Wednesday 29 February 2012

Happy Feet

Yes, it's true! I actually made these shoe clips.
I may give them to sister number 3 for her birthday in April 
(unless something else lights my fire between then and now).
She's really easy to make for because she always appreciates handmade presents, being a lapsed artist herself.
I took photos of the process but will save them for another time, or for when someone shows particular interest.
Anyhow, here's the end result.  I'm pleased.
Tonkety Tink

Tuesday 28 February 2012

What's your muse?

Who needs flesh and bones when you have Pinterest? I'm going to be making something over the next few days and I want it to be quick AND I want to have all the items without having to buy anything.
I have all the ingredients for something similar to these lovelies:
Easy
Oleander and Palm
 Love the colours
Whipperberry
 Gorgeous Simplicity 
Mad by Maxine

So, lets see how it goes in a couple of days.


Tinkety Tonk

Monday 27 February 2012

Doddle Day 2

The inspiration for these? 
NONE.  
I let whatever pops into my head, pop onto the paper. 
You can usually find a meaning there somewhere, though.
Tinkety Tonk

Sunday 26 February 2012

Through the looking glass

I'm lucky.  
I'm not rich. 
I'm not always laid back. 
I loath my job. 
But I'm still lucky.  
I'm surrounded by people I love and who adore me. I'll only have to put up with my job for another few months before 'they' can shove it. AND I live in the most wonderful place.  I wasn't born here (sadly) but from the age of 2 it has been my home and I NEVER take it for granted.
 

So, come with me and have a tiny peep through your looking glass into my world.  




I'm surrounded by water and this is fundamentally my element.
I took this photo this morning.  
Look at the delicate texture of the sea foam and the glow of the light on the glossy stones.  
The sea was so gentle - it must be spring!
Tinkety Tonk

Thursday 23 February 2012

Doodle

I like to keep my hand in with drawing.  With the frantic pace of life I've got little enthusiasm for doing anything after work except lolling about.  I do tend to doodle and do whatever pops into my head. Like this:

Tinkety Tonk

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Somedays you just need a laugh

I dunno about you, but I can be a moody bugger.
As my job is so crapola at the moment I am more moody these days than ever before.
Why can't I just win the lottery?
I went on Pinterest to get some inspiration/waste time and found some stuff that actually cheered me up:
 But maybe, I was just hysterical!
Tinkety Tonk

Sunday 19 February 2012

Pic nik

I've only recently discovered the free photo editing service 'Picnik' which is shame as it is ending.  Google+ has bought it but they aren't sharing all of the tools.
This is what I managed with a photo I took on my mobile phone of my best friend.
It is so easy this straightforward edit only took me 2 mins:
Original:                                               Edited:



 Tinkety Tonk

Saturday 18 February 2012

Best of British

Now, I love shopping.  BUT I'm trying to pay off a bit of a large credit card bill asap so I can jack in my hideous job and feel more comfortable about it.  That makes real shopping listless and unsatisfying.  However, I do not despair because not only am I always inspired by the beautifully creative things I find on Etsy but it's also great for window shopping, which is easy on the purse.
I have bought a few things from Etsy but was horrified by the cost of the import tax from the US.  In some cases the tax came to almost half the cost of the product! Sadly, as the majority of the products offered are American (it being a US based company this isn't surprising) it makes buying a frustrating experience because you have to weigh up the extra cost.
MY answer: 
BUY BRITISH  
(or anywhere that isn't America).  
Searching for Country specific products isn't easy on Etsy because once you've specified the country you'd like to buy from, you then don't get the catagory choice - hmmmm, annoying (unless I'm being unutterably thick.) However, if you're up for a browse then it's perfect!
Here's my BEST OF BRITISH Etsy favourites for today: 
(click on the photo to take you to the product)
Beau & Arrow
Peblsrock
Beautiful Skin
Add caption
Kathy and the Happiness


Hide & Seek
The illustration above is from a shop I love.  Hidden Eloise owns the shop and her illustrations have such a nostalgic feel.  I WANT one! She has loads of other covetable stuff too and is currently my favourite shop.
Tinkety Tonk

Friday 17 February 2012

Day brightener.

I did do some making today but didn't finish anything, mainly because I was in a mood: the half-term holiday is coming to an end.  Bah!
Then I saw this via an email from Etsy:
It's an photo art print sold by elgarboart's shop and it made me smile.  It so filled with joy ain't it?
 It got me thinking about balloons. My mum and a mate of mine hate them because of the noise they make when they burst.
but I love 'em. 
And, quite frankly (as in all things), the bigger the better.
Look at these babies by Geromino :
The one above screams FUN!  Below, elegance - who'd have thought it?

Anyhow,
Tinkety Tonk

Thursday 16 February 2012

Sore fingers

Here's another blow-by-blow (ahem) photo diary of the card I made today.
You may be getting bored with the brown card blanks but  I really like them -simple and chic.
Anyhow, I wanted to create a flower card for my aunt's birthday at the beginning of next month so I took this as inspiration:







1.  Using the same principals as yesterday, I first sketched the line for the bottom, using a ruler (yesterday's clouds were a little on the wonk.)
2.  Then I poked holes into the cards at about 5mm intervals.

 3.  After this, I sewed a deep green embroidery thread along and then up the stems.
 4.  Then I poked more holes in the places for the flowers.  I decided to go for a different type of flower - more of a mustard seed type (I thought it would be easier because my girly fingers were smarting).  In hindsight, I should have stuck to the prettier and more conventional style of the original, but heigh ho.
5.  I used french knots for the 'seed' heads.  This is what it looked like:
 Yeah, I know...




6 So, I added a few more threads to the flowers to see it I could rectify it which improved it - slightly.

My aunt will like it but I wouldn't call it a polished finish or design AND by the end of it I'd had enough of sewing onto the card.  It took ages to do and was hard on the fingers.  Maybe bigger holes are called for, although I wouldn't like a gap between the stitch and card; hmmm, tricky.

There were a few other things which frustrated me: The room was hot and my sweaty hands made gripping the needle and pushing it through the card laborious and annoying. Similarly, gripping the card while sewing with moist hands meant that the edge of the card became a bit lumpy when it became damp. Also, I learnt the hard way to keep your hands clean while working with white thread as one of the french knots had a smudge of Pepsi by the end (that received a growl of discontent).

Anyhow, there it is,
Tinkety Tonk

Wednesday 15 February 2012

Silver lining

Well, I got some silver thread.
Here's a close up of the cloud's lining from the card I made yesterday:
I prefer it when it's a close as it could be to the way I wanted it.

Tinkety Tonk

Tuesday 14 February 2012

On a roll

This morning I remained inspired to make another embroidered card.
So, although, it's not a tutorial - I have included a few photos of the process.
                                                  Inspiration
Design is by Pattisloniger at Spoonflower via Pinterest












  • Firstly, I drew (faintly) a simple cloud design onto the brown pre-made card (Paperchase).  
  • As you can see from the far left cloud, below, I started with the full bouncy look but then made the bottom of the cloud flat on reflexion.  
  • I then poked holes into the card with the needle I inteded to use for the embroidery so that it would be an appropriately sized hole.  Then I rubbed out the pencil marks. 
I don't know what the stitch I used is called- I just went in one hole and went back on myself...
...until I completed them all.
  • Lastly, free-hand, I sewed on some drops of rain. Just two vertical holes and a daisy? stitch.
Voila!

I would have liked to edge one of the clouds with a silver thread but I only have gold.....'every cloud has a gold lining' hasn't quite got the same ring.

Tinkety Tonk

One that got away


One of my cards for Valentine's day was a thread version of this:
 This original as made of wire and conceived by Camilla Fabbri









 

Now my version was on the same brown cards as the previous cards but the thread was black and heart, pink.  I will try to get a photo of it after the recipient had opened it later.

Tinkety Tonk

St Valentine

I had a couple of goes at Valentine's cards this year.  I have lots of men I love so I made several.  I've photographed some of them (including failures) and stupidly forgot a couple that I did like (stuck the envelops down before I remembered). Anyhow, in no particular order, here they are:
This was my first - simple design - stitch effect again.
This is the second - plainer but has something indefinable that I like more than the first.
Amateurish.  
The last one was the first I thought of.  In my head it was great but I didn't have the appropriate equipment.  My improvisation meant that the raised image (representing infinity) looked bumpy.  
Not the stylish look I was after.  I wanted simple but not barely there. 


I enjoyed the attempts all the same,
Tinkety Tonk

Sunday 12 February 2012

Sunsheen

I went for an walk yesterday after a pub lunch and it was freezing but the sun was lovely, just lovely.  What's more there weren't many people around.  An easier way to find peace is in peaceful surroundings, I think.







Tinkety Tonk

Sunday 5 February 2012

Head wear

Right oh,
I was thinking about how much time I spend looking at others' crafts and so made the effort to make a couple of my own from some inspiration. 
Here
and here
So baring these ideas in mind I thought of what I wanted.  Primarily, the band should be as soft and non-itchy as possble for baby or child's head.  Here's the out-come - I think they are very simple but pretty. 

Perhaps they need further embellishment though, bead or button....hmmmm, not sure....


 but for now,
Tinkety Tonk

Sun flare

This is Freshwater Bay where I live. I took this yesterday morning. It was freezing.
 
Although, I have been tinkering with some felt today (I'll show you when I upload the photos) even though I feel a little off colour.

Tinkety Tonk