Together Time in the Craft Room

My daughter just finished her first year of grad school.  Woot!  And, she came home to visit as soon as it was over.  Double woot!  :-D  We spent a wonderful week together...talking, shopping, cooking, walking, rock climbing, and crafting.  It was awesome!

I thought I'd share one of our craft projects with you.  We decided to make dream catchers.  So, we went through my doily collection, did a little doily shopping at an antique store, gathered supplies, and got started.

We crocheted the doilies to the metal rings.  Then, we hung them from the chandelier over the craft table to decorate the bottoms.  We had so much fun and they turned out so pretty.

The sun was streaming through the window and onto our pretty creations the next morning when we went to get them for photos...

I found a doily at the antique store that made me think of a starfish.  So, I made mine with a beach theme.

I added shells to the bottom with torn and twisty fabric, ribbons, lace, yarn, and thread.

My daughter made a larger one with a crisp white doily.  I love the openness around the edges.  She used white fabric, lace, ribbons, yarn, and beads on the bottom.  Then, she made some fabric flowers to finish it off.  So pretty!

My daughter loves to sew and hasn't had time to do so in a long time.  She made sure to get some sewing time in last week while she was home.  She made a top, re-made a dress, and started whipping up another dress.  She amazes me with her confidence and courage to just dive in and try things.  And, the results are impressive!

We did a little yard sale shopping on day before she left.  She got a couple yards of red, floral fabric for just 50 cents.  She wanted to make a certain dress with it but was several yards short of what she needed.  That didn't stop her!  She adjusted the pattern and made it work.  She still has some work to do on it....sew the top to the bottom, sew in a zipper, and hemming.  It's looking fantastic!

Yeah, I'm a proud mama!  :-)

Sweet Roses

I love roses! Pink ones, red ones, yellow ones, orange ones....any color...they're all beautiful! I liked a silver rose ring that I recently saw too. But, being the frugal person I am, I didn't buy it. It inspired me though. I imagined a rose ring that I could make. And, I could do it with materials I already had!

I described it to my daughter and it inspired her. She got up this morning and made a flower ring with felt fabric and blogged it HERE before she went to class. It's so cute! I love the glitzy button detail in the center! She matched it to her outfit and wore it. It looked great on her!

Later today, I went to the studio and created the rose ring I had imagined. I think it turned out pretty much like I had envisioned. I created it with some coral wool and a felting needle. I love the soft look of it. So pretty and sweet.




I attached it to a ring blank...


And, I wore it out when I ran errands today. It's a perfect accessory for Valentine's Day!


It was so much fun to make my wool rose ring and I was so inspired by my daughter's felt flower ring that I just couldn't stop at one! I made another rose ring with felt...


I love the deep red color!




My daughter tried a couple of the rings on one hand and we could imagine a whole hand full of flower rings...one on each finger...like a little bouquet! I probably wouldn't wear so many at once...but what a cute idea! These cute little things could be addicting!

Inspirational Speed Bumps

I'm still here and I've been very busy. I just don't have anything to show for it. Amongst day-to-day busy-ness there has been a family reunion, hiking trips, some knitting, and lots and lots of project planning. I've been feeling inspired to do lots of crafty things lately but I keep running into speed bumps that keep me from moving ahead as quickly as I'd like to.

The biggest problem I'm having has to do with sewing. I want to start sewing clothing for everyday wear...not just costumes or special events. My daughter and I are frustrated with ready-made clothing choices. We can spend hours, even days, shopping to find casual, everyday clothing and come home with nothing. We go with an open mind but so many of the clothes available now are ugly, made of super thin fabric, and overpriced for the poor quality that they are. When we do find something we like, the fit is often very bad and/or they don't have it in our size. We figure that sewing our own clothing would be a good solution. However, we've been searching through pattern books and finding some of the same problems...styles we don't like, not many options, and, when we find one we like, the store often doesn't have the pattern or they don't have it in our size. I've had a bit of luck online with vintage and historical styles. I'm going to start searching for everyday styles of patterns online and hope for similar luck.

When we do find a pattern, we're often running into the problem of not finding fabrics we like to go with them or enough yardage of what we do like. Selection seems to be limited in fabric too. We're currently on the search for fabric stores outside of our area that aren't chain stores. We plan to make a few day trips and hoping for some good luck. In the meantime, I'll be wearing the same few pieces of warm weather clothing that I have. Ugh!

I'm happy to report that my knitting, crochet, yarny mojo that has been on vacation for a while has finally returned. Yay! I've been looking through patterns and my stash with great excitement and I have so many projects lined up that I don't know where to start! I'm trying to finish my "Clever Little Shawl" before I start something new but I have a feeling that I might not be able to wait. ;-)

This tends to be a very crafty-inspired time of year for me. I'm not sure why but I remember being extra crafty at this time of year even when I was a child. It must be all the sunshine! That's what happens to solar powered people! Now, I hope can clear the speed bumps so I can start speeding along to to the finish line with a lot of these projects while the inspiration is here!

Cherry Sheep

What do you get when you mix fruity scented Kool Aid and wool yarn? Something that smells really weird...like cherry sheep! It's not a good combination!


But, you also get some pretty yarn...


I played around with Kool Aid dying last weekend for the first time. I've seen yarn dyed this way by fellow knitters for a couple years now. I'm not sure what took me so long to try it. It's easy, quick, cheap and fun!

I found some directions on Knitty. For yarn, I used an eight ounce skein of Lyon Brand Fisherman's Wool in the natural color. I split it into two four ounce skeins, tied them, washed, rinsed and soaked them. Meanwhile, I mixed 3 packages of black cherry Kool aid, 1 cherry, 1 pink lemonade, and 2 lemonade in a pot with some water. I placed the yarn in the pot, added water to cover the yarn (although, it kind of floated), turned on the heat, stirred and pressed the yarn down occasionally, and let it cook until it was almost boiling and the water was clear. That was the amazing part...the water became CLEAR! From deep, dark, red to clear! At that point, I turned off the heat, allowed it to cool down and washed and rinsed it in water that was the same temperature so I wouldn't shock and felt it. Then, I squeezed out the water and hung the yarn to dry.

The directions called for one package of Kool Aid for each ounce of yarn. Being the stubborn person that I am, I only used seven packages for my eight ounces of yarn and it turned out a lot lighter than I had hoped. But, it is very pretty. It has some variation in it too. Some of that might be from the skeins being thick and the color not getting all the way into the sections that were tied (even though they were kind of loose). I'm not sure about the extra dark parts or how to avoid that next time. I'm hoping the variation will add to the "prettiness" factor when it's knitted up.

I'm excited to try this again. There are so many possibilities!

Meowy Christmas

We had a nice Christmas but I can't believe it's over already! It always comes so quickly and is over in a flash! I started working on my Christmas projects a couple of months in advance and all of a sudden Thanksgiving was over and it was time to decorate. Lucky for us, we have our very own kitty supervisor to make sure we do everything purrrfectly...


We set up our faux tree this year. We like to put it on top of a half wine barrel (fitted with a board inside, a couple inches down from the top edge). It looks great, adds height to the tree, and makes it easy to pile presents around the tree.

I found out that the drummer stool my daughter uses to play her harp also works great for putting lights on the bottom part of the tree. What a back saver!

I seem to have recovered from the bad case of scrooginess I had for a few years. Yay! I really got into the gifting spirit and made most everything we gave. My husband helped out and my daughter made lots of gifts too. It made quite a pile around the tree...


Duchess even supervised the card making...


My snowman cards had a simple look but they were a little labor intensive! I made templates to trace and cut out 40+ snowmen, scarves, hats, carrot noses, and shiny stars. Then, I had to glue all the pieces on and write a greeting in each card...


The greeting says, "Wishing You a Merry Christmas and a Bright Shiny New Year!". They were fun to make but took a lot longer than I had planned. I finished in time to give some cards out but I still need to address envelopes for the ones that need to go in the mail.


My daughter's cards look much more complicated but they were super quick and simple. She used ready made cards, cut rectangles of pretty glittery blue paper, cut rectangles of pre-cut snowflake sheets of paper, glued it on and wrote greetings inside. She was done in a flash! They're so pretty and she even coordinated her gift wrap with the cards (that's what all the blue packages are under the tree)...


Duchess loves Christmas! She hangs out for decorating, gift making, and even sleeps under my daughter's Christmas tree for a little while each night...


She's such a great little girl that helped make our Christmas purrfect! :-D

Shower Flowers

One of my knit friends is about to have a baby boy and we decided to turn this week's knit gathering into a baby shower. We've been busily making gifts (more about mine in the next post). A couple of us decided we needed some extras for the shower. So, she brought a balloon and she asked me to bring flowers. I wasn't sure I wanted to bring real flowers and an idea popped in my head...I wondered if I could use baby socks or washcloths to make flowers?! The idea was so exciting that I had to go for it!

I didn't find any socks that I would work but I did find a set of little washcloths that I liked. I also bought some paint to match the green on the washcloths as well as ribbon, a fancy piece of textured card stock paper for the leaves, a vase, and some shredded blue paper. I painted bamboo skewers for the stems. I folded the washcloths into thirds, turned down the top edge toward the bottom corner (on each end), placed a skewer inside near the end, and rolled it into a bud...


As I neared the other end, I folded it over to hide the edge. I then tied ribbon tightly around the bottom of each bud to hold it together and tied a pretty little bow.


For the leaves, I made a pattern, cut out one for each stem, punched two holes in the bottom of each, made a slight lengthwise bend in each leaf (to give it more dimension and a leaf-like shape) and slid a leaf onto each skewer...


I put shredded paper into a glass vase and arranged the buds. I cut the ends of some of the skewers to make some shorter so I could create a more pleasing arrangement. I then packed a little more shredded paper around the edges to hold the stems in place. Here's the result...


I'm really happy with how it turned out. The buds are so cute...


This project was fun, inexpensive and, unlike real flowers that will wither, these flowers can be put to good use.

Studio Progress

The craft studio that I started blogging about months ago has seen some progress this week! Yay! We finally got the "Inspiration Wall" hung last night. Whew! What a job! I laid everything out on the floor and decided on an arrangement that I liked. Transferring a 57" x 62" grouping onto the wall with all those pieces was a bit challenging. However, it turned out pretty much like I had imagined with the exception of a little space left over in the bottom right corner. But, that's ok. I'm sure I'll find something for that spot, someday.

I love my yarn shop sign at the top! The magnet and tack boards will work great to pin up inspirational photos, lists, etc. And, yes...I decided to add a clock. It just fits so well in that space and will be useful. I usually listen to NPR (National Public Radio) or listen to music while I'm working. That should disguise the tick, tock sound. :-)


I love how the galvanized metal on the magnet board goes so well with the metal of the chandellier.


Look at the bottom...it looks like a little acorn...


I used a simple frame that I painted black, scrapbooking paper and ribbon to create a little piece of art to fill in one of the spaces and bring a little more pattern and color to the grouping...


This is a corner on the other side of my studio. I have an old ladder that holds quilts, fabric, etc. This corner also holds my warping board, a quilt hoop, my purple dress form, and some metal baskets that work great for holding yarn, project bags, etc.


Black is one of the colors that ties the room together...on the frames, the legs of the work table, and the bookcases on another side of the room. We had some particle board/picure wood bookcases that my husband painted black. What a transformation!


I use the top to hold an ever growing and useful supply of baskets, lazy kates, and even a dress form and head.


The shelves are filled with all sorts of things. I have knit, crochet, weaving, painting, quilting and lots of other crafty types of books and patterns as well as paints and brushes, scrap booking and jewelry making supplies, beach glass, some dried flowers for making potpouri...


An antique "McCoy" hand vase that I use to hold some things I need often...


I store buttons, fabric yo-yo's, tiny craft scissors, etc in vintage canning jars...


Vintage trims...


My little cast iron sheep watches over it all...


It's a wonderful space to work in with lots of natural light all day long. I love the work table we got too. It's counter height which works great to stand at or sit with the tall chairs. I can even change the size of it to make a square with four chairs or large rectangle with up to six chairs.


This room also has a small walk-in closet. I use it to store more craft supplies on shelves and in storage tubs.

This room is almost complete. All that's left to do is to make some little shutters for two small, square windows and to sew curtains for the larger window. We've been enjoying it for months now. Now that we have this inspiration wall, I have a feeling that a lot more creativity will be happening in this room!

Framed - Memories

Part three of my "Framed" series is all about memories and the special touch they are going to add to the "inspiration wall" of my craft studio.

Last month, my favorite yarn shop closed down. I had shopped there for decades. I even went there with my mom when I was a kid! It had been around a long time, under various owners. The most recent owner was a sweet woman that somehow made this yarn shop very welcoming and comfortable. I loved going there for yarn and inspiration but mostly to enjoy the company of other wonderful ladies. I miss it so much! I'm very happy for the owner though. She had a successful business that she loved and now she gets to enjoy a wonderful retirement with her hubby.

At the closing potluck/party, I noticed the sign hanging outside in the breezeway. I love signs! I have several old ones hanging on my walls at home. And, this one would be so special. Hmmmm?! I thought that, maybe, they might not want them and decided to ask if there was any chance I might be able to have one or buy one (there were two signs, one on each side of a lighted box). She seemed to be more than happy to pass them along. The next thing I knew, her husband was outside, on a ladder, taking the signs out. They graciously gave them to me and another one of their devoted customers. I was thrilled and honored to receive such a great souvenir of this beloved yarn shop.

I knew immediately what I wanted to do with the sign, carefully loaded it into my SUV and couldn't wait to get home and show my husband. We soon went shopping for supplies and he built a nice frame to protect and showcase my new treasure. It will be the crowning touch to my inspiration wall. It's about 50" wide by 14" tall. I love it! Click on the picture to make it larger...


I've been going a little crazy with the black paint! I even painted the frame of an applique butterfly that my grandmother made decades ago...at least 40 years, maybe more. I framed it a long time ago to protect it and I've enjoyed it on the wall for years. It's a simple inexpensive oak frame and, with the black paint, I think it will work out well in this grouping. It's 10" x 12"...


I've run into a snag with this "inspiration wall" project. I had planned to add a round wall clock to the grouping. However, after posting about the coo coo clock and thinking about how I can't stand hearing "tick tock", I decided the clock might not be such a great idea. That leaves a hole in the grouping. So, now I'm working at figuring out how I want to arrange everything and what I'll need to make it just right. So, we haven't started hanging anything yet. I'm hoping it'll be soon though. When I do, I'll be sure to post it right away. :-)

Crafty Girl

Our craft studio is just about finished. All that's left is window treatments and finishing up the things we plan to hang on the walls. We've been so busy using it that we haven't worked on that stuff much. I'm actually a little surprised at how excited my daughter has been over it and how often I see her in there working on something. Her friends even ask to see it when they come over. They're excited too! Who knew?! I even had a conversation with my daughter and some of her friends about having craft nights once a month or so. We could plan a project and they'll all chip in a little money for supplies and we'll all have a fun evening of crafting, snacking and fun. And, they'll get to learn some craft skills. That's something I've heard so many of her friends say over the years...how they'd love to learn to do crafty things.

Here's a little something my daughter made in the studio, a tote bag. Isn't it cute?!...


She got the quilted fabric on clearance and used things in our crafting stash to make the handles, pocket, and button flowers...


I think she's pretty happy with it because she immediately put it into use and takes it just about everywhere she goes. I love that! :-)

Studio Makeover

Last year, we decided to turn our guest bedroom into a craft studio. Afterall, that's what it's most used for. We moved the bedroom furniture out and bought a counter-height table (which is oh so nice to work at). We installed a chandelier for bright, workable light. And, a plan started to come together. This week, my daughter and I started painting...


To finish up this makeover project, we have a row of bookcases ready to be painted; we're taking measurements and drawing up plans to make shutters for a cute country touch and to control bright morning light in two square windows (one is in the picture); large frames are being transformed for our inspiration wall...a tack board and an upholstered board with criss-crossed ribbons to hold inspirational pictures and stuff; an old wood ladder is ready to hold fabrics, weaving, dried flowers, or whatever we want at the moment; we're on the lookout for storage bins to organize our art and craft supplies and tools on the shelves; and I need to select fabric for a window treatment. I know that it won't be finished right away because we're working on it between all the other things we need to do. But, I can't wait! :-D

Quirky Korknisse

I found a pattern on Ravelry that made me smile. The pattern is "Korknisse". It was originally written in Norweigen and has been translated into many languages and knitted around the world. The name means cork hobgobblins. I had everything I needed...leftover bits of yarn, wine corks, and knitting needles. I couldn't wait to get started. They're adorable, fun to make, and it's hard to make just one...as you can see...


I had originally planned to make them simple, with little dots for eyes and a smile drawn onto the cork. But, most of the corks I have are stamped with big words. So, I got out some paint and covered the stamps. This was my first one...


My daughter instantly fell in love with the idea and started making them too. She felt that the faces needed a little more detail. Here's her first one...


It was fun to knit with yarns I love and had used on previous projects. Here's my second one...


I think my third one is ready for cold weather with her BIG fuzzy sweater and hat. My daughter gave her a pretty face and blue eyes that go perfectly with her outfit...


My daughter is having so much fun with these! This one is a "snowboarder" with an extra tall hat that she plans to glue on and make into a keychain...


I love the simple ones I've seen and I plan to make some. But, in the meantime, we're having fun making these...They're a little quirky, but cute!