Floral Raven Decoration

I know it's only August but the craft stores are starting to stock Halloween and Christmas items. Some shoppers were complaining that summer isn't even over and already we are seeing Christmas items on the shelves. It does seem like the stores are pushing the seasons rather than let us enjoy the rest of the summer. That being said, the craft supply stores are the only place that it really makes any sense to stock Halloween and Christmas items during July and August. Many of us like to start working on decorations and hand made gifts early and not wait until November when the holidays are quickly approaching and we run out of time and it's nice to be able to buy the supplies that we need.

Last year Michaels featured a Halloween Floral Ball with a Raven on their website. By the time it appeared on the website it was too late to find the flowers or the Raven in the stores. Several Michaels stores in Maryland used the purple flowers and the Ravens to make wreaths to sell in their floral department for Baltimore Ravens fans. I bought the candelabra base and decided to wait until this year to buy the flowers and the Raven.

This is a quick and easy project. I sat the candelabra base on Brittany's copy of Edgar Allen Poe's stories. I chose not to glue the candelabra base to the book because I didn't want to deface the book and I thought it would make the decoration easier to store after the holiday.

Directions for the Halloween Floral Raven Ball:

Black candelabra- available at Michaels
6 inch styrofoam ball- available in the floral department of craft stores
Medium Raven
14 Dark Purple flowers approximately 4 1/2 inches in diameter
Hot glue gun
Wire Cutters

The directions for this project are available at www.michaels.com  Halloween Floral Ball Crow.

1.  Cut flowers from the stems with wire cutters. Leave about 1/2 inch of the stem still attached to the flower.

2.  Glue the styrofoam ball to the candelabra.

3.  Insert a flower at the top of the ball and glue in place. Then slightly overlap each flower and glue in place until the ball is covered.

4.  Place the Raven on top of the ball and glue in place.

Biston Shrug

During the summer months some air conditioned buildings are so cold. I usually carry a pashmina or scarf in my hand bag to wear if a waiting room or restaurant is too cold. I was sitting in a waiting room recently that was so cold that I was still shivering even after I put my pashmina on. I was searching Brooklyn Tweed's patterns for a project and came across Biston, an attractive cocoon shrug with a textured band. The shrug is knit in fingering weight yarn in a reverse stockinette stitch.

Biston shrug knit in Madeline Tosh Lace-Stargazer color.

I discovered Madeline Tosh Lace (100% super wash Merino) while searching yarn.com. (WEBS) for a suitable yarn for my shrug. I really like all of the colors and had a hard time choosing just one, but in the end Stargazer (a combination of blues, green, and purple) won out. This is my first experience knitting with Madeline Tosh yarns but it won't be my last. The yarn has a beautiful sheen and is soft and silky. It's a joy to knit with and has great yardage (975 yards/skein).

Brooklyn Tweed's Biston shrug is good project for a beginner who wants to work with fingering weight yarn. The entire shrug is knit in one piece-starting with the left sleeve, the body and the right sleeve. There are simple increases on the left sleeve and decreases on the right sleeve. The sweater is blocked and then the sleeves are sewn together before picking up stitches around the body to make the front band. The pattern is available as a PDF from Brooklyn Tweed.

What's New?

One of the cool things about having a blog is being able to share interesting craft products with others.

Yesterday Brittany and I made a trip to Hobby Lobby. While I really like Michaels, there are items that Michaels doesn't carry or only has a limited selection. Hobby Lobby carries almost everything craft related from fabric to scrap booking supplies. I found these Susan's Garden flower dies by Sizzix along the free project instruction sheet.  I also found pre-drilled glass blocks and mini lights for a night light project.  You can also order supplies on line from Hobby Lobby.

Susan's Garden Sunflower and Tulip dies and instruction sheet.

Today at Michaels, I found Tim Holtz idea-ology tissue wrap. The wrap is a printed coated tissue paper for use in collages and other art projects or it can be used to wrap gifts. I envisioned using this for cards, sketch books, etc.

Tim Holtz idea-ology tissue wrap.

Craft Tip:  This tip comes from my husband. He found that Charmin freshmates wipes easily remove ink, especially Sharpie, from hands or surfaces. Today  a bottle of Dylusions spray ink leaked all over my hands. I used the Charmin wipes to clean my hands. The wipes easily removed the dark purple ink from my hands with no staining. I grabbed another wipe and cleaned the ink from my work surfaces. I now keep a box of Charmin wipes in my studio for clean up tasks.  

Interweave has just released the Unofficial Harry Potter Knits. This, like the Jane Austen Knits, is part of Interweave's literary knits. The magazines feature knits inspired by the Jane Austen and Harry Potter novels.  The new Jane Austen magazine is due to come out in October.  Brittany and I love several of the designs in the Harry Potter magazine. The magazine has something for everyone. In addition to the Owl cardigan on the cover (a definite must knit for me), there are socks, the beautiful Mermaid shawl, and my favorite the Tracery vest. This vest would look great with a white shirt and jeans. I love the colors of the vest in the magazine so I did not want to substitute yarns. The vest is knit in Plymouth Happy Feet sock yarn in colors #500 (black) and #27 (variegated rust/blue blend). The black yarn was readily available from WEBS and other on line retailers, but I had to search for about 2 hours before finally finding color #27. It's available from Amazon.


I recently discovered the Jordana Paige knitting bags. These bags have been featured in Vogue Knitting Magazine. The people who own the bags love them and rave about them. I have had mine for 2 weeks and I can understand why everyone loves these bags. My bag is more than just a knitting bag, it's my craft bag. The bag was designed by a knitter for knitters, but it functions well as an art bag. It will hold my large sketch book, pencil case and other sketching supplies. I bought the Rio bag in Lapis blue. The Rio has three sections. The back section holds a book or knitting pattern (purple notebook), yarn, knitting and Lantern Moon tool case. There are snap rings that keep the yarn from getting tangled in the bag. The back wall has a small zip pocket and a detachable zip pouch. The bag has a large zip divider that separates the front from the back. The divider can hold a wallet and any other items that you want to keep secure. The front section of the bag has a key holder, a padded eyeglass holder, a credit card pocket and pockets for knitting tools and pens. There is plenty of room in this section for personal items (cosmetic case, phone, book). It's amazing how much stuff this bag holds. I can carry my knitting, personal items and an I Pad and still have room to spare. The best part is that the bag looks and functions like a handbag (several people have commented on it's style as a handbag not knowing that it was actually a knitting bag). The bag is not bulky (even though it holds a lot) and can be worn like a shoulder bag.

Jordana Paige Rio bag/

Back section with knitting pattern, yarn and sweater in progress.

Back wall with zip pocket and detachable pouch.

Center zip divider and front wall with pockets and key holder.

I found Lantern Moon's silk knitting tool case in my local knitting shop. This beautiful, well made case holds small scissors, markers, cable needles, knitting gauge and my little sheep tape measure. I tied a pink bow around my sheep's neck to dress her up so Brittany wouldn't confuse my sheep for hers (she also has the black sheep).

 Lantern Moon silk knitter's tool case.

The Color Purple

 Several years ago I bought a Hydrangea in April from Home Depot. The plants had colored foil covering the pot (for Mother's Day gifts). While my husband was shopping, I put a healthy dark pink plant in the cart. It was too early and much too cold to plant my Hydrangea outside, so I put the plant under a grow light and watered it regularly. Finally the plant was ready to go outside at the end of May. I had several large dark pink blooms and then the plant started to wither and die. My husband laughed at me for wasting so much time on this $10 Hydrangea. I loved this plant and knew it was probably going through shock. I felt sure that I could save it. I pruned the plant almost down to the ground and fed it Miracle Grow every 2 weeks and watered it daily. I consulted the internet Hydrangea sites for help but they all said that these type of plants never live when planted outdoors: they were meant for short term decorative use. Still I refused to give up! After 2 months of devoted care, my Hydrangea had some green leaves appearing on the stems. Before the end of the summer the plant had a few small blooms. The plant is now four years old and quite healthy. Apparently the Hydrangea didn't know that it wasn't supposed to thrive outdoors. I have been able to achieve this beautiful shade of purple by alternating feedings with acid and alkaline Miracle Grow. Every time I look at this Hydrangea, I am reminded that all things are possible with faith.

My latest projects are from French Girl Knits. I found this book at the Knitting Sisters in Williamsburg, VA. I was intrigued by the title and found a beautiful array of tops and sweaters in the book. Anjou, is an airy, lacy mohair top that is knit in Louet Kid 'N Linen. I love the way that this is turning out. The top is knit in one piece on circular needles and then the sleeves and hip band are knitted separately and grafted on.

Anjou

I am also knitting Nadine, a lacy tunic knit in cotton and bamboo. The construction of Nadine is different from the usual knit  construction. The side panels are knitted first and then the main front piece is knitted side to side (horizontally) with lace shaping inserts on each side of the front panel. The side panels are then grafted to the main front panel. I am enjoying knitting this tunic. The original tunic was knit in Be Sweet cotton and bamboo, which was not available from my local yarn shop. I decided to substitute Valley Yarns Southwick from WEBS (www.yarn.com). I have ordered from WEBS many times in the past but this is the first time that I have ever ordered one of their yarns.  I love Valley Yarns Southwick! It's reasonally priced at $5.49 for a 50 gram skein, making the total cost of my project less than $50. The yarn is luxurious- soft to the touch, drapes well and easy to knit with. I can't wait to finish this tunic.

Nadine knit in Valley Yarns Southwick.

Recycled Photo Album

A couple of weeks ago I was purchasing some new clothes and the store was offering a free gift with a qualifying purchase. After ringing up the sale, the store manager told me that I qualified for the free gift (photo albums). I didn't want or need the photo album, but the manager was so happy that I qualified for the gift that I didn't want to make her feel bad by refusing it. I accepted the album and headed home.

The album was fairly nice quality although the cover was ugly-dark olive green with large embossed flowers. I felt bad throwing a perfectly good album in the trash and offered it to several friends. No one wanted the album in it's current state. I had been looking for a make over project for my blog and this seemed like the perfect candidate. There was only one problem, the deeply embossed flowers covered a large portion of the front cover.  I covered the entire album cover with gesso. The gesso soaked into the embossed areas, but didn't cover them up. Next I tried modeling paste. I built up two thick layers of modeling paste but the flowers could still be seen. I painted the front cover with acrylic paint and let it dry. I mixed the blue paint, modeling paste and white paint together to produce a slightly lighter shade of blue. I dabbed the mixture onto the front cover with a foam brush to produce a textured surface. I set this aside to dry.

Here's the work in progress.

Original free photo albums.

Album covered with gesso and modeling paste.

Layer of textured paint added.

Close-up of textured surface.

Finished Album

I am so happy with the finished result and the fact that I turned an ugly photo album destined for the trash into an album that I would be proud to give as a gift. The textured finish on the album can be made in any color simply by mixing modeling paste with acrylic craft paint.



Directions for Butterfly Album:

Photo album or memory book
Golden Modeling Paste
Liquitex Basics Acrylic color-light blue, white
Recollections Adhesive Faux Pearls
Recollections Pearl trim
Recollections Butterflies- Aqua, Purple
Sheer white wire edge ribbon
Parchment color paper
Gesso
Hot glue gun
Clear craft glue
Foam brush
Duraclear Satin Varnish


1.   Coat the album cover (front and back) with gesso. Let it dry.

2.  Apply a light layer of modeling paste to the cover and let it dry, then repeat.

3.  Using a foam brush paint the album front cover light blue. When it is dry, paint the back cover and album spine.  Apply paint to the edges of the album and let it dry.

4.  Mix light blue paint with modeling paste. Add white to the mixture until desired color. I added white until the paint mixture was one shade lighter than the paint in the tube. Be sure to mix enough paint and modeling paste to cover the entire album.

5.  Dip the end of the foam brush into the paint mixture. Dab the paint mixture onto the front cover. Place the end of the foam brush on the cover, press down and then pull up to create the textured surface. Once the front cover is completely dry, dab the paint mixture onto the spine and back cover. Let it dry.

6.  Apply a thin coat of craft varnish over the album (front cover first, then spine and back cover).  Let the varnish dry before applying to the spine and back cover.

7.  Apply a thin layer of clear craft glue to the adhesive faux pearls and press in place along the front edge of the album cover. Position the pearl trim on the lower part of the front cover and press in place. Leave a space wide enough to glue the butterfly in between the trim.

8.  Glue the aqua butterfly (with hot glue) between the pearl trim. Hot glue the purple butterfly to the right edge of the clear window on the album.

9.  Tie the sheer white ribbon around the front cover of the album and tie a bow. Trim ribbon edges at an angle (to desired length).

10. Print Memories or some other sentiment using Microsoft Word and the font of your choice onto parchment paper. Cut out and insert in window on the front cover of the album.

Creative Journaling

Brittany and I were running errands and decided to make a detour to Barnes & Noble with the idea that it would have to be quick because we had several other stops to make. The plan was to find our books and head over to the check-out. NO BROWSING! We walked into the store, headed toward the books and suddenly our plan fell apart. When we met in the middle of the store each of us had an arm full of books. We headed toward the check-out desk an hour later, but never quite made it there. Brittany spotted the journals lining the shelves along the wall. I found a beautiful handmade Italian leather journal with the Medici Lion embossed on the front cover. I love the Medici Lion! This book had beautiful ivory lined pages. Great for writing poetry but I wasn't sure how it would work with sketches. The journal was removable so I could replace it with a similar size sketchbook. The journal is so beautiful just as it is that I decided to sketch on the lined paper and cover the paper with gesso or some other medium when I don't want the lines showing through my drawings.
 

Medici Lion Journal

First sketch in the Medici Lion journal.

This sketch is based on the Afghan Hound sketch that I did in August 2010.


Directions for journal page:

The dog was drawn with a No. 2 pencil. I used Prisma Color pencils for the face and fur.

Highlights to the muzzle and the fur were added with Derwent Ink Tense pencils. Wet a No. 4 round paint brush with water and blot the excess water on a paper towel. Carefully paint over the lines that you made with the Ink Tense pencils.

Color the background with a dark blue Ink Tense pencil and paint over it with water. Be careful not to get the page too wet or the paper will curl. Let the page dry and paint over it again if necessary.

Add a quote or your own thoughts. I added both. I used the quote by Eugene Delacroix: "Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything."

 I used the EK Success fleur de lis paper punch and gold handmade paper to make the fleur de lis for the heading. The heading is written with an India Ink fine point pen. Highlight the heading by going over the words with a magenta Prisma Color pencil.

Decorative Towels

Any one who has ever priced the decorative hand towels in the stores knows that they can be quite expensive. A few years ago we were throwing a party and I wanted a decorative hand towel for our Powder Room. I needed a Williamsburg Blue towel with lace trim to match my decor. After searching several stores I realized that this towel simply didn't exist, at least not in the market place. I ended buying blue hand towels and headed over to the fabric store to buy lace trim, fabric and embroidery thread.

I went about designing the hand towel. The process wasn't as simple as I had envisioned because the towel had two 1/2 wide chevrons (the same color as the towel) stitched 4 1/2 inches from the towel's hem.  Hmm, how can I work around this? The lace trim covered the chevrons but it's placement so far from the hem line looked out of place. I decided to use the fat quarter of fabric that I purchased for the heart design as a border. Next I made a heart template and drew the hearts on Heat and Bond. After fusing Heat and Bond to the wrong side of the fabric I cut out the hearts and then fused them to the towel.

I hung the hand towel in my Powder Room on the day of the party and forgot about it. Later, several guests approached me asking where I had purchased the towel? My mother-in law said "I know you made that towel and I want one for my bathroom." So on Mother's Day she got two towels to match her bathroom decor.

These towels make great Mother's Day, shower or hostess gifts and they are easy to make. 

Finished hand towel.

Close-up of hearts.

Directions for Decorative Towel:

Hand Towel
Fat Quarter or 1/4 yard of fabric to match towel: 100% cotton fabric
1 yard of lace trim
Heat and Bond for fusing fabric
Rayon machine embroidery thread to match the fabric
Natural color thread

1,  Pre-wash the cotton fabric and put in the dryer. This will pre-shrink the fabric so that your ruffle and hearts won't pucker when the towel is washed.

2.  Cut the fabric approximately 12 inches wide by 18 inches long. Fold the fabric in half so that it measures 6 inches wide. Fold under almost 3/8 inches on side edges of the fabric and the upper ends of the fabric and press (set the iron to cotton). These will become the finished edges of the ruffle. Sew the side edges of the fabric, using a 1/4 inch seam, with the natural thread, but don't sew the top edges yet.

3.  Use a long gathering stitch on the sewing machine to gather the fabric 1/2 inch from the upper folded edge. Pull the threads to slightly gather the fabric to make a ruffle. Pin the ruffle to the towel 4 1/2 inches from the bottom edge, covering the chevrons. Sew the ruffle in place using the natural thread, using a 1/4 inch seam.

4. Pin the lace trim approximately 1/4 inch from the top of ruffle and sew in place, using the natural thread.

5.  Make a heart template by drawing a heart at 1 1/2 inches on plain white paper and carefully cut it out. Use the template to draw two hearts onto the paper side of the Heat and Bond. Fuse the Heat and Bond to the wrong side of the fabric. Cut out the fused hearts. You can also use the Cricut to cut the hearts out of the fused fabric. 

6.  Pin the first heart approximately 5 inches from the side edge of the towel and 1 1/4 inches from the top edge of the ruffle. Pin the second heart slightly to the right of the first heart. The edge of this heart should touch the edge of the first heart and be 1 inch from the top edge of the ruffle. Carefully remove the pins, trying not to disturb the design and fuse according to Heat and Bond package directions.

7.  Wind a bobbin with the natural color thread and thread the rayon embroidery thread through the sewing machine. Set the sewing machine to satin stitch and carefully stitch around the edges of both hearts. You will need to stitch very slowly because of the towel thickness and the temperamental nature of the rayon thread. This thread has a tendency to break easily.