Another half done project finished

well almost.  Was trying to design a sweater using up the extra balls of King Cole Splash I bought for my daughter Ami's hooded scarf. However I ran out of yarn and ended up buying another ball.  I still have a zip to add at the neck to finish it off but this is it.

It was supposed to be 20 inch but finished measurements are 18inch unstretched. I am going to put the pattern on Ravelry and Etsy
Happy Crafting till next time

Finished Marley's Hoodie

Finally finished the toddler hoodie I started last August.  Unfortunately it will no longer fit the wee girl I started it for. It is in two shades of Woolcraft double knit with toggle buttons.  It took just over 2 balls to complete.

Working my fingers to the bone.

Been crafting all day and all last evening too.  Have had to stop mid-flow as my arthritic fingers have given up and look like sausages now. :)
Below are my makes:

I had a lot of fun doing this.  The base is a 12" Erasure album, to which I added a circle of Kokeshi Doll card from the now defunct Abi's Crafts. I cut the circle 3mm smaller than the album so there was a tiny black border. The numbers are cut from glitter card in font called Shojumaru from fontspace.  I can't remember what size I made them but it was larger than 72.  They are raised up on foam pads for more definition.  The hands were from ebay and have a star and a moon at the ends of them.

I also added a blue gem to the central point.  The finished clock is now listed in my Etsy shop: WiccaBasketUK

This was me practising for the clock making at the group I attend, next Thursday.

One of the ladies at the group is ill and has been in hospital so I made her a get well soon card.

I used a pearlescent card and a cutting file called Get Well Soon Folding Card from the Silhouette store.  It could have been doing with me scoring a fold line but I forgot.  The backing paper is a pale yellow and I added some glitter glue to the letters.  The finished card is just under an A5 size.

The next card i did was another cutting file from Silhouette, Medieval Tile.  The base is white linen card 5x5inch, the offset in blue and the top layer in turquoise.  I think I may add one of my replica medieval coins to the centre to finish it off.

I found some nice pieces of card in my offcuts box that just seemed right for each other so I made up this card base for them

The pierced wooden heart has been glazed and the holes filled with glaze which makes it all very shiny.  I can't decide whether to add a sentiment to the top right or leave as it is.

Also in my offcuts box was a twisted pyramage that I had cut out but not assembled.  I used foam pads to mount each layer on top of the other and used a Lori Whitlock cutting file for the stepper base.  I left room to put Happy Birthday or a name on the scalloped panel

I do find i'm using my Cameo in most of my cardmaking these days.

As my fingers were sore I took a break and made some soap.  This first one is a mould that came with a UK sweet making magazine as was the gift box.  I used a Goat's Milk soap base from Mystic Moments and coloured half of it with carob powder.  I used a chocolate fragranced soap oil from Justasoap then when it was just starting to cool swirled the two colours together to give the marbling effect.

Their tails are little lengths of string.

I also made some chocolate heart soaps that I haven't packaged and photographed yet.  I am going to put each of them in a little petit fours case and box them up too.

I also made some bar shampoo with Claranol shampoo base and Patchouli,  Lavender and Tea-tree essential oils.  These not only add a wonderful scent but are great for dry hair.  The little bars are perfect for using while travelling as there is no risk of spillage and you can take them in your carry-on bag.

I think i'll be doing some more soap making later tonight if I can stay awake :)

Thats it from me for now - Happy Crafting!

Todays Makes

I started off by making a condolence card for the neighbour.  I used a silhouette file to create a large flower with several layers which i curled using my bone scorer from the wonderful Cgull tool kit, and held it all together with a large Laura Ashley brad.

There are two layers of green leaves under the flower which I attached with glue dots.  I then used another silhouette file to make a with sympathy topper.  However, the writing was so narrow in places that it ripped and twisted when i tried to remove it from the cutting mat.  So i used a bracket file and print and cut to just write the sentiment on pearlised card.

Next I made two cards as a friend has just became a grandma for the first time with the birth of a baby boy to her son.  Again I used silhouette files. (My subscription was probably the most sensible thing I did last year). These three cards took around 2 hours to design, cut and create.

When I was in Montrose shopping I spotted a new craft magazine "Prima Makes"  I bought it and it came with a kit to make a little mouse pin cushion.  I scanned the templates, used trace on the cameo and made a cutting file for each piece which I then combined into one file. I don't know yet how to offer these for download but if anyone wants one just email me Maelbrigda.

The material that came with the kit was 3cm shorter on one piece compared with the other and even using only a 0.5cm selvedge I couldn't get all the pieces to fit so I raided my stash and made this little mouse which I've named Horace.  I will be offering him in the March YDC charity auctions on eBid.net.  You can join in the fun by registering and placing a bid or two. Join eBid now. 

If you are feeling charitable bidding starts at 9.30am UT on the 24th March.  He would make a great alternative Easter pressie (but not for young children) This is the link to the auction

Tomorrow I hope to start on the hood for the hoodie I am making.

Happy Crafting!

This weeks crafty makes

I got the wedding invitations finished and just need to make a start on the evening ones now but all is going well.  The new Cameo is excellent.  I can now see how much the other one was a struggle.  The cards that previously were taking 20 minutes each to cut are now taking only 10.  I've been able to change the blade setting from a 6 down to a 3 and up the speed from 2 to 6 without the card getting all chewed up.

Yesterday I had the sewing machine out so I made a ring pillow.  It is approx 30cm square in satin look polyester with a big diamante buckle threaded onto some net and little bows to hold the rings.

I have also been knitting.  Over the weekend I managed 1 1/2 of the fronts of the hoodie I started last October.  It will no longer fit the wee girl I was making it for but i'll stick it on etsy when i'm finished.

I bought the sweetest little bird buttons on ebay

They were from a UK seller and were very reasonably priced.  Just need to find a project to use them on now.

A good friend became a granny this week so will do a card for both her and the new parents. Found some lovely cutting files in theSilhouette Store. I think I will do a onsie card for the parents and i'm not sure yet what i'll do for the proud Granny.

Happy Crafting!

Wedding Invitations and Favours

Now my Cameo is back I can get cracking on with the wedding invites and favours.  To make up for a lost month I designed different evening invitations.  I used the frame for the wedding invitations, did a print and cut on the Cameo with it set to no cut and put their initials and date on the front.  This design was originally for the order of service cards.

I don't know yet whether or not they will like them but 50 of these should only take a week.  I still have the problem of having to wait 4-5 hours for the ink to dry and i don't have the space to have more than 5 drying at one time.  I'll know not to use pearlescent card next time.

I also made 20 favour boxes for my daughters wedding in June.  These are also done on pearlescent card but i've had no drying problems with these.

The pattern is vintage cars with "Just Married" on the back and little hearts.  The ribbon is white organza secured with a glue dot and a pearlised lilac ribbon slider to finish.  Each box contains 2 mini packets of "love hearts" sweets.
These boxes were very quick and easy to make.  I will certainly do them again.  The cutting file was from the Silhouette Store and is called Christmas Gift Box.  I deleted the Christmas tree and made the box a little smaller so 2 would fit on an A4 page.
I have also made some Jasmine Essential Oil handmade soaps with just a sprinkling of jasmine flowers.  The base for these was an sls free Olive Oil melt and pour and I also added a little Vitamin E.

I finished off the organza bags by adding one of the ribbon sliders to each.  With hindsight I should probably have coloured these lilac to match the theme but I left them uncoloured as so many people have allergies to various things.

I still have 13 of my nephew's wedding invitations to make and the 50 evening ones if they want them.  I also have 40 evening invitations and some table decorations to do for my daughter.  Hopefully they will all be finished with time to spare.

Got my Cameo back :)

Yesterday the postie brought a brand new Cameo to replace my faulty one.  I now have it all set up again and managed 8 wedding invitations that had previously been printed but not cut.
Lots of projects lined up to do now its back