Vintage Recyling

Recently my Mum's been having a clearout and she came across this skirt.

She had been keeping it for many (many!) years to recycle into a patchwork project. Unfortunately it never materialised so she reluctantly passed it to me. I had scecretly hoped that maybe one day she would get bored with moving it from one place to another and donate it to me.

Although it was a long time ago I do remember my Mum wearing this skirt, so what to do with something that to me is precious. At first I didn't want to take the first snip but as I've got over the whole ripping, sticking, cutting books thing it wasn't too hard to overcome. Once I'd taken the frill off I realised that it could be the perfect size for making a scrappy cushion. There is enough that I could make one for my Mum too. But what about the rest?

Well if any of you follow the wonderful Effie at EfemeraInk you'll have seen the beautiful shoes she made recently. Perfect. But how could I display them? Then I remembered the 12x12 box frame I'd bought but it turned out to be not nearly deep enough so I had to think of something else. What about mounting them to a canvas? So I did.

So what else do I make? I really need to try and find a photo of my Mum wearing the skirt so I can scrap it. I'm also thinking of making my Mum a crafty tote for her new craft room which prompted the big clear out. What about a journal, memories to hold new memories?

So if you have a piece of clothing, fabric or children's outground clothes that hold memories for you think about turning them in something else you can treasure and use rather than being hidden away.

I just hope my Mum approves

Pick Your Own

Today saw the return to a bit of scrapping. The photo is typically not very good quality 1970s and square. I intended to keep it square after scanning and printing but it somehow came out 6x4 (ok user error). Luckily sketch #243 at Pencil Lines used a single 6x4 photo so I took advantage of this and used it as inspiration.

For the circle element I used a doily and added a piece of painted book paper at the centre so I could add my journalling. I made my own scalloped embellishment using an offcut from a watercolour pad page using the binding holes to thread some red satin ribbon through finished with a bit of paper lace sticky ribbon.

A summer memory - Scrapped.

They Were All Yellow Part II

I'm back with part two of my yellow creations. I hadn't done any dressmaking sewing for a while and felt to need to make something to wear. So I hunted around my patterns and decided on a tunic. In amongst my fabric stash I couldn't find anything suitable so paid a trip to one of my favourite fabric shops where they had recently taken delivery of some lovely linens.

Hopefully the stripes are sufficiently narrow for me not to look like a walking deckchair but I thought the white and yellow looked really summery - should the weather ever turn summery again.

Being quite small, OK short, I often have trouble buying clothes with waists, darts, bustlines, necklines being in the wrong place or sleeves too long. The advantage of making your own is that you can tailor to suit your own needs. That's what I did here. The original pattern used elastic at the back and I didn't think that would be a flattering option so opted instead to add some darts and a buckle detail.

With a bit of effort I now have an original tunic that fits and was very affordable. I knew that 'O' level needlework would come in handy one day. I may make another without sleeves or in blue linen to match some trousers, OK I won't get carried away.

They were all yellow

Whether it's got something to do with trying to compensate for the miserable weather we've had recently I don't know but yellow seems to have been a feature in everything I created last week and over the weekend.

It started with some lemon cupcakes

Follwed by a sunny yellow birthday card

A yellow fabric flower ring

and an art journal page

I'll be back to share more of my yellow creating soon.

Place Card Ideas

This week I've been asked to make some place cards for a ruby wedding anniversay celebration. I wanted to try and make something a bit different to a traditional place card.

So I gathered some supplies........

Red tissue paper, a die cut butterfly, some circle stickers, thin florist wire, cake decorating flower stamens, a red promarker and ribbon.

And this is what I came up with.

I'm loving paper flowers and I thought it would be a good way to include a bit of 'ruby' colour. This is version one I may tweak a few things what do you think?

Vintage Finds

Hi I've just come home from a bit of charity shop browsing and look what I found.

Some old books for an altered project I'm that's in the planning stage, a couple of small pretty glasses, vintage packaged bias binding and a table cloth. The whole lot cost me £6.70.

It seems a bit mean to call it just a tablecloth as it really is a work of art. Hand crocheted and pieced cotton it must have taken ages to make. I nearly didn't buy it but I'm so glad I did as it's a pretty good fit for my outside table. I don't think everyone in the household will be as excited as I am about my find though.

I now feel the need to plan a tea party. I can see another Pinterest board being set up with hours of associated browsing. At least if I do have a tea party it will have been time spent productively. I'll let you know ;-)

This Moment Canvas

Hi. Crafting time has been in short supply this week. It may have something to do with  Pinterest ;-) 

However I did find time last weekend to do some creating with friends.

I used one of my many canvases and created a background with book paper, paint, sprays and stamps. I had no real idea about what was going to appear on my background and then I remembered the This Moment Camera I downloaded for the Silhouette.

I cut the image from plain white lightweight cardstock which looked much better after a bit of inking and stamping. By happy coincidence the camera apperture framed the sprayed dots perfectly. A bit of doodling and paper flowers were the final addition.

And if you're wondering about Pinterest I think I'm going to find it invaluable for keeping all my favourite things in one handy place. Things like the tutorial for making the napkin flowers

Source: dana-made-it.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Happy pinning

Life is about finding your own way

That's a bit how I feel about my art journalling at the moment. There hasn't been too much creative thought behind my pages, no agonising over what should go where or what paint to use. Just seeing what evolves.

For this page I knew I wanted to try and include an image transfer so I used a copy of a photo of my back door. It's not perfect and it really doesn't matter. I really love the inclusions that Donna Downey uses in her inspiration journal design they offer an extra bit of interest on a page.

The lefthand side of my page uses a magazine image doodled with all the things I love about 'Home'.

Once I started to think inspiration rather than journal a creative switch flicked. The result? A page titled Love To Sew.

And finally Life Is About Finding your own way

The black paper really wasn't the best choice to use in the making of my journal but it's there and I had to make the best of it. Needless to say I've learnt my lesson and I won't be using it again.

I hope I'm not all burnt out when it comes to my art journal - we'll see.