arty crafty

During the holidays, although I instagrammed it, I forgot to share this here. Yes, doing that a lot, I know.

Inspired by something I'd seen on instagram, and sick of the IM BORED coming out of her mouth, I spray painted an old canvas (some painting she'd done ages ago, truly awful) white and let her loose with PVA glue, scissors and scraps of paper. It may have been easier if I'd made her do rough square shapes instead of random, as towards the end I had to step in and help out. Anyhow, she's pretty impressed with the finished result and that she did it (mostly) by herself.

doing stuff

I gave myself a bit of a mental shake the other day and decided to get in and DO some of the things I had been THINKING about doing for ages (you know those jobs you think will be tricky/time consuming/brain numbing)

I had the material, and laid in bed thinking about the how that morning, and then decided to DO, and give this old chair a badly needed facelift.

I wouldn't say its professional by any means (I had to use calico on the bottom of the cushion) , but it IS done and I have a few mental notes about the next two I have to do...because once you start, you can't have one looking all smicko and the rest all sad and dowdy.

Instead of tackling another armchair, today I decided to do the "easier" cane tub chair that needed a new cover as well. I fell in love with this fabric at spotlight the other day. I think I need to get some more.

 Eagle eyed people will note that the fabric is cut the wrong way...I think the vine should run UP instead of across...my fault for not paying enough attention at the first cut.  I've also just hosed the chair down and tomorrow will give it a nice coat or two of tung oil (I was going to stain it but don't have the stain, so why wait for something that isn't essential!)

The second armchair, which forms a pair with the first, will be covered in the same bright, rather garish fabric as the first (but I kinda like it a lot?!) and the third, which sits inside by the fire...I am not sure. I could use the blue/grey/navy which I love and it looks awesome, or perhaps wait and find something alternate but equally as awesome....oh decisions decisions!

something else I made

The other day, when it was pretty darned hot outside, and the aircon inside the office, and what I very tongue in cheek call my studio, was nice and icy (set a fair way below the recommended 25 degrees!) the kids and I pottered about.

One of the things I did was make this little nappy wallet for a newly born little Isabelle.

She'll be quite the little cowgirl and mum and dad have already got a pony lined up for the when the time comes. (heaven help them if she doesn't like horses!) Wipes in one side, a tube of bum cream and a few nappies, the new mum has reported that it works well and meant the big old nappy bag could be left in the car.

Secured shut with an elastic band (hairtie in a former life) and a button I think I took off one of the girls stained play shirts (it didn't need such a pretty button) it folds up neatly. I love the outside paisley sort of print..I think I'd wear a collared button up shirt in this if someone made one!

This used three fat quarters with a fair sized scrap of each left over. And took probably under an hour to make (less if you don't faff about or make any mistakes!)

and I made this with part of the leftovers:

faffing about

SIL ordered "art work" (with a theme) for her daughters bedroom for christmas...I didn't get time to look at doing it, so neices got a little something else to unwrap, and I got a chance to have a go at these today.

Glued some paper on 12x12 canvases, did some modge podge sealing (don't look TOO closely)...I do hope its what she wanted.

  Well, I think they do fill the brief of Bright, Colourful, Girly and Elephants!

Onto neice #2 now, which is owl themed...I do hope she likes yellow! ;-)

one of those spur of the moment projects

well, sort of, I had the materials laying around for a looooong time. I spied my tin of red spray paint, and suddenly the urge to paint something overtook me.

I went to the cupboard that The Husband doesn't ever go into (a bit like The Shed Of Strange Things) and retrieved some large chipboard letters I had bought probably five years ago, but hadn't done anything with them. I KNOW. Armed with my tin of spray paint, and finding a really useful makeshift spray booth, got to work. Spray paint is very satisfying.

(the garden trailer, a great little spray booth!)

unfortunately, my initial plan of where I was going to mount these in his room has failed. I planned to lean them against the wall, sitting on the blind pelmet in his room. But after investigation, the blind pelmet doesn't have a wide enough ledge to hold them steady.  But, for the purposes of a little photo shoot, here they are, abbreviated and cheekily perched on top of the mirror.

Now that I look at the photograph, I notice the paint doesn't seem even, especially on the S, but I hadn't noticed until now (and look in the mirror, heh heh!) Maybe another quick spray is called for.

My next step will be to get some blutak - around here the stuff seems to evaporate, I know not where as there is no blutak on the walls anywhere in the house.  I'll simply blutak them to the wall above his bed now.

Only five and bit years after the fact, but better late than never!

And anything to get out of doing any real housework :)

don't look too close

I've been sewing. My mum professed a need for a new table runner, as the one currently on her very large silky oak dining table was covered in a lovely Christmas tree pattern. So I went home and whipped one up.

The top came together so easily, I started to get an idea that I wouldn't mind making one of these for myself.

Then came the binding, and whether it be my sewing machine or more likely, my dodgy sewing skills, I suddenly changed my mind. Anyhow, it is done and will look lovely on that big table, as long as one doesn't get too up close and personal with the wretched binding.

It certainly is bright, but its a big table and so the "white space" all around will quieten it down. (I hope!)

  And I think I am SO clever. Mitred corners are not something that I have ever been able to understand (I know what they are just struggle with the HOW they happen part) and rather than waiting for someone to come along and show me, I came up with a solution. Rounded corners. They work just as well in sewing as scrapbooking ;-)

If I did it again, I think I would have three wider strips instead of just two, but that's just me being nit picky.

Hope she likes it.

done

yes more wedding invitations, this time with a much tighter brief, the bride having a strong idea of what she wanted and the groom as well (no pink or bright-bloody-colours!) although we sure showed him - he never said anything about RIBBON!

Dress making will commence for the girls in due course, they are terribly excited about being flowergirls, and the boy is a Ring Bear/Cowboy (his idea of his task) with a cute little suit. Father of these children is aghast that he will have to wear his suit AND a tie (bride did suggest a pink sparkly light up twirly one which was not well accepted). Mother of children and sister to the groom is also having dress angst, having decided to wear TWO outfits, pants to the ceremony to prevent any knicker showage when assisting in photographic endeavours, and then a dress to the reception so as to glam it up just a wee bit.

Am thinking of black boards with swirly chalked lettering on it. Must talk to the bride. She likes swirly. Exciting times.

This weekend

Do you remember this, from last year? (did I show it to you?)

Well, the time has come, and this has been on the fridge for a little while, reminding us of the fun to come...

Along with this one too. I might have had a hand in the design of each ;-)

Gathering up all of the saved coffee bottles from around the place, cleaning, de-labelling, and prettying up with a tag (featuring the cute birdy/flower graphic on the invite) and string, and plunking in some candles to go on the white clad tables at the country garden wedding. She has lanterns to string through the trees and around the place, and some of the big paper ones to hang in special spots. It should look just GORGEOUS.

And then finding my camera and giving it a bit of a de-dusting and putting on my photographers hat. This wedding photography lark is starting to become a (non-paying!) habit. Thankfully I have my lovely mate Mel as wing man. She's a handy one to have around when time is of an essence, the days are getting shorter and dusk falls all too quickly.

And both husbands will be there to supervise the kids. Hmm. They are easily distracted (the husbands, not the kids) Hoping they don't end up in a shed getting their wedding finery covered in grease (kids, not the husbands).

Stressing just a little. A few butterflies. Hoping I get time and a few quiet moments to catch my favourite details shots (the dress, the ring, the shoes, the lanterns, the glass bottles with the candles. The flowers.). Hoping that I get THE shot of the bride and groom. You know the one. It can't be set up, just pressing the button at the right time, catching a smile, the joy.

And with all of that floating around in the ether, luckily I had a friend do some easter bunny shopping!

made

a quick little project made on one of the rainy days we've had this week. As much as I love the rain, I am pleased to see the sun out today (GORGEOUS day!) but not so much the mildew that is appearing e v e r y where.

This little project didn't take much time to complete, and involved a hot glue gun, and I am pleased to report my fingertips survived intact.

A pin cushion/container from a canning jar (should be able to get them from spotlight or kitchen store - the ones with the two piece lid).  Finally a safer place for my pins to live! considering their home has been like this....

for way too long, resulting in many a spill, much swearing and getting kids to pick them back up with a magnet, I think it was about time that I did this!

Love it when my crafting attempts actually are successful!

now off to hang some washing in the sun, and to think about the mildew. Who knows, I might even wipe some of it off.

Wait, its Saturday! Slave labour shall be enforced (evil laugh!)......

one down

one of those projects that has made me wonder what sort of insanity prompted me to not only contemplate this in the first place, but actually START it, and hence need to finish it. And then again. And again.

I'm blaming pinterest myself!  Anyhow, let me present library bag number one. I started with the oldest child. The one with the shortest name, and the one with the least amount of curly bendy letters in her name.

The library bag is a plain pre made calico bag from school, and in my fit of pinterest derived delirium, I decided that instead of just their name on the front in Nikko pen, I would instead beautifully appliqué their names on the front and add some cute embellishments. Snort.

I got as far as the name and figured that was enough thank you very much, but once fiddling with the drawstring bag realised that it would be so much more practical with handles. So with some strips of precut fabric, quickly made some handles for the bag, did some rough measurements and sewed them on below the drawstring so that it is still functional.

I believe this is as close to the stitching that you need to get! (the letters are all the same size, the fabric is folded a bit in the image above.)

And the straps aren't the same either, but I tell myself it adds a little fun to the whole thing. It has to LOOK more fun than it was to DO surely?!

Am working on the boys at the moment, the child with the second shortest name, and I will be telling everyone that wonky was the look I was aiming for!

Poor Georgie, with the long, curved lettered name. I wonder if she would be happy with a big G instead?!!

Watch this space.

an idea I had....

that sort of worked...

My lovely friend Mel gave me a gorgeous tea towel as a gift - she knows me well and just what I would like - and I just loved it. Too much to simply put it in the tea towel drawer, even though being linen it would in fact be an excellent dish dryer.

Instead, I remembered seeing somewhere in a magazine how someone framed a lovely printed tea towel, making a cheap and colour bit of artwork.

Our walls are pretty bare (apart from cobwebs and dust, but that is another story titled Living In The Country) so I decided to give it a go. And fortuitously, when I went to Charters Towers the other day, I found the EXACT sized large (50 x 70 cm, so very large!)  frame I needed, for only $12! I bought three.

Which is a good thing, as I have broken the glass on my first attempt to get this project underway. (stupidity on my part, as usual)

Firstly, I unpicked the hem all around the tea towel, and gave it a press with a hot iron. Of course, this would be easier if I chose a pattern without so many straight lines, an all over print would be smarter!

I laid the glass over the tea towel, trying to get things as straight as possible. Drew around the glass and then cut off the excess fabric, just inside the line I drew.

The frame.

I then placed the trimmed towel on the backing board (I flipped the bit of paper over so I had a white background to lay my white towel onto) keeping everything lined up as best as I could. Placed the glass directly over the top (try not to drag it over the area, it will disrupt the placement of your towel). Clipped the little silver things back into place, and done.

And its crooked. But cute.

Now, begs the question: my seamstress/perfectionist MIL reckons she can get the whole thing straight by trimming off and leaving a narrow white border and sewing a navy or black border around this, and then stretching around the frame.

Do we add the border? Or leave it as is, in its kitschy, crooked, loveliness?

I ask, as I have two others to do - same pattern, different colours (CZ each your heart out, symmetry and repetition!)

What do you reckon?

its gone into shock

my poor sewing machine!

Not actually what I really planned to make, but turned out handily non-the-less. Another failure  - or two - that at least are still useful! (like most of my projects, the intended purpose has to be adjusted due to lack of cleverness or sewing skill on my part!)

 

The spotty phone pouch was actually the pink and brown one on the right, until I turned it inside out...I do love the paler fabric, but my phone fits so much better into the inside out version!

And I love the lining of the one that ended up being the perfect size for my little handbag camera. Tis a pity that some of the seams don't line up, but my camera doesn't care, and its a bit 'o pretty for my bag.

I've got a couple of other things to share - I told you my sewing machine has gone into shock! but I have to wait for my lovely friend Juliane to let me know when she gets them in the mail - I don't want to spoil the surprise...(the same one that said - no pressure - but I have your blog as my home page!)

Over at Simple Aussie Girls we are sharing our Week In The Live albums, so do pop over and check them out. Love each variation, and seeing a bit of everyone's different everyday-ness. Very cool.

following through

Remember this post just a few days ago? well I got my act together and actually MADE it. Instead of just finding the tutorial and pinning it! ;-)

Meet Owlee (I just know that will be the original name it will be given, and she is clearly a girl) who is waiting, hiding, for a little girls' birthday in about 15 more sleeps. Not that she is counting or anything.

I think she might need a touch more stuffing, and needs her bottom sewing shut, but she is essentially done. I had to race to get her finished before school finished, as I didn't want any curious girlie looking over my shoulder (just goes to show, I should have gotten off the computer earlier!) Not perfect by ANY means, but still cute. Well I think. ( I decided to go with out the feet at the bottom)

Hope she likes her!

Link HERE if you want to make your own!

decisions, decisions

and wasting valuable child free time in doing so....

which one?

or

hmm, leaning towards the first one....more cuteness factor.

boy I have a hard life.

a change of pace

I was feeling like tinkering with my sewing machine and fabric the other day, instead of paper and glue (or even instead of folding washing or cobwebbing) so I started with a simple project for that still un born baby girl.

A burp cloth - some pretty fabric on top and some chenille/towelling stuff on the back. Just a bit nicer than an old cloth nappy slung over the shoulder, yes? especially for outings with baby. I've got a couple of more on the go, and they take very little time and thought to put together. And are very pretty all stacked up together! Feels nice to create a gift that is (hopefully) useful, instead of buying something from the shop, or even from the likes of madeit dot com, that someone else has made.

Something that did take more time, and more thought for this rusty at sewing brain, involved a slight miscalculation that changed the intended purpose of this next little creation.

Which ended up being a rather great miscalculation - a little, padded wallet thingy for the big girl to keep all of her electronic gadgets all in the one spot - especially for in the car!  A pocket for the mp3 player, one for the DS, and another pocket for any extra games that she might wish to take (if she had any more than three games of course, but that day will come I am sure!) The two pockets on the left have little clips to shut them so mp3 players don't fall out and total devastation occur because it has been lost ;-)

I pinched one of the girls hair ties to turn into a fastener, and a firmly attached button to keep it all together. All in all, it ended up being a success, and of course will probably have to make at least two more as the other kids eventually get their own gadgets.(am also thinking could be a great gift idea for the cousins as well! in suitable boy or girl fabrics as the case may be) Our recent trip to the city WITHOUT this wallet proved that it really is needed to keep these valuable little toys safely in one spot, instead of floating around on the floor or on the seat under a bum.

Hoping I get some time to run up some more simple little sewing projects, but this week isn't looking good for that so far!

today I am

still dealing with sick kids - this time #2 is upchucking and looking pale on the couch, watching Tangled for the 20th time . #3 spent the day pretty much attached to the toilet (this time the bottom end giving the problems!) and #1 spent Saturday feeling ill as well.

Me, I have been feeling queasy, but that could be all of the dealing with the stuff coming from both ends of children at different times. Not entirely pleasant, and that antibacterial handwash has been well used.

I've also been loving pinterest, still, and finding a couple of little projects to play with (lord knows I should be doing something housework-y, like tossing around disinfectant - but luckily the kids are getting old enough to keep their upchucking tidy and get to the toilet on time - which makes tossing the disinfectant around so much easier!) I love that all of the "one day I might do this" projects are all tidily in one place.

Like this, for a soon to be born baby girl (in girly colours of course!)

and one of these, only using far prettier fabric. (its a nappy wallet - how I wish I had known about these or had this idea when I was carting nappies around!)

and maybe some of these (a simple pretty burp cloth!)

Funny that I am sewing baby stuff now all of my kids aren't babies anymore....

I'll share how things turn (or not) out!

making stuff

other than scrapbooking. Been on a bit of a creative rampage, I have been. I suspect it has a fair bit to do with the weather outside and how toasty my office (aka creative central!) can be, with a little time with the oil heater on.

Anyhow, the other day I made what I thought, was a terribly cute mobile, using felt balls and green bakers twine (of which I have approximately 500 metres!). But you know what? I was in such a hurry to parcel it up and get it to the gift recipient (a new little "Amelia Betty" baby girl) that I didn't take a photo. Shame on me. Amelia's mum, who loves the mobile and its boppy little colourful balls, promises me she will take a photo, one day.

So, that little success led me to order some more little felt balls, and this time, needing a gift for a baby shower (never been to one before) I decided to try a "garland", as I was lacking brain power and anything mobile like to string the balls from.

And then I got all creative and made pretty packaging AND a card to match.

out of an empty olives jar (which was soaked and then dried in the oven to get rid of the pickled smell!) The colours of the balls I was sent this time aren't as bright, but still cute...(however should there be a next time I will be specific in my colour choice as I was when I got them for the mobile). The mum to be can drape this over curtains or on the wall or wherever she wants.

I thought I would try a pin wheel...which when small in size are fiddly to make. Just tellin' ya ;-)

Then I dived into my stash of recycled gift bags, and as it so happened I had the perfect green bag to match. A sheet of pink tissue paper, and I think it is presentable.

Is this the sort of thing that one gives at a baby shower? Given this is her third child, and the baby is due next week, and I had planned a different, small gift for when the baby is born. 

Is a baby shower just an excuse to have a girly get together? I am really unsure of its purpose! Anyhow I hope its suitable, and am looking forward to the girly get together and yummy afternoon tea! ;-)

still working on

this:  a sneaky peek.

I've got some slicing up of paper, some printing, some assembly and some envelope stuffing coming up on my horizon this week.   This paper has a lovely texture - after some trepidation, I love the finished result.

I'll share the finished article once I get them all assembled and posted away. I may not be loving them quite so much by that stage!

Working On

Walking on the wild side and designing wedding invitations for a dear friend's brother's wedding. This is just a sample using what I had on hand (imagine a non-spotty ribbon!)  And they didn't like the flower :( Oh well.

Stay tuned for the finished product. 

OH! I am also photographer at this wedding! Multi tasking aren't I!

being creative AND domestic

Tomorrow we are Goin' Fishin' at a Super Special Secret Fishing Hole, and ordinarily I would be in bed already, as I have to get up early to prepare for this day out, and put a hearty casserole on in the slow cooker to be waiting for us - and a few of our friends - when we get home. But my plans have been foiled - the water is out and I can't bear to go to bed stinky, so instead I am here with you, waiting for the blessed moment for the pump to have enough water in the tank and I can have a shower.

Living in small towns have their downsides. but don't get me started on that.

ANYHOW: I have been both a little crafty and domestic this week. Not domestic in the cleaning sense, lest you think I've undertaken a personality change! ;-) Our school teacher celebrated a birthday early in the week, and I drew the short straw (or rather she did) and I had to bake her cake.

We all know my successes at cake decorating. This one was not much better.

Let me just say I had no imagination or brilliant ideas, so just made a plain old butter cake (which wasn't as brown on the outside as the photo suggests) dumped on some butter icing (that I tried flavouring with jelly crystals for fun. Fail, no change in taste what so ever). And the butterflies are hovering over a field of flowers, should you be wondering. I knew you would be.

So, cake done, I had to find/make a gift. I decided to not go into that cupboard in the spare room, and instead to get crafty. Made this:

(its a key ring/fob/thingy)

And this:

(its a glass tile pendant).

I had bought the bits and bobs to make both of these things some time ago, and am quite pleased with how they turned out. A couple of little things that could be improved on, but that is just me being picky at my own work, and I don't think they look too dodgy, unlike the cake. I think, anyhow. I am thinking of doing one of each for myself actually. (I was annoyed with myself that I cut the pattern off centre, but now I think I like it this way better.)

Be back in a day or so with our fishing adventures.  I am packing a full esky, as I have no intention of relying on the fishermen for lunch. (not that I like fresh water fish in any case!)