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. 

October through December

I'm getting more into crafting.
First, back to Exploring Pattern and Texture.
Here is my work for 1.4, the final part of the session focused on running stitch

This is my piece for 2.1. This is backstitch, exploring shapes within smaller areas

For Stitch Club,
I completed the first piece in a challenge on containers. The object my container holds is a piece of driftwood that looks like a whale. I made the eyelet to line up with the whale's eye.

I also joined an art group online, and participated in a challenge the third week in October (starting October 19th)
Day 1 (I have since further embellished this with stitching)

Day 2

Day 3:

Day 4: (the start of a needle felting picture)

I started experimenting with some other drawing too.

On October 17th, I did a beginner's rug hooking course. 

I soft launched an Etsy shop in September, but in November got my logo and did a hard launch. First up were sewing patterns from my mother-in-law, which she no longer wanted. An amazing number of them are uncut.

https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/CanadianBookwormShop

Then I started working on some craft items that I will add once I get some inventory created.

I also finished a few Christmas gifts. 

This one is for my sister-in-law, who is from Quebec. It is a Jeanette Douglas design that I bought from Traditional Stitches near Calgary. I bought the bell pull software from Stitcher's Muse in Nanaimo.

I also finished this piece in October. It is one that I inherited from a friend no longer with us. She'd done the inner square and the wording around it, and started on the perennial border. I redid one small section and completed it. The pattern is The Perennial Border by Drawn Thread.

I completed a couple of Christmas ornaments

This one is a Mill Hill design. It is from their Woodland Santa series and is Holly and Ivy Santa. It was gifted to one of my nieces. 

This is another Mill Hill design. It is from the Appalachian Santa series and is called Blue Ridge Santa. I like the raccoon!

I finished another rope basket. This one has a wood base to it.