handmade gifts for christmas and celebrations 2011

dizzytina

housewifeintraining wrote: »

think you might be right PootleFlump medium weight might be better - haven't made any crayon rolls before so if anyone has and can let me know which is better it would be much appreciated!

Housewife I have made some with medium interfacing and i have also made some with no interfacing at all and then have been fine so you could always make one without and it will still look nice:D. i also sometimes use pvc fabric on the inside so the crayons don't mark the cotton.
these ones i made have noi interfacing in.



Hiya midnight have you been hiding or have a just missed your posts?:D

youngoldlady

dizzytina wrote: »

Aww thats really nice of you to comment about my blog. I'm not very technical so always think it isn't as good as it could be. I know what you mean about about competitive people!!. It still amazes me that people actually find my makes good enough to want to even copy or borrow and that people actually follow my blog and want to know my ideas!!.

I'll look out for your e-mail lovi and if you want any of my other templates i have used in my blog posts just let me know

That's very modest of you to say so I sent you an email last night so hopefully it will be lurking around somewhere - if your email s anything like mine probably in the junk folder! Thank you so much for your help and friendship.

I'm not very technical either! I've just about worked out what a blog is, but navigating one properly and following one is a bit hit and miss at the moment! :rotfl:I'll get there eventually. I just need to practice!

housewifeintraining

thanks dizzytina might try it without to begin with then and save a few pennies! Out of interest where do you get the pvc material from?

Laura_D_3

wammy77 wrote: »

Looks good Laura

If you fire it by hand using a torch put the wire mesh onto a brick before firing, otherwise you may damage your stove - the metal gets VERY hot!!!

Thanks Wammy - can't wait to get started now :j
Youngoldlady - my two favourite wedding presents we received last year were a coat hanger which was molded into my new married name (you can buy them from Lila Fancis on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/listing/62128167/sold-out-the-original-silver-lingerie although if you were creative enough I'm sure you could make one), and as we got married in a unique venue (a lighthouse) I was also given a loveheart framed map of the area we got married in - You can buy them from Not on the high street http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/bombus/product/bespoke_map_heart although again I'm sure you could make your own version. These along with a knitted bride are most definatly my favourite wedding presents

Just returned from a week at centre parcs where I was determined to learn the skill of crochet!!! Well I can do the first row (or whatever its called) but I'm confused when I try to do single stich as in the book the instructions look the same as double stich - which I seem to be doing to tight :eek: I WILL LEARN TO CROCHET IF IT KILLS ME :cool:

cuddles123

LauraD - both of those are great ideas for pressies and I don't think they would be too hard to copy.

Got some bargains today

2 mugs for 79p in Wilkinsons
Ceramic pens reduced in Hobbycraft to paint them
Wooden holly and santas in Hobbycraft 29p
Green elastic ribbon in Hobbycraft (10m) 49p
Slate trivets in £ shop (also 4 coasters for £1)
Paper Crimper in Hobbycraft £2.99

Just trying to decide what to do with my mugs. Paint a message or knit mug cosies or both? Any suggestions?

dizzytina

youngoldlady wrote: »

That's very modest of you to say so I sent you an email last night so hopefully it will be lurking around somewhere - if your email s anything like mine probably in the junk folder! Thank you so much for your help and friendship.

I'm not very technical either! I've just about worked out what a blog is, but navigating one properly and following one is a bit hit and miss at the moment! :rotfl:I'll get there eventually. I just need to practice!

Youngold lady had a look at my e-mails but can't find one from you even in my junk? Can you send another or pm me your e-mail address and i'll get a copy to you:D

Housewif i got mine from the Range its sold by the metre Dunelm also sell it. You can also use oilcloth which is much the same but usually a bit more expensive.

I have been making a few things for valentines day today - i'm off for a romantic night away with hubby tomorrow so have love theme on the brain today:rotfl:

mini choccies to go in hubby's pack lunch box

also some valentine gift cans which i am going to use to present hubbies pressies in. I am making a silver keyring to go in the small tin and homemade choocies in the large one.



Wammy can i ask how i fire my silver clay once i have made it into what i want? Can i use an oven? i'm guessing not as it probably isn't hot enough. What do you use?

wammy77

dizzytina wrote: »

Wammy can i ask how i fire my silver clay once i have made it into what i want? Can i use an oven? i'm guessing not as it probably isn't hot enough. What do you use?

Dizzytina - it needs to be hot (the silver will go red hot) so you need to use a kiln which is pricey (around £150 for basic one) or you can hand fire it, which I do most of the time using a handtorch (butane gas torch)....... the sort of thing you see chefs caramelising creme brule with!!!

I got mine from Machine Mart as it was on offer at the time at around £11, but you can get them from lots of places. This is mine: http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cbt1-butane-gas-torch-kit/path/gas-torches-soldering-irons

The gas to fill it with is widely sold - even my poundland sells it (BARGAIN!!!)

You can't use an oven to fire it unfortunately

Basically get the clay out of the bag when you're ready to use it, roll or mould it into your shape, or cut it with a cutter. Leave it to dry for 24 hours before firing - if you fire it too soon and it's still not 100% dry the silver will crack and explode as you heat it (done this twice and a piece of the silver spat up onto my forehead... it hurt like hell and ruined my charm!!!!!)

Once dry pop it on your fire brick/mesh and heat it with the torch - move the torch around the whole item, not just in one place. As you do this it will start to go black/brown.... then smoke (this is the binder burning off).... then it will go white all over. You need to continue to heat the silver until it has a soft red/orange glow around the edges (when firing I have my lights very low so it's easier to see it!) and keep it at this glow for min 2 minutes. BEWARE - if you get it too hot and the whole piece glows very red you will over heat it and the silver will bubble and eventually become liquid!

Once you've fired for 2 minutes stop heating and either leave to cool of quench it (drop it into cold water) to coll it quickly so you can handle it. You then have your hard silver which will still be white coloured. Take a burnishing brush or polishing cloth (i use a polishing head on a mini drill/multitool i got from hobbycraft for £14) and polish off the white to reveal the silver

You can then use silver polish on it to shine it or leave it 'rustic' looking. Also when the clay is dry, but before you fire it, you can sand and file it using fine grade sandpaper... this will give you smooth finish and gets rid of some of the marks etc.

Long post... sorry about that... hope that helps you I keep meaning to put instructions on my blog... will try to get around to it

nikki.paul

how do i put a picture of my crafting on here.

Thanks

LolaLemon

Laura_D wrote: »

Just returned from a week at centre parcs where I was determined to learn the skill of crochet!!! Well I can do the first row (or whatever its called) but I'm confused when I try to do single stich as in the book the instructions look the same as double stich - which I seem to be doing to tight :eek: I WILL LEARN TO CROCHET IF IT KILLS ME :cool:

u might have been taugh american stitch names, the british are different...
e.g a dc in american is a triple in british
a british dc is an american single crochet.

for tightnes i recommend using a bigger hook size till u get the hang of it.

their is a crochet thread on the old style forum. they are good for help

cuddles123

nikki.paul wrote: »

how do i put a picture of my crafting on here.

Thanks

Hi,

You will need a hosting site - Photobucket ot Tinypic, both free. You can upload your pics to them and it will generate a code. Copy and paste the IMG code into your post.

There are other ways I think, but that's the way I do it.;)

Look forward to pics.:D