Decorating

Wow, it’s been a while since I posted! Things have been a little hectic and due to get more hectic in about five months as I am expecting. With this in mind Andy and I decided to decorate the spare bedroom to make a nursery. We decided on a lovely yellow colour and then wanted to add a nice feature wall. As I’ve said before I love owls so it was decided an owl in a tree was needed.

After a quick search on the Internet and pinterest an inspiration picture was found and we were ready to start.

I sketched out the trunk and branches with chalk and then carefully painted these on. Next we decided we wanted to add some texture so got five different green papers and using a template cut out over 100 paper leaves which were then stuck on with sticky tape.

Finally I drew a pattern and created an owl using felt which was hand sewn together. I then stuck it to a piece of card and used sticky fixers to attach it to the wall.

We are really pleased with the final result, what do you think?

A couple of awesome crafty blogs

I thought I would share a couple of my favourite blogs. Both are written by mothers who find time to craft despite having several children.

The first is http://www.paisleyjade.com. This blog mainly includes crochet and the occasional amazing cake. The crochet creations are pretty funky though and have formed the inspiration for a number of my projects. It’s fun to read and the photographs are pretty cool. Also Boo the dog makes the odd appearance and she is possibly the coolest dog in the world.

The second one is http://www.slugsontherefrigerator.com/. This mum of three (all under six) designs and makes some of the coolest crochet hats in the world. She also has beautiful children who often grace the amazing pictures she takes.

I would definitely recommend both of these ladies crafty musings as well worth a read…after you’ve read mine of course!

An update on my last four months of crafting

It’s been a while since I checked in on this blog but stumbled across it again the other day and realized how much life had got in the way of my crafting. School reports and buying a house led to first no time to craft and then to all crafting stuff being packed away.

I have managed to get the odd but if crafting done though, either baby related for friends who all seem to have decided to get a small person or house related for us!

I have sewn dresses and was surprised at the amount of time a small dress takes to make! I’ve crocheted jumpers (in neutral green as its not known if Pip the bump is a girl or a boy). I’ve crocheted myself what I think is the most awesome scarf ever as well (see picture below!)

I have sanded down, stained and re-upholstered a telephone table bought off Trade Me (the NZ EBay) and painted our kitchen chairs. Actually now I come to think of it I’ve done a lot of crafting over the last four months!

My next project is a quilt. I’ve not really tried quilting properly before and the town we have moved to has a great quilting shop which does a month by month subscription system so you can steadily work your way through a big project and not feel overwhelmed. I’m going to have to work hard to make sure school and the rest of life doesn’t get in the way…fingers crossed I can do it!

Sock monsters update

I thought I would update with a picture of some of the sock creations my class have been busy with. I will try and get another picture when a few more are finished.

Sock monsters

We are having a market day at school and each class is having a stall of things to sell. I decided to try sock monster making with my class.

I picked a relatively simple pattern and we have been slowly working on our creations. I’m loving the fact that although we started with the same pattern our monsters are all looking very different. It’s been lots of fun sewing with my class if a little stressful at times. I have discovered that the skill everyone needs to learn is starting and finishing a thread!

I was particularly impressed when my VERY sporty boys decided a lunchtime in sewing was better than running about outside! I have definitely seen sewing skills improving. I am definitely inspired to do more sewing and already have plans forming for next year.

The classroom fun has rekindled my love of sock softie making and I have been creating some monsters of my own! (with a little help from Stray Sock Sewing). Below is a picture of one of my latest creations.

So teachers don’t be afraid to have a go at sewing with your class, the results are pretty cool and it can be lots of fun.

Aerated fingers

So I decided I wanted to try felting after seeing a number of cool examples. After some serious searching I stumbled across WoolBuddy and decided that I had to try one of his super cute owls (I’m a but of an owl nut!).

I was a little horrified to discover the cost of shipping from his Etsy site so after a bit more searching and a wait for stock to arrive I purchased my kit from Living Felt

The kit arrived tonight and so like a kid in a candy store I quickly unwrapped it, spread the contents across the floor and eagerly got stuck in.

Within about two minutes I stabbed myself for the first time, discovering that whilst fun felting is also a painful business. The instructions were small but easy to follow and my owl quickly took shape.

With things like this I often find that as much as I tell myself to stop I can’t and have to see my project through to completion on the same night started. With this in mind the owl is now complete four hours and several stab wounds later. I’m pretty pleased with him and have made him into a brooch so I can show him off in school tomorrow!

Update on the linocuts

Well the print making has been going well with both myself and the husband having a go. So far I have trialled the idea I had for school, done a quirky little owl and started working on a pukeko. The husband has made some mountains, a koru design and is now working on a label for his latest homebrew creation. They are all pretty basic I guess but a lot if fun. It’s harder than it looks and I have sliced my finger once already (this doesn’t bode well for the children not maiming themselves!)

I’ll let the artworks speak for themselves now, I would love to hear your comments.

Print making

The lack of posts is down to a lack of time for anything but school production (I am a primary school teacher). That is now finished though do the crafty musings can begin again.

Whilst planning an art unit recently I remembered doing lino prints when I was at school and thought how much fun that would be with the class. As it is a long time since I have tried it I thought I should probably have another go so if nothing else I look like I know what I am doing when working with the kids.

It seems pretty easy although I am sure at least one child is likely to maim themselves with the cutting tool (I have a good supply of plasters in my classroom!). I just need to try the ink bit now.

The husband has become very interested too and is asking to have a go as well so watch this space, our first Lino print pics will be following soon.

A Beanie for Me

I was feeling a little left out in the funky beanie stakes so I decided that my next project should be something for me. I knew what I wanted, I just had to find the pattern. After a bit of searching I was successful and am now the proud owner of an owl beanie pattern.

I got my pattern from a seller on Etsy (one of the best places on the web for buying crafty bits and pieces, made or yet to be made) http://www.etsy.com/transaction/51145689 although a quick search on the web will show you that there are a lot of owl beanie patterns to choose from out there!

So far the pattern seems pretty straight forward and doesn’t include any more unusual stitches. The wool I have chosen to use is a little tricky as it has a tendency to split into different threads making drawing the hook back through a little problematic at times (I am using Moda Vera Shiver in deep red).

At the moment the beanie looks like a big red place mat but I am only 8 rows in so there is plenty of time for it to take on a more fitting beanie shape. As with the Viking Helmet…watch this space!

The helmet is finished

I’ll let the picture do the talking!