old atlas pages to decorate it and am going to use it to store my holiday snaps and memorabilia I am a hoarder of all things travel related I have tickets, maps, leaflets and postcards from all over the world everywhere I go I collect stuff and this suitcase seems like the perfect way to make a feature of this collection.

Mosaic

I love how amazing mosaics look and have always wanted to have a go at them so recently decided to buy some supplies of ebay.

I bought a starter set which included all the tools and a range of tiles for about £50. Although this is quite a lot to pay the tools are all top quality and can be used time and time again. It took a little bit of time to get the hang of using the tile cutters and nippers but the great thing about mosaic is you cant really make a mistake just change the design to fit the tiles that you have cut.

I copied a vegetable design out of a book onto a old bit of wood that I found lying around the house. It took me a few weeks to complete the mosaic and today I got to work on applying the grout. This picture shows the mosaic after the first stage of the grouting, I need to leave it for 24hrs before properly scrubbing the grout off.

Overall I am pretty happy with my first attempt although I think perhaps the design is a little bit too complicated for the size of the wood and its a little bit difficult to see the design clearly. Can't wait to get started on my next mosaic I am planning a seaside scene perhaps on a bit of driftwood if I can find some next time I am in Devon.

Polymer Clay

Just a quick post today this week has been super busy and stressful so haven't had as much time for crafting as I would like.

I did have a chance to give polymer clay modeling a go though. Its a technique I have been wanting to try for a while and I found a pack of 30 different clays in the range for £16, I snapped it up along with some clay tools.

I watched a few videos online and saw how easy it is to start making cute little models so decided to have a go at making a teddy bear and a dog. I was pretty happy with the result, for a first go I think it looks cute and fun. On my next model I am going to be careful about not mixing the colours of the clays together and try and be a bit more neat and uniform about the models.

I think everyone should give clay modeling a go its so fun and really creative. I cant wait to get working on my next models this weekend.

Finished Teapot

I planted up my Decopatch teapot that I made earlier this month today. I picked a pretty pink flower, I'm afraid Im not very green fingered so I have no idea what type of plant it is but I thought the colour went well with the design of the teapot.

Really hope it survives the drive to devon in one piece and my nan likes it :)

I think the teapot looks fab and cant wait to get started with another Decopatch project.

WOYWW 14th March

Only a quick post for this weeks WOYWW, its been a busy week already and its only Wednesday bring on Thursday, I have booked friday off work and am going for a long weekend to stay with my gran in Devon can't wait.

Now on to the important stuff what's actually on my desk. This week I have been working on a sock dog well trying to at least. So far as you can see it only has 3 legs and no eyes or nose but hopefully you get the idea. I found sewing some of the bits on a little hard and for some reason choose to use a light thread when I think I should have used one that matched the colour of the sock.

I have really enjoyed making the sock dog though and cant wait to get him finished, will be looking to make some more sock animals soon so keep your eyes peeled for a growing sock menagerie!

The other crafting project I am working on this week has yet to actually be started, for Mothers day I bought my mum a 5 day holiday to Nuremberg for us both, we aren't going till September but I am going to give her the tickets this weekend. I plan to make my own mini travel guide with photos and information about what there is to do there but was wondering if any of you had any crafty idea for wrapping up or disguising the tickets as giving over a printed e ticket is perhaps not the most exciting thing ever.

If you have no idea what WOYWW is then you need to visit Julia over at stamping ground, she is the lovely host of this brilliant weekly blog hop in which creative folks share their workspaces and projects. Last week I think I got round about 45 desks am hoping to get nearer a 100 this week :)

Mail from Canada

This week in the post I had a surprise delivery from Canada. The lovely Karen from Ink Paper and Scissors sent me some stamping magazines and all these other wonderful goodies.

I know I have said it before but I am still going to say it again, crafters are such lovely and generous people, it is such a community atmosphere I love that there is always someone willing to give advice and share inspiration.

I have been tempted for ages to try out so many of the Tim Holtz products so really cant wait to give these a go. I can't decide whether to make tags or ATCs with them maybe a bit of both.

Also in the post this week my WOYWW badge from the lovely Julia over at Stamping Ground. If you haven't seen WOYWW you should really check it out its a weekly blog hop where crafters share whats going on in their creative spaces. The idea of the badges is that maybe you will bump into fellow WOYWWers who you only know so far online. I plan to wear mine at the very first craft show I go to which hopefully will be at the NEC in a few weeks.

WOYWW

So it's been a while since I last joined Julia's fab blog hop. If you haven't seen it its a great place to check out what other crafters have on their desks and what projects they are working on.

I have been away from WOYWW and craft for the last month or so as life has been pretty stressful but I am hoping that things are on the up now :)

Anyway here is a sneeky peek of what's on my desk. As you can see I have been multi tasking working on both Mothers Day cards and Easter Cards. I have been working on the floor again and as you can see I managed to spread mess everywhere. In the top picture you can see my alphabet stamps which I love to use to make my own handmade sentiments. In the second photo is a tin which I have full of die cut shapes and pre stamped images which I like to have out when making cards as I can then pick whichever shapes and stamps best fit the card I am making. In the third picture there is my tray filed with inks acrylic blocks and some clear stamps.

I have decided to have a massive sort out and organize of all my craft stuff this weekend so hopefully next weeks WOYWW will be a much tidier affair.

(check out the posts below for better pics of the cards I have been making)

Mothers Day Card Pt 2

Just a quick post to show you the Mothers day card I have made for my mum this evening.

I am really happy with the way the stamped image turned out but not at all happy with the rest of the card I don't think the front flap really matches the design at all. I guess craft is a learning curve and not every project can be perfect.

I am still going to enter my card for the latest challenge over at passion for promarkers. Nothing ventured nothing gained I suppose.

Apologies for the photo still no camera and I cant get blogger to rotate the photo either gaaaah I despair with technology this evening.

Mothers Day Card

Just a quick post to show you all the mothers day card I have been working on for my gran. It's a pro marker coloured image of some teddy bears.

I mounted the image on some embossed dark card stock and put it on to a maroon coloured card. I added a stamped sentiment which I also mounted on some pink card stock. I decided the card looked a bit plain so added some glitter glue round the sentiment and some heart buttons to try and jazz it up a bit.

I'm still not sure its completely finished any suggestions to extra bits I could add.

Decopatch Teapot

As I have mentioned in previous posts I am a craft magazine addict and a few weeks ago I purchased the womans weekly craft special.

One of the projects which I loved was a teapot made into a planter, in the magazine they had covered the teapot in strips of fabric. I decided to adapt this a little to make a gift for my Gran for Mothers Day.

I used 'Decopatch' papers to cover my tea pot and a cheap tea pot from wilko. I picked out three different papers that I thought went together, be warned decopatch papers seem to be super pricey I paid 3.79 per pack and each pack contains three sheets. The paper actually does go really far I havent finished one sheet of any of the three patterns on this project.

I cut up the papers into little squares, covered sections of the teapot in decopatch glue (I think PVA would work just as well) and put the squares on I then added another layer of the glue. I did this all over the teapot making sure to get into all the nooks and crannys.

I then left it to dry before adding to layers of glossy varnish to give the project a shine. I plan to put compost in the teapot and then plant a small pansy in it. As Mothers Day is a few weeks away I haven't planted it up yet so when I do I will pop and post and photo up of the finished article.

P.S again apologies for the quality of the piccys cant wait to have my camera back

Doodle Stitching Practice Project

So as I mentioned in my previous post I have been practicing my hand embroidery skills by sewing some of the doodle stitching designs on to a pillow case.

I have managed to use a number of stitches so far, see if you can spot them in the pictures.

• Running Stitch 
• Straight Stitch 
• Cross Stitch
• Back Stitch 
• Split Stitch
• Long and Short Stitch 

I have stitched a space scene and a under the sea scene. I think I am most happy with the little mermaid as I think the use of the split stitch here is really effective.

I found the stars on the space design almost impossible to sew, so they look pretty rubbish. I am going to try and watch some online videos to see how other people sew hand embroidered stars on before I attempt them again.

As you can see I have only covered a small section of the pillow so plenty more space to practice on. I will post again when I have filled some more of the pillow up.

P.S sorry about the quality of the photos they were taken on my phone, hopefully should have the camera back soon.

Doodle Stitching

I haven't managed to post as much as I would like this week as I am camera-less, I have lent it to a friend and haven't had the chance to pop and collect it. I didn't want to post any of the stuff I have been crafting on without some pictures. I still haven't got the camera back but am going to post with some photos from my phone which luckily takes fairly good snaps.

So yes anyways that why there haven't been many posts this week. I recently after seeing a review/project on  http://itsallfiddlefart.blogspot.com/ purchased this doodle stitching book.

It's a fab book not just for the projects but the second section of the book is full of little doodle designs varying from under the sea designs to trees, flowers, florals and patterns as well as many more. Not only are the designs included in the back of the book but there is a handy CD rom which means that the images can be manipulated to make them any size for any project.

So far I have just been using the designs directly from the book and tracing them on to a cheap pillow case I got from wilko in order to practice my embroidery skills before I embark on a full project. I will be posting later today with some photos of that project and how its going. I definitely recommend purchasing this book and giving hand embroidery a go, it has been thoroughly enjoying and absorbing.