During this last year I have taken part in several online classes, i’ve learnt loads and have been working away with projects of my own and now its time to get out there and start doing something – and this is where i’m starting…
Childrens art and craft classes!
Starting next Wednesday I will be teaching a childrens art & craft class with a difference. There will be all sorts of things including painting, encautstic wax, sewing, a bit of woodwork, canvas and glitter. It will be a 5 week course, there won’t be something going home each week, but there will be two great works of art at the end of it!
So now i’m off to get supplies, I wonder if you can give a soldering iron to a 10 year old….?! (just kidding!!)
THIS IS NOW, (well, in 5 minutes)!!!
On the Crafting Ireland Ustream channel at 6pm BST
Timi is going to show you how to alter a simple lunchbox into an arty bag to hold your tools or art journal.
Supplies you will need:
*1 lunchbox ( I am going to use a soft one, but you can get a hard one too) I get mine in the local toyshop.
*acrylic paints
*brushes
*gel medium
*chipboard or grunge board elements/alphabets to decorate the bag
*hot glue gun and hot glue sticks
*old book pages or music sheets
*stamps or objects that you can stamp with (eg.: toilet roll, bottle tops)
*few charms
It will be a messy crafty class so prepare craft sheet, apron and a cloth to clean your hands and desk.
I am really excited about this class, hope you are too…
Happy Crafting,
Crafting Ireland Team
Hey there,
Its been busy, busy round here this week. I’m going on holiday tomorrow and had alot of things to organise before I go…… but now I’m down to the very last thing!
Its been mostly paper work and form filling, which is about my least favourite thing – it would probably help if I were more organised and didn’t forget where I put important bits of paper!
I’ve also been crafting like a mad thing because there are deadlines to meet and they too had to be done before I go……. and I can’t show you any of those yet (how dull !) But, amongst all the other stuff this just appeared in my sketchbook and insisted on being painted – I’m having a bit of a thing with garden fences at the moment so there will be lots of these appearing!
Oh, there is big news coming next week – but I can’t tell you about that yet either, its exciting though….
I can tell you that i’m teaching a class at the Great Big Craft Extravaganza this year, there is a great timetable and I’m wondering what else I can fit it while i’m there.. you can check it out here
Ok, i’m off to pack (which i’m rubbish at!)
Byeeee! x
This old tin measures 4″x2 1/4″
so it was really quick and fun to alter, I think i’ll make a tiny album to sit inside.
I used a Prima Almanac paper, “Composition” a bingo card, some bling, lace and other bits and pieces.
There you are, a short and sweet post for a Monday morning!
Have a lovely day! x
Its out today!! lots of lovely Autumn goodness, of course Krissys Halloween book is my particular fav, but then there is Mary Jo’s spooky door signs, Timi’s altered desk tidy and you’ll be drooling when you read Kates report from CHA…… loads to choose from!
Just for a change and because not all crafts involve paper, (just most of them!) I have made an Autumn coloured necklace. The basics of attaching clasps are there with lots of photos so you can see how easy it is, and then you can apply it to any necklace….Endless possibilities!!
Here it is!
This tutorial went up on the Crafting Ireland blog last Tuesday….. and i’m only putting it here today, bad blogger!!!!
Better late then never I suppose!! There are loads of great tutorials on Crafting Ireland, a great place to go for a bit of inspiration.
Anyhoo, here it is:
http://craftingireland.wordpress.com/2012/08/07/wedding-card-and-gift-envelope-felicia-thomas/
Last month, the 3rd July to be precise my Dear Dad died peacefully at home. He had been sick for a while with cancer but when he got very weak he went to bed and slipped away, waking only briefly to have a final cup of tea (he loved tea!) and to give us all a kiss. He was the coolest Dude ever – only 65, far too young.
As you can imagine I miss him very much, but I’m a crafter, and what do we crafters do?
WE KEEP CALM AND MAKE SOMETHING!!
He had a great collection of shirts, so last week I went and chose 5 and then took the scissors to them,
Its amazing how much fabric is in a shirt!
Now, I have made 3 quilts before this, I am no where near an expert and as you know my straight lines are never straight so there were bound to be mistakes……
In fact if you are a quilt maker then this will probably hurt your eyes – Woefull attempts at patches lining up!
I cut all of the shirt bodies into 7 inch squares and the sleeves into bias cut strips for the edging.
then I put my trusty sewing machine to work – the light is to bright here because it was late at night and all the kitchen lights were on. The funny thing about sewing is that once I start time just flies by! At 2pm I looked at the clock and thought, I’ll keep going for an hour, then I really have to go shopping for dinner…… the next thing I knew, they were all home because it was somehow 6pm!
When it came to hand stitching the border, I was sat on the sofa with half an eye on the Olympics and Toby decided this was the best thing in the world – comfy dog or what?!
And this is it! it measures 66×45 inches, it took me forever to work out a plan for the patches, I had all sorts of elaborate designs but settled for the simplest – I’m really happy with it.
Now, when Dad was sick he was always cold and so he had one of those Snuggy blankets to keep him warm – you know the ones with the sleeves in them? well, Mum is still using that one but Zac has one that he never uses and the colour was just right so he kindly donated it. I had to cut out the sleeves which left great big holes and no matter how I placed the patchwork squares I couldn’t avoid the holes. There wasn’t enough fleece left to cover them, so I improvised and used leftover patches……… it is nothing if not unique!! (or just plain odd….) and its not really that wonky, thats just the way I took the photo .Honestly, even i’m not that bad!
Look how snuggly it is!!!!! its big enough to wrap up in, in fact i’m wishing the winter upon us so I can wear it around the house all the time.
If you look carefully you can see that I made the breast pockets into patches (see the button?) there are 6 pockets in all.
So thats it, a memory quilt made of shirts that will be treasured and well used, in fact if he could see it i’m sure he would be taking it off me to use himself!
The Cool Dude Himself!
For Mollys 18th I painted her a little 4×6 canvas instead of making a card, she liked it and says she will be taking it off to her new college apartment with her.
I suppose I had better find a frame for it!
We had a lovely dinner at the local Thai restaurant, Zac brought a friend, my Mum came, Tim and I and Ebony and Molly with their BOYFRIENDS……… hello?! I know they are now 21 & 18 but when did they get this grown up? (the boys are both lovely by the way and seem to be patient enough to put up with those girls!)
It seems to me that although they are both plastered all over Facebook by friends on nights out, if I produce a camera they hide….. so this is one of the only birthday shots I got of Molly!
Happy Birthday Molly! xx
Due to the absence of Summer it seems the only thing to do is go to the beach anyway…….
So today, Zac, his friend Finan, the dogs and I headed for Inch Beach.
As you can see it was very cloudy, but it wasn’t cold – the boys even braved the water for about 5 minutes.
The beauty of going to the beach in this weather is that there are no crowds – just a few other mad souls!
It wasn’t really windy – my hair always looks like this!!
I was all set for a little reading and coffee time when the clouds opened and everything was scooped up and thrown into the car … including the sand! ( that book, the Night Circus by Erin Morganstern is making for excellent reading by the way.)
So this was our view through the wind screen whilst we ate our picnic……the boys did ask me to turn on the heat, but I said, “No! its summer” – i’m toughening them up incase summer never returns!!
but then the rain cleared, the sun came out (no, only joking but the rain did stop) & we went for a long windswept walk along the beach and do you know what?
It was a lovely day!
not the sort of beach day you think of if you live outside of Ireland, but the company made up for the sun, spending days with teenagers is a treat.
And think of all the money we’re saving on suncreen!!
These two enjoyed it most of all!
