Girls just wanna have crafts

Hello! I have something to show you ^_^

Now, I have no idea why it's insisting on being side-ways (>_<) but *anyway* this is proof that I finally learnt how to follow a charted crochet pattern. Huzzah! As you can tell (hopefully), it's the Wonder Woman logo. Since WW is awesome and nerdy it was perfect to enter as my first project for the Summer Nerd Games ^_^

 

Once I was done with the charted section, I added on a few plain rows so that I could make it into a case for my iPad. Now I can take it to uni without worrying about it getting scratched up in my handbag ^_^

 

I've got a couple more projects planned, but I haven't made much progress on them as today Bec, Catherine, and I went to the Quilt and Craft Fair ^_^

I didn't make many photos, but I had to share with you these awesome Weasley-esque tea cozies - aren't they great? ^_^

We also saw some great quilts but since my phone isn't great for really wide shots, I stayed up close and personal ~_^

 

I love the colours on this one ...

 

... we suspect this one is made from clothing off-cuts (clever *and* thrifty!) ...

 

... and this one was a great mix of all kinds of vintage fabrics! ^_^

And, of course, I picked up a couple of things for myself as well ^_^

Six new washi tapes (nooo, I don't have a problem; why do you ask?), a cute vintage sewing machine brooch, a maneki-neko fabric badge, a book on needle-felting, and a heap of business card sized pictures. I got ten different vintage ladies in one set, and the other two sets are steam-punk style illustrations. There were really too many to photograph all of them though, so I just included three of my favourites ^_^

I can't wait to start creating with my new things! Any suggestions on what I should make? ^_^

What did you do this weekend? I hope you had fun!

- Lisa x

Hot air balloon sweater clips

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.

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

Baneling plushie

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