Crochet creations

April 11th   


We are now into week two of the sharing a photo a day of crochet and below I present to you my entries.  It is such fun choosing what to share and how best to display it.  Some people are incredibly clever and inventive with their photography styling, I can but wish I could learn and have the eye.

Here are my latest five:

Day 6   CROCHET SPACE

My 'crochet space' choice was where I keep
my inspirational books and patterns

 
Day 7:  FAV HOOK

My favourite hook is this plain and simple grey size 4mm. 
It belonged and was used first by my grandmother,
then mamma and now I use it. 

 Day 8:  BLANKET

I chose this blanket as I made it
whilst teaching my first crochet class

Day 9:  PRETTY IN PINK

Pretty in pink had to be my scrap busting granny stripe vase

Day 10:  FLOWERS

For flowers I chose to share one of the many
crochet rings I have made over the years, I wear this one a lot.

♥  What would your entries look like?  ♥

Time versus crafting

April 6th

It's true I have neglected this blog and my crafting for the past two weeks and I apologise to you my dear reader and to my crafty self.  This just won't do.

Time

An evil of my life at present, there are just not enough hours in the day to do ALL that I have to do, such as the boring job front which helps to being in some small beans to survive on and the desire for crafting and making.  In fact my creative juices are ebbing away with not being constantly fed by making...do you suffer from this?

Solution ?

My daughter is mid revision flow and has the most complex revision timetable made, she and my husband made it together and it seems to work brilliantly, maybe I need to timetable my life a bit more?  A timetable like hers or maybe a lovely new shinny journal, more detailed than my messy but cannot live with out hand written diary, none of this smart phone diary tech stuff for me  may help me in my quest to accomplish more in each 24 hour period.

Enough chat, look what I have managed to squeeze into my day, a daily photo challenge.  I do so love these and again this one is run by the talented Ashley of Lazy Daisy Jones It's not too late to start and each Friday a winner is chosen from the Friday's post on Instagram (IG) to receive lots of goodies. If you do not have IG why not join along with me and post your photos to my Facebook page, you will not be eligible for the competition but it would be wonderful to see your photos...  https://www.facebook.com/eclectichomelife/

What photos to post:

 

 

 

Day 1

 

Day 2

 



 

 

Day 3

 



Day 4

 



Day 5

 



 

 

♥  Tips for time management would be gratefully received  ♥



Too many ideas but is there enough time?

23rd October

I'm full of ideas and keep seeing things I want to try, are you the same?  I'm not very disciplined and so as soon as I see something and the minute I have a spare second instead of being good and finishing other things I have begun, I make the first tentative steps on a new project.  Is this you or are you the antithesis of me?

Here I share with you snippets of my works in progress, cannot reveal all as much is in preparation for Christmas and although I keep banding this word about, I know for the majority of people it is far too early so I will restrain myself.


Presents  and home décor in the making...

Crochet

Christmas red, cannot get enough of it

Can you guess what this will be?

Almost finished...

Knitting

I am LOVING THIS!!! My own design too!

This one is easy to guess

Glass fusing

Am addicted to glass fusing

Bet you can tell what this is...

So here you have my three types of makes but this would not be Five on Friday without sharing five things.  What else do I do in the week when not making?  Like many I work, but happily for me not full time, showing photos of my work would bore you to tears  but I do manage to do other things and this week has been a GOOD week, thank goodness!!! 


Walking

I managed a lovely walk, to blow away those cobwebs and unlike others I am not going to share my lovely autumnal leaves with you as I'm sure you've seen so may but thought you might like to see some of the houses I passed by on my walk out from home, welcome to Oxfordshire..

Old Penny Farthing on the front wall of the house

How well tended and looked after is this house

Going out

This week I had a date!!  I took my daughter out to the theatre and we watched a Shakespeare play in Oxford, The Tempest.  It just blew my mind.  The cast were exceptionally good, the setting and production excellent, the entire stage was strewn with clothing, in the hundreds, not unlike my teenage son's bedroom, there were tens of lines of hung washing and the opening scene with the shipwreck took place inside a washing machine with the cast using Ariel for the washing powder. Those that know the play and live in the UK will understand this last bit.  But my goodness the music for this production was entirely conducted by one very talented man and hundreds of water filled glasses, what he could produce with these was incredible.  A great night.

Oxford Playhouse

All these are men's shirts!

Even for me though spying this huge Christmas tree on our walk to the theatre I was a little saddened, it's only October!!!

Christmas tree, bit early don't you think?

Hope you have had a good week and that life is rosy for you all.  Joining in today with  Amy sharing my five things with you today, crocheting, knitting, glass fusing, walking and going out!!!  Pop over and see what others are sharing.

 

♥  Are you a disciplined maker

or do you love beginning projects like me?  ♥

Autumnal vases a quick make

26th September 

Today I felt the urge to use the ever growing pile of leaves from the garden.  Those who have followed me for a while will know that I love flowers and that I use all sorts of vessels as vases.  Again today, I use an old favourite.  A cardboard pot!  Come and see...


A quick autumn vase make over

You will need a container, mine is a cardboard vessel,
PVA glue and brush, old drinking glass and autumnal leaves.

The leaves were still a little damp from being outside so I put them in the oven after I had baked a cake, switched the oven off and left the door open.  Just enough to dry them a little without discolouring them.



Leaves drying before use

Smother the vessel of choice in PVA glue, don't be shy, use lots. 
Smear it in evenly before adding leaves.

Add PVA glue, remember it dries clear

Start attaching the leaves, making sure to cover the whole container and in my case not to show any of the blue colour.  I needed to add more glue where the leaves over lapped.  I also decided to leave some of the leaves poking over the top edge, but confess to trimming any that were over the bottom edge.

Leave to dry, in my case this took less than an hour, but will depend on the amount of glue used and the temperature in your home.

I picked some autumnal flowers from the garden ~ dahlias.  Found an old drinking glass that was in actual fact an old nutella jar!  Then added water to the glass, carefully put the glass in the now dried leaf vase and added the dahlias.

One very seasonal vase, bringing the outdoor autumn colours into my home...

An even quicker autumnal vase                   

You may not have access to autumn leaves or perhaps not the inclination to become all gluey, but there is another way to bring the seasons colours into your house.  I mixed red and yellow paint as I did not have any orange and with another cardboard container painted it autumn orange.  I had hoped to get away with just one layer of paint, but whatever the shiny bit is on the outside of the cardboard resisted the paint and so I ended up with three layers of paint.  However each layer dried incredibly quickly and it was all painted, done dusted and dried in just over an hour.   Ready for flowers...

An orange painted vase for autumn

Autumnal vase in situ in my home

You may also be interested in my other vase makeovers

 

Crochet vase

Scrap busting vase

♥  Happy autumn days to you all  ♥

Five on Friday

23rd January  ♥

Thank goodness for Amy at Love made my home, not only for setting up this group Five on Friday, this is my second round within the group, previous Five on Friday can be found  HERE , but without her gentle reminder at the beginning of the week, I would have forgotten it was my group's turn today.  That could have been embarrassing.

What to post is always a bloggers dilemma and none more so when involved in a group posting and being linked to others.  Hopefully readers may discover new blogs and be so enamoured that they come back as regular visitors.  This is always a hope...

Today I turn my attention to HEARTS ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥  I love them and always have.  In actual fact I have had several heart postings over the 12 months of this blog and here I bring you new and old hearts, of course FIVE in total.  Come along for the ride and join me in crafting with hearts.

Quick planning for Five on Friday after Amy's reminder

Adding a touch of colour and love to my home

 1  Heart twig centre piece




You will need:

a heart template, I used a cookie cutter to draw round
thin yarn
medium thickness card
large eye needle
twigs vase







Draw round the heart template, remember to cut out an even number.

Place one heart on top of the other and with running stich sew along the middle, (see fig 1)  Keep the tail end long as you will bring this up to the top for using as a tie.

Fig 1:  Running stich along the middle of the heart
and then tie ends together as close to the card
as you can.  Can you see how to fold the heart
 from this photograph to create the 3D effect.

Tie a knot at the top of the heart, with the tail end and the end with the needle,  as close to the card as you can.  I made a double knot.  Again tie another knot further up to make a loop for hanging.  Photos should help, if I am not clear!

Fold each side of the heart over so that it creates a 3D heart effect. 

Make as many as you need  and hang on some twigs/branches that you have placed in a vase.

3D paper hearts

Adding colour in Winter
to the home after Christmas

I may keep this up on the mantle
piece for some time to come...

2   Crocheted heart bunting 

This is possibly my favourite heart posting on this blog and it is actually what started me being quite literally 'hooked' on crochet.  This is not a quick make if you make the bunting, but it is a great pick up and put down craft.  Alternatively you can just make one or two hearts as coasters, the ideas and uses are limitless, pop over and see...  Crocheted bunting post

3   Quick Valentine heart cards 

I love Valentines day but not the commercialism of it, we always make our cards and have a good dinner in the evening.  This year we will be with a whole gaggle of family and so we will spread the love... I have made three cards this year...

With a craft knife and some paper it is relatively quick to whip up a card for any occasion.  This was the most time consuming of the three cards, but made in less than half an hour.   Remember if making a card, to draw and cut on the back side, to leave the front crisp and clean looking.

Paper cutting is addictive:  Valentine card

I always have to get yarn in where I can and last year I crocheted hearts and glued them onto card for Valentines Day.  This year the idea is even quicker.  On the wrong side of the card I drew a quick heart out line and then within it drew the squiggle that you see.  At each end that touched the outside heart shape I pin pricked a small hole and this guided me whilst sewing backwards and forwards to create the card you see below.  Very quick, very easy and I believe very effective.

A hand sewn Valentine card, based on a heart squiggle

Not a lover of craft knives or of yarn?   There is still a simple and quick solution to creating your own card.  As with the yarn card, just draw a squiggle heart and job done!

Quickest card ever, same as the sewn card but just drawn!

4   Felt garland 

Last year for Valentines day I shared a quick tutorial on how to make a garland out of felt with no sewing apart form threading.  It was a quick make, my favourite sort, and in actual fact we kept it up in our porch for most of the year.  It was an lovely colourful addition to our house.  So easy, simple and effective... Felt garland post

The beginnings of a very simple felt garland

5   Crocheted heart pillows

Perfect for this time of year as a love token to a friend, a family member or be kind to yourself.  We have three of these in our house now, but looking back at this post, I think I am itching to make more.  These crochet up very fast and cause a giggle whilst crocheting, pop over to see what I mean... Crocheted heart pillows

These heart pillows can be made in a variety of sizes

So Five on Friday all about my passion for hearts, hoping you found something to start your creative juices flowing or failing that, have enjoyed my passion of hearts.  Thank you for popping over, that is what blogging is all about, sharing, communicating, inspiring and being inspired. 

I am joining in Five on Friday, taking five minutes from our day to enjoy five things.  Please go and visit the other people who are also blogging about Five on Friday this week.


Kirstie from http://journeynorthof49.blogspot.co.uk/

Patricia from http://aplacefor-everything.blogspot.co.uk/

Katharine from http://artefactsobjects.blogspot.co.uk/

Selma from  http://eclectichomelife.blogspot.co.uk/

Marion from http://my-two-girls.blogspot.co.uk/

and of course...

Amy from http://lovemademyhome.blogspot.co.uk/

 

♥  Have a wonderful Friday  ♥

Do let me know what you think...

Sharpie pens, lights and a quick craft

January 13th 

A quick make for a Monday morning, tea light covers

Mondays are usually my stay at home day with a little work in the late afternoon.  Not so yesterday as I had to work most of the day.  And so you should I hear you cry, but Mondays mean #makeitsewcial days and yesterday was the first one of the year.  I really did not want to miss out and felt like a teenager deprived of her first big 'going out' session.  Never fear though, I managed to sneak in some very quick crafting time  BEFORE I set off to work!  For those of you oblivious to #makeitsewcial follow my previous post all about it HERE

With little more than half an hour what did I do on a dark dull Monday morning?  Well, my attention turned to the darkness of the morning and I realised I needed more light, that then set the old brain cells whirling and I decided to use some of the copious amounts of mismatched glasses cluttering up the cupboard and give them a Sharpie pen make over.  Have you heard of Sharpies, have you used them?  We love them in our house hold but I have had to squirrel mine away and hide them from the teenagers, I AM NOT SHARING MY SHARPIES.  I even made them their own little pouch last year! 

Last years crochet pouch, used daily

All I needed for this project was:  

Brightening up a dull morning,
decorated greaseproof paper tea light covers

old drinking glasses
greaseproof paper
Sharpie pens
blutack
tea lights


As I was crafting straight after breakfast and before work, I had little time to indulge in procrastination as to designs for my tea lights.  In the kitchen on the window sill at the moment I have a little piece of early spring in the guise of potted narcissi which are already flowering and cheering up my days.  Looking at the flowers I began to draw and colour in on the greaseproof paper.  I deliberately did not block colour and so allowed some of the greaseproof paper to show through my colouring, I thought and hoped this would be effective with the tea light shining through.

Let's not look in detail at the drawing as we all know
from previous posts I cannot draw or paint, but I still have a play

Those of  you silly enough to indulge me and who read the blog will know I love boats, so a tea light set would not have been complete without a boat too.  Sorry to any sailors out there, this is sooooo not an accurate drawing, but hey, I had very little time, who am I kidding, it would not have been any better had I had hours!

Basic basic drawing, but effective with
a light source from behind nonetheless

Then to complete the quartet, I very quickly doodled some hearts on one and hash tagged the other with #makeitsewcial and added in some crafting silhouettes of a paint brush, sewing machine and scissors.  Google images is great for line drawing and silhouette inspiration, goggle something like 'sewing machine silhouettes'  on images and you will see what I mean.

Note the paintbrush is raised past the rim
of the glass to add more interest

So in a rush to get out of the door and not be late, I blue tacked the drawn on greaseproof paper to the glasses, lit the tea lights for a quick photo, published one of them on IG (Instagram, should you wish to follow me, I can be found there as selmaeclectichomelife) so I could be a part of the fist Monday #makeitsewcial, blew out the candles and hopped into my car, making it just in time for work. 

Thank goodness there were no traffic hold ups on the way...

All four tea light covers completed in just over 30 minutes

Notice I left some of the flower
raised over the edge of the glass

I think this would be a great craft to do with children too, I can just picture children's colourful quirky pictures, they could use crayons if you are too precious with your Sharpie pens as I am!

♥  I hope Monday was good to you and you have a 'crafty' week  ♥