Hanging Ornaments – an idea!

A long time ago I posted about an ornament stand I had made. It’s a pale blue one that I made for hanging ornaments for anytime during the year. This is from Easter last year so you can see the difference with my new Christmas one.

 

I managed a little time to make one for Christmas ornaments.  It’s a very easy stand to make. I used two boards that came with shaker pegs which are designed to be on the wall for hanging jackets or?? on. I used 1/2” dowels. The stand is 2’ by 2’.  The boards come with holes drilled for the shaker pegs, so you just need to cut the dowels to height you want and make sure of the hole size. I am assuming you can get longer and shorter sets, this one just happens to fit for Janet’s shop without being in the way.

The Christmas colours are slightly off the traditional red and green, I’ve used Cranberry Sauce and Rustic Charm. The paints are from Country Chic, are water based for easy clean up and non toxic. Perfect for DYI projects, for creating distressed furniture and more. They were featured on Dragon’s Den, I just had to check it out.  I was glad that one of the Dragon’s (Jim Treliving), discouraged them from trying to get into Michaels. I think this paint is so good, that in some place like Michaels it just wouldn’t have gotten the right exposure it deserves.

I found a local seller and decided on these two colours. They are brighter than they appear below.

 

This is the stand now that it’s put together.  I had hubby drill holes along the dowels and some on the top piece. On this stand I measured it to include 4 hooks on each dowel and 4 more on the top piece. I used 5/8” cup hooks.  I like the two colours I chose, and when you see it in real life, the cup hooks being a gold colour just seem to sparkle adding a nice Christmas feel to the finished ornament hanger.

I’ve dressed it up simply with a bit of greenery around the base, and is also a good place for the lower ornaments to rest on.

I hung the smartphone cozies and felt ornaments on it to show you what it’s like now. I will hang them differently when they go to the shop, but this is just to show you how handy it is to display ornaments in smaller spaces. ;o)

My last project is underway and will take me the whole of the next 10 days to get it done in time for decorating on the 23rd, but I’ll be back soon with more pictures of this and other finished pieces.

Mardi Gras Needlework Collection

In 2013 I started working on a tutorial. I got side tracked, sound familiar…. I do that from time to time. ;o(  However, I got back on track and put my mind to it that I had to finish this project. 

And that’s what I did. I love Jesters, Clowns, Pierrots and pretty much anything on that theme, so with that in mind, I created this needlework collection. I got it done in the same week of Mardi Gras, at least on the end of it, but done it is.

I hope if you like to do needlework, you might enjoy making this. If you’re not, don’t worry, you don’t necessarily have to be. The hat is the focal point of the set, and it’s all sewn except for the added stitched button on the top which could be replaced with anything you like.

It’s a big project, 19 pages for the instructions, then there are two other files to download that are instructions for putting together components of the set. Please click on “Free Stitching Projects” on the tab above and you will find three files to download. Mistakes happen, let me know if you find something.

They are: Mardi Gras Needlework Collection, 18th Century Scissor Shoe Fobs and last file on the page, Finishing Ornaments. To make all 5 projects, you need all three files. You will now be able to make scissor fobs, buttons (which could also be smaller fobs,

To cover the backs, I just used faces that were part of a fabric featuring Jesters and Mardi Gras specifically. You easily just cover both sides with fabric if you don’t do needlework.

a Jester ornament

A scissor case. While i haven’t embellished the case very much you certainly can. I just felt it would be handled a fair bit, so that any dangling beads etc. might be in the way.

And a Jesters hat, my favourite part of the set. This one is in Mardi Gras colours, but the one I made in 2013 is in black and white fabrics. I love these pincushions. So much fun and adds a fun feature to my worktable.

Here is the completed set all together.

This is how you can make small and medium size fobs. So cute.

I hope you will enjoy it. I’ve given you a few examples of what you could do, send me pictures if you make something with this tutorial. . I would love to see your interpretation of my design and I will feature you on my blog if you would like that…;o)

All I ask in return is that you give me credit for the projects I’ve designed and if you feel so inclined, pass along my blog link to anyone else you know that likes to stitch and/or likes Jester themes.

Fabric Strip Mats

I finished a lot of mats last night. I mentioned in my last post that I was trying to decide what to work on next, and I went with this idea. It helped to clear up things from my workroom and now I have some new hot mats, coasters and a floor mat. Another project tipped off my list.

While I was getting everything ready, I decided to also write up a tutorial for making them. They are very fast to do and inexpensive, so if you are stumped for gift giving, this might help. I used batik fabrics for these. My stash of batiks could stand some lightening up, but if you’re like me, they are so addictive. Amazing prints and colours, and it seems that no matter what prints and colours of batiks you put next to each other, they always seem to be harmonious.

A couple of pictures here for you and if you click on “My Tutorials” at the top of the page, you’ll find the link to the Fabric Strip Mat Tutorial there. I hope you will find this useful and as always, send me pictures if you create something from this tutorial. Enjoy.

Winter Woollies

At night when I watch a bit of television, I, like so many others, can’t just sit and watch. I have to be doing something. This is what I’ve been doing. I am making these to go with some Christmas 2014 projects I’m designing. I still have more to make if you can believe it, but it’s very relaxing to work on them at night and they are so quick to knit up.

If you’re a knitter, you might enjoy the tutorial I’ve created to go with this post. It’s called “Winter Woollies” and you can find the pdf on my “Little Wonders” page above my posts. I hope you will enjoy the tutorial for these sets.

These are the same kind of thing, but you’ll see that I’ve also used some yarns that have a bit of bling to them. Hard to see with some, but the black and red for example, sparkle.

This little set, except for the scarf, is from a Tilda book. “Winter Delights”. A cute little book and like all her books, full of simple and sweet projects that work up fairly quickly.  To finish off the set, I will be adding some kind of sparkle to the sweater and hat. In the book, Tilda has used an applique in the center of the sweater. I’m not sure yet what I’ll use, but for sure this has to have some kind of bling.

Mr. Jackson, Esquire

This doll has been begging to be made for ages. It’s originally a Marge Gorman design. She encourages you to make your own version and so Mr. Jackson, Esquire appeared. For those who don’t know, the term Esquire has different connotations from a courtesy title in North America referring to lawyers. In the UK the it was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank but later came to be used as general courtesy title for any man in a formal context. The title “Esquire” originated in late 14th century – as per Wikipedia.

At the end of this post is a little bonus for you.

Mr. Jackson, Esquire falls into the category of a person of higher social standing. I love his regal presence.

I had a vision for him, and just let the process flow step by step to bring him to life. I adapted a few things on him to make that vision real. The first thing and where the most changes occurred was to his head. Originally his eyes were pom poms. I drew eyes on and used Prisma pencils to colour them. The eyelashes and eyelids are as per the pattern. I sculpted the nose to make it more rabbit like, rather than the felt heart. Those lovely whiskers, I knew I would use them eventually. I have been collecting them from Chrissie (she’s so sweet to share) and other felines I come in contact with.

The costuming is fairly close, except that I did a different type of neck treatment, rather than the full ruffle around the neck.

I didn’t make the same hat as the pattern, I used one from a set I bought last year and added some trims such as ribbon around the brim, a few feathers tucked in, along with a couple of metal buttons, one in back, one off to the side. For added interest I made a bias strip with the fabric of the vest and bound the hat edge with it. And we can’t forget his furry bottom.

I gave him a staff or walking stick, whatever he chooses to use it for.

He also needed something to sit on, so I created this fancy box for him. I used two different colour tassles with cords, using the cord to decorate the sides of the box along with each side being a different colour.

To complete the look, I made some shoes/booties for him. He would have had bare feet, most unbecoming for someone of his stature, so shoes it is. Very simple bootie style shoes, but in keeping with the overall look.

As a bonus, I have written a tutorial for the shoes/booties (whatever you wish to call them). If you scroll up to the top and click on my Little Wonders button, you will find it there. Enjoy.

“And So She Waits” Final chapter

Here is where I will show you how this doll came together. I belong to a Mixed Media group, and one of their challenges, is an altered bottle. I’m the first to admit, I am not a mixed media person. I have done some mixed media, but making dolls is what I enjoy.

A couple of years ago Colleen Babcock was here and I was lucky enough to take 3 workshops with her. One of those dolls is called “Stitch in Time”. I’ve been staring at my version for ages and finally the penny dropped, why not use the top part of that doll for this  challenge. I knew I wanted to make her again and I seldom ever make the same doll twice, but for sure this one will repeated beyond this challenge.

The bottle I used is approx. 12” tall and 12” in diameter and has the perfect bump in the right place.

I had to draft a pattern for the costume and found Dover Pictura a big help for that. (Thanks Deb). Interestingly, I already had the plaid fabric which was destined for a completely different project, so I guess this is where it was meant to be used.

The doll pattern is Colleen’s Stitch in Time as shown above. The wrap around hat pattern is borrowed from Colleen’s other workshop, “Finders Keepers” but without the back panel. This is another doll that I must make again and I have the fabric already picked out twice over.

I used wool roving for the hair, and just needle felted the roving into the head to cover it until later.

 

The hands in the original pattern had opposable thumbs, but I wanted to make what looks like gloves, so I just redrew the hands to include the thumbs. The trim around her wrists and the scarf, are cut from a scarf that is soft, flows nicely and is light enough for this doll. The bits of lace around the bottom part of the hat are pieces of a tatted doily. The ribbon roses finish the look around the face and there is tiny tatted lace around the neckline.

Once I had the top of the doll complete, it was just a matter of adhering it to the bottle and left it to dry overnight. I used three different shades of tulle to make the underskirt. It will never be seen other than by those who see her in real life and want to peek, everyone always looks under a dolls dress.. ;o~ , but I really liked the transition of colour and even though it doesn’t show, I know it’s there. The layers are simply gathered tulle and glued to the bottle working up from the bottom.

The skirt is just a simple rectangle of fabric gathered at the waist and covered with a waistband.  The little purse is made from a small crocheted doily and trimmed with silk ribbon and metal beads and stitched to her waistband.

The back of her bonnet is trimmed with ribbon roses. The ringlets are made with wool roving that I wet first and rolled onto two different sizes of dowels and left to dry overnight. You could also use knitting needles which does make it easier to remove after they’re dry. The ringlets are needle felted to her head, tucked under the edge of the bonnet.

The shabby roses on her skirt are from an Etsy seller I found. She has a wonderful selection of shabby roses, check here, and I carried on the ribbon roses theme in the bustle part of the skirt.

The final step was to glue the bottle to the wooden base. I collected the gritty sand, glass, shells, barnacles and sea creatures from around the local waterfront. I was actually happy to find that crab intact and a couple of sand dollars. There is a beach area nearby, where if you wait for the tide to go out, you can find all kinds of sand dollars.

The netting is interesting. It’s a string base that has had paper pulp blown through it and I think it looks like a fishnet, so it had to be used. My thanks to Jessica Hamilton for that find. She had it posted ages ago and I was lucky enough to get the last piece that the woman had.  You don’t see it here, but I also glued felt to the bottom of the wooden base to protect the furniture from possible scratches.

That’s it. I hope I have inspired you in some way to explore other options for your doll making or other crafting adventures. Just remember to keep your eyes open and explore everything, because inevitably, one thing will always lead to another.

Be sure to click on the “Little Wonders” page link at the top of my blog and you’ll find a tutorial for making the doll size binoculars I made for “And So She Waits”… Enjoy.

Guest Blogger

Today I’m a guest blogger over at The Magic Bean. When Colleen asked me a couple of weeks ago if I would like to be a guest blogger and could I come up with a small project for her. Colleen is such a talent and a good friend and I was so flattered to be asked that I jumped right in and got busy.

I was so lucky to meet Colleen last year and even luckier that she stayed with us for a week while she was here to teach 5 days of workshops for the doll club. What an amazing teacher, if your club is ever looking for a teacher and you want to learn learn learn, contact Colleen. The doll club members were raving about her for ages after the workshops.

She gives her classes her absolute and complete attention, very focused and nobody leaves class without having everything they need to move ahead with their projects. If you know other groups, link together to host Colleen, you will enjoy every minute of her teaching skill. She’s a superstar. ;o)

As Colleen pointed out there are free tutorials on my blog and the coffee filter album was a true labour of love. It was what I made to showcase my Marie Antoinette themed dolls for 2010 gallery show. Please feel free to download any of the free tutorials here and send me pictures of what you make from them.

Thank you again Colleen….I was so happy to help you and am loving your theme for the month.

Coffee Filter Album

In the early part of the summer I was contacted by a gentleman from France. He has an online art site and had found my post of the coffee filter album that I made to showcase my Marie Antoinette themed dolls at the doll club gallery show last fall.

He asked if I would be willing to write a tutorial for making the album for his website and of course I said yes. How flattering to be asked. It took me a while to put it together with a number of unavoidable delays, but I’m happy to say it’s now complete.

If you would like to see it, please click on my Tutorial link above. I have noted in the tutorial, that you may want to download it and read it on your computer. I have used almost exclusively, colour pictures that will use a lot of ink to print. However, the choice is yours.

Here is Mr. Duvals art site link and it is also in the right side column of my blog. You will find the link to my tutorial on his site listed under “Scrapbooking”, then under “Scrapbook With”… Thank you again Georges for asking me to do this, it’s been a pleasure.

A New Tutorial

Just a quick post to let you know I've added a new tutorial. It's for some ornaments made from wooden spindles. It can be found in the right column with the other tutorials. It's a very simple one and lends itself to lots of creative ideas. Mine are not done with traditional Christmas colours, but ornaments can be an all year thing, so don't worry about trying to make them fit one season only... Enjoy

How to cover a book tutorial

As I promised in a previous post, I have written up a tutorial for covering a book or journal with decorative paper or you could use fabric. Please scroll down the right side of my blog and you will find a section for tutorials. I hope you enjoy trying this technique. Do read it through and if you have any questions, just leave me a comment and I will get back to you asap.. Here is a picture of the finished project along with the bookmark to match and a sticky note book that finished the whole look.

Beaded Trim

I've often found some great tutorials online either in blogs or websites and thought sometime I would like to be able to offer something as well. The opportunity presented itself this week. I got an order for a dragon like one I sold recently. I agreed to get it made by September 6th....(what WAS I thinking !!) I needed some beaded trim and just simply don't have any that will work with the fabric I'm using and not enough time to go searching in my usual places or have anything mailed to me.... What to do, what to do...
Ahhh, make your own. So that's what I did and as I worked away on it thought, hmmm bet there are others out there who could use this. I don't claim to be any kind of expert but this is the method I used and it seems to be just fine. Here is a picture of the final results and how it looks next to the fabric. If you would like to make some trim or just have a tutorial available to make your own, just CLICK HERE and download the PDF file to your computer. I hope you can use the information and if you do make some trim, send me a picture. I would love to see what you can do to...