Oh.My.Wow.

Aofie Embroidery

LOOK WHAT I DID!

Fo realz.

My first attempt at embroidery and I think it turned out pretty darn well, if I don't say so myself.

Step back a couple of posts to see the lovely Aofie in the furr. She's a darling little lass, my only beef with Beefy is that I genuinely believe that my girlfriend loves her more than she loves me. But, y'know, she loves to kneed my clothes when left of the floor or the bed and that makes me all gooey inside, so I can make my peace with it all.

How did I do it?

Well, I took a photo of her fluffy little face, pumped it into PhotoShop and used the cutout filter to break the colours down into 8 steps - I'm sure there are better ways to do this but it worked for me.

I then split each colour into separate layers, traced the outline of her face onto linen then shaded the darkest colour, embroidered it, shaded the next colour, embroidered it, and continued until they were all done.

Then I freehand stitched her lovely little name.

Tjana lost her proverbial shiznit. Which was nice.

Haylz x

Playing with Paper

You may or may not have noticed that I've got a bit of a "thing" for Japanese culture lately, and I can tell you that I've had a bit of a "thing" for Origami since first being taught in primary school, I think perhaps by my Dad who was studying Japanese at the time.

I've also picked up a packet or two of bright and colourful origami paper recently so when sitting at home watching trashy TV the other night I decided to keep my hands busy with a spot of paper folding.

All designs are from the Origami Club, check it out, it's so much fun!

 

A dress...

A bangle...

An ice-cream...

And a love heart clover.

Haylz x

Paper, Pleats and Paint

Lately one of my favourite things to do each month is prepare a fancy new backdrop for the stage at Chicks with Picks.

I was searching around online a couple weeks ago when I came across this tutorial, which looked super cheap and easy, so I decided to have a go and add a little colour to it. First we brushed them with a little primer to make sure the paint would be bright, then we made acrylic wash in three different colours and went to town on those bad boys. I think they came out quite nicely!

Here are some photos from the project:

5 Minute DIY: Bright and Sparkly Hangers

You may or may not have noticed by now that I have a bit of a "thing" for nanna hangers. Though this admission may make you cringe, there are a couple of reasons why I nab lovely ones every time I get the chance; for starters they're so gosh darn colourful. I really only go for the brightly coloured and/or intricately designed ones. Secondly, I just love that some nanna, somewhere, sometime, put great care into crocheting or weaving or knitting a soft, comfy cover for their hangers, to keep their clothes all nice and not stretched in the shoulders. Or perhaps they made it for a loved one, who knows?

Either way, I love them.

So for a while now I've been pondering and planning, thinking about making some of my own. I'm too impatient for a crochet hook, some goes for knitting, so I dug around in my jaars and boxes of crafty stuff and pulled out the following things:

A ball of wool (you will need approximately 4 metres)
A plain wooden hanger
Fringed trim as long as the hanger

Then I did the following things:

1. I ran the trim along the wood of the hanger, from end to end.

2. I doubled over the wool and used it to tie the trim to the end of the hanger, as close to the edge as I could.

3. I then wrapped the wool around the trim and the hanger together, about every 5mm, from end to end.

4. Then I flipped the hanger over and, tada!

Super cute, right?

They're not overly cushiony but they are really good for slippery dresses and boatnecked tops, you know, those things you have hanging in your closet that constantly fall off the hangers?

Haylz x