Monday Makes

 
An easy make for this week… cushion covers.

 

I made two from a small fleece throw and the other from some material I scrounged from my mum.

When cutting fleece be aware, it makes a heck of a mess!

Cut each piece slightly wider than the cushion, allowing for the seam, and approximately two and a half times longer than than the cushion. Hem the short edges, then fold them in, overlapping each other to fit the cushion and sew.

     

Monday Makes

Birthday card for a friend.

The balloon panel was cut with a craft knife from blue card and layered onto white card. The spotted ‘flags’ were from my stash and were double-ended so I cut them in half and stuck them to the back of the balloon panel. The whole thing was stuck onto mirror card and a blue and white layered panel was added along with a peel-off greeting.

Monday Makes

My make this week is this cute little Giraffe Tanoshi Doll from Tatyana Korobkova’s book Knitted Toys.

A lot of the pieces are knitted in rounds on four double-ended needles, which made some of the smaller bits quite fiddly to do. I did, however, learn to knit an i-cord!

In the book, the face doesn’t have a nose or mouth, and the patches are made from felt and glued to the body.   Mine looked a bit weird with just the eyes so I embroidered the other features, and as I didn’t have any felt, I embroidered the patches with wool.

I didn’t get the stuffing right either as my giraffe’s head was very wobbly when finished and I had to push a piece of dowel up through the body and into the head to keep it upright!

Below is a picture of the Giraffe Tanoshi Doll from the book.

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Monday Makes

For my first Monday Makes, I’m sharing three soft toys that I knitted for Christmas presents.

 

The first two were knitted from patterns in Jean Greenhowe’s book Knitted Toys.

The scarecrow was knitted for my daughter, to replace one that had been lost many years ago,

while the panda was an extra gift for my granddaughter, as I’d made both her mum and brother something.

The third knit, a gingerbread girl, was made for my grandson as he had wanted a girlfriend for his gingerbread man, which he had received for Christmas a year or two ago.

The pattern is basically the same as the panda, but bigger, and the dress I made up as I knitted and crocheted it!

 

 

 

Five on Friday

Five Christmas Cards

These five cards were drawn then coloured with blendable pencils. The pictures were cut to size and layered onto red card then stuck on folded white card. Finished off with some glitter and Christmas greetings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Sunday Shelfies – Nature & Craft Shelf

Time for my last bookshelf. This shelf houses my nature guides, colouring books and craft books.

 

The books laying on the shelf are my colouring books and a cross-stitch book that’s too tall to stand up.

• Mythomorphia – one of a series of books by Kerby Rosanes
• Fantasy Creatures Colouring Book by Meg Cowley, author of the Relic Guardians series
• Fantasy Snowflakes Coloring Book by J. S. Burke, author of the Dragon Dreamer series
• Sue Cook’s Bumper Cross Stitch Collection

 

Standing on top of those are my nature and walking guides.

• Kingfisher Concise Field Guide Animals & Plants of Britain & Europe
• The Concise Guide to Wild Flowers by D.A. Sutton (Author) & Colin Emberson (Illustrator)
• RSPB Guide to British Birds by David Saunders
• Lake District: Low Level and Lake Walks by Vivienne Crow
• 50 Walks in The Lake District – one of the AA 50 Walks series
• The Complete Guide to the Lancaster Canal by David Slater,Martin Mail, Jon Clark and Lesley Blundell. – This is an old book with black and white photos. Up to date copies are in colour.

 

At the other end of the shelf, starting at the right-hand side, the first book is Grimm: Aunt Marie’s Book of Lore – a companion book for the TV series, Grimm.

 

My painting and drawing books are next.

• Creative Revolution by Flora Bowley
• 5-Minute Sketching – People by Pete Scully
• 50 Things to Draw by Ed Tadem

 

These are followed by Delia Smiths Complete Cookery Course, which is the only cookbook I own, and Cake icing and decorating by Pamela Dotter.

 

The next group of books are my papercraft/cardmaking books.

• Pergamano Parchment Craft by Martha Ospina (2 books)
• The Art of Parchment Craft by Janet Wilson
• Decorative Paper Craft from GMC Editors
• Washi Style! by Marisa Edghill
• Easy Embroidery on Paper by Joke de Vette
• 101 Ideas for Embroidery on Paper by Erica Fortgens

 

My other cross-stitch book, Cross Stitch Teddies by Joan Elliott, is the next book along.

 

The next two books are both titled Knitted Toys. The first is a book by Jean Greenhowe, from 1986. The other is by Tetyana Korobkova and was published 30 years later, in 2016.

 

My two crochet books are Crocheted Sea Creatures by Vanessa Mooncie and Animal Amigurumi to Crochet by Teri Crews.

 

The next couple of books cover a variety of knots.

• Macrame at Home by Natalie Ranae
• Friendship Bracelets by Michele Howarth

 

I’m not sure the final few can really be described as books, although I’m not sure what they should be called.

• Wire Wrapping by Wyatt White
• 15 Fat Quarter Makes
• Fabulous Needle Felting
• Gorgeous Knit & Crochet Makes for Baby
• Magical Unicorn Makes

 

Four on Friday

The final four birthday cards for this year. Christmas card making has begun!

My Mum’s birthday is in a couple of days, and it looks as though she’s going to be spending it in hospital. The other three cards are all for birthdays at the beginning of December.

Mum’s Card

Granddaughters Card

Grandson’s Card

Dad’s Card

 

Wordless Wednesday