So I'm still at home, my shop is slowly getting put back together and we hope to be reopening near the end of the month.
Been abit of a mixed time of crafting I finished my last set of cards I was making in my current session.
They are a setting congratulations cards with a wedding theme. these four have a cake stamp topped with flowers and a strip of patterned paper with a bordered sentiment on top saying either congratulations on your marriage or on your engagement. I have tried to get a good range of colors across this set to suit everyone.
The other ones in the set have this elegant dress stamp and just say congratulation so could be used for an engagement, wedding or anniversary. The stamped image in backed on to matching card and the sentiment stamped on the same card and either embossed in white or done in a darker color. the bottom of the card has a piece of patterned embossed card and a strip of the colored card finished in either pearls of sparkles.
I have had some floristy work to do a funeral for a longstanding customer and very lovely lady. I was pleased to be able to do this for the family. A fitting and colorful spray.
Connected to this I made this cute crochet flower brooch to wear on my jacket to the funeral. The lady always appreciated lots of color in her arrangements so it only felt right to add a touch of color to my outfit. this was done in three rounds or different colors and the white and purple are created with chains which are joined back in to them selves this means that white and purple are not attached to each other at the top of the petal and allows for some shaping.
I've also been experimenting with some other crochet I'd seen lots of ripple stitch on pintrest and decided I'd like a go, I found a pattern and did this sample piece. once your a few rows in the shape really begins to take effect and build and is quite easy. hooking in to the back rows only creates a ridged effect.
I decided to use this new found skill to create a teapot cozy for an unstandard shaped/sized teapot my grandma has. The sample piece I had made had come out quite large so I switched from a 4mm hook to my preferred 3.5mm hook and cut down the dc gaps from 8 to 6 this did require me to draw out the pattern to work out how big my foundation chain needed to be to create even ripples.
And here is the finished cozy its made in two matching pieces then stitched down the front and back so appropriate gaps can be left for the spout and handle. as I changed colors I left long tails and these were used to sew the two pieces together. The bottom row of points are tuned inwards and stitched to create a flat edge along the bottom.
The pieces need to be quite abit tall than the pot to allow for how the points are brought together and stitched and I've finished it off with a flower like the brooch I made instead of the traditional pom pom. This is the first tea cozy I have made and I am very pleased with the result.
I've also be doing some social crafting as a friend had a
Stampin up party where we got to peruse the latest catalogs and have a go at making a fun card with demonstrator
Zoe Tant. these are the card myself and mum made. the backing is created with a white card that had shiny embossed stripes on and when an inked up sponge was passed across it the shiny parts resisted the ink. The sentiment was from a set which is part of Saleabration and I now have so look out for more from it.
One of the other sets available had this lovely tulip flower in it which I had a play about with it is created with layering up three different stamped images. Its rather clever and very effective.
I've also been doing quite abit of baking while I've been at home there was the apricot tea loaf the other week I made a second on as well as these chocolate cupcakes to take to my sisters on a weekend visit and I also made some cinnamon and raisin cookies for my other half to take on a mountain trip to Scotland. With the cup cakes I went atad made with the range of toppings I was feeling abit bored of just sugar strands so have been on the look out for more exciting things. these include chocolate curls, strawberry crunch and sugar butterfly and dinosaur shapes.
I've also been getting quite alot of reading done while I've been off which is good because I don't think I got through enough books last year. The red one in this pile was written my a friend and tells the story of Eponine from Les Miserables. Its aim at teenagers but is still a good read and the hard backed version is a thing of beauty. Check it out A little in love by
Susan Fletcher
There will be another post soon about my latest craft style products samples and my felt Russian dolls (when I get a nice day to photograph them) and my leap in to machine sewing. Check back soon.
