Sharing some Flickr love

Made by talented, busy hands...

Enjoy!

By Hens teeth

By mskris

By fisht

By White Owl


By Magical Mystery

More Little Treasures

Just a glimpse of my new creations.

The necklace made of woolen beads I am so proud of.

Grannies on the road
A necklace composed of three mini grannies strung on a chain.
This one is quite catchy and effective.

The Coin Purse necklace.

It is actually a bib necklace, crocheted and beaded by yours truly.

More little treasures coming soon. Stay tuned.

Vintage scarf necklace

I like creating one of a kind jewelry, incorporating interesting methods and techniques, using a broad variety of materials created by the generous nature and others made by men.

When it comes to fabric accessories, nothing inspires me more than beautiful fabric and the feeling is complete if it is expressive, vivid (and vintage). For this necklace I used one of my vintage scarves This is a variation of a necklace I've already made and it is shown somewhere here with the same pattern because the scarves appealed to me so much at the time I bought three of them in the same color.
After "blasting" my sewing machine, every little stitch on this one is made by hand, it took a lot of time and during the creation process I never stopped feeling sorrowful for all our ancestors who in the past sewed clothes by hand. Makes you appreciate more the commodities of the modern world.

Interlude

What does one do when after an unbelievably lightly attempt at outsmarting the sewing machine one gets to break it!

Well that one happily jumps into other crafty adventures.

Now I have an excuse to devote myself to the pursuit of crochet patterns and crochet jewelry.

I started crocheting flowers - roses to be exact, but still work on the design.
Hopefully, I might make something nice.

P.S As for the sewing machine, I accidentally pulled at the needle and thread tension assembly and it...uhm... disassembled. My husband put it together for me (he has the brains for such technical stuff) but the tension is the same whatever I do, so we guess some of the plates are in the wrong order. I hope he can repair it soon because I've got tons of sewing ideas!

Fairies

Ever since I I first laid eyes on the Flower Fairies at the Magic Onions, my heart missed a bit, their spell caught me, their image haunted me and I knew I had to make them desperately.

This is a project that offers instant gratification. And it can be done in a matter of minutes (with the supplies ready that is).

We used these to decorate the Christmas tree, made others as toppers to gifts and also gave some as presents to children. The recipients (mostly children) are completely enchanted by them.

I don't think we are going to store them away with the other Christmas ornaments. No sir!
The kids want them in their room hung on the walls. And Eva expressed a wish to wear one on her school bag. How cute is that?

So, what do you say? Are you going to join the fairyhood?

The ocean floor party

I completed the end of the year with crafts of all kind. The last week was filled with crafty workshops at home and the school, I've tried many tutorials, made wonderful things.

I also succeeded to complete my sea animals series and I feel contented.

I made brooches and pins and some necklaces too.

So let me introduce to you:

The lovely red crab necklace

The seductive octopus in french knots


and another member of his extended family


His Majesty - The Sea Horse Brooch


The iridescent anemone


And another jellyfish to join...


...this one.


The Corals

Goodbye for now. Stay tuned for more crafty goodness!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

May all your wishes come true!!

Post-raphaelite by Helene

As a member of the Burdastyle community I have the unique opportunity of meeting people from the whole world, exchanging ideas and experience and get inspiration.

One of my favourite members there and the never-ending source of inspiration- the magnificent Helene (a.k.a. carottesauvage) is the mastermind behind this gorgeous blouse.

I think the name of the project captures the essence of this creation. The wonderfully and meticulously pleated front, together with the bishop sleeves make this blouse remarkable and one of a kind.

Helene is this week's featured member (which should have happened long time ago) and she completely deserves it!

By the way, as the starting point she used Burdastyle's Jeniffer

pattern, which is a free download so all you enthusiastic sewers have an opportunity to grab it and make some unforgettable blouses yourselves!

Reversable wrap

When I saw Lia's fabulous reversible cape I knew I had to make one.

This cute thing offers so many versatile looks and is so easy to make it - it is incredible!
Must admit that I had trouble choosing the fabric (Lia's is to die for) because I had nothing good to match, so eventually I chose linen to pair it with soft and patterned cotton. For the buttons I chose to cover them with the flower(y) fabric.

I made mine a bit longer than Lia's and not so wide. But if I make another one, I will certainly make it shorter and wider. And with more expressive fabric, mind you!

I played with it, wrapped it around, combined buttoning it in different ways, and I love how I could gain so much with so little. From all the looks I was seduced by the "cropped jacket" look and the "waist coat" look!
Thank you Lia for this wonderful pattern!

Update: You should visit my friend's Nat post and see her wrap. It is absolutely gorgeous! And I was right! She used a stunning piece of fabric.

Moss stitch blue knit wrist warmers

This is a pattern for lovely knit warmers. I found this pattern on the Internet about 2-3 years ago. They are short in length, but because of the chunky wool and decorative stitch these warmers are really warm and beautiful.

The Moss Stitch pattern:
Cast on 38 stitches

Ribbing = 8 rows: K2P2 right side / P2K2 the opposite)
Row 9 starts the double moss stitch: K2,then P1, K1(repeat this to the end)
Row 10 = P1, K1, (repeat this to the last 2 sts) then P2
Row 11 = K1, P1 (*repeat this to the last 2 sts.) then K2
Row 12= P2,then K1,P1 to the end.
Repeat rows 9-12 until the desired length is achieved.

Next row - ribbing for 6 rows. Bind off.

Repeat these 4 rows until the desired length is achieved (I repeated these 4 rows for 8 times which totals 32 rows of double moss stitch without the ribbing!)
Next start the ribbing again (as explained above) and knit it for 6 rows. Bind off!

Note: Please note that I cast 38 sts because I have fairly tiny wrists . If you have longer/bigger arms/wrists cast more sts. than suggested here. Remember that you have to have an even number of stitches.

This is also a quick project and you may use it to make some last minute gifts!

Happy knitting!

Transform socks into warmers

When I saw these beige - gray speckled socks I knew I had to have them. They are kids' size but that was exactly what I needed for this project.

This is a simple tutorial how to transform socks into wrist-warmers.

You need a pair of socks.

Cut off the toes part.

Turn the sock with the heel part upwards.
Gather the part where the heel is, pin it and hand stitch it.

Add a decorative button.

Add some lace or ribbon.

This is important.

You have to insert a tailor's ham inside before you stitch the lace.

If you don't have a tailor's ham insert another pair of socks or a small pillow.

Something that will expand the sock. Then (hand) stitch the lace.

Your new, fabulous wrist warmers.

These also make a nice last minute gift and you can make them in less than 15 minutes.

Tomorrow I am going to share a knit warmers pattern.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Sea horse brooch

If you see a seahorse

Be sure to say hello.

Just smile and say a bright ‘good day’ -

They’re most polite you know!

(Poem by Julie Murphy)

Meet the Frosts - a tutorial

The Frosts

I immensely enjoyed making this lovely family of Frosts with my kids and they are proudly displayed in our living room. Not the kids - the snowman's family ;)

I documented the process as we went along, so here is an easy way to make yourself some decoration in an hour!

What you need:
- Styrofoam craft balls (we used 6 for the heads and bodies)
- tooth picks (3-4)
- fabric scraps
- a marker
- modeling clay
- and glue

First stick the head and the body on the toothpick to make the snowman.

Next, with the marker, draw the eyes, mouth and body buttons.

With the scraps make Mr.Frost a scarf, mittens and a top hat.

With modeling clay make him a nose and stick it.
Tie the scarf and glue the mittens.

Mr. Frost is a very health-conscious snowman.
He knows smoking is bad and that is why he
doesn't have a pipe. He's got a toothpick in his mouth.

Mrs. Frost.
She is one very fashionable lady.
We made her a hat out of modeling clay and decorated it with a jewel (ahem..bead).
She wears a ruffled scarf and elegant red mittens. Her body buttons are bling.

Baby Frost.
His hat is a cut-off thumb from old mittens.
His scarf is the ribbed part of an old sock.

We hope you like them!

Greetings from our family to yours!
***Happy holidays!***

Jellyfish necklace

Yesterday I got wonderful news of my deadline being prolonged and guess what I did.
I did everything my heart desired. Including embroidery. I worked late into the night and finished a couple of things - mostly fabric jewelry.

This is my favourite. A jellyfish pendant.

These days expect a lot more sea creatures turning into wearables.