September through December 2023

Kids' Crafts

 I did more kids' crafts through work. Here are some of them. 

Weaving

I also did my first yarn weaving project using a very small loom to make a bookmark. I definitely need to work on by tension so it stays more uniformly rectangular. 

Needlework

I did some stitching from a company called Craftpod. Their winter 2023 kit included these two projects. The scene in the hoop is done in embroidery on brown linen and white felt. I quite like it, but the back is proving a bit bulky to finish because of the felt.

 

This polar bear was supposed to get a blanket and scarf, but I liked him "au naturel"

Here's the framed alphabet piece that I showed a picture of last post. It's called Heard It Through the Grapevine.

I did a couple of gifts that were for my niece's wedding in January, so will waited to include these pictures. 

May through August 2023

I finally tackled some of the projects I'd been meaning to do for a while. But a lot of them are ongoing so I don't have pictures to post yet. 

First, here are some of the kid's projects we did in Summer Camp.

First week, we did three projects, a multimedia banner, a folding dinosaur, and a foam unicorn picture. Here are two of them (I forgot to take a picture of the third one. The banner has dowels top and bottom to give it structure and there are a lot of different media included from felts to paint to crayons, and added decorations like pom-poms, sequins, and foam. 

 
The second week, our projects were a tissue paper horse, a lion face, and a toucan that can move. I just did the toucan. The pieces are connected with brads, so his mouth can open and close, his wing can move, and his feet can move. 

The third week was beach themed with an alligator at the seashore, a scuba diving critter and a shark keychain. Here's the alligator. Done on a 4 inch canvas, that was preprinted with the design, the background is painted with the paper alligator wrapped with yarn and glued on, and the some foam accents added, along with the paper sun pieces, and the sequins. Quirky and fun!

The last week was a multimedia sun, a bug, and an underwater landscape. The base of this sun is a plastic plate with more paper rays added to the back, then yarn and foam letters. 

Our regular crafting continued as well, with projects from rock painting to watercolour landscapes to beading. 

This piece was for Pride month in June. A painted panel with a heart cardstock and a supportive phrase.

Then a watercolour landscape. 

Papercrafting

I also tackled some projects that have been waiting in the wings for a while. This piece is a course I took from Yvette Ja online. It makes a cute and handy Chinese sewing box. The video was well done and I was able to finish it in an afternoon, with her kit, some supplies of my own, and my own ribbon. 

The mini-book has two interior boxes to hold sewing supplier like thread and needle threaders. 

I also did some textile work. 

I finished a cute alphabet piece called Heard It through the Grapevine by SamSarah Designs. It used a lot of overdyed variegated threads.

I'll be posting a picture of the framed piece later this year. 

I also worked on some other embroidery projects for gifts and won't post those until after they've been given. 

I started making a small Hexie quilted table runner, and really enjoyed learning this new craft. I was able to have a friend who did this teach me techniques during an August get-together. No pictures of that yet as it is in beginning stages. 

January to April 2023

This season was mostly crafting. 

I've got a cute decoupage jar done with tissue paper (I was going for a sunrise vibe). It will be a bright spot on my desk for pens and pencils.

A simple necklace. I had a necklace years ago similar to this one that was given to me, but I left it in a hotel room and it was never found.

A Valentine's Day frame with a picture of two of my favourite people, my parents. This was done with watercolour paints on an unfinished wooden frame, creating an ombre effect with the colour changes. There is a small wooden post the fits into a slot on the back to make the frame stand up.

A fairy house that can be put outside. I've always thought these were cute, so putting one together was fun. I used bought elements from Michaels including the premade osier/moss orb, as well as adding more moss in a lighter colour, and some pastel pebbles for a path.

A sign for Black History Month. I used acrylic paints that I already owned on a canvas panel. The wording was traced. I particularly like the African continent used in place of the o in Month. 

Paint Pouring was something I tried last year during Pride month. This is a spring version of the technique, less structured. 

For St. Patrick's Day, I did a painted rock with a four-leaf clover on one side, and a pot of gold on the other. Simple and cute.

Coming up to Easter, I did a couple of crafts. First was a bunny made with multicoloured pompoms of various sizes and googly eyes. The bunny was done on a simple background that gave a feeling of a spring meadow.

Second was a chick made with handmade pompoms, chenille stem legs, pompom eyes, and a felt beak

Spring is coming and I painted a terracotta pot with inspirational flowers

Exploring pointillism, I did an outdoor scene with a picnic blanket and basket in the foreground. I'd definitely try this again.

September through December 2022

These months I framed some previously finished needlework pieces. 

This is Scarlet Letters by Tempting Tangles

This is Turkish Delight by Ink Circles. I think the pale frame and rich blue mat really brought it to life.

I also finished one of Amy Mittens' Excursions, #22: Spain and framed it. The double mat and the scrollwork frame complemented it nicely.

I finished my Little Pin for Winter by Lynn Payette and found the perfect fabric for the back. I also decided not to put ribbon around the sides as I like it as is. 

 

I did some more art projects, some of which I kept a record of. 

This is a simple painted clay pot, done as a candy corn for Halloween

This is my first attempt at doing impasto. As a non-painter I struggled a bit with the technique and it didn't come out as I liked, but we still used it. 

This was a Christmas plaque, which started as an unpainted wood piece with some layers. I used both paint and modelling paste to bring it to life. 

Also on a Christmas theme, I tried my hand at a ribbon tree. I used a Christmas themed snowflake earring as the topper. It turned out pretty good. 

I did a few other crafts, but didn't keep them, and forgot to take pictures. 

I also have several other needlecraft pieces on the go, but will wait until they are further along, or finished to document them here. 

Happy crafting!

Catching Up: from July and August 2021 to July and August 2022

I spent a lot of time reading and being outside near the end of the summer of 2021, despite more rain than usual, but also spent time with family. I started quite a few pieces that are in progress and will finish them at some point, but here are my finished items.

First, I got my Sedona Soleil piece back from the framers and couldn't be happier with it. They did a lovely job.

I also finished Scarlet Letters, by Tempting Tangles, a piece I began pre-pandemic. I had to do a little adjusting because it bothered me that one of the words wasn't in alphabetical order. I charted out just switching the order of the words to fix it, but had some letters running into ones from the line below when I did that, so I ended up choosing a different, and I think a better word to substitute. I used a similar font, borrowing elements from other letters in similar fonts elsewhere in the piece to make it, and am happy with the results. 

 

This is a Mill Hill kit for a small piece that you could make into a brooch, a magnet, or another small item. I thought it was a really fun piece. 

I also started working part-time at a crafting shop in the fall of 2021, and am involved in some of their crafting workshops, camps, and classes. Since I had to do a sample for many of these, I am including a few of the ones I rather liked here. 

These ones are from the Kids Summer Camp. My favourite is the solar system necklace.