Xmas cards

A little bit late, but here are some of the Xmas cards I made for the Xmas just gone.  Unfortunately, they didn't photo very well, so I apologise for the poor image standard.  The cross-stitch ones came out a lot better, because they were less shiny!

I have now ordered a new camera cable, so I can start blogging some more recent photos soon too.

Toys!

I made these toys for my neices and nephew for Xmas.  I used a template provided by Craftseller magazine, and adapted it for the monster - I didn't think my 7 year old nephew would be thrilled with the overly cute looking birds!
I'm quite proud of them, since it was my first attempt and making toys.  I'll certainly be trying more ambitious toys etc. in the future!

Here's a couple of photos of Willow and Tangent, to prove they are doing ok too.  They are much happier since we moved!
I have some more recent photos of them, but I need to buy a new power cable for the camera my parents kindly gave me so I can upload them.

I love this photo of them together!

'Soooo hungry!'

Half a year?!

Wow. Pretty much half a year since my last post.  That's pretty abysmal.  I'm not going to offer excuses, because despite life being busy, if I'm honest I did have time to post, but I just didn't want to.
I have done loads of craft projects since last posting, but there's such a backlog I'm a bit overwhelmed about where to start! 
Lots of stuff has happened in life too, but it was all generally stressful I didn't want to turn this blog into a whinge-fest, where I bemoan the injustices of life.

I'm currently working on a pretty cool project, and I will post some updates on its progress in a few weeks, once there's anything worth posting - there's a lot of prep work!

In the meantime, I think I'll drip-feed you all with some of the projects I've worked on over the last few months, and I'll endeavour to get better at updating.  On that note, we've moved again!  The landlord of the house that flooded evicted us (two evictions in one year -sheesh, that's enough to take personally). It's all good though, as we are now back in the area we really like.  The dogs seem happier since the move too!

Am writer

It's official! I'm now a pubished writer!  A feature I wrote for Knit Today went on sale last Thursday, and to say I'm a little excited is an understatement.  It's always been a bit of an ambition of mine to get something published so I'm ecstatic to have acheived this.  I know only a feature and not a best-selling novel, but it's so exciting to see your name in print!  It's certainly motivated me to write more.

If you're interested in reading it, it's in issue 66 and on page 28. 

Neglect

Wow, it's been awhile.  Things have been pretty hectic between having to move and the nuisance that is full-time work.  I have several projects I want to blog about, but my desktop has decided to have a hissy fit and won't let me into my user area. So, once that is sorted I will be able to upload some images and actually blog, instead of authoring a dead blog.  I'm a ghost writer in the most literal sense, I guess.

And yes, I have shamelessly copied and pasted this post into both my blogs.  You'd think after months of neglect I could think of something original  to write in both really. You'd think.

Father's day and Christening cards

Below is the card I made for a friend's son's Christening. I used the material from the card kit I had for the 'best wishes' card in the previous post, and I think it came out ok. I find Christening cards quite awkward to do, as I am not religious and think it would be a bit hypocritical to be all 'may God be with you' etc. if you don't really believe the sentiment.

I have found the material in this card kit difficult to work with. I think it's because of the busy background of the card designs.

________________

My Dad is into metal detecting, so I decided to create a card influenced by this. It does look a little odd, but I was trying to break away from the 'stick square here, then add caption there' format I have fallen into (see card above!).

For the base, I stained a card with antiquing stain. Next I dampened a section of cross stitch aida and dripped the same antiquing stain over it to give it an aged appearance. Once dried, I pick at the threads so it had a more worn look.
The embellishments are a couple of coins I had kept from France which I then set into some melted wax, and attached to the aida. I stuck some synthetic mossy material along the edge to give the impression of hidden treasure and finished the card off with some lettering tiles. I also personalised the envelope, as I wasn't convinced the metal detecting theme came across too well!

Cards, bookmarks, and wine.

Here are the cards I said I would blog about a month ago (ahem...)

The first is an anniversary card. It was from one of those build-it-yourself card kits I wanted to try out. It came out ok, but I object a little to the limitations imposed by a kit!

The next card was also from a kit, but I lost the chart so had to wing it a bit. I'm not a huge fan of the design, but as this was for my sister who loves both roses and tea, it seemed an ideal birthday card!

Finally, a cross stitch bookmark I made to accompany my sister's birthday present (a book, funnily enough). Unfortunately, due to poor planning on my part, the border of the bookmark resulted in some last minute chart adjustments as the working area was too narrow for the chart design. I also cut it a little too short hence why the design looks a little bunched at the ends. For the backing, I used the liner of an old jacket I have, which is a velvet-like material. It's called horse skin, but it isn't actually from the hide of an equine!
I like the design on this one, I just wished I'd measured twice and cut once! I blame the wine in the background. Evil vino, leading my crafts astray...