Mixed Media Hearts

Tin hearts, paper, modpodge, glue, bits of vintage hats, ink, vintage jewelry parts, ribbon, twine, lace,stamps, words, charms, cheese cloth, tea bags.

Tin hearts.
Have a lovely day!
Karen

A Bouquet Of Paper Tubes

It's just too cold to be outdoors much lately.

It makes my bones hurt and it sure didn't help when I fell on the ice while shoveling a path to the garage last week.  So, I look for things to keep me busy indoors.
I made a pretty bouquet of paper tubes last week.

I'm not quite sure what I'll use these for, but it was fun and relaxing to make them.

To make these, wrap 4 inch wide strips of paper (junk mail, old magazine pages, etc.) around a wooden skewer and glue the end with a dab of elmers glue.

I like them just the way they are without a purpose, but I've seen some pretty cool things made from these, like containers and picture frames.  Thinking about flattening them and weaving them or rolling them into shapes.

I like the ones with lots of color best.

Karen

Textile Bracelet Tutorial

Just a quick how to:

You will need some...

memory wire

wire cutters

round nose pliers

scissors

fabric strips or ribbon (1/2 to 3/4 in. wide and 1 yd. long)

glue

embellishments

 Cut a piece of memory wire 2 inches more than the circumference of your wrist.

Using the round nose pliers, curl a loop onto each end of the wire.

 Place a dab of glue next to one of the loops and anchor the end of your ribbon.

Wrap wire tightly, overlapping as you go.

When you reach the other loop add another dab of glue and anchor your ribbon at this end too.

Wrap again in the opposite direction.

 When you reach the end or beginning, depending how you look at it...anchor with one final dab of glue. Trim off any excess ribbon. They should look like this.

You can either leave them like this

or add whatever  you like. I embellished mine with beads and wire.

 I apply a jump ring to each of the end loops to keep the charms and beads from sliding off.

Here are some made with torn strips of cotton textiles.

You can see I over wrapped some with flax, hemp, ribbon and wire.

Here you can see the jump rings and some beaded wire wrapping.

Another set with just bright copper wire wrapping and some simple silver beads.

If anyone decides to make some of these I would love to see them.

I think the possibilities are endless.

karen

Crewel Folder

So, I decided to go ahead and use those crewel samples this morning rather than hoarding them away.

In my last post I mentioned that they were very dusty, so after I laundered them and they were dry, I cut out my favorite parts and pieces and machine stitched them in a random pattern onto some reclaimed muslin. (2 rectangles of the same size)

I added some machine stitched text, 

 and some vintage buttons.

After I had all the crewel and embellishments stitched onto the muslin, I then stitched the crewel covered muslin panels to a larger piece of purple linen from my fabric stash. One to the left and the other to the right on the purple linen, creating a front and a back to the folder.( so the panels are side by side on the purple linen)

 I made a little flap and added a super sized snap.

 Next I cut a piece of quilt batting and another piece of muslin the same size as the purple linen. I sandwiched the batting between the linen and the muslin and layered on a smaller piece of muslin for pockets before stitching them all together.

There it is. A completed folder.

 It's just right for holding my reclaimed packing paper that I've been using for my doodles.

Here it is all loaded with paper and snapped shut.

All finished and no hoarding of materials.

karen

Valentine Pockets

For years I've been gathering old lace and linens, hankies and ribbon.

Pretty bits and pieces from flea markets, thrift shops and estate sales.

Perfect for making Valentine pockets.

 Scraps of vintage papers for writing a little love note are in each pocket.

 There are antique photos and tiny doilies.

 Very old buttons made of glass and pearl.

 Broken jewelry bits and sewing notions.

 Hat pins and

 tattered hankies.

 Bits of old wedding gowns.

Some have pockets in the front and some are in the back.

Some are for hanging up and some are for wearing.

I love how all the layers of fabric and lace look all tattered and torn and pretty.

These are almost ready for shipping out to loved ones.

karen

Creating My Kind Of Bling

Took some time out to make myself a few new blingy things.

 Bright red coral and a vintage medallion.

This one's my fave.

 Love this beautiful agate.

 Some findings that I made.

 Some findings that I bought, but still like a lot.

Another of my own findings.

 This one's a work in progress. The beautiful blue bead was a gift from my friend Sharon at www.livewirejewelry.blogspot.com.

 This last one is an experiment I'm working on.

 It is a combination of hammered copper and crocheted hemp.

Also a work in progress.

Organic Bling

Thanks for stopping by.

karen

Tossed Salad Afghan

Happy New Year All

The holidays are over and the kids have all gone home.

It's so quiet around here.

It's like empty nesting all over again.

I miss the Grand Baby most of all.

Who knows when I'll see her again.

The long winter will linger forever as it does every year.

I must keep myself busy.

In the evenings while the kids were visiting.

When everyone had settled down to watch TV.

I worked on a simple project to keep my hands busy.

 When I first started to crochet I bought mostly acrylic yarn from the craft stores.

Natural fiber yarns are a bit costly and since my crocheting wasn't all that perfect back then, I figured acrylic was the way to go. Over time, I've accumulated quite the stockpile of partially used skeins.

I found enough greenish ones to fill a laundry basket.

 Using 2 strands throughout and a simple ribbed double crochet, I made this super thick afghan.

It's warm and machine washable.

I plan to do this with the rest of my scraps as well.

I have a basket filled with purples for the next one.

It's a good feeling to use up some of the supplies that I've hoarded over the years.

And...it keeps me busy while I wait for the snow to melt.

I should have quite the stack of afghans by the time that happens.

Keep warm everyone.

It's cold outside!!!

karen