‘Lino’ Print Owls

I’ve been wanting to try lino printing for quite some time now but I don’t have the correct tools or the inclination to buy the tools.  I do however, have a pack of vinyl floor tiles and a series of gouges that Alasdair uses for his carvings.

Ever the type to make do with what I have, I decided to see if the vinyl tiles could do as good a job as lino.  I think the outcome is passable although nowhere near as clear as those I’ve seen from lino…this could also be to do with my lack of ink and brayer and my improvisation of kids paint and a spongy paint roller (also designed for kids).

Not at all bad though.  I printed the outline shape and then cut the same piece of vinyl further to create lines, which I then painted black.  I love all the extra bits that are created from the carving.  Many would remove these ridges but I think they add something of a handmade quality.

I’m thinking of combining this technique with some of my handmade paper and a more elaborate picture for some more luxurious prints.

Blue Suede Birds

Over the weekend I was fortunate enough to come across a lengthy piece of blue (what we think is fake) suede in the fabric shop.  It was screaming out to me to make some birds…so I did.

It was kind of difficult to sew with.  I kept feeling as though the needle hole would tear, but when I came to stuff it turns out that fabric is really hard wearing and the resulting bird has a really nice soft appearance and feel.

I also tried something different with the legs and they have held in position really well, while being a lot easier to get in place.  The eye is sewn on this one rather than being a bead…just because I couldn’t be bothered to find my pot of seed beads!

The stitching on these is with darning wool rather than embroidery floss.

And, the underside is the opposite side of the blue suede effect.  Still lovely and soft though.

Available in the shop

too soon for Christmas decorations?

We’ve been renovating our house since moving in almost four years ago.  Progress is slow but steady and lately we’ve (read Alasdair) been ripping out the old electrics in one room that will eventually be our living room.  The old wire is a lovely thick copper wire that we just couldn’t throw away.  So, I made some Christmas hanging decorations, while Alasdair replastered the walls!

Simple one first…the star.  Made from heavy grade copper wire that has been lightly sanded and bent to shape.

So pleased was I with the star, that I decided to branch out and try an angel.  I must admit to having to raid some colouring books for the basic outline!

Pretty good, eh?  The star and angel set will be available from our stall at the fairs we’re attending this winter.  Who knows, they might be joined by a gingerbread man or two.

Just in case all that Christmas decor is making you feel a little out of season, I also made this rather fetching copper and vintage button bangle.  I am particularly proud of this, my first attempt at real jewellery from scratch.

With copper in such short supply, it makes me feel I’m doing my bit for the planet by recycling the wire rather than throwing it out.

Now, back to the renovating I think.  Today the central heating is having a good old clean out.

Glasgow West End Craft Fair – Saturday 10th July 2010

Preparations are well under way for our first craft fair of 2010, which will take place in Hillhead Library in Glasgow’s West End this coming Saturday.

In the true spirit of leaving everything until the last minute, we have a list as long as both our arms of work to complete before Saturday morning and, in the true spirit of procrastination (something that we are very good at) Alasdair is currently rewiring the house and replacing the plasterboard, while I am busy redesigning and packaging my button pendants.

Going off on a tangent for a moment, these boards to hold my necklaces were made partially from the paper I made a couple of weeks ago.  I mounted the paper onto mount board and stamped ‘madestuff’ along the bottom, cut a couple of notches in the top to hold the cord and (in a later version) threaded a piece of wire through to hold the cord in place.  I’m so pleased with the way they worked out.

So, the list of things to do is still as long as our arms; however it’ll be alright on the day and if you would like to come along and meet us in person, and see some of the many other wonderful crafts on sale from numerous other makers, we’d love to see you there.

The details are on our events page.

making paper while the sun shines

Back in April I entered a competition on the Craft Scotland website to win a copy of Papermaking and Bookbinding: Coastal Inspirations by Joanne B Kaar and was delighted to learn a few weeks ago that I was one of the lucky winners.  I was even more delighted when I received my book last week to find that making paper isn’t the painful experience I remember it to be from my childhood attempts, where the paper ends up all pulpy and useless.  The book also contains all sorts of suggestions for jazzing up your handmade papers and what to do with all that paper you’ve made.  I particularly like the embossing from driftwood idea.

This Instructable describes the very method I used.

On a complete whim today (so wholly unprepared with any sort of shop bought materials) I made my first batch of paper, which is now handing merrily in the bathroom drying slowly – as directed in the book.

Tomorrow I get the iron out to flatten them out and decide what their fate might be.  I can’t decide between labels for my handmade photo notebooks or whether I should print onto them and frame them as works of art.  I kind of like that idea though…such ugly, unnecessary junk turned into art.

Just in case you think we’re really clatty, that grout is in fact pink and not dirty!  We inherited a baby blue and pink bathroom (complete with pink grout and, for some very odd reason, an orange shower tray) when we bought our current house and it’s not up there on the list of priorities to change, in spite of it’s very scary appearance.

Carbon Neutral Blogging

We always try to be very nice to the environment.  We use mostly natural or recycled materials for our craft and reuse packaging when mailing, we drive a very efficient car and constantly lecture the kids to switch the lights off, but never turned a thought to how damaging to the environment blogging might be.

It’s not blogging per se, but the use of servers, routers, switches, computers and all that other technology, that enables us to blog and readers to view our blog, that makes for co2 omissions of around 8lbs a year for the average blog with 15,000 visits per month.  Luckily the average tree absorbs around 11lbs of co2 per year.  And even more lucky are we to find this programme that promises for every domain to sign up, they will plant a tree to offset the carbon output of your blog.  Now, we have planted a heck of a lot of trees and bushes in our garden in the past year and have plans for many more but these people plant them specifically to offset your blogging and we have many more activities we need to offset with our own trees and bushes…travel, electricity, heat, general consumption…

So, from this day forward, our blog will be carbon neutral as demonstrated by this rather splendid graphic…yippee!

If you have a blog, please join this programme.  It’s free and very easy to join and there really can never be too many trees.

Sewing with Kids: Dog

Not to be outdone by his sister, the lad (aged nearly 7) decided to have a go at making his own soft toy.  He designed and sewed this chap (almost) all by himself.  I’m very proud of his ability to take his idea and turn it into something tangible.  We worked together on turning his picture into a pattern, I showed him how to sew it up and off he went.

A couple of hours later, it was all finished.  I think it looks a bit like something from ‘Charlie and Lola’.  Not surprisingly, the most enjoyable part for both the kids seemed to be stuffing their creations.  I love that they could see their ideas coming to life with the aid of some polyfibre stuffing and both are delighted with their creations.

Course, when you’ve been sewing for two hours solid, you need a rest.

There are so many kits with those nasty plastic blunt needles that are really good for nothing and must frustrate rather than entertain, it’s no wonder sewing is a dying craft.  I really can’t see the problem with giving proper needles, and for that matter proper scissors, so long as there is proper supervision and I would encourage all parents to allow their kids the freedom to create in this manner…it’s very rewarding for both parent and child.

Sewing with Kids: Soft Snowman

In spite of the fact that it should be summer and we are being teased with rays of sunshine trying to break the clouds, the small furry one decided to make a snowman today.  OK, so it’s a red snowman and it doesn’t actually resemble a snowman but she says it is a snowman so a snowman it will be…in the middle of summer!

This was really easy and quite enjoyable once I got around my anally retentive everything must be perfect way of thinking.

First we drew our shape on a piece of paper and cut it out.  Then we pinned the paper pattern to an old felted jumper and cut round it, leaving a seam allowance.  We then chose buttons and sewed them on…that took forever; if you have kids you’ll be aware of the thrills of the button jars and just how long they can occupy them for.  I held it and showed the small furry one where to put the needle, which was fortunately a blunt tapestry needle.  Of course I had to finish sewing it up when she got bored.  She stuffed it all by herself though before I sewed up his bottom.

I think this is a huge achievement for someone who only just turned 4 last week.  He’s sturdy and she is over the moon with him.  He’s been exploring caves already today and I think, by the sound of it, he’s about to learn how to draw!

BTW…she’s known affectionately as ‘The Small Furry One’ because she is indeed small and has a very hairy back!  And, I’m sure she’d hate me forever if she was old enough to know I’d told the world that.

Dahlia Brooch

A few weeks ago I came across this tutorial on Holidash but it uses glue and I’m really not a glue person.  Nonetheless, I saved it in my favourites and last week I finally decided to have a go, using stitches in place of the glue.

I won’t pretend it wasn’t fiddly but I’m guessing it’s fiddly with glue aswell.

For some reason my petals ended up encroaching on the area where the centre of the flower should be so I sewed some seed beads in there instead to cover up my joins.

This tutorial was created by Megan of Not Martha and she has provided some further guidance on her blog.

bonnie birds – taking lessons from the master

Alasdair has been guiding me through the process of making one of his Bonnie Birds…it’s not a process I will be repeating in the near future!

First you have to make the armature, which is quick and easy enough.  Then comes the mache, which refuses to stick to the armature.  Alasdair’s most helpful advice was to keep squeezing it together until it looked body like…yeah, ok…the more I squeezed, the more determined the stuff was to stick to me and not the armature!  Then, and I am not the most patient of people, you have to wait overnight for the body to dry…

…next night you can make the tail in the same way…mache stuck everywhere but where it was supposed to be, and once again we had to leave them overnight to dry.  The next night was a repeat performance for the head…I nearly threw it on the fire that night!  My beak was huge, then too thin, then it all fell off…argh!

Alasdair assured me that it would all be ok in the end and to just try and get a sort of shape that sort of resembled a bird.  I trust him, because he’s my husband, so I persevered, tried my best and created something resembling a bird.

This is Alasdair’s bird after sanding.  Mine was too ugly to contemplate at this stage.

The next stage was to sand it all down…I needed to wait for the weekend for this…I won’t bore you with the whys and wherefores.  Alasdair insists that sanding is key and other than advising me ‘not to be shy about it’ his other top tip was to mind my fingers!?  That exercise went a whole lot better than I imagined it would and I ended up with the shape you see in the finished article.  Alasdair was right…all of the mistakes I made earlier were wiped out at this point.

The final stage of painting and varnishing were nerve-racking for me.  I’d spent all week making this bird and was about to ruin it all with one wrong brushstroke.  Fortunately the Bonnie Bird is a forgiving creature and I was able to rescue it from an overzealous paint job by imagining target practice where the wings should be.

This is me fixing the bits that I missed the first time I varnished it…oops!

As I said, it took me two weeks to make mine from start to finish…Alasdair made five in that same time.  See them all in the background laughing at my bird’s short legs and lumpy backside…still I think it’s pretty good for a first (and only) attempt.