CHRISTMAS - Day 285

CHRISTMAS!!!! Enough said!!

Made a non-traditional, but super yummy cheesecake. I have a household that dislikes xmas fruit based desserts (except me!).
Forgot to take pics. Will come back and add if I find the recipe.

Xmas Pressie two - Day 277

Another present in the making, so just some key shots of the process. I think I will need to practice my satin stitch, mine is a bit uneven. I am making a couple of these, so will hopefully get better.

I do give thanks to Urban threads though. Am starting to think I chose way to many sewing projects for this christmas!!

Full pics posted later.

Animal Finger Puppets - Day 274-275

Am a bad friend! I promised a finger puppet set for a friends birthday, and started it on day 197, but then, didn’t really touch it again. Other things came up. So the birthday present is now a christmas present!!

  
I now have a duck, chicken, pig, dog, cat, sheep and cow. I also have a design for a couple more animals, but maybe 7 is enough! They all fit fabulously down Old Mcdonalds trousers!! (Wheres your cat?  down my trousers!! hehe!) And its a bonus that he doubles as a hand puppet too.

Mini xmas angels - Day 269

A little extra on our tree… little angels. Scruffy and quick, but seems to fit the style of our crazy house.

Finger Misery - Day 265

A random craft born from slight stitching misery. I have been stitching LOTS the last 2 days, completing 2 orders for the bunny playset. But I have had issues. My left wrist has developed a niggling ache, so that cant be good! And I have cut the side of my finger, ouch. On top of that, I have managed to mangle the top of my middle finger while trying to hand stitch on super stubborn velcro. Silly me, I had the sticky back velcro, which was great for placement and temporary stickiness, but with use wont last so needs to be sewn. It turns out this is not so easy!! My sewing machine was not impressed, the glue was transferred to the needle, which then became sticky and stopped the thread from working. Many battles and a new needle later, I had to move to handstitching. Again... silly me... I dont have a thimble, I needed a thimble!! The needle took a fair chunk of effort to push through. I bent 2 of them pressing against the table to get the needle through. But my finger kept slipping and the back of the needle kept stabbing me. The next day, cursing brilliantly, I brought sew on velcro!! So much easier. But, a couple of areas still needed handstitching, and my finger is so sore. I had to whip up a makeshift thimble/finger guard. This is scraps of felt, with a double layer of felt sandwiching cardboard on the top and sides. I had to add an extra piece at the bottom so it stays on my finger. Ok... this is a rant based post. back to work!!
And I am aware I could have brought a thimble when I brought the velcro but i forgot!!

Folded Christmas tree - Day 251

There are a lot of these type of things on the internet, so I thought I'd give it a go. 
Its kind of quirky and by the time you get to the last quarter, the folding gets a bit tricky.

 Just 3 folds per page though and then clip the front and back together. 
I'm thinking this could be spraypainted.  I think mine took a bit longer then i should of because I caught myself rereading parts!

Alien Ornaments finished - day 247

Finally finished this set, distracted from other projects.
All stitched together with some stuffing to give a bit of thickness. I definitely need to make some more!!
Am looking forward to putting up the tree already.

Its nice to try a different Christmas theme other then the traditional Santa. Here in Nz, traditional Santa would roast in that suit being summer and all. No worries for these little guys, they are in their "birthday suit", all ready for the beach!

Monster Christmas tags - Day 245

I have been playing around with my new little monsters from last week.
I decided they can also work in the Monster Guardian division, as special guards to Christmas presents!! (and yes, it is time to be thinking about that time of year, especially if most people on your list are getting handmade!!)

CLICK HERE - Monster Tags PDF

The file is a PDF, A4. Ideally should be printed on thicker paper or card. Then punch a hole, tie a ribbon (or just add double sided tape too stick down)  and add to present.
Have tried a batch with christmas paper glued on the back. Adds a little bit extra.

Alien Ho-ho-ho - Day 243

A new ornament using one of my little monsters. Aliens and monsters like Christmas too!!
Won't be a mass production one though as they take a bit of time to sew. 
This one still needs the final stitching and ribbon attached.

This is my favourite little character at the moment.

Heart weave ornament - Day 242

This heart is just 2 simple shapes woven together. Sounds easy huh! 
But it was actually very tricky to start with and took a bit of brain-training type thinking to work it out (and some bad words for good measure!) 
This was another possibility for the Jr's fair making, but has been quickly ruled out. Though, I do really like the 2 that came out and am thinking a couple more on the tree with chocolate santas in them would be good! 

The pattern is from pompomemporium

Circle ornament - day 241

A friend of mine is going into mass production of ornaments for her daughters school fair coming up. This was a possible pattern we had to try! 
This is from zakkalife and the instructions are really clear. 
I dont think my circles were quite right though. Instead of being a fabulous sphere, mines more egg shapped. Maybe second time lucky!!

Green Monster Xmas - Day 236

A follow up from the Red Monsters.
Used paint to change my red to green, sounds simple. Turns out, not! When I filled it, there were spots and lines that were still red! I think its something to do with the brush when I did touchups.
Not sure, but means I cant wait to get a program a little bit more clever then the simple paint!

Red xmas monsters - day 235

Playing around with some new monsters. I just used paint to draw them up and then added the xmas extras.
The reindeer ones are my favourite!!