Stamp making

I've been playing around with erasers and carving tools, see?

For this I used a regular, if not perhaps a bit too small, eraser from Staedtler and some cheapo carving tools from our local arts & craft supplier.

I've got my eyes on the following though; Speedball carving tools available from Amazon. Click here for all the Speedball products on Amazon. Other e-stores that stock Speedball cutters are scrapbook.com and  gobstock.com. Instead of the small erasers which work just fine, but not quite the size I'd like my stamps to be,  I'd like the super, duper Staedtler Mastercarve Artist carving blocks.  They come in all sizes and thicknessess; only problem is that I haven't been able to find any on-line. Suggestions anyone? Do they even manufacture these still?

I'm quite excited about this craft and can see how it will keep me busy over the coming winter months.

Happy weekend!

Gift ideas

I stumbled upon this blog entry of total art soul and was inspired to make a few last-minute gifts with stuff I have around the house. I'm that "do-it-at-the-last-minute" kind of girl sometimes, which is terrible, actually (hahaha).

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I have to get out of my lazy holiday mode and get started; will share with you what I've made.

Happy day!

Shoe makeover

I saw some fabulous shoe makeovers done by Kelli of Kellism and decided to try this myself. It's a fantastic craft for anyone, especially for kids on those cold, wet, winter days when they have absolutely "nothing to do".

This is one of Kelli's designs:

from her Facebook page, here

And here are one of my own creations:

I had so much fun making these that this will be on my Christmas gift list for some people. All you need is a pair of white canvas shoes, fabric or acrylic paint and a bit of patience. For the rest, just go wild with your designs and enjoy!

Happy day!

west elm

I love on-line catalogues, and the latest one from west elm  features several South African designers who worked in collaboration with west elm. You can see the catalogue here.

Designers like Gemma Orkin whom I wrote about here . 

South African ceramicist John Newdigate creations like these

Potter's Workshop

John Vogel furniture

There's much, much more of course, but I'll run out of space here before I posted even half the pictures I'd like for you to see.

For more info on South Africa and other designers, click here. There are links to places to eat, stuff to see, a couple of videos and a profile of all the designers.

Happy day!

Crochet

I've been busy looking for more patterns of lovely crochet pieces and found dozens.

(image borrowed from here)

Above is a picture of a pattern I tried out recently (don't you just love those colours?)

This is what I did with it (after I failed to get it like it's supposed to be in the pattern - I will try again though, to get it right....hehe

I thought I'd make a starched bowl or even a cute little lampshade; but the starching process didn't work out all that well.... It looks pretty okay when turned upside down...

Even seen from above (like this) it doesn't look all that bad, but there are lots of little bits of starch everywhere that looks really horrible (at least I can wash it out). I used cornflour and water; does anyone have a better idea of how I can starch this, pleeeease?

Have a Happy Day!

DIY stencilling

I have this piece of wood that was part of an old patio chair; but the chair is so old and dilapidated that it cannot be used as was intended anymore...

                                              

I was thinking of a way to do stencilling without using the actual rigid stencils. I used paper cut-outs before, but that was a bit of a messy affair -  this time around I had a different idea...

Print out your design regular printer paper;

Cut out an appropriate sizes piece of contact plastic to fit your design;

Tape your design or wording to the top of the plastic using cello-tape;  like this. The sticky side must face DOWN.

 Using your exacto knife, cut out the letters/design;  like this...

Peel the backing off the contact plastic and stick the plastic cut-out on your intended surface. Make sure you smooth out any air-bubbles.  I had three separate pieces to my design so, I drew lines where I wanted them to line up...

Paint over the plastic making sure you don't go over the edges and onto your painted surface; use a sponge roller for this - I used a paint brush and the bristles went under the plastic and messed up my letters a bit;  also make sure the contact plastic is stuck down tightly onto your surface, it will prevent any spills.

Allow to dry and peel off the plastic to reveal your design.....

I sanded the whole thing again because the letters got a bit messed up from the paint brush and with a bit of sanding it looked much better. It also got a coat of antique glaze and voilà!!




Happy day!!

Embroidery frames

I am working on a programme for a craft workshop for girls (and boys) for the upcoming winter holidays. It's all very exciting and I'm so inspired by everything I see on-line, that it's difficult to choose what to do with the little munschkins. Looking around for some ideas of what to do with embroidery hoops, I came across some lovely images.  Here are a few of them.....

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I think that I should (seriously) stop myself from posting more pictures now.... These are prettiness at it's best, don't you think? I have been soooo inspired by all these lovely images and talented, creative people that I can't wait to get my sketch book out and get some of my own ideas onto paper; to share with the kids at the workshop. 

Are you as inspired as I am to decorate with a hoop or two (or ten)? It looks real nice with a lot of them on a wall doesn't it?

Happy Day!

Painting

I'm tired of my old, dark coloured picture frames, so I'm giving them a new look with a coat of bright and cheerful white. Once the paint has dried, I will display in them some lovely botanical prints from my favourite site for free images, The Graphics Fairy.

I think it will look very lovely once it's all done.

Happy day!!

P.S.

My friend and I might go to our favourite builders/junk yard tomorrow - she's renovating her guest loo, and we have to find a few things for her. I'll take my camera along to take some pics!!

Crafty stuff

I saw this lovely vintage coffee ad on The Graphics Fairy website and was very keen to do something with it!








et Voila!

Happy day!