Designing Our Own Fabric

Maggs just celebrated her 19th birthday!!!

We always try to get her gifts that are unique and when I saw her drawing of this robot. I knew just what I had to do.

I used SPOONFLOWER to create this fabulous robot fabric designed by Maggie! I altered the colours slightly and made the robots smaller. It was very easy and there are loads of instructions and design suggestions allong the way to help out first timers like me. I ordered two yards of the least expensive fabric because it was our first time and I was chicken, but it's really really terrific! I can't wait until she tells me what she wants to make with it.

I hope it's a peter pan collar blouse!!!!

Drilled Layers Pendant in PolymerCafe Magazine!!!

I'm honored to say I've been published in PolymerCafe Magazine again this month.

It's another spectacular issue!

My project is something that's been jangling around in my brain for years. It's loads of fun and has endless possibilities with colour variants and drill bit shapes and sizes. I've eve played with the pendant shape. 

I also must say I'm a little envious of the studio focus in this issue!

Doodling Some Shirt Designs

I've been planning some sewing projects to boost up my meager wardrobe.

I'm planning to make a few Peter Pan collared blouses. (Why do they call it a Peter Pan collar? I don't think I've ever seen him wearing one....)

I sketched out a simple blouse design with my trusty STAEDTLER marsgraphic jr marker set and scanned it into my computer. I layered the sketch onto some fabric ideas so I could keep track of what I'm thinking about making. 

I love to use this technique for trying out ideas before I actually put the work into making the piece. It gives me a feel for how things will look before I go ahead and commit to a design.

I love my markers!

They are so helpful!

Do you have tricks to help you make decisions before you sew?

I'd love to hear your ideas.

Some Things.

We've suddenly been swamped with spring time home repairs and spruce ups. Improvements are coming along pretty well now. Hope to have things squared away by summer so we can enjoy doing nothing for a bit.

We have had a yard full of these guys. They seem very angry about the snow this weekend. They keep looking in the windows and screaming at us. I'm a little bit worried....

Made some more of our Quinoa salad for energy. Love this stuff. Never get tired of it.

I made this batch with just quinoa, I didn't add any couscous or other grains. I did add some broad beans and basil to the mix.

Hope you're having a great spring weekend too!

Cabbage Rose Nail Art

Spring is finally here!!!

Decided to celebrate with some happy nail art.

I used all Joe Fresh colours to make this design but any medium grey base will do.

I made white blotches and while it was still wet I swirled a peachy pink into it with my stylus tool and voila.... I had roses. I added some two toned green/turquoise leaves and a couple layers of clear coat and I was done. I'm diggin' the peachy pink lately....

Pretty girly of me huh?

New Fimo Jewelry and Filters

 I've been working on some new pieces and playing with some of the filters available on PicMonkey.

 

I made these beads with STAEDTLER fimo and I used beads from Five Sisters Beads on ETSY to glam them up a bit.

I'm trying to decide if I like using the filters or not. I think they might take away from the look of the pieces. I think a plain old clean up edit and crop would do the photos more justice.

What do you folks think?

Do you like jazzed up pictures of projects, or just clear plain old photos?

I think I change my mind on the subject every day.

Lately....

What we've been up to.

Maggs had a school project to make a world wonder model. She chose Stonehenge.

The teacher mentioned it would be awesome if they could eat the projects.

Maggs did this.........

And just for a bit of added drama, she threw in a Dr.

It's not the right Dr.....

But he could have gone there too. 

Right?

Mini Cup Flower Retro Jewelry sets

 Thought I'd share the instructions for these retro style mini cup flower jewelry sets.

I made them with the same technique I used to make the grape hyacinth brooch.

Materials needed to complete this project:

STAEDTLER fimo effect clay in a variety of yellows, white, and oranges.

I mixed the colours you see here from left over clay from other projects.

Jewelry adhesive or super glue

Brooch back that matches the length of your finished flower cluster and earring posts.

Cornstarch or baby powder to act as a release agent

Tools needed to complete this project:

Round toothpick

shish kebab skewer

Medium grit nail file

Paint brush with a round smooth handle end about 1/4 cm thick

I made different gradients of yellow/white and orange/white STAEDTLER fimo clay mixes.

I had four different shades of the colours I chose to make a flower cluster.

I made two,1 cm wide flat bases of the darkest clay mix. I dipped the handle end of my paintbrush in some cornstarch and then pushed a 1/2 cm ball of the lightest colour clay onto the paintbrush handle. I made a teeny little cup and pushed it onto the center of my base and removed the brush handle. If the handle doesn't come out easily, just add more cornstarch next try.

I kept adding these teeny cups of the lightest colour until each base had four cups.

Then I moved to the next darker colour and changed to a rounded off skewer. I rounded the end of a kitchen skewer with a medium grit nail file and dipped it in the cornstarch before pushing an even smaller ball of clay onto the end. I filled in the spaces between the really light cups with these new smaller darker cups.

Next I moved to a toothpick and an even darker colour. I filled in spaces between cups and even added cups inside of some of the paint brush handle cups.

I think they look a bit like the plastic flowers from the forties and fifties.

I added earring posts to the smaller flowers and made a larger flower the same way and added a brooch pin to the back.

Here's a set done in orange.

They feel like spring to me.

I'll have to make some peter pan collar blouses to wear them on.

Grape Hyacinth Tutorial

Here's a fast spring time tutorial.

It's the grape hyacinth pin.

So simple, but really pretty on a spring cardigan.

Hope you're getting some sunny warm spring where you are.

Materials needed to complete this project:

STAEDTLER fimo effect clay in a variety of purples, white, and a spring time green.

I mixed the colours you see here from left over clay from other projects.

white acrylic craft paint.

Jewelry adhesive or super glue

Brooch back that matches the length of your finished hyacinth.

Cornstarch or baby powder to act as a release agent

Tools used to make this design:

Round toothpick

shish kebab skewer

Medium grit nail file

Here are the clay colours I used to make my hyacinth. I mixed a variety of purple shades gradient from white to medium purple. I also mixed some glitter green with white to make a spring time green.

Use the nail file to sand the ends of the toothpick and skewer round.

Make a tapered worm of the green clay as long as you'd like your brooch to be. Mine was about 4 cm long.

Dip the rounded end of your toothpick into the cornstarch so the clay won't stick to it. Make teeny balls of the lightest purple clay you've mixed and push them onto the rounded end of your toothpick. It will make a little cup shape. Use the toothpick to push the little cups onto the stem starting with the tip of the stem.

When you get eight or nine of the lightest cups onto the tip of the stem you can move on to the next darkest purple shade. Keep building the flower and darken the clay ever five or six cups.

Change to using the skewer because it's larger when you get to the middle of the flower. The larger flower cups will be at the bottom of the flower. They will also be a darker purple.

Bake the flower on a parchment paper lined baking sheet in a preheated 230 degree oven for 20 minutes.

I used my finger tips to rub some white acrylic paint onto the tips of each flower cup. You could use a cotton swab if you'd like. Use the super glue to glue your pin back on to the back of the flower and you've got a pretty little spring time sprig to wear on your lapel.

Playing With New Ideas

Spring is a funny season for designers who publish in magazines.

I've been working on Halloween projects for publication in October this weekend. I've also had my hand in some springtime ideas.

I decided I really liked the look of dots and decided to spend a few hours elaborating on the idea with some STAEDTLER fimo effect clay.

I think my favorite plan is the grape hyacinth....

Let me know what one strikes your fancy.