September Crafting

Hello lovely readers. This post is soooooooooo delayed but I have an adorable excuse. The major creation that I'd been cooking up for the past 9 months arrived 8 days late, on 19th Sept. My little girl, Thea.

 Needless to say, I didn't get a lot of creating done in the second half of Sept! I did get some done in the first half though whilst waiting for her to arrive. :o)

First, some beading. These earrings are based on a free tutorial by Sidonia.

 

Next, a haircomb. This is the Crystal Rose from Japanese Beadwork by Sonoko Nozue. I started this yonks ago for Bead, Book and Bounce (blogged about it here) and finally found the time to finish it.

Some knitting and crochet next.

The knitted elephant is designed by Sarah Keen and can be found in the fabulous book 'Knitted Wild Animals'. The stripy giraffe is a free pattern by Emma Dent and can be found on her blog here. The turtle shell and little hat are photo props for Thea but the shell turned out far too small! I'll eventually make it into a toy for her. I just made it up as I went along really after seeing some I liked around the net. Last is a bag made from boodles yarn. Again, I made it up as I went along. I made it for me to replace a handbag I use a lot but it's a bit small really.

I think that's everything I finished in Sept. I do have one more thing to show you though, the pendant I mentioned last month. I have given it to my friend so I can show it to you now. It's a shaped and textured sterling silver pendant with a yellow topaz centre. I think she liked it!

I doubt I'll have much to show you next month but I have started a couple of pairs of earrings so maybe I will have something if little Miss demanding allows it. :o)

Happy October everyone

xxx

August Crafting

Hello lovely readers. Hope you are all well. This post is a little delayed as I lost internet for a week end Aug/beginning of Sept. Having gotten myself a basic smartphone earlier this year, I didn't feel completely cut off but it was a little isolating. One of the major issues with no internet was that I started my maternity leave and having the internet would have made it much easier to chill but not having internet access made me think I should be doing this and that. Ah well, it's back now so I can read and reply to emails more easily and write this post too!

August's creating was almost exclusively maternity/baby related. I did do silver project for a friend's birthday but I haven't seen her so I can't show it to you yet, just in case she reads this. I completed a fair amount this month. My tutoring was quite light so I had quite a lot of spare time. First the knitting/crochet projects:

This is Blueberry bear. He's a King Cole pattern (#2000) designed for use with their sprinkles yarn. The yarn colour is called blueberry and I thought this was a lovely name for a teddy bear. Here's the link to my Ravelry project page for more info.

Next is a little dress I made for a friend's baby. The pattern by Rebecca Gunn and is free. You can find it on her blog here. I love the self striping yarn! Here's the link to my Ravelry project page for more info.

Next, a super quick make for me. A fribbly scarf using Wendy Frills yarn. I loved the colours and it makes up really quickly. The instructions for the scarf are on the yarn band.

 

I also made these little booties for bump. They are in the same yarn as the hat I made last month. Such a cute pattern but very very tiny. They are a free pattern by Saartje de Bruijn that I have done before. You can find it here. I knitted the smaller size in double knit and slightly larger needles before but this time I knitted the larger size with the recommended needle size and 4ply. Very tiny though. Not convinced they will actually fit a newborn. Here's the link to my Ravelry project page for more info.

Probably my favourite make this month is this minion. He's a free pattern by Linda Potts and it can be found on her blog here. Here's the link to my Ravelry project page for more info.

My other August projects were sewing. I made some maternity clothing from scratch and also adapted some charity shop purchases. The two adaptations are a pair of trousers and a skirt that I removed the waistband of and added an elasticated one. Here they are:

From scratch, I made this wrap cardy from super slinky jersey I picked up a little while ago. The free pattern is by Megan Nielsen and can be found here. Since taking the below picture I took out the sleeves and cut new ones as I felt they were too tight. I do love this wrap though. It will be great for breastfeeding too and for general wearing, not specifically maternity. The pattern was really easy to follow too.

I also made this maternity dress. I like it...I think. The fit could be better but it was quite an ambitious project for a novice sewer like me. It's a free pattern by Miriam of Mad Mim and can be found here. The design of the top part does lend itself to breastfeeding though I don't know how the dress will look with no bump. We'll have to see.

I also lined a toybox for baby with a remnant of elephant fabric I found in a local sewing shop. Just a quick little job really but here it is. Not a perfect fit but it doesn't matter as it's now filled with toys!

I think that's everything (apart from the aforementioned silver project). Quite a creative August! Some were started in July though. Not much done so far in September yet but there is one major creating that's been cooking for the last 9 months that's due this month. Hope to be introducing a little someone to you all soon. :o)

Till then, happy creating everyone.
Gemxxx

May Crafting

Hello lovely readers. Hope you are all well. Thought I'd get last month's roundup post done on time for once!

Some crochet to start with. I made these slippers to wear at tutees' houses in the summer so I'm not wandering round in my bare feet. I found the pattern here through Ravelry, but did end up adapting it to fit the chunky yarn I wanted to use. Lisa Gutierrez's excellent instructions make it really easy to adapt though.

I also did some beading. Here's a necklace I made for my Mum's birthday. The beautiful free pattern with easy to follow instructions is by Nicole Stanley of Hollybird Beads and can be found here on Craftsy.

Here's a beaded pendant I made for the pendant swap for the Bead Retreat I went on last weekend. The retreat was much fun, a group of beaders in holiday cottages near the little village of Monyash, Derbyshire, that has been happening for the past 4 years now. Its the first time I have been and I thoroughly enjoyed it even if it was a little far away from Southampton. (If you're interested in coming next year do check out the facebook page.)

The pattern for the pendant is by Justyna Szlęzak and can be found in her Etsy shop here.

Another VERY quick and simple make for the bead retreat was this little name badge for myself to wear on the Friday night. Many of the beaders there only knew each other via facebook so name badges were suggested for the first night. I didn't have time to make anything fancy but I rather like what I threw together at the last minute!

Whilst at the retreat I made these earrings. The pattern is by Kerrie Slade and is available for free here. The gumdrop beads were kindly donated to us at the retreat by York Beads. 

I also finished off 5 pairs of resin stud earrings yesterday so I'm gradually catching up with the earring challenge. Not taken proper photos yet but here they all are together. They all have sterling silver posts and will eventually be listed for sale...probably!

I did finish off a load of resin cabochons to sell at the bead retreat but forgot to photograph them all. They went down really well so I've decide to open an Esty shop selling my handmade resin cabs. Not up and running yet as the lovely ladies much cleared me out but I'll let you know when it opens.

I think that's it for May. I wonder how much I'll get done in June...
 

Have fun this month, whatever you're up to :o)

Gemxxx

April Crafting

Ooop! Its 10th May and I've only just gotten around to writing my roundup post for April. I've not been especially busy, just rather mind frazzled.

One of the things I made in April you have already seen if you are a regular reader. I made a crystal hairclip (in tutorial post).

I also made a couple of other beady bits in April. I made a simple crochet bracelet with 4mm cube beads and a pair of earrings for a friend's birthday.

I have also been knitting and crocheting for baby. I made 2 amugurimi animals from the book, Easy to Crochet Critters by Vanna's Choice; a crocheted star blanket from this Ravelry pattern; and a knitted hat from this Ravelry pattern with the left over yarn from the blanket.

I think that's everything I did in April. I've not been very creative so far in May yet so I wonder if I'll have anything to show you in the beginning of June. Hopefully!

Have a fab May everyone.

Gemxxx

April Crafting

Yes, I know, this blog post is a fair few days late. Not really been in a crafty/blogging mood recently. I did a little making in April though so here it all is!

I think this necklace was the first make of the month although it does feel like a loooooong time since I crocheted it. Its not on March's roundup post though so I guess it must have been! Very pleased with how this one came out. I was experimenting with beaded crochet to see what I could achieve.

I'm majorly behind on the earring challenge though I did make these. One pair to match the above necklace and one pair for a tutorial. They are basic right-angle-weave beaded beads and you can find the free tutorial for them in my previous post.

 

More beaded crochet. I made this bangle from the April issue of Beadwork magazine, designed by Linda Lehman. I did have a few difficulties (it kept coming out too small) but got there in the end. Linda produces gorgeous beaded crochet patterns and sells them in her Esty shop. Go see!

I also made five pairs of resin and silver cup studs. I feel its only fair to count one in the OTTBS earring challenge as only one includes beads. I do like making these studs though. It was great to get the silver and resin kit out as it'd been a while. The dark blue star pair were made for a prize in the OTTBS facebook group birthday celebration but the other pairs are available for purchase if anyone wants them. Haven't listed them anywhere yet (still trying to decide what to do with my Damselfly Gemma shop) but give me a shout if you're interested in any.

Hmmm....what else...oh yes, how couple I forget?! I FINALLY finished my skirt (with a lot of help from my lovely friend Jen and her Mummy). I started it before I moved into my current house and we've been living here for 4 years now. It has in fact been hung up in the far end of the lounge waiting to be finished for aaaaaaaaaaaaages. Haven't worn it out yet. Must do that soon :o)

I also made a couple of beaded sunflowers. I started out intending to make something for the OTTBS moodboard challenge but as I was beading it took me in this direction instead. I am planning on writing another blog tutorial for them at some point in the not too distant future so keep an eye out here if you're interested.

And that's it, I think. Looking back through this post makes me feel like I was all productive and stuff :o) Hopefully I'll be back making again soon or May's roundup post will be empty!

Have a fab May everyone, whatever you're up to.
xxx

February Crafting

Hello all and welcome to March! Hope your February was fun filled.

My February has been busy. There are maths exams tomorrow and over the next few days so I've done a load of tutoring recently. Crafting wise, its all been beading/jewellery making.

Here's a roundup of everything I made in February.

I finally caught up with the OTTBS earring challenge. Here are weeks four through nine:

Week four: These star earrings are made from a fab pattern by Jean Power. If you want to make your own beaded stars, you can get the pattern from Jean's website.

Week five: Crytal hoop earrings. I made these for me using 3mm fire polished crystals. I also wrote a free tutorial for these. It's here if you missed it.

Week six: I made these for a friend's birthday. They are made with dyed purple freshwater pearls and sterling silver wire in a herringbone weave.

Week seven: A quick little make as I'd gotten a few weeks behind again. These are lava rock and sterling silver. I'll probably list them in my Folksy shop at some point in the near future so if you want them, give me a shout.

Week eight: Another fairly quick make to catch up. These are facetted red aventurine drops and sterling silver. I decided to oxidise these. Again, these will probably end up in my shop soon.

Week nine: I made these to match my OTTBS beadalong project (see below). I used the same beads as in the bracelet but used abalone rounds instead of chips. Sorry for the not so brilliant photography! Too lazy this morning to set everything up properly! 

I finally finished my anemone cuff (based on a BWG project by Stephanie Burnham). Thanks to the OTTBS beadalong I felt compelled to actually finish off all that fringing. I used press studs as a fastening to give it an almost invisable join.



Really chuffed to have finally finished it but not sure when I'll actually wear it! Although I have got the earrings to match now too....

All my other beading this month has been curtesy of Gillian Lamb's beaded crotchet workshop I went to at Stitch'n'craft. It was my first time a their studio and I had a fun day. It was a little over an hour away but not a complicated drive. Becs of Bead by Becs fame was also there. It was great to meet a fellow OTTBSer. By the end of the day we had both gotten the hang of it and had two crotched ropes on the way. I finished off both of mine over the weekend.

The top one was the first I started at the workshop and is a necklace made using 3mm toho cube beads. The bottom is a bracelet made with three different colours of size 8s and delica drops.

My next crochet project was flourite chips. This was much fiddlier than the regular shaped beads but I love the result. Its a little big for me but I'm keeping it! I'll just have to be a little careful when wearing it!



And that's everything I made in February...well everything I completed. I did play about with some donut beads, as you may have read on my last post, intending to make something for the OTTBS February moodboard but it didn't go brilliantly so I didn't get round to entering this month. There were 36 fab entries though- you can see them here if you're interested. 

Creating aims for March? Well I'll be exam marking along with tutoring so not sure how much creating time I'll get. I want to keep up with the earring challenge plus I have a couple of UFOs I'd like to get done. I'd also like to sort out my Folksy shop. I've kinda taken a break from it and left it on its own for the past 2 to 3 months so I've got loads of delisted stock and, as I haven't been listing, I haven't had sales. Not sure if I'll get round to sorting that out though. We'll see.

Have a fun March everyone, whatever you're up to.

xxx