Carpe Diem - Stamps by Clarity

Clarity Stamps have produced paper pads that make great bases for backgrounds.

In this example I have used some ink to make the sun and hills appear and stamped the girl and branch to complete the scene.

I used a pen to edge the cardstock so it appears as if I have mounted it onto black card stock.  I love the clean fresh look don't you?

Tri fold card with butterfly bracket

I am sharing cards that I have made using my Cameo Silhoutte machine which gave me a chance to use some of my small card toppers.

I like the concept of unwrapping the card before you see the picture as it turns it into a gift card.

The brackets have been decorated with a product called "Hearty Soft Clay" which is lightweight and easy to transform with acrylic paints watercolour pens.  I used my Sparkle Pens on these particular ones.  The molds are from Katy Sue Designs.

I hope you enjoyed looking at these cards.

Crochet Cupcake Keyholder

I keep my keys to hand so that I can access them easily from the side of my powered wheelchair but I felt that they looked a bit unsightly so I decided I would do something about it.

I searched the internet for ideas and came across this idea to crochet a cupcake key cozy designed by Emi Kanesada (Enna Design).  I purchased the pattern and bought the essential wooden bead, cord for the strings and split key ring.

The pattern is available here

Although the pattern is in English, it is also in US terms so you may need a conversion chart such as this to assist you.

I used a 3mm crochet hook as suggested and this is what I created.

The idea is that the keys are hidden inside the cupcake until you need them and then you just pull on them and they come out like this:

It is the coolest design I have seen.  I have decorated mine using sequins but you could just as easily sew on some beads if you wished.

V Stitch Crochet Blanket - end of week 2

This blanket is really taking shape now and it is lovely to see the rows of colour changes in the pattern design.  

I am now more than half way there and working on my second ball of yarns.  These are some of most loveliest shades of yarn I have worked with.  I enjoy working with the pistachio, duck egg blue and storm blue.

Well here we go what do you think.  It is certainly getting big enough to keep me warm whilst I am working on it now of an evening.

V Stitch Crochet Blanket - end of week 1

I have been working every day on this blanket since I started it last weekend and would like to share with you the story so far.....

During my first week I crochet 17 rows in a very random way before I started repeating the pattern.  I am finding it very easy to accomplish and have beautiful straight edges.

I aim to crochet around 200 rows and I estimate that it will take me a month plus a week to finish off the ends.

I am really pleased with the combination of colours.  They happen to work with the colours in my cushions so I may just have to make another one of these for myself!

What do you think of it so far..... please comment below.

V Stitch Crochet Blanket

Hi everyone

I am sharing with you today some work-in-progress.  I am making another crochet blanket and I am crocheting it using the V Stitch.  The stitch consists of trebles and chains and so is nice and easy if you are a beginner or don't have time to follow complicated patterns.  This blanket is being made for a family member.  It is also a design that I have been keen to try.

I started my blanket by chaining 198 stitches as this is divisible by 3 and then added 4 stitches for the first turn on row two. I used stitch makers every 20 chains so that if I lost count I could easily see where I am without having to recount from the beginning. 

I am going to use a different colour yarn each row which makes the stitch more prominent.

These are my colour choices:

• Storm Blue
• Cloud Blue
• Pistachio
• Meadow
• Stone
• Mocha
• Camel

I buy my yarn from Deramores and I am using Stylecraft Special DK, which is my yarn of choice for crocheting blankets.  I like to wrap the yarn around these clothes pegs and label them.  Then I can play around with different colour combinations which is how I came to using these ones.

Here is where I have got to after 4 hours of crocheting.

If you want a guide to doing the V Stitch then look no further.  this is a great tutorial and also guides you with how many stitches are needed for the pattern.

https://youtu.be/LQTl4zJTI90

Amigurumi Bunny

I found this sweet bunny pattern on Happy Berry's website.  There is a video "step by step" tutorial available which I found useful.  Although the pattern is free I did make a donation as she put a lot of effort into making this tutorial.  I made this for a colleague at work who is an expectant mum and she was very pleased with her gift.

Crochet Elephant

This is my latest crocheting project - an elephant!  I had seen a similar pattern being made up on Hochanda a few months back and was intrigued by how the legs were made up then last week someone offered me a copy of their pattern and I thought I would have a go.  

For this elephant I used Stylecraft DK yard in silver and a 2.25 crochet hook.    I managed to follow the pattern without coming unstuck.  It took about 10hrs to crochet and this is how it turned out.  A quick internet search and I have found the same pattern on this website:   http://www.allaboutami.com/elephantpattern/ 

Rose Canvas

Hi there readers

Today I am sharing with you a canvas I made using some Pebeo products. The 8x8" canvas was primed with some black gesso and I used a rose stencil by Imagination Crafts.

I stuck the stencil firmly to the canvas board with some Pinflair Stencil Glue.  This is remarkable glue as it leaves no marks on anything I use it on and rubs away easily enough when you don't want it on your stencil. I then filled in the areas with some Pebeo Moon paints.  It was an experiment that went well.

I then tried it with another stencil I have from Imagination Crafts and used some Mixtion Relief on this one and once dry, rubbed over some gold leaves.

I really enjoyed experimenting with these products and like the appearance of them when they are dry.

Tunisian Crochet Hearts Sampler

I received a Tunisian Crochet hook as a free gift in the latest edition of Crochet Now magazine and thought I would have a go at Tunisian Crochet.

This is my first piece of work.  It is used on a size 6mm hook and the yarn used was Stylecraft Special DK.

I have pinned it out after dampening it so that it dries nice and flat and stops curling at the edges.

This was made as a sampler as I wish to design a Scandinavian style blanket.  I wish to try it again using a smaller hook so I get a tighter finish but I don't have another Tunisian hook. However, it is possible to use a normal crochet hook as long as you don't have too many stitches on the hook otherwise they are at risk of falling off the other end!