Quiet Times

Yes, I have been very quiet lately.  A couple of reasons ... busy with the online store, busy with household repairs / renovations, not motivated ...

 

The online store has been busy, with packing orders, adding new products, and everything else that goes with maintaining a online store.

 

My home has had the carpets in all the main living areas, pulled up to reveal beautiful ash floorboards, which have been sanded and polished.  I did not realise the amount of dust and mess this would create.  Even though most things were covered, the dust has found its way into absolutely everything.

 

I have lost my motivation with sewing, I am not sure what I want to do ... I like making small gifts, so if anyone has any ideas please let me know ...

 

I need to start thinking about the Breast Cancer Pink Ribbon dinner in October.  The year is passing by so quickly it will be here before I know it ...

 

Three little items finished

 

1. Bowl Buddy as seen on Selina's blog

 

 

Selina amazes me with all the projects she finishes.

 

 

2. Handmade pendants

 

 

These were easy to make, the kits were purchased from "Little Red Raspberry" on Craftumi.  All I needed to do was adhere the graphic to the glass dome, and then once it had dried, glue it to the pendant tray.

 

3. Knitted Owl

 

 

This is a little lopsided photo of my knitted owl - these are called "Owl Puff" a pattern by Jenna Frupar.  They are knitted on either a circular needles, or a set of 4 needles.  Easy to follow instructions, the only problem I had was that I did not know what a Kitchener Stitch was?  This was required to stitch the owl closed.  Lucky "Mr Google" came to the rescue.

 

I had a enforced quiet day today, we had a scheduled power outage from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm - even though it was a cold and rainy day, it was fantastic to snuggle up with a book, without feeling guilty.

 

Judy

Pocket Warmers

Now that the cooler weather is coming, I thought I would make some pocket warmers - these would be great heated and then tucked into your pockets before venturing out in the cold!

I used the same principle for these pocket warmers, with a removable cover, as the tutorial from Selina Quilts (see the original post here) for her rice-filled heat packs.

I had some fabric left over from making the bags, so I made a matching set of pocket warmers

Blue:

Pink:

For anyone wanting to make some of these pocket warmers, here are the measurements to make one pocket warmer:


Outer cover:
Cut fabric 10" x 4" - sew double 1/4" hem on each of the 4" sides, fold up one end approx 2-1/2", then fold the other end over, overlapping approx 1/2" - length of closed bag should be approx 3-3/4"

Inner bag:
Cut calico 7" x 4",  fold 7" length in half and then sew down both 4" sides - turn right side out, fill with approx 4 spoons of rice (I used a dessert-spoon) then sew the opening closed.

 

Pop  the rice filled bag into the outer cover

 Then the last thing you have to do, to make this a lovely gift, is to wrap two warmers in ribbon and print out a tag with the instructions.  I printed the instructions on some lovely card-stock and then used my tag punch to punch it out - I think this was just enough.

The "Gift For You" ribbon used on the pocket warmers, is available in store - click here for details

Until next time
Judy

Elastic Bookmarks - quick and easy gifts

I was thinking of what I can give family members for Valentines this year.  As we are all avid readers I thought I would make these little bookmarks.

All you need is hat elastic (thin elastic) and charms.

Cut your elastic approx 18" (I found this to be the best size).  Double it, and then thread the middle double section through the eyelet on the top of the charm,  Try to keep your ends even.

Bring the other two ends through the loop of the elastic to ensure the charm is secure

Now the hard part, just kidding!  Knot the ends ... all done!

One note, if you find the eyelet of the charm is too small to allow the elastic to be threaded through, just add a tiny split ring ..

Now it is easy to thread the elastic

The elastic slips around the pages of your book, and the best thing is that is does not fall out.  You can pop your book in your bag, drop or shake it and this bookmark will remain in place.

If you are giving these as gifts, you might like to package them accordingly.

I had purchased these packs of journal cards from Spotlight in their clearance section for $1.00 per pack, they were ideal.

I just pushed out the tags, and used the hole in the top to thread the elastic through. 

I completed the tags by printing out the name of the gift and using double sided tape to adhere to the card - I must admit this took the longest part of the whole process.

Six elastic bookmarks in less than 5 minutes.  I am definitely keeping one of these for myself.

Judy

Quick Candle Gifts

Do you need a gift in a hurry?  Well these two candle ideas may help you?

1.  Fabric or Washi tape tea lights

Take your basic tea light - these ones are lavender and smell divine

 

Now, just wrap your fabric tape around each one - it is the ideal size

 

 

Now don't they look much better?

 

Pop them into a box and wrap with a bow - all done!

 

 

 

2. Glade Candle Re-Do

 

I love the smell of scented candles. This Glade candle is a favourite - Apple & Cinnamon.

 

 

Carefully peel off the labels - Glade even gives you instructions on where to peel it off - very kind

 

 

Now you have a "bare" candle - all you need now is a "rub-on".  These are primarily used in scrap booking and card making.   Rub the saying or quote of your choice on the side of the glass.

 

 

Super easy. Place in cellophane bag, tie a ribbon, and you have a quick and easy personalised gift.

 

 

Do you have any super quick and easy gifts?  I would love to hear about them

 

Until next time

Judy

 

 

 

 

 

Bracelets and Market review

Well, I am glad the market is over. It is a lot of work and I admire the people that participate on a regular basis.  It was a lovely sunny morning, and we had a lot of shoppers, for this I was grateful. Unfortunately I did not take any photos of my table, I really was too busy, but I will be showing you some of the new items I made in the next few days.

I made myself a "tape measure" bracelet to wear on the day ... I just cut a flexible tape measure to size, clamped ribbon ends on the cut edges and joined it together with a heart and bar closure.  I love it!

The next set of bracelets was a result of playing with fabric strips.  I had a large fluffy chenille stick which I joined in a circle - it needed to be large enough that I could slip it over my hand onto my wrist.  Then I just wrapped fabric around the chenille stick a couple of times, gluing the ends to finish off.

These are quite flexible, because they are made from the bendable chenille sticks, although the same principle could be used with wire, or piping cord?

I think I will try and make some bracelets using the same principle as the "Pink Ribbon Necklaces" I made last year - see that post here.  I would need to use smaller beads though.

We are planning a working bee at my Mothers for Mothers Day this Sunday, so I do not think I will be able to get much time for craft.  Maybe a few minutes?

See you soon

Judy

Procrastination

Do you know someone, that always procrastinates when a particular task needs to be done?  I am that person, especially when it is time to do the ironing!  I do not know why I find it such a chore, but I leave it until it can no longer be left!  It takes me twice as long as it should, as I always find something to "side-track" me, which is the reason for this post.

Plain old wire coat-hangers, so boring...

Take 30  minutes out of your ironing time, and you can have these

Nothing fancy, or hard.  Just cut strips of fabric into any size (mine were approx 1.5") and wrap around your coat-hanger.  I started near the hook, up around the hook, and then around the entire hanger.  When I got back to the starting point, I cut the fabric up the centre, wrapped it around the base of the hook to make a little bow.

OK - back to the ironing.

Judy