Thursday 30 December 2010
Sketchbook Challenge
Wednesday 29 December 2010
Seed Sketch Book Update
Last summer whilst visiting my sister-in-law in Seaford I watched her gather some poppy seeds! I am an odd creature because I immediately good really excited and dashed off to find my camera!! So these are pictures that I took. These are the pods which hold the poppy seeds and I think that they are a lovely shape.
There are tiny holes around the top and it is through these holes that the poppy seeds come out. There are lots of shapes to be gained from these pictures which could be used in various ways for stitching etc.
We did carefully cut open one of the pods to see what it looked like inside. See picture on your left at the bottom of the sketchbook page. Lots of little chambers for the seeds to collect in.
I also like to put watercolour washes on the pages first to reduce the stark whiteness of the pages. It blends the pages in better and does not distract from what is being put on the pages.
We managed to collect quite a few pods with the stems and ended up with many seeds which we then used in a bread making session! The pods and stems are very hard and we thought they would travel well so I brought them back to Cornwall and I intend to have them in a vase along with some other seed and seed pod examples when the sketchbook goes into an exhibition in February, if I can get the book to the exhibition because it is taking place in Bude when I am at work!
There are still a few pages to do, but not that many. A group challenge which did not start off very well has turned out to be quite enjoyable and did get others on board who had nothing to do with the actual challenge but got carry along for the journey, such as my sister and mother-in-law who found lots of things that I could add or photograph. Even one of my birthday cards which arrived last week has plants with seeds on it so that will go into the sketchbook too!
As you look through the book I think that you can see how my approach to it has changed as I got more ideas and got used to a theme which, to be honest, did not appeal at the start.
I now need to think about a sketchbook for 2011.
xx
Monday 27 December 2010
Pom Pom Scarf
The above picture is being modelled by "Rose" and I think that I need to add some more. It shows up well on the black sparkly top. I used up some left over wool from making my Granny stripe blanket earlier in the year.
I will be honest, I think this scarf is more of a statement item rather than for keeping you warm. I think that my pom poms could have been a little bigger and not so dense, then they would have been easier to wear. Well we live and learn. You can wear it different ways and is eye-catching. We also had fun making them and it did the students good to have an idea and then actually make it. I have seen other versions of this on the Internet, not for a while mind you, and there are pom pom scarves in the shops at the moment too.
In the New Year we are going to tackle the knitted Cloche hat which is featured in the sidebar of this blog. I thought that I would make one for my Brother-in-laws wife as I have found my purple one to be very useful this past weeks. With that I need to revise how to crochet a flower to go on it too.
I have also started a new crochet project this week but I want to work on it a bit more before showing it here.
A bit warmer today but dreadful rain, gloomy and very misty!
xx
Sunday 26 December 2010
Quilted Gift Revealed
Saturday 25 December 2010
Merry Christmas 2010
Friday 24 December 2010
Birthday Time ....again.
Two very different designs here.
I have seen tutorials for making these and down loadable PDF's as well. after I had bought these, typical. I also found some edible flower petals which I thought would make a nice change. Sophie was not too keen on these. I also bought some wafer flowers, shown here in the centre, now I was not too keen on those!
We then spent the rest of the evening teaching Sophie how to play Monopoly. This game was suspended and shall resume again tonight after dinner. She is a fast learner and giving us all a run for our money. We like traditional sit-down TV off type of family games like these.
So, there goes another birthday with lovely pressies, a fun day out and a warm fire to come back to. Can not complain at all.
Visited Lanhydrock this afternoon and got out of the car to sheet ice for much of the walk to the main house. Took if very carefully and soon came home, it is blooming cold. I did take a few pictures with my new little camera, but more on that another time.
Have a great Christmas and keep warm.
xx
Wednesday 15 December 2010
Festive Hats - the final instalment..........
Here is the final batch of my students festive hats.
Buttons and stars.
Hearts and sparkles.
Not long to go now!
Still got a few things to do, but not much is happening until I start to breath better, I am sure that I should not be needing my inhaler as much as I have this week. May need to do the impossible and try and get a doctors appointment!
Take care
xx
Monday 13 December 2010
Christmas Tree Quilt Block
Monday 6 December 2010
Festive Hats
This is a really fun hat and the amount of time and effort that went into cutting and making the characters on the front of this hat. Again the hand made pom pom and the fur band to finish it off.
Lots of pink here!!! Buttons have also been used a lot this time around and HO HO HO was been the most used phrase.
All of these hats have now gone home and everyone has promised that they will be worn on Christmas Day and probably New Year as well. There are more in the pipeline and some even went home and managed to dodge my camera!
Hopefully some more to show you next week when they are due back in by classroom.
Anyone feeling festive yet?
xx
Saturday 4 December 2010
Scarf addiction
These scarves are very soft an flexible. What I also did was made a skinny scarf version with some wool which was left over which I have been wearing indoors, a bit like a necklace if you like. Has been commented on too. It just looks nice and a bit interesting without looking odd.
The weather has been very cold indeed, where I live the snow has been very localised and where I live has missed out completely, much to my daughter's disappointment!
I do now of at least someone who is not too bothered by the cold weather.....
Keep warm
xx
Friday 3 December 2010
Opps!
Tuesday 30 November 2010
White snuggly Can Can Scarf
Eventually I shall list this in my Etsy shop once I have been able to take a decent picture, in fact I have a bit of a backlog with this but you can not put rubbish pictures in an on-line shop! I am pushing it a bit putting them here but I like to try and post something every day or at least every other day.
I am making slow progress with making these..............
these. I decided to cancel my knitting group after school today due to the bad weather we have been having. it has been a bit unpredictable lately and I decided they would be better off getting home on time. So I have another week to add to this lot.
Best go got some work to look at before bed.
Thank you for visiting
xx
Sunday 28 November 2010
Quilting by the Book
I have had so much inspiration from this book. One of the things that I like about it is that it suggests different ways to use the same block, either by changing the colour combination, sequence of using the block or how to combine blocks together. It is also very easy to follow and there are useful photocopiable templates.
Very colourful pages and you can see at the bottom of the page the various combinations.
Clear instructions ans measurements are given and so far (touch wood) I have had no trouble what so ever in making each of these blocks up first time. They also enlarge very easily to produce larger final blocks.
Now, I dare say that most of what I have written here is not new to some, but every so often out of all of the books you buy, one just pops up as a "I am so glad I bought that book, I use it all the time!" This is one of those books.
I completely recommend it, especially if you are learning to do patchwork, or if you would like a lovely book to look at and gain ideas.
xx
Saturday 27 November 2010
My current Read
Friday 26 November 2010
Keyring Madness
I do love this button version. I have cut out a pink version to make up too.
..........................................
Monday 22 November 2010
Button Envy....
Took part in a craft fair on Saturday..............well I may as well have watched paint dry! Just before Christmas I was told that it would be very popular...mmmmmm. Very disappointing really but there you go.
More craft news this week, just having problems getting any decent pictures with these dark evenings.
Take care
xx
Friday 19 November 2010
Little Bunch of Monsters.
Each student was asked to research into plushies and softies once they had been given some websites to look at. The ideas were brilliant and once I have managed to get them scanned then I shall try to upload them.
My name is Dumpling
I think this one has a lovely expression on its face. It has that Friday feeling look.
My name is Hubert.
This fun monster looks just like the original drawing. I have still got them as I have to assess them, but I am delighted with the outcomes and we all had a lot of fun along the way making them.
BOO!
BOO TOO.
Have a good weekend everyone.
xx