Look what I got!

Look what I got! It was a gift from my friends, a late birthday/moving present. It's got tools, and beads and findings and now I can make some stuff. I'm pretty excited!


Ooooooh 

I'm heading to Adelaide tomorrow but probably won't be posting here for at least two weeks because I'm staying with a friend and I don't think she has internet access so I'll just be checking my email and that's about it.

Embroidered portrait

This is what I've been working on lately. It's for my sisters 21st birthday, and while it isn't until April, because I'm moving interstate I thought I'd better get it done early, and I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with it.


Embroidery 

I used Picasa to make the photo black and white and then I adjusted the fill light, highlights and shadows until I was happy, put the picture into paint and erased any unwanted areas. I then printed it onto normal paper with a laser printer and ironed it onto the fabric. I was delighted when it actually worked!

The hair is done in split stitch and the rest either in satin stitch or back stitch depending on the thickness.

I'd love some feedback on this because it is an important gift. At the moment I'm tossing up between making a book for her friends to sign with this on the cover, or just framing it. Any ideas would also be fantastic.

Embroidered bib

This is a bit of an old project, but as I'm currently working on something that won't be finished for a few days I thought I'd post it.


Bib embroidery 

I embroidered this bib for my cousin Will. I wanted something a bit cooler than bunnies (even though they are very cute!) and decided to do a tattoo style heart. It's satin stitch with back stitch around the heart and banner and for his name. It went over well!

New Book

I bought this book from an op shop for $1 and I'm pretty impressed.

Home Handicrafts Book  

While it does have some shockers...


My eyes! 

There are also some pretty good projects.


This is pretty cool 

And some pretty amusing pages too.


I'm easily amused 

That one's my favorite!

Noah's Ark Cross Stitch

It's taken me years but I've finally finished this!


Noah's Ark Cross Stitch 

I got given this cross stitch pattern years and years ago but I've only just finished it. The problem has been that I haven't worked on it continuously but in chunks and then put it away. It seems like the last little bit has taken a while too, and I eventually finished the back stitch in a couple of hours while watching tv. Yay!

Now I just have to do something with it. I'll probably get it framed so that it's protected.

Glass Marble Magnets

I've thought the glass marble magnets were pretty cool for ages and had some of the pebbles sitting around for a while, but I only just got a roll of magnetic tape stuff so I decided to make some magnets.


Glass Marble Magnets 

I got the embryo development series up the top and the 'magnetic' text from an old Double Helix magazine, and the rest of the pictures were from junk mail, using pictures from fabrics, long stitch kits and bedding. I made a couple of others but they didn't look as good as I planned so they've been put on the fridge and aren't coming to Adelaide with me when I move.

Fortune Cookie Magnets

I made some fortune cookie magnets for gifts. They're pretty cool and I think they'll look great in those chinese take-out containers along with other bits and bobs.


Fortune cookie magnets 

To make these I cut out circles in felt, folded them in half and hot glued them and then pinched the center so they looked like fortune cookies and hot glued them like that. Once they dried I glued a magnet with tacky glue onto the back. On some I had to cut out a puckered bit of felt so they were flat but I didn't have any problems with them falling apart.

Gifts

I've given the housewarming presents of the Pug toilet roll holder and the Flaky toilet roll holder and they were very well recieved. I was a bit worried giving kind of bizzare gifts but my friends 'got it' which was a relief. I thought they would otherwise I wouldn't have given them away but it's always nice when someone is excited and amazed by something you've crafted.

Christmas ornaments stage 2

I've painted them now. I didn't end up buying a binder to prime the stars because I could only find a teeny little bottle which was a bit expensive for this, and as I don't really paint I didn't think it was worth it. They turned out nice and pretty anyway.


Painted Christmas ornaments 

I ended up doing a couple in gold, and they actually look better than the single gold one in this photo but they don't have the same impact as the red ones. I'll leave it until Christmas to put names on (I think I'll have to buy a gold pen for that) thread them, and maybe put a Merry Christmas 2006 sticker on the back.

Christmas ornaments/gift tags stage 1

I signed up for the Christmas Craftalong on Craftster and I'm behind already! The theme for January was ornaments and I made almost 50 of these salt dough stars which I'm going to paint red(I bought paint, but only realised I needed primer once I got home) and then put names on in gold and use as gift tags which double as personalised ornaments.

As I'm not going to hand sew anything and I don't have a sewing machine, February's theme wasn't really going to happen anyway.


Christmas ornaments 

I made salt dough using about 1 cup of flour, 1 cup salt and 1/2 cup of water. I had a few trays which ended up being cooked for different times at different temperatures as I turned the oven up a bit.

Crocheted Bookmark

I've now made a little bookmark for my diary (which is shown for size in the photo)


Crocheted bookmark 

The pattern is from here, with a chained tail and tassel added.

Oooh! It's a butterfly

It's a surprisingly big butterfly. Due to me not being interested in anything like gauge, correct thread or crochet hook, this butterfly is about 5 times bigger than I wanted it. I still think it's pretty though, so one day in the distant future I might use it as an applique for a bag or t-shirt or something.

I am glad I made it though, it's probably one of the more complex projects I've done and I've found the last two projects I've done with smaller thread to be quite challenging and enjoyable. Now I've just got to find something to use the butterfly for and make a small enough bookmark for the little organiser I've bought (the butterfly is larger than the organiser).


Crocheted butterfly 

The pattern in from here.

Crocheted bookmark

I got the job I applied for in Adelaide which is fantastic. I'm starting on the 27th of February so I've got a big move interstate (alright, not that big) so the regularity of this blog may suffer somewhat. It's all very exciting, it's the job I've most wanted since finishing university and applying for jobs so I'm kind of glad that most of the others fell through and I ended up with such a fantastic position.

Anyway, as well as getting a job today, and doing some shopping (when I bought a new crochet hook which I used for this project) I made a lovely bookmark.


Crocheted bookmark 

It's the double trouble bookmark taken from here although without rows 7 and 8.

Crochet Hook Case

I made this little crochet hook case because I was sick of my hook collection floating around aimlessly. It also fits a couple of tapestry needles for finishing off and some scissors so everything stays a little more organised.


Crochet Hook Case 

It's done in single crochet in the round with a flap added at the top and the bottom stitched closed. It's very handy!