goggly eyes and knitting

Just a quick update...my mum knitted me some slippers (they have glue on the soles to make them non slip)-aren't they fabulous?

They are SO warm..........but.....

I couldn't resist sticking some of my goggly eyes on (the other one will follow)!!!!

Not sure mum approved (let's be honest after 46 years she is well practiced in the eye rolling regarding my slightly odd actions at times)!

Happy crafting

Kyla

Free art for you and me too

 I often take part in Free Art Friday and the Art Abandonment project.  

My latest piece I set free was a watercolour postcard.  

It is not based on any particular country or province but rather the green was a mop up from an earlier painting and after carrying it around in my sketchbook for a few weeks I suddenly realised it looked a little like a map outline!  

I added some blue for  the sea and used my new Uniball pens to add some outlines and lettering (see my earlier post about the set I was given, they are great fineliners and are waterproof so I can doodle over watercolours without fear of the pen bleeding). 

Following from the whole Brexit debate reminded me that regardless of whether one agrees with other peoples views we are lucky to live in a country that allows free speech and the right to vote and we should respect that.

I am lucky that I work in an organisation with a very diverse workforce made up of many different races, religions and orientations and this means I am regularly exposed to many differing views (and some SERIOUS lunchbox envy at the canteen-boy they look and smell much more appetising than cheese sarnies I can tell you!!) and I believe I am a better person for this.

With this in mind I chose the words to represent different 'Countries/States".

 As I am in hospital regularly there is also diverse workforce there and the words also struck a chord with me as to how patients should also be treated so I decided to abandon it there.

 Imagine my surprise when further up the hospital I came across a box and lots of knitting with a sign saying "Knit with me"....so as I had time to kill, I did.  Now, I am not a great knitter but I was thrilled that I remembered the basic knit (which is what all the little squares were)

 

 Upon closer inspection I realised that the many of the knitted squares had been made into envelopes and had signs on them saying "open here" and "To: You....really you" and  "I'm not lost I'm for you".

So I picked one up and opened it up and found this message!

On the back it said that the words had been collected from patients, visitors and staff to the hospital in the hope that they maybe just what you need to hear today!!

It is the Envlop Project (https://www.nbt.nhs.uk/fresh-arts)

What a fabulous idea.  I love seeing the changing art installations around the hospital.  When you are there it makes it SO much more welcoming and how lovely that whilst I was there abandoning art there was another doing it too!!

If you fancy abandoning art or taking part in Free Art Friday then just search for them on Facebook and the groups should come up.

Happy crafting

Kyla

A new baby blanket

 Something a little different today. 

 5 years ago my brother was living in Ecuador and skyped me to say he had met the love of his life!  He was living up a volcano working for a charity that ran schools for local children where he met Zoe.  I was expecting a local girl....but she also lived in London, only a few miles from my brother!!  Such a small world.

They are now married and back in London and have just had a baby girl, Emily Sisa Rose.

Now, my crafting is not really child friendly (I will have to wait until she is older so she can get messy with her Auntie Kyla) but my mum is a talented knitter and I wanted to share what she made them.

This is a knitted blanket.  The hearts are embossed and debossed on each and every square

 The colour is not a very good rendition as it is not this blue it is more a pale green/blue

I wish I could knit like this, but every time I knit my tension squares differ and there are more holes than a string vest.

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

 

Bristo Wool Festival Street Art bonanza

 This weekend I went to Bristol Wool Fair at Washpool Farm in Easter Compton.

What I hadn't realised was that it had previously held a VW festival so there was some great street art, a double bonus.

 The detail of this one is amazing, it looks like lace has been used as a stencil.

 Great to see Dave the Agent here (the one on the right is minion Bane and I was lucky enough to get a Free Art Friday version of this, full details can be found here)

 Love Family Guy

 and American Dad

 Just to prove it was a wool festival here are some alpaca's!

 and a couple of displays

and finally my Mum knitting on GIANT needles!!

A great day out and a really good venue.

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

Knitting needles and brag books

Hello peeps, so here we go again with another roundup of some of the Christmas presents I made this year (looking back I didn't realise I had made SO many!).

This photo isn't brilliant, but its a knitting needle roll that I made my mum.  Its made out of quite heavy upholstery fabric so that it should withstand needles being poked in and hopefully stand up to quite a bit of abuse.

 This is a brag tag book for my Nan in NZ.  Its a chipboard tag mini photo album that my Nan can keep in her handbag and contains recent photos of me, my hubby, brother and his wife too.  The fern leaves are made out of air drying lightweight clay with a Martha Stewart (I think) mould and coloured with Dylusion sprays.

The letters are cut from a cereal box, coloured, glittered and then glossy accents to finish them and make them shine.

 

For family I also made a few more fabric covered notebooks

 

 and another quilted one (these really are a pain to make though as they take me SO long!)

I have more books to cover during 2015 but at the moment I cannot bring myself to make any more as, I think I need to concentrate on another craft for a while!

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

Keeping me warm

Hello everyone.  This is a bit of a test for me, you see my lovely hubby bought me a Tesco Hudl2 tablet for Christmas.  After hearing about Julia and others who have issues with iPads not allowing access and my trusty over 5yr old net book almost grinding to a hault he decided my wails most Wednesdays were getting too much! The reviews seemed like it would do most things I needed it to and the price perfect.

So, I am trying a photo and a blog update to see how it goes.  My laptop is my main access but I thought I would try this.

The photo is part of my Christmas present from my mum (thanks mum!). She knitted the chunky neck roll and fingerless gloves both of which I wore earlier today.

So there you go.  A quick update now back to Radio 4 and Christmas chocolates!

Happy crafting

Klya

A knitted city

 Hello peeps, well those of us in southern Britain had the first sunny and warm weekend of the year, and it was an absolute belter!

This was a week of comedy for me.  Tuesday saw my and my hubby go with friends to see the American comedian Rich Hall live-he was brilliant.  One set was stand-up and the other was comedy songs with his blues/country band.

This was followed on Saturday with a trip to Colston Hall for me, hubby and my mum to see "I'm Sorry I haven't a clue"-this is a comedy veteran of BBC Radio 4 and live was brilliant-they even put a kazoo on each seat so that the audience could join in with one of the music rounds!!

We finished the weekend with a trip to SAB - Southbank Arts Bristol.  This is a weekend of homes and businesses opening up and selling art and craft direct to the public.  Its not the London Southbank, but Bristol Southbank which is the areas along the south of the River Avon (Southville and Bedminster mainly).

There were SO many fabulous arts and crafts for sale from peoples gardens, front rooms and church/school halls but the key feature was the knitted city of Bristol on display at PaperVillage (a local craft shop). 

People all over the city have knitted, crotched or needle felted landmarks of Bristol. They included hot air balloons as Bristol is home to Cameron Balloons and the Balloon fiesta.

Many of the multi coloured houses and red bricked buildings were depicted (these buildings are in the titles of programmes such as Antiques Roadshow that are made in Bristol so you may recognise a few).

It was great to see and it is still a work in progress with it being due to be on display at the M Shed (the local Bristol industrial museum) later in the year.

I look forward to seeing how much bigger it gets over the months!

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

A story of the struggle between bird and machine

As some of you know, the 'sewing machine killer' aka me doesnt have a particularly great relationship with these machines from hell. That was, until I paid a bit more and bought a 2nd hand Jamone XC 33 and now, slowly, I am gaining a bit more respect for them! So, having bought the Amy Butler Barcelona skirt pattern I thought I would give it a go.

So, I laid out all the bit on the table (o dear, I seen to have now spread to the dining room with my stash!!)Cut and pinned the pattern, then made my first cut-no going back now!
Now it was time to tackle my first zip. I read the machines instructions, changed to the zipper foot, lined it all up.....then...ping! Oh b*gger, forgot to change the stitch so down came the needle and promptly snapped in two! Luckily, the machine came with a couple of spares (I think I will need a few of these!) so, back out with the instruction book on how to change the needle, then, 2nd time around-hurrah! Not,perfect, but I am well chuffed, my first ever zip.
Now, it was fast becoming a long day and I was seriously considering not doing a lining, especially the muslin lining as it wasnt cutting even and was a bit of a mare all round, but then I thought, I had come this far so best push on...Then, as the sun was over the yard arm, I finally finish! Hurrah, my very own proper, shaped skirt.I also managed to complete another UFO, my first knitted hat (displayed on my up-turned scrumpy flagon!)
And a few more cards, including a commission for twin girls.
The card on the left used a few more of the Crafts Beautiful Beatrix Potter toppers, which is not my usualy style, but they bring back so many memories of my childhood that I am loving using them.

Well, I am off to look at my lovely new skirt again, which including the pattern, thread etc only cost £20, so when I make the next one, it will be cheaper as I already have the pattern!

Have fun playing outside before the drudgery of Monday is on us all too quick!

Li'l Pidge

ooh, a few new makes and a win

I can't believe it, I am gushing. The Happy New Year card I submitted to the Crafts Beautiful forum challenge won, along with Maggie (another great entry, as were they all!). Its my first challenge and has spurred me onto look for some more challenges to enter, and to top it all Draytonlady (who ran the challenge) says there is a goody bag as a prize-double bonus!

Well, I have been busy over the past week or so, the cold weather helps as the craft room is easily the warmest in the house, and the dulcid tones of Radcliff and Machonie on Radio 2 of an evening helps me craft along nicely. So, the first of my new makes:

These are my submission for the January CB Forum ATC swap. The theme is fantasy and the middle is one of my sticky notlets as a RAK (Random act of kindness) for Cambiel who is organising it (as is feeling under the weather at the moment, get well soon).

The next one is my triumph, its my scarf! Its taken ages and finally finished just in time for the cold snap to break! But I don't care even if its hot and sunny, I will wear it, because I made it all myself. Knitting, sewing and all those sort of things do not come naturally to me (I prefer a hammer or glue gun!) but against all the odds I have made a purple striped scarf, and all for £2.49 - a bargain (its a good job I don't charge for labour). I managed to buy some wool in the charity shop, grey and black so I am now on the look out for my next project, if you have any ideas, feel free to let me know (so long as they are easy!).

Since wool and needles are not my best of friends I went back to the heat gun and make myself another shrink plastic necklace. This time I used a design from an old tattoo book, colouring it with sakura pens and markers, adding a couple of jump rings at each side and using a double thickness of cording with a lobster clasp at the end:

Having said that me and sewing don't make happy bedfellows (well, I'm sure it was summit like that!) I have finally finished my first handbag. The felt bag is bought as a blank and I traced flower chipboard shapes onto purple felt and cut these out. These I glued onto the bag and added leaves and stitched glitter buttons as the flower centres (stictched to hold it all together at bit more secure in case the glue came away). I was going to use a large popper to secure the bag (living in a city I do like a bit of additional security rather than an open invitation to every scally) but after a trip to the local fabric shop and a chat to the very helpful staff I found out that there is actually a handbag closure for sale. Its magnetic and cost 99p (I am now seeing why handbags do cost a bit, the raw materials alone do add up, but then I have a unique piece). To cover the fixture I used a punch to stamp out a couple of pieces of felt and added a decorative button to add detail. I am really please with the result and am now waiting for my OH to take me out so it can have its first official outing (hubby-if you are reading this, a nice meal out would be a good outing for a bag of this standing!).
One final note, as we are both into 1940-50's style and the whole rockabilly alternative scene (hence my earlier blogs about carving tikki stamps from erasers and hibiscus style flowers in some of my makes and items like the mexican sugar skull necklaces and skull hair flowers to anem a few) we have just managed to locate Sailor Jerry rum, a spiced golden rum-wow, a sweet deliciousness that warms the cockles of ones heart! Yum.

Enjoy x

Li'l Pidge

Christmas Cards, knitting and marmalade-all with a hangover!

Finally I have made a start on some Christmas cards. It is SO difficult to sit down and concentrate on just one topic-I usually end up flitting between projects, and finishing very little! I am loving both the pink and turquoise with a bit of glitter to add that sparkle and sakura glaze pens to add a little glossy definition for the darker colour on the baubles. I can't believe that we are only about 6 weeks to Christmas-madness, where has the year gone? Now, I'm told its an age thing, but I refute that!

I also made some white on white cards, with an embossed tree dusted with mica powder, and a double sided peel-off greeting with white holographic glitter applied all over.

I also finished my very first knitting project, a green scarf that doubles as a dishcloth! (well, there are a few holes, but then it is my first attempt). I embellished it with a row of green sequins and a large button. I wore it out for the first time yesterday-warm and toasty!

I also managed to make some marmalade with ginger and whiskey-nice! I decided since my dad loves all 3 ingredients I would make him some for his upcoming birthday, and decorated the jam jar with some pretty papers-nice! I cant wait for the tasting....mmmmm hot buttered toast.....

Not bad crafting for a wet and windy Sunday, especially since I am a little fragile after last night's party at Jill's (my friend who runs our weekly crop)-a great night which meant we all got to show our OH where we spend a few hours every week gossiping/crafting.well, the two go hand in hand don't they? Oh, and talking of our weekly crop, look at these gorgeous mini mosaics Tracy brought us all-aren't they cute? I cant wait to make something with them.


Phew, I need a lie down now........

Li'l Pidge