- Posts tagged crafts
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The Cinderella Outfit Challenge: Grand Prize Winner
via coc.ca
The Canadian Opera Company sponsored this contest and they had 60 entries with thousands of votes. Go to the link to see the other four finalists and read the judges comments. Simply gorgeous! So glad to see the interest in Barbie couture.
Gorgeous Easter Egg Craft: Silk Tie Dyed Eggs
via skiptomylou.org
Got some old silk ties you're willing to part with? This is a lovely craft. Tutorial is at the link.
Incredible space images...in fabric!
via mrxstitch.com
Gorgeous quilting work from Brooklyn artist Jimmy McBride. He creates images inspired by images from the Hubble telescope. I've linked Mr. X Stitch's site above as McBride's is more difficult to navigate. It you have any interest in needle arts OR space imagery, check these out!
ikea hacker: The cherry blossom lantern
Gorgeous! Take one Regolit lampshade, paint on the branches with watercolours or black ink, and (hot?) glue some faux cherry blossoms....what a lovely result.
Inkbloom - cool from your printer!
Just discovered inkbloom (via Skip to my Lou). It's a system that provides a way to print on fabric and vinyl with your inkjet printer. They sell LoomTack, the base that adheres to the back of your fabric, and you can also purchase downloadable designs (inkbits and inkblocks) from them.
There's a nifty demo video on their site, and if you join their mailing list, they'll send you some free downloadable designs with a "love" theme!The products to the left were all covered in custom printed fabric. The inkblocks automatically repeat so you can create any size image (up to the limits of your printer). Very interesting product with lots of potential for crafters, scrapbookers, and quilters.[Edited to add: At this time, inkbloom only sells within the US. Apologies to my Canadian readers (although you can get on their mailing list and they may start selling internationally in the future.]
Quick and easy wreath
This is so cute. I'm thinking of doing one in Advent colours.
All you need is a wire coat hanger, some ornaments (think: dollar store) and some hot glue.Check out Just a Girl for full instructions!
Nifty way to use up plastic bags.
Reading: Just finished Blackouts
by Craig Boyko and The School Of Essential Ingredients
by Erica Bauermeister. The first is terrific collection of short-stories, very astute, some rather dark. The second was a light set of interrelated stories, or maybe a novel, set around a cooking school. Each chapter gives the back story for one of the students (or couples). It was moderately moving at times, but not hugely engaging. Am now reading Country Girls Trilogy
by Edna O'Brien. I picked this up after listening to an interview with O'Brien on the BBC World Book Club podcast. 
Listening: I've been catching up on a few Vinyl Cafe podcasts, the Two Edge Talk series on education, BBC Thinking Allowed, and the last few episodes of King Leary on CBC's Between the Covers.
Watching: The two hour episode of Brothers and Sisters last night. Sheesh! What a roller coaster. Wild Roses is also moving along. Saw the season finale of (spoiler link) Top Chef and, well, felt so sad for the person who was essentially out before the food was even plated.
Cooking: Nothing much new in the kitchen these days. Tried this Southwestern Flank Steak in the crock pot to raves. Very piquante, and great leftovers.
Knitting: I needed to darn a navy wool sweater belonging to Z...it had a hole right on the chest so I needed a good colour match. I ended up buying a ball of sock yarn, so once I used the 10" of wool required to darn the hole, I decided to start a pair of matching socks using this pattern. Unfortunately, it's using more wool than I thought, so I will need to buy another ball, which will require a drive all the way out to Michael's in Mississauga (if I want to try to get the same dye lot on this inexpensive brand of wool.)
Vacation continues...
The boys were invited for a day of snowboarding with some extended family, so they headed off to Horseshoe Resort at 7:30 yesterday morning. Z and I did some work around the house, a little shopping, and then I folded laundry while we watched Mr Smith Goes to Washington that had been picked up by Tivo.The boys were delayed returning because one of their cousins twisted her knee quite badly and they all headed to the hospital closest to the resort and spent a couple of hours there waiting for tests to be completed. They were exhausted when they finally got home, and crashed pretty much immediately.I've started on a new knitting project, an Irish Hiking Hat. It will use up a leftover ball of Rowan Plaid yarn and is my first foray into cabling. It's lined with fleece which will mitigate the scratchiness of the yarn. I need to pick up some circular needles today to finish it off, and then I'd like to start a pair of socks.
Knitted gifts
Now that gifts have all been opened, I can post pictures of the scarves that I worked away on in secret through the month of December.
This was the one I did for Z. It's in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, a lovely soft wool/cashmere blend. He had requested a yellow scarf and I am really happy about how this turned out. I used a reversible rib, which is essentially K3-P1 repeated endlessly but staggered on either side.The second scarf was for Alex. Same pattern, but using Rowan Plaid, a discontinued chunky wool. It's a little rough on the skin which is unfortunate for a scarf, but I'll try washing it gently to see if it softens up.
