Another Card - Not Hallowe'en!

I have to admit, I am not a great fan of Hallowe'en.  Oh sure, I love candy, and there is nothing quite like the smell of a semi-roasted Jack o' Lantern when you blow out the candle, but.... it seems like a lot of work for one night. 

Don't worry, I still give out candy to trick or treater's (even the older ones, but that could be just so they don't vandalize my house later) and I have a lovely plastic pumpkin I plug in and put in the window.

As I cruise the blogs and websites in cyberspace, I see a lot of Hallowe'en inspired cards, pages, tags..... so I thought I would do a seasonal looking card with nary a skeleton or witch in sight.  Just some nice oranges, browns and greens.

The flowers are coloured with Copics, and die cut with Spellbinders.  The butterfly is a 3D embellishment from K and Company.  The ribbon is Basic Grey (I've had it for years, don't know if you can still buy it anymore or not.)  You can't see it in the photo, but I added a little orange Stickles to the flower petals with a paint brush.  The paper is also from Basic Grey.

I know this is a simple looking card, but it has 3 great advantages:  1) Apart from the Stickles drying time, it's quick to make.  2)  It's not lumpy and bumpy and it fits in a regular envelope so it can be mailed.  3) It doesn't have any heavy embellishments, and it doesn't cost extra postage.

Until next time....

Alaska Journal

 I was almost thinking I was going to have to rename this blog Yarn Persuasion or something, as I seem to have been doing a lot of KNITTING lately.  But here is my latest paper project, the travel journal I took on our most recent trip.

Usually I use my Bind-it-All to make journals, but this time I thought I might try coptic binding.  This is binding pages together by sewing them with linen thread.  I won't go into the how's of coptic binding, as there are many internet sites that show you in great detail.  That's how I learned to do it.   I will give you a few tips though:

     1) Make sure your thread is long enough.  I followed a mathmatical equation for calculating thread length, and it was too short.  I was not happy, because I had to redo the whole thing.I don't know if there is a way to add on to the thread and keep it looking neat.
     2) Don't pull the thread too tight.  If you do, the book won't stay closed.  It has to be tight enough to keep the signatures (that's coptic-speak for the page sections) from flopping about, though.  (A few more choice words were said as I redid the binding again)
    
The papers I used were Graphic 45 from the Rennasance Fair collection.  The flowers were punched from Memory Box and Sizzix dies.  Letters were punched using Quickutz Metro alphabet.   I embossed black cardstock with a clock embossing folder, then put some gold highlights on it.

Until next time...

                                        

Better Late than Never

Ok, after many attempts, here is the photo of my latest UFO, the Flying Geese Afghan.  (I had to go to another internet server to get this picture to upload.  Soon this blog is going to be more about dealing with and finding ways around computer and internet problems than crafting!!!)


Anyway, I did not much like knitting  the flying geese (moss stitch is not fun, and there were way too many yarn ends to sew in!), and I have replaced those panels with squares of garter stitch. 

This is only the first 3 panels stitched together, I still have 2 more garter stitch panels to go!

Missing in Crafting

I have been struggling for the past 15 minutes trying to get a photo of my most recent  craft project uploaded.  I'm getting a message, "Server Returned Invalid Response".  What does that mean?

It has been some time since I last posted to this blog, I will say the last few months have been quite difficult and stressful, and blogging has taken a back seat to the events going on.  Everything from family illness to a vacation (complete with a terrible cold and a sprained ankle!) to changes at work have really diverted my attention.

But this last month I have been working my latest UFO, the afghan.  I've had quite a bit of time, what with having to take it easy and keep off my poor ankle.   I have taken great comfort in it's soft texture and vibrant colours.  It's pretty simple, alternating ecru patterned strips with coloured blocks in garter stitch, which makes a good take along project, and I can even watch TV and not mess up the pattern too badly!

I also made a journal for our trip to Alaska, using coptic binding (not to be confused with Copic markers!!)  Hopefully one day the server will allow me to upload a photo or 2!

Until next time, which hopefully will be sooner than last time.....

Caribbean Gatefold Album

 After a long hiatus, I am back working on my Caribbean album.  I've always wanted to try a gate fold album, but I'm realizing a few TRICKY BITS about it that I hadn't considered before.

As you can see from the pictures, the idea was to have 2 pages that open up "gate style", with photos and a post card on the front (top photo), with my journaling on the back (bottom photo).  Once these pages open, a full page underneath would be visible.  The full pages would alternate as right turning or left turning pages, so the bound spines would be equal in size.

This is great in theory, but I am finding that as the album gets bigger, it is a bit of a PUZZLE to get it closed again.  Maybe it will be better once I get it bound, which is tricky bit #2.

I'm doing the pages first, and then binding them, as I think it will be easier to work on.  I will have to be really, really careful when I bind, or I may have pages going the wrong way. 

I'm trying to keep this album as flat as I can, I've had some trying times with past albums getting way to thick.  So I'm back to cutting out the backs of the mats, and keeping embellishments as thin as possible. 

The paper I'm using is Webster's Pages and Bo Bunny.  There is a little Theresa Collins in there as well.  And that butterfly is G45.  I'm playing with large stamps and Perfect Pearls (the grass and crab in the top photo), and the odd Memory Box die cut is finding its way onto the pages. 

On the UFO front, I have dragged out an old afghan I have been knitting for years.  I have been procrastinating because once I started, I realized I didn't really like knitting the pattern ("moss stitch" sounded so innocent!), and I wasn't thrilled with the colour palette I had chosen.  So I'm taking things into my own hands and switching it up.  I'll keep you posted.

Until next time.....

Mitts in July

I have completed another UFO!  Never mind that it's mitts in July, it's one more thing off my "guilt radar", and I'm sure you know what that is, unless you are one of those people who never start a new project until they have finished the last one.  I started these about 2 years ago, intending to give them to my daughter for Christmas.  As you can see, I have added a couple of those cute flowers I've been making with some leftover yarn!

This pattern came out of a magazine.  The article gushed that they were simple to make, but I can tell you it has not been an easy road to completion.  The first problem was the pattern, and the fact that there was a mistake in it.  "Oops!" said the magazine's website.  Yeah, oops is right.

Once I got the correct pattern, I discovered that I could only do the knitting  in solitary confinement.  There was a vast amount of counting, and following not only the pattern, but the pattern of the pattern.

Alone with my stitch counter and four double pointed needles, I had quite of bit of trouble transitioning from needle to needle without a bit of a gap or "ladder" forming.  I went to a local knitting shop, where they were very helpful and sympathic, telling me I must keep the stitches tight when going from one needle to the next.  Seems like the only thing that got tight were the muscles in my hands!

But now they are finished, and I think I am going to keep them.  There are a few mistakes, I but I can overlook those. 

Next on my radar is my Caribbean album.   No pattern to follow, no stitches to drop.  Sounds like heaven!
Until next time...

New Home, New Card

My son recently moved into his own place.  He had been sharing a house with 2 other fellows, but the landlord decided to sell the house, and unfortunately, the guys weren't part of the deal.

So now he has a basement suite, and I took this opportunity to make a "New Home" card.  I used a stamp set, "Pixie Lane" from Unity stamp company, and coloured it with Copics.  The die cut swirl is from Memory Box Dies, as are the leaves.  The tag is a Quikutz die.  I'm not sure what the paper is..... some scraps I had around. 

Which brings me to my next problem:  Scraps of Paper.  I hate to throw out the little bits of paper I have left over from projects, because 1) Paper is not cheap 2) Paper is seasonal, and once it's gone, it's gone, and you can't guarantee you'll be able to find it again.  (Once I was going to order some papers not available in local stores anymore from a well known company, and the total was going to be like $10, but the shipping was going to be about $50.  What?) 3) I don't like cutting up a big piece of paper to get a small square, like I have here.

So I end up keeping all these itty-bitty bits of paper, withe the idea that I may just need them one day.  You and I both know that day will likely never come, unless of course I get rid of them, and then I'll want them again.  I need an organization system.....

FLOWER UPDATE:  I continue to crochet little flowers.  It is very soothing.  Plus, I just bought a new book, "100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet", which has a multitude of lovely little blossoms in it.  I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with all those flowers....

Until next time....