A Stitched Project Finally Finished

I came across this stitch project in my sewing room as I was cleaning and sorting.

I must have started it about 3 years ago.

It was just the background which is my favorite part of the whole thing, but I felt like it needed to be finished, so here it is.

I suppose I was inspired by the Robin I saw last week and the promise of Spring.

My favorite way to create is to just do it without any real plan.

Just layering and adding things that I have on hand.

Finally finished.

Today I'll finish cleaning the kitchen and doing the laundry I think.

Not as fun as stitching, but still satisfying when it's done.

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

New ribbons and fibers and yarn, OH MY!

Getting new supplies to work with is always so exciting!

This is recycled sari silk fiber yarn.

I plan to use it to create a cute little owl.

This sweet silvery blue yarn is banana fiber.

It's soft to the touch yet strong.

 Love the colors of this sari silk ribbon.

You can find all of these HERE.

Have a lovely day.

karen

Making Christmas Bells

Last week while Mother was here visiting we gathered some supplies from the craft room and made a glittery mess in the kitchen.

 To make these Christmas Bells we started by painting a couple of seed starter pots.

The paper mache type.

After the paint was dry we added some glitter.

 We wired jewelry parts for hanging inside the bells, hung them from a pretty bow and embellished them with ribbon and vintage millinery flowers.

 I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out, but the glitter was everywhere.

We laughed and talked and Mother loved the glittery mess. It brought back memories of her childhood Christmas crafting.

Maybe we'll do paper chains and ornaments for our next crafty project together.

No glitter involved.

karen

Simple Shabby Weekend

Mom is here visiting for a few days.

We did a little thrifting.

 And I was lucky enough to find this comfy cotton robe in perfect condition.

 We recycled some egg cartons into some fun mobiles.

 Used up some beads and ribbon scraps left over from another project.

Some salvaged old jewelry parts.

 A little paint as well.

Simple inexpensive fun and good memories.

karen 

Shabby Dress Hangers

One of my favorite things to repurpose is old floral sheets.

Last year I made pajama pants from sheets and baskets which I crocheted from torn strips of sheets.

A few days ago I came across some of the leftover strips from the basket project and decided to put them to use. I covered ugly plastic hangers with them. Just tear your sheets or fabric into one inch wide strips, attach the end with a dab of hot glue, and start wrapping. Add a dab of glue every inch or two and a little at the end to secure the fabric strip in place.

 They are much prettier now.

 I added some ribbon for tying on accessories.

 The fabric keeps the dresses from sliding off the hangers.

 Some pretty paper roses add a nice touch.

 Such a simple project and a good way to use up some of those fabric scraps.

Thanks for stopping by!

karen

Skeleton Keys and Hand Stamped Tags

I've always had an interest in altered art and art journaling, but never really took the time to do much with it. This year, one of my goals is to explore more art related projects.

Something different from my usual crochet.

Due to my addiction of collecting everything old, I think altered art and repurposing used, thrifted items is the perfect thing.

I've made a bunch of coffee stained, hand stamped tags and put them together with some old skeleton keys, and I'm really excited about how they turned out.

I plan to use some of them in future projects and have some for sale as well.

You can purchase the keys with tags at:

http://www.reconsidered.etsy.com/

and the tags with ribbons in sets of three at:

http://www.umelecky.etsy.com/.

Have you tried creating something different lately?

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I hope you all explore something new and different today on your creative journey.

Hugs and laughter!

Karen