Mothers Day goodies

A couple of months ago I took the plunge and had a go at making my own soap.  Then I got back into crocheting and started making face clothes.  This week I discovered how easy (and addictive) it is to crochet flowers

Put these three together and (apart from the packaging) you have completely hand made Mothers Day Gifts.  These will be available in my facebook page tomorrow night (1st May 2013)  I would love it is you popped over for a look :)  

DIY Boxes

Any obsessed good crafter will tell you that you can never ever ever have enough storage for all of your ribbons, pens, stamps, brushes, embellishments, etc, etc, etc.  What works really well for me is shelving and boxes - especially because I LOVE  boxes.  I am fortunate that where I work, we get two Cheesecake Shop cakes each month and it finally dawned on me that I could upcycle the boxes.  Here is how I did it.

Supplies

Box    Scissors    Double Sided Tape    Scrapbooking Paper

Stanley Knife    Ruler

Eat the cheesecakes :)

Outline the edges of the inside of the box with double sided tape

 Cut wrapping paper slightly larger than the inside of the box.  Lay paper over double sided tape and press into place.  Trim excess paper edges with stanley knife.

Measure and cut scrapbooking paper slightly larger than the side panels of the sides of the box.  Coat one side of the box with Mod Podge and place the scrapbooking paper in position.  Repeat for the other sides and set aside to dry.  Once dry trim edges of paper with stanley knife. 

Repeat the above step for the top of the box, but instead of trimming the edges, fold them over and and glue to the sides of the box.

Then embellish you box to your hearts content.  I used washi tape and the labels are stuck on with blue tac, in case I change what is in them later.

 I also used the left over pieces of paper and washi tape to decorate a Pringles can.

Owl Family

The lovely Cassy from Clickety Stitches asked me to do a family of owls for her....and after about 20 hours of drawing...we were both happy with the results. Here is how the family developed.

Owl Eyes

I am in the process of doing another owl drawing and this one has 5 owls on it.  After posting work in progress pics on facebook a couple of people asked how I did the eyes on the owls.

I thought rather than trying to explain it, I would show you with pictures - I am a visual person after all!!! 

These are the templates and pens I use.  From memory the orange template came from a scapbooking shop years ago and the clear one came from Officeworks.  It is great for smaller details.

I firstly trace two circles, using the pen, directly onto the paper.

Then the fun part....I add the patterns and details freehand.

I trace another smaller circle inside the first two...

........and again, add the detail.

And so it goes on until the eye is finished.  Then I do the other eye.  Obviously a steady hand, a good eye (excuse the pun), lots of patience, and some practice help. 

Now if you will excuse me, I am off to finish this eye and start on the other one....or mabye I wont turn it into an owl..........oh the possibilities :)  

Daisy Owl

I am participating in a Black & White Auction on facebook in August and I thought an owl would be a good idea.  Below are the step by step images of how Daisy was created.

Daisy was created using black micron pens and acid free mountboard.  She wasn't going to originally have this much detail on her, but she just sort of evolved that way.

I really enjoyed doing the feathers on her wings and all of the details around her eyes.

I worked on her for two weeks on and off, that much detail cant be rushed.

Daisy Owl all finished.  The signed original will be auctioned in August.....details will follow closer to the date, if you are interested in helping to find a home for her :)

Can you dig it!!!

There is not much drawing or colouring going on at Sugarbird tonight.  My fine motor skills are shot and my hands ache, but I have a big hole happening in the back yard to show for it!!!  After 5 years of persuasive conversation (read 'nagging')  I finally convinced hubby that we needed to cut down two rather large trees in our back yard. 

We (I) decided that rather than fork out heaps of money and pay someone else to do the job, that we would take our time and do the job ourselves (especially because we don't have heaps of money) 

And before you ask, yes the clothesline was meant to end up like this (I swear)  It never worked, was under next doors tree and was rusty)

Over the last couple of months, logs have been turned into garden borders, and given to friends as fire wood, leaves and twigs have been mulched.

And now it is time to dig out the stumps and roots. We spend about half an hour digging each afternoon.

 The 10 year old gets out there with her little spade and bucket each day and "does archaeology" 

The 13 year old gets out there, is yet to break a sweat and asks every 5 minutes if it is time to finish.

I get out there and wield the pick and shovel.

It might not look too hard a job, but the stumps are on a slope and the soil isn't soil.....it is clay.

And with all of the rain we have had lately, it is heavy, sticky, hard to dig clay.

But it is rather enjoyable to get outside in the afternoons, with the kids and do something that will be worth it in the end (this is where my raised vegie gardens will eventually be)  Unfortunately I enjoyed it a bit too much today and over did it somewhat.  Therefore the sore hands, back, legs etc.....and no drawing happening tonight.

Crochet hooked

I am still hooked on crocheting at the moment and am really enjoying doing some little projects that only take a couple of hours each.  I had a go at a bigger basket than the last one and I am really happy with it.  Here is how it developed.

 I created the whole basket in single crochet and just went round and round without specific rows.  I used 8ply acrylic wool and a 4mm hook.

 I just kept going around until I was happy with the height

Once I was happy with the height, I crochet a shell border and folded the edge over

Then I started making crochet slippers.  This is the first pair that I did.  Since them I have made another pair for myself, 2 pair for the 10 year old and one pair for the 13 year old.  Hubby (strangely enough) didnt want a pair.  Now I have moved onto creating my own sock pattern :)

Giveway winners.....

A BIG thank you to everyone who entered my latest giveaway and for all of your lovely comments.

The winners are........

Congratulations ladies!!!!

If you could email me at kjt.oneil@bigpond.com or pm me on facebook

with you postal addresses I can get your prizes sent out to you :)

Card Cards

As strange as it sounds, not everyone in my family likes receiving handmade gifts from me for birthdays, Christmas etc......I really can't understand why the men and boys wouldn't be thrilled to get a flower encrusted diary or lovingly made piece of jewellery, but there you go!!' So I usually have to resort to gift vouchers.  That way they can get what they want.  But each year as I write their cards and slip in the afore mentioned vouchers, I can't help but feel something is missing or just slightly lacking.  

So I have decided to make specific gift voucher cards, so they get both a gift that they like and still get something handmade by me - I don't know if this will make them happy - but it will certainly make me more happy in my gift giving :)

This is my simple voucher card.  

 You will need

1 x 12x12 double sided scrapbooking paper

Double sided tape

Paper trimmer or scissors

1. Cut the sheet of paper to 27cm x 21cm and put the off cuts aside for later use.

2. Using the diagram below, measure, score and fold along the three lines, on the right side of the paper.  Cut out the section as in the diagram.

3. Add double sided tape to the two ends of the 5cm fold.

4. Fold the 5cm fold up to create the pocket for the vouchers

5. This is the basic Gift Voucher card

6. I then used the off cuts of the paper to add details to the front of the cards as well as to add messages inside the cards.  The creative possibilities are endless, once you have the basic card :)