Handmade Christmas Wreath

Jolene and I spent a couple of hours last night collaborating on this Christmas Wreath for the front door last night, we’re fairly pleased with the end result even if I did get pricked so many times by the pine needles that my hands broke out in a mild allergic reaction that made it look like had small pox or some such … oh, what fun!

We actually collected the pine cones for these a couple of months ago and they have been sat in a bag waiting for us to do something with them since then, they were actually intended for the local playgroup but there were far too many and so we resolved to use them ourselves.

The cones themselves were initially sprayed silver, before a quick dash with the gold spray.  The berries are beads cut from a beaded Christmas tree decoration and the pine branches and Sitka Spruce from the garden (I was out cutting these in sub-zero temps last night.

We mounted the whole lot on willow branch (also from the garden) that we bent into a circle and twisted around itself, we used wire to secure the first layer of pine branches before using thread to secure the last couple of layers.  The pine cones were then threaded on, as were the ‘berries’.

I think if we do this again I’m going to find myself a pair of light gardening gloves!

handmade felt christmas tree decorations

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later … that’s right the spirit of Christmas has finally caught up with me, almost.  Anyway, in preparation for it’s imminent arrival I felt compelled to make some decorations, contrary to my usual ‘bah humbug!’ approach to Christmas!!

Actually, it wasn’t just me, Jolene started it with these rather pretty little crocheted stars …

… it’s while she was making these that she tossed a bag of felt offcuts in my general direction and told me to stop being ‘lazy’ and to ‘get on with something’ …

… I was …

… I was drinking tea …

… it’s important!

I spent a few minutes rummaging, looking at the various shapes available, before coming across some bendy triangles.  It wasn’t a huge leap to come up with the trees above.

I’m hoping to get some pine cones done up in time for Christmas, maybe as a table decoration or maybe as a few more hangers for the tree, whatever I do I’ll be sure to share them here.

Individually carved plant pokes

I’ve finally completed a new set of plant pot ornaments (plant pokes), extending the range to include a smaller variety of ‘wood sprites’ measuring between 3″ – 4″ tall as well as the usual range measuring between 6″ – 8″ in height.

These particular plant pokes have been carved in either silver fir or elm (the majority being the fir), before being treated with oil to preserve them against decay in moist plant pots and finally having their uppers finished in a tough varnish.

As ever every piece is an individual with it’s own character, everyone has their favourites and every sprite will shortly be looking for a new home. These sprites have been specifically created for a forthcoming event, details of which will be given nearer the time, although if you’re particularly keen to re-home one of the wee souls drop me an e-mail using the contact details on the contact page.

The items in the uppermost image are priced at £6.50 / each, whilst their larger counterpartsin the lower image are £8.50 (incl. postage and packing).

Work in progress:

- paper pulp sculpted head (fund-raising project)
- paper pottery bowls
- paper pulp sculpture

Pocket Pillows ~ Something Soft to Hug

These embroidered pillows are made of very soft cotton, backed with offcuts of upholstery fabric of unknown type.  They are perfect for little hands to clutch for comfort.  They could also be ornaments, displayed in a bowl or basket, or used as pin cushions.

Available in the shop

Abstract tree and flower scene ~ acrylic painting

I’m not sure why, but painting seems to be something I come back to time and again.  I’ve noted previously that it can be a relaxing process and despite the obvious realisation that I’ll never create a masterpiece (it’s so passe anyway?!) I still enjoy that process.  Even when my vision comes up against that brick wall that is my talentless daubing of paint on canvas!

If nothing else it does provide me with an opportunity to practice simple decorative designs that I may begin to use as a theme on my sculptures, the flowers for example have featured previously on my Spring Time Bowl and the floral dancer and I have a feeling they will be incorporated into future pieces in the future.

Currently I have a few papier mache sculptures underway, each a demon or figurative sculpture and each temporarily on hold while I work on a couple of wood carvings, one in Elm which is nearing completion and which has already taken up over 10 hours of my time and another in Cherry which I’ve yet to start, they will however be coming soon.

some unrelated updates

Firstly, there are now felt brooches in the shop.  Each one of these is entirely handsewn by me and available for a bargain price.

I made my first Inchies this week too and am excited by the results.  The first set is for the A, B, C, D, E, F Inchie swap on ATCsforall and the second set is for the Beginners Inchie Swap on SwapBot.

Both are painted with black acrylic paint before being embellished.  The first set used dictionary pages handcut into letters that were then coloured with crayons and outlined with gold pen.  The second set used the packing tape transfer method again with various backgrounds (vintage book page, painted baby wipe, painting with kids poster paints, newspaper).

Tree Pincushion with Embroidery and Button Detail

This piece started life as a needlecase and ended up as a pincusion…the truth of the matter is that I forgot to include a seam allowance and it was then far too small to suit what I had in mind, although I’d like to have you believe the change of use was deliberate.  This is only one of many times I’ve messed up when sewing, this time it’s worked out for the best though.  Most of these mistakes end up on the fire and do a very good job of keeping us warm for microseconds.

The pincushion is in the shop now for the bargain price of $7.50, which is about £5.00 at this time.  If you don’t sew you could also use it as a shelf adornment or maybe a cushion for a very small sofa.

handmade embroidered mushroom needlecase

This handmade needle-case is for the ‘Handmade Needlecase’ swap on Swap-bot.

I have been doing quite a bit of swapping at this website to try out new ideas and try to hone my needlework skills.  I’ve found it lends a purpose to my crafting rather than simply making something for the sake of it,. which normally leads to a huge pile of WIPs for me.

some close ups

front

inside front cover and first page

inside back cover and last page

back

front and back

When I started making this I wasn’t at all sure what the design would be.  I had an idea that I wanted to continue with my tree and mushroom obsession but hadn’t got much further than that thought.  I really enjoyed making this up as I went along and will probably make more of these in the future, each one a little or a lot different than the last.  I’d like to see how the idea evolves.