Time for Tea? Definitely!

Good evening,

Well I’ve spent all day in London training for work and must say the time spent on the train could have been put to better use if I had thought about it more and took my knitting. I will post my in progress projects soon and my granny squares which I can now tick off my 2012 Craft list hooray.

Anyway after a long day of psychology and travel it’s definitely time for a brew; and that reminds me of a Christmas present I made for D’s Mum which is supposed to resemble a tea cosy (D= Best Friend David if you see me refer to D).

It was not a unique idea by any stretch of the imagination I came across something very similar somewhere on the interweb but anyway this was my take on it. Must admit I developed great attachment to this being my first project of its kind.

Oooo yes and that reminds me of the Xmas card I made for D. I was experimenting with my newly discovered free motion foot sewing material onto card. I also sewed the message inside but didn’t take a picture of that to share sorry folks.

Anyway I leave you here as need to get some sleep to try and redeem some of my brain cells, it’s been a long day. Night night .

Mud in the Woods

Dylan (my 7 year old) went on an adventure through some very muddy tracks yesterday at some local woods. Despite getting covered head to toe (well a slight exageration) and having to drag his new scooter which weighed a ton we got some lovely pictures on my camera phone which I just had to share.

This was also the chance to put my lovely new water carrier to the test and it didn’t fail!

Have a nice relaxing Sunday, Jo .

My Water Bottle Bag/Carrier

Hey there, lately I’ve tried to indulge more in healthy eating and in particular increase my daily water intake. So to encourage this process I decided to make myself a little water carrier so I can keep a bottle with me at all times.

My inspiration came from this wonderful tutorial I found at Pink Chalk Studios and as it’s quilted so I’m counting it towards my 2012 Craft List ‘learning to quilt’.

Mine is not half as neat as the one in the tutorial but I’m more than pleased with it and it serves it’s purpose well. So much so my little boy wants me to make him one too.

Anyway here’s my photo diary of my make taken on my phone camera.

I started by quilting the bottom with some nice navy fabric I had and batting. The rest of the bottle I used navy for the lining with some turquoise Poly Cotton and the Amy Butler Peacock Feathers in Turquoise from the Amy Butler Bliss FQ Bundle available at Gone to Earth.

The finished item . I added a little pink tag just for decoration more than anything although useful if I wanted to put a keyring on to attach to a bag.

If anyone else decides to make one would love to see the finished result. Jo x

p.s. And whilst I was busy creating my little boy made me a lovely creation of his own, couldn’t resist sharing this one with you.

And more 2011 creations

Hi there,

I thought I would share the last of my 2011 creations so I can move on to some of my 2012 projects as they progress. These following three images were commissions for my mum for friends for Christmas. I always find being asked to create for someone else a little nervy as not sure of their style colours etc. Anyway they were pleased with the end result so phewwww!

This next commission piece was from a pendant I made from recycled glass and print pictures. I found this from a back issue of Simply Homemade Magazine but have gone on to make a few pendants since. I will endeavour to try and add this as a tutorial at some stage as I have made a few different pendants since.

These last creations were Christmas presents for family.

Jo x

Bag Charm and Bracelet for a Sweet Farewell

In December I said goodbye to a close friend of mine who is now seeing the wonders of the world for a year. I bought her a leather journal to record all her experiences in but wanted to give her something personal. So I made a bag charm for her bag with charms on that represented her and also made her a bracelet to remind her of us back here in England. Here are the finished results.

On her last post she was in Africa, missing you hunny.

J x

More 2011 Creations

This was one of the first pieces of jewellery I made to actually give away as a present. I can tell it’s an early piece as I was playing around with packaging ideas and this has my old logo before my lovely friend ‘D’ put me on the right track (it’s very handy having a graphic designer for a best friend).

This piece was for my Mummy for her birthday back in November and she loved it thankfully. I’m not the most confident of people when it comes to guessing what other people might like so it’s all a bit of a learning curve for me.

This bag charm was a little gift for my lovely friend Su who is a bit of a bag woman. She likes her butterflies too so this seemed the perfect match.

Su also wanted me to commission (arghhhh) 2 pieces for Christmas. The bag charm for her sister-in-law and a necklace and earrings for a young girl. I hope they liked them.

Till next time……. J

My first attempt at making Fimo Beads

Greetings,

As this blog has been a little seed stirring for some time I’ve already got lots of projects to share with you. If you have any tips or suggestions to how I may improve or develop my skills I would love to hear from you. So whilst I work out the technicalities of ‘Blogger’ I would like to share some of my 2011 creations with you.

My first posting is the result of one of my first attempts at making Fimo beads which I made into a pair of earrings (not pictured) and this bracelet which has been well worn by myself since.

I used the FIMO Effect – Glitter Red 202 and the FIMO Effect – Glitter Purple 604 for this particular piece. I simply cut off a piece from each clay, conditioned the clay by letting it warm up by handling it. Then I rolled them both out, placed them one of top of the other and rolled them from the side. Then when I cut the ends away a beautiful spiral pattern was revealed.

I am very much still at the beginning of my Polymer Clay journey but hope to do some more projects this year and possibly attend a clay bead making class.

Hello and My Craft To Do List 2012

Greetings Fellow Crafters,

This blog has been a seedling stirring for some time but it’s finally coming to fruition so I’m very excited.

I’m relatively new to jewellery making, knitting, crochet and quilting. I’ve always been quite creative although never really found my niche until recently which is a bit of everything. This all came to light when I suffered a mental breakdown at work and finding my creative side has really helped in my recovery. I have also found that once you start walking the path of one craft you soon get sucked into another, not that I’m complaining although the bank balance may . have something to say about it ha ha.

I’ve taught myself some basics and hoping that as I travel on my journey and become more skilled I will meet lots of other lovely crafters along the way. I already follow some fab bloggers who I think have been a real inspiration in finally taking the plunge. However the real inspiration comes from the 3 D’s in my life who all have inspired me in their own way. My late Dad who has shown me that life is too short to sit around waiting, my beautiful little boy Dylan who I learn from everyday and my best friend David who’s always encouraging me and supporting me and helping me to believe enough in myself to be writing this today. Without them I don’t think I would have actually got this far and so the name is my dedication and way of saying thanks.

Anyway there’s a million projects that I want to do, sure you know the feeling but my main aims for 2012 are:

1. LEARN to quilt (I’m getting there slowly)

2. Make a quilt for me.

2. Make a quilt for Dylan and cushion (from fab Cat in the Hat Material)

3. Make David a quilt (fabric already in transit and on my Pinster board)

4. Make a quilt for David’s daughter out of her old clothes for her 11th birthday in March

5. Learn to crochet granny squares

6. Knit some slippers

7. Knit a hat

8. Make a picture out of fabric of my old drum kit

9. Sew some home decor bits and pieces (this is loosely committing myself at this stage ha ha)

10. Sew a few fabric boxes (got some awesome tutorials)

11. Attend course on Precious Metal Clay and make at least 1 piece this year

I’m sure there’s loads more I have missed as always looking for inspiration but don’t want to bore you before I’ve even started.

Anyway look forward to talking to lots of you on this exciting, unravelling  journey.

J