A Crafty Christmas Box

Hello there!  How is your week going?  

It seems like a very short one here as we had a holiday on Tuesday for the Melbourne Cup, mid-week holidays always seem to throw the rest of the week off kilter!  

Anyway I am trying to get some yarny related work done and knock a few things off my to do list, and this is one of them, my Crafty Christmas Box! 

I have really enjoyed putting together my Yarny Love Club boxes for my club members, so I thought it might be nice to offer a special box for all the crafty peeps out there who like to make things around Christmas time ( I know I always like making a few decorations and bits and pieces to add to gifts, that hand made touch is always lovely! ) 

I will be opening another round of the Yarny Love Club later in November for the Summer months ( I am sending out the November boxes in a couple of days to finish off the Spring subscription), but this is just a special seasonal one off box separate to the Yarny Love Club.

Anyway here are the details if anyone is interested!  :) 

Crafty Christmas Box

Christmas is just around the corner and I thought it might be time for a little Crafty Christmas cheer for those of you who are planning a few handmade touches as part of your Christmas celebrations this year.
I am putting together a festive Crafty Christmas box to help inspire you to get creating, whether it be for decorations, or cute additions to handmade gifts.  The box will contain at least 150g of yarn, plus lots of other goodies to help you on your crafty way.
I am giving 2 colour choices -
1. Traditional Christmas colourway (think reds, greens and cream) or
2. A Scandi inspired colourway ( think red, pale blue and cream).

Apart from the yarn, the boxes will contain a mix of crafty things like ribbons, buttons, beads, pompom makers, tinsel, cottons and anything else I come across and think would be useful or cute, as well as a list of my favourite Christmas patterns to inspire you!

The cost of each box is $50 which includes postage.
To sign up for this one-off Crafty Christmas box, please email me your colour choice and I will send you a Paypal invoice.

Sign ups are open for a week, and I will be sending out the boxes at the end of November so you have plenty of time to get in the Crafty Christmas spirit through December! 
Australia only sorry! (There won't be enough time to send overseas before Christmas!)

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Thanks for reading you guys!  

I hope you have a great sunshiney day, even though it is great and wet here! 

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To market, to market

Hello! 

Many thanks for all the lovely comments on my last post, it seems many people have been touched by the kindness of their communities too, which is fantastic!

This week I am hoping  to get back in the swing of crafty things as I have signed up for a stall at a new market (to me), to be held in early September, so I had better get cracking! 

The market is called Nanna Cool and is fairly local to me, being held in Chelsea about 40minutes from here.  So if you are anywhere near Chelsea or the Mornington Peninsula on September 6th come and say hello! 

Anyway, I have been making these dangly flowers to take to the market, I think they will add a nice colour hit to my stall, and they are fun to make!

I am using my flower pattern from here to make these, and having fun mixing colours from the lovely selection of Cascade Ultra Pima I got in my shop last week.  So many choices !! 

I have written a list of things I'd like to make for this market, plus there are lots of half made things around my work room that need finishing, so I hope I have enough stuff to make the stall look good.

I am thinking of making it a bit of a pop-up wool shop too, I am going to bring along some bright beautiful yarns to inspire everyone to get out their hooks and needles.  It is always nice to be able to feel the yarns before you buy, one of the drawbacks of having an online shop.

It is very dull here today, so sorry for the dark photos, I have few more flowers to finish off ( I am trying to make one for every branch on my tree) and then I will try and take some better photos to show off my flower tree properly! It should look good. 

What are you up to today?  Got any crafty action happening?

Talk soon! 

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Crochet a postage stamp!

Hello! How are you going?  

I have been busy, want to see what I have been hooking up over the weekend? 

I have been making some little crochet stamps.  You know, like postage stamps but woolly!

I know that this is a totally impractical and whimsical thing to make, not really useful, but I think they are really cute and would be a lovely thing to receive stuck on a bit of snail mail. (Maybe somewhere inside the envelope not actually on the outside of the mail!) 

And that is why I decided to have a go at making a crochet postage stamp, I like to add a postcard with a thank you message to all yarn orders that go out of my shop, and I like to stick a little decorative bit of crochet, like a flower or heart or whatever I have been making.  

One of the ladies who did the Blog with Pip course, Yvette of Bear Loves Dove, has started a little linky thing called 'Smile Inducers', and that is what I was trying to create when people open up there postcard, a little smile inducing moment.  I was thinking it would be nice to make an actual stamp out of yarn to go on the postcard. So this is what I came up with!

I thought I'd make a little tutorial so you can make your own crochet stamps too, to pretty up your mail or gifts.  So get out your small hooks and fine thread and lets make a stamp !

Ok, firstly crochet up some little squares, mine where 12 stitches by 12 rows, I used a 4ply cotton and a 2mm hook.  Make 2 of each colour, 1 for the front and 1 for the back.

Next, get your embroidery cottons out and have a bit of a play embroidering on patterns of your own choice to personalise your stamps, you can do anything you like!  Some suggestions - words, flowers, hearts, geometric patterns, smiley faces, etc. Embroider onto one piece of your crochet that will become the front of your stamp.

I have embroidered some flowers on mine.

Next, get your back and front and crochet them together using a slip stitch through both layers, with picots every second stitch to create a kind of 'stampy' edge all the way around your stamp. This means that all the messy back bits of the embroidery are hidden inside the two layers.

 I used a 1.5mm hook for the edge.

Sew in your ends and there you have it, a crochet stamp!

What do you think?  I am really happy how this little project turned out.  I know these are purely decorative, but sometimes it is nice to make something just for the fun of it, to create something to put a smile on your face. 

I might hook up some more of these for a wooly stamp collection, or just to add something whimsical to my thank you postcards.  It was nice to do some embroidery for a change too.

......this is what the backs look like, quite neat and tidy........

......so that is what I have been up to, have you been making anything fun?
Are you someone who makes practical things, or are you more into the cute little useless fun make?
I think I do a bit of both.  Or course it is great if you can make something practical that is cute and fun as well!

I just had a thought that they would make nice brooches if you sewed a pin to the back,
 so quite multi functional after all!

Have a great happy day.

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Holiday makings.....

Hello!  How are you going today?  We are on school holidays here so it's lazy days for the boys and a fair bit of hunkering down in the chilly weather for me.  I have done a bit of holiday crafting too, so that's been fun.  I thought I'd show you what I've been up to with this little make.

You know when you get an idea and you just have to try it out straight away?  

Well this little purse/case was a bit like that, I thought these would be cute little presents filled with pencils/nail polish/soap/crochet hooks/washi tape etc.

I had an idea to use some pieces of tapestry crochet that I've hooked up.  

I crocheted the edge and folded them in half and sewed up the sides.  

I added the picots for a bit of added cuteness.  So far so good.

Then I made a lining out of a piece of woollen blanket, it is quite chunky and tactile.  I decided to be lazy and not get the sewing machine out, so I hand sewed the lining onto the crochet piece.  

Then I hand sewed a zip into the top.  This ended up being quite dodgy.  

I don't really know how to sew zips into things, but thought I'd just wing it anyway, so the results are less than perfect, to say the least!

I think I did it in the wrong order, I should have sewed the zip to the outer first and then sewed the lining on last, which would have hidden the inside of the zip.   

Something to remember for next time!

I was after something a bit more chunky and substantial, so I like how thick my little case has turned out, and I am sure I can improve on this next time.  So this little experiment was successful, even if the finished thing is pretty wonky!

It is the right size for my crochet hooks, so I am going to do a house wide hunt tomorrow and get them all in one place.

(See my dodgy sewing in of the zip, can definitely improve on that!)

One good thing that occurred to me while I was trying this out is that I really want to make some cute bags out of my blanket stash, I forgot how lovely the woollen plaids are, and how nice they feel to touch.  I think I will actually make the effort to get the sewing machine out and have a go.  

I want to get a few cute things made and put away for Christmas, I feel a handmade Christmas challenge coming on!

Howe are your holidays going? Or is it business as usual at your place?

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little makes interlude.....

Hello!

How is your week going?  It's pretty chilly around here, and I have been lighting the fire early in the day, it's been a nice place to sit and do a bit of daytime crochet, I have so many projects on the go that I am needing to crochet during the day, the evening sessions are just not cutting it!

The other day I bought a collection of little ceramic bottles, they are very plain and white, I think they are just crying out for a little hooky make over, so have started making some stripy covers for them.

I know this is totally frivolous and a purely decorative project, but it is kind of fun choosing stripe combinations and seeing the colourful collection grow!  Sometimes it is good to have little side project on the go that you can work on when you need a break from bigger, more demanding work!

I am looking forward to having this whole tray full of colourful, stripy little bottle vases, so cute!

After all the big projects I have been working on recently, it's nice to have a quick make off the hook.

I am about to start a new Harlequin blanket in some lovely blues and greens, so it is back to the big stuff for a few weeks,  I have also come across some fun craft projects that I 'd like to try, I just have to be patient and wait for a spare afternoon to have a go.

Are you making anything frivolous at the moment?

Julie xxxxxxxxxxxxx

A morning at a market......

This morning my Mum, Jesse, and I went to the annual 'Christmas at the Studio' sale and market at the studio of some very talented artists.  It is down some very narrow, dusty roads out the back of Balnarring, and is always a great place to visit.  The property the studio is on is gorgeous and bushy, a lovely natural setting for this celebration of fantastic craftsmanship.  These artists are producing some fabulous work.  There were plenty of people and lots of lovely stalls with lots of jewellery designers and other craftspeople.  It was great to see all the different ways people are being creative out there!

...I loved this old ice-cream truck selling cold drinks and painted with some lovely murals....

...that's their studio in the background....

....I think there are three girls sharing this studio ( but I could be wrong!)  a glassblower, painter and jeweller, so there were many gorgeous pieces of jewellery, metalwork, and beautiful glass for sale as well as some beautiful paintings.......

 ...outside there were lots of stalls.....

...this was one of my favourite stalls ( I should have asked for a business card but forgot!)...

 ....I loved these cute little  characters, so much work in each one, each one a unique creation.  Of course, I had to buy one, so I am now the proud owner of a 'Buddy', very pleased with my purchase!:)

...gorgeous vine wreaths, I love that heart!

All in all, it was great to see the handmade scene looking so healthy, there was plenty of interest in all the stalls, and I saw lots of lovely things for sale, hopefully all the stall holders have a good day and it is worth all their hard work.  If you are on the Mornington Peninsula today or tomorrow it is worth visiting this beautiful property for some interesting shopping!  

here is their face book page with more details and address etc.

Made by hand......

Hello.  

I am joining in with Christina's Made by Hand linky today.  I have been having a bit of fun playing around with the hook and some colours, working on a little Christmas decoration, I kind of know how I want it to look, now I just have to keep trying until I get it right.

This is what I have come up with today, I am making version 2 with a slightly different flower petal and a thicker wool yarn, so we will see what works best.  I think these could be cute in different colours all dangling from a branch.

Have you had a creative day?   Or maybe a few creative moments here and there?

Crochet Washcloths, so hip!!

Hello!

We are starting two weeks of school holidays here, so looking forward to a break in our usual routines, hopefully we will have a lot of fun days, relaxing doing what we like. 

This morning I sat down and weaved all the ends in on my little washcloths.  It was time for some photos!  So here they are, humble washcloths, little woollie style!

A couple of these have already found a new home, far away across the ocean, how exciting!

**Thanks to my very obliging helpers here, a little glimpse *behind the scenes* at our headquarters. :)  

(Although it turned into a bit of a tug of war with washcloths flapping around all over the place very soon after this was taken:) )

Anyway, I am pretty happy with how these turned out, very easy, and I think a cute present with some nice soap or something like that.  A good start to my Handmade Christmas effort. 

What have you been up to this weekend?

Had some fun times?

xxxxxx

(ps. A few lovely people were wondering how to to the dotty pattern, I will try and clean up my scribbles and post a photo of the dot graph for the tapestry crochet technique:) )

Edited to add:  I now have a pattern available for these washcloths as well as the hearts and clouds ones. If you are interested they are for sale on Ravelry over here!

Made by hand......

I'm joining Christina and her weekly Made by Hand linky thing, because I have actually been doing some making today.
I am slowly changing my attitude to my crafty activities so it is more than just a hobby,  I'd like to earn a small living making things and selling wool, so I need to put the time in and not feel guilty about all the other things I could be doing.  If I was working for someone else doing the same things, I wouldn't feel like it wasn't work and not worthwhile, so I don't really understand why I feel that I am being self indulgent when I am working on things here at home by myself.
 Am I worried about what other people think of my choices?  Do I feel like I should get a 'proper' job?  Am I just easily distracted?  I don't know. Hopefully I will be able to get rid of these negative thoughts and enjoy the making process and get excited about making things as more than just my hobby.  I think I really need to do a bit of time scheduling, and block in some solid crafting time, maybe then I would be a bit more productive......

Anyway, enough of my moaning, let me show you what I finished off this morning, a couple of my little tree decorations.  They had been sitting here in pieces for ages, (I think I showed progress pictures a long time ago), so I am glad they are complete now.
The idea was for me to make a collection of these and sell them coming up to Christmas, but they are taking me so long to make, I'll probably only have a few finished.  Hardly seems worth it!
Gotta get my act into gear.

 The thing I like about these little guys is how the colours all work together in the layers, I like looking down from the top and seeing hints of colour and snippets of texture.... looking at these pictures is giving me a few ideas for a motif colour scheme.....

.....so here is my work space, looking pretty crowded as it is doubling as my wool shop, but I love having all the wool around the space, I don't have to go far for colour inspiration!...
I am also working on a little secret something that I hope you guys might like, it is not really that exciting but I am having fun putting them together, but more on that later......

Anyhoo, what have you been making lately?


Before I go I'd just like to say a big hello to any new readers (and all you long time guys!) that have stumbled across this little space recently, thanks for visiting here, my posting has been quite sporadic lately, so I appreciate all the visits I get and I enjoy all the comments you leave, so a big, friendly wave to you from me!   I have been struggling with things to blog about recently, hence the lack of posts, but I'm sure my inspiration will come back soon!  

Talk soon .....xxxxxxxxxx