Freehand embroidery

 

I didn't add a picture of my embroidery when I finished it last week.  I sketched the design freehand using an air erasable pen, and added extra bits as I went along.

Totoro!

  

I finished crocheting this small white Totoro, apart from his small pink feet.  The eyes are a bit far apart and the tail is a bit high.  I used a pattern available free here: http://heavens-hellcat.livejournal.com/730.html.

Andy the Alien

Andy the Alien, originally uploaded by happythoughts80.

I finally finished Andy the Alien, who I started over Christmas following a pattern in Nikki Trench's 'Super-Cute Crochet'.

At first I was a bit disappointed because mine didn’t turn out much like the photo in the book! I couldn’t get the hook into the right places to do the hair, so I crocheted it directly onto the head and worked the slip stitches into one loop only. I attached the legs and eyes in kind of the wrong places.

But he's grown on me, and I actually quite like him now. The legs in the wrong place help him to sit up better. And he certainly looks odd, which I guess is what an alien should look like!!

Scarf

I am crocheting this scarf using Cascade 220 Paints (shade 9921 - Carribean Sea) in a half treble stitch (UK) crocheted into the front loop and some other loop below it!  This was the first item I began to crochet, and I was still a bit confused about where the loops were.  Then by the time I realised, I was too far into the scarf and I decided I quite liked the rib effect on alternate rows.  It also gives it quite a bit of stretch.

I started this scarf ages ago (when I taught myself how to crochet), but then ran out of yarn, re-ordered and had to wait ages as it was out of stock.  Unfortunately the new yarn is a bit different - more dark turquoise than light and pink/purple patches in a completely different arrangement in the scarf.  But I'm not going to unravel it all!  It's a very relaxing project to crochet - the combination of the large hook and smooth yarn means that the stitches slide on and off the hook very easily.

Now I just need to hurry up and finish this while it's still winter (and very cold!).  It's almost scarf length now, but it's the same length as a scarf that's always annoyed me for being a little bit too short!

Travel quotes book

One of my friends is about to go travelling round Europe in a van, so I made her a book of quotes that she could use on her blog.

I found lots of quotes and vintage-style pictures on the internet, intending originally to print them out to form a simple book. However, using Microsoft Word and an HP printer made it impossible to print pages double sided and get them to line up on each side. So I ended up printing each page individually.

I then decided to go for a ring-bound format and got to work cutting and gluing, interspersing a few differently decorated pages. I had a lot of travel-related stickers left over from the book I made for my sister a few years ago, documenting our travels round Spain and Portugal. I then decided to protect the pages with sticky-back plastic, since they were printed using an ink-jet printer and even I was beginning to smudge them with slightly damp fingers.



















































I was really pleased with how the whole thing turned out. Even Andy, who only saw it unfinished, said it looked really professional.

Valentine card

The card I stitched for Andy this year:


My plan was that it would look a bit like a football scarf, and in appropriate colours too! The only bit I wasn't really happy with was the bottom of the U, but I hate unpicking stiches, and I was working to a deadline! The top and bottom edges were folded over and hemmed with a backstitch above the top stripe and below the bottom stripe.

And the envelope, made from a page from a children's book called Albert Le Blanc.

Paper doll crafts

My creations this week had a bit of a paper doll theme. It was great to have some time to just sit and make things. I remembered how much I used to enjoy creative activities, before I got bogged down with work and being stressed about work.

First a vintage paper doll, found on the internet here and mounted on a very small canvas. She's stuck onto the painted canvas with raised glue dots, so that her dress can be removed, and she has a spare dress hanging in the back of the canvas:

Then a paper dress, again arranged on a very small canvas, in spring-like colours:


















Another paper dress. The frame was a Christmas present last year, too fancy for any of the photos I have, but perfect for this extravagant dress with tiny diamante and sequin details:


















And lastly the paper doll from the first canvas, Lisette, with her entire wardrobe:



















Sorry the pictures on this post are so poor. There's not much sun today, and I'm terrible at holding a camera steady! I need to dig out my mini tripod.