Up, Up, and Away!

I can't even tell you how happy I am it's the weekend! I've got a lot of sleeping in and crafting planned - yay! Are you having a great day? I hope you are ^_^ 

I really like the look of sweater clips, but haven't had much luck finding any around here. Luckily, they're really easy to make! I made this pair with things from my stash, and they were really easy ^_^

 

 If you'd like to make your own, you can download the files with the large and smaller sizes of these hot air balloon designs here and here.

Let me know if you have any troubles getting them; I'm using Google Docs for hosting, which I haven't done here before. I hope I've done it correctly!

 

I've provided three sizes of this hot air balloon design, in three colourways. For the sweater clips I used the smallest size. The medium size is perfect for badges, and I'm thinking of making some bunting with the largest size ^_^

Once you've printed out the designs, cut them out, and then glue them onto a sheet of thin balsa wood. I tried using mod podge first up, but it didn't work that well, so I recommend PVA or some other type of craft glue instead.

 

Cut around your balsa wood with a pair of scissors, or a scalpel. I personally found the scissors easier, but Scott thinks scalpels are superior. Then sand down the edges with some fine sandpaper. If you don't have any, you can use an old nail file ^_^ Then add another coat of glue around the edges to ensure everything stays well stuck down, and a coat of mod podge on top for protection.

Then you can glue on a badge back. To make sweater clips, I made two of the smallest size hot air balloon, and then just threaded some chain onto the badge back. If you glue your badge back on so that the hinge is at the bottom, your chain will stay in place nicely ^_^

And that's it! Easy peasy huh? I hope you like them!

Next week, I'll show you some things I'm making for the Summer Nerd Games on Craftster. Bec, Pip, and I have made a team dedicated to crafting things inspired by our favourite ladies in geekdom; it's going to be heaps of fun! ^_^ Do you have a favourite nerdy lady? Scott thinks Black Widow is the best, but I don't think Hermione can be surpassed ~_^

- Lisa x

Instgram Photo Canvases

It is very cold and cloudy here. It's kinda nice because I can wear layers and stockings (which I love!) and use all my crochet blankets, but it kinda sucks for taking photos. First world blogger problems, right? ~_^

Anyway, here's what I made as Mother's Day gifts ^_^ I'm only showing you the ones I made for my Nana Alma and Scott's Nana Mary though because our mums wanted photos of us and I figure you get enough photos of my face on here without taking photos of photos of my face ~_^

 

I made these using some photos I had taken using Instagram, and they were both quick and easy to make. My favourite kind of craft ^_^

(And also the images have more definition in real life. I blame the clouds for this. I don't know how, but somehow it was them ~_^)

 

I resized my photos to 6 inches square, and then printed them off onto light card. Then, I cut them out, making them just an teeny bit smaller than exactly 6x6. That way, when I glued them onto my 6x6 inch canvas, the card wasn't larger than the front of the canvas. 

 

 

When the glue was dry, I used a sponge brush to paint the sides of the canvas. I also painted on the front a bit, to make a messy kinda border.

 

I think maybe if I try this again (which I probably will as I tend to buy cheap canvases in bulk) I will mod-podge the whole thing as that tends to make the image a little darker and the colours slightly more vibrant, which I like ^_^

Possibly if I really like how it looks, I will secretly bring mod-podge next time I go visiting and sneakily paint the canvases that I assume will be hanging in pride of place in my mother's/nana's/mother-in-law's/nana-in-law's home. ~_^

Did you have a nice Mother's Day? Are you addicted to Instragram? Are you procrastinating on your university assignments?

That last one may be just me ... ~_^

- Lisa x

Banelings, banelings, banelings, ooooooo

Today is Scott's birthday and, unlike other years, this time he actually told me what he wanted! o_0 He was looking through some StarCraft forums when he saw a picture of a plushie baneling - since Zerg is his favourite team to play *and* a pattern was available, it was really a no-brainer!

The pattern is very good - I can recommend buying it, especially if you're like me and don't really have a head for making soft toys. My brain just kinda shorts out when it's trying to figure how to make things 3D. There was a slight issue with a claw pattern, as the purple shape didn't really fit onto the brown shape, but since it was bigger, it was easy enough to cut down to the correct size.

 

It was also pretty quick to make - I started Friday night after dinner, and finished it off this morning. The basic shapes were sewn using my machine, and then I handstitched the shapes together and the purple detail that covers up the neck joins and the facial details.

Awww, look at that face! Who could resist making this little fella?

 

I'm now hoping that the same designer will make patterns available for some of the other Zerg units - since Scott owns pretty much everything that could possibly be related to Star Wars now, it might be good to start on a new geekdom!

And, just for fun, here's the baneling wearing a fancy hat. Spiffing!

We haven't decided on a name yet; Scott wants something simple like Bob or Squishy where I fancy the more, let's say, eleborate names like Balthazar McBlastybutt. The pattern's name is Mr. Doomsfield. What do you think, any name suggestions for the newest member of our family?

- Lisa x

Whatcha gonna do with all them buns, all them buns beside your head

OMG - did you realise that it's only a week until International Star Wars Day? Excitement! I *am* going to post on that weekend too, but I thought I would show you this project (and a couple others I prepared earlier) today, so you could make your own in time for May 4th, should you wish to ^_^

As you know, I've been working on my hoop wall lately - so I made this Princess Leia embroidery hoop trio to add to my collection ^_^ Yay!

If you would like to make one, this is what you'll need:

6 inch embroidery hoop

2 x 3 inch embroidery hoops

2 small black buttons

A scrap of red felt

Some calico

Some brown cotton fabric

Black, brown, and red cotton thread

Fabric scissors

 

To make this hoop trio, I first stretched the brown fabric over both the 3-inch hoops. Then, I folded the remainder of the brown fabric in half and cut Princess Leia's hair part. I used a fat flat of the brown material, and I still have quite a lot left. I placed the hair part fabric onto the calico, and then inserted that into the 6-inch hoop.

I used brown thread to sew the fabrics together. As you can see, the brown fabric frayed a little. If you don't want that look, you could hem the fabric before putting it in the hoop, or use glue or fraystop. I like how the fraying looks, I think it gives it more of a "hair" feel. ^_^

Then, sew on the button eyes with the black thread and cut out a heart shape from the red felt. The heart will be Leia's mouth, so sew that down with red thread.

 

And that's it! Yay! Now you can hang her on your wall ^_^

And if you're looking for more Star Wars inspired crafts to make for next week, I've added links to some of my other projects below ^_^

 

Princess Leia crochet hat

Han and Leia "I love you" card  

Star Wars finger puppet patterns

Death Star Necklace

Lightsaber Heart Brooch

Or try out a project from one of these clever people!

 

Jawa Doll with Light Up Eyes by Bitter Better Blogs

 

Chewbacca Plushie from Draw Pilgrim!

 

Twinkie Chan's R2D2 Coffee Cup Cozy

I hope you have a super fun International Star Wars Day! Are you going to make anything or celebrate in a special way? Let me know!

May the Force be with You!

- Lisa x

Op-shopping Overload

The title of this post is kinda misleading, because it implies that there is such as thing as too much op-shopping - which obviously not possible ~_^

Bec and I went on a relatively spontaneous road-trip yesterday for which we had three aims;

1. Get to our parents' houses' for dinner

2. Find a specific print of fabric for Pip

3. Op-shop our little hearts out.

We didn't have any luck on the fabric front (yet!) - sorry Pip - but we did achieve the other two things. Yay! We also managed to turn a two-hour drive to our home town into a six-and-a-half-hour drive o_0

I am usually not very good at finding second-hand clothes, but I managed to find three dresses yesterday - huzzah! This retro blue and white dress was made in Australia, which I thought was pretty cool ^_^ It's a bit big, so I'm going to take it in, raise the waist, and maybe replace the buttons. The shoes in this picture are genuine old lady shoes ~_^ I have to wear orthodic shoes and inserts because my feet are all kindas of messed up which means I have to pay waaayyy too much for shoes. It also means that I'll never be a fashion blogger ~_^ Anyway, I got these pretty shoes for $3 - a saving of approximately $197 o_0 They are a little scuffed, but I think after a clean they will be as good as new. ^_^

This dress is pretty new, and I just need to bring the sweetheart necklace up a bit - I think maybe the black mesh has stretched a little, so it's overall a bit low. I love the pretty pattern, and the black tulle underneath the skirt ^_^

 

Not a great photo of this dress - it's a black, strapless, and possibly silk. I couldn't find any tags on it, and the zip is broken, but it was only $5 so I'm going to take it in and add an exposed metal zipper which I think will look really cool ^_^

I also picked up a little bit of china - I was really rather restrained considering Bec and I saw a *lot* of very nice china sets. However, my collection is mostly mis-matched so I thought I'd continue on with that ^_^ The saucer is Paragon, the tea cup is Queen Anne, and they were both made in England.

 

I also got this cute little puppy teacup, which doesn't fit my fancy china collection, but it was too sweet to leave behind ^_^ I don't know the brand for this one, but it was made in Australia.

I finally found a cute set of vintage kitchen scales (for $1!), and I also picked up five balls of natural alpaca wool (I only photographed three though, because the balls are quite large and they took up too much of the photo!), and a tiny old jar with press studs in it. I think it's a baby food jar and I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, or the studs, but as it was also $1, I figured it was worth taking it home and finding out ^_^

I was really lucky yesterday with finding pretty vintage dishes ^_^ This one is pyrex, according to the mark on the base, but I don't know what the design is called or the manufacturer.

 

  This one with the cute strawberry design is pyrex too, and was made in Australia by Agee.

 I am not sure if this Nestle's dish is pyrex, although it does look like it. It has pretty little white flowers on it, and I really love the light blue colour ^_^

This is how this "set" came, but they are not actually meant to be together. The base is by Fire King and made in the USA while the lid is by Agee and made in Australia. Still, they go together relatively well, and maybe if I find more pyrex dishes, I can start matching up lids and bases properly ^_^

These two pieces also came together - but I'm not sure if they are both lids, both bases, or one of each! I *do* know that the green piece is more pyrex from Agee and the clear one is pyrex which was made in England.

Ok. Here is my favourite find of the day. Possibly the year. A Fujica 35 Automagic and a Six-20 Kodak (Model B)! Bec and I found this tiny antiques store which had no staff in it and most things were pretty overpriced. We found the owner in a cafe, two stores down, and I asked him about the cameras - as they didn't have a priced marked. I thought they were going to be way out of my price range but he said I could have both for $40. This was my face:

It was kinda hard to keep my "oh, well I guess that's a good price, *maybe* I'll buy them" face on, because over the guy's shoulder, I could see Rebecca doing this:

 

That's her "you fool! Buy them! Buy then NOW. Why aren't you buying them?!" face.

So, I paid the nice man, grabbed the cameras, and then Rebecca and I got out of there before he changed his mind. As soon as we were out of view of the window, we started doing this:

 

I don't know very much about vintage cameras, but after doing a little research on the internerds, it seems that I did indeed get a pretty good deal, especially on the Fujica ^_^

The Fujica is in it's original case, and actually has film in it too! It appears to be in good condition, nothing sticking or broken, and I am going to try it out later this weekend.

 

It can be removed from this leather case, but I like how it looks like this too ^_^

 

The other camera, the Kodak, I think is broken ; _ ;

It is meant to open to the left, with the lens then folding out, but I think it's stuck. I didn't want to pull it too hard, in case I really did ruin it, though so I'm going to try and take it to someone who knows about vintage cameras. Any suggestions, WA peeps?

Even if it is broken, it is still nice so I don't consider this too much of a failure ^_^

 

 I also picked up some novels (not shown), this Typo coffee cup (for $1), and my parents gave me this blanket which was my Nana Tess's. It has a couple of holes in it, so I'll have to research how to fix them up. I like the colours though (it's another one of her stash blankets) and it is very cosy.

And that's it! Wow! ^_^

I had so much fun and definitely want to do this again!

Do you op-shop? Do you have a favourite find? 

- Lisa x

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Feeding my brooch obsession

So, um, are perler beads awesome or what?! I somehow missed out on using these awesome little things as a child but since they are now everywhere (definition of everywhere: even IKEA sells them) I figured it was time to give them a go! I actually had a massive stash of perler beads but had only used them for my constellation embroidery ... so I went back to basics and made some cute little brooches ^_^

There are heaps of patterns for perler beads on the internet, but since they work with a grid pattern, you can also use cross-stitch patterns ^_^ I wanted this project to be really mindless (so I could forget about my assignments for a while!) so I used lots of cross-stitch patterns as my guides, and I've included links underneath each picture.

First up: a cute fox! I wore this to uni the other day with my black polka-dot dress, a mustard yellow drapey jacket, and my black mary-janes ^_^

I added a grey border to this bee so that the legs and antenna would stay on, but if I had had clear beads I would have used those instead. Are clear perler beads even a thing? I've never seen them. But if they don't exist, then they totally should.

I never actually owned a gameboy but I did own one of those generic ones that came with like twenty games pre-loaded and I played Tetris on that thing until it died. Tetris rocks.

Another confession: I am terrible at Super Mario. I am pretty awful at most platform games. But I still insist on playing it, dying regularly, and not contributing anything when Scott and I do two-player mode. I love getting the fire flowers and the flying hats - they are the best things ever ^_^

This flamingo is not a brooch because it is much too large - even for me! ~_^ I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet. Scott suggested a notebook cover ^_^

 

This is now my second Space Invader brooch. I think I need to keep making more until I can reenact a game on my cardigan ~_^

Bow ties are cool! I added a badge back to this one so I can wear it like an actual bow tie, but I want to add a hair clip too, to make it more versatile ^_^

 I don't think my diamond turned out all that well, perhaps I need to make it bigger so it can have more detail?

Pip was making perler bead creations with me and we made five or six of these little medals all together, so I'm not sure who made this one. We're both pretty talented, so it really could be either ~_^

 

This particular badge is going to be worn on International Star Wars Day. Can you tell what it is? It's meant to be a lightsaber bent into a heart shape ^_^ I know that the hilt of a lightsaber doesn't really look like that, but just having a line didn't really look right, you know? Plus I kinda like how it looks like an "i" so it's like the brooch is saying "i heart lightsabers" ^_^

 

       

And I have been doing one other thing as well - I went through my ENORMOUS stack of Real Living magazines, tore out the pictures I wanted, and started filling up a big art journal with them (plus some silly captains and drawings) ^_^ I don't normally like to take pages out of my magazines, but the pile I had was really getting waayyy too big. This way I'll have more room for other craft supplies too ~_^

What have you been making? I love to hear from you! ^_^

- Lisa x