Happy New Year, I’m back!

Hi everyone, happy new year to all and hope you have a great 2016. It has been ages since I last posted. Life happens… other things took up a lot of my time. It’s sort of strange trying to  get back into the swing of blogging. I feel like I am starting all over again.

Even though I have been busy,  I still managed to get a bit of crafting done, now and again, and I hope to share with you all what I have been up to in the craft world.

Here is  a ‘before and after’ of a used glass bottle I worked on recently. For those who remember me, will also remember I love roses, hence the inspiration for the design of this bottle. I painted roses on the front and back, so the roses behind show through, this wouldn’t be noticeable when filled. To give it the finishing touch, I  trimmed it with a little bit of  cream vintage lace, pink organza ribbon and a little rosebud.

Hand Painted Glass Bottle

 

 

I hope this inspires you to think twice before throwing stuff away, what about making 2016 a year of..reduce, reuse and recycle and do a little for this beautiful planet we live on.

Bernadette

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Meet Mary Jane ! The Little Crochet Bunny

Just popping by to share with you what I have been up to recently. I just finished up this wee bunny rabbit this morning. I named her Mary Jane because I love her Mary Jane shoes and also because it really suits her…she is a no nonsense kind of girl! She doesn’t like frills so I decided to make her a little simple dress and bow.

Crochet Bunny Rabbit

I found the pattern  here at, http://www.amigurumitogo.com/2015/03/Spring-Time-Dress-Me-Bunny.html designed by a talented and generous lady who shares great step by step  amigurimi tutorials.

I had cream coloured 100% wool in my stash which was perfect for this project. I was so lucky because I had just the right amount….the little piece I had left over wasn’t even long enough to sew on a button

Here she is sitting down. I love how her little legs dangle over the edge of the cupboard.  I put wire in the arms and legs so that she can be posed in different positions, adding to the cuteness.

Crochet Bunny Rabbit

After a little research, I have found that ami means knit or crochet and nuigurimi means stuffed toy. In Japanese tradition, little stuffed toys are handed down from generation to generation. These little stuffed dolls/animals stay with the children all their lives, helping to relieve stress, providing a little comfort on tough days. What a lovely idea! So why not get out your crochet hook and make a little stuffed doll/animal for the special ones in your family.

Before I go I would like to thank the lovely Alida, over at https://buttercupandbee.wordpress.com/  for nominating my blog for the Liebster Award, I’m working on it!

Bernadette

Creative Crochet

Hello again to all my blogging friends and readers. It’s hard to believe its over a month since I last posted. When I started this blog, my intentions were to write two posts per week, but life happens! Between one thing or another I have been so busy. It wasn’t so much big challenges that I had to deal with but little ones that popped up that seemed to snatch up most of my time and attention.

Anyway, this is what I have been up to in the meantime. I crocheted this chunky hat and scarf set. I’m really happy how it turned out, so elegant. Not too bad considering I didn’t follow a pattern.

Crochet Hat and scarf

I also made these wee cute baby slippers. The little pearl beads adds a lovely dainty touch.

Baby Crochet Shoes

Now that I’m back again, I’m really looking forward to catching up on what you all have been up to.

Bye for now

Bernadette

Colourful Crochet Cushions

I just love the way these cushions turned out, they are so bright and colourful.

As I was saying recently I was doing a bit of clearing out. Whilst cleaning out my dresser I came across my bowl of yarn scraps. It got me thinking, what could I use them for?

To begin with, I just crocheted little circles.

Do you like my little basket ?It’s just strips of fabric scraps covering soft piping cord and joined together using a machine zig zag stitch. Here are the little centres squared up.

Here they are all lined up ready for joining.

I attached them together using the join as you go method. I did a border with a row of hdc and a row of reverse sc.

I made the actual cushion like a standard cover using an envelope style opening at the back. I stitched the crochet piece on the top using a machine stitch but you could also hand stitch it.

I really enjoyed making these cushions… not so much sewing in the ends of yarn. I did it outdoors in the hope the birds would pick them up, giving me more time to make things. If you wonder, where do I get the time to craft? it’s because, I MAKE the time as it’s what I love to do plus I don’t watch TV a lot, I suppose I am a bit of a thinker.

Remember, if you can, try and make the time to do what YOU love to do.

Bernadette

Baby Gift Set

Today I am going through some of my pictures, I have so many that need to be organised. I came across this pic of  a little girls crochet set. I made this as a gift last summer. I can’t remember if  I followed a pattern or not. I usually just sort of make it up as I go along. With the dress I started with the neck and worked down. When making a hat I usually work in the round until the circle is the desired size and then work straight without increases until it’s the depth I want. I did follow a pattern for the shoes although I tweaked it some, I can never just let it be….,’ I did it my way’ just like Frank Sinatra, I bet you’re humming this tune in your head!

Baby Girls Crochet Gift Set

I am planning to upload some more pictures of other things that I have made. At least when I have them on my blog,  I should be able to find them a lot easier….my computer has folders named with only numbers, just random numbers, not even dates…….not much good when you are looking for something. I should really take the time to name them properly. Must get back to sorting my pictures.

Hope you have a lovely weekend

Bernadette

Making Memories!

I am so happy I got my two cushions finished over the weekend,which I talked about in my last post. There was a lot of hand stitching involved, I admire anyone who makes bed quilts using this method…it must take forever.  I would do it again but I need a break from the hand sewing now for a while. My plan is to use them on my garden seat for lazy summer days. I sat out for a little while today, relaxing, doing a bit of crochet and having a nice cup of tea with a wee currant scone with strawberry jam. Looking at this picture, I just might paint a few flowers along the top rail of the seat, you can never have too many flowers!

Sitting on my seat is my garden tray, it was originally used as packaging for bathing soaps and cream. It was pine so I painted it, it’s ideal for carrying things out to the garden as it has good deep sides.

Garden Tray

If you look closer you can also see my vase of flowers freshly picked from my garden. I painted the vase (which is just a jam jar) with pretty pink roses. I hate throwing things away and I’m always searching for ideas how to reuse or recycle them. I am planning on doing a few more to use for holding little tea lights and hope to hang them on those trees behind the seat. I love making a little effort to welcome the summer months, I enjoy doing it for myself but also for my daughters, hopefully they will cherish these memories and carry on the tradition. It’s also a great way to welcome family and friends and make them feel at home. I fell in love with the staging in ‘Mama Mia’ which is my all time favourite film, I suppose my style is influenced by this or perhaps this is the reason I love the film so much, because it is so my style.

Before I go, I will leave you with a close up of my cushions. I love each and everyone of those fabrics, as  I mentioned before they are from little dresses my daughters used to wear. This is great project for preserving memories, so remember to keep some of those childhood clothes. Hopefully this will inspire to make your own memory cushion.

Hand Stitched Cushion

Bye for now!

Bernadette

Painting, walking and sewing but not at the same time, ha ha!

Walking, painting and sewing, some of my favourite things to do. I’ll start with painting….  below is my little fairy house which I painted last summer. It has withstood the winter weather rightly. I made it out of a stone I found in the garden, I thought it would be the perfect shape to paint a little house using the triangular edges for a roof. It is nestled on the ground amongst the bushes and is a big hit amongst little visitors. Can you see the two wee faces peeping out the top windows?

Fairy Stone House

I went out for a little stroll today with my camera in hand. I just love the countryside with all its ‘forty shades of green’ we get here in Ireland.

Further down the road we have bog land, where turf is cut. Turf is a fuel we use in the winter to heat our homes.

Turf Cutting

Another few steps and we are at this little stream under a stony bridge.

On the way back I just had to take a picture of this cow, It seemed to be saying, “Are you looking at me”?

Are you looking at me?

Before I go I would like to show you what I have been working on during the week. I am making two patchwork cushions for my summer seat. I’m really enjoying all the hand sewing. It is made mostly from little dresses my daughters used to wear, so it holds a lot of cherished memories.

I spent a while in Chicago almost 30 years ago, where I bought the little teddy print fabric which I fell in love with, proving that I even had a fabric addiction back then!

Bye for now!

Bernadette

Painted Hangers

This is what I have been working on these past few days. I am always on the look out for things to paint.  If you follow my blog, you’ve probably noticed, I’m always jumping from one project to another. I had these plain old coat hangers which were just perfect for a makeover. First I sanded them just a little to take away the sheen. Then I gave them a few  coats of paint before painting on the flowers. I then finished them off with a sealer.

Hand Painted Coat Hangers

I just hung them up on this pole to get a picture of them. I’m in the process of doing a bit of sorting out and it feels so good to clear some space. Now when I buy new clothes I will have pretty hangers to hang them up.

These hangers turned out so pretty, I’m tempted to hang a few in the bathroom or bedroom. I think they would be lovely hanging on  a rail with a shelf above. I can just picture them with a little girls party dress, a prom dress or even a wedding dress.

Here’s another pic a little closer up.

Hand Painted Coat Hangers

Why not give it a go, its cheap, easy and quick. A perfect project for using up leftover paint or you could buy the little tester pots. You could skip the painting stage by buying hangers already painted.  If you didn’t want to paint the flowers, you could always use the decoupage method of gluing them on.

If you would like to see some more painting projects,click here. Hope you enjoy!

Bye for now

Bernadette

My Cottage Garden and Crochet

Do you remember when I was talking about finishing up projects? Well this is the beginnings of one of them. I got my inspiration for the colours from this cup and saucer decorated with bouquets of little flowers. I find myself drawn to these colours especially at this time of year. It sort of reminds me of  my favourite type of garden…a cottage garden. Talking of gardens, here are a few pics of my own country garden. It has a very relaxed informal style which I love, buttercups and daisies included, sort of evolving with no definite plan.

So a little about the blanket. I made it using the typical granny pattern. It amazes me how the traditional granny pattern can look so different depending on the colours chosen. I made my first granny blanket when I was about 9 years old. I made if from scraps of wool using this  exact same pattern except for the squares with the flowers.  It was by no means a masterpiece, but I remember feeling so proud of that blanket. It’s still in use today even though it has seen better days.

Here are a few photos of the blanket  in progress. I got a good bit of it done, I am planning on making it to fit a single bed.

I will likely take a break from it now and again, that’s the great thing about crochet, you can pick it up and leave it down as you wish as it doesn’t take too much thought. I just make sure to pin on a little note showing the size of hook I used.

At the minute I am also working on a few hand painting projects . Hint……more roses. Stay tuned.  Wishing you a lovely weekend.

Bernadette

Meet the Triplets

How cute are these little faces. I made these little dolls and baskets just before Christmas, long before my blogging days. I made the dolls and blankets out of fabric and crocheted the little beds/ baskets. I came across this tutorial for the little dolls and just had to give it a go. A special thanks to, http://beccamariedesigns.blogspot.ie/2012/04/swaddle-baby-tutorial.html I more or less just made the bed as I went along, making a base, crocheting up the sides ( sort of how you would crochet a shoe or slipper)and adding the hood with a little flower to the side. The sides of the basket flip-up and it turns into a bag with the wee doll snuggled up inside. I used a double-knit wool and 4mm hook. I’m sure there are proper tutorials out there if you want to give it a try.

Thankfully these little dolls  were adopted by loving families and are getting lots of love and attention.

Sometimes the simplest of toys bring the most joy, what do you think?