I'm back.......and I've finished something! Yay!

Sorry for the radio silence around here lately - its been an extremely busy time recently and I've been struggling to keep up with making, blogging and checking other people's blogs. If I normally visit your blog and comment then I apologise for not popping round as much as I would normally this last month - I've got a lot to catch up on!!

The busy period culminated last weekend when I was volunteering at the Stitch and Craft Exhibition at Olympia. I spent a couple of days (Friday and Sunday) there teaching people how to crochet - mainly butterflies and flowers. The picture below is just some of the many little things I made over the course of the weekend - I think I could crochet that butterfly in my sleep now!! (If anyone is interested the butterfly pattern is from Issue 3 of Mollie Makes).


I've never taught anyone anything crafty before so teaching at Stitch and Craft was a real eye opener! It was tiring and at times hectic but in general very rewarding and fun.

Amongst all the chaos I also managed to finish a project for a change! This is a picture of my finished doily rug that I mentioned in my last post.


I'm really pleased with how this has turned out. It was really fun to do something different too and it came together so quickly as it is worked in three strands of chunky yarn with a large hook (I used a 17mm). The pattern is by Dainty Loops and is available in her etsy shop or on ravelry. It is also perfect for the space I had in mind, this is what it looks like in situ in my bedroom:

Hopefully finishing this project will spur me on to finish some others on the go! Although not before I spend the evening catching up on all the blog posts backed up in my reader.....

xxx

Learning Bookbinding

One of my intentions for 2012 was to have a go at some new crafts and so, a few weeks ago, I got started by attending a bookbinding class at The Create Place run by Suzanne Cowan. This is the result:


Good eh? I am SOOO pleased with the results and it was a really fun course. In a few hours we managed to turn a few bits of mount board, a few sheets of paper and some free cycle maps into a proper functional journal. I took some step by step photos along the way to show you some of the process. (This is not intended to be a tutorial - just some snaps to give you the idea - I definitely recommend taking a class yourself!)

First we started with four pieces of mount board carefully cut to the right dimensions which were then stuck to the back of a piece of fabric - we used Buckram, a special type of fabric often used for bookbinding.

This was cut around the mount board and stuck down before we added the rest of the decorative cover - in this case we used old maps but anything could be used. Everything was kept neat and tidy using an (ominously named) tool called a bonefolder!

Anyone who knows me might also recognise that the map on the front of my book shows my local area, including my road!

We also added a map on the inside cover but I forgot to take a photo of that stage. After the cover was finished we folded some A4 paper in half in groups of five to form the pages of our book.

To finish we made holes in the paper with an awl which lined up with the window in the cover. Suzanne then showed us a clever sewing technique to fix the pages in our book and ta-da:

I can't tell you how pleased I am with this book - it was lovely to make something so functional, using such basic materials and come out with something so lovely. Another bonus is that the tools for this hobby are so cheap - all you need is some mount board, some paper, a bone folder and an awl (although you could use a needle). I got the lot for less than £10 and am definitely planning to do more of this - it would be great for making personalised presents I think.

Oh, and just one more photo to show you can't always get everything right the first time (as much as my perfectionist tendencies try to persuade me otherwise!):

If you look closely you can see that the map I put on the inside cover is upside-down! Whoops!

Have you tried any new crafts recently? I'm always looking for inspiration for the next technique to tackle! I will also be popping over to Wendy's blog to link to this on her Learn a New Technique page.

Hope you are having a good week and (for those of you in the UK) managing to keep warm! Brrrr!

xx

PS. Don't forget to enter my giveaway if you haven't already!

Dress a Girl Around the World

One of my intentions for 2012 was to get involved in doing some crafting for charity/craftivism and on Saturday I had the chance to do just that. My local craft studio, the Create Place, ran a session making dresses for a charity organisation called Dress A Girl Around the World. This is a fab project which sends dresses to girls in the developing world who wouldn't usually have a new dress of their own.

The dresses are simple to make using just a pillowcase and some trimmings (with patterns provided on the website) but look very cute and pretty. Our sewing gurus Jennie and Lisa were on hand to help us if we got stuck and provide refreshments as we sweated over our machines! We had lots of fun sewing and chatting and embellishing but most importantly we made a stack of dresses to send of to girls in the developing world.

I made two dresses. One fairly simple in white with blue straps and a little red heart on the front:

And another one in such loud material that I didn't think it needed any embellishment!!

I wish I'd taken more pictures of the dresses everyone else made but I was so wrapped up in my sewing I forgot until it was too late! By the time I took my pictures the light wasn't too great either! Jennie's blog has more pics.

I had a brilliant afternoon, made all the better by knowing that I was doing something worthwhile. I am definitely looking forward to getting involved in more projects like this.

xxx

PS. If you want to get involved in this project then a lady called Louise Horler is the UK coordinator. Her blog is here and the facebook page is here.

Crafty Intentions 2012

I'm not really one for making New Year's resolutions but I thought it might focus my mind to think about some of things I would like to achieve this year creatively and for this blog. I have also posted photos of some of my favourite things I have made over 2011 in the hope that it might make you read this selfish post right to the end!!

My creative intentions* for 2012 are:

1. Try at least 4 new crafts - either in classes or self taught.


2. Get involved in craftivism/crafting for charity


3. Teach a crafty skill to someone else.


4. Finish my granny blanket - this will involve attaching together the 100 squares I already have and possibly adding many more!


5. Finish at least one knitting project. I've only just learned to knit and I'm not sure whether it will be my thing or not but I would like to try and make at least one thing to give it a go.


6. Hand make the majority of the cards I send.


7. Turn my Emily Peacock tapestries into cushions - this is something that I have been meaning to do for ages and I just need to get on with it!


8. Have another go at silver clay jewellery - I bought all the kit at the end of my course and its just sat in my spare room ever since. Whoops!


9. Look into getting a stall at a craft fair, probably selling mainly glass goodies, maybe with someone else.


10. Use up some of my fabric stash BEFORE I buy any more. I should probably try to do this for yarn too!


11. Write a tutorial for this blog.


12. Have 2 blog giveaways and participate in some swaps.


13. Aim to blog at least once a week.


14. Start using ravelry and documenting my projects on there.


15. And to finish on a more general intention, I always like to have several projects on the go but I would really like to get better at finishing things before starting new projects!

Phew - looks like I've got a busy year ahead! I've actually already managed to put the wheels in motion for some of these intentions already and it looks like I should probably get started on the others! If anyone is thinking of putting a list together like this then I would definitely recommend it - just typing this all out has got my brain whirring with things I want to get started on. Hmmm....maybe I should take note of number 15 in particular!!

Hope you are all having a lovely (crafty) weekend xx

*I was inspired to use the word intentions rather than resolutions by Heather - I think it sounds much more positive and less pressurising!!