Gift box

I've saved the box that my Galaxy S3 came in, thinking I'd make it into a nice looking gift box. The lid slides on in such a satisfying way and the inside is clean and elegant. The outside had a logo and some stickers that I painted over with white gesso, knowing that the sticky-back canvas I would cover it with is slightly transparent. Some careful cutting and folding gave me reasonably clean edges, but I chose to line the edge of both base and lid with some thin lace trimming anyway, and two extra strips down the center line for detail. A layered flower is the only other decoration. I filled it with some treats for a friend, as a house warming gift.
-

TARDIS phone cozy

My phone already had one cozy, but I couldn't resist making this one too... The design is subtle, but if you know your Doctor Who you might recognize it as the TARDIS!
There are lots of TARDIS cozies out there, but I wanted one that was more elegant, more stylish, and in a thinner yarn, and so decided to make up my own. Those who don’t watch Doctor Who (what?!?) will see this as abstract decoration, but I know better. ;)
-

I found the bead in my stash and it's a perfect analogue to the TARDIS lamp! It’s attached to the back so it won’t scratch the screen - a loop on the front side closes the cozy and brings the bead forward.
-

The seed stitch mimics the door panels and there is a slight hint of window frames and the famous sign in one panel. The effect is subtle, and that's what I wanted. Details on the construction can be found at my Ravelry project page as usual.

DIY distressed photo canvas

Aaaaaw... Now look at that cutie!! :) She's my niece, 7 months old in that picture. What a smile. :)
There's a ton of detailed tutorials out there on how to do this, check this one out for example. I'm not going to bore you by repeating it - but since there are so many variations, here's a super quick recap of the choices I made: After tweaking the picture to my liking (and mirroring it!) I printed it on a laser printer on ordinary printer paper. I used a thin layer of Golden Gel Medium (Soft Gel, semi-gloss finish) to attach the picture and three more coats after removal of the paper pulp, for a good seal. Then used the same medium to fasten the lace, which wraps over the canvas edge. The string was the final touch - it's something K's mom does when she makes her own art, so this canvas should fit in nicely in their home.

The transfer of the photo was nearly perfect! In fact, far too perfect for the look I was trying to achieve. So I scrubbed really hard along the edges of the photo, even scratching it with my nails, to give it a more distressed look. I also sanded down my signature (bottom left corner) a bit.



When I chose the lace it was late at night, and the sunlight the next morning sent me into a bit of a panick. The lace was crisp white and the canvas is off-white - a difference that was invisible in lamp light, but incredibly ugly in sunlight. What to do, what to do... DistressInk to the rescue! I carefully inked the lace and sides of the canvas and the problem was solved. In fact, I probably should have inked it even if the lace matched the canvas. The darkened edge (which is surprisingly difficult to see in these photos) created that depth and definition that pulled everything together, and it echoes the brown string. All in all, this was an easy project that looks awesome. :)

Soap on a rope

Soap on a rope - soap and bath sponge all in one! It's really a kid's craft... Isn't it? Well, that's never scared me off before. :P And to complete my childlike crafting experience, I gave them to my dad. Congrats dad, I bet you're proud of your little girl now. ;) They were just a little joke really, a gag gift that went with the bath robe he wanted for christmas.
-

These are really old-fashioned, stone hard bars of soap. I tied some string around each to make a handle of sorts. Then the whole thing was covered in three thin layers of wool roving in alternating directions, and then wet-felted in my sink. It was a bit harder than anticipated to attatch the yellow wool to the green, but it stuck pretty well in the end. I'm sure there are plenty of tips from people who have done this a few times - a Google search for "soap on a rope tutorial" should probably give you loads of good links. I just winged it, as I sometimes usually do...

A prettier whiteboard

Did you know that any glass frame can be made into a whiteboard? As soon as I realised that I knew I needed one for my hallway. I usually keep a quote or word of wisdom on it, as well as jotting down things I need to remember before walking out the door in the morning. Remember to bring that card you made last night, for example. The post-it note reminder I've stuck to the door handle wasn't quite as elegant as this - and this thing isn't likely to fall off and hide under the shoe rack and cause me to forget that card anyway.

-

I suppose it would look even nicer if this was a lovely frame, but I wanted to make it using only materials I had on hand, so the clip frame will have to do for now. It has two layers of scrapbooking paper inside. The larger one is fairly light in colour, so my writing will show up easily. The brown and pink colours match well to other stuff in my hallway, but it's very easy to change them if I want to. Just take the frame apart and add other papers!

-

Made a mistake? Wipe it out! A paper towel works well if you don't want black finger tips. I've got a make-up sponge near this frame and that's also practical.

(By the way, I found the quote on Pinterest. Of course.)

Happy National Day!

Happy (Norwegian) National Day!

-

I'm off to watch the parades, proudly wearing my tsumami kanzashi brooch.

For all my fellow weegies it's probably a little late to start to make one for today,

but I'm sure some of my other readers have enough time to make one

for their own National Days? :)

DIY knife display

My dad has a few nice knives, some of them inherited and really old, and he would like to put them on display somehow. The idea of using an old pair of denim trousers and a belt was something he had come across somewhere, so I have noone to credit, unfortunately. He trusted me to find a way to execute this idea and I must admit I struggled with it for a long time... But one day I remembered a deep-edged canvas I bought on sale a long time ago (with something completely different in mind) and in three days the whole thing came together in a flash. And it was a big hit!
-

I ripped out the seams holding the belt straps and relocated them close to the back on each side and one in the center for added stability. I looks more like actual denim trousers with that one belt strap in the front too. The single knife doing the modeling here is actually one I've made myself. It's not the most amazing piece of craftmanship, but considering that I was only twelve when I made it, it's not bad at all! In fact, I really love it - and it's not a part of his gift, no way. :)
-

The denim fabric is stretched over the canvas and nailed to the wood frame. The corners were tricky, as there is a little bit of stretch in these trousers and they stretch more one way than the other... As a result, they are slightly bulky, but because of the thick belt there was little point in getting them completely flat anyway. I settled for the best I could do.
-

Here's a side view showing how the belt is buckled behind the frame. I stitched a piece of trouser leg fabric to the top of the trousers so I had something to cover the top edge of the canvas with - that allowed the waist line to line up with the top of the canvas front. As an unexpected bonus, it made finishing the top corners really neat and easy.
-

This piece of jewlery wire passes through the belt buckle and is attatched to the inside of the wood frame at the top and bottom. This pulls the buckle forward, "into" the frame, thereby preventing it from pushing the canvas away from the wall.

-

I'm linking up to the Strut Your Stuff link party over at Somewhat Simple! (Button in side bar.)

Knitter's gift tags/washing labels

Every knitted gift I gave this christmas had one of these gift tags enclosed. I wrote washing instructions on the back as well as a little info on the yarn or anything else that could be useful to know. It also serves as a way of bringing in my personal stamp, that's always fun. But most importantly, they are the excuse I needed to make some of these awesome tiny yarn ball embellishments! You could even look at this as an elegant way of including extra yarn for emergency repairs.

-

I've done one of these before, ages ago, on a birthday card for avid knitter Olaug. And ever since, I've been looking for an occation to do it again! The idea and tutorial comes from the Craft blog. I did one for each gift, using the corresponding yarn or yarns. As an added bonus, you can even look at this as an elegant way of including extra yarn for emergency repairs! The yarn is wound around a piece of cardboard that's glued to the tag, and the knitting needles are cocktail sticks with beads glued on. The DP is a thick double-sided one from Panduro (from the same stack as my gift tags). I gave the edges a little colour using shimmering chalk in matching colours.

-

As you might see from the colours here, there are still a few of these gifts that haven't been posted yet... Just thought I'd show you something other than felted slippers today. ;)

-

-

-

Ice decorations

I've actually posted these once before, but thought they deserved a new look. We've had stable, low temperatures for a quite a while now and they have decorated my veranda for a couple of weeks already. They have become something of a winter tradition of mine. I used to be able to make snow lanterns, but that's a bit tricky when all I have is a veranda... These are a brilliant replacement tradition!
-

The original idea came from Margie at Resurrection Fern, who used lace doilies for her decorations. I had some crochet snowflakes lying in a drawer and used those.

-

Once you've got your crochet snowflakes or doilies, soak them through with water and place in a round container with a flat bottom. Leave a string outside the container so you have something to hang them from. Place containers outside and fill with enough water to cover the snowflakes, about a cm or two should do it. Remember that water expands when freezing, so make sure that your containers kan take the strain. Most plastics or metals should work - just make sure to avoid the fine china. ;)

-

Let the container sit outside overnight and display your new ornaments! If they melt you can just refreeze them as soon as the temperatures drop.

-I'm taking a blogging break for the holidays, but don't worry! As I'm writing this I've already got 14 posts pre-scheduled, so there should be enough happening here anyway. ;) All those christmas gifts can finally be revealed... Merry christmas to you all!

More gift tags

Since my mother ended up with all the gift tags I made last weekend, I've made another batch for myself in a similar style. These will do for a while, and I'll just whip up more as I need them. They are so quick and easy to make! My mother's button box had a few treasures, but most of these buttons come from my own, rather boring, collection.

-

I couldn't resist giving these a spray of Glimmermist Old Lace for some shine. The edges are inked with DistressInk Vintage Photo.
-

Christmas gift tags

Who hasn't enjoyed a deep dive into grandma's or mama's button box? ;) I got a chance to do just that this weekend, and made these easy gift tags with the treasures I found. The DP is thick, double-sided cardstock from Panduro. I cut them into tags with my Cuttlebug and tied the buttons to it using red baker's twine. The most time-consuming part was to get my oversized baker's twine through the tiny button holes!
-

Kitchy and cool, just look at that clear button... ;)
-

Some more earthy, traditional buttons give the tag a completely different look.
-

They make a nice little set! My mother scooped these up right away, so I think there will be more button treasure hunts in my near future... :P

Christmas traditions: advent calendar

Not much activity here on this little blog lately... I'm making christmas gift by the dozen - and, for understandable reasons, I want to keep them secret for now. Expect lots and lots of posts after christmas! ;) Thank you all for visiting, even if I don't have much new to show you yet!
-
But I'd like to give you something to look at while you wait. Those of you who have been here for a year or more have seen this before, but a little rerun isn't all that bad, is it? ;) Last year I made an advent calendar and shared the pages throughout December, and I've really been looking forward to bringing the calendar out on display this year too. I scrapped one 12"x12" page for each day - and I'd like to show you some of my favourites. If you like what you see, here's the link to the whole set of posts, where there are detail photos, material lists and more general info on each page.
-

December 4th, one of the few pages with flowers. I could go on and on about that DP, it's so gorgeous...

-

A simpler, two-tone layout, with a poem that starts out so pretty and cute, and ends in a naughty surprise. ;)

-

After a little digging in my parent's albums I found this photo of myself as St.a Lucia at six years of age. I cleaned it up and made this layout about bringing light into the darkness.

-

Ok, so there wasn't that much snow, it was just absolutely everywhere... My poor car was just spraypainted with the stuff. Sometimes you should just stay inside.

-

A clean, simple layout with one lovely picture. I need a change from the embellishment overload sometimes, and this one does the trick.

-Ahem... Did I say embellishment overload?? ;) Well, sometimes more is more. I also like this one for its quote about the "little spark of madness".
-

Nearly christmas! This layout is among the last, and echoes the first page and its focus on time.
-
So if you'd like to see more, feel free to have a look at the whole set.

Felted robins tutorial

Tweet tweet! I'm not tweeting electronically just yet, but here are some of the felted variety. Robins are gorgeous birds! Their round red bellies are so easily recognisable and a lovely touch of colour during the relatively monochromatic winter months.
-

These felted robins have become something of a winter tradition of mine. I love them! Since they feel more like a winter decoration than a christmas themed one, I bring them out of hiding some time in October/November, and keep them up until all the snow has come and gone, long into the new year.

-

Several robins have flown away to my family members as little gifts the last two years. Even my brother spontaneously declared that he loved them and would like a little flock of robins for his appartment. Well, I couldn't deny him his wish, could I? ;) Away they went, all of them, and I started gathering a new flock for myself.
-

This time I thought I'd make a little tutorial for you. I originally made mine from a material set from Panduro Hobby, but all the nescessary materials are available in hobby stores. Needle felting is incredibly easy, just hold the wool and stab repeatedly with the felting needle. The needle has notches that pull the wool fibers in and when you pull it back out they leave the wool fibres behind. Just one thing though. Be very very careful with your fingers, that needle is incredibly sharp!! Go on, ask me how I know. ;)

-

ETA: I've been asked for more details on how the technique works. To start the robin you hold the red wool on top of the styrofoam ball. Stab the felting needle through the wool into the ball - this will bring wool fibres into the ball and make the wool stick to it. Keep poking the needle through the wool and into the ball until all the wool is well entangled around the whole styrofoam ball, and starts to resemble regular felt. You'll see the transformation from fluffy wool fibres to the dense red layer happen right before your eyes. No glue is needed! The wool sticks to both the styrofoam and itself. In fact, the styrofoam ball isn't actually necessary because the wool felts to itself, but it gives you a shape to start with, and therefor saves a LOT of time and wool. It probably takes a couple of hundred stabs on this first step, so have a little patience. When I got the routine in, it didn't take me more than fifteen minutes or so to complete the entire bird.

When you get to step 3, you simply gather some gray wool and hold it over the now red ball and repeat the process. Stab through the gray wool into the red wool and styrofoam ball and watch the gray wool entangle itself. Use the needle to guide it into the desired shape. After a while you'll actually see an effect from each stab. To make the tail you use the felting needle on just the grey wool for a while, poking through it into thin air, and it will entangle into itself forming a firm clump of wool protruding out from the body.

I hope this clarifies the process!

-

So here it goes!

1: Grab your styrofoam ball, mine are ca 3 cm in diameter.

2: Cover styrofoam ball with red carded wool and felt with felting needle.

3: Cover half of the red ball with grey carded wool and felt. Be sure to let some of the felt protrude from the body to make a tail.

4: Make a ball of black carded wool and felt to body in the opposite end from tail.

5: Felt a tiny amount of grey carded wool to both sides of head, to make eyes.

6: Cut a small square of orange felt and attatch to head along the diagonal with felting needle. Attatch black sewing thread to back of head. Done!

-

I'm linking up to the Strut Your Stuff link party.

-

ETA: I've been featured on Five on Friday at Singing with Birds! Thank you for my 15minutes of fame. :) And thanks to all of you lovely ladies - and gents - leaving comments! I read and enjoy every single one! :D

Also, if you have any questions, just leave a comment and I'll answer as soon as possible right there in the comment section.

Hilde 30 years

The year of all the 30th birthdays continues... It's my good friend Hilde's turn this time, congratulations!
-

The card I made for Hilde is small, only 10x10 cm, designed to fit inside the decorated box. I quite like working in this format! It keeps everything concentrated and I think asymmetrical designs work well.

-

I dug into my MME Wild Asparagus pad and found this cute polkadot paper. The dots are actually slightly embossed, giving it some extra dimension. I added some ribbon and Scrapper's Floss, and clustered together some roses, bling and a metal tag by Tim Holtz, and the gorgeous butterfly of course. Glimmermist Old Lace made it sparkle!
-

The box started its life containing fudge, which seems to have mysteriously disappeared... It must have fallen into my mouth somehow? Anyway, it now holds a gift card to out local craft shop along with some decorational elements. I covered the inside of the box and lid with more of the MME paper, and added a few elements to the outside.

-

Misc flowers from stash, metal decor from Kort&Godt (I think), lace and Scrapper's Floss. A light spray of Glimmermist Old Lace on top gave it some shine.