Loving Links

Here are a few links of places I love - some give me inspiration, some are just WOW! & all are crafty of a kind :)

Firstly, one of the many amazing crafty ladies I have met since moving to Wellington...

I was introduced to Kat through the Crafty Foxes on FB & since then, I have participated in Craft swaps, Clothing Swaps & Wednesday Wardrobe Challenges. Anyone from anywhere in the world can participate in the challenges & what a great way to get more out of your wardrobe!

Cut out & Keep has given me so much inspiration including the inspiration to start my own blog. Some of the fun has actually happened in the kitchen, not a place I have been inspired before, luckily I like trying new things :)

Here is something recently posted in FB: English Embroidered Bookbindings. When i checked it out, I nearly drooled at the amazingness.

This Blog, I found through Cut Our & Keep, and while she does a lot of quilts, she also does a few quirky things along the way, which keep me reading. The other day she posted a quilt she has done for a cancer patient & the timing has hit me & for the first time in my life I am inspired to give this a go.

Felt is a NZ website, where you can buy handmade goods made by Kiwis - yah!

These are the main ones I go to, but of course I have a while folder in my bookmarks for "Craft"

Any great links for me???

4 day project

Most of my stitching is done in the evenings - some time between 6:30pm & 9:30pm... in between updating FB & checking out other equally time sapping websites.
I decided that for one of the 3 remaining presents I need to make for my FB New Year promise I would make one of the lovely ladies a bookmark. (don't worry, even though they don't know who is getting it, I do)

So, Day one... chose the lettering & graphed the pattern:

 

I saw something similar recently, but just can't bring myself to curse with thread.

Day two saw me choose colours & stitch the evening away:

 

No pic for day 3, but this involved making decisions on how I was going to finish this off, I stitched some back lining on the reverse side & arranged the lace. If you can imagine day 4 (today) finished product without the lace, that was the end of day 3.

Personally I think my ability to tidily finish project off has greatly improved - yah!
Now I have 2 more hand made  gifts to think of... hmmmmm in the meantime, back to biscornu.

Huzzah! take that!

yes, i unpicked & redid the stitching on the back of the postcard. So today I got to add the beads for the border.

My original plan was to use those little note clips - I thought I had seen them nearly everywhere & always thought why would anyone buy them?? so when I finally see a use for one, I can't find them anywhere!! Lucky I found this very cute & small easel.

Whew! Now I can get back to the biscornus, I just want to finish one more before starting on a bookmark & the green project.

So Close, and yet...

I decided that this weekend I will finish the postcard.
Here are some pics:

I'm pretty happy so far, so I proceeded to put it together by folding the two together just above the "July 2011"

Right sides together & stitched 3 sides - there is baking paper inside so that the angeline fibre doesn't go crazy while I iron the edges.

Then turned right-way out & inserted a piece of cardboard & stitched the final edge.

THEN I realised that when I flip it over - the back is upside down. sigh & grrrrr. Fortunately I hadn't put the beads around the outside. So I need I need to reverse ahhhhhhhhhh.

Fixing things

After sending a pic of what I was doing to my mum, she gave me some insightful feedback. Which is GREAT!
Firstly though, I carried on with what I had until I reached this point - which gave me thinking space:

the boulders here are too black & while I was going for a 3D effect, the joined boulders look like clouds. I do like the sand base & the sky & sea horizon... so only the middle to fix :)

so now it has been changed to this:

I will bring more of the sea horizon down & probably put more sky above, but I am really happy with the effect of the boulders now.

At the weekend I went to Bloomfields - at the Hands up for Chch, & got a couple of patterns, one of which I am looking forward to starting... but must finish this, & 2 other things first!