Off the cuff...

For holiday trips, one of the things that is always packed is my crochet bag...usually stuffed with more than one project, all my hooks and paraphernalia. 

So far though, it returns unopened...or has the occasional minor disturbance whilst hunting for a pair of scissors.

On a recent trip to visit family, the last decision I made was to leave the bag at home...

One of our nieces is fund raising for a charity she has been working with during the summer.

As I was there, I offered to crochet her some brooches...

Their market town is well stocked with everything a crafter could crave...so I could source everything* I needed quickly and relatively reasonably.

With two hooks, a ball of Stylecraft Harlequin, Yarnfair stripes,  Stylecraft Senses Lace, and some multicoloured thread (*the one thing that eluded me was sparkly thread!) 

I began...

There are 20 items in total, 

brooches with safety pin backs, 

and some hanging decorations...

no written patterns, 

 some remembered, 

some made up and some freeform!

In town there were some fab charity shop finds in the form of sequins and a bagful of sewing supplies - lots of coloured cottons and needles to sew the safety pin backs on!

My mother-in-law also donated a bag of  vintage buttons...

I made this for her as she had admired the crocheted colours and the stylish gold button, from her collection, really sets it off ....

.... as did the velvet button centre for this flower...that had started as a star!

We wondered whether the button had originally been part of some furniture...

There were a few happy accidents...

this also started as a star...I got the counting a little awry...and the silky acrylic curled beautifully, 

as it did for the inner petals (an attempt at a different flat flower),

the combination of the two 'mistakes' made one of my favourite items!

I learned a lot....

that twenty items can be made from less than two balls of wool -(I still have more than half of the thinner yarns left),
that I can finish things in a couple of days,

that relaxing, experimenting and going with the flow works wonders

..and that I should always pack my crochet bag!

Hoping they sell well!

More on happy accidents soon - I seem to be making a habit of them!

Bits and Pieces!

There have been lots of family events recently,

so a few granny pocket hearts have been hooked for...

...a wedding with Bridesmaids in purple....

....a couple of birthdays....

 

...tiny cards can fit in the pocket pouch...

A new home card also found its was to a family currently surrounded by boxes!

The door, lawn and roof are pieces of wet felted felt!

All contain stashbusted wool or cotton...

30g in total!

Thinking of all the recipients!

x

Bow Ties are cool!

My dad had a birthday this week...his card was in true Dr Who style

'Bow ties are cool' declared the Doctor

'...and so is my dad!' say I.

I remembered   Zoe's bows  and her pattern started me off on my experimentation...
having decided  it needed a larger middle I fiddled around
(with two rows of dcs, chains on the corners and trebles on the ends)
until the right shape was found.

In terms of stash busting its a really tiny 3g..

I think June will be full of lots of little projects!

'Spoilers Sweetie':

Ironically Matt Smith made his big announcement on the same day...I wonder which clothing items will be made popular next year?!

Proudly continuing the geeky theme Tracey has recently completed a quirky Sheldon amigurumi, and I hope to have a go at some of Lucy Ravenscar's characters soon.

Helen's versions of Lucy's Star Wars characters set me on course for a galaxy far far away!

Geek Crafts is a regular read on my blog list - there are oodles of amazingly inspirational projects on many current and cult themes.

In the meantime I might boldly go and try something Star Trek related  - loved the film!

Flame On!

This is the card we gave Mum for her birthday...

It started as the fourth piece of wet felt created for The dying of the Sun...seen here on the right on the line of fire!

There's a bit of everything incorporated into the needlefelting, two types of Teeswater curls and mainly shetland tops with some sari silk...

...and some crochet. 

I suppose the crochet flames could be considered my first free form crochet as I just hooked a few stitches until I got a flame shape.  They then took on a completely different form as they were needlefelted onto the piece..

I'm amazed how much my style has changed from this

to this in just a year. 

I'm always on the look out for frames and this is a great one from B and M bargains last year. The glass has been removed but the mount had padded foam on the back and a polystyrene sheet is included to pack out the box style. I might have to pop in and pick up some more, though I have quite a collection of shapes and sizes as I buy them when I see them. Also I'm never quite sure what size a finished item might be!

Part of mum's present was a crochet Poinsettia brooch from my daffodil pattern,
with a few more petals of different widths, and...you've guessed it...

a needlefelted middle!

Happy Birthday Mum!

Crocheting Dads!

Thought I'd give a big shout out to men who crochet!

Two of my close friends were taught how to crochet by their dads...one of many legacies they passed onto their wonderful daughters...

You can see one of Tracey's dad's fab creations in this blog post .

Remebering both these dads....

Do you know any men who crochet?

Maybe a chap who chains?
a loop loving lad?
a fella that freeforms?
a dad doing doilies?
 or a handsome hunk who hooks?!!

Happy Birthdays!

We know a fair few friends and family who celebrate February birthdays!

In addition to the crochet bunting...which now has a new home!...

the following will be finding their ways to new homes too....

It was good to get back into the swing of needlefelting with yarn again...and to find a good stock of the bags at a local crafty superstore...one day I will felt my own bags!

Happy Birthday to all of you with February birthdays!...

Spring is in the air - there's blooms in the garden!

xx

Twelfth Night!

Its all looking a bit minimal around here as all the decorations are down and the tree is waiting in the garage to be disposed of (hopefully before September like last year's - it didn't drop at all in that time!)

In my Being Creative Vintage post I talked about the groovy 70s decorations we embellished...well, as I gazed at Mum and Dad's tree there they all were!

....there was one that had a purple velvet band with pearly sequins and some of mum's tatting...it turned out to be lace...but there's tatting to follow!

a large one with  strings and a (made by mum) basket attached -  in which Santa perched in his hot air balloon, given to Grandad;

 and Grandma had a ...blue one covered in tatting and sparkles.

I found another that I had forgotten:

...tatting, lace, velvet, sequins and sparkles!

You can see where I inherited my love of crafty things!

.....As promised the favourite (post -war) decoration from my Grandad's tree...

my brother and I had lots of fun with this cheeky chappie!!

They are all safely packed away for another year....

Inspired by.......

Thanks for all your great comments on my last post...I'm hoping Jan will pop over too and see all your praise!

This is another arty post inspired by a couple of things this week!

I have been inspired by Kate over at Starfish studio who has been zentangling....

she has had some of her designs printed and  they look amazing!

I have had a go at my own style and found it really therapeutic....its my permission to doodle time!!

I have made four cards this week.....and posted three without photographing them!

However this one will give you a good idea of what they looked like!

The card...a 'Fathering Sunday' one..will be saying what an inspiration my dad is!!

Random Wooliness Junior has also been doing a module at school on Art....

last year he brought home this Georgia O'Keeffe inspired chalk drawing:

His dad and I both fell in love with the colours, style and form instantly and framed it with a frame to our specifications from the internet. Its in our hall along with 'The Hidden Gem at Tyseley' from the last post.

This year we heard a lot about RW Jnr's Andy Warhol inspired piece. He really enjoyed  sketching and deciding on the image he was going to use - inspired by Mario mushrooms. He described how he had measured out each individual item so each part looked equal, and he enthused about the colours he was using. 

Then it all went quiet.......and when asked about his painting he became quite disgruntled....he had by accident dropped a HUGE splodge of blue paint onto a pale area, and as that colour was no longer available, he couldn't rectify his mistake......  he even recounted how the whole table of children had gasped and run to his aid with cloths and other possible solutions.

Yesterday the Andy Warhol/ Mario inspired piece came home,

with a quick bit of tlc on the splodge 

we proudly framed it, replacing a rather tired print in the kitchen

We think it looks fantastic.....just the right colours to cheer up the room and I don't think you'd be able to spot the tiny accident.....I find myself gazing at it everytime I go in!

So... Random Wooliness Junior....you are an inspiration we are very proud of your creations.

Looking forward to hearing where your inspiration has come from this week!!

Birthday Cup Cake!

 As I was creating my cup cake I knew who would be receiving it...

it was my dad's birthday this week so he had two cakes - this famous fluffy one

...and this squidgy yummy one.....

a joint creation for dad/grandad.

The photo does not really show how 3 dimensional it was ..nor how smoothly the delicious icing was applied by Random Wooliness Junior!

Its amazing how it only really looked like Gromit when he perfectly placed the chocolate teacake nose!

Peaceful Family Day

After (and before) some busy but enjoyable days we have had a family day at home....we have played in the sunny garden; been gripped, thrilled and heartbroken again by Harry Potter (and the Deathly Hallows Part 1); and laughed heartily together whilst introducing our son to the delights of The Two Ronnies!

We also made this bouncy ball from a kit ...I couldn't help photographing it glistening in the sun as it dried....its a good bouncer too!!

Happy Holidays ;-)