Not missing - busy

I am not missing, just been busy with other things rather than craft (which I would prefer to be doing)
The house is being painted, therefore everything is Topsy Turvy.

Also getting organised to have a trade table at the Murrumbidgee Country Quilters Quilt Exhibition.
To be held next weekend 5th & 6th March, at St Mary's Hall, Edon Street, Yoogali.

If you are in the area, come along, and check out the great display of patchwork, quilts and needlework.
All proceeds to Country Hope, so a great cause to support.  I will be taking a lot of my buttons to sell.

Judy

Santa Ornies

This was a quick and easy pattern - just a cone shape, paint the top to look like Santa's hat, add rusty bells.
Face was also very easy, bead eyes, blush and then glue on beard.  Love the finished result.

Notice all the different textures for the beards, this makes each one unique.

Judy

Christmas Sticks

These new Christmas ornies are reminiscent of the "olden days" noise makers.  The cute reindeer and santa heads have been glued to the top of a decorated dowel stick and then bells has been placed on the end of the hanging cord, so that when you spin the stick, the bells ring.

I think they turned out so well - only a snowman to be added to the collection now.

I am not sure if I will be adding these to the store now or wait until closer to Christmas - if you are interested, just send me a email.

Judy

Drawstring Bags - finished

I have completed another four drawstring bags for the "New Beginnings" flood appeal.  Very simple design with a small applique on the front.

Close-up of two of the bags

My sister has made some as well, so once I have received them all, I will send them up to Queensland so they can be filled with goodies to be distributed.

Back to making some more Christmas ornies, new pattern in the pipeline which I hope to show you the results of tomorrow

Have fun

Judy

Victorian Vignettes

What is a Vignette, you may ask?

This is an explanation from Answers.com

vi·gnette (n)


1. A decorative design placed at the beginning or end of a book or chapter of a book or along the border of a page.
2. An unbordered picture, often a portrait, that shades off into the surrounding color at the edges.

3. A short, usually descriptive literary sketch.

I have many books featuring old-fashioned and Victorian graphics which come under this heading ...and as I am sorting through all my books these ones are being offered for sale on my website They would be ideal for any paper craft project - card making, journals, altered art, bookmarks etc

These are so sweet, so go and have a look and grab a bargain

Judy

New Buttons

Just received another shipment of novelty and plain coloured buttons from the USA ... lovely plain coloured packs as well as novelty button packs

Some of my favourites in this order are the new pink ribbon button packs

and

A larger pack of black and white buttons will come in very useful.

I cannot wait to use some of these great buttons .... they will be available in the store over the weekend

Judy

Valentines Treats

I thought I would take the Valentine's Day "love" theme to make my sisters a treat bag of goodies.  The start of 2011 has been quite hectic in my family, with medical, emotional and job worries.  Luckily not all to the same family.  So I am taking this opportunity to tell my sisters (and sisters-in-law) how much we love them and care about them.

I sourced most of the printables off the web, covered a mini diary and put it all together in a bag with some wonderful bag toppers.

There are a couple of bookmarks, matchbook candy holder with a small packet of maltesers, a purchased chocolate heart, which I had put a printed love sticker on, covered a mini mentos roll of mints, the covered diary, and also a covered lip balm ... all useful items.

Here is what they look like all packed up ..

They will certainly not be expecting anything like this, so not sure how it will be received ...however, I certainly had fun putting it all together.

Onto drawstring bags tomorrow, I promise

Judy



Reindeer on a Spring

My friend Colleen from Colly's Christmas Crafts has sent me a pattern for one of her new designs ... Christmas on a Spring ... it comprises a Santa, Snowman and a Reindeer on a old bed spring.

I had the prototype of the reindeer, so I had to try him , he looked so cute when he arrived.
This is Colleens version, with his sweet adorable face

Now here is my attempt, some minor changes, due to the different bed springs used, mine was smaller and had the same size opening on the bottom and top.  Colleen's had a large bottom and a very narrow top

I still think they are cute ... we quite often use old rusty bed springs as prim nodders but by covering the spring they are converted into sweet "cutesy" craft items

This following photo shows the three together, it may give you an idea of the differences in design and sizing.

Not sure when this pattern will be available, but I am sure to have it in store as soon as it is published ... now to get permission to teach this at one of my craft workshops!

I will test out the Santa and Snowman on a spring in the next couple of weeks, and let you know the results

Judy

More Sewing Kits needed

The Gum Tree Designers need more "New Beginning" sewing kits.  With even more people affected by the floods in Victoria, Cyclones in North Queensland, and now just last weekend flooding in my local area (Urana & Lockhart) - the needs are great.

Any little thing that you do / make / supply WILL help ...   check out the latest post on the Gum Tree Designers Blog to see what is needed, and how you can help.  The cutoff date has been extended to the 15th March.

You will also see that my little parcel of support had arrived, the calico bags in a box with a small applique motif.

The response to this appeal has been world wide and the girls have kindly named all the people who have contributed to their appeal.

I have promised some more drawstring bags, so my own craft may take a little back seat for a while

Please help, if you can

Judy

Dolly Peg Soldiers

Don't they look handsome - all lined up in a row?

These dolly pegs were painted using instructions from AllFreeCrafts - although I did make some minor changes to these instructions.  I used gold paint down the outside of the trousers, rather than gluing on braid.  I also sewed a hanger into the black pompom for his hat before gluing into the top of his head.

Another Christmas ornament crossed off my list ..

My friend Colleen from Colly's Christmas Crafts has designed some great Christmas sticks - so that has been added to my list of projects for this year.  Hopefully I can get started on them very soon.

Judy

Stained Wooden Tags

After seeing how well my little wooden signs turned out, I thought I would see how they would look using the same method but using tags ... I took some wooden ply tags and stained them using the DecoArt Wood Stain in Oak colour.

I then printed the verses for my tags on the computer using brown Kraft paper and used the "versatile" Modpodge to glue them to the tag ..

I think next time I will make the printed section larger and follow the shape of the actual tag.  What do you think?

Rainy Day Playing

What do you do on a rainy day? 
Watch a movie?
Read a book?
Catch up on the household chores?
NOT ME --- I head straight to the studio ... bliss..

Should I clean up?  Should I put those products away?  Should I play?

Yes ... playtime ...  also a discovery ...

Did you know that you can print on hessian?  You do not know what you can do until you try.  I have a relatively inexpensive Canon printer up in the studio, which is used for many things, however is not that important that if  I "wreck" it the world will come to a end. Hence the discovery that you CAN print on hessian.

I have printed these sayings onto hessian and then made then into little hangers ... sorry about the photo quality

I ironed some Heat & Bond to the back of the hessian to strengthen it so that it would feed into the printer.  Make sure that you do not have any loose threads or this will cause a jam in your printer.

Choose your sayings and a nice clear font ... I suggest printing out on paper first, so that you can see what it looks like before attempting to print onto the hessian.

I also found that the black ink was clearer than the red ... but I had to try.

Once the hessian is printed, cut each saying out, leaving a little extra around each word so that you can fray the edges.  Now use your Heat & Bond to secure the jute hanger and another piece of fabric to the back - just make a sandwich of the hessian, jute hanger in the centre, then the backing fabric.

How quick and easy is this ... although I would not recommend trying this in your good printer.

Have fun

Judy

Interesting Fact

Someone passed on this information to me today, and I just had to share it .....

This year we experience four unusual dates:

1/1/11,    11/1/11,    1/11/11,    11/11/11

Now for the interesting bit!

Take the last two digits of the year you were born, ADD the age that you will be this year and it will equal 111 .....

Try it out, it is bizarre

Judy

Flood Sewing Kits - Completed

I have been busy, I have just posted 10 sewing kits to the Gum Tree Designers for their "New Beginnings" Flood Relief Appeal.

They hold a lot of little treasures that will help the craft person restart their sewing.

AND of course I forgot to take a photo of the contents - oh well, will be a lovely surprise for someone!

I am glad that I could participate in this appeal to help someone that has suffered the heartbreak that these floods have caused.

Until next time
Judy

Dolly Peg Angels

Half a dozen angels made with dolly pegs.  The arms are thick jute tied in a knot and I have used a gel stain on their heads to grunge them up.  I am happy with the results, although I should have hung them up for the photos, rather than just leave them laying on the table.

Now I had better get started on some items for the Flood Relief kits ...

Have a great day

Judy

More Finishes

The little reindeer ornaments are finished.  They turned out really well, and I think they look sweet?

I will have to make some more of these ...

My sister has been busy making some more Breast Cancer Drain Bags for our local hospitals .. check out the fantastic fabrics she has used! Nice and bright and cheery.

I have also recruited her to assist in the "Among The Gum Trees" Queensland flood appeal kits.  My shop will be supporting the cause with donations of embroidery scissors, embroidery needles, embroidery thread, can you help?  Check out their site for further information. Anything that you can do, will be a great help!

I have also finished some dolly peg angels - will upload the photo soon.  I am enjoying my time crafting when there is no pressure to complete the item for a deadline or a workshop ...

To everyone in Queensland and northern NSW battling with these terrible floods, our thoughts and prayers are with you.  Please stay safe

Judy

We Need Your Help !!!

The Gum Tree Designers are asking for your help in assisting the hundreds of crafters that have been devastated by the floods in Queensland.

Click here to read the full story of how they are organising the collection of a 'New Beginnings' sewing kit for those who need to start over with their craft.


Please help - just imagine if you had to start allover again?  Every little bit helps ...

With my heartfelt thanks
Judy

I Have Been Busy

Now that the holidays are over, I have had time to play in my craft studio. 
Here is a little look at what I have been making :

1. Breast Cancer Drain Bags

2. Little Wood Signs

3. Baby Jesus Ornaments

4. Santa Hat Ornies

5.  Cut out and ready to sew!  What do you think these will be?  Hopefully I will get a chance to finish them off this weekend.

Enjoy your weekend

Judy

Getting Ready

What do you shop for with Christmas/Birthday money?  I have to admit I usually purchase some craft item, either a new tool, piece of fabric or in most cases a new pattern or book.

I have been shopping?  The book depository had a book that I have seen mentioned on numerous blogs - Fa La La La Felt by Amanda Carestio.  It features 45 handmade holiday decorations ... this is what I meant when I said I was "Getting Ready".  Christmas is only just finished and I am already thinking about next Christmas.  How cute is this photo on the cover, it is on my list of projects to do.

Now, you cannot go shopping, and just buy one book can you?  So of course, I ordered a second one ...

With free shipping, I still have some  money to spare ....

I love looking back through all my patterns and craft books, for inspiration and ideas. 

For all those people (myself included) who had to go back to work today, I hope it was not too stressful.

Enjoy the rest of the week
Judy

Cleaning Poem

This cute poem arrived in my Inbox this morning - it certainly describes me to a tee....

Cleaning Poem

I asked the Lord to tell me

Why my house is such a mess

He asked if I'd been 'computering',

And I had to answer 'yes.'

He told me to get off my butt,

And tidy up the house.

And so I started cleaning up...

The smudges off my mouse.

I wiped and shined the topside.

That really did the trick...

I was just admiring my good work.

I didn't mean to 'click.'

But click, I did, and oops - I found

A real absorbing site

That I got SO way into it -

I was into it all night.

So nothing's changed except my mouse.

It's as shiny as the sun.

I guess my house will stay a mess.....

While I sit here on my bum.

Have a fun day
Judy