Monday 29 September 2008

NEWSPAPER ART JOURNAL...


Finally got the cover to the newspaper art journal finished at Warrington Crop yesterday...each heart has a tiny message inside it...thanx girls was another brill day
Really looking forward to the Christmas 'DO' on the 14th December
Everyone loved the paper dolls and l sold 8 kits!!..wow that was a big suprise

Friday 26 September 2008

Thursday 25 September 2008

morning all...

Made another paper girl last night all butter n cream just need some stunning wings to complete her and have promised one for each of my fellow croppers little girls....
Purple pink x 2 and a blue one...fun fun fun
Just been looking at Donna Downey's site too and a challenge she has for the next 30 days....mmmmm may give this a go love circles

cya later all...oh and thanx for a great day yesterday sorry about the grump with British Gas....wont say another word!!!! lol

Tuesday 23 September 2008

ALMOST.......

just need to type up the instructions and package 'the girls'...ready for the big stage then...took a break from cutting up bits of paper and made some scones!!




Not baked for years....forgot to brush the tops with egg and l didn't have any cutters so a bit round but already eaten the 3 smallest ones with a cuppa...going to be great for the diet! hahahaha
Really cant believe how easy and fast it was to make them either...try a victoria sponge tomorrow l think...build up to the snowflake biscuits and cakes for Christmas!

Sunday 21 September 2008

A DAY BY THE RIVER

Just back from a brill day by the river ppl watching....the boats sailed by the sun shone and the ppl walked up and down form 1 to who knows?....all soaking up the wonderful atmosphere that a day by the river has to offer...one of my favourite places to just sit......a perfect day

Wednesday 17 September 2008

PONCHO WITH SLEEVES PATTERN


BASIC PONCHO PATTERN

To fit an Adult  21-22" 54-57cm Head size...72sts

If it needs to be bigger add multiples of 8sts, don't make it too tight, you can always fill in a neck line with a few extra rounds or an additional cowl, but you can't take sts out.

NOTE: The yarn is acrylic and i found over time it stretched a little so on looking back don't make it to big either!


Not the best pictures but it gives you an idea of what it looks like on
I have used James C Brett Marble and a 6mm hook



Ch 72, sl st into a circle don't twist it.

ROUND 1: ch2 as first dc, dc in first 2sts, miss a st, ch1, do 1dc in next 3 sts, miss a sts ch1, 1dc in the next 3 sts. repeat to end. [18 granny shells]
Looks a bit like a small ladder

ROUND 2: sl st in each st to the next space, 3dc ch2, 3dc in the frst space ch 1 then 3dc, ch1, in the next 8 spaces, then 3dc, 2ch, 3dc in the 10th space then 3dc, ch1 in the next 8 spaces, sl st to finish.
basically a granny square with 2 corners and a hole in the middle.

ROUND 3: to the number of rounds you want : REPEAT a granny shell in each space, with a ch1 space, and 2granny shells, ch2 between for the points.
This would be your basic granny poncho.

MY VERSION...turned 90deg and wrist warmers added...
I started by adding in some rows of single dc, one in each st then back to granny shells
I am not a lover of 'v' necks on me so I turned it around so the pointed bits were on my shoulders and I had a boat neck wide across the shoulders....nothing more than turning it 90degrees no pattern changes at this point

I kept going until I had 24 rows completed.
ROWS1-5 GRANNY SHELLS
ROWS 6-9 SINGLE DC
ROWS 10-14 GRANNY SHELLS
ROWS 15-21 SINGLE DC
ROWS 22- 24 GRANNY SHELLS
THEN THE WRIST WARMERS WERE ADDED
 to the pointed bits.


ROW 1: counting the point as number one, count 6 spaces from the point each side and add a marker.
this MARKER is the space you will stop and start in for the wrist warmers and the main body of the poncho.
 DO NOT REMOVE MARKERS UNTIL THE SLEEVES AND THE BODY ARE FINISHED
 Starting at the first marked space, do a granny shell in that space and one in the next 4 spaces, (5granny shells)

do one granny shell, ch3, 1granny shell in the point,

then a granny shell in the next 5 spaces, up to the space with the next marker in,

now the fiddly bit.
Bring the two markers side by side and sl st into the first granny shell of the wrist warmer making a complete circle,
ROW 2: TO THE LENGTH REQUIRED
Sl st to the next space and repeat ROW1. (12 granny shells in each row.)

I did 12 rows to fit me but crochet as many rows as you feel you need. This made a length I felt was comfortable to the wrist with a deep pointed turn back cuff.
repeat on the other point for the second wrist warmer.
THE BODY
ROWS 25-29 GRANNY SHELLS
ROWS 30-44 SINGLE DC
Back to finish the body of the poncho
Start at the marker and finishing at the marker, work back and forth with the remaining 29 spaces 
(29 spaces for the back, 29 spaces for the front). 
Working the back and the front separately and do as many rows as you need to make it a length you require.
I made mine another 20 rows longer.
In total the body of the poncho from neck to hem is 44 rows long...but I am short so you may need to add a few more rows.
sew up the side seams of the body to finish.


I have to say laid out it does look like a very wide jumper and a slightly strange shape, but on.....
it falls well and feels comfortable and snugly

I might add a cowl to it as it gets colder or I might just make one that slips over the head and sits as if it is attached.

UPDATE: I wore it to death and loved it, got lots of compliments when i did wear it, its still hanging in the wardrobe but over the years its stretched so the sleeves are now a little longer than they were lol. Not worn it for ages, but cant part with it 

FOUND A COUPLE OF PAPER DOLLS......



Based on drawings l used 20yrs ago when l was designing kids fashions....made with a die cut heart to hide a littl message...and hand drawn and cut outs...memories of a past life 

Tuesday 16 September 2008

Late this morning..oops the girls kept me up late!




Second child hood for definate hehehe....the girls keeping me up into the early hours last night.....

Monday 15 September 2008

New art dolls today...Petal and Bubble

2 New dolls and a few 'wigs'..breaking them into units for easy of make up




and yet another fun day..second childhood maybe? lol

Sunday 14 September 2008

Meet Eve...Miss September..my 1st Art Doll

Decided to try making an art doll myself today so l've been playing lol...now l'm hooked want to make one for every month...still need a bit of work yet but hopefully by the time l've made 12 l'll have perfected them to my liking!...




JUST DISCOVERED THIS ARTIST



LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THEM....colour especially...link in my artistic heros if you want to take a better look at more of her wonderful WALL DANCERS

Friday 12 September 2008

THUMBS UP FOR DYAN AND BOOKED MY B n B

Aren't l organised....BnB booked for Class end of November!...cant wait to meet Dyan she sounds terrific enthusiastic and soooo friendly....a real cool lady
Did a bit more in the NPAJ...Thanx to Dyan and Donna and Susi...one led to the other and now Kelly aswell....INSPIRATIONAL..LUV YA ALL
PHOTOS:tidied up and todays playtime...


LOTS MORE PICS IN MY FLICKR PAGES...link in INSPIRATIONS 2

Thursday 11 September 2008

YESTERDAYS PLAYTIME

Few days ago l saw a RECYCLED NEWSPAPER JOURNAL...made by Dyan from Art From The Art(doing a wkend Christmas class with her end of November)
Dyan had seen it on a free video of Donna Downey..downloaded it but couldn't open it so did my own version....oh and l had a trip to Ikea too new unit decided l couldn't stand the mess!!! hehehe still to be sorted hopefully tomorrows photo will be the neat n tidy version....wish me luck





Oh and thanx for a great crop day girls...hope the back is better soon Jane and thanx for sharing the new snowflake die cut Lynne....and for ordering the dies l needed too....Sarah have a brill hol cya when you get back
Hugs to all

Tuesday 9 September 2008

THANX PHIVOS 4 FINDING RANINDRANATH TAGORE

The flower which is single need not envy the thorns that are numerous.
Rabindranath Tagore

I Love poetry so thanx friend for the Taj Mahal writting/photos....lucky you having visited such a beautiful place and thanx for the introduction to Rabindranath Tagore


Love them and in my choice of colours......cakes for Christmas

Monday 8 September 2008

WARRINGTON CROP YESTERDAY

Photo frame class...made the flowers from my paper lunch plate!



Had been thinking all week l didn't want to go really...but....l can so easily stay home and not go out!!
So decided l must go...firstly 2 of our trip couldn't make it(Hope you feel better soon Jane) and l was a tad late so needed to ring Sarah....with no one to pick up had 20 extra minutes...well my new phone had deleted half my numbers Sarah's being one of them!..bum a recurring nightmare was now reality...aaaaaaarrrrrrrrgh NOT A GOOD START

Journey was good although we had to go a diferent way rd works
Crop WAS BRILL and we both won a raffe prize...whoa and some brill ribbons being sold too..yummy...great catch up chat with Julia...brill class..(photo frame..recycled my lunch plate to make the flowers hehehe) all in all a wonderful day
Then the journey home 3hours in a traffic jam on the M6...suprisingly though didn't seem as long as that...good company thanx SARAH and dont ya just love radio 4 on a long journey!!..lol

Friday 5 September 2008

Pyramid boxes



Spent yesterday making pyramid boxes...idea from my craft group...had to start from scratch though flippin printer out of yellow and wont work if one colour is out great!
New bead shop opening in Shrewsbury tomorrow...thanx for telling me about it Sarah....looked at the site looks like it might be an a brill shop...fingers crossed
Added the link on the jewellery blog..cya ther maybe?

Tuesday 2 September 2008

Had a fun day today making Christmas dec's!





Been recycling catfood boxes n foil pouches mousse cartons n old magazines


Decided on blue n silver for this next Christmas

Bead fair Uttoxeter...last sunday



Not very impressed with the Midlands bead fair on sunday....no sign posts and not very big...the tea and cakes were to die for though!!! lol
Chatting with a couple of ladies over a cuppa...said it had been twice the size last yr!!!...mmmmmmmmm wonder what will be next yr then?
Was lovely to meet Julie..LUSH LAMPWORK....thanx for the beautiful set of beads..will post a pic as soon as l've beed creative with them!
Bought a sizzix too....wow! am l having fun recycling every bit of card in the place that would usually fill up the bin!...heart n flowers stars and snowflakes...boxxes full starting to feel vey christmasy and l haven't had my summer hol yet!!! lol