Doodle Debut

For the past month or so I've been admiring art journal blogs, and they've whetted my appetite to have a go (typical flutterby tendency!)  I'm a reasonable copier of ideas, whatever the craft, but am certainly not creative as such. 

I bought this book to try my hand

I was amazed at how daunting a blank piece of paper was, and just couldn't bring myself to spoil an A4 sheet.  Brainwave!  Doh!!  Why not start with a smaller piece?  I have a little handbag notebook (slightly smaller than A5) and

inspired by this page

decided to have a go.  In January, at housegroup, we'd been encouraged to ask God for a word for the new year, and 'peace' popped into my mind.

So -

I began lightly pencilling filling the page.  Knowing I could erase stuff, and once the paper was no longer 'perfect', it wasn't so scary and I started to enjoy it.  I then went over, embellishing with my little set of gel pens (Note to self - make sure ink is dry before leaning on it!!)

I'm quite pleased with it, and might even take it out and stick it in a plastic clip-frame as a memento of my first attempt at another new craft.

It's certainly very relaxing and therapeutic, so I reckon I'll be doodling again.  In fact, images of an actual journal are starting to form ...

Bye for now, and have a great day.  If it stays dry, I must get out for some work in the garden.

Chris xx

WOYWW Home sweet home

It was good to be able to spend last week with Mum (88) whilst she had, and started to recover from, her first cataract op.  It wasn't the easiest of times, but we are still friends!

We played Scrabble each evening, helped by a glass of sherry.  As you can see, Mum takes it quite seriously!

I managed to get some crafting done - two Easter bunnies for my godson Reuben (16 months) and 3yr old sister, Maisie.

They're made in flannelette to be snuggly to take to bed, and the tails are felt circles, rather than pompoms, in case he was tempted to pull them off and put them in his mouth.

And yet more rabbits (well, it is Easter!)  I made Sam (on the right) as a brother to Frank, who already lived with Mum. Sam has gone to live with Wendy, Mum's home help. He hasn't got a jumper yet, but I've promised him one.

I came home on Saturday, and DH cooked dinner for us on Sunday, when my daughters and son in law came to lunch.

Since then I've been working on the scrapbook for Summer Wine, the group for retired women in our church.  It's been very enjoyable but far more time consuming than I'd expected.  My hoarding instincts have come into their own, on this project, particularly recycled greetings cards and paper stash.



Front Cover



Inside front cover

This sentiment sums up what the group is all about - having fun!

 These are the pages I've managed to do so far.



The group has been meeting for just over 2 years, so I've got plenty more pages to do!  I'm trying to make it more interesting by using pockets, fold outs, embellishments, etc.

I don't know why Blogger is insisting on putting some of this post in a white box, but it's now very late and I'm afraid I'm too tired to fight with it anymore - sorry!

I'll link this over with Mrs D at WOYWW -  http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/whats-on-your-workdesk-wednesday-200.html - when I get up. Why not join everyone over there and find out what they've been up to?

Hugs for now. Night night, All xx

PS - I'm also linking up with another party I've just discovered, and the link is on my sidebar, if you have time for a nosey.

xx




WOYWW All Square et al

It's been another mixed week, craftwise, chez Flutterby.

It started with patching a couple of bed sheets so they could go back into circulation.

Then, a family from our church are moving away soon, and we have all been invited to provide 15cm squares to be included in a surprise quilt for them. There's no overall theme, but everyone was encouraged to make something with significance, and a book of explanation
will go along with it.

I used the flowery fabric I'd used for my wedding dress, for my first square -

and the other two were just my wishes for them -

Then - more squares - I dug out old Laura Ashley fabric I've had for probably 20 years - I'm taking it, with my sewing machine and a couple of other projects, to Mum's when I stay with her for next week, as she has her first cataract op.

I took DH's advice, and looked today for a couple of new cardigans for Mum, with pockets - but no luck.  I couldn't find one anywhere, so came home and put pockets on the three I'd brought back from my visit a couple of weeks ago.

There was some oatmeal coloured fleck fabric in my stash that matched this cardi exactly. I originally thought of cutting straight across the knitting, binding the cut edges and putting a square pocket inside all three. But my machine didn't cope with sewing across the yarn, so I ended up with a different shape patch pocket hand sewn to the inside of each garment. The opening runs along the front edge of the cardi

and I was pleased that it's hardly noticeable from the front.

I used the same flowery fabric for both of the others - one a royal blue (sorry about lousy pics taken at night)

and on a lilac-y one. I experimented with different shaped pockets.  The opening for the one above is on the slanted edge, while I folded over a square into a triangle for the one below.  They only have to be big/strong enough to hold a tissue hankie.

This is the lilac one (another 'light' apology) and you can see that it's almost invisible from the outside.

Yesterday, my hero gardener Richard came, and we cleared the front and almost all the back garden, ready for the Spring, including cutting the lawn for the first time in 2013. It's wonderful having him to help for a day - I should now be able to keep on top of things for another year - providing I don't allow myself to get sidetracked. It needs to be a case of 'little and often'.

You might remember Frank, whom I made last year, and who went to live with my Mum. Well, her home help wants one, so I'll be making a brother (Sam) for him while I'm there next week, too.

Sorry that this has been a very bitty post but that's how things are at the mo. I'm posting this over at Julia's - http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/whats-on-your-workdesk-wednesday-198.html - so I might see you over there - it's well worth popping over to see what everyone else has been up to.

Have a great week, and I'll post again after Easter, when I get home. In the meantime, take care xx

More Flutterby Musings

I suppose it's good that we're all so different. DH asked what my plan was for the day, and his face was a picture when he learned that, after pruning the pear tree, I was going to 'sides to middle' a couple of sheets and make pockets for 3 cardi's of Mum's (who won't wear them if there's nowhere to keep her hanky - no, before you ask, she doesn't like to keep them up her sleeve).

Anyway, back to DH - "For goodness sake, just put them all in a charity shop and buy new ones. There are probably loads of people out there, crying out for sheets with seams across the middle, and pocketless cardigans!" Men, I ask you?! (Or is is just me, I wonder?!)

 

 

Happy Flutterby Days

Tra-la-la - I promised myself not to open my new toy until I'd cleared the front (craft/sewing/computer) room - and guess what?!

 However, although it's unpacked and all the booklets read, the sun is shining and I'll finish giving the pear tree its annual haircut before I start to play.

Here are a couple of cards I made (recycled) yesterday. This first one, for DH's nephew, is a simple backing paper mounted on a blank card, with the sentiment prised from an old card.

The second is another recycling 'cheat', with the pic mounted on coloured card to give a border, and then stuck on a blank. My white card stock is a bit flimsy for my taste, so I usually make an insert of the same card, to give it some 'body'.

I hope the sun is shining in your world today, and you enjoy it. xx

WOYWW Stashbusting meets

... make do and mend.

A satisfyingly flutterby, bitty week, on the craft front -

It started off with making a few cards for friends and family. They were all made from recycled cards and bits from my stash.  This first one has an acetate front, with the LOVE stickers on, over a recycled card

The next one is for my brother (hope he doesn't read this!)

The teddy one is a bit of a cheat - just a recycled picture mounted on new card.

Then I put new trim on a bath towel that was like me, a bit frayed round the edges! The rest of it is fine, and not ready to be chopped up for wash cloths yet.

I finally got round to making a new lining for my farm shop bag. The handles are still fine, but the plastic-y lining had disintegrated. The only tricky bit was where the seams are very thick, so needed to be hand-sewn (just don't look too closely).

It then just needed a little patch on the outside, ready for a new lease of life.

Then I made a brooch, as a little pressie, to go with the teddy card above.

I've finished Mum's shawl - it was going to be a poncho, but didn't turn out as expected, so I've added a kilt pin which will be easy for her to open and shut.

Then I made two peg bags - one for my friend Sheila, who gave me a brown checked pillow case and navy ribbon

so I just added some lining and velcro, and put it together

with enough left over to make one for Mum.

I was going to do traditional ones, on clothes hangers, but Sheila said she'd prefer one she could put over her shoulder instead, and I thought that would be good for Mum, too.

The hardest part of making these was sewing the velcro on - straight stitching was a nightmare (it kept messing the tension up) so I ended up using zig-zag stitching which was better but still required some cobbling together.

I'm off to put a chicken and leek pie together now, for tonight's meal, using leftovers from last night's roast - does that count as stash busting, too?!.

I'm itching to get out to work in the garden but it's far too cold at the mo - the wind is biting, here in Worcester. My knight in shining armour is due to come for a day, next Monday, for his annual visit to help kick start me for the Spring, but I'd like to get some stuff done before he arrives but hey-ho, such is life.

That's my week of stash busting - I'm posting this over at Mrs D's - http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/whats-on-your-worksdesk-wednesday-197.html - hope to see you there.

Thanks for visiting, and have a great week. Hugs, Chris xx

WOYWW The spice of life ...

... variety, that is.  I've just finished 46 sets of bunting with 3 pennants each. My friend Helen runs an after school club, and wanted the kids to make something more permanent than a Mother's Day card, so they're going to write M-U-M on these, with fabric paint. It wasn't a difficult job but it always takes longer than I think.

I put ribbon underneath, with lace on the front to cover the stitching and make them a bit prettier.

Mum's indoor poncho is coming on at a reasonable pace. I love Lisa's (Attic 24 blog) ripple pattern but I find it gets a bit boring, working in the same colour all the time - one drawback of being a flutterby!

Today I'm hoping to meet up with a couple of friends for a cuppa (one of the joys of retirement, having time for stuff like this), then I need to make a couple of cards and a peg bag for Mum (noticed last time I was there that hers has almost disintegrated). Then it will be back to the poncho - and a chance to check up on everyone else over at Julia's at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/whats-on-your-workdesk-wednesday-196.html  Hope to catch up with you there. Meanwhile, have a great day. xx