Love Defined

(cross posted with The Blanket Stitch)

Hello! For today's post I have been busy making a wonderful heart decoration that was picked up from a craft shop, and I have been umming and ahhing over what to do with it ever since. Its actually taking me a fair while to get it made, due to not really knowing what I wanted. 

 

 When I made my 'Imagine' canvas a few weeks ago I loved the colour of the paint so much that I ended up painting the heart while I was at it, however, from there I didn't know what I wanted to do, so it had been left untouched, until now.

I was also making something for Fathers Day, and when I finished that I decided to keep going and finally finished the heart! 

 

 I started with a smaller heart I had painted that I knew I wanted to attached to the main heart. Using a Paris stamp and Victorian Velvet Distress Ink, I created this look on the smaller heart.

On the larger heart I stamped, again using Victorian Velvet Distress Ink, a sheet music background.

  

Using some pink wire, I added this to heart, and wound it round the stick.

    

For the centre of the piece, I used some cream paper, stamped quite haphazardly with Old Paper Distress Ink and edged with Vintage Photo to give it an old look. I then rolled the top and the bottom to make it look like an old scroll. Then, using a Tim Holtz stamp I stamped the centre of the scroll, using black archival ink.

 

Underneath the scroll I have placed a tag shaped piece of card, with a floral pattern.

  

To the right hand side of the scroll I have added a small silk/fabric flower.

  

This was really simple to make in the end, and I left it with this as I feared if I added anymore it would become to fussy. 

  

The final outcome... ...What do you think? 
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For today's blog post I wanted to share with you a little canvas that I have made my dad as part of his Father's day present. It was super easy to make and you can do anything to customise it so it suits your dad.

I started by painted my canvas my chosen colour, for my dad my only option was blue, plus I wanted to do something special on the front to represent him, and blue would be pretty pivotal for that. I used acrylic paint across the canvas.

Down the left hand side I used a piece to string, to break up the canvas. I tied a bow in the top and glued it too the canvas.

I also added this cardboard 'Dad' sign I found in my stash, just so the string didn't look too bare against the canvas.

I found some letter tiles I had in my stash, and using Chipped Saphire Tim Holtz Distress Ink, I stamped them to match the canvas.

As you can see from the above photo, everything was very blue while I was working!

I found this tag, and stamped it in Chipped Saphire Distress Ink. Then, using a stencil, I copied 'Love, Amy' coloured it in using a black sharpie and attached it under the Cardboard 'Dad' sign.

I attached the 'Dad' tiles to the top of the canvas, using 2 sticky pads on each tile.

For the centre piece I drew the Torquay United Logo (Dad's favourite football team - he was born and raised in Torquay, Devon, UK) and painted it using yellow acrylic paint and then glued it to the centre of the canvas.

I am really pleased with the outcome, its just how I imagined it. I am sure he will really love it, I will keep you all updated!

This is a really simple idea, easy to make and you can make it to completely suit you Dad's personality.

If you try this don't forget to leave me a comment below, linking to your post and/or photos, I would love to see them!

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Hey Guys & Girls,

Just a quick post from me today, today I made this canvas for Blanket Stitch and I have blogged about it over on the Blanket Stitch website!

I would love for you to head over there and check it out, and let me know what you think!

Visit the Blanket Stitch Website and check out my canvas crafting blog!

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As you may, or may not know (you probably will if you follow me on Twitter) I was bridesmaid at my good friends wedding on Sunday, and beforehand she taught me a quick craft (and I made two for her wedding) and that is making string balloons.

Now this is one of the more messier and stressful crafts I have ever tried, and while I didn't dislike it, I don't know if its something I will do often, although I am considering making a few for my bedroom...so we'll see!

To start, blow up a balloon to the size you desire.

Get a lot of a string (and I mean a lot - you can always use less than you've cut, but would be difficult to add more - but not impossible!) and find a pot that you can use to fill with glue.

Pour a decent amount of PVA glue into the pot, add the string, and make sure all the string is well covered in glue (you're going to need to get your hands messy from here on in!) but be careful not to create knots in the string.

Grab the end of the string (ideally leave it hanging over the edge of the pot when you cover the string in glue) and take hold of your balloon. Hold the balloon by the knot, and hold onto the end of the string, and then haphazardly wind the string around the balloon, until you've got the desired effect.

Peg up by the knot to dry for 24 hours.

When dry the string will have hardened, burst the balloon and you will be left with a wonderful decoration. You can make small ones for balls to put in a bowl, add string to make hanging decorations, you can spray paint them...anything you can think of.

This is how they were used in the wedding...

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Good evening crafty folk!

Tonight I have a little blog post about Kindles, and if you're anything like me, these cold winter nights are just perfect for snuggling up with a hot chocolate (a dairy free one for me of course!) and reading a good book on the Kindle.

However, if you are like me you're constantly worried about the screen on your Kindle. They are well known to have a delicate screen and the last thing you want is to crack and ruin your screen (especially if you don't have the insurance - eeeek)!

So that is where Blanket Stitch comes in. Why not buy your delicate little Kindle a cosy little case to keep him (or her!) warm.

Our Kindle sleeves are designed with you Kindle in mind, to keep it safe and warm. With inner padding your Kindle will be a lot more protected. All you need to do is slide your Kindle in and let the sleeve do the rest.

You can buy our Kindle cases from our Folksy shop in a variety of colours and patterns.

They make a great gift, especially with Christmas just around the corner, so why not pick up one today!

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After making our vintage bunting for the recent wedding, I think all three of us who took part would all agree that we had seen our fair share of bunting and were happy to give it a wide berth for a while.

However, enough time seems to have passed us by and we were itching to get back to our bunting ways. After making so much for the wedding we felt like pro's, and it wasn't long before we were experimenting again.

(Picture of a section of our bunting for the wedding)

Amy started the bunting task, with a little something for herself. Having decorated her room and wanting a little something different instead of a border, Amy decided to make some bunting.

This bunting was just single sided, and was made out of three different materials to make the different flags.

What do you think?

Carol got back into bunting next, and with Christmas fast approaching she tried her hand at some decorative bunting for the festive season.

Do you like her Christmas bunting?

What other types of bunting would you like to see in our Folky Shop?

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Some of you who have been following Blanket Stitch for a while, might recognise the technique I have used here, and to those of you who are newbies, you might be wondering how exactly I have managed to capture this wonderful image and turned it into a coaster.

Read on, and all will be revealed!

I made these coasters a few months ago, after deciding I really ought to get on the Christmas bandwagon early, and knowing how these went down last year as presents for relatives I knew they would come out well.

For those of you unfamiliar with this, the technique used here is called Servietten Technique. Its a craft where  using the top, patterned layer of a napkin/serviette you place the image/pattern on to anything*

(*so far in my tests anything includes the following: Crockery, Tiles, Glass, Wood, Cloth bags, Candle and Plastic)

Using the image extracted from the napkin, glue, a paintbrush and A LOT of patience you can press and glue to image down.

Then using varnish (not on cloth!) you seal the image and also waterproof it at the same time!

These coasters come in a set of four, and have a beautiful Christmas scene covering them. They have been sealed and varnished, and are therefore waterproofed against any little spills that might come from your cup!

They are backed with green felt, giving them a soft backing, and stopping any scratches from the hard tiles on your furniture.

All coasters are wrapped in beautiful ribbon making a small stack.

These coasters are a wonderful present and can be found for just £10.00 on our Folksy Store.

Click the link above to buy it for yourself (or for a gift!)

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Having an interest in all things vintage and with memories of my childhood, where women always wore a pinny, I decided to make some vintage pinnies of my very own!

Sorting through my fabric stash I found the vintage look material, and the pinnies became a reality!

 I think every woman should have one!

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Everyone loves a squishy cushion - and this one covered in love fits the bill exactly.

Made by Carol, using two of our favourite materials, this cute little cushion would look wonderful in any room, we keep ours in our summer house!

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The re-doing of my room is a constant, ongoing process... I am always looking for ways to make my room look more cute and more creative.

My latest idea was to stencil onto some boxes to pack away my beauty stuff, so its not all over the place!

I have some old white boxes (the theme of my room is white and a raspberry pink colour) which I got from Ikea that used to hold DVDs. I decided to stencil on what I would be keeping inside, and they would be stacked on a shelf in my beauty 'room'.

All I needed was a suitable stencil, some acrylic paint, which I used straight from the tube, a paintbrush, and the white boxes.

Remember: Let each of the previous letter dry before starting the next one to ensure you don't smudge the paint. It only takes around 5-10 minutes for the paint to dry, and if you do several boxes at a time, the others can be drying while you do the next one.

I think you'll agree, they look quite effective!
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