New Things in the Store!

I finished a few necklaces I had in mind for the store today, here's a few sneak peaks!

Versatile and cute fabric necklace

One of several fabric and paper backed glass tile pendants

Antique gold coloured owl necklace

Ahh, I love making necklaces! This was fantastic fun! I like to do custom requests as well if anyone is interested :) Head over to Hazel and Honeysuckle, my MadeIt store to check these out and my other items.

Tutorial - Fabric Covered Canvas Wall Hangings

So last night I said I'd show you how I make these. Since I put that cute little L.O.V.E set in the store, I won't provide templates but I will go through step-by-step - as long as you promise to share if you make something using this tutorial! ;)

Gather your materials. Since I'm making 4 mini wall hangings, each with a different letter on it, I decided to use 8 different fabrics. Whatever combination you like, go for it! You'll need one canvas for each letter. I got these cute 10 cm x 10 cm canvases at Bunnings <3

Sketch out your design. As you can see, I sketched it onto the canvases. Since you're going to want to cut out templates for your letters on paper, it's probably smarter to draw out some 10 cm x 10 cm boxes on paper and sketch your design on those, then you can just cut them out and away you go! Unlike me, who then had to transfer the sketch onto paper and cut it out, then rub out my original sketches ;) Doh!

On the fabric you're using for your letters, sketch around your paper template using an air erasable pen or similar.

Cut your letters out and if you want/need to, remove the trace marks. My pen needs to be wiped off with a damp cloth. Also, if (like me..) you haven't ironed your fabric yet - do it now! Yes, the letters AND the background fabric!

Place your canvas upside down on your background fabric and work out how big a square to cut out:

Width of fabric square = 

the width of the front of the canvas
+ width of the side of the canvas
+ width of the back edge of the canvas
+ about 1/2 to 1 cm for folding under

I usually wing it by overestimating and trimming as needed 0:-)

Now you need to cut the corners of the fabric away so there isn't too much excess to fold under. Cut as shown in the diagram and photo below - for two opposite sides, cut so the edges line up with the edges of the canvas. For the other two opposite sides, cut so that the edges are about 1cm away from the edges of the canvas - this gives some extra for folding under (shown in red). If this is unclear, read the rest of the tutorial before cutting your fabric ;)

We're going to tape and staple the fabric into place. Don't worry, you won't be able to see the tape at all and the staples will only be seen from the back. Place double sided tape where shown in the photo.

Fold the edge of the fabric under and stick it down as shown in this photo, remembering to pull the fabric taut.

Repeat on the opposite side.

On the uncovered sides, fold the edges in and place double sided tape as shown, then fold the fabric up. Again, keep the fabric as taut as you can.

3 pieces of tape - left, right and centre top.

Please note that in the last few photos the fabric hasn't looked as taut as it should - I actually pulled it all off and re-stuck it because it was faar too loose, hence all the reminders to keep it pulled firmly! Unfortunately I forgot to take photos that time *face palm*

Now you have this! 

This is how it should look when you turn it over: 

Turn it so the back is facing up again. Tuck each corner under and staple it in place.

Da-da! A freshly covered canvas ready for your crafty amusement.

Lay out your letters and any embellishments until you're happy with the look.

Using fabric glue, stick all the pieces into place.

Leave to dry and then add a hanging triangle to the back.

Viola! Cute, personalised wall art! 

A little teaser...

Today I made this:

And put it in the shop.

Tomorrow I will show you how to make one yourself, but you have to promise to share if you do! 

Pretty Paper Flowers

I'm in the process of prettifying my house, but I absolutely fail when it comes to keeping plants alive! So I decided to look into crafty alternatives. After some gathering of inspiration photos - I looove to do this! - I got hold of some florists wire and florists tape and made myself a flower arrangement!

What do you think? It's based on this tutorial at Etsy. The flowers are made with vellum paper that I bought at Eckersley's years ago (yup, I held onto it that long before I decided on the right project to use it in!) and the leaves are made with pearly scrapbooking paper. It's only single sided, so I glued two sides together. Then I was lazy and taped the leaves onto their stems, lol! You should probably glue them on or put it in between the two pieces of paper instead.

Photo without flash - gives a better indication of
what they really look like. My hand's a bit unsteady
so it's a little blurry.

Photo with flash - shows the folds clearly, but in
reality the fold lines aren't that obvious.

The stems for the flowers and leaves are florists wire covered in florists tape - it's the first time I've used either and it was GREAT fun! I only bought a little bit of wire though and I ran out after this. I'm definitely going to get some more!

I had a go at making some tissue and crepe paper roses. They worked out OK! They're very rough, and don't have stems yet since I ran out of wire ;) but now I know how so next time I'll be able to make awesome ones.

It was quite therapeutic tearing the paper into strips and rolling it all up :)

I think these would look nice as part of a bigger floral arrangement, not so much on their own though.

This shows the flowers' sizes.

I've since found photos of Martha Stewart's crepe paper flower kits which look WAY prettier than these things! I'm faaar too scabby to buy a kit, but when I get some more florists wire I think I might see if I can replicate some of her ideas! Especially the daffodils and dogwoods <3

Aren't they beautiful?

Finally, I made some more pretty flowers out of scrapbooking paper and buttons :) These were easy too! The hardest part was deciding on what papers to use!! I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, but I still need to add stems and leaves.

I used two types of pearly, damask patterned papers and four others - two blue, one green and one pale caramel with writing all over it.

I used coordinating buttons in the middle - pale blue, green and tan. I think these would look awesome with more decorative buttons, but for a first try these are pretty cute!

To make them all I did was sketch out three templates - a big five petalled flower shape, a smaller template of the same shape and a small eight petalled flower shape for the centre. From different papers, at least three coordinating papers will work well, cut out one of each pattern for every flower you're going to make. I did five :) Then, squeeze each petal for the first two templates in half to give them a 3D effect, and for the eight petalled flower roll each petal up tightly then pull it back out, so they stay slightly curled at the ends. Stick the petals together with double sided tape and glue a button in the middle.

Viola! Flowers that will never wilt :)

I'm going to make some fabric flowers as well, so I will share my adventures with that and the Martha inspired crepe paper flowers soon!

Organisation and a handbag to celebrate the end of the holidays!

Back to Uni tomorrow, nose to the grindstone and all that jazz :) I'm going to try to get into the habit of getting up and started early every day, so I can finish Uni related work in the mid-afternoon, giving me time to do me stuff (read: sewing and craft!) more often. I was getting into that routine at the end of last year, wish me luck for keeping it up! ;)

This week I'd hoped to get heaps of sewing and crafty things done, but alas! As usual, I didn't get as much done as I'd planned. Still, it was a very productive and relaxing week! What I did do was:

• Donate blood - first time ever! Wonder what blood type I am? Find out soon!
• Experiment with glass tile pendants
• Make a set of 3 mini wall hangings (brown rodents, cute!!)
• Make a mini wire birdcage
• Finish the Family Tree bracelet for Mum
• Get my first Madeit enquiry
• Make my first Madeit sale! <3
• Go to the Moonlight cinema with my lovely man
• Visit the Central Markets and get some seeds to send to Grandpa <3
• Organise my jewellery - thanks Mum for the gorgeous tree stand! I know this is a lot of jewellery still, and it's only my absolute favourite pieces! I stashed stacks more in the cupboard! *blush*

Aaaannd... To top off the week, today I made a handbag! 

I'm really happy with how this turned out. It's got a zip closure, long tie-together straps, a detachable flower pin for dressing it up and a double inside pocket. I've put it in my Madeit store, Hazel and Honeysuckle. I'm going to make some fabric necklaces for the shop in the next few days, and I'm just about to post a listing where you can get your own custom made Family Tree bracelet.

For my next sewing project I want to make a wallet with an interesting array of sections and card holders. I'm overdue for a tutorial, so that might be it! We'll see how well it turns out ;)

So exciting! And some cute bits and pieces...

I'm so excited I had to post! I've made my first sale at my Madeit.com.au store - Hazel and Honeysuckle! And I've also had my first enquiry about a commission, so hopefully that goes well too. Yay! Thank you to everyone who's given me support both here and on my personal Facebook page :)

Just recently I bought a glass tile pendant kit from CandyTiles on Etsy. It took a little while to arrive (coming from OS and me being so smart and ordering it right before Christmas ;)) but I'm so glad it's here! I've had lots of fun so far. I made two pendants, the square one using paper that came with the kit - so pretty I couldn't resist! And the rectangle made from fabric and ribbon of mine.

They're not perfect, so definitely not going into the shop yet (let me know if you'd like to buy one on the cheap ;)). From this I've learned that the q-tip included in the kit really isn't the best thing for putting on the diamond glaze - too many bubbles! The bubbles are very small and I can only find them on the back, but they're impossible to get rid of! Also, there are a few imperfections on the front - you can see them clearly in the photo. There's a bubble on the side of the square one and some issues with the ribbon on the rectangle one. Still, I like them and this was fun! A bit more practice and I'll be a pro in no time ;)

To celebrate my Madeit successes so far, I made a cute little set of wall hangings that I'm going to post in the shop shortly. Here's a sneak preview!

Can you tell that I love using pink and green together...?

A Bird in the Hand

I had a go at one of the projects that's been swimming around in my head lately, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! It was really tricky to photograph actually, I'll try to get some better photos tomorrow during the daylight. For now, here's a little look at it!

D'aww! A pretty little wren in a cage :)

A few friends have suggested variations, like making the wren a budgie, or a rat or lizard - hehe! I might have to try making some quirky animals in cages after I've ticked a few other things off my list! For now, I've put this little piece in my MadeIt site :)

Craft Book Challenge

I've been reading blogs all over the place tonight and having an absolute ball! I'm feeling really inspired and now I'm ready to craft it up this week before I have to get back into the swing of Uni and my PhD again. The big question will be, where to start?!

Immediate projects:

• Family tree bracelet for mum.
• Fabric covered boxes for our two big cubed bookshelves. I think I need 16 of them!
• Cage liners and matching hammocks for the ratties <3
• More fabric necklaces

Other things I want to try:

• Stuffed toys! I have ideas in my head, I especially want to try making a patchwork elephant.
• A Rock 'n' Roll skirt with a nice big waist band!
• Perhaps my own bathers. I'm completely in love with these from SeaFolly, but $160 is stretching the budget a bit much! So I thought I might try to make something myself... Haha ;)
• More handbags! Many, many more handbags!
• I have an idea in my head for a wire bird cage ornament.. Might have to try it out soon! It's very pretty in my head, I wonder if I can bring that into reality..!
• Fabric and craft paper flowers
• Cushion covers for the lounge - but first I want to buy or make a plain coloured slip cover for the sofa.

There's no way I can get even half of that done, especially seeming as the Christmas pinch has ensured that I have no spare riches to refresh my sewing supplies before I start. I have lots of stuff already, it just means I'll have to make do if there's anything I don't have.

While reading all of those excellent crafting and sewing blogs, I stumbled across Leisl Made, and consequently, her craft book challenge!

Basically, the idea is that we have to make one thing out of one of our existing craft books each month, perhaps even refraining from obtaining (hehe) any new craft books until we've made something from every book we already own. Challenging! I don't know if I can do it, but I'm going to try!

I Made a MadeIt store!

I'm pretty excited! I just opened a MadeIt store and popped up a few of my jewellery pieces, yay! This is something I've wanted to do properly for a while now. I originally opened an Etsy store at the start of last year, but I just didn't have time then to commit to it then. Now I'm more settled. Plus, being in Australia rather than the US made it hard to be competitive with shipping rates! So, MadeIt.com.au makes much more sense for me :)

Check out my MadeIt store, Hazel and Honeysuckle!

One of my handmade lamp work bead and wire rings

Handmade canvas wall art

So far I've put up a few necklaces, a few bracelet and earring sets, a couple of rings and a couple of pieces of fabric wall art. I'm going to make some handbags to post very soon too!

Wish me luck!