#473

Hey everyone! I completely forgot to blog there for a while, as I was doing some secret projects and commissions. But today I have a great reason to blog today!

I got a photo light box for taking pictures of my crafts. YAY! Now I can look all professional like on my blog. It came with a white and a black foam background, and it plugs into the computer usb to light up. The light is a great cool colour and shows the colours of the objects closely.

The box is foldable for easy storage, and did fit together with magnets, but I was a bit wary of the magnets near the computer, which I have to plug it into. I cut the magnets out, and used glue dots and pegs to keep it together until I can find some Velcro to glue onto it.

Good thing I have so many things to photograph.

Stay snappy, my sheeple 🙂

#437

Very quick update. Made some more bows. So much easier with half sorted ribbons and lighter sealing methods. I haven’t been working on a large project, apart from cards for family, so not much to show lately. Not great for blogging fuel, but I am planning a couple of ideas for larger blog posts. Hopefully I’ll get around to doing them.

I tried getting my sleep pattern to be better lately, but it turns out being a zombie all day gets even less done than sleeping most of the day away, and having short bursts of energy. It is also more dangerous in my case. I’m lucky I figured out how to use the two button safety lighter.

Sleep well, and sweet dreams.

#436

As an example of art imitating life, here is a picture of my ribbon box from a few days ago. I love ribbon, but it’s always hard to find the right one when your organisation system is simulating the nearest landfill. I saw an idea online for a storage solution, which I adapted to my own situation, and have been sorting out my ribbon collection. Unfortunately, my past attempts at sorting this pile included pins. This lead to a few puncture wounds from diving into the box, in search for that one ribbon at the bottom, that would be perfect for a project. Enter:the cardboard.

Now, I’ve tried cardboard before, in the form of embroidery thread holders, and disliked the results, as it made fold lines in the ribbon. I have now decided this would be preferable to a stabby, messy pile of unraveling threads. Making it both easier to see, and safer. As you can see in the image, I used a hexagon punch to cut half shapes out of the sides of a piece of card stock. I doubled over the card for added stability, and wound the ribbons, securing each with a paperclip. I originally tried miniature pegs, as they were cute and the right size, but they kept falling off as I wound the following ribbon, and I gave up on it. Paper clips are also cheaper and easier to get at the local shop when I figure out I have much more ribbon than I thought.

The process is taking some time, but is working out nicely so far. I still have a whole bag of elastic, lace and ribbons still on their spools, too long to fit on the cards, or are unopened, to sort and find a storage solution. I have a bag of ribbons too short to bother putting on the cards. These will be good for making tiny bows, or if I want to buy more of something as a swatch.

Looking at my ribbon collection has made me see all the pretty ribbons that I have… But also makes me feel like buying more

It takes all SORTS…

#435

Earlier this week, it was clarified that I’m not, not allowed to use flames in my crafting, according to my partner (contradicting his earlier comments, but I have his bad memory to thank.) As long as there was no large open flames… Unless I’m cooking…

This led to today finally getting up the courage to use the stove lighter to seal the ends of ribbons, making it easier to create without battling raw edges. I am an adult, and wouldn’t recommend this without age or adults to back you up. I also think a lighter that doesn’t stay on is a bit safer than a candle, which I would only use next to a sink of water.

Disclaimers over, this sealing was so much easier to sew ribbon. Without having to add bulk to counteract the fraying and having clean ends was so much better looking. Previously, I had to seal ends with glue, then wait overnight for them to dry. I still need some practice, as the more delicate satin blackened with the flame. I was able to curl and manipulate some organza ribbon to create petals by burning the edges. This happens with sheer fabrics and tulle as well.

All in all, I got through the crafting session with no burns and house intact, so a good day for me. I have a whole folder on my computer of flowers and bows to try, so I’ll likely make some more in the future. Might need a new lighter, though.

Flame on.

#431

Hey my beauties. I have returned. I never actually left, I just forgot to post. But I’m going to get back into the routine, and update you on the pretties.

Above you’ll see I’ve tried to make a few flowers and bows with ribbon. Tried being the operative word here. They aren’t too bad at a glance, but they are fairly wonky with petals longer than others, and raw edges. I’m not trusted with fire unless I’m cooking, so it’s tricky to work with ribbon without sealing the edges with a lighter. I’m hoping I can get a bunch of ideas together, so I can sit over a sink and seal a bunch of ribbon edges at the same time.

This week’s pay has been long awaited, as I was well enough to go shopping. It took every ounce of my energy, after no going out for a long while, but I did it. I ended up buying three craft magazines, all with free die gifts on them. I received a nice laced edge die, a swirly reindeer, with small bow and snowflake, and the final die set included two scalloped circles, a plain circle, a flagged banner shape, three tiny hearts and three tiny stars. The magazines had some good ideas, too, and I’ll likely go through and take notes and sketches at some time. Something I should do with all the magazines I tend to throw in a pile while I use the gifts.

I managed to grab some more hot glue sticks before rushing home to bed, so when I recover, I can play around with more ideas using ribbon, paper and plastic cups.

I’ll remember to keep you updated this time 😉

#318

It was decided of a committee of one that I needed to make more headbands. Once the motion was passed, these two were created. The one with the stars was made, because I bought some scrap squares and glitter tulle in various colours. The squares are great for making bows, so I picked out a pattern and began hand stitching one. I was watching movies while I made them, so I couldn’t use my sewing machine. The glitter in the tulle got absolutely everywhere. Maybe spraying it with some sort of fixative or hair spray would help keep some on the fabric. I used the green one on this, that’s why I matched it with the headband and ribbon, but it’s hard to tell in the photo.
The other came about while I was looking for the green ribbon to match the tulle. I found some lace in my ribbon/lace/elastic/twine/raffia box. I thought I picked up the same ribbon, but it was the same colour, in two different widths. This made it better, as I could vary the flower sizes.
I should make a butterfly themed headband to go with my new scarf. I love butterflies.

#307

Eventful day. With a headache and company, I didn’t get a lot done.
At the end of the day, I tried making chain mail to no success. My brain couldn’t process which way the links needed to go, so I gave that up for some crocheting. I attempted a grid that I thought I could thread ribbon through for a bracelet, then I tried a cupcake stitch that I saw on Pinterest. Doesn’t look as yummy as the picture, but I thought it’d make a cute edging on a baby blanket.
There was an incident involving my kiddens (pretty sure I know which one) and some ribbon. The end result means I need to keep my ribbon box higher up, and put away better…*sigh*

#306

Bowses and roses.
I spent the day covered in glue, as I paper mached my way through ideas, while watching design ideas on Ted Talks on YouTube. There was some lovely ideology and a few methods of thinking that could be applied to my own ideas and projects.
After my nanna nap (the kiddens were frustrating and definitely needed a rest,) I cooked dinner, and worked on my digital painting until my hand cramped up. Unfortunately this didn’t take long at all, but I did get a few key things done, such as cleaning up the edges and swapping the full black background for a transparent one, which will make it better for applying to a t-shirt. I also noticed that she didn’t have much of a wrist, and fixed that.
After a time and kitty cuddles, I was able to move my hand enough to sew. I keep meaning to get out my sewing machine, but I decided I’d hand sew while watching a movie, so I made a bow. I usually use one square and fold it in half to make a rectangular bow, but I realised you get a much fuller bow if you start with two squares. So, I made up the bow, and got out my ribbon box to match the centre to the fabric. Then I had to find my headband box to make it into a headband. It’s nice to have everything clean, but then I have to re-find everything. While I had these boxes out, I found another headband that I had stared a while ago that I wanted to match with my superman shirt. I had glued blue ribbon to the headband base, but stopped there. I got out some red and yellow ribbon and came up with the design above. Half way through the rose making, I was going to give up, because the rose looked weird. I ended up liking the stylised look and went with it.

Day #167

Felt flowers and a ribbon bow. I used my new marking pen on the felt. It worked nicely, but now I have to wait and see how it disappears. I couldn’t use it on the purple because it was the same colour, so I pinned one of the other flowers to it and cut it out.
The reason I got to making these is I saw some headbands in a shop which were just felt flowers stuck to a headband base with a jewel in the middle. Like most things, I said to myself, and my friend, ‘I can do that.’ So I did. They are different and I didn’t take a photo for reference, they are inspired by. The ones in the shop were all one colour. I tried to give them some dimension by putting a stitch in the middle of the bottom layer. I was originally going to put them all on one headband, but they turned out bigger than I thought, so I’ll either only put one, or one large and make two smaller ones to put either side. I could make three headbands. I’m not good with choices, and I make my best art and craft when my head switches to autopilot and things fall into place.