Bean Sidhe

Got a bit of my mojo back.

I've been doing bits and bobs of things here and there. 

Beading

This pendant is part of an abalone (paua) shell and looks really pretty.  I think I may have strung the green chips a wee bit too tight but I'm learning as I go along.

I tried to get some dangly bits on here but again, I may be tightening things up a bit too much as they don't move as well as I'd like.   It is actually blue although it looks black on here.

I really like the sheen on these beads (in my favourite colour of course!)

I've been asked to make some more baby clothes.  Here's what I've done so far.

Lindsey arranged for a lady to do our demonstration this month - she was very organised and had cut out the mats and layers using her own dies.  Thank you Lindsey for arranging this.

Easel Card - mini

Decorated box - we made the box

A card

Knitting

Random dye yarn cardi - I love the rainbow effect you get with these yarns

Bonnet and mittens - I love these wee mittens with the thumb but am never sure how you get a baby to fit it's thumb into the right place!

Girls' bonnets

Crochet

An angel top - I haven't seen one of these for years, do babies still wear them?  They fasten down the back.

..................... as cabbage looking.

This week, at art group, we used pastels to illustrate a cabbage.  We all had half a cabbage and this is my attempt. 

Thank you Rita.

I think this is quite good - for me!  However, someone did comment that it looked like a lilly.

Craft Club

Lindsey designed this project - it's a wee mini book with a card and tags inside - the card and tags are removable from the cover.  My version is a bit pale, it needs a bit more contrast, which I'll use when I do another one.

I need to finish the inside and add words to the tags.

THIS IS LINDSEY'S EXAMPLE - you get a better idea of the whole project from this one.  Thank you Lindsey!  Isn't it lovely?

Knitting

Here's a little cardi I've knitted to add to my collection - it's actually a lovely pale lemon but not sure you get the full colour effect from this photo.  I love doing cables.

Jenny did the project at craft club last night - thanks Jenny!

It's a nice wee card that's quick and easy to make.  I chose colours too dark for the first one and I think my tags should have been larger but you get the idea.  This would be an ideal card for putting a packet of seeds or a gift voucher into the pouch.

Helena kindly bought some of my knitted and crochet hats for props for her photo shoots - she's just opened up her new website - wow, look at those little ones, aren't they gorgeous?  She's got a real eye for a photo.

Don't forget to contact her if you want good photos of your babies!

I've made a few more hats - I'm hoping she'll be able to add them to the ones she has already.  I'm not too good at judging sizes of wee ones yet so it's all experimental.  The plain white hat at the bottom is embellished with various different coloured crocheted flowers to suit the theme of the shoot.

The Craft Club members made lots of lovely pieces to sell for charity.  The nominated charity was the RSPCA, to which we sent £60.00.  The sales went quite well bearing in mind it was a gala day and the tables and stalls were very mixed - not specific to crafts.  We did take a lot of stuff back which was a shame but the stall looked lovely.  Lindsey, Melanie, Dorothy and Amy did a lovely job in dressing the table and making the display.

Our apple juice sold quite well, with the help of Barbara who touted brilliantly and didn't let any prospective customers go by.  The apple juice funds were not donated to charity tho'!

As well as the other items shown in previous posts, I'd made some tissue box covers (none sold on the day unfortunately but I was quite pleased with them).

The craft table

Our apple juice and some of my knitting (the knitting didn't attract any interest).

Karen's jewellery seemed to be going well.

There was a lady demonstrating spinning - she spun seal fur (collected when the pups shed their baby coats), dog's wool. alpaca wool and ordinary sheep's wool.  Fascinating.

The cake stall seemed to do a roaring trade.

Gift box

This is a wee pillow  box I made to put a gift in for one of my friend's birthdays.

Did these cards today.  I've used my Stampin' up stamps for the images.  The blue on is all Stampin' up products.  Not my usual style but I'm quite pleased with them.  If you are interested in Stampin' Up products, you can get some here.  When I first saw the stamps, I thought they were a bit pricey but I have to say, now that I've used them, they are the best stamps I've used and the image comes out really well for me.  These were hostess gifts and the best price ever - free!

More hats

This one's similar to one I've already done but it's knitted - the other was crocheted and this one has a pom pom on the top as well as the long dangly bits, which seem to be in vogue just now.

This one reminds me of a night cap.

I was given some shaped cards and toppers which were, I think, part of a kit.  I've made some up but I'm not at all sure I've grasped the concept fully.  I think they were supposed to be fancier than the ones I've done.

This card was made using a Woodware flower embossing punch and a Martha Stewart border punch.

50th Anniversary Card for a friend.

Crochet flowers

Just because.

More hats.  I thought the ears would be longer and floppier.  I've had two goes at this but still not happy with the ears so will hae to try again.  I tried embroidering a face on one of them but it's turned out a bit spooky - looks like a KKK hood!

Cardi

I've done this for the local show entry - category 'a garment for a child' but it may be a bit plain as an entry, altho' I'm quite pleased with it.  The crochet edging should actually be a rib but I hate knitting a long ribbed band so I improvised.

Sara organised an altered CD swap on her forum, Time for Crafting.  Thank you for hosting Sara.

I got Colleen's - lots of texture and loads of work has gone into this.  Thank you Collen.

You can see all the CD entries for the swap here - amazing how different they all are.

The monthly swap on Time for Crafting was a tag, theme birds.  I got Marion's - thank you Marion - lovely calm feel to this piece.

Here is my latest batch of knitting.

My red wines, raspberry and redcurrant, should have been ready to drink at Christmas according to the recipe.  However, on tasting, they were far too sweet and syrupy.   We left them for a further period and racked them off this week end, they are now much nicer - albeit still in the sweet category.

The elderflower didn't clear but tastes ok (I don't have a picture of that).

Because they are so sweet I think there may be a possibility of them developing some fizz (which would be nice) so, to be on the safe side, we've put them in champagne bottles.  We'll see how they develop.  I've got to get some foils to put over the tops now.

Craft Club

Jenny did the project last month (thanks Jenny).  We did this pop out/stepper card.

Tag

I got this lovely tag from  Louise it's gorgeous - lots of texture and the butterfly is made of feather and is very realistic.  Thanks Louise.

Birthday cards

Here are a couple of birthday cards I made for one of my nieces to give to her FIL.

Knitting

I was asked to knit a bolero for a friend's granddaughter.  It looked like a very simple pattern but the yarn was textured and I had a bit of a problem seeing well enough to cound the rows and stitches to begin with.  To get my head round the pattern, I knitted one in a plain yarn first (the white one).

Altered Art

On Sara's Time for Crafting forum we did a tag swap (theme birds) and an altered CD swap.  Here's what I made.  You can see all the CD's here.

Here's the CD I sent for the swap.  Pasta frame coloured with acrylic paint and gesso and brushed over with Lumiere paints.  CD colourd with Alcohol inks and the words printed on Letraset.

Here's my spare one.

I've had some lovely crafty things sent and given to me recently.

Firstly, a lovely bead necklace from my friend Muriel.  Thank you Muriel, this will go nicely with my new yellow top (when summer arrives!)

From Sam, I got this lovely tag.  You can see this and other lovely stuff she's done on her blog here.  Thank you Sam.

I got all these lovely goodies from Linda.  I love the felted brooch and her digi art.  You can see them all in detail on her blog.  Thank you Linda.

Last month's smile swap on Time for Crafting was The Great Outdoors.  Here's the one I received - made by Marion.

Here's the one I made.

I made another wee baby cardi to put on my knitting web site.

I was asked to made a card for a wedding for one of my sisters in law to give - I've done three so's she can choose.  Here they are.

This one was hard to photograph - here it is fully open.

and here as it will be seen.

I made a couple of stepper cards for birthdays.  The fairy images are from Christa - thank you Christa.