Pom Pom Flower Rug

I think most of us can remember childhood days spent making pom poms.  Only then they took a while to make because you had to create your own cardboard template first and then push the wool through and around the cardboard.  I certainly remember it taking a while to achieve a pretty ball known to us all as a "pom pom". 

2014 showed a revival of this craft due to the creation of the pom pom maker.  The pom pom maker is available in different sizes and shapes.   The picture below is the Pom Pom Maker by Clover and come in 4 sizes.   

 
These pom pom makers are very easy to use.  They open out and you wrap the wool around one pair of halves then close them up and do the same on the other side.  You push both halves together then cut across the top.  Yarn is then used to secure the pom pom.



My revival of this craft started when my nephew asked for a pom pom maker for Christmas.  I thought it would be nice to give him some inspiration with his gift so I started looking for inspiration.  I gradually built up some ideas and saved them as pins on Pinterest.  

I made him a spider which was fun to do. but I didn't stop there.

Next I wanted to make a rug for our cat.  The idea came to me to make flowers out of my pom poms so I did exactly that.



This craft project took a month to complete.  Each pom pom takes about 5mins to make. The size I used for the pom poms was 45mm (the yellow one). 

I used about 9 balls of DK wool which I purchased at £1.39 a ball.  Once I had made enough pom poms I attached to them to anti slip stop rug underlay available from ebay.  If you keep your ties long on each pom pom you can feed them through the holes and neatly secure them to the back of the underlay.

I discovered there are lots of things you can make with pom poms.  I have a collection of ideas on my pin board in Pinterest.  I like the idea of making robins and hedgehogs and then selling these are craft fairs.  Children are always looking for little items they can purchase and i think these would be popular. 

If you are a member of Pinterest I invite you to look at my ideas I have been collecting.

http://www.pinterest.com/craftytash/craft-ideas/

Thank you for stopping by.

It's a Dog's Life

Happy New Year!

Occasionally we come across things that sparks memories of early childhood and for me it was one of the toppers in this card collection that I was working on.  Our family pet was a German Shepherd and she was called Jackie.  Such a sweet natured dog that seemed rather big in relation to minnie me! She was very well behaved and never jumped up on me or caused me to fall.   She had a rather large mat to lie on by the front door and was a good guard dog.   I made this German Shepherd topper into a card for someone special in mind, my dad who is going to be 80 this April.  I am hoping it too will bring back some happy memories for him. 

These doggie toppers are from a craft supplier called Kanban and the set is called "It's a Dog's Life".  I have been working on these cards post Christmas so they haven't taken too long but I haven't completely finished them.  Next comes the job of putting in the inserts.  A card isn't finished until it looks as good on the inside as it does on the outside.  After this I will put them into cello bags and price them up for sale ready for my first craft stall of 2015, whenever/wherever that may be.

Thanks for stopping by.

Materials used are Papermania Paper; Sue Wilson dies "California collection" and "Finishing Touches bow".

Card stock from "Die Cuts with a View - Preppy Princess". Frame die from Tattered Lace "Starlights Collection" and Sue Wilson "Classic 3D" Finishing Touches Bow die.

Here I used a Tattered Lace "Delicate Snowflake" embossing folder onto vellum paper and then cut around the embossed flowers.  Now, to add a sentiment or not, umm!

This is another bow die from Sue Wilson's collection of Finishing Touches Bows known as the "Lattice Bow Die".

Here I have gone for a different look and feel and used my card stock shaped like a stamp.  I have designed this to be suitable for a male.

Another card using a "Finishing Touches Bow".

This card is made using Tonic's Verso Die-Delicate Lattice Oval Die.

These beautiful butterflies are part of the Tattered Lace Starlight Collection.

The background paper is from Die Cuts With a View and the Die is a Spellbinders.

Again, more background paper from Die Cuts with a View and this time the die used from my Tattered Lace Starlight Collection is cut using a cream colour cardstock.

I love this burgundy chequered paper which came with the toppers.  Another bow from the Finishing Touches collection.

A chance to use my newest die from Sue Wilson New York Collection Times Square.  The topper fitted snuggly in the centre and then I used the outer frame to give the die a border.  My bow maker makes fabulous bows, don't you think?

A card that it is in a frame.

And another!

I pondered for a while about how to use this topper then decided to use a matching card blank which I embossed.  I then used a corner die (Sue Wilson's of course!) and cut out 6 and joined them together to edge the card.  Looking at it you would have thought it was cut from one die.  Quite a clever use of a corner die I thought.

Another card using Die Cuts with a view paper for the background, Kanban card stock and a Finishing Touches die.

I love this lilac card stock, it was in the paper pad from Die Cuts with a View.  a perfect match for this topper.

Same design as above but using Kanban card stock and on this one I left off the bow to make it more masculine.

The same here

and here

Here I have used a die from Crafter's Companion adding tiny gemstones to reflect the embossed pattern.

This time I put ink through the die before releasing it.

Well that's the sum of a week's work.  If you have a favourite, I would love to hear which one.

Happy Crafting, Natasha