Challenge: Handmade 2010 xmas

Rosanna79

Mary
Last half of last term- for 5 weeks I attended a 'gorgeous bags from rags' course at my local adult ed place. It was making bags from jeans and the tutor is amazing. She has this gentle, unassuming way about her that makes anyone believe they can succeed at craft work. I joined this term's embroidery class at the WEA because I enjoy her classes so much.

I can do about 3 -5 different embroidery stitches, not a lot to show for my age (61). About 18 months ago a hospital consultant finally diagnosed a bone deformity from my hips to my ankles, which should have been diagnosed as a baby and for which I should have had surgery.. Great!... it explained part of my lifelong clumsiness.

Add to this hands that shake and unintentionally drop things also since childhood, I am not the most promising person to do craftwork successfully. Certainly the horrible needlework/ cookery teacher I had at school thought it amusing to humiliate me regularly in front of the class which did little for my self belief about my practical skills.

I had a 43 year nursing career and when my health packed up with a mixture of work related stress and osteoarthritis I still needed to get out , meet paople and do something entirely different. Craftwork among other interests gets me out of the house, meeting other people and it's so relaxing.

Carol always looks at the most economic way of making things and as far as possible gets us to use recycled materials or inexpensive ones. I never went near a charity shop much before . now they are a goldmine of potentail things to be made . The only limit is one's imagination..!

Ginger
Hope your hands aren't being too awful today. This wind and cold don't help Thursday's is our shopping day so we go to avariety of places including Home Bargains and Aldi. I tried to find the seed beads you mentioned and asked the staff who looked at me blankly! Did I get the wrong shop or should it have been Poundland?

HM do have some excellent storage boxes with adjustable compartments at present which look great for craftwork storage.
Himself bought me a couple, hinting I think at the need for a tidy up!!
Wish I were a minimalist but how can home-crafters avoid having loads of stuff?!!

I plan to try using photobucket this weekend as you suggest. so watch this space.

mary-op

Rosanna - You've done really well.
Our local college courses are good but very expensive.........they do weaving -looks lovely but would take an age I think, patchwork -beautiful stuff but I don't have a machine so everythings done by hand. Having said that I've made curtains from old curtain lining material and put a decorative voile panel in the centre of each side.........was quite pleased with that. I'm in my 60's (67 though don't like to think about that) and it can be so easy to tell myself I can't do it. I'm a charity shop freak........love 'em but try now to just pop down once a week...........could easily get carried away and end up spending a fortune. I've managed to get a few ''unwanted presents'' that I can pass on to others this year. Had to keep the cost down as OH was ill.....(well still is but getting much better) so money isn't in abundance as he's not working. Amazing what you can do for next to nothing though.
My embroidery stitches are limited......chain stitch, stem stitch, daisy stitch -have I got them right ? Been so long.
You really are quite an inspiration............well done:T

Now I'm trawling round trying to find a template I can print off for a flannel cupcake case.........I know I've seen one somewhere..............:)

gingerandrubarb

Rosanna79 wrote: »

Mary
Last half of last term- for 5 weeks I attended a 'gorgeous bags from rags' course at my local adult ed place. It was making bags from jeans and the tutor is amazing. She has this gentle, unassuming way about her that makes anyone believe they can succeed at craft work. I joined this term's embroidery class at the WEA because I enjoy her classes so much.

I can do about 3 -5 different embroidery stitches, not a lot to show for my age (61). About 18 months ago a hospital consultant finally diagnosed a bone deformity from my hips to my ankles, which should have been diagnosed as a baby and for which I should have had surgery.. Great!... it explained part of my lifelong clumsiness.

Add to this hands that shake and unintentionally drop things also since childhood, I am not the most promising person to do craftwork successfully. Certainly the horrible needlework/ cookery teacher I had at school thought it amusing to humiliate me regularly in front of the class which did little for my self belief about my practical skills.

I had a 43 year nursing career and when my health packed up with a mixture of work related stress and osteoarthritis I still needed to get out , meet paople and do something entirely different. Craftwork among other interests gets me out of the house, meeting other people and it's so relaxing.

Carol always looks at the most economic way of making things and as far as possible gets us to use recycled materials or inexpensive ones. I never went near a charity shop much before . now they are a goldmine of potentail things to be made . The only limit is one's imagination..!

Ginger
Hope your hands aren't being too awful today. This wind and cold don't help Thursday's is our shopping day so we go to avariety of places including Home Bargains and Aldi. I tried to find the seed beads you mentioned and asked the staff who looked at me blankly! Did I get the wrong shop or should it have been Poundland?

HM do have some excellent storage boxes with adjustable compartments at present which look great for craftwork storage.
Himself bought me a couple, hinting I think at the need for a tidy up!!
Wish I were a minimalist but how can home-crafters avoid having loads of stuff?!!

I plan to try using photobucket this weekend as you suggest. so watch this space.

Today has been a nightmare, thank you for asking though hunny :beer: my face is yet again swollen due to the facial pain and inflammation i get and i just feel really poo!
It was definately Home bargains hunny, i still have a pack in the packaging, i'll see if i can upload the image so you can take a peek in the craft area.

**I also done the fabric journals tutorial and shall upload the pictures as soon as my DS's get out of the bath :rotfl:**

gingerandrubarb

happycrafter wrote: »

Hi,
been lurking for a few days reading posts and getting inspired to make some gifts for family and close friends. I am going to do pamper hampers for both my sisters and looking for a pattern to make some towelling/satin ballet pump style slippers. Can anyone point me in the right direction for a simple pattern I can sew basic things and going to try and borrow a sewing machine from MIL.

Actually looking forward to Christmas after reading this thread, thank you for the inspiration now I just need to sort out spare bedroom and reaquaint myself with the craft supplies stored in my attic.

:jYou have email hunny, let me know if for some reason it doesn't arrive :j

gingerandrubarb

:santa2:Fabric Journal tutorial :santa2:

You need, a journal/notebook, fabric, a pen, glue and scissors (optional ribbon, buttons or thread)

Open out your journal like in pic, draw around the journal on the wrong side of the fabric and add about 1 inch extra as shown in the picture, cut out fabric.

Snip off triangle shapes at the edges of the fabric, and glue down the left side of the book (inside) as shown in pic

Fold over the fabric so it's taut, smooth out the glue (i use an old spoon) so that it's really stuck down.

Make snips in the fabric at the area where the books spine sits, glue the remaining fabric down on the left front cover as you did for the left edge.

To start on the right side, do as you done on the left side, snip the triangles, glue down the outer edge ... however when it comes to folding over the fabric take note of the position of the book in the next step.

You must raise the left side of the book while folding over the fabric on the right, if you don't it will be too tense to close the book and the fabric will come away, ruining your hard work, so semi close the book as shown then fold over the fabric and smooth.

Put glue all over the covers and glue the next page down to cover the fabric edges.

:xmassmileOPTIONALS :xmassmile

*Adding Ribbon to bookmark pages*
Sorry the pics sideways, however before you glue your page to cover the fabric edges, glue in your ribbon as shown by the pen, so that the most part is hanging off the page unglued, then glue the second page down.

*Adding ribbon tie closures*

Sorry i forgot to do this before gluing my second page down, anyhow, glue in ribbon in the same positions as my pen and scissors :rotfl: then glue down your second pages. So when you close the book these ribbons come together and you tie then in a bow.

See when you close the book the scissors (ribbon) and pen (ribbon) both come together. :T

*Adding a button and loop closure*

Attach a button on the front as shown (or buttons)

Take a loop of thread (either knot the ends or use a band etc) Glue the loop down in between the back cover and the glued down page that covers , pull it over the button to close.

Voila finished covered journal/diary/sketch pad/notebook :T

PootleFlump_3

Great tute Ginger! ...and lovely makes everyone. I had about 10 pages to catch up on!!

Can anyone help me please. Im making some pickled gifts and need empty jars to put them in. Ive taken labels off some of my empty jars at home but they leave a sticky horrible residue and despite scrubbing for what seems like days, it wont come off. Does anyone know whats best to use or know where I could buy new ones? Ive tried baby oil as well which hasnt work. (Id rather recycle but as they are for gifts I need them to be clean) Thanks all. xx

esmer

Thanks Ginger for the Tutorial, makes so much more sense now I wish we still had a haberdashery near me. I think thats such a nice personal gift

esmer

PootleFlump wrote: »

Great tute Ginger! ...and lovely makes everyone. I had about 10 pages to catch up on!!

Can anyone help me please. Im making some pickled gifts and need empty jars to put them in. Ive taken labels off some of my empty jars at home but they leave a sticky horrible residue and despite scrubbing for what seems like days, it wont come off. Does anyone know whats best to use or know where I could buy new ones? Ive tried baby oil as well which hasnt work. (Id rather recycle but as they are for gifts I need them to be clean) Thanks all. xx

Have you tried some nail varnish remover? Or soak vinegar in a cloth, and lay it over the stick stuff for 10 mins.

hth

gingerandrubarb

esmer wrote: »

Thanks Ginger for the Tutorial, makes so much more sense now I wish we still had a haberdashery near me. I think thats such a nice personal gift

thank you
I wasn't sure it was going to make sense but glad you found it too, remember you can use boring fabrics and rubber stamp them, that's what i do, as stamps and ink are super cheap, you can also use normal ink for these or fabric paint (a pack of 5 varied colours i think 99p home bargains)
You can use old clothing, tea towels, plain fabrics and cross stitch or glue, you could glue a load of old ribbons together to form fabric and use that also, i get that UHU glue which glues everything safely and strongly (its not super glue however or my fingers would all be joined together) it's from poundland also, the fabric i used in that tutorial believe it or not was an old pillowcase i got from a charity shop, once it's cut and glued it goes tighter making it look newer :T

gingerandrubarb

PootleFlump wrote: »

Great tute Ginger! ...and lovely makes everyone. I had about 10 pages to catch up on!!

Can anyone help me please. Im making some pickled gifts and need empty jars to put them in. Ive taken labels off some of my empty jars at home but they leave a sticky horrible residue and despite scrubbing for what seems like days, it wont come off. Does anyone know whats best to use or know where I could buy new ones? Ive tried baby oil as well which hasnt work. (Id rather recycle but as they are for gifts I need them to be clean) Thanks all. xx

I use sticky stuff remover, it is really good and i originally purchased it for the same reason, to get rid of that gloop thats stuck after a sticker or label comes off, although it is over £4 inc postage it does last for an age and weve had ours for over a year with continual use. definately saves than having to buy new jars here the link from where i buy http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sticky-Stuff-Remover-Removes-labels-tape-etc-200ml-/310214701571?pt=UK_HomeGarden_CLV_Cleaning_CA&hash=item483a3cb203